THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



121 



approachinsr :i clear yellow when 

 youiisj. fadin? to leather color when 

 old. Tliev should have large trans- 

 parent wiiigs, and a liberal covering 

 .of white fn/.z on the upper part of the 

 thorax. The queens sliould be of the 

 same color as the workers, except that 

 their wings sliould be slightly tinted 

 with purple, perhaps. 

 Christiansburg, Ky. 



For the AmerU-'an Bee .Tournal. 



Cultivate the Home Market. 



KUGENE SECOR. 



I believe it is safe to say that not 

 one town in ten is supplied with honey 

 the year around. Small bee-keepers, 

 who produce onlv a little more than 

 enougli for family use. are too apt to 

 get excited if they happen to have 500 

 or l.UOO pounds of honey for sale. 

 They, perhaps, try to sell "it all at one 

 time, or to one "man, in their own 

 vicinity, and failing in this, ship it to 

 the large cities, flooding the already 

 over-stocked markets, and their home 

 market is either without honey the 



freater part of the year, or it is 

 rought in from the wliolesale centres. 

 The consumption of honey ought to 

 and will increase from year to year, if 

 it is properly kept before the public 

 in its pure "state by reputable pro- 

 ducers. 



There is no better way to establish 

 confidence in the product than to put 

 upon the market only pure and fully 

 ripened honey, with the guaranty of 

 the producer, who is known to be 

 honest and trustworthy, ^'ot a pound 

 of extracted honey should be offered 

 for sale, that is iiot thoroughly rip- 

 ened. A label should be put on every 

 package showing what it is, and who 

 produced it. The suspicion of adul- 

 terated or manufactured honey is often 

 created by attempting to sell sweet- 

 ened water instead of the rich, heavy 

 well-ripeued article that delights the 

 customer, as well as the seller. If the 

 bee-keeper is ashamed to put his 

 name and address upon it. he ought 

 for his own future good, if not for the 

 good name of the fraternity, to keep 

 it out of the market. Every pound of 

 good honey that is sold at a reasonale 

 price, will help to sell another pound ; 

 and no advertising will pay better 

 than to let the consumer know where 

 to go to get more of the same kind. 

 If it is put up in attractive packages 

 and k^pt in a conspicuous place in some 

 live man's grocery, and sold at such 

 a price that people can afford to use 

 it the demand will greatly increase. 



I think if we were willing to sell our 

 honey near home for the same price 

 paid by commission men, that we 

 would sell a great deal more of it, be- 

 sides decreasing the number of those 

 who are so anx'irrus to engage in the 

 new aitd untried pursuit of apicul- 

 ture. "When honey is sold at unrea- 

 sonable high figures at home,, people 

 think there is a'bonanza in its produc- 

 tion, and hence are more apt to make 

 the venture ; and if one new one suc- 

 ceeds, he divides the field and the 

 profits with the pioneer. 



Some of tlie Pamphlets, " Honey 

 as Food and Medicine," wisely dis- 

 tributed, will create a market. The 

 children will take their medicine in 

 honey every time. The honey sold at 

 home undoubtedly brings the greater 

 profit. 



If a man is producing honey by the 

 ton, of course he cannot dispose of all 

 of it in the small town he may happen 

 to live near, but he should not neglect 

 the markets nearest home if he wishes 

 to occupy the territory. 



Forest City, Iowa. 



For She American Bee Joiuxal. 



What shall we do with Weak Colo- 

 nies in the Spring? 



J. E. rOND. 



The above question has been asked 

 me several times of late, and I know 

 of no better way of answering several 

 inquiries at once (as all of them say 

 they subscribe for the Bee Journal), 

 and thus save precious time. 



We have been advised in days past 

 to unite all weak colonies ; this advice 

 which is good for fall management, is 

 of no value in the spring, unless it 

 should so happen tliat queenless colo- 

 nies are found, when, of course, union 

 is strength. My experience teaches 

 me that weak c<ilonies united will live 

 no longer than the same colonies would 

 have done had they been kept separ- 

 ate ; the reason being, that the bees 

 are all old and can live but a short 

 time after liaving borne the hardships 

 of winter confinement. It is hardly 

 possible to imagine that all colonies 

 will be alike weak, if such should be 

 the case, I should hardly know what 

 to advise for the bee-keeper wlio finds 

 his apiary in such a state, would 

 hardly be "able to strengthen up colo- 

 nies successfully. 



The object of an apiarist should be, 

 not to obtain the greatest possible 

 yield from a single colony, but to 

 e(iualize the whole apiary so that he 

 may obtain a large and an average 

 gain from each coUmy. To this end 

 he should in early spring equalize his 

 colonies in strength as nearly as pos- 

 sible, and this can best be done by 

 taking frames of brood from those 

 that are strong enough to bear the 

 loss, and give them to the weaker col- 

 onies. If he has, as he should have, 

 average queens in all his hives, he 

 will be able by careful management 

 and judicious feeding to stimulate, to 

 bring all his colonies up to prime con- 

 dition, and have a large force of fora- 

 gers ready to take advantage of the 

 first flow of honey that is secreted by 

 early flowers. Many, however, are not 

 careful enough in this matter of stim- 

 ulative feeding. We begin without 

 reference to the strength of the colony 

 to feed diluted syrups, and also spread 

 the brood, the consequence being that 

 a cold frosty night drives the bees into 

 a cluster, the brood is expt)sed, chilled,' 

 and dies, and the colony is either 

 ruined completely or so injured that 

 it becomes valueless for the whole 

 season. 



In giving frames of brood to weak 

 colonies, if is not advisable to give 



them to the weakest first, as the same 

 condition of things may happen, as is 

 lialile to follow stimulative feeding. 

 In this wliole matter of strengthening 

 and ecpializing colonies, tlicre is an 

 opportunity for exercise of the great- 

 est care and judgment, and to know 

 how to do it j ust right every time, can 

 only be learned liy experience. Many 

 are apt to make the mistake of 

 strengthening colonies too early. By 

 so doing they lose a large amount of 

 stores in feeding useless consumers. 

 We want a large force of foragers 

 when there is honey to be gathered, 

 and at no other time, and if we could 

 as easily arrange the matter through 

 tire whole season, as we can in the 

 spring, our apiaries would lie far more 

 productive. 



Each bee-keeper should know the 

 honey flora of his locality, and know- 

 ing that he will know just when he 

 will need a force of foragers to gather 

 the nectar secreted by them. It is 

 impossible to give particular rules to 

 govern this matter; the rule that 

 would well apply to one section would 

 prove a failure in another, so eveij 

 apiarist must be a law unto himself, 

 and work in accordance with his 

 locality and surroundings ; if a be- 

 ginner he must learn by experience, 

 and not become discouraged if failure 

 follows his first efforts ; if an expert, 

 he will know what to do, and will do 

 it, knowing full well thafif the season 

 proves favorable, he will obtain good 

 results. 



If any queenless colonies are found, 

 when it is too early to raise queens 

 with any prospect of their mating in 

 time to 'be of any use, they must be 

 united with some colony that has a 

 good queen ; this, I liave found can 

 best be done by moving the hives close 

 together, giving both colonies a little 

 smoke, and when the bees are filled 

 with honey, removing the frames, bees 

 and all fro"m the queenless hive, and 

 alternating them with the frames in 

 the other hive. This united colony 

 should be closely watched, and if any 

 fighting takes place, another blast of 

 smoke should be given them. If the 

 union is made in this manner on a 

 chilly day, no trouble need be antici- 

 patei, aiid no pains need be taken in 

 regard to tlie queen. I have united 

 many colonies in this manner without 

 caging the queen, and find she is not 

 troubled at all, and that the bees 

 unite peaceably, and are friendly at 

 once. The reason of this, I conclude, 

 is that the mixing up caused by alter- 

 nation of frames':^ puts tliem in a con- 

 dition such that they do not know 

 v.'hat is up, and so stand on their good 

 behavior, perhaps, for fear of conse- 

 quences. Whatever may be their 

 feelings the fact remains that they so 

 unite peaceably, and that to the prac- 

 tical man is enough for present pur- 

 poses, however much he may wish to 

 know the whys and the wherefores. 



Foxboro, Mass., Feb. 6, 1884. 



^" The Western Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will meet at Independence, 

 Mo., Thursday, April 24, 18,'^. 



C. M. Crandall, Sec. 



Independence, Mo. 



