246 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



until now he lias Italians in all their 

 beauty and purity. Careless owners 

 have allowetl colonies to escape at 

 swarminf^ time and are now to be 

 found wild in the mountains. Many 

 trees have been fouiid and cut down 

 during the past 2 years for the sake of 

 the honey stored in them. It even 

 seems certain that they have gone 

 "over the range," as they liave been 

 foimd by prospecters on tlie west side 

 of Gray's peak witliin the last year, 

 and, being Italians, musthavecrossed 

 from this side. Locations at the foot 

 of the mountains are in many places 

 first-class. Such points as G-olden, 

 Boulder, Collins and Morrison in the 

 north, and Maniton, Canon City and 

 La Veta on the soutli, as well as many 

 others probably equally as good, 

 might be named. Indeed, any point 

 that is in close proximity to low foot- 

 hills and gulches that will give bees 

 an opportunity to reach the liigher al- 

 titudes without having to fly over 

 higli and steep mountains, can be set 

 down as being a good location for 

 bees; and these points string all 

 along tfie rangeof hills from Wyoming 

 to the borders of JSTew Mexico. 



But, in addition to this, bees do 

 well also on all streams that are set- 

 tled up and where the land is under 

 fence and in cultivation; for the face 

 of nature is covered from early spring 

 time to late fall with flowers that af- 

 ford honey in great abundance. 

 Trees, wild flowers, vegetables, wild 

 grasses, all offer their stores of sweet 

 treasure to the ever busy bees. 



The National Mining and Industrial 

 Exposition, wliioh is" to be lield in 

 Denver, will open Aug. 1, this coming 

 summer. The managers are now 

 pushing the scheme through, and in- 

 tend to liave the main building ready 

 for tlie reception of exhibits Ijv the 

 15th of July. 



Denver, Col., March 29th, 1882. 



For tlie American Bee JournaL 



The Bee Controversy. 



G. W. DEMAREE. 



Like Mr. Ileddon, I have enjoyed 

 the cross-tire controversy hugely. 

 And I am willing that he'shall liave 

 the closingargument — as between my- 

 self and him, though, '■ lawyer like," 

 he has brought in a regular broad- 

 sider. Friend 11. reminds me of a 

 sermon preached by an old colored 

 preacher about here some years ago. 

 He was discussing the " st'a'fas'ness " 

 of his faitli ; and as he waxed warm 

 he went on to illustrate — " My britlier- 

 ing, my faith is liken unto the shakin' 

 a possoni outen de top ob a tall 'Sim- 

 mon tree— all ! you may shake, and 

 shake, and shake, and he lets one foot 

 holt go— ah ! And you may sliake, 

 and shake, and shake, and he let 

 anudder foot holt go— ah ! And you 

 may shake, and shake, and shake, and 

 he let an udder foot holt go— ah ! And 

 you may shake, and shake, and shake, 

 and he let de last foot holt go— ah ! 

 But you may shake, and shake, and 

 shake, and shake, but all h— 1 will 

 nebber make him break him tail liolt 

 —ah, all!" 



I halve shaken Mr-^Heddon loose all 

 over, and yot he hangs in the tall 

 " 'Simmon tree " without so mucli as 

 the tail holt left. The discussion of the 

 sul.>ject of " bands " and " pure '" bees 

 has become quite extended. Mr. G. 

 M. Doolittle has favored me with a 

 copy of the March No. of Gleanivgit. 

 The autlior of A B C is evidently 

 undergoing considerable tribulation. 

 Mr. Doolittle has enlightened him on 

 the subject of " bands," and there is 

 to be an " amended clause" added to 

 the ABC" window test," and falls 

 back on to " alcohol " and tlie micro- 

 scope," and finally begs for quarter, 

 ^ledina lias been " headquarters " for 

 daugliters of tlie imported " herd " 

 for years past, and they must have 

 " bands." 



There is evidently a shaking going 

 on among the " dry bones." A few 

 years ago a man dared not hint that 

 the famous Italian was a " thorough- 

 bred" bee, and must be bred by selec- 

 tion to insure improvement. We are 

 all "learners;" let the light shine, 

 thougli all our cherished notions fall 

 like autumn leaves. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



W. Iowa and S. E. Dakota. 



W. I'AXTON. 



My report for 1881 is too insignifl- 

 cant to note, except to cover a locality 

 unrepresented —Northwestern Iowa 

 and Southeastern Dakota. In March 

 I closed out the last of my Delaware 

 Co. apiary, in the keeping of Mr. 

 Meader, at $4 each, and in May pur- 

 chased 3 colonies for $18, in bad con- 

 dition, transferring tliem the last of 

 May. One contained scarcely ^ lb. 

 of bees, two were in better condition, 

 butliad not yet cleaned out ttie dead 

 bees. I took about 130 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey, and increased to 7 by 

 division— not quite so strong as I 

 could desire, yet I hope to bring them 

 through. Increase was my main ob- 

 ject. From scarcity of drones, I lost 

 .5 queens in mating, which put me 

 back ijamewhat. 



Our honey plants differ from those 



1 have seen East, but my limited 

 botany will not permit me to name 

 them. The river banks are skirted 

 with brushwood, called timber liere, 

 Cottonwood, soft maple, box elder, 

 elm, 4 varieties of willow, ash, and, at 

 a distance of one mile, considerable 

 basswood, walnut, and oak. Milk- 

 weed, of which we have several varie- 

 ties, is abundant, taking possession of 

 all vacant ground. My bees visited it 

 for a long season, but I think the 

 honey rattier rank-flavored. Snow- 

 drop grows wild in profusion, and its 

 delicate pink blossom seems a favor- 

 ite. Hartsease and a few prairie 

 flowers give some honey, but tlie most 

 persistant bloomer, is a plant growing 



2 feet high, quite branching, long 

 spikes of pur]ile bloom, grows on road- 

 sides and plentiful in liog pastures, 

 visited all day, and every sunny day 

 from early summer till frost. With 

 this plant and the variety of willow 

 blooming in July I wish further ac- 



quaintance. Of wild fruit we have 

 currants, gooseberries, and abundance 

 of plums, choke cherries, and grapes ; 

 but tlie honey plant which of all 

 others I most esteem is rape, grown 

 at first for seed, and since giving a 

 volunteer crop. From this I think 

 my bees got the first start, and from 

 this I think they took pollen on the 

 .5th of November. 



The coming bee is a subject in 

 which I feel a deep interest, being 

 from bovhood an admirer of the little 

 pets. Mr. Heddun and other re- 

 nowned apiarists will pardon me if I 

 lean to the side of beauty, and if I 

 conclude to wait a fiu'ther trial before 

 stocking with Syrians from D. A. 

 Jones. I shall take the bright and 

 gentle Italians. 



The coming bee liive is of equal in- 

 terest with the coming bee. I have 

 given the subject some thought, and 

 although a bee-keeper for near half a 

 century, I am free to confess I have 

 never seen or used a liive that quite 

 suited me, and wliiie I have gener- 

 ally given a wide berth to patents, 

 moth-proof and clap-trap generally, 

 yet if all I have used were piled up 

 to appear in judgment, it would not 

 all be on the side of simplicity and 

 utility. After wandering for things 

 new,' experience generally brings us 

 back to tlie Langstroth ; yet I am not 

 quite reconciled to be shut out from 

 the brood chamber while using a 

 second story for surplus, and like 

 Stewart and Whiting, see, or fancy I 

 see, an advantage in reversing combs, 

 and especially in transferring. I wish 

 these men had given us a description 

 of their frame and hive, and this re- 

 minds me that others may get an 

 idea from a description of and help 

 perfect the hive I use. 



My frame is square to render it re- 

 versible, and give a compact form for 

 brood. I have adopted ll^txlli-j to 

 give a double-wall for brood, with 

 space for Langstroth frames above, 

 the frames running parallel, so that 

 by removing a frame above 1 can 

 reach one below. This I design for 

 out-door wintering and protection 

 against spring and fall chilling. Two 

 cushion division boards Jg in thick- 

 ness, contracts the hive at will, giving 

 space for chaff when needed. A sum- 

 mer entrance at each end, with one in 

 the middle through the bottom-board, 

 admits of cutting up into three nuclei, 

 for which the size and shape of frames 

 are suitable. 



My object in explaining is the hope 

 that some one may give a more simple, 

 cheap and convenient hive, and at 

 same time possibly return in part tlie 

 many useful crumbs gleaned from 

 correspondents of the Bee Journal. 



Notwithstanding the expensive ex- 

 periments and partial failure of 

 Messrs. Ferrine and others, I am dis- 

 posed to think favorably of cheap bees, 

 safe wintering, and the advanced sea- 

 sons of the sunny South. With an 

 abundant How of the sweetest nectar 

 in the North, and direct communica- 

 tion by water and rail, is whereon I 

 base my conclusions that a practical 

 man at each end should make it win. 



But what I intended as a brief re- 

 port has grown too long, and I will 



