Auj^ust, 1907 



Amc»rican ^ae Journal 



make big returns from crops, and consequently 

 has no time to work with bees. 



The land produces wonderful returns here: 

 Alfalfa $50 to $100 per acre; Kaffir corn $30 

 to $50 per acre. But any one comiiig here 

 should first come and investigate, and be shy 

 of irresponsible land agents who work on 

 40 and 50 percent commission. I'or that rea- 

 son 1 have asked the llayton Development 

 Co., to put an advertisement in this issue. 

 This Company is composed of Uayton mer- 

 chants, bankers, and farmers (26 in num- 

 ber), to help prospectors to choose land, 

 and buy what they want at the lowest price, 

 with only a small commission added. 



The climate is very healthful, and people 

 plow here all winter. Oats are sown in the 

 fall, or any time in winter. 



Now, for fear of being accused of boom- 

 ing the country, I will stop. 1 can't tell any- 

 thing about my bees, as I brought only one 

 colony, and they received such rough treat- 

 ment on the car that they died, but I e.xpect 

 to get some bees in the spring. 



All land must be irrigated to produce crops, 

 as we have only about 14 inches of rainfall 

 per year. We are only about 60 miles from 

 the mountains, and there they have about 50 

 inches of rainfall, which furnishes the artesian 

 water. A large reservoir is to be built about 

 12 miles above Dayton to irrigate 10.000 acres 

 of land. Land out there is still being home- 

 steaded, but most of it is taken up. Most 

 people here are from the North, and Dayton 

 has a fine school and churches, and very lit- 

 tle drunkenness. At some future time I will 

 tell more about bees, as I have my extractor, 

 40 hives, suiters, several thousand sections, 

 foundation, and I lack only the bees. 



Eddy Co., N. Mex. J. E. Johnson. 



Two Queens Laying in Same Hive. 



I have one very strong colony of bees, and 

 about Tune 20 I thought I would look through 

 them and see if there were any sign of their 

 swarming, and I found a queen-cell, but already 

 hatched, so that I thought they had super- 

 seded their queen; and on July 7 my friend, 

 J. F. Rvan, came over and we examined the 

 hive and found both queens laying in it. This 

 can be vouched for by Mr. Ryan. So I di- 

 vided the colony into 2. 



There does not seem to be much honey com- 

 ing in yet; but sweet clover is just begin- 

 ning to bloom. John Dutnall. 



Chicago, III., July 15- 



Bees Working We'i. 



I put 2 weak colonies of bees on top of 2 

 strong ones this season, and had success with 

 both. One colonv had wire-cloth placed over 

 the bee-zinc for 24 hours, and then removed. 

 The other colony had one thickness of news- 

 paper put under the zinc and was left there 

 to be eaten away by the bees. Both colonics 

 are now on their own stands, and seem to 

 be doing well. We had copious rains about a 

 week ago. Since then we have had cool nights 

 and warm, clear days. The bees are working 

 well, and I think they have stored a little 

 honey. Edwin Bevins. 



Leon, Iowa, June 29. 



Fine Honey-Country. 



In case any of the readers of the American 

 Bee Journal are looking for a good location 

 for bees, the Bighorn basin in Wyoming can 

 not be beaten. Texas and California are not 

 in it. Bees winter nicely here out-doors in 

 anv kind of a hive. Thev store honey here 

 from wild flowers and alfalfa. We brought 

 the first bees in this vicinity 4 y^rs ago this 

 spring. There was no alfalfa here then, but 

 they filled their hives chuck - full of an 

 amber-colored, very clear honey, with a very 

 superior flavor. I kept bees in California for 

 IS years, but California is a poor honey coun- 

 try "beside this. There is no bee-moth here, 

 and if there is anything here in the insect line 

 to bother bees I have not found it so far. For 

 qualitv and quantity the honey crop beats any- 

 thing I have seen yet. I have no ax to grind. 

 I am simply telling this for the benefit of 

 others. I well know what a poor living a lot 

 of bees make for a bee-keeper that is not in a 

 good honey country, and I well know what a 

 nuisance bee-moths, ants, and other insects 

 are to a bee-keeper. There is no need here of 

 setting a bee-hive on 4 stakes driven into the 

 ground, in an irrigating ditch, to keep the 

 ants out of it, as I have seen in California. 

 I have no time here to attend to bees. I put 

 on large supers in the spring of the year. 



The super is 24 inches long, is inches wide, 

 and 12 inches deep. In the fall and winter, 

 and sometimes in the spring, 1 lift them oft, 

 and that is all I do to them. I have kept 

 bees in Oregon, Washington, California, Mis- 

 souri and Ohio, but here is the place for bee- 

 keepers to "pitch their tents." 



J. D. Kaufman. 

 Bighorn Co., Wyo., July 15. 



Bees Hauling Out Drones. 



My bees have not swarmed much this Sea- 

 son, nor have they stored any honey to speak 

 of. They spend most of their time hauling 

 out drones. There will be no white clover 

 honey to speak of, and but little basswood. 

 I have put in an acre of buckwheat for fall 

 feed. E. E. Kennicott. 



Glenview, 111., July 7. 



Hope for a Fair Crop. 



Notwithstanding the cold, backward spring, 

 for the last 4 weeks the bees have done a fine 

 business. We hope for a fair crop of honey 

 yet, H. A. Doty. 



Central Lake, Mich., July 11. 



Bees Storing in Supers. 



Bees are doing fine work now. The weather 

 is favorable and they are storing some 111 the 

 supers, and just commencing to swarm. 



(Rev.) J. W. StinE. 



Durham, Iowa, July 12. 



Poor Spring for Bees. 



The last was a very poor spring for bees 

 in this locality. I lost 28 colonies through 

 winter and spring dysentery, while in the cel- 

 lar. That seems to be the general complaint 

 in this vicinity. What are left are doing very 

 well now. ' Ursom White. 



Kimball, Minn., July 10. 



He has Bee-Fever. 



I started in the spring with 8 colonies. I 

 divided 3 and increased to 11; I took 5 out of 

 trees, one out of a porch, and one out of a 

 chimney; bought one, and transferred 2 for 

 the bees. I now have 21 colonies. I have the 

 bee-fever, my wife says. 



RuFus Thompson. 



Albany, Oreg., July 3- 



Not a big Crop Expected. 



We have had a very bad spring for bees. 

 I lost none in wintering, but lost several colo- 

 nies in April on account of the bad, cold 

 weather. I have 45 colonies now, well-filled 

 below, and they are commencing to work in 

 the supers. Basswood will be late this year. 

 It will be in bloom in about a week. We may 

 get some honey yet, but I do not look for a 

 big crop. I w-ill report later. 



Wm. Cleary. 



Algona, Iowa, July 8. 



Nucleus Method of Increase. 



Some vears ago I read from the pen of 

 G. M. D'oolittle the same method of increase 

 given bv him on page 537. and started out to 

 try it. I do not run for comb honey, so did 

 not have any shipping-cases, but as I ahyays 

 save all boxes that come in my way, especially 

 those made of thin lumber, I went to this 

 pile and found one about S or 9 inches square 

 at the end, and about 15 inches long, that I 

 thought would do, and started in to make more 

 out of other boxes. When I got the third one 

 completed I had no more screen-cloth at hand. 

 Then for a funnel (I was not near a tin- 

 shop, nor had I any tin on hand), I again 

 went to the pile of boxes and found 2 boards, 

 ^-inch thick and 9 or 10 inches by 24. These 

 with a couple more 5/^-inch thick and 6 inches 

 wide at the upper end, I tapered down until 

 when nailed together they made quite a good 

 funnel. For a tube I took a 3-pound _ fruit- 

 can body, cut it open, and riveted it in the 

 proper shape to fit the hole in the nucleus- 

 box at one end, and covered the opening in 

 the funnel at the other, and nailed it on to 

 the funnel. 



Armed with these I went to the colonies 

 where the bees were to spare, one after an- 

 other, until I had a good, strong swarm in the 

 box. I soon had all 3 full. Then came wait- 

 ing, for I did not have material at hand for 



more boxes. It occurred to mc that the bees 

 could just as well remain confined until Ihcy 

 realized their hopeless queenlcssncss, in a hive 

 where I wanted them to remain, if I ihadcd 

 them well, as in any place else. 



So I now go around in the morning and 

 ascertain how many queens I have out, and 

 immediately set about preparing a hive for 

 each queen, as follows; 



I place in the hive from 2 to 4 or 5 frames 

 of honey, as there may be much or little to 

 come in yet; and fill out with frames of full 

 sheets of comb; set the hive where I want 

 it to remain; close up the entrance hcc-tight; on 

 top of this I place an empty hive, over which 

 I put a frame of screen-cloth so that no bee 

 can get in or out; on top of this I lay the 

 cover for the present. Then by 9 or 10 

 o'clock, when most of the field-bees arc out, 

 I go around with the nucleus-box and funnel 

 to hives that can spare the bees and take 

 out until I have a good, strong colony, being 

 careful not to get a queen; carry it to the 

 prepared hive; uncover it, being careful to lay 

 the screen cover so that I can pick it up 

 quickly; loosen the fastenings of the door 

 of the nucleus-box and hold it shut with 

 my hand while I give it a little jar on the 

 ground to settle the bees to the side opposite 

 the door; and, before they have had time to 

 recover themselves, I dump them into the 

 hive and cover up quickly with the screen 

 cover; shade well with boards or green brush. 

 So I proceed until all my hives are loaded, 

 using only one nucleus-box. 



I leave them in this shape from 4 to 6 

 hours, when they are ready to accept any 

 queen. Just before it is too dark to see, I go 

 around and drop in a queen, and leave them 

 confined until the evening of the third day. 

 Then I open the entrance. I keep watch of 

 them pretty closely until I find the queen lay- 

 ing. Sometimes the queen fails to get back 

 from her mating-trip. In such cases I take 

 steps to get them a queen as quickly as pos- 

 sible. . 



I now make what increase I want in the 

 above manner in preference to any other. My 

 main surplus flow begins with sage fromApril 

 20 to May I, and for about 6 weeks I get 

 white honey — I think the finest ever. Up 

 to the beginning of this flow I do all I can 

 to increase my bees without increasing colo- 

 nics, and if all has gone well I have booming 

 colonies. ■, a 



About the middle of June darker and ott- 

 flavored honey begins to make its appearance. 

 I watch the flora closely, and when I see this 

 about ready to begin, I extract all white 

 honey. Then on the darker and not so finely 

 flavored honey, I make increase as above, 

 governing the increase by the amount of honey 

 in sight. These colonies are all headed by 

 young queens for the next season, which tends 

 materially to curtail swarming, and in many 

 other ways gives the apiarist control of the 

 bees. A- J- BURXS. 



San Diego Co., Calif., June 28. 



Booming on Clover. 



Bees are just booming on clover, with very 

 little swarming. Some of my colonies have 

 stored nearly 50 pounds of nice white clover 

 comb honey. E. M. Lawrence. 



Mayfield, N. Y., July 4- 



The Season So Far— Bee-Keeping 

 Children. 



Our apiary of about 9° colonies came out 

 of winter quarters, here at Bridgeport, in 

 good condition. We had good weather in 

 March and then followed the long, cold wet 

 period that lasted nearly all through April 

 and Mav. Many apiaries in Wisconsin report 

 very severe losses during this period, but our 

 loss here was practically nothing. We at- 

 tribute this largely to our sheltered position 

 rather than to management. Our hives were 

 regular single-walled hives, not protected by 

 outside wrapping. We fed outside when the 

 weather became warm enough for bees to 

 fly, but, in spite of all, most of the hives 

 were very destitute of stores at the coming 

 of white clover. 



Since then there has been abundance of 

 bloom, consisting of white clover and rasp- 

 berries mostly, but too much rain has re- 

 tarded work to a considerable extent. We 

 gave super-room very promptly, giving strong 

 colonies two 8-frame Langstroth stories for a 

 brood-chamber, and have had, to date (July 

 20th), only 6 swarms to hive at this yard. 



Now I will tell of something better than 

 bees: Mv daughter "Amy," 17 years old, has 



