260 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tlie American Bee JournaL 



Bees and Honey in Navarro co.,Texas. 



B. F. CAKKOLL. 



The following Table represents the 

 bee and honey interest in Navarro 

 County, Texas, with the exception of 

 those who have only one or two colo- 

 nies of bees : 



NAME OF 

 APIARIST. 



* I * la 

 □ ^' c^ o 



o n; od,^ 



H. A. Halbert 



J. K. Love 



M. M. Morrison. . . . 



G. A. Treadwell 



Mr. — Viisa 



John S. Miller 



B. F.Carroll 



Dr. C. H. Hart 



W.R Melton 



M. T. Krencb 



Tank Spivey 



Dr. W. 8. Eoblnson 



Dr. Parley 



Q. W. Ttiomison... 

 Westbrk&MAfee 

 Mrs. Eliz. Melton.. 



Jas. Davis 



J. C King 



Jack Smitli 



Ben Youni^er 



Dr. H.B.Kansom.. 



R. Gowen 



A. T. Barton 



Henry Forgey 



(Jeorfje Acre 



T. B. Kice 



Q. W.Cook 



J. R. HerrinK 



W.T.Moore 



Bill Black 



■VV. H.Woodard.... 



J. T. Lancaster 



A.S.Gill 



J. M. Trammel 



Wm.Boykin 



A.J. Miller 



James A. Spicer... 



Thos. Stokes 



Wm. Stokes 



275 

 500 

 250 

 125 

 600 

 375 

 250 

 200 

 30(1 

 360 



'760 

 250 



37.50 

 150 

 (10 



'2511 

 286 



1250 



iiiio! 



2000' 



urn 



m 



126 



'm 



(j24 



.'20111 

 . 3tlU 



Italians 



Blacks 



Hybrids 



Blacks 



Italians 



Blacks 



Cyp. Syr. Ital. 



Italians 



Blks.Hvb.Ital. 



BI.(_'y.Hy.Ital. 



Hybrids 



Blacks 



ital. & Blacks 



Italians 



Blacks & (-"yp. 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Hybrids 



Hybrids 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Blacks 



Dresden, Texas. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Uniting Bees— Spring Management. 



0. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I am requested by several to give, 

 in the Bee Journal, my plan of 

 uniting bees, and I will try to do 

 so ; if I do not make it all plain, I will 

 further explain if necessary. 



We are often told, that if our bees 

 are weak in March or April, we should 

 unite them at once, putting two or 

 more together, till a fair colony is 

 formed. I formerly adopted this plan 

 until I ascertained from many experi- 

 ments, that colonies thus made were 

 no better at the end of three or four 

 weeks, than each would have been 

 had they been left separated. If I 

 had colonies that would not live till 

 June separately, I found they would 

 not if united. I have put as high as 

 six or seven very weak colonies to- 

 gether, in April, thus making a good 

 large colony at tlie time, and in a 

 month all were dead. Hence, I came 

 to the conclusion that I could not 



unite my bees profitably early in the 

 season, so I liave adopted the follow- 

 ing, which has proven very successful: 



About the middle of April, accord- 

 ing to the season (earlier if any early 

 season, and late if a late one), some 

 cold morning I look over all my bees, 

 by taking oft the cap and lifting the 

 quilt a little, and all that do not oc- 

 cupy live spaces between the combs 

 are "marked, and the first warm day I 

 shut them on to as many combs as 

 have brood, by means of a divison- 

 board. Those which are very small, 

 so as to have brood in only one or two 

 combs, and small patches at that, 

 have all their extra combs taken 

 away from them, so as to take precau- 

 tion against robbing ; but if stronger, 

 I leave the extra combs on the other 

 side of the division-board, so that the 

 bees can carry the honey over as they 

 need it for brood-rearing. 



The entrance to each hive is con- 

 tracted to suit the size of the colony, 

 not leaving more than an inch in 

 length for the best of them, and only 

 space enough for one bee to pass at a 

 time for the weakest. 



The next work is to increase the 

 brood as fast as possible in these 

 small colonies. 1 keep them on the 

 combs, first given them, till they are 

 filled with brood clear to the bottom, 

 when I give them an emptv comb, 

 placed in the centre. This' will be 

 filled in a week or so, when another is 

 given. I go over them once a week, 

 in this way, till I have five frames full 

 of brood in the strongest. The next 

 time I go over thenij I take a frame 

 of brood just hatcning from those 

 having the five filled, and give it to 

 the next strongest (say one that has 

 four frames), putting an empty comb 

 in the place where it came from, and 

 so keep working until each hive con- 

 tains five frames crowded with brood. 

 .Do not make the mistake of giving 

 the frame of hatching brood to the 

 weakest colonies first, for they may 

 not be strong enough, if the weather 

 should suddenly become cool, to care 

 for it ; when a loss of brood, to the 

 amount given, might occur. 



By the middle of June, I generally 

 get all in the above condition, when 

 they are ready for uniting. To do 

 this, I go to No. 1 and open it ; look 

 the frames over until I find the queen, 

 when I set the frame she is on out- 

 side of the hive ; then take the four 

 remaining frames (bees and all) to No. 

 2, spread the five frames apart in No. 

 2, and put the four frames taken from 

 No, 1 in each alternate space, made 

 by spreading the frames in No. 2. I 

 now close up No. 2. and in 12 or 15 

 days it will be one of the strongest 

 colonies in the yard. 



By alternating the frames, the bees 

 are so mixed up that they will not 

 quarrel, and I have never known a 

 queen to be harmed. It will be seen 

 that I use but nine frames to the hive, 

 but the plan is the same with any 

 number of frames. I now return to 

 No. 1, where the frame of bees was 

 left standing outside of the hive, 

 close to one side, and put in an empty 

 frame ; adjust the division-board, and 

 I have a nice nucleus to get a queen 

 from at any time I may need one. 1 1 



find also, that such a nucleus will 

 build comb almost as cheaply as foun- 

 dation can be gotten into comb ; for 

 many of the old bees taken to No. 2 

 will return, thus making a strong 

 nucleus, which will build nice straight 

 worker combs, as if by magic. If I 

 do not wish these for queens or comb 

 building, I build them up to good 

 strong colonies by the fall. 



UNITING IN THE FALL. 



If I wish to unite bees in the fall, 

 on account of there being but little 

 honey, fewness of bees, or from what- 

 ever cause, the first thing to find out 

 is, which of the two has the most val- 

 uable queen. Having ascertained 

 this. I hunt up the poorest and kill 

 her, then take this hive to the stand 

 of the one it is to be united with. I 

 now select from the two frames hav- 

 ing the most honey in them, to the 

 number I wish to winter them on, and 

 set them in one of the hives, alterna- 

 ting them, as they are set in the hive. 

 I next shake the bees, which are on 

 the remaining frames, off at the en- 

 trance, taking one frame from one 

 colony, and the next from the other, 

 so as to mix the bees up as much as 

 possible. 



When all the bees are inside the 

 hive, the work is done. Remove the 

 hive, bottom board and all, from the 

 stand occupied by the united colony, 

 and no loss of bees will occur. What 

 few bees go back to the old stand, re- 

 turn after finding their old hive is 

 gone ; also the mixing up process 

 causes them to mark their location 

 anew, at their first flight afterward. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bees as Aids to Fruit Growers. 



J. F. LATHAM. 



In the agricultural column of a 

 weekly paper, I find a " clip " credited 

 to another journal, from which the 

 following is an extract : 



" Honey is a vegetable production, 

 appearing in greater or less quantities 

 in every flower that nods to the 

 breeze, or kisses the bright sunlight. 

 * * * It is secreted in the 

 flower for the purpose of attracting 

 insects, thus securing the complete 

 fertilization of the female blossoms.' 



The declaration embodied in the 

 last sentence of the foregoing extract, 

 is new to me ; as, heretofore, I have 

 understood the nectar of flowers to 

 be a menstruum, surplus secretion, ex- 

 cess of growth, etc., drawn from the 

 soil and atmosphere, which, after the 

 necessary operations of assimilation, 

 and contribution to the requirements 

 of vegetable growth are accomplished, 

 is conveyed to and lodged in the 

 chalice of the pistillated bloom by 

 capillary process, and can, therefore, 

 be no more or less than w-aste matter, 

 so far as needed to • further enhance 

 the growth of fruit or seed. 



That the liectar in flowers is an aid 

 to their fertilization (in a general 

 way), by inducing insects to distribute 

 the fecundating element from the 

 staminate blossoms, by conveying it 



