1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



268 



surprised that bees wintered in the cellar suffer greatly from 

 spring dwindling, because we always have more or less cold 

 and inclement weather after the bees must be taken from the 

 cellar. 



Early in the fall I securely protect my bees on top of the 

 brood-frames and all sides of the hive except the front, and 1 

 do not remove the outside protection until it is reasonably 

 certain the cold weather is past, and the colonies are strong 

 in numbers, and not all of the top protection until I put on 

 the sections. In this way the bees are not so much affected 

 by sudden changes of the weather, and a warm hive is the 

 best stimulant the queen can have. 



By keeping my bees well supplied with food and water 

 convenient, they do not leave the hive so much in quest of 

 food on cold, wot or windy days, and become chilled and lost. 

 The result of this course, with me, is that my colonies gen- 

 erally grow continually stronger from the time they first begin 

 to fly out. 



If the bees have suffered from diarrhea, the bottom-boards 

 should be removed and thoroughly cleansed, dried and re- 

 turned. If the combs in the side frames have become damp 

 and moldy, they should be taken out and dried in the sun, or 

 in a warm room, and returned. But if the top packing has 

 been kept dry, and the hive tilted forward, there will never 

 be any moldy comb. 



Stimulative Feeding. — The general prosperity of a col- 

 only of bees in spring depends upon proper care, favorable 

 weather, and plenty to eat — the latter condition being abso- 

 lutely indispensable. The greater number of bee-keepers 

 claim that to get the best results it is necessary to resort to 

 daily feeding, whether the bees have plenty of stores or not, 

 but I think the work of the queen depends upon the care and 

 attention the workers give her, and it is certainly conclusive 

 that the bees have natural sagacity enough to feed their 

 mother well when they have plenty in store, whether fresh 

 supplies are coming in or not. I have experimented some on 

 this line, with the result that it is unnecessary to feed bees 

 that already have plenty to eat in store. 



When it is necessary to resort to stimulative feeding, we 

 are advised by many of the experts not to begin too early, be- 

 cause we are liable to have our hives full of bees which we 

 would have to feed too long before the honey-flow begins. My 

 answer to this is, that I much prefer to have my colonies 

 strong a month too soon than a month too late. My experi- 

 ence and observation upon this subject have lead me to the 

 following conclusion, that a warm, dry, clean hive with an 

 average queen, and full rations all through the spring season, 

 means a strong colony by the time the honey-flow begins. 



Consolidation of Colonies. — If a man has several colo- 

 nies of bees in the spring and desires to secure honey rather 

 than to increase the number, it will generally be found that 

 some of them are too weak to produce much surplus, and 

 should be consolidated ; and it is a question whether the con- 

 solidation should take place early or late in the spring. My 

 experience is that the conditions should be made just at the 

 time the honey-flow begins, for then you will have bad the 

 advantage of the work of two queens for 30 or 40 days in- 

 stead of one, and you will be able to determine which queen 

 should be preserved ; and if both queens are found to be doing 

 well, you can save them both by placing one of them in a 

 nucleus ; and another advantage is, that you can consolidate 

 at this time without fear of loss from fighting. 



Putting on the Sections. — I try to take the start of the 

 bees by putting on the sections early, at least a week or ten 

 days before the white clover flow begins, and then both bees 

 and queen will find that they have plenty of room, will not 

 take the swarming fever, and will go into the sections earlier. 



Robbing Among the Bees. — Although my hives set in 

 rows less than two feet apart from center to center the whole 

 year around, I have had but little trouble with robbers, and in 

 every case where robbing has occurred it has been the result 

 of my own imprudence. Outside feeding is dangerous and 

 unprofitable, and it took only a little experience to teach me 

 this fact. 



Syrup should always be fed warm, and if given even to 

 but one colony when the bees are flying and idle, it will excite 

 the whole apiary, and start them to robbing. Feed only late 

 in the evening, or upon days when the bees are not flying. 



As soon in the spring as the bees begin to fly. the en- 

 trance of the stronger colonies should be contracted to an inch 

 or two, and the weaker ones so that only a bee or two can 

 enter at a time; and should robbing begin, the best way that 

 I know of to stop it is to throw an armful of straw in front of 

 the hive that is being robbed, and sprinkle it well with water. 



CoNCLUiSioNs. — In his address to this association one year 

 ago, our worthy President, Mr. R. S. Russell, referred to the 



wide-spread bee-mortality of the winter of 1892-93, and 

 came to the conclusion that " no amount of conjuring and 

 packing could ever solve the winter problem;" and another 

 brother called it " bee-cholera." My neighborhood was no 

 exception to this serious mortality, except in about four cases; 

 two of them kept their bees in good, warm bee-houses; the 

 third had chaff hives, and none of them suffered any serious 

 loss; and I wintered 18 colonies on the summer stands pro- 

 tected as herein described, and all of them came through in 

 fine condition. A neighbor of mine, but two miles away, had 

 l-t colonies left to shift for themselves, and lost all with 

 cholera (?). I had an opportunity to examine these hives 

 after the bees were dead, and I found a nasty mess of wet and 

 moldy dead bees on the bottom, and the whole interior of the 

 hive in a damp, moldy condition, and honey enough in most 

 of them to have lasted them through. My conclusion was 

 irresistible, that the bees died from the ignorance, negligence 

 and cruelty of their keeper, and that it is this trinity, and not 

 cholera, that causes such wide-spread bee-mortality in un- 

 favorable seasons. I do not deny that in some seasons the 

 honey collected in the fall is unhealthy, but such seasons are 

 extremely unusual in this country. 



This experience and much more causes me to differ widely 

 from both the sentiment and inference contained in the above 

 reference, and while I do not believe in "conjuring," I do 

 firmly believe that " packing" and rational management has 

 already in a great measure " solved the winter problem," and 

 will eventually furnish a complete solution ; but it may be 

 that when I get older I will know more. — Read >it the Indiana 

 State Convention. Brownsburg, Ind. 



Bee-Keeping in Peidmont, Va. — S-Bauded 

 Bees. 



BY W. O. KOUDABUSH. 



Many people are laboring under the false impression that 

 the Peidmont section of Virginia is minus the natural advan- 

 tages to make it a profitable place for the bee-keeper. Now I 

 would have all the readers of the American Bee Journal to 

 dispel at once any ideas that may exist in their minds that 

 such is the case, and follow me for a moment and see if I can- 

 not give them a view of this section of the "Old Dominion " 

 that will convince them that we have here nearly all the 

 natural advantiges the bee-keeper could wish. 



The first, then, to be considered is pasturage. We have, 

 with the single exception of basswood, all any one could wish 

 for. The order in which they bloom are, fruit-bloom, maple, 

 locust, poplar, clover, persimmon, sumac, gum, etc. 



I wish to say something right here about our poplar 

 (whitewood) honey. This honey is of a rich golden color, and 

 in flavor, according to my taste, is inferior to none. The pop- 

 lars with us furnish fully as much nectar as the white clover, 

 so you see it stands with clover at the head of our honey- 

 sources. We have only a short gap in the honey-flow here, 

 and that can easily be filled with buckwheat and Alsike clover. 



When the flow from fall flowers reaches us, it is then that 

 the bees " makes things hum." It generally catches all the 

 colonies crammed full of bees, and they always gather enough 

 for winter stores, and pile up a handsome surplus. The 

 flowers that furnish us fall pasturage are the golden-rods, 

 asters, irouweed, etc. There are hundreds of others of which 

 I don't know the names. 



We have no trouble here with wintering. Plenty of stores 

 is the key to successful wintering. No cellars or special re- 

 positories are needed — the summer stands is the only method 

 employed, and is attended usually with success, if the bees 

 are provided with plenty of sealed stores. 



Bee-keeping here is in its infancy, so far as modern ideas 

 and principles are concerned. We need more power to root 

 up and overthrow the "old fogy" notions, and give room for 

 more advanced ideas of the pursuit. Scientific principles have 

 driven them from other fields, and they must drive them from 

 ours. 



With all of the advantages named, we have cheap homes 

 and one of the healthiest climates on the face of the globe. I 

 am a very poor writer, but hope I may be understood when 1 

 say to those thinking of coming into our midst — Come and 

 share the blessings God has lavished upon us. 



SOME 5-BANDED BEES. 



I cannot think of closing without saying something about 

 this race, or rather, strain of bees. 1 see a great deal about 

 them in the bee-papers. I am only one of the little " fishes " 

 compared with some of the brother bee-keepers, and I fear if 

 I venture from my lurking-place I may prove a tempting bait 



