658 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Oct. 19, 1899. 



helping the bees to the last. If the reader will refer to 

 pag-e 404, in the American Bee Journal for June 29, he will 

 see how the matter stood. 



Feeding pays when absolutely needed to save the col- 

 ony, and no one should hesitate if he wishes to succeed. As 

 the present season has been one of poor crop in many locali- 

 ties, it is quite likely that a number of colonies are now 

 without sufficient stores for a safe wintering. This should 

 not be permitted to remain thus. They shouM be fed 

 bountifully, and, I dare say, it is as sure to pay in the long 

 run as the feeding above mentioned paid Mr. Lehman. 



I have just read Mr. France's article, on page 606, and 

 I wish to emphasize these words of his: "If j'ou want to 

 winter bees out-of-doors give them a large hive, and a good 

 deal too much honey is just enough." If your bees are short 

 of stores for winter, I would hardly advise you to give them 

 " a good deal too much," but be sure and give them plentj'. 

 It does not pay to let bees starve because of a bad season. 

 but it pays still less to feed them stingily, and have them 

 starve after all. So give them all they need. But if you 

 have had a good crop do not stint the bees, leave them 

 " a good deal too much," as Mr. France says. It is this 

 kind of bee-keeping that secures the honey crops for the 

 millions. 



If your colonies are strong in bees and poor in honey, it 

 is of no use to induce them to breed to any extent, therefore 

 the feed should be given all at one time, or as nearly at one 

 time as is practicable. Warm feed, given above tlie brood 

 in Hill feeders or ordinary fruit-can feeders, covered with a 

 cloth and inverted over the cluster, may be fed very rapidly 

 to a strong colony. We always invert the feeder previously 

 over a dish or pan, so that the first flow may come and the 

 atmospheric pressure prevents further sudden leakage. We 

 have thus given IS pounds of honey to one colony at one 

 feed. We put it on the hive in the evening, when there is 

 the least danger from robber-bees. If honey is not to be 

 had readily, we use mostly sugar syrup, but always mix a 

 third of honey with it. 



Colonies which are not very strong in bees may be fed 

 more slowlj-. While they are taking the food they will 

 breed more or less, and this will serve to strengthen the 

 colony for winter. Weak colonies that do not cover the 

 greater part of their combs would best be warmlj- covered, 

 or put into the cellar, at the opening of cold weather ; and 

 if there is no objection to decreasing the number of colonies 

 of bees, it may be well to unite two or three into one. In 

 this case, the best queen should be retained, and the bees 

 put together, at the same time sprinkling them with sugar 

 syrup. In order more easily to cause them to unite, some 

 apiarists scent the syrup with some strong perfume, such 

 as essence of peppermint, which gives all the bees the same 

 odor, for it is well known that bees recognize each other bv 

 the sense of smell, each colony having its own peculiar 

 scent. The sweet food puts them in good humor, and the 

 peppermint prevents them from noticing much diff'erence 

 between the odor of their neighbors and their own. If rob- 

 bers are kept away, no trouble need be anticipated. The 

 only objectionable feature to uniting bees from different 

 hives into one is the returning of some of the old bees to 

 the former spot, which is almost unavoidable, tho if thev 

 are drummed and frightened enough to cause them to con- 

 sider themselves in a swarming condition, they will usually 

 recognize the new spot readily. 



In an apiary where the hives are all of the same pat- 

 tern — as there are usually some rich colonies even in the 

 poorest seasons — these may be caused to help the others by 

 taking from them whatever they may be able to spare out 

 of their brood department. But it takes a little discern- 

 ment to do this feeding properly. If you give a weak col- 

 ony a heavy comb of honey on one side of its cluster, this 

 honey may be too remote from the cluster to be of use to 

 them. It is necessary to examine the hive and put the ad- 

 ditional feed in an accessible place, often spreading the 

 thinly supplied combs apart, to place the heavy combs in 

 the center. But these must not be too full. A solid comb 

 of honey would practically split the colony in two, and 

 might prove injurious, for the bees need empty cells on 

 which to cluster, the cells of honej' being much colder, and 

 therefore less advantageous to the cluster. 



Is it necessary to state here how much honey is needed 

 to winter a colony safely ? The amount has been variously 

 given by different apiarists according to the circumstances 

 in which their bees were placed, at from 8 to 40 pounds. A 

 good, middle average is 25 pounds. A colony which has 

 access to about this amount of honey is in good condition 

 for winter. It may consume more in spring breeding, but 

 this may be added after winter, without trouble. 



" That Big- Nuisance "—The Alley Trap. 



BY HENRY .\LLEY. 



SOME one has taken the trouble to inform the readers of 

 this paper that the Alley queen-trap is a nuisance in the 



apiary. It seems to me it is rather late in the day for 

 any one to make such a discovery, as the trap has been in 

 use some 18 years, and has been praised on all sides by 

 those who have them in use. The trap can be found in all 

 countries where an interest is taken in apiculture. 



Suppose a little pollen, say one percent of all the bees 

 collect (and it is not more than that amount), is brusht off 

 the legs of the bees when they pass thru the metal, does 

 any one have an idea that that would in any way affect the 

 prosperity of the colony ? The person who asserts that the 

 trap is "a nuisance " most likely is one of those bee-keepers 

 who has not been long in the business, as it seems to me he 

 would not now attempt to discuss the merits of the trap, as 

 these same charges, years ago, were brought against it, and 

 no one took any stock in them ; and I do not believe they 

 will now. 



By actual test, hives side by side in an apiary, those 

 colonies in the hives on which were traps stored more 

 honey than those that had no traps. The above test was 

 made by a man whose apiary is in Georgia, and the facts 

 were given to the public years ago. All who have tested 

 the trap have found it one of the greatest labor-saving de- 

 vices ever used in the apiary. 



Yet I have no doubt there are people who think it is 

 much better and easier to climb into a tree, 30 or more feet 

 high, on a hot day— say on a day when the temperature is 

 90 degrees in the shade— for a swarm of bees, rather than 

 just sit down and see a swarm of bees hive themselves. I 

 like the latter method much the best. 



If bees would not swarm, or, if the pesky things when 

 they do swarm, would only settle in a convenient place 

 where they could be hived with as little trouble as they can 

 be when the trap is used ; or, if the bees would not swarm 

 when a fellow is away from home, and not expecting any- 

 thing of the kind, and slip to the woods'; and, what is still 

 another bad thing, noT: rear so many useless drones, the 

 trap could be dispenst with just as well as not. 



Now, to pit against all the above-mentioned advan- 

 tages is the claim that a little of the pollen is knockt off as 

 the bees pass thru the metal into the hive. So far as say- 

 ing bees do not store as much honey when the trap is used, 

 as colonies do that do not have the trap, that is mere guess- 

 work. 



I could say much more of the advantages of the trap, 

 but I think the above is all that is needed. 



Essex Co., Mass. 



Report of the Proceedings of the 30th Annual 

 Convention of the United States Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, Held at Philadelphia, 

 Pa., Sept. 5, 6 and 7. 1899. 



BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC. 

 [Continued from pape 62'>.] 



SECOND DAY— Forenoon Session. 



The forenoon session of the second day, Sept. 6, was 

 called to order by Pres. Whitcomb, after which Rev. E. T. 

 Abbott offered prayer. 



A communication from the Farmers' National Con- 

 gress, to meet in Boston, Mass., stating that our Associa- 

 tion was entitled to a delegate, was read by the secretary, 

 and it was voted to send Mr. E. A. Wander, of Connecticut, 

 as such delegate. 



On motion, the chairman appointed as a committee on 

 resolutions, Hon. Eugene Secor, Ernest R. Root and Georee 

 W. York. ^ 



On motion, it was decided to hold the election of officers 

 for the coming year as near 3 o'clock in the afternoon as 

 possible. 



