THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



139 



Local Convention Directory. 



1887. Time ond piaet of M«e((n«. 



Mar. 3. 4.-Pan-Handle. at Wheeling, W. Va. 



W. L. Kinaey, Sec, Blaine, O. 



Mar. 16. -St, Joseph Inter-State, at St. Joseph, Mo. 

 E. T. Abbott, dec. St. Joseph. Mo. 



Vf~ In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetlBtfs.— Kd. 



^iMS^^^^ 



Bees in the Cellar. — Christian 

 Weekesser, Marshal ville, 5 Ohio, on 

 Feb. 16, 1887, says : 



Having been very successful in win- 

 tering bees in a cellar which opened 

 into a basement kitchen, and on ac- 

 count of a rather neglected condition 

 of the apiary, I placed about one-half 

 of my bees into another vacant cellar 

 the past fall, and expected my usual 

 success. I had no apprehensions in 

 regard to their condition, until the 

 temperature went down, and the 

 nuclei became affected with diarrhea. 

 I at once took them all out, letting 

 them fly for a day or two, and packed 

 a part of them and returned the rest 

 to a better cellar, where, I believe, 

 they are now faring as well as usual. 



Proper Spacing of Brood-Combs.— 

 Louis F. Burgess, North Walton,©.. 

 N. Y., asks: 



1. What is the exact depth of the 

 cell in which the pupa-bee is confined 

 for development. 2. What is the ex- 

 act space between combs that bees 

 will leave on sealing cells, either 

 brood or store ? I am after the proper 

 spacing of brood combs from centre 

 to centre, concerning which differing 

 statements have appeared. 



[An average of thirteen-thirty-sec- 

 onds of an inch ; the spaie bees leave 

 between their combs, varies somewhat 

 where they build with no guide except 

 their instincts. This is true of both 

 store and brood combs. As it is best 

 to adopt a system that keeps the 

 combs the same distance apart all the 

 year around, no doubt that distance 

 is 1% inches from centre to centre. — 

 Jame.s Heddon.] 



Bees are Uneasy.— Mr. E. D. Lerch, 

 Leeds Centre,© Wis., writes : 



My bees are uneasy, crowding 

 around the entrance, and many come 

 out in the cellar. They have quilts 

 over the hives, and the temperature 

 is from 38° to 42^. There is a good 

 fire in the room above, and the cellar 

 door leading to it is open at night. 

 What is the matter with them? 



[The description given is insuffi- 

 cient to determine the cause of the 

 trouble.— Ed.] 



Feeding and Packing Bees.— A 



Subscriber desires the following ques- 

 tions answered : 



1. When the fall flowers are scarce, 

 so that the bees cannot gather enough 

 honey for winter, and through some 

 unavoidable circumstances they can- 

 not be fed enough before putting 

 them into the cellar, can they be fed 

 at intervals while in the cellar, as a 

 general thing, without injurious re- 

 sults V 



2. It is recommended at all times 

 when forest leaves are used, to use 

 either sugar or maple leaves, or beech 

 leaves, to pack bees with for winter. 

 Will not any other kind of leaves do 

 as well to pack bees with as the above- 

 mentioned leaves V Will not any kind 

 of leaves, even fruit-tree leaves, ab- 

 sorb the moisture as well as the maple 

 leaves y 



[There is no doubt but that under 

 certain circumstances, with all condi- 

 tions right, bees may be fed pure cane 

 sugar syrup every day, in a cellar. 

 But why allow such a starved condi- 

 tion to prevail so late in the season ? 

 I should use any kind of leaves that 

 were the handiest.— James Heddon.] 



Bees Wintering Well.— Thomas C. 

 Stanley, Boyleston,? Ills., on Feb. 18, 

 1887, says : 



In the fall of 1S8.5 I put into winter 

 quarters 60O colonies, and in the 

 spring of 1886 I had 200 poor colonies 

 left. The past season I increased 

 them to 400, in one way and another, 

 and obtained a surplus of about 3,000 

 pounds of comb honey. So far this 

 winter I have not lost 5 per cent., and 

 I hope that we have seen the worst 

 here, and that we may now have a 

 successful season or two. 



Making Honey- Jnmbles. — J. W. 

 Park asks the following question : 



How are honey-jumbles made i* I 

 have been told that they will get soft 

 in damp weather, and spoil. Is this 

 true V What are they worth ? What 

 will the outfit cost to make 10 pounds 

 of honey-jumbles per day V 



[Will any one who can, please an- 

 swer the above questions ?— Ed.] 



Zinc ftneen-Exclnders.— Jos.Beath, 



Corning, ? Iowa, says : 



I work my apiary for extracted 

 honey, and use a frame 12x12 inches, 

 9 frames to the hive ; the top story for 

 surplus is the same size. My queens 

 use, on an average, about J^ of the 

 upper story for brood in the honey 

 season which continues during white 

 clover, and with intermissions until 

 the fall flowers are gone. About what 

 per cent, of surplus would I be likely 

 to gain by using zinc queen-excludersV 



[While the zinc queen-excluders 

 may be very convenient, they would 

 not affect the quantity of surplus 

 honey obtained.— Ed.] 



Bees Storing Rye-Meal, etc.— S. H, 

 Rickard, West Bridgewater,*o Pa., oa 

 Feb., 19, 1887, writes: 



My bees had a good flight yesterday.. 

 I have 10 colonies in the upper part 

 of my stable, fixed so that they can fly 

 out and in at will. They carried in 

 quite a lot of rye-meal. I examined 

 them and they had plenty of stores- 

 and quite a lot of brood in all stages ; 

 some of them had part of three frames- 

 filled with brood. The bees outdoor* 

 took no meal, but perhaps they are 

 not breeding like those in the stable. 

 I notice that some are agitating bee- 

 legislation. I think that it would be 

 a detriment to nine-tenths of the 

 bee-keepers. Why not " let well 

 enough alone," and not make bad 

 worse ? 



Sundry Questions.— Jno. E. Heard,. 

 PikeTille,oTenn.,asks the following; 



1. What quantity of bees in the 

 spring is an average good colony V 



2. What is the average fair wages 

 for one to take charge of 150 colonies, 

 spring count, and then produce fron> 

 200 to 250 queens for sale ? 



3. Can old people get spectacles to 

 wear naturally, that will magnify two 

 or three times larger when looking 

 over bee-frames ¥ 



[1. That depends upon how early in 

 the spring. Say from ten to thirty 

 thousand. 



2. A practical apiarist should com- 

 mand between .50 and 100 per cent, 

 more than the wages given to com- 

 mon laborers. 



3. You can get spectacles that will 

 aid you greatly in looking over combs- 

 for queens.— James Heddon.] 



Bees Packed in Chaff,— J. O. Mun- 

 son, Peruville,© N. Y., on Feb. 3,. 

 1887, says : 



I put 70 colonies into winter quar- 

 ters, and thev had a good flight about 

 the middle of January ; they appeared 

 all right. I winter my bees in chaff 

 hives. I expect a good crop of honey 

 and not a little money next season. 



my Advertlseiuent has caused a real 

 rush, so that I have made up my mind that 

 the American Bee Jodknal is an excellent 

 advertising medium, considerinff the small 

 size of my advertisement. It far exceeds 

 my expectations.— C. W. Dayton, Bradford, 

 Iowa. 



More Premiums.— Mr. L. J. Dlehl, of 

 Butler, Ind., offers a colony of Italian bees 

 as a present to the person sending to this 

 office the lartrest club of subscribers for 

 1887. The subscriptions may be sent in at 

 any time before the first of May at our regu- 

 lar club rates, and additions made as de- 

 sired, but it must be stated that you are 

 working for that premium, so that we can 

 keep account of the subscriptious. 



