THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



331 



Tlie cheapness of this method .and 

 its practicability for those who have 

 few, or many colonies, is admirable. 

 One great point I claim over nsing a 

 feeder inserted into tlio IkhIv of the 

 hive, is, that with my method the bees 

 are undistnrbed, while with the others 

 they are shifted about and more or 

 less irritated ; and the less you disturb 

 the natural condition of bees in the 

 spring, or any other time, in my opin- 

 ion, the belter it is. 



Xow as to the feed. I know that 

 grannlated sugar syrup is the next 

 best thing to'the natnral honey for 

 bee-food. And in my business I use 

 it for spring feeding in the proportion 

 of 7 lbs. of water to 10 lbs. of sugar. 

 For fall feeding I should use 1 lb. less 

 of water. 



The syrup is boiled for a moment or 

 two, then skimmed, and allowed to 

 cool so that only the chill is off before 

 feeding. I have wintered bees at a 

 cost of one dollar per colony, solely on 

 sugar syrup. 



I wiirbrietiy state a few pointers : 

 I do not believe in feeding often in 

 the spring to stimulate breeding. If 

 feed is required give all that is neces- 

 sary at one time, and the breeding 

 will proceed faster than if interrupted 

 every few days. Neither do I believe 

 in the pollen theory as the cause of 

 diarrhcea, or the loss of bees. In some 

 future article I wish to give my views 

 on that question ; but space forbids 

 here, and more, it is not a timely 

 topic. There is no use now, of telling 

 how to pack bees for winter, etc. 



Randolph, N. Y. 



For tlie American Bee Jourc^U 



Protection of Bees in Winter. 



R. M. ARGO. 



The best plan for the protection of 

 bees in winter has not, as yet, been 

 settled ; and as the subject is still dis- 

 cussed quite extensively, I will give 

 some plain facts on the natural metliod 

 of wintering bees. 



AU recollect the severe winter of 

 1880-81. and the great mortality of 

 bees which followed it. The theory 

 then was that the extreme cold and 

 long Qouflnement killed the bees. I 

 have for some time doubted this theory, 

 and am now satisfied of its fallacy. 



I generally have been successful in 

 w'intering bees for the past 20 years. 

 The winter of 1S68-69 will be remem- 

 bered as one of great mortality among 

 the bees, especially here in Kentucky. 

 The disease was termed bee-cholera. 

 Nearly every colony in this vicinity 

 died ; and all that saved my 13 was 

 the feed I gave them before preparing 

 them for winter. I believe it was not 

 starvation that caused the death of 

 the bees, but poor honey. 



The past winter was the coldest ever 

 known in this State ; the thermome- 

 ter, at times, being 33° below zero. 

 My bees were confined longer than 

 ever before, and still they came 

 through stronger than I could have 

 hoped for, and that without the loss of 

 a single colony. 



I had moved my apiary of 43 colo- 

 nies, to a location which is high, well 



drained, and much exposed. They 

 were moved on a spring-wagon, and 

 put on the ground in a semi-circular 

 row facing the south. I intended fix- 

 ing them up for winter and putting 

 them in proper places, but 1 neglected 

 doing so ; not even putting in the 

 honey-blocks, or closing such openings 

 as were in the honey-boards. Of 

 course after such an extremely cold 

 winter, I expected that one-half of 

 my colonies had perished. 



I know of an apiary of 2S colonies 

 which was moved in 187S, and left in 

 a similar condition to mine ; only 3 

 colonies vv'ere alive in the spring, but 

 that was after a warm, damp winter 

 had passed. 



The winter before, my bees also were 

 on as high and dry ground, and I lost 

 only 1 colony by starvation ; but they 

 were not so much exposed, and had 

 the entrance blocks in, but with no 

 otlier protection. 



Hereafter the only preparations for 

 wintering I shall make will be these : 

 1. Leave the colonies on the summer 

 stands, and see that each one has 

 plenty of bees and sealed honey. 2. 

 Protect the hives from dampness as 

 faras possible. 3. Leave the entrances 

 open about 2 to 4 inches, according to 

 the strength of the colony. I would 

 pay no attention to upward ventila- 

 tion. Keeping the hive dry and the 

 bees furnished with plenty of sealed 

 honey ,are the main ideas in wintering. 



Paint Lick, Ky. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



Bee-Keeping in Florida. 



B. M. LINGLE. 



I left my home in Indiana last Octo- 

 ber, to spend the cold season in the 

 South. The winter here has been very 

 pleasant indeed ; but some of the old 

 citizens say it was the coldest known 

 for many "years. There have been 

 only two damaging frosts. Vegetables 

 have been killed twice, and the gar- 

 deners are now shipping from the 

 third planting. There were only a 

 few days during the winter that bees 

 did not work. About March 1, a lady 

 gave me 2 colonies in rotten box hives. 

 1 began making hives to which to 

 transfer them, and before I had com- 

 pleted the first hive one of the colonies 

 swarmed. I hived the swarm, and 

 soon transferred the colonies. They 

 have been working nicely, but I have 

 received no honey from them. Pal- 

 metto is beginning to bloom, and I 

 think the bees will soon fill the sec- 

 tions. Here bees are kept in box 

 hives ; and when the apiarist wishes 

 for some honey, he takes off the top 

 of the hive arid cuts out the honey. 

 One of my neighbors had a swarm 

 issue the other day, and it settled on 

 a small tree. He put an empty hive 

 under them, and then stepped back 

 out of danger, and threw a club at 

 them, but did not knock all of them 

 off; so he took a fence rail and struck 

 the tree, jarring off the balance. To 

 my astonishment all of them went 

 into the hive. Before leaving Indi- 

 ana. I packed my 35 colonies with 

 wheat chaff, on the summer stands ; 



and although the mercury was S(P 

 below zero during the winter, I was 

 informed that my bees were all right. 

 Bees require no chaff-packing here, 

 but need plenty of shade. 

 Palmetto, Pla., May 1, 1884. 



For the American IU*o Journiil. 



Randolph, N. Y., Convention. 



Those interested in apiculture, met 

 at Randolph, N. Y., on May (i, and or- 

 ganized the Western New York and 

 Northern Pennsylvania Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, by the adoption of a con- 

 stitution and by-lays, and the election 

 of the following officers for the ensuing 

 year : 



President— H. S. Elkins, Kennedy. 



Vice-Presidents — O. it. Phillips, 

 Conewango; S. S. Sleeper, Holland; 

 H. D. Gates, Gerry. 



Sec. — W. A. Shewman, Randolph. 



Treasurer— V. Page, Kennedy. 



These subjects were discussed : 

 Regulating the price of honey ; selling 

 unripened honey ; successful winter- 

 ing ; packing vs.other methods ; divis- 

 ion vs. natural swarming; age and 

 proliflcness of queens; clipping queens' 

 wings ; how to produce tlie most 

 honey ; how to prevent after-swarm- 

 ing ; circus with fertile workers ; how 

 to winter for $1.00 per colony; feed- 

 ers, etc. 



Those present represented 879 colo- 

 nies in fall ; spring count, 824 ; loss .55. 



After a vote of thanks for the use of 

 the Odd Fellows' hall, the Association 

 adjourned to meet on Sept. 1, 2. at 

 Jamestown. N. Y. 



W. A. Shewman, Sec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping in Nebraska. 



O. A. MULLON. 



The working season for the bees has 

 commenced in Nebraska. The spring 

 has been backward ; but since the 

 middle of April bees have been at 

 work on the maples and the cotton- 

 wood. Along the creek bottoms the 

 abundant wild plum is in full bloom. 

 It is interesting to mark the progress 

 in bee-culture in a prairie State. The 

 bee goes with the orchard, and the 

 cultivation of flowers. For years the 

 orchardists on the Missouri bluffs have 

 been bee-keepers ; it is only of late 

 that apiaries have been located on the 

 prairies. Fruit growing is extending 

 west from the Missouri river, up into 

 the Republican valley ; Mr. Geo. M. 

 Ilawley, a mile and a half from Lin- 

 coln, had 175 colonies during the win- 

 ter, in a large, dry cellar, and put 

 them out about April 1,— later than is 

 usual in Nebraska ; the backward,, 

 spring being the cause. Ilis losses 

 were not over 5 per cent, and that 

 among the nuclei. The season now 

 promises to be a good one. 



Lincoln, Neb., May 1, 1884. 



1^ TheKentuckyBee-Keepers'Con- 

 vention meets in Louisville, Ky., dur- 

 ing the opening of the Exposition (day 

 not fixed). N. P. Allen, ISec. 



