108 



TBE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



June 



The publication of the Pacific Bee 

 Journal has been posponed, owing 

 partly to the publisher's connection 

 with the National Guards of California, 

 and partly to the lack of support owing 

 to the dry year. It is Mr. Bennett's in- 

 tention to resume the publication at 

 some future time, advancing all paid 

 up subscriptions. 



A I^etter from Maine. 



An invitation from the editor in the 

 March number of the American Bee- 

 Keeper for bee-keepers to write their 

 experience was intended, presumably, 

 for those of brief experience as well as 

 those further advanced. I have been a 

 subscriber for the American Bee-Keep- 

 er for several years, and find much in 

 it to interest and instruct. Of course 

 there is much written by those high in 

 bee lore that is beyond my comprehen- 

 sion. 



T do not rememl)er to have seen a re ■ 

 port from this state in the Bee-Keeper. 

 I think Maine is not ranked high as a 

 honey-producing state, though my per- 

 sonal knowledge does not extend much 

 beyond this county, Waldo, where 

 there are several bee-keepers with 

 stock varying from twenty to sixty col- 

 onies; the products of which are dis- 

 posed of in local markets. 



My own experience commenced about 

 eight years ago, when, in the fall, I 

 bought a heavy hive, or box, very 

 heavy with honey, paying the generous 

 price of |8. 



The seller assured me that the hive 

 contained sufficient honey to pay the 

 cost, which was, probably, true, but as 

 I could not remove the over-abund- 

 ance, I thought later I had paid a good 

 price for a useless property. However, 



the bees wintered well, and the follow- 

 ing season my stock doubied. Then, 

 and since, I have used principally the 

 Simplicity hive. My stock hp,s never 

 exceeded twelve colonies, varying 

 down to five. Doubtless for the first 

 year or two my operations, if wit- 

 nessed by an expert in the business, 

 might have caused extensive smiles, if 

 not convulsions. Often in the bungling 

 manner in which they were handled 

 many bees were killed, and it some- 

 times seemed that those remaining 

 were trying to turn the table. 



I have often regretted that I had not 

 become interested in bees at aJi earlier 

 date, as one to begin in middle life, or 

 later, has that to learn which might 

 have been earlier, and then would be 

 better equipped and more likely to suc- 

 ceed. I am often made aware of my ig- 

 norance, and yet there has been a de- 

 gree of improvement since buying the 

 first colony, prior to which my knowl- 

 edge did not extend far beyond the fact 

 that bees will sting and gather honey. 



About four years ago I built a narrow- 

 shed along the north side of my bee 

 yard. It is seven feet high in front, 

 four feet deep, two feet of the front 

 from the top is closed in, below that a 

 portico one foot in width extends the 

 length of the structure. In the fall I 

 move the hives back in the shed; in 

 the spring move them forward so that 

 the porticos will just cover the tops of 

 the hives. I like this arrangement 

 very well but see a chance for an im- 

 provement. In the swarming season, 

 if there are more hives than can be 

 accommodated in the shed, they are set 

 in the open space in front. Ordinary 

 winters I have no difficulty in keeping 

 the fronts of the hives clear, but the 

 unusual amount of snow the past win- 

 ter has caused a hard fight to over- 

 come the snow-drifts. I have had 

 good success in wintering bees, having 

 never lost but one colony, and that 

 through carelessness in allowing them 

 to starve. I have succeeded well in 

 wintering colonies that were weak, not 



