THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



107 



tect the brood ? 4. Would there not 

 be a less lialiility of building brace- 

 combs between the toi>-bars and 

 honey-boxes in ?8-inch space with Ju- 

 inch combs, thau in a wider space? 

 5. Would not the queen be more 

 liable to breed to the top of the top- 

 bars in such combs, than she would in 

 thicker ones y (i. Would an entrance 

 %xl4 inches be large enough for ven- 

 tilation in the warmest weather for a 

 strong colony of bees in a hive of the 

 above style, of about 3,000 cubic 

 inches 'i If not, how large should 

 it be y 



[1. They have been so used without 

 serious harm resulting. In some re- 

 spects they are better, and in some 

 worse than when placed farther apart. 



2. Undoubtedly it would have that 

 tendency. 



3. Analogous to the above, the wide- 

 spaced combs would have the advan- 

 tage in this direction. 



4. I think there would, but, after 

 all, the difference would depend 

 mainly upon other causes. 



5. No doubt slightly so, but to no 

 such degree of advantage as we gain 

 by reversing or interchanging. 



6. If the hive was kept shaded (as 

 all should be), such an entrance does 

 very well. I use and prefer 1%-ineh 

 space for each comb to occupy, adding 

 allowance for the extra outside space 

 —James Heddon. ] 



The Detroit Convention.— Mr. L. 

 C. Root, of Mohawk, 5 N. Y ., on Feb. 



6, 1886, writes as follows : 



Mr. Editor :— I have received a 

 copy of the report of our North 

 American Bee-Keepers' Society in 

 pamphlet form. The thanks of every 

 member of the Society are due you 

 for the very full and accurate report 

 you have given. At the price you 

 ofterit, you should be able to place 

 it in the hands of every bee-keeper in 

 North America. One thing may 

 truly be said, and that is, that much 

 of the spirit of that meeting cannot 

 be communicated. I shall ever be 

 grateful that I was permitted to be 

 present. 



Infallible Clueen-Introduction.—O. 



N. Baldwin, Clarksville.d Mo., writes: 



I have read Mr. Hewitt's article on 

 this subject, on pageo4, and it is good ; 

 yet I think that I have a simpler way, 

 and with me it has never failed. I be- 

 lieve that it is as Mr. H. says, " infal- 

 lible "—Dot only for laying queens but 

 also for virgin queens. I would like 

 to hear reports from others after they 

 have used it. It is as follows: The 

 hive of the colony to which I wish to 

 introduce the queen is removed from 

 its stand, closed up, and another hive 

 is put in its stead on the stand. In 

 this hive I put some empty combs or 

 foundation, and a little honey. All 

 this must be done in the middle of the 



day when the most of the old bees are 

 in the field, and when they return they 

 will stay with the hive and cluster on 

 the combs. I leave tliem in this con- 

 dition for 24 hours, then let the queen 

 run in at the entrance and she will be 

 accepted. If a virgin queen is being 

 introduced, leave them alone for 24 

 hours more, till the old bees get used 

 to her, then take out the old queen and 

 move the liive back where it was; 

 then in a couple of hours all can be 

 safely put into one hive. If a laying 

 queen is being introduced, as soon as 

 she isputin, without waiting 24 hours, 

 take oLit the old queen, and as soon as 

 the bees miss her, in 1 or 2 hours, put 

 them all together. I have lost only 3 

 queens in all my experience, and I 

 have introduced a great many, but I 

 have never lost one by the above plan. 



Report for 1885.— ^Marshall Swain, 

 Edwards, 5 N. Y., on Feb. 7, 1886, 

 says: 



I began in the spring of 188.5 with 3 

 colonies of Italian bees, which I in- 

 creased to 12 colonies during the sea- 

 son, by natural swarming, and ob- 

 tained 40 pounds of comb honey, 

 that I sold for 20 cents per pound. I 

 worked my bees entirely for increase. 

 1 have only 12 colonies, and they 

 would be of little use to me without 

 the American Bee Journal. 



Bees Having Good Flights.— H. 

 M. Seeley, Harford, i Pa., on Feb. 9, 

 1886, says : 



Bees are wintering finely. They 

 had a good flight on Jan. 2, and they 

 are also out to-day in large numbers, 

 and spot the snow a little. 



Sugar Syrup for Winter Stores.— 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, (179—340), Marengo, 

 5 Ills., on Feb. 10, 1886, says : 



Mr. Highbarger's inquiry on page 

 91, is to the point. I fed my bees 

 about 1,700 pounds of granulated 

 sugar for winter, or just as many 

 pounds as the surplus they gave me. 

 I did not mean to misrepresent, but 

 withholding the above certainly does 

 not give the whole truth. 



Bees Wintering Well.— 2— Jno. E. 

 Heard, (36—54), Pikeville,o+Tenn., on 

 Feb. 8, 1886, writes : 



As we have had such cold weather 

 I thought that my bees would all be 

 killed, but I lind them all right. My 

 hives are all two-story with Gallup 

 frames ; some of them are only 12 

 inches wide, others 12xl3J^, and others 

 12x18, clear, inside. I have them put 

 on flat rocks without any bottom- 

 boards, and the bees can go in and out 

 at many places around the hives, as 

 the rocks are not smooth. I have 

 nothing over or around them except 

 enameled cloth on the frames. The 

 mercury was 10" below zero many 

 days together, only last week it was 

 2° below, but now it is 74° above zero, 

 and the bees are out as if they were 

 swarming. I have to cover some 

 hives, as the bees began to rob one 



another. As the snow began to thaw 

 yesterday, myself and daughter 

 cleaned out the dead bees from every 

 hive, I tipping back the hives and she 

 sweeping out the dead bees. I noticed 

 that many colonies wintered in the 

 upper story, while others stopped 

 below. We did not get as much as a 

 tea-cupful of dead bees at any one 

 hive, and neither can I see any signs 

 of disease among them. 



Experience in Bee-Keeping.— J. L. 



Anderson, Lawrence, 5 Ills., on Feb» 

 4, 1886, writes : 



I wonder whether there is any other 

 side to bee-keeping except the bright 

 side. Are there any, except Dr. Mil- 

 ler, that get less than a small fortune 

 from every colony of bees that they 

 keep y If there are, let them hold up 

 their hands. As I do not see any ex- 

 cept my own hand, I will give my re- 

 port. Two years ago I put 82 colonies 

 into my cellar, and the next spring I 

 took out 45, the balance having died 

 with the diarrhea. The 45 were in- 

 creased to 70, which I put into the cel- 

 lar one year ago last Nov., and in the 

 spring of 1885 I tool* out 30 colonies, 

 which I increased to 68, by both nat- 

 ural swarming and division, and se- 

 cured 1,000 lbs. of honey, fcomment 

 is unnecessary. The present prospect 

 for honey the coming season is not 

 very flattering. The mercury was 25° 

 below zero this morning, and has been 

 below that point for several days; 

 also, the snow is from 24 to 30 inches 

 deep. 



Bees Flying. — F. A. Gemmill, 

 Stratford, Out., on Feb. 9, 1886, says : 



The weather being fine to-day, the 

 bees in this vicinity have had a fine 

 flight, the first since their winter 

 confinement of 3 months. No doubt 

 it gladdened the hearts of all bee- 

 keepers here, as all those wintered in 

 chaff hives gave no signs of disease, 

 and, in fact, spotted "the snow (on 

 which there was a fine crust) little if 

 any. Three of my weakest colonies, 

 which are in the cellar as an experi- 

 ment, I did not disturb, as they seem 

 to be in such good condition that I 

 concluded to test the cellar thoroughly, 

 in order to ascertain whether I can 

 utilize it for next year's wintering. 



Wintering Finely, etc.— T. C. 

 Davies, Pittsburgh, o. Pa., on Feb. 9, 

 1886, writes : 



Bees are wintering finely, with me, 

 so far. Yesterday was a fine, sunny 

 day, but to-day it is warm and beau- 

 tiful, and the bees are having a fine- 

 flight. In all of my 40 colonies packed 

 in chaff on the summer stands, they 

 look strong and healthy. The two 

 nuclei that were kept in the cellar 

 during the last cold spell, are as 

 bright as gold. Last season was a 

 poor one here on account of the fail- 

 ure of white clover, but every thing 

 looks very encouraging for next sea- 

 son. It seems that I must get some 

 of the new reversible hives. That 

 hive-fever is catching. I am con- 

 vinced that some plan different from 



