182 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



workers made angels of all of them ! To 

 prevent after swarming in any hive, on 

 any place, whether you have one swarm 

 or five hundred, hive the first swarm, and 

 after you become satisfied that you have 

 got the queen with them, place the hive 

 upon the old stand, and move the old 

 stock just as far as the limits of your 

 yard will allow you, no matter if twenty 

 rods, or even forty. All of the old bees 

 with swarming propensity will leave the 

 old stock and join the new one, which 

 prevents after swarms very effectually. 

 No moving five or six feet, as I have heard 

 recommended ; it won't always prevent 

 after swarms. The old bees find it too 

 readily. Put on your surplus receptacles 

 the third or fourth day after hiving, and 

 if there is any surplus made, this stock 

 will make it. A. Beeasticus. 



[We are sorry our correspondent was 

 not pleased with the report of the New 

 York men. We thought it good reading. 

 The meeting was one of earnest and suc- 

 cessful men. We have no doubt they will 

 promptly retract, whenever they are con- 

 vinced that they cannot control the 

 swarming propensity. — Ed.] 



' ♦ ■ 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Drone Brood Only. 



I commenced bee-keeping in the spring 

 of 1875, with four weak colonies of black 

 bees, yet I received one swarm from each. 

 But one of the swarms lost its queen by 

 accident; another that swarmed on the 

 tcntli of July was properly hived and 

 placed OH the stand; but the following 

 morning I observed some returning to the 

 mother hive. The remaining bees began 

 to work earnestly for three weeks. Then 

 I noticed that there were more drones than 

 workers. On examination I found the 

 cells to contain only drone-brood. This 

 put me somewhat out of patience and I 

 let them experience brimstone. The re- 

 maining six hives I wintered on their 

 summer stands. They endured the winter 

 better than I had expected; but the winter 

 was verj' mild, even so that they worked 

 in February. This spring, to my astonish- 

 ment, I found three colonies containing 

 hybrids. The fruit trees were in bloom 

 for eleven days, and the bees are busily 

 working. 



Please account for the aforesaid hive 

 containing drone-brood. 



J. W. BiTTENBENDER. 



Knoxville, Iowa, May IG, 1876. 



[Without knowing more of the particu- 

 lars, we cannot say just what was the mat- 

 ter, but in some -wyiy there was either a 

 fertile worker, the queen being lost; or a 

 young queen, which failed to be fertilized, 

 and hence produced only drones. — Ed.] 



For the Amer.c: n Bee Journal. 



What Can Be Done? 



Mr. Editor: — There are a .ew facts re- 

 lating to the success of bee-Keeping that 

 are not duly kept in mind : 



1. Bees cannot make honey ; they can 

 only gather it. 



2. Of the honey gathered, the first stores 

 furnished must go to sustain the colony 

 during the time of labor, and the season 

 when the fields afford no flowers for 

 honey. 



3. A colony of bees will consume from 

 60 to 100 lbs. of honey per annum. 



4. If more colonies of bees are in the 

 field than the field yields 200 lbs. per col- 

 ony, they cannot average 100 lbs. of sur- 

 plus. 



5. If more colonies than the field will 

 average 150 lbs. of honey per colony, they 

 cannot average 50 lbs. of surplus. 



6. If there is but an average 100 lbs., a 

 part of the colonies will give some sur- 

 plus, and secure winter stores, and some 

 will starve to death. 



Now, let us examine Otto Halblieb's 

 field given in the last issue of the Jour- 

 nal, page 119 ; 



170 old colonies require 17,000 lbs. 



115 new swarms 11,500 lbs. 



1500 at 20 cents surplus 2,500 lbs. 



Amounting to 31,000 lbs. 



Deduct far failure to carry all 



through the winter 1,000 lbs. 



Then we have 30,000 lbs. 



as the product of the field. 



7. One hundred colonies in a properly 

 prepared nonswarmer hive, would gather 

 the field and give 20,000 lbs., in surplus, 

 |4,000. Thev would consume at 100 lbs. 

 each, 10,000 lbs., $2,000. 



8. The product of the field is 30,000 lbs. 

 One class of hives consume one-third of 

 the product of the field, and gives two- 

 thirds in surplus. In the other case, 

 eleven-twelfth parts are consumed by the 

 bees, and one-twelfth part given in surplus. 



9. It is not necessary to inquire w^hich 

 is best, one-twelfth, or two-thirds of the 

 product of the field, $4,000 or |500. That 

 requires no guessing. 



10. But this is not all that is to be taken 

 into account. In one case you have to 

 watch, and care for, 170 stands of bees, and 

 hive 115 new swarms, furnishing from 

 flOO to $500 dollars worth of hives to put 

 in your new swarms to starve to death in 

 the winter, costing, according to the qual- 

 ity of the hive. 



11. On the other side, you have to place 

 your hives in the field, and the surplus 

 boxes in place, in their season; and re- 

 move them when filled, supplying empty 

 boxes in their place. 



12. Your colonies will hold good, 10,20, 

 or 30 years, or more. 100 lbs. of honej' for 



