June 27, 1907 



Am(>rican Hee Journal 



I iinrliTstiiiul (bey were Inli'oduccil liilci Ihls 

 loinlllv aliout UO yeai's agu, none hiivliiK' 

 hri'ri licTo lipl'ore tbat time. When 1 llrst 

 fiiun' lu'i'c ihcy were hardly worili cniisid 

 (•rln;; ; innv 1 prize Ihera liiKldy. Tnii', 1 

 li.'ivc lU'Vi'i- iibliiiDcd surplus I'rnui llicni, 

 Itul lliey Jiro oi' the greatest value hi hclnjj 

 liirucd Intcj lu'nod, and they <'unie just ai. 

 Ilie rltflit time for that. If I muld have 

 in .Iul.>' or .VuLjust the 2 weeks in* more of 

 ilamlelion bloom I had lids ,^-ear In lis usual 

 liuu', 1 think I could ha\'e a lot (d" surplus 

 from II. Hut at Ihe time dandelion Idoonis 

 I here are md enough field-bees to do more 

 I ban supply Ihe enormous amount used In 

 brood-roaring. 



It may he that in some places sirawber 

 ries yield well, but they are very plentiful 

 iK're and I have seldom seen bees on them. 



(P. S. — My hrother-in-law says tbat on 

 tills very day hees are as thick on them 

 us ho ever saw them on buckwheat.) 



.'1. So far as yet known, Iltillans jirob- 

 ably have tbo general preference. 



4. I am afraid it may be because they 

 are short of stores. Possibly, how'ovcr. it's 

 only drone-brood, which they sometimes 

 carry out when a spell of unfavorable 

 W'oatber comes, even when there is plenty 

 of honey in the hive. 



5. I don't think there are two separate 

 classes. A fielder may gather nectar and 

 no pollen : .she may gather both : jierhaps 

 only iiolU'ii : yet the same bee never gathers 

 both on the same trip. A bee may change 

 its work on the same day. for sometimes 

 you will see a large proportion of the bees 

 carrying pollen in the morning and very 

 few carrying pollen in the afternoon. 



(>. Looks pretty sure they're gathering, 

 but I couldn't guess from what. 



Numbering Colonies Sweet Clover 



Honey-Sowing Sweet Clover— 



Carniolans or Italians? 



What is your system of hive numbering 

 .Tnd queen record'; Today N'o. .j swarmed 

 Igolden Italian queen), was hived on the 

 old stand ; now, should the old hive's num- 

 ber be taken off and placed on the new 

 swarm and a new number given the old 

 colony V 



2. In Uleanings you spoke of your full 

 combs of sweet clover honey and said you 

 counted it as just so many pounds o£ white 

 clover honey this season. Why not use 

 dummies when the honey-flow opens, or bet- 

 tor still, why not use the Danzenbaker 

 hive and have all frames full of brood at 

 the be.ginning of the honey-flow'.' 



3. Would not that sweet clover honey 

 have sold for as much money as white 

 clover himey had they been extracted? 



4. When is the best time to sow sweet 

 clover seed to get a stand'; 



5. 'Which are the best workers, Carni- 

 olans or Italians? 



6. Which are best for extracted honey? 



Missouri. 



Answers. — -1. A small square of tin is 

 painted white, and on this is painted in 

 black the number. This tag is fastened on 

 the hive by a small wire hail. The num- 

 bers run in numerical order in the rows, 

 the same number always being on the same 

 stand : so if No. 5 is moved to a new stand 

 its number is changed, and any hive put in 

 place of No. .^ will receive the tag taken 

 from No. .5. Each year a new record book 

 is used, the same being about 12 by 5 or 6 

 inches, 3 colonies to the page, 



2. Yon must have misunderstood what 

 I said, for I do not think I ever had a 

 comb filled with sweet-clover honey. I have 

 had honey tbat I thought was flavored with 

 sweet clover, giving to white clover some- 

 thing of a vanilla flavor, which I think an 

 improvement. I had a goodly number of 

 frames filled with fall honey last fall, 

 which I have been giving to the bees this 

 year. I mentioned those corahs, but 1 

 didn't say they were of sweet clover ; but I 

 said something about yellow sweet clover 

 in another place tbat perhaps you have 

 mixed up with these combs of fall honey. 

 I said I had never valued specially the fact 

 that .yellow sweet clover was 2 to 4 weeks 

 earlier than white sweet clover, because 

 that made it come right in the time of 

 white clover ; hnt I had changed my mind 

 about it. for last year white clover didn't 

 yield any honey, and if I had had a lot of 

 yellow sweet clover yielding early it would 



have been a lioon. Hut I dldul have the 

 yellow sweet eirjvi'r. 



Volt ask why I don't use dummies when 

 the lioney llosv opens. For more than one 

 reason, but one will be enough. I suspect 

 IliMt you Imagine that at the beginning of 

 till' iKiney-llow <uie or more empty frames 

 are in tlie hive and tbat if 1 lake out those 

 empty frames and |iut dummies in place 

 the honey that would go into the empty 

 frames will be forced Into the sections. 

 That Is an erroneous supposition. If I 

 took out frames to replace with dummies 

 I would have to take out frames of brood, 

 or else take out the outside frame largel.v 

 tilled with pollen. Each frame, however, 

 has more or less empty cells around the 

 border, generally, when the flow begins, and 

 If, a little before this time, I put in the 

 e(>nter of the hive a solid frame of honey, 

 the bees will empty this honey to replace it 

 with brood, ami nils honey will be used to 

 fill any vacant cells around the borders. 



I don't quite understand your remark 

 about using the lianzenliaker hive to get 

 all frames full of brood. So hive fills 

 frames with brood, and in this respect the 

 Iianzenbaker has no advantage over the 

 dovetailed. 



S. I don't know ; but then you remem- 

 ber I had no sweet-clover honey, unless it 

 was mixed with other honey. If I" had ex- 

 tracted lliose combs I'm sure the honey 

 would not have sold for as mucli as white- 

 clover extracted, much less for as much as 

 Ihe white-clover sections that it may afford. 



4. Either in spring or fall. Early 

 spring is preferable. 



5. Probably there isn't much difference. 

 The Carniolans have the reputation of be- 

 ing the best swarmers. 



(J. They are probably much alike. 



^perienc0$l| 



'S 



First 'WMte Clover Bloom. 



Bees are swarming in this locality and 

 new swarms starving. I saw white clover 

 in bloom today for the first time this sea- 

 son. P. F. COXICLIN. 



Elmira. N. Y.. .June 14. 



Hea-vy Loss of Bees. 



There is a ^'ery lieav.v loss of bees in 

 this county this year, some losing T5 per 

 cent, I have lost fifty colonies, and what 

 are left are very weak and will need most 

 of the season to build up. Edw. McCoy. 



Lima, N. Y., .June 10. 



"Vine-Maple Honey, 



I extracted 4 hi gallons of honey last 

 week from one colony. It was all maple, 

 or, I should have said, vine-maple, of a light 

 amber color. Its flavor is excellent. I had 

 51) colonies spring count, 



CH.tS. W. HOPSECGEE. 



Clear Lake, Wash., .Tune 4. 



Hope for Honey Yet. 



On account uf an accident to my left foot 

 I lost half of my bees this spring. Then, 

 the spring was very late and cold, so that 

 the bees could not fly ; still I have twelve 

 colonies left, and yesterday I had the flrst 

 swarm. It the weather now stays warm 

 there is hope for some honey yet. 



Peter Weiimeier. 



Rosebud. Mo.. .Tune 14. 



tTiiusual "Weather. 



We are having very unusual weather 

 here that takes all the enthusiasm out of 

 one. I never liave seen a season like it in 

 my 30 years' experience. I will have ^ome 

 honey, but the weather conditious keep one 

 in doubt. I am thinking of tiering up a 

 few colonies today, but to what purpose I 

 can't tell. A. H. Noble, Sr. 



Nashville, Tenn., June 7. 



Bees in Fine Shape. 



I placer] i.'ii colonies HI lue cellar last 

 fall, and set out 131 this spring, all In flue 

 Hhapir as far as I could sei-, but since thea 

 I have found 3 without (piei^ns. J united 

 (hem Willi the poort^st colonies 1 could find 

 In the y.ird. The best I ever did before 

 was to winter 'JO per cent. I have made 

 no changes from former winters, and at 

 this writing my hees are very strong, but 

 It has been one of the worst springs I ever 

 knew. Only about 1 day In 5 could been 

 fly since April came In, anil J have made 

 up my mind it Is better, as they do not get 

 lost If they cannot leave the hive. I never 

 had them build up so fast. I have had 

 several swarms and 1 have to give each 

 one frame of honey or they must die, as I 

 iiave had I hem hived 10 days and they 

 bavi not been out of the hive except a part 

 of 3 days. 



I see they are killing oft the drones — not 

 a good sign, but I have seen It before ami It 

 turned out to be a good season. I always 

 have a few .swarms issue before I i>ut on 

 the supers, but few after, until late in the 

 .season ; about the time the honey-flow 

 stops. Then sometimes a few will swarm. 

 I must stop now and go out into Ihe yard 

 for the sun begins to put fortli his rays, 

 and 1 want to look at It once more. 



C. M. Lincoln. 



West Rupert. Vt.. .Tune 10. 



Bees in Fine Shape. 



My hees are in fine shape in spite of the 

 cold, backward spring. My first swarm 

 issued yesterday ; a rousing one, too. I 

 have 34' colonies — did not lose one in win- 

 tering. 



The American Bee .Journal is one of 

 the things I don't feel able to do without. 

 S. E. Scofieli) 



Enosburg Falls, Vt.. June 12. 



Short Honey Crop Expected. 



Our bees have bad a bard struggle to 

 get up to the month of .June, but are doing 

 fairly well now. Most of the bee-keepers 

 in this part of the country have lost a 

 great many bees on account of the late, 

 cool spring. There seemed to be nothing 

 for them. I have had 18 swarms : they 

 build my apiarv up to 60 colonies. I think 

 the prospect bids fair for a short honey 

 crop. J- D- Paslay. 



Grocsheck, Tex., June 2. 



Baclcward Spring. 



My hees came out of winter quarters 

 without the loss of any. The spring has 

 been backward. I hear my neighbors say 

 that thev have spring dwindling. I saved 

 my bees" by feeding and exchanging combs 

 to" equalize them. I think we have a good 

 show for clover honey if the weather is 

 favoraljle. 



Success to the "Old Reliable." 



John Clixe. 



Darlington, Wis., June 6. 



Black vs. Yellow Queens. 



It seems tliat the black or hybrid queens 

 have more instinct for self-preservation 

 than the yellow races of bees. The little 

 black quee'ns are up to all sorts of dodges 

 to keep out of sight. One is, to fly as soon 

 as the corab is lifted out and be gone sev- 

 eral minutes. I have had 2 such queens. 

 To catch such, move her home, and put an- 

 other colony whore her home was ; on her 

 return she "is hailed and killed. Or you 

 can hunt her out by the ducking process. 

 Alvah Reynolds. 



Altona, Til., June 0. 



Plain vs. Self -Spacing Frames. 



In reply to the editorial of June 6. and 

 in behalf of Mr. Hutchinson. I will give the 

 bee-men a "piece of my mind." For rapid 

 handling and extracting, a self-spacing 

 frame is not "in it" with the plain all- 

 wood frame, or one made on that pattern. 



I have run 4 apiaries with a total of .'')00 

 colonies, almost entirely for extracted 

 honey, and my points are as foIIow.s : 



1." I want" a frame that is light, and 

 not to exceed % inches in thickness, so that 

 when uncapping the comb can be trimmed 

 to a level with the frame, thus permitting 



