422 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,. 



Wmx<i\ mill novo. 



ANSWERS BV 



James Hcddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Feeding, Winter Passages, etc. 



Please answer the following ques- 

 tions in the Bke Journal, : 



1. With Italian bees is it necessary 

 to feed at the close of the honey sea- 

 son to keep up brood-rearing V 



2. How do you prepare winter food 

 from sugar ? 



3. Do you make winter passages 

 through the comb 'i 



4. Do your bees, after swarming, 

 fill the brood-chamber so that you 

 have to extract to give the new queen 

 room ; or do you cut the queen-cells 

 and introduce a new laying queen as 

 soon as they swarm V Is not the latter 

 the best method ? 



5. Do your hives front the south in 

 winter as in summer V 



6. Is it necessary to have a bottom 

 ventilation ? F. M. Cheney. 



South Sutton, N. H. 



Answers. — 1. No ; nor with any 

 other bees in this locality. Late breed- 

 ing is not valued by me as by some. 



2. By boiling 10 pounds of sugar 

 with 3 or 4 pounds of water (according 

 to how warm the weather is when I 

 feed), and adding one teaspoonful of 

 cream of tartiir, dissolved in water. 



3. Ko, never ; but over them with a 

 bow. 



4. After swarming the bees store 

 more in the brood combs (as the pupae 

 hatches out) than before, but as soon 

 as the new queen begins to lay this 

 honey will go into more bees, and the 

 boxes above at a great rate. JVb, sir, I 

 do not extract to give the queens 

 room, nor cut queen-cells. I have 

 learned better, and that, with proper 

 fixtures and management, there is no 

 necessity for so doing. 



5. My hives front the east all the 

 year around. 



6. Only at the entrance, so far as I 

 know. 



Uniting Colonies. 



I would like some information from 

 Mr. lleddon. I have about 50 colo- 

 nies of bees, and do not care about 

 keeping so many, and as the country 

 here is pretty well supplied, I could 

 not get over S5 or $6, and as they are 

 all in new Laugstroth hives, and have 

 ten frames of comb, I think 1 might 

 make more by doubling them up, 

 putting two colonies together and ex- 

 tracting from one. Our fall flowers 

 are just beginning to bloom, and in a 

 few days I expect my bees to be hard 

 at work. When will be the best time 

 for doubling them up? At present 

 they are full of brood. Do you think 

 it best to do it before they commence 

 to work on the fall crop, or after it 



has been harvested? Bees have not 

 made any surplus here since the first 

 part of J une. We had a honey flow 

 only about three weeks, which was 

 very good, while it lasted, for those 

 who were prepared for it. 



A Novice. 

 Posey Co., Ind., Aug. 6, 1883. 



Answer.— If you can get five or 

 six dollars per colony for your bees 

 in the fall, after the honey harvest is 

 over, my advice would be run them as 

 they are, getting all the surplus you 

 can from your 50 colonies, and then 

 sell one-half. If you want 25 colonies 

 next spring, had you not better keep 

 the whole fifty, for fear part might 

 die ? Then if they should, you would 

 have your new Langstroth hives, 

 combs, etc, without making or buy- 

 ing these supplies for the coming year. 



I would much object to doubling 

 them up for winter, after your fall 

 harvest ; for such colonies are more 

 apt to have dysentery where there is 

 no chance for them to void. Such 

 doubling acts are a great auxilliary 

 to the cause of dysentery in my apiary. 

 But to double them before the fall 

 harvest, is not so bad an idea. In 

 case of such uniting, you can destroy 

 all your poorest, and keep all your 

 best queens. I would do the doubling 

 and uniting at the commencement of 

 the honey flow, not before, as Mr. 

 Langstroth has told us all these oper- 

 ations with bees, work more success- 

 fully during a honey flow, than during 

 a dearth. 



Kentucky Bee and Honey Show. 



The Kentucky State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold its annual meet- 

 ing in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 29 and 30, 

 at the Southern Exposition building. 

 We hope to have a large attendance of 

 the bee-keepers of the State, and also 

 of other States, both North and South, 

 as the convention will be in session 

 during the week of the Honey and 

 Bee Exhibit. And premiums amount- 

 ing to $60 are offered by the commis- 

 sioners of agriculture of Kentucky, 

 for Kentucky honey, and $40 by the 

 Exposition, for the finest Italian bees 

 in Observatory hives. The premium 

 on bees is open to the world, and we 

 hope to see a fine display. 



The Bee-Keepers' Convention and 

 Honey and Bee Show will be held in 

 the same week of the great exhibi- 

 tion of fruit, for which over $2,000 in 

 cash premiums will be paid. 



We extend a cordial invitation to 

 all bee-keepers' societies, to editors 

 of bee publications, to honey-pro- 

 ducers, and queen breeders, and all 

 who are interested in apiculture, to 

 be with us. We hope to have the 

 father of modern bee-keeping with us, 

 the Rev. L. L. Langstroth, to whom 

 a cordial invitation has been given. 



Reduced fair on all railroads, botti 

 North and South, will be offered to 

 all who attend the Great Southern 

 Exposition. It will doubtless be the 

 grandest exposition ever held in the 

 United States, in magnitude, and 

 nearly equal to the Centennial. 



N. P. Allen, Sec. 



Notice to Iowa Bee-Keepers. 



Quite a large number of bee-keep- 

 ers in our State have expressed a de- 

 sire for the formation of a State 

 Association. A consultation with 

 others has resulted in the decision not 

 to attempt to hold a meeting during 

 the coming State Fair, but if thought 

 best to hold one during the time of 

 the meeting of the State Agricultural 

 Society at Des Moines next January. 

 All bee-keepers who may be present 

 at the Fair are earnestly requested to 

 report to the Rev. O. Clute, at the 

 Apiarian Exhibit, on or before 1 p. 

 m. of Tuesday, the 4th day of Sep- 

 tember, 1883, who will give them 

 notice of a meeting for consultation, 

 and also for the selection of a com- 

 mittee of arrangements if one is 

 deemed necessary. 



O. O. POPPLETON, 

 Vice-Pres. N. A. B. K. Society. 

 Williamstown, Iowa, Aug. 10, 1883. 



Nebraska Bee and Honey Show. 



I desire to call the attention of the 

 members of the Nebraska State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, and all others 

 engaged in apiculture, to the liberal 

 premiums offered by the Nebraska 

 State Agricultural Society in Class 

 VII., entitled " Bees, honey and 

 apiarian goods," and especially the 

 premium of $25 offered for the best 

 colony of bees. The test of colonies 

 will be net gain, and will be weighed 

 and sealed Aug. 28, and weighed 

 again Sept. 11. Each colony must be 

 the progeny of the queen and colony 

 on trial. All shipments in this de- 

 partment can be made to the Hon. B. 

 E. B. Kennedy, superintendent of 

 Class VII.; and the bees should be on 

 the ground on or before Aug. 27. All 

 other articles may be entered, up to 

 noon of Sept. 10. 



M. L. Trester, 

 Sec. N. B. K. Association. 



Greenwood, Neb. 



1^" The Northwestern Illinois, and 

 Southwestern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, will hold its next meet- 

 ing on Sept. 4, 1883, at John Swan- 

 zey's, 2 miles South of Ridot, Stephen- 

 son County, 111. There will be facilities 

 to take persons from the station to 

 Mr. Swanzey's. 



Jonathan Stewart, Sec. 



Bee Pasturage a Necessity.— We have 

 just issued a new pamphlet giving our 

 views on this important subject, with 

 suggestions what to plant, and when 

 and how. It is illustrated with 26 en- 

 gravings, and will be sent postpaid to 

 any address for 10 cents. 



