THE AMEBIC A:S BEE JOURNAL. 



109 



per colony, spring count ; all done in 

 just seven weeks. Besides, I liave 

 about 300 pounds in brood frames that 

 I did not extract, for feeding next 

 year. 1 have never fed a pound of 

 anything but lioney, and have been 

 successful. I am seeding pastures of 

 clover and otlier honey plants, so as to 

 give my whole attention to bees and 

 apples, but as soon as I get enough 

 bees to iceep me busy I will turn the 

 apples over to somebody else. 

 Farmingtou, Kans., Feb. 5, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journul. 



Large Yields— A Review. 



J. V. CALDWELL. 



On page 60, present volume of the 

 Bee Journal, Mr. S. J. McKennie 

 wishes bee men to be candid and let 

 their readers know from how many 

 colonies they obtained their large 

 yields of honey, and also says it would 

 be better to exaggerate less. Mr. F. 

 II. Finch, on page .58, also wishes to 

 pay some one a pile of gold to instruct 

 him how to get one-half sucli crops. 



Now, in all candor, gentlemen, 

 would it not be better to acquaint 

 yourselves with the facts in the mat- 

 ter, before intimating that some over 

 state the results 'f 



Let us look at the matter a little. 

 On page 59, Mr. McKennie says he be- 

 gan with 5 colonies and increased 

 them to 17; he took -150 pounds of 

 honey from them, and admits he lost 

 200 lbs. of honey as the result of queen- 

 lessness, and his bees were put away 

 with 50 pounds to the hive. Now, 

 suppose he had concentrated the 

 honey-gatliering powers of the bees in 

 the original 5 colonies. Might not the 

 result of his summer's business have 

 stood something like this V Leaving 

 out 5 colonies, we have 1:2 with 50 lbs., 

 making 600 lbs.; with the 200 lbs., 

 making 800 lbs. This, with the sur- 

 plus he obtained, making 1,250 lbs. 

 This, divided by 5 (the original num- 

 ber), would give him 250 lbs. to each 

 one, spring count, which, at 18 cts. 

 per lb., makes the nice sum of $45 per 

 colony. Which, Mr. McKennie would 

 say, no doubt, looks like an exaggera- 

 tion; but as a matter of fact, is not. 



Now, for one short item of personal 

 experience, and which lean prove be- 

 yond a doubt. Last season I had one 

 colony, which, without any help, and 

 although the forepart of the season was 

 very cold and wet, (they were not fed 

 an ounce of honey or sugar), gave me 

 285 well-filled one-pound sections, and 

 10 lbs. of extracted honey. They did 

 not attempt to swarm, and they did 

 more than tliis. I had my bees sit- 

 ting on brickbats, close to the ground, 

 and, although they did not cluster 

 out, a lot of them went under the hive 

 and built comb enough to store sev- 

 eral pounds of honey, where I could 

 not see Them. These bees were what 

 I call Italian-hybrids, a ijure queen 

 probably mated with a hybrid drone. 



I entirely agree with Mr. Ileddou, 

 on page 53, and although I would pre- 

 fer the pure Italian if it had all the 

 good qualities we desire, yet, I shall 

 certainly breed from my best honey- 



queens, let them be yellow, black or 

 mixed. During my early days in the 

 business, ray great ambition was to 

 get the yellowest and handsomest 

 Italians. Now, the same ambition 

 leads me to obtani the greatest amount 

 of honey from the least number of 

 colonies. 



Who will rear queens that will pile 

 up the honey, or rather, infuse the 

 energy into their progeny, to roll in 

 the honey without rrittering their 

 time away in swarming and idling ? 

 I should be glad to pay $5 each for 

 such queens. 



1 have several queens that I could 

 not be induced to part with at double 

 that figure. In saying this I have no 

 "axe to grind," as I do not rear any 

 for sale, and do not expect to. We 

 who are putting our time and talent 

 in apiarian pursuits must look at these 

 things from a strictly business point of 

 view. 



Cambridge, 111., Jan. 24, 188.S. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Honey and Bee Show in Nebraska. 



T. L. VON DORN. 



Editor Bee Journal: — Please 

 let me call attention to the Premium 

 List of tlie Nebraska State Board 

 of Agriculture : Class %%. Best col- 

 ony of bees, 1st premium, $25; 2nd, 

 $10; 3rd, $.5. Comb honey, 1st, $25; 

 2nd, $10; extracted, $5 ; 2nd, $3. Best 

 display of honey, in marketable shape. 

 $10 and $5 ; apiarian implements, $10 

 and $5 ; foundation, full to partly 

 drawn, $5 and $2. Open to the world, 

 except on honey, which is limited to 

 Nebraska. 



Now, I think we have secured a fine 

 premium list, and we are anxious that 

 our neighbors compete at least for the 

 premiums on best bees. The test is, 

 net gain in stores, for two weeks, and 

 will commence the latter part of Au- 

 gust and end during our State Fair. 

 The superintendent is a practical 

 apiarist, and a man who enjoys the 

 confidence of every one who knows 

 him, and every precaution is taken to 

 ensure accurate and just results. 



1 have taken the premium on bees 

 for two consecutive years, and I pro- 

 pose to do so again, if I can ; but if 

 any one else can show us better stock 

 or management, he will find a hearty 

 welcome to the prize, and a good mar- 

 ket for some stock. The conditions 

 are that all the bees in the colony 

 shall be the progeny of the queen 

 and colony on exhibition. That they 

 shall also show the usual docility or 

 amiability of pure Italians. 



I voice the feelings of the Nebraska 

 bee-keepers, wlien I extend a cordial 

 invitation to all those who haveclioice 

 stock to come and get the $25, if they 

 can. I shall be glad to give any 

 further information desired. 



Omaha, Neb., Feb. 5, 1883. 



[We congratulate the bee-keepers 

 of Nebraska on their success in ob- 

 taining such an excellent Premium 

 List for the Bee and Honey Show, 

 and sincerely hope it will have the 

 desired effect.— Ed.] 



«l^S^5i^^. 



W^ 



statistics for New Jersey. 



After correspondence with Dr. Mil- 

 ler, I find that I can best carry out 

 the auxiliary purposes of our Associa- 

 tion, by requesting the fraternity in 

 New Jersey to forward their reports 

 at once to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 

 111. Give facts on a postal. Do it 

 now. C. W. Bue, 



Committee, N, J. & I. B. K. A. 



Bees and Grapes. 



For ten years, or more, I have had 

 very fine Virginia grapes in front of 

 and very near my apiary, and, to my 

 great surprise and deep regret, the 

 bees do not "injure" my grapes. I 

 wish I could get them to " go for " 

 the grapes, peaches and all other 

 fruits. Last summer I had as fine 

 grapes as I ever saw, but the bees 

 sucked none but those which were 

 " injured " by geese, chickens, wasps, 

 etc. The story about the " Honey in 

 the Rocks," belongs to California in- 

 stead of Virginia. E. C. Jordan. 



Stephenson's Depot, Va. ' 



My Wintering Troubles. 



Last January I purchased 10 acres of 

 land at Ilagerstown, Md., intending to 

 put up a building early in the spring, 

 and be located there by harvest. I 

 commenced in April, but the weather 

 being so very unfavorable for building 

 and bees, being disappointed in labor, 

 etc., I found it would be impossible to 

 go on with my building, and fill my 

 orders ; so I postponed the building 

 until after harvest. Aug. 1, 1 com- 

 menced building again and my time 

 was so much taken up during the fall 

 that I thought I had no time to look 

 after my bees, and I thought they were 

 all pretty well supplied with stores, 

 except those at Ilagerstown, so I con- 

 gratulated myself that my bees were 

 strong in number, with plenty of 

 stores, and did not need special atten- 

 tion, and out door wintering might do 

 pretty well after all. Cold weather 

 set in about Nov. 20. I still expected 

 some warm weather, but it did not 

 come and about the middle of Decem- 

 ber I put the weakest of those at Ha- 

 gerstown in the cellar, and thought 

 the rest of them might go through out 

 of doors, but by Jan. 10 I found it 

 would be a failure, so I moved them 

 into the cellar, and they are doing 

 well. I have spent the most of my 

 time this winter at Hagerstown ; lam 

 at Double Pipe Creek, to-day, mak- 

 ing arrangements to move next week, 

 and thought I had better look after my 

 bees, and, to my disappointment, find 

 them in a very bad condition. Ten 

 colonies had already perished ; a few 

 may have starved for want of honey 

 year the cluster, but most of them had 

 the dysentery. My bees at this place 

 have consumed an unusual amount of 

 honey already, and are generally 

 bloated, and if it does not get warmer 

 soon, I fear the loss will be heavy ; 



