206 



AMERICAN BEE JOUENAl- 



March 27, 1901. 



issued and started for the woods, and as I 



did not wish to lose any swarms I started 

 on a chase after them, all bundled up with 

 my bee-regalia on. I kept up with them for 

 nearly hali a mile, until I had to climb over 

 a stone wall, when I lost sight of them. Then 

 I returned, with the perspiration streaming 

 down into my boots. These 2 swarms issued 

 from the same hive about one hour apart. 

 Why did they not all come out in one swarm, 

 both being large swarms ? I doubled some 

 of the smaller colonies up after the honey 

 season, so I had 14 colonies that I put into 

 the cellar last November. 



I placed all the new swarms in 8- frame 

 Langstroth hives. I have just been in the cel- 

 lar to examine them and found them all 

 alive and with plenty of honey except 3 

 colonies which I think are just about out, 

 and as I had a quantity of sections that were 

 about 2-3 full, I took the covers off and set 

 these sections right over the cluster, and they 

 went to eating it at once. 



I think this is a good locality for bees. As 

 a rule they can be taken from the cellar about 

 the middle of April and placed on their sum- 

 mer stands. 



There are not many bees kept here within 

 10 miles, only 2 or 3 colonies in a place by 

 some farmer who does not half care for them. 



There is an abundance 01 white clover here 

 which lines the roadsides and pastures. 



F. E. Castle. 



Oneida Co., X. Y., March i. 



How He Began With Bees. 



In the bee-busutess "some are born great, 

 others liave grctitness imust upon tuem. 

 'I'ne bees were inrust upon me, tiiat is, a 

 swarm t;ame and settled on a .ilac-DUsn in 

 my tront yard, August 5, i6gg. i now have 

 9 colonies in my cellar in Uanzenbaker hives. 



1 see tlie question is asked,. "Do oees near.''" 

 If they do, 1- should think that some one who 

 is good with the microscope might find their 

 ears. I'ney seem to have good, large eyes, 

 anyway. D. M. Hanson. 



Marathon Co., Wis., March 7. 



Loss in Cellar-Bees— Tongue-Reaeh 



While looking over the back numbers of 

 the -American jjce Juurndi, i louna a promise 

 auove my name 10 rcpuit later un, matiers 

 relerred to tiierein (.see -.Marcii 28, lyoi, page 

 204). 



xiaving swept up what seemed to me an 

 excessive amount or dead bees, 1 began witli 

 the middle ot January to measure and record 

 ttie amount, and l nnd by . reierring to ttie 

 memorandum that irom the 70 colonies, from 

 Jan. 10 10 April j. oj qud. is u., u-,-vi ..^.-> 

 were swept up and 32 hives were spotted, 

 and here X hnd the memorandum detective; 

 1 failed to note how many ot tlie 70 colonies 

 came out alive, and buUt up into good shape 

 for the honey-rlow. But they did better than 

 I supposed they could. 1 think about 10 

 died, but many of the 70, as well as those 

 outside, were rather weak in bees. 



If you will reter on page 469, for July 12, 

 1890, you will find that lor joo colonies for 

 4 months in the cellar, Prof. A. J. Cook says, 

 "from 2 gills to 4 quarts;" G. M. Doolittle, 

 "from a peck to one bushel ;" Dadant & 

 Son, "half a bushel or more;" C. C. Miller, 

 "perhaps a bushel," Eugene Secor, "two bush- 

 els.'' This estimate is on 4 months for 1 00 

 colonies, while the 83 quarts from 70 col- 

 onies is on!y a little over 2^/2 months. Had 

 the time been 4 months and with 100 col- 

 onies instead of 70, the same death-rate 

 would have made a total of almost 6 bushels. 



Do you wonder that i f«'lt blue? 



Now as fo the length of tongue-reach of 

 the bees, the measurements were in one- 

 hundredths of an inch, and I found some as 

 short as 17-100, placing the points of the 

 mandible even with the base line, then stretch 

 the tongue full length and let it contract what 

 it would as it lay on the rule, under the 

 glass, and then count tlie looth marks. The 

 most of my colonies showed 19 to 223/3 

 looths. I shall continue to investigate and 

 try to have others measure bees from the 

 same hives and compare notes. 



The year 1901 was cool and extremely wet 

 in the spring; all the early bloom w.as full 

 of nectar. Clover came out tine and gave a 

 grand flow until the drouth came on, when 

 we had a month without any tlow. Drones 

 were all killed, and but little brood. With 

 the later rams came a go* id (low from h<:irts- 

 ease, etc., which continued tintil frost, giving 

 the bees abundant stores for winter and leav- 

 ing us nearly 2 tons for our trouble. 



We have 98 colonies in the cellar and 17 



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Please -n^ntion Bee Journal when -WTitiiig. 



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D. J. BLOCKER, Denbeigh, N. Dak. 



4Atf Please mention the Bee Journal. 



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The Em erson Binder. 



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HUNDREDS OF TEAMS 



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rtease mention Bee Journal "wlieu "Rrrltinr!: 



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 O. H. HYATT, 



13Atf Shenandoah, Page Co., Iowa. 



Plep'se mention Bee Journai wlien vTTiting. 



outside, having lost 2 outside in chaff hives; 

 thuse outside had a good flight Feb. 23, the 

 hrst since Jan. o. 



I have taken up 22\z quarts from the cellar- 

 Hoor so far, and 1 don't think there is a 

 hive spotted now. T'lie temperature has run 

 from 45 degrees to 52 degrees, the latter 

 making them restless. We keep the window 

 open part way all the time, e.xcepting when it 

 is very cold, and give them a good airing oc- 

 casionally. Theodore S. Hurley. 



1 ama Co., Iowa, Feb. 24. 



Wintering* in a Bee-House. 



My 75 colonies of bees are wintering well 

 in a bee-house above ground at a temperature 

 ui irom 32 to 38 degrees, tor almost the en- 

 tire winter of 3 months ^ast, in \vhich I 

 have wintered my bees for the past 3 years, 

 and not losing a single colony at that tem- 

 perature. My bee-keeping dates back for 10 

 years, and I have been experimenting on 

 every kind of way of wintering bees, and. 

 I have settled down to the fact that good- 

 stores have more to do with it than any- 

 thing else. Give me white clover and bass- 

 wood honey and 1 will winter them at 30 

 degrees the entire winter. Let some of my 

 American cousins in the South read this and 

 they will cail me a tool, but I do not care so 

 much when I bring my bees out fine and 

 strong. 



When I put them out in the spring I 

 shove them for all they are worth to brood- 

 rearing, and by my manipulation I keep down 

 swarming and make my increase by dividing. 

 If there is honey in the fields I will get it 

 all. I run all my bees for extracted honey, as 

 I find it pays the best here. 



In my next I will describe my summer 

 work in detail, and the kind of a house I use. 

 Michael Madden. 



Russell Co., Ont., Canada, Feb. 23. 



Wintering Nicely. 



My bees are wintering nicely 9o far, out- 

 of-doors, and they were all flying nicely 

 yesterday (March 5), 



I have 8 colonies of fine, healthy bees. 

 I think if I have 15 hives wiiH Lang-stroth 

 frames and supers I shall be supplied. 



J am more anxious for comb honey than 

 I am for increase of bees. I do not care to 

 have them swarm much. 



Stephenson Co., 111. C. S. Spalding. 



Hiving Bees. 



In the first place I will tcU how I make 

 the catcher, i get a pole witn 2 prongs, and 

 nail on tne third prong, then take a small 

 uarrei-noop, and na^i it m between ttie prongs. 

 1 hen sew around the hoop mosquito nct» 

 aouDle, to hang down as far as 1 want it 

 to go, then sew it up and gather the bottom 

 ana uraw it tignt together; tuat makes it com 

 pleM. 



\v hen a swarm comes out and settles, I 

 take the hive, bottom-board and cover to the 

 place where they have clustered. If they 

 nave clustered low I set the hive on the 

 ground ; or if they are low enough, put the 

 nive on a bench or anything; then I put on 

 top of the hive an empty super and shake 

 them right into the super. If they go in in 

 too mucli of a bunch, I take a twig and stir 

 them over the prongs; then if they settle 

 on the sides I brusli them down and put on 

 tlie cover a little whi.e, and get the canvas 

 ready, then take off the cover and super. If 

 they have not all gone down I lift off the 

 super and stand it in front; they will soon 

 march in. I spread on too of frames the 

 canvas and put on the cover, and put a little 

 something under one end so as not to crush 

 any of them. I leave them, until night where 

 I hive them, then carry them to the place 

 i want them to be. 



If they have settled too high to do as I 

 1: . ■• s.iu, men 1 |iut the C' teller 111 > right 

 under the cluster so they will fall into it, 

 men jar them in it and then take hold 01 

 the bottom of the netting and turn the 

 catcher over the hive and turn it inside out, 

 riglit in the super, and empty them all in and 

 shake them olf. If a lot go back I repeat 

 the operation lintil I get the most of them. 

 Then I do the same as with the others. 



My bee-hat is a common straw hat with 

 netting around the brim. If they settle low 

 I don't always put it on. I do not use gloves, 

 or any smoke. My bees are very gentle 

 when they swarm. I can pick out any leaves 

 or anything that goes in when I shake them 

 in. It is very rare I get stung when hiving 



