76 



XH® mimmmi^mM mmw j©iiMfiM£./. 



Basswood blossomed very profuselj', 

 and yielded honey for a few days ; but 

 when it should have been at its best, 

 in an ordinary season, it was gone, 

 being dried to a crisp on the trees 

 without forming seed-balls. One bee- 

 keeper said that he saw bees on the 

 ground tr3'ing to get honey from the 

 blossoms that had pollen. 



Buckwheat has been a failure in this 

 locality for several years, and why it 

 is I am unable to explain, as the crop 

 of grain is generally fair. We have 

 had two poor honey seasons in this 

 locality, but I am getting ready for the 

 expected " gush" the coming season. 



Ovid Centre,© N. Y., Jan. 21, 1888. 



SPECIALISTS. 



Some Conipari$on§ in Regard to 

 Bee-Specialists. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY WM. H. BALCH. 



A specialist in bee-culture or honey- 

 production is a man (whether he owns 

 5 or 1,000 colonies of bees) wlio keeps 

 bees for their real profit in dollars and 

 cents ; who studies their nature and 

 habits, so that the best methods of 

 management in spring, summer and 

 winter may be applied-; who uses 

 proper appliances at the proper time, 

 that the best results may be attained ; 

 who keeps posted on the market, 

 watching the present production as 

 well as the amount of last year's crop 

 on hand ; who puts his honey in the 

 best marketable shape possible, and 

 who devotes the necessary time to ac- 

 complish the foregoing. 



I am very sorry that I am not a 

 specialist (and all who keep bees), al- 

 though my first earthly possession, 

 aside from a hand-sled, was a colony 

 of bees. I have sold honey bj' the ton, 

 and hundreds of colonies of bees and 

 queens. Bee-keeping has been but a 

 side-issue with me, so, as Dr. C. C. 

 Miller terms it, I. am on the " middle 

 gi-ound." 



Can the specialist produce honey as 

 cheaply as the " happy-go-lucky bee- 

 men ?" Oh, no ! not in this region of 

 country. But they are the very men 

 that govern our home and city markets. 

 Many may be surprised at that, but I 

 can prove it by a demonstration, viz : 

 The Doctor says that the bees cost the 

 happy-go-lucky man nothing, and no 

 labor bestowed. Well, that is about 

 the truth ; yet I have known some, and 

 there are plenty of bee-keepers all 

 around me, whose apiaries run up to 

 100 colonies, and each has 1,000 or 

 1,500 pounds of honey to sell. 



Look at the specialist : He h.as a 

 winter repository, shop, honej'-house, 



hives, sections, and other necessary 

 fixtures, worth from $500 to $:1,000. 

 This, in a few j'ears, will decay ; but 

 our farms do not, with 100 colonies, 

 and with the necessary land to be oc- 

 cupied worth $1,000 more. Here we 

 have $2,000 invested in perishable 

 property, except the land, which will 

 have to be replaced once in thirty 

 years, or repaired to that extent. The 

 interest on $2,000 for one year, at 6 per 

 cent., is $120 ; to which add the replac- 

 ing of perishable fixtures once in thirty 

 years, which is $66.66 a year, making 

 a yearly expense of nearly $187. 



Then add to the above, hives, sec- 

 tions, crates, foundation, glass, etc., 

 with winter losses, a hard year's work, 

 and witli the anxiety in a poor season ; 

 and then compute what j'our honey 

 has cost the past two years ! Some 

 have put it uji to a dollar per pound. 



Oran,0 N. Y. 



COLORADO. 



Report of tlie Colorado State 

 Convention. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



The fifth annual meeting of the Col- 

 orado State Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Denver, Colo., on Jan. 19, 

 1888. 



The usual discussions on the best 

 methods of preventing bees from rob- 

 bing, best method of wintering bees, 

 foul brood, bee-diari'hea, etc., were in- 

 dulged in. The honey product of 

 Colorado was reported proportionately 

 larger than that of any other State the 

 past season. The industry of bee-keep- 

 ing is in a thriving condition, and is 

 developing rapidly. 



The following officers were elected : 

 President, E. Milleson, of Denver ; 

 Vice-President, Mrs. Levi Booth, of 

 Denver ; Secretary, J. M. Clark, of 

 Denver ; Treasurer, Mrs. R. H. Rhodes, 

 of Arvada ; and the Executive Com- 

 mittee composed of Wni. Davis and 

 Mrs. Levi Booth. J. M. Clakk, Sec. 



TRANSFERRING. 



"When to Transfer Bees — Fasten, 

 ing Foundation, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 - BY F. B. REYNOLDS. 



1. When is the time to transfer bees 

 in the spring,from one hive to another? 

 2. When is the best time to put on 

 sections ? 



My bees had a flight on Jan. 14, ex- 

 cept 7 colonies in chafT hives, such as 

 G. M. Doolittle describes. I have 35 



colonies, some in Langstroth and some 

 in Quinby hives. My bees did not 

 gather much honey this season. I ol)- 

 tained about 500 finished sections, and 

 about the same of unfinished sections. 

 I am making 30 new chafi' hives. I 

 line the hives for winter with buck- 

 wheat hulls, of which I can get about 

 a bushel in a hive. 



Fastening Foundation in Sections. 



The way I fasten foundation in the 

 sections is, to put a dish over a small 

 lamp, and put in it a piece of wax ; 

 take a glazier's knife and dip it into the 

 wax, cut the starter the size wanted, 

 take it in the left hand, and run the 

 knife along on the section, then double 

 it up, and you have it fast. 



3. We have very much sweet clover 

 here, our river banks being covered 

 with it, and also the creeks ; but my 

 bees do not seem to work on it much. 

 There is an immense quantity of it. 



Rossburg, p N. Y., Jan. 16, 1888. 



[1. Transfer bees in the spring, 

 when there is the least honey in the 

 frames, and in the middle of a fine, 

 warm day. 



2. Put on the sections when the 

 honey-flow begins. 



3. Many kinds of bee-pasturage do 

 fail to produce nectar in some seasons, 

 when the atmosphere is unfavorable to 

 the secretion of nectar. Sweet clover 

 is no exception to this. — Ed.] 



BEE-CELLAR. 



Space for Each Colony in the 

 Cellar — Temperature. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY c. P. he\w;tt. 



After having a well regulated bee- 

 cellar with ventilators that can be 

 opened and closed at will, then comes 

 the most important point, viz : the 

 space that each colony should occupy. 

 1 find that 16 cubic feet, no more nor 

 no less, should be given to produce 

 good results. 



If more space is given, the harder it 

 will be to keep the temperature up ; 

 less than that, the harder it will be to 

 keep it down. 



Proper Temperature In Bee-Cellars 



I winter my bees at a temperature of 

 42°, and through this cold weather I 

 have been able to hold the temperature 

 at that point. We have now had 14 

 days that the temperature was belo^v 

 zero. I have not seen this mentioned 

 by any writers. I consider it one of 

 the most important points in wintering 

 bees. 



