THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



11 



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Well Pleased with Progress Made. 



The Bee Journal is full of interest. 

 I have been pleased by the progress 

 made by bee-keepers in apiculture and 

 hope that this science will eventually 

 be fully developed. I had 2 colonies 

 of bees last spring, one of which 

 swarmed twice ; the second swarm 

 escaped while being hived. From the 

 first swarm and parent colony 1 took 

 about $18 wortli of honey in 2-pound 

 boxes. The other stored none and did 

 not swarm. The 3 colonies are packed 

 with timothy chaff, on their summer 

 stands, with plenty of bees and plenty 

 of honey for winter. 



Wm. a. Brundage. 



Lodi, N. Y., Dec. 22, 1882. 



Do Bees Hear ? 



On page 803, of the Bee Journal 

 for Dec, 1882, reference is made to 

 certain remarks of Sir John Lubbock, 

 and tlie influencing of bees, when 

 swarming, to settle by making loud 

 noises, etc., etc. I am decidedly of 

 the opinion that it is not to the sense 

 of hearing on the part of the bees, that 

 the custom of beating tin cans, etc., 

 took its rise, but to tlie sense of hear- 

 ing in the human family, and why ? 

 For the simple reason that the ancient 

 laws relating to bees, vested the own- 

 ership in a swarm only to him from 

 whose grounds they departed, pro- 

 vided he followed them, and kept them 

 in sight until they alighted. Now, 

 what more natural than to " kick up 

 a row " for the sole purpose of letting 

 others know that the bees seen in 

 flight were being followed. I regret 

 that I cannot at present consult my 

 library of bee books and give the words 

 of the ancient laws. I think the word- 

 ing would go far to prove my hypothe- 

 sis correct. Arthur Todd. 



Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 25, 1882. 



Brood Killed by Overheatiug, etc. 



Owing to changing my location and 

 moving my bees, last spring, my suc- 

 cess has not been as great as it other- 

 wise would have been. I sold a part 

 of my bees ; moved 21 colonies ; lost 

 1; bought 20; increased to 67; ob- 

 tained about 1,600 lbs. of comb honey, 

 and 400 lbs. of extracted honey. I 

 miglit have extracted from 600 to 800 

 lbs. more, but was called away on 

 other business at the proper time for 

 extracting it. The most ot my swarms 

 came out late but gathered an abun- 

 dant supply of honey to winter on, and 

 many of them some surplus. One 

 swarm came off the 20th of Aug. ; on 

 the 25th of Sept. I took 23 lbs. of comb 

 and 24 lbs. of extracted honey and left 

 six nice frames for them to winter on. 

 I thought that doing well, but when I 

 read in the Bee Journal of colonies 

 giving from 400 to 600 lbs. each, of 

 surplus (which, by the way, looks a 

 little " fishy "), I feel like having noth- 

 ing to say. Would it not be well to 



have themocZu^ operandihy which such 

 yields are obtained ? Or would there 

 be danger of glutting the market V 

 You will perhaps recollect, Mr. Editor, 

 that 1 wrote you in July last, asking 

 your opinion and advice in regard to 

 what I feared was foul brood, but 

 which proved, as you surmised it 

 would, to be " parboiled or overheated 

 brood," caused by not giving proper 

 ventilation in moving. If agreeable, 

 I will, at another time give you my 

 experience in getting rid of the dead 

 brood and building up the colonies, 

 which 1 succeeded in doing very suc- 

 cessfully. I do not want to miss a 

 single number of the Bee Journal ; 

 it is indispensable. 



Reuben Havens. 

 Onarga, Ill.,Dec. 26, 1882. 



My Report. 



I commenced the spring with 5 good 

 colonies and one that was queenless ; 

 increased to 25, by natural swarming ; 

 all in good condition. I obtained 1,032 

 pounds of comb honey. 



L. Fatzinger. 



Janesville, Wis., Dec. 20, 1SS2. 



Wintered withont Loss in the Cellar. 



In December, 1881, 1 put 29 colonies 

 in my cellar, and did not disturb them 

 till spring. They came out" with fly- 

 ing colors " on the 15th of the follow- 

 ing April, all in good condition, with- 

 out the loss of a colony or a queen. I 

 sold 15 colonies at $10 each, which left 

 me 14 to commence the season's work. 

 By natural and artificial swarming 

 they increased to 60 colonies during 

 the season. I also realized about3,000 

 lbs. honey, being about equal parts of 

 extracted and in the comb. \Ve had 

 an abundant flow of honey for about 

 six weeks. Bee-keepers are greatly 

 encouraged in these parts. Long life 

 to the Weekly Bee Journal. I would 

 not do without it for ten times it cost. 

 G. W. Stark. 



Holmesville, Neb., Dec. 25, 18S2. 



Packed on Summer Stands. 



My season's work with the bees has 

 beeii satisfactory. 1 started with 55 

 colonies on June 7, 1882 ; increased to 

 250 colonies; had 3,.50O lbs. of comb 

 honey and 500 lbs. of extracted ; total 

 4,000 lbs. I have sold about one-half 

 up to date, at an average of 17 cents 

 per lb. My bees are all packed in 

 leaves, on their summer stands, and 

 look comfortable. 



H. S. Hackman. 



Peru, 111., Dec. 21, 1882. 



Sections too Small. 



Our bees seem to be wintering nicely 

 so far; the winter has been favorable, 

 up to the present time ; we have had 

 but little cold weather ; the mercury 

 was down to 10 below zero, on the 

 morning of Dec. 7th, but the cold 

 wave was of short duration. I have 

 just read the article on the size for the 

 half-pound sections, or "• The Section 

 for the Future," 1 give it as my opin- 

 ion that the size or the section will 

 have to be reduced, making allowance 

 for the comb to be the usual or nearly 

 the usual thickness. I think it will be 



fo>'nd impracticable to retain the usual 

 sized section and force the bees to 

 build thincomhs. However, I think If 

 it is done, that separators will have to 

 be used ; if sections are put on the re- " 

 quired thickness. Allowing the combs 

 to be % of an inch thick, supplied with 

 foundation (without separato.s) it will 

 be found that some of the combs will 

 be about the usual thickness, while 

 others will be very thin ; perhaps only 

 drawn out on one side. I merely give 

 it as my opinion that when the object 

 sought is accomplished separators will 

 be used, allowing just the space re- 

 quired, and I fear that bees will her 

 slow to commence work in such small 

 spaces. L. G. Purvis. 



Weston, Mo., Dec. 22. 1882. 



My Season's Work for 1882. 



I commenced in the last spring with 

 30 colonies ; 25 fair and 5 weak ones, 

 (Italians and hybrids). I have in- 

 creased 100 per cent.; taken 110 lbs. of 

 extracted and 20 lbs. of comb honey, 

 per colony, spring count. I am sellmg 

 the honey, in the home market, for 

 $1.2.5 for 10 lb. tin pails, and 65c. for 5 

 lb. tin pails. We had honey dew for 

 about six weeks, mostly on hickory 

 leaves, which seemed to be dripping 

 wet with the dew. The leaves finally 

 died, apparently from the effects of 

 the dew. The "bees visited the dew 

 quite lively, early in the morning. We 

 had but one light rain during the 

 honey dew flow. A. S. Edson. 



Martinsville, Mo., Dec. 20, 1882. 



A Good Showing. 



This is my statement of what I have 

 done, the present year, with the aid of 

 the Journal : I took from 14 colonies, 

 2,400 lbs. of honey, in one and two- 

 pound sections. My best colony gath- 

 ered 400 pounds, in one-pound sections, 

 and 150 pounds in frames, 9}4x\T% in- 

 ches. From four of my best I took 

 1 ,930 pounds in one-pound sections. I 

 use the Parker chaff hive, improved 

 by myself, which I think is the best 

 hive in use for winter or summer. I 

 have in winter quarters 36 colonies in 

 good condition. I have sold all of my 

 surplus honey for 20 and 22 cents per 

 pound. W. H. Will. 



Bloomington, 111., Dec. 26, 1882. 



Report for 1882. 



I put into winter quarters 16 colo- 

 nies in Hiram Roop's winter-protector 

 and lost 3 light colonies. I com- 

 menced the spring of 1882 with 13 col- 

 onies and increased to 30. My crop of 

 honey is 1250 poinids of comb honey in 

 2-pound sections, and 555 pounds of 

 extracted. The bees are in splendid 

 condition for winter, except two light 

 colonies. I. J. Lucas. 



Staunton, Mich., Dec. 26, 1882. 



In a Snow Drift. 



I dug 7 colonies of bees out of a four- 

 foot snow drift, under which they 

 have been for three or four weeks. 

 They were all lively, and had a little 

 fly, but they did not fly far. 

 ^ C.W.Young- 



Stratford, Ont., Dec. 22, 1882. 



