THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. ' 



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are claiming too large a proatonour 

 labor. They wanted me to sell my 

 honey to them at 10 cents per pound, 

 and let them retail it at 15 cents the 

 past season, but I would not do it. 

 ily honey was in one-pound sections, 

 in nice cases each with a glass side, 

 and I determined I would not go to 

 all the trouble necessary to put it on 

 their counters, and let them merely 

 hand it out to their customers, and 

 take one-third as their share. As to 

 bee-legislation, 1 do not think we need 

 much if any more than we have. My 

 bees did well last winter in a cellar 

 with the temperature at 34J above 

 zero much of the time; and this 

 winter they seem to be doing finely 

 when it runs down to 30° above zero. 

 My home is lonely this winter ; my 

 wife, after going with me for 35 years 

 of life's journey, has gone on before 

 me, to •' the better land." May be I 

 ought not to say anything about it 

 here, but the Editor's words about 

 his mother, last October, spoke to my 

 heart in such a way, and called out 

 such sympathy from bee-keepers, that 

 I feel nearer to all of them. 



Food for Shipping Bees.— Jacob 

 Alpaugh, St. Thomas, Ont., asks : 



1. What is the best food to put in 

 with queens while being shipped, or 

 with bees shipped by the pound V 2. 

 How is it made V 



[1. The "Good "candy. 2. Ask I. 

 R. Good, of Nappanee, Ind.— Ed.] 



My Report.— John B. TuUy, Wyom- 

 ing,© Ills., on Feb. 11, 1887, says : 



I commenced the spring of 1886 

 with 3 colonies of bees, and increased 

 them to 8, by natural swarming. I 

 obtained 900 pounds of honey in one- 

 pound sections, besides plenty for the 

 bees to winter on. 



being a warm day, we opened a hive, 

 which was very strong with bees, in 

 which we found brood in all stages, 

 even to capped cells, occupying a 

 space of about 6 inches square in two 

 frames. We are inclined to think 

 that our bees have began breeding too 

 early, and on too large a scale for the 

 changeable weather that we are hav- 

 ing. Two hundred colonies wintered 

 in the cellar are doing nicely. 



Shipping Bees and Keeping Honey. 

 — H. M. Moyer, Ilill Church,cx Pa., 

 asks the following : 



1. Is it safe to ship full colonies of 

 bees by express in Langstroth hives, 

 by fastening only the top-bars of the 

 frames? Or will they swing too much 

 on the bottom-bars so that it will 

 pinch the bees V 



2. Will extracted honey keep as 

 well during the summer if it was in 

 a freezing room the winter previous- 

 say in a room whose temperature was 

 a good many times at zero— as it will 

 when it was in a room which did not 

 freeze i* 



[1. It is better to cut pieces lx% 

 inches, and as long as the depth of 

 the frames, and put one between each 

 end-bar, wedging the last one. This 

 is perfectly safe, unless the combs 

 break. 



2. Yes.— Ed.] 



Patented Bee-Hives.— W.G.Hayen, 



Pleasant Mound,? Ills., says : 



Please answer this question through 

 the Bee Journal : If a person sells 

 me a bee-hive, and some one else has 

 a patent on it, who would be respon- 

 sible ? 



[If you did not know that it was 

 patented, you would be an innocent 

 purchaser.— Ed.] 



creased them to 33, sold 3, and doubled 

 up some, so that I now have 23 in the 

 cellar and 4 in a tenement house out- 

 doors, in which they winter well. We 

 had a very poor season for honey last 

 year, as it was so dry. The clover did 

 not last long, and we got very little 

 basswood honey, and no fall honey. I 

 had to feed sugar to some of the late 

 swarms before putting them away for 

 winter. I weighed and marked each 

 hive as I put them away, so I will be 

 able to tell how much it requires to 

 winter a colony of bees. The cellar 

 is about 4(P Fahr., and the bees are 

 dry and all right. 



Bees Breeding Early.- John Nebel 

 & Son, High Hill,ot Mo., on Feb. 14, 

 1887, write : 



We have had some verv changeable 

 weather lately. The temperature has 

 fallen .50^ in 18 hours. On Feb. 10 it 

 was 700; on Feb. 11,20°. Bees that 

 are on the summer stands have had 

 several good flights since Jan. 20. The 

 winter has not been very severe on 

 bees here, so far ; but they have con- 

 sumed more of their stores than usual, 

 and as they are breeding very rapidly 

 now (the weather being quite warm), 

 they will need a good deal of atten- 

 tion to supply them with enough 

 stores until fruit blossom. Jan. 24 



-E. 



Bees at Work on the Maples.- 

 J. Mathews, Riverton,*o Miss., on 

 Feb. 8, 1887, writes : 



My bees were wintered on the sum- 

 mer stands, and are doing well. They 

 commenced bringing in pollen on 

 Jan. 23, and are still doing so ; they 

 seem to be very strong in numbers, 

 and I think they are working on 

 maple and spicewood. It is earlier 

 than usual, but we are having very 

 warm weather for this season of the 

 year. My apiary is in Arkansas, west 

 of the Mississippi river, and near its 

 banks. 



Making Wax-Sheets.-J. F. S., of 

 Charles City, 5 Iowa, asks the follow- 

 ing question : 



In making wax-sheets for founda- 

 tion, how can they be dipped to make 

 both ends of even thickness V 



[Dip twice, reversing the ends of 

 the board.— Ed.] 



Bees in Splendid Condition.— 



Henry Cripe, North Manchester, 6 

 Ind., on Feb. 11, 1887, writes : 



Bees in this locality had a good 

 flight on Feb. 9 and 10, and seem to 

 be in splendid condition. My bees 

 were all on the wing except 5 colonies 

 that are buried in a clamp, and they 

 will have to stay in where they are 

 until the latter part of March. I have 

 wintered some in this manner for 

 four winters, and never lost a colony, 

 except several that starved. 



Spring Weather and Bees Flying. 



— G. L. Rankins, Weston,+o Ky., on 

 Feb. 8, 1887, writes : 



My bees had a nice flight on Jan. 

 13, and now on the 4th to the 8th of 

 February we are having spring 

 weather, and the bees are humming 

 as if it was April. I wintered my 

 bees on the summer stands, and lost 

 one colony ; it was a late swarm, and 

 it froze oii Jan. 1 ; the mercury was 8 

 below zero. 



My Experience with Bees.— Wm 

 Cleary, Algona,5 Iowa, on Jan. 21, 

 1887, writes : 



Two years ago I obtained 2 colonies 

 of bees, and secured a few pounds of 

 honey from them, and increased them 

 to 4 colonies the first year. A year 

 ago last fall I got 16 colonies more 

 and put the 20 in the cellar in the fall, 

 and last spring I took out of it 19, 

 some of which were very weak. I in- 



Good Weather for Bees.— John Rey, 

 East Saginaw,© Mich., on Feb. 10, 

 1887, says : 



Bees are having a fine time, as the 

 weather is warm and just right for 

 bees to have a cleansing flight. They 

 are spotting the snow some, but it is 

 in a dry state. Every colony in my 

 yard came ont in strong force, and in 

 a healthy condition. I notice a good 

 many young bees and a few drones 

 from some of the strongest colonies, 

 I think that fully 80 per cent, of the 

 bees will winter in northern Michigan. 



Clover in Nebraska.— N. W. AfSer- 

 baugh, Cameron,© Nebr., on Feb. 8, 

 1887, writes : 



I have 37 colonies of bees on the 

 summer stands, packed all around 

 except the front, and they have' plenty 

 of honey. Bees have been flying every 

 month this winter ; the weather is 

 mild. I had a good yield of fall 

 honey. As soon as we getclover here 

 I think that Nebraska will produce 

 more honey than any other State, as 

 clover blooms in June and heart's- 

 ease in the fall until frost. I am in 

 favor of a bee-keepers' union to regu- 

 late the price for honey. One thing 

 I am afraid of is, that the California 

 honey will regulate the prices here. 



Dr. Miller's Book, "A Tear Among 

 the Bees." ami the Bee Joijbnax, for one 

 year, we will club lor $1.50. 



