Part 3

Now that the winter is drawing to a close, and the chilling blasts are becoming more fitful and spasmodic under the tardy but certain approach of spring, we begin to contemplate with an inward feeling of gratification the genial sunshine and gentle showers with which Nature will awaken to life; the far-stretching fields clothed in emerald green, the lawns and lanes with their grassy carpets, the air laden with the sweet perfume of the blossoms in garden and orchard, the trees in forest and grove animated with the feathered songsters whose little lives seem an incarnation of happy melody--all these will combine to help us forget the dreary hours of the past, and with keener zest enjoy the future. But how many will miss the cheerful hum of the myriads of toiling bees, whose flitting wings were wont to bear them from flower to flower, where they gathered nectar fit for a banquet of the gods.

We can scarcely wonder that many have become discouraged and almost doubt whether bee-keeping pays, when they think of the meager honey yields of two successive summers, and view the untenanted hives and soiled combs which are left as the sequel to their cherished hopes for the future. However, none should be too hasty in passing judgment. With the hives and combs already provided, more than one-half the original investment is saved, and with a propitious season for the present, our losses will be made good with a credit in our favor on the balance sheet. We cannot expect bee-keeping to be profitable every season, any more than any other special branch of industry which is dependent upon natural causes, but we can with forethought, industry and systematic perseverance, make it as reliable as any other, and now that many will be compelled to begin anew (or comparatively so), we suggest that they begin aright. It will not be a guaranty of success that they use the best hive, nor that they have an abundance of bees; a familiarity with all the recognized authorities and a mind crammed with theories, will often fail; the industrious brown bee will seek in vain, the gold-banded Italian bee will tire in its flight, and even _Apis dorsata_ will view its stores with dismay, if there be no nectar-laden bloom from which to gather.

Now is the time to invest for the future. Every dollar judiciously 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.

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=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.

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=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.”

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☞ 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.

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☞ 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.

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☞ We can supply but a few more of the back numbers to new subscribers. If any want them, they must be sent for soon.

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☞ 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.

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☞ Single copies of the JOURNAL are sent postage paid for 5 cents each.

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☞ Constitutions and By-Laws for local Associations $2 per 100. The name of the Association printed in the blanks for 50 cents extra.

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☞ The Volume of the BEE JOURNAL for 1880, bound in stiff paper covers, will be sent by mail, for $1.50.

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☞ 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.