162 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



minute ; then I found I could run a great 

 deal easier. Next, I put a 27 ft. balance 

 on the saw-shaft. This made it much 

 better still, and right here I will say, that 

 no one should undertake to make hives 

 without using two balance-wheels; the 

 one on the saw shaft should be 20 to 24 

 inches in diameter, and weigh 25 to 40 

 fts.. the other about 100 fts., and three 

 feet in diameter. It may be used for the 

 pulley. A small pully can be put on the 

 same shaft, so we can use another belt 

 and horse-power when we have much 

 sawing to do. The saw can be run 1,500 

 to 2,000 revolutions with one horse. I 

 hope some honest man will make saws as 

 they should be, at a reasonable price. 

 They can be made for $40.00 or $50.00. 



I would like to hear from others. It is 

 certainly your duty to speak on this sub- 

 ject. R. S. Becktell. 



New Buffalo, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee Notes from Morrison. 



And surely they can not be very warm 

 ones, for here it is, April 18th, and hardly 

 warm weather enough for bees to fly, wind 

 in the cold north and cloudy over he^d! 

 The earth saturated with ice water and 

 every thing blue with cold, does not give 

 bee-men a cheerful outlook for profits 

 from the apiary ; still we can hope for the 

 warm sun to heat up mother earth by and 

 by. We thought last spring that we were 

 having the worst spell of weather, but I 

 hardly think it would compare with this; 

 thus far we have had no such warm days 

 as last year, vegetation is not so far ad- 

 vanced — although the past winter has been 

 more mild — yet, I opine that we will have 

 more trouble to successfully spring our 

 bees than we did last year — if we have 

 had so mild a winter — and speaking of 

 " springing " our bees, reminds me of the 

 location of some of the apiaries in the 

 country. Did it ever occur to some of our 

 bee-keepers that there is a draught or cur- 

 rent of air out of doors? Just as danger- 

 ous to a stock of bees as to the owner, is 

 a sliglit, steady cold draught of air, such 

 as one will experience in some places 

 almost all the time, be it never so still 

 and warm ; and as man is subject to disease 

 in such places, so will a stock of bees 

 feel the effect of such localities which 

 will be manifest in the depopulating by 

 degrees, of the stocks, without being 

 able to discover the reason why ; this cool 

 air is very pleasant for man for awhile in 

 a hot day, but it will tell on the constitu- 

 tion in time, if one is compelled to live 

 in it. 



I would much prefer my bee yard where 

 the heat of the summer's sun can have 

 full play with no cooling draught, than to 

 have the same located in the refreshing 



breeze ; at all times bees like comforts as 

 well as man, and they know best how to 

 appreciate good locations, and the man 

 that has his stocks stand in such an un- 

 healthy place must have himself only to 

 blame, if in the counting of his profits, 

 he mourns over the loss, instead of con- 

 gratulating, with the success of his pets. 

 Bee-culture has become too much of a 

 science, to discard, even the minutiae of 

 its surroundings, and since we have got 

 by the "taking up" process for our 

 profits, and come to consider apiculture 

 as one of the sciences, it is necessary that 

 the first principles should be well estab- 

 lished, ere we can look for the dollars and 

 cents in the results. Theory as well as 

 practice admit that, in order to obtain 

 good results it is absolutely necessary to 

 have our stocks strong and healthy, and if 

 our apiary is located in an unhealthy 

 locality, how can we expect other than 

 unsatisfactory results; and as health is 

 wealth with man, so is a healthy wind 

 sheltered spot, one of the main points of 

 success in the management of bees : and 

 another point that I think of much im- 

 portance in springing bees, second only 

 to location, is the feeding of them a little, 

 and that regula/i'ly, and often. Even if they 

 have a plenty, or a super-abundance, we 

 all know that a queen will lay more eggs 

 when food is plenty and coming in, than 

 when it is otherwise — and right now is 

 when the extractor is of as much value as 

 at any time during the year, by taking 

 away the surplus honey that may remain in 

 the hives, and judiciously feeding it back 

 to the stocks; in no way can stocks be 

 built up so rapidly and be ready to gather 

 the honey from the fruit flowers that will 

 soon come. Don't wait for the bees lo have 

 to find it ou the trees; put some food 

 where they can have access to it and not 

 have to go miles to hunt in the cold winds 

 and come back benumbed with cold, 

 obliged to linger outside because the 

 chilly wind drives them in their fatigued 

 condition out of their line of flight; they 

 are blown down and get stilfeued upon 

 the cold ground, and cousequeutl}', can 

 not rise again, and are lost: every bee lost 

 during this mouth, is worth five in July, 

 and if we can keep them busy at home, 

 we will have fewer losses in springing, 

 and stronger stocks to gather the honey by 

 and by, lor the honey will be in the flow- 

 ers, it has every year so far, and '76 will 

 not be an exception in that respect ! Some- 

 time before next winter we will have a 

 honey harvest, if we only have the gather- 

 ers ; and speaking of honey extractors, how 

 many apiaries tliat contemplate or intend 

 getting an extractor this season, will wait 

 until they want to use it, then make up 

 their mind, and order one and the next 

 day, go to the express oflice and see if it 

 has come, and alter the second day or 

 visit, write the manufacturor a scathing 



