298 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



densed and put in tabular form so as 

 to occupy but little room. Who would 

 not like to see the result i Let us 

 have the evidence. 

 Christiansburg,5 Ky. 



WeBtera Plowman. 



Apiciiltiiral Notes for May, 



C. H. DIBBERN. 



Of all the months of the year May 

 is perhaps the most important to the 

 successful apiarist. Of course this 

 statement would apply to April in 

 the States south of " Mason and Dix- 

 on's line." It is yet too early to ex- 

 pect to secure much surplus honey, 

 and I And it more profitable to direct 

 all my energies to building up my 

 colonies to a uniform, strong condi- 

 tion. If the bees are worked for ex- 

 tracted honey, some extracting may 

 be done to advantage during fruit 

 bloom ; but for comb honey, I do not 

 think it desirable to greatly increase 

 the bee space. Then, too, honey 

 stored so early in the sections is some- 

 what dark, and in my locality not 

 much can be secured, and that only 

 by the use of ready-built combs, 

 which I have not found desirable. 

 Such combs will, generally, only be 

 partly filled, if touched at all, in 

 patches and sealed over rather dark, 

 to be finished later, during the white 

 clover harvest, thus securing only 

 second grade honey at best. 



A better plan for the bee-keeper to 

 pursue is, to equalize his colonies, by 

 taking a comb of brood or two of such 

 colonies as would store a little honey, 

 and give them to such as would other- 

 wise not build up sufficiently to store 

 any surplus during the white honey 

 harvest. After all the equalizing has 

 been done that is practicable, some 

 colonies will be found that are not up 

 to the standard, and in such cases, the 

 best way is to confine the bees to only 

 as many combs as they will cover, 

 taking the surplus combs away and 

 contracting the space by division- 

 boards. As the bees increase and 

 more space is needed, give them an 

 empty comb or two, and place them 

 near the centre of the brood-nest. If 

 there should be a lack of honey, a full 

 comb may be given by placing it at 

 the side of the brood-cluster. Of 

 course a great deal of judgment must 

 be used in doing this kind of work. It 

 is not best to be forever breaking the 

 hives open and disturbing the bees in 

 cold weather ; neither is it advisable 

 to open the hives when there is no 

 honey coming in, and thus induce 

 robbing. If hives must be opened at 

 such times, do it in the evening when 

 but few bees are flying, and stop as 

 soon as many robber bees appear. 

 There is no necessity to be forever 

 opening hives and exposing honey to 

 robber bees. The experienced bee- 

 keeper is able to look through an 

 apiary of hundreds of colonies when 

 the bees are flying, and by simply 

 watching the movements of the bees, 

 almost invariably can tell the exact 

 condition of every hive. 



Right here a novice is often mis- 

 led. I was once called to see a very 



strong colony, that was supposed to 

 be gathering honey at a fearful rate. 

 Of course I recognized the shrill 

 sound of the robber bee long before I 

 came near the hive. There was quite 

 a falling in the hopes of the bee- 

 keeper when I told him that instead 

 of his bees gathering honey, about 

 all the bees in town were carrying it 

 away. 



Another case I remember : I was 

 called to see a colony where there 

 seemed to be plenty of bees, but were 

 lazy, as they were clustered about the 

 entrance doing nothing, while other 

 colonies were piling over each other 

 carrying in honey and pollen. When 

 I told the owner that about all the 

 bees in that hive were at the en- 

 trance, and that the colony was 

 queenless, he seemed incredulous. 

 Upon opening the hive, however, I 

 soon satisfied him that I was right. 



The bee-keeper should ever remem- 

 ber that he cannot expect a large 

 honey crop without plenty of bees to 

 gather it. In this locality. May is the 

 month that we want to produce bees 

 by the millions, as they are the ones 

 that will gather the honey in June 

 and July. Everything should be 

 done that can be done this month to 

 build up every colony strong in bees, 

 and next month will be the time to 

 work for all the honey that can be 

 secured. If we have the bees at the 

 right time, and the season is at all 

 favorable, and we attend to the neces- 

 sary work of placing on the surplus 

 arrangements, there need be no fear 

 about getting the honey. 



While in this latitude but little 

 swarming need be looked for in May, 

 yet hives should be in readiness, for 

 there will be plenty of other work 

 when swarming-time comes. Indeed 

 all the work that can possibly be 

 done , while the weather is cool , should 

 be attended to now. Sections should 

 be made up, foundation placed in 

 them and put in cases ready to go on 

 the hives. Hives should be neatly 

 painted, as they last much better, 

 and help very much in giving the 

 apiary a pleasing appearance. Every- 

 thing in the shape of sections, cases 

 or other material likely to be needed 

 during the busy time, should be on 

 hand. If not, order at once, as you 

 cannot always get it at the moment 

 wanted. Remember when you are 

 busy with the bees, supply dealers are 

 doubly so, and disappointment and 

 loss are often the result. 



Milan, 0+ Ills. 



For tne American Bee Joumat. 



U. S, Honey-Producers' Association. 



W. H. STEWART. 



I am decidedly in favor of organiz- 

 ing the proposed " United States 

 Honey-Producers' Association." The 

 truth is, tliat something must be done 

 that will effectually protect the in- 

 terests of honey-producers, or they 

 will be compelled to go out of the 

 business. A man may keep a few 

 bees in connection with some other 

 more lucrative business, and be lay- 



ing up every year something more 

 than the cost of living from his en- 

 tire business, and not know whether 

 the production of honey is profitable 

 at the market price or not. 



If a bee-keeper is engaged in the 

 rearing of queens, or furnishing bee- 

 keepers' supplies, and having a brisk 

 trade, he may be saving some money, 

 but if he were to leave oft all other 

 branches of business, and make the 

 production of honey a specialty, and 

 have to take our present chances for 

 a market, he would find it very hard 

 to support a family in a respectable 

 and comfortable manner. 



It will be remembered that I have 

 before stated in this paper that our 

 honey should be handled only by 

 commission men that were approved, 

 or chosen by bee-keepers ; and that it 

 would be the business of those com- 

 mission men to keep well posted as to 

 the market value of honey in all parts 

 of the civilized world ; to know what 

 rates of freight could be secured, and 

 that they should keep the bee-papers 

 and bee-keepers posted in the matter; 

 thus enabling us to ship our honey 

 direct to the best markets. These 

 commission men should also have a 

 good understanding with each other, 

 so that a surplus that may be found 

 in one market may be forthwith 

 shipped to another that is not well 

 supplied. 



How is it now with the honey mar- 

 ket? Not one bee-keeper out of a 

 hundred that ships his honey to the 

 great markets, has ever seen the man 

 to whom the honey is sent. We 

 know not, and have no means of 

 knowing, whether the merchant is 

 responsible or not ; or whether he is 

 honorable or dishonest. Again, let 

 us suppose that a merchant reports 

 that my honey is sold at 6 cents per 

 pound. How am I to ever know for a 

 certainty that it was not sold for 10 

 cents per pound ? I can do nothing 

 about it. Yet this is not all. Many a 

 poor, hard-working bee-keeper has 

 shipped away as best he could, his 

 entire crop, and never got one cent in 

 return ! 



Much has been said about home 

 markets for honey. It is true that a 

 given quantity may be sold at home, 

 but to talk of us all disposing of a 

 good crop near home, is utter non- 

 sense ! Honey is mostly produced in 

 the rural districts, and those who use 

 it are mostly in the towns and cities, 

 and the product must be carried to the 

 consumer. 



Here in the West is in operation an 

 organization called the " Farmers' 

 Alliance," and farmers here in Dakota 

 can get, at the present date, 7 cents 

 more per bushel for wheat from the 

 " Alliance," than from merchants 

 that are shipping to commission men 

 in the large cities. Farmers that are 

 in want of immediate cash, are al- 

 lowed to draw a portion of the worth 

 of their crop from a fund kept for 

 that purpose by the " Alliance," and 

 the balance when the wheat is dis- 

 posed of. This would be a good 

 arrangement with our proposed honey- 

 producers' association. 



Some propose to discontinue the 

 publishing of the honey-market re- 



