JourHau« 



• DELVOT 



•andHoNEY 

 •MD HOME, 



Pubhshedby THEA 11^001" Co. 



$l5iPERY[AR^'\s) HEDINA-OHIO- 



Vol. XXVIII. 



MAY 15, 1900. 



D No. 10. 



The striking statement is made in /^e- 

 viezu that J. F. Otto keeps from 250 to 300 col- 

 onies in one apiary in Wisconsin, and that in 

 many cases he has had two queens living to- 

 gether more than a } ear in one colony. 



Prof. Carlet has pointed out in Le N^atii- 

 raliste that the books are wrong in saying that 

 no wax is secreted by the first and last ventral 

 rings. The first and second secrete none, and 

 of the remaining four the last secretes the 

 most. 



Whatever the advantage of equalizing in 

 any case, there is one objection. If you mix 

 bees in any way, it hinders keeping exact tally 

 of the performance of each queen in surplus, 

 and that's important if you are breeding for 

 improvement. 



Five to ten days before the commence- 

 ment of the honey-harvest you wish all of 

 your increase made, says Bro. Doolittle, p. 351. 

 Right, for his locality, his chief harvest being 

 linden. Wrong for my locality, with little 

 linden to speak of, and clover the main har- 

 vest. 



The membership of the N. B. K. A. is a 

 little more than 500. It's sad that it's so 

 small ; but there's encour?gement in the 

 thought that never before were so many bee- 

 keepers banded together in one body in the 

 country. And the number is all the time 

 growing. 



Uncle Lisha, have you been keeping close 

 watch of Doolittle ? Page 347 you make him 

 stand with Deacon Strong in believing bees 

 will swarm, and it's best to let 'em. I think 

 that's where he used to stand ; but I doubt 

 that there's ano'her man in the ranks to-day 

 with his teeth shut tighter with the determi- 

 nation to find a plan to head off the bees from 

 swarming. 



In working bees from other frames to 

 Dovetail frames, one way is to put the hive 

 with brood over the Dovetail hive, an exclud- 

 er between, the queen below. But the queen 



is very slow about laying, apparently thinking 

 she ought to get above to lay. A better way 

 is to brush all bees from the old comb into the 

 new hive, and put the beeless brood over an- 

 other strong colony with excluder. If desir- 

 ed, this brood may be put back over its origi- 

 nal queen ten days later. 



John R. Millard gets some sound in- 

 struction on page 352. The problem being to 

 get a stock of drones from a choice young 

 queen, this might be worth trying : Add brood 

 from other colonies so as to get the young 

 queen's colony very strong. Then have plen- 

 ty of drone comb in one or two of the central 

 combs. As soon as the queen fills these drone- 

 cells, take the comb and give to another col- 

 ony, and replace with fresh drone comb as fast 

 as taken away. [The idea is a good one, and 

 we will adopt it in our queen- rearing yard. — 

 Ed.] 



Friend A. I. Root, if you want to see an 

 ivy-leaved geranium at its best, grow it in a 

 hanging pot. Some of them have foliage with 

 a delightful fragrance. Rub a leaf lightly be- 

 tween the thumb and fingers, then smell your 

 fingers. [You probably had it hung up in 

 )'our house ; but unless you and Emma or Mrs. 

 Miller particularly called my attention I should 

 never see it. I am really sorry that I do not 

 appreciate and admire flowers ; but I do ad- 

 mire landscapes, photographs, and in general 

 all art work of the decent sort. — Ed.] 



A. GuSTiN says in Le Rucher Beige that his 

 bees when working 1 ^ miles away brought 

 no pollen. The number of pollen-bearers in- 

 creased on nearing home, the most being 

 found within ten rods of the apiary. [This is 

 an interesting fact — none the less so because 

 I believe it to be true. Just now while the 

 dandelions are out in profusion, and from 

 which bees get but little if any honey, those 

 yellow heads nearest the apiary have the 

 most bees on. Those bees that come from a 

 distance seem to be either carrying water or 

 honey from the willows. — Ed.] 



Equalizing colonies is all wrong. And 

 it's all right. Depends. In the spring, take 

 two colonies, one with three frames filled with 

 brood, the other with enough brood in three 

 frames to make one full frame. Take a frame 



