1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



183 



propolizing the sections. As a general thing, bees do not 

 gather much propolis until toward fall. 



I know of no location better suited to the production of 

 first-class comb honey than the alfalfa regions of Colorado and 

 the West generally. I am told that in some parts of Utah the 

 sweet clover grows so abundantly that it furnishes all the 

 conditions for a first-class article. Where there is an abund- 

 ance of linden, or basswood, all of the conditions are favor- 

 able for whiteness, but the flavor will not compare with that 

 of alfalfa or sweet clover, and as to body, if I may be excused 

 for using the slang, the basswood is not "in it" with the two 

 above-named plants. I have also seen some very fine sage 

 honey from the Pacific coast. Wherever there is a bountiful 

 supply of white clover, if it yields nectar, there will be no 

 trouble to secure a quality of honey that will hold its own in 

 any market. There are, no doubt, other plants and localities 

 which furnish all the favorable conditions, for, of course, I do 

 not pretend to mention, nor even to know about all of thera. 

 However, the principles first laid down as to rapidity of flow, 

 etc., will apply to any plant or locality. 



Another one of the essentials, and I do not know but it 

 is the, essential, is a first-class, wide awake man or woman to 

 look after things. No loose-geared, shiftless, lucky-go-easy, 

 run-down-at-the-heel individual will ever be able to put on the 

 market an extra-fine quality of comb honey. Such people, if 

 any there be in the bee-business, would better quit or resort to 

 the extractor. I presume Friend Dadant would say, "Quit," 

 and perhaps he would be about right. 



WHEN TO BEGIN. 



When is the time to prepare for a crop of this kind ? 

 Last fall. It takes bees to gather honey, and in order to have 

 plenty of bees for the next season's work, all of the colonies 

 must be properly looked after the fall before. In order to get 

 the best results out of bees in the summer they must be prop- 

 erly wintered. I do not intend here to enter into any discus- 

 sion of what is known as the " winter problem," but only 

 desire to say that by some process the colonies must be kept 

 strong and healthy. 



Assuming that the bees have passed through the winter 

 all right, and that the spring has opened, then the question 

 arises, what is the first move to be made ? This brings us to 

 the subject of 



SPRING CARE OF BEES. 



To feed or not to feed, that is the question. Well, on 

 general principles I prefer not to feed, yet it is of very great 

 importance that no colony be left to feel the want of food for 

 a single day after the spring opens. They should not only 

 have enough to live on, but enough and some to spare, if they 

 are to build up rapidly. Of course, in these remarks it is 

 taken for granted that the honey-flow is an early one. Where 

 the main crop comes in the fall there is no hurry about build- 

 ing up. 



My first choice for spring feeding is surplus combs of 

 honey to be given to the bees in such quantity that they will 

 feel that they have plenty, and at the same time avoid crowd- 

 ing the queen too much, so that she may have room to do her 

 best at laying as the season progresses. If one has no extra 

 combs of honey, and there is not plenty in the hive to more 

 than supply the wants of the colony until the first honey-flow, 

 then one must resort to feeding. 



Just here I want to caution all who read this, about begin- 

 ning to feed too early. Bees are frequently stimulated to 

 activity by feeding so early in the season that they fly out of 

 the hive when it is too cold, and thus wear themselves out and 

 die to no purpose. 



I have never found anything better for spring feeding 

 than an oval, wooden butter-dish. They are very handy and 

 cost less than any other kind of a feeder, and having no metal 

 or glass about them, they are not cold. They should be set in 

 the top of the hive, and a couple of sticks laid across each 

 after they are filled with syrup. Turn back one corner of the 

 cloth which covers the brood-nest, so the bees will have access 

 to them, and then put about two thicknesses of newspaper over 

 them, tucking it down snugly around the edges. This will 

 prevent the bees being chilled when they come up after the 

 sugar syrup. I put the syrup in quite warm early in the even- 

 ing, and then it is all down before morning. If a honey-board 

 is used, a hole bored in the center will answer the purpose, 

 and this can be plugged up with a cork during the winter. 

 Some say feed slowly, but I prefer to give them all they need 

 about as quickly as possible. I think this method will secure 

 the best results. 



I have assumed that a live bee-keeper will know just when 

 to expect the honey-flow, and that he will shape his actions 

 accordingly. St. Joseph, Mo. 



Swarmittg and the Prevention of Increase. 



BY JAS. POINDEXTEK. 



On page 89, "Gleaner" propounds a few questions relat- 

 ing to my plan of preventing increase, as given on page 36. 

 Before answering I will thank him for his compliment on my 

 essay. 



As to the number of swarms treated after they had 

 swarmed, it would be difficult to give. I have been practicing 

 the method successfully for 17 years, about 15 of which my 

 two apiaries numbered 200 colonies, with little variation until 

 the winter of 1891-2 they were badly reduced. Since then I 

 have been working almost exclusively for increase. 



The number of swarms that reissued was not large. 

 Though more or less, according to the season. The number of 

 queens lost when released was very small — the same precau- 

 tion being used then as when introducing, that is, to note if 

 there was any hostility of the bees to the queen recage her. 

 The loss of queens and the issuing of swarms with young 

 queens occurred mostly near the close of the honey season, 

 when swarms were less valuable, and I would not be at the 

 bee-yards sometimes more than once or twice a week. In my 

 absence occasionally a swarm would issue and the queen be 

 lost by entering a strange hive. This I take as a fact from 

 purposely leaving some of the queens uncaged awhile where I 

 was present and found that some would not have reached their 

 own hive without assistance. 



There is one item not given in the Bee Journal which, if I 

 remember correctly, was in the original essay. (If it was 

 not, it should have been). That was, to destroy the queen- 

 cells before releasing the queen. 



It was my purpose in presenting the subject to the State 

 convention, to draw out a more practical method for the pre- 

 vention of increase ; but as I left shortly after, to meet my 

 team, I did not get to hear one given. If "Gleaner" or any 

 one else can give us a better plan during the production of 

 comb honey, let us have it in time to test the coming season. 



Bloomington, Ills. 



Intense Bee-Culture for the Future. 



BY S. 8. BUTTS. 



I was very much interested in the article in the American 

 Bee Journal by G. M. Doolittle under the caption, "How 

 many bees shall we keep?" For some time I have been 

 revolving the same question. Nearly a year since I suggested 

 that in many sections the bee-pasturage was overstocked, and 

 meant to say further that in my opinion apiarists would make 

 more money if their stock was reduced one-half. But by a 

 slip of the pen I got it a hundred per cent, and you doubtless 

 remember how a certain doctor arose to remark that I would 

 be very severe on the bees ! I, however, considered how little 

 it takes to disturb a "straw" man, and decided not to resent 

 the severe charge. 



But to return to my subject. Nothing short of thorough- 

 ness pays in these times of low prices and sharp competition. 

 Slipshod methods in any business are sure to end in loss and 

 disappointment. I am a farmer, and I know that only intense 

 farming pays. And I am just as certain that anything short 

 of thorough work and skillful management among the bees 

 must result in failure and loss. To be sure, some unsuccessful 

 bee-keepers still remain in the business for the pleasure it 

 affords. Much as I like to be among the willing workers and 

 golden beauties, studying their habits by observation aided by 

 bee-literature, if this pursuit did not enable me to take in a 

 few shekles, its pleasures and charms would vanish like the 

 frost-work before the rising sun. 



Earlier, when the field was but partially occupied, before 

 the day of sharp competition, when honey ruled very high, 

 even the careless bee-keeper made some money. Now, from 

 the alpha to the omega of the business, every detail must be 

 attended to with the greatest precision and care, to secure the 

 grade and amount of honey necessary to success. It can 

 never pay to keep 500 colonies of bees in a certain field to 

 secure 10,000 pounds of honey where 200 colonies would 

 produce the same, with about half the work and expense. 



No scrub bees need come into the race. Only those of a 

 high type can ever be a source of much pleasure or profit to 

 their owners. To keep up the standard, and as far as pos- 

 sible raise it, requires knowledge, vigilance and skill. If we 

 could be rid of all the low-grade bees in the country, that are 

 ever contaminating the best blood, and if their owners would 

 give the business over entirely into better hands, then a 

 brighter day would dawn on our pursuit. The standard of 

 bees and bee-keepers advanced, the average grade of honey 



