314 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



same as potatoes are buried. There 

 should be a passage from the entrance 

 to the outside air, and what is the 

 most important of all, is to leave a 

 small space directly on the top of the 

 mound uncovered with earth, so that 

 the circulation may pass upward 

 through the leaves and escape. A 

 hive-cover will protect it from the 

 rain. These methods of preparation 

 if well done, I deem almost infallible, 

 and another fall is destined to tind 

 me preparing 50 colonies for winter in 

 that way. 

 Bradford, (^ Iowa. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1886. Timeand place of Meeting. 



May 20.— Wis. Lake Shore Center, at Kiel. Wis. 

 Ferd Zastrow, Sec, Millhome. WlB. 



May 25.— N.W.Ills. & S.W.Wia., at Pecatonica. III. 

 J. Stewart, Sec, Rock City, Ills. 



An^. 31.— Stark Countv, at Canton, O. 



Mark Thomson, Sec., Canton, O. 



Oct. 12 — 14.— North Aroerican. at Indianapolis, Ind. 

 F. Li. DouKherty, Sec, Indianapolis, Ind. 



Oct. 19, 20.— Illinois Central, at Mt. Sterling. ni9. 

 J. M. UambauKb, Sec, Spring. Ills- 

 Dec 1, 2.— MichlKan State, at Ypsllanti. Mich. 



11. D. Cutting, Sec, Clinton. Mich, 



|y~ In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed. 





Large, Early Honey-Crop.— S. F. 



Newman, Norwalk,6 O., on May 12, 



1886, says : 



This season has been the most 

 favorable for bees in this section that 

 I have ever known. We have had a 

 constant flow of honey for about five 

 weeks from maples and fruit trees, 

 and the weather has been very pleas- 

 ant. We already have about 1,000 

 pounds of honey, and our bees are in 

 fine condition to take advantage of 

 the white clover when it blossoms — 

 the lower stories of the hives being 

 packed full of bees and honey. We 

 expect a very prosperous season. 



Annoyed by the Bees.— Geo. M. 



Deer, Kiga,<x Mich., on May 10, 1886, 

 writes : 



My bees are doing well, and nearly 

 all are in good condition in chaff 

 hives. I would like to know whether 

 there is a book that contains the law 

 protecting bee-keepers from being 

 compelled to move their bees to the 

 woods or back fields to satisfy some 

 nervous or jealous people. I have 5 

 acres in the village and 86 colonies of 

 bees ; the talk is that I will have to 

 move my bees away so that people 

 will be safe in their own houses, and 

 along the street ; and so that they 

 can cook sweet victuals. The cider- 

 mill man is growling about getting 

 stung sometimes. My bees are about 

 150 feet back from the road, and some 

 people make an awful fuss wlien they 

 go by. Can they make me move my 

 bees V This is not an incorporated 

 village, and my bees have done no 

 mischief to amount to anything. They 

 worked on meal that one man fed Ills 

 horses, and they then were taken out 

 of the shed. The owner said that if 

 I did not move my bees he would; 

 that is the way some talk. 



[If the bees are troublesome to your 

 neighbors, you should move them 

 away without waiting to be compelled 

 to do so by law. The bees in our 

 apiary, here at the Bee Journal 

 office, so troubled our neighbors some 

 three years ago, that we promptly 

 moved them away. We think it a 

 duty to society not to annoy our 

 neighbors by needlessly keeping any- 

 thing on our premises to their detri- 

 ment. — Ed.] 



stated how my bees were prepared 

 for winter, and how I had seen bees 

 prepared for winter when I was a 

 boy. I said that I would prepare one 

 in like manner, and see what the re- 

 sult would be. The result was that 

 all the bees are dead, but about one 

 quart and the queen. It is one of my 

 light colonies. Last summer I made 

 an observatory hive of 3 frames 12x20 

 inches, so constructed that it can be 

 made into a single-comb hive. It has 

 a glass on each side, and a wooden 

 door over the glass. I packed this 

 hive with the rest in dry sawdust, and 

 the bees in it are in first-rate condi- 

 tion. The two outsides of the outside 

 comb are full of brood, one-half of 

 one outside is hatched, and the queen 

 fills the cells as fast as young bees 

 leave them. I saw the queen deposit 

 5 eggs in one minute yesterday. I 

 have never lost a colony of bees in a 

 straw-hive ; the 2 I lost last winter 

 were in wooden-wall hives. 



Success in Cellar Wintering.— G. 

 C. Lowry, Casey ,*o Iowa, on May 9, 

 1886, says : 



Bees are in prime condition in this 

 part of the State. I wintered mine 

 in a good, dry cellar, and I was suc- 

 cessful in so doing. 



Reversible Frames, etc.— N. L. 

 Minor, Bowling Green,o* Mo., says : 



I will never use the reversible 

 frames, as their use disturbs the bees 

 too much. I prefer the old Lang- 

 stroth frames. I favor Mr. Doolittle's 

 idea of studying how to produce the 

 most comb honey in a poor season. I 

 shall try to investigate this subject. 



Too Cold for Honey.— Henry Alley 

 Wenham,(^ Mass., on May 11, 1886, 

 writes : 



The weather is unfavorable for 

 bees. There is plenty of fruit blos- 

 soms, but it is too cold for honey. 



Preparing to Swarm —Mrs. J. N. 

 Heater, Columbus,ONeb., on May 10, 

 1886, says : 



My 69 colonies and 7 nuclei came 

 through the winter in splendid condi- 

 tion, with no loss excepting one very 

 weak nucleus which starved with 

 plenty of stores out of their reach. 

 They are all booming on fruit-bloom 

 now, and some are preparing to 

 swarm. 



Bees Breeding Rapidly. — Abe 



Hoke, Union City,o Ind., on May 10, 

 1886, writes : 



I put ,32 colonies into winter quar- 

 ters last fall, and 31 of them came 

 through the winter. I lost one the 

 latter part of April by robbing, and I 

 sold 4. I now have 26, three of which 

 are rather light in bees, but have 

 plenty of stores, and all are breeding 

 very rapidly, except one. On page 

 762 of the Bee Journal for 1886, 1 



Ants and Roaches.— John L. Isley, 

 Vibbard.'o Mo., inquires on May 8, 



18S6 : 



Please tell me through the Bee 

 Journal how to keep ants and 

 roaches away from the hives V 



[Tansy strewn around the hives is 

 recommended by some bee-keepers to 

 keep them away. A sponge wet with 

 sweetened water might be put in a 

 wire cage to destroy them. Borax, 

 salt or gum camphor, or powdered 

 cloves scattered where they congre- 

 gate would get rid of them,— Ed.] 



Storing in the Sections. — Alex. 



Rose, Sullivan,© Ills., on May 6, 1886, 

 says : 



My bees are storing honey in the 

 sections now. White clover is begin- 

 ning to bloom nicely, and the prospect 

 is fane for an early honey harvest. 

 Plenty of drones were sealed up some 

 days ago. 



Bees Breeding Very Fast.— Wm. 



Ford, Marshalltown,OIowa, on May 

 8, 1886, writes : 



My bees wintered well in the cellar. 

 They came out in good condition, 

 strong in numbers, healthy and dry. 

 My loss is 2 colonies out of 13, fall 

 count. They are breeding very fast. 

 They carried the first pollen on 'A^rU 

 14. They are now working on apple 

 and cherry bloom. We have every 

 prospect now for a good honey season. 



Solving the Wintering Problem.— 



Wm. P. Kanzler, Fulda, ? Ind., writes: 



It is no wonder that our valuable 

 American Bee Journal increases 

 in favor with the most apiculturists 

 of this country, for the Editor does 

 not attach to each communication his 

 criticism (as some editors do), and he 

 tells the readers when they must stop 

 writing articles on any certain sub- 

 ject. I mark every day the degrees 



