288 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLKxNAl. 



He was a strong advocate of the King 

 hive, though he used, principally a modi- 

 fied form of it, having the hives made 

 larger every way so as to accommodate 

 several tiers of frames. He claimed that 

 such a hive was more profitable with him 

 than the others, as he depended mostly 

 upon the Extractor for honey. At the 

 time of his death he had about 80 colonies 

 — all bright Italians and descendents of 

 queens purchased several years ago of 

 jSIrs. Tupper. He was a strong believer 

 in the superiority of the Italians. 



His colonies were arranged in his bee- 

 yard, in the rear of his dwelling in a very 

 pleasing manner, beneath the shade of 

 cherry, peach, apple and other varieties 

 of trees, with paths, walks, and avenues 

 lietween, reminding one of a miniature 

 city sequestered among shady bowers. 



For several years he was a zealous ad- 

 vocate of in-door wintering, and he built 

 a house for that purpose, which was 

 quite roomy, having the sides made double 

 Avith saw dust filled between. His bee 

 liouse was veiitillated at the top, and he 

 could maintain any degree of temperature 

 that he desired. He also had wire cloth 

 ventilators in the tops of his hives during 

 their stay in-doors .But he did. not succeed 

 very well winter before last; many of the 

 combs became mouldy and the bees near- 

 ly all manifested signs of dysentery. Bo 

 last winter he resolved to not house them 

 as heretofore but to try and make them 

 comfortable during the winter ou their 

 summer stands. He accordingly pro- 

 cured rough clap-boards, which by using 

 corner posts, he weather-boarded up into 

 boxes, one for each hive and each having 

 a slanting roof. After placing a quilt on 

 the top of the frames and filling in with 

 hay or straw on the top of it and under 

 the cap, he placed one of the large outer 

 coverings around each of his hives and 

 packed between them and the hives with 

 straw or hay, leaving an opening in front, 

 wliich in severe weather he closed with a 

 l)unch of prairie hay, on top of which he 

 placed a rough board with one end of it 

 slanting against the box. 



ny this plan he claimed that his success 

 Avas perfect, as his colonies were all vig- 

 orous and strong in numbers in the spring, 

 having no signs of dysentery undjno niould- 

 coml)s. 



For two years he was President of our 

 Btate Association antl made a very ctlici- 

 ent ollicer. 



Tlie last meeting of the Association, at 

 wiiicli he was present, he di'livered a very 

 ahlc! address, in which he gave us a sum- 

 mary of all tlu! modern ideas and improv- 

 men'ts and pointed out the relative value 

 of eacli to apiculture in Kansas. 



His energy an,d enthusiasm infused life 

 into this as well as into every thing to 

 which his attention was directed. 



In his death, the Society lias lost a 

 friend, and the bee-keepers have lost a 

 wise and experienced counsellor — one who 

 was always wide-awake and progressive 

 in his ideas. M. A. O'Neil. 



Black Jack, Kansas. 



■ For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Toads and Bees. 



In this locality (7 miles northeast of 

 Saratoga Springs) it will not do to have 

 the entrance, or alighting board of hives 

 nearer than 9 or 10 in. from the ground, 

 on account of toads. Neither will it do 

 to have a board leaned from the ground 

 to the entrance. Toads are numerous 

 and trouble bees most, early in the sum- 

 mer. Later in the summer, fleas, bugs, 

 and other insects are more numerous, and 

 bees seem to be disturbed less by toads. 

 During the day the toads are quiet under 

 bee-hives or boards, or somewhere out of 

 sight, but in the evening and during the 

 night they are out in force. I have, ia 

 the evening, passed in front of hives 

 without a lantern, wheu the alightliig 

 boards were from 4 to 6 inches from the 

 ground and there was from one or two 

 toads at the entrance of nearly every hive 

 catching bees. I have seen them when 

 the hives were raised higher from tlie 

 ground hop against the edge of the alight- 

 Tng board, and fall back. I have also 

 seen a toad hop u\) an inclined board to 

 the entrance of a hive, wheu the entrance 

 was 15 inches from the ground. 



Early in the summer, as the weather 

 gets warmer and bees more populous, 

 there are usually bees at the entrance all 

 night. Atotufwill set on the alighting 

 board and should a bee go within 2 or 3 

 inches of it the bee will disappear so 

 (piickly that it is almost impossible to see 

 what becomes of it. Where toads have 

 access to bees they usually in the morn- 

 ing contain from '2 to 8 bees each, and 

 they do not cat dead bees either. 



Cat birds are very attentive around bee- 

 hives in .luiie and July, but I have not, 

 proved them guilty of catching bees, '^r 

 even drones. They are often immature 

 bees, and moth wnniis. 



Saratoga, I\. V. S. lU'cciLEs. 



It is estimated there are two milHwi 

 bee-hives in tli(! United States. A hive 

 yields on an average a little over 22 lbs. 

 of honey. The average price at which 

 lioiiey is sold is 20 cents a It., so that the 

 revenue from bee.v is $8,800,OOtt. 



