624 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bees Flying in a Circle, Ktc. 



—Mr. A, K. Osborn, of Elk City, Nebr., 

 on Oct. 16, 1892, sent the following 

 questions: 



1. I noticed my bees flying in a circle 

 around their hives last week, in the 

 afternoon when it is warm. What are 

 they trying to do ? I had only a few 

 bees until last spring. 



2. What is good to keep those little 

 worms out of the comb honey after it is 

 put into the case ? A. K. Osborn. 



Mr. J. A. Green replies to the above 

 questions thus : 



1. Bees like to go out for exercise or 

 a " play spell " just as well as human 

 beings do. Young bees for their first 

 flights, or old ones if they have been 

 confined to the hive for a time, act as 

 you describe. 



2. Kill the worms by burning sulphur, 

 as has been described in these columns. 

 Better keep Italians, and not have any 

 worms in your honey. J. A. Green. 



On page 456, Mr. Osborn will find 

 how Mr. Doolittle fumigates comb 

 honey. We have published various 

 methods for ridding comb honey of 

 worms, during the past month or so. It 

 pays to read each number of the Bee 

 Journal carefully, as we cannot afford 

 to occupy space with repetitions of sim- 

 ple methods and directions. 



The 'Work: Done toy Bees is 



simply wonderful — like everything else 

 about these interesting insects. In order 

 to collect a single pound of clover honey 

 it has been estimated that they must 

 deprive 62,000 clover blossoms of their 

 nectar. To do this the 62,000 flowers 

 must be visited by an aggregate of 

 3,750,000 bees; or, in other words, to 

 collect this pound of honey one bee must 

 make 3,750,000 trips from and to the 

 hive. As bees are known to fly for 

 miles in quest of suitable fields of opera- 

 tion, it is clear that a single ounce of 

 honey may represent millions of miles 

 of travel. 



What some specimens of humanity 

 need, is to imitate the bee a little more 

 in the line of its energy and " get there" 



characteristics. It never pays to mope, 

 or idle away time. There is plenty of 

 work for all, if only each one will find 

 out for himself or herself the particular 

 duties that he or she can do, and ought 

 to do. Many avenues of usefulness are 

 as yet unexplored, and simply await the 

 opportunity to yield their hidden treas- 

 ures to the one who will put forth the 

 necessary effort to discover and appro- 

 priate them. 



Ventilation and Wintering. 



— Mrs. P. Lattner, of Worthington, 

 Iowa, asks the following questions : 



1. I wish to know if the ventilation 

 given bees m the honey season through 

 the entrance would be too much for bees 

 packed in chaff hives, or bees put into 

 the cellar. 



2. Also, which is the more profitable, 

 wintering in chaff hives or in the cellar? 



Mrs. P. Lattner. 



Prof. Cook, of Agricultural College, 

 Mich., replies to the foregoing questions 

 thus : 



1. In the honey season, an opening 

 the whole width of the hive, at least one 

 foot long, I think none too much. I 

 would not wish so much in winter, were 

 I to winter the bees out-doors. I should 

 restrict the entrance — at least to 4 

 inches — even in using a chaff hive. In 

 addition to this, I should keep this en- 

 trance from clogging by preventing the 

 ice or snow from forming or blowing 

 over it, and by occasionally brushing 

 out the dead bees, by use of a bent wire. 

 In the cellar, on the other hand, I 

 should prefer to have the entire opening 

 unclosed ; and if in addition I could 

 raise the hive up from the bottom-board, 

 so that dead bees would never clog the 

 opening, 1 should be pleased. 



2. I prefer the cellar — a good one — ta 

 chaff hives. First, I think it more re- 

 liable ; second, in the long run it is 

 certainly cheaper, and it makes it un- 

 necessary to have the large, heavy 

 hives. I am aware, however, that many 

 of our best and most successful bee- 

 keepers think differently. He is not 

 wise who shuts his ears against the 

 voice of success. Each person must de- 

 cide for himself. I think, however, that 

 in Iowa and Michigan the weight of 

 opinion favors cellar-wintering of bees. 



A. J. Cook. 



