1886 



&Li:akings in Bee cultuke. 



457 



that would make the bees die at sucli a time 

 and under such circumstances. 



SUCCESS IN THE HILTON CHAFF HIVE; TllOUT- 

 llAISING. 



My bees pulled tlirough the winter in good shape 

 —40 colonies in the Hilton hive, and 6 in other chaff 

 hives. I did not lose a single one that was in the 

 Hilton hive, but lost five out of the six in the other 

 hives. For practicability and efficiency, Hilton's 

 hive is hard to beat.— I have just turned off my first 

 crop of trout, nearly 400 lbs. I obtained 50 cents 

 per lb. Next year will be interesting, and I shall 

 have ten times as many. I will say to friend Milton 

 P. Peircc, that the temperature of the water has 

 more to do with the quality of domestic trout than 

 the food that is given them. W. D. P'rench. 



Grand Rapids, Mich., May 12, 18S6. 



PROSPECTS FOR BEE-KEEPIXG IN SAN DIEGO, CAL. 

 "BUG SHEPHERDS." 



I have come to California for mj' health; and be- 

 ing anxious to do something to keep busj', and 

 make some money, I naturally think of bee-keep- 

 ing, having- kept bees in an amateur way in the 

 cast, where other business occupied most of niy 

 time. 



I find, on looking over the business here, that 

 there are line opportunities in this county, and 

 plenty of scope for improvement over the present 

 system of bee-keeping in vogue here. All the 

 comb honey here is in 2-lb. sections, and but little 

 foundation is used; the top-bar of sections being 

 three-cornered, the comb is usually pretty true. 



Now, my object in writing you is to obtain your 

 views concerning the proper size of brood-frames 

 for lower part of hives in this climate, making 

 the upper story adapted for 1-lb. sections. The 

 thermometer seldom goes as low as 32°, at least in 

 the country not over 25 miles from the coast. 

 Some bee-keepers (" bug-shepherds " they ai-e called 

 here) talk of double or air-spaced hives: for in 

 some places the thermometer reaches 110° in the 

 shade, and one man told me that it would not ans- 

 wer to have the hives stand in the shade. I think 

 that, if the bee-keepers here can be persuaded to 

 use 1-lb. sections and fdii., there would be a fine 

 opening for sale and manufacture of material here. 



F. P. Miles. 



San Diego, California, March 25, 18b6. 



Friend M., the proper size of brood-frames 

 you will tind in our price list : and for a 

 full discussion of frames and hives, see our 

 A B C book. As we find the chaff hive 

 much the best liere in our climate for ex- 

 tremely hot weather, I think you would 

 find the same thing, or something sim- 

 ilar, just what you want in California. 

 By all means put your hives in the shade 

 during the hottest part of the day or the 

 hottest part of the year. The shade of trees 

 will generally best accomplish both purposes. 



ABSCONDING IN FRUIT-BLOOM; WAS IT CAUSED BY 

 THE .\BSENCE OF A QUEEN? 



Will some of you veteran bee-keepers i)lease ex- 

 plain why this is? A neighbor of mine had a 

 swarm of bees come off about the 10th of April. 

 He followed them some distance until they set- 

 tled; but before he could secure them they de- 

 camped. Now, as it was only the beginning of 

 fruit-bloom, and no honey coming in, I tried to per- 

 suade him they were probably starved out. He 



said, " No, they left honey, but no brood." To con- 

 vince myself he was not mistaken, I went and ex- 

 amined the stock, and found them as he had stated, 

 and about a pint of bees, but no brood nor drones. 



As far as heard from in this locality, the bees 

 wintered nicely; hardly any loss. Mine all came 

 through well, and to-day I had a swarm— the first 

 one I ever knew so earlj' in the season. 



Oxford, O., May 3, 1886. .John Coulter, Sr. 



Friend C, the department headed "Ab- 

 sconding,'" in our A B V book, discusses ful- 

 ly cases similar to yours. Absconding dur- 

 ing fruit-bloom is usually caused by scarcity 

 of stores ; but in the case you mention I 

 should say the colony had been a long time 

 queenless, and the remaining bees, doubtless 

 comprehending the ruin that lay before 

 them, absconded, thinking they could join 

 some other swarm somewhere ; or, perhaps, 

 they left without knowing what they could 

 do, thinking they couldn't make matters 

 worse any way. 



got the BEE-FEVER BAD; WHAT IS THE REMEDY ? 



You prescribed the remedy, and now I call on you 

 to prescribe the cure. But, hold ! methinks I hear 

 you ask what all this tirade is about. Well, let me 

 explain. Two of our most successful fanners have 

 thrown down the plow, and have taken up that ter- 

 rible weapon, the bee-smoker, instead. One of our 

 flourishing merchant princes has cracked the yard- 

 stick, and has gone to flourishing the same weapon. 

 One of the best mechanics in the neighborhood has 

 got bees bad; and it is reported now that another 

 of the best farmers in the community has got bees 

 so bad tiiat he is going to stop and let his planta- 

 tion wash away while he goes into the bee-business. 

 Now, Mr. Root, we ha^e made a plain statement of 

 that much of our grievous causes, but that is not 

 all. You may go to the country store, and it is bees 

 from daylight until dark. Go where you please, it 

 is bees all day long; it's Doolittle, Root, A. I., Root, 

 K., and Root, L. C., Heddon, J.,T. J. and A. H. New- 

 man, W. Z. Hutchinson, J. P. Israel, Novice, Van- 

 dervort, Vandeuscn, Pelham, Given, etc., until we, 

 the rest of the community, are afraid to leave 

 home on account of hearing so much about the 

 pesky little things. Now we will wind up as we be- 

 gan. As you saw flt to prescribe the noxious reme- 

 dy, prescribe the cure. B. 



Oak Lawn, Miss., April 26, 1886. 



Thank you, friend B., for your graceful 

 compliment. The remedy is to let all these 

 friends put their talk into practical work. 

 If they succeed in putting such nice honey 

 in tlie stores and groceries that it goes off 

 quickly at a paying price, why, you are all 

 right— just let them go ahead. If, on the 

 contrary, the talk bears fruit in the shape of 

 blasted hopes and disappointment, why, 

 that is the remedy, for no one will follow 

 any thing very long that does not "pan oiif' 

 so as to pay expenses. 



IS so MUCH CELLAR VENTILATION IN WINTER 

 NECESS.4RY? 



I carried 63 colonies Into the cellar on the .5th day 

 of Dec, 1885, and on the 9th day of Feb., 1886. I car- 

 ried them out for a fly, and found three dead. 

 Four days later I carried them back into the cellar, 

 where they remained till the 13th day of April, 

 when they were again placed on their summer 



