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83 



THOS. G. NEWMAN fo SON, , 



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VoLXEV, FeU.MS 



No. 6. 



An Illii.sli'ated Arli<-le,giviiig some 

 historical facts about bee-feeders, may be 

 expected in next weelf's issue. It covers a 

 period of over 30 years, and shows the many 

 progressive steps in that direction. 



While tlic NorlliT»^est has been 

 free/.inij;, with the thermometer ranging at 

 50' to 60° below zero forseveral weeks— now, 

 the reports are that it is from 50' to 00° 

 above in Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas, 

 and that bees are sporting in tlie balmy air. 

 Oh ! how cliangeable ! 



ConventioMs.— This week we give up 

 most of our space to the proceedings of 

 three conventions. There are many good 

 points brought out in them, and these re- 

 ports will repay a careful perusal. Some of 

 the essays will appear later, as we can find 

 room for them. In next week's issue we 

 shall give a report of the New York State 

 Convention. 



■f the Oround Hog: came out of his 

 hole on Candlemas-day (Feb. 2) in this 

 locality he could not have seen his 

 "shadow," and therefore as that "saw" 

 goes, he came out to stay, and we are to 

 have an early spring. We are therefore to 

 be saved from six weeks more of cold 

 weather, which it is claimed would have 

 ensued had the ground hog seen his shadow 

 and gone back into his liole for 40 days. 



Xhe »cfs are liTinteringr W^ell 



80 far, but it is early yet to prognosticate 

 with safety. One correspondent expresses 

 himself in this cautious manner : 



So far our bees are "wintering splen- 

 didly," but we must not anticipate the story 

 that may be told next April. 



]<<■«■!« SViiitfi-in;:' in ISox-IIivfs. — 



The question is olleii asked why bees in 

 box-hives fare beUer in winter than those 

 in frame hives. As a rule they do nut fare 

 better; there are S(mie cases reported sim- 

 ilar to the lollowini;, wliii-h comes from Mr. 

 S. P. Stone, of Holly, Mich. : 



In 18.19, in a town ailjoinini:, a swarm of 

 bees was put into a hive, the inside measure 

 of whicti is It; inches square and '23 inches 

 liiyh. The entrance i" 4 inches long anil ;.>' 

 an inch high. One-liiird fronitue boltoni is 

 four J^ incli holes, side by side; one-half 

 ■' way U(), is one ,'.j-iueh hole, ;inil in the tup 

 is a 3 inch anner hole, to admit Ihe bees to 

 a box lor surplus. A board is laid over llie 

 hole when the box i^ otf. ll stands out-of- 

 doors, withciut prnteetiiin of any kind, has 

 never been niiived, lius yearly c;ist fiiiiu 3 to 

 5 swarms, and is in good condition ; yet 

 they are native black bees! Mr. Editor, 

 can you tell us why they have thus lived 

 and prospered, while others have perished ? 



Can we tell what caused the epizootic ? 

 Can we determine wliy yellow fever spreads 

 over a Continent ? Can we give the reason 

 for the extreme prevalence of typhoid fever 

 at the' present time? These often take 

 possession of a locality, or even a single 

 family, and those on another street or 

 other localities, are not alTected by it ! 



Can we tell " why these bees liave lived 

 and prospered while many others have per- 

 ished ?" No. We can "guess" at it— but 

 no one can " tell " with certainty. 



A correspondent wrote us as follows 

 some time ago : 



One of our neighbors in the fall had 84 

 colonies of bees in bux-hives ; but all were 

 dead in the spring hut one, and that one 

 was strong, and comineneed to swarm early. 

 In the next fall he had iJJ colimies in bnx- 

 hives, and again lost all hut the same one, 

 and that cast a laige swarm in the folluwing 

 May. In the latter box hive tlie combs are 



built from each corner to the centre, as 

 shown in the engraving. I know of several 

 instances very similar to the above. 



Now, may not this instance serve to 

 illustrate the matter, and help to solve the 

 mystery ? Perhaps the box-hive mentioned 

 by Mr. Stone has combs built in a similar 

 manner — fully protected from the winter's 

 cold — thereby saving the lives of the bees 

 during our long and tedious winters ! 



At least we shall guess that it has, and 

 offer this as our answer to the question. 



■We are Sorry to learn that Mr. J. 

 Vandervort, of Laceyville, Pa., inventor of 

 foundation mills, has suffered loss by lire. 



Wlior«- Nliall it be?— Many are 

 anxious to know where the next Interna- 

 tional Convention is to be held. Mr. K. R. 

 Kyan, ex-President of the Nebraska Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, writes thus about it : 



I would like to have the National Conven- 

 tion held, it possible, at Columbus, Ohio. 

 Then we could take in the "Centennial," 

 the National Ite-union of the G. A. K., and 

 the Bee Keepers' Convention. If nothing 

 happens hits of the "old boys" will be on 

 hand. Hates will be low, the attendance 

 large, and a grand good time may be ex- 

 pected in all tue departments. 



So far the votes have been about equally 

 divided between Columbus and Cincinnati. 

 Let the rest of the "votes" be sent iu at 

 once, so that the matter may be decided as 

 soou as possible. 



K..ive a» ■..ong' as Siieep and 



Hens.— As another example of the ignor- 

 ant "scribbling" of those who write for the 

 daily press, we may cite the following from 

 the New York Ledger : 



The scientillc culture of bee-breeding and 

 honey-making is leading to interesting dis- 

 coveries with regard to honey-bees. Ac- 

 cording to the reports of experts, queen- 

 bees live as long as sheep and hens, and 

 have marked distinctions of disposition and 

 cliaracter, which they so vigorously trans- 

 mit to their oUspring that the introduction 

 of a new queen into a hive will change the 

 character ot the entire swarm in a few 

 months. The queen lays all the eggs from 

 which the hees in a hive are hatched, and 

 they take their ruling qualities from her. 

 Hence some swarms are industrious, while 

 others are lazy ; some are good-natured, 

 while others are ill-tempered, and so on. 

 As soon as it is found that a queen's progeny 

 are of an undesirable kind, she is killed by 

 the bee breeder, and another queen put in 

 her place. 



Just fancy a queen-bee living as long as 

 a hen or sheep. It is now even questioned 

 whether a queen should not be superseded 

 after the first year of her existence ! 



Mr. F. A. Lockhart, of Lake George, N. 

 Y., who sent the "item "from the Ledger, 

 comments upon it in these words : 



I have seen sheep 12 years old, and hens 

 14 years old. I never had a queen-bee that 

 lived to be of that asre. I do not know 

 where the New York Ledyer got its report 

 of experts from. Perhaps where they live, 

 sheep and hens do not live to be very old. 

 I think the experts had better learn a little 

 moie about queeu-bees, sheep and hens be- 

 fore they compare their ages. 



'Warm W^eatlier is reported by sev- 

 eral in the Northwest, but the following 

 from Mr. John Blodget, of Flag Springs, 

 Mo., written on Jan. 31, 1888, seems to carry 

 otf the palm, at 90= iu the sun. Hesays : 



Mybeeshad a fine flight on Jan. 29, 30, 

 and 31. It is very warm ; the mercury 

 stiindingat90° in the sun, and .50° in the 

 shade. My bees are all alive and healthy. 

 I never saw so few dead bees on the bottom 

 of the hives. I could hold all of the dead 

 bees in my hand. They speckled the snow 

 averyliltle indeed tor so long a confine- 

 ment. I like the chaff packing very much. 



l^'e-w' Sul>.«cribcrs can obtain the full 

 numbers for I8S7 and 188S, for SI. 75. while 

 there are any sets of 1887 left. 



