52 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



can hive, with (i side boxes attached to rear 

 in place of observation gkiss. Purcliased 

 several (lueens of Mr. Nellis and introduced 

 them witli entire success. I take the Jouk- 

 XAi. and (Tleanlnris, and read them witli 

 much devotion. Am very Imngry for bee 

 readinji; wlien the montlily messenger 

 comes. Our lioney was most entirely fro)ii 

 wiiite clover, the 'past season. Golden-rod 

 and buckwheat did not mature, in conse- 

 iiuence of the drouth. Have never used the 

 extractor, will give it a trial the coming sea- 

 son. I equalize my stocks in the fall, by 

 interchanging combs." U. Videto. 



Washington, Ga.. Jan. o, 1877.— " Bees, 

 thus far, are wintei'ing well; though this is 

 the coldest winter we nave had in 20 years." 



J. B. FXCKLEN. 



Pendleton, O., Jan. 7, 1877.— "The Binder 

 is received. It is more convenient than I 

 thought it could be. I like friend Andrews' 

 suggestions and intent to talk the matter up 

 in this township. We can have an intelli- 

 gent Society, as we have the material. 

 Friend Andrews should have given his ad- 

 dress. Please give it." W. Stump. 



[ W. J. Andrews, Columbia, Tenn.— Ed.] 



Kane Co., HI., Jan. 7, 1877.— "I commenc- 

 ed in the spring of 1876 with 50 swarms. 

 They increased to 120; have sold 51 swarms, 

 and have 09 left, which are now in winter 

 (juarters. I have sold 3,200 lbs. of box 

 honey. The season was the best we have 

 had for 7 years. Long live The Amekicax 

 Bee Journal." John Divekey. 



Maryville, Tenn., January 4, 1877.— ■' The 

 lioney harvest for the past year was rather 

 j)Oor; in the first part of the year the fall 

 bloom yielded largely, but I did not take 

 any of it. They seemed to be in a fair con- 

 dition for winter. Yesterday (Jan. 3) the 

 thermometer indicated 23 deg. below zero; 

 the coldest we ever had in this section. The 

 'cold ^^nap' has lasted now for 4 weeks. 1 

 am afraid that the weak swarms have 'gone 

 up.' The deep snow covering the hives 

 may protect tliem. It (the snow) is 15 in. 

 deep; nothing like it in the memory of the 

 oldest inhabitant. I have 60 hives; average 

 surplus for the past season, 3}4 lt>s. No in- 

 crease, owing to very bad weather. Last 

 year I lost 43 colonies." W. T. Paruam. 



San Buenavertura, Cal., Dec. 20, 1876.— 

 "We have only had a small shower since 

 last March, but hope it will rain soon. Our 

 bee are flying finely every day, gathering 

 some pollen. These beautifni moonlight 

 nights it is pleasant to walk out and hear 

 the old ocean roar. Most all the honey is 

 sold out of this country. I am holding on 

 to 15,000 lbs., and am pleased to learn that 

 the price has advanced 2c. ])er lb. in San 

 Francisco, during the last month. With my 

 one-horse Barnes' saw-mill I am just shell- 

 ing out the bee hive stuff." R. Wilkin. 



Putnan Co., 111., Jan. 9, 1877.— "We are 

 just awake in regard to bee and honey cul- 

 tui'e. The past season my bees made 

 honey very fast until July 20, making 400 

 4- lb. boxes of honey up to that time; since 

 then they have emptied nearly 1.000 boxes, 

 which were nearly full at that time. I hav^e 

 now 257 stands. I was beaten a little at the 

 Winona Fair. I entered 4 stands of bees 

 and 100 lbs. of honey in 4-1 b. boxes. Mr. 

 Brooks, of Lexington, entered two stands of 

 bees and about thirty pounds of honey. I 

 got the first premium on bees and Mr. 

 Brooks on the greatest display of honey. It 

 appeared to me that I ought to have had the 

 first premium on greatest displaA% he hav- 

 ing only 30 lbs. and I 100 lbs. Mr. Brooks 

 is in partnership with Mr. Reynolds, of 

 Lexington. 111. The committee wished to 

 taste my honey, and I think they liked it 

 very much, as they never returned either 

 honey or box. I winter my bees on their 

 summer stands." Otto Halbleib. 



Boone Co., Ky., Jan. 4, 1877. — " We have 

 had nearly 40 days of continued excessive 

 cold weather, the coldest ever experienced 

 in this latitute; which makes us begin to 

 fear for our pets, and gives us visions of de- 

 populated stocks, "bee-cholera," etc. Suc- 

 cess to the old reliable American Bee 

 Journal. We would feel like abandoning 

 bee-keeping altogether, if compelled to do 

 without its cheerful visits." 



J. T. CONNLEY. 



Stanslaus Co., Cal., Jan. 6, 1876. — "My 

 bees (28 old stocks and 30 swarms) during 

 the past season, produced about 5,300 lbs. of 

 comb honey, mostly beautiful white. I 

 have an extractor, but did not use it; it 

 does not i)ay here. My cases for storing 

 surplus are admired by all for their sim- 

 plicity and convenience for handling. I 

 will send you a miniture case, just as I cut 

 it by ray 'Barnes' foot-power saw.' " 



J. F. Floby. 



Berrien Co., Mich., Dec. 10, 1876. — " One 

 year ago last fall I put 10 stands of bees in 

 an out-door cellar, and in the spring I 

 brought out 4 weak swarms. I bought one 

 stock of Italians of Mr. Adam Grimm. I 

 have now 25 of A. (i. Hill's "Winter Bee 

 Hives." When Mr. Hill came to see me, 

 the Italians were too week to swarm, and 

 so was one of my black stocks. Mr. Hill 

 transferred the weak black stock, took the 

 queen from the Italians, and put it with the 

 transferred one. Nine days after that I 

 divided the Italian stock into 4, as Mr. Hill 

 advised, but as I had only queen cells in 3 

 combs, 1 had to cut out one to make the 4 

 swarms, and as 1 was a green hand at it and 

 did not do it just right, the (lueen did not 

 hatch out. A fertilizeil worker laid eggs, 

 but these produced nothing but drones; the 

 other 3 stocks each raised a nice queen. 

 After those (pieens began to lay, I took out 

 one comb with brood and eggs, put it into 

 the failing stock; by this time the stock 

 had a queen almost ready to hatch. An ex- 

 amination ;24 hours after, showed that they 

 had the queen cell destroyed and another 

 one in the given comb started. They raised 

 a good queen and it got to be a strong 

 swarm by fall. The other 3 made about VM 

 lbs. of box honey in Hill's section boxes, 

 and if buckwheat had not come out so bad- 

 ly, I believe they would have made as much 

 again. The 3 stronger swarms of blacks 

 Mr. Hill swarmed artificially. I then spent 

 two days with .Mr. 11111. trying to learn his 

 way of "raising l)i'es. After Mr. Hill left me 

 I followed the instructions of the Bee 

 Journal and increased to 19 stands, with 

 which I went into winter quarters, in good 

 condition. Nine are in Hill's winter hives: 

 6 in the Langstroth hive, from which I took 

 off the upper cap and made 9 rough boxes. 



