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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 28, 



my yard nuclei. I went immediately to the house nuclei, feel- 

 ing sure that nothing worse could have befallen them ; but 

 imagine my surprise, upon finding the entrance most crowded 

 with dead bees — h(A, yes, hot as could be, smothering to death. 

 I then slid the top back far enough to give them one-eighth 

 inch air-space, and then procured a pail and threw a little cold 

 water in at the entrance of each. The next evening they 

 were also placed on stands in the yard. 



I found, upon opening, that two-thirds of the bees had 

 smothered to death. The entrances then were fixt as in the 

 case of the first two, and fresh bees shaken into almost all of 

 the five ; and the morning following cells were inserted in 

 each of them. 



Some one's ready to ask, " What about the robber bees ? 

 How did you keep them from ruining your nuclei ?" The bees 

 could find plenty to do elsewhere. That's all that kept them 

 from winding up In a tale of empty combs. 



When the young queens began to lay, I exchanged places 

 with the older ones (somewhat progressive, you see), taking 

 the old queens from the stronger colonies, thereby breaking 

 up the swarming desire of those colonies for the season. 



Extracting then followed at intervals of every two weeks, 

 but nothing of particular noie occurred in that line till along 

 in July, when I was extracting for the last time, from the last 

 colony, in the last hour of the day, and assisted by the second 

 to last choice for help. My big, broad-faced brother, the as- 

 sistant, who could not for a moment think of exposing his 

 countenance to the merry punctures of the bee, insisted on 

 the use of the veil (the only veil, too !) himself. I readily con- 

 sented, resolving to stand by the smoker for protection. We 

 did exceedingly well, I might say, till we came to the above 

 colony, when my brother approacht, pulled up the top about 

 three inches (it being a Simplicity), when from his grasp it 

 slipt, and back firmly it dropt. Having come up about that 

 time with the smoker, he proceeded to remove the cover, when 

 the idle, angry bees began to emerge therefrom somewhat in 

 the order that a swarm leaves a log-gum — from every available 

 crack and crevice. The trusty smoker was brought imme- 

 diately to bear on them, when, to my dismay, it failed to fire, 

 because of its lack of fuel. With unprotected face and hands, 

 and a firm but very emphatic, " Here, take the smoker," I 

 made a left quarter turn, and beat a hasty, successful, tho not 

 in movement the most graceful, retreat, not stopping for a 

 moment till I reacht several apple-trees, where, with bent 

 form, I shot among the undermost limbs, and out on the oppo- 

 site sides, shedding a little hair, a button or two, and of bees 

 not a few. I returned to find that all had quieted down, and 

 my brother peaceably removing tho frames from which the 

 honey was to be extracted. 



This extracting placed my surplus of this class at about 

 550 pounds, with about 00 pounds of comb. Having increast 

 the number of colonies to 19, from spring count of 10, with 

 the above amount of honey (and that, too, with but very little 

 assistance from the basswood), I feel that a seasonable busi- 

 ness has been done. Bees just now are in fine condition to 

 harvest the aster honey crop, which at present is suffering for 

 rain. Maury Co., Tenn., Sept. 11. 



Langfstrotli on the Honey-Bee, revised by 

 The Dadants, is a standard, reliable and ihoroughly complete 

 work on bee-culture. It contains 5l!0 pages, and is bound 

 elegantly. lOvery reader of the American Bee Journal should 

 have a copy of this book, as It answers hundreds of questions 

 that arise about bees. We mail it fur .$1.25, or club it with 

 the Bee Journal for a year — both together for only .$2.00. 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and got all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for It. See offers on page 685. 



CONDOCTBD BY 



OK. O. O. MII^LBR. SIARENGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct. 1 



The <■>■ Acme " and Ciiaff llive§. 



Do you know anything about Mr. Teflt's Acme hive, lately 

 written up in the Southland Queen ? What is your opinion of 

 chaff hives generally ? I have no cellar. 



G. F. H., Iowa. 



Answer. — I have never seen the hive mentioned, and 

 know nothing about it except what has been written by the 

 inventor. For out-door wintering probably chaff hives would 

 be a good thing in Iowa, but it might be cheaper in the long 

 run to make a cellar than to adopt chaff hives. Still, it may 

 not be possible to have cellars in your locality, in which case 

 the chaff hive may be advisable. 



Several Interesting <(ue§tion$. 



1. What is the largest number of colonies ever success- 

 fully kept in a single apiary, at anyone time in any part of 

 the world ? I suppose you must have it on record. 



2. What's the largest quantity of honey ever taken from 

 a colony in one season at any time and place ? 



3. In what country do bees gather the most honey "? 



4. How long do Hoffman frames last in hives? 



5. When combs are old, I mean get black and hard, is it 

 necessary to renew them ? 



6. Will bees do better in house-apiaries than in the open 

 air? Jamaica. 



Answers. — 1. Six hundred have been profitably kept in 

 one apiary. I'm not sure whether more. 



2. One thousand pounds of extracted honey from one col- 

 ony were reported a few years ago by a Texas bee-keeper. 



3. At a guess I should say it lies between Australia and 

 California as to big crops in a single season. 



•1. They probably haven't been in use long enough for any 

 one to tell for certain. Judging from the lasting of frames 

 somewhat similar, I should say they ought to last 50 years. 



5. No; old black combs are better than new ones. The 

 bees take the old ones »n preference whenever a choice is 

 allowed them. 



6. Some who have tried house-apiaries say bees do not do 

 as well in them as in the open air. A few succeed with them 

 better than with bees in the open air. 



Blaek Honey — Swarnilnj 



1. From what do bees store black honey ? I've taken a 

 good deal this season that is as black as the ink 1 am writing 

 with. 



I started last year (April 16, 1896) with one colony, 

 bought three more, and increast to six. I lost one in January, 

 1897, from starvation, by being away from home. I bought 

 seven last spring, and have increast to 22, all in good condi- 

 tion. I have 16 colonies of Italians and 6 of blacks. I pro- 

 duced my first section honey this year, and sell it at 1.5 cents 

 per single pound, or two for 25 ceuts. 



2. I have a colony to which I introduced an Italian queen 

 April :!, 1897. I think it did fairly well, but the bees never 

 did anything to speak of in the sections, but get the swarming 

 fever just the same, and swarmed May 29, June 1, June 3, 

 again June 4, and I returned them to tho parent hive ; Aug 

 5, and I returned them ; Sept. 9, and I returned them. What 

 caused them to swarm so much, and so late in the season ? 



This Is my first year with Italians. I have never had over 

 three swarms with blacks, and none later than Juno 15 or 20. 



Mississippi. 



Answers. — 1. It may be honey-dew, which is perhaps 

 darker than any other honey. 



