THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



235 





Wistaria Blossoms.— Herewith you 



■will find some blossoms of tlie wis- 

 tariii. which has been in bloom for 

 some time. It is a vapid climber, and 

 looks so beaiitifnl, and seems to give 

 my bees so much pleasure, I cannot 

 resist the temptation to send you a 

 couple of clusters. We have the 

 finest prospect for a good honey yield 

 that we have ever had, I think. 



James A. Austin. 

 Hnntsville, Ala., March 31, 18S2. 



[The flowers are very pretty, and 

 nothing is more attractive than <a 

 wistaria vine in full bloom. — Ed.] 



Tlie Hive I Use.— I have had con- 

 siderable experience in bee-keei)inff, 

 and have tried qnite a number of dif- 

 ferent hives, but was not suited with 

 them. I have gotten up a hive of my 

 own— a donble-wall, sawdust hive. 

 My smallest hive measures inside 

 20x14 inclies, by 14 deep. The frames 

 are ISJj inches outside, both ways, 

 and 12^1 inside, making it a square 

 frame, "and will hold 9 of the small 

 section boxes. These hives are nailed 

 on strips of scantling 22 or 24 inches 

 long, 2x2J.2', forming the hollow wall 

 for sawdust, and extending down for 

 legs to stand on, allowing the air to 

 pass underneath the hive to prevent 

 all dampness. I have some of those 

 hives 40 inches long, with two en- 

 trances, intended for two colonies, 

 with partition between. In some of 

 these I have single colonies filling up 

 the whole space. I find I receive the 

 most profit from these strong colonies. 

 I have frequently wintered these on 

 18 combs. 1 use a honey-board over 

 my frames, leaving 'j^ of an inch be- 

 tween the board and frames. My 

 hives all have doors at each end, so by 

 using a glass instead of a partition 

 board, I can at any time see how they 

 are coming on. The honey-board has 

 a square piece to lift out of the center, 

 5x8 inches. Over tliis I put a piece of 

 canvas, aiul then cover over all with 

 sawdust. The bottom of the hive is 

 hollow ;ind filled the same as the sides. 

 The ends between the doors and bees 

 I have not filled in the snmmer time, 

 on account of tlie observing glass. 



Benmiller, Ont. 1'. Fisher. 



Notes fi-oiii Nebraska.- For some- 

 time past we have had a succession of 

 small hurricanes of about the second 

 magnitude, in this locality. On last 

 Saturday the wind blew a fmious gale 

 from the southwest, and to-day (Mon- 

 day) it has been repeated again with 

 redoubled violence, filling the air 

 with a cloud of dust and dirt, and do- 

 ing considerable damage to f;dl break- 

 ing, drifting it in places like snow. It 

 is very dry here now, and a good rain 

 would be welcomed by all. The iieach 

 trees are in Idoom nicely, and the 

 cherries and plums will soon lie ont 

 with their robes of white ; but the in- 



dustrious little bee has to keep close 

 at home these windy days. I am just 

 beginning with bees— have three colo- 

 nies which I bought this spring at $6 

 per colony. They are in the imjiroved 

 champion hive, and are in good con- 

 dition at present. 1 am a subscriber 

 for the 1!ek JoURNT.^L, hence I come 

 to its columns for information. The 

 bees glue some of the frames to the 

 lid of the hive, and in removing it 

 they sometimes fall an inch or more, 

 causing quite a commotion among 

 them, now how can this trouble be 

 righted V \y. II. Mahtin. 



Falls City, Neb., Aprils. 1882. 



[Use a cotton or woolen blanket on 

 top the Irames, and clean the lid of 

 the hive free from wax, so there will 

 be none to stick it fast to the blanket. 

 There should be just % of an inch 

 space between the top bars of the 

 frames and Ihe lid, if you use no 

 blanket, and the bees will not be so 

 apt to bridge ^etween. — Ed.] 



Dollar Queens Again.- In discussing 

 a subject of such vital importance to 

 the beivkeepers of our country, I was 

 in hopes that the truth would shine 

 brighter than the almighty dollar. 

 In natural swarming Ineversaw more 

 than 5 queen cells designed by the 

 worker bees to become perfect moth- 

 ers ; 3 is the rule. All the rest are in- 

 ferior, and the queen-breeder that 

 does not know this, does not know 

 how to do it. How often do we hear 

 the queen-breeder boast that he can 

 get 20 to 30 fine queen cells built in 

 one nucleus y I suppose such breed- 

 ers must know how to Ao it, for they 

 often remove the cells from the nu- 

 cleus, ami graft in more larvie for 

 another batch, in which case rarely 

 more than one cell receives attention 

 enough to become more than half 

 queen and half worker. 



A MitiiioAN Breeder. 



What Shall I do with Them.- 1 have 

 two colonies in movalile frame hives, 

 started without foundation. The bees 

 have built tlip combs every way ex- 

 cept straight with the frames. VVhat 

 shall I do with them V My bees 

 brought in pollen yestenlay, for the 

 first time this season. 



H. J.NoiiTnKUP. 



Lansingburgh, N. Y., April 4, 1882. 



[Artificially swarm them on good 

 foundation, as described on page 210, 

 of last week's Uk.e. Journal, 3d i)ara- 

 graph, 3d cohunn, as soon as fruit is 

 in bloom. Then trim out and save 

 what brood yon can.— Ed.] 



First Swanii 



first swarin for 

 Italians, and th 

 saw. Bees are 

 hives are full 

 bloom, and I a 

 room for the (pi 

 are just as siroi 

 The prospect n 

 aging. 

 Forsyth, Ga., 



Reported. — Had the 



the season to-day — full 

 f largest I think lever 

 beginning well. The 

 of honey from fruit 

 m extracting to make 

 eens. My 30 colonies 

 ig as they well can be. 

 )w is certainly encour- 



F. N. Wilder. 

 March 2.5, 1882. 



• Net Weight.— Is it customary to in- 

 clude the weight of the can with the 

 honey— that is, 10 lbs. or less, as t tie 

 case may be, to weigh 10 lbs. honey 

 and all, at so much per lb.; or is Ihe 

 tin deducted as tare V Please answer 

 in the Bee .Iournal. 

 Tiverton, Ont. A Subscriber 



[We do not know what practice 

 prevails, where tin cans are not 

 labeled, but would imagine, if we 

 bought from a reliable dealer, he 

 would give us 10 lbs. net weight, if we 

 inquired for 10 lbs. of honey. When 

 labeled, the label generally states the 

 net weight of contents, and the can or 

 pail is charged for extra, or an addi- 

 tion made to price of noney to cover 

 the cost of the tin. In selling comb 

 honey, the section box is charged in 

 the weight of Inmey, because it savps 

 to the purchaser its cost in dripping 

 and waste honey, which would other- 

 wise occur if the comb was cut to ac- 

 commodate with a small amount.— 

 Ed.] 



At Last We Agree.— I must thank 

 Mr. Briggs for his manly and public 

 confession of the soundness of my 

 bacteria-pollen theories, as given in 

 the Bee Journal of March 29, page 

 198, wherein he says, " if pollen or 

 honey is fermented or turned sour (bac- 

 terious), then it becomes unnatural, 

 and, consequently unhealthy;"' and 

 also, for stating in regard to excessive 

 pollen-eating when confined, "this in- 

 sutficient and unnatural food produces 

 enormous distension of the abdomen, 

 and diarrhea ; and all these causes re- 

 sulted in death." That is just what 

 I said. We are now pretty well agreed, 

 only I must say that the experience ot 

 the most skillful hardly warrants me, 

 the champion of Mr. Briggs' opinions, 

 in believing that already the problem 

 of " wintering bees is as simide as 

 wintering stock of any other kind." 

 I have enjoyed Mr. Briggs' attempts 

 at some of the smart hits that Mr. 

 Clarke speaks of. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, ilich. 



Bees in Massachusetts.— March 28th 

 being a nice day. with mercury at 5-';° 

 in the shade, I thought I would look 

 at my bees— 2.5 colonies. They are all 

 in nice shape, with plenty of bees and 

 stores; were bringing in natural pol- 

 len at that date for the first time. 

 That is just 3 days earlier than last 

 year. I have been watching thera 

 close every warm day to see which 

 colony brought in pollen first, but, to 

 my surprise, I found every colony 

 commenced the same day. I semi you 

 a blossom of spider plant, to show we 

 can have them quite early here. But 

 we have had it growing in the house 

 all winter. D. S. Bassett. 



Farnunisville, Mass. 



Bring'ing in Pollen.— My bees are 

 bringing in natural pollen to-day — 1.5 

 days earlier than they did last year. 

 W. C. Gillette. 



Le Roy, N. Y., April 3, 1882. 



