492 



JUVENILE GLEaNIKGS. 



Aug. 



but that the boy or girl would prosper who 

 Ibved God and hjs holy sanctuary more than 

 they loved their bees. — I am very glad, Mrs. 

 Harrison, that you bad iudepeudence and 

 courage enough to talk right out to the con- 

 ductor. If more people would talk right out 

 and remonstrate about these things, conduc- 

 tors, as well Hs passengers, would soon be 

 under the necessity of doing something. 



FEEDING EXTRACTED HONEY TO GET 

 THE BEES TO STORE IT IN BOXES. 



A CAUTION. 



^T is very dry here. Bees are not doing any thing 

 Ji| just now, but trying to rob one another. I tried 

 — ' to feed back some extracted honey to one hive, 

 to get them to store it in boxes, but the robbers came 

 and took the hive by storm, killed the bees, and cut 

 the combs out of the frames. 



Will A. Hammond. 

 Richmond, Va.. Aug. 10, 1883. 



Eriend H., your experimfut turned out 

 just about as I should have expected, unless 

 you took very great care and watcbed the 

 matter closely. We are having quite a 

 drought here now, and the bees are getting 

 in a mood where it is a little dangerous to 

 let them get started, especially on pure 

 honey. If you are going to feed to get them 

 to store it in boxes, or even to get the boxes 

 filled, you want to choose a strong, vigorous 

 colony — one about whose entrance a robber 

 would hardly dare buzz. The entrance even 

 then should be made pretty small. The hives 

 should be so tight that no crack or crevice 

 can give outsiders a ''sniff" of exposed 

 honey on the inside. While I think of it, 

 there is something queer about this. A 

 dish of honey in the hive will attract rob- 

 bers, while the same quantity in the combs, 

 even though it be unsealed, will occasion no 

 disturbance. I have used a Simplicity hive 

 made three stories high, for the purpose, or 

 a chaff hive will do very well, if you have 

 your feeder in one side of the upper story, 

 and the frames of sections to be filled, on the 

 other side. In the latter case you will have 

 to be careful that the bees do not build 

 combs around or in the feeder. The cover 

 to the hive must fit so closely that no bee can 

 by any possibility- squeeze undei- it. The 

 lower story should be pretty well filled with 

 brood. In fact, I would remove all the 

 combs of honey, and leave only those that 

 contain brood. Put the frames of sections 

 in the place of those you took out, if you 

 choose. Having it all fixed, now commence 

 feeding moderately. Feed at dusk, after the 

 bees have stopped fiying, and be careful 

 about opening the hive at any time during 

 the tniddle of the day. If a single bee should 

 dodge in under the cover, get his fill of 

 honey, and then slip out of the entrance, it 

 would be pretty sure to start a muss. Do 

 not let any single bee do this. I suggest 

 that you feed moderately at first ; because if 

 it comes on the inmates of the hive too sud- 

 denly, they will gorge themselves with the 

 honey, in which condition they are unfit to 

 repel robbers ; and a good strong colony may 

 be injured, if not destroyed, in the way in 



which yours was. However, it can be done 

 safely if you work slowly and carefully. 

 Take one colony first ; and when you make 

 a success of this one, commence again with 

 the others, and so on. 1 have been thus par- 

 ticular, becunse many times quite a profit 

 can l)e made in feeding back extracted honey, 

 especially when comb honey is worth 18 lo 

 tiO cts., and extracted 12 toll. Perhaps it 

 were well to add that, before you can get 

 much honey in the sections, you will have to 

 feed enough to get the brood-combs cram- 

 med full, and bulged at the corners and ends 

 of the frames. These remarks, of course, 

 are for localities were they have a drought, 

 and no honey is coming. Where bees are 

 gathering honey, of course you do not want 

 to draw their attention off from it, by feed- 

 ing them in the hive. 



SOMETHING FROM OUR FRIEND GEO. 

 GRiraiTI. 



HOW MUCH VENTILATION WHEN BEES ARE STORING 

 HONEY, AND OTHEK MATTERS. 



FRIEND ROOT:— As I do not want to make a 

 full report (itccurate records and inclination 

 ^^^* both lacking), but still don't want you or any 

 other bee-friend to believe me lost, I will write you 

 a letter, and you may print that if you choose. I 

 have never kept an accurate account of all the de- 

 tails of my bee manipulations. It is sufBcie'it for 

 me if 1 know at the end of each season exactly what 

 my net profits are; and this I usually' do. 1 work 

 my bees for profit exclusively; and during the busy 

 humdrum of the sumrnor season, bee - papers are 

 quietly laid aside, with scarcely a glance for things 

 of importance. With the sole object of profit in 

 view, you will hardly wonder that reports, discus- 

 sionsi theorife, and advice to beginners, di) not in- 

 terest me. True, sometimes a very bad error, a one- 

 sided view, or theories and deductions entirely con- 

 trary to my experience and observations, will al- 

 most draw out an answer; but I always think better 

 of it, and let others judge for themselves, as I do. 



How long this letter will be, or how many points I 

 shall bring up, now that I am started, I don't know; 

 but one thing I will endeavor not to forget, and that 

 is a criticism on you. But wait in suspense a mo- 

 ment till I tell you a little about how things progress 

 here. 



Last season I wintered in over 500 colonies; just 

 how many, I don't know; but it wasoverSOO. Out- 

 doors in chiff hives, I had 35. In the ppring, when I 

 brought those in the cellar to their summer stands, 

 I found dead in one cellar eight; in another, three; 

 and in the other, one; a total of twelve, or about 

 3 2-5;('. I lost about that many more during the 

 spring. TbojC outdoors did not do as well, owing 

 in p.irt, howtver, to laok of seasonable attention in 

 the fall. There were, if memory serves me right, 17 

 weak or dead (mostly dead). And now right here let 

 rac tell > ou that, though I do not, ns a rule, g > much 

 on luck, I am sometimes inclined to belit-ve that, as 

 a matter of fact, that element enters frequently as 

 an important factor, and that I am frequently more 

 "lucky " thin prudent. Let me explain : 



It happens to me of late every year, that about 

 this time business demands my attention in Dakota; 

 and I am frequently unable to return till within a 

 week or two before the time when bees should be 



