522 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



think Mr. D. will readily admit, as it 

 grows out of his own system of miin- 

 agenient. 



I have my hives so constructed, this 

 season, that I hive bees on 3 frames ; 

 which has so far been sufficient for 10 

 to 15 days, when 3 more are added, 

 being; just enoiigli to till the space of 

 one siile-case of sections. 



Mr. 1). asks those wlio have tried 

 and favor its use, i. e., have made it 

 pay, to pass his article by as though 

 he iiad never written it. If by tins 

 he hopes to gain a mark, we protest 

 that he is giving generjil advice which 

 is suiteil only to local or peculiar 

 conditions ; but like his new method 

 of introducing queens, will not always 

 ■work with Hiatlieinatical precision. 



Where swarming occurs in a very 

 moderate honey-liow, and no surplus 

 is likely to be had, itwill pay any bee- 

 keeper to try working the bees at 

 com!) building for protit, even if he 

 finds it necessary to render the combs 

 into wax as fast as made. ]3ut in a 

 vastmnjority of cases, I think bees 

 swarm most during a paying surplus 

 yield. Under such circumstances 

 foundation is certainly a great boom. 



Mr. D."s objection on account of 

 thickness of foundation, in his last 

 article, is entirely superfluous, as he 

 himself can make his own foundation 

 "ttiinner"' than any bees will make it. 

 At least I can. 



Custer, 111. 



Pniirie Farmer. 



A Timely Chat About Bees. 



MRS. L. HAKRISOlSr. 



have been deficient, and although tlie 

 bloom was abundant, but little has 

 been secured. Hot niglits— good corn- 

 growing weather— is the desideratum. 

 The prospect is good generally, for a 

 full autumn flow of honey ; and those 

 having their dishes right side up, will 

 catch it. Hives that are full of bees 

 will be the ones to pay their rent 

 promptly. Those desiring to winter 

 their bees well, must look after them 

 now, and see that each- colony has a 

 young, vigorous queen. 



While visiting an apiary yesterday, 

 I was impressed with the idea tliat 

 bee-keepers are born, not made ; i. e., 

 that there must be a natural adapta- 

 tion for the business, in order to 

 succeed. The proprietor of this apia- 

 ry, without any protection, or aid in 

 the way of smoke, opened hives, and 

 pointed out the queen, without excit- 

 ing the bees in the least ; indeed they 

 did not appear to know that they were 

 disturbed, and this, too, in a time of 

 scarcity. The cover of the hive was 

 removed, and the frames lifted, with- 

 out any jar or noise. I sometimes 

 tliink that the odor of some persons, 

 or their magnetism, excites bees at a 

 furious rate. Tlie frames in this api- 

 ary had no wooden projections to hang 

 by, nails being driven in for tliis pur- 

 pose, consequently there was no pry- 

 ing lip. 



Tliis apiary of 140 colonies is located 

 in Putnam Co., 111., and up to date, 

 July 2(i. only about 10) lbs. of surplus 

 honey have been removed. At tiiis 

 time last year, 7,000 lbs. had been 

 taken. There was very little honey- 

 dew in this locality, the small quanti- 

 ty lasting only a day or two. Tlie 

 maples are in a thrifty condition, with 

 no appearance of barli-lice. 



The honey crop, with the exception 

 of a few localities, is a partial failure. 

 The honey secured is in many instan- 

 ces contaminated with honey-dew, 

 and but very little of it will be lirst 

 class. The electric conditions for the 

 secretion of nectar from white clover. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



" Honor to Whom Honor is Due." 



J. E. POND, JK. 



It is too bad to rob, or attempt to 

 rob another of that to which he is 

 honestly and justly entitled, not only 

 of hlthy lucre, but of any honor ttiat 

 may come from being the originator 

 of some new idea. That Mr. Ileddon 

 is justly entitled to all the honor that 

 belongs to the origination of the 

 " pollen theory," no one knows better 

 than myself, from the fact that I have 

 been lighting him on this question 

 for nearly three years. Mr. Ileddon, 

 however," does not yet claim that he 

 has proved the theory true. He 

 simply says he believes it to be so, 

 and oiftrs such evidence as he has at 

 hand in proof thereof, leaving it to 

 the public to judge whether such 

 evidence is sutBciently strong to be 

 taken as proof. Mr. Fradenburg is 

 more than a year behind Mr. II. in 

 tlie matter, and the evidence that he 

 offers is not nearly as strong as that 

 of Mr. II. I do not think either of 

 them have struck the right key vet, 

 but the facts related by Mr. II. go' far 

 ill support of tlie theory, while those 

 of Mr. F. might as well be used on 

 the one side as the other. 



Foxboro, Mass. 



Tor tbe American Bee Journal. 



Prevention of After-Swarms. 



A. A. DECKER. 



On page 126, Bee Journal for 

 1883, Mr. Heddou gives his method of 

 preventing after- sw'arms, wliich is 

 summed up as follows : Set the new 

 colony by tlie side of the old one, and 

 in 6 or 7 "days remove the old one to a 

 new stand' when the most of tlie 

 workers are away in the fields ; there- 

 by giving nearly all of the workers 

 that are old enough to gather honey, 

 to the new colony. This will prevent 

 after-swarms, without a doubt; but 

 what I do not like about this plan is, 

 that we take about as many bees from 

 the old colony as a second swarm 

 would require. The old colony needs 

 these bees, the first swarm does not. 

 Again, will the new colony, accept 

 the workers from the old one, after 

 being separated for 6 or 7 days, even 

 if laden with honey 'i My bees cer- 

 tainly will not. 



I believe any other colony in the 

 yard will take them in just as soon as 

 they, as they have become strangers. 

 Another objection is, if we give any 



help, either in bees or foundation, to 

 early swarms, they will in a good sea- 

 son often cast swarms in the midst of 

 our best honey flow (basswood), re- 

 gardless of all the sections filled with 

 the nicest of thin foundation. 



Can it be possible that bees act so 

 differently in different localities i* I 

 believe, with Mr. Heddou, that a 

 colony and its increase will store more 

 honey than one that does not swarm. 

 All practical bee keepers know that 

 there is no profit or pleasure in small 

 afler-swarms ; and in this locality to 

 get the best results, i. e., surplus 

 honey from the old colony, all the 

 bees that are left when the first 

 swarms leave, should stay in the old 

 hive during the remainder of the 

 season. The best way to accomplish 

 this, 1 believe, is to introduce a queen 

 into the old colony, on the day the 

 hrst swarm issues, either a virgin or 

 a fertile queen will do. You can 

 smoke them in at the entrance. There 

 are few old workers left in the hive, 

 and no guards over the queen-cells. 

 The queen, when introduced, makes 

 it her first business to destroy these 

 cells, and then everything is lovely. 



The gain in time, to the colony, in 

 getting a queen in the midst of the 

 honey season, 8 days at the least, will 

 pay lill expenses oif rearing or buying 

 the queens in these days of progress 

 and queen nurseries. That this plan 

 will generally jirove successful, there 

 is nut a doubt, for it has been thor- 

 oughly tested. I hope to hear from 

 Mr. Heddon and others on this subject. 



Boyceville, Wis., Aug. 1, 1884. 



Bee-Culture in Texas. 



An Exchange contains the follow- 

 ing : "Bees are said to be pioneers 

 of civilization. The early colonists 

 of Texas found bees in all parts of 

 the country ; and on the frontier they 

 still abound, having formed colonies 

 in hollow trees, caves, and crevices in 

 the rocks. In one instance it is report- 

 ed that a prolific swarm took posses- 

 sion of the vacant space between the 

 ceiling and weather boarding of a 

 house ill the far West, and furnished 

 a large family with' an abundance of 

 honey. Until recently, comparatively 

 little attention has been given to bee- 

 culture. Within the past few years, 

 some apiarists have been adopting 

 hives with movable frames, using 

 honey extractors, and imiiorting 

 queens and Iialia'izing their colonies. 

 A special act of the Legislature 

 exempts bees, and the materials em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of hives 

 and the saving of honey, from taxa- 

 tion ; and while there 'are hog-laws 

 and sheep-laws, and laws prohibiting 

 other animals from running at large, 

 there is no law limiting the range of 

 bees. They may forage just where 

 they can find honey-producing shrubs 

 ami flowers. Of these flowei s there 

 is a great variety and an inexhaustible 

 abunuance on our boundless prairies, 

 and in our fertile bottom-lands. Per- 

 haps the best and most widely diffus- 

 ed of the honey-iiroducing plants is 

 the horse-mint. ' This is pronounced 

 equal to the white clover of more 

 Northern latitudes." 



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