408 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



terial is plenty, there need be no bottom 

 in the box, letting the packing material 

 rest on the ground. The greatest ob- 

 jection to this plan is the extra work 

 required in cleaning up the packing 

 material in the spring when the bees are 

 unpacked. A little sawdust scattered 

 about the hive, however, is no objection. 

 Flint, Mich. 



Bcc-Kccpinsf !n Kansas — Some 

 Queen-Bee £xpericnecs. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY W. C. ROBB. 



Careful inquiry among the leading 

 bee-keepers reveals the fact that the 

 present season has been rather a poor 

 one, and the yield of surplus honey not 

 up to that of former years. 



Last winter was a very severe one in 

 our locality, and a large percent, of the 

 bees that were left on the summer 

 stands perished from lack of stores, and 

 continued cold weather, followed by a 

 cold, wet spring. Very little honey or 

 pollen was gathered from the fruit- 

 bloom, and white clover was badly win- 

 ter-killed, so that it was midsummer be- 

 fore the bees were in a condition to store 

 much surplus. 



There are about 600 colonies of bees 

 in our city, and I have heard of no 

 really large yields. Our bees worked 

 nicely on sweet clover, an abundance of 

 whicla grows in and near the city, but it 

 seemed to yield no nectar. Basswood 

 lasted about a week, and gave us about 

 all the honey we have taken so far. 



Plenty of rain has fallen, and fall 

 flowers are blooming profusely. Heart's- 

 ease is in full bloom now, and Spanish- 

 needle will follow soon. Late swarms 

 will have to " hustle " to get themselves 

 in good condition for winter. 



I wintered my bees last winter on the 

 summer stands, and lost 7 colonies out 

 of 19. I think I will put them into a 

 cellar this winter, and see if I meet with 

 any better success. 



1 found two colonies queenless last 

 spring ; and this brings me to a point 

 where I desire to relate a little experi- 

 ence I had with two somewhat noted 

 Southern qucen-broeders. 1 wrote to 

 one for an untested queen, stating that 

 I desired to add some new blood to my 

 apiary, and requested him to send as 

 good stock as he could for the money, 

 $L.(JO. The colony that I intended to 

 put her with was a good, strong one, 



both in stores and bees. In about ten 

 days I received a small, yellow queen, 

 but little larger than one of my leather- 

 colored workers. The bees sent in the 

 cage with her were correspondingly 

 small, and no better colored than the 

 bees from my own queens. I was not 

 very well pleased with her, to say the 

 least, but as I did not expect " the 

 earth " for a dollar, I introduced her 

 successfully, and patiently awaited re- 

 sults. 



As " coming events cast their shadows 

 before," it did not take me long to dis- 

 cover that I had been "sold." Upon 

 examination two weeks after the queen 

 commenced to lay, I found about 75 per 

 cent, of drone-brood, the greater portion 

 of which had been laid in worker-cells. 

 In four weeks I had the finest colony of 

 drones a modern bee-keeper ever saw. 

 My friends, to whom I showed them, 

 pronounced them by far the largest race 

 of bees they had ever seen, out seemed 

 to think it strange that any little ones 

 should be there ! She continued to rear 

 drones until about the middle of June, 

 when I found about half a dozen queen- 

 cells, and no unsealed brood. I saved 

 two of the cells, and they both produced 

 dark-colored queens. 



Now, I have arrived at this conclusion 

 in regard to the matter, that an old, 

 worn-out queen was sent me instead of 

 a young, vigorous one, as I had a right 

 to expect. Had the queen been a young 

 one, I would have been perfectly satis- 

 fied, but an old, worn-out queen that has 

 been mismated I consider expensive at a 

 dollar. 



I then sent to another queen-breeder 

 for a tested queen, paying $1.50 for it. 

 By return mail I received a "golden 

 beauty," sure enough. I have several 

 young queens from her, and I think that 

 I have some of the finest bees now in 

 northeast Kansas. Next spring, my 

 partner, F. W. Campbell, and I, intend 

 to favor the last mentioned dealer with 

 an order for one of his finest breeders, 

 for we are determined to have the finest 

 strain of bees that money will buy. 



Atchison, Kans., Aug. 26, 1893. 



Worth $ioo a Year.— I sub- 

 scribed for the Amekiban Bee Jouunai., 

 and in it I found a letter from a lady 

 bee-kee[.er, telling how to prevent after- 

 swarms. That ( ut $100 into my pocket 

 the first year.— A. M. P^isk, North Free- 

 dom, Wis. 



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