That the introduction of unfecundated queens should be so often spoken of, and that too by some of our experienced bee-keepers, as a matter of much difficulty, is a question to me almost incomprehensible. In the hands of the inexperienced, or of those ignorant of the first principles of success, a few failures ought not to be wondered at. But for those having a knowledge of the prerequisites for the acceptance of a stranger queen by a colony of bees, to talk of the safe introduction of unimpregnated queens, as an act of uncertainty, induces me to believe that they have either not experimented at all on this part of practical bee-culture, or else did so to little profit.
If it be true, as has been asserted time and again in theBee Journal, that the only means the bees have of recognizing strangers, is by the sense of smell, it stands to reason that, if a stranger queen be confined in a hive long enough to acquire the scent of the hive, the bees will immediately accept her as their own, especially if they have no young queens in process of rearing.
Acting upon this principle the past summer, I confined my young queens in small wire cages, and inserted them as near as I could in the centre of the hive; at the same time taking the precaution to provide them with food during their confinement. The result was that out of a goodly number of unimpregnated queens, introduced in swarming time, not one was lost. We have also succeeded admirably in introducing them, by scenting both queen and bees with some liquid having a peculiar scent. By either method, we regard the safe introduction of a queen bee, whether fertile or not, as a matter of certainty: where the queens themselves are kept from starving by proper feeding.
We permitted natural swarming to some extent this summer, in order to get hardy and prolific queens. As we will break up a number of after-swarms this fall, which were unfortunate in coming late, we shall be able to furnish some who prefer tested queens to all others, with a number of finely colored queens raised in natural swarms, cheap for cash.
J. L. McLean.
Richmond, Jeff. Co., Ohio.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
As an introducer of queens I have not been always successful. In several cases, after two or three days caging, the queen has been accepted all right, and within twenty-four hours rejected. I watched one of these cases, in which the queen, when liberated from the cage, was caressed by the bees, until by and by one of a different mind (and of a different body, too; for I have noticed the first to attack a queen are the small-bodied fellows) assailed her, and very shortly was joined by others, until a mass imprisoned her.
With Mrs. Tupper’s favorite method I have sometimes succeeded, and sometimes failed; but then the fault may have been all my own. I have half drowned bees, queen and all, with diluted honey strongly scented with peppermint, and had the pleasure of seeing the drunken fools fondle her as if they had always known her; and then some one of the number, not fully saturated, would attack her.
Latterly, I have taken a different plan, and one which, according to all the authorities ought uniformly to fail; but which, so far, has uniformly succeeded here. It is simply this:
Wait until the bees have started queen cells. Then, without any preparation whatever, put any queen, fertile or unfertile, directly on the comb, among the bees. That is all.
It may be that I shall fail the very next time; but, until I do fail, I shall continue to practice this plan. I give it to the Journal, in hopes that some one else, having a queen or queens of no value, will give it a trial. I have not tried it long enough to consider it a settled thing; but shall report to the Journal the first case of failure. Let me relate a case of success:
August 1st, I put into an empty hive, No. 15, one frame containing some honey and a very few cells ofsealedbrood. I put into this hive a young queen that had just commenced laying, and set the hive in place of one containing a strong colony. Of course the empty hive received all the flying force of the strong colony. On the next day they had destroyed the queen. I then took a queen two or three years old, covered her with honey completely, and dropped her on the frames. She was received all right. Next day, August 3d, I killed this queen and introduced ayoungone in exactly the same manner. She was promptly imprisoned, and I released and caged her. August 5th, this queen having been caged two days, is still refused. August 6th, she is caressed by some of the bees, but others imprison her. I then gave her to a full colony, No. 1, which was queenless and had queen cells started, some of which were sealed. Placing her directly on the comb, without caging, she was kindly received and soon commenced laying. I then took from No. 1, the frame with queen cells, and gave it to No. 13. Three days later, August 9th, I gave to No. 15, an unfertile queen three days old, placing her directly on the comb. On the same day I gave another full colony, having queen cells only a day or two old, an unfertile queen three days old. Being out of the State I did not see them again till August 22d, when I found both queens laying.
C. C. Miller.
Marengo, Ill., Aug. 30, 1870.
The smell of their own poison produces a very irritating effect upon bees. A small portion offered to them on a stick, will excite their anger.
After a swarm of bees is once lodged in their new hive, they ought by all means be allowed to carry on their operations, for some time, without interruption.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—I herewith send you two dollars as a further fee of incorporation in the bee family. I have profited well by it this year. I was absent on a tour in Europe last spring. On my return I found my bees in poor condition. Two colonies had died from dysentery or the warmth of the bee cellar; and of the remaining sixteen stocks, two were very weak, with some others in prime order. I had but two Italian stocks left. As far as my experience goes, I must give three cheers for the Italians. The earliest natural swarm I got here from blacks was on the 17th of June. This year my first Italian swarm came off on the 13th of May. The parent stock was a good one, though I cannot set it down as my best in number of bees. I had black colonies that were more populous. As for this Italian, it yielded me fourteen natural swarms, four of which left for the woods and the remaining ten are in extra condition for wintering. The parent hive and the first swarm are the heaviest stocks in my apiary. I shall Italianize all my colonies this fall. No man will ever persuade me that black bees are as good. I shall always consider such men as jealous or prejudiced. The advantages derived from Italian bees are well worth paying for—their early swarming and their rapid breeding are sufficient compensation. The color of the queen, too, is a great advantage when looking for her in the crowd on the comb, and her superior fertility is an unquestionable fact. The fourth swarm came off in May. It was small; but as it had a beautiful Italian queen, I put it in a box hive, and today it has nearly filled a twenty pound box. The season from the beginning of May to the middle of July was very good. My hives were so full of honey that no empty cells were to be seen. I have brought up the number of my colonies to forty-five, and four swarms left for the woods; and thus far I have sold seven hundred (700) pounds of honey.
According to the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, there are between 70,000 and 100,000 bee-keepers in this country. If so, the number who subscribe for theBee Journalis comparatively small. Why is this so? According to my observation and experience there are two reasons. First, because the population of this republic is largely composed of emigrants from all nations, and although they and their immediate descendants may speak and understand English, yet they are not able to read or write it readily. Every one sticks more or less to his native language, and prefers reading newspapers printed in that language, because he understands it best. The second reason or cause is jealousy. It is a fact well known to every bee-keeper away from large cities, that the sale of honey is very slow in small cities and towns; and it is often impossible to sell at a remunerating price. Thus, for instance, Green Bay is a city of 8,000 inhabitants; yet one bee-keeper with 100 hives can fully supply the annual market of that city in a good year. It is of vastly more importance to write on this subject and induce an extension of the market demand for honey, than to teach fertilization by one or more drones. Bee keeping is now very profitable—more so than is acknowledged in print; but men have a disposition to keep the thing to themselves. It is very often the case that a bee-keeper instructs his neighbors in the art of managing bees successfully and profitably, and as soon as these are well posted in the business, they become a source of annoyance, contempt, and jealousy to their instructors. This makes it the more necessary to make more extensively known the best honey markets that are now to be found, and any additional outlets and uses for honey that may be opened or devised. In France enormous quantities of honey are used in the fabrication of honey bread, calledpain d’epice. I wish our friend C. Dadant would give us a receipt how to make the best kind. This might become an American institution as well as a French one. The reputation of this delicacy is world-wide, as well as that of the French wines so much liked here. Vinegar also is said to be of superior quality, when made in a perfect way from honey. I should be glad to obtain some reliable information as to thebestkind of it. Much honey is spoiled, as many other things are also, by using it when not properly prepared. Let us have the true results of experience. Another matter, not less important, is the preparation of good mead. A bottle of good mead is equal to the best wine; women in confinement use it in preference to wine, and with far more benefit. I think mead can be made as cheap as, or cheaper than whiskey. Good fermented mead ought to be sold in all wine stores for medicinal purposes and other uses. It is used in Belgium extensively as a summer drink.
I am going to build me a bee house of cedar logs, twenty feet by sixteen inside, stuffed with one foot of saw-dust; and I wish to know how I can give the greatest amount of ventilation in winter, without light. I want the largest amount of ventilation, combined with the largest amount of darkness; and desire to know where and how to place the ventilators, and of what material these should be made—whether of wood, iron, or lead? If possible, let us have a sketch or side view. Did I not fear thatNovicewas drowned in honey, I would ask him to have the kindness to furnish the information according to his experience. Perhaps we should send in contributions to the editor to offer a premium for a design for the best bee-wintering house, to contain a hundred hives as described above. Bee-wintering is one of the most important points in bee-culture now, and bee-keepers could well afford to contribute towards procuring the best plan of a house.
Now, dear editor, although a passenger in the sleeping car, I am for progress. Thirteen swarms from one—say one brought up to fourteen, is a true American fact. If I had set the fourteen in four hives, with ample space for boxes, it would have been a pity for my blacks to compare results. I drummed out my old hive and first swarm, and cut three pails of honey out of them. Then I returned the bees, and the gaps are again nearly closed. I wish now to saySOMETHING ON HIVES.
Last year I made me three Price hives according to Vol. IV., page 87. On inspecting my hives, after the bees had been put in, I found in the first one all its frames lodged on one side. To obviate this, I drove small tack-nails on top sidewards, to hold the frames at proper distance apart; but this does not do. In lifting out the frames I slightly damaged brood and honey. The second hive was in order, but the combs very uneven. The third had its combs straight every time, impossible to be otherwise down to the middle; but from the middle corners down to the lower corner they were fastened together and all gone astray. Further, the crushing of bees by the honey-board annoyed me much. They are so very heavy and troublesome to handle, that I have broken up the whole concern.
Now, I have constructed a hive on the Gallup pattern, say one foot square, and use twelve frames in it. This is what I like. My combs are as straight as a piece of board, and very easy to handle. I shall stick to it. But, dear editor, I fear I have infringed on some one’s patent, and I do not like others to do the thinking, and myself to reap the harvest—which is about as criminal as stealing another man’s brains. The question is: whom have I to pay? My frames are made thus:
They hang on a rabbet, suspended by half an inch of iron wire, the thickness of an ordinary lead pencil. They are very easy to take out, and are never gummed fast. Now, do you not think I have infringed the Langstroth principle? If so, please inform me. My frames are three-quarters of an inch thick, and are very strong. I have had much trouble with frames as commonly made, when filled with honey. They are then too weak.
Finally, I have constructedA HONEY MACHINEaccording to Mr. Hubbard’s description. I had not the slightest trouble in making it. My can of zinc, eighteen inches in diameter and twenty inches high; cost three dollars. The iron wire cost one dollar, but I had more than enough. The whole cost was less than five dollars. I used the crank of a fanning-mill, to see what effect it would have, but found it too long. I was compelled to turn it with a peg half way down, which is just the thing. I can turn it as rapidly as wanted—so rapid, indeed, that the larvæ would be thrown out. I shall use no gearing. I found the machine all that could be desired, and only regret that I had it not in June. The queens might have produced some thousands of pets more, if empty cells had been provided for them. Now, something about>STRONG STOCKS.
Novicesays if we are well-rooted anywhere it is instrong stocks. This, I find, is a very indefinite saying. I wish some one would give me a clear idea of what is meant by the expressionstrong stocks. Is it a large, prime swarm, or a first and a second swarm united, or any swarm well wintered and built up by spring feeding on Gallup’s system?
Ah, indeed, N. Woodworth, of Rochester, Wisconsin, on page 47, Vol. VI., has thrown a skunk in the face of the bee family. A skunk cannot stink more than that statement. Surely, he designs to see what effect it will have. Well, the best way is to let the skunk alone. The meanest bee-gum bee-keeper who manages to winter his bees so that they do not all die, has to acknowledge that bee-keeping pays; how much more can one accomplish who knows how to employ skilfully scientific means and methods?
Joseph Duffeler.
Rousseau, Wis., August 26.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—In the September number of your excellent Journal, page 58, Mr. Alley accuses the writer of “pitching into him.” But I find he can still hold up his head and “pitch” back, as well as raise cheap queens; so he is not badly wounded. But, to be serious, I most sincerely regret that any sentence in my article, in the August number, was so worded that it was thought to be personal. It has been a favorite project with me to see the honey bee improved to its highest possible extent. And even Mr. Alley concedes the principle for which I contend. For, says he, “I pay the highest prices for my breeding queens, and now have queens of my own raising that I would not sell for fifty dollars.” This is a higher price than I proposed for such queens, five or six times over. He says he will take my whole lot at my figures, if I have such queens as I describe. I would not like to spare them, Mr. Alley, for I value them as highly as you doyourbest queens!
I do not doubt that every man who gets a queen from Mr. Alley, or from any other man who sends the genuine breed, gets the worth of his money; but what I did mean to say, was, that if a man wishes to get the highest grade of Italians, let him get one that has been raised from the best selected stock, under the eye of an experienced apiarian, and thoroughly tested before she is used as a breeder. Then the buyer will know what he is getting, and would find his purchase cheap at twenty dollars—rather than one that was untested and raised at haphazard, at two dollars and a half.
I repeat—Let the Queen-Raising Brotherhood unite to state these facts fairly and squarely before the world; and let men who believe in sharp practice keep such things out of sight.
I, too, if ever I go into the business again, willsell queens at $2.50, sending them out as soon as they begin to lay eggs, to any number ordered, guaranteeing that all the workers shall show three yellow bands, when filled with honey. But, if tested and guaranteed as breeders, I would ask ten dollars each. If I was going to commence Italianizing an apiary, I would send to some responsible man, such as Langstroth, Colvin, Quinby, Gallup, Mrs. Tupper, or Mr. Alley; and in the room of sending $2.50, I would say, “fix your own price, but send me the best queen you can select!” for I would rather have such a one than four of average untested queens. And putting the seller upon his honor, I think I should get thebest, where all were good.
Others may differ from me in opinion, yet I have given the public my views honestly.
Mr. George C. Silsby has my thanks for his courteous criticism of my article. Mr. J. E. Pond likewise, though he misapprehends my intention to attack any one but sharpers, who sell for pure Italians what no one, qualified to judge, would call even a good hybrid. I know nothing of Mr. Alley only through his advertisement, and of course knew nothing of the quality of his bees. But while I know nothing of him, I do know men who sent to where it was most convenient and cheapest, and straightway they became queen-breeders, and supplied the country round, in turn, withgenuine queens. It would take an expert often, to detect a particle of Italian breed in many such colonies that I know of.
In such cases, often, the queen-breeder himself did not know that he was selling a spurious article. I may have been foolish, but I did send to Italy for stock that cost me twenty dollars each, when I could have procured stock from Mr. Langstroth for five dollars each. The same year I procured a queen from Mr. Colvin for fifteen dollars, tested, in preference; and the very next year I sent fifteen dollars to Mr. Langstroth, for a tested and superior queen, when he would have sold me an untested one for half the money. I think still that the money was well invested.
Two years ago I left the personal supervision of queen raising, and a gentleman by the name of J. L. Strong is now conducting the same apiary, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He has not been able to supply all his orders this season. My articles were dated from that place; but my residence is at Ottumwa, Iowa, where I am trying to fill the place of pastor of one of the Methodist Episcopal Churches of that city. I have raised justfourqueens this season, one of which was a hybrid. These I have used in making new swarms. I have five colonies here, which still interest me greatly, although there are not many dollars and cents, as income, in the enterprise, and I take all the profits in honey for my table. So you see I am not a very formidable rival in the trade.
But, in common with the brotherhood, “bee on the brain,” is a chronic complaint with me, and I never shall recover from it; and every man who talksbees, or writesbees, orraises queen bees for $2.50, or any other price, has traits that make me regard him as abrother. And if I write an occasional article, don’t think I am “pitching into” some one, or writing to “show off.” Then, further, if you find my articles only half as interesting to you, as yours are to me, I shall be content. In the meantime let us raise no false expectations; but so write that we can put in the hands of the cottager, occupying a few square roods, the means of keeping, in an intelligent manner, from twenty to one hundred colonies that shall bring him as much profit as the owner of a farm reaps from his broad acres.
E. L. Briggs.
Ottumwa, Iowa.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor(and some one says that means everybody):—As I receive many letters asking what I think of the Economic Hive, mentioned and described in several numbers of the last volume of the Journal, suppose you allow me to answer them at once through the pages of the Journal. It will save me much trouble, and obviate the necessity of replying to the same questions asked over and over again, by different inquirers. Another matter I would like to speak about. I receive a great many inquiries somewhat like this—“Mr. Gallup, I am a new subscriber to the American Bee Journal.” &c., &c., and asking me for information about such and such articles, or what does such or such a writer mean, &c. Now, gentlemen, I am perfectly willing to answer your questions, but it appears to me that your very best plan would be to send the money to the publisher, and get the back numbers of the Journal. You would certainly get the worth of your money; and then you can understand what the writers mean, better than I can tell you in one short letter.
Well, here I am off the track, as sure as fate. To return; in the first place, the Economic Hive and the hive I use, are (with slight variation) substantially the same. Both can be used in the same manner, in every respect. I have used them with from ten to fifteen frames, but for general use, twelve are sufficient. All it needs is to make the hive wider or narrower, to accommodate more or less frames. In using my hive two story, I make the second story the same depth as the first. My frames hang on small three-cornered cleats instead of on rabbetings; and to make any hive into a second story box, draw the small finishing nails out of the cleats and nail them on again, low enough down to allow one-fourth of an inch space between the upper frames and the lower, without the honey-board. Now, all that is necessary to convert this into two hives, is to move those cleats back to their former places again. In placing this top box on and lowering the cleats, it leaves an inch and a quarter space between the top of the lower frames and the honey-board. Now drive four finishing nails into the sides of the hive, inside, leaving the heads project one-fourth of an inch above the frames. Then fit in an inch board and let it rest on those projecting nails. This will fill up so much of the vacant space under the honey-board.—In putting on the third story, I make my boxes so as to fit inside thehive,on the frames, and do not use the honey-board between the boxes and hive in any case. This third story is only used with very strong stocks.
Once more, I will say that this hive suits me, and can be used for every purpose, in forming nuclei. You can raise four queens in it, as Mr. Truesdell says, and by inserting three division boards you can make it into four small hives. The entrance on the four sides of the hive are all in the bottom board. It can be accommodated to any size of swarm, simply by using the division boards, or not, as the case requires. In short, read what Mr. Truesdell says about the hive, and also what I have previously said about it; and then read what I say in the “Annals of Bee-culture for 1870” (when it comes out) about the best method of having honey stored in combs for market—decidedly the best, in my opinion; better than any glass boxes I ever saw. In such a hive you have one adapted either to a poor honey district, or to a good one. It will accommodate the largest, as well as the smallest swarm you ever saw. It is cheap and simple. Understand, I am not cracking up this hive to make money out of it, for it is not patented, and I have no time to make any to sell.
E. Gallup.
Orchard, Iowa.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
I wonder sometimes how many bee-keepers have tried the Gallup Hive, there being so many other hives that are so highly recommended. I have made and used, now for two seasons, more than a dozen of the Gallup form of hive; and thus far I think it is good for all that Gallup claims for it. Simple in its construction, easily and cheaply made, and for one, I cannot conceive how any hive could be better adapted or more convenient to form nuclei with full sized combs, to raise queens, to equalize bees and stores, build up stocks, exchange combs promiscuously from hive to hive, &c., &c. No trouble about the frames hanging true, and I think I can handle a set of frames in the Gallup form of hive in as short a time as I can in the Langstroth standard; and I am using both. If the several parts of the Gallup hive are correctly made and put in place, it is almost air-tight; and yet any amount of air, whether much or little, can be given and regulated, even to the extent of suspending the hive in mid-air, with top and bottom off, if it were necessary. Its surplus honey arrangement can be made to suit location or fancy. I do not suppose that Novice or Grimm, or some others, would do any better by using the Gallup hive; but my circumstances are very different from theirs. And as it is of the utmost importance to me to use only one kind of hive, I intend to use the Gallup form exclusively as soon as I can, without material loss.
Henry Crist.
Lake P. O., O., Sept. 7, 1870.
Those that boast most, fail most, for deeds are tongue-tied.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
It is due to myself and to Palmer Brothers to say that their article, so greatly in favor of my hive, was written without my knowledge and entirely upon their own responsibility.
While I feel grateful to them for their high opinion of my hive, and the impartial manner in which they have spoken of it, I may be allowed to correct two or three items in the description thereof. They have purchased the territory for these hives before the alterations of which I am about to speak were made.
“Advantage 8th” (seeBee Journal, Vol. VI., No. 2, Aug. 1870.) “There is a passage through the bottom board, covered with wire cloth, through which the bees receive air,” &c. After five years’ experience and experimenting with the hive and the best method of ventilating, I now make the bottom board without any hole through it, preferring instead to put a hole through the rear end board of the hive, about one inch from the bottom, and covered with wire cloth. The hole is an inch and a half in diameter, and allows a circulation of air from front to rear. I consider this the best method of ventilating a hive, and in most, if not all cases, quite sufficient, and especially so with an entrance such as I use in my hive, and with which Palmer Brothers were not acquainted for reasons already stated. I will just say the entrance is so constructed, with a double zinc gauge, that it can be enlarged in a moment of time to half an inch deep and the full width of the hive, and contracted in the same time to half an inch square.
“Advantage 16th.The bottom slants to the front.” It may be made inclined or level, as desired by the builder.
“Advantage 18th.One, two, or four boxes may be used.” Six square boxes, suitable for market, may be used.
“Disadvantage 3d.The improvements are worse than useless, to one who will not properly use them.” This is true of all frame hives. If a bee-keeper intends to let his bees die, with no attention on his part, he certainly will save the expense of improvements by setting them in a hollow log.
To those parties who may purchase territory I will send a sample hive, paying all charges to the line. See advertisement, and make an offer.
J. H. Thomas.
Brooklin, Ontario.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—I see that many persons have lost their bees by what is called Bee Cholera. I have had some bees die with the same disease. I then took a colony after one half the bees were dead, ventilated the hive well, and carried it into the stove room, and kept it there the space of eight days. It is now a strong colony. I suppose the heat of the room evaporated some of the water in the honey.
B. R. Hopkins.
Tyrone, Pa.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
The experience of a single season satisfies me well with a hive for nuclei, made by simply taking the ordinary Langstroth hive, separating it into six compartments, and making the entrances face in different directions, in this manner:
Nos. 1 and 6 have the entrances at the back end of the sides, at the upper corner. Nos. 2 and 5 have a hole bored through the bottom, and the bottom board channelled, making the entrances come out underneath the front end of the sides at thelowercorner. The entrance of No. 3 is in front, at the regular entrance; and No. 4 has an entrance at the back end.
“But will not the queens enter the wrong compartment, on returning from their excursions?” I have raised fifteen or twenty in a hive of this kind, and have never lost any.
Instead of a honey board, a strip of board covers each division separately, so that each nucleus can be examined without disturbing the others.
The ordinary frame is used, and the principal advantage of the hive consists in the mutual warmth gained.
I think it pays to keep reserve queens constantly on hand; and I mean to try whether I cannot winter a few queens in this way.
I have raised some queens by letting the nucleus have brood to start queen cells from; but they have been slow coming to maturity; and after they have laid a few eggs, they are sometimes discarded and a young queen raised from the brood. The trouble seems to be that where queen cells are started by a small cluster of bees, they do not feed the grubs plentifully enough, and when the queen hatches out not a particle of royal jelly is found in the cell. Whereas, when a strong colony raises a queen, the cell will contain a large quantity of jelly after the young queen emerges. To obtain good queens, I take the following plan. I take a frame containing only eggs laid by my best queen, and put it into an empty hive, and set this in the place of a strong colony. Cells will be started and the grubs liberally fed, and as soon as they are sealed over, I cut them out and give them to the nuclei. I then give the hive a laying queen, and two or more frames of sealed brood, according to the time of year, and have a good colony.
I am waiting patiently forNoviceto invent a machine for making straight worker comb; for as yet I have found no way of securing all worker comb, except to have it built by a weak colony. My bees build some drone comb of very strong, even if their queen is not a month old; and they will build worker comb,whilst raising queens, ifWEAK ENOUGH.
C. C. Miller.
Marengo, Ill., Aug. 30, 1870.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—As I have been visiting among bee-keeping friends, I will give you a few lines that may interest some of your readers. The season here has been very variable in the yield of honey from the clover blossoms and also from honey dew.
I made a short visit to Hess & Co.’s apiary, some ten miles from Fulton, on the Iowa side of the Mississippi, who have about one hundred and eighty colonies. Their bees did not yield much white clover or basswood honey, but did well on honey dew. The honey from the latter is very dark and sticky, and to most persons is of poor flavor. Their bees did not swarm much this season, though they are surrounded with all the early flowering trees, such as soft maple and hard elm, willow, and all other kinds natural to our soil, alike on the islands, bottoms, and uplands.
I next visited Marvin & Bros., of St. Charles, Ill. Their apiary numbers one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred stocks. Their bees have not done anything to speak of, and from appearance and prospects, they will have to be fed to go through the winter. There was hardly any rain here from the last of March to the last of June. White clover blossomed very little, and Alsike was almost a failure from the drouth. It did not grow tall enough to be cut for seed, where it did come into bloom. But Messrs. Marvin are not discouraged. They think there is a good time coming yet for bees, though it be not this season. They have some of the great Rocky Mountain bee plant growing, but it has not done anything for them since they have had it. It is now in full bloom, yet very seldom a bee lights on it.
I also made a brief call on M. M. Baldridge, the secretary of the great National Bee Hive Company, at St. Charles. His bees will likewise have to be fed, to go safely through the winter, if fall pasturage do not supply sufficient honey for their need. Mr. Baldridge is doing a considerable business in manufacturing honey emptying machines, now that the demand for beehives is over for this year.
I next visited Mr. Thompson, of Geneva. He is young in the bee business, but quite enthusiastic. Although he lost all his bees last winter, he was not discouraged, but tried again this season.Like most new beginners, he increased his stock rather too rapidly, especially in so poor a season as this has proved to be in that section generally. Bees, however, did somewhat better at Geneva than at St. Charles, only two miles away. At Batavia, the same distance below, the bees have done moderately well. Let me remark here that the rains, throughout the West, for the most part went in narrow streaks this season, especially in June, sometimes not over half a mile wide. This accounts for the difference in the condition of colonies in apiaries only a few miles apart.
I called on Mr. Way, at Batavia, and took a look at his bees and honey. He has a good supply of surplus white clover honey on hand, having been fortunate enough to be within the range of one of the seasonable rain streaks. The most of his colonies have honey enough to pass the winter safely, if they should not be able to gather any more. I was told that the good people of Batavia tried to get friend Way’s bees expelled from the city limits, as a nuisance, for fear they might possibly sting somebody!
I do not think that the largest honey dealer in Chicago is doing the fair thing by his patrons—that is, if he wishes to do a permanent business and retain his best customers. He would rather buy honey in large boxes and frames, and then cut it into three or four small strips, put it in glass jars, and fill up the jars with inferior strained or Cuba honey. At the same time he discourages the bee-keepers from taking their honey from the combs with the melextractor, for the simple reason, I suppose, that he can make more money by straining the honey himself, as I was told he had a nice steam apparatus for fixing over strained honey.
As to the commission men, there are not many of them to be trusted, as it is seldom that honey is handled with the care it ought to receive; and when it gets to leaking, they sell it for any price they can get, in order to be rid of it.
There is a great fault, too, in the manner of shipping it, to have it go through in good shape, as the railroad men do not handle things very carefully. To get the best price from honest dealers, the box honey must be put up in neat, small boxes, weighing not over seven pounds gross; and to get a market established for extracted honey, it should be shipped to some reliable man; and the jars must be labelled with the quality of the honey and the name of the producer. Then the agent can recommend it to his customers, and warrant it pure; and all you have should be shipped exclusively to him. When properly put up, I do not think there is much to be feared from adulteration.
X.
Fulton, Ill., Sept. 5, 1870.
A good swarm of bees, put in a diminutive hive, in a good season, may be compared to a powerful team of horses harnessed to a baby wagon, or a noble fall of water wasted in turning a petty water-wheel.—Langstroth.
Narrow minds think nothing right that is above their own capacity.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Too early last spring, I commenced by artificial means to raise queen bees. Using only about a pint of bees, they became chilled during the night, and would cluster in the corner or top of the hive, deserting the larvæ and the unhatched young. This was in March. During the latter part of the month of April, however, I succeeded admirably in hatching them; but two-thirds were lost on their wedding tours.
I had as many as six queen cells which wereto hatchon a certain day. I was not at home on that day, but returned late in the evening, and on examining No. 1 (a full colony), I found the queen had just emerged, the cap or end of the cell still clinging by a small particle of wax, and the queen on the same frame within a few inches of the cell. No. 2 had also hatched during the day, appearing to be a few hours older. No. 3 was then visited, which was in a nucleus, and I found only two worker bees in the hive,—the queen cell being still perfect. I had the evening before given this nucleus some strained honey, in a bungling manner, and did not contract the entrance of the hive as I should have done, and they were robbed. My wife, early in the morning, noticed unusual activity at this hive. The little family, I suppose, had helped to remove their limited stores to the hives of the robbers, and taken up their abode there, as usually occurs in such cases. But, to return to our queen cell, I removed it carefully and opened the end of it, when, to my surprise, out crawled the queen on my hand. Some honey was given to her, and in a few minutes she was quite lively. She was then introduced to a queenless colony, and was well received; but was lost on going out on the eighth day. No. 4 was not examined until the next day, when a nice Italian queen was moving amongst the workers; with as much dignity as belongs to one not yet having attained her majority. After an interval of about three days, I examined the hive and saw the queen every day until about the eighth, when late in the evening, after sunset, on examination I found she was gone. On closing the hive the bees came running out and showed all the signs of having recently lost their queen, such as are often seen; and kept up that distressing search by crawling over the hive and on the ground in its immediate vicinity until after dark. The hive was again examined with great scrutiny on the following morning, and she was not there. At eleven o’clock a natural first swarm issued from a hive of native brown bees in the apiary, and after flying around five minutes, clustered on the stem and at the root of a cherry tree. I proceeded to hive them, and when half the swarm had passed into the hive, I saw the black queen march in. Only a few minutes more elapsed before all the bees had gone in, except a little ball or lump the size of a partridge egg near the root of the tree. I stirred them up with a stick, thinking they were not cognizant of the fact that their queen had gone in and the house was prepared and ready for them; but they had no disposition to disengage themselves. Taking the ball of beesin my hand, I examined them and found they were clumped around my lost Italian queen. I dropped them in a pan of water, when every one let go its hold, and the queen was free and apparently unharmed. I returned her from whence she came, and in a few minutes the grieved family were buzzing their joyful wings at her return. In a subsequent examination on that day, she was crushed between two frames. The question arises, how she came to be with this native colony? I have my surmises, but will leave others to judge for themselves.
My experience has been that more Italian queens get lost in their attempts to meet the drones, than native black or brown queens. Of the superiority of the Italian or Ligurian workers, of their disposition, as well as that of the hybrids, I will speak at some other time. Did it ever occur to you, if the yellow-bearded Italians were natives of our country, and we had been used to looking at them all our lives, and the black were now just discovered and introduced, what praises would be heaped upon thedubtails? Campbell uttered a truism when he said—“’Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.” But do not set me down as against the yellow-jackets. I have been giving them a fair trial for two years—or, rather, an unfair one, for I have tried their strength and weakness, in dividing and subdividing; and when they are reduced to almost a handful, they work with a heroism really commendable.
And right here I wish to say that I think if the Rev. Mr. Briggs, whose article appeared in a former number of the Journal, alludes to queens sent out by Mr. Alley, of Massachusetts, and deems them not reliable by reason of their low price, he is mistaken. I ordered one from Mr. Alley, and through mistake he sent me two, either one of which, or their workers, will compare favorably with those of anybody. They are not, indeed, as long or as large as your index finger; but I have queens in my yard from various sources, and among them these are the prettiest. Time only will prove the working qualities of the laborers they produce.
Wm. P. Henderson.
Murfreesboro, Tenn., Aug. 31, 1870.
[NOTE: The Italian queens are, from the brightness of their color, a much more “shining mark” when on the wing, than black queens. Hence, when out on their excursions, they are more liable to be “snapped up” by birds, and doubtless many are thus lost every year. Southern bee-keepers probably suffer more from this circumstance than their northern confreres, as insectivorous birds are more abundant with them.In some portions of Italy the Ligurian bees were cultivated for centuries, side by side with the common or black bees; yet the difference between them, as regards color or quality, seems to have attracted no attention. But it must be borne in mind that bee-culture fell into decay there, after the fall of the Roman Empire, passing into the hands of a rude and ignorant peasantry. Whereas the superiority of the Ligurians and Cecropians was well known and appreciated in the classic period of the nominal republic. Since the revival of the bee business in Italy (to which it has largely contributed) the Ligurian bee has measurably recovered its pristine favor, and is getting to be preferred everywhere.—ED.]
[NOTE: The Italian queens are, from the brightness of their color, a much more “shining mark” when on the wing, than black queens. Hence, when out on their excursions, they are more liable to be “snapped up” by birds, and doubtless many are thus lost every year. Southern bee-keepers probably suffer more from this circumstance than their northern confreres, as insectivorous birds are more abundant with them.
In some portions of Italy the Ligurian bees were cultivated for centuries, side by side with the common or black bees; yet the difference between them, as regards color or quality, seems to have attracted no attention. But it must be borne in mind that bee-culture fell into decay there, after the fall of the Roman Empire, passing into the hands of a rude and ignorant peasantry. Whereas the superiority of the Ligurians and Cecropians was well known and appreciated in the classic period of the nominal republic. Since the revival of the bee business in Italy (to which it has largely contributed) the Ligurian bee has measurably recovered its pristine favor, and is getting to be preferred everywhere.—ED.]
The yield of honey by various plants and trees depends not only on the character of the season, but on the kind of soil on which they grow.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
As the readers of theAmerican Bee Journalare somewhat anxious to hear about the Queen Nursery, invented by Dr. Jewell Davis, of Charleston, Illinois, I will say that it is a perfect success. I have, since the first of June, kept mine running to its full capacity (twelve cages). I have allowed the queens to remain in the cages six or eight days after hatching. I now have his fertilizing attachment, but have not yet tested it. Young, unimpregnated queens can be introduced by Alley’s process, to any queenless colony. I will give a fuller report, and how to use it, this fall or winter. I consider it quite an advantage to save all natural queen cells, and hatch them out in the Nursery; and it is no disadvantage certainly to have a supply of young queens on hand, at so small an expense, to give to a natural or artificial swarm, at swarming time, even if they are not fertilized. When you can draw on your nursery for a queen, at any time at sight, it is quite an advantage; at least I consider it so. It is a positive fact that queens perish in their cells by the thousand, in the natural state, in extremely hot weather. In using the Nursery we can control this matter; for if the weather is extra hot, we place the Nursery in a small colony; and in a large strong one, if the weather is cool. Thus you will see that we have the hatching entirely under our own control, and it is not left to chance. The queen breeder can readily see the advantage of separating all his queen cells as soon as sealed over, and having them perfectly safe. I have kept my Nursery in a medium swarm, where they had a perfect queen breeding at the same time. As I said before, queens can be kept in the Nursery any length of time, with perfect safety. I place a small piece of comb containing honey in the cage, between the tins, then place the cell in the cage in a natural position and fasten it with a pin. A very slight fastening answers, as the bees cannot get at it to gnaw it down.
E. Gallup.
Orchard, Iowa, July 15, 1870.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—Don’t you think that Mr. Fairbanks seems a little cross as well as sharp. He says I assert in my first article what I contradict in my second on paper hives; and, worst of all, says I am to be numbered with the gentiles, whom Dr. Cox gulled to the tune of heavy sums. I deny the charge, and demand proof; though I will say for the benefit of brother Fairbanks, that I think the Doctor alittletoo smooth forprofit. But, to explain, we call the paper hive, of whatever form, Dr. Cox’s hive; and so should we call all movable frame hives, the Farmer’s box with Langstroth frames therein.
Charles Hastings.
Dowagiac, Mich.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—I have used the looking-glass often for arresting swarms, rarely failing; butI have always used it in conjunction with the shotgun. Used thus, it seems to induce in the bees the idea of an approaching storm, and that they ought to be securing a place of safety as quick as possible.
Out of a number of examples, I give the following:
A second swarm proved to be bent on emigrating, for on six consecutive days it left as many different hives. Each time it was brought to anchor by the looking-glass, &c. The last time the bees fell as if shot dead, at the flash and report. And for aught I know and saw, they might have kept trying to this day.
In some rare cases, however, I have failed to bring the swarm to settle.
My bees have swarmed heavily this year, and for a rarity seemed to select the tops of the highest trees to settle on, and then would often leave for the woods after hiving. Query, was there any connection between the two facts?
The early season, here, was superior for honey, up to the blooming of the white clover, which was very scarce, and almost devoid of honey. The weather has been hot and dry, and no honey since.
There has been no honey-dew since the war near me; whilst a large piece of woods, three miles off, seemed, two years ago, to be literally flowing with honey-dew, and alive with bees. The tract was three miles wide and five miles long, and alive with bees, throughout its whole extent, every day for several weeks. Did the bees of the country gather there?
Your paper is read with intense interest. Long may it live to contribute to the pleasure and profit of bee-keepers.
J. B. Townley.
Red Hill Depot, Albemarle Co., Va.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
The honey season has not been good, in this section of country, since the middle of June, in consequence of continued hot and dry weather. Two timely showers served to make a fair crop of corn, but did not much increase the secretion of honey—hence the bees have not gathered more in that period of time than to supply their daily consumption, and keep them brooding. These points I have watched closely. The white clover bloomed nearly two weeks earlier this year, than usual here; and, therefore, by the time the colonies had brooded up to the point of swarming, the chief honey harvest was gone. Hence, but few natural swarms came off, and most of these came near starving to death, and will require doubling up for wintering.
I made a number of artificial swarms, by taking a comb of brood, honey, and bees, from six full hives and putting them together into a new hive—using empty frames to fill the vacancy made in the old hives. The swarms thus made have done well, compared with natural ones, and will be in fair condition for winter.
It continues so dry yet that we cannot look for a large yield of honey, either from buckwheat or other flowers; nor, if we could, can we expect much honey to be stored in boxes, where comb has to be built to receive it, as the nights are becoming too cool for comb-building.
I have seen the bees work incessantly for two or three weeks, this season, upon the plant known as Carpenter’s Square, (Scrophularea nodosa Marilandica,Nodose Scrophularia,Figwort,) and also, as usual, on the Purple Polynesia, which appears to yield honey remarkably in hot and dry weather. In this vicinity, also, both the black and the Italian bees have worked on the red clover, during the last weeks of August. But, more than all this, our bees this season seemed compelled to visit the groceries for sugar and other sweets, to supply the lack of honey in the flowers, and have perished by thousands in their demoralized eagerness to obtain them.
From all this we have learned again thenecessityof cultivating more extensively some crops or plants that will yield honey in the usual barren interval between the failing of the white clover and the Alsike and the coming in of the buckwheat and fall flowers. The linden trees supply this in some localities, but not in ours—being too remote from them. Buckwheat sown about the first of June, will often fill this interval, and that sown a month later will make the fall pasturage. Thus, by a proper disposition of crops, we may, with favorable weather, make a continued honey harvest all the summer months; and, in unfavorable weather, secure at least a partial supply for the same period of time—thereby saving millions of bees from the demoralizing effects of visiting groceries, and the consequent loss of their lives.
This summer my bees have not been disposed to start as many queen cells as I desired; and, hence, after supplying all my colonies with queens, have not had as many as I wished, to experiment with in the various proposed methods of fertilization in confinement. But I have had enough to show me that under our present knowledge of these processes, none of them are as successful as is desirable for the purposes of the intelligent queen-raiser. I have learned, moreover, that by most of the methods employed the queens and drones become so excited, that, without fostering the disposition for mating (the purpose for which they are confined) they worry themselves to death in a very short time. To remedy this, I have made cages on the same plan of my Queen Nursery cages, but larger every way, with the covered way at one end converted into anante-chamberfor the introduction of the drones at the proper season, without disturbing either the workers or the queen in the queen’sparlor. In this parlor we put two square inches of comb, filled with mature brood, and, over this, three inches square of comb filled with honey for feed; and in the vacant part of it, we suspend a queen cell sealed over. Then, after closing the door, place the cage in a populous stock of bees, for the queen and workers tohatch. Thus, by the time the queen hatches, she will have nearly a hundred workers in the cage with her, and will not become uneasy or excited to get out of the cage. She will thus remain quiet on the comb, until she is old enough to leave it and go in search of the drones. Near this hour the drones can be introduced by the little tin door at the bottom of the ante-chamber, that door closed again and the tin slide carefully removed. The drones and queen are thus let together, without excitement or disturbance. This cage may be made six inches long, by four inches deep, and one and a half inches wide. Then, by placing the comb in the middle, at the back end of the parlor, with the capped cells facing the wire sides, the bees can emerge from the cells and pass all around the comb.
From various experiments I am led to conclude that the above arrangement will approach nearer to the thing wanted, than any of the plans yet made public. I am, also, further convinced that much attention must be paid to the age of the young queen, and to the state of the weather, in order to secure fertilization in confinement. In fact, we must approach as near as possible to the natural state of the circumstances that govern the mating of queens and drones. I may say, in addition, that it is evident some queens will mate earlier than others, if not hindered by bad weather. The meeting of the queens and drones must not be attended by any circumstances calculated to cause either of them to become alarmed and seek release from confinement; for if thus alarmed or excited, they will worry themselves to death in a few hours, or forget all their natural instinct for mating or fertilization. On the plan above described the queen feels at home where she was hatched, with her hundred associates around her, and under careful management, not liable to become excited. The drones alone are liable to be in any degree alarmed under this method; and I find this is quickly removed by letting them into the presence of a few workers, as in the above case. If done quietly, little excitement need occur.
Jewell Davis.
Charlestown, Ill., Sept. 5, 1870.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—We are doing a fine thing in the bee business here this season. We (my brother and I) are creating quite an interest in bee-culture around here, by the use of our Hruschka. The way we sling the honey out is a caution. We have obtained six hundred and twenty-five (625) pounds of extracted honey, and six hundred and fifty (650) pounds of box honey from eight colonies of bees, and have increased them to twenty-two; and all the hives are full of honey now—the result of scientific bee-culture.
Old fogy bee-keepers begin to open their eyes, and think that bee-keeping is not all mereluck. The light begins to shine, and bee-keeping is advancing.
The Italian bees are more and more approved, and taking the place of the black bees; and I am in hopes we shall in a short time have none but Italians around here.
We have tried friend Alley’s plan of introducing queens with tobacco smoke, and failed several times, simply because we did not smoke the bees enough. We introduce now successfully with tobacco by smoking them till they are nearly stupefied, and then they will receive the queen without fail. We find the Italians will receive a queen quicker or more readily than the black bees, without any smoking. The Italians are better every way than the blacks. They are as much in advance of the latter as the mowing machine is in advance of the scythe.
D. L. Coggshall, Jr.
West Groton, N. Y.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
I lately went to visit the apiary of Palmer Bros., at New Boston, in Mercer county. When I came near the house I saw a lot of beehives nicely arranged in rows, north and south, and east and west. They were some eighty in number, I think. The inmates of the house were two very pleasant, clever young men, keeping bachelor’s hall. My team was put up and cared for, and we had an interesting talk about bees, beehives, and raising queens.
After dinner the honey-slinger was brought out. It is one of their own getting up, and does well the work it is intended for. A hive was opened, some frames removed, and about twenty pounds of very nice honey slung out in ten minutes.
On returning home and having a good night’s sleep, I went into my own apiary next morning with new spirits.
J. Bogart.
Eliza, Ill., Aug. 3, 1870.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Mr. Editor:—You may remember that in the Bee Journal for September, 1869, Mr. George P. Kellogg, of Waukegan, Ill., gave out a very broad challenge to bee-keepers. In the October number, I accepted his challenge; but since that time we have not heard from Mr. Kellogg, through the Journal. Now it is due that he should withdraw his proposition, or meet us at the State Fair, in Michigan, and take an oyster supper, and pay the printer; or cry “peccavi!” and I will pay the printer. What say you, brother Kellogg?
We have had an excellent honey season in northern Wisconsin, so far, this summer; with a prospect of its continuing until frost comes. Success to the enterprise, and the Journal.
A. A. Hart.
Appleton, Wis., Aug. 6, 1870.
In bee-culture the chief factor is intelligence, and not capital. The former must produce the latter.
Washington, Oct., 1870.
👉 We have on hand, and unused, numerous favors from correspondents, as most of them having been received too late for this issue. The present arrangements for printing the Journal render it necessary that articles intended for its pages should reach us not later than the 10th of the month, to be in season for the ensuing number.
👉 We have received copies of “Old and New,” “Every Saturday,” “Good Health,” and several other periodicals and publications, which we purposed noticing this month, but are prevented by want of room.
👉 The August number of this Journal contains an article on “Pure Fertilization Controllable,” translated by the editor from the “Bienenzeitung.” It appeared in that sterling and standard periodical, as a communication from the Rev. A. Semlitsch, who is pastor of a congregation and a member of the Ecclesiastical Council at Gratz, in the Austrian province of Stiria. He has been a prominent correspondent of the Bienenzeitung for a quarter of a century, and was previously known as one among the five chief contributors to Vitzthum’s “Monatsblatt für Bienenzucht,” the precursor of the Bienenzeitung. He has always been distinguished for eminent zeal and efficient labor in striving to advance intelligent and scientific bee-culture; and published in 1856, at Gratz, a very excellent practical treatise in aid of the cause. No man in Europe ever questioned his truthfulness, or impeached his honor.
👉 We have copyrighted this Journal, not to prevent or prohibit any of our exchanges from copying articles from its pages, but that those who do copy may see the propriety of giving credit to theAmerican Bee Journal, so fully and plainly that there can be no mistake or misapprehension about it. Some have heretofore appropriated such articles bodily and boldly, without giving any credit whatever; some thought they had “somewhere read,” so and so, &c.; others simply credited “Ex.,” leaving the whereabouts of the said Ex. to be guessed at; others again, extending their liberality a link or two, credit “Bee Journal,” vaguely and indefinitely. We have borne this hitherto without murmur or complaint, “note or comment,” but do not intend to be so forbearing hereafter. If articles are worth copying, their source is worth acknowledging; and those who fail in doing this in future, may expect to have to pay for copyright. We punctiliously give credit ourselves, and may properly ask to receive it.