206 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 27, 



CONDUCTED BY 



Rev. Ernorson T. Abliott, St. Joseph, JlXo. 



Correct. — "When honey is mentioned as frequently 

 as other foods ; when honey is looked upon in its proper light as 

 an economical and staple article which should be found upon 

 every table as butter now is ; when that time comes, bee- 

 keeping will have reached its proper development." — Editorial 

 in Canadian Bee Journal. 



This is very well and truly said, and the indications at 

 present all point in the direction of a more thorough knowl- 

 edge of the true value of honey on the part of the general 

 public. If we had more men like Friend Holtermann who 

 go about the country preaching the gospel of sweet things, 

 this consummation so much to be desired could be hastened 

 forward more rapidly. The bee-keepers are very much to 

 blame for this lack of knowledge on the part of many people, 

 as they have been inclined to devote too much time to the dis- 

 cussion of things of interest to themselves, and have had but 

 little thought of the general public in all they have said and 

 done. If bee-keepers do not advertise the honey-business to 

 the world, who will? 



'Wbat are Xhey?— "By no stretch of the imagina- 

 tion can bees be classed as animals." — British Bee Journal. 



If not animals, what are they ? They are surely not veg- 

 etables nor minerals. I have a faint remembrance of reading 

 a long time ago of " three kingdoms," and the bee must surely 

 belong to one of them. It seems to me " by no stretch of the 

 imagination " can a bee be called anything else but an animal. 



Go SlO'W. — "I do not see how he could conscientiously 

 write the article, unless he, a friend, or some one else ivhom he 

 Wdnts to defend is nuilty." — D. S. Jenkins, on page 179. (The 

 italics are mine). 



It is evident to me that Mr. Jenkins failed entirely to 

 comprehend the spirit of the article which he attempts to crit- 

 icise, but I want to say just here and now, and once for all, 

 that no man must say in public print, or even hint, that 

 Emerson T. Abbott adulterates honey, or winks at it on the 

 part of his friends. Mr. Jenkins may top onto any of my 

 arguments which may not suit him, but he would better go a 

 little slow about suggesting that I may be guilty of a fraud. 



Now, Mr. Editor, let me suggest that you do not give 

 space to any suggestion of this kind again; for, if any man 

 shall venture to charge me with adulteration in public print, 

 he may stand a good chance of getting into trouble, let his 

 name be what it may. I suggest, in all fairness, that Mr. 

 Jenkins read his letter over again and see if he does not wish 

 he had not put it just that way. I may have something to say 

 of the merits of the article to which he refers, in the future. 



f I don't believe that anyone would for a moment think 

 that Mr. Abbott would do such a thing as Mr. Jenkins hinted 

 at. Mr. A. is not that kind of a person, and surely Mr. J. 

 did not realize what he was uttering. I trust Mr. Abbott will 

 accept my own apology for allowing it to go in at all. I mean 

 to be careful, but. like most other people, I am not above 

 making mistakes. — The Editor.] 



Shall "We Go Back to Box-Hives?— "Of the 



many experiments I have tried, there is but one plan that has 

 proved successful and practical, and that is to keep bees in 

 old-fashioned box-hives for breeders, taking the honey for 

 market from the new swarm."— J. P. Gates, in American 

 Bee-Tveeper. 



I am not sure but there Is more in this suggestion than 

 one would be inclined to think at lirst, but let this be as it 

 may, there is, no doubt, a valuable point here for the beginner, 

 the following out of which will be of value to him in more 

 ways than one. I have long since ceased to urge upon people 

 who have bees in box-hives to have them transferred, as I 

 think this is always done at a loss. Leave the bees where 

 they are, as there can be no iiuestion that they will winter 

 better in such hives than they will in any modern hive. When 

 spring opens, conline them to the lower story, if the box-hive 

 has an upper story, as many do, and let them alone until they 



swarm. Have some hanging-frame hives ready, with the 

 frames filled with foundation, and as soon as the swarm is out, 

 move away the box-hive, and set the new one in its place. 

 Set the box-hive just behind it with the entrance turned in the 

 opposite direction, and then hive the swarm in the new hive. 

 The second day turn the box-hive around, and set it by the 

 side of the new one. Leave it there two or three days, and 

 then move it to some other part of the yard and let it alone. 



Now put a set of sections filled with foundation on the 

 new hive, and see how quickly they will be working in them. 

 When the first lot of sections are about half full, lift them up 

 and put under them as many more fixed in the same way, and 

 see how quickly this colony will fill both of them. 



In many localities the box-hive colony will not swarm 

 any more. If it does, put two such swarms together and then 

 treat in the same way. You will soon have all the bees you 

 want in modern hives, and at the same time save yourself a 

 good deal of fuss and muss, and perhaps some dollars which 

 otherwise you might have paid some would-be " bee-tamer " to 

 transfer them. 



Good Advice. — " Avoid the handling of bees and 

 opening of hives during the spring." — R. P. Holtermann. 



Here is good advice especially for beginners. I have been 

 of the opinion for a long time that it is very injurious to open 

 the hives frequently during the early spring. A great many 

 have the idea that they must examine the bees every day to 

 see how they are coming on. In my opinion this is a very 

 great mistake. Especially is this true if said examination 

 involves opening the hive and taking out all the combs. It is 

 a very easy thing to chill the young, tender brood when there 

 is a cold wind blowing. Even though it is not cold enough to 

 do this, it disturbs the bees and causes them to lose that 

 much time. 



The longer I keep bees, the more I am convinced that the 

 less they are disturbed the better it is, and this is true with 

 emphasis during the early spring months. The bee-keeper 

 should learn to judge of the condition of a colony by a glance 

 at the entrance. If this does not prove satisfactory, then a 

 hasty examination of the brood-chamber may be made, remov- 

 ing as few combs as possible. Of course, there are times when 

 it may be necessary to remove all of the frames and examine 

 them carefully, but I am quite sure that the less frequently 

 this is done the better it will be for the bees. 



Conducted by " BBE-XIA.STER." 



Climatic Couditions. 



This a very important practical subject, especially in con- 

 nection with the winter problem. There is much discussion 

 among bee-keepers as to the relative merit of cellars and out- 

 door wintering, and in the course of argument, differences of 

 climate are often forgotten. The gist of the matter was well 

 stated at the last annual meeting of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, by Mr. R. H. Smith, of St. Thomas, as follows : — 



"Our first experience was with clamp wintering packed in 

 chaff, but later we found a good cellar less labor and more 

 satisfactory where such long, cold winters and low tempera- 

 tures are the rule. Now that we are located in the southern 

 part of the Province we find clamp-wintering to be the best 

 for the following reasons : The bees are never moved from 

 the summer stand but are packed in the same position as they 

 have been all summer, consequently they do not require mov- 

 ing together as for the old system of clamp-wintering or car- 

 rying into the cellar. The bees can always get a flight if the 

 weather is fine enough as it usually is several times during the 

 winter with us, but the greatest saving is in the spring when 

 setting-out time comes they do not have a general flight as 

 cellar-wintered bees, with the attendant risk of swarining-out, 

 when some colonies will gel too many bees and others be 

 depopulated. It also covers what is generally considered 

 essential, and that is spring protection, as they are not un- 

 packed till settled warm weather. This plan is less expensive 

 than chaff hives, and better in many ways than packing each 

 hive separately." 



Cellar-wintering for Muskoka, a point very far north, and 

 clamp-wintering for St. Thomas, a point well to the south in 

 Otttario, seem to be the conclusions arrived at by Mr. Smith*as 



