248 



THE AMERICA]^ BEE JOURNAL. 



sumer a fact that will admit of no 

 denial. The remedy is with us. We 

 must learn-what right conditions for 

 wintering consist of and in ; then we 

 will USB pure honey as bee-food, and 

 show the world both by precept and 

 example that our honey is purely 

 gathered nectar, and that it cannot 

 possibly contain any adulterants. 

 roxboro,ot Mass. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Care in MaMns Progress. 



REV. L. JOHNSON. 



Much harm has been committed in 

 the past among bee-keepers by a too 

 rapid reception of new things, and 

 unless great care is taken a like evil 

 may result from the injudicious use 

 of new things now coming forward. 

 Before using anything we should 

 know for wtiat it is designed, and 

 then how best to attain that end in 

 view. 



The new reversible hive may be a 

 a good thing, and in the hands of 

 those who understand bee-culture and 

 have clearly defined ideas of what it 

 is intended for, may accomplish good 

 results. But may there not be some 

 danger of many persons without 

 proper knowledge or experience, 

 taking hold of it and after much 

 expense and trouble, having the sad 

 report to make that they liave been 

 humbugged? Yet this may not be 

 the fault of the hive, but entirely for 

 want of proper handling. 



To illustrate : Some ten years ago 

 a great deal was said in many sections 

 of the country about " Dividing, " 

 " Artificial Swarming. " etc., and one 

 enthusiast on the subject went so far 

 as to state that as many as 32 colonies 

 could be made from one in a single 

 season. As a result, many persons 

 without proper knowledge began to 

 rapidly divide their colonies, and 

 divided them to death. One old 

 gentleman with whom I was ac- 

 quainted, was given 4 colonies in box- 

 hives in the spring of 187f3. He got a 

 friend to transfer them for him ; when 

 he began dividing and by the first of 

 August he had 21. The next spring 

 he had 21 empty hives— the only bees 

 lost in the neighborhood that winter. 



Wlien the honey extractor first 

 came into use, many persons who 

 knew nothing of honey in an un- 

 ripened state, purchased one, and 

 began throwing out the stores of the 

 same colonies every 3 days. The 

 result was that a lot of unripe, sour 

 honey was placed upon the market, 

 which was utterly unfit for anything. 

 An injury was done to extracted 

 honey that it will take years to over- 

 come. The same mistakes have been 

 made in comb foundation, and intro- 

 ducing the new races of bees. Espe- 

 cially is this true in regard to hand- 

 ling the Cyprian bees. In the hands 

 of those who understand them, I 

 have no doubt they are an acquisition, 

 but so many liave taken hold of them 

 without proper knowledge, that their 

 reputation is ruined forever. All of 

 us who have given apiculture much 



attention for any number of years can 

 call to mind other instances where 

 some actual benefit to our craft has 

 been much injured by its too rapid 

 introduction. 



The reversible hive has only been 

 tried by its inventor and one or two 

 others for two seasons. These men 

 are practical apiarists ; and in their 

 hands it has done well ; but when 

 others with less knowledge and with- 

 out properly understanding what is 

 intended by this hive, undertake its 

 use, "it may receive a backset from 

 which it may not recover in years. 



I am in favor of making every 

 progressive step in bee-keeping that 

 is possible ; but so much enthusiasm 

 often ushers in a new thing as to do 

 it harm. I would urge bee-keepers to 

 carefully ponder before doing away 

 with the old, tried and profitable 

 standard hives which we now have, 

 and adopting something we do not 

 yet understand. Take hold cautious- 

 ly, and let those who have time and 

 money with which to experiment, 

 enjoy the benefits for a time. Better 

 lose a little, than through haste and 

 ignorance permanently injure a good 

 thing. 



Walton 5 Ky. 



For tlie American Bee Journal, 



Feeding Sngar— Tlie f eatlier, 



JOSHUA BULL. 



I have read with much satisfaction 

 the caution that was given on page 

 195, about feeding sugar to bees ; also 

 other articles which have appeared in 

 the Bee Journal upon the same 

 subject. I am heartily glad that this 

 matter is being considered in its true 

 character in relation to the effect it 

 has upon the honey market. What- 

 ever the motive may be on the part of 

 those who feed it, the fact that sugar 

 is fed to the bees has created a sus- 

 picion of fraud in the minds of con- 

 sumers, which has, no doubt, very 

 materially affected the market, by 

 curtailing the demand for honey, 

 throug:h a want of confidence on the 

 part of purchasers as to the purity of 

 the article ; and I can see no better 

 way to allay such suspicion, and re- 

 store confidence between producer and 

 consumer, than to discontinue the 

 practice of feeding sugar altogether. 



We have had a long winter up liere 

 in Wisconsin, most of the time quite 

 mild for this latitude, although we 

 had some extremely cold weather. On 

 the morning of Feb. 3, the mercury 

 made a plunge down to 40° below 

 zero ; on March 17 we had sharp 

 lightning with heavy thunder and 

 rain. During the first week in April 

 the mercury was down to zero four 

 times. It almost makes one nervous 

 to read in the Bke Journal about 

 bees gathering pollen, drones flying, 

 etc., in other localities, whilst with us 

 the air is chilled and vegetation held 

 in check by large banks of snow and 

 ice, which, however, are now rapidly 

 disappearing. 



So far as I have learned, bees that 

 were in good condition last fall, have 



wintered well in this vicinity; yet 

 considerable losses have occurred 

 where conditions were not right. We 

 are hoping for a good and prosperous 

 season. 



This afternoon the clouds have 

 broken away, the sun shines down 

 brightly and warm— mercury up to 58° 

 in northern shade — and the bees are 

 having a great jubilee. 



Now winter may go, 

 With its ice and its snow, 

 Without any further delay ; 

 For summer is coming. 

 The bees are out humming, 

 And the apiarist's heart is gay. 



Seymour,ot Wis., April 12, 1886. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Rearing and Introilncing Queens. 



S. J. Y0UNG31AN. 



I desire to fully describe what I 

 consider the best manner for rearing 

 queens for home use, and their suc- 

 cessful introduction to nuclei pre- 

 pared for their reception in anticipa- 

 tion of their hatching. 



I think it can be said, and with 

 well-founded reasons, that some of 

 the best methods and essential de- 

 tails of queen-rearing have been kept 

 in the back-ground by queen-breeders 

 who are rearing queens for the mar- 

 ket, and who have selfishly been the 

 means of materially hindering the 

 progression of that noble art — bee- 

 keeping. In this climate queens may 

 be reared, nuclei formed, and queens 

 fertilized, earlier than natural swarm- 

 ing can be expected to occur. The 

 first essential to successful or early 

 queen-rearing is, of course, in strong, 

 vigorous, well-wintered colonies. 

 Queens are more easily reared by 

 Cyprian, Syrian, or hybrid bees than 

 by pure Italians, and should be given 

 the preference for such work. If the 

 apiarist has any of the new races in 

 liis yard, I would also say that queens, 

 particularly the Syrians, are more 

 hardy and strong upon emerging 

 from the cell than are those of the 

 Italians. I have repeatedly seen them 

 take wing when first escaping from 

 the cell, and disappear, but return 

 again in a short time. 



Of course every bee-keeper will 

 have some colony in his yard that he 

 prefers to the others, and may wish 

 to breed from this exclusively , which 

 is advisable, and easily done. The 

 first step is to take out one of the 

 central frames of the brood-nest and 

 replace it with one selected that is 

 not over one year old. and one that 

 brood has not been reared in more 

 than once. This comb will usually 

 contain eggs at the end of 24 hours, 

 which may be used at once ; but when 

 the eggs are used the average apiarist 

 will usually meet with failure, con- 

 sequently 1 would recommend that 

 the eggs remain until they hatch and 

 first reach the larval state. Queens 

 reared from the young larvae are fully 

 as good as those reared from the eggs. 



The colony that is to do the work 

 should now be deprived of its queen, 

 which may be removed with the best 

 frame of brood and adhering bees to 



