120 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The bees would fly inside tlie frame 

 when the weather was too cold for 

 bees in other hives to venture out, but 

 I noticed the bees bumped themselves 

 pretty hard against the glass when 

 flying, and think they wore them- 

 selves out sooner than they would if 

 the cold frame had not been there. 

 They dwindled away so there was only 

 about one-half as many bees and less 

 brood on the first of May than there 

 was when I first examined them. As 

 I lost 5 other small colonies by the 

 cold weather and dwindling, perhaps 

 the cold frame had nothing to do with 

 their dying. 



My experience with mignonette, 

 the past season, was as follows : 

 First, it will not succeed under the 

 shade of apple trees, if you give it the 

 best of care. Second, it must be kept 

 free from weeds. Third, it must be 

 sown early, so to get a good start be- 

 fore dry weather sets in. I sowed the 

 seed on different dates, from May 27 

 to June 19 ; the first sown did well. I 

 sowed it in rows, covering the seed 

 about ]4, of an inch deep. The plants 

 spread out about \]4 feet on either 

 side of the row. They commenced to 

 blossom May 27, and increased in 

 bloom till August; and did not get 

 through blossoming until freezing 

 weather. The bees worked on the 

 blossoms all day, and in all kinds of 

 weather, when they could fly. They 



father large quantities of pollen, but 

 do not know how much honey they 

 get from it. 



Wired frames seem to be the best 

 for fastening comb foundation to, but 

 the wire bothers in many ways. For 

 example: The bees will often build 

 queen-cells over them, and if you wish 

 to save the cells you must cut the 

 wire ; then, again, in scraping wax 

 and propolis from the top and bottom 

 bars of frames, the wire hinders the 

 operations. I have found the follow- 

 ing a good way to remedy the diffi- 

 culty : After the foundation has been 

 all drawn out, and the honey in the 

 comb extracted, cut the wires at the 

 bottom of the frame, take hold the 

 end of the wires (one at a time) and 

 pull them backwards to the top bar, 

 and then through it. They can be 

 taken out quite fast ; the wire cuts 

 a slit through one side of the comb, 

 but does not remove much wax, and 

 the bees soon draw it together again. 



I was surprised to see the following 

 statement, which I clipped from the 

 American Cultivator : " The flowers of 

 raspberries, where this fruit is largely 

 grown, are ruining the honey product 

 of the neighborhood. The bees like 

 this food, but no human being has 

 been discovered who appreciates the 

 product. The honey from raspberry 

 flowers is a dirty yellow in color, with 

 a very disagreeable flavor." The 

 honey gathered here, when raspberry 

 bushes are in bloom, is nice, but I do 

 not know how large a percentage of it 

 is raspberry. Will some bee-keeper, 

 situated where there is an abundance 

 of raspberries, please report upon this 

 question. 



Nantick, Mass., Feb. 5, 1883. 



1^ Attention is called to our new 

 and liberal advertising rates for 1883. 





Foundation with High Side Walls. 



I mail you, for the Bee Journal 

 museum, a sample of comb foundation 

 made on my mill, that 1 think is the 

 highest side ivall ever raised by any 

 mill. Wm. C. Pehlam. 



Maysville, Ky., Feb. 8, 1883. 



[It certainly has the heaviest side 

 wall we ever saw ; the cells being 

 deep enough to be utilized by the 

 queen for receiving eggs, just as they 

 are.— Ed.] 



Changing to Other Hives. 



I have 3 colonies of bees in American 

 hives, these being the hives most used 

 in this section. I have read a good 

 deal about the Langstroth hive, but 

 have never seen one. Would you ad- 

 vise me, as I have started with the 

 American, to change to the Langs- 

 troth y Some bee-keepers here prefer 

 the American hive, on account of the 

 frames being deeper, and say the 

 Langstroth trame is too shallow for 

 this section for safe wintering. 



A Subscriber. 



Milan, N. Y., Feb. 16, 1883. 



[Certainly not. Success depends 

 much more on the management than 

 on the kind of hives. Beginners 

 should not change around, or have 

 different sizes of frames. Begin right, 

 stick to what you have commenced 

 with, and " go-ahead."— Ed.] 



Profitable Increase. 



Here is my report for 1882 : Apiary 

 Ko. 1.— Spring, 1882, 6 colonies, fall, 

 1882, 14 colonies, average comb honey, 

 spring count, 63 lbs. ; apiary No. 2 

 (on shares), spring, 1882,12 colonies; 

 fall, 1882, 12 colonies; average, comb 

 honey, 30 lbs. These figures demon- 

 strate to me, that, at least in my local- 

 ity, a judicious increase is profitable. 

 All tliese colonies were substantially 

 in the same condition on May 15, viz. : 

 starving. I fed all alike with the 

 above result. F. C. Gastinger. 



Ada, 0.,Feb. 11, 1883. 



Comb Honey Rack. 



I sent to the museum a sample of 

 my improved comb honey super, with 

 28 43-4x41^x2 inch sections. It is made 

 for the 10-frame Langstroth hive, l3ut 

 may be made to suit any sized hive or 

 sections. It can be used with or with- 

 out separators. It is a second story, 

 made to suit the size of the section to 

 be used. The sections are to be placed 

 in broad frames, without tops. They 

 are strong, very simple, and easily 

 manipulated. They can be tiered up, 

 one above another, or two of them 

 may be put on the hive at once, a 

 frame of sections removed from each, 

 and a frame of brood put in its place, 

 to cause the bees to commence work 

 in sections. If 56 sections, or 48 after 



8 are removed, is thought to be too 

 many, early in the season, the bees 

 may be excluded from a part of them 

 by simply turning those not to be used 

 in the lower super on their sides, or 

 putting a piece of picture backing, or 

 cotton sheeting, under them,and using 

 the wedges as division boards. The 

 hooks holding the movable sides are 

 too small, but are all I have on hand. 

 A. J. Hatfield, 57-88. 

 New Carlisle, Ind., Feb. 17, 1883. 



[The Rack is received and placed in 

 the Museum. It is so well described 

 by Mr. Hatfield that it is useless to 

 add anything to it.— Ed.] 



Preventing Increase. 



Having now 283 colonies of bees, I 

 do not desire any increase, and intend 

 to run them for comb honey ; that, in 

 the past, I could not do, without the 

 swarming fever taking place and 

 partly frustrating my pums. In the 

 Bee Journal, No. 40, July 26, 1882, 

 page 474, 1 saw an article by Prof. A. 

 J. Cook, on " Increase of Colonies Pre- 

 vented." After reading that article 

 I would like to put it to the test, but 

 as my honey flow ceased about July 

 20, 1 had no opportunity to do so. I 

 would like to ask, through the Bee 

 Journal, any apiarist who has tried 

 that plan to kindly report the result. 

 If it can be successfully done to the 

 amount of 75 per cent. I shall be de- 

 lighted, and I know I am not alone in 

 this matter. Thus far, bees are win- 

 tering well. J. B. Hall. 



Woodstock, Ont., Feb. 10, 1883. 



Bees Eating their Combs. 



Two of my colonies of bees are eat- 

 ing their combs. One had about 60 lbs. 

 of honey and plenty of pollen, and was 

 in tolerably good condition, but it had 

 no queen, and many bees were dead. 

 The other colony had lots of frost in 

 the hive, and was in very poor condi- 

 tion, but it had a queen, and though 

 the bees were not dead, thev could 

 not fly in the sunshine. What is the 

 reason for their doing so ? 



M. M. Sperry. 



La Harpe, 111., Feb. 13, 1883. 



[While bees cut their comb for vari- 

 ous purposes, such as making passage 

 ways, shortening the depth of cells, 

 etc., they do not eat it. They often 

 cut and drag out excess of bee-bread. 



The second colony mentioned, if not 

 starved, is, very likely, badly diseased 

 with dysentery, though the outward 

 symptoms may not have been observed 

 by you. — Ed.] 



More Encouraged. 



Since writing my letter, published 

 on page 109, my bees have had a flight. 

 I have cleaned out the dead bees from 

 the greater part of the hives, and I 

 find that some have commenced breed- 

 ing. They have a great deal of pollen, 

 but I think they will get through all 

 right, if the weather is not wet and 

 cold too long. S. Valentine. 



Hagerstown, Md., Feb. 16, 1883. 



