100 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Feb. 16, 1899. 



generallj' g^obd for the bees to work, and a great stimulus is 

 given to brood-rearing where this tree grows in abundance. 



The white or gray willow is also a later-blooming tree, 

 and j'ields well in honey and pollen. It has been planted 

 for windbreaks and shade quite a good deal, as well as for 

 fuel. The bee-keeper who has been located near by has 

 also been benefited. I have had strong colonies store 

 enough honey while this tree was in bloom so the cells nes,t 

 to the top-bars in the brood-frames were filled with honey 

 and sealed over. The weather was favorable during the 

 blooming period, so the bees put in about every day. Onh' 

 the observing bee-keeper knows what a pleasing condition 

 this flow, coming before fruit-bloom, brings about in the 

 filling of the brood-combs with hone)-, pollen and brood ; 

 and the amateur will almost daily open the hives to note 

 the improved conditions daily taking place within his hives. 

 " I have been there," to use a common phrase. 



I would like to see the white willow extensiveh' planted. 

 It thrives well on moist land as well as upland, and can be 

 grown on land not suitable for farming purposes. I believe 

 a grove of these trees will pay good rent on most farms in 

 windbreaks, fuel and protection to stock and field crops in 

 general. The bee-keeper, at least, is hardly doing himself 

 justice who neglects this valuable tree. The charcoal from 

 this timber is considered with great favor. 



In my locality the cherry and plum trees next come into 

 bloom. For many years the planting of cherry-trees has 

 here been much neglected, and where 25 years ago bushels 

 of fruit were raised, now we may say that but little more 

 than quarts are grown. This should not be so. Farmers 

 and townsmen should study the different varieties of cherry 

 trees, and select those that seem hardy and produce good 

 fruit in near-by nurseries, and plant them. There are sev- 

 eral varieties of these trees that fulfill the above require- 

 ments. There can be found room around almost every town 

 home for the planting of a few of these trees, the fruit 

 from which is most healthful. 



The cherry-trees of our hardj' varieties will grow on a 

 variety of soils, and I doubt if any farm is .so well occupied 

 that room now not utilized cannot be found for the planting 

 of from a dozen to two dozen trees. I feel free to assert 

 that in northern Illinois not one farmer in ten raises his 

 own cherries, and I believe the same to be true over a large 

 part of our country.. All bee-keepers should plant a liberal 

 number of these trees and encourage their neighbors to do 

 -so by their own good example. The beautiful fruit seen 

 growing on the trees of the apiarist would of itself have a 

 good influence upon those passing along the highway when 

 the ripe fruit was hanging upon the trees. The families 

 would be supplied with fruit of their own instead of buying-, 

 as is too much the case with most farmers at present ; and 

 the honey-resources would be materially increast by the in- 

 creast amount of bloom thus afi'orded. The trees may be 

 planted along fences or upon sodland, or anywhere that one 

 may elect to put them. They will do well when planted as 

 near as 12 feet apart. Let every bee-keeper plant a few 

 cherry-trees the coming spring. Carroll Co., 111. 



Starting' with Bees — Hive Construction. 



BY H. W. HECHLEK. 



FROM boyhood I had a natural longing for the honej--bee 

 and bee-culture, but I never had the pleasure of owning 

 any until three years ago, excepting some 12 years ago, 

 when, on June 28, while working on a farm as a farm hand, 

 I found a very small swarm of bees, not more than a quart 

 in all, clustered on a limb of a little tree. I told the man 

 for whom I was working that I was going' to hive them, as 

 it was good luck to find a swarm of bees. He had a big 

 laugh at me, but with the laugh I got a nail-keg, and with a 

 little trouble I hived them in it. Every da)' I would glance 

 at mj' bees. I was very much surprised to see, after a few 

 weeks, how fast they built up to a middling strong colony. 

 As I did not know anything about bees, I then thought that 

 another swarm came and went in with them. 



In the fall, when the honey-flow was over, not knowing 

 how much honey it would take to winter them, I supposed 

 that they did not have enough to winter, so I killed them. 

 ■ But to my great surprise they had the nail-keg filled to the 

 bottom. Then I was sorry that I killed them. This little 

 experience only increast my desire to own and handle bees. 

 But I never was situated so as to own any until a few j-ears 

 ago. 



Three years ago this winter I traded a nice rocking- 

 chair, which I made, for a colonv o* bees. The following 



summer was a poor season for bees here, and, being very 

 weak in the spring, they did not swarm, but stored about 15 

 pounds of surplus honey. 



In the fall I bought another colony that was strong, in 

 fine condition, and a good grade of bees. 



The greatest problem that faced me in bee-culture was 

 hive-construction. I made several different sizes before I 

 settled on a style of hive that suited me. And while I had 

 this problem before me, I commenced taking the American 

 Bee journal, and also commenced reading the " A B C of 

 Bee-Culture." From these two useful helps I gained much 

 information. 



I use 1x10 inch lumber, generally in the rough, and by 

 carefullj- dressing it I can gain a little in the thickness, prob- 

 ably leaving it IS /16x9;V inches. With drest lumber you 

 hardly ever get over 34 -inch thick. I cut the ends out of 

 the thickest of the lumber, so as to have good, wide rabbets 

 or shoulders for the frames to re.st upon. I gauge the top 

 edges of ends, letting the gauge rest against the outside, to 

 7/ 16 inch and rabbet from the inside, ,'2 inch wide, to the 

 gauge mark. The ends are cut perfectly square, and 13 '4 

 inches long. This requires neat work. The sides are cut 

 21 inches long ; this length includes 2 inches for a portico 

 in front. The length of the hive-body proper is 19 inches 

 on the outside. The front end is ^ inch narrower than the 

 back for a bee-entrance. 



After the bod)- is nailed together I cut down from the 

 top of the portico 2!4' inches, and on these shoulders nail a 

 water-table — a strip 234 inches wide by ys at one edge, and ^i 

 at the other. 



I prefer loo.se bottom-boards. The cover is made of two 

 .boards 1x10 inches, with one edge beveled. The.se are nailed 

 on two strips 3 inches wide, J-s thick, and having a slope of 

 2 inches from the center of each strip, so as to form a roof. 



These roof-boards should be nailed on these strips so 

 they will fit neatly on the super and hive-body. 



The super is the same length as the top of the hive, 19 

 inches, made out df Jj inch lumber, thus giving a chance to 

 tier up as high as desired. 



And last of all the frames. The top-bars are 7 /16xlxl8 

 inches long, with a comb-guide tackt on the underside, or 

 two three-cornered (>'s inch wide) strips with foundation 

 comb placed between these two strips, thus holding it per- 

 fectly tight, and at the same time giving strength to the 

 top-bar. The ends or legs to the frames are 34x7/16x834 

 inches, and bottom piece is 34x7-16x1534 inches, and nailed 

 between the legs. All these pieces are cut in a cutting-box. 

 thus making them exactly the same length, and also square 

 at the ends. By this method the frames will be square and 

 hang true in the hive. Super material can also be cut in a 

 cutting-box. 



But how to space the frames and keep them spaced was 

 a puzzle to me ; and after studying over the matter for a 

 long time, and trying different plans, some one mentioned 

 staples in the Bee Journal. That idea alone was worth 

 $5 to me. But it did not specify how to use them at that 

 time. At first I tried to put them in the edge of the top-bar, 

 but it would split the top-bar, so I tried putting them in the 

 rabbet and spacing with a compass, and making holes with 

 a brad-awl. I like this plan very well. Frames are easilj- 

 taken out. I use 9 frames in my size hive. 



This method will do only for those who are mechanics 

 enough to make their hives, and have not much else to do in 

 winter time, and a warm place to work in. 



Keokuk Co., lo-s^a, Dec. 26. 

 .*******^*^*^*^*^*******^*^^********, ***** 



York's Honey Almanac is a neat little 32-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up with a view to create a demand for 

 honey among should-bc consumers. Aside from the Alma- 

 nac pages, the forepart of the pamphlet was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample for 

 a stamp ; 25 copies for 40 cents ; SO for 60 cents ; 100 for 

 Sl.OO; 250 for S2.2S -, 500 for $4.00. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copj- 

 of this .song. 



