236. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Paint for Hives. — I prepared for 

 winter 82 colonies ; all of them are now 

 living and very popnlons. Have 

 drones flying, and some colonies seem 

 to work almost as busy as thouKli it 

 were June, and right in the honey 

 season. They are working on willows 

 and maples. 1 have about 100 hives 

 that ought to be painted ; can you 

 give me a formula of cheap paint that 

 w<iuld answer the purpose, and still be 

 durable. J. Rudy Roebuck. 



Burton City, O. 



[If you wish to paint them white, 

 nothing is better than white lead and 

 boiled linseed oil. If you mix it your- 

 self, the cost will be about 8 cents per 

 pound. For a yellow, beryl yellow 

 and boiled linseed oil, will be durable; 

 cost 7 to 7J4 cents per pound. Dark 

 brown, use what painters call Ohio 

 mineral and boiled linseed oil ; cost 

 T'j cents per pound. Reddish brown, 

 Wisconsin mineral and boiled linseed 

 oil ; cost 7)4 to 7J^ cents per pound. 

 Exercise your own judgment in mix- 

 ing to li.ive it spread to advantage. 

 These will all make durable paints, 

 and one coat, well put on, will be 

 sufficient. Of cour.se the quantity 

 used i)er hive will depend upon their 

 age, smoothness, and kind of nuiterial. 

 —Ed.] 



Bees ill Minnesota.— Bees in this 

 part of Minnesota have wintered 

 flnely. I have 98 colonies out of 10.3 

 last fall, not one moldy comb to be 

 found. My bees are breeding very 

 fast and appear to be in the best con- 

 dition that I ever had bees at this 

 time of the year. There are 2 colo- 

 nies of Cyprians here in this village, 

 whicli I have been watching with in- 

 terest, to see if they were in any way 

 superior to the Italians, which I have 

 failed to see, only in disposition. Tbey 

 are not as light in color as tlie Ital- 

 ians or as large, but can put in more 

 sharp points to the square inch in a 

 minute than any hybrid that I ever 

 saw. I think disposition might be 

 improved by crossing with good Ital- 

 ians. T;^king them all around, they 

 have a better disposition for sting 

 than either blacks or Italians. The 

 prospects are good for a good honey 

 season, plenty of clover making it's 

 appearance. \Vm. Lossino. 



llokah. Minn., April 6, 1882. 



A Floral City.- My bees have done 

 well. I wintered them in the cellar 

 and lost none. They are now busily 

 at work on the flowers. Mr. Editor, 

 it would do you good to go upon the 

 tower of our court house and look 

 over the city. It is a perfect flower 

 garden. Jonathan George. 



Independence, Mo., April 3, 1882. 



Bees Henltliy. — My bees are in good 

 condition ; tliey have wintered nicely 

 and appear to be healthy. 



Joel Biieweu. 



Lincolnville, Ind., April 1, 1882. 



Last Year's Record. — Last si)ring I 

 started with 5 colonies in fair condi- 

 tion. On the second day of February 

 I took them from the cellar, initting 

 them on the summer stand. The day 

 was very warm, and tbey took a good 

 airing. That night became cold, the 

 next day colder, until 16"^ below zero 

 was reached. Meantime I covered 

 them with hay, and kept them there 

 till the last week in March, when I 

 uncovered them, and tbey caine out 

 as bright and merry as M;iy birds. 

 They increased in strength faster than 

 I ever bad bees increase before. By 

 the lirst of may the hives were full 

 and running over witli bees. I in- 

 creased to 23 ; sold 1 ; in the fall united 

 2, and 1 left for distant parts. I put 

 20 into winter quarters— 13 in fair 

 condition, and 7 rather light. The 

 spring season was good for honey till 

 the middle of May or 1st of Jime, 

 when the drouth commenced. This 

 made things dark and discouraging. 

 During July and August tbey ate 

 more than they gathered. September 

 and October they obtained enough to 

 stimulate to breeding. My surplus was 

 light. I took 50 lbs., worth 2.5c. I esti- 

 mate my prolits for the season at 

 $128.80, on honey, increase and sales. 



ROBEllT COUBETT. 



Manhattan, Kan. 



Early Drones. — I find that tlie drones 

 are flying to-day from tliree colonies 

 of bees. These are the first I have 

 heard of in tliis section. Is it not 

 early for this latitude V 



James S. Loud. 



Linden, N. Y., March 27, 1882. 



[Yes; but everytliing is earlier this 

 spring, than common. — Ed.] 



Roadies in Hives. — I have liought 4 

 colonies of bees this spring, one iu an 

 old-fasbioued gum liive. 1 can hear 

 the bees, but very few come out, not 

 even in warm days. 1 lind a number 

 of roaches in all the hives. Would 

 like to know if they are iujiu'ious in 

 any way wliatever to the bees? I 

 have not seen an article on this sub- 

 ject in the Bee Jouknal. 



O. Pakker Baker. 



Woodberry, Md. 



[We recently saw a car-load of bees 

 which had been just brought from 

 the South. There were hundreds of 

 roaches about some of the hives, but 

 as the bees were very numerous, we 

 can hardly believe the roaches could 

 have been injurious, unless, indeed, 

 they had eaten some of the honey, of 

 which there was a great abundance 

 left.— Ed.] 



Gatlieriiif!: Pollen Marcli 1st.— My 



bees brought iu jiollen .March 1st. I 

 tried two w;iys of wintering on the 

 summer stand — one-half packed, and 

 the remainder without packing, and 

 the latter came through mucli better 

 f(u- two winters in succession. Some 

 years ago 1 buried my bees, on the 

 Langstroth i>lan. and they came out 

 all right. Wm. Roberts. 



Vaughansville, O. 



Extracting Before Swarining.— My 



pets are doing well, and are very busy 

 carrying in honey and jiollen. Is it 

 advisable to extract the honey before 

 swarming, as tbey have between 40 

 and .50 lbs. to the colony V 

 Racine, Wis. F. A. Gibson. 



[Yes ; if you want to run for honey, 

 as that quantity now in the hives will 

 greatly deter brood-rearing, and will 

 force swarming or idleness.— Ed.] 



Honey from Asters.— Our bees are 

 doing 'finely — yes, boomingly. Saw 

 drones, plenty of them, on the 1.5th 

 inst. — more than 6 weeks ahead of 

 last year. Have not lost a colony this 

 winter, all 23 are in fine condition. If 

 the weather continues propitious, will 

 have early swarms and a sweet time 

 this season. The aster saved our bees 

 last fall ; if it had not been for this 

 little giant all of our pets would have 

 starved. It was the only thing that 

 withstood the tearful drouth of last 

 summer. J. A. Burrow, M. D. 



Santa Fe, Tenn., March 28, 1882.. 



Doing Finely. — Bees seem to be 

 doing very finely ; indeed, they were 

 never in better condition at this time 

 of year, that is, judging from those 

 out-of-doors ; those in the cellar are 

 very quiet. 'We keep the door and 3 

 windows open both night and day, 

 shaded so as to break oil the rays of 

 light, most of the time, except bright 

 days, wlien we close them .5 or 6 hours 

 in the middle of the day. The chaff 

 packing keeps them warm and dry, 

 so the cellar can be thoroughly venti- 

 lated. L. C. AXTBLL. 



Rosedale, 111. 



Editorial Items. 



Preparation of Honey for tlie Mar- 

 ket, including the jirodnction and care 

 of both comb and extracted honey. 

 This is a new pamphlet of 32 pages 

 whichwehave just published. Atthe 

 last meeting of the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Society, we were ap- 

 pointed on a committee to prepare in- 

 structions on the Exhibition of Bees 

 and Honey at Fairs ; this is also added 

 to the above. Price, 10 cents. 



Bee Pasturage a Necessity.— We have 

 just issued a new pamphlet giving our 

 views on this important subject, with 

 suggestions what to plant, and when 

 and how. It is illustrated with 26 en- 

 gravings, and will be sent postpaid to 

 any address for 10 cents. 



Ribbon Badges, for bee-keepers, on 

 which are printed a large bee in gold, 

 we send for 10 cts. each, or $8 per 100. 



Advertisements intended for the Bee 

 Journal must reach this oftice by 

 Saturday of the previous week. 



