78 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 9, 



Packed in Chaff.— I have 153 colonies 

 of bees packet! in chaff. All were alive 

 at last examination about ten days ago, 

 but they have not had a purifying flight 

 since October, and many are affected 

 with dysentery, a few badly. I fear a 

 heavy loss unless the weather moder- 

 ates soon. The American Bee Jour- 

 nal is very welcome as a weekly visitor. 



Bangor. Mich. H. D. Burrell. 



Good for a Novice.— I commenced last 

 spring with 2 colonies partially Italian- 

 ized, and increased, by dividing, to 8. I 

 had a bee man look them over in the 

 fall, who pronounced them in good con- 

 dition and with plenty of honey. I ob- 

 tained, also, about 30 lbs. of surplus. 

 Is this not doing well for a novice", and 

 a very poor season? Now, I want to 

 try the prize box plan a little, can I use 

 the comb honey rack and prize boxes 

 on my hive V Is silver hull buckwheat 

 as valuable for grain and honey as other 

 kinds, and would it pay to plant it suc- 

 cessively through the season for honey ? 

 A. Hodges. 



Shenandoah, Iowa, Jan. 26, 1881. 



[The rack for the American hive, with 

 a slight modification, will fit your hive 

 nicely. Silver hull buckwheat is said 

 to be superior to other kinds for all pur- 

 poses ; and where ground is cheap, we 

 should think it would pay to plant it for 

 a succession of bloom. You will find 

 the other questions accompanying your 

 letter frequently answered in previous 

 numbers of the Journal.— Ed.] 



Long Winter.— I doubted whether a 

 Weekly Bee Journal could be sus- 

 tained; but now that it is under good 

 headway, I am well pleased with it, and 

 wish it sucess. I am sorry that, having 

 increased my business more than ever, 

 I cannot get time to write for it, as 

 usual. I need not say that I never be- 

 fore saw such a winter as this. My 

 bees, over 50 colonies, were all right 

 January 30, except 4 of the weakest. 

 They had then been confined about three 

 months without a flight, though on their 

 summer stands — a longer confinement 

 than my bees ever had before. It 

 is snowing and very cold now, and 

 no telling bow they will come out yet. 

 Those of the other apairy are all right, 

 and if I do not lose over 10 colonies I 

 intend to sell 30, as I shall not have much 

 time to work with bees this year, but 

 still I cannot do without the Journal. 

 R. M. Argo. 



Lowell, Ky., Feb. 28, 1881. 



All the Natives Dead.— I commenced 

 the winter with 35 colonies of bees and 

 have only seven now, and they are my 

 purest Italians. I have now 250 nice 

 combs, each containing at least 4 lbs. of 

 honey. I see that some advertise nu- 

 clei — 2 combs, (3x12, a small colony of 

 bees — could they be built up to good 

 colonies during the next season? I am 

 better prepared for building up weak 

 colonies than ever, as all my neighbors' 

 bees (100 colonies) are dead. I could 

 have saved most of my bees bad I 

 known what the winter would be. I 

 have got rid of my blacks, and have no 

 idea of keeping them again. I now 

 think the cause of my loss or gain, I 

 do not know which, was zero weather 

 in Nov., and for want of young bees, 

 and, principally, carlessnesa, winch fol- 

 lows a bad season. I could give the 

 condition of the bees that starved, but 

 those that winter out of doors have only 

 to open a hive and look! a little patch 

 of brood and frost between them, etc. 



Waveland.Ind. Peter James. 



[Nuclei may be easily built up to good 

 colonies, if they have prolific queens, by 

 the aid of comb foundation. — Ed.] 



Bees Need a Flight. — My bees have 

 had a bard time for the last 3 weeks ; 

 from the 7th to the 10th inst, it was just 

 warm enough to make them uneasy. 

 but they could not fly without dropping 

 to the snow and dying ; for the 4 days 

 above mentioned, the mercury stood 

 from 30° to 35° above zero in day time ; 

 from the 10th to the 20th it was from 20 

 below to 20° above ; on the 26th it was 

 as high as 40° above, with calm, foggy, 



misty weather. Some of the colonies 

 had a flight, but a good many dropped 

 to the ground and died. My bees have 

 not had a general flight since the latter 

 part of October. There was no day 

 warm enough for it since. Four colo- 

 nies out of 147, are dead, and quite a 

 number are very weak ; while in a 

 great number of colonies, about % of 

 the bees are dead, and if they do not 

 get a flight soon, I expect about V 2 ' of my 

 colonies will die. They were in good 

 condition, with plenty of stores, when 

 winter set in ; if they could have had a 

 cleansing flight about Feb. 1st they 

 would have been all right. 



C. Theilmann. 

 Theilmanton, Minn.. Feb. 28, 1881. 



Bees All Right.— My bees are all 

 right. They had a nice " fly " on Feb- 

 ruary 26th. Success to the Weekly Bee 

 Journal. S. S. Bristol. 



Galesburg, Mich., Feb. 28th, 1881. 



Delighted with the Weekly.— I am de- 

 lighted with the Weekly. I had grown 

 so attached to the old Monthly that I 

 feared the change. But it was wise 

 and timely ; the added advantage from 

 quick and frequent information will 

 soon double the number of its subscri- 

 bers. I had no idea of the force of this 

 advantage till experience demonstrated 

 it. To ask for information with assur- 

 ance that it may come in a few days, is 

 comforting and will surely be apprecia- 

 ted by all intelligent bee-keepers. 



A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., Feb. 21, 1881. 



Rather Gloomy.— I had 10 colonies last 

 fall and now have none ; but this loss 

 did not come unexpectedly. The colo- 

 nies were very weak ; there was not 

 enough secretion of honey from about 

 the 1st of June, to keep the bees alive ; 

 had they not had such a rich flow of 

 honey early in the summer they would 

 have died before the fall. I had thought 

 of feeding, but that cold snap came on 

 a little too soon, and killed all but 4 col- 

 onies, and those were nearly gone, and 

 died too. The clusters were too small, 

 for all the colonies left some honey in 

 their hives. I feel a little discour- 

 aged, but am not despondent. I intend 

 to purchase one or two colonies in the 

 spring and take a new start. I will re- 

 port of the neighborhood, 3 or 4 lost all, 

 one 6 out of 7, another 5 out of 8. So 

 you see that the season was a poor one. 

 II. Wilson Ui.sh. 



Middle Creek, Pa., Feb. 18, 1881. 



Bee Moth, etc. — What is the best man- 

 ner of protecting surplus combs, for 

 future use, against the ravages of the 

 bee moth ? Are the Cyprian and the 

 Syrian bees, or either of them, superior 

 to the Italian bee, according to the best 

 authority upon the subject ? 



G. G. Hughes. 



Burlington. Ky., Feb. 9, 1881. 



[For an exhaustive answer to the first 

 question, see Mr. Doolittle's article en- 

 titled, "Bees Destroyed by Worms." 

 It has not yet been demonstrated that, 

 as a race, either the Cyprian or Syrian 

 bees are superior to our American-Ital- 

 ians, though both may possess desirable 

 traits which may be improved by judi- 

 cious breeding or crossing.— Ed.] 



An Excellent Crop.— My honey har- 

 vest for 1880 averaged, per hive, 30 lbs. 

 of comb honey and 40 lbs of extracted. 

 I left from 32 to 40 lbs. per hive, for 

 winter. Thanks to the Bee Journal, 

 I have been able to get 70 lbs. of honey 

 per hive, and double my stock in the 

 poorest season that has been known in 

 this part of the country; at the latter 

 part of March the bees were gathering 

 a good deal of honey from the maples, 

 but with the month of April came cold, 

 blustering weather; the month of May 

 was also very cold. The sun shone 

 about twice a week for half an hour or 

 so, to tempt the bees from the hive; 

 but half of those that went in qust of 

 food never returned. June found the 

 colonies very much reduced, but brought 

 us tine weather and an abundance of 

 honey, so that the colonies became 

 strong in a short time, and with the ad- 



vice of the Bee Journal, I kept them 

 strong. My colonies are as strong or 

 stronger to-day than they ever were, 

 even at swarming time, before I got the 

 Bee Journal. 



P. P. N. E. Pelissier. 

 Pelissier P. O., Ottawa Co., Que. 



•A Stray Swarm.— On Nov. 13, my 

 father found a swarm of bees settling 

 on an oak 250 yards from our apiary. I 

 doubled them with a weak colony. It 

 was a small swarm, and settled very 

 naturally. There has been no honey 

 gathered for at least 2 months, and will 

 be none for as many more. What made 

 them swarm V Chas. S. Sanderson. 



Mt. Fairview, Cal., Dec. 17, 1881. 



[It was a late swarm, which had been 

 starved out. — Ed. J 



Enameled Cloth.— What is the enamel 

 cloth, used for covering the brood cham- 

 ber? Our stores contain nothing that 

 seems reasonable to use for that pur- 

 pose. Nelson Hammond. 



Traverse City, Mich., Feb. 19, 1881. 



[Enameled cloth is cotton duck or 

 sheeting enameled on one surface, and 

 usually sells at 25 to 30c. per yard.— Ed.] 



Cider a Cause Disaster. — There is a 

 heavy loss of bees in Central Ohio, on 

 account of impure honey gathered last 

 fall. In some large apiaries all the bees 

 are dead ; but where the extractor was 

 used last fall and the impure honey ex- 

 tracted, bees are wintering finely — none 

 dying that have sufficient honey. A 

 number of bees died before mid-winter 

 that had enough sealed honey to have 

 carried them through the winter. Bees 

 gatnered a large amount of cider and 

 impure honey-dew late in the fall, which 

 they did not cap ; it soon fermented 

 and proved almost certain death to the 

 bees. I have no doubt but that a large 

 share of the bees which are reported as 

 dying of dysentery, might have been 

 saved by the use of the extractor. I 

 predict a good honey yield during the 

 coming season. I love too well to hear 

 the musical hum of their busy little 

 wings to ever give up bee-keeping. 



Aaron Benedict. 



Bennington, O. 



Colonies Strong and Healthy. — My 



bees had a splendid cleansing-flight on 

 Feb. 25th. I have lost but one colony 

 during this severe winter, and have some 

 of the strongest colonies that I ever saw 

 at this time of the year. 



Joseph Elder. 

 Huntington, Ind., March 2, 1881. 



Will be Ready for the Harvest. — I went 

 into winter quarters with 40 colonies — 

 38 were strong, and 2 were 3- frame nu- 

 clei ; 25 were in the Root chaff hive, and 

 the rest in Langstroth and simplicity 

 hives. I prepared them for winter dur- 

 ing the latter part of October, and from 

 that time until the 1st of February they 

 had no flight. I found 36colonies living, 

 1 queenless, and 2 that I could crowd 

 onto 2 frames ; all had sealed brood but 

 1 , and I think they will all be ready for 

 business in good time. 



C. G. Knowles. 



Portland, O., Feb. 28, 1881. 



Ventilation.— I am glad the Weekly is 

 established on a firm basis, for a weekly 

 is indispensable to every progressive 

 apiarist. Our success depends upon 

 close reading, instructive suggestions 

 and thoroughly practical experience. 

 My pets are wintering finely on their 

 summer stands. Last summer, during 

 the heated term, 2 combs in the center 

 of the brood nest in one of my Italian 

 colonies, melted and broke loose from 

 the frames, consequently there was an 

 indiscriminate mass, indicating imper- 

 fect ventilation. My hives are all pro- 

 tected from the noon-day sun. They 

 fit close to the bottom board, with an 

 entrance 8 inches wide, which some say 

 is ample for ventilation. I have tried 

 raising the hives and putting small 

 blocks at the corners ; this method ad- 

 mits the bee moth from all points of the 

 compass, besides the bees sometimes 

 build a flight of stairs with propolis up 

 to the bottom bars. I tried sliding the 



hive backward beyond the bottom board . 

 This method is easier told than per- 

 formed. For inconvenience, unwieldi- 

 ness and irritability, it is first class. I 

 tried wire-cloth at the top of the cham- 

 ber, only to find it enameled with prop- 

 olis. Bottom boards with holes cut in 

 and a ventilator slid under, make excel- 

 lent receptacles for all the filth of the 

 hive, if covered with wire-cloth. My 

 experience is like Mr. Camm's— every 

 mesh sealed. Please tell how to venti- 

 late in hot weather ? W. R. Young. 

 Myersville, Md., Jan. 25, 1881. 



[An entrance at the front and rear of 

 the hive will furnish all the ventilation 

 required, where the hives are shaded 

 at noon-day, besides being a conven- 

 ience to a strong colony during a plenti- 

 ful honey flow. An inch hole in each 

 end of the hive, about % up the brood 

 chamber,covered inside with wire-cloth, 

 will afford ample ventilation, and is 

 plugged when no longer required.— Ed.] 



Alsike and Melilot.— My bees had their 

 first flight on Feb. 24th. Since Novem- 

 ber 26th, 1880, we have had steady very 

 cold -weather ; the thermometer being 

 once at 23° below zero. Bees in this 

 location are all alive yet. I opened my 

 hives yesterday ; the bees are in very 

 good condition, with plenty of brood, 

 I had them in a shed packed with woolen 

 blankets. I was glad to see the editor's 

 likeness in the Bee Journal. Which 

 is the best for bee pasture, alsike or 

 melilot clover ? Peter Mjerlein. 



Brussels, 111., Feb. 25, 1881. 



[Melilot is much the best.— Ed.] 



Artificial Pollen, etc.— 1. On page 129, 

 Vol. for 1880 of American Bee Jour- 

 nal, is an interesting article on the 

 substitution of pea flour for pollen. 

 Will it answer to use rye flour instead, 

 mixing it in the same manner? and is 

 it better sifted before using? 



2. Last fall, while preparing my bees 

 for winter, I put away several combs 

 partly filled with unsealed honey from 

 syrup made of coffee A sugar. Will it 

 do to feed this back in the spring, when 

 the bees are flying freely ? 



3. What is the best method of giving 

 combs to the bees to have them cleaned 

 of loose honey ? Wm. Stolley. 



Grand Island, Neb., Jan. 14, 1881. 



[1. Unbolted rye flour will answer, 

 and can be given in the same manner, 

 though not so good. We prefer oatmeal, 

 placed in tin pans at a short distance 

 from the hives, and well protected from 

 the wind. 



2. If the honey is not soured, it can 

 do no harm to feed back for early con- 

 sumption, while bees are flying freely. 



3. Place one frame each alternate day, 

 or as fast as they are needed, in the 

 brood chamber, using care not to chill 

 the brood. A good extractor, however, 

 will leave the combs dry and clean of 

 honey, if not granulated.— Ed.] 



Spring Dwindling. — For the preven- 

 tion of spring dwindling my plan is. 

 after setting them out and they have a 

 good cleansing flight, to close the en- 

 trance entirely, so that no bees can 

 pass ; bore a %-in hole 3 inches above 

 the entrance and tack a wire-cloth over 

 it; they will not smother when so 

 treated. Leave them so until it is 

 warm enough for them to fly. When 

 cold evenings occur, close them up, and 

 open when it is warm enough for safety, 

 after the sun has warmed the air. This 

 plan will also prevent the chilling of 

 young larva;, which are often dragged 

 out by the. bees in the morning. Dead 

 larva? in the hive, is in my view, very 

 conducive to foul brood, if not the main 

 cause of it. Follow this plan until the 

 weather is sufficiently warm to need no 

 such care. Adopt the same plan in the 

 fall. Bees here have not had a flight 

 since going into winter quarters; those 

 with plenty of stores seem to be all 

 right as yet. Success to the Weekly 

 Bee Journal. Ji»B. Ide. 



Climax, Mich., Feb. 25, 1881. 



