.^ 



DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO PROGRESSIVE BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. XYIII. 



Chicago, lU., May 17, 1882. 



No. 20. 





Publishe.l evury Wc-'liies.lay l.y 



THOJ^/9A3 G. NEWMAN, 



i-:inrtii{ AMI Pl{u^KIKTOl^ 



925 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



At .Sa.OO i» Year, in AilvaiicF. 



p\TOgM^ 





WEEKLY— (5"i numbers) !»a ii yeur, in ;idvance. 

 Three or Six Months iit the siiiue rate. 



tW~ Any person sending a club of six is entitled | 

 to an e.'ctra, copy (like the club) sent to any address 

 desired. Sample copies furnished free. 



Vree of postage in the United States or Canada. 

 Po8tai?e to Europe 50 eeniM exti-ai. 



Eiittrtd at Chicago post ojfice as second class inatter. 



TOPICS PRESENTED THIS WEEK. 



Editorial— 



Kditorial Items 305 to 307 



The Silver I-iiDing of tbe Clouds ;05 



Kaily Swurois in England 305 



Interniitionsil E.xiiibition in Germany 306 



Nortli American Bee-Keepers' Society 306 



Inventor of Broad Fntmes for Sections... 306 



'I'he Albino Bee Controversy 306 



Bee- Keepers' Associations 307 



Among' Our Exchanges — 



lluney SIiows 307 



Tile Weallier and Feeding 307 



The Crafty Bee and its Sting 307 



Introduction of Italian Bees in England. . 307 



The Honey Prospect 307 



Correspondence — 



Care of Comb Honev— No. 1 30s 



Reply to Mr. Clarke 30H 



Winterint: Bees in Clamps yoy 



Fastening Konnd::tlon in Sections 309 



Bee Forage of Southern Texas 3H) 



Shading for Bee Hives 310 



The Functions of Queen Bees 311 



Convention Notes — 



Utah Bee- Keepers' Convention 312 



Pasturage or Forage for Bees 312 



Tuscarawas Valley, O.. Convention 313 



Selections from Our Letter Box- 

 Drone Trap '. 313 



Promising 313 



Bees Doing Well in Wleconsin 313 



Wintered Well 313 



Free Advertising ^ 313 



Waters Receded 314 



Bees Doing Wei! 314 



Rubber for Bellows Smokers 314 



Wintering Bits 314 



Still CmM ami Cheerless 314 



Honey Harvest in Texas 314 



Wintered Successfully Again 314 



, Unusually Karly 315 



Excessive Swarming 315 



SweetClover 315 



A Prolific Queen 315 



Bees in I'tah 315 



Well for Philadelphia 315 



An Abundance of Bloom 315 



Hearing Queens 316 



Bees Light 316 



Bee-Keeping in Colorado 316 



Tlie SilTer Lining of the Clouds. 



We liiive liad mucli unfavorable 

 weather recently — cold, chilling rains 

 and nortlierly winds prevailing in the 

 Central States, with frequent heavy 

 frosts and snow flurries in the North- 

 ern and Eastern. During all of last 

 week the weather was not only unfa- 

 vorable for the fanning interests, but 

 bees also liave suffered as well. Many 

 colonies bred up especially early and 

 quite strong, have consumed their 

 stores voraciously, while those not 

 bred up have dwindled till now very 

 weak. One lot of a car-load located 

 in this vicinity, shipped from Arkansas 

 about the 20th of March, were very 

 strong upon arrival and heavy with 

 honey, having been wintered in two- 

 story hives well filled with stores. In 

 the eight weeks since shipment tliey 

 have become greatly depleted in num- 

 bers, and have not only consumed all 

 their stores, but it has been absolutely 

 necessary to feed largely to prevent 

 starvation. We must deeply impress 

 upon all to look well to the condition 

 of tlie bees— see that they are amply 

 protected from cold and dampness, 

 and are always provided witli a future 

 supply of honey, syrup or good candy, 

 until settled weather shall have ar- 

 rived ; it will be found much more 

 satisfactory to remove witli the ex- 

 tractor a few pounds of honey that 

 may be left over from feeding, at the 

 beginning of white clover bloom, than 

 to build up the starving remnants of 

 colonies, or store away the empty 

 hives which liave been depopulated 

 througli sheer neglect to provide food 

 when needed most. 



The experience of tliis spring again 



raises the doulit, wliether it is most 

 advisable to breed up colonies very 

 strong till continuous mihl weather 

 has arrived—whether a prospective 

 fruit surplus will recompense its more 

 frequent failure V 



But the provident, patient apiarist 

 can realize no cause for despondency 

 in our present disagreeable weather. 

 A good surplus honey crop from the 

 fruit trees is most frequently followed 

 by a light yield from whiteclover. The 

 prevalence of dry, hot weather during 

 fruit bloom retards the spread and 

 matting of the white clover rootlets 

 and dwarfs its growth, thereby lessen- 

 ing the quantity of bloom and its du- 

 ration. An examination this morning 

 (May 13), revealed an unusual vigor in 

 its growth and development in this 

 locality ; and the dandelion clumps, 

 which usually give their blossoms only 

 in succession, reveal scores each of 

 flowers, which await but the sun's 

 enlivening rays to burst forth in myr- 

 iad discs of seeming gold, reflecting 

 back its welcome from their emerald 

 surroundings. Nor does the season 

 forebode a repetition of last summer's 

 drouth, to withhold the summer and 

 fall bloom till too late to be harvested 

 with profit; but everything is yet 

 hopeful for the best. Get the bees in 

 shape to take the fullest advantage of 

 a bountiful honey bloom. It is said 

 " every cloud has its silver lining," 

 and we believe the despondency and. 

 gloom of the present will be trans- 

 formed into mirth and gladness in the 

 "■sweet by-and-by." 



Early Swarms in England. — The 



London Horticultural Joumcl says 

 thatMrs. Wain,at Walton-on-Thames, 

 had a very strong swarm on April 21. 

 and expected others the next day, 

 had not the weather become showery 

 and windy. The surplus sections 

 have been on a month and are partly 

 filled with comb. 



