American Bee Journal, 



DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. XII. 



CHICAG-O, JANUARY, 1876. 



No. 1, 



Seasonable HintS' 



Through the month of January the 

 bees require no care in the cellar or 

 house. They only ask to be in darkness 

 and quiet. If they are on their summer 

 stands, and have quilts or carpets over 

 their frames, they will not suffer; though 

 the entrances are blocked with snow. It 

 is well, however, to see that the entrance, 

 during a thaw, does not become stopped 

 with water and dead bees, which a sud- 

 den cold wind may convert into ice. 

 Wliile you have nothing to do for the bees 

 directly in this month, it is the time to 

 plan for another season's work, and pre- 

 l)are your liives and honey-boxes. We 

 hope the experience which some of you 

 have had will not be repeated this winter; 

 viz. : your bees die at such a rate that you 

 will need no new hives. If you have 

 been careful, we are sure you will not. 

 There is a feeling of discouragement with 

 regard to the scale of extracted honey 

 which we fear will lead many to re-model 

 their hives, and try next season to secure 

 box honey only. We say " fear," because 

 we are sure that no such change is neces- 

 sary for those who wish to secure the 

 greatest amount of profit from their bees. 

 We know tliat the extractor must be used 

 by western bee-keepers, in order to keep 

 their colonies strong in numbers from 

 May to November. We have seen, dur- 

 ing the past year, many colonies that did 

 well in June, but afterward stored nothing 

 in boxes ; and though the hives were full 

 below, they had few bees, and had given 

 their owner no profit. If those colonies 

 had been " robbed" by the extractor of 

 all the honey they could spare early in 

 the season, the queen would have used 

 the empty room ; more bees would have 

 been raised, and surplus boxes might 

 have been filled, besides the profit from 

 the extracted honey. The ^ale of extract- 



ed honey is another question (we can tell 

 you how to sell it in another article). 

 What we claim is, that it is better to take 

 the honey from the bees, even if it had no 

 cash value. 



As to hives — those who do not care to 

 increase their number of colonies, will 

 find it best to have large hives containing 

 from fifteen to twenty frames, side by 

 side. Hives like these, well filled with 

 bees, and with well arranged boxes and 

 frames for honey, will give large amounts 

 of honey in nearly every season. The 

 comb foundations are sure to be a great 

 help, not only in the main hive, but in the 

 surplus boxes. Every bee-keeper can af- 

 ford to have them in his boxes, and also 

 in his main hives to secure the combs 

 straight, as well as to save the bees time 

 and labor. 



We hope the sale of these will be large 

 enough to reduce the price somewhat, but 

 even at the present price, no one not well 

 supplied with empty comb, can afford to 

 do without them. In surplus boxes and 

 frames for securing box-honey, they will 

 insure the combs to be built straight, and 

 give the bees just the inducement to work 

 in them, which is necessary. E. s. t. 



All women who keep bees and 

 would like to make contributions of 

 honey, hives, bees, etc., to the display of 

 " Woman's Work" in the ladies' building 

 for exhibition of woman's work especi- 

 ally, at the Centennial Exhibition, are in- 

 vited to write for particulars to Ellen 8. 

 TupPER, Des Moines, Iowa. 



^^" There may be a few whose term of 

 subscription closed with the year 1875, 

 who do not wish to take the American 

 Bee Journal. All such should notify 

 us at once, as we send all Journals till 

 we receive a notice to discontinue them. 

 Publisher. 



