1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLRNAfL 



211 



occupied by the oue having the queen, and remove the hive 

 and all pertaining to it from where the queenless colony stoud, 

 and no bees of any amount will return to be lost. 



The other plan is this, and often works nearly or quite as 

 well as the Grst : Crowd the bees having the queen upon as 

 few combs as possible with a division-board, having a half-Inch 

 hole near the center of the same. Having previously taken 

 the most of the combs away from the queenless colony pre- 

 paratory to uniting, set the remaining combs with the adher- 

 ing bees in the space on the opposite side of the division-board, 

 closing the hive. Have the entrance open only on the side 

 occupied with the colony having the queen, and the bees will 

 unite of their own accord in a short time, as they will open up 

 communication through the hole in the division-board soon 

 after the queenless bees are placed in the hive. Use the same 

 precaution about removing the hive, stand, etc., from the 

 situation occupied by the queenless colony, and the work is 

 done. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Rich Bee-Keepers and Poor Alfalfa— A Reply. 



BY W. A. H. GILSTRAP. 



I find the following editorial paragraph on page 104: 



" ' If the production of honey is as pro8table as some claim 

 it to be, why do nearly all who own bees remain in moderate 

 circumstances?' But there's the fun, Mr. Gilstrap. Besides, 

 can you name a business in which fewer men have gone into 

 bankruptcy ?" 



Yes, sir, I think so. So far as my information goes, pea- 

 nut peddlers, tanialla peddlers, and boot-blacks, are examples. 

 Many more might be given. Many banks, ranches, railroads, 

 and stores are past on by bankrupt courts, a few apiaries 

 also, but a boot-black's kit, never ! 



The article in the January Pacific Bee Journal which you 

 comment on, applies better to this coast than to my native 

 State (Illinois). We run more bees than you, possibly make a 

 bigger pow-wow over it; while you get about as good an aver- 

 age yield, and make more money than we do. 



Our climate admits of more winter work of varied nature. 

 It Is an unusual occurrence here to have a plow idle till noon 

 because the ground is frozen too much to plow. In our coldest 

 winters plowing can be done from daylight till dark most of 

 the time, thereby enabling the farmer to plow 300 to 600 

 acres with one team in a season, seeding it to grain with a 

 seeder which is fastened to his plow. Even more might be 

 done. Some grain-raisers in this county are reported as mak- 

 ing $3,000, or even $5,000, last year. One man can super- 

 intend several hands and do a " big business." 



One man can manage 40 to 640 acres of ochard or vine- 

 yard, or 10,000 sheep. Henry Miller has control of over 

 13,000,000 acres of land, much of it well improved, besides 

 many stores, hotels, irrigating ditches, slaughter-houses, etc. 

 I don't believe he could successfully manage 3,000 colonies 

 of bees. 



Chickens, horses, hogs and mules might be mentioned, 

 but it would be of no use to introduce more witnesses. If we 

 manage to get 100 pounds per colony from 300 colonies, we 

 are told we are doing well. If this honey sells for 2J-2 to '6% 

 cents per pound from 7 to 40 miles from place of production, 

 we feel that it is no wonder that no one accumulates much 

 filthy lucre, while representatives of all occupations that are 

 more prone to bankruptcy get rich. 



Just how much hard cash our best bee-keeper has made 

 In the last three years I do not khow, but, candidly, I believe 

 Wisconsin, Illinois or New York offers better inducements 

 than California. If Mr. G. M. Doolittle can get 80 or 100 

 pounds of comb honey on an average, and sell at the New 

 York price, he would better stay there — if he is not afraid of 

 freezing. Dr. Miller can make more money where he is than 

 here, much as I would like him for a neighbor. 



ALFALFA FOK HAY AND HONEY. 



Prof. Cook's remarks on alfalfa (page 97) do not apply to 

 central California entirely. It is generally regarded as mak- 

 ing a heavier crop of more nutritious hay if cut after full 

 bloom is reaeht. Bee-keepers should not discourage this plan. 

 If left too long it is woody, and not rellsht by horses. When 

 alfalfa is left for seed It Is generally better for honey than 

 any other way. 



In the driest season of the last five my bees stored about 

 20 or 25 pounds per colony, while the next driest year they 

 reaeht 140 pounds average — my best run. Alfalfa is my 

 main honey source. 



This season promises to be very dry, altho spring rains 

 may help us greatly. Fresno Co., Calif., Feb. 23. 



SUCCESSFUL WINTERING. 



Three Essential Elements Necessary to Winter 



Bees Successfully in House-Apiaries 



by the Use of Artificial Heat. 



BY JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. 



I may remark, by way of preface, that the bees at Notre 

 Dame are kept in three houses, each differing in warmth and 

 structure, and that the hives are kept on the same stands 

 summer and winter. 



After removing the surplus honey In the fall, the hives 

 are prepared for winter and left till apple-blooming. Then 

 they may need some attention. This management saves the 

 time and labor that would otherwise be given to packing for 

 outside wintering or removing to cellars. Besides, the latter 

 does not always prove satisfactory. In this article I shall 

 confine my remarks to colonies wintered on the summer stands 

 in the house by artificial heat. 



On this head my observations have been especially ac- 

 curate on two colonies — a strong colony of 5-banded bees on 

 16 frames in two stories of the Langstroth-Simplicity hive ; 

 and a very weak colony of dark Italians. It may be necessary 

 to explain why the latter colony is so weak. 



Last August I took three frames partly filled, with brood 

 and adhering bees, and put them into an 8-frame hive, filling 

 it with drawn combs. About the time they had their queen 

 laying, I removed the young queen and replaced her by an 

 old one, which injustice the bees resented by balling her for a 

 day and a night. The following day they put her outside the 

 hive. Tho I several times liberated her, yet the bees would 

 not allow her to re-enter the hive until the next day, when 

 they finally accepted her; but then, she was in bad condition. 

 When winter came, I found that there were scarcely enough 

 bees to cover two frames. To these I added eight other frames 

 containing honey and pollen, making in all 16 frames in two 

 stories. Thus prepared, they went into winter quarters. 



Results: In order to ascertain as nearly as possible the 

 number of deaths occuring in each hlv-e, I put a wire screen 

 before each hive so that the bees could not get out. This I 

 removed from time to time to count the dead in the_portic09. 

 On Feb. 7 I found 13 dead bees in the portico of the 5-banded 

 bees, and amongst them a young drone. The total number of 

 deaths in this colony since Nov. 1, Is 26, and in the weak col- 

 ony, 36. Most of these died from the effects of cold, as I had 

 neglected to contract the entrance. When wintered on this 

 plan, the entrance should be small and protected from direct 

 winds ; and when the mercury falls much below zero, it is ad- 

 visable to throw loose snow about the entrance. 



On Feb. 10 the mercury stood about 60^ in the shade. 

 The sun was bright and warm, and the bees were ready for a 

 flight. On removing the screens, it was a pleasure to look at 

 the bees issuing from their hives so strong and frisky. I 

 searcht several times durine the day, and a dead bee was not 

 to be seen at either hive. Even the weak colony gave me a 

 pleasant surprise by their numbers and healthy appearance. 

 When standing near the hives a sweet odor was perceptible. 



The three essential elements necessary to winter bees as 

 above described are sunshine,* imre air fromthc outside, and 

 artificial heat. 



That bees should pass through the winter so strong and 

 healthy is certainly very gratifying and productive of good 

 results. As soon as the first pollen and honey appear, there 

 is a strong and vigorous force to collect It, as there are no 

 funerals or house-cleaning to prevent them. Such wintering 

 will do much to confute the idea of bees dying of old age, be- 

 fore they have lived 60 or 90 days. Such a thing is not In 

 harmony with the laws of nature. The children may live as 

 long as their mothers, and we find that the mothur-bee lives 

 three or four years, or even longer. The worker, or field- 

 bees, die young, because, like soldiers in active campaigns, 

 their brave little lives are exposed to innumerable dangers. 



The successful wintering of bees in house-aplaries with, 

 or without, artificial heat depends apparently upon littl& 

 things. Some of these I shall enumerate : 



Bees cannot be wintered successfully in a house-apiary 

 on the windward. By windward I mean the side against 

 which the winter storms blow. In this locality the coldest 

 storms blow from the southwest, west and northwest. The 

 openings in the walls of our house-aplarles are on the north- 

 east, east, and southeast. Our success la wintering bees for 

 four years has been uniform. It is advisable to have good 

 wind-breaks on the north and southwest. The porticos should 

 be protected from direct winds. 



During the coldest weather this winter, when the mer- 

 cury fell eight or ten degrees below zero, and the wind blew a 

 gale from tho northwest, the bees in an orbservatlon hive 



