American Bee Journal, 



DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. XI. CEDAR RAPIDS, APRIL, 1875. No. 4. 



4 .!.... ^Ji^.. 4rl 



W.F.CLARKE, [editous 



Mrs. E. S. TLTPPER, f ^^iTonb. 



Seasonable Hints. 



The eggs of a queen are developed by 

 heat, just as are the eggs of a fowl. Bee 

 keepers are apt to forget this, in the spring, 

 and do not economize tlieheatof the hive. 

 We have seen hives out of doors in this 

 mouth of changeable weather — with all 

 the holes or top open, and the entrance as 

 large as it ought to be in summer. Bees 

 need no ventilation now. Every crevice 

 should be closed and the quilts kept on 

 the frames, that none of the heat generat- 

 ed by the cluster escape. If there are but 

 few bees in the hive, we always remove 

 all comb except as much as the bees can 

 cover. For instance if the bees can only 

 protect the brood, deposited in two combs, 

 take out all the others. As the circle of 

 brood grows larger and the weather warm- 

 er, add one comb at a time until the hive 

 is full. In this way we succeed much 

 better than we did when we left the hives 

 full of comb. We have always fed colo- 

 nies that needed it inside the hive, on top 

 of the frames or in one side — and have no 

 experience in feeding all together in the 

 open air ; but Mr. Dale, one of our most 

 successful Iowa bee-keepers, tells us, tliat 

 he has practiced feeding outside the hives 

 with good results. We inquired if he did 

 not in that way feed his neighbor's bees, 

 with his own, and he gave us his method 

 of preventing this, as follows : 



" I put the sugar syrup into my shallow 

 feeders, near the hive, quite late in the 

 afternoon, after all isquiet about thehives. 

 At that time my neighbor's bees are at 



home and will not be attracted by tlu' 

 food. To make my own bees find it— I 

 go to the hives, with a dipper of the syrup 

 and a spoon and throw a little into the 

 entrance of the hive. The bees rush out, 

 as bee-keepers know they will do, in such 

 cases, go to the troughs and work busily 

 until all is taken up. J give them no more 

 then they can carry in ; if any remains 

 over, I take it away." 



Mr. Dale says it is fun to see how busi- 

 ly they work at it, and how much good 

 it seems to do them. We shall try this 

 method in our own apiary as soon as 

 spring comes. We need not say that it 

 should not be tritd when there is any 

 chill in the air, and would also advise that 

 the syrup should be quite warm when put 

 in the troughs. Weak colonies will be 

 the better for feeding inside the hive, in 

 addition to this. 



Be on your guard against robbery. 

 Prevention of this is easier than cure. 

 See that every hive has a queen — have all 

 entrances closed, and there is litcle dan- 

 ger. If you see that robbers are attacking 

 a hive, take it at once to the cellar until 

 all bees are in the hives, then lake it out 

 and examine it. If it is quecnless, give it 

 a frame of brood from another hive, if 

 you have no queen for it ; but if it is only 

 weak, protect it, and it will take care of 

 itself. T. 



Experiments with Honey. 



A correspondent of tlie Scientific Ameri- 

 can has been experimenting to prevent 

 honey can<lying, and states his experience 

 as follows : During tlie past autumn, I 

 liave experimented as follows : I put up six 

 1 lb cans of beautiful linden honej% being 

 careful to make it into one homogeneou.s 

 mass by stirring. It was thrown from the 

 combs by an extractor on July 30, and put 

 into cans on Aug. I. The cans were placed 

 respectively as follows :— one in a dark, dry 



