540 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tSlhat and glcriD. 



ANSWERS BY 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Rules lor tills Department. 



1. Give your name and post-oftiee address. 

 •2. Be brief, and to tlie point, 



3. Send no simple (luestions, such as are 

 answered in tlie iiee-hooks. 



4. Ask onl>' such questions as are of 

 g-eneral interest. 



h. This department is not intended for 

 advertising any one's wares — therefore 

 questions concerniuK the manufacture of 

 goods for sale are not appropriate. 

 6. Direct all questions to the editor — 

 THOS. G. NEWITIAN, 

 923 West Madison St., CHICAGO, ILL. 



How to Winter Bees. 



I have •') colonies of bees, and am in 

 doubt about tlie best manner of win- 

 tering them. If I should put them 

 into the cellar under my house, will 

 they affect the health of the family 

 living immediately overhead y 



W. M. Cark. 



Bradford, N. H., Aug. 1. 1H.S4. 



Answer. — There is a diversity of 

 opinions regarding in-door vs. out- 

 door wintering. My own opinion is, 

 that when we have the inside of the 

 hive in proper wintering condition, or 

 perhaps I may say in any condition, 

 in-door wintering is safest for the 

 latitude in which you live, taking one 

 winter with another. No, the bees 

 will not affect the health of your 

 family. 



hive and best bees, $.5.00 ; box-hive 

 and common bees §4.00. If bought 

 in the autumn, deduct from the above 

 prices 2.5 per cent. In any case, if tlie 

 colony contains a tested queen to 

 breed from, add $2.00. 



Immense Honey Crop in California. 



.July was a very busy mouth for the 

 bee-keepers of Southern (California. 

 Honey was taken out of the hives by 

 the tons. I estimate the honey crop 

 of these live southern counties at 

 10,000 tons. During the montli of 

 .July I took out 15,000 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey at one of my apiaries 

 of 75 colonies ; and will yet take at 

 least 1,000 pounds more. The honey 

 which I took was well ripened in the 

 hive, almost every frame being well 

 capped ; and the honey was so thick 

 that it was difiicult to extract it. 

 This is one of our good years for 

 honey. The yield is large, and the 

 honey is of most excellent quality. 

 J. E. Pleasants. 



Santa Ana, Cal., Aug. 3, 1884. 



us sometliing nearer old-time prices 

 and ready demand for our product. 

 James Heddon. 

 Dowagiac, Mich.. Aug. 8, 1884. 



Transferring Bees. 



1. How would you successfully 

 transfer bees from a common' to a 

 Langstroth hive V 



2. What would be a reasonable 

 price to pay for a colony of common 

 bees V C. W. Castle. 



Prairie City, 111. 



Answers.— 1. My answer in full to 

 "the question will be found on page 

 367, Bee Journal for 188:h. 



2. That all depends upon the season, 

 the time of year, the blood of the 

 bees, tlie distance from home, how 

 badly you need them, how heavy and 

 large the hive is, how straight its 

 combs are (if you mean to transfer 

 them by the old method), and a whole 

 lot of other things too numerous to 

 mention. With a view of throwing 

 some light upon this subject, I will 

 give a list of values of full colonies 

 according to what I consider them 

 worth in a locality like this, and in 

 the hands of one who knows how, or 

 is trying to learn how to properly 

 manage them. I will give prices of 

 good, average, healthy colonies with 

 good fertile queens all in normal 

 condition on the first day of JSIay. A 

 colony of well-bred bees in a modern 

 hive, with good straight combs, and 

 with but little or no drone cells, the 

 colony going with the body of the 

 hive only, with cover, or if wire-cloth 

 cover, no wood cover, is worth $8.00 ; 

 common bees (same) $7 00 ; poorer 

 combs and common bees, $6.00 ; box- 



Honey Crop a Failure Here. 



The honey crop in tliis county 

 (Jersey) is a "failure. From inquiries 

 made among bee-keepers, I do not 

 think the average will exceed 12 lbs. 

 per colony, spring count ; and there is 

 no prospect of a fall crop, as it is very 

 dry here, and also very cold for the 

 time of year. Bees in this section 

 will have to be fed in order to bring 

 them through the winter. 



H. D. Edwards. 



Delhi, 111., Aug. 8, 1884. 



Crop all that could be Desired. ■ 



I have, perhaps, the greatest yield 

 of honey on record, 480 pounds to the 

 colony, spring count. Now, provided 

 we get a good fall crop, my yield, per 

 colony, will be all that could be 

 desired, will it not /• 



C. A. Wheeler. 



Selma, Texas, Aug. 2, 1884. 



Wild Sensitive-Plant. 



Enclosed tiud a slip of plant that 

 grows all along the railroad here, and 

 my bees have left the buckwheat and 

 gone to this. It is covered with them. 

 Please let me know through the Bee 

 Journal the name of it, and if it is 

 a good honey-plant. 



J. L. COMSTOCK. 



Sac City, Iowa, Aug. 7, 1884. 



[This is the wild sensitive-plant 

 (Cassia chamedirista), and an excel- 

 lent honey-producer. It grows in 

 great quantity all over our part of the 

 country, in land not too dry, and could 

 easily be cultivated from seed. — T. J-. 

 Burrill.] 



Large Crop of Basswood Honey. 



From 90 colonies I extracted 5,000 

 pounds of basswood honey, wliich was 

 gathered in 11 days. I have taken 

 from 80 colonies, spring count, 7,200 

 pounds of extracted honey, and 1.200 

 pounds of comb honey ; but now no 

 honey is being gathered, or at least a 

 very little, and bees are killing drones. 

 B. F. Little. 



Brush Creek, Iowa, Aug. 12, 1884. 



Desiring Progress. 



In this section there are several 

 parties who keep bees, but it is pretty 

 much on the old plan, and we wish 

 more light on the subject. I have 27 

 colonies, but do not get as much sur- 

 plus as I should. I intend giving 

 more attention to bees from this time 

 on. W. S. Barton. 



Washington, Ind., Aug. H, 1884. 



The Worst Honey Season, so Far. 



This is the poorest honey season 

 ever experienaed here ; less honey and 

 less increase. The quality of the 

 lioney is fair. White clover did not 

 yield as well as it did last year. Bass- 

 wood bloomed sufliciently to give us a 

 fair yield, but just while it was in 

 blossom, a steady cold northern breeze 

 lowered the temperature below the 

 point of nectar secretion, and the bees 

 gathered scarcely more from it than 

 they required to carry them through 

 the dearth which followed Now, 

 just as buckwheat is out, and boneset 

 is opening, it is so unprecedentedly 

 cold that we fear a frost to night, 

 though the sun shines brightly all 

 day. Much of this state of affairs is 

 quite general, and all we can hope for 

 as an offset, is that it will tend to give 



Loosestrife. 



I enclose a small sample of a flower 

 which the bees here are now working 

 on. Will you kindly give me the 

 name of it, as I am trying to keep an 

 account of the date, etc., of the llora 

 of this section. Our horse-mint has 

 made another complete failure this 

 season, and the demand for honey is 

 in advance of the supply. I have 

 sold extracted at 10 cents and comb 

 at 15 cents per pound. 



Fred F. Rockwell. 



Leonard, Texas, Aug. 3, 1884. 



[Loosestrife (Lytlii-um alatuni). — T. 



J. BUKRILL.] 



^^ The summer meeting of the 

 Mahoning "\'alley, O., Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held at Newton 

 Falls, O., on Friday, Aug. 29, 1884. 

 All interested are requested to be 

 present. C. B. Pac+e, Sec. Pro tem. 



1^ The Union Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation of Western Iowa will meet 

 in Dexter, Iowa, on the second Satur- 

 day in September, at 9:.30 a. m. This 

 Association is doing a good work, and 

 bee-men in Western and Central Iowa 

 would do well to avail themselves of its 

 benefits. M. E. Dauby, Sec. 



