108 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Maple and Sorgrliiim Syrups.— Advise 

 through the Bek Journal : 1 . Will 

 it do to feed a good quality of maple 

 syrup to bees in the last of February 

 or first of March, when it is known to 

 be pure, having made it myself V 2. 

 Is sorghum fit to feed bees in April, 

 when they can lly every few days V 3. 

 When a person doubles up the bees in 

 the spring, is it best to try and save 

 the surplus queens, or destroy them V 

 R. P. Williams. 



Goldsmith, Ind., Feb. 4, 1882. 



[1. Maple syrup will answer when 

 bees are getting occasional flights. 



2. If bees are not conlined to the 

 hive for long periods, we do not know 

 why a good, or even poor article of 

 sorghum sliould be more detrimental 

 to their health than fruit and cane 

 juices and timber sap, all of which are 

 more or less consumed by bees when 

 the honey flow is light. 



3. By all means destroy them. Most 

 of the queens taken out are in some 

 way defective, or the necessity would 

 not exist for luiiting the bees. — Fd.] 



Wintering Well.— Bees have win- 

 tered nicely so far ; they have been 

 flying lively for tlie last two days. 1 

 never saw bees in better condition than 

 they are now ; some are breeding. If 

 tlie good weather continues there will 

 be but little loss this winter. 1. I 

 have 60 brood combs full of lioney out 

 of which I would like to take the 

 honey. I have tried it with the ex- 

 tractor, but it breaks the combs. IIow 

 can I get it out ? 2. Will bees make 

 any drone comb if supplied with 

 worker foundation V I am well pleased 

 with the Bee Jouiinal ; 1 could not 

 do without it so long as I keep bees. 

 H. J. Smith. 



Burlington, Wis., Feb. 8, 1882. 



[1. Remove the combs with lioney to 

 a warm room, and let them get com- 

 pletely warmed through. This tough- 

 ens the combs and thins the honey, 

 and you will have no trouble in throw- 

 ing it out while kept in that state. 



2. To a great extent drone comb 

 • can be restricted by tlie use of worker 

 foundation; but it is not a positive 

 preventive. — Ed.] 



Cellar Wiuteriiiu' With Success.- 1 



commenced the season of ISSI with 

 28 colonies, only one being a strong 

 colony. Tliey Increased to' 73 ; all but 

 one had plenty of good honey to last 

 them till May. They gathered 2,U(J0 

 lbs. of extracted honey, and 200 lbs. of 

 comb honey. My luime market has 

 taken the most of it. I have had no 

 trouble in wintering in the cellar for 

 the last 15 years, when they have had 

 good lioney enough to ' last them 

 through. My cellar is not a dry one, 

 and I have no ventilation, except 

 vi'lien the doors are open. We keeii 

 our vegetables in the same room with 

 the bees, and have to go down several 

 times a day. Frank Searles. 



Marley, 111., Feb 7, 1882. 



Honey (Srannlation.- 1. Will honey 

 granulate if excluded from the air ? 

 I know of one case where extracted 

 honey was put in a glass self-sealing 

 can, and when opened the other day, 

 after standing one year, was in the 

 same condition as when sealed. 



2. What causes my bees to be eaten 

 in the hive, the bottom-boards of some 

 liives being covered with the frag- 

 ments of dead beesV 



3. The bees in this vicijilty are all 

 blacks : I wish to introduce either the 

 Italian or Cyprian bees next season — 

 which would you advise, and how 

 early can I purchase queens ? 



A. £. Fisn. 

 North Hatley, Quebec, Feb. 2, 1882. 



[1. Ordinarily, honey will granulate 

 if chilled, even though excluded from 

 the air. 



2. The bees you suppose to have 

 been eaten, are those which have de- 

 composed from tb.e action of moisture, 

 leaving the harder portions, such as 

 the part between the wings and the 

 scales of the abdomen, dried up. 



3. Tbe relative merits of tlie Cypri- 

 ans, as against the Italians, are not 

 yet sufficiently demonstrated to war- 

 rant us in recommending their pref- 

 erence. Good queenscan be obtained 

 from northern and central breeders in 

 June, and from the south in .\pril and 

 May.— Ed.] 



If the weather continues as it has 

 been so far, I expect to have strong 

 colonies by May 1st, ready for work. 

 In the Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3, page 

 39, Mr. W. T. Stewart, of Eminence, 

 Ky., mentions his reversible frame 

 hive. I read it witli interest and like 

 the idea. Please give a description 

 in detail in the Bee Journal. Has 

 he them for sale, or is it patented ? 

 John W. Sturwold. 

 Raymond, Ind., Feb. 3. 1882. 



Buckwheat and Sweet (Hover.— Will 



sweet clover do well, sown the last of 

 June with Inickwiieat, and will it 

 make a good crop of bloom the next 

 year V Will it bloom tlie next year, 

 if sown in the fail, after buckwheat is 

 liarvested V We have plenty of linden 

 here yet, but timber is scarce and it is 

 used very fast for fuel. Bee-keeepers 

 will have to plant to fill its place. 



E. Doty, 

 Macksburg, Iowa, Feb. 1, 1882. 



[We think it will do to sow sweet 

 clover with buckwheat in June, and 

 with satisfactory results in bloom, 

 much more so tlian if sown in the fall 

 when buckwheat is harvested.— Ed.] 



Wintering in Cellar.- Last Tuesday 

 the thennoineter registered 22- below- 

 zero. Bees are in excellent condition, 

 the temperature in the cellar has not 

 varied much since they were put in, 

 while outside it has ranged from BO; 

 above to 22" below zero. That is the 

 right kind of a (cellar to winter bees 

 in. We expect that every colony will 

 not only come luit alive, but strong. 

 E. A. Thomas. 



Ooleraine, Mass., Feb. 1, 1882. 



Reversible Frames.— In the Bee 



Journal of Jan. 18, 1882, I find an 

 article by Mr. W. T. Stewart on the 

 coming bee hive, and the advantages 

 of a reversible frame. I am pleased 

 to see the matter of reversible frames 

 discussed. More than two years ago 

 I became convinced a frame of that 

 description would possess decided ad- 

 vantages over the ordinary frame, 

 and after much thought on the sub- 

 ject invented metal corners for my 

 frames which would admit of their 

 being reversed at pleasure. A de- 

 scription of my metiil corners was 

 published in the Bee Journal of 

 March, 1881. I was not aware there 

 was a reversible frame in use similar to 

 mv own , but inferred from the remarks 

 of'Dr. L. C. Whiting in the Bee Jour- 

 nal, of Dec. 21, 1881, on the Van 

 Deusen reversible frame, that it was 

 similar. I have been awaiting a de- 

 scription from Mr. Van Deusen of his 

 hive in response to the Doctor's call, 

 and hope he will give a description of 

 it in the Bee .Journal. As Mr. 

 Stewart claims a reversible frame hive 

 of his own invention whicli he thinks 

 totally eclipses Mr. Van Deusen's, I 

 thinka description of it would also be 

 appreciated by all advocates of the 

 reversible frame hive. 



W. B. Anderson, M. D. 

 Bloomingdale, Mich. 



[We believe Mr. Stewart intends to 

 patent it, and will, of course, have it 

 for sale in due time.— Ed.] 



Reversible Frame Hives.— I cannot 

 do without the Bek Journal; can 

 hardly wait after I read one number, 

 until the next arrives. The present 

 size suits me 75 per cent, better than 

 volume 17, because if bound, will 

 make it handy to handle. My bees 

 are in splendid condition. They have 

 had, up to this, a fly once in 8 or 9 days. 



Every Colony Answered the Roll flail. 



—Yesterday we had a beautiful and 

 warm day, and the bees had a good 

 fly. Everv one of my 147 colonies 

 answered the roll call, and I am liappy 

 as a lark. I expect a lively time of it 

 next season. The money I pay the 

 Bee Journal for advertising is, I 

 think, well spent. It must have a 

 large number of subscribers, for 

 within one week after my adve^-tise- 

 nient first ajipeared in ij;, I received 

 (Iiiite a number of orders, where the 

 parties said : "as per advertisement 

 in Bee Journal. I. R. Good. 



Nappanee,Iiid., Feb. 9, 1882. 



(^ The Union Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation will meet at Eminence, Ky., 

 on the 27th day of April. 18S2. A full 

 attendance is very much desired, as 

 important business will be transacted. 

 G. W. Demaree, Sec. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



1^ The Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention will be held at McKinney, 

 Texas, on Tuesday, April 25, 1882. 



