THE KMERICJt]?* BEE jQjjmnm^. 



377 



^■^*-*-*-^*-*-*—-*'*-*— ■*-^*-^*^*^^ 



the sections. It is pleasant to take off 

 lar^e amounts of honey from oacli hive 

 ami sell it for a good round price. 

 And I presume all will agree that it is 

 pleasant to eat it, providing you do 

 not eat too much at a time. In fact, 

 when yon and the bees become good 

 friends, it is all pleasant. 



But the writer has to acknowledge 

 that he has not progressed so far as 

 that yet. His bees are ihe black va- 

 riety, and do not seem inclined to cul- 

 tivate the acquaintance of any one 

 " not in their set." And here I am led 

 to say that bee-keeping calls for a 

 great deal of patience, of perseverance, 

 and of earnest study, as well as close 

 watchfulness, for there is no telling 

 when they will not do some absurd 

 thing or other. ■ 



The first summer that I kept bees, I 

 hived a swarm on frames filled with 

 foundation, and they seemed satisfied, 

 and went to work. In a short time 

 the hive was filled with honey and 

 brood. And then came the strange 

 part of it. They suddenly left the 

 new hive and went back to the parent 

 hive. They were soon driven out, and 

 they clustered on the limb of a tree. 

 I put them back into their own hive, 

 but thej' were soon out again. I then 

 put them into another new hive, when 

 they wei-e satisfied and went to work. 

 Now I have not the slightest idea what 

 caused those bees to desert their hive. 

 Perhaps some of the older bee-keepers 

 present can tell us why it was. 



While speaking of my own experi- 

 ence, it might not be out of place to 

 mention tlie experience of the past 

 season. In the spring 14 colonies 

 came out of the cellar in fine condi- 

 tion. Plans were made for extending 

 the business by natural increase and 

 by purcliase ; and 40 new hives were 

 made, also 50 surplus cases, 3,000 sec- 

 tions, .50 pounds of foundati(Mi pur- 

 chased, and a large stock of enthusi- 

 asm and liopeful anticipation was on 

 hand. 



Result : Three new colonies, one 

 by increase and one by purchase, all 

 of wliicli liad to be nursed all summer 

 to keep them alive. One pound and 

 6 ounces of very dark surplus honey, 

 probably put in the boxes for sale be- 

 cause not fit for home consumption, 

 and even that taken in exchange for 

 140 pounds of sugar fed to them to 

 give them a ghost of Ai chance to live 

 through the winter. It being then a 

 "glorious uncertainty" whether any 

 would live througli, to thank me for 

 my ellorts in their behalf. 



But the one who is really determined 

 to make a success of b0itkoe])ing, will 

 not allow such an experience as that 

 of last season to cool his enthusiasm, 

 llatliei-, he will make it a useful lesson. 

 And he will go on, with a level head, 



learning all he can about bees. He 

 will take at least one first-class bee- 

 paper, and thus get the experience and 

 observations of eminent apiarists. 

 Then, too, lie will study his own bees. 

 He will have an observation hive, and 

 will spend his leisure moments watch- 

 ing them in their varied work. Thus 

 verifying the exi)erience of others, and 

 making it his own as well. He need 

 not be afraid of exhausting the sub- 

 ject. Many very intelligent men have 

 made it their life study, and yet, all of 

 them combined, have been unable, as 

 yet, to learn one-half of what there is 

 to know. 



For myself, after two years' study, 

 I am amazed at the little I have 

 learned, and tlie much there is j-et to 

 learn. Aside from the petty annoy- 

 ances attending the handling of bees, 

 it is a delightful study ; and the more 

 one learns, the more eager is he to 

 learn still more. 



DWINDLING. 



IIoiv llic Bee§ have Wiiitered- 

 Sprin^ Dwindling:, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BV J. M. HAMBAUGH. 



In the latter part of September, 1887, 

 I prepared 65 colonies of bees in large 

 Dadant hives fw- wintering on the 

 summer stands, as follows : Each hive 

 was carried into a bee-tight room, and 

 where there was not fully .30 pounds 

 of honey in the hive, combs filled with 

 honey from other colonies wei'e given, 

 keeping the combs with brood in them 

 to the centre as near as possible, re- 

 moving all surjdus combs from the 

 sides, and inserting a division-board 

 on each side. I then placed f of an 

 incli strips crosswise over the tops of 

 the Ijrood-frames, over winch I spread 

 burlap sacking. Tlie intervening space 

 between the division-boards and the 

 sides of the hive was then packed with 

 dry hartl-maple leaves, and the lid 

 hlled full of the same. This, you will 

 perceive, is a very simple and inex- 

 pensive preparation. 



Out of the ()5 colonies all came 

 through the winter but two ; 'one of 

 which fell into a thief's hands, who 

 .stole the two center combs, leaving the 

 poor bees exposed, and of course they 

 died. The 03 colonies are now in ex- 

 cellent condition, generally speaking. 

 Tally one mori; for the large hives as 

 a success for out-door wintering. 



I prejjared 05 colonies at home for 

 cellar wintering by simply preparing 

 them witli. as I supposed, an aljun- 

 dance of natural stores, weighing each 

 hive, and giving from 20 to 40 pounds 

 of honey, net, to each colony. From 

 Nov. 1!) to 21. tliey were put into the 



cellar. In consequence of showing 

 diarrhetic symptoms, I placed them 

 upon the summer stands on March 1. 

 Every colony was alive at that time, 

 but they spring dwindled, until at 

 present I can boast of but 81 colonies 

 — a loss of 14. 



Another notable feature is the find- 

 ing of 7 queenless colonies. While out 

 of the 03 colonies at the Vandeventer 

 apiary, only two were found to be 

 queenless. At the time of placing the 

 bees upon the summer stands, the con- 

 sumption of honey was very little, but 

 they drew heavily upon their stores 

 during the spring, and quite a number 

 had to be fed. 



Mr. Heddon says on page 267, that 

 his tabulated report " gives sufficient 

 replj' to the criticisms of Messrs. Ham- 

 baugh and Dadant on page 199," and 

 that " those reports settle the question 

 of its merits, etc." Mr. Newman has 

 clearly shown our failings wherein he 

 states, " Our hives are like our wives 

 and babies — each of us think ours the 

 best." If this be true, what does the 

 table amount to, and how are we to 

 get at the superiority of one hive over 

 another, only in the actual work done 

 in the field. A speed-horse must not 

 be declared the winner until he has 

 actually run the race, and gained it by 

 honest work. So with bee-hives, when 

 any disinterested parties will show the 

 actual work of the small hives of any 

 pattern to exceed financially those of 

 large ones, we will cease to exalt the 

 virtues of the large hives, and adopt 

 the small, be they of the single or 

 divisible brood-chamber pattern. We 

 want the hive that will produce the 

 most moiici/. 



Spring, Ills., May 21, 1888. 



NEBRASKA. 



The Bee-Pa<«turage of the State, 

 and tlic Time of Blooming. 



^Frltten fur tlic American Bee Journal 

 BY GEO. GALE. 



While Nebraska is deficient in the 

 chief honey-plants of the States further 

 east, such as white clover, basswood, 

 etc., we have in the southeastern por- 

 tion of the State an abundance of 

 plants in their season, producing a 

 moder.ate, and sometimes an abundant 

 flow of nectar throughout the whole 

 season. 



We are, of course, subject to drouth 

 the same as other countries, but not 

 more so tlian the States east of the 

 Mississippi ; but as we are not depend- 

 ent upon one or two species for our 

 honey crop, it must be a very poor 

 season indeed if we sufi'er an entire 

 failure. The two seasons of 1886 and 

 1887 were the jjoorest seasons for bees 



