AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



247 



and I intended to run them for increase 

 next season. 



In October the parent colony (with its 

 rich stores of white honey) was stolen — 

 we never discovered the loss until after 

 dark the next night. The young colony 

 was hurried into the cellar, right then — 

 without any examination. They had 

 plenty of fresh air, and seemed all right 

 by their hum, whenever I tapped on the 

 hive, so I did not disturb them by open- 

 ing their hive until Christmas, when I 

 peeped in and saw a few webs and 

 empty moth-shells. 



To-day they are numerous, and honey 

 is running out of the hives, while the 

 bottom-board is covered with powdered 

 comb. The bees are still alive, with 

 plenty of good honey. Now, my query 

 is, Can anything be done to save them ? 



The frames were 16x10 inches, 13 in 

 number, and the bees or honey occupy 9 

 of them. Perhaps there is too much 

 vacancy. Mks. A. M. Shank. 



Sioux City, Iowa, Jan. 30, 1893. 



[The case may not be so desperate as 

 it looks. As there is plenty of honey, if 

 there are plenty of bees they may come 

 through all right. But if there are so 

 inany worms that they have torn down 

 the combs enough to set the honey run- 

 ing, it is probable that there are so few 

 bees that they will hardly pull through. 

 Are you sure it is honey and not water 

 that is running out of the hives ? 



In either case, you can hardly do any 

 better than to wait patiently until you 

 can set them out for a flight, after it 

 seems fairly settled for warmer weather. 



If they live through, and the combs 

 are too crooked to be removed, you can 

 treat it as a box-hive, and transfer three 

 weeks after swarming. — Ed.] 



Cold Weather^Extracted Honey. 



As I write the thermometer indicates 

 very severe cold weather, from 10° to 

 30° below zero. Bees that are left out- 

 of-doors unprotected will perish if this 

 weather continues long. Those that are 

 well packed in chaff or other dry absorb- 

 ing material, will stand a far better 

 chance ; still, if this severe weather 

 continues very long, many of these will 

 probably succumb. Those that are in 

 warm positions, or cellars, I think are 

 very much better off — at least for the 

 present; but when April and May come. 



many of the hives may be empty, or the 

 bees so reduced in numbers that very 

 little surplus honey can be obtained 

 until July. 



The past year has been quite an un- 

 favorable one for the bee-keeper in my 

 locality ; not more than one-half of an 

 average crop has been obtained. A large 

 number of colonies died last winter and 

 spring, still there seemed to be plenty 

 left. Many of the novices have been 

 discouraged. For several years bees 

 have wintered well any where. The 

 wild bees seemed to pull through all 

 right, and swarms are very often to be 

 seen by farmers in the summer. 



There are very few bee-keepers who 

 give much attention to the extracting of 

 honey, nearly all seeming to be content- 

 ed to obtain what they can in the comb ; 

 not seeming to understand how much 

 more certain they are to obtain a good 

 crop, or how much better the swarming 

 can be controlled. But, alas ! where is 

 he to find a market for his extracted 

 honey ? Can he place it on the market 

 and get his cash? Not much. The 

 adulterator has been there, and the 

 would-be consumer has been fooled and 

 swindled so much, and so long, that he 

 has no confidence in any "strained" 

 honey. It seems to me that it is high 

 time for bee-keepers to arise en masse, 

 and cry loudly to Congress to pass such 

 laws as will give us relief. I am glad 

 the Amebican Bee Joubnal is wide 

 awake on this subject, and is pushing 

 the work. Let every bee-keeper in the 

 land bestir himself, and let us see if we 

 can't stop this nefarious business, that 

 is so ruinous to our business. 



A. C. Sanford. 



Ono, Wis., Jan. 14, 1893. 



The Changeable Weather of 1892. 



Last season was about the most destruc- 

 tive we have had in the history of the 

 State, on bee-culture, especially south- 

 eastern Kansas. February opened warm 

 and niee ; the soft maple and elm blos- 

 somed, then came a freeze about the 

 first of March, killing the bloom. The 

 bees having commenced rearing brood, 

 they dragged some of it out, as they 

 could not cover it all. The weather con- 

 tinued bad all through the month. The 

 fruit-trees began to bloom in April, 

 starting the bees to breeding again, then 

 the weather became wet and cold, chill- 

 ing a great deal of the brood, and con- 

 tinuing wet and cool until the last of 

 May, and a great many bees starved to 

 death, unless th(y were fed, and leaving 



