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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



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will It Pay. — 1. Could a person 

 keeping about 2.5 colonies of bees find 

 sufficient profit therefrom to pay his 

 expenses, if the latter were very 

 moderate, including an extractor and 

 a few other necessary articles V 2. 

 Would an apiary of 100 colonies of 

 Italians produce an income of a few 

 hundred dollars per annum V 



Holland MacDonald. 



Montreal, Quebec. 



[1. Everything favorable, 25 colo- 

 nies would give a handsome profit on 

 running expenses. 



2. Mr. Doolittle's report for 9 years, 

 gives an average income of $1,380 per 

 annum, with less than 100 colonies as 

 basis ; but he lias, perliaps, been more 

 than usually fortunate during the 

 series of years. However, with the 

 same judgment in the selection of 

 location and assiduity in managing 

 business, bee-keeping will pay as well 

 as any other pursuit. — Ed.] 



My Season's Work this Far.— I had 



last"fall ill the yard and cellar of my 

 own and neighbor's, 28 colonies ; 16 of 

 which were in Roop's winter protec- 

 tor hive. All wintered safely except 

 one, which lost its queen ; three 

 more were in other winter hives and 

 wintered successfully ; and 9 in Roop's 

 common hive and wintered in cellar, 

 of whicli we lost 2 ; leaving 2.5 out of 

 28, all ill fair coiulitioii. Most of them 

 were very strong until within three 

 weeks ; the season was very wet ; no 

 honey was gathered through fruit 

 bloom, except to keep up brood-rear- 

 ing. The same through red rasi)berry 

 bloom, here at Carson ; Mr. Roop took 

 40 colonies of young bees and all on 

 dry combs and foundation ten miles 

 in the country, to a red raspberry 

 patch, which filled up rapidly and 

 tilled one crate each, in a short time, 

 ready to tier up. Tlieii we had an- 

 other deartli until tliree days ago, 

 when they commenced on bassvvobd, 

 and yesterday and to-day are work- 

 ing very nicely. I have not secured 

 6 lbs of new lioney as yet and have 

 only extracted perhaps 10 lbs. of old 

 honey tliis season. Nor have we had 

 a swarm until to-day ; the first one 

 came out at 8 o'clock this morning. I 

 have made 13 nuclei which are as 

 strong as the parent colonies and 

 ready to tier up for extracting. Other 

 of our neighbors have been bothered 

 with too much swarming, but those 

 in Roop's winter protector can be 

 nearly kept from swarming. We have 

 15 colonies in Roop's winter hives 

 that have 27 frames covered with bees 

 and a crate on top, all well supplied 

 with bees and are putting in honey 

 to-day at a rapid rate. Mr. Roop's 

 bees at home have done no better 

 than ours, unless it be by swarming 

 ■which was caused.by not letting them 



in the side chambers. All the honey 

 we are to get must be basswood and 

 fall honey ; one rain would spoil all 

 hopes for white honey. 



Ophir R. Goodno. 

 Carson City, Mich,, July 22, 1SS2. 



Drones iis Comb-BuiMers. — Seeing 

 several articles lately on the use of 

 drones, I will add my mite as a sort 

 of mitigation for the " lazy fathers of 

 the hive." M. T. French, a neighbor 

 bee-keeper, came after me to extract 

 some honey for liim on the 1st inst. 

 I took out about 400 lbs. for him, and 

 while there I saw a colony of black 

 bees, in an American hive, building 

 comb on the front of the hive, and as 

 there was considerable comb I began 

 to watch them work. I saw fully one- 

 fourtli of the outside bees were 

 drones, and they seemed to be as busy 

 as the others. On a close watch I 

 found tliemactually working the wax; 

 yes, building comb, and Mr. French 

 told me he had carefully watched 

 them for nearly a week, aiid lie was 

 satisfied that they were actually build- 

 ing comb. We are having splendid 

 rains. The mint (Monarda punctata) 

 is freshened up, and the Liees are 

 again working finely on it and cot- 

 ton, Jamestown weed, cockle-burr, 

 "thorny careless," lambs-quarter, 

 and other prairie fiowers. I am try- 

 ing to get up a statistical report of 

 bee-keepers and number of colonies 

 in the county. Will forward as soon 

 as made out. Texas has been glor- 

 iously blessed this year. Plenty 

 smiles over our fields, orcliards anil 

 apiaries. God be praised tor this 

 abundance. B. F. Carkoll. 



Dresden, Texas, July 17, 1882. 



Disposition of Bees.— Tlie temper of 

 bees IS an effect, the causes of which 

 comes from two sources, viz, inherit- 

 ance, and treatment. My observa- 

 tions regarding their disposition 

 (which have been more than ordinar- 

 ily careful, since I have been breeding 

 for good nature), have taught me 

 that bees that are carelessly handled 

 aretlie crossest; those let ;ilone. next; 

 those that are properly liandled, 

 gentler than either. This, as far as 

 treatment is concerned. Breed from 

 your gentlest and best honey-gather- 

 ing colonies ; never undertake to 

 liandle your bees, till you have settled 

 the question of " who is boss,'' beyond 

 all doubt. Smoke first and jar all you 

 wish afterward, and your bees are not 

 offended. Jar first, and smoke all 

 you please afterward, and they show 

 anger and resentment for days after- 

 ward. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



Transferrin?.— To-day is July 19, 

 but, so busy have I been, that not un- 

 til now have I read Mr. Ileddon's ar- 

 ticle on " Progressive Transferring," 

 in the Bee Journal of July 12th. 

 My article was written nearly two 

 years ago, and was originally pub- 

 lished in the Counti-y Gentlemen of 

 April 21st, 1881, instead of the Bural 

 New Yorker as credited in the Bee 

 Journal. Since writing that, I have 

 learned a better way of getting off 



the sides of the hives, and that is just 

 exactly as Mr. Ileddon describes it. I 

 now fasten in combs, by tacking light 

 strips of wood to each side of a frame, 

 removing the strips after the bees 

 have fastened in the combs. Mr. 

 Heddon's method of drumming out is 

 certainly convenient, but does it pay 

 to allow a hive to stand queenless 

 three weeks, the young bees "loafing" 

 about, and fairly aching for some 

 brood to care forV In all essays 

 where the beauties of artificial swarm- 

 ing are dwelt upon, this one point, 

 that of leaving no colonies queenless, 

 is the leading "beauty." I have had 

 no experience in thus leaving colo- 

 nies queenless, and should be glad to 

 know if, setting aside the getting of 

 the combs emptied of brood, so that 

 they can be made into comb founda- 

 tion, whether it is any advantage to 

 so transfer. W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Rogersville Mich., July 20, 1882. 



Entomological.— I send you by this 

 mail a box containing a beetle. Please 

 tel! what species, and wliether benefi- 

 cial or not ; also some balls from an 

 oak tree, with a leaf attached. An 

 insect appears to have come out of 

 each one ; what is the cause of the 

 balls, and tell something about the 

 insect V If not too much trouble, 

 please answer through the Bee Jour- 

 nal. R. Van Dusen. 



Arcadia, N. Y. 



[The beetle is Alaus oculatus, one of 

 our largest spring or jumping beetles. 

 The specific name oculatus comes 

 from the large eye-like spots on the 

 thorax. The beetle is gray with nu- 

 merous dashes of black. The eye-like 

 spots are velvety black, circled with 

 gray. The length of the beetle is 1}^ 

 inches. Like all of the Elater family 

 (Elaterida',), when (ilaced on its back, 

 it can by a bound regain its feet. The 

 larva or grub eats the unsound wood 

 in old apple trees. I have found it 

 also in other trees. 



The galls are the common oak ap- 

 ples. They are formed by an extra 

 growth, due to the sting of an insect 

 in this case, Cynips tonjiuens, which 

 belongs to the order llymenoptera, 

 and so is no distant relative of our 

 bees. Tlie sting is attended by egg- 

 laying, and the larva which comes 

 from the egg, feeds on the apple 

 which the sting causes. The oak is a 

 favorite with these gall-flies, there 

 being many varieties of apples, and 

 many species to produce them.— A. J. 

 Cook.] 



Poor Honey Season.— I started with 

 18 colonies, have increased to 51, 

 taken 180 lbs. extracted and .56 lbs. of 

 comb honey. Bees are Italians and 

 hybrids, with one Syrian, which did 

 the best for extracted honey. 



J. C. MiSHLER. 



Ligonier, Ind., July 22, 1882. 



