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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Appanoase Co., Iowa, Feb. 9, 1877.— "My 

 bees have been tiying now for several days, 

 as the weather is quite warm. They have 

 wintered this far without loss, and are in a 

 very fine condition. 1 protect my bees, on 

 their summer stands, with straw and chaff, 

 leaving the entrance open, so they can fly 

 when it is warm enough. I think this is a 

 good way to winter bees. I have never yet 

 lost any that were protected in this way. I 

 have a few colonies in a good, dark cellar; 

 they seem to be doing well. I began last 

 spring with 10 colonies, increased to 25, got 

 600 lbs. of honey, and raised 80 (|ueeas. The 

 season was very good for bees m this sec- 

 tion until the 1st of Sept. ; after that time 

 very little honey was gathered. I wish the 

 American Bee Journal much success." 

 M. M. Callen. 



Macomb Co., Mich., Jan. 9, 1877.— "1 had 

 21 colonies in the spring. I increased them 

 to 4<j, mostly by artificial swarming. I put 

 in 8 foreign colonies in the latter part of the 

 season, making 54; from which I have 

 taken 2,000 11)S. surplus honey, all extracted, 

 and nearly all fall honey. Having only 

 about 375 ffi)S. white clover and basswood. 

 The season has not been very good; too 

 much rain and cold, and windy after rain. 

 Basswood blossom was blasted, yielding 

 honey onlv about 5 days, while last season 

 it produced honey nearly the whole of July. 

 Fall blossoms produced bountifully. Buck- 

 wheat is our main dfi)eiidence for fall pro- 

 duction. Fortunately for my bees, our 

 farmers are buckwheat raisers. 1 winter in 

 the cellar, which is built of brick, with hol- 

 low walls and siding outside of brick; a 

 chimney runs down into the cellar, by 

 which I ventilate. Last year I wintered in 

 this cellar without loss, and had very few 

 dead bees in the hives. I could not see that 

 they had consunu^d any honey. I raised 

 one end of cover of 3 hives, placed M inch 

 block under, giving top ventilation. I think 

 it was a success. They came out strong, 

 and with bright comb; although I had very 

 little mouldy comb, the cellar being very 

 dry. I have so arranged the entire lot this 

 winter. I can easily sell honey; making 

 sales is the least of mv anxiety in the busi- 

 ness. I have for 9 years been engaged in 

 the mercantile business, selling all kinds of 

 goods, and honev sells as easily as any 

 goods that 1 ever offered to the public. I 

 believe in encouraging new beginners in 

 the business. I do not think that the pro- 

 duct will ever excel the demand, and if I 

 cannot keep pace with others in the busi- 

 ness. I am willing to come in behind and do 

 as well as 1 can, and if it will not pay me I 

 will quit. It pays if attended to, and some 

 years pays largely." W. P. Evritt. 



Schoharie Co., N. Y., Jan. 8tb, 1877.- "1 

 commenced last spring with 64 stocks, some 

 of them weak; wintered out-of-doors, in- 

 creased to 84 by artificial swarming, got 3300 

 Bds. of box honey in 3- lb boxes, and 1200 lbs. 

 of extracted. I built a bee-house last fall, 

 12x18 ft.; dug in the side hill, planked up 

 next the ground with dirt a foot thick on 

 top, with roof over the dirt. I have now 113 

 stocks in it, and one out-of-doors. I think 

 it too cross to die. The thermometer inside 

 keeps at about 40 deg. Yesterday I went 

 into it; the bees were quiet, and it was dry 

 inside. A ventilator, 6 in. square, I keep 

 open nearly all the time. I put in 90 stocks 



on Nov. 29. I bought 24 naore and put them 

 in on Dec. 28. There was some frost in the 

 latter, but I think they are all right. A 

 year ago last fall I bought some queens of 

 H. Alley; I lost all but two, one of them I 

 breed from, and if I could not get another 

 like her, I would not take $2.5 for it. I 

 never saw bees more gentle. I commenced 

 keeping bees nearly 10 years ago, and I 

 have never failed in getting some surplus. 

 Near where I live there are 150 acres of land 

 that was formerly covered with water. 

 Where I used to catch fish I now get the 

 most of my honey from. It produces a 

 species of golden-rod. The honey from it 

 is much better than basswood in flavor and 

 lighter colored than buckwheat. It is a 

 beautiful wine color and very thick, so that 

 I could hardly extract it. It was so dry 

 here, that buckwheat was a failure." 



B. Franklin. 



Jefferson Co., Ky., Jan. 1, 1877.—" Bees 

 have only done tolerably well this season. 

 Most of my hives were very weak in the 

 spring, and* the weather was cold so late 

 that 1 got only 20 of my best built up toler- 

 ably well, 10 remaining weak; making in 

 all 30 hives. I got 150 lbs. of box honey and 

 3,500 lbs. of extracted from 20 colonies. The 

 weaker hives I used for building conibs,etc. 

 My honey was excellent and I had no 

 trouble in disposing of it. My father and 

 myself have sold, in our own market, 4,500 

 lbs. of honey, averaging 20 cts. per lb. We 

 marketed it in 30 and 40- lb cans and 1 and 2- 

 Ib honey jars; selling it to grocerymen, 

 druggists, etc. When we found persons 

 that doubted its purity, we left them what 

 they wanted, without pay, until we came in 

 again, when they invariably paid for it and 

 took more. In this way we built up a good 

 home trade, and could now sell double the 

 amount of honey if we had it. I do not see 

 why others could do the same; build up a 

 home demand and get better prices for their 

 honey. It will pay any one that is making 

 a business of bee-keeping to go to the 

 trouble of building up a home trade. I in- 

 creased by bees from 30 to 42 colonies. I 

 have doubled my weak hives and fixed them 

 up for winter, on their summer stands. I 

 put four 3^-in. sticks across the frames, then 

 a piece of bagging or coffee sack the size of 

 the top of the hive over the sticks, then a 

 box 6 in. deep, the same size, with a good 

 quilt, made of heavy brown cotton and one 

 sheet of wadding, tacked to the bottom of 

 the box. I filled this box with chaff or fine, 

 dry grass, packing it in tight, put it on top 

 of the bagging, pressed it down on the 

 frames; put on the top or upper story; con- 

 tract the entrance so that two bees may 

 pass, and saw that they had plenty of 

 honey for winter." Wm.Bence. 



Polk Co., Iowa, Feb. 10, 1877.— "I put in- 

 to the cellar 56 colonies the latter part of 

 Nov. I carried them out last week, and let 

 them have a fly, and returned them to the 

 cellar. They were all in good condition. I 

 have no hesitancy in insuring 95 per cent, 

 of any apiary that was well handled last 

 season, it wintered in a good cellar." 



H. G. Hendkyx. 



Ht^^When you have a leisure hour or 

 evening, why not drop in on a neighboring 

 family and see if j'ou cannot get a subscribe 

 er for The American Bee Journal? 



