IS'l-J 



(JLKAxNlNtiS IN inOK ri'I/rLIRH. 



unt's up. tilt' oclls almvc will 1)0 licstioyod, iiii- 

 loss tht'rc is some iiiioiitiou to swarm: but in 

 any oiisc the Ihm's will start otMls below. Sol 

 iiavc ofti'ii li'ft the ool(Miy in llic upper stoi-t. 

 and put only one e(niil> of lnooii in the lowei- 

 story, to lind cells alnmst surely started below . 



Now. some oiu' will say that this is a good 

 V)hin to have oueens reiu'wed— simply let tlie 

 vounff iiueen liateh out and kill the old one. 

 l"ve had notrnublein haviufj the younj.^ (lut'cn 

 hati'h out. but in a tew days she was always 

 missinsi. and the old iiueen serenely maintained 

 supreniaey. With an excluder between, and an 

 entrance for each (|ueen. the case might be 

 ditl'ereiit. 



You want to tret rid of the trace of Italian 

 tilood. I wish 1 could swap for it the tiace of 

 lilaidv blood in some of my colonies, and ha\e us 

 pure Italians as some 1 had ".years ago. when I 

 used to sret honey.'" Hut I'm afraid tluit. if you 

 had the same |)u"re blacks back, you'd find that 

 tlu>y wouldn't give you a crop w itliout a good 

 season. We've had bad S(>asons lately. It is (|uire 

 true that Italians have not secured croi)s: but I 

 have no distinct recollection of ivading about 

 the blacks storing better crops than the 

 Italians. ('. ('. Mir.i.i;i:. 



Mareimo. 111.. Mar. 17. 



REPLIES TO INQUIRIES. 



WKUillT OK COI.OMKS. 



(j>((c.vf(o/i.— What becomes of the diffei'ence 

 between fall and spring weight of colonies, 

 sometimes amounting to :.'() to ■.'."> pounds'.' 



Aiisiccr. — Hei'S use hone\' largely as fuel dur- 

 ing the winter season, in tiider that they may 

 not freeze during the frigid weather of our 

 northern localities. The natural food of the 

 honey-bee contains the least possible amount of 

 gross matter: and as bees do not take on fat 

 and then-by increase in weight, the digestion of 

 honey in the stomach of the bee is equivalent 

 to combustion: or. in other words, the honey is 

 burned up: henc<' as the ashes of burned fuel 

 do not weigh anyw heic near as much as the 

 fuel did before burning, so the" ashes." or what 

 is left in the intestinesof the bees, weighs much 

 le.><s than did the honey consumed to keep ui» 

 the lire. Again, much of the weight of the hive 

 goes out by evaporation: and should the bees 

 have a flight, more would go out by w'ay of ex- 

 crement, tint not nearly as much by the latter 

 as by the former. Honey being vei'y fr<'(> from 

 nitrogenous mattei-, it is jjassed off in liquid or 

 vaporous form by way of sensible and insensi- 

 ble perspiration and respiration, except the 

 small amount to be found in the bodies of the 

 bees. This is sometimescarried on to such an ex- 

 tent that water is often seen running out at the 

 entrance of hiv(>s in winter. Some of the food 

 is also used in pnKiucing muscular foice; and 

 as this force is constantly wearing out, the loss 

 is perceptible in the food, while in the weight 

 of the bees it is not seen. In all of the above 

 we see the wisdom of Him who created ourjiets: 

 for were it otherwise they could not stand the 

 rigors of our northern latitudes at all. inasmucli 

 as they are too cleanly to soil theii- hives, while 

 the weather will not admit of their leaving 

 them, often, for mom lis in succession. 



FEKIUXG BKKS IX WIXTKR AXD SI'KIXG. 



Question. — What is the liest method of feed- 

 ing a colony of bees that is found to be without 

 food in the hive iti miflwinter or early spiing'.' 



Ansner. — In tlie fiist placf we should never 

 allow our bees to be in this condition, for it is 

 much more to onr advantage, and to the advan- 

 tage of the bees, to have sutlicient food supplied 

 them in tlie fall to last at least till the last 



month of spring, and 1 often think that, if 

 enough is given to last till .lune it is all the bet- 

 ter. The prudent ai)iarisi will look overall his 

 colonies in Octobei-. and see that all are abun- 

 dantly sup|)lied till ihe llowers bloom again. 

 However, should such a thing as our pets i)eing 

 shortof stori's happen, through sickness or othei; 

 adverse circumstances, the very best method of 

 feeding them is to set in combs of sealed honey, 

 as this places the bees in a natural condition 

 and does not distui'b them every little while, as 

 most othei- modes of feinling do. If no combs of 

 honey can be had. the next best way is to till 

 combs with good thick sugar syruiJ. when they 

 are to b(^ used in the same way thi^ combs of 

 sealed honey would be. In either case snch 

 combs of feed should l)e warmed for six hours 

 or more before being jihiced in the hives: for. 

 where combs of frozen honey are set next the 

 bees, th(! colony is thrown into a state; of ex- 

 citement to warm this honey up to wiiere they 

 can safelv cluster against it. 



There is still another way of feeding wiiich I 

 like very well, especially if this feeding is done 

 in the spiing. and where I have on hand some 

 extracted honey which has candied, which is as 

 follow s: .Make a bag out of cheese-cloth. al)out 

 six or eight inches square, or that much in 

 diameter, after which partially till it with the 

 candied honev. which has previously been 

 worked till itis (jiiite soft, or it can be worked 

 after it is placed in the bag. Don't till the bag 

 so but that it will assume a flat shape, for we 

 wish to press it down right ovei' the cluster of 

 bees. .Ml it can l)e covei-ed over snugly with bee- 

 (juilts oi- old carpeting to keep in the heat. The 

 bees will suck the feed tlirough. and in process 

 of time cut through the cloth so as to use it all 

 up. 



t,«>f ATIXO AX AI'IAHV. 



V»e.sf('o(i.— Which is the l)etter location for 

 bees— one on low ground, where it is moist and 

 frosty in the spring, but sheltered, or one on 

 high ground, where it is free from dampness, 

 but somewhat windv '.' 



Ansirer.^li I could have my choice I would 

 select neither. My choice would be midway on 

 a moderate slope which faces the southeast. 

 This would avoid the early spring frosts and 

 the dampness of the low lands, and, to a large 

 extent, the high winds of the elevated position, 

 which are almost sure to prevail. To be sure, 

 a windbreak can be constructed around the 

 apiary on the high gnmnd: l)ut according to my 

 experience, many bees are lost by being swept 

 away on windv days upon rising above this in- 

 closure into the cold blasts which blow about it, 

 they being allured out by the calm and sun- 

 shine witliin. For this reason 1 would select 

 the low ground in preference to the high, had I 

 notthe privilege of taking the inlei-mediate one. 

 If bees go out from the warmth caused l)y the 

 mid-day sun shining in this low ground, they 

 are not'liabh' to be lost thereby: for when they 

 rise high enough to strike the cold air from 

 above they at once fall into the warm air l)elo\v, 

 so are not lost: then on the whole the tempera- 

 ture at the low location will average the warm- 

 est in early sprins. <r. M. Dooi.itti.i-:. 



Horodiiio. N. ^'.. Apr. 1. 



TABULATED REPORT FROM FLORIDA. 



THK HOXKV I<KSorRCi:S OF THAr STATI-; 



I herewith send you my second annual report 

 of the I)ee-keeping industry of our State. I 

 have arranged it in a tabulated form forcont- 

 pactness and convenienc(\ I have si)ent no 

 little time and money in preparing the n;- 

 port. and have tried to have it as complete as 



