AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



251 



honey will bo obtained by this latter 

 plan, but to offset this you will have 

 several new colonies, while in the other 

 ease you do not increase any. 



Now do not think that you must follow 

 any of the plans I or any one else give 

 to the letter; if you undertake it, you will 

 not be likely to receive the benefit that 

 you would by doing some thinking of 

 your own. 



No writer can give, in one article, 

 all the different plans he uses to accom- 

 plish even one of the smallest parts of 

 apiculture, and if he or she have a fixed 

 determination to succeed, very likely 

 they may not use the same plan, as far 

 as all the minutia is concerned, twice in 

 their whole lifetime. The thing of it is, 

 that there are such varying circum- 

 stances all the while, that no rule like 

 the rules of arithmetic, can be used in 

 bee-keeping. 



If you would succeed, step out on your 

 own resources, and do not be tied to any 

 one's " apron strings." If you cannot 

 make one thing work try another, using 

 your best judgment all the while. If 

 you cannot make the bees work for 

 comb-honey, try them for extracted; and 

 if this does not work, make them build 

 combs which you can convert into wax 

 and cash. Remember, that you are to 

 be the one ; not Doolittle, Dr. Miller, A. 

 I. Root, or any one else. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Facts Aliont Large or Small Hiyes, 



J. A. TODD. 



I have not seen an article on the ques- 

 tion of large or small hives, that offers 

 me any satisfactory evidence on either 

 side, if I want anything stronger than 

 mere assertion or opinion, unless it is 

 W. C. Wolcott's article on page 193. 



I have experimented with different 

 sized hives, and while my experience is 

 not conclusive evidence, it justifies me 

 in making the most of my hives large for 

 the coming season. 



Last Spring I moved my bees twice by 

 railroad, and on May 24, 1 finally located 

 my 25 colonies. I had five 8-frame 

 Simplicity hives, which gave 88 pounds 

 each ; ten home-made 10-frame chaff 

 hives, which gave 106 pounds each ; and 

 ten home-made 12-frame chaff hives, 

 which gave 129 pounds each. The col- 

 onies were of equal strength in the 

 Spring, but when put away for Winter 

 they were, in size of colony, about in 

 proportion to the size of the hive. 



With one exception, they all had to 

 build all their comb, over and above the 

 original eight frames each had to start 

 with. I used no foundation, and but 

 few starters, and had plenty of drone- 

 comb to rear consumers. 



The largest yield was from a 12-frame 

 hive — 285 pounds. The least yield was 

 from an 8-frame hive — 35 pounds. It 

 was all extracted-honey. 



Two 12-frame hives gave swarms 

 early. One 10-frame and one 8-frame 

 swarmed later, but not too late. 



■ I was troubled very greatly with brood 

 in the upper story of the 8-frame hives, 

 not quite so much in the 10-frame hives, 

 and almost none in the 12-frame hives. 

 My bees are all Italians. My hives all 

 faced one way, and had no shade. 



I do not say that Ohio, Illinois, Wis- 

 consin or Canada should use these large 

 hives, but am fully satisfied that in this 

 locality we should try them awhile 

 longer. 



One of my queens kept 15 Simplicity 

 frames brimful of brood all the time, and 

 gave me 248 pounds of honey. 



Hardin, Colo. 



Bees and Bee-Keeplng in Iowa, 



J. B. SYPHKIT. 



I have just finished reading the Bee 

 JouBNAL (No. 4). It seems to me it 

 contains* as much reading matter as 

 many books for which we pay our dol- 

 lars, and every sentence right to the 

 point. It is strange how it can give so 

 much excellent reading matter for less 

 than two cents. The new dress and 

 form that it takes this year, with the 

 additional reading matter, makes it 50 

 per cent, more valuable than ever, in my 

 estimation. 



I commenced last Spring with 38 col- 

 onies of bees, and increased them to 42. 

 I had them strong in numbers when 

 fruit bloom came, but it was so cold and 

 windy we obtained nothing from that 

 source, and the consequence was no 

 fruit. White clover appeared to be more 

 abundant than usual, but there was no 

 honey in it. The alsike gave a good 

 flow for a few days, then the dry weather 

 with the scorching sun, dried it up. 

 Basswood was not worth anything for 

 honey ; buckwheat and Fall flowers gave 

 very little. I got about 500 pounds of 

 nice alsike honey in sections — did not 

 extract any. 



The dry weather, with hot winds — 

 which were the most severe I ever wit- 

 nessed — dried up the flow of nectar, 



