108 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of the way through the block, by cut- 

 ting a % inch passage-way 2 iuclies 

 wide, it serves as an entrance for the 

 bees, when that cut- awa^f side is placed 

 against the entrance of the hive. The 

 fixing of this can only cost me 10 cts., 

 and holds 3 lbs. of honey. You can 

 feed from 1 to "> lbs., or from 3 to MO 

 lbs., just as you like ; all you have to 

 do is to put more cans on the hive. I 

 have fed 4 colonies that I secured late 

 in the fall from a farmer that was 

 killing them for the honey. I had the 

 bees late in October, and put them 

 into hives with empty combs, and 

 placed 10 of these tilled feeders over 

 the frames of each hive, and the bees 

 carried it all below in o days. If you 

 feed at the entrance, the robbers can- 

 not get the honey, as only the bees 

 from the inside can get to the honey. 

 If the bees should leave it during a 

 cold night, the honey will not run out, 

 for if it is held level, it will hold water. 

 You can feed at any time of the year. 

 In winter, feed inside of the cap; turn 

 back the corner of the quilt, or if you 

 use a honey board, bore a hole in it to 

 fit the feeder. .Juhn Rby. 



East Saginaw. Mich., .Jan. 31, 18.S4. 



[This feeder is practically the same 

 as several others, particularly the 

 Kretchmer, wliich has been in use for 

 nearly 20 years.— Ed.] 



Bees did not Suffer by the Cold. 



I examined all of my 7.5 colonies of 

 tees in my home apiary to-day, and 

 all answered to roll call, although the 

 thermometer has indicated as low as 

 21° below zero, and the bees have had 

 no flight for about a month, yet I 

 never saw bees in a more healthy con- 

 dition under similar circumstances. 

 My hives are doulile-walled. with air 

 space between the walls. I use a rack 

 with 2}4 inches of planing-miU shav- 

 ings on the top of the brood-cham- 

 bers. I want the absorbing material 

 so porous or open on my hives that 

 the bees can breathe through it, even 

 if the entrances to the hives are en- 

 tirely shut up witli snow or ice. 



vSAJIUEL I). RiEGEL. 



Adelphi, O., Jan. 23, 1884. 



Bees Never Wintered Better. 



I am satisfied that bees never win- 

 tered better than they have so far this 

 winter. I have not lost a colony yet. 

 C. yv. Sappenfield. 



Crawfordsville. Ind., Feb. 5, 1884. 



Young Bees Flying Now. 



My bees did well last season. I 

 commenced, in the spring, with 120 

 colonies ; increased 40, that is, I put 

 back all second swarms and a good 

 many first swarms. I took 1.000 oue- 

 pouiid sections, and 10,000 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted, and there is about 4,000 lbs. 

 on the hives to take out in the spring, 

 that I could not take out on account 

 of a severe spell of malarial fever last 

 fall. We had no winter up to Jan. 1. 

 We had it pretty cold all through Jan- 

 uary. Bees carried in pollen on Ctirist- 

 mas day, and I had drones flying on 

 Dec. 28. They commenced carrying 



in pollen on Jan. 28, and are now 

 working very fast on elms. I have 

 young bees flying to-day. The honey 

 crop has been an entire failure in 

 Texas except in this and Brazoria 

 counties. J. W. Eckman. 



Richmond, Texas, Feb. 5, 18S4. 



Will Syrians not Sting ? 



In the Britif:h Bee Journal for Jan. 

 1.5. page 31. speaking of Syrian bees, 

 John Hewitt, of Sheffield, says : " If 

 you get a single sting from them just 

 furnish an affidavit of the fact at- 

 tested by two credible witnesses and 

 sworn before a commissioner duly ap- 

 pointed to administer oaths, or a jus- 

 tice of the peace, that it was a Syrian 

 which did it, or I shall not believe it V" 

 Is this " talk ■■ or truth V Can any 

 American bee-keeper verify or dis- 

 prove this Briton's statement V He 

 professes, in a column article, that 

 where smoke is not used to these bees, 

 they are the most docile of all docile 

 bees ; in fact, so peaceful that you 

 have to tread on one to make it stinjr ; 

 striking and jarring will not do it ! It 

 seems to me that American bee-keep- 

 ers have been mistaken, even to the 

 extent of fancying that Syrians stung 

 them. Great Scott, what next ? 



R. J. Kendall. 



Austin, Texas, Feb. 5, 1884. 



Bees Under the Snow. 



]\Iy bees in my new hives are doing 

 splendidly. The ventilators are all I 

 can ask for tliem ; my hives are on the 

 summer stands, with entrances tilled 

 with snow, and the bees are snug and 

 warm. While a colony in a double- 

 walled hive, by the side of them, has 

 perished with the cold. I have at pres- 

 ent 4-5 colonies in good condition, but 

 they have not had a flight since the 

 latter part of October. 



D. B. Brown. 



Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 7, 1884. 



Giving away Honey at the Fair. 



I have just read tlie ^Michigan State 

 Fair Premium List, and in regard to 

 the giving away on " Childrens' Day " 

 of 1,000 .5-cent packages, sliould like to 

 make this guggestion : That Messrs. 

 Hutchinson and Cutting get as many 

 of the little cans and labels as in their 

 judgment will be called for, and let 

 any bee-keeper send for as many as 

 he would like to fill, with the privilege 

 of inserting his name in a blank left 

 in the label for that purpose, and I 

 have no doubt there will be plenty of 

 honey forthcoming to supply all the 

 children. Geo. E. Hilton. 



Fremont, Mich., Feb. 7, 1884. 



Is Alsike Clover a Field Plant ? 



On page 44, Mr. Hugh Williams 

 claims Alsike clover as a great honey 

 plant, but he said it was no field crop. 

 VVith his first sentence I agree, that it 

 is a great honey plant, but that it is 

 no field crop I beg to dispute, for I 

 think that it is one of the best grasses 

 that we can raise for hay ; equal to 

 timothy, if not better, as there is no 

 fuzz on stem or leaves like on red 

 clover, and rain does not hurt the hay 



in curing, as it does the red and Alsike 

 clovers ; it will not freeze out, like red 

 clover. During the past season I 

 made about 7 tons of hay from S14 

 acres of Alsike clover. There should 

 be some timothv seed mixed with the 

 clover seed to ~keep the clover from 

 lodging. My clover was from 2J^ to 

 3 feet high, and every bee-keeper 

 should sow the Alsike clover, for he 

 would get two crops— a honey crop 

 and a hay crop, and stock like both 

 Alsike hay and pasture better than 

 any that Ihave tried yet. 



E. J. C.Tkoxell. 

 Ft. Seneca, Ohio. 



How to test Thermometers. 



It is easy to test a thermometer. 

 Take a vessel large enough to put the 

 thermometer in. Surround and cover 

 the instrument entirely with fine 

 chopped ice, lying or standing makes 

 no difference. Take the vessel in a 

 warm room or near a stove, and let it 

 stand till the ice melts. The point the 

 thermometer shows is fi'eezing point, 

 or 32^ below zero ; or in other words, 

 dip the thermometer in melting ice, it 

 shows then freezing point. 



Chas. Faust. 



Hai-vard, 111., Feb. 8, 1884. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1884. Time and place of Meeting, 



Feb. 12.— Meeting at Janesville, Wis. 



Muck & Katzinger, Com. 



Feb. 12, 13.— ConTention at Arcadia, Wis. 



E. A. Morgan, Sec. 



Feb. 14. 15.— Maine State, at Lewlston. Me. 



Wm. Hoyt, See. 



Feb. 21-.33.— E. Iowa. & W. Illinois, at Davenpnrt,la. 

 J. V. McCagg, Pres. 



Marcb 5.— N. E. Michigan, at Lapeer, Mich. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec, Rogersville. Mich. 



March 20.— Southern Indiana, at Madison. Ind. 

 H. C. White. Sec. 



Mar. 29.— Union Association, at Dexter, Iowa. 



M. E. Darby. Sec, Dexter, Iowa. 



April 18.— Iowa Central, at Winteraet, Iowa. 



J. B. Pryor, Sec. 



April 22.— Des Moines Co., at Middleton. Iowa. 



John Nau, Sec. 



April 24.— Western, at Independence, Mo. 



C. M. Crandall, Sec. 



April 24, 25.— Texas State, at McKinney. 



W.R. Howard, Sec. 



May 26.— Will County, at Monee, n. 



P. P. Nelson, Sec. 



Oct. 11, 12. —Northern Mich., at Alnia. Mich. 



F. A. Palmer, Sec, .McBride, Mich. 



Oct. 1.5. 16.— Northwestern, at Chicago. 111. 



W, Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



Dec 10, 11.— Michigan State, at Lansing. 



H. 1>. Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



jy In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Kd. 



1^ At a microscopic exhibition in 

 Boston lately the sting of a honey bee 

 was thrown upon the screen, the 

 point of whicii was so sharp as to be 

 hardly distinguishable. At the time 

 the finest of fine needles was shown, 

 under the same power of the micro- 

 scope, and the end of the needle meas- 

 ured 5 inches across.— Exchange. 



