522 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



(0 UR^ Ii£ T^lf^WfBX^X^ 



Fonl Brood. — Bees have done very 

 well here this season, so far. White 

 clover has yielded good until about 

 the lirst of August. On 10 swarms 

 '(sprinf? count) and increase, I have 

 put 725 one pound sections, and taken 

 off 300, while the rest are from }4 to 

 % full now, and 4 swarms went to the 

 woods tliati know of. I do not know 

 how many more, as I have not watclied 

 them while swarming. My bees h;ive 

 had foul brood 4 years. Four years 

 ago last May I spread the brood and 

 inserted empty combs until the bees 

 deserted one side, and cold weather 

 coming on chilled it, and in a few 

 weeks it was the foulest hive I ever 

 saw, and the bees dwindled entirely 

 away in 2 or 3 weeks more. The next 

 two seasons were poor for honey, and 

 the disease damaged them about 25 

 per cent. Last season and this being 

 both good for honey, it has not dam- 

 aged them more than 10 per cent. 

 They are strong now and doing well, 

 though I can see a little in every hive 

 from the larvaB just beginning to melt 

 down with it to the capped, perforated 

 cells. I am thinking of brimstoning 

 them this fall, and buying a new lot. 

 Do you think I can keep them in the 

 •cellar where I did the others, and put 

 them on tlie same ground without 

 their getting itV I would like to 

 ]cnow the exjierience of others who 

 Lave kept foul brood several years. 

 E. \V. Fjjlton. 



Hastings, Minn., Aug. 5, 1882. 



[We believe the cellar can be fumi- 

 gated and disinfected so it will be 

 safe to keep the bees there, but we 

 doubt using the same stands and 

 grounds, unless the winter be very 

 ■severe. — Ed.] 



Customs Duties. — I purchased one of 

 Mr. Jones' colonies of best Italian 

 bees, which I received on the 30lh of 

 May. I had a good, strong swarm 

 July 3d, which 1 had to put into a- 

 hive of empty frames, having written 

 to Mr. Jones, as I thought, in good 

 time for foundation, but as I learned 

 since, he was too busy to attend to 

 it in time, but I have received it 

 since. I got a second swarm on the 

 11th, not so large as the lirst, still, 1 

 think, doing nicely, so I am now re- 

 joicing over three good colonies of 

 Italians. I am not boasting of having 

 done anything great, neither do I feel 

 capable of a;iything like that yet. I 

 read of some who liave liad a shorter 

 practice, outstripping me wonderfully; 

 however, I take courage and go on in 

 my own feeble way, and I do not 

 know of anything that I could de- 

 light more in than working among 

 bees. For the second swarm, I took 

 a few of the best out of some old 

 combs that I hid by me, and lifted 

 them into the frames the best way I 

 could, by pegging them in, which the 

 bees have fastened. I took a full 



frame of honey from No. 1, and put 

 into No. 3, for I have numbered them 

 by making tlie figures 1, 2, 3, and 

 gummed them on the hives in order, 

 and as Nos. 1 and 2 are pretty strong 

 in bees, I have taken two more frames 

 to-day from No. 1, having both honey 

 and brood, and put them into No. 3 to 

 strengthen them in preparation for 

 winter, and placed in No. 1 frames of 

 foundation. I state this by way of in- 

 quiry, as to whether I have done riglit, 

 or could have done better in some 

 other way V I see but very few drones 

 indeed; "neither do I see any drone 

 cells in any of the combs. I cannot 

 say whethe'r the queen of No. 3 has 

 been mated or not, but a short time 

 will tell. Will you please give me 

 such information as you consider 

 necessary on this subject, supposing 

 it to be the case ? I see in the pres- 

 ent volume of the Bee Journal, iu 

 answer to an inquiry whether there is 

 any customs on "Bees and Honey 

 sent to Canada," I think it is, and the. 

 ansv.'er is, there is not. I got that work 

 from you,;iud was charged 15 cents 

 customs, the book being valued about 

 30 cents. That makes the price pretty 

 higli. I tind the Bee Journal and 

 "Bees and Honejr" choice com- 

 panions, real necessities ; to possess 

 and use them is to enjoy the beauties 

 of nature. Edward Moore. 



Barrie, Ont., July 21, 1882. 



[You did well in building up your 

 third swarm from the two stronger. 

 The queen with the last will have no 

 trouble in mating, as the bees with 

 an instinct almost equal to inspira- 

 tion, provide for these contingencies. 



There should have been no duty de- 

 manded on the book. When works 

 are sent singly, either by mail or ex- 

 press, to actual readers, and not for 

 traflic, they are not liable to customs 

 duties.— Ed.] 



Good Season in Utah.— The prospect 

 of a booming harvest for the bee-men 

 of this county are begmning to be 

 realized. There has not been a better 

 year for the development and the true 

 worth of the bee to be made known 

 than the present year, although we 

 have had some very cold storms that 

 have kejit the bees from doing many 

 times what they desired to do. Out 

 of 16 bee-keepers this spring, with 77 

 colonies of bees (5 having died si)ice 

 T. W. Lee reported to the Convention 

 in Salt Lake City, April Cth), we now 

 have 171 colonies, and 20 bee-keepers. 

 The yield of honey I am not able to 

 give at present ; 3 swarms took to the 

 mountains, and these svi'arms belonged 

 to some of our old hands at tlie busi- 

 ness. The honey yield would be much 

 greater if we liad more extractors, 

 only 8 being in this settlement, and 20 

 should be the number, as those that 

 have them cannot very well spare 

 tliem around. I tliink the motto of 

 Prof. Cook, " keep your colonies 

 strong" is a good one, as I have done 

 it in 2 colonies, and have taken .30 lbs 

 of honey from each top story of the 2 

 hives every week for the past 3 weeks. 



I find the bees in some of my colonies 

 are killing off drones as they get 

 stronger. Our hmiey yield is not over 

 yet, as we have plenty of lucerne, clo- 

 ver, corn, squasli, (lowers, etc. Sweet 

 clover we also have, but it is going all 

 over our tield, and would be better 

 without it if not controlled better. 

 Would it be wisdom to use old comb 

 that was in hives which were infected 

 with dysentery ? Would it not be 

 better to melt the comb? 



John Dunn. 

 Tooele City, I'tah, July 27, 1882. 



[We cannot recommend using old 

 combs where the bees have died from 

 any cause ; nor would we use moldy 

 combs, except singly, and then only 

 in very strong colonies, where they 

 can be cleaned up thoroughly in two 

 or three hours.- Ed.] 



A Honey Phiiit. — I send a honey 

 plant for name, the last in bloom, and 

 a profuse honey plant the first half of 

 the season. We are having a dearth 

 of honey-producing plants. Corn is 

 just coming in tassel. J. D. En as. 



Napa, Cal., July 19, 1882. 



[The honey plant is Heteromeles ar- 

 butifolia, for which I know no com- 

 mon name. It belongs to the Eosucece, 

 or rose family, and was formerly put 

 by some botanists in the genus Cratce- 

 (jus or Hawthorns. We shall not, 

 therefore, be surprised to learn of its 

 attraction for bees, though its kindred 

 with us do not retain long these at- 

 tractions. The species is, so far as I 

 know, confined to our western coast, 

 except as it has been disseminated by 

 man. It is esteemed worthy of culti- 

 vation as an ornamental shrub, but is 

 not hardy in this latitude, east of the 

 mountains. Its immediate relatives 

 are natives of China and Japan, none 

 of which bear out-of-door exposure 

 with us.— T. J. Burrill.] 



Width of Sections.— An article ap- 

 peared in No. 10, page 297, of the Bee 

 Journal, in regard to the use of If 

 inch sections. Another in No. 29, 

 page 4-50. entitled, "Width of sections, 

 etc." This is a very interesting sub- 

 ject to me. and must be to all begin- 

 ners, and I would like to hear the opin- 

 ions of others on this point, for if we 

 can get i more honey without the ex- 

 pense and inconvenience of separators, 

 and gain s in space, it is a gain and 

 saving worth looking after. 



A Beginner. 



Syracuse, N. Y., Aug. 7, 1882. 



All Swarms and No Honey. — Bees 

 iu this locality have done nothing this 

 summer. All swarms and no honey 

 this far. Italians are working finely 

 now, and will gather some surplus 

 honey. I think we will have a splen- 

 did fall harvest, on account of the 

 recent wet weather. 



Wm. Hartman. 



New Harmony, Ind., Aug. 7, 1882. 



