1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



171 



Notwithstanding I make comb foun- 

 dation to sell, that docs not change the 

 fact that that article, properly made and 

 used, is becoming a staple — yes, is one 

 now. The old and modern prices go to 

 prove it. When 1 was experimenting 

 with bogus foundation 1 and 5 years ago, 

 and condemning the article (as Mr. D. is 

 doing now). Prof. Cook and others pre- 

 dicted that I would be using and selling 

 it soon. How correct that prediction 

 was! 1 hand the same to him. 1 know 

 the road, and know Mr. D. is "coining." 



1 rind that the bees will draw out 

 foundation so much faster than they can 

 secrete wax (to say nothing of the time 

 of gathering the honey it is made from 

 and the time spent in building it), that 

 during the " rush" is just when we get 

 most profit from its use. Foundation 

 should (especially for boxes) have a thin 

 base and soft line, then the septum of 

 the combs from it will be like those of 

 natural comb, and the line being soft 

 (less in size than the cuts between 

 the dies would take), the bees will make 

 astonishing progress with it. Not one 

 consumer in one thousand will ever no- 

 tice anything bulky about the comb. 



Is it true that the combination top and 

 side-storing system necessitates these sec- 

 tions '? My method of adjusting sec- 

 tions admits of their removal separately 

 " the moment one is finished," which 

 we know has its advantage in the way 

 Mr. Doolittle speaks of. But that ad- 

 vantage is more than off-set by the 

 great amount of extra labor it requires 

 to do that to the letter. There are cer- 

 tain times of the season when it is not 

 of so much importance — when honey is 

 coming in and combs are being finished 

 up rapidly. I have no trouble in remov- 

 ing a single section, because I do not 

 put the next section just where the full 

 one came from, but shove the next full- 

 est up where the vacancy is, and so on, 

 and put the new section (which is not 

 empty, but full of comb foundation) 

 down at the lean end of the row. 



Mr. Doolittle's closing sentence in his 

 article on separators, in the Weekly Bee 

 Journal, of April 27, is worth more to 

 me than all the rest of that article— my 

 sentiments exactly. 



I construed Messrs. Greiuer Bro.'s 

 article as a disclaimer against tin sepa- 

 rators as " compared with wood," and 

 after carefully reading the article again, 

 I can place no other construction upon 

 it. I did not pursue the discussion for 

 the sake of being " on the contrary 

 side," but because my experience had 

 proven 1 was correct, as I had faithfully 

 tried wood, paper and pasteboard, as 

 well as lots of tin. I fail to discover 

 any acrimonious feeling in any of the 

 correspondence except their last letter, 

 which was undoubtedly hastily written. 



Dowagiac, Mich., May 18, 1881. 



Tor the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping in the South. 



A. F. MOON. 



We are often asked if the South is a 

 good location for successful bee-cul- 

 ture. There are locations where large 

 yields of honey have been obtained, 

 but such locations are not so desirable 

 for living in, for they are generally near 

 low lands. Northern Georgia is about 

 medium; in fact.it is about the same 

 -all over the State, with a few exceptions. 

 The main dependence for a large yield 

 is honey dew. This in some seasons 

 and in certain localities is very great. 

 A gentleman, living 15 miles from this 

 city, informed me yesterday that his 

 bees had averaged about 7o lbs. to the 

 colony during the past 10 days, while 

 here none had been seen. This honey 

 is about the color of the buckwheat 

 honey of the North, but is very thick 

 and rich, though sometimes a little 

 strong, and in Eastern markets would 

 be classed as second quality. But lit- 

 tle white clover or liudeu honey comes 

 into market in this State, yet some fine 

 honey is obtained. We have 2 months 

 in which there is a great scarcity, that 

 is July and August. I think this might 

 be greatly counteracted by sowing 

 buckwheat; although this plant is so 

 greatly operated upon by climatic influ- 

 ence that some seasons it yields but lit- 

 tle, honey. Its growth in the South is 

 entirely different from that in the 



North. In the South it keeps up a con- 

 tinuous bloom from its commencing to 

 blossom until fall, ripening and (lower- 

 ing at the same time, while in the 

 North it ripens like wheat and other 

 grains. 



In January I went into a flower pit 

 that had been closed for some time ; 

 there were several rose-bushes in bloom, 

 and, strange as it may appear, each one 

 was covered with honey dew as plenti- 

 fully as I ever saw it in the forest. 

 Upon examining it I found the small 

 buds were covered thick with the rose 

 louse. There were nearly 200 plants 

 besides the roses, in the pit, but no 

 honey dew on one of them except the 

 rose-bushes. 



As to the South being a great honey 

 country, I will say that it is about me- 

 dium. There is one thing, however, 

 that is very desirable besides the honey 

 production, it is one of the finest cli- 

 mates that a person could wish to live 

 in. We have good water and as kind 

 and generous people as we ever wished 

 to live with To our Northern friends, 

 who so often write us about the South 

 and her people, let me say, if you wish 

 a quiet, peaceable home in the sunny 

 South, you will find among the South- 

 ern people a generous welcome ; they 

 know no South, East or West ; all is 

 peace and quietude, with law abiding 

 people. 



Rome, Ga. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Upward or lower Ventilation. 



A. BENEDICT. 



My experience is that bees require 

 more ventilation in the winter, to be 

 healthy, than at any other time in the 

 vear; this should be only in one place. 

 If the opening is at the top, the animal 

 heat which is so essensial to the com- 

 fort of the bees, is continually escaping 

 upwards. But if the ventilation is at 

 the bottom of the hive only, therarified 

 heat would be retained, or have to make 

 its way down, instead of up, to escape. 

 It is a well known fact that bees stop 

 every little crevice at the top of the 

 hive. The little honey bee is wiser by 

 instinct than man with his reason. 

 The nearer we follow that instinct, the 

 better success we will have with bees. 



To have lower and upward ventila- 

 tion, both at the same time, is wrong. 

 A cold current of air is constantly pass- 

 ing through such hives, and bees can- 

 not breed up to full colonies, until set- 

 tled warm weather comes. 



A few years ago when so many bees 

 died, I visited several apiaries, to see if 

 I could discover the cause. I found 

 one man that had lost all his bees ; he 

 had but 1 colony left. This was a box 

 hive on 4 pieces of bricks, which left 2 

 inches all around for ventilation. The 

 other 14 hives in which the bees had 

 died, had only an ordinarily entrance 

 ventilation. I examined some of the 

 hives and found the dead bees and 

 combs wet and covered with mold. 

 On examining the hive on the bricks, 

 I found the combs entirely free from 

 moisture or mold. I asked the man 

 how long that hive, had been there. 

 (Ie said for years; that it was one of 

 his oldest colonies. (Moral : the laun- 

 dress hangs her clothes out where there 

 is a strong current of air, and they soon 

 dry, instead of hanging them in a damp 

 cellar where there is no air stirring.) 



The late Dr. Kirtland of Cleveland, 

 Ohio, one of the most noted bee-keepers 

 in Northern Ohio, told me that one win- 

 ter he lost all his bees but 1 colony, and 

 that colony was in a box hive up in the 

 forks of a tree. The bees had lit there, 

 and it was difficult to dislodge them ; 

 he placed the hive over them and the 

 bees soon took possession of it. He 

 said, just for the novelty of the thing, 

 he fastened the hive securely to the 

 tree with a trace chain, and let it 

 remain. He said that these bees were 

 no more protected from the cold than 

 they would have been if the hive had 

 been suspended to a limb of the tree, 

 without any bottom. 



Years ago, I put my weak colonies in 

 box hives in the cellar, bottom up, with 

 a cloth tied over the hive to keep the 

 bees in. This I did to save honey. 

 The best way to winter movable comb 



hives in cellars is to remove the covers 

 and tie over the hive common cotton 

 cloth ; this keeps the bees and combs 

 dry. To winter well, bees should be 

 kept cool enough, so that they will keep 

 clustered, not running around over the 

 combs. 



The, loss of bees in this section is 

 about alike, whether in the cellar 

 packed with chaff, or without any pro- 

 tection. About 7-10 are dead ; nearly 

 all had sufficient honey to have car- 

 ried them through the winter. 



A widow living 3 miles from me had 

 5 colonies last fall, and there are now 3 

 alive and strong. They were in mova- 

 ble comb hives, and put flat on the 

 ground where tliey were hived. The 

 old dry weeds and grass around the 

 hive indicated that the hives must have 

 been nearly hid from sight last summer. 

 How is that for winter packing ? 



Benington, Ohio. 



For the Amerloan Bee Journal 



How to Separate Swarms. 



BRAY & SEACOKD. 



In the Journal of April 20 we find 

 the remarks of "E," of Kansas. In 

 haste to reach the mail in time was the 

 cause of the omission named. We will 

 now give our plan with full particulars. 



Make a box 3 feet long, wide and deep 

 enough to hang the frames in, from 

 the hive you use; place the frames in the 

 box, same spaces apart as they are in 

 the movable comb hive ; make one en- 

 trance for the bees on the side of the 

 box. twice the length and of the same 

 height as the entrance to the hive. 

 Make 3 or 4 division boards to fit the 

 box, then make a cover with cleats on 

 both sides (no end cleats) to fit the box; 

 hive the swarms of 2 or more in the 

 box ; place the box in the shade until 

 the next morning, then push the cover 

 lengthwise of the box and you will see 

 each colony clustered by themselves. 

 Now, put a division board between each 

 cluster, after which push back cover 

 over box and set it where you wish to 

 hive the bees. Place the hive in a con- 

 venient position to receive the bees, 

 push the box cover back from over the 

 first cluster, carefully drawing out the 

 frames from the box, for the bees build 

 comb 24 hours or less from the time 

 hived. On some of the frames you 

 will find comb ; place those frames with 

 bees on, into your hive. This will 

 start a roar in the hive ; the balance of 

 the bees can be removed with a feather. 

 When all the bees are in the hive, place 

 it where you wish it to stand, and pro- 

 ceed with other clusters in a similar 

 manner. 



Having tried the above plan fre- 

 quently we know it works like a charm. 



I have received the Emerson binder 

 for the Weekly Bee Journal. It is 

 complete ; no bee-keeper can afford to 

 be without one. 



Warthan, CaL, April 29, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Sundry Questions. 



J. B. RUSSELL. 



Please publish the following questions 

 with answers for the benefit of myself 

 and friends in the South : 



1. If I confine my bees to a few 

 combs, will I not lose the honey they 

 put in the extra combs when they have 

 them? 



2. I notice that colonies left undis- 

 turbed have filled the outside frames 

 with sealed honey, cast a swarm and 

 stored a gallon of honey in cap already 

 while those confined to a few frames in 

 early spring, have cast no swarms, nor 

 stored any surplus? Is it not reasona- 

 ble to suppose that for this section, at 

 least, it is best not to disturb bees, only 

 so far as to see that they are increasing 

 daily, etc.? 



3. If I did not have all of the brood 

 chamber of each colony filled with 

 brood and sealed honey, as now, when 

 the main season opened in June, they 

 would use this crop (the best honey), to 

 fill up the brood chamber, as I find they 

 do not go into the cap till they fill up 

 below ; that is, the two outside frames 

 and the tops and sides of all the rest — 

 leaving the middle of all the centre 



combs for brood, and it is the same 

 when I have many or few combs in the 

 hive ? 



4. Should I confine them to a few 

 combs and get less honey, as I have 

 done? Wherein lies the fault? 



While 1 am satisfied that to get the 

 largest yield of honey, or any surplus 

 at all, you must have the brood cham- 

 ber overflowing with bees and honey, 

 my experience is that this is the sooner 

 accomplished by not altering their con- 

 dition, as spring finds them, which 

 with us, is with all their combs. And 

 what puzzles me, is that Messrs Muth, 

 Doolittle and others' experience is so 

 different. There must be something in 

 my management, and if you can, from 

 this letter, see what it is and give me 

 an idea, I will try to work it out better, 

 and see if I cannot get more than three 

 or four gallons, which was my best yield 

 last season. 



Cuthbert, Ga., May 23, 1881. 



[1. No ; you can extract the honey 

 from those combs, then give them back 

 as fast as needed, or use them in colo- 

 nies where feed is wanted. 



2. In a mild climate, like that of 

 Georgia, contraction of the brood cham- 

 ber in winter and spring is not so essen- 

 tial as in the North, unless the colony 

 is very weak. 



3. With good colonies, you had bet- 

 ter lift the sealed honey combs from 

 the outside, put in division boards, and 

 leave the brood chamber to the queen 

 exclusively ; if a good queen, but little 

 honey will be stored below after your 

 June harvest begins. 



4. The fault is principally in not 

 having spread the combs fast enough. 

 If honey is coming in lively in early 

 spring, and nights are warm, notto chill 

 larvie, a fresh comb should be added to 

 the brood chamber at least each four 

 days. If you contract too much, it is 

 at the sacrifice either of bees or honey, 

 for both cannot occupy the same cell at 

 the same time. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Sugar Syrup for Wintering Bees. 



A. A. E. WILBER. 



On December 24, I put 20 colonies in 

 the cellar, 4 of which had sugar syrup, 

 and the remainder natural stores. I 

 left 21 on summer stands, 3 having 

 syrup. My cellar proving too cold for 

 such a winter, the mercury at a few 

 times falling as low as 26° above zero, 

 and remaining 4 days at a time. After 

 the first one of such cold spell, I could 

 detcet the smell of dysentery upon 

 going into the cellar, but I hoped they 

 might have a fly soon, but a suitable 

 day for that did not come till most of 

 them had died. On April 8, 1 removed 

 those from the cellar for the last time, 

 only 3 remained out of the 20 I put in 

 last December, and these were the 3 out 

 of 4 having sugar syrup ; all those hav- 

 ing natural stores, and 1 of those hav- 

 ing sugar syrup, died with the dysen- 

 tery. Out of the 21 left on summer 

 stands, only 2 remained ; 1 out of the 3 

 having sugar syrup, and 1 out of 18 

 having natural stores. Sugar syrup 

 and cellar wintering are a little ahead ; 

 the two that died with syrup on sum- 

 mer stands, were the only ones that 

 died without the dysentery. I can see 

 now where I could have done better. 

 If I had completed my cellar early and 

 made it frost proof, given all my bees 

 sugar syrup and put them ill early, it 

 would have been better ; the cellar was 

 not completed till after some zero 

 weather, and when the hives were loos- 

 ened from the stands, they came up ■ 

 with a heavy jar, which caused the bees 

 to fill themselves with honey. I would 

 like to hear from some one that feeds 

 sugar syrup. I believe Mr. D. A. Jones 

 recommends it. How has he succeeded 

 in wintering his large apiaries ? Fully 

 85 per cent, out of all the bees in this 

 vicinity are dead, those packed in chaff 

 not being exempt. 



Kelloggsville, N. Y., May 21, 1881. 



