420 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



S. E. Miller, Bluffton. E. C. 5-18. 



a. 17; winter and spring; outdoors; b. perhajjs 20; chaff di- 

 vision-boards and cushion in S. hives. 

 NEBRASKA. 



J. W. Porter, Ponca. N. E. 5-17. 



a. 86; outdoor trench ; b. 25; lack of stores. 



F. Kingsley, Hebron. S C. 5-21. 



a. 0; outdoors; b. 5; outdoors, no packing. 



J. M. Young, Plattsmouth. 5-19. 



a. J^ of our apiary i|S lost; all died in summer hives; but 

 little loss in chaff hives; wintt-ri'd on siiiiinur stands, b. *; of 

 the bees in general are dcail. all caused from stan-ation. The 

 wintering on summer stands is inacticed more than any oth- 

 er method, and without chart'. 



NEVADA. 



E. A. Moore, Reno. W. C. 6-22. 



a. 5; outdoors; all my hives are Simplicity, b. 25; outdoors; 

 mostly in old box hives. The winter was the coldest we have 

 had for 30 years, to my knowledge. Bees are doing splendid at 

 present time. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



C. E. Watts, Rumney. C. 6-19. 



a. 66; cellar too cold; b. 15 to 20. I think nearly all in cellar. 



L. A. Freeman, Lancaster. N. W. 5 18. 



a. 30; cellar; b. 35. indoors. Cause, dysentery. I never heard 

 such universal complaint. 



NEW JBRSKY. 



Watson Allen, Bernardsville. N. C. 5-19. 



a. 6%; outdoors, in chaff hives; b. 10; outdoors, in single- 

 wall hives. 



J. D. Coles, Woodstown. S. W. 5-19. 



a. 28; chaff; b. 40; outdoors, old-style gum. 



NEW YORK. 



G. M. Doolittle, Borodino. C. 5-17. 



a. 2.5; part in cellar, part outdoors; b. 25; same as above, 

 cause, honey-dew. 



H. P. Langdon, East Constable. N. E. 5-19. 



a. 12; cellar; b. 25; cellar. 



G. H. Knickerbocker, Pine Plains. 5-17. 



a. 6; in cellar; no loss in those wintered outside, b. 10, 

 mostly outdoors. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 

 Abbott L. Swinson, Goldsboro. E. 5-20. 

 a. 10; open air; b. 50; open air. 



OHIO. 



A. B. Mason, Auburndale. N. W. 5-17. 



a. 3; starved; cellar; b. 5; outdoors and in cellar. 



Chas. F. Muth, Cincinnati. S. W. 5-16. 



a. Lost none; but 3 colonies had lost their queens; out- 

 doors; b. perhaps 20; mostly in single-walled hives. 



S. A. Dyke. Pomeroy. O. 5-17. 



a. 20; outdoor, in chaff mostly, b. 10; outdoors. My loss 

 was caused by dividing too late. 



Dr. G. L. Tinker, New Philadelphia. N. E. 5-16. 



a. No loss. All outdoors, in winter cases, b. 3; starvation; 

 wintered in chaft' and single hives. 



Dr. H. BesEe, Delaware. C. 5 20. 



a. 10 cellar, and 16 by spring dwindling; b. about 20 to 30, as 

 nearly as I can learn, mostly from springing; too much cold 

 rain during time of bloom. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



S. W. Morrison, O.xford. S. E. 5-17. 



a. No loss; outdoors: b. fO; bo.x hives, summer stands. Pros- 

 pect for a big crop of honey excellent; too much rain, the 

 only thing that can prevent. 



Thos. C. Davis, Pittsburgh. O. 6-19. 



a. No loss, except three queens, out of 34; outdoors in chaff; 

 b. heard of no losses except a few queens, outdoors. 



C. W. King, Emlenton. N. W. 5-20. 



a. 100; b. 98; outdoors. 



RHODE ISLAND. 



A. C. Miller, Providence. E. 5-17. 



a. None; outdoors; chaff, unpacked; b. .30 to 40. All by starv- 

 ation. 



Samuel Cushman, Pawtucket. 6-16. 



a. Mine, 5; few in cellar, b. Box hive fared badly. Loss 

 from starvation throughout the State, probably 60 or 60. 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



H. T. Cook, Greenville. 5-18. 



a. 4; b. light. 



W. J. Ellison. Stateburg. C. 5-21. 



a. 3; starvation; outdoors; b. 1 don't know. 



J. D. Fooshe, Coronaca. 6-17. 



a. No loss; outdoors; b. none; Simplicity and box hives. 



TENNESSEE. 

 W. H. Greer. Paris. N. W. 5-19. 

 a, b. 25; outdoors. 

 C. C. Vaughn. Columbia. C. 5-20. 



a. 2; outdoors; b. 8; outdoors; no packing, thin hives. 

 Gaston B. Cartmell, Jackson. W. 5-19. 

 a. I had 45 stands; lost 2; b. outdoors, without protectiDU. 



TEXAS. 



J. P. Caldwell, San Marcos. S. W. 6-18. 

 a. None; outdoors, in S. hives, b. 5. 

 L. Stachelhausru.Selma. S. C. 5-18. 



a. 2. by queenlessness; outdoors, b. 2. We have no winter 

 losses here except by queen losses or starvation. 

 J. E. Lay, Hallettsville. S. W. 5-21. 

 No winter losses here. 



VERMONT. 

 A. E. Manum, Bristol. W. 5-19. 



a. 3 winter ami 3 in spring, making 6 in all; outdoors, chaff, 

 b. 30; outdoors in chaff ■ 



J. E. Crane, Middlebury. W. 5-16. 



a. 33; cellar, 75; outdoojs in chaff hives, 26. b. About 30; 

 wintered mostly outdoors in chaff hives. Cause of loss, gath- 

 ering a lai-ge amount of honey-dew last year. 



H. E. Harrington. Walden. .5-19. 



a. 0, in sawdust; 25 without sawdust; cellar; average, 16. b. 

 20; cellar. 



Howard J. Smith, Richford. N. C. 5-17. 



a. 0; cellar; b. 25, outdoors. Cold wet weather. 



F. M. Wright. Enosburgh. E. 5-17. 



a. 5; cellar; b. 10; cellar. 



VIRGINIA. 



H. W. Bass, Front Royal. N. 5-17. 



a. 3; outdoors, b. 5; outdoors. 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



J. A. Buchanan, Holliday's Cove. N. 6-20. 



a. 2; outdoors; b. 5; outdoors. Loss from starvation will be 

 great within the next ten days, unless feeding is attended to, 

 as no honey has been gathered. 



Will Thatcher, Martinsburg. W. C. 517. 



a. One colimy out of 60; a pure case of starvation; outdoors; 

 from 3 to 4 inrlus timothy chaff in burlap cushions over brood- 

 chamber, b. With jirijper care, no loss. 



Jno. C. Capehart, St. Albans. S. W. 5-19. 



a. 0; outdoors; b. no other modern bee-keepers in my locali- 

 ty- 



M. A. Kelley, Milton. S. W. 5-17. 



a. 7; outdoors; b. about 10; all outdoors. No chaff hives 

 used. 



WISCONSIN. 



Joshua Bull, Seymour. E. .5-19. 



a. 35. cellar; 19, outdoors in chaff; loss mostly from spring 

 dwindling; b. 30 to 50; cellar and clamp. One bee-keeper lost 

 all of his bees. Cold backward spring, unfavorable for bees to- 

 build up. 



S. I. Freeborn, Ithaca. S. W. 5-19. 



a. 25; cellar; b. 25; mostly cellar wintering. 



Frank McNay, Mansion. C. 5-16. 



a. 25; indoors; b. 25; indoors. 



E. E. Tongue, Hillsboro. 5 19. 



I wintered mine on summer stands in L. hive, no loss. 1 

 haven't found any loss last winter; all good; all winter in 

 cellar. 



E.France, Platteville. S. W. 5-17. 



a. 6; outdoors in chaff; b. 10; outdooi'S. 



A summarized statement is as follows : 

 The average percentage of loss among the 

 special reporters during the past winter is 

 only Sj per cent. By referring to the sta- 

 tistics of a year ago, we find that the loss 

 was 9 per cent. We expected to see a smaller 

 percentage for this year. The only losses, 

 with few exceptions, that occurred during 

 last winter, of any account, were from over- 

 breeding and consequent starvation. If we 

 eliminate this cause of mortality, the per- 

 centage will probably be very low. The 

 average loss in the vicinity of the reporters, 

 we tind to be 14, \ per cent. Last year at 

 this time it was 17 per cent. 



Perhaps it will be interesting, right heie, 

 to compare the average losses of the three 

 preceding winters, since we began the de- 

 partment of statistics. The special report- 

 ers' loss during the winter of 1887 was 16 

 per cent ; during 1888, 9 per cent ; during 

 the winter of 1889, 8f per cent. The locality 

 losses for the winter of 1887 were 33 per 

 cent ; for 1888. 17 per cent ; 1889, MJ per 

 cent. It is to the credit of the books, peri- 

 odicals, and progressive apiculture, that the 

 winter losses have been decreasing. Al- 

 though the reports do not show it, we no- 

 tice by correspondence that there has been 

 a very heavy loss in the region of Gallup- 

 ville, N. Y., many bee-keapers losing all 

 their bees. The cause is attributable to 

 honey-dew. One bee-keeper said his Ital- 

 ians, because they gathered nothing but 

 white stores, wintered beautifully, while 

 his blacks and hybrids, having gathered a 

 lot of honey dew and buckwheat, almost all 

 died — a great score for Italians, because 

 they will get white stores if there is any 

 possibility of doing so. We also gather 

 from correspondence that there have been 

 quite heavy losses in certain parts of Min- 

 nesota. 



