598 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



effect on it, and it will flourish where- 

 ever its roots catch ; even in old, 

 rotten logs, iu dry, cemented cellar 

 floors, etc. 



THE SEASON OF 1887. 



We have had a wonderfully bad 

 season here ; failure is stamped on 

 everything in connection with bee- 

 culture this year. I put 80 colonies 

 in the cellar last fall, and took out 79 

 alive in the latter part of March ; the 

 one that perished was very strong, 

 and not being allowed enough venti- 

 lation, their prespiration drowned 

 them. 



Last fall was also dry here, and my 

 bees gathered only sufiicient to carry 

 them through to April. I had to feed 

 them, which I did, using the formula, 

 given in the Bee Journal, by Mr. 

 N. W. McLain. I was very success- 

 ful with it, as the bees bred up more 

 rapidly than 1 ever had them before, 

 and when the first white clover bloom 

 came, my bees were in an excellent 

 condition. 



There was a little flow of honey, 

 and I ceased to feed, thinking, as in 

 years past, that the harvest had 

 opened ; but the bees did not get 

 honey enough to keep up the vast 

 amount of brood being reared ; so 

 they commenced to dwindle down 

 till there was scarcely a quart in each 

 hive, on an average, and about 10 

 colonies actually starved to death ! 

 These were blacks ! I saw that at 

 this rate in a week or two more I 

 would not have bees enough left " for 

 seed," so 1 commenced to feed what 

 was left. I gave them all they would 

 use for four weeks, and now I have 55 

 colonies in good condition, with 

 young, pure Italian queens of the best 

 stock obtainable, having pinched the 

 heads off of all old queens, and of 

 those that did not come up to the 

 standard. 



For 15 months we have not had 

 enough rain to wet the ground. In 

 digging graves here to the depth of 5 

 feet, the earth was void of moisture, 

 and would crumble up as dry as 

 powder. We had a sprinkle last 

 week about like a heavy dew, but by 

 10 o'clock the next day one could not 

 have noticed that it had rained any 

 at all. 



We have had four or five such rains 

 this season. The meadows are burnt 

 up, stock is suffering for water, and 

 the cisterns have nearly all been dry 

 for a month. The prospect for fall 

 bloom is very poor, and we will prob- 

 ably have to feed until next June, for 

 rains now would hardly do us much 

 good this fall. 



The sweet clover seed that I sowed 

 two jears ago did not grow. I sowed 

 about five acres, and I have seen but 

 one plant from the whole of it. This 

 one plant has been covered with bees 

 for two months, and if it had all 

 grown, my bees would have had fine 

 pasturage. 



Clarksville,o* Mo., Sept. 6, 1887. 



[It is Symphoricarpus vulgaris; and 

 its common name is coral-berry, or 

 Indian currant. It is excellent for 

 honey.— Ed.] 



For tbe Amencaii Bee Joomai. 



A Lesson from tlie Honey-Bees, 



JOHN JAMIESON. 



Little, busy, humming: bees, 

 Nothing can me so well please. 

 As to watch your cunning ways. 

 On the bonnie, sunny days ; 



In and out, and out and in, 

 How I love your pleasant din, 

 Gathering honey from the flowers, 

 In the sun and shady bowers. 



Flying far to get your load. 

 Never missing the right road ; 

 Drop on the alighting-board— 

 In a trice the honey's stored. 



Matters not how far you roam. 

 Seldom visit others" home. 

 Interesting little thing, 

 But for that mischievous sting, 

 Given, no doubt, for self-defense. 

 Should be used with common-sense. 



No matter how good and kind, 

 Sting the same, remainihg blind ; 

 Sting their owner, or a king. 

 Just as soon's the meanest thing. 



When a fellow comes to steal. 

 Then he might the venom feel ; 

 Sometimes pleasant, sometimes cross, 

 Sometimes profit, sometimes loss. 



For the winter they lay up, 

 Man steps in and takes his sup ; 

 Some'imes takes it all. O, fie ! 

 When Jack Frost comes, bees will die. 



Let not the love of money 



Prompt to steal all the honey. 



In our moments of leisure. 



Tending bees is a pleasure. 



In handling, sometimes they sting — 



" Keep cool," that success will bring. 



Treat them kindly, work with care. 

 And you will the better fare. 

 New bee-veil, and gloves protect : 

 For such helps, we have respect. 



After all, 'twill take some years, 

 To remove our stinging fears. 

 Lovely mother of the throng. 

 Cheering with heruqueenly song ; 



Never leaves her own dear home, 

 Having no desire to roam ; 

 Only for the " wedding ring," 

 And the early swarm in spring. 



Learn a lesson from the bees. 

 And the flying moments seize ; 

 Gathering in our winter stores, 

 'Then care not how loud it roars ; 

 And when thlR short life shall end. 

 Soar to meet our Heavenly Friend. 

 West Toledo, Ohio. 



For the American Bee JonmoL 



Tie Production of Comli Honey. 



6. M. DOOLITTLE. 



In reading Mr. Theilmann's article 

 on pages 552 and 553, I am led to 

 think that my plan of working for 

 comb honey is not understood by 

 him, and perhaps not by hundreds of 

 others. 



Mr. T. says that Doolittle "prac- 

 tices side-storing," while the truth is 

 that I never did such a thing, in the 

 full sense of the word. Nine-tenths 

 of all the honey I ever obtained was 

 stored at the top of the brood-cham- 

 ber, and the sides were only used for 

 comb-building. Try to get around it 

 as much as I may, the tact still re- 

 mains, that bees will build comb 

 much faster at the side of the brood 

 than at the top ; while the fact is 

 equally prominent, as Mr. T. says, 

 that bees prefer to store their honey 



at the top. Putting these two facts 

 together, I was led, 14 years ago, to 

 adopt top-storing in connection with 

 side comb-building, or " side and top 

 boxing combined," as I have termed 

 it, the results of which I am not 

 ashamed to lay beside any 14 years' 

 record of any apiarist in the world. 



Now how have I worked this plan ? 

 Although I have branched out in 

 many directions (giving each in the 

 Bee Journal iu years past) to see if 

 I could not improve upon the honey 

 yield, yet my method of working has 

 generally been as follows : 



As soon as the honey season opened, 

 the packing was taken from the top 

 of the hive, and about one-half of the 

 top-room to the hive covered with 

 separatored, single-tier, wide frames, 

 the wide frames being filled, or par- 

 tially so with sections full of comb 

 left over from the previous season. 

 As soon as the bees were well at 

 work in them, they were spread apart 

 and wide frames of sections contain- 

 ing starters of natural comb or comb 

 foundation alternate between them, 

 till the top of the hive was covered. 

 In about a week more, or as soon as 

 the bees begin to cap the first sections 

 put on, the packing is taken from the 

 sides of the hive, and wide frames of 

 started sections placed on either side. 



As soon as any honey of any ac- 

 count is ready to come off the top of 

 the hive, these side sections are filled 

 with comb containing a little honey ; 

 very little in the lower tier, but more 

 in the upper ones. As I take off the 

 finished sections at the top, the sec- 

 tions of combs are raised from the 

 side to the top, where the bees soon 

 fill them with honey, while they are 

 building more comb at the sides in 

 empty sections, or started sections, 

 which are put in at the same time the 

 others are raised to the top. In this 

 way I keep on until the honey season 

 draws toward a close. 



At this time, when the wide frames 

 of sections are raised to the top, the 

 bees are shut from the sides so as to 

 throw the whole force of bees aud 

 honey to the top. In this way I get 

 most of the sections finished for 

 market, having only enough unmark- 

 etable ones for the early start the 

 next year. 



By the above it will be seen that 

 Mr. Thielmann's term, " side-stor- 

 ing," cannot be applied to my plan, 

 and as far as pollen in honey in sec- 

 tions is concerned, I have had scarcely 

 a dozen such sections in all of my ex- 

 perience as an apiarist. 



That the above described plan re- 

 quires rather more labor than some 

 of the other plans, I am free to admit, 

 but when it is considered that all 

 sections are handled by the wide 

 frame full, the labor is not so much 

 greater than by some of the quicker 

 plans, as a few would have us think. 

 Then if we take into account that 

 more honey can be secured by the 

 above plan (which I firmly believe), 

 than by any known plan, this labor 

 problem has little to do with it, for 

 the extra honey obtained pays for the 

 extra labor. 



One great reason why I object to 

 nearly all of the case and non-sep- 



