Part 2

If a person doesn’t have all the vegetables he can use, it is his own fault, as they can be raised at _any_ time of the year here. I notice cabbages just beginning to head-up now, and tomatoes are plentiful, as the vines seldom are killed by frost. Cabbages grow best in winter, and, to make this short, I will say that people are making garden all the time--while some are harvesting, others are planting. I planted peas, lettuce, radishes and cabbages to-day (Dec. 14th). I have only been here three months, and have raised one crop, and we do not have the time to devote to our garden that it needs, to make a real success of it, still we can, with very little trouble, have all the vegetables we need.

Sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, onions, carrots, artichokes, and celery are all paying crops here. Every known variety of melons do well. There are plenty of ripe water-melons now, and I see new vines coming up.

Now, all of this may seem flattering, but it is true, nevertheless. But this is a new country, out from the towns, and thinly settled. Willie and Charlie say they traveled nearly all one day--about 20 miles--without seeing a house, and it was a public highway, too, or what we call a “county road;” so you see there is room here for _you_. But you must be content to live without a near neighbor, for awhile, at least.

JENNIE ATCHLEY.

Grading of Honey.

I have lately been looking over some old bee-papers, and find that the grading of honey has occupied considerable space, with but little accomplished, as I look at it. Now, it is a very easy matter for us bee-keepers to school ourselves, also easy to school the dealers, but schooling the public is a different thing altogether, and I yet believe that the simple figure plan is the best, such as No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, etc. For to get the consumers to know what grade of honey they are buying, the grade should be on each section, the producer saying something like this: If you wish honey like this, buy my No. 1 or No. 2, as the case may be. John Smith, producer, Chicago, Ills.

Every producer should mark his honey in plain figures, and then the public will soon know how to buy honey, and these plain figures are so easily read. Just think of White, Extra White, Superfine, etc.--too much name for me. I shall brand what section honey I produce, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, etc., and try to school my Southern consumers to understand the meaning of the same.

JENNIE ATCHLEY.

Resources of Honey, Etc.

I am told that everything that has thorns on it produces honey, and if that be the case, there are but few shrubs that do not furnish honey. West of this place, for 40 miles, or as far as I have been out, it is thickly covered with shrubs, vines, etc., not much taller than one’s head, and I will name a few for the benefit of bee-keepers who might wish to make inquiry.

Catclaw is very thick in places, so thick that cattlemen sometimes have to pay Mexicans a big price to go into the catclaw brush and “round out” their cattle. “Waheeah” is another sticky brush that is very plentiful, and a good honey-producer. “Wesach” is about the earliest bloom we have--now ready to bloom--and fine for bees. Then we have black and white chapparal, both good for bees. Mesquite is here in abundance, and also yields honey, and there are a great many other plants that yield honey that I know no name for.

And now, while the honey-producing plants have thorns, the bee-keeper feels some of them, in the way of drouths, skunks, cutting ants, moth-worms, and other drawbacks; but if one will make up his mind to overlook these troubles, he will find this a fine bee-country.

JENNIE ATCHLEY.

=Bro. Chas H. Thies=, of Steelville, Ills., has been greatly bereaved in the death of his mother on Dec. 19th. In a kindly letter written to us on Christmas Day, he speaks thus tenderly of his blessed mother:

FRIEND YORK:--While I have never met you, and you have never met me or any of us knowingly, yet I feel as though I could divide my sorrow by writing you a few lines. In the past years, when I felt troubled or sad, I could tell my mother, which seemed to unload just half of my trouble, and she was always very glad to share in our troubles and sorrows, as well as in our joys. But since Tuesday, Dec. 19th, she has not been with us, for God saw fit to take her Home, where sickness, pain or death will never more reach her.

She told us before going, that she would like to stay with us longer, but that if God wanted her she was ready to go.

We are all grown up, and do not need a mother to supply us with our daily bread, etc., but yet we should have been glad to have had her with us a few more years. We are trying in this case, as in many others, to say, “Thy will be done,” yet it seems a little harder now than in many cases, particularly for my aged father, who is now 70 years old.

But one thing we are glad of, mother did not suffer long. If each of us only can truly say, when our time comes, “I have fought a good fight,” we have the assurance of meeting her again.

Yours very truly, CHARLES H. THIES.

[Yes, Bro. Thies, one by one our loved ones are passing to the other side of the river, and we all will soon be called to follow. Then “what a meeting and a greeting” there will be!

Although we are personally acquainted with but few of our readers, yet in their sorrows as well as joys, we feel deeply interested, and wish to assure them that especially in the sad hours of bereavement they have our sincerest sympathy. Surely, we are only a large family, and of all folks bee-keepers, it seems to us, are more interested in each other’s welfare than are any other class of people on this earth. Please remember, then, that the BEE JOURNAL is always ready to hear from its large family of readers, and, whenever possible, will be only too glad to help them.--ED.]

Queenless and Broodless Bees.

=Query 905.=--If the queen and all the brood of a colony were removed, 1st. Would the bees thus suddenly deprived, stay in the hive, or scatter around? 2. Would they (after the first two or three days of mourning for the queen) go to work and store honey?--Tenn.

I don’t know.--EUGENE SECOR.

They would speedily be “no more.”--WILL M. BARNUM.

1. Most of them would scatter around. 2. No, or very little.--DADANT & SON.

1. Scatter more or less. 2. Store some. Not profitable.--P. H. ELWOOD.

1. Stay in the hive, as a rule. 2. Some, but in a very discouraged way.--J. H. LARRABEE.

1. They would be likely to scatter around. 2. It is doubtful if they would.--J. M. HAMBAUGH.

1. I think they would leave, as I have seen swarms do in early spring that had no queen.--JAS. A. STONE.

They would stay and work until they died of old age. then the worms would destroy the combs.--E. FRANCE.

1. They will stay in the hive. 2. They will store honey, but will be robbed in a short time.--H. D. CUTTING.

I have never tried this, and can only guess what would happen. Better try it, and report results in the BEE JOURNAL.--C. H. DIBBERN.

1. They would not all abandon the hive unless they were robbed or had no honey. 2. They would not be apt to store much honey.--G. L. TINKER.

1. Yes, they would stay at home. 2. Yes, if there was nectar to be gathered, but they would soon dwindle out in the working season.--MRS. J. N. HEATER.

1. They would stay. 2. I was not aware that bees quit their “job,” and went into mourning for a queen. Mine don’t--they keep at work.--A. B. MASON.

1. They would stay in the hive. 2. They would go to work, but not in the brisk condition that they would if the conditions were normal.--J. P. H. BROWN.

1. They would stay in the hive. 2. They would store honey tolerably well, and that without devoting even two or three days to mourning.--R. L. TAYLOR.

1. They would stick to the hive. 2. No, they are hopelessly queenless, and seem to be wholly discouraged. Such a colony will do practically no work.--A. J. COOK.

Bees without a queen, or the means of rearing one, are discouraged, and manifest little interest in life, knowing by instinct that their “time is short.”--MRS. L. HARRISON.

1. Much would depend; they might not, sometimes they do one thing, and sometimes the other. 2. I have known them to do so; ordinarily I do not think they would.--J. E. POND.

1. Sometimes they would, and sometimes they wouldn’t. 2. If they staid, they would use their opportunities for storing, without waiting two or three days to mourn.--C. C. MILLER.

1. I am sure I cannot tell. I can see no reason why any one should treat a colony of bees in this way. 2. I do not think they would. Try it, and then you will know.--EMERSON T. ABBOTT.

1. They would stay in the hive, but would do little work, and would rapidly dwindle away. 2. They would get along much better if allowed some brood, or even a single queen-cell.--J. A. GREEN.

1. They would run all over the hive and fly around, looking for their queen, or “scatter around,” as you put it. 2. Yes, to a certain extent, but not as much as they would have done had the queen been left with them.--G. M. DOOLITTLE.

1. They would likely stay, especially if they were Italians. 2. Yes, some. All colonies would not act alike. Some will not store much honey even with a young queen in prospect, until they get her; others will work well while rearing a queen.--S. I. FREEBORN.

1. They would probably stay. 2. I know a case of this kind. A bee-tree was cut in the early summer, the bees were put into a hive, but the queen was killed. The dead queen was suspended in the hive against the cover. The bees filled the hive one-third full of comb and honey.--M. MAHIN.

1. Some irritable bees will swarm out, but they usually return and assume the same attitude of other queenless bees. 2. Yes, they store honey, but probably with not as much vim as with a laying queen, but usually they store more honey, as none is used in brood-rearing. But somehow I never did gain much by caging queens during a harvest.--MRS. JENNIE ATCHLEY.

When treated in this way they show great excitement for several days, but they will generally submit to the inevitable, and in some cases they will store honey rapidly--if nectar is abundant--and in other cases they will do but little good. But if you will give them a bit of comb containing young larvæ to build queen-cells, they will work all right.--G. W. DEMAREE.

“=The Honey-Bee=: Its Natural History, Anatomy and Physiology,” is the title of the book written by Thos. Wm. Cowan, editor of the _British Bee Journal_. It is bound in cloth, beautifully illustrated, and very interesting. Price, $1.00, postpaid; or we club it with the BEE JOURNAL one year for $1.65. We have only three of these books left.

Mailing Queen-Bees Long Distances.

_Written for the American Bee Journal_

BY W. A. PRYAL.

Although a number of queen-breeders of this country have been fairly successful in shipping queens to foreign lands through the mails, still, a few of these breeders, as well as many others who have not been favored with a foreign order, have been pretty unlucky in sending queens across the continent of America at certain times of the year. One would think that if a man who has been successful in shipping bees, say to Australia, would also send them every time to any part of the Pacific Coast without losing a single bee. Yet, such is not the fact. I have known of breeders who have sent their queens almost everywhere, but who cannot send them to California without frequently losing some.

There are many causes for this, some of which I shall try to tell about in this article. What I shall write about will be based altogether on observations and experiments last summer. In carrying on these experiments, I did it not only for my own benefit, but also for the benefit of the queen-breeders of the country. It had become annoying to me to receive a queen dead, that I was hoping would come to me alive. Sometimes I would have a colony to which I wanted to introduce an Italian queen, and expected one from the East in a few days. I would, consequently, let this colony remain queenless, as I hoped to give them the queen which I expected in a day or two. But how provoking it would be when the queen, which was expected with so much anticipation, came to hand as dead as dead could be. This state of affairs not only happened once, but a number of times. It was for the purpose of learning a way to get queens to this State alive every time, that I gave a good deal of attention to the subject. That I learned something of value, I am satisfied; that my experiments will be of value to those breeders who ship to these distant parts, I also hope.

When I would get one of these queens dead, I would first look to see if the food in the cage had given out. In no case have I ever found that the food was anywhere near exhausted by the bees. More often the food would be hardly consumed; sometimes it was so hard that I would not be surprised but it would have required a good sized sledge hammer to break the so-called candy sent as food for the poor bees to exist on while in transit.

Then I would look to the ventilation. This I have considered an important thing in shipping queens; too often the shipper trusts to the ventilation provided by the manufacturer of the cages he uses. For short distances, these ventilation holes made by the manufacturer are quite sufficient, but for long distances and through a very hot country, they are far from being just right. It is well that the maker does not undertake to make them as open as a saw-mill, for they would, in the language of Bill Nye, allow too much atmosphere to enter them. This would not do during the early or late months of the year, should the breeder have occasion to ship at those seasons.

I find that one of the reasons that much of the candy used in the cages becomes hard, is because the wood of which the cage is made soaks up the moisture of the candy; in other words, the honey, of which the candy is partly composed, is absorbed by the wood. This state of affairs is easily remedied by coating the hole, where the candy is to be stored, with beeswax or paraffine. This should also be done, as it prevents the candy from becoming poisoned by the wood, as is sometimes the case.

Another thing that I learned was unnecessary during the heated term of the year was, that it is dangerous to send too many bees along with the queen. I have found that some breeders will send as many as 16 in a two-ounce cage during July, when nine or ten were plenty enough. One breeder had the former number in an ounce cage; it stood to reason that so many bees raised the temperature in the cage to a very high degree when the bees were crossing the deserts where it is naturally hot. No bees in the world could live through such a trying time as they must necessarily be subjected to in a small compartment where each individual bee helps to raise the temperature in a climate, which, as I have said, is already too hot.

There is nothing so successful for feeding bees for a journey across the United States as soft candy. The softer it is the better; the only trouble is that we cannot use it as soft as we would like to. This is owing to the fact that when too soft it is apt to run in the cage, and not only daub the bees, but also the mails, should any of it get outside the cage, as it will likely do if the bees do not eat it as fast as it shifts about. Then, when it is soft, there may be trouble by the bees that may happen to die during the trip, getting stuck in the soft candy, so-called. Should several such dead bees get stuck at the entrance to the food compartment, there may be a likelihood that the remaining live bees may not be able to get to the food, and consequently starve to death.

So, from all these things, I think that while the Benton queen shipping-case is a very good one for shipping queens several hundred miles, it will have to be modified somewhat for sending such insects long distances, without making it as large as the export cage, which I find to be a very good cage to send bees in to even this State. Though this last-named cage is about the best cage I have seen for getting queens alive to this part of the world, it is too large for shipping dollar queens in, as the breeder cannot well afford to pay the extra postage and cost of such cages just for shipping a queen for which he only receives 100 cents. And yet, considering the fact that if the queen is shipped in one of the smaller cages, and she should die before she reaches the purchaser, the shipper would have to replace her, it would be cheaper in the long run for the breeder to have used a larger cage in the first instance. But as my experiments have been directed toward using as small a cage as possible, and yet secure the same results as if a large cage were used, I shall confine my observations to such lines, as, in truth, I think I have been doing.

North Temescal, Calif.

(Concluded next week.)

=The Ladies’ Home Journal=, of Philadelphia, Pa., and the BEE JOURNAL--both together for one year for only $1.65. The first-named journal is the grandest monthly for the home that is published in the world to-day. New or old subscribers to either journal can take advantage of the low rate of $1.65 for the two papers. This offer expires on Feb. 1, 1894. Send all orders to the office of the BEE JOURNAL.

Wintering Bees in the Cellar.

_Written for the American Bee Journal_

BY M. M. BALDRIDGE.

On Dec. 4th the thermometers in this city said it was from 12° to 18° below zero. In my bee-cellar, where I have 28 colonies, my thermometer said it was 44° above zero at that time, and that is the lowest I have seen it to this date (Dec. 11th). The highest temperature since Nov. 15th (the date my bees were put into the cellar), that I have noticed, is 50°, but I presume it has been as high as 55°, and perhaps 60°. The range of temperature anywhere between 40° and 60° is satisfactory to me. This will make the seventh winter, I think, that I have used this cellar for bees, and I do not recollect that I have ever lost a colony of bees in it. I have sometimes found in the spring, after the bees have been out-doors awhile, one or two queenless colonies, but that I do not of course attribute to any fault with their winter repository.

In placing my bees in the cellar, I prefer to give each hive some slight ventilation at the top, by raising the cover the thickness of a 6-penny wire-nail, one at each corner. I leave each entrance open the entire width of the hive. No cloths, summer or winter, are used on or about my hives, as I have no use for them. As before stated, I prefer to lift up the hive-cover slightly while in winter quarters; still, I have some winters left some of them waxed down, and I did not notice in the spring but that such colonies were in just as good condition, and with combs as bright and free from mold, as the others. Either plan seems to be all right, according to my experience, when the temperature ranges from 40° to 60°; but perhaps I had better add that the air in my cellar is about as dry and free from impurities as the living rooms of a house should be.

There are three windows to my cellar, and these are left open the entire summer, and closed only just prior to the date the bees are carried in. During the winter I, or some other member of my family, go into the cellar almost every day. The part where the bees are, is divided off by a board partition, but the door that opens into the bee-room is seldom shut, and then only during an extremely cold spell. I keep the entire cellar dark, and never hesitate to visit the bee-room whenever I so desire, as I do not believe even frequent visits therein do a particle of harm. But one thing I seldom neglect, which is, to keep the dead bees swept up from week to week, and removed from the cellar. This prevents tramping on them, and thereby avoids bad smells, or a tainted atmosphere.

My hives while in the cellar occupy but little room, as they are arranged in tiers, five colonies in each tier, and the tiers not more than six inches apart. The bottom hive in each tier is kept about a foot above the bottom of the cellar.

My hives are the “shallow things,” only seven inches deep inside the frames, but I do not see but the bees winter as well in them as in deeper ones, side by side, and, in general, I think a little better. But were it otherwise, I should prefer to use such hives to deeper ones, and for reasons too numerous to mention here. I have now used the 7-inch frames since 1876, the year I was keeping bees in the city of Shreveport, La., and 17 years’ experience with them has taught me that, whether North or South, East or West, I would not use a deeper frame. No, sir; not if made a _present_ of as many hives as I might desire to use!

St. Charles, Ills.

Bees Improving Themselves, Etc,

_Written for the American Bee Journal_

BY DR. E. GALLUP.

The second season after moving to Iowa, I had occasion to go to Postville on the stage. At Decorah we stopped for dinner, and to change horses. I saw a man in a back yard all bundled and tied up from head to foot. As I approached to see what was up, he ordered me away, saying that I would get stung to death, etc. But seeing that he was at work with bees, I still advanced, but he said very excitedly, “You foolish man! I tell you to keep away from here, or you will certainly get stung to death!” I remarked that bees very seldom stung a fool, etc.

On inquiry, I found that he was to receive $5.00 for destroying a very powerful colony that had been in a large hive for a number of years, had never swarmed, and had become so vicious and strong in numbers that it was dangerous to live in the neighborhood.

Here was the largest honey-bees that I ever saw, without an exception. They looked as though they were a cross between a common honey-bee and a bumble-bee--large, light-grey, hairy bees, with quite a flat and stubbed abdomen. Their wings were more like a drone than a worker, etc. The operator said that they were vicious Italians. One thing was certain, he went about the operation of destroying them in the most awkward manner possible.

Now, in this case, and all the cases that I mentioned last week, were where bees had improved themselves, especially in size of colonies, working qualities, etc. Thinking the matter over, and dreaming of large bees, large hives, large colonies, etc., for a long time, led me to get up the large twin hive that Mr. Doolittle mentions in one of his articles. My standard hive contained 12 Gallup frames. My first large hive contained 4 times 12, or 48 frames--24 in front, and 24 in the rear. The balance of large hives that I made contained 36 frames--18 in each end. By closing the passages between the two apartments, I could work two colonies in each hive, if my plan did not work to suit. But I never worked two in a hive.

My first and earliest natural swarm I hived in the largest hive, confined them to one end, and used a division-board. As soon as they commenced building drone-comb, I filled out with ready made worker-comb, and just before basswood bloom, opened the passage-ways, filled up with comb, and spread the brood one-half in one end and one-half in the other. The queen was from my Grimm-Hamlin stock, and extra prolific, and she spread herself grandly in the laying business. We had the best and longest basswood bloom that I ever saw, and I took from that hive, by extracting from one end one day and the other end the next day, 600 pounds of honey in 30 days--not by actual weight, but by measure. It was so thick and matured that it all candied in short order, that I took out that season. I took in all about 750 pounds for the season, besides what was left in the hive, and it was left completely full. This was all the product of the bees of one queen.