382 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 13, 



moved, combs take the place of the two dummies, a queen-ex- 

 cluder is given, on which is put a hive filled with foundation, 

 or else the two colonies are united, the swarm being placed on 

 top of the mother colony, the old queen being removed. Other 

 hives are added on top if needed, and at the end of the season 

 all above the excluder are removed and abundance of stores 

 given to the colony. 



WEIGHING BEES TO ASCERTAIN THE STORES. 



Mr. Abbott (page 350) thinks the ordinary mortal who 

 expects to make money out of bees must learn to take a 

 shorter cut than to weigh his colonies to decide about the 

 amount of stores. But there is such a thing as a practical 

 bee-keeper weighing his bees just hecausc it is a shorter cut 

 than hefting and looking. So far as hefting is concerned, the 

 man who has done a great deal of hefting knows that while 

 something can be told by it, it cannot be relied on for atiy 

 great degree of exactness. Suppose the actual weight of No. 

 7 by the scales is 40 pounds. If the hefter hefts it after heft- 

 ing a hive of 32 pounds, he may call it -io, and if he hefts it 

 after hefting one weighing 60 pounds he is likely to under- 

 estimate it. The more tired he is the heavier the hives will 

 feel. If Mr. Abbott will heft 100 hives with their contents, 

 then weigh the same, he may be surprised to find he's not so 

 accurate a hefter as he supposed. 



"One cannot tell the location of the stores by any method 

 of weighing," says Mr. Abbott. Neither can he tell all about 

 the location by looking at the tops of the frames, and surely 

 when Mr. Abbott talks about "shorter cuts" he doesn't mean 

 we should take out the frames one by one to see where the 

 honey is in each. I don't suppose there's anything so very 

 different about the way bees place their stores in Missouri 

 from what they do in York State. When I weigh a hive which 

 shows by its weight that about 40 pounds of honey is present, 

 I know the important thing to know. I know the honey is in 

 the hive, and I know without looking at each frame separate- 

 ly that it is not all at the bottom of the frames. I know, too, 

 that wherever it may be placed in the hive it is a good deal bet- 

 ter than if it was " in the moon," for the bees have a trick of 

 moving it where they want it, and where it will do the most 

 good. 



Mr. Abbott has my permission to examine with his eyes 

 and heft with his hands, and I'll get along generally without 

 either that or weighing, but if there comes a time when it is a 

 question whether there's need of feeding up to prevent starv- 

 ing, and I want to get along with as little time as possible, 

 I'll weigh. 



CONDUCTED BY 



Rev. Emerson T. Abbott, St. Joseph, AIo. 



Crosses the Best.—" W. Gunther stated that after 

 years of experience he had found that Italian queens were not 

 as long lived as black ones, and that Italian colonies more fre- 

 quently died in the winter; hence he preferred a cross be- 

 tween them." — Notes by P. L. Thompson, in Review. 



I am led to wonder if many bee-keepers have had a simi- 

 lar experience. If so, this would be another reason in addition 

 to those given in my articles on comb honey why the Italians 

 are not the best bees under all circumstances. I have noticed, 

 myself, that more Italian colonies than blacks die in this lo- 

 cality in the winter, but I have been inclined to attribute it to 

 the fact that nearly all, if not all, who have Italians have 

 them in hives with shallow frames, while most of the blacks 

 are yet in old box-hives. I noticed not long ago, while visit- 

 ing an apiary of Italians, that all those in tall hives were 

 alive, while those in hives with shallow frames were about all 

 dead. But, notwithstanding, I am inclined to the opinion 

 that we have bred too much for color and not enough for 

 hardy, rough-and-ready business. We can afford to be stung 

 a few more times, if we are well paid in honey as an offset, 

 and find strong and healthy colonies in our apiaries in the 

 spring, instead of empty hives. 



British Comments.— In the Britis.h Bee Journal of 

 April 25, a Mr. Brice, writing under the title of " American 

 Antiphrasis "—whatever that may mean — pours out his wrath 

 and indignation on the writer of these " Notes and Comments," 

 not for any offense committed against his own superb dignity, 

 but in defense of the editors of the British Bee Journal, whom 



he imagines I have insulted even to the verge of mortal com- 

 bat. If it were not for the fact that " ye editors" are "averse 

 to noticing this sort of a thing," I do not know but I might 

 expect the entire British navy to sail up the " Big Muddy " 

 and blow the top off of our fair city, so great seems to be his 

 wrath. However, I trust his digestion has improved by this 

 time, and, if so, I should be glad to have him ponder over 

 such phrases as the following : "Anyone possessing a grain 

 of common-sense :" " dubious methods ;" " playing a bit low ;" 

 "distinctly savoring of dishonesty." 1 should say, to use Mr. 

 Brice's language, that any man who found it necessary to use 

 so much billingsgate, must be "hard up for copy." If I 

 thought all the people on the other side felt as pugilistic as 

 Mr. B., I would be inclined to say, " Have a care, John ; do 

 not prod the Eagle too much. He's an ugly bird when he gets 

 riled, and hard to manage." But they don't. 



I have the impression that the editors of the British Bee 

 Journal are scholarly gentlemen, and abundantly able to take 

 care of themselves, and I am inclined to think they did not 

 thank Mr. Brice for rushing to their defense in this unbecom- 

 ing, and what we would call, on this side of the water, ungen- 

 tlemanly, way. I have no disposition to "discredit " anyone 

 in my " notes," and if I misunderstood the drift of the quota- 

 tions upon which I commented, I am sorry, and stand cor- 

 rected. I .want to say, however, that we call any note made 

 by the editors an " editorial," and I find the reply just as I 

 quoted it, and will leave it to any man of ordinary intelligence 

 to decide whether it does not convey the impression that the 

 writer believed in open-air feeding. Turn to page 222, and 

 read the quotation as I gave it. Somebody teaches open-air 

 feeding here, editorial or no editorial, Mr. B. to the contrary 

 notwithstanding. 



As to the other quotation about bees being animals, I may 

 have misunderstood it, but I hardly think I would be open to 

 the charge of not having " common-sense " if I did, since I 

 have seen the question asked in public print, " If bees are not 

 animals, what are they ? 



I may as well say here that my "notes" are open to the 

 same kind of treatment that I give to others, but I hope they 

 may be discussed in a gentlemanly way, and I will try to 

 clothe my replies, if any are made, in such language as be- 

 comes a gentleman. All I ask is fair treatment, and that 

 people write over their own names. This, in my opinion, is 

 the only merit Mr. B.'s article has. There is one kind of crit- 

 icism to which I make it a point to pay but little attention, 

 and that is when I do not know the real name of the author. 

 If the Editor will excuse me, I will say that I have but little 

 interest in articles which are fathered by a — nobody. I think 

 if Observer, Somnambulist (I beg the lady's pardon). Gleaner, 

 Jake Smith, Bee-Master, and others would write over their 

 own names, the contributions would be much more valuable. 

 If a thing has value, one should not be ashamed to own it. If 

 it has not, then it is not worth the printing. If it has value 

 of itself, it will be of more value If backed up by a personality 

 with a real name. I wish we might drop all of this nom de 

 pluvie business, and let the world know who we are and where 

 we are at. 



I will say further, that the American Bee Journal has 

 only one editor, so far as I know. The writer of "Notes and 

 Comments " is no more an editor of this Journal than Mr. 

 Brice is of the British Bee Journal. In fact, apparently not so 

 much so, as Mr. Brice seems to think it his duty to defend the 

 editorial staff of the British Bee Journal, while I think our 

 editor is abundantly able to defend himself. 



Ten 'Weeks for Ten Cents.— This is a "trial 

 trip" offer to those who are not now subscribers to the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. Undoubtedly there are thousands who 

 would take this journal regularly if they only had a " good 

 taste" of it, so as to know what a help it would be to them in 

 their work with bees. In order that such bee-keepers may be 

 able to get that "taste," the very low offer of " 10 weeks for 

 10 cents " is made. 



Now, dear reader, you cannot do a better service than to 

 show this offer to your neighbor bee-keepiug friends, and urge 

 them to ?end on their 10 cents and get the next 10 numbers 

 of the old American Bee Journal. In fact, i/ok could afford 

 to send the 10 cents for them, and then after the 10 weeks 

 expire, get them as new subscribers for a year. They will be 

 easy to secure then, for the 10 numbers will be a fair trial, 

 and they will want the Bee Journal regularly if they are at 

 all interested in bee-keeping. 



Remember, it's only lOlcents for 10 weeks, to all not now 

 subscribers to the Bee Journal. 



