402 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



same place, bees, queens and all. Now, 

 isn't that a pretty mess ? What can be 

 done about it? Why, soak the bees with 

 water, shake them into a hive-cap, or 

 upon a blanket, and poke them over to 

 find the queens. How does that sort of 

 a job strike the beginner? 



Well, now suppose there are traps on 

 all the hives that the swarms issued 

 from ? The queens will be found in the 

 traps, and ninety times out of a hundred, 

 the bees, as soon as they miss their 

 queens, will return to their respective 

 hives. If they do not, it is an easy mat- 

 ter to divide them up, and as the queens 

 are safe, the worst part of the job w^s 

 already done in the beginning. 



The trap was designed to save the api- 

 arist the trouble of going into trees for 

 his bees when a swarm issues. It also 

 prevents any swarms absconding in the 

 absence of the bee-keeper, or at any 

 other time. It also catches and destroys 

 all useless drones. 



Wenham, Mass. 



^ ■ * 



The Season of 1892— Wintering 

 -— Ato§orbents, Etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY J. P. SMITH. 



The season of 1892 was a poor one 

 for bees in this vicinity. My bees came 

 out well in the spring, having wintered 

 without loss. They built up well in 

 early spring, but the summer was such 

 as to give me only about one-third of a 

 crop of honey. The fall was better ; 

 golden-rod yielded fairly, so that bees 

 generally collected a supply for winter. 



WINTERING BEES. . 



As usual, I reduced the number of my 

 colonies, by uniting, from 42 to 25. 

 The advantage of this method is two- 

 fold — it enables mn, to save my best 

 queens, and also gives me good, full 

 hives of bees for winter, which I believe 

 is a great advantage in this latitude. 

 They may consume a little more honey, 

 but with me they generally come out 

 strong in bees, the warmth of which en- 

 ables them to breed early, and hence 

 build up early in the spring. I winter 

 them on the summer stands, with an 

 outer case over the hive, packed with 

 some dry material, such as planer shav- 

 ings or chaff. 



ABSORBENTS — SEALED COVERS. 



On part of my colonies I put " Hill's 

 device," covered with a cushion of some 



dry, porous substance from 7 to 10 

 inches in thickness. On the others I 

 put a pine board 5i of an inch thick, 

 fitted closely, leaving a bee-space be- 

 tween it and the frames, and covering 

 the board with dry material 4 to 5 

 inches thick. 



I have tried these two methods several 

 seasons, have observed closely, and have 

 discovered no difference in their winter- 

 ing. In fact, I conceive there is but 

 little difference, philosophically, between 

 the two methods. I deem one covering 

 about as porous as the other, for science 

 tells us the pine is porous. I would not 

 believe in having the sealed covers made 

 of a compact metallic substance, thus 

 preventing the escape of the moisture. 

 The only mistake I found in opening my 

 hives last spring, was in the upper part 

 of the cushion. All the rest was dry 

 and warm, and the combs were as nice 

 and dry as they were last fall. By re- 

 moving the covers one fair day, all this 

 moisture disappears. 



ADULTERATION OF HONEY. 



Yes, push the opposition to it. Get 

 the law against it, and have it so framed 

 as to include the new-fangled, unauthor- 

 ized name of " sugar-honey." 



Get the law, and then enforce it. Let 

 the same push be made that has been 

 made against oleomargarine, and all 

 adulterated honey will " down." Oblige 

 every person that offers it for sale, to 

 label it, setting forth just what it is. 

 Have this done, then I predict it will 

 have to beg for customers, and beg in 

 vain, and honest bee-keepers will have 

 no harm from it. When Rambler's whirl- 

 wind strikes them, they may realize that 

 the Prophet Hosea had them in mind 

 when he prophesied as in Chapter VIII, 

 verse 7. 



I want to commend the American 

 Bee Journal for the straight-forward, 

 high-minded course it has always taken 

 in regard to adulteration. 



Sunapee, N. H. 



The Will of the Queen and the 

 §ex of the Egg. 



Wntten for the American Bee Journal 



BY DR. C. C. miller. 



That proof of which I spoke, as to 

 queens laying drone-eggs at will. Is 

 promptly forthcoming. Here it is from 

 D. Lindbeck, of Bishop Hill, Ills., whose 

 letter is so Interesting that I give it en- 

 tire : 



