308 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 28, 1904. 



with bees, and yet expect to be successful in the work, better take an 

 inventory at once o£ your determination to succeed, your enthusiasm 

 in the work, and your willingness to comply with the requirements of 

 the business. It you find yourself lacking in any respect, take a new 

 hold— a better grip— and go forward to win. Others have been suc- 

 cessful, so can you be. ^^______^^_ 



Winter Losses of Bees. 



On page :!59 we gave a partial report of the losses of bees the past 

 winter as gathered and condensed by Gleanings in Bee-Culture. Since 

 then the following further infgrmation has been given out: 



In a previous issue I gave a summary of the hundreds and hun- 

 dreds of reports that had been received from all sections of the coun- 

 try within a radius of a thousand miles of Medina. More reports 

 have come in. largely confirming those first received— namely, that 

 the winter losses for oiddvur bees (not indoor) have been exceptionally 

 heavy— problably the heaviest for over 30 years. The losses for the 

 various States stand about the same as those indicated in our last 

 issue, except that Michigan now appears to have suffered the most. 

 Next come Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Indiana. 

 Strangely enough, no severe losses are reported in Illinois and Iowa. 

 The States suffering the most are those bordering on the great lakes; 

 and the one almost entirely surrounded (Michigan) appears to have 

 lost the most bees. The reports go to show further that there are very 

 few losses in any of the districts where the bees were wintered iidluurs. 



Outside of these lake States the losses have been comparatively 

 light except along tlie Atlantic coast and in a few scattering localities 

 in New England. It appears that the matter of humidity, as well as 

 cold, has something to do with the severe losses among the outdoor 

 bees. 



In nearly all the Western "States, and all the States south of the 

 Ohio River,'the bees have wintered well. In Colorado and Idaho, 

 where it is as cold or colder than the lake regions, the losses appear 

 to be very light. 



We have received scarcely any reports from Canada. This seems 

 to indicate that the majority of bee-keepers there winter indoors. 



We have received some reports from Canada, which show heavy 

 losses of bees there as well as here. It was a fearfully long winter. 

 In fact, it is still cold here (April -'0). But our close proximity to old 

 Lake Michigan has much to do with the late cool temperature these 

 days. 



Later. — Since the foregoing was put in type. Gleanings for April 

 15 has arrived, and contains the following paragraph : 



Winter losses throughout the northern portion of the country are 

 about the same as reported in our last. Michigan and New York, as 

 before, lead off with the heaviest mortalities. Reports are beginning 

 to come in from Canada, showing losses both in Ontario and Quebec — 

 much heavier than usual. Some of the States along the Atlantic 

 coast are reporting anywhere from 30 to 90 percent of the bees dead. 

 The losses still seem to be cunfined miinly to bees wintered outdoors, 

 and to those bee-keepers who have had a short experience. 



( 



Miscellaneous Items 





A Correction.— On page 279, in the first column where it reads: 

 " Entrances are enlarged to their fullest extent, 1 "4 xl2 inches,'' it 

 should read l^oxl" inches. With a 13-frame hive a full-width en- 

 trance could not be less than that. 



Mr. Morley Pettit, of Ontario, Canada, in whose article the above 

 error occurs, wrote us April 18, saying there was a lO-inch fall of 

 snow at his place April 15. They had a sleigh-ride on the 16th. He 

 expects a heavy loss of bees by starvation in his locality. He had fed 

 his own bees, but of course there will be many who are less wise than 

 he. Bees had gathered no pollen up to the time of his writing. 



Mr. G. M. Boolittle, of Onondaga Co., N. Y., writing on his 

 58 birthday, April 14, had this to say : 



I have been nearly sick all winter with grippe, or something like 

 it, and about a week ago I was taken very much worse, and had a 

 hard time for five days, but I am getting better now, and hope to soon 

 be up again. 



Outdoor-wintered bees have had but one flight since Oct. .30, and 

 that was on April 5, so they were confined to their hives 5 months and 

 6 days, with the mercury at from zero to ;i0 degrees below nearly half 

 of the days during the time. We now have about inches of snow, 

 and the mercury goes as low as 16 degrees, Fahr., nearly every night. 

 Ninety percent of the bees left outdoors are dead. Mine are still in 

 the cellar, apparently all right. G. M. Doolittle. 



Pa and Ma and the Bees. 



The man that brought the hive of bees firs' set them by the path 

 (Oh, the bees were full of vigor, and were also full of wrath). 

 An' he said : " It might be better to leave 'em, like es not. 

 Till I hear from Mr. Perkins, where he'd like to have 'em sot;'' 

 An' 'bout that time my Ma come out dressed in her Sunday best. 

 An' she tumbled o'er that bee-hive, an" — I hate to tell the rest; 

 For we all got niixed up in it, and the atmosphere was shot 

 With bees an' language of my Pa — an' both of them was hot. 



Ma turned to speak to Susan : " Whatever may occur — " 

 Then she tumbled o'er the bee-hive, and it tumbled over her; 

 An' it seems to me I hear it yet, her piercin', curdlin' yell 

 When the bees come out to greet her an' they fired their shot an' shell ; 

 An' they prodded with their lances, an' they stung her with their darts 

 On her face an' on her shoulders an' her hands an' other parts; 

 An' Ma kep' on a-yellin' till 1 thought my blood would freeze; 

 Then Pa come round the corner to see what ailed the bees. 



Well, he found out middlin' sudden, for the biggest of the hive 



Firs' landed on his eyebrow, an' my Pa said: " Man, alive!" 



Then they peppered him all over, an' settled in his hair. 



An' his language was disgraceful — it was different from a prayer! 



Then my Ma an' Pa, united, rolled together on the walk, 



An' her shrieks, though ruther movin', wasn't touchin' as his talk; 



While the bees kept stingin', stingin', just as if they meant to say : 



" You will kindly please to notice that this here's our busy day !" 



We turned the fire-hose on them, an' Pa remarked: " It's nice. 

 But I think it would be better if you'd pack us both in ice, 

 For them bees, I want to mention, lest you make a grave mistake, 

 Is the hottest little insec's this side of Brimstone Lake;" 

 An' six days later, when they both had convalesced somewhat. 

 Said Pa : •' This weather's warmish, but there'sonly bees that's hot;" 

 An' he turned to Ma, an' said: " To prove our gratitood. 

 We'll give them bees unto the poor — 'twill save em coal an' wood !" 

 — Alfred J. Waterhodse, in Hmiset. 



Dr. C. C. Miller, of MoHenryCo., 111., wrote us April 20, as 

 follows : 



What a spring! Here it is April 19, with the thermometer below 

 40 degrees on a bright, sunny day, and within a week it was down to 

 22 degrees. I got my liees out April 5, 6, 7, and little chance they 

 have had to Hy since. To my surprise I lost some by starvation, 

 although I thought they had aliundant stores. So they had for plain 

 cellaring; but 1 find it's a different proposition with a furnace in the 

 cellar and the temperature averaging 50 degrees, and sometimes run- 

 ning up to 60 degrees. With plenty of ventilation they winter bright 

 and nice, but they eat a good deal more. 



Although the bees can not do anything, the clover can, and it's 

 growing right along in the cold. The problem will be to get colonies 

 up to proper strength to take care of it when the bloom comes. 



I took out some colonies for a fiight March 7, returning them 

 after their flight, and I can't really tell whether they were better or 

 worse for it. C. C. Miller. 



Mr. S. T. Pettit, of Ontario, Canada, wrote as follows April 10 : 



" We had a big snow-storm last night, and the whole country-side 

 is covered with ' the beautiful ' to-day." 



We notice by the foregoing that it is still cold over in Canada. 

 We are having a very late spring here in Chicago, also. Bees have 

 had only two or three days up to this date (April 19) on which they 

 could fly at all, since last fall. It is making a very long confinement, 

 and no doubt there will be a heavy loss in bees in this part of the 

 country. It has been too chilly to examine bees that have been win- 

 tered outdoors, in order to supply any food that might be necessary 

 to carry them through the spring. 



Mr. Herman F. Moore, of Park Ridge, 111., Deputy Foul 

 Brood Inspector for Illinois, wishes all who have been damaged by 

 foul brood from diseased bees, shipped by one or more queen-breeders 

 or dealers in bees in Southern Illinois, to write to him, stating the 

 facts. This may benefit all interested in bees. 



