November, 1909. 



American ^ee Journal 



would they be as liable to meet the black 

 drones? 



5. I can sell all the surplus honey that my 

 bees produce, to my neighbors, and they 

 would just as soon have chunk comb honey 

 as to have it in sections, so wouldn't it pay 

 me to have shallow frames in my supers in- 

 stead of sections? 



6. If I should use shallow frames instead 

 of sections, would there be any way of keep- 

 ing the queen from laying^ in them without 

 using Queen-excluders over the brood-cham- 

 ber? 



7. Are queen-excluders under supers any 

 disadvantage to bees storing in supers? 



8. Early next spring, before swarmingr time, 

 if I catch a warm day when bees are flying, 

 can I open the hives and take out the black 

 queens and put in the yellow ones with 

 safety? 



Q. I want if possible to get the yellow 

 queens introduced before there is any 

 drone-brood started by black queens. How 

 soon would I have to Italianize next spring 

 to do this? Kentucky. 



Answers.— I. With good bees, a good bee- 

 book and bee-paper, I see no reason why an 

 intelligent bee-keeper ought not to make 

 bee-keeping profitable. 



Introduction will be safer after the bees 

 get to gathering busily, whatever time that 

 may be. 



2. In the South I think they can ship in 

 March tested queens of the previous year. 



3. Doubtful if you can entirely succeed at 

 it. The best you can do is to take your 

 chances of having at least a few purely fer- 

 tilized. To be sure, you can cut out all 

 drone-comb in the hives of the black colo- 

 nies, and allow a liberal amount for the Ital- 

 ians, but there are the black bees all around 

 you in your neighbors' hives. Some claim to 

 have succeeded by putting the hive with the 

 virgin queen in the cellar, also the hive with 

 Italian drones, taking them out after drones 

 have ceased flying for the day, and then feed- 

 ing them so as to induce flight. 



4. Opinions differ. Some think a drone 

 and a queen may meet even when they live 

 4 miles or farther apart; others think that if 

 drones are plenty within half a mile the 

 queen is not likely to meet a drone from 

 farther away. 



5. Certainly. 



6. I don't know of any way. 



7. It is hardly likely that the hindrance 

 amounts to much. 



8. It wouldn't be so safe as to wait till the 

 bees are busy gathering. 



0. Drone-brood is likely to be started as 

 soon as the bees are gathering, say for lo 

 days or so in succession. 



Honey Crop a Failure 



We have 200 colonies in 8-frame hives. But 

 the honey crop this year was a failure. Our 

 bees have plenty of honey to winter on. 



Prairie, Miss.. Oct. 20. Lee Lantz. 



Light Honey Crop 



The honey crop has been light, with some 

 honey-dew. Bees are in good shape for 

 winter. Clover looks promising for next 

 year. E. L. Hall. 



St. Joseph. Mich., Oct. 15. 



Poorest Honey Season in Years 



This has been the poorest year we have 

 ever had here. No good honey, and a very 

 little, such as it is. Bees were very ugly all 

 summer. They have not enough stores for 

 winter. I could not open the hives to feed 

 without getting into trouble at once. 



Plum City, Wis., Oct. 22. F. C. Smith. 



Satisfied With His Bees 



I have had pretty good success this year, 

 and like to work with bees very much. I 

 wintered my only colony through safely, 

 and last spring bought 2 more, so that made 

 me 3 colonies to start with. One of these 



swarmed twice and the other two once each, 

 but my very first swarm got away. I shook 

 them on a sheet in front of the hive, but I 

 couldn't get them to tro in, so when the next 

 one came out I shook them into an empty 

 hive-body and put a sheet of zinc over them 

 to keep them in. I then set the hive to re- 

 ceive them over the zinc, and, of course, 

 the bees went up in all right. I left the 

 empty body under for 48 hours and then 

 took it out and set the one with the frames 

 in on the bottom-board. The empty body 

 gives the new swarm lots of fresh air. and 

 they are not apt to abscond. I saved my 

 other 3 swarms all right this way. Two of 

 them stored 32 pounds of honey each, and 

 one of the old ones swarmed once and filled 

 bo sections of honey. Now I think that is 

 pretty good. All together, I had about 125 

 pounds of honey. I like to work with bees 

 very much. I now have 6 colonies. 



R. R. Victor Tippett. 

 Quays, Ont.. Oct. 11. 



Light Honey Crop 



My honey crop is light this year, 3500 

 pounds, mostly in sections, but it is of ex- 

 cellent quality and flavor. All the bee- 

 keepers in this part of the country that I 

 have heard of did not do nearly so well. 



Herman L. Gloege. 



Monroe, Wis., Oct. 16. 



Fair Honey Season 



The season here in the Shenandoah Valley 

 was fair, but much honey-dew. My crop was 

 2 tons of comb honey from 6a colonies, 

 spring count, with qi colonies Sept. i. 



There was very little fall flow fronraster. 

 which generally gives us plenty of winter 

 stores: but we are too dry this time. 



Winchester. Va., Oct. 11. Jno. I. CoE. 



A Hfird Year for Bees 



This has been a very poor year for the bee- 

 keeper. I got only about 300 pounds of honey 

 from 3t> colonies, and had only 2 swarms. It 

 was too wet in the spring and too dry in the 

 fall. I think the bees have enough in the 

 hives to winter well, so we will hope for 

 better times next year. 



LUDWIG Brendle. 



Linville. Ark.. Oct. 15. 



A Discouraging Bee-Season 



I have packed my bees for the winter. I 

 got scarcely any honey at all. They did no 

 good on the goldenrod. The wax-moth has 

 destroyed a great many bees here this year. 

 I have thrown away b colonies myself, and 

 my neighbors have thrown away a lot. My 

 bees have to be fed. as they have very little 

 to live on, I think. R. B. Perry. 



Greenfield, Tenn.. Oct. 18. 



Successful Honey Season 



I have had a very successful year. From 

 36 colonies, spring count, I have taken 4500 

 pounds of extracted honey, and increased to 

 66 colonies. 



I want to tell how I appreciate the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, as I consider the success 

 with my bees is from what I have learned 

 from reading the different writings in it. 



Edward T. Knoll. 



Clarksburg. Ont.. Oct. n. 



Marketing Honey, Etc. 



Last year, with a heavy crop of excellent 

 honey all through the middle States, some 

 bee-keepers were induced to sell their fine 

 extracted honey to dealers for a net price 

 of =; cents or less per pound. I advised 

 against this, and said that I would hold what 

 I could not sell for 8 cents or dump it. I did 

 hold some of it, and now with a short crop 

 in the same territory, I cannot fill my orders 

 at my price of Ss per can of 5 gallons of this 

 same honey. What do you think now, those 

 of you who let your honey go last year for 

 about .=; cents? 



Bee-keepers must have confidence in their 

 business, and not get scared and sell out to 

 the sharks as soon as they get a good crop. 

 Remember, a shortage will come, and your 

 honey will be in demand. Besides, if you 

 hold your honey for a fair figure, those who 

 want honey will buy it at the price. It is the 



cheapest commodity that is turned off the 

 farm today. 



I would like to give notice through the 

 American Bee Journal that we have sold 

 our bee-keeper's home and apiary at Mon- 

 roe. Wis., to a friend and well-known bee- 

 keeper, Mr. H. H. Moe. of Woodford, Wis. 

 Both Mr. Moe and his wife are graduates 

 of the Wisconsin University, class of i8qu. 

 Mr. Moe has had a nice apiary on his farm 

 near Woodford for many years, and is an 



Book Notices 



By LEWIS EDWIN YORK, 



Supt. Public Schools, 

 MARTINS FERRY, Belmont Co.. OHIO. 



Why the Chimes Rang— By Raymond Mac- 

 dona id Alden. Illustrated by Katharine 

 Hay ward Greenland. Indianapolis: The 

 Bobbs-Merrill Company. Cloth. I4Q PP- 

 Price. 1.25. 



This book is one of real merit, appealing 

 to boys and girls from 10 to 15 years of age. 

 The stories are told most charmingly, and 

 the moral lessons are not too deeply covered 

 up. The first of the 11 stories gives its name 

 to the book. This is an ideal Christmas gift. 



The Happy Heart Family— By Virginia 

 Gerson. Highlv illustrated in colors. New 

 York: Duffield & Company. Half cloth. 

 {SJixio. Price, $1.25. 



Here is a really artistic little treasure of a 

 book for children of the kindergarten and 

 primary school age. It appeals directly to 

 the finest tastes through the eye. the pictures 

 being exceptionally clever and full of mean- 

 ing. 



Hide and Seek in Forest-Land— ^By Robert 

 W. Chambers. NewYt)rk: D. Appleton & 

 Company. Clolh. Price, Si. 50. 



In this book there are 17 chapters begin- 

 ning with "The Voice of the Woods." and 

 dealing with many forms of animal life. The 

 narratives are told with exquisite touches 

 of vivacity, pathos and human interest. 

 Boys and girls in grammer. school will be 

 more than pleased with the book; they will 

 be deeply interested in the life that it por- 

 trays. 



** Boy Wanted "—By Nixon Waterman. 

 Illustrated. Chicago: Forbes & Company. 

 Decorated, full cloth. (6x8j4.) 134 PP. Price. 

 S1.2S. 



This is surely a "book of cheerful coun- 

 sel " that will be read from beginning to end 

 with interest. Delightful short poems are 

 interspersed throughout the 10 chapters of 

 inspiring and helpful counsel. Every boy 

 old enough to read " The American Boy " or 

 "The Youth's Companion" will greatly 

 profit by the reading of this attractive work. 



Stories of Brave Dogs— Retold from St. 

 Nicholas.) Edited by M. H. Carter. New 

 York: The Century Company. Price, 65 

 cents. 



This book of nearly 200 pages contains a 

 fine collection of the best stories of dogs 

 that have shown unusual intelligence, dis- 

 crimination and attachment to their mas- 

 ters. It is the '■ brave, devoted side of dog 

 life ■ that is found here. Any boy or man 

 who loves dogs will find in this book many 

 hours ()f real satisfaction, and those who 

 know little of dog heroism will be truly 

 awakened to the facts relating to man's 

 closest animal companion. 



Wonderful Little Lives— By Julia Augusta 

 Schwartz. Illustrated by Clara E. Alwood. 

 Boston: Little. Brown lS: Company. Cloth. 

 251 pp. Price. Si. 50. 



This book of 10 chapters on animal life 

 tells the stories of the grasshopper, the 

 earthworm, the mosquito, the fly. the bee. 

 the toad. etc. The style of the book is clear 

 andaltogether satisfactory ; thesubject mat- 

 ter wholesome and worth while. 



IW" Any of the above books may be 

 ordered through the American Bee 

 Journal, 146 W. Superior St.. Chicago, 

 111. Send us 60 cents in addition to 

 the price of any book as given, and we 

 will credit your subscription to the 

 American Bee Journal for one year. 



