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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 11, 1902. 



\ Our Bee-Heepin^ Sisters ^ 



Conducted by EMMft M. WILSON, Marengo, III. 



Value of Stored-Up Bee-Information. 



Don't forget that while the bees can't store any now, 

 that you can. 



You can store your mind. If you have read your bee- 

 book from cover to cover, don't think that is all that is 

 necessary. Don't be satisfied with reading-; study it. 

 ■After you have studied it a dozen times you will still find 

 that there are a whole lot of things that you dou't know 

 about bees. 



Possibly you may not be satisfied with one text-book, 

 and you surely need a bee- paper. You may save a good 

 deal more than the price of a book or a bee-paper in one 

 season if you get the contents into your head ; but remem- 

 ber you won't have time to run and consult a bee-book 

 when the critical time comes to apply your knowledge, and 

 you must have it in your head ready for use. 



How many blunders it would have saved bee-keepers 40 

 years ago if they could have had the books we have now ; 

 but the books weren't made then. 



Some think there's no need to get bee-books unless they 

 have SO or 100 colonies. That's a mistake; yes, a big mis- 

 take. You need the bee-books, even if you have only one 



colony. 



M I m 



Using- Honey in Cooking' and Candies. 



How many of the bee-keeping sisters are using honey 

 in their cooking ? It is more wholesome than sugar, and 

 cookies, etc., made with honey keep fresh much longer. 

 In fact, I think they are improved with age. 



Candy made of honey is much better for children than 

 that made of sugar, and children will have more or less 

 candy. Why not make your own candy ? Then you know 

 what they are getting. Honey caramels are delicious, and 

 easily made. They are nice for children with colds and 

 coughs, and they never have to be coaxed to take such 

 medicine. 



Can't we do more to increase the use of honey by using 

 it ourselves, and inducing our neighbors and friends to use 

 it, too ? Just send them a sample of our product once in 

 a while, when we have extra-good luck. I often think the 

 saloon-keepers are much wiser than we are. They know 

 how to create a taste for their goods, and succeed in selling 

 them, too, in spite of all the misery and woe that follow in 

 their wake. 



Uniting- Weak Colonies in the Fall. 



The season of 1902 being so poor, on account of a late 

 spring and wet and cold weather, half of my bees did noth- 

 ing at all. I took off eight supers that had nothing in 

 them. I got only S12.60 worth of honey. I sold it for IS 

 and 20 cents a section. When I took off the supers, the last 

 of September and the first of October, they all seemed to 

 have enough stores to last them. The weather the latter 

 part of (Dctober and the most of November has been very 

 nice, and the bees have flown quite freely almost every day. 

 The latter part of November was too cold and windy. When 

 I examined the bees lately I found I would have to do a 

 good deal of feeding, so when it was a nice day and they 

 were flying pretty freely I went to work doubling them up. 

 I have united eight colonies ; that is, I have put so many in 

 with so many more. I had three colonies that seemed to 

 have plenty of winter stores. 



I have been very successful in doubling up, no fighting 

 at all. I paid no attention to the queens — thought they 

 could do that themselves. I had the hives in pairs, and 1 

 overhauled them to see that there were no worms, then I 

 took out the frames in the one that had no honey, or not 

 much, then took the full ones out of the oftier one, bees and 

 all, and put it in the other hive, and so on until I got the 

 one full ; when I had taken all out, then I brushed the bees 

 ofi' the corners and set them to one side; the hive-body 

 would be thick with bees. I would then set it on top of the 

 other one, then brush the bees down and give them a few 

 puffs of smoke to drive them down among the other bees. 

 Then I took the bottom-board and brushed them in the 



same way, and left the body on top, and put in all the frames 

 that had any honey in them that was capped. I uncapped 

 it, then put on the cover and stopped the entrance of the 

 top body, so that no other bees could get in, then gave them 

 a few pufi^s of smoke at the entrance to drive then up to the 

 upper part. So you see by the time I was through with 

 them they were pretty well mixed up ; either that, or the 

 honey took all the fight out of them — at least, they showed 

 no signs of fighting. 



I was taken sick after swarming was over, so the bees 

 were neglected, the worms got in three, but did not destroy 

 any. I put the bees in with others. I think I must tell you 

 how I did with the worst one ; perhaps it may be of benefit 

 to some other sister under like circumstances : 



I took the hive — bees and all — off the bottom-board 

 and set it up on end a little way from the bottom-board, 

 with the bottom facing where it set. Then I took another 

 body and set it in the place where that one had been, and 

 put in two frames of comb (three would have been better) ; 

 the two hardly held the bees. When I had the cover on I 

 commenced to puff the smoke in the one that had the worms 

 in, and kept it up until I drove them all out of that one, so 

 they went into the one I had put in its place. The combs 

 were empty, but I poured a little syrup in one side, so they 

 all went in very nicely. 



In the morning I stopped the entrance and carried the 

 hive to another one, as it had none by it, and brushed the 

 bees in front of the other and drove them in with smoke, 

 and there was no trouble with them. All three that had the 

 worms in them I put in with others. 



If this will help some other sister it will be worth all 

 the trouble of writing it. 



I have received so much benefit from the Bee Journal 

 that what success I have had has come from information 

 gathered from reading it. Sarah J. Griffith. 



Cumberland Co., N. J., Nov. 22. 



A Kind Notice of " Our Sisters." 



The Rocky Mountain Bee Journal kindly noticed our 

 department as follows : 



" A commendable bit of enterprise on the part of the 

 American Bee Journal, is the addition of a ladies' depart- 

 ment. This ought to increase the popularity of the ' Old 

 Reliable ' with the fair sex." 



Honey as a Health-Food. 



The Chicago Daily News gives in its "Health and 

 Beauty" department this item about the use of honey : 



" If people would use more honey and less butter on 

 their bread it would be better for their health, especially 

 for children and invalids — at least such as suffer from 

 defective or weak digestive power. Honey is a partly- 

 digested form of sugar, and thus relieves the stomach from 

 the task of changing cane-SjUgar to grape-sugar, which 

 must be done with other forms of sugar before they can be 

 absorbed into the system. Many resort to honey when 

 they want a remedy for coughs and sore throats, but why 

 not use as a preventive?" 



There is nothing particularly new in this, but the Daily 

 News has a large circulation, and that " Health and 

 Beauty " department is read by nearly every woman wher- 

 ever it goes ; and the Daily News is doing a big thing in 

 printing that item. It is going to help a good bit to in- 

 crease the use of honey. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. 



