ISSo 



GLEANlXCiS 1:N BEE CULTURE. 



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^EP0^¥? ENC0aR^6I]^6. 



[NTEKINO IN A SIMPLICITY HIVE AVITH NOTH- 

 ING BUT A MAT OVEK THE FRAMES. 



HE past winter reminds me of the winter of 

 -'/|^,^ U'8J. 1 liear of lieavy losses of bees all 

 around in my vicinity. I have not lost any 

 except one four - framed nucleus. The 

 greater portion of my iH colonies are in ex- 

 cellent condition— just booming with bees. I had 

 one colony that wintered in a Simplicity hive with 

 nothing over the frames but one of your basswood 

 mats and the hive-cover. I was afraid to examine 

 them, for I was almost sure that I should find them 

 dead. You may imagine my agreeable surprise 

 to find them in good condition. The ijueen is a 

 large, proline, full-blooded Italian; and her work- 

 ers, large, hard}-, and good honey-gatherers. They 

 were on !t " slabs " of white-clover honey that they 

 stored away themselves. This is pretty good evi- 

 dence, I think, that bees will not freeze, but still I 

 think it pays to give th(f little fellows proper protec- 

 tion; and after live years' experience with Root 

 chaff hives I consider them the best hive for both 

 winter and summer u.se. I always find bees ail 

 right in chaff hives; combs dry, and hive nice and 

 clean. r.— .1. I>. .Mooue, .'if— ."ilj'.. 

 Morgan, K\., .\]n-. 14. f'Sj. 

 Friend Mn, my opinion is lliat your bees in 

 the Simplicily liive were so stronj; and 

 liealtliy, and so full of ^ood \vliolesome 

 stores," that tliey came out all rigid //( .sp/7^ 

 of had i)rotectio"n^ 



A tiOOD REPORT FRO.^I OUEOON. 



Apr. ") we had one swarm come olf, and a big one 

 too; yesterday two more came olf, and all our 

 stands are veiy strong, with lots of new honey. 

 Think of it.over (iJO miles north of Chicago, and sur- 

 plus honey in Jlarchl " Busy b(>es" haven't lost an 

 hour on account of weather since March 1st. We 

 have some very fine apple-bloom honey, sections 

 complete, and now white clover is coming out fine; 

 look out for astonishing reports. No feeding has 

 been done, none needed. Of course this is not usu- 

 al, as we have generally to complain of considera- 

 ble moisture in March. Cii AS. Lee. 



Portland. Oregon, April 8, 188.">. 



ONLV ONE LOST OUT OF 123 IN WINTERING. 



We take pleasure in sending in our report this 

 spring. Cellared 120 colonies, Nov. 17, 1884; finished 

 setting them out, Apr. 15, 1885. One dead in cellar, 

 one swarmed out since setting them out (queenless) : 

 perhaps there are six to ten that will have to be 

 helped some, as they are rather weak; the rest are 

 in nice shape, except they may need feeding some 

 on account of nq fall run of honey last season. 



9— D. E. L'HOMMEDIEU &- Bro., 96 -120— yWO. 



Colo, la., April 19, 1S85. 

 P. S.— 5000 stands for the surplus taken in l-^Sl. 



ONLY 2 LOST OUT OF 80. 



Oui- bees have wintered well ; lost only 2 out of so. 

 Bees have been gath- ring pollen for the past two 

 weeks, and are building- up very fast. I think we 

 have done very well, considering the losses of the 

 older bee-keepers. Wm. M. Boss. 



Lebanon, Ills., Apr. 10. 1885. 



MV liKCOIU) FOR 18S4. FROM 1-1 TO 40, AND 1620 

 L»S. OF HONEY. 



Spring, U colonies; honej', comb, 45',) lbs.; 

 extracted, 1170 lbs.; fall, 40 colonies, five nuclei. 

 1885. Si)ring, 40 colonies, t\niv nuclei. How does 

 that look? No Blasted Hopes there. E.B. Crane. 



New Ciuiiian, Conn., Apr. 13. 188.5. 



27.JI I, lis. OF HONEY FROM 22 STOCKS. 



The year 1884 was an unusually good season with 

 me for hoi'.ey; from 22 stock.s, spring count, 1 took 

 24-')9 lbs. in comb honey, and al)oiit ;500 of extracted, 

 mostly sold, averaging about IG'ic. My bees are all 

 in tijitop condition to date, r.otwithstanding they 

 have liad access to i)l,«nty of pollen. This is the 

 foil It h season I have packed them on summer 

 stands without rc^gard to pollen (but a good supj'ly 

 of early-made honey), and have never lost a stock, 

 or had any signs of dy.sentery in uiy yard. 1 get 

 most of my swarms in May; pollen is no terror 

 with inc, providing 1 have the other requisite. 



C. L. BOSTWJCK, 



Sandy Hook. C<>i:ii., .March 2S, 1885. 



A GOOD REPORT PRO.M U.WE WINTEHlNCi. 



I put 55 Stands of bees in a cave the 1st of Decem- 

 ber, and took them out the 1st of .Vpril. Two were 

 weak when put in, and should have been united 

 when put up. They went up. The mice destroyed 

 the rest; all came out right. Experience has 

 taught me that plentj- of ventilation is the one 

 thing necessary to successful wintering in caves. I 

 have a 4-inch chimney in the roof of my cave, and 

 last fall I put a 4X 4-inch tube, 16 feet long, below the 

 freezing-point down in the ground, and brought it 

 into the cave at the bottom at one corner, and dur- 

 ing the very cold weather I put an oil-stove in the 

 cave and kept the temperature at from 40 to 45°. 

 I never had bees winter better than last winter. 

 The cave is in a sandbank, nice and dry. 



Jas. H. Brown. 



Cherokee, Iowa, April 7, 1S85. 



ONLY 3 LOST OUT OF ISO. 



On the 20th of Nov., 1881, 1 put 130 colonies into my 

 cellar. On the 5th of Apr., 1885, I carried out 127 live 

 colonies. At the i)resent date there are 10 colonics 

 that are weak, the rest very good. I packed 9 colo- 

 nies in chafr,on summer stands, 5 of which are dead. 

 The rest are fair colonies. Yesterday it was 2>i° in 

 the shade at 7 .a.m., and froze all day. To day we 

 have a furious snowstorm, with no sign of improve- 

 ment. Not very encouraging weather for bee-keep- 

 ers. W. Addenbrooke. 



North Prairie, Wis., Apr. 14, 1885. 



THE SYRIANS AHEAD. 



My report for 1884 is small. I lost all my black col- 

 onies but one, and sold that. One colony of Syrians 

 increased to 5, and gave 33 lbs. of honey. I should 

 have tried for more honey and less increase, if I had 

 been at home. E. L. Tarell. 



Presque Isle, Me., March, 1885. 



FRO.M one to five, AND ,50 LBS. OF HONEY. 



I bought one colony in Nov., 1883; increased to 5; 

 got .')0 lbs. of comb honey. They ai-e all alive at this 

 date. I have them packed in chaff. This winter 

 has almost cleared this neighborhood of bees. 



Howells, Mich., Apr., 188.5. DiLLAN George. 



LESS than 5 per cent lost in .VN .VPl.VRY OF 175 

 COLONIES. 



Bees have wintered splendidly; loss less than 5 

 per cent out of about 175 colonies; about one-third 

 in chaff hives, the rest in single-walled hives; all 

 wintered out of doors. 1 can see but little or no 

 difl'erenee i» the results of the ditferent hives; all 



