292 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 12, 



had the most means. The time spent at law would have filled 

 the canal with water. Each one declares he will rule or leave, 

 and the result is, no water in the canal. 



Well-improved farms are offered for much less than the 

 cost of improvements. With proper care the 7,000 acres 

 might just as well be seeded in alfalfa, which would support 

 7,000 colonies of bees, and cattle at the rate of two head per 

 acre a year, and as many more on the range. All that Is 

 needed is a few farmers with some capital that would get 

 along better together, as the bee-keepers are doing in the 

 valley of the Salt. 



Bee-keepers of Arizona are up-to-date and wide awake, 

 using the latest and best hives, extractors and all modern im- 

 provements. Last, but not least, they read bee-papers and 

 keep themselves informed. Maricopa Co., Ariz. 



Strange Homes Selected by Bees. 



BY H. A. FISH. 



It is written in bee-books that the honey-bee likes no place 

 for a home that does not smell " clean and sweet." Just 

 fancy a swarm taking possession of an empty fish-barrel, 

 using the bung-hole for an entrance, and doing just as much 

 business as if they were in a fancy hive ! 



As queer a case as I ever saw was where they pre-empted 

 a pigeon-cote that was made from a " Welcome soap-bos." A 

 roof had been put on it, and two entrances cut in the side, 

 and over it there was printed " Welcome." The " soap " part 

 had been obliterated by the use of the saw. Parhaps it was 

 the sign over the door that caused this swarm to take pos- 

 session of this place. It could not have been the stnell of 

 those pigeon-droppings. And as for other visitors, they were 

 not welcome, as I can testify. They still live in the old home, 

 and have plenty of ventilation, which may account for their 

 staying. Runaway swarms can't always choose just the best 

 hive. 



I bought a Carniolan queen and put her Into a nucleus 

 colony, and she was such a prolific queen that in a very short 

 time the hive was full of bees. On opening the hive one after- 

 noon I found no queen, but several queen-cells. I concluded 

 she had gone back to her former home, but a neighbor told 

 me that he had a swarm come into one of the chambers of his 

 home and clustered on the ceiling. I askt him what he did 

 with them, thinking of my dollar queen. He informed me 

 that he just got a wide board and " squtcht " the whole busi- 

 ness. 



One of my neighbors had a swarm go into one of the flues 

 of his chimney, and he got a man to try to get them out, but 

 he discovered that this particular flue had been stopt up some 

 time, and the bees had to go down the other flue and go 

 through a chink to get into the stopt-up flue. The owner of 

 the house thus discovered w}iy that flue would never draw. 



Old box-hives left around in the woods often will be taken 

 up by runaway swarms. 1 have gotten several that way. 



I used to hunt wild bees, and often found them in places 

 where I did not expect to. An old bee-hunter up in New 

 Hampshire told me of a swarm he found the past summer in a 

 tree, and it was markt with the name of the man who first 

 found it, altho the date was IS years ago. One would sup- 

 pose that these bees had been in there all these years, but 

 probably they had died out several times, tho the first man 

 says those he found were Italians, and the last man says the 

 ones he found were Italians, too. He believes they have lived 

 there all these years. 



I think this will do for the present. If some one doesn't 

 try to tell a larger one, I'll tell of some other bee-trees later 

 on. Plymouth Co., Mass. 



Bee-Keeping for Beg^iniiers is the title of a 

 110-page book just out, from the pen of that expert bee- 

 keeper of the South, Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Georgia. It 

 claims to be " a practical and condenst treatise on the honey- 

 bee, giving the best modes of management in order to secure 

 the most profit." Price of the book, postpaid, 50 cents. Or, 

 we will club it with the Bee Journal for one year — both to- 

 gether for ^l.iO; or, we will mail it as a premium to any of 

 our present subscribers for sending us one new subscriber to 

 the Bee Journal for a ytar (at $1.00), and 10 cents extra. 



The McEvoy Foul Brood Treatment Is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on "Foul Brood; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every bee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



Proceedings of the Colorado State Convention. 



REPORTED BY F. L. THOMPSON. 



[Continued from page 278] 



BEES LIQUEFYING GRANULATED HONEY. 



'A question on the best method of feeding outside of the 

 hive was askt, which led to the following remarks: 



Mrs. Rhodes — To get the bees to liquefy honey in the 

 hives I set a pan of water with Cdrncobs in it close to the hive. 

 I never see granulated honey on the bottom-board when water 

 is close. 



Pres. Aikin — I had thought of feeding very thin honey 

 for this, so as to get it stored over the granulated honey. I 

 suspect the bees often liquefy by bringing water; but we lose 

 a great deal in the granulated honey which is carried away 

 from the hive by the bees. 



Mrs. Rhodes — They liquefy as much as they need. 



TRAPPING MOTHS — STIMULATIVE FEEDING. 



A question was askt about trapping moths, by a bee- 

 keeper who had kept bees many years ago in the East. 



Pres. Aikin — I have come across a good many Colorado 

 apiarists who have never seen a wax-moth. There is a grain- 

 moth here. The larva is nearly like that of a coddling-moth. 

 It works on pollen or old black combs. It will cut holes in 

 the comb, but not to eat the wax. The real wax-moth of Iowa 

 has a larva several times larger than that of the grain-moth. 

 It has two broods annually, one in April and the other in 

 August. There is also a dark kind in Iowa, smaller and less 

 numerous than the gray species, whch works in the same way. 

 The real wax-moths fairly riddle the combs. 



Mr. Foster — Strong Italian colonies take care of them. 



F. Rauchfuss — Emphasize lUiUans. I have seen strong 

 colonies of black bees, brought here from Arkansas, make no 

 objection to our moths. 



QuES, — Will it pay to feed in spring to stimulate ? 



Pres. Aikin — I have done a big lot of feeding. I don't 

 know whether it pays or not. It does if the colonies are short 

 of stores. A large amount of unsealed honey next the brood 

 has a great influence in building up. But if the bees gather 

 enough from the fields feeding is not necessary. 



Mrs. Rhodes — I know feeding pays. One spring we fed 

 several pounds of sugar a week. It proved to be a poor sea- 

 son, but we got 1,000 pounds when our neighbors got noth- 

 ing. Our bees built up and theirs did not. 



Mr. Foster — I use a bottom-board for feeding, which I 

 place on top, with the bee-space strips up. In this is bored a 

 J^ or M inch hole, covered with a lath when not in use, and a 

 pint of honey is poured on the board. This is covered with 

 another board. In this way I feed 20 or 30 colonies in a 

 short time. 



BEES RENEWING THE COMBS. 



F. Rauchfuss — How many have noticed bees renewing 

 their old combs in the middle of summer? [Two.] 



Mr. Adams — I have seen this in the spring, but not in 

 summer. 



Pres. Aikin — I have seen many colonies renew their brood- 

 combs. The question how long brood-combs can be used is 

 sometimes brought up in the bee-papers. If the writers had 

 observed, they would not have brought it up. 



F. Rauchfuss — Have you observed under what conditions 

 it takes place? 



Pres. Aikin — No. 



F. Rauchfuss — I once noticed a lot of refuse in front of a 

 hive, like the refuse which a mouse makes by gnawing the 

 combs. I inspected, and found the colony queenless. The 

 bees took advantage of a time when there was no brood in the 

 way. Since then I have always noticed this in colonies queen- 

 less or made queenless. A neighbor bee-keeper last summer 

 noticed it in six colonies at once, all of which he had de- 

 queened. 



Pres. Aikin — So far as I can remember the cases the colo- 

 nies were always queenless. 



F. Rauchfuss — This has never been mentioned in any bee- 

 literature that I know of. We have two writers for the bee- 

 papers present. They ought to bring it up. 



