THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



633 



Some two weeks earlier than usual 

 the basswood bloom appeared in pro- 

 fusion, and in the northeastern part 

 of the State, it yielded considerable 

 honey for about nine days, in which 

 tbe bees filled their hives, and some 

 of the strongest in reach of the bass- 

 wood, secured a small surplus ; since 

 this they have have rather depleted 

 than augmented their stores, and, I 

 think, have generally failed to keep 

 up the full strength of the colony. 



I had some hopes that the autumn 

 flowers— buckwheat, goldeurod, as- 

 ters,Spanish-needle,etc.— would make 

 the season's result more satisfactory, 

 but these hopes have not been rea- 

 lized, and the season of 18S7 is prac- 

 tically closed, and failure is rather 

 the rule than the exception with most 

 of us, and our profits are in the ex- 

 perience rather than the " hard cash." 

 The future alone can tell how much 

 we shall realize. No doubt many will 

 consider that their deposit of this 

 kind of capital is already too large, 

 and decline to add to it by continuing 

 to labor at it in the future, and al- 

 though it is called a fascinating pur- 

 suit, for many the charm will be 

 broken ; they will retire in disgust to 

 more promising fields, and the army 

 of beekeepers will be kept up by re- 

 cruits, who will bring in all the high 

 hopes, energy and enthusiasm that we 

 lose in the retiring ones. 



But what are some of the lessons 

 learned that can be of profit in the 

 future '( First, to increase our stock 

 from the best workers, and weeding 

 out the queens of the poor working 

 colonies. Second, to do everything to 

 have our colonies strong early in the 

 season; have the hives, sections, 

 foundation, etc., ready so that we can 

 give our bees the closest attention 

 during the honey season ; take one or 

 more bee-papers, and read and profit 

 by the standard works on bee-culture: 

 talk with your bee-keeping neighbors, 

 tell them what you know, and learn 

 of them what they know, and perhaps 

 while the world's stock of knowledge 

 will not be greatly increased, it will be 

 much more evenly distributed. De- 

 vise means, if possible, so that thieves 

 will not plunder the hives, making 

 detection so probable that even 

 " sneak thieves" will find it easier to 

 «arn their honey than to steal it. 



Did you ever, on visiting the bee- 

 yard in the morning, find the hives 

 uncovered by the dozen, the sections 

 scattered all over the yard, the brood 

 thrown at random, all the honey cut 

 out and carried away V Now if I 

 knew that Job had this experience 

 ■when his patience was being tried, 

 and stood the test, I should have a 

 much higher opinion of him than 

 heretofore. I must acknowledge that 

 I would like to put about a pint of 

 lively hybrids next to the hide of the 

 thief. Seriously, this is a great ob- 

 stacle to success with bees, and will 

 tax our ingenuity to overcome it, and 

 if any one has had any experience or 

 ideas that are likely to profit us in 

 this respect, just let us have it. 

 Horse-stealing has become so dan- 

 gerous to the stealer that it has been 

 nearly abandoned, and cannot we 



make it " too warm " for the thieves 

 of our bee-yards 'i 



Perhaps it may in a measure con- 

 tribute to our financial success to take 

 more honey than usual from the 

 brood-chamber of the hives, as honey 

 is to sell at a good, round price, com- 

 pared to what we have been getting 

 for several years ; and if we leave 

 enough honey to supply the colonies 

 until we take them out of winter 

 quarters, we can then supply the de- 

 ficiency with less costly food than 

 honey. I purpose to do this to as 

 great an extent as safety will allow. 

 We have this to encourage us, that 

 notwithstanding there was such a 

 large surplus last season, and the 

 price declined to so low a point, honey 

 was introduced in many homes where 

 it had been a stranger, and a demand 

 has been created that will take tons 

 and tons of honey to supply in the 

 future. 



The tendency of the times is to 

 mass the production of honey in the 

 hands of specialists, which I think is 

 best for all parties concerned. But 

 some one may say, had we better rely 

 upon bees and "honey for the main 

 chance V The most 1 can say is, ac- 

 cording to your ability and enthusi- 

 asm be it unto you ; and although you 

 may not become an Astor, a Gould, 

 or a Vanderbilt, you will not likely 

 become a Boss Tweed, a Mackin, or a 

 McGarigle. 



The oITicers elected for the ensuing 

 year, were J. F. Spaulding, President; 

 Mrs. O. F. Jackson, of Sigourney, 

 Vice-President and Corresponding 

 Secretary, and J. W. Moore, of Des 

 Moines, Recording Secretary. The 

 attendance was not as large as in 

 former years. No honey, no money ; 

 no money, no enthusiasm ; no enthu- 

 siasm, no attendance. The exhibit of 

 honey at the Fair was very good, not- 

 withstanding the failure of the honey 

 crop. 



Mt. Auburn, oi Iowa. 



Rural New Yorker. 



FeeflinE Bees for Winter Stores. 



O. L. HERSHISER. 



All prominent apiarists agree that 

 the best substitute lor good honey for 

 bee-food is pure, granulated cane- 

 sugar, and some claim that cane- 

 sugar is superior to good honey, if the 

 latter has much pollen in it. Those 

 who find it necessary to feed their 

 bees need apprehend no serious re- 

 sults if they use the best quality of 

 cane-sugar, while a food of poor 

 quality is almost sure to result dis- 

 astrously. 



To prepare the food, dissolve the 

 sugar in one-third of its weight of 

 water. Where a small quantity is 

 needed, it can be easily made by 

 heating on an ordinary stove, but this 

 method is slow and tedious if a large 

 quantity is needed. In the latter 

 case, if one has access to a jet of 

 steam, the food can be prepared very 

 rapidly by the following method : 

 Weigh out the sugar and water, and 

 place them in a barrel or milk-can. 



Get a piece of gas-pipe through which 

 to conduct the steam. It is necessary 

 to have an elbow or joint of hose so 

 the pipe may have a right angle in it. 

 Thrust the pipe to the bottom of the 

 vessel, and turn on the steam. In a 

 very few minutes the sugar will be 

 dissolved, and a syrup of the right 

 consistency formed. By this method 

 a barrel of sugar can be converted 

 into syrup in less than half an hour. 



It is necessary that the syrup be as 

 thin as the above formula makes it, 

 so that the bees may store it rapidly. 

 It will be seen that it is a cheap food, 

 the weight of sugar being increased 

 by one-third its weightof water, mak- 

 ing a composition worth two-thirds 

 the price of sugar. 



The amount of stores sufficient to 

 winter a colony of bees is quite varia- 

 ble in different seasons, and also in 

 different colonies in the same yard. 

 If the conditions of temperature, mois- 

 ture, food and quiet are just right, a 

 strong colony will winter on 15 

 pounds, and I have known colonies 

 to winter on much less. I have here- 

 tofore aimed to have 30 pounds of 

 good food in each colony, but have 

 been obliged to remove a portion of 

 it in the spring to give the queen 

 more room to lay. I have decided 

 that 2-5 pounds per colony is plenty, 

 when they are otherwise well cared 

 for. 



If the hives in an apiary are nearly 

 uniform in style and weight, when 

 empty, the apiarist can, by comparing 

 the weight of a hive containing suf- 

 ficient stores, Willi the other hives, 

 tell how much food each will need, 

 without opening them. If hives are 

 not uniform in weight, or it is not 

 practical to weigh them, the amount 

 of stores can be ascertained by ex- 

 amining each comb. After one has 

 looked over a few colonies he can, by 

 a careful examination, tell within a 

 very small amount how much honey 

 a hive contains. Often by an ex- 

 change of combs in different colonies, 

 one of which has more honey than is 

 needed, the other less, both can be 

 given the right amount of stores. In 

 feeding for winter the required 

 amount of food should be given as 

 fast as the bees can store it. If the 

 feeding is prolonged, brood-rearing 

 will begin, and an additional amount 

 of food will be required to feed the 

 young bees reared under the abnor- 

 mal conditions. Strong colonies will 

 store from 6 to 10 pounds per day, and 

 often more. 



The proper season for feeding for 

 winter is during the warm days of 

 autumn, as soon as the honey-flow for 

 the season has ceased. Feeding should 

 be done after sunset, so that it can all 

 be stored during the night. If fed 

 during the day when the bees are 

 flying, robbing is liable to result. I 

 would put especial emphasis on the 

 caution to prevent robbing ! 



No one but those who have ex- 

 perienced it can form any idea of the 

 perfect bedlam which an apiary pre- 

 sents when the bees get to robbing in 

 earnest. At such times it requires 

 prompt action, and the best skill and 

 thought of the apiarist to prevent 

 losses. If by any means colonies 



