Mar. 21, 1907 



American Hee Journal 



As I am wriliDR, our part of the counlry Is 

 covered with snow, and the weather at zero. 



I have kept bees for l(i years, and have 

 been a subscriber to the American liee Jour- 

 nal for that length of time. I would not be 

 without it it I did not have over 5 colonies of 

 bees. 



In the spring of 1906 I had 30 colonies, 

 which were increased to M, and I got 1700 

 pounds of honey, which brought me ?32.'j. 



After returning from the National conven- 

 tion at San Antonio, Tex., last November, I 

 bought 24 colonies of bees, which makes my 

 number 74. 



We are having a very cold, hard winter, 

 and the bees have had only one Might since 

 November, and that was on Feb. LS. I 

 am expecting a heavy loss of bees, but I hope 

 I will be disappointed in that regard. 



The building at the right in the picture is 

 my honey-house and work-shop, which was 

 not completed at the time the picture was 

 taken. 



My trip to the San Antonio convention, and 

 the meeting of my brother bee-keepers, will 

 long be remembered; and also our stay at the 

 Grand Central Hotel. But I feel like saying, 

 " Home, Sweet Home;" no place like home 

 and contentment. I hope to meet my brother 

 bee-keepers some time in the future, in con- 

 vention, that will be as friendly and as hos- 

 pitable as were our Southern bee-brethren at 

 San Antonio. Geo. H. Adkins. 



Advertising in the Bee Journal.— 



We have received the following from Walter 

 S. Pouder, of Indianapolis, Ind., which 

 should be of interest to advertisers and those 

 who ought to advertise : 



Friend York :— Six weeks ago I believed 

 that I was overstocked on extracted honey. I 

 placed a honey advertisement in the American 

 Bee Journal, and tor the past 10 days I have 

 been refusing orders and refunding money. 

 Surely, the readers of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal have confidence in its advertisers. I tear 

 I have not enough honey left to supply my 

 local demand till new crop arrives, and I can 

 not replace my stock. 



Truly yours, Walter S. Pouder. 



It pays not only to advertise honey in the 

 American Bee Journal, but also bees, queens, 

 bee-supplies, etc. — in fact, anything that bee- 

 keepers and people in general need. Yoa 

 can't expect many people to patronize you 

 unless you first let them know what you have 

 for sale. Of course, we do not guarantee that 

 any one can make a fortune by advertising in 

 the American Bee Journal or in any other 

 paper, but such advertising should help 

 greatly, provided you have something to offer 

 that is wanted, and also that the price is 

 right. 



"Liangstroth on the Honey-Bee" — 



the well-known bee-book revised by the 

 Dadants — recently passed into another edi- 

 tion. There have been some 75 pages added 

 to it, and the whole work brought down to 

 date in every respect. It is certainly a fine 

 book, and should be read by every bee-keeper. 

 It is really a classic. To become acquainted 

 with the great Langstroth through the read- 

 ing of his book is no small thing. Other bee- 

 books are good, but there is only one "Lang- 

 stroth on the Honey-Bee." The latest re- 

 vised edition will be sold at the same price as 

 the one preceding, which is -*1.20, postpaid. 

 We still have a few copies of the old edition 

 on hand, which we will mail at 90 cents each, 

 if preferred, so long as they last. We club 

 the new edition of this book with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for one year — both for f 2.00. 

 So long as we have any copies left of the old 

 edition, we will send it with the American Bee 

 Journal one year — both for $1.80. 



anadian 



Conducted by J. L. Bter, Markham, Ont. 



Successful Wintering of Bees 



"The bee-keeper who has not solved the 

 wintering problem to the extent that he can 

 winter his bees as well as he can his cows, 

 has much yet to learn." — Allen Latham. 



" For it must lie said that we can not as yet 

 bring our bees through a winter with that 

 degree of certainty and uniformity that is 

 possible with sheep, horses, cattle, and domes- 

 tic fowls."— F. Greiner. 



The two foregroing' quotations are 

 taken from the February issue of the 

 American Bee-Keeper. Naturally, a 

 lot of us will be curious to know who 

 is right, and I expect, as a matter of 

 experience, the majority will be in- 

 clined to agree with Mr. Greiner. Yet 

 this does not prove that Mr. Latham is 

 wrong, for I believe that the most of 

 us will consent to eat humble pie to 

 the extent that we will confess that we 

 have " much yet to learn," whether it 

 be about wintering or any other 

 branch of apiculture. 



But the worst of the matter is, that I 

 fear we do not live up to the knowledge 

 we have as regards wintering ; in fact, 

 there is no other part of the business 

 that we are inclined to take so much 

 risks in. Nearly all our text-books 

 teach that for outdoor wintering in a 

 cold climate, the bees should be on no 

 more combs than the cluster can cover. 

 No better advice could be given, yet 

 how many put it into practise ? The 

 reason is, that in about 3 years out of 

 4 the bees winter fairly well without 

 going to the trouble of contracting the 

 hive, and that fourth year is apt, very 

 often, to knock things out in bad 

 shape. As we have no means of know- 

 ing when this fourth year will come, 

 the only sensible conclusion is to pre- 

 pare the bees every year as though we 

 were sure of a very severe winter. 

 Even if the hard winter doesn't come, 

 I feel pretty sure that the extra work 

 will be well paid for, anyway. 



Then as to the matter of stores: 

 Some seasons a lot of inferior honey is 

 stored in the brood-nest ; in fact, 

 enough for wintering without going to 

 the expense (?) of feeding. We remem- 

 ber that one year, when wintering on 

 just such stores, over half of the colo- 

 nies perished ; but we also remember 

 that one other mild winter the bees 

 wintered fairly well on the same kind 

 .of food. As the season had been none 

 too good, and, as a consequence, money 

 none too plenty, we decided to risk the 

 bees wintering on this inferior honey 

 and run chances of another mild win- 

 ter. No doubt many can speak of ex- 

 periaijces under like conditions, when 



the mild winter failed to materialize, 

 and, instead, we had a very severe 

 season. 



Personally , I have never had a severe 

 loss in wintering, yet what losses I 

 have had might have been avoided; 

 and I unhesitatingly say that ;/ I take 

 the necessary precautions, and do the 

 required amount of work, that one year 

 with another, I can winter my bees 

 just as safelv as lean the cattle and 

 other domestic stock. There is no 

 boast about this whatever ; on the con- 

 trary, as before intimated, we feel that 

 any bee-keeper of ordinary intelligence 

 can do the same, provided he lives up 

 to the knowledge he has, and, in com- 

 mon with your humble servant, cease 

 taking riiks, whether it be as to 

 quality of stores or any other factor 

 which we know to be a necessary ad- 

 junct towards insuring good wintering 

 of bees. 



Making a Cover-Feeder 



Since the description of my cover- 

 feeder appeared, it has occurred to 

 me that a great many bee-keepers 

 who make their own supplies will de- 

 cide that it is too difiBcult an arrange- 

 ment to make by hand. The drawing 

 showed the ends to be in one piece with 

 grooves to receive the 2 floors of the 

 cover. As I have a circular saw and 

 power, I make the most of my covers 

 in this way, but I have made some by 

 hand which are equally as good, and 

 which any one can make who can 

 handle a saw and hammer. 



The 2 floors are about 1 inch wider 

 and ZYi inches longer than the hive- 

 body. On the under side of the lower 

 floor, at each end, is nailed a cleat 1- 

 inch square and as long as the floor is 

 wide. These cleats are to keep the 

 cover securely on the hive. On the 

 upper side of the lower floor, at each 

 end is nailed a cleat 1 inch thick and 2 



inches wide, and the same length as 

 the lower cleat. On top of these wide 

 cleats is nailed the upper floor, and the 

 whole is covered with a heavy grade of 

 felt rooting, and painted with two 

 coats of thick white lead. This roofing 

 is cut long enough to project down 

 over the ends, and is secured there by 

 nails and large tin washers. 



Of course, the openings in the sides 



