156 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



to it and come up with the cover, 

 grinding the bees between the combs, 

 giving ilieni a Cyprianic disposition. 

 When tlie cover was replaced, the bits 

 of glue mismatching their former 

 position, tlie cover would be slightly ! 

 raised above its former position, then ! 

 a lot more glue is added, and so on 

 until there is a pound or less of this 

 interesting commodity about the top 

 ■of the hive. This bee space can be 

 secured by a sink in the cover, made 

 toy nailing ?s strips around its outer 

 edge. If the frames come flusli with 

 the top of the hive, the surplus re- 

 ceptacles would need to be arranged 

 in the same manner. It is preferable 

 to have the sink in the hive, that is, 

 have the fraaies drop .5-16 below. 

 Much the same trouble with glue is 

 experienced in the use of cloths for 

 summer use. We much object to their 

 use at any time when the bees are 

 gathering. 



After-Swarms. 



On page -122, last year's .Jourxal, 

 Mr. Ileddon says, " No. sir, I do not 

 extract to give the queen room, nor 

 cut queen-cells. I have learned better, 

 than that. With proper fixtures and 

 management, there is no necessity for 

 so doing." How does he prevent 

 after-swarming, and what does he do 

 •with such, if there is any ? 



Levi Fatzinger. 



Janesville, Wis., Feb. 18, 1884. 



AxswER.— -All I do to prevent 

 after swarming is to keep the hives 

 well shaded, giving them plenty of 

 room, the same as we do to discour- 

 age prime swarms. We have found 

 Qiat as long as we can keep the desire 

 for increase out of the minds of the 

 bees, we get our pay in surplus honey; 

 but when we undertake to physically 

 compel them to reniain together, we 

 are losers by so doiiig, except by the 

 plan given on page 126 of the "Bee 

 Journal for 188.S. While this method 

 -does not prevent after-swarms, it pre- 

 vents increase of colonies for the 

 season. 



Bees Bobbing. 



" Henry. my bees are robbing yours."' 

 Early in the "morning Henry "finds his 

 hive "rich in honey, but not a bee in 

 the liive. This was the condition of 

 bees last fall, more so than common, 

 not only colonies that gave swarms 

 and then built up again, out first and 

 after swarms also. Can you give the 

 ■cause of the above unexpected defi- 

 ciency in bees V One man said, as the 

 fall \vas unusually poor for bees, they 

 billed their queen. Is that right "V 

 Bees worked lively on catnip this fall, 

 when it was so dry. I think bees 

 would be in much worse condition for 

 winter than they are, had it not been 

 for catnip. A year ago bees went into 

 winter quarters very strong in bees, 

 and formed too much dampness ; the 

 strongest ones suffering most ; but 

 this tall it is the other way, very 

 sliort in bees, some but % gallon of 

 bees, or even less. If they come out 

 all right in the spring, then we will 

 cheer the Minnesota-man that dumps 

 one-half of the bees out, when he 



carries them into winter quarters. I 

 had IVi tons of comb honey this fall ; 

 increased too much for the poor fall 

 that followed. I have -16 with slough- 

 grass for wind lireak on the north, 17 

 packed in sawdust, S packed in chaff 

 all around and above, without caps, 

 and the entrance open, with a 2-inch 

 hole in the bottom-board covered with 

 wire, and straw under all, as last year, 

 which did as well as any in summer. 

 A dozen standing out, and 40, mostly 

 the weak ones, in the bee house ; the 

 last named ones are very still at 42-', 

 but easily distnrljed. Also 6, box hive 

 department, on a board south of the 

 bee house, with holes in the bottom- 

 board. E. Pickup. 

 Limerick, 111. 



Answer. — AVe could give causes 

 for the condition of things mentioned 

 above, but as there are perliaps sev- 

 eral, we fear we may not hit the 

 mark at such a long range. We do 

 not think bees kill their queen on the 

 account of a " poor fall for bees."' 

 We think Mr. ■Pickup knows this. 



Honey and Beeswax Market. 



"Will Cold Kill Bees? 



I have (if ten seen it stated that cold 

 alone will not kill bees. My experi- 

 ence, this winter, leads me to think 

 differently. I left 6 colonies of bees 

 out doors in double-walled chaff or 

 sawdust hives, in order to test them 

 as winter hives. The 6 colonies were 

 as nearly eqiial as possible. One windy 

 night in January the covers were 

 blown off of two of the hives. Upon 

 examination, a few days ago, the bees 

 were dead, while the bees ni the other 

 4 were all right. The dead colonies 

 had plenty of stores, and were per- 

 fectly dry. Xow. if the exposure to 

 cold on that windy night did not kill 

 those two colonies, what did ? 



E. C. Campbell. 



Cayuga, Out., Feb. 19, 1884. 



Answer. — The statement that cold 

 will not kill bees, of course means 

 when they are enclosed in a hive, and 

 properly clustered so that the inner 

 and outer members of the cluster 

 frequently change places with each 

 other. Of course when the exposure 

 becomes too great, a low temperature 

 causes instant death. As we see 

 when they drop upon the snow, or lay 

 out upon a board during a frosty 

 night. Our great enemy in wintering 

 is dysentery : that's all we care about. 

 I presume "the 2 colonies, above re- 

 ferred to, did not liave that. Practi- 

 cally, it makes but little difference 

 whether such exposure as you men- 

 tion kill your bees or not, none of us 

 expect tolose a great many from such 

 casualti'es. 



1^" We intend to organize a bee- 

 keepers' association for" Southern In- 

 diana on March 20, 1884, to meet at 

 the Merchants and Manufacturers" 

 Club Rooms, Madison, Ind.. at !):30 a. 

 m. Kentucky bee-keepers are invited 

 to participate. H. C. White. 



0?FIC£ OF AMSKICAN BEI .lOURNAL, ( 



Monday. 10 a. m., March 3, 1884. t 



The following are the latest quota- 

 tions for honey and beeswax received 

 up to this hour : 



CINCINNATI. 



HONEY— There is no change to note in the hon- 

 ey market. No change in the price of extracted 

 honey, but there is an improvement in the de- 

 mand.. Comb honey is in large supply, and the best 

 in 1 lb. sections brings no more than 16c. alb. from 

 store. E.\tracted. Tttsloc. 



BEESWAX— Fair demand, and arrivals are fair. 

 It brings 28(s32e. on arrival. 



Chab. F. Muth. 



NEW YORK. 

 HONEY— White clover and basswood in 1 and 2 

 lb. sections, l.s<s2lc. Dark and second quality, 

 1.5c.; extracted white clover in kegs and bar- 

 rels, 9@loc. 

 BEESWAX-Prime yellow, 34®3oc, 



H.K. & F.B THtTRBKB & CO. 



CHICAGO. 



HONEY— Goes off slowly, and prices are lower on 

 sections that are imperfectly dlled. The demand 

 seems to be chiefly for lots that are fancy in ap- 

 pearance, and in every way perfect sales are made 

 of 1 lb. sections at i'ir^20c.; IM<«- lb. sections. 14<3 

 18c.; dark and mixed in color, very slow, at about 

 I2@13c. Extracted honey steady, but limited de- 

 mand; price.^ range from 7t*luc. per lb. 



BEESWAX— Scarce, at 28(s3oc., according to 

 color and cleanliness. 



R. A. BDK.s-KTT. 161 South Water St. 



KANSAS CITY. MO. 



HONEY— Same scarcity of choice white 2 lb. sec- 

 tions as reported last week, and a few thousand 

 pounds would be readily taken at 17 to 18c. One 

 pound sections in fair supply, and bring us more at 

 present than 2 lbs. Dark comb very slow sale. 

 Stocks are low on dark extracted, and in fair sup- 

 ply for white. Prices ranee Si.tli'c. 



BEESWAX— None in this market. 



Jerome twichell. 514 Walnut Street. 



BAN FRANCISCO. 

 HONEY— Market is quiet, and common qualities 

 difBcult to place at anything like satisfactory fig- 

 ures. Fancy qualities are scarce. White to extra 

 white comb. 15@18c; dark to good, 9ifflllc; extrac 

 ted. choice to extra white, 6(^7Hc.:dark andean- 

 died, 5@— 

 BBKSWAX-Wholesale, 27i^®3nc, 



STEARNS & suiTH. 423 Front Street. 



ST. L,ODI8. 

 HONEY— Plentiful and dull. Comb 12®16c, and 

 strained and extracted 6@8c per lb. Top rates for 

 fanoy small packages. 

 BEESWAX— Firm at 33®33>ic. for choice. 



W. T. ANPEKSON & Co., 104 N, 3d Street, 



CLEVELAND. 



HONEY- The honey market has been dull with 

 us during the month of January, but the past week 

 it has been better, so that stocks are again re- 

 duced. Choice white 1 lb. in good order, sold at 18 

 cts.; the same quality when broken sold at 10c. : 2 

 lb. best white, l(J@l7c.; second quality, no sale. 

 Extracted as usual, not at all wanted in our market, 



BEESWAX— In great demand, but no supply; 

 nominally 30c. per lb. 



A. C, Kendel, 115 Ontario Street, 



BOSTON, 

 HONEY.— Demand light, 1 Ih. sections comb 

 honey. is®2nc.; 



Extracted, 9@llc, 



; lb, iwsi-sc. 

 BEKSWAX-SoC. 



Blake & Riplet, 57 Gbattaam Street. 



1^ The sixth annual convention of 

 Texas bee-keepers will be held at the 

 " Bee Garden " of Judge W. H. An- 

 drews at McKinney, Collin Co., Tex., 

 on April 24 and 2-5. 18.84. A larger 

 number of leading Ijee masters than 

 ever assemljled on a similar occasion 

 in the South, is anticipated. 



Wsi. R. Howard, Sec. 



Kingston, Tex., Jan. 16, 18»4. 



^" The Western Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will meet at Independence, 

 Mo., Thursday, April 24. 18.S4. 



'C. M. Cbandall, Sec. 



^T Constitutions and By-Laws for 

 local Associations S2.00 per 100. The 

 name of the Association printed in the 

 blanks for 50 cents extra 



