1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



413 



^n)or)^ tljG Bee-Papers 



Gleaned 1}\- lir. jyiillor. 



BEES IN SNOW. 



I tried an experiment with seven colonies of bees. On 

 January 3() I went to my Zorra apiary. The snow was deep ; 

 I dug a hole about 2x1 foot at the entrance of these the entire 

 depth of the snow, put a board on top of the snow, thus en- 

 closing the hole. Of these, one queenless was dead, the other 

 six wintered well. Three of them in winter-cases were so 

 strong they were hanging out the other day ■when ice froze 

 three-eighths of an inch thick. — J. B. Hall, in Canadian Bee 

 Journal. 



FOUL-BKOOD LAW IN WISCONSIN. 



N. E. France has been making a strong effort to have 

 some legislation in Wisconsin that would do something toward 

 protecting bee-keepers against foul-brood. In conjunction 

 with others he framed a bill much like the Canada foul-brood 

 law. This was referred by the legislature to the Committee 

 on Agriculture. Mr. France says in Gleanings : 



" Said Committee reported the bill was worthy of consider- 

 ation ; but as it provided for an appropriation to defray ex- 

 penses of a State Inspector, they would recommend the bill 

 for indefinite postponement. As soon as this report reached 

 me, I learned by several assemblymen, that, if the bee-keepers 

 would write them, urging the passage of the bill, it would 

 have quite an effect. I wrote 65 postal-card requests to bee- 

 men, asking them to plead for their interests. Had they all 

 responded with the earnestness of F. Wilcox, H. Lathrop, and 

 F. Murray, Wisconsin would have had a foul-brood law. 



"I set a date for them to reply. The same date t again 

 appeared before another State claim committee, with only a 

 small handful of letters for support. As a last resort I pre- 

 sented this committee a bill the same as before, except that no 

 State money was asked, but a two-cent-per-colouy tax on all 

 colonies of bees, to defray expenses, was added. As this made 

 the bill self-supporting, they voted to recommend its passage. 

 Kext day it was presented to the Senate, and returned for in- 

 definite postponement. 



"Now, Wisconsin brothers in bee-culture, I have been at 

 .S25.00 personal expense, and wish to say that, if you had 

 done your part, we should have had a law for our defense. 

 Am I going to give it up? Not until we have a State foul- 

 brood law. I know the ground we have to go over, and will 

 for the next two years try to get our bee-keepers interested. 

 If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." 



WOOD-BASE FOUNDATION. 



Mention is made in Gleanings of foundation made with a 

 base of wood 1/48 of an inch thick. The editor is not very 

 enthusiastic about it, and no mention is made of any cordial 

 approval by the bees. 



THE STRENGTH OP BEES. 



A French naturalist, Mr. Plateau, has tested various in- 

 sects to ascertain their strength, and finds that the smallest 

 ones are very often the strongest. According to his experi- 

 ments, a bee can drag off 30 times as much as a horse can, 

 according to its size. One bee dragged easily 20 others, and 

 showed a power proportionate to a locomotive. What as- 

 tounding muscular power the bees must have, we think, when 

 we remember that the weight of a whole swarm hangs from a 

 limb, when but comparatively few bees touch the limb itself. — 

 K. R. Mathey, in Gleanings. 



TALL HIVES FOR WINTERING AND BREEDING. 



Bees are but one branch of my business, yet 25 years ago 

 I started iu to put a " point " on them. That point was to 

 ivuiter them and have them come out in the spring in as good 

 condition as my cows. I saw that if they could be wintered 

 successfully, the rest would all follow sure. No matter what 

 kind of hives they had, it was the point to winter them. I 

 have succeeded surely. But when I say that with all the 

 hives tried, the scores of experiments, and much money paid 

 out, I have as my true and "pointed" friend, the old box- 

 hive, I hear you say, "Pudge ; fogy; fool !" But don't judge 

 too quickly, nor call me cranky, for surely my experience 

 proves that I am not. Now suppose you had an acre, or say 

 even 200 tall hives of bees, 28 inches high, just for breeders. 

 They would live sure, with all that white honey In them, that 

 is the point — they would live, and out-doors, too. You would 

 bore two holes, in or on top the hives, and put a loose box over 



them. This must be done sure, leave the entrance open as in 

 summer. Mine don't rob, they are all so powerful. I say, if 

 you had them you would not need to look at them during the 

 whole year, only to catch their swarms and put them in small 

 hives, say 7 or 8 inches high, and worked for comb honey for 

 all there was in them until fall, and then take them up, or 

 have an auction and sell them, or do what you please with 

 them. I say you would not call me cranky when you saw 

 your thousands of pounds of — oh, such wliite honey, for you 

 put the swarms from your breeders into empty hives to work 

 them each year, and how can your honey be travel-stained ? 

 It can't, it is beauty itself. Managed in this way the thing 

 goes right on each year, same as your dairy, and with not 

 much more loss of colonies than cows. — Jno. F. Gates, iu 

 American Bee-Keeper. 



NEW vs. OLD STrLE MILLER FEEDER. 



When the Miller feeder was improved upon, Dr. Miller 

 was very much pleased with the improvement, and we made 

 25 of the new kind, intending to discard the old ones. But 

 after a thorough trial we liked the old ones a good deal bet- 

 ter. In the first place, if there's any leakage it is inside the 

 hive, and that is quite a point. It is more convenient to have 

 one large compartment rather than two smaller ones. The 

 one point that we thought would be of so much value, and 

 prove so much superior to the old one, that of the passageway 

 directly over the brood-nest instead of at the sides, in actual 

 practice has not proven to be so. Just why, I cannot tell. It 

 really seems as if it ought to be ; but our old feeders are the 

 ones that are emptied first, and, as a consequence, the new 

 feeders are the ones we use last. — Emma Wilson, in Gleanings. 



Soui1r)crr) Departn;)et;)t^ 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. J. P. II. BROWX, AUGUST^l, GA. 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department.— ED.] 



The Tc.vas State Coureiition. 



We are expecting a big meeting at our next Texas State 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention, as there are some nice premiums 

 offered for the best exhibits. Don't forget the time— -Aug. 21 

 and 22, 1895. W. H. White, Sec. 



Deport, Tex. 



-^ — ■ ^ 



Bee-Keeping in Louisiana. 



My attention was called to the bee and its industrial pro- 

 duct about four years ago, on a visit to a colored friend resid- 

 ing five miles southeast of this city. This man had the mis- 

 fortune to have had his legs affected with ulceration, so much 

 as to cause amputation of one just below the knee, while the 

 other leg remained, and is at present, in an ulcerated condi- 

 tion. Possessing intellectual attainments, and a dependence 

 not prone to his race, he sought a vocation which he could ply 

 in his crippled condition, and a kind Providence led him to 

 an apiary. The physician whom he consulted regarding the 

 purchase of an artificial leg — (Dr. Marshall, with whom a cor- 

 respondent of the Bee Journal, Mr. M. M. Baldridge, was 

 well acquainted), was engaged in this industry. On my visit 

 he invited me to go through (as he expressed it) his bee-farm, 

 comprising about 25 hives, about one-half being what is com- 

 monly termed box-hives, the kind our forefathers used, and 

 the balance in the Gallup frames of all dimensions — in fact, 

 he used boxes for hives obtainable from the nearest grocery, 

 and made frames accordingly. I became much interested at 

 the intelligence and industry displayed by the busy little bee, 

 and began a study of the same, which caused the purchase of 

 the "ABC of Bee-Culture," " Langstroth on the Honey- 

 Bee," and kindred books, and subscribing to the invaluable 

 American Bee Journal. As a result, we have now nearly 300 

 colonies, all in 8-Hoffman-frame dovetail hives. 



I enclose a letter received from my associate, in com- 

 pliance with my requestiug him to furnish me some news. If 

 you deem this and his letter worthy of publication, you have 

 my permission to publish the same. E. R. Bernstein. 



Shreveport, La., May 15. 



The letter referred to by Mr. Bernstein reads as follows : 



Mr. E. R. Bernstein : — In compliance with your request 

 I herewith hand you the following data : 



