276 



XHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



lien to Unite teal Colonies. 



Query, [No. 246.— Is it better to unite 

 weak colonies early in the season, or just 

 before the white clover blooms ?— W. S. 



Early in the season.— H. D. Cut- 

 tin g. 



Just before white clover, according 

 to my experience.— G. M.Doolittle. 



Here, where we have basswood and 

 autumn flowers, it is best never to 

 unite them.— James Heddon. 



I would unite them early. Two 

 weak colonies united will sometimes 

 "pull through;" if left alone they 

 may die.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Generally I should not unite them, 

 but if I did, the earlier the better.— C. 



C. MiLLEK. 



The spring uniting of weak colonies 

 is a mistake, unless they are entirely 

 worthless or queenless, or unless there 

 are already too many in the apiary.- - 

 Dadant & Son. 



It is better to unite weak colonies 

 just at the beginning of the honey 

 seasou^unless they are too weak to 

 build up. and are likely to perish, in 

 which case unite early to avoid rob- 

 bing.— H. R. JJOARDMAN. 



I think by stimulation, close pack- 

 ing on few frames, and giving capped 

 brood from the strong to the weak 

 colones, we may succeed without 

 uniting them. If we have more colo- 

 nies than we wish, we may unite 

 them, which I should do at once. — A. 

 J. Cook. 



It is better to unite early. Be sure 

 to cage one of the queens, but if one 

 of the colonies is queenless it is not 

 necessary. Place them near each 

 other, and shake off all the bees from 

 the combs of the queenless colony, 

 and take away with the hive. They 

 will unite without trouble, but it is 

 best to look after the queen, if not 

 caged, in a half hour. — G. L. Tinker. 



It does not pay me to unite weak 

 colonies in the spring. I prefer to 

 build them up, even though they are 

 mere nuclei. I can build up nuclei 

 and get a fair crop of honey from 

 them if they only till one space be- 

 tween the combs the first of April. I 

 now have a few such nuclei, and 

 every night the hives are wrapped up 

 with burlap, which is removed in the 

 daytime. If I united colonies at all, 

 it would be about 10 days before 

 white clover bloomed. — G. VV. Dem- 



AREE. 



I do not believe in uniting weak 

 colonies at all, unless one is queen- 

 less. It is far better to build them up 

 to full strength by drawing on other 

 colonies that can spare a frame of 



brood occasionally. Of course if you 

 have but 2 colonies, and both very 

 weak, they may be united in order to 

 save them. In such case use the best 

 queen.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



StimnlatiYe Feeciing of Bees. 



Query, No. 247 1. Will it do to feed 



bees in order to stimulate them, if the 

 weather is too cold for them to fly ? 2. Will 

 feeding amount to anything if they have an 

 abundance in their hives? 3. Will it stimu- 

 late the bees to uncap honey already in the 

 hive.— G. W. M. 



1. No. 2. It will do some good, if 

 fed very sparingly, but we would not 

 advise it. 3. Yes, beyond a doubt, 

 this is the best spring stimulant.— 

 Dad ANT & Son. 



1. I should not approve of the 

 course. 2. Feeding is a greater stim- 

 ulus to breeding than an abundance 

 of stores in the hive. 3. Yes.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



1. Yes, certainly. 2. It certainly 

 will, or does, in our apiary. 3. Yes, 

 and it is as well as feeding, I think.— 

 A. J. Cook. 



1. Yes, if they have no stores; 

 otherwise it is not advisable. 2. Not 

 in my experience. 3. Yes, and I 

 deem it the very best method that can 

 be adopted.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



1. Such feeding is not necessary, in 

 my opinion. 2. I think not. 3. To a 

 certain extent, but one warm day with 

 new pollen is better than a week of 

 all other kinds of stimulation. — G. M. 

 Doolittle. 



1. I would rather not feed them 

 unless there was danger of starving. 



2. In case the queen does not lay 

 well, feeding may urge her, but I do 

 not generally find it necessary. 3. It 

 is probably as good as feeding. — C. C. 

 Miller. 



1. They may be fed if it is done 

 judiciously, and with the right kind 

 of feed, without serious results even 

 if the weather is too cold for them to 

 fly out. 2. It increasesbrood-rearing. 



3. If fed in small quantities only to 

 stimulate— yes.— H.K. Board jian. 



1. It will not do for me. 2. I am 

 sure it is unprofitable to feed bees 

 that have an abundance of stores. 3. 

 Yes. I discovered this many years 

 ago when transferring bees. Still my 

 bees breed up as fast as they ought 

 to, if they have plenty of sealed stores. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



1. No. 2. Not with healthy colo- 

 nies in fair numbers. 3. It will save 

 their uncapping it, and aid them in 

 their work of removal to a point near 

 the brood, but if there are plenty of 

 bees to do it, they will get the honey 

 as fast as they can use it — if it is only 

 there to get, or in the flowers. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



1. Yes, it will do if you think it will 

 be of any benefit. 2. Not if they are 

 in good condition. 3. I think not. If 

 your bees are in good to fair condi- 



tion let them alone and yon will be 

 just as far ahead when the proper 

 time arrives.— H. D. Cutting. 



My queens will, without any feed- 

 ing, always breed as fast in the 

 spring as the temperature will admit 

 of. Heat is where the lack is, and 

 after many trials I have abandoned 

 stimulative feeding. — James Hed- 

 don. 



Honey and Beeswax Market. 



Offlce of the American Bee JonRNAL, 

 Monday. 10 a. m.. May 3, 1886. 



The following are the latest quota- 

 tions for honey and beeswax received 

 up to this hour : 



CHICAGO. 

 "HONEY. -Comb is coming forward more freely 

 and prices now are 15'a lt5c. for 1-lb. sections. Ex- 

 tracted is in iiKht demand at ,'j@7c. California 

 comb honey, in 21b. sections, 9^i'Jc. 

 BEESWAX,— 23&24C. per lb. Not much offered. 

 R. A. BCTRNKTT. 161 South Water Bl. 



NEW YORK. 



HONEY. -We now quote : Fancy white comb 

 in 1-lb. sections, 12^l;ic.; In 2-lb. sections. 9®10c. 

 Fancy bucliwheat honey in l-lb. sections. 9c. ; in 

 2-lb. sections. 7@8c. Off grades l(a2c. per lb. less. 

 Extracted. white,6t*7c: bucliwheat. 5(*5Hc. Cali- 

 fornia, yciec. : Southern, as to color and flayer, 

 per gallon, 50{*6oc. 



BEESWAX.-27@28c. 



McCaul 4 HILDBETH BROS.. 34 Hudson St. 



BOSTON. 

 HONEY.— One-lb. sections, white clover, 13@15g; 

 2-pound sections, ll@13c. Extracted, 6(a»<c. 

 BEE8WAi.-25 CIS. per lb. 



Blake & Riplky. 57 Chatham Street. 



BAN FRANCISCO. 

 HONEY.— White and ex. white comb, llH(S13c.; 

 dark comb, (>i^(a8c. White extracted, 5H<55^c.: 

 amber, 4<^4i^c. ; dark and candied. 3^(ai4c. 

 BEESWAX.— Quotable at 2l_t(*23c., wholesale. 

 O. B. Smith & Co.. 423 Front Street. 



DETROIT. 

 HONEY. -The market is almost bare of comb 

 honey, and very little is wanted. Best white in 1- 

 Ib. sections 14 cts. 

 BEESWAX.— Scarce at 25c. 



M. H. HONT.. Bell Branch. Mich. 



ST. LOUIS. 

 HONEY.— Choice comb, 10@12c. Strained, in 

 barrels, 4r95c. Extra fancy of bright color and in 

 No. 1 packages. H apvance on above prices. Ex- 

 tracted in barrels, 6<.l.'>^. 

 BEESWAX.- Firm at 2lMc. for prime. 



D. G. TUTT & CO.. Commercial St. 



CINCINNATI. 



HONEY.— Trade is perhaps duller than usual. 

 We quote : Extracted honey brings 4(aHc., and 

 choice comb honey brings 12® 15c. in a jobbing way. 



BEESWAX.— In demand at 2n®2.'vc. for yellow. 

 C. F. MUTH 4 SON. Freeman 4 Central Ave. 



OLHVBLAND. 

 HONEY.— One pound sections, 14@15c.; 2-lb. 130 

 Extraced, 7@8c. 

 BEESWAX.— Scarce at 25c. 



A. C. Kbndel. lis Ontario Street. 



KANSAS CITY. 

 HONEY.— Sales of comb are good, while extrac- 

 ted is very dull and low. One pound sections are 

 scarce: stocks of all other gradesare well supplied. 

 Ciillf, 2-lbB. bring u®12c. ; Eastern 2-lbs.. 12(S13c.; 

 1-lbs.. white. I4®15c. : dark, I2@l3c. Extracted, 

 5(tt6c. : Southern, 3H@4c. 

 BEBSWAX.-23C. 



Ci.EMONS.CLOO.v Sl Co.. cor. 4th & Walnut. 



MILWAUKEE. 

 HONEY.— The receipts of honey have been 

 more liberal of late, and the supply is now very 

 fair. We quote : Choice comb, in 1-lb. ."ections, 

 17(*18c.; in 2-lb9.. H!(<(jl7c. Extracted, white, in 

 kegs or tin, 7M;t^Hc.: dark, in the same. 6(a>t>^6c. 

 BEESWAX.— Demand moderate at a.'^c. 



A. v. BISHOP. 142 W. Water St. 



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