746 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



And Still Sweet C'lorer is Bloomiu?. 



— l^lease Hiul enclosed some sweet 

 ■clover that is in full bloom yet; it 

 came up on one side of our house this 

 sprins; and the hees were found work- 

 ing oil it on Nov. 11, and now the 

 ground is covered with snow 3 inches 

 deep, so you see it blossoms with us 

 until winter. Bees have done very 

 xvell here for such a had season. "I 

 bought one colony, last July, of E. T. 

 Flanagan and have increased to three 

 now, in good condition for winter. I 

 bought 4 colonies of blacks this fall 

 and sent to VV. Z. Hutchinson for a 

 queen and introduced her into one of 

 the colonies of blacks. Success to the 

 VVeekly Bee Journal. I shall give 

 you my plan for wintering bees after 

 a while, and see what you think of it. 

 I never have lost one colony in win- 

 tering yet. G. L. Pray. 

 Petoskey, Mich. 



[The fragrant little blossom is re- 

 ceived and gives another proof of its 

 hardihood.— Ed.] 



ing pays, I will let the bees speak for 

 themselves. Last season there were 

 only four colonies to make prolits in 

 the good year. They gathered 1:26 lbs. 

 on an average, having come through 

 two years witliout loss. The willow 

 and apple trees were killed wliile in 

 bloom, and we ha ! to kill the young 

 bees. The expenditure in two years 

 for bees was §80, and the receipts 

 $480. Chas. Mitchell. 



Molesworth, Ont. 



Bee-keeping In Canada. — I often 

 Wonder what is called good work for 

 a colony of bees to do in a certain 

 time. One of my colonies of brown 

 bees gathered last season 34 lbs. in 3 

 •days, and thrgw a lar^e swarm the day 

 before I commenced the test. The hive 

 has 3,000 cubic inches. It will not pay 

 to double up the bees in the spring of 

 a good season, though this is not the 

 ■common advice and rule. Last year I 

 got 7") lbs. of honey from one colony, 

 with only 100 bees on May 1. The 

 same queen has done well two seasons 

 since. I believe many good queens 

 lose their heads when they are not al- 

 ways to blame ; if she is not produc- 

 ing drones, give her a chance. Pack 

 the hive inside, not outside, leaving 

 only three frames at most, and put a 

 few sheets of paper on top of the 

 frames to keep tlie heat in and drive 

 it down. The gt)lden willow is the 

 only thing in Canada tliat gives honey 

 before the dandelions. Bees wiuk on 

 it here until quite dark in good weath- 

 •er ; it fairly rains honey and can be 

 seen easily with the naked eye. If yon 

 wish to plant it, and have a creek or 

 permanent lane on your farm, with an 

 ax cut oH branches 4 to 6 feet long, 

 any size, in the spring, and drive them 

 wliere wanted ; if put along a creek 

 they make a good shade for cattle, and 

 in three years they will support a wire 

 fence. When niy bees are getting 

 honey I like to know how mucli, wliat 

 from, and what kind of day. As to 

 Bokhara clover not growing, it will 



f;row anywhere, if there is moisture 

 sprout it and keep it alive until it 

 gets hold of the ground, the same as 

 other clover and timothy. I hoed the 

 seed in, in rows, between mangolds, 

 and it did well ; I harrowed it in wath 

 oats, on June 1, with last stroke of 

 harrow; it was two feet high before I 

 cut my oats. It has given the barn a 

 fine smell, and the bees have liaunted 

 it all the fall, in vain, for honey. I 

 find onions are good to use in doubling 

 bees ; I have tried tliem and without 

 loss. Honey is an excellent medicine 

 for the eyes, it is unequalled for in- 

 flammation. As to whether bee-keep- 



Comb Fonndation.— What is comb 

 foundation, and how is it madeV 

 Please describe it in the Bee Jour- 

 nal. John Krainik. 



[We have repeatedly described comb 

 foundation and its manufacture ; and 

 will now content ourself with saying 

 that comb foundation consists of 

 sheets of beeswax, formed by dipping 

 wooden plates into melted wax. and, 

 upon being rolled through a machine, 

 these sheets have indentations made 



^:Cj..C].;ci.Ci^M:^:'y:] . 



season, 5 of my colonies were mere 

 nuclei, which, with queen, were win- 

 tered on 4 frames, and they not cov- 

 ered with bees. Some of my neigh- 

 bors have obtained as Ingh an average 

 as 150 lbs. of honey to the colony, in 

 spring, with a larger increase than I 

 have had. Bee culture will receive 

 quite a boom in this locality another 

 year, on account of the large yield this 

 year. M. Leidy. 



Carthage, Mo., Nov. 13, 1882. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



on both sides, that form the fonndation 

 of cells, which the bees readily accept 

 and work out into comb. 



It would be tedious to review all the 

 various styles of foundation presented 

 to bee-keepers since it was first intro- 

 duced in America. We have had 

 foundation with triangular-sliaped 

 cells, with Hat-bottomed cells, with 

 high side-walls, and with no walls at 

 all ; with linen, cotton, wood, paper, 

 tin-foil and woven-wire for a base ; 

 while, latterly, we have had founda- 

 tion with line wires imbedded in it, 

 and frames of foundation with wires 

 pressed therein. Experience is demon- 

 strating, however, that a medium 

 heavy sheet— say, four-and-a-half to 

 five feet per pound, with a thin base 

 or septum, and heavy prominent side- 

 walls or lines, is the most desirable 

 for economy in tlie use of wax, and 

 rapidity in comb-building by the bees. 

 -Ed.]" 



My Little Iteport.- 1 had 17 Italian 

 colonies in the fall of 1881. I wintered 

 them in American hives, modified, 

 but using the American frame. They 

 wintered in the cellar. I had 17 in the 

 spring of 1882 ; sold one, and obtained 

 1.600 lbs. of extracted and 200 lbs. of 

 comb honey, in 1 and 2 lb. sections ; 

 increased to 23 colonies, which are 

 now in good condition tor wintering. 

 In justice to my report, I should say 

 that owing to the severe drouth last 



Packing My Bees.— In a few days I 

 shall pack my bees in boxes, each in 

 a single box,"with 5 inches of sawdust 

 ali around, like Mr. Heddon does. I 

 have 3.5 colonies of Italians. Three 

 days ago I noticed that my bestcolony 

 (which had given 200 lbs. of comb 

 honey) was very uneasy, and carrying 

 out dead bees ; in the I'light they were 

 still uneasy, but yesterday they were 

 more peaceful. Today they are all 

 alarmed again, so I opened the hive 

 and found that the middle comb 

 (drone comb) which I placed there 3 

 weeks ago, having sealed honey for 

 winter use, was nearly emptied of 

 honey, and to my astonishment was 

 full of eggs, from 12 to 20 eggs in each 

 cell, on both sides, and two queen cells 

 were started, the bees acting like they 

 would when swarming. I took out 

 tlie comb and gave them another with 

 sealed spring iiouey. Please explain 

 the cause of this. G. Bamkohler. 



Clarence, Mo., Nov. 3, 1882. 



[The colony had become queenless, 

 and while in a state of commotion, 

 consequent upon the bees learning 

 their condition, it was also attacked 

 by robber bees. If you had watched 

 closely you would have seen that the 

 bees went away filled with honey, 

 which is always a very suspicious cir- 

 cumstance. The commotion at night 

 also shows that the colony was invad- 

 ed by robbers. Or the colony might 

 have been invaded by robbers and in 

 the conimcrtion caused, the queen may 

 have been killed. The 12 to 20 eggs 

 in a cell were the result of fertile 

 workers, an unnatural development 

 consequent upon the loss of the queen. 

 Had you removed the colony to the 

 cellar for a few days, or contracted 

 the entrance so as to admit only one 

 bee at a time, or thrown some grass 

 loosely over the entrance you would 

 have aided the robbed colony, and 

 prevented the second attack. To give 

 them another queen, or unite some 

 weak colony with it, is now the best 

 thing to do, as it is very late to repair 

 the loss.— Ed.] 



Small Wire W»rins in Pollen.— I 



would like to enquire if anyone has 

 lieen troubled with small wire worms, 

 that are hatched in the pollen, while 

 it is packed in cells around the brood 

 nest. It is gi'eat injury to the brood. 

 They are from hi to Ja inch in length, 

 and work along the centre of the comb 



