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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



July 27, 1899. 



" Iv'Abeille et la Ruche," which was also publisht in Rus- 

 sian, would have li'iven him a leading' place among Euro- 

 pean writers, if he had not already been known across the 

 seas for his strenuous efforts during- many years to extend 

 the use of the movable-frame hive, and to tight the " rou- 

 tine " of the European peasants. How well success has 

 crowned his efforts may be seen by perusing the bee-jour- 

 nals of France, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, and even of 

 Spain, which also seems to be making an effort in the 

 ■direction of progress. Even in the South American repub- 

 lics the echo of his voice has reverberated, and a step for- 

 ward is being taken in the production of honey by progres- 

 sive methods. 



Altho Mr. Dadant is still the head of the well-known 

 firm of Chas. Dadant & Son, he has practically retired from 

 active life, but he keeps an eye on the current evehts of the 

 bee-keeping world. His health is good in spite of his 82 

 years, yet he is annually compelled to leave home to avoid 

 the hay-fever, to which he is subject during the months of 

 August and September. He spends those two months every 

 season in the pretty little town of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., in 

 perfect immunity of this disagreeable disease. 



Mr. C. P. Dadant, born in Langres, France, April 6, 

 1851, came to America with his father at the age of 12, and 

 has resided in Illinois ever since. He is well known to our 

 readers as one of our regular contributors, one of the direc- 

 tors of the United States Bee-Keepers' Association, and the 

 manager of one of the most successful firms with whom our 

 bee-keepers deal. Of his three sons, the eldest, Louis C, 

 aged 20 years, is now a student of the Illinois State Univer- 

 sity, in the department of mechanical engineering. The 

 second, Henrv C, 17 j'ears of age, has just graduated from 

 the Keokuk high school, and is fitting himself for a business 

 education. As to the third, Maurice M., he is yet too young 

 to be able to say what he may be able to do ; he has so far 

 been trying his ability only in the rearing of Plymouth 

 Rock chickens. 



The Dadants manage six apiaries, comprising about 

 450 colonies, a large vineyard, and an extensive foundation- 

 making shop. They produce extracted honey almost ex- 

 clusively, and are among our most successful bee-keepers. 



Several Delayed Questions and Their Answers. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTIiE. 



SOME questions arrived along the latter part of the win- 

 ter which the writer wisht answered thru the columns 

 of the American Bee Journal, but in some way they g-ot 

 misplaced, so were not answered when they should have 

 been. The writer of them is desirous that they be answered 

 now, so that they may be in time for use when he wants to 

 refer to them, and after hunting the matter up I have con- 

 cluded to answer in July what would be more appropriate 

 for December, altho it is generally best to answer questions, 

 and give articles, which are appropriate for the time when 

 they were written or appear in print. 



LOCATING AN API.\KY. 



Question. — Which is the better location for bees, one 

 on low ground where it is moist and frosty in the spring, 

 but sheltered, or one on high ground where it is more free 

 from dampness and late frosts, but somewhat windy ? 



Answkk. — If I could have my choice I would select 

 neither. My choice would be midwaj' on a moderate slope, 

 say one inch to the foot, or such a matter, which faced to- 

 ward the south, or more preferably the southeast. This 

 ■would avoid the early spring frosts and the dampness of 

 the low land, and, to a large extent, the high winds of the 

 elevated position, which are almost sure to prevail. To be 

 sure, a wind-break can be constructed around the apiary on 

 the high ground, but according to ni)' experience many bees 

 are lost by being swept away on windy days upon rising 

 above this enclosure into the cold blasts which blow above 

 and about it, they being lured out bj' the calm and sunshine 

 within. For this reason, were I limited to one of the two 

 extremes, I would select the low ground in preference to the 



high. If bees go out from the warmth caused by the mid- 

 day sun shining on this low ground, they are not liable to 

 be lost thereby : for when they rise high enough to strike 

 the cold air from above, thej' at once fall into the warm air 

 below, thus immediately warming again, so are not lost. 

 Then, on the whole, the temperature at the low location 

 will average much the warmer in early spring. 



However, as I said at the start, if it were possible I 

 should avoid the two extremes in locating, and take an in- 

 termediate one. But where our environments are fixt so 

 that we cannot have our choice in such matters, happy is 

 that man or woman who can make these environments the 

 most nearly accord with what a good location would give us. 



FEEDING BEES IN WINTEK AND SPRING. 



Question. — What is the best method of feeding a col- 

 ony of bees that is found to be without food in the hive in 

 midwinter or early spring ? 



Answer. — In the first place, we should never allow our 

 bees to be in this condition, for it is much more to our ad- 

 vantag-e. and to the advantage of the bees, to have sufficient 

 food supplied them in the fall to last at least till the last 

 month of spring, and I am quite positive that if enough is 

 given to last till June it is all the better. The prudent api- 

 arist will look over all his colonies in October, and see that 

 all are abundantU' supplied till the flowers bloom again. 

 However, should such a thing as the bees being short of 

 stores happen, thru sickness or other adverse circumstances, 

 the very best method of feeding them is to set in combs of 

 sealed honey, as this places the bees in a natural condition, 

 and does not disturb them every little while, as most other 

 methods of feeding do. If no combs of honey can be had, 

 the next best way is to fill combs with good, thick sugar 

 syrup, when thev are to be used the same way the combs of 

 sealed honey would be. In either case, such combs of feed 

 should be warmed for six hours or more before being placed 

 in the hives, for where combs of frozen honey are set nest 

 to the bees the colony is thrown into a state of excitement 

 to warm this honey up to where they can safely cluster 

 against it. 



There is still another way of feeding in winter which I 

 like very well, and can be used still more effectively in the 

 spring where a colony is short of stores, where one has on 

 hand some extracted honey which has candied, which is as 

 follows : 



Make a bag out of cheese-cloth about six or eight 

 inches square, after which partially, fill it with the 

 candied honey, which has previously been workt till it is 

 quite soft, or it can be workt after it is in the bag-. Don't 

 fill the bag so but that it will assume a flat shape, for we 

 wish to press it down right over the cluster of bees, so that 

 it can be covered snugly with bee-quilts or old carpeting to 

 keep in the heat. The bees will suck the feed thru, and in 

 process of time cut thru the cloth so as to use it all up. 



But let me repeat, that the bee-keeper who does not see 

 that each colony has stores enough in the fall to last from 

 October to Ma}', is working in such a way that the word 

 " failure " is liable sooner or later to be inscribed on his 

 banner. 



F.-VLL AND spring WEIGHT OF COLONIES. 



Question. — What becomes of the difference between 

 fall and spring weight of colonies, sometimes amounting to 

 from 20 to 25 pounds ? 



Answer. — Bees use honey largely as fuel during the 

 winter season, in order that they may not freeze during the 

 frigid weather of our northern localities. I reason like this : 



The natural food of the honey-bee contains the least 

 possible amount of gross matter, and as bees do not take on 

 fat and thereby increase in weight, the digestion of honey 

 in the stomach of the bee is equivalent to combustion, or, in 

 other words, the honey is burned up, hence as the ashes of 

 burned fuel do not weigh anywhere near as much as the 

 fuel did before burning, so the " ashes," or what is left in 

 the intestines of the bees, weigh much less than did the 

 honey consumed to keep up the fire. 



Again, much of the weight goes out by evaporation ; 

 and should the bees have a flight, more would go out by 

 way of excrement, but not nearly as much by the latter as 

 by the former. Honey being very free from nitrogenous 

 matter, it is past oft' in liquid or vaporous form by way of 

 sensible and insensible perspiration and respiration, except 

 the small amount to be found in the bodies of the bees. 

 This is sometimes carried on to such an extent that water 

 is seen running out at the entrance of hives in winter. 

 Some of the food is also used in producing muscular force, 

 and as this force is constantly wearing out, the loss is per- 



