1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



43 



in-and-in bred as well as the okl farm- 

 er's above alluded to ? Of course they 

 have. The natives of the Holy Land 

 and Cyprus Island care nothing about 

 improved bee-keeping. If these bees. 

 in their native country, are superior to 

 ours, then we can improve them, with- 

 out doubt, so that they will be much 

 better. Does not the reader see that by 

 crossing these races we can improve 

 them V Of course he can see it ; and 

 believe it. too. 



If it were not for the honesty and 

 reputation of the dealer, many of those 

 who have purchased Cyprian and Holy 

 Land queens would say that they are 

 beautiful Italians, and' nothing more. 

 The keen observer and practiced eye 

 will discover the peculairities of the 

 Cyprian bees, even though they look and 

 appear like pure Italians. 



I think I can perfect a race of bees 

 the coming season that will be superior 

 to anything we now have : in fact, I 

 now have some queens that are very 

 large and handsome as well as unusu- 

 ally prolific — a cross between the pure 

 Cyprian and Italian. I cannot say 

 about their working qualities, as they 

 have had no chance to do much since 

 they came into existence in August. 

 18S0. Now, I am intending to rear 

 queens from these improved mothers to 

 introduce into my own colonies. They 

 will pass for pure Cyprian or Italian 

 queens ; few can tell the difference. If 

 these queens will lay eggs in proportion 

 to their size, it will be necessary to en- 

 large the Langstroth hive to twice the 

 usual dimensions. These queens are 

 the result of careful breeding and 

 crossing. 



The reader will see I am in favor of 

 crossing the Italian and Cyprian. Who 

 can doiibt for a moment that by crossing 

 with pure Cyprian and Italian bees that 

 we cannot get a superior class of work- 

 ers'? By crossing we shall undo in-and- 

 in breeding that our bees as well as the 

 Cyprians, have been subjected to for 

 years. Remember, that the bees to be 

 crossed should be selected from oui 

 best, purest handsomest and most pr - 

 line. Now. here are my ideas for im- 

 proving our bets. If ;'mv man h s 

 better way, let him rise and say so. 



Weuhani, Mass. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Giving Bees Water in the Cellar. 



E. A. THOMAS. 



Several years ago I had 3 or 4 colonies 

 get very uneasy in the cellar during the 

 latter part of winter. I tried to quiet 

 them by giving them more ventilation. 

 but it was of no use. they continued to 

 grow more and more uneasy towards 

 spring. The weather was still too cold 

 and un ettled to put them out, and I 

 had about given them up for lost, when 

 I concluded to try an experiment. I 

 thought the reason for their getting so 

 uneasy was because they were breeding, 

 and as I knew bees consumed large 

 quantities of water when breeding, I 

 concluded to try and make them take 

 water in the cellar. I made holes 

 through my chaff mats and inserted 

 bottles of water with cotton cloth tied 

 over t e nose, letting the bottle come 

 close down to the cluster of bees. The 

 effect was almost magical ; they became 

 perfectly quiet and remained so until 

 taken out of the cellar. These colonies 

 and a large amount of brood and were 

 hatching bees quite rapidly when taken 

 out in the spring. The next winter I 

 determined to experiment a little fur- 

 ther with water. I prepared half of my 

 bees so that I could give them water in 

 bottles, and about the first of February 

 I commenced to give it to them, and con- 

 tinued to do so until spring. As they 

 were so very quiet. I thought I would 

 see what they would do if their water 

 was taken away from them. Accord- 

 ingly, I selected one of the colonies that 

 had taken the most water, and took the 

 bottle away from them. They at once 

 manifested* their disapproval by making 

 an uproar and boiling out of the hive 

 into the portico. I put back the bottle 

 of water, and they immediately quieted 

 down and remained so. Now for the 

 result : 



When taken out in the spring, I found 

 that the colonies I gave water had 



plenty of hatching bees and from two 

 to four frames of brood, while the 

 Others had but very little sealed brood. 

 and some none at all. Last winter 1 

 gave water to all my bees, which en- 

 abled me to keep them in the cellar per- 

 fectly quiet until all danger from spring 

 dwindling was past. I never saw a lot 

 of bees in as good condition the first of 

 May— strong in numbers, and with 

 plenty of hatching brood. 



Doubtless, many will think that it is 

 too much trouble to give their bees 

 water, and I think myself that it is 

 quiet a chore, but it is these small chores 

 that makes bee-keeping a success. 



It takes a man of good judgment and a 

 keen insight into the. habits and re- 

 quirements of our little pets to make a 

 good bee-keeper. I think bees need a 

 great deal of attention and care during 

 the winter, especially towards spring. 

 when the weather begins to get warmer. 



Coleraine, Mass., Jan. 2.5, 1881. 



st^PJi^MMM 





Away Down East. — I had 30 colonies 

 of bees last fall in pretty good condi- 

 tion, which I packed for winter. They 

 are in the Quinby standing and Eclec- 

 tic hanging frame hives, packed with 

 rye, oats and buckwheat chaff — some 

 put in loose and some in cushions. My 

 bees have not had a flight since about 

 the middle of November last, but ap- 

 pear to be all right. Some hives are 

 nearly covered with snow. Besides the 

 30 on the summer stands, I have 11 nu- 

 clei in the cellar, with 2 and 3 frames 

 each, strong in bees and honey for the 

 number of frames. There are 2 and 3 

 colonies in one hive, with thin division 

 boards between. They are all right so 

 far. I will report next spring what suc- 

 cess I have in wintering them. 



Robert Downs. 



Naugatuck, Conn., Jan. 28, lssi. 



Struck by Lightning. — A few years 



ago I had my bees placed in rows in 

 round gums; lightning struck 2 of the 

 gums, bursting a good-sized piece out 

 of one, and quite a sliver out of the 

 other. I thought that every bee in the 

 hives was killed ; in a. few hours they 

 came crawling out of the hives. It 

 looked as though all the bees had clus- 

 tered on the outside, and they would 

 not fly for three days unless something 

 came near them. It made them the 

 worst bees to sting I ever saw. In one 

 of them I hived a swarm 13 years ago 

 last June. It still remains a prosperous 

 colony. In 10 years it has only swarmed 

 twice, and has wintered on the summer 

 stand. I keep it to see how long a set 

 of combs will last, or the colony die. A 

 few years ago a man named Hastings 

 came into this neighborhood, who said 

 that a set of combs would last 16 years. 

 Mr. Hastings died at Carlisle, Iowa, 2 

 years ago. Hibert Clark. 



Palmyra, Iowa, Dec. 6, 1880. 



Bees Uneasy.— Since I wrote you last, 

 I notice that some of my bees appear to 

 be troubled with dysentery. Those 

 affected, are all young natural swarms 

 which issued in the latter part of July 

 and in August. They had not stores 

 enough to winter on. hence were fed 

 from October 1st until the loth, coffee 

 A sugar syrup, enough to carry them 

 through, I have built an extra No. 1 

 bee-house for them, with double walls, 

 filled with chaff 12 inches thick ; but the 

 house is left open towards the east. 

 Within this chaff-house I have packed 

 my bees in chaff, leaving an opening 

 for the bees as recommended by Prof. 

 Cook for out-door wintering in chaff- 

 boxes; but ever since the middle of 

 November none of my bees have had a 

 flight, and on the 23d of November they 

 were packed. Now lately I notice that 

 some bees have come out from those 

 colonies which were fed. and it seems 

 as if they soil somewhat the entrances 

 of their hives. Would it be advisable 

 to remove the front part of the packing 

 arrangement on warm days (if we get 

 any), enlarge the entrance, and thus in- 

 duce them to take a flight ; or would 



you advise, me to let them alone ? All 

 iny bees are well cared for. They have 

 good, well made hives, they are properlj 

 contracted by chaff division-boards; 



they have nice woolen quilts to cover 

 them over the brood chamber, and the 

 lop Covers are filled in with clean and 

 dry straw. In lieu of honey, they were 

 fed with coffee A sugar, and they have 

 not been disturbed the least since they 



were carefully moved into their winter- 

 quarters. The entrance tubes an' pro- 

 tected against mice, by wire-cloth, but 

 space is left for the bees to come out. 

 What can I do to bring them relief i 

 Wm. Stolley. 

 Grand Island, Neb. 



[Better let them alone till safe for 

 them to fly ; undoubtedly the long con- 

 finement, and the feed given them hav- 

 ing granulated, has caused the symp- 

 toms you complain of ; or, may be, they 

 have commenced breeding pretty exten- 

 sively, which frequently causes unusual 

 activity among the bees, and a neces- 

 sity for voiding their feces follows 

 activity. — Ed.] 



Heavy Rain-Fall. — Enclosed find state- 

 ment of the rain-fall at Vicksburg for 

 the season, from January to November, 

 1880, which will about tally with our 

 locality. You will see what chances a 

 bee-keeper had. O. W. Blanton. 



Greenville, Miss. 



" The unprecedented rain-fall of this 

 season will long be remembered ;is the 

 most calamitous that has ever visited 

 this portion of the great cotton belt. 

 To the courtesy of Mr. Guthrie, the 

 officer in charge of the weather and 

 signal station in this city, we are in- 

 debted for the following valuable and 

 authentic figures, showing the aggre- 

 gate amount of water, measured in 

 inches and hundredths, which has fallen 

 from the clouds during the eleven 

 months of the year 1S80 which have 

 now passed away : 



Jinnarv 1.85 inch s 



February 4.60 



March... ,..11 23 " 



Vpril 9.09 " 



May 5.99 " 



Juiie 6.36 " 



July 4.89 " 



August 5.67 " 



September 10.51 " 



October 5.75 " 



November 14.15 " 



Total 90.09 inches 



This makes the enormous aggregate 

 of seven feet and six inches of rain in 

 the space of eleven months ; and when 

 it is remembered that the average of the 

 rain-fall in this latitude, taking a series 

 of years by decades does not exceed 

 fifty-five or sixty inches annually, the 

 immense down-pour of water for the 

 present year is still more apparent." — 

 Vicksburg Commercial. 



A New Subscriber.— I am well pleased 

 with the Weekly Bee Journal. My 

 bees had a fly to-day, and are all alive 

 and doing well. Owing to the severe 

 winter, 1 have my bees packed on their 

 summer stands with hay on the north 

 and west. I have packed them for the 

 last 4 years iu that way, and have had 

 good success. David Hohenshell. 



Collins, 111., Jan. 31,1881. 



Temperature in Cellars.— Bees here 

 are wintering very poorly. Many of 

 them are dying in this section and east 

 of here, generally, where they are kept 

 out-doors without much protection. 

 Our bees in cellars are all right. We 

 control the temperature which cannot 

 be done so well out of doors. 



J. V. Caldwell. 



Camargo, 111., Jan. 22, 1881. 



Doing Well.— I like your Weekly very 

 much and when ray 6 months are up in- 

 tend to renew. Bees all packed in chaff 

 and every one (21 colonies) answered to 

 roll call yesterday. Have not had but 

 one fly since 2d of Nov., and that on 

 Dec. 13. With the many others I wish 

 you a prosperous New Year. 



J. W. Keeran. 



Bloomington, Ills., Jan. 17, 1881. 



Kentucky Notes.— I have been itching 

 tn wiiii' Mm congratulatory upon the 



shape of your new Weekly BEE JOTJB 



nal. As the ladies say, itisjusl too 



Bice." I wanted to get more data from 



our bee-keepers, which is not over-en- 

 couraging, fur about two-fifths are 'lead 

 and the balance to hear from on the 15th 



ill' April. Cause— last year was the 

 poorest honey season in the memory of 

 the "oiliest inhabitant," ami it being 

 the second consecutive poor season, 

 many did not recuperate from the pre- 

 vious year, and this winter, the hardest 

 in the memory of the aforesaid, and 

 lack of interest, from loss of same (@ 

 _■'. per rent .), nil combined, left the few 

 poor bees illy prepared In come out with 

 flying colors. Mv own apiary (20 colo- 

 nies) is in excellent condition, plenty of 

 stores and strong, large clusters, [ex- 

 amined them to-day and am much 

 pleased, they are having a tine flight 

 to-day. In iny next I will give my ex- 

 perience in wintering, if it should uot 

 trespass too much. 



W. Van Antwerp. M. D, 

 Mt. Sterling, Ky.< Jan. 30, 1881. 



Fertilizing Cage.— I hope you will give 

 M. B., of Fmcastle, Ind., a hearty wel- 

 come and encouragement on the subject 

 of fertilization in. confinement. I ask 

 this of you, because I know you have, 

 very little faith in its accomplishment. 

 I wish you had given the full name, for 

 it is hard to wait for his arrangement. 

 I want to get ready for another sura- 

 mor's practice, if there are any bees left 

 after this cold weather. Give all the 

 cream in the Weekly, no matter where 

 found. With it and a successful fertili- 

 zation cage, and plaster of Paris foun- 

 dation mould, and a live bee-man, suc- 

 cess must be had. 



Louis Hofstatter. 



Louisville, Ky., Dec. 31, 1880. 



[We must confess to considerable in- 

 credulity regarding successful fertiliza- 

 tion in oonfinement, to the extent to 

 make it practicable, although no one 

 would hail the successful solution of the 

 problem with more gratification, We 

 have no doubt "M B." will give full 

 particulars of the modus operandi in the 

 columns of the Bee Journal at the 

 proper time. — Ed.] 



In the Cellar. — I have received the 

 first number of the Weekly. It is nice 

 to have it weekly, but I fear it will get 

 destroyed, or torn and soiled. We saved 

 from robbing and starving 84 colonies, 

 from which we have 119 in the cellar 

 and 6 out-doors. We have taken off 

 •about a ton of surplus, mostly basswood, 

 and about half a ton on hand. Beescan 

 be wintered almost anywhere some- 

 times, and sometimes not anywhere. 

 We have always wintered in the cellar, 

 and have never lost any that were in 

 condition to winter when put in. Three 

 of us put away 100 in 3 hours, and take 

 them out in the same time. The bee 

 cellar is partitioned from the family 

 cellar by building-paper, made perfectly 

 dark. The hives are piled in rows 7 

 high, like cord-wood, with the front en- 

 trance open, and no other ventilation. 

 We keep the outside door open most of 

 the nights, which keeps the air pure ; 

 the dead bees are scraped out of the 

 hives and cleaned out of the cellar. We 

 put them in before very cold weather, 

 and keep them in till spring. I am sat- 

 isfied that money paid for the Journal 

 is the best investment that can be made 

 of $2, if a man has 5 colonies of bees 

 or more. "We used about 100 lbs. of 

 foundation last season, made on Olm's 

 machine, and have yet to see any that 

 I think equals it ; at any rate, it is all 

 we want. The cards of comb are as 

 true as a board, and the bees accept it 

 immediately. Thos. Tracy. 



Nashua, Iowa, Dec. 27, 1880. 



On Slimmer Stands.— I have taken the 

 Bke Journal since 1871, and do nut 

 liketodo without it. I have HJfi colo- 

 nies of bees, all in good condition, on 

 their summer stands, which I think is 

 the best place for them, after trying va- 

 rious ways of wintering. 



P. D. Jones. 



Mt. Morris, N. Y., Dec. 31, 1881. 



