THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



455 



utilized, two important preparatory 

 months were irreparably lost, and the 

 time for storing surplus honey equally 

 shortened, however favorable subse- 

 quent weather might prove. 



When March 20 arrived, which is 

 the average swarming time here, and 

 even the preliminary drones had not 

 appeared, it was evident that the 

 bees did not anticipate a good season. 

 Neither has subsequent weather 

 proved favorable. Colonies have ret- 

 rograded and eaten out the little sur- 

 plus stored by some strong ones after 

 the April rain. The total season's 

 rainfall to May 1, has been here only 

 10.2.5 inches, against an annual mean 

 of about 17. .50 inches. As 2 inches of 

 above, in November, was rendered 

 useless to the bee-business by two 

 succeeding dry months, the available 

 total conforms nearly to those of the 

 dryest seasons in fifteen years, viz : 

 1877, with 8.60 inches, and 1879 with 

 8.29 inches. 



Another unfavorable feature of the 

 past winter has been an unprecedent- 

 ed continuance of dry north winds, 

 absording moisture rapidly from the 

 ground, and choking out the shallow- 

 rooted annual plants. Also a coinci- 

 dent lack of dews and wet fogs that 

 are equally important with rain. 



All this is no news to " bee-men," 

 but it shows how easily one in San 

 Diego or elsewhere could measurably 

 see the possibility or impossibility of 

 a good honey crop, and need not be 

 misled by paragraphs quoted perhaps 

 from a source -500 miles distant. 



A comparison of weather records 

 with previous years will, by the mid- 

 dle of February at the latest, give 

 data for a pretty reliable estimate of 

 the coming season. This unproduc- 

 tive season may yet prove a blessing 

 in disguise ; giving bee-men leisure 

 for other, and more profitable, under- 

 takings. 



Fall Brook,o. Calif. 



For tlie AmerlcaD Bee Journal. 



Dry Season— BncWeat for Honey. 



J. W. SANDERS. 



We have had an extremely dry sea- 

 son, having been almost without rain 

 since the snow went off, excepting a 

 few light showers. We had a good 

 rain on July 1, that wet down plow 

 depth,the first to wet the ground since 

 planting began. Pastures and mead- 

 ows are very short. Wheat and oats 

 are short, and badly damaged by the 

 chinch bug. Hundreds of acres will 

 not be cut. Corn looks well, but 

 some is being damaged by the bugs. 



The drouth is the greatest ever 

 known in this part of Iowa. White 

 clover is almost an entire failure ; we 

 had enough to keep the brood-cham- 

 ber In fine condition, but no surplus 

 from that source. Our bees began on 

 linden about June 25, improved the 

 time for several days, but they seem 

 to be about through now. During 

 this time my bees have stored in the 

 upper stories as well as in the brood- 

 chamber, but I did not succeed in get- 

 ting any to work for comb honey in 



the sections. All the colonies seem 

 in fine condition for the fall honey, if 

 we have any. This will depend upon 

 the amount of rain that we have. 



There has been a large amount of 

 buckwheat sown in this vicinity, and 

 our July rain has brought it up nicely; 

 so we hope there is a better time com- 

 ing, and we will have the privilege 

 of feasting on buckwheat cakes cov- 

 ered with buckwheat honey the com- 

 ing winter ! Some seasons we have 

 had a fine fall yield from heart's-ease 

 and goldenrod. Hence our motto is, 

 "Do not be discouraged." 



Le Grand,0 Iowa, July 7, 1887. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Roaring in Winter— Hiying Swarms. 



G. SI. DOOLITTLE. 



I am asked by several to give my 

 views about bees roaring in winter, 

 as this question is now being dis- 

 cussed in the Bee Joufnal. 



Years ago, when I first began to 

 keep bees, I read that in cold weather 

 bees were continually changing places 

 in the cluster to keep an even tem- 

 perature of the same, for, did they 

 not do this, those on the outside 

 would become benumbed with the 

 cold and freeze ; and beside, to avoid 

 freezing in extreme cold weather, the 

 whole colony would arouse from this 

 quietude and create heat by roaring 

 or getting in a commotion which al- 

 ways results in a roaring sound. 



Of course being desirous to know 

 about all of these things, I began 

 watching every chance I had to see 

 this working of the warm bees out 

 from the centre of the cluster, and 

 the crawling of the partly-chilled 

 ones in ; but to this day I have never 

 seen such a process going on when 

 the bees were not interfered with by 

 the keeper, except as below. Do not 

 understand me as saying that bees 

 never do such a thing ; all I wish to 

 say is, that with the closest scrutiny 

 I was able to give, I never saw such a 

 thing done. 



Nature has provided that in cool 

 weather a certain portion of the bees 

 should form themselves into a sort of 

 a " crust " or outer shell, so as to hold 

 the heat inside the cluster. Those 

 inside are always warm and compara- 

 tively active, and upon the slightest 

 disturbance these warm bees will 

 break througli the " crust " bees, and 

 come out all ready to protect the col- 

 ony, which the "crust "bees are in- 

 capable of doing on the first disturb- 

 ance. Those which thus break 

 through the "crust" of bees will 

 sting wickedly on a zero morning, if 

 they can get at a person's flesh before 

 the cold chills them. In a few mo- 

 ments after being disturbed the 

 " crust " bees become active, and a 

 roaring is set up which is generally 

 taken for the warming-up process 

 spoken of at first. 



It takes very little disturbance to 

 cause this breaking up of the cluster 

 or " crust " hees. and the commotion 

 following, and I have but little doubt 



that the whole theory sprang from 

 some person opening the doors about 

 a glass observatory hive, and seeing 

 what I have described go on, attrib- 

 uting it to Nature's plan of keeping 

 the bees warm, rather than to the 

 disturbance lie had caused. 



In the above I have given one cause 

 for bees roaring in a zero tempera- 

 ture, and how the changing process 

 may be observed. But there is another 

 cause for bees roaring and " breaking 

 cluster," which occurs every week or 

 so in cool or cold weather. When the 

 unsealed honey becomes exhausted 

 inside of the chister.suBicient warmth 

 is produced so that the bees can 

 spread out over the sealed stores so as 

 to get a new supply, for as far as I 

 have observed there is always kept a 

 supply of unsealed honey on hand at 

 all times. In thus spreading out, a 

 roaring is set up loud enough to be 

 heard quite a little distance from the 

 hive. By this roaring I have often 

 detected the bees at carrying honey, 

 and years ago, before I fully under- 

 stood what it meant, I thought that 

 the bees had become overloaded with 

 fecal matter, and were about to have 

 the bee-diarrhea ; but an examination 

 a day or two afterward showed them 

 all quiet and nice. 



The above instances are all the 

 roaring of bees I ever could detect 

 with a temperature below the freez- 

 ing point, no matter if as low as 30° 

 below zero. I have been in the bee- 

 yard scores of times, with the mer- 

 cury below zero, sweeping snow about 

 the hives, and unless as spoken of 

 above, all was quiet as death, as far as 

 I could hear, unless the ear was held 

 closer to the entrance, when the least, 

 little, low, contented hum was to be 

 heard, though scarcely audible if 

 there was the least bit of air stirring. 

 This contented hum is always heard 

 if bees are alive, and it is evidence 

 that the bees are in fine condition. 



HIVING 8WAEMS. 



For the benefit of the newer sub- 

 scribers of the Bee Journal, I wish 

 to give my plan of hiving swarms and 

 preventing after-swarms, which' has 

 worked so admirably with me for the 

 past three summers, and pleases me 

 better than ever to-day. 



I put into a light box or comb-car- 

 rier the number of frames I wish to 

 hive a swarm on, all started with 

 strips of foundation, ready for the 

 bees, and as soon as a swarm issues I 

 step to the front of the hive and get 

 the queen, with wing clipped, in a 

 wire-cloth cage. Next I take the 

 frames from the box and put them at 

 the side of the hive, when I open the. 

 hive and take out the frames of brood 

 with the few adhering bees, placing 

 them in the box. I now put in the 

 started frames and rearrange the sur- 

 plus arrangement, closing the hive. 

 I then lay the caged queen close to 

 the entrance, and take the box of 

 brood and bees to an empty hive 

 previously put where I wish the hive 

 of a colony to stand, when the combs 

 are put from the box into the hive, 

 the same being closed. 



By this time the swarm is returning 

 to where it came from, when the 



