300 



I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tnent, we commenced by weighing the 

 outdoor chaff hives (four in nuinber), 

 and found an aggregate loss of 08 

 pounds, or an average loss of H^i 

 i)ounds to the colony. One colony 

 was dead, and, as one standing by re- 

 marked, they died •' in the midst of 

 plenty," for they were dead, clustered 

 ■on frames at one end of the hive, and 

 the honey was gone from those 

 frames, but the frames at the other 

 Bnd of tlie hive had plenty of honey. 

 The theory is tliat they became so 

 cold that they could not change their 

 cluster, and they froze to deatli. 



The 13 colonies came from the cel- 

 lar with a loss of but 56 pounds, or an 

 average of 4'^^ pounds to the colony. 

 The greatest amount of loss, in any 

 colony in normal conditions, in the 

 cellar, was 6 pounds, and the least 

 amount, 1 pound. 



One colony, which was put up for 

 the cellar with the usual amount (30 

 pounds) of honey, was found dead, 

 and their honey entirely gone, the 

 Weight showing a loss of only 10 

 pounds. We cannot account for "this, 

 except to say that they must have 

 been robbed last fall, after giving 

 them their winter supply of honey, 

 before removing them to "the cellar in 

 November. 



The colony in which the pollen was 

 left had very badly dwindled. Their 

 queen being dead, they were united 

 with another colony. Tlie colonies 

 wintered in the cellar, with two ex- 

 ceptions, (the one containing pollen 

 and the one supposed to have been 

 robbed in October), show very little 

 loss in numbers, by the dead bees 

 found in the hives. In fact, in look- 

 ing them over, we Hud many of them 

 apparently as strong as they were last 

 October, while those wintered in 

 chaff hives out of doors (judging from 

 the same source of information) are 

 very weak indeed. 



On,examining the bees, a few days 

 after removing them for the cellar 

 (April 7), we hhd eggs in nearly everv 

 hive, showing that they are in first- 

 class condition, and will have a full 

 force ready for work when the flowers 

 come ; and we think from the general 

 appearance of the bees, that (leaving 

 out the two principal points in favor 

 of cellar wintering : namely, safety 

 and amount of honey consumed dur- 

 ing the winter) the bees which have 

 been wintered in the cellar, are in 

 better condition to go to work this 

 spring, than tliose wintered in chaff 

 hives. 



We often hear the objection raised 

 to cellars that they leave the bees in 

 poor condition to stand the changes 

 of spring, but we candidly believe 

 that the fault is rather to be found 

 with the condition of the cellar or the 

 method of treatment in the spring, 

 than with the method of preparing 

 for wintering. 



We would conclude then by saying 

 that cellar wintering seems to us to be, 

 at least, the most economic way to 

 winter bees. We believe it, for three 

 reasons : First, it is safer ; secondly, 

 it saves honey ; and third, it leaves 

 the bees in better condition in the 

 spring. 



Michigan Agricultural College. 



For the American 15ee JuumaU 



Old and New Rhymes. 



EUGENE SECOK. 



A swarm of bees in May. is worth a ton of hay. 

 A swarm of bees in June, is worth a silver spoon. 

 A swarm of bees in July, is'nt worth a tiy. 



That's the way the rhyme ran, in 

 the days of our "boyhood, among the 

 hills of eastern New York. These old 

 sayings, like some of the weatlier-wise 

 prophecies of a later period, may be of 

 more value in the region where they 

 originated, than when transplanted 

 into this continental prairie soil. At 

 least I thought so, the otiier day, when 

 the first swarm of bees issued in May. 



A ton of hay is worth, in this land 

 of plenty, about S2.50, while an early 

 swarm of bees ought to yield as much 

 profit as a cow worth S30. The latter 

 part of the '• saw " is as far from the 

 truth as the first. A swarm in July 

 will often fill its hive in 2 weeks, and 

 store a large surplus for its proprietor. 

 August swarms, which did not elicit 

 even a passing notice from the ancient 

 rhymer, will make a hive feel like a 

 chunk of lead when you attempt to 

 move it in the fall. I think in some 

 cases a September swarm might gather 

 honey enough to winter on. 



We need a revised edition of those 

 old "sayings," to meet tlie new con- 

 ditions of things— at least here in 

 Iowa. If I could grind out rhymes, 

 I would attempt the work myself. I 

 would make it read something like 

 this : 



A swarm of bees In May is a "hip, hip, hooraa!"— 



iin lowal. 

 A swarm of bees in June, is in the same tune,— 



(in lowal. 

 A swarm of bees in July,] you nced'nt be afraid to 



try,— (in Iowa). 

 An August swarm, as the weather is warm, 

 Is all O. K.— don't fool it away,— (in Iowa). 

 A swarm of bees in September is rare. 

 But even that can be saved with care,- (in Iowa). 



AVarm weather has been slow in 

 coming this spring. Only on a very 

 tew days has the thermometer indica- 

 ted above 60-'. There has been no 

 frost to damage fruit in this part of 

 the State. Everything is coming along 

 ■finely, except corn, wtiich was planted 

 late. We have had an abundance of 

 fruit bloom, and white clover is just 

 beginning to blossom. We anticipate 

 a prosperous year. 



I'orest City, Iowa, June 2, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal- 

 Italian and. Hybrid Bees. 



J. O. SHEARMAN. 



On page 2.36, of the Bee Journal, 

 I notice Mr. Hutchinson's question in 

 regard to best hybrids, etc. That re- 

 minds me of some of my own experi- 

 ence, which, I think, it would worth 

 while to make known, at this time, as 

 it may throw a little more light on the 

 subject under inquiry. Some may in- 

 cline to ridicule " Heddon's hybrids " 

 as being no better than all others, but 

 there certainly is a great difference in 

 hybrid bees. 



When I lirst started in keeping bees 

 as a business, I used to wonder at so 

 many people (and those wtio seemed 

 to be posted, too) wlio spoke and 

 wrote about the black bees being so 

 much crosser than Italians, while I 

 had large brown bees (called blacks) 

 that were so quiet and easily handled 

 that I opened the hives without 

 smoker or protection of any sort, and 

 when I got mv first Italians, I found 

 they were quicker in their movements, 

 and more liable to sting upon sliglit 

 provocation than those I had before. 

 These brown bees were excellent 

 breeders and workers also. 1 in- 

 creased one colony to five, and had a 

 fair surplus too, from four of them. 



But two years ago this spring I 

 found out the difference between 

 brown and black bees. We all have 

 in mind that severe winter and spring. 

 I lost over 60 colonies, and to help fill 

 up my empty combs, soon enough to 

 be able to obtain some surplus, I 

 bought 20 colonies (19 of them tjlacks), 

 and they u-ere black too, black as an 

 old boot, and as cross as a setting hen. 

 I left them at a neighbor's, IJ^ miles 

 away from home, so as not to mix 

 with my Italians. I then Italianized 

 what I did not tradeoff. 1' ears pre- 

 viously I had tried different strains of 

 Italians, mostly light ones, but they 

 would swarm when I tried to crowd 

 them into the honey boxes, while my 

 old brown bees would fill a set of 

 boxes, then notify me they wanted 

 more room, and take what I gave 

 them in a contented sort of a way, 

 and " stick to their knitting." Well, 

 in looking over the papers one spring, 

 I noticed that Heddon had been Ital- 

 ianized, so I sent to him for a colony 

 of dark Italians, requesting him to 

 send me one of the old queens he had 

 received from Mr. Oatman.if he had 

 them booked, and I believe he sent it, 

 for though she did her work com- 

 pletely that season, she played out the 

 next ; but not until she had supplied 

 me with a race of bees that excelled 

 anything I had yet tried, for they 

 would go up freely into the boxes and 

 did generally fill all, or nearly all the 

 room I gave them, before swarming, 

 unless crowded in the brood-cham- 

 ber. And, I could put off swarming 

 by giving more room in the body of 

 the hive, at the same time giving 

 more surplus room, in the same way I 

 had previously practiced with my 

 brown bees. 



Kow, I come to the hybrid point of 

 the matter. I crossed some of the 

 young queens with the drones of the 

 brown bees, and they produced such 

 good bees for work, that I have never 

 got rid of them all yet. Some of the 

 best of those dark Italians survived 

 the hard winter of two years ago, and 

 I was able to run part of them through 

 last season even, without swarming 

 at all, with a good surplus, and they 

 were always strong in bees. 



My hobby has been, and is, to run 

 for surplus, without much increase, 

 to avoid the impression that these 

 bees would not breed fast enough for 

 profit. I will state that I had one of 

 them (two years ago) fill two sets of 

 brood comb, at the same time keeping 

 both well supplied with brood ; but I 



