546 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



hine combs, 27 inches high, by an 

 average of 13 inches wide. 



The queen did not trouble, in any 

 of the hives, by going into the sections. 

 Tliere is, in fact, no reuson whatever 

 why bee-keepers should not abandon 

 the use of the shallow chamber, so 

 commonly provided above the brood 

 frames. Without it, there is a cer- 

 tainty that bees will work to better 

 advantage. Indeed, it seems plain 

 enough that bees will yield more 

 surplus where they can go straight 

 up and down in continuous passage 

 ways, than where they are obliged to 

 turn at a right angle, ou every trip 

 into the sections, because of the shal- 

 low chamber, to say nothing about 

 the (iO cubic inches of space that must 

 be filled with bees to no purpose. 



With the new surplus arrangement, 

 no bits of wax are built any where to 

 bother the bee-keeper, and very little 



Eropolis comparatively is used in the 

 ive; probably because there are no 

 places that need to be waxed up. 

 After removing the surplus fixtures. 

 Which can be quickly done at any 

 time without killing a bee or making 

 the colony angry, the brood frames 

 can then be lifted out at once. Thus, 

 a hive having tliree or four racks of 

 sections upon it, can be taken apart 

 and put together again in a few min- 

 utes, with the least possible disturb- 

 ance to the bees ; and, in tiering up, 

 the colony works right along as if 

 nothing bad happened. 



Many of my double- walled hives 

 have been made over, so as to accom- 

 modate the improved section rack; 

 and it can be, doubtless, applied to 

 most kinds of hives now in use by 

 making a few changes. 

 New Philadelphia, O. 



Utah Convention. 



The Territorial Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation convened at the City Hall, 

 on the 6th inst., at 7 o'clock p. m. 

 President A. M. Musser called the 

 meeting to order. 



ilr. T. W. Lee, secretary of the 

 Branch Bee Association of Toole city, 

 reported 26 bee-keepers, 107 colonies 

 of bees in the spring ; increased to 228, 

 and had taken 1,017 pounds of honey. 

 At wholesale prices (15 cts.) this 

 amounted to $1,052,55. Grantsville, 

 same county, was, by order of last 

 spring's convention, organized into a 

 branch association by Mr. T. W. Lee, 

 and reports 97 colonies of bees, and 

 2,672 pounds of honey, with 15 bee- 

 keepers. 



Mr. George Hilliard, bee inspector 

 Of Cache county, reports that in 18S3 

 about one-half of tlieir bees perished 

 with the hard winter. Xatural swarm- 

 ing had increased them to 160, and 

 they are in a good, healthy condition. 

 About 25 colonies had fled to the 

 mountains, by reason of natural 

 swarming. They have experienced 

 one of their best seasons for honey 

 ^this year. 



Bishop Bills, of South Jordan, re- 

 ports that he began tliis spring with 

 28 colonies, and increased to 43 ; had 

 taken 5,.500 pounds of extracted honey. 

 Bold for 15c. per lb., amounted to SS25. 



E. Stevenson has 50 colonies in good 

 condition ; has built a bee house and 

 sheds with a view of an increase of 100 

 colonies, and 8,000 or 10,000 pounds of 

 honey next year. 



Parowan, Iron county, was organ- 

 ized recently by the last named gen- 

 tleman, into a branch bee association, 

 with Wm. ISIarsden as President, Wm. 

 Ilolyoake, first Vice-President, Thos. 

 Yardley, second Vice-President, and 

 Bishop Stone and D. Dalley as Secre- 

 taries. 



Vice-President Yardley began bee- 

 keeping 3 years ago, with 3 colonies 

 of bees, and now has 48, and has sold 

 24 colonies ; last year he took 3,370 lbs. 

 of honey, and 4,000 lbs. this year. 



I send the above report of the Ter- 

 ritorial Bee-Keepers' Conveiition,trom 

 the Salt Lake Herald. 



Our bees have done nothing but 

 stay in the liives ; the past three weeks 

 has been so stormy that the bees have 

 been compelled to stay at liome. You 

 will see from the report that Tooele 

 has done a little, but they could have 

 done more, I might say double, for 

 the cause, but the principal bee men 

 are engaged in other pursuits, and are 

 generally engaged just in the time 

 that they should devote to the bees. I 

 know it has been so with myself. We 

 have now to prepare our bees for the 

 winter. I hope that they will come 

 out as good as they did this spring, 

 and if honey will do it, I have plenty 

 of it in the hives, although it has suf- 

 fered during the past few weeks. 



.John Dunn. 



Tooele City, Utah, Oct. 17, 1883. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Bees Prepared for Winter. 



L. J. DIEHL. 



I now have my bees all prepared 

 for the winter, 185 colonies, all in good 

 condition. The season has been a 

 prosperous one with me. I now have 

 nearly two tons of fine honey on hand, 

 in 1 and 2 lb. boxes. My bees are all 

 healthy and strong. I have, as usual, 

 prepared my bees to winter on the 

 summer stands. The way I prepared 

 them is given in previous numbers of 

 the Bee Journ.\l, but I will say this, 

 that so much fuss and fiurry about 

 preparing bees for out-door wintering 

 is, to my mind, all bosh. The essential 

 points are these : Have just enough 

 bees ; and 25 or 30 lbs. of good honey ; 

 and keep them dry and quieted during 

 the winter months. This is where 

 the trouble commences. There are so 

 many theories and different plans to 

 accomplish the one important matter. 

 Keep the bees dry. In my practice 

 with bees, this is one of the easiest 

 duties. I prepare my bees early in 

 the season, say just after the honey 

 harvest closes ; by uniting small colo- 

 nies, taking out honey from those 

 that have too much, and giving to 

 those that have not enough ; put on 

 quilts, etc., early in the season, and 

 then the bees will properly cluster, 

 before the damp weather sets in, in 

 the fall. Since I have adopted tliis 

 plan of protection and my method of 

 packing, I liave little or no loss in 



wintering. I look for considerable 

 damp, rainy weather this winter, and 

 I would caution all who wish to win- 

 ter the bees successfully, to prepare 

 the roofing so as to prevent dampness 

 from excessive rain and snow, and if 

 properly blanketed or packed inside 

 the brood chamber, there will be but 

 little loss of bees during this winter. 

 I will report my success in the spring. 

 I am not afraid, as to the results, for 

 I have wintered at least 7 or 8 years in 

 this way, with but small loss. 

 Butler, Ind., Oct. 25, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Little of my Experience 



w. II. young. 



I keep bees for pleasure and profit, 

 and I discover that enthusiasm in 

 apiculture is getting the better of me, 

 consequently, I never expect, in this 

 life, to be without beautiful bees, and 

 the indispensable weekly edition of 

 the American Bee .Journal. 



I purchased 3 colonies of natives in 

 1876 ; Italianized in 1879, by queens 

 obtained of D. A. Pike, Smithsburg, 

 Md., to whom we are indebted as the 

 originator of the beautiful albino bee. 



I wintered 18 colonies of Italians 

 and albinos, and increased them, dur- 

 ing the past season, to 30 ; I have 

 about 6S0 pounds of surplus, in two- 

 pound sections, and have a ready 

 home market at 15 cents per pound. 

 My standard of excellence for bees, 

 is docility, industry, prolificness and 

 beauty (golden bands). 



AVhen I hefir a queen-breeder say, 

 ■' I do not care for bands, but breed 

 business bees," I decide immediately 

 that I want none of that stock ; they 

 are liybrids, and the beautiful Ital- 

 ians are deteriorating in such hands. 

 The absurd and inconsistent idea that 

 the Italian bee, in all its purity, will 

 not gather as much honey under the 

 same circumstances as dark-colored 

 bees (hybrids), is all bosh. 



A good deal is said about the adul- 

 teration of honey, which is right and 

 proper, but we should not lose sight 

 of the fact, that the Italian bee has 

 been adulterated with ugliness, ill- 

 nature and crossness. With all the 

 importations of different races, and 

 the frequent crossings of the same 

 with the pure Italian, nothing better 

 has been produced. I am not quietly 

 grinding my own axe, for I am not 

 breeding queens for sale. 



On the first of last June, one of my 

 best Italian colonies swarmed ; in due 

 time a fine-looking young queen was 

 hatched and laying. As the colony 

 took kindly to the boxes, I did not dis- 

 turb them' until 21 days ; when I ex- 

 amined, to see how she had mated, I 

 was surprised to find no brood, but 

 plenty of eggs, and my queen appar- 

 ently all right. I examined weekly, 

 and found the same condition of 

 things. On Aug. 21. 1 destroyed her, 

 as she was worthless. In all the bee 

 literature at my command, I have not 

 read of a like circumstance. 



I build, for my own use, a side and 

 top storing hive, and believe them to 

 be the best for comb honey. I prefer 



