AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



45 



sections of country alike, I write this to 

 inform you that it will not do in this 

 section. 



Now, should we have a swarm just at 

 the beginning of our honey-flow, then 

 Mr. H.'s rule will apply here or else- 

 where alike. His plan is a capital one, 

 where we have a swarm just as our har- 

 vest begins, the way they have it in 

 Michigan. By his method we may push 

 the bees right into the sections, and get 

 a fair yield from the very bees that com- 

 pose the swarm. So I say, give me all 

 the nice brood-combs I want, and watch 

 me gain ground on the bee-keeper that 

 hives his swarms on starters and in 

 empty hives. J- A. 



Telling When a Q,ueen Grows Old. 



Will Mr. G. W. Nance please teach us 

 how to tell when a queen is getting old ? 

 (See page 670.) 



I have had young queens, two to six 

 months old, that for awhile would almost 

 cease laying, then within a week's time 

 have every available cell occupied ; 

 while occasionally an old 23^ or 3 season 

 queen will always have her hive filled, 

 as it should be, with bees. 



Spurger, Tex. Geokge Mott. 



Wintering Bees in the South. 



We know nothing by experience in the 

 South of the experience and trouble 

 they have in wintering bees in the 

 North. No cellars or housing are re- 

 quired. We see it is more trouble and 

 expensive in the North to winter bees, 

 than to care for them in summer. We 

 have none of this trouble and expense. 

 Our bees winter out-doors without any 

 danger or risk. All that is required is a 

 good, tight hive, and about 15 or 20 

 pounds of honey. In ordinary winters 

 15 pounds is sufficient. In fact, some 

 winters my bees have gathered honey all 

 winter. 



As to the quantity of bees, it is not 

 necessary to have a very large colony. I 

 prefer a small one, as it requires less 

 honey, and there is no trouble to breed 

 them up strong enough for the first 

 honey-flow in the spring. They will 

 winter on the summer stands without 

 any risk. In this locality (Marshall, 

 Texas) bees begin to swarm the last of 

 March. W. K. Marshall. 



Marshall, Texas, Dec. 2, 1892. 



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"Bees and Honey"— page 37. 



Sure "fl^ays of Rnowin;; How 

 Far Bees Fly lor Honey. 



Query 853.— 1. Is there iiny sure way of 

 telling how far bees go for honey, except by 

 the bee-hunlers' rule of setting them to work 

 and " lining " them the entire distaaoe ? 2. 

 Are not the most of those long-distance Ideas 

 more or less guessing, unless ihe bees are 

 " lined " the entire distance ?— Bee-Hunter. 



1. That is the readiest sure way. 2. 

 Yes. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Not that I am aware of. 2. Not 

 always. — J. H. Larrabee. 



If the bees are bringing in a particu- 

 lar kind of honey or pollen only to be 

 found in a certain place, this is proof 

 enough for me. — W. M. Barnum. 



They are "lined" by watching them 

 start 4 miles from home when there is 

 not a place for a colony to exist between 

 the starting point and the hive. — James 

 Heddon. 



Not that I know of, except in case of 

 robbing, when bees may be dusted with 

 flour so that one can tell them when 

 they return to the home hive. — C. H. 



DiBBERN. 



Not absolutely sure, but by watching 

 the honey yield in apiaries located from 

 two to four miles apart, you can be rea- 

 sonably certain as to the distance they 

 profitably go. — P. H. Elwood. 



1. I know of no way, unless they 

 could be sprinkled with flour, and their 

 return watched for. 2. No guess-work 

 about it, if they were seen to return as 

 named in No. 1. — James A. Stone. 



Under some circumstances, such as 

 the introduction into a locality of a new 

 race of bees, the distance to which bees 

 will fly may be easily determined with- 

 out lining them. — James A. Green. 



1. I don't know of any sure way to 

 tell ; and, Mr. Bee-Hunter, I do not 

 think you can tell by " lining," either, 

 as the bee you line to-day may go a half 

 mile further to-morrow. — Mrs. Jennie 

 Atchley. 



