136 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



September 



TheW. T. Falconer Man'f'g Co. 

 Gentlemen : — 1 am in receipt of the 

 500 shipping cases, and I thank yon 

 for your promptness. As usual they 

 are very nice and cannot fail to give 

 satisfaction. I wish to say here, that 

 for promptness and fair dealing you 

 have always been my ideal. In deal- 

 ing with you for a period covering- 

 more than 10 years I have never had 

 occasion to find the least fault. 



The season here has not been one 

 of the best. Raspberries and Bass- 

 wood did fairly well, but clover was 

 an entire failure. Buckwheat had 

 promised exceedingly well, but for 

 some reason, probably the cold weath- 

 er, it has never ended in the promise, 

 though the winter stores are all that 

 could be wished. H. J. Rooers. 

 WellsvUle, A 7 . Y. 1894. 



Editor American Bee-Keeper, 

 Dear Sir :— 1 wonder what the large 

 bee-keepers think about watering bees, 

 that is, giving them a little water in 

 the feeder ? 1 keep at present but one 

 swarm, but what a number of experi- 

 ments one can try with them. 



I was, in a field not long ago and 

 noticed both black and Italian bees 

 coming there after water. Now there 

 were no bees kept within one half 

 mile, unless there may have been a 

 bee tree, but I lined them and they 

 went toward quite a large apiary. 

 The next day I gave my bees some 

 water. The result was they took up 

 apout half a pint that day. I think 

 this is a saving. 



Is not a hive a little cooler with a 

 little water in the top evaporating ? 

 I think in such dry times as this it 

 pays, Yours, etc, 



Geo. A. Bostwick, 



Verbanl: Village, N. Y. 



SWARMING AND THE BEE-KEEPKU. 



^ r hat harvesting is to the farmer, 

 wh;tt pay-day is to the editor, what Sun- 

 day is to the minister, swarming is to 

 the bee-keeper. Proper swarming cul- 

 minates proper management. By this, 

 profit is made and loss sustained. 

 Swarming, unlike wintering and seas- 

 oning, is directly controllable. In- 

 crease and surplus honey result from 

 its method of procedure. 



If I wish to double the number of 

 colonies, is it that I must sacrifice my 

 amount of surplus honey? No! for the 

 reason that I may early divide the colo- 

 nies, give laying and clipped queens 

 (prepared in one or two frame nuclei 

 to avoid swarming while mating) to 

 the young colonies, and have them 

 prepared for the flow of honey. If 

 the season proves a failure, double up 

 colonies to winter. The ways of sac- 

 rificing honey for increase are numer- 

 ous, and the majority of bee-keepers 

 have already experienced them. 



Again, let us suppose a bee-keeper — 

 amateur or professional — managing 

 an apiary. The proper way for him 

 to proceed would be to have his hives 

 ready and clean, with combs free from 

 worms. He may, however, neglect 

 hives and combs until swarming is al- 

 ready upon him, then with hurry and 

 anger he rushes from point to place, 

 upturning last year's negligence, over- 

 turning hives of honey, bee-bread and 

 worms, himself blinded by the cloud 

 of moths issuing from the pile, etc. 



