THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Ill 



Queen-Rearing in Small Nuclei, etc. 



Allow me to ask a few questions 

 through the Bee Journal, which 

 may benefit others as well as myself. 

 First, 1 have been binding the Jour- 

 nals and other valuable papers myself 

 with glue, which is not good. Will 

 you or some of the readers of your 

 Bee Journal give a receipt that 

 book-binders use to paste the book 

 cover to the book, so that it is durable. 



2. On page 741 of Vol. 18, Bee 

 Journal, Mr. G. M. Doolittle, says : 

 " After using it a few years I ascer- 

 tained that a winter that was favor- 

 able for outdoor wintering was not as 

 favorable for cellar wintering, and 

 vice versa, thus proving that the plan 

 of mixed wintering was a good one. 

 Again, if any one could tell just what 

 the winter would be beforehand, I 

 would place ray bees in the cellar for 

 a cold winter, and leave them out dur- 

 ing a mild one." Will G. M. Doolittle 

 ten us through the Bee Journal 

 what the thermometer will record for 

 a mild winter, and what for a cold 

 winter ; as I notice in the Bee Jour- 

 nal that there is from 6 to 8 degrees 

 difference in the temperature between 

 Mr. D.'s and here. The mercury was 

 down to 6^ below zero in the fourth 

 week of January ; for only two days. 



3. On page 280 of Vol. 16, Bee 

 Journal. "No one ever found fault 

 with (juinby's queens, reared in boxes, 

 containing 3 or 4 frames, 5x6 inches 

 square. Is the rearing of queens in 

 Quinby's method a safe and sure way 

 to rear queens ?" 



Joseph M. Wismbr. 

 Jordan Station, Ont. 



[1. Book-binders use glue, but of 

 much thinner consistency than that 

 used by carpenters. 



2. Mr. Doolittle is invited to reply 

 to this. 



3. No ; the writer of that article dis- 

 tinctly states that these small nuclei 

 were abandoned on " account of the 

 liability of the bees to abscond, and 

 the amount of attention required to 

 keep them in fitness. " You should 

 have read the whole paragraph.— Ed.] 



showing for my bees. The cell pro- 

 ducing this queen was obtained from 

 a strong colony of bees which started 

 only this one cell, during basswood 

 harvest. Could I have another such 

 a season (which was very poor at the 

 commencement), and such a queen, I 

 think that I could get 800 or 1,000 lbs. 

 of honey. If cold weather kills bees 

 fas I think it often does), we may look 

 for considerable mortality among our 

 pets next spring. The lowest tem- 

 perature noticed here, so far, is 35° 

 below zero ; it was 29'J below on Feb. 

 2, at sun rising; and away below, 

 every morning since. My bees all an- 

 swered to the roll call a few days ago, 

 and seemed in good condition. I have 

 them in a good dry cellar, with about 

 5 iucties of leaves packed above most 

 of them. W. C. Nutt. 



Otley, Iowa, Feb. 7, 1883. 



caps from the hives, to let the sun 

 shine in, to dry out the dampness as 

 mucli as possible, and the bees are 

 now in pretty good condition for 

 another very cold snap. The weather 

 here has not been so very cold, but 

 steady, with no thaws until this week ; 

 there is not a great quantity of snow, 

 but we have had some very good 

 sleighing. I call it one of the most 

 healthy winters, thus far, for a long 

 time, and hope it will prove so for the 

 bees. R. Downs. 



Naugatuck, Conn., Feb. 2, 1883. 



500 Pounds from One Colony. 



I commenced the season, about June 

 1, with 30 colonies, almost destitute 

 of honey ; increased to 65, in fine con- 

 dition for winter, and obtained 4,.538 

 lbs. of honey (807 of comb, in 2-lb. 

 boxes, and 3,731 of extracted) ; I have 

 about 300 lbs. besides, stored away, 

 and not counted in my report. My 

 best yield from one colony was 486 

 lbs. of extracted. I think that I took 

 enough comb honey from it, not in- 

 cluded in count, to make over 500 lbs. 

 I fed about 3 lbs. of sugar in spring, 

 but the bees received no other help ; 



fot no increase. Time of extracting : 

 uly .5, 42 lbs. ; 15, 26 lbs. ; 21, 68 lbs. ; 

 28, 75 lbs. ; Aug. 24, 90 lbs. ; Sept. 7, 

 105 lbs. ; 19 and 20, 80 lbs. Had I used 

 three instead of two stories for surplus, 

 I think I could have obtained at least 

 600 lbs. I was crowded too much with 

 other work to attend to it, as I should, 

 or I could have made a much better 



A Smart Three-Year Old. 



" It's a daisy; it's a daisy." Such 

 were my exclamations on taking the 

 wrapper off my Bee Journal, dated 

 Jan. 31. My wife wanted to know 

 what was a daisy, and after drawing 

 her attention to the new coat the Bee 

 Journal had assumed, she said it 

 was " a pink." My little boy, 3 years 

 of age, came running up and asked 

 me what was a daisy, and after show- 

 ing him the Bee Journal, said it 

 was " real nice." By-the-by, you are 

 not acquainted with my little son ; 

 well, when he was 2 years and 8 

 months old he could find a queen 

 when caged. I claim he is the 

 youngest bee-man known. He asks 

 after his Journal weekly, and I have 

 to read to him. I think now you have 

 a Journal to suit the most fastid- 

 ious. I, therefore, move a vote of 

 thanks to you for the improvement. 

 S. G. Holley. 



New Hamburg, Ont., Feb. 1, 1883. 



[We are glad that now all are 

 pleased with the .Journal cover. 

 But that " boy " is the brightest juve- 

 nile specimen yet heard of, and will 

 " make his mark," as the years roll 

 along. We were hardly prepared for 

 " the news," that we were preparing 

 reading matter to interest one so 

 young as "under 3 years of age," as 

 well as many who have seen over 80 

 summers. Give the little " chubby " 

 a kiss for the editor.— Ed.] 



Perfectly Satisfied. 



I shall be perfectly satisfied in what- 

 ever way the editor " makes up " the 

 Bee Journal. I bind my own 

 Journals, and have just finished the 

 volume of 1882. It is a nice work, 

 and I would not sell it for $10.00, if 

 I could not get another. 



Wm. Bolling. 



Dunkirk, N. Y., Jan. 26, 1883. 



Bees in Kentucky all Right. 



Bees are wintering very well here. 

 The coldest weather we have had 

 since the first week in December, was 

 6° above zero, and the warmest was 

 64° above zero. J. T. Wilson. 



Mortonsville, Ky., Feb. 10, 1883. 



Honey Used by Bakers. 



Have you noticed the fact that the 

 bakers are using large quantities of 

 extracted honey, in their business, 

 lately V It is news to me. I see our 

 bakery here has been buying largely 

 from Mr. Muth, of Cincinnati. 



G. B.Lewis. 



Watertown, Wis., Feb. 13, 1883. 



[Yes; they use it for cakes and 

 pastry, of the best quality.— Ed.] 



Feeding Bees in Winter. 



In an article in the Bee Journal, 

 the writer explains the way he feeds 

 his bees in winter. I would like to 

 know whether it is advisable to feed 

 that kind of food in winter or not. I 

 was afraid my bees would not winter 

 very well, so when we had a thaw, the 

 other day, I opened them and put un- 

 der the sheet on the frames a cake of 

 candy, made of the best white sugar, 

 and which I think, with the honey 

 they have in the comb, will last them 

 until spring. I would like to know 

 which is the best food for winter, 

 syrup or candy 'i* When I opened 

 them they appeared to be in first-class 

 condition, although I never saw them 

 flying since the first cold snap in the 

 fall. I winter them in the Jones hive, 

 with inside packing. 



Wm. H. Weston. 



London, Ont., Feb. 1, 1883. 



[We prefer the candy.— Ed.] 



Bees had a Flight. 



Tuesday, Jan. 30, was clear and 

 warm for the season, and my bees 

 had a pretty good flight, and they 

 needed it, for they have been shut in 

 since about Thanksgiving day. Two 

 light colonies, that I did not unite, 

 are dead ; the other 24 are in good 

 condition, at present. I removed the 



Motto— "Push and Progression." 



I am highly pleased with the change 

 in the " make-up " of the Bee Jour- 

 nal. Mr. Newman, you certainly 

 deserve great credit, and tiie grati- 

 tude of your patrons, for your suc- 

 cessful endeavors to bring the Bee 

 Journal up to the very highest point 

 of excellence. Push and Progression 

 seem to be your motto. May long 

 life and great prosperity be your re- 

 ward. Many of the communications 

 are each worth the cost of a year's 

 subscription for the Bee Journal. 

 Reuben Havens. 



Onarga, 111., Feb. 2, 1883. 



