March, loog. 



American Hee Journal 



105 



in the spring. Some years ago I tried winter- 

 ing bees in the cellar. I have an average 

 (or better) farm cellar. I found that bees 

 wintered perfectly until March. Then if it 

 came very warm they were uneasy and flew 

 out too much. (The difference in stores was 

 only 5 to 7 pounds of honey from those in 

 the bee- houses.) So I tried taking them out 

 in February and March. Those set out in 

 bee-houses even in February always came along 

 all right, while those set under trees, every 

 every one dwindled badly; even losing their 

 (jueens. 



Bees never destroy worker-brood except in 

 case of actual starvation; but we all know 

 if the flow stops suddenly they throw out the 

 maturing drones, and make way with all 

 young drone-brood. Quite often a warm time 

 comes in March or April when bees expand 

 their brood-nest too much. 



There is a very great difference in differ- 

 ent strains of bees in this respect. Some 

 will use up all the honey in the hive in early 

 spring in rearing a hive of brood, and then 

 starve to death. Others would need to have 

 the honey uncapped and frames spread, or 

 empty frames put in the middle of the brood- 

 nest. 



Another cause of too early brood-rearing 

 is feeding. If bees are in danger of starv- 

 ing, feed. In early spring give them sealed 

 combs if you have them. If you don't have 

 them, feed white sugar syrup, so as not to 

 stimulate them more than you can help. 



I want every one of my colonies to have 

 not less than 40 pound's of honey in the fall 

 for wintering. So if I have to feed at all, 

 it is just before harvest of white clover. 



Probably in your case if it is not feeding, 

 it is lack of proper protection in the spring. 

 See that the bees are kept just as when 

 wintering, also protect the hive. An old dry- 

 goods box packed around the hive with hay or 

 straw does very well. Give them a south 

 face, or east, with the front of the hive ex- 

 posed to the weather, and I will venture to 

 say vou will never see many worker-bees 

 ihrow'n out chilled in the spring. I never 

 saw over one or two dozen to a colony thrown 

 out here when wintered in a bee-house or 

 shed. Irving Long. 



Marceline, Mo. 



comb is cut into shape, and fitted in the frame, 

 I bring the slicks perpendicular, and drive the 

 nail at the bottom. Comb with brood and 

 honey is easily handled this way. In 4 days 

 the bees will fasten comb in place so that 

 sticks can be taken off unless the colony is 

 very weak, or the weather turns cold. 



One-half inch or .>^-inch wire-nails are best 

 to use. I also forged me a hive-tool made 

 like a claw-hammer. The handle part is flat- 

 tened at the end, chisel-Hke, but rounded. 



W. A. SWEARINGEN. 



Epworth, Ky., Jan. iS. 



A Season's Experiment with Bees, 



There were moved into my neighborhood 

 last season, 12 colonies of black bees. There 

 was a piece of timber land not far from my 

 apiary, but nearer to the black bees. That is. 

 the black bees were between my apiary and 

 the timber (in the year of 1907). At least 

 70 percent of my queens mated with black 

 drones. At the same time I had another 

 apiary on the other side, but nearer to another 

 body of timber. The percent of mlsmated 

 queens there was only about 25- In the fol- 

 lowing spring (1908) the black bees were 

 removed by sale to different places at a dis- 

 tance from here. The mismated queens of 

 the year were only about 20 percent. 



This year I will get a chance to try an 

 experiment that I do not think will pay in a 

 financial way. The first part of the year was 

 very wet and in the month of May it turned 

 very dry, so much so that I fear the clover 

 has been badly damaged. It was more dry 

 than it has been for several years past. 



Most of the bees that went into winter 

 quarters are old bees that have not done much 

 work to weaken them. Early in the season 

 bees began to fill their hives up, but clover 

 could not stand the dry weather, as all the 

 supporting roots were on top of the ground 

 and failed to secrete any further nectar in 

 the bloom, and I fear a large part of it has 

 been killed. It has been weakened anyway. 



There was a light fall flow of honey from 

 asters, and some little brood was reared. The 

 bees that were short in stores were those in 

 the extracting yard, and the opes that had 

 swarmed. There are very few bec;i that are 

 as strong now as they were last March. Most 

 of the weakest ones were united last fall. 

 Neither clover nor bees arc in a condition 

 to stand a hard winter. 



I will send a description of how I have 

 transferred quite a number of colonies of 

 bees. I take pieces of pine, or soft timber, 

 as long as the Langstroth frame is high, J4- 

 inch thick, and saw it in strips 3-16-Jnch wide. 

 I nail one on each end of the frame, if the 

 comb is in a large piece; more if comb is in 

 small pieces; and on the other side of the 

 frame I nail a like number, or as many as it 

 takes to hold the comb in place on last side, 

 I nail at the top, or to top-bar, but at the 

 bottom I just drive the nail through the piece 

 and turn it lengthwise of the top-bar, so that 

 you -can put the comb in place. After the 



Bot-Flies and Horses. 



I must surely take exception to your article 

 under heading of "Hoodoo Ribbons in Aus- 

 tralia" in regard to bot-flies. Here in West- 

 ern Nebraska, if we drive horses with any 

 satisfaction, we must put cloth of some kind 

 under their jaws (or neck). If you would 

 notice horses here from June i, or sooner, till 

 cold weather, you would see them actually 

 rear up and strike, the bot-flies are so re- 

 pugnant. Out in the pastures they will run 

 and throw their heads over the backs of other 

 horses to keep the flies from them. While they 

 don't seem to mind them around their legs 

 any more than a common fly, they will go 

 almost wild if one flies under their jaw. I've 

 killed many a one there, and have seen them 

 stick there till they had their eggs laid. Of 

 course, the eggs don't do ar»y damage, as 

 the horse can't get them in its mouth as they 

 can on their body and legs. I once had a 

 high-bred horse that would rear in the air 

 and groan every time a bot-fly would buzz un- 

 der his jaw, I have seen men here put red 

 rags under the horse's jaw to keep them ' 

 off. I don't know if it was efficient or not. 

 I always fasten a cloth of good width from 

 the throat-latch to bridle-bit. Then they can't 

 get in. A. M. Bent.\min. 



McCook, Neb.. Jan. 18. 



fit is perhaps a reckless thing to have said 

 anything about a subject upon which the bee- 

 books are deplorably silent, and at a time 

 of year when bot-flies themselves can not 

 be called upon to give their evidence. But if 

 there is anything wrong in the case, it is the 

 bot-flies that are to blame. What right have 

 they to do such a foolish thing as to be 

 bothering the throats of horses? The bot- 

 fly (Gasterophilus equi) may be seen very bus- 

 ily engaged in laying its eggs upon the hairs 

 of the horse, in the confident expectation that 

 the horse will bite off and swallow them. 

 to hatch out in the intestines of the horse, 

 the larvae, or hots, to do their mischief there. 

 Now how could a horse possibly swallow a 

 nit on his throat? To he sure, any one who 

 is at all familiar with horses can hardly have 

 failed to see horses going frantic at times 

 when big flies troubled them about the throat, 

 but is it a certainty that some other fly than 

 the bot-fly is not the culprit? You've seen 

 plenty of the eggs of the bot-fly on a horse's 

 front legs, did you ever see a lot of them 

 on his throat? Did you ever know a bot- 

 fly to bite a horse on the throat or anywhere 

 else? Mind you, this isn't saying that it 

 doesn't, it isn't saying that it doesn't chew 

 Krcat holes in a horse's throat, it's only ask- 

 ing the question. I.^t us have light on this 

 important matter. It would be a sad thing 

 if any one should fail of a crop of honey 

 through ignorance regarding the bot-fly! 



Later. — Since the foregoing was written, 

 others have written protesting that bot-flies 

 are the miscreants that trouble horses about 

 the throat, sometimes making them rear and 

 strike frantically. Perhaps it will be well 

 to lay the subject on the table for a few 

 weeks, until fly-time, so as to make exact 

 observation whether it be bot-flies or flies of 

 some other kind that are the throat-troublers. 

 At present all the testimony to hand is in 

 that direction, and in case this is corroborated 

 the only thing is to apologize for ignorance, 

 and anathematize the bot-fly for doing such a 

 crazy thing as to lay eggs where they don't 

 standi a ghost of a chance of ever hatching. 

 And then it might be well to transfer the 

 discussion to some equine paper.- — Editor.] 



roofing boards are laid close together; floor 

 2 feet of dry sawdust. Take off the cover 

 from the hive, carry the hive into the house, 

 set it flat on the sawdust, take the honey off 

 from the bees, double an old grain-sack once 

 from the top to bottom, making 4 thick- 

 nesses of canvas, spread over the bees, and 

 replace the honey-board on top of the bag. 

 I have 37 colonies and there is not a hand- 

 ful of dead bees. You can see the bees 

 through holes in the old bags. 



The house is perfectly dark: S-foot posts. 

 I don't allow any one to touch the house in 

 any way. I work for surplus honey in su- 

 pers. I don't think much of having to feed 

 bees. I want but one super of honey from 

 one colony. Don't rob the bees, and you 

 won't have to feed. I don't think there is 

 much made after vou have figured the cost of 

 sugar, time, and trouble. I think bees winter 

 better on honey of their own storing. 



I like to read the Bee Journal. There are 

 a great many things I don't know anything 

 about, and don't want to. 



M. S. Crawford. 



Perry, Mich., Feb. 24. 



Wintering Bees in a House. 



I am what you might call a "fool" bee- 

 keeper, and in reading the Bee Journal I 

 think there are more of them. I won't say 

 how I manage bees, only that I see so many 

 ways of wintering bees. Now notice this: I 

 winter them in a house made for that pur- 

 pose. It is 14 feet wide and 20 feet long, 

 matched siding on the outside, sheeting on the 

 inside, filled between with sawdust. There is 

 6-inch studding and a good, strong roof. The 



Rather Discouraging. 



Since mv last letter we have had a very cold 

 spell, but it is warm again, with bees flying. 

 This is a forerunner of a bad spring. It has 

 been that way here for the last two springs, 

 then no honey till in the fall, and I missed 

 it last fall on account of the drouth. 



R. B. Perrv. 



Greenfield, Tenn., Jan. 26. 



Plenty of Rain. 



We are still having plenty of rain— nearly 

 25 inches so far. The soil is thoroughly 

 soaked. We can not tell for certain as to 

 the 1 909 honcv crop. It takes March and 

 April rains for that; then we may have un- 

 favorable weather. M. H. MendlEson. 



Ventura, Calif., Feb. 12. 



Very Wet Weather. 



Yesterday I found one colony of bees cast- 

 ing out their voung drones, and another one 

 hurrying out their workers that could scarcely 

 fly. The walk was full of those that had per- 

 ished. The weather is very bad so far— very 

 wet. The almonds are in full bloom, but the 

 bees can not get out. A day and a half is the 

 longest sunshine we have had this month. 



W. W. C01.ESTOCK. 



Ptcasanton, Calif., Feb. 20. 



Mildest Winter in Years. 



This has been the mildest winter in years, 

 the mercury going below zero only twice dur- 

 ing the whole winter, and then for only a 

 short time. While this is so. yet the bees 

 have had no chance for a good flight, that are 

 on their summer stands. Those in the cellar 

 are in fine shape, and were it not too early 

 to "count the chickens," it could be said that 

 the season of 1909 would be one of the best 

 for bees here in central New York. But, alas! 

 the two most trying months for bees are 

 just ahead of us. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino. N. Y., March 2. 



Best He Has Read. 



I had discontinued the American Bee Jour- 

 nal for several months in order to test the 

 other bee-periodicals, to find which would do 

 me the most good. I have nothmg else that 

 will help me along the line of honey-produc- 

 tion, controlling swarming, how to have good, 

 vigorous queens in colonies, besides wintering, 

 and other important things, so much as the 

 American Bee Journal has done in the past 

 year. I can heartily and consistently say that 

 the American Bee Journal is the best period- 

 ical on the subject I have read. 



Grantsville, Md. I.- J- BEACny. 



Look Out for the Skunks. 



Do all bee-keepers know that skunks are 

 very destructive to bees, and that quite often 

 "spring dwindling" is caused by these little 

 robbers, perhaps entirely unknown to the bee- 



Their mode of operation is to establish their 

 home in some old abandoned woodchuck s hole, 

 or other hiding place, perhaps only 10 or 20 

 rods from the apiary, which they then visit 

 nightly until winter sets in. and then when- 

 ever the weather is warm throughout the en- 

 tire winter and spring. ^ l- a 



They go to the entrance of a hive and 

 scratch Mn»il the beea are disturbed and rush 



