TmM MBJEMICffiM ®E® J©'1PK;E<IMI^. 



75 



average of 10 pounds each from 140 

 colonies, or 1,400 pounds, about half 

 comb and half extracted honey, of very 

 fine quality. 



The fall yield was quite good— very 

 nearly as good as the four seasons pre- 

 vious had been. The colonies all gath- 

 ered a good supply for winter use, and 

 an average surplus of 10 or 11 pounds, 

 so that I had nearly 3,000 pounds for 

 sale, with 150 good colonies for the 

 winter. 



I am wintering 25 colonies in the 

 cellar, and the balance out-of-doors ; 

 50 of the latter are in Root chafl" hives, 

 and some are in Simplicity hives, con- 

 fined on 7 to 8 frames, with two 1- 

 inch divison-boards, one on each side, 

 and an upper story half full of new 

 wheat chaff. The balance are in Lang- 

 stroth hives, prepared below the same 

 as those in Simplicity hives, with a 5- 

 inch chaff cushion in the cap. 



Last Wednesday the bees out-doors 

 had a good flight, and seem to be in 

 excellent condition. 



Lima,*o Ills., Jan. 8, 1888. 



SELLING HONEY. 



Bees Drawing Out Foundation 

 — Ignorant Bee-Keeper§. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY JOHN TURNBULL. 



I have just had a peep into my bee- 

 cave, and find the bees very quiet, with 

 very few dead ones on the floor. The 

 temperature is 40° above zero in the 

 cave, and 26"^ below outside. On Nov. 

 18, 1887, I put in 5 rather weak nuclei 

 and 55 good colonies with 20 to 50 

 pounds each of buckwheat honey, and 

 honey from the fall flowers. 



I started in the spring of 1887 with 

 48 colonies, iiicreased them to 60, and 

 took 700 pounds of honej' in 1-pound 

 and IJ-pound sections. White clover 

 yielded but little, and basswood the 

 •.^ame. There was much golden-rod, 

 liut the bees did not work on it. Where 

 the chinch-bug killed the winter wheat, 

 wild buckwheat came up thick, and 

 yielded well, and the bees preferred it 

 to tame buckwheat. 



For some reason or other, the bees 

 'lid not like to draw out the foundation. 



I gave them some sections filled with 

 cDinb, and they bulged them out of all 

 proportions, some being 4 or 4J inches 

 wide. I will have to use separators. 



I have neai'ly all of my honey yet. I 

 went to La Crosse, Wis., early in the 

 fall to try to make some sales, and 



I I ley asked me what I wanted for my 

 lioney. I told them 15 cents per pound. 

 'I'hcy laughed at me, and said that they 

 ( c)uld get all they wanted at 8 cents, 

 and fully as white lioney as 1 ever saw; 



but it is worth 12J to 15 cents, and at 

 retail 18 to 20 cents. I will try to get 

 the names of those bee-men that sell 

 their lioney so cheap. They ought to 

 read the good old American Bee 

 Journal. 



I tried to find the commission man 

 in La Crosse that a " Rip Van Winkle 

 bee-keeper " sold his lioney to, as 

 mentioned on page 789 of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for 1887 ; but I 

 could not find him. I know a La Crosse 

 bee-keeper that bought several hundred 

 pounds of hone}' for 8 to 10 cents per 

 pound, and sold it at retail for 15 cents 

 per pound. 



La Crescent, o, Minn., Jan. 16, 1888. 



CAVE FOR BEES. 



The Season of 1§87 — Wintering 

 Bees in a Cave. 



Wrttten for the American Bee Journal 

 BY A. REUSCH. 



The past season has been the poorest 

 one for honey in this locality that I 

 have experienced since I have been in 

 the bee-business. I began with 72 col- 

 onies in the spring, and a part of those 

 were light, j-et during April and May 

 I got them into good working condi- 

 tion, but when June came the drouth 

 commenced, and from that time they 

 gathered hardly enough to live on. 



My increase was 13 colonies. I had 

 to feed the bees for winter, and I did 

 not get honey enough for use in my 

 own family, besides spending five 

 months' labor, and an outlay of |65 in 

 cash. I believe in giving correct re- 

 ports, whether good or bad. 



A Cave for Bees In 'Winter. 



I have always wintered my bees in 

 the cellar, and very successfully. In 

 1886 I built a cave by digging 3i feet 

 deep into the gi-ound, and 25x8 feet, 

 with posts of 61 feet set around it, 2 

 feet apart, and on top 1 foot apart, and 

 then I nailed boards on all around. I 

 banked up the sides and sodded them ; 

 on top I put earth about 18 inches 

 thick, and covered the same with long 

 slough-gi-ass. In the west end is a 

 ventilator made of lumber 7 inches 

 square inside ; at the east is an under- 

 gi-ound ventilator made of 4-inch tiling, 

 and 60 feet long ; and it has two doors, 

 outside and inside. 



The temperature ranges from 40° to 

 44°. The total cost was about $50. I 

 have 56 colonies in the cave, and 29 in 

 the cellar, and they have wintered well 

 so far, very few bees dying. I owe 

 many thanks to the American Bee 

 Journal for much valuable informa- 

 tion. 



Chariton, ? Iowa, Jan. 23, 1888. 



WINTERING BEES. 



How the Bees are Prepared for 

 the Winter. 



Written for the American Bee Joumoi 

 BY P. J. BATES. 



I commenced the season of 1887 

 with 18 fair colonies of bees, from 

 which I had 2 natural swarms, ob- 

 tained 100 pounds of honey in one- 

 pound sections, and a glass case of 24 

 pounds of comb honey, which I took 

 to the Fair last fall, and which was 

 pronounced the best filled and best 

 appearing case of honey ever shown in 

 this locality. Of course it took the 

 premium. 



On Dec. 5, 1 put 17 colonies into a 

 new cellar under the sitting-room, 

 without any ventilation excepting the 

 door, where I go in ever}' day to notice 

 the temperature, which ranges from 

 38° to 46°. When at 46°, I can hear a 

 low, quiet hum ; when at 38 ', the bees, 

 to all appearance, are perfectly quiet. 

 There has not been a pint of dead bees 

 on the floor. The cellar is quite dry. 



The bees were left in the same con- 

 dition as they were on the summer 

 stands, each colony being weighed 

 when put in. The 3 colonies left on 

 the summer stands were average colo- 

 nies, in single-walled hives, without 

 any protection except a cushion of 

 forest leaves about 4 inches thick over 

 them ; and with an upward ventilation 

 at the back part of the hive, * inch by 

 4 inches, as an experiment, to ti-y to 

 get lid of the dampness that comes 

 from the breath or cluster of bees. 

 When I put them on the summer stands 

 I will report again. 



White Hall,*o His., Jan. 21, 1888. 



SEASON OF 1887. 



The Drouth Causes a Dearth of 

 Bleetar. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY B. D. SCOTT. 



I commenced the season of 1887 with 

 30 colonies of bees in fair condition, 

 and increased them to 60 colonies. I 

 bought 2 colonies last fall, so I have 62 

 in the cellar, and they are wintering 

 finely, with the temperature at 42-, 

 while it is 10° above zero outside. We 

 have had no zero weather in this 

 locality this winter. 



My bees produced about 1.000 pounds 

 of extracted honey, and 200 pounds of 

 comb in one-pound sections, the past 

 season. The season was very poor on 

 account of the drouth. Alsike yielded 

 well for a short time, but seemed tO 

 ripen all at ouee. 



