648 



THE AMERICAl^ BEE JOURNAL. 



starvation long before spring. At 

 one of our bee-yards containing a few 

 less than 200 colonies, from which we 

 bad taken no honey except a little 

 early clover, when the flow ceased 

 there was enough in many hives to 

 winter 2 colonies, and we then decided 

 that they had sufficient, and could 

 spare enough for 50 colonies more, so 

 we extracted in some of our other 

 yards more closely than we otherwise 

 would, expecting to take from many 

 of these hives sufficient to winter the 

 others on ; but judge of our surprise 

 on going over them carefully last 

 week, to find that they had, since the 

 cessation of the honey-flow, consumed 

 so much that some of them actually 

 required feeding ! 



After equalizing the stores they 

 had, we find they will need from 5 to 

 15 pounds each before they will be 

 ready tor wintering. Of course their 

 having such a plentiful supply on 

 hand after the flow ceased, caused 

 them to breed more rapidly than those 

 that were extracted from and had less 

 stores, so that now they are very 

 strong in bees— some of them, we 

 fear, are too strong, for we find that 

 colonies having too many bees going 

 into winter quarters,commence breed- 

 ing in the winter, and frequently con- 

 sume their stores and starve to death 

 before spring. We prefer medium 

 colonies when winteredjin a special re- 

 pository, but for out-door wintering 

 we think there is less danger of loss 

 with those unusually strong. 



Not having sealed honey to give 

 those colonies as we expected, we 

 placed on about 100 Canadian feeders; 

 about 15 pounds of granulated sugar 

 syrup was put into each feeder. This 

 was done late in the evening, and by 

 morning the bees had taken it all 

 down except a little in the bottom. 

 They were filled again, and in about 

 12 hours the bees had taken it all 

 down. Good, strong colonies in warm 

 weather, with plen:;y of room below 

 to store it, will carry down from these 

 feeders about 30 pounds in one day. . . 



The consumption of stores in the 

 last two months will astonish many 

 of even our best bee-keepers, when 

 they examine their hives. We hope 

 this warning will not be unheeded by 

 any. Have no guess work about it, 

 take scales, set the hive on them, take 

 the gross weight, and then deduct the 

 weight of the hive. We usually weigh 

 several, and take the average weight 

 of the hive, frames with bees, comb 

 and stores. After deducting the 

 weight of the hive, deduct say 5 

 pounds for bees, comb, pollen, etc., 

 then have no less than 20 pounds in 

 small colonies, and 30 pounds in large 

 ones. We would rather have 5 pounds 

 more than one pound less per colony. 



Plenty of stores stimulates bees, 

 and it is a great mistake to simply 

 give them barely what will carry them 



through the- winter This is a very 



important matter, and you should not 

 forget to feed the bees any more than 

 you should your horses. 



Now, sometimes, we find the 



weather cold when we feed, and the 



bees clustered quietly on the combs. 



If the food is poured into the feeder 



t cold, they are not much inclined to go 



up and take it, especially if the 

 weather is very cold. Now, all that 

 is necessary, even in frosty weather, 

 to make them take it, is simply to 

 pour it in very warm. We have 

 frequently filled the feeders with hot 

 svrup, which would indicate when the 

 thermometer was placed in it, a tem- 

 perature of 150°, or perhaps 175°. The 

 heat from this syrup when the feeder 

 was covered,would pass down through 

 the opening, warm the bees, and 

 warm up the whole hive, and they 

 would sup at it carefully until it got 

 cold enough, when it would be taken 

 down and stored in the combs quicker 

 even than cold syrup on a warm day. 

 But hot or warm food fed in very 

 warm weather is liable to cause rob- 

 bing, and when the weather is suffi- 

 ciently warm, we would not advise 

 feeding any but cold syrup until late 

 in the evening, when the bees would 

 relish it, and the excitement be all 

 over before morning. 



Our plan of feeding enables us to 

 feed a colony without any stores, 

 sufficient for wintering, in one or two 

 days. The excitement of feeding 

 over, the bees seal it at their leisure, 

 and 25 per cent, is gained by this sys- 

 tem over a slow method. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Mmli State Fair and Conyention. 



The- bee-keepers of Nebraska, while 

 viewing the finest exhibition ever 

 made of their State's productions at 

 the State Fair in Lincoln, were highly 

 pleased with the grand exhibition of 

 the apiarian products made by Mrs. 

 Heater, Messrs. E. Tower and E. 

 Kretchmer, and others, under the 

 supervision of E. W. Whitcomb. Mrs. 

 Heater's display received special no- 

 tice in the daily papers, and in the 

 opinion of the writer it was the best 

 display given. 



The exhibition of honey, hives, fix- 

 tures, etc., prompted many questions 

 on the part of lovers of honey ; these 

 were promptly and willingly answered 

 by the exhibitors. 



On AVednesday evening, Sept. 14, 

 the Nebraska Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion met in the Botanical Lecture 

 room of the State University. The 

 evening was devoted to a discussion 

 of the year's result in apiculture. 



The general opinion was that there 

 would be but a small surplus of honey 

 in the State, but that the bees had 

 gathered enough honey from heart's- 

 ease to supply them with natural 

 stores for winter, and was also stimu- 

 lating late fall breeding. This latter 

 result gave rise to a lively debate re- 

 garding the advisability of having the 

 bees hatch after the weather becomes 

 too cool for natural flight. 



What should be the relative posi- 

 tion of the hive to the sun, in order to 

 insure early working V was well con- 

 sidered. Figures given by the super- 

 intendent of bees on the Fair Ground 

 showed that there is much in favor of 

 the sunny side. 



The association met again on 

 Thursday evening, and the presence 

 of a larger number of experienced 



bee-keepers, and of Prof. C. E. Bessey, 

 seemed to enthuse each one, and all 

 went diving into the flowers to see 

 where the nectar is. 



Prof. Bessey gave a classification of 

 the honey-yielding flowers of our 

 State, and explained the organism of 

 many of these, and also showed how 

 essential the visits of honey-seeking 

 insects are to the fertilization of 

 blossoms. 



After a discussion regarding the 

 merits of many of our wild flowers, it 

 was generally believed by those pres- 

 ent that we have a flrst-class honey- 

 producing State. 



Those remaining for the last meet- 

 ing of the association felt encouraged 

 and well compensated for time spent 

 in the extra session. 



H. N. Patterson, Sec. 



Prairie Farmer. 



Bees in tlie Reii Clover, 



MRS. L. HARRISON. 



W. H. W., Pierce County, Wis., 

 asks : " Is it a fact, if there were no 

 bumble-bees we would have no clover 

 seedV" 



There are many plants in the 

 economy of nature, dependent upon 

 insects for the fertilization of their 

 seed, and red clover is a striking ex- 

 ample. The well-known flower, 

 bleeding-heart (Dicentra spectabilis), 

 bears no seed, being a native of 

 North China, and its fertilizing moth 

 has never been introduced into this 

 country. 



It is claimed by some that Italian 

 bees work upon red clover, and de- 

 nied by others. I think that under 

 certain conditions they do, as when 

 the heads are very small by reason of 

 drouth, these bees are able to reach 

 the nectar. 



The first crop of red clover,although 

 the most luxuriant, yields very little 

 seed, so little that it does not pay 

 growers to thresh it. The reason for 

 this is that there are so few bumble- 

 bees at this season, as only the queen 

 and a few workers winter over. But 

 by the time the second crop blooms, 

 there are plenty of workers to do the 

 work assigned them. It appears to 

 be their special mission to fertilize 

 this clover, as they do not store suffi- 

 cient honey to be of any use to man- 

 kind. 



Waldo F. Brown,a prominent writer 

 on agricultural topics, wrote last year 

 to the Philadelphia Press, that he 

 never before harvested such a large 

 crop of clover seed, and before cut- 

 ting, destroyed more bumble-bee's 

 nests than he ever saw before on the 

 same amount of ground. By so doing, 

 it appears that he willingly killed 

 " the goose that laid the golden egg." 



It would be well for agriculturists 

 to ascertain, before destroying in- 

 sects, whether they are friends or 

 foes to their interests. In Australia 

 no clover seed was produced ; and as- 

 certaining the reason, bumble-bees 

 were introduced, when it bore seed in 

 abundance. 



Red clover is a very useful plant, 

 and during the severe drouth, when 



