224 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Apr. 4, 



WnnAUim STEEL WHEEL WA&ONS 



lli^-h..^t Awiir.ls 

 ut Wulld'b luir. 



Broad or narrow 

 tires, high nr 

 low wheels to 

 Utuuy skein. 



Wheels 

 or axles 

 made 

 Get cntolncneof Wl |W for 



, PotHto Div-fers »l \M ' WBBOn 

 . enait uiVc. * Picker-, i.lso. ^^gi,^ makers. 

 Liberal Discounts to Acents or first to pnrchnse. 

 McCallum Steel Wheel Wagon Co., Aurora, IlL.TJ. S. A. 

 14Ai:it Please nu-iitiou the Bee Journal. 



300 Colonies of A No. 1 Italian 



Hees In 8-f r. Dovetailed Hives, for sale CHEAP. 

 Also a Full Line of Apiarian Goods, all new, 

 at liviDfr prices. Send for Catalogue, to— 



E. T. rianag-an. Box 78U. Belleville, Ills. 

 IIAIO M'.ntUmtlieAmertcanBeeJuumcu, 



16 Years 



^''"^"BestoiiEarlli^ 



5 Sizes, from 40 cts. 

 toSl.SOeacU per Expr 

 g or by mail .50c. to $1.7. > 



Bingham Smokers 

 ^1 and Honey-Knives 



By Mail or Dozen. 



JS?" Kept in stock at low prices, by _^i 

 Harper Reynolds Co., Los Angreles, Calif. 

 Leahy Mfg. Co., HifrKlnsville, Mo. 

 Miller & Dunham, Topeka, Kans. 

 Chae. Dadanr i Son, Hamilton, HI. 

 Thomas G. Newman. 147 S. Western Ave.. 



Chicago. 111. 

 James Heddon, Dowagiai', Mich. 

 Hon. Geo. E Hilton. Fremont, Mich. 

 A. 1. Hoot Co.. Medina, Oliio. 

 W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co Jamestown, N. Y. 

 T. J. .Stringham. lOo [>ark Place, New fork. 

 W. W. Cary, Culerain, Mass. 



iS~ Send card for Illustrations and Prices. 



T. F. Bli«GHAM,Abronia, Midi. 



1 2 A Mention tlxe American Bee JoitmaL 



finnU -BICi OOL,DEN YELIiOW. 



lillKN Made 80 bus. In 18P4. By mail. 

 '•'•■■■■ postpaid. 1 07... 5c.; 1 lb., 25c. By 

 e.\press or freight t. o. b.— 1 pk.. 40c.; H bu.. 

 Toe; 1 bu., S1.25; 2 bus.. $2. Sacks tree. 

 14A4 J. K. Nniilli, State Line, Ind. 



Mention the American Bee Journal. 



The Aspinwall Hive ! ! 



Qei;)eral licn)s^ 



Gathering Pollen and Rearing Brood. 



Bees have been flying every few days all 

 winter, and on Feb. 31 they brought in 

 their first pollen ; willows are beginning to 

 bloom nicely. I opened a hive of black 

 bees to-day. which I bought of a neighbor 

 last fall, and found two full frames of 

 drone-comb, and one of them full of eggs; 

 as I do not have any use for black drones, I 

 promptly replaced those combs with frames 

 of worker-comb that I had stored away, 

 and laid those drone-eggs away to dry. 

 Every colony has from one to three frames 

 of sealed brood, and the bees are bringing 

 in immense quantities of pollen from the 

 willows, and a very little honey. Prospects 

 are good for isy5. Just now I am at White 

 River Valley, 12 miles from Seattle. 



Orillia, Wash., Feb. 37. A. W. Steeks. 





THE HIVE FOR BEES- 

 -THE HIVE FOR BEE-KEEPERS 



Send lor Illu^trateU <'lrcular. 



Aspinwall MauiifactnriDE Co,, 



13A6 JA«'K^ON, MIfH. 



Mention Vm Aincricaii, Dec Journal. 



Seem to be Wintering Well. 



My bees are in the cellar yet, and seem 

 to be wintering well so far. 



John Wagner. 

 Buena Vista. 111., March 25. 



Bees All Alive and Buzzing. 



We have just come through the severest 

 spell of weather that has occurred here 

 since I have resided in this region, now 13 

 years. For six successive nights the tem- 

 perature ranged from zero to 18 degrees be- 

 low, which, for this locality, is very un- 

 usual and extreme. For a few days we 

 have had mild weather so the bees have 

 been flying. 



I find every colony in my yard is alive, 

 and apparently ready for business. They 

 are exceedingly eager for any kind of sub- 

 stitute for pollen. The most of my hives 

 had about four thicknesses of burlap put 

 across the top under the cover and down 

 on the outside; a few, however, were with- 

 out any kind of protection except the covers 

 sealed down by the bees. I have not no- 

 ticed any apparent difference in the 

 strength and activity of the two divisions. 

 At the time of the coldest weather there 

 was about three inches of light snow on the 

 tops and in front of the hives, thus serving 

 as a very excellent protection. 



I had a great desire to attend the conven- 

 tion of the Colorado State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, but it was my misfortune to 

 be sick at the time. I came to this place a 

 physical wreck, but for several years I en- 

 joyed fair health, when the grippe gave me 

 three annual visits, since which my health 

 is poor during the winter. I think I am in 

 one of the very best localities for bees in 

 all the alfalfa region of the West, and am 

 very loth to leave it. But I fear I shall 

 have to try a change to another climate. 

 This seems the more necessary as the 

 health of my wife seems to demand a 

 change to a lower altitude and a warmer 

 climate. L. J. Templin. 



Canon City, Colo., Feb. 36. 



as original. In general, the foreign matter 

 was good, and it was that which gave value 

 to the whole volume, for in my judgment 

 the original matter was not to be compared 

 with that which we are getting in 1895. 

 Seven pages are taken up with discussing 

 the theory of J. Kirby, which is as follows, 

 on page 153; "The workers in their flight 

 with the drones alight on the drones' backs 

 and cause them to give off their semen, 

 which the workers lick up and carry to 

 their appropriate cells in their hives, for 

 the purpose of propagating the young 

 queens." To be sure, that isn't a fair speci- 

 men of the original contents, but think of 

 filling up seven pages with such stuff! 

 Would it be endured in 1895 ? 



While it may not be best to brag unduly 

 of the wonderful excellence of the apicul- 

 tural literature of to-day, the excellence is 

 none the less there, and when some one 

 says it's badly deteriorated, can you blame 

 Editor Hutchinson for speaking the plain 

 truth ? C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, lU. 



[On this same subject comes the follow- 

 ing, which will close the discussion of im- 

 proved and unimproved bee-literature in 

 these columns, as there is no cause for com- 

 plaint in regard to the matter, for the bee- 

 literature of to-day is so much in advance 

 of the price asked for it, that no one but a 

 Whatyoumaycallhim would say aught 

 against it:— The Editor.] 



Mr. Eihtor:— On page 1S9, Bee-Master 

 says bee-literature was better in 1861 than 

 at the present day. Now it is a pity that 

 Bee-Master didn't live and "shoot off " his 

 pen then. If he isn't satisfied with bee- 

 literature the way it is now. why doesn't 

 he make it better > He takes up a whole 

 column every week, and I don't see that 

 his mite is any better than nine-tenths of 

 the articles published. For my part, I am 

 satisfied with the leading journals the way 

 they are to-day. John M. Rankis. 



St. Clair, Mich. 



liiterature of '61 and '95 Compared. 



Say, "Bee-Master," what's the matter 

 with you ? To be sure, that first volume 

 of the American Bee .Journal is filled with 

 " solid, useful contents." The bee-keeper 

 who has never read it better get it right 

 away. But remember that volume had 

 virgin soil filled with basic facts, and that 

 alone would make it of value, no matter 

 how the facts were dished up. Give 1895 

 the same chance, and it would lay 1861 in 

 the shade. In typographical appearance 

 1861 is nowhere beside 1895, nor in general 

 snap and git-up. If Bee-Master will wipe 

 out of that first volume all that is quoted or 

 translated from across the sea, he may be 

 surprised to find how little he will have 

 left. I turned at random to one of the 

 middle numbers in the year, and found 

 more than twice as much foreign matter 



Bees Had a Good FUght. 



Bees had a good flight Feb. '28, in the 

 afternoon, but it is too cold for them to get 

 out much, only when the sun shines out 

 brightly, as the air is cool in the shade. 

 C. A. Huff. 



Clayton, Mich., March 33. 



Wintering— Best Bees— Paralysis. 



This has been a hard winter on bees on 

 the summer stands. I think. I packed 54 

 colonies on the summer stands, about one- 

 third of them being weak in bees, but with 

 plenty of honey. Now the question is, 

 What caused those colonies to be so re- 

 duced in number, some of them covering 

 only four or five combs when packed for 

 winter >. They were strong when basswood 

 bloomed, and I kept them down to 54 from 

 49. spring count. Did they work themselves 

 to death ? 



Our season was very dry, especially 

 through the fall bloom. Buckwheat was a 

 failure, but golden-rod yielded quite good. 

 The bees worked hard, and gave me over 

 3.000 pounds of honey, besides 30 to 35 

 pounds each for winter. Perhaps there 

 being insufficient water near them, caused 

 them to rear brood insufficiently. 



So far I have lost 5 colonies, with as 

 many more that are as good as gone. I 

 think now that I will save about 40 colonies. 



I have been very much interested in the 

 discussion as to which is the best bee. I 

 wish I knew. From my experience in the 

 last 14 years with both blacks and Italians, 

 I should say blacks. I fiud bees from an 

 Italian queen mated with a black drone are 

 excellent workers, but I believe some o£ 

 my largest yields have come from black 

 bees. I find the blacks winter better on the 

 summer stands than Italians. I am satis- 

 fied that locality has a great deal to.do 

 with it. 



I believe that what bee might be best for 



