THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



153 



done : so we tied up, took the bees oft' tlie 

 boat, and set them out in a sort of open 

 },'rove. Within one hour, they were nearly 

 all in tlie tops of the treis, dropping: down 

 l)ushels at a time, with (pieens and without 

 tiiem. Here I was taken sick and oblij,'fd to 

 leave for home, reaching there June 'I'l. 



This, in brief, is my experience. As to 

 my views, I douljt if any steamer can stem 

 the current of the Mississippi fast enough to 

 keei) upi'vith the honey harvest: but I think 

 there ini<,'ht be a car made that would he a 

 sucess. Everything must be done promptly. 

 If we knew, or could calcvdate closely, when 

 the willow was yoing out in one locality and 

 coming in north of thei-e, it might be suc- 

 cessfully utilized. Having made the most 

 of the willow, then go to the white clover. 



The colonies must not be too strong, the 

 • jueens should be clipped, jind the hives so 

 placed that, if the bees come out. they can 

 return. 



I am no longer working with bees : tiie 

 lif ty colonies that I own are let out on shares 

 and I am now giving more time to the rais- 

 ing of horses. 



Kalamazoo, Mich., 



Aug. 7, ISSi). 



The 4- Bee-Keepers' + Eeview, 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Editor & Proprietor. 



TERMS : — TiO f ents a year in advance, two 

 copies for ito v-.'uts; three for $1.35; five for $2.00; 

 ten or more, 3."^. cents each; all to be sent to one 

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 NOT LESS than ■!.'> cents each. 



FLINT. MICHIGAN. SEPTEMBER 10, 1889. 



THE DISCUSSION ON WINTERING TO HE 

 OONTINUED. 



Even though the last Review contained 

 twenty pages, the "Migratory" discussion 

 extended over into this number — yes, and 

 crowded so hard that it lias pushed out arti- 

 cles from sucli men as Taylor, France, Bing- 

 ham, and L'lrrabee. Mr. Manum h;is also 

 promised to write on " ( )ut-door Wintering " 

 in time for the ( )ctober issue. Taking every- 

 thing into consideration, we have decided 

 not to try to put all the discussion uiiou 

 this subject into this number, even by add- 

 ing extra leaves, but let it run over into the 

 next issue ; and if what we now present 

 moves some one else to write, well and good. 

 We would prefer to have all of the discussion 

 upon one subject gathered together in one 

 issue, but that the truth be arrived at is far 

 more important. 



FAIE PROSPECTS F(Hi THE SUCCESS OF MIGRA- 

 TOKY JUiE-KEEPING. 



^^'e are proud of tlie discussion upon " Mi- 

 gratory Bee-Keeiiing." ^\'e doubt if any- 

 where in this wide world could there be 

 found so much reliable information as we 

 have gathered together. When jutliciously 

 conducted, the nngratory plan has been, and 

 will be, remunerative. It is true there have 

 been failures, most disastrous ones, and so 

 have there been in stay-at-home bee-keep- 

 ing. We must reniember that this is a com- 

 l)aratively new l)ranch of bee-keeping, at 

 least in tliis country, and the "precedents" 

 are few and far between. There is one 

 grand fact upon which to make of migra- 

 tory bee-keei)ing a success in the fullest 

 sense. It is that the honey How opens in the 

 youth in February, and advances northward 

 with the season. Could bees be kept "in 

 clover," or some otlier excellent honey field, 

 several months, the yield would be something 

 enormous. The difficulties to be overcome 

 are those of transportation. To tpiickly, 

 cheaply and safely move the apiary, without 

 loss of bees or brood, solves the problem. 

 We still have faith in the Mississippi plan. 

 In tliis tliere are no "junction points" to 

 cause delays. When not "on the move," 

 the bees may be " on the wing." Some of 

 our correspondents have expressed doubts 

 as to a steamer being able to climb the Mis- 

 sissippi with sufficient rapidity to keep pace 

 with the advancing bloom. To us, this 

 seemed so unreasonable, that we wrote to E. 

 T. Flanagan for his experience on this point. 

 He says : " The regular New Orleans and St. 

 Louis boats, on which I have shipped hun- 

 dreds of colonies, make the trip from New 

 Orleans to St. Ijouis in seven or eight days: 

 sometimes less. (This is nearly "halfway" 

 up the Mississippi. Ed.) It is absurd to say 

 that a Ijoat that can and does make this dis- 

 tance in a week, can't keep np with the sea- 

 son. The plan is )>ractical and feasible. It 

 will not answer, however, to wait until the 

 bloom is eutiri'li/ over in the lower locality 

 before starting for the upper (me. This is 

 the mistake Perrine made." Of course, bees 

 moved in hot weather must have abundant 

 ventilation : l)ut, as a correspondent says, 

 this alone will not save the brood. The bees 

 must have plcnh/ of water. It has been 

 urged, and with a fair show of reason, that 

 a colony that has just gathered a bountiful 

 harvest is not in the best condition to store 

 another crop. Ke-queening at the right time 



