FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 29' 



condition, the whole eight ahve, and hardly a teacupful 

 of dead bees in all. These eight I increased to 22, taking 

 390 pounds of honey. ( )f course they v.ere increased 

 artificially. 



I attributed the previous winter's success partly to 

 their having been taken in earlier than ever before, so I 

 decided to take them in still earlier, and went out for 

 that purpose Oct. 29. But the bees decided they would 

 not be taken in, and whenever I attempted to take them in 

 they boiled out. So, just as I had done a good many 

 times before, I had to give up and let them have their 

 own way, leaving I\Irs. ^Miller to get them when the 

 weather was cool enough for tJicin. 



November 19 they had a good flight, and Xovember 

 20 they were taken in by Mr. Phillips, a farmer with 

 the average knowledge — or perhaps the average ignorance 

 — of bees, aided by '']eff/' Mrs. ^Miller's factotum, one 

 of the liveliest specimens of the African race that ever 

 jumped, with considerable more than the average fear of 

 bees. December 12 my wife gave the cellar a good airing, 

 and then it was closed up for the winter. 



The winter of 187T-5 was one of remarkable sever- 

 ity, and I felt some anxiety about the bees. The last of 

 February my wife went out and warmed up the house 

 and cellar, finding the bees somewhat uneasy, but after 

 being warmed up and aired they became quiet. Then 

 the house was again closed up, and they were left till 

 April 6, when the men took them out. 



ITALIANS FROM ADAM GRIMM. 



Three of the twenty-two had died, leaving nineteen 

 to begin the season of 18T5. ^lay 10 two colonies were 

 received from Adam Grimm, for which I paid thirteen 

 dollars per colony for the sake of getting Italians to 

 improve my stock, for notwithstanding the several Ital- 

 ian queens I had got, some of my bees were almost black. 

 May 27 I made my first visit, and I did not find the 

 colonies very strong. Two colonies had died of queen- 



