THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



379 





Considerateness of Bees. 



We liave had a cold, wot spring, but 

 everything lool<s very well now. 

 Wliite clover is in full bloom, and the 

 bees are utilizing it. I have had no 

 swarms as yet, but some of my neigh- 

 bors have had several. The more I 

 study about bees and notice their 

 liabits, the more interesting they be- 

 come to nie. I caught two crippled 

 ones on the ground and put them both 

 upon a piece of wood, when one fed 

 the other. One of them was an Ital- 

 ian and the other a hybrid. I was 

 not aware that bees are so considerate 

 of each other. J. C. Tanner. 



Huntington, W. Va., June 2, 1884. 



Spreading the Brood Frames. 



In the description of Mr. Doolittle's 

 hive, on page 69, about the middle of 

 the tirst column, he says : " The bees 

 are stimulated by "spreading the 

 brood, and by other ways familiar to 

 the apiarist, "till the 9 frames are lilled 

 with brood." I would ask: 1. How 

 does he get at the brood-chamber with 

 the cotton cloth and packing in the 

 shape as described in his article ? In 

 the second column he says that he put 

 in "one tier of sections.'"' I infer that 

 they are put in sidewise to the divis- 

 ion-board. 2. How many slots are in 

 the division-board, to each section, 

 and what size are they V 3. What 

 sized sections does he use in those 5- 

 inch spaces V E. C. Far(juhar. 



Carlos City, Ind. 



[Mr. Doolittle's answer to these 

 questions will be found in his article 

 on page 373.— Ed.] 



Jack Frost's Work. 



From the Atlantic to the Pacific, re- 

 ports have come of a cold, backward 

 spring; and here, midway between 

 these oce.ans, it is as discouraging. 

 For three nights in succession we 

 have had frost. Yesterday morning 

 at 5 a. m. the thermometer indicated 

 6° below freezing. Corn, potatoes, 

 hop-vines, etc., are very much injured. 

 John Morris. 



Mauston, Wis., May 30, 1884. 



Snow on " Decoration Day." 



On the morning of "Decoration 

 Day," the hills between lakes Keuka 

 and Cauandaigwa, in western New 

 York, were white with snow ; and on 

 the level of the lakes ice formed I4 of 

 an inch in thickness. The hills, with 

 their newly-leaved trees covered with 

 snow, were in strange contrast with 

 the fruit trees in the valleys one week 

 before, when they, too, were robed in 

 whiteness ; but they then were a more 

 pleasing sight to the bee-keeper. Bees 

 did well during fruit bloom, but our 

 " freeze " was another of many hard 

 backsets which bees have had here 

 this spring ; and now we shall have to 



nurse them for a while, or until rasp- 

 berry and clover bloom. 



A. F. IlonsoN. 

 Italy Hollow, N. Y., June 2, 1884. 



Indications for Honey Harvest. 



So far as I can ascertain, bees have 

 wintered fairly well in this part of the 

 State. ^ly bees came through the 

 winter without loss, on the summer 

 stands. They gathered tlieir lirst 

 pollen on April 4, built up rapidly and 

 stored considerable surplus honey 

 from fruit bloom. I liave delayed their 

 swarming by removing queen-cells 

 and forming "nuclei. They are now in 

 fine condition for the wdiite clover, 

 which is just beginning to bloom. 

 Everything indicates a large honey 

 harvest. E. L. Dresser. 



Huron, Ohio, June 3, I8S4. 



Bees have received a Backset. 



Bees in this vicinity have just re- 

 ceived a backset, from which they 

 will not recover soon. They were in 

 flue condition, and were preparing 

 for a general swarming. On May 26 

 a large swarm issued, and is now liv- 

 ing at my expense, as a cold wave 

 has been passing this way ever since. 

 On the mornings of May 28 and 29 

 heavy frosts covered everything, and 

 in some places ice formed }^ inch 

 thick. Drones are being slaughtered, 

 and swarming is postponed for awhile 

 at least. Ira Barber. 



De Kalb Junction,N.Y.,May 31,1884. 



Stimulating Bees in the Spring. 



On page 69 of the Bee Journal, 

 Mr. G. M. Doolittle gives an explana- 

 tion of his manipulations of hives in 

 producing comb, which I consider the 

 most rational handling of bees for the 

 purpose I have yet heard. But when 

 I study it for the purpose of imita- 

 tion, I find considerable unexplained 

 that I consider of importance. I 

 would ask how he starts out with 9 

 brood frames when he puts his bees 

 into winter quarters with but 6 ? 

 True, in the spring, he says that he 

 stimulates his bees " by spreading the 

 brood, and by other ways familiar 

 to the apiarist, till the 9 frames are 

 filled with brood;" yet I find that his 

 bees, in the winter, are covered with 

 "a strip of common cloth spread over 

 the frames, and down each side over 

 the slotted division-boards. The .5- 

 inch spaces are now filled with chaff, 

 and a chail or sawdust cushion placed 

 over the frames." I now infer that 

 the 6 frames occupy a space of 12x12- 

 xl33>^ inches. Am I correct V or are 

 there 9 frames now in that space V If 

 but 6 frames are now in the hive, how 

 does he get the other 3 into the brood- 

 nest witliout removing the cloth or 

 chaff until he is ready to remove 3 

 combs from the brood-nest, and put 

 them behind the slotted division- 

 board y Another thought : What 

 width of sections does he use that it 

 re(juires 5 inches of space to accom- 

 modate them ? Also, how large are 

 the sections he uses V Again I would 

 ask : How is his division-board slot- 

 ted, and the slots arranged " so as to 



form openings at the right place for 

 the bees to work to the best advan- 

 tage, etc." Is the division-board fixed 

 or movable 'f I consider just such 

 matters of detail as of the most vital 

 importance ; and the want of such 

 knowledge may upset tlie whole prin- 

 ciple involved. Abel (iuEsii. 

 Weedville, Pa. 



[A reply to the above queries will be 

 found in Mr. Doolittle's article on 

 page 373 of this number.— Ed.] 



Moving Bees on Horseback. 



Last winter, wishing to remove 60 

 colonies of bees from my old apiary to 

 a new one, and there being no wagon- 

 road between them, I concluded to 

 move them on horseback. The dis- 

 tance was over 12 miles. I took four 

 pieces of board 2 feet long and 1 foot 

 wide, nailed to them cleats 2 inches 

 wide and 1 foot long across each end, 

 and bored 1-inch holes through each 

 cleat, and board at the end. I then 

 put the edges of 2 boards together, and 

 put strong rope through the holes, 

 which made a kind of shelf. The 

 lower one being level, I placed 2 of 

 these on each horse, and a colony on 

 each side of a horse, and one on top. 

 They were in box-hives with the top- 

 bars in each. I had good success in 

 removing them, for only one comb 

 broke down. The most "of the bee- 

 keepers ill the East have boats, rail- 

 roads, or a good spring wagon on 

 which to transport their bees ; but 

 bee-keepers in California can move 

 them on horseback. 



Monterey, Cal. JounL.Secok. 



Bees Booming— Frost. 



My bees are preparing to swarm. 

 We had a severe frost on May 29 (22° 

 above zero). The leaves of some 

 forest trees were killed, and the fruit 

 which was so promising is destroyed. 

 G. II. Adams. 



North Nassau, N. Y., May 30, 1884. 



Sweet Clover Honey. 



I wintered .54 colonies on the sum- 

 mer stands without loss. Thirty-five 

 of which were packed, and were much 

 the strongest in bees and honey. For 

 the first time for years we bad fine 

 weather during fruit bloom, and a 

 fair amount of honey was stored. 

 Bees have bred up stronger than 

 usual. White clover has been a fail- 

 ure for the past two years ; but we 

 have a fair substitute in sweet clover, 

 which is springing up along our river 

 banks. Thi^ village is located near 

 the confluence of the Susquehanna 

 and Chening rivers, whose gravelly 

 banks are white with blossoms, and 

 each succeeding season increases the 

 crop. An old forsaken cemetery near 

 by has been seeded, and will soon 

 yield something more fragrant than 

 its usual crop of burdock. The larg- 

 est part of my honey crop is now from 

 sweet clover, which, if not so white 

 as that gathered from white clover, is 

 very rich and pleasant in taste. 



D. F. Park. 



Athens, Pa., June 4, 1884. 



