THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



187 



it, and if there are any wlio sell 

 honey, that are not willing that it 

 should bear their names upon it, such 

 should immediately quit the business. 

 1 am glad that Rev. West corrected 

 his mistake. 



T. 



on 



Bees Enjoying Sunday. — E. 

 Medearis, Mt. Sterling,^) Ills., 

 March 16, 188G, writes : 



Sunday, March irj, was the first real 

 spring-like day that we have had, and 

 the bees turned out in full force. 

 Last winter I lost 8 colonies out of 

 16 ; they were protected with fodder. 

 For this winter I left them just as 

 they stood in the summer, with noth- 

 ing around them, and I have lost one. 

 It died before the weather became 

 cold. I will work my bees for comb 

 honey, this year, in one-pound sec- 

 tions for ray home market. I can sell 

 more than I will produce, right from 

 my place, 2J2 miles from town. Every 

 colony that 1 have is strong. 



When to Ship Bees.— Otto Kleinow, 

 Detroit,©, Mich., on March 12, 1886, 

 says: 



Last autumn I put into winter 

 quarters about 65 colonies of Italian 

 and Cyprian bees, and they seem to 

 winter all right. Some have 2 to 3 

 frames of brood. They had good 

 cleansing flights several times during 

 the winter, but of course the trying 

 months are March and April. April 

 is generally the most dangerous 

 month for bees, for then they are 

 sure to go out for water and pollen, 

 and the air being chilly, many of 

 them will not return to their hives 

 again. Hence I would advise those 

 who purchase bees, not to have them 

 sent iDefore about April 15, for they 

 may dwindle away. 



Two ftueens in One Hive.— R. M. 



Osborn, Kane,*o Ills., on March 9, 

 1886, writes : 



January was the only month so far 

 this winter that gave us zero weather, 

 six days ranging from 2'-' to 18"^ below 

 zero. My bees had flights on five days 

 in December, 2 days in January, 5 

 days in February, and 1 day in March. 

 My 65 colonies are in splendid condi- 

 tion. I have not lost a colony yet. 

 They are all packed on the summer 

 stands. On Feb. 9 they all had a 

 good flight, when I examined several 

 colonies and they all had young brood 

 in every stage, and eggs. On Oct. 17, 

 1885, while preparing a certain colony 

 for winter, which contained a pure 

 Syrian queen, I was surprised to find 

 2 queens, the old queen and her 

 daughter, both on the same comb and 

 on the same side, and both laying 

 eggs within less than 3 inches of each 

 other. It was good luck for me, for 

 the daughter was a beauty, and I just 

 clipped her wings and introduced her 

 into another colony, which was made 

 queenless a few days before by taking 

 off the sections. The queen was on 

 the sections, and I had taken her into 

 the honey-house, but I found her too 

 late. The weather being so cool I 



did not think that a queen would 

 leave the brood and go above. Some 

 of my neighbor's bees are in poor 

 condition. Mr. E. Armstrong says 

 that his 95 colonies are wintering 

 nicely. The white clover and winter 

 wheat looks promising for a good crop, 

 at this date. 



Position of the Hive-Entrance.— F. 



M. J., of Augusta,o, Iowa, asks this 



question : 



If, as some claim, the bees are bet- 

 ter protected and commence breeding 

 sooner by having the entrance cross- 

 wise of the frames, why not have the 

 entrance to the Ileddon-Langstroth 

 hive at the side instead of at the end ? 

 Bees would not have so far to travel 

 to any part of the hive then. 



[No. I have used both ranges of 

 entrances for years. This is one of 

 the theories that I could never verify 

 in practice. But theory also says 

 that the entrances, as you propose, 

 would retard summer ventilation. I 

 want the entrance at the end of the 

 hive, and the combs and the sections 

 to run parallel with the frames below, 

 and all slightly pitched forward. I 

 know that both ways have advan- 

 tages, but the latter has the most. 

 After a bee spends hours in the field, 

 it " travels " in the hive but a mo- 

 ment. If you throw a pailful of water 

 into a lake, there is then a pailful 

 more than before, but not practically 

 .=0.— James IIeddon.] 



Bees Wintered in a Cave.- S. 



Stephenson, Gladstone,*© Ills., writes: 



I wintered 102 colonies of bees in a 

 cave. It was 5 feet below the surface 

 of the ground ; 1 foot above the sur- 

 face on the edges, and 4 feet in the 

 centre ; it was Sx36 feet, and was 

 covered with inch boards, a layer of 

 hay, and about 1 foot of sand. They 

 are mostly in Laugstroth hives, and 

 all have natural stores. Some colo- 

 nies have not lost a half-dozen bees, 

 and none have lost more than a 

 double-handful. I think it is a bad 

 practice to feed sugar syrup ; it 

 arouses suspicion in the minds of 

 honey-consumers, and it ought to be 

 stopped. 



Bee-Business in Iowa. — I. N. 

 Boyles, Urbanna,o+ Iowa, on March 

 15, 1886, says : 



I have just received the census re- 

 turns of this State, and thinking that 

 the bee-men of Iowa would like to 

 know the number of colonies in the 

 State, and the number of pounds of 

 honey produced here in 1881, 1 give 

 them as follows : Total number of 

 colonies, 148,384 ; pounds of honey, 

 1,997,931 ; pounds of wax, 35,064. This 

 report is not very good for Iowa, as it 

 gives only about 13J2 pounds of honey 

 per colony. The best county for 

 honey, as reported, is Dubuque coun- 



ty, the number of pounds being 483^ 

 per colony ; and the least number of 

 poiuuls per colony in any county in 

 the State is that of Tama county, 

 which is only 214 pounds. I think 

 there must be some mistake about 

 that county. The following is a re- 

 port of a few counties, showing the 

 difference in the yield of honey in the 

 same year : Tama county, number of 

 colonies, 12,065, pounds of honey, 

 27,637; Benton county, number of 

 colonies, 3,378, pounds of honey, 66,- 

 550 ; Monona county, number of colo- 

 nies, 1,083, pounds of honey, 34,832; 

 and Dubuque county, number of colo- 

 nies, 1,893, pounds of honey, 91,710. 



Bees in Good Condition.— Gardner 



Boyd, Petrolea, Out., writes : 



I commenced the season of 1885 with 

 4 weak colonies of bees, increased 

 them to 9, and took 1,000 pounds of 

 extracted honey and 50 pounds of 

 comb honey. I am wintering them 

 on the summer stands in double- 

 walled, sawdust hives, with 3 inches 

 of packing all around them. The 

 bees are in good condition at present. 

 I am well pleased with the Bee 

 Journal. I would not be without it. 



Early Birds.-Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 Marengo, 5 Ills., on March 17, 1886, 



says : 



Robins and bluebirds are here, 

 and unless tlie weather changes bees 

 may be out in a week. So far they 

 seem to be in good condition. 



House- Wintering of Bees. — W. 



Mason, Fillmore,*o Ind., on March 

 17, 1886, writes: 



My bees have had high times in the 

 past three days, all being in fine con- 

 dition, except 3 colonies that have 

 dwindled, one being queenless, one 

 having an infertile queen which was 

 left out on the summer stand as a 

 test from that of house wintering ; 

 the other seems to be afflicted with 

 diarrhea. My house-wintering proved 

 very satisfactory. The bees consumed 

 but a small amount of honey, only 

 about an average, per colony, of 7 

 pounds for 3,V2 months. I have 31 

 colonies. They carried in rye meal 

 yesterday. 



Successful Wintering.— A. Wort- 

 man, Seafield,'o Ind., on March 17, 

 1886, writes : 



My bees had a good flight on March 

 14 and 15, and all have wintered with- 

 out the loss of a single colony so far. 

 They appear to be in a healthy con- 

 dition. I have them nearly all covered 

 with boxes without top or bottom, 

 made about 2 inches larger than the 

 hives, and the space packed with 

 forest leaves, with chaff cushions on 

 top and a wide board to cover the box 

 to keep the rain and snow out. They 

 are protected on the west and north, 

 from the winds, by sheds and high- 

 board fences. The hives are venti- 

 lated at the bottom by a hole 4x4 

 inches square cut in the bottom-board 



