334 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



First, see that the queens are all lay- 

 ing nicely in September or October, so 

 as to have the hives stocked with young, 

 vigorous bees for winter. Next, do not 

 rush to a conclusion that your bees are 

 queenless because you find no brood in 

 October, for the queens will likely stop 

 laying about the time white frost comes, 

 or when the leaves begin to fall, as this 

 brings a stop to pollen and honey stor- 

 ing, so do not be alarmed at finding no 

 brood, for if they have a fair colony of 

 bees, they are all right!| queen or no 

 queen. When you make an examination 

 in the spring, about the time new pollen 

 is gathered, you will then be able to 

 easily tell the queenless colonies, as all 

 good queens will begin to lay soon after 

 new pollen comes in. Then give each 

 queenless colony a queen, and they will 

 work right off with the same vigor as 

 those having queens all winter. 



Now, do not think this strange, for I 

 tell you these things because I have 

 known many beginners to examine their 

 bees in the fall, and pitch right out and 

 order a queen, and put her into their 

 supposed queenless hive, just to have 

 her killed, and thus lose a dollar. If 

 your hives in October have average col- 

 onies of bees, you may be pretty sure 

 they have a queen ; but if you really 

 know a colony to be queenless in the 

 fall, of course you can give it a queen 

 then just as well as in the spring. 



Next, see that all the colonies have at 

 least 20 pounds of honey, and a good, 

 tight single-walled hive, and they have 

 all the attention they need for winter in 

 this latitude. The most essential thing 

 about the hive is a good, tight cover to 

 protect them from the cold, sleet and 

 rains that we are likely to have here in 

 December, and on up to March. 



I believe this is about all that is neces- 

 sary to have the bees in tip-top condition 

 for winter. 



If you have not gone crazy on increase, 

 and have yo'ur bees too weak, or else ex- 

 tracted from the brood-nest too late, 

 your bees are apt to be O. K. without 

 further attention. In fact, my way to 

 quickly ascertain how my bees are fixed 

 for winter, is just to raise the cover for 

 a moment, and catch the sound as it 

 comes up from the colony. This tells 

 me just about how they are off for bees, 

 and then I place the cover back securely 

 and lift one end of the hive, and this 

 weighs pretty accurately, to me, the 

 amount of stores, etc., as my hives are 

 all about the same. Now some may ac- 

 cuse me of too much guess-work about 

 it, but it gives me just about as accurate 



means of telling how they are fixed as if 

 I pulled them all apart, which is quite a 

 job late in the fall. But if you cannot 

 trust yourself in this way, you can dis- 

 sect the whole hive. 



The above directions are for beginners 

 in the South, as I do not pretend to in- 

 struct the veterans. I only give my own 

 plans, stripped clear of theory, and as I 

 have been pretty successful in wintering 

 bees for years, I feel safe in giving my 

 plans to beginners. But if any of you 

 know a better way, by all means use it. 

 Jennie Atchley. 



Very Poor Honey Season. 



Mrs. Atchley: — I report for 1893 

 the poorest honey season since I have 

 kept bees. I had some 30 colonies, 

 spring count, increased by dividing to 

 about 60, with an average of a little 

 over one pound of honey to the hive. 

 General farm crops are very poor, on 

 account of continuous dry, hot weather. 

 A. T. McKlBBEN. 



Flag Spring, Ky., Aug. 15, 1893. 



Various Experiences with Foul Brood. 



As those that have been "through the 

 mill," as it were, with foul brood have 

 been called on to speak out, I will add a 

 little mite of experience. 



In the year 1879, or 1880, we pur- 

 chased an empty hive that had con- 

 tained a foul-broody colony the year be- 

 fore, but we did not know it at the time 

 we put a swarm into it, and they took 

 the foul brood, and I could only save 4 

 out of about 100 fine colonies. I would 

 be afraid for the wind to blow through 

 my bee-yards from a foul-broody colony. 

 I tell you it catches, and takes a death 

 grip, and holds it, too, unless the severest 

 means and most thorough cleansing and 

 care be taken to check it. 



A few years ago I had an out-apiary 

 situated in a creek bottom, and there 

 came an overflow just at swarming time, 

 when the hives were all full of brood in 

 all stages, and drowned the bees nearly 

 all out, washing some hives clear away, 

 and the brood all rotted in the combs, 

 and no trace of foul brood followed, nor 

 anything else. But when the combs 

 dried up, they were given to other bees, 

 and they cleaned them up, and %!! was 

 well. 



Again, sometime after that I shipped 

 a carload of bees in hot weather, and 70 

 of the strongest colonies smothered, as 



