76 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 30, 





California 



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GUS BITTMEK, AUGUSTA, WIS. 

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Results of the Past Season. 



I had, spring count, 45 colonies, took off 

 about TOO pounds of honey, mostly ex- 

 tracted, and sold I'iO queens. I sold 35 col- 

 onies of bees, and now have 85 in fair con- 

 dition. Bees are flying briskly to-day, and 

 have been bringing in pollen up to within 

 ten days. 



I find it difficult to get queen-cells to 

 hatch during the hottest weather. I have 

 no use for queens reared here in winter. 

 Spring is the best time, and early fall will 

 do. 



We are having more rain now than we 

 had at this season a year ago, and I am 

 hoping we will have a better honey season 

 than the last was; and I would not object 

 it the quality was a little better, and a little 

 better market for what we do get. 



O. H. Stevens. 



Bee Co., Texas, Dec. 20, 1S95. 



Two Fertile Queens in a Hive. 



My report for the last four years is almost 

 nothing. My bees run down from 73 colo- 

 nies to 41, and averaged 200 pounds per 

 year. No wonder I get discouraged and 

 want to sell out and hunt a new location. 

 I have kept bees since 1866. 



I found two fertilized queens the past sea- 

 son. I went to the hive to put up a swarm 

 for another person, and the second frame I 

 took out had a young fertile queen on it. I 

 set the frame in another hive, and went on 

 with my work. When I got to the other 

 side I found another fertile queen. I had 

 found old queen-cells, and the old queen 

 was gone, which was clipped. It is the only 

 instance of the kind I ever heard of. 



R. R. Stokesbbbry. 



Clinton, Ind., Dec. 27, 1S95. 



The Bee-Pasturage in Montana. 



My bees had a good flight Dec. 10, and 

 are now in good condition for winter. 

 There are lots of willow and wild berries 

 growing near here for the bees to work on 

 in the spring, and then come the aster and 

 other wild flowers. I think most of the 

 honey that I will produce next year will be 

 from that source. I will improve my bee- 

 pasture by sowing sweet clover. 



Fhask X. Adelbert. 



Kalispell. Mont., Dec. 26, 1895. 



Poor Season in 1895. 



There is no honey to sell among the bee- 

 keepers around here, and no young swarms 

 in the summer of 1S95, either. Half of the 

 bees' winter food is from sugar. My bees 

 used 10 pounds of honey per colony from 

 May 15 to Aug. 1, then they got their feed 

 in 10 days; then in two weeks gained a lit- 

 tle. They had September brood, and I hope 

 they will be all right for 1896. We had a 

 young winter from May 10 to the 13th — too 

 much for basswood. It was so hot and dry 

 in the autumn of 1891 and summer of 1895 

 for clover. O. E. Clark. 



Brillion, Wis., Dec. 26, 1895. 



The Closed-End Frame in Winter. 



On page 798. Mr. E. T. Abbott says he is 

 unable to see where the closed-frame has 

 any advantages in retaining the heat of the 

 cluster in the spaces occupied. He says the 

 cluster warms the spaces occupied and no 

 more, let the frame be what it may. I use 

 closed-end frames, and put foundation in 

 them, and I find that the combs are built 

 from end-bar to end-bar of the frame. I 

 cover the top of the frames with a piece of 

 strong cotton-cloth, which the bees seal 

 air-tight. As the warm air of the cluster 

 can neither escape at the top nor at the end 

 of the combs, and being lighter than the 

 air at the bottom of the frames, it is com- 



pelled to remain in the upper part of the 

 comb-spaces occupied by the bees. I have 

 also some open-end frames in dovetail hives ; 

 in those I use foundation also, and the 

 comb reaches also from end-bar to end-bar; 

 they are Hoffman frames, and are closed- 

 end about three inches; below they are 

 open, and right there is where the warm 

 air escapes and moves on into the parts of 

 the hive not occupied by the cluster. I be- 

 lieve the Hoffman frame would be a great 

 deal better if it was made closed-end at 

 least half of the length of the end-bar, and 

 kept wedged close so as to retain the heat 

 of the cluster. E. H. Gabcs. 



Brock, Nebr. 



Retailing Honey in California. 



I was in Los Angeles this week, and a 

 lady told me that a man had been at her 

 house peddling honey, and he asked 20 

 cents a pound for extracted honey in pound 

 jelly-glasses. Besides, the glasses must be 

 returned. Somebody must be making 

 something on honey, if the bee-keepers are 

 not. Ellex C. Bland. 



Fernando, Calif., Dec. 20, 1895. 



A Healthy Old Bee-Man. 



I had 9 colonies, spring count; I saved 14 

 good, strong swarms, and 3 after-swarms 

 went away. They stored 275 pounds of 

 surplus honey, and filled their hives so full 

 that I could hardly lift them. 



I am very much pleased with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. I take great pleasure in 

 working among my bees. I will soon be 

 73 years old. It all my pains and aches 

 were put together, four weeks would cover 

 them all. S. C. Coulson. 



Storm Lake, Iowa, Dec. 30, 1895. 



May Revive the Clover. 



I have my bees all in the cellar. The win- 

 ter remains open and warm tor this climate. 

 On Dec. 24 and 25 we had two inches of 

 rainfall, ending with a light fall of snow. 

 It is the first rain to start the water in two 

 years. This rain may revive the clover, 

 but I fear that it is almost destroyed with 

 the last year's drouth. So the outlook for 

 next year is very slim indeed. All that the 

 bees can build up on is the fruit-bloom, and 

 this is not much of a country for apples 

 or cherries, but a considerable quantity of 

 small fruit. D. C. Wilson. 



Viola, Iowa, Dec. 27, 1895. 



Very Dry Season. 



Last year was a very hard one on bees in 

 this part of the country. The winter killed 

 almost all of my bees, and what I had left 

 did not get enough to keep them. It was 

 so dry, and at the present time almost all 

 of the springs and wells are dry. Our well 

 is almost gone. We can hardly get more 

 than about one-third of a bucket of water 

 at a time; but we had a fine rain last 

 night, though I don't think it will make 

 much difference in the springs. 



Wm. Y. Stackhouse. 



Zermatt, Pa., Dec. 23, 1895. 



An Arkansas Report. 



Bees did very well this year in this part 

 of the country— about an average crop. 

 There are two crops to work tor here, one in 

 the spring, and one in the latter part of the 

 summer and tall. We always get some 

 honey ever year. I never knew both crops 

 to tail entirely. This year the bees swarmed 

 a good deal in the spring, as they always 

 do. The spring crop of honey was good, 

 but it was a little dark. The persimmon 

 tree, from which we get our best and 

 whitest honey, tailed this year. It begins 

 blooming about the first of May, and lasts 

 about three weeks. 



The bees did not swarm much the latter 

 part of the summer, as they generally do. 

 Bees swarm a good deal in August here, 



