THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



177 



and the state of the vegetable juices, concur for 

 its production. Thus honey-dews only occur 

 if cold suddenly follows humid warmth, at a 

 time when trees and smaller plants are turgid 

 with the full flow and circulation of sap, and 

 every leaf-vessel is exuberantly filled with still 

 unchanged saccharine juices; and aphides fel- 

 low in course if the subsequent state of tiie 

 weather cause fermentation in these extruded 

 juices. J. Mueller. 



For tlie American Bee Jouroal. 



To Obtain the Largest Amount of Sur- 

 plus Honey. 



In June, 1865, I placed a strong swarm m a 

 large Laugstroth hive, 18 inches square, and 9 

 inches deep, holding 13 frames. -This hive was 

 completely filled during the season, and the 

 colony wintered well on its summer stand. 

 June 1, 1866, I removed the honey-board, and 

 placed six boxes directly over the frames, the 

 boxes being made six inches deep, and large 

 enough to precisely cover the whole top of the 

 hive, the outer ends of the boxes resting on the 

 sides of the hive, and the inner ends resting on 

 a thin slat placed on the top of the middle 

 frame, thus preserving the shallow chamber 

 above the tops of the frames, and allowing free 

 access to all the boxes. These six boxes were 

 all filled with honey during the season, weigh- 

 ing, when taken otf, 61 -i lbs. 



I was absent from home during the swarming 

 season, but have reason to believe that thishive 

 threw a large swarm. The bees had been no- 

 ticed to hang out in immense numbers for 

 several weeks, when they suddenly ceased to 

 do so, although the weather continued as warm 

 as before; but no one saw a swarm leave. Last 

 year was considered a very poor honey year in 

 this vicinity, very few colonies casting swarms 

 or storing any surplus honey. 



I attribute the success of this colony, as com- 

 pared Willi those of my neighbors, mainly to 

 the form and size of the hive. It contains, ex- 

 clusive of the space occupied by the frames, 

 about 3,500 cubic inches, giving full scope to 

 the most fertile queen, and thus keeping up a 

 strong stock. Then, its area for surplus honey- 

 boxes is the largest possible, and the distance 

 to be traversed by the bee to deposit its load of 

 honey is the shortest pessible. I am satisfied 

 that, withiu reasonable limits, the larger the 

 simce given to bees for surplus honey, tlie more 

 they will deposit, other things being equal. 

 One great merit of the Langstroth hive is that 

 its broad and shallow forrn affords abundaut 

 space for surplus boxes. 



Some bee-keepers have raised objections to 

 this form of hives, thinking that bees did not 

 winter well in them. I believe that any failure 

 to winter bees successfully in the Laugstroth 

 hives is due to some other cause than its form. 

 I have used them for several years, and never 

 lost a swai-m, and would not do without them 

 for twice the patent fee charged, for they pay it 

 back in extra surplus honey Ihe first season. 



R. BiCKFUKD. 



Seneca Falls, N. Y., Feb. 11, 1867. 



For tho American Bee Journal and Gazette. 



I began bee-culture in this country with the 

 common box and basket-hives, in which the 

 bees were when I procured them, using maga- 

 zine hives as my stock increased; but for some 

 years past I have used the Dzierzon standard 

 and lager hives exclusively — more especially 

 of late his twin hives, with which I am well 

 pleased. In my practice I prefer liars to frames. 

 I intend in future to use the Laugstroth hive 

 also. 



From an Italian queen procured from Mr. 

 Langstroth, I have already by division and 

 the use of nuclei increased my stock of that race 

 to twelve colonies. These Italian bees render 

 bee-culture so peculiarly attractive that I shall 

 as speedily as possible substitute Italian queens 

 for all the common queens remaining in my 

 apiary. For this purpose I shall resort exclu- 

 sively to artificial swarming, because natural 

 swarms usually come too late in the season. 



The past year was not altogether favorable for 

 bee-culture in this region, though I was still 

 able to take from twenty to thirty-five pounds 

 of honey from each of my stronger stocks. 



I shall endeavor to contribute all I can to the 

 diffusion of improved bee-culture in this neigh- 

 borhood, mainly for the sake of advancing the 

 good cause. S. M. 



Cincinnati. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Failure of Honey. 



Mr. Editor: I wish to inquire of you, or 

 through the Journal, whether the honey re- 

 sources of a country become impoverished as 

 the country grows old. When this part of the 

 country was new, almost all the bee-trees and 

 hives were full of honey in the fall of the 

 year. 



At that time, and before the forests were 

 cleared, those that cut bee-trees and killed otf 

 their bees in the fall, thought nothing of taking 

 from one hive from fifty to one hundred pounds 

 of honey, and now it seemshardly worth while 

 to keep bees, or take them up in the fall. It 

 is seldom a new swarm will gather honey 

 enough to keep it through the winter, except it 

 is put into a hive with combs. New or first 

 swarms last summer did not gather only from 

 two to ten pounds of honey; and there will not 

 be one out of ten that will see the first of April 

 next without they are liberally fed; and old 

 stores are very light. There is certainly some- 

 thing wrong. The honey has become exhausted, 

 the seasons are not right, the honey-producing 

 flowers have failed, or the country has became 

 overstocked with bees. There seems to be a 

 steady decrease of honey in single hives. There 

 were plenty of flowers with us last summer, 

 especially White Clover and Apple blossoms, 

 and more buckwheat sown than for any three 

 years previous, in this section. Am I wrong 

 in attributing a failure to the age of the coun- 

 try? 



TnOS. PlERSON. 



Ghent, Onio, Feb., 1867. 



