788 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feeder Floats — Honey from the Rocks. 



On page 635, G. M. Doolittle advises 

 the use of shavings or cobs for floats in 

 milk-pan feeders. I once lost several 

 quarts of feed by using oak shavings. 



I have eaten honey taken from the 

 rocks in Old Mexico. If we can get Mr. 

 Aten to give us the size of entrances, 

 number and distance from each other ; 

 the distance that a pole or stick probe 

 can be forced into the openings ; the 

 "height of cliff above the entrances ; the 

 kind of rock, and any other information 

 concerning the inaccessibility of the 

 bee-caves on the Colorado, perhaps we 

 may arrange to come and assist in ex- 

 tracting the sweets next summer, as we 

 know how the thing is done. 



Geobge Mott, M. D. 



Spurger, Texas. 



Experience with. Bees in Two States. 



I began the season in New Hampshire 

 on April 4th, with 3 colonies of blacks, 

 No. 1, the weakest of the 3, I trans- 

 ferred just at the commencement of 

 fruit-bloom, and they gave me ten 1- 

 pound sections well filled, and five partly 

 filled. In August I found them queen- 

 less, and they promptly reared another 

 queen, when a frame of brood and eggs 

 were given them. 



No. 2 I tiered up on top of the box- 

 hive with 8-frame dovetailed hive, and 

 when the frames were filled with comb, 

 and the queen had gone to "house-keep- 

 ing" upstairs, I placed her carefully on 

 the stand below, took the box-hive into 

 the house, drummed out the bees, and 

 let them fly back to the old stand. I 

 transferred the brood and the straight 

 worker comb to another dovetailed hive- 

 story, and put it back on top of the first- 

 mentioned dovetailed hive. The sections 

 with starters, on top of this double story 

 hive, were not worked, though they 

 might have been in a better season. The 

 frames were all filled solid. 



Number 3 was tiered up the same 

 way. When the frames were filled, I 

 put the queen below, moved the upper 

 story to a new stand, and gave them an 

 Italian queen. The Italian queen bred 

 up so rapidly that in August I drew four 

 heavy frames of brood from her colony, 

 and gave them another Italian queen, 

 and had them all strong enough to cover 

 8 frames, each with plenty of stores by 

 Sept. 15th. 



I then packed the whole in cases and 

 came to Florida, where I began practice 



the winter before.. I found 3 colonies 

 alive out of 4. Thieves had broken into 

 the yard and did some damage. The 

 hives were full of bees, but empty of 

 honey. 



The fall flow began early in October, 

 and continued into November. The 

 hives were all filled and sealed early in 

 November. I purchased 5 colonies that 

 were hived in dry-goods boxes, which I 

 am transferring, and extracting the 

 honey at the same time. 



Just now I am in the midst of trans- 

 ferring and extracting. I am getting 

 from 20 to 50 pounds per colony. 



I have never tried but one kind of 

 hive, and that takes the Langstroth 

 frame. I have tried many styles of 

 frames, and prefer the Hoffman first, 

 last and all the time. 



E. B. Whipple. 



Grasmere, Fla., Nov. 18, 1892. 



xxzsxxxxixx: 



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Neighborhood Visits in Winter. 



Let every bee-keeper visit his neigh- 

 bor bee-keepers. Get up neighborhood 

 visits. Take your lunch baskets, and 

 your wives, and go to neighbor A's this 

 month, and then to Bro. B's next month, 

 and so on. No need of talking bees all 

 the time, but enough to know how each 

 one is doing. Then have a general good 

 visit. It will do you all good. The long 

 winter is now here. Don't be a clam 

 and sit down by the fire all the time, 

 but make the winter a time for improve- 

 ment mentally. It will fit you for better 

 work when spring comes. Benefit 

 others, and the reflex action will benefit 

 you. 



As the winter season is now before us, 

 we would urge our readers to form clubs 

 or societies for the mutual exchange of 

 ideas, whereby greater success may be 

 attained on the farm, in the garden, 

 orchard or apiary. Farmers, as a class, 

 are somewhat isolated, and their fami- 

 lies do not enjoy the privilege of meet- 

 ings, socials and libraries as those living 



