189', 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



677 



Kood deal troubled with the disease, aud oue colony was par- 

 ticularly bad with it. The queen was very prolific, and kept 

 the hive well filled with brood, but the bees died off about as 

 fast as they hatcht. Wheu opening the hive I found the dis- 

 eased bees in every corner of the hive — on top of the frames, 

 in the rabbets, on the bottom-board, or any place where they 

 could fiud lodginp. The outside of the alighting-board was 

 usually covered with sick bees, their heads turned toward the 

 hive, their wings spread and shaking, and their abdomens 

 bloated ; aud on the ground the dead bees created such an 

 odor that I found it necessary to remove them, or cover them 

 with earth to remove the stench they created. Having tried 

 the different methods recommended in the Bee Journal, and 

 failing with all to effect a cure, I destroyed their queen. I 

 took the queen from the most healthy colony I had, 'and in- 

 troduced her in the place of the one destroyed. After all the 

 bees from the old queen died the colony became as healthy as 

 any I had. 



Hiving New Swarms in Surplus Cases. — This has 

 proved a faflure with me. I tried three swarms during our 

 white clover harvest. I caged their queens and hived directly 

 ou the sections. They went to work with a will, but on ex- 

 amining later I found that about one-half of the sections con- 

 tained more or less pollen, and could not be called first-class 

 honey. I have had enough of that kind of work. I prefer my 

 old plan, by hiving on empty frames with a queen-excluding 

 honey-board over the frames, and putting sections filled with 

 foundation on top of that. 



Laying Queens Fighting. — During the latter part of 

 the '60's, when I got my first Italian queen, I tried to Ital- 

 inize my bees, but as there were only black bees around here, 

 the young queen mated with a black drone. But the follow- 

 ing season I felt better prepared to get my young Italian 

 queens purely mated. As soon as I had queen-cells ready, I 

 took two of those mismated queens out of their hives to ex- 

 change for cells. After making the exchange I tried to find 

 out what those queens would do if put within reach of each 

 other. As both queens were in their prime, full of eggs, and 

 unable to tly, I dropt them on top of one of the hives, and 

 drove them toward each other. As soon as one of them recog- 

 nized the other as a queen, it made a grab at her, and got on 

 her back. I pulled them apart, and made them start even. 

 By guiding one with each hand, I got them to come together 

 facing each other. They clincht like two fighting dogs, rolled 

 over a few times, then spun around like a top, rolled over a 

 few more times, stinging each other, but their motions be- 

 came slower, and in a short time they fell apart, both dying. 

 I could not, however, see in what part of their bodies they 

 thrust their stings. Their motions were too quick for my 

 eyes to follow. 



REroRT. — This has been a good season for honey. I had 

 23 colonies in fair condition when the white clover harvest 

 opened, aud got 1,880 pounds of white clover honey, about 

 350 pounds of it being comb honey. I have taken since, 520 

 pounds of fall honey, mostly from Spanish-needle, and have 

 about 1,000 pounds more on the hives. I have Increast to 

 38 coIODies, by natural swarming. 



Poweshiek Co., Iowa, Sept. 19. 



Some Present-Year Experiences Recalled. 



BY N. F. MtTRPHY. 



A few warm days In February brought the bee to its 

 merry bum around the blooming cedar, which awakened and 

 revived in me a desire that had beei? somewhat reposiug since 

 last November, that of peering into the abode of the bee. I 

 found brood-rearing progressing nicely, as a rule, the excep- 



tions being a few weak colonies. Now, the eagerness with 

 which I followed up that Inspecting business, as opportunity 

 and weather would permit, can be realized only by the one 

 whose fever has reacht the alarming degree of 6>i. 



My bees wintered very successfully, even tho a few were 

 aOlicted with impotent queens. 



When looking after my bees previous to their going into 

 winter quarters last fall, I found one colony exceptionally 

 small — so small that it made a very sorry effort to cover four 

 frames. But my desire to bold my colonies to the highest 

 number caused me to still retain it as one. Seeing they lookt 

 rather too loose and lonely in a lO-frame hive to withstand 

 the coming zero weather, I set about to make it a little more 

 comfortable for them. Immediately I got the chaff, removed 

 all but four nice, heavy frames, took two snug-fitting division- 

 boards and placed them on either side of the four frames, and 

 filled in the outsides thereof with chaff, placed over the frames 

 an oil-cloth, filled in with a few rags on the oil-cloth, put on 

 the cover, and retired, feeling easy. 



The other was a select colony from which I desired only 

 drones. It was enclosed in a case as per Prof. Cook, and the 

 two-story Simplicity was then filled around two-thirds its 

 height with chaff. All the frames in the upper story were 

 then removed, and a covering placed on the frames of the 

 lower story (the covering having been trimmed from the re- 

 mains of an old hemp-sack), used with a feeding stage ar- 

 ranged in the center as per the direction of Frank Benton. 

 The chaff was then filled in, all covered securely, and left just 

 so until along in February, when I rolled back the chaff and 

 began feeding ; and the way those bees boomed ! Why, Doo- 

 little couldn't have helpt admiring it. 



About the middle of March I went down into that colony 

 to see how my drone-larvae were doing, feeling certain I would 

 find plenty of them. Brood was found in six out of nine 

 frames (worker-brood, I mean), but the drone-comb that hung 

 in the center— my, my ! was perfectly empty ! This I disliked 

 very much, (or I had intended to rear queens extra early, that 

 they might take their flight before the black drones were able 

 to fly. I closed the hive, proceeded in haste to a near-by 

 hive that seemed to be strong, tho only protected by chaff 

 above. That queen had beguu depositing eggs very rapidly 

 in drone-cells. I shall remember by this that it is not in every 

 case that extra protection assures the earlier drones. 



Having wintered with heavy stores, and being generally 

 hindered from early spring work by the late-lasting cool 

 weather, the bees were permitted to congregate large forces 

 for work when the weather turned warm. The weather 

 opened at last — 



When the beautiful birds begin to sing. 



All lovers ot the beautiful are tilled with delight. 

 By the hum of ths bee that's ever on wing 

 From early dawn till the fall ot night. 



Yes, everything about the apiary got on a rush, even the 

 little -i-frame colony spread itself. 



Desiring increase, and wishing for the most honey possi- 

 ble at the same time, I resolved to try the nucleus system. So, 

 having had, by April 25, five nicequeen-cells built and almost 

 ready for removal, I began preparing nuclei of the 3-frame 

 class. Not possessing that cool cellar to deposit them in for 

 a day or two, that they might stay with their combs when re- 

 turned to the yard, I occupied a house used for the storage of 

 apples, using a lOframe hive with the front ail closed but 

 about three iuches, and that covered with wire-cloth, to give 

 air. The weather being warm, and not feeling sure of suc- 

 cess, I tried but three of the five in this way, the other two 

 being placed in the yard on stands where they were to remain, 

 with entrances closed till nightfall, when they were made 

 large enough to let in one bee at a time. 



The next day I found that almost all of the bees had left 



