102 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 30, 



A Word to Bec-Keepers.— Snow to the without this condition, protection is only 

 tops of the hives, but the " hlizzanl " a partial remedy in such winters as this 

 has moved on, or else the snow business where bees have been confined 114 days 

 has "played out," after falling continu- : as ours have been. Although last sea- 

 ously lor 33 hours. We have lost bees son was a poor one for surplus, I ob- 



froui the middle of February untildate, 

 and will not lie able to ascertain how 

 many until the snow leaves. We had a 

 few mild days which we improved doub- 

 ling up weak colonies. As soon as the 

 ■weather is suitable, we shall try to make 

 every bee do its very best — every one 

 must count. We do" not consider the 

 cold winter our worst enemy, however, 

 but glucose. It has deprived bee-keep- 

 ers of more money than anything else ; 

 especially that mixture labeled " Ver- 

 mont maple syrup." The honey crop 

 last season was below an average, yet 

 •' honey is of slow sale." Can it be pos- 

 sible that the purest sweet under the anee.— My'bees^redoing well consider- 

 heavens goes begging for a market, | jngcU-cumstances. I have some in chaff 

 ■while millions of gallons of starch, lm- 1 nives and smne j n s i,,gie-wall hives, 

 pregnated with sulnhuric and nitric | , )ac i; eu with chaff, on the summer 

 acids, and sweetened with Is ew Orleans ! stalu ]s. Those in chaff hives are quiet 

 molasses, finds ready sale r Bee papers ; ;uul dry j Ils j t i ei while those in the Lang- 

 are read principally by bee-keepers, who , st roth hives are damp, and the bees are 

 are all posted with reference to glucose, uneasy ; they cannot endure it much 

 but the outside world is not. Bee- ' i onger without a flight. It is now 133 

 keepers nne and all. buckle on your ar- . flays sillce tney | lave t )een confined to 



their hives. There are but few bees in 

 this country, and they are nearly all 



tained my share and could make money, 

 even in as poor a year as that, and if 

 this season shall prove a good one, I 

 want to see what I can do. as there has 

 not been a good season since I have 

 been in the business. The price of 

 honey in frames is the same as last fall, 

 but there is plenty of honey in the mar- 

 ket at from into 15cts.; it is from hives 

 where bees have died, and in some 

 cases I find the honey is sour. 



1'. R. Hunt. 

 Plattsville, Ohio. March 10, 1881. 



Bees Tried to their I'tmost Endnr- 



Feeding and Extraetine.— 1. Will rye- 

 meal in syrup, to feed bees in early 

 spring.answer the same purpose as when 

 fed in candy ? 



2. Can an extractor be used to remove 

 honey from pieces of comb as they come 

 out of gum hives when taking up or 

 transferring V I like the Bee Journal 

 very much, and think it is invaluable. 

 Mrs. O. F. Dean. 



Carthage, N. Y.. March 21, 1881. 



[1. Yes ; but we prefer giving it sep- j 

 arately, using for that purpose unbolted 

 rye-meal, and putting it in pans at a 

 short distance from the hives. If pollen 

 is needed the bees will carry it in, even | 

 though honey or syrup be exposed in ' 

 close proximity. 



2. Yes j all of the modern extractors j 

 will clean the pieces nicely.— Ed.] 



Late Spring.— Spring was late in com- 

 ing, but my bees are doing well — all 

 breeding nicely, having already reared 

 one litter of brood. The maple bloom 

 is about over now. Peach buds are 

 opening slowly. I look for a good honey 

 season this year. S. C. Doixje. 



Chattanooga. Tenn., March 18, 1881. 



One Half of the Bees Bead. -About 



', of the bees in this section, as far as 

 far as heard from, are dead. One man 

 reports a loss of 149 out of lot) colonies, 

 but they had no care whatever. 



O. B. Ka.nnky. 

 Kalamazoo. Mich.. March 19, 1881. 



mor, and endeavor to inform the masses 

 what pure honey is. both by talking and 

 writing for local papers everywhere. In 

 this way, and in no other, can they be 

 informed. Mbs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria. 111., March 21, 1881. 



[Mrs. Harrison has struck the key- 

 note in solving the whole problem ; the 



kept by farmers, and are put away in 

 the fall in a kind of " live if you will, or 

 die if you must" fashion, and most of 

 them will be dead if this weather con- 

 tinues much longer. We are having 

 another " blizzard " to-day ; wind, snow 

 and sleet, with :; feet of old snow on the 



people must be awakened to the frauds g 10um i. and it has been snowing for 1 



being practiced upon them, then with 



an irresistible impulse they will demand 



laws at the hands of Congress to stop 



the outrages. Meantime, we know of 



no one who wields an abler pen than 



does Mrs. Harrison, nor a better field for 



its local use than hers, with its score of 



papers. — Ed.] 



have 



Foul Brood and its Causes.— I 



for years been of the opinion that bee- 

 keepers generally were mistaken as to 

 the cause of foul brood. I have just 

 read an article in the Weekly Bee 

 Journal, by H. L. Jeffrey, of Wood- 

 bury, Conn., that expresses my views on 

 that subject so fully, that i want to 

 call the attention of the fraternity to it. 

 Believing as I do, that the practical 

 suggestions he has made are of the ut- 

 most importance, and if heeded, we will 

 hear but few, if any complaints in the 

 future, about " foul brood." Read this 

 article ; it is found on the 1st page of 

 the number for March 16. 



I. P. Wilson. 

 Burlington. Iowa, March 18, 1881. 



hours. This is the fourth time the rai 

 roads have been blockaded this winter. [ 

 Does it ever get warm enough for bees ' 

 to fly with snow on the ground V The i 

 snow is 4 feet deep in my bee yard. We 

 are very much pleased with the Bee 

 Journal since it became a weekly. 

 We could hardly get along without it. 

 D. S. Burbank. 

 Reinbeck, Iowa, March 11, 1881. 



[Bees frequently have their winter 

 flight while the ground is covered with 

 snow. Straw or hay should be scattered 

 over the surface for the bees to alight 

 on. in case they become weak or chilled. 

 -Ed.] 



Mt Report to Date— Is one colony 

 dead out of 6 wintered in cellar. I put 

 them out for a flight on March 12. I 

 think they are all right. The one, I 

 think, had too few young bees; it had 

 been queenless for about 2 months, 

 when I gave them a Cyprian queen late 

 last fall. C. A. Stevens. 



Quebec, Canada, March 19, 1881. 



Red Clover Italians. —1 inclose the ! 

 subscription for my welcome weekly ' 

 visitor— the AMERICAN Bee Journal. 

 My bees are in good condition. I fed 

 them plenty of coffee A sugar syrup, 

 last fall, and then put them up in chaff. 

 I only lost one colony, which was shaded 

 with a large arba vita tree about 3 

 o'clock in the aften i. This weak- 

 ened the colony. My bees are all Ital- 1 

 ians. I have purchased queens from 

 different breeders, but my best colonies ; B( . os j„ Northern Kentucky.— Here ', 

 are bred from queens obtained from my f the bees died of dysentery, and per- 

 neighbor, Mr. J. A. Bocklew; they bans a few starved, About the middle 

 were bred from his red-clover queens of JSbv. ] fed some of my bees, and 

 and are the best workers 1 ever saw. ]ia eked them, in fair condition for win 



Homer Rcdivivus.— 



I've read the Weekly JouilNAI. through— 

 The advertisements, I read those, too ■ 

 It is Just exactly what I want, 

 POT It is now the best extant ; 

 And after havlnK such a freeze. 

 I'll tell you something about my bees : 

 1 have in cellar forty "stands." 

 I A part of them have Bidden bands : 

 Out-of doors 1 had forty-four. 

 But some have died— 1 think a score ; 

 The bees in-doors are doing well. 

 While those left out have none to— "'I'll 

 bourne from whence no traveler returns." 

 Uuzeiow Mills, lnd. Azauiah WILLIAMS 



Success 



The queens are verv prolific 

 to the Weekly BEE JOURNAL. 



Thomas Woi.ik 

 Franklin. ().. March !!», 1881, 



The Cause of Losses in Winter.— Bees 

 as far as I can learn, in this section of 

 Ohio, are nearly all dead. Our most 



ter. When the cold weather commenced 



so suddenly I thought I would wait for 

 a warm day to pack the rest, but it has 



not yet come : the ground is frozen and 

 it is snowing to-night. From 40 colonies 

 in Nov. I have at the present -1 left. 

 The ii colonics that i ted and packed 



oe all alive, and all but one colony are 



extensive bee-keeper has but IS colonies in good condition ; iill have brood since 



left out of mi; all were well protected the middle of Jan. My 6 colonies Of 



by chaff. Another lost all— 50 colonies. Italians gathered more fall honey than 



Others have lost all hut 1 or 2. I have all niv blacks, but ceased breeding car- 



saved nearly '.. although some were lier in the fall and commenced later this 



not In as good condition to winter as winter. But I like them to rear queens 



they should ha\e been; that is, they from, if nothingelse, on account of I heir 



had old queens and consequently less being c lily seen when first emerged 



bees that were strong and vigorous lor from the cell. The losses in my neigh- 

 so long and severe a winter. Why so borhood are about as follows : A., ."lost 

 any bees died in winter I do not know: out of 8 colonies; 1'... is from 24; • '■. 



Melange.— 1. When bees are working 

 in the surplus boxes, does it do any 

 harm to remove a frame of sealed brood 

 from the brood chamber once in two 

 weeks, to strengthen nuclei, and put in 

 a sheet of comb foundation ? 



2. When surplus honey is wanted in- 

 stead of increase, is it not best to prevent 

 swarming by giving plenty of room, and 

 then makeup the increase between bass- 

 wood bloom and buckwheat, by stimu- 

 lating the queens ? 



3. How many feet to the pound should 

 comb foundation be for brood chamber 

 and surplus boxes V 



4. When and where was the honey 

 bee tirst mentioned in ancient history, 

 and who was the first that kept them 

 for pecuniary profit f 



5. In preparing bees for winter, how- 

 many frames with two-thirds empty 

 combs would be required for a strong 

 colonv to cluster on V I gave fi with 2 

 full frames of honey," and the bees 

 starved. E. S. M. 



Butternut Ridge, March 21, 1881. 



[The above letter was unaccompanied 

 with the writer's name, and would have 

 been consigned to the waste basket, had 

 the questions not been of a general na- 

 ture. Courtesy requires that the name 

 should accompany the communication, 

 though not necessarily for publication. 



1. It does harm, in that it interferes 

 with the reinforcement of the workers 

 as they die from age and casualties. 



2. Many successful apiarists pursue 

 the course suggested. 



3. For brood frames, i% to 5 feet ; for 

 surplus boxes, if used as small starters, 

 the same weight will answer ; if full 

 size, 10 to 12 feet. 



4. Honey and bees are frequently re- 

 ferred to in the Old Testament. Canaan 

 is mentioned as a land flowing with milk 

 and honey, and when Abraham's sons 

 went to Egypt to buy corn, they took 

 honey with them as a present to the 

 Egyptian ruler— Gen. 43: 11. The honey 

 bee was extolled in verse and prose by 

 Homer, Herodotus, Aristotle, Cato, 

 Virgil, Pliny, Columella and other an- 

 cient writers. A more extended refer- 

 ence to this subject will be found on 

 pages 5-8, of the pamphlet " Honey, as 

 Eood and Medicine." The last clause 

 of the question we cannot answer. 



5. Two are enough ; three are a great 

 abundance. —Ed.] 



Wintering in a Cave.— I have win- 

 tered in a cave for 4 years, with very 

 small loss ; some years none. The cave 

 cannot be too warm, if it is perfectly 



dry, then there is no mildew on the 

 combs. My bees come out stronger in 

 the spring than when [put them away 

 j in the fall. If damp, the loss will 

 be great and all the combs nearly 



spoiled. D.S.Wat. 



TJrbana, Iowa, March 18, 1881, 



Bees Carrying in Pollen.— My bees 

 are carrying in pollen from soft maples 

 to-day. " 1 have lost 3 weak colonies out 

 of 52, and I do not expect to lose any 

 more. I left some on the summer 

 stands unprotected, as an experiment, 

 but they starved with plenty of honey 

 in the hives; it was too cold for them 

 to roach it. John Bokrstler. 



Gilead, 111., March 15, 1881. 



Purifying Wax.— Will some of the 

 numerous readers of the Bee Journal 

 give ns the best mode of cleansing and 

 purifying wax? 1 received a sample Of 

 comb foundation from Messrs. Dadant 

 ,v_ Son which is really beautiful, it is so 

 clear and yellow. A few hints would 

 be of great value. 1 like the Weekly 

 Bee Journal. I). V. Beacock. 



Brockville, Canada, March 22, 1881. 



[Perhaps Messrs. Dadant & Son, and 

 others, will give their methods of puri- 

 fying and cleansing beeswax.— Ed.] 



Wintering in Box Hives.— Bees iu this 



vicinity, kept in box hives, have done 

 well, and there seems to be no winter- 

 killing or loss ; but those in Langstroth 

 and other movable comb hives, have 

 suffered at a rate; of from one-tenth to 

 one-third. I have lost 3 out of 8 ; those 

 lost were in Langstroth hives; 2 Lang- 

 stroths kept well ; my other 3 were not 

 movable comb. Bees here are carrying 

 in pollen in large quantities from the 

 silver poplar and water maple, and 

 looking healthy and in line condition. 

 At first I did iiot like the change, but 

 now I am delighted with the Weekly 

 Journal. R. A. Mollyneaux. 

 New Richmond, Ohio, Mar. 18, 1881. 



Chaff Packing Triumphant.— I have 

 just examined my bees after their long 

 winter's nap, and I feel like throwing 

 up my hat and whistling big, for 1 am 

 •' out of the woods " for this winter. I 

 have not lost a colony and never saw 

 bees in better condition at this season. 

 I feel very jubilant over my success, for 

 they were not in the best condition for 

 wintering. Our winter has been long 

 and severe ; the thermometer has stood 

 as low as 25- below zero. My bees had 

 no good flight from Nov. till Feb. Chaff 

 hives and chaff packing did the busi- 

 ness. I winter on the summer stands, 

 and from observation and experience I 

 have about come to the conclusion that, 

 with proper protection, that is the way 

 to winter bees. At some future time I 

 will give a detailed account of how I 

 packed my bees, and the material used, 

 (for I had them packed in different 

 ways) and my experience with the dif- 

 ferent kinds of packing. I hope thai 

 bee-keepers will report their last win- 

 ter's experience and the manner of win- 

 tering minutely, and the result by so 

 doing. I think that we will develop 

 something that will beof lasting benefit 

 to us all. in the way of successfully win- 

 tering bees. The Weekly Bee Jour- 

 nal is a splendid thing for bee-keepers, 

 and that it may be just as goo,! a thing 

 for its publisher is mv earnest desire. 

 J. W. Henderson. 



Burlington, Kan., March 15, 1881. 



\ei I am satisfied that it is not all caused 

 by the cold. It bees were in first-rate 

 condition for winter— that is the bees 

 themselves— and then perfectly pro- 

 tected, the loss would be small ; but 



11 from in-, D., 17 from 84, and many 

 have lost all. But I have not lost all 

 hopes yet. Success to the Weekly I'.ee 

 Journ M.. A. W. STITH. 



Dividing Ridge, Ky.. March 8, 1881. 



Bees Are Scarce.— The bees in this 



section are scarce; over one-half of them 



have died during the past severe win- 

 ter. S.J. Davis. 

 Goldsmith, lnd.. March 14,1881. 



Portable Sheds for Winter.— I have 21 

 colonies of bees in portable sheds, with 

 shingle roof (.'! in each shed), packed 

 in chaff and wheat straw. They are all 

 right. I left G colonies on summer 

 stands without protection and lost 3 of 

 them; another is quite weak. More 

 than % of the bees in thisneighborhood 

 are dead. P. S. VanRensselaer. 



LaCarne, O., March 21, 1881. 



