218 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



huclei in wliicli the queens are reared. 

 Judge Andrews, of Texas, says queens 

 can be kept caged indefinitely by put- 

 ting tlie cage in strong colonies. He 

 Bays even thougli tlie otlier colonies 

 have queens, the bees will always feed 

 the caged queens. Mr. Alley says in 

 his book, the queens may be thus 

 caged for long weeks, but that there 

 must be feed in the cage ; that the 

 bees will not feed them. I have al- 

 ways kept the queens in the small 

 hives or nuclei. By exchanging combs 

 frequently, giving empty cells, the 

 queens are kept active. With a good 

 cellar nuclei can be kept over winter 

 as well as full colonies. The chamber 

 containing them must be small ; either 

 a small hive, or, better, the regular 

 hive, with brood-chamber contracted 

 by use of adivision board. My brother 

 has kept several nuclei in his cellar 

 the past winter. All but one came 

 through strong. That died of starva- 

 tion. 



2. My observing hive is on a board 

 just outside tlie window. It is just 

 high enough to be convenient. By 

 lowering the upper sash 1 can lean on 

 it and study the bees for hours with- 

 out fatigue. My window is a dormer, 

 BO it shades the bees in summer and 

 protects them from storms. 



2. I think stimulative feeding is 

 fully described in my Manual. We 

 only need to feed a half pint a day, by 

 the use of any of the feeders described. 

 I think the Smith feeder, illustrated 

 and described in my new Manual (just 

 out) is the best.— A. J. Cook. 



The Season in Georgia. 



Spring has fairly opened with us at 

 last, but bees are in a backward con- 

 dition. February was mild and pleas- 

 ant, and breeding progressed rapidly, 

 March set in cold, and continued so 

 with wet and inclement weather all 

 through. Bees could do notliiiig. but 

 dwindled fearfully ; so by the 1st of 

 April colonies, on an average, were 

 not in as good condition as tliey were 

 the last ot February. Box hive bee- 

 keepers have lost heavily. 



, ^ „ J. P. H. Brown. 



Augusta, Ga., April 20, 1883. 



How to Press and Mount Flowers. 



In the Michigan State Fair pre- 

 mium list (apiarian department) is of- 

 fered a premium for the best collec- 

 tion ot honey-bearing plants pressed 

 and mounted, or in bloom. Will some 

 one who knows please tell the readers 

 ot the JJEE Journal how to press 

 and mount (lowers v 



o .„ ^^- Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Mich. 



feees Still In Winter Qnarters. 



In the spring of 1881. I had 4 weak 

 colonies, and 2 queenless : they in- 

 creased to 10, and 1 nucleus, fall 

 count ; all were packed in chaff. The 

 spring count of 1882, was 9, and 2 

 queenless. I had from them 500 lbs. 

 or comb honey, and increased to 28 ; 

 uiey were all packed in dry goods 

 boxes. With clover chaff. The spring 

 count of 1883, is 27 in splendid condi- 

 tion; I lost one, caused by old bees 



and dysentery. My bees are still 

 packed ; I expect to leave them so 

 until about May 1, or until the weather 

 becomes settled and warm. My bees 

 are all Cyprians, Italians, and albinos, 

 and I am well pleased with them. I 

 use the A. G. Hill hive, and think it 

 a good one. We have some old fogies 

 here, who keep bees in box hives and 

 brimstone them, etc., and some of 

 them have lost heavily this winter. I 

 could not do without the Bee Jour- 

 nal. H. Hance. 

 Bryon, O., April 16, 1883. 



Bees All Right. 



I have just unpacked my bees, and 

 find nearly all in booming condition. 

 My loss for the winter has been light. 

 I packed, in ray usual way, 165 colo- 

 nies, and, to-day, I tind 160 in good 

 condition. Never did I ever see bees 

 in better condition than mine now 

 are. The hives are nearly full of 

 bees, and in some I tind brood in four 

 and live frames, with capped drone 

 brood. The weather has been tine 

 for nearly three weeks. I anticipate 

 a tine crop of honey. The white 

 clover has never looked more promis- 

 ing than it does this spring. Success 

 to the Weekly Bee Journal. 



L. J. DiEHL. 



Butler, Ind., April 17, 1883. 



North C.iroliiia Bloom. 



Apples are in full bloom, and clover 

 soon will be. I lost 15 out of 100 col- 

 onies, last winter. My bees are very 

 strong at this time, and promise great 

 things, if we have a good season. 



J. W. Hinsdale. 



Raleigh, N. C, April 13, 1883. 



Bees are Just Booming'. 



I wintered 42 colonies in the cellar, 

 of which I lost 1 ; of 19 wintered on 

 the summer stands, packed with saw- 

 dust, I lost none ; leaving me 60 out of 

 61 colonies. I put them into winter 

 quarters on Nov. 15, and removed 

 them from the cellar, April 10, mak- 

 ing about 145 days in the cellar with- 

 out a flight. There is but little spot- 

 ting of the hives; all are in fine con- 

 dition and strong, excepting about 6 

 which are a little' weak, but still are 

 from fair to good colonies. All are 

 gathering natural pollen, to-day, from 

 willows and soft maples, the first this 

 season. The thermometer indicates 

 from 78° ro 82-', and it is raising quite 

 briskly this evening, at 8 o'clock. 



U. E. Dodge. 



Fredonia, N. Y., April 15, 1883. 



How to use Bee Papers. 



I think the printers have scarcely 

 followed " copy," or I have made a 

 strange blunder in my communica- 

 tion, published in the Bee Journal, 

 March 28, page 166, third paragraph. 

 I intended to have written: "Any 

 man who cannot make his busine&s 

 pay for a good journal published in 

 the interest of that business, had 

 better quit the business, etc.," or 

 words to that effect. It now, how- 

 ever, reads : " Any man who cannot 

 make his business pay had better quit 

 the business, etc." You will at once 



see the difference. The latter quo- 

 tation, I presume, goes without asking 

 by the necessities of the case, and 

 does not need a special communica- 

 tion to state it, but while the former 

 may be equally as true, yet it is so 

 often in practice ignored as to need a 

 reminder. R. J. Kendall. 



Austin, Texas, March 30, 1883. 



[It was printed as written in the 

 copy.— Ed.] 



Bees Confined 159 Days. 



On page 180, Mr. McKay says who 

 can beat 130 days without a flight ? 

 Well, I can. My bees have been in 

 the cellar 159 days withouta flight,and 

 have some 10 days more to remain, at 

 least. All answered to the roll call 

 to-day, " 21 in number ;" loss, thus 

 far, none. The dead on the floor can 

 all be put into a two-quart measure. 

 The above success is due, in a great 

 measure, to the American Bee 

 Journal, of which I have been a 

 constant and interested reader for 

 three years, and never expect to do 

 without it as long as I keep bees. I 

 use chaff mats, and am a strong be- 

 liever in cellar wintering. 



D. L. Herrick. 



Brattleboro, Vt., April 15, 1883. 



A Swarm Went to the Woods. 



I had 4 colonies of bees in boxes 

 and barrels. Three of them I trans- 

 ferred more than a month ago, in the 

 ordinary way. The boxes broke, and 

 induced robbing, and I had so much 

 trouble that I determined I would let 

 the fourth wait and swarm. But see- 

 ing Mt. Heddon's plan, I concluded 

 to try it, especially as the weather 

 was warm, apples, clover, etc., bloom- 

 ing, and several colonies of my neigh- 

 bor's bees had swarmed during the last 

 few days. I very soon drove the bees 

 into the hive filled with comb founda- 

 tion ; Uiey remained several hours, 

 and took their departure to the woods, 

 I hope others may profit by my ex- 

 perience. A Subscriber. 



Omega, La. 



Stinging and Dislike of Bees. 



The bees have a natural dislike to 

 me ; they come for me quickly, even 

 when walking in the yard, but not at 

 work with them. One sting will 

 sometimes almost cause me to faint. 

 The rule, that the more a person gets 

 stung, the less it hurts, does not hold 

 good with me ; the pain is as severe 

 as it was five years ago. I wear veil 

 and gloves, and have a Bingham 

 smoker, but I get stung often. To 

 allay the pain, after the sting, wet 

 clay is the best thing I have ever 

 tried. The best antidote I have ever 

 tried is whisky ; two teaspoonsful be- 

 fore I go to work with the bees. I am 

 not used to whisky, and do not want 

 to be ; I hate it. Will some of the 

 readers of the Journal tell me what, 

 ^if anything, I can put on my clothes 

 to pacify them ; and what is the best 

 antidote besides whisky, and oblige 

 one who cannot follow hard labor, and 

 do not want to throw away what it 

 has taken 15 years to learn. 



Riverton, Iowa. J. H. Stephens. 



