1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



309 



over 60 pounds of this honey before basswood came into 

 bloom — being the largest amount of red clover honey gathered 

 in one season by onu colony of bees that I know of, while the 

 average of red clover honey per colony was but 80 pounds. 



I breed several strains of Italian bees, but I have no 

 queens for sale. I wintered 89 colonies out of 91 on the sum- 

 mer stands. 



Separators or no separators, fence or no fence, plain sec- 

 tions or sections with bee-ways — well, it puts my head in a 

 twirl. The finest comb honey put on this market is produced 

 by a bee-keeper that never uses separators or fences, but uses 

 plain sections set a bee-space apart in the super. Bees go 

 all around the sections except where they rest on the bottom 

 of super. All the first-class grocerymen here know Deltel's 

 fine comb honey stored the way I have mentioned. 



Query : — Is there a bee-keeper on earth that can use two 

 8-frame Langstroth hives, one on top of the other, with sec- 

 tions above, and have anything like success at prodiicingcomb 

 honey ? If such a one lives, let him tell us how it is done. 



Foul brood —a caution : I have never seen foul brood, but 

 I fear it as something awful, and as a measure of safety when 

 receiving queens by mail I let the queen out In the shop on 

 the window, then catch and introduce her with one of my own 

 cages, and burn the cage I received her in. 



Marshall Co., Ind., April 28. 



Some Wintering Experiences — Various Notes. 



Br O. B. GEIFFIN. 



It is with much interest that I always turn to Dr. Miller's 

 department of the American Bee Journal. It is particularly 

 helpful to the beginner, and even the veteran must get some 

 new ideas, and reminders of what they may well know, but 

 through attention to many cares would neglect but for the 

 questions askt by those who have just entered the fields they 

 have already past over. As I class myself with the beginners 

 (tho I have owned and cared for bees nearly 10 years, never 

 having over 20 colonies at one time), I hope the Doctor will 

 not think me presumptuous in attempting to throw light on 

 questions he has already replied to. 



As there is a cause for everything, and also a remedy if 

 we can but find it, I have always tried to find them when I 

 have been confronted by anything that was detrimental to the 

 successful care of bees. 



The winter problem has given me more trouble than any 

 other with which I have had to wrestle. When I was younger, 

 and knew less about bees than I do now (which is little 

 enough), I built a repository in which to winter my bees, very 

 similar to the one described by " Wisconsin," on page 38. I 

 had it arranged so that it had excellent drainage and ventila- 

 tion as desired. That winter I placed therein IT colonies of 

 bees with plenty of stores, but quite a percentage of the 

 stores was " honey-dew." Only six came through alive. Five 

 of these were very weak and queenless, so I let them " peter 

 out." 



As I had been to considerable expense, and believing the 

 honey-dew to be the chief cause of the failure to winter, the 

 next November I again put in three colonies — one a choice 

 Italian— and all with plenty of well-capt white honey. During 

 the winter the mercury in cold spells would drop to 36^ — at 

 times it would reach the freezing point. At such times I 

 would warm it up to 40° or 45^ with an oil-stove, but in the 

 spring all were dead. 



The winter of 1896-97 I wintered bees in the cellar un- 

 der the house, and they came out strong. I had five colonies 

 in the same cellar the past winter, and tho the temperature 

 remained near 40^ (never below) they wintered finely. I 

 could lift the cover and hold a lighted lamp near the hive 

 without disturbing them. 



From ray observations I have come to the conclusion that 

 the wintering problem for uorthern latitudes is solved, if the 

 following requisites are closely observed : 



1st. Healthy bees and plenty of pure white honey, or pure 

 sugar syrup fed early in the season, if honey is a failure. 

 From my own experience, which is somewhat limited, I give 

 honey the preference. I would not extract honey from the 

 brood-combs and feed sugar unless the honey was of inferior 

 quality. In such cases I think it best to do so every time. 

 But syrup should be fed early enough so as to be nearly all 

 oapt before cold weather sets in. 



2nd. A dry cellar, or any other repository where an even 

 temperature of 40^ to 45-3, or that temperature at which the 

 bees are quietest can be maintained without the aid of artificial 

 heat. 



3rd. Last, but not least, pure air and quiet. 



I do not think " Wisconsin " can be successful with the 

 repository described, for a term of years. If hq is, I hope he 

 will report occasionally. 



Somewhere — I think in Dr. Miller's department — I saw 

 the question askt, why bees sometimes store so much pollen 

 in the sections. I have had several bad cases. They oc- 

 curred under these conditions: 



A prolific queen, with brood-frames crowded with brood 

 and little honey, with very little pollen. As pollen was 

 needed they stored in the next nearest available place — the 

 sections. I have had the most trouble in hives having small 

 brood-chambers. The remedy would be to give such queens 

 more room below. 



FINDING BLACK (JUEENS, ETC. 



I have always had lots of bother in finding black queens 

 in populous colonies. Last season I hit upon the following 

 plan, which may help beginners where frame hives are used : 



When the weather is warm enough so there is no danger 

 of brood being chilled, take several hives — or prepared boxes 

 that frames will fit — and proceed thus : 



Move the old colony a short distance from the old stand 

 and set an empty hive in its place. Set the empty hives near, 

 and after using a little smoke open the hive and take out all 

 but two or three frames, one at a time, glancing over them if 

 you wish, as the queen may be seen. Set two or three frames 

 in each hive, and cover up. In a few moments there will be 

 excitement in all the hives except the one containing the 

 queen, and the bees will be returning to the old stand. 



Take the frames from all except the quiet hive and return 

 them at once to the old stand ; then proceed to find the queen. 

 There is not much trouble to find " her majesty " when you 

 know she is on one of two or three frames. This really takes 

 less time than it does to write it. 



I shall agree with the Editor (page 152) that it is a mercy 

 to " Miss Flora " that her address is not given. Methinks 

 some who might better be clast with the " old baches" rather 

 than young bee-keepers, would be sending her flowery notes, 

 and "hanging around" the postoffice awaiting replies. I am 

 quite sure that if I lived near J. A. Gulden's, I should be very 

 much interested in that section-honey cleaner. 



Say, Dr. Miller, are you not leading "Youngster" and 

 "Tennessee" to expect too much of mortal woman, or is there 

 all that dinerence between the women of Illinois and Maine ? 

 Why, if there was such a girl living near me I would go to her 

 at once and ask her to — well, never mind what, but I should 

 insist upon an answer in the affirmative before I came away. 



I hope Editor York will not put the latter part of this 

 article among the advertisements and send me the bill ; for, 

 tho like " Bachelor Hasty " and that Whitebread fellow my 

 hive is "queenless," it is not intended as an advertisement. 



Aroostook Co., Maine. 



Bee-Keeping for Begfinners is the title of a 

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

 keeper of the South, Dr. J. P. II. 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 .51.40 ; or, we will mall it as a premium to any of 

 our present subscribers for sending us one new subscriber to 

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



Xtac '^^ood Binder for holding a year's numbers of 



American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 



subscriber who sends to us 20 cents. It is a very simple 



arrangement. ITull printed directions accompany each Binder. 



Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 



Journal as fast as they are received. They are Invaluable for 



reference, and at the low price of the Binder you can afford to 



get It yearly. 



.*-•-»' 



Langfstrotli on the Honey-Bee, revised by 

 The Dadants, is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete 

 work on bee-culture. It contains 520 pages, and is bound 

 elegantly. Every reader of the American Bee Journal should 

 have a copy of this book, as it answers hundreds of questions 

 that arise about bees. We mail it for $1.25, or club it with 

 the Bee Journal for a year — both together for only $2.00. 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. 



