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TfiH. A¥ERIGi^ BEE JOURNAL. 



611 



the opening is very large,and the feeder 

 very shallow. If the feed consists of 

 pure cane sugar syrup, the bees will 

 take it down to the combs in winter, 

 if in the cellar and the feeder covered 



MoTiug Bees, etc. 



Please answer the following ques- 

 tions through the Bee Journal : 



1. Can I, without loss, put my bees 

 in a new yard (adjoining the old one) 

 in the spring, when I take them out of 

 the cellar, and what precautions will 

 have to be taken. 



2. Can extracted honey be shipped 

 in barrels without waxing the same, 

 and if they are waxed, how much wax 

 will be required V M. E. Darby. 



Dexter, Iowa, Nov. 10, 1«88. 



Answers.— 1. Certainly you can, 

 and that, too, without any precaution, 

 nine times out of ten, though it will be 

 well to remove all land-marks from 

 the old apiary that you can conven- 

 iently, and place a board partially in 

 front of the hives, but so as not to 

 shade the entrances when you put 

 theni out for their first flight. 



2. My experience in waxing barrels 

 is that the wax costs as much or more 

 than the barrel, and is not needed at 

 all. A good wooden-hooped pork bar- 

 rel, made tight by a good workman, 

 will hold honey nicely. Mrs. Spades, 

 the ex-lady honey dealer of Chicago 

 and New York, told me that she was 

 convinced that wooden-hooped barrels 

 would hold honey better than those 

 iron-bound. I, at once, changed to 

 the cheaper barrel, and found her 

 opinion correct in my case. Before 

 filling a barrel, I always see that the 

 hoops are driven tightly, and the 

 outside ones nailed ; the " outside " in 

 each group. Pour in a givllon of hot 

 water, and shake until it saturates 

 each part. Pour out, then weigh the 

 tare, and fill with honey, and weigh 

 and mark all on the head of the bar- 

 rel, and you are ready for an unex- 

 pected order. 



®' A meeting of the beekeepers of 

 Des Moines Co., Iowa, will be held on 

 the second Tuesday in January, at 10 

 a. m., for the purpose of organizing a 

 county bee-kepers' association, at Mid- 

 dleton, Iowa, in R. C. Crawford's 

 Hall. John Nau, Frank Melcher, 

 A. M. Baldwin, W. R. Glandon, 

 Committee. 



Preparation of Honey for the Mar- 

 ket, including the production and care 

 of both comb and extracted honey, 

 instructions on the exhibition of bees 

 and honey at Fairs, etc. This is a 

 new 10 cent pamphlet, of 32 pages. 



Seed of an Aster. 



I enclose a package of seed that I 

 obtained from a plant that is making 

 its appearance here. It grows from 

 one to three feet high, and blooms 

 from the middle of August until frost 

 kills it. The flowers are small ; the 

 outside being white and the centre 

 yellow. The flowers look very much 

 like the flowers of the May weed. 

 The plant is very hardy, increases 

 rapidly, and stands drouth better than 

 other honey plants, and appears to 

 stand next to sweet clover for secret- 

 ing nectar. Sow the seed almost any 

 place in the spring, and the plant will 

 be apt to take care of itself ; it is very 

 hardy and will not winter-kill. 



M. Miller. 



Scott Co., Iowa, Nov. 12, 1883. 



[The plant is evidently an aster, but 

 from the seed alone, nothing very 

 certain can be said of it. Seed will be 

 sown and report made, if favorable, 

 next year.— T. J. Burrill.] 



No Fall Honey. 



We had an exceptionally bad season 

 in our immediate neighborhood. April 

 opened, promising fine weather, but 

 soon the cold set in, and in connec- 

 tion with raw winds, increased my 

 winter losses to about 80 per cent. 

 We had a very fine stand of white 

 clover, but the bees did not gather 

 any surplus until the latter part of 

 July, and then it lasted but a few 

 weeks. There was no fall honey. I 

 received about 70 pounds of mostly 

 extracted honey, per colony, spring 

 count ; but they are pretty well sup- 

 plied with stores of white clover and 

 Alsike honey. G. E. T. Kyber. 



Green Bay, Wis., Nov. 19, 1883. 



No Surplns Honey. 



The season of 1883, for bees in this 

 section, has been a peculiar one. The 

 spring opened very favorably, but May 

 was so very wet and cold that the bees 

 could not gather enough for brood- 

 rearing. .June was somewhat more 

 f avoraole, then swarming commenced, 

 and, by the time that was over, the 

 drouth was here with cold nights ; 

 during August, on account of the cold 

 nights and dry weather, no buckwheat 

 honey of any account was stored, and 

 the early frost in September cut all 

 prospect for surplus out of the ques- 

 tion. I do not think there was one 

 pound of surplus, when last season 

 there were ten pounds. Bees are now 

 in winter quarters with honey enough, 

 but weak in bees, and we are havmg 

 a perfect blizzard here ; it is already 

 18*^ above zero, and the wind blowing 

 a perfect hurricane. Bees unprotected 

 will suffer from this cold snap. I got 

 but little surplus on accoimt of selling 

 nuclei, and using my bees for queen- 

 rearing. H. H. Brown. 



Light istreet, Pa., Nov. 1.5, 1883. 



Early Frost Cut off the Fall Bloom. 



I commenced the season with 42 

 colonies ; ■'i were rather weak, and 

 owing to the cold wet spring, they 

 were all rather weak, when the white 

 clover came. I extracted 4,000 pounds 

 of extra fine honey ; and increased to 

 80. The frost came early and cut off 

 the fall honey. I sold one, and have 

 the rest in tlie cellar (all Italians). 

 John Dewar. 



Tiverton, Ont., Nov. 17, 1883, 



Cellar Wintering of Bees. 



In the fall of 1882, my 23 colonies 

 were stored for winter, viz. : Seven 

 were packed in chaff on the summer 

 stands, and 16 were put in the cellar. 

 They wintered well, and had plenty 

 of honey left. I kept the cellar at a 

 temperature of 35^ to 45°. In one in- 

 stance the thermometer fell to 32°, on 

 which occasion the bees became very 

 restless. Thinking the weather would 

 continue cold for some time, I began 

 to warm the cellar, by putting a bucket 

 full of live coals on the cellar floor, 

 several times a day. I noticed a great; 

 deal of dampness, and after using the 

 coals, this dampness was removed, 

 and the bees became quiet again. 

 Before this was done, the moment the 

 bees heard a noise, when we entered 

 the cellar, they began to fly out and 

 stir up things lively. In regulating 

 the cellar, as above stated, I think 

 bees will winter every time. I have 

 60 colonies packed into the cellar this 

 winter. I began the spring of 1883 

 with 23 colonies ; increased to 70 ; ob- 

 tained 1,0.55 pounds of extracted, and 

 1,075 pounds of comb honey; in all 

 2,130 pounds ; and average of 93 pounds 

 per colony, spring count. My best 

 colony, Cyprian, yielded 212 pounds 

 of extracted honey. The fall season 

 was rather poor ; the bees did not do 

 much after July 15, on account of dry 

 weather. John Nebel. 



High Hill, Mo., Nov. 19, 1883. 



Foul Brood. 



Several packages of discolored bee- 

 comb have been received in response 

 to request. All except one are found 

 to contain the same micro-organism. 

 The exceptional one I do not know 

 who sent ; but it came in a piece of 

 pine, and with a bored inch hole, 

 and outside made octagonal. A few 

 cells of the comb were wrapped in a 

 strip of muslin, and put into the place 

 provided in the piece of pine wood. 

 In this specimen nothing of a living 

 character has been ft)und. Another 

 specimen, sent in a stout paste-board 

 box about 2>4 by 3 inches, and labeled 

 " Cobalt " was accompanied by a letter 

 which I am sorrv to say has been mis- 

 placed without" reply. The indica- 

 tions are that in this latter there is 

 genuine foul brood. Should be 

 pleased to know again the corres- 

 liondent sending the specimen. So far 

 there is nothing to indicate a differ- 

 ence between so-called malignant and 

 mild types of the disease. Private re- 

 plies have been sent to most of the 

 receipts, but I here return many 

 thanks for the specimens sent. 



T. J. Burrill. 



Champaign, 111.. Nov. 17, 1883. 



