224 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



get too thick around, they shake their 

 heads and dodge away for fear of being 

 stung. At the time the bees are driving 

 out the drones, they are most attentive, and 

 will run from one hive to another and pick 

 up the drones that are being worried out of 

 the hive by the workers; but I have never 

 seen them catch or eat a worker bee, not 

 even the cripples that are fluttering on the 

 ground to get away from the hive. They 

 will look at them sometimes carefully, but 

 soon as they find they are not drones, they 

 shake their heads and pass on, as much as 

 to say, You will sting; I don't like you. 

 My hives are from one foot to eighteen 

 inches from the ground, with pieces of old 

 boards resting on the ground and against 

 the alighting board, and it is as the drones 

 ■come rolling down these that the hens catch 

 them. 



Having been inquired of as to the price 

 of honey here, I will state that I sell most 

 of mine to consumers for 30 cents. Last 

 year I could not dispose of it all that way, 

 and sold several hundred pounds in the 

 comb, in small frames^ for 25 cents gross 

 weight. I do not extract a great deal, but 

 for what I do I get 30 cents from the drug- 

 gists, who want it in that form, knowing 

 it to be pure. 



J. Ralston Wells. 



5134 Lancaster-av., Phila. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Hint. 



'Overstocking is not as liable to occur as 

 loverloadiug the combs, in any hive, or api- 

 ary ; let it be few in numbers, or many, it 

 is liable to occur, and often does with a 

 small neuclei, as well as in a doubled or 

 threbled swarm or stock. Let a small 

 ipart of the space that has been for- 

 merly occupied by the patent hive, that is 

 :seldom overstocked with any real value, be 

 ■occupied in explaining why one stock is 

 ■overstocked; another by its side giving the 

 large surplus, as spoken of by the patent 

 hive man, that does not, or cannot, say 

 anything else but overstocking and recom- 

 mending his hive; when there is location, 

 liives, queens, bees of the difterent qualities 

 and quantities, stores, too little of honey or 

 ■bread, or the reverse. 



Now, will that big pot hive do all the 

 managing, to make all the conditions right 

 for the big surplus ? There never was a 

 l)lace seen, during a yield of honey, where 

 bees were kept, that was overstocked with 

 well inauaged stocks!! It depends on na- 

 ture, controlled by the superior, and the 

 ikeeper, to keep the conditions right, wheth- 

 •cr in one hive or the other. 



To get honey, bees should be kept to 

 gather it. The surplus should be kept out 

 -of the way of the earnings of the young 



bees. One inch of honey stored around 

 the brood nest, while more is to be gather- 

 ed; that hive sutlers for room; it makes 

 no difference, whether there is many thou- 

 sand empty cells around it, it suffers as bad 

 as one of the large stocks, with every cell 

 full of eggs, larva, bread, and honey. 



A man that says a box hive, or bars are 

 as good as frames, is not supposed to know 

 how to getout the surplus honey, bee bread, 

 eggs, brood, or the different qualities or 

 quantities of bees, or queens; or add any 

 one or more of the above, to make the 

 condition right for obtaining surplus, either 

 from the comb or in boxes, or improving 

 the quality or quantity or stock. 



J. M. Marvin. 



St. Charles, 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping in the South. 



I am pleased to see that the two impor- 

 tant bee-journals of the United States have 

 united, and that we are now to have one 

 first-class paper. 



I am sorry to see so few communications 

 from the South. Most of the articles and 

 experiments are not adapted to this locality. 

 The difhculties in the North, and the ob- 

 stacles in the way of success are no obsta- 

 cles here. We have no trouble, for in- 

 stance, or danger in wintering bees. We 

 make no preparation for this. Our bees 

 stand on their summer stands, "with no 

 change or protection, and I have not lost a 

 swarm in thirty years. My bees frequently 

 gather honey and pollen all winter. 



I frequently receive letters making inqir- 

 ies about this country as a bee country, and 

 you will permit me to answer through your 

 paper. 



1 find that the questions from different 

 persons and different localities, amount to 

 about the same. 



1st. Is yours a good bee country ? 



Yes. The bees swarm well, and gather 

 plenty of honey. I have taken from a 

 number of hives this season one hundred 

 pounds of box honey, and two hundred 

 pounds extracted honey. I could have 

 taken more with close attention. 



2d. What time do bees swarm ? 



The last of March or first of April. The 

 swarming season continues througli April 

 and May, if it is a good honey season. AVe 

 sometimes liave plenty of honey-dew in 

 September and October, and I have liad 

 swarms in three months. We can begin to 

 raise queens the first of March, and have 

 them ready for sale first of April. 



3d. What is your bee pasture ? 



Ans. Early flowers in February, from 

 wliich bees gather pollen and honey ; peach 

 bloom last of February and first of March; 

 apple, locust, and China bloom first of 



