paid out for seeds of honey plants will bear compound interest--will
be “bread cast upon the waters.” The traditional two or three weeks of
honey-flow can, with a trifling expenditure, be made to last more than
as many months; a succession of bloom can be secured, so that should
northerly winds or wet weather prevail for a time, it would not carry
dismay to our hopes and starvation to our bees. If, as we hope and
confidently believe, the present should prove an unparalleled honey
season, it will ameliorate the only tenable objection to melilot or
sweet clover, which is that it blooms but little or none the first
season; and we can well wait till another season for our “sweet” reward
from it. There are many other plants which we believe would repay
cultivation in honey alone, but not one that will bear comparison with
this Esau of the vegetable kingdom. Never was a better time to start
in right than now, and never can we truthfully say bee-keeping is more
hazardous than other industries, or less remunerative, until we have
made some provision against natural failures and seasonable disasters.
Every bee-keeper should, in justice to himself, test this matter of
planting on a sufficiently extensive scale to satisfy himself. We feel
confident of the verdict.
Law Against Adulteration in N. Y.
We have received the following copy of the bill against adulteration,
referred to on page 92 of the BEE JOURNAL for March 23. Mr. L. C. Root
remarks: “The readers of the BEE JOURNAL are, no doubt, interested in
the progress being made regarding the bill upon which action was taken
at the late session of the Northeastern Bee-keeper’s Association. The
subject is one of marked interest to bee-keepers in general. I send
you a copy of the bill, which may be of interest and which shows the
progress thus far made.”
ASSEMBLY OF NEW YORK.--Introduced by Mr. Root--read twice and
referred to the committee on trade and manufactures--reported
favorably from said committee and committed to the committee of the
whole.
AN ACT, To prevent fraud in the adulteration of sugars, syrups,
molasses and honey.
_The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows_:
SEC. 1. Any person, company or corporation engaged in the manufacture,
refining or mixing of sugars, syrups, molasses or honey for sale, who
shall mix the same with glucose or grape sugar or any other article
of adulteration, shall, before selling or offering the same for sale,
cause to be marked on the cask or package in which it is contained,
the percentage of glucose or adulteration therein contained, such mark
or label shall be in plain Roman capital letters, not less than ½
each in dimensions, in black ink or paint, and on the upper and most
conspicuous part of the cask or package.
§ 2. Any person, company or corporation who shall sell or offer to sell
such mixed or adulterated sugars, syrups, honey or molasses containing
glucose, grape sugar, or any articles of adulteration, shall expose
or sell the same in or from the original packages in which it was
consigned from the manufacturer or mixer to the same, and shall be
plainly and conspicuously marked or labeled as required in the first
section of this act.
§ 3. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this act shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall
be liable to a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $200, or to
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 60 days, or both fine
and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the first day of June, 1881.
* * * * *
=Circulars and Catalogues.=--The following Circulars and Catalogues are
on our desk:
E. A. Thomas, Coleraine, Mass.--4 pages--Choice Italian Queens and
Bees.
Kennicutt & Keyser, Tecumseh, Mich.--4 pages--Poultry and Bees.
Bright Bros., Mazeppa, Minn.--20 pages--Apiarian Supplies.
S. Valentine, Double Pipe Creek. Md.--4 pages--Italian, Albino and
Holy Land Queens and Bees.
L. C. Root & Bro. Mohawk, N. Y.--12 pages-Bee-Keeping Supplies,
Quinby’s New Bee-Keeping, &c.
I. R. Good, Nappanee, Ind.--1 page--Holy Land Bees and Queens.
H. Barber, Adrian, Mich.--1 page--Russell Hives, Italian Queens and
Bees.
Geo. H. Lamb, Wilmington, N. C.--1 page--Italian Queens.
J. M. Brooks & Bro., Columbus, Ind.--2 pages--American-bred Italian
Queens and Bees, and Apiarian Supplies.
F.A. Snell, Milledgeville, Ill.--18 pages--Bee Hives, Italian Bees
and Apiarian Supplies.
H. A. Burch & Co., South Haven, Mich.--40 pages--Bees, Queens and
Bee-keepers’ Supplies.
Riegel & Drum, Adelphi, O.--8 pages--Italian Bees and Queens and
Apiarian Supplies.
A. T. Blauvelt & Co., Blauveltville. N. Y.--16 pages--Fruit and
Ornamental Trees.
Vennor’s Predictions for April.
So remarkable have his predictions been fulfilled in the past that
we hope we shall not be disappointed in his predictions for May
weather during at least a part of this month. The following are his
probabilities for April:
There will be sharp frost in the beginning of April, with a
snowfall on the 4th or 5th, but the spring will open favorably, and
everything will be pretty well advanced by April 15. Floods may
be expected in Chicago about the first week in April, with high
winds also prevailing in the early part of the month. Snow-falls
are probable about April 5. Navigation is likely to open on Lake
Ontario about April 7.
The St. Lawrence will be open about the 9th or 11th, and the first
steamship will probably arrive about the 17th or 18th. The weather
will be very stormy in the Lower Provinces about the 20th, with
very high water prevailing, but in the West, April will be a dry
month. There will be warm weather just following the 20th, ending
in thunderstorms on the 24th and 25th. Snowstorms are probable in
the far West on the 25th and 26th, and snow-falls are not unlikely
to occur in England at the close of the month. The month will end
wet and cold, but, on the whole, will be like a May month.
* * * * *
=Two Queens in a Hive.=--Mr. Fradenburg says: “I think I can throw a
new ray of light on this subject, which is now-a-days attracting some
attention among bee-keepers. I have come to the conclusion that there
are but just two causes or conditions in which two laying queens will
be found in a hive at once--the first is the superseding of an old
and failing queen, in which case each queen seems to have a sort of
reverence for the other; the second condition is that the bees in one
part of the hive do not know at all times what is going on in another
part of the hive. This assertion may raise a storm of opposition among
the fraternity, but I believe I have the positive evidence to support
it.”
* * * * *
☞ We have received a very nice specimen of thin foundation for surplus
boxes, made on the Root Mill, from G. W. Stanley, Wyoming, N. Y.
* * * * *
☞ This issue of the BEE JOURNAL, the first in the month, goes to all
the subscribers of the Weekly, Monthly and Semi-Monthly. Should any of
the latter wish to change to the Weekly, they can do so at any time, by
paying the difference.
* * * * *
☞ We can supply but a few more of the back numbers to new subscribers.
If any want them, they must be sent for soon.
* * * * *
☞ California has had its floods, and now the Northwest is having a
severe experience in the same line. According to Vennor our turn is
next. Let all be watchful, and prepare in time, if possible, to avoid
loss.
* * * * *
☞ Single copies of the JOURNAL are sent postage paid for 5 cents each.
* * * * *
☞ Constitutions and By-Laws for local Associations $2 per 100. The name
of the Association printed in the blanks for 50 cents extra.
* * * * *
☞ The Volume of the BEE JOURNAL for 1880, bound in stiff paper covers,
will be sent by mail, for $1.50.
* * * * *
☞ When changing a postoffice address, mention the _old_ address as well
as the new one.
SELECTIONS FROM OUR LETTER BOX
=Correction.=--In the BEE JOURNAL for March 16, page 85, the number
of my colonies is given as 25; it should be 85. So far as I can learn
they are in good condition. I winter them in the cellar. I have been
handling bees for 6 years. Osage is a growing city, and will consume
all the honey produced in this locality. There are about 500 colonies
of bees in Mitchell County, and I will do my share in supplying the
market with honey.
CHAS. FOLLETT.
Osage, Iowa, March 21, 1881.
=Good Enough.=--My bees wintered well. I only lost one out of 92
colonies. Some have lost all they had; others 2/3, etc. The spring is
backward. As yet we have had but few days that bees could fly.
W. H. HOWLETT.
Union, Ky., March 22, 1881.
=Using Old Combs.=--Is it not dangerous to use combs with dead brood
in from defunct colonies? Is there not danger of getting foul brood
started? I have a good many of them, and I am undecided whether to melt
them up or save them. The losses here have been fearful. I do not think
there are 10 live colonies in Dixon outside of my apiary, and I have
lost ⅓. Those lost were packed in dry chaff, as Prof. Cook’s Manual
directs, in Langstroth and Simplicity hives, while Root’s chaff hive
has come out ahead, only 2 or 3 hives of this kind have failed, out of
about 30 chaff hives in use. There were as many as 10 or 12 different
apiaries in and near Dixon, and I can count 8 of them now that are all
dead; the most of them were small, containing from 6 to 30 colonies
each. And the end is not yet. Those yet alive may die soon unless
spring opens at once.
B. F. PRATT.
Dixon, Ill., March 27, 1881.
[It is hardly possible there is a great deal of dead brood in the
combs to be removed. We should not hesitate, if the brood is dry and
shrunken, to place the combs in strong colonies; but if the brood is
putrid and ropy, and sticks to the cells, we would not wish to use
them, as it is easy to imagine the possibility of foul brood or other
diseases arising therefrom. If, as we suspect, your combs are filled
with starved bees, you can easily remove them by adopting the plan
recommended in the Weekly BEE JOURNAL of March 16, page 86. Mr. H. T.
Collins gives his method in this number of the JOURNAL.--ED.]
=Never Give Up.=--Bees are nearly all dead. A long winter is the cause,
of course. “Never give up” is and must be our motto, but we must learn
not to venture too far without experience to back us.
N. J. LONGSDON.
Byron, Ill., March 26, 1881.
=Good Prospect.=--There is every prospect of a prosperous season now,
as we are having rain enough, and I never saw bees in better condition.
I commenced on the 3d of March to divide colonies, rear queens, &c.
I have my hives nearly completed for the season’s operations. There
is quite a contrast between northern Iowa and southern Cal. for
bee-keeping. I commenced the last season with 48 colonies in very poor
condition, and this season I start with 108 in extra good condition; in
fact, the poorest colony I have is in as good condition as the best was
last season at the same time.
ELISHA GALLUP.
Santa Paula, Cal., March 18, 1881.
=Spring Come at Last.=--The weather is spring-like here, and has been
since March came in. The snow has all disappeared, and our roads are
dry and dusty. As I write the blue birds and robins are singing merrily.
HENRY ALLEY.
Wenham, Mass., March 23, 1881.
=Come Gentle Spring.=--I have 60 colonies in the cellar; they are in
poor condition and will all die if Vennor does not give us fine weather
soon, so that the bees can have a flight. They were all right March
1st. I like the Weekly much better than the Monthly.
WM. C. GRAY.
Pre-emption, Ill., March 24, 1881.
=Bees All Right.=--I have lost 2 colonies out of 16, and the remaining
14 are strong. I had them packed in buckwheat chaff, which is
considered the best packing we can get. I have wintered for 4 years
with it, and had success. In the winter of 1877 and 1878 I had 45
colonies packed in kiln-dried shavings and wheat chaff: but 4 were
packed in buckwheat chaff and those 4 lived; the rest died. There was a
very heavy loss around here among those that were left unpacked. I am
well pleased with the Weekly BEE JOURNAL.
W. S. BAIR.
Rollersville, O., March 24, 1881.
=Lost 6 out of 100 Colonies.=--The snow is all gone now and our bees
have had several flights. On the 16th they gathered some pollen; but
this has been the most disastrous winter among bees in Maryland for
many years; 75 per cent of all the bees in north Md. are dead. We had
a very poor honey season last year, except 5 weeks during the first
crop of red clover, which ended about the 1st of July; and after that
but little honey was gathered. The bulk of the loss was from neglect or
starvation. As I had a fair demand for queens and I was breeding for
improvement I kept up the queen breeding until the last of Oct., and
my bees were in poor condition for an ordinary winter; much more for
such a one as we have just passed through. I have lost 6 colonies at
home, that starved; I have 96 left in fair condition. I wintered in a
cellar expressly arranged for the purpose; it is perfectly dark, and
the temperature in this place was kept all through the winter at 46°
and 47°. All those that wintered in cellars fared the best. I am much
pleased with the Weekly. I should lose a friend were I to be deprived
of it. I wish it every success.
S. VALENTINE.
Double Pipe Creek, Md., March 22.
=Vexed and Perplexed.=--When I go into my bee lot and look around I am
vexed over the situation and perplexed to know what to do with my hives
and combs. I put into winter quarters 16 colonies (all blacks) and now
have one, very weak. I have a lot of nice, well-made and painted hives
on hand, and a lot of combs. As I have never handled Italian bees,
and have concluded to purchase, and I hear they are larger than the
blacks, will you please answer these 2 questions in the BEE JOURNAL:
Are comb cells of the black bee too small for the Italians to raise
brood in? Will it not cramp them in size? Will it be safe to feed the
thin uncapped honey that has caused dysentery to other bees? The bees
in this vicinity are all dead. Success to the BEE JOURNAL.
D. S. KALLY.
Mansfield, Ind.
[The difference in size of cells is not perceptible. If bees are flying
freely, you can feed the thin honey with impunity.--ED.
=Ventilation.=--I have met 14 different persons in the last few days
that had, last Nov., 168 colonies of bees altogether; now they have
in the aggregate 57 living; these were mostly in frame hives, on the
summer stands, and left to care for themselves. Nearly all died with
plenty of honey to have carried them through. This, I think, will
be about the average loss in the counties of Champaign, Piatt and
Moultrie, in this State. Wm. H. Beckwith started in the winter with 18
colonies in Langstroth and box hives, with plenty of bees and honey in
each hive. The hives were very poorly made, being open at the corners,
with a board laid on top to keep the rain or snow from falling directly
into the hive. Nearly all of them set on blocks from one to two inches
from the bottom board; they were ventilated better than any bees I
have seen this season; he has 16 colonies to day, alive, and apparently
in good condition. Perhaps there is more in ventilation than chaff
hives or cellars. Will some one please rise and explain?
S. GOODRICH.
Urbana, Ill., March 23, 1881.
=Bees Confined 5 Months.=--Yesterday my 115 colonies of bees had
their first flight since the last week in Oct., having been confined
to their hives 5 months, lacking 2 or 3 days only. This is a month
longer than I have ever had them confined to the hive without a flight,
during the past 12 years, and to my very great satisfaction as well
as astonishment, I do not find a single dead colony. Some 5 or 10 are
considerably diseased, and a few are almost sure to be found queenless.
I expect to lose from 5 to 15 between this and honey harvest. Bees
generally have wintered very poorly in this section. From ½ to 2/3 of
all the bees put in winter quarters last fall, have died. I winter
entirely in chaff hives, and from what I hear I judge that that method
of wintering has succeeded better than any other during this past
winter.
O. O. POPPLETON.
Williamstown, Iowa, March 25,1881.
=Orchard Apiary.=--The following is my report for 1880; My bees came
through very strong in spring, and bred rapidly, and were in excellent
condition to take advantage of fruit bloom, which lasted about a week,
during which time they filled the hives well with honey, and it is well
that they did, for raspberry and white clover proved a total failure
here, on account of bad weather in June. My surplus all came from
basswood, which produced well for about 10 days. Notwithstanding the
poor season, and it was the poorest we we have had, I realized a profit
of over $8 per colony; but went into winter quarters strong and with
plenty of good wholesome stores.
E. A. THOMAS.
Coleraine, Mass., Feb. 1, 1881.
=Loss in Cellars, etc.=--I put 95 colonies in the cellar on Nov. 15.
I took them out yesterday, which was the first day they could fly
with safety since about the first of last Nov. Loss 4 (one probably
queenless when put in, and 3 starved). A few are weak, but most of
them are in good condition. This has been a very hard winter on bees
that were not properly cared for. Those left out are nearly all dead,
as far as heard from. A good many have died in cellars and special
repositories, for want of a knowledge of the proper conditions for
success. I like the JOURNAL very much.
J. E. HUNTER.
Wyoming, Iowa, March 25, 1881.
=Blasted Hopes.=--For the first time, I enroll myself in the army of
“blasted hopes.” My 150 colonies of bees are (all but one) among the
things that were. I had no honey from them last season, or at least
none but what I fed back in the fall, and a good many were entirely
destitute, so that I broke them up. Some had a little honey and I gave
that to those that had a little more, and still had 150 left. Winter
set in early, about the middle of Nov., before I had packed any of
them. I waited for milder weather so that I could pack them, but that
did not come until the 6th of March. Never a day did my bees have a fly
until then; and then I had but one colony fly, and I hoped they would
come through all right in my double hives, but they did not. Most of
them had plenty of honey. All of those having honey had brood and some
of them young bees; such had soiled the combs. The one that is alive is
strong and has plenty of brood. I thought that bees did not commence
to raise brood until a warm spell, but it seems I was mistaken. I have
heretofore boxed up a part and left a part unprotected, and have had
success with both. I think I should have done better to have boxed them
up this year. I have now a lot of empty hives and a great plenty of
nice combs. I shall not need any foundation nor bee supplies this year;
but need bees to cover my combs. In the BEE JOURNAL for March 9 Mr.
Doolittle’s article on “Bee Moths” contains an error. A year or two ago
I was at a friend’s in Allegan Co., in this State, in September, and
he told me that the moths were killing all of his bees. I then thought
like Mr. D., that they did not hurt good colonies. He said they did and
showed me swarms, with new white combs, the queen and brood all right,
but the sides of the hives were white with moth cocoons. They were all
black bees; I do not think they would have troubled Italians. I like
the WEEKLY BEE JOURNAL very much, but do not know that it will be of
much value to me now. The cause of the death of my bees was, I think,
the long steady cold, with no flight; and not the extreme cold; but why
did one of them live through all right? It was just like the rest in
the fall.
A. C. BALCH.
Kalamazoo, Mich., March 12, 1881.
=The Outlook Encouraging.=--The loss in wintering has been very heavy
in this county during the past cold winter. In one apiary near me, in
Langstroth hives, only 5 are now alive out of 100 last Oct. My home
apiary of 175 colonies last Oct., mostly in closed-end Quinby-frame
hives, wintered on summer stands packed with fine straw and chaff,
now numbers only 115. The loss has been much the heaviest in open end
frames, especially so in metal corner frames. Out of 78 in such frame
hives only 2 colonies are left. Last year was the poorest season I
have had in 12 years; I had but one natural swarm during the season.
White clover was a failure; there is but little basswood near here. By
feeding I kept my bees in good condition for the fall harvest; smart
weed furnished a very little; Spanish needle (the best honey plant in
this section) was a total failure; this is the 2d year in 12 that it
has failed. I had one apiary near the Illinois river which contained
120 colonies last spring, in Quinby hives. The early part of the season
was poor, but I had during the season 21 natural swarms and over 3000
lbs. of section honey for sale, with a surplus of 3000 lbs. in brood
frames; more than enough to winter them, which I brought to my home
apiary. The above harvest was wholly from smart weed, which was grown
on overflow land near the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. The loss
in this apiary will not exceed 10 from all causes. All are strong and
booming. The soft maples are now in bloom; every fair day the bees are
carrying in pollen and a very little honey; the elm will soon be in
bloom furnishing an abundance of pollen for rapid queen rearing. With
favorable weather I expect a spring harvest from the willow privet
bush and red haw; the honey from these is very light colored and of
excellent quality. Your hopeful outlook for the coming season is very
cheering. The Weekly is both a pleasure and a necessity with me.
A. T. WILLIAMS.
St. Charles, Mo., March 24, 1881.
=Severe Winter, but Bees All Right.=--This has been the most severe
winter experienced by the oldest inhabitant in Ky. I have 14 colonies
well packed in chaff, on their summer stands; 3 in the star chaff
hive, 9 in the simplicity with tight bottom and portico, and 2 in the
simplicity hive. Banked each of them on 3 sides with snow; 12 faced
south, 2 north, with no winter passages; used the enameled cloth
contrary to friend Muth’s advice. I packed on each side of those in
single-wall hives with loose chaff, also on the top. I had from 3 to 7
frames in each hive. All wintered equally well, and to-day the queens
are doing their duty nobly, shut in on from 2 to 3 frames, and crowded
with bees. I think the chaff hive unnecessary for this climate, but
it is necessary to pack them well with an absorbent in order to bring
them safely through our generally changeable winters. Success to the
Weekly; it is growing in interest from week to week, and its coming is
anxiously longed for.
C. H. DEAN.
Mortonsville, Ky., March 18, 1881.
=Winter Bee House.=--My bees have wintered splendidly in my winter bee
house.
L. CARSON.
Frederick, O., March 24, 1881.
=Bees Wintered Well.=--Bees on the summer stands without protection
have wintered poorly in this vicinity. I have fifty colonies in Quinby
hives, packed in oat chaff and cut straw, that have all wintered well
so far. Most of the bees in this vicinity are in box hives, and nearly
½ of them are dead as far as heard from.
E. DEUEL.
Portlandville, N. Y., March 24, 1881.
=Bees in fair Condition.=--My bees are in a fair condition, on the
summer stands. I put into winter quarters 66 colonies; lost 3 and
bought 14, making 75 in fair condition. Owing to old age and poor
health I intend to sell my bees, although I regret it very much. Last
year was a very poor one for honey. I obtained about 600 lbs. of comb
honey, which I sold for 15 cts. a lb., and I had one swarm. I like the
Weekly BEE JOURNAL very much. I had one colony of bees swarm out on the
15th of this month; they flew around about half an hour and then went
back into the hive again. I examined them on the 17th and found the
colony strong, with combs all dry and nice, and about 25 lbs. of honey,
some pollen, with eggs and brood in all stages. They are now satisfied.
J. J. QUINN.
Corydon, Ky., March 25, 1881.
=The Survival of the Fittest.=--Another blizzard struck us yesterday;
the weather is not so cold, but the high winds and heavy fall of snow
make it more disagreeable than any day of the cold zero weather. Bees
will get another set-back by their brood chilling. Those that come out
in good condition this spring can be considered tough citizens, and no
mistake.
JOS. M. BROOKS.
Columbus, Ind., March 30, 1881.