504 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



over-production, and very low prices ; that 

 another result is, the older portions of the 

 country are badly over-stocked with bees. 

 As conditions now exist, the bulk of bee- 

 keepers cannot make the business pay, and 

 would gladly quit it if they could realize 

 anything near the cost of their investments ; 

 and the sooner they sell out the better ; for 

 what show is there at this time of sharp 

 competition and low prices for any but ex- 

 perts ? 



Among apiarists poor seasons have be- 

 come a general complaint. In fact, in the 

 East each one of the past six years has in 

 turn been pronounced a very poor season 

 for bees and honey. Now, is not this un- 

 satisfactory condition largely attributable 

 to over-stocking ? I firmly believe that if 

 the stock of bees could be reduced a hun- 

 dred per cent, in this section of the country 

 at least, apiarists would be rewarded by 

 more surplus honey, and hence far greater 

 profits. Indeed, it has become a pressing 

 necessity that we decrease our bees, and 

 increase our honey flora, or capture, civi- 

 lize, and domesticate the savage •' Apis dor- 

 sata." For one, I strongly favor making 

 a conquest of the great bee of Ceylon. If 

 brought under the control of apiarists, and 

 successfully introduced into this country, 

 it would probably double our honey-pi'oduc- 

 tion, as well as add millions to the agricul- 

 tural interests by the fertilization of the 

 larger clovers. S. S. Butts. 



Wyalusing, Pa. 



Lost Only 3 Out of 30. 



My bees have wintered finely during the 

 long siege of winter. I had 30 colonies, and 

 have only lost 3, and those by diarrhea. 



Geo. L. Winteks. 



Sherwood, N. Y., March 20, 1893. 



That Horse-Blanket and the Bees. 



Mr. C. Reynolds asks, on page 405. who 

 can account for his bees fighting that horse- 

 blanket. Don't you think it was the smell 

 (!) of the ice (on that dirty horse-blanket) 

 whi*h had been wrapped in it, that angered 

 the bees so ? I can only think of one other 

 cause, which is so simjjle that 1 dare not 

 mention it. W. Hakmer. 



Manistee, Mich. 



My Experience with Bees. 



Three years ago I procured one colony of 

 hybrid bees in a double-walled chaff' hive. 

 I placed them on a stand on my lot and 

 awaited results. I expected to notice a 

 bunch of bees as large as a half bushel, 

 hanging in front of the hive, as a warning 

 to me that they were going to swarm, but, 

 to my surprise, they gave me no such warn- 

 ing, and the consequence was, two swarms 

 left for parts unknown, and I captured the 

 third one of the first year. Those wintered 

 nicely and gave me three good swarms the 

 second summer, which also wintered well 

 the second winter, and gave me 18 swarms 



last summer, which I doubled up to nine in 

 the fall ; so that I commenced the winter 

 with 14 colonies, all in chaif hives on the 

 summer stands. 



I use all Langstroth hives of my own 

 make. I have had some strange and laugh- 

 able experiences with my few colonies of 

 bees, if I were to relate them, as I suppose 

 all beginners have. This winter has been 

 veiy disastrous to bee-keepers in this 

 locality^ Out of the 14 colonies I have lost 

 3 from " diarrhea, I think caused by long 

 confinement. My bees did not have a 

 cleansing flight for SJ^,' months — in fact, 

 there was not a bee to he seen outside the 

 hive from Nov. loth to March 1st. One of 

 my neighbors has lost 80 colonies out of 42, 

 fall count. 



There are a great many engaged in bee- 

 culture to a small extent in this locality, 

 but only a few who go into it extensively. 

 My honey yields have been very small, as 

 I have run for increase, as will be seen by 

 the 18 swarms from 5. D. W. Heise. 



Bethesda, Ont., March 13, 1893. 



The Season of 1892. 



The bees came through the winter of 

 1891-92 very strong, and with very small 

 loss, but the spring was very cold — the 

 worst in 14 years — and the bees did not 

 build up as fast as usual. The forepart of 

 clover bloom it rained so much that there 

 was no honey in it, and as it was not the 

 basswood year, we did not get much from 

 basswood. As we do not have any fall 

 flowers of any account, we therefore have 

 to feed more or less every year. 



Addison, Vt. E. J. Smith. 



Gathering Honey from Sugar-Cane. 



The last time I extracted honey was on 

 Oct. 5 and 6, 1892, when I only extracted 8 

 out of 10 frames from the top of Langs- 

 troth-Simplicity hives, which were very 

 full of honey at that date. We have 65 

 colonies all in good condition, on summer 

 stands now (Feb. 7th). 



I was surprised to see my bees bringing 

 pollen and honey, and I wondered where 

 they could gather /loney in the winter, but I 

 think I have solved the mystery. In No- 

 vember we cut our sugar-cane for grinding, 

 and saving seed cane. I noticed the very 

 day the cane was being cut down, bees were 

 about in great quantities, sucking the sac- 

 charine matter from the stubbles and ends 

 of top cane. I wanted to write to the Bee 

 Journal at the time, but I was afraid to 

 make a blunder, and could not prove what 

 I wrote. But now I am sure of what I 

 write. Bees gather honey from stubble- 

 cane, and pollen from the woods, in this 

 month of February. All my bees are on 

 the summer stands, and seem to have more 

 honey now than they had on Jan. 1st. 



From what experience I have had in bee- 

 culture, since two years. I believe it can be 

 made very profitable here under proper 

 management, the climate being a great 



