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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Tallow-tree houey is the only dark hoiK>y I 

 have seen here, and my bees did not gather 

 it. It looks like molasses; it is not com- 

 mon liere. Alder makes a line colored 

 honey, and in abundance; Japan plum gave 

 some of the finest lioney 1 ever saw. It 

 blooms in Dec. and Jan. and yields honey 

 and pollen every day while in bloom, unless 

 there ia rain or freezing; a light frost does 

 not injure it. The willow gives much 

 honey, has been doing finely for 10 days. 

 The orange comes in during this month, 

 and I will send some to you to taste. To 

 get fine honej' one must be in or near the 

 orange section. 



"Many have written me about the South. 

 This is my reply: 'If you have a good 

 honey-yielding locality and can winter your 

 bees reasonably well, remain where you 

 are. While bee-keeping itself will pay bet- 

 ter, there are other things to consider. 

 Society and politics are none of the best. 

 By coming South in Oct. you may escape 

 malaria for one year. Bring along your 

 locks, for the negroes (though free) still 

 linger around. The sunnners are long and 

 more exhausting than in the North, but the 

 heat does not rise above 95, and the nights 

 are cool. When La. gets her social and 

 political conditions elevated, and the old 

 slave customs removed, and the U. S. 

 Government build the levees, then the 

 State of Louisiana will be the finest in the 

 Union to reside in. No bee-keeper should 

 move here until he first visits the country; 

 some are delighted and others disappointed, 

 yet very few of the latter. I could not be 

 induced to return North to live, on account 

 of the cold. As I look out of my garden 

 and that of others, and for a moment com- 

 pare things Iiere and in the North. Bees 

 gathering honey and pollen, young bees air- 

 ing themselves, yours shut up and freezing; 

 our beans and peas in bloom, grass fresh 

 and green, peach and plum in bloom, etc. 1 

 can easily compare it here, same as May 

 20th in Ohio, and you out on the ice and 

 snow. I saw some snow, but it could not 

 touch this State (too pure)." W. B. Rush. 



Grant Co., Wis., March 8, 1877.— "I see by 

 the last issue of tlie A. B. J. that a writer 

 thinks it is an advantage to have hens 

 around his apiary. A friend of mine near 

 here has some hives, and found the hens 

 eating his bees. He says he watched them 

 eating live bees. He opened some of them 

 and found their crop full of bees. He 

 killed many of his chickens in consequence. 

 John Murry. 



[We should like to hear. from others on 

 this point. Has any one else noticed chick- 

 ens eating bees ?— Ed.] 



Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 19, 1877.— " On the 

 10th inst., I overhauled my 36 stands of 

 bees. They stand on my roof, protected in 

 the same manner as they are in summer, i. 

 e., with a stravv mat; only the second story 

 was taken off, as usual, after the honey 

 harvest was over. They have never given 

 nie 10 minutes labor since that time. All 

 are acquainted with our severe and lasting 

 winter. We had in Cincinnati 20 to 23 deg. 

 below zero, several mornings. Now notice 

 the result of my outdoor wintering: — 

 Twenty-three stands had, on Feb. 10th, 1, 2 

 or 3 sheets with capped brood; two stands 

 were numerous with bees, bnt 1 could find 



no brood or queen; it was getting late and I 

 may have overlooked the queens. One 

 stand had a leaky cover, the inside of hive 

 was wet and mouldy and the bees' had 

 dwindled down. A few weeks will deter- 

 mine its fate; if its queen is alive yet it 

 may get through as well as the rest. If 

 brother Novice would take a look at my 

 apiary at the present time, he would be 

 saved a great deal of labor and vexation 

 another winter, or I should be much sur- 

 prised." C. F. Muth. 



Woodville, Miss., Feb. 13, 1877. —"The 

 peach and plum commenced blooming 4 or 

 .5 days ago, the elm about two weeks since, 

 and the maple has been blooming for some- 

 time. Witiiin the last few days I have seen 

 two kinds of very beautiful blooming trees 

 which I never noticed before, I suppose 

 from the fact that the flowers all open at 

 once and fall very soon. These trees look 

 very much alike and the flowers, to a care- 

 less observer, are exactly alike— both are 

 scarlet, minute in several bunches, but one 

 is pendent, the other sessile. Both seem 

 to be common, but they grow high. The 

 stamens and pistils of the sessile variety 

 are not conspicuous, the others are very 

 minute. A friend tells me bees work finely 

 on the pendent variety." 



Anna Saunders. 



Knoxville, Iowa, Mar. 1, 1877. — " In May, 

 1874, I purchased two colonies of Italian 

 bees. Increased to 8, including 4 that I 

 bought. I kept them in my cellar without 

 loss. In 1875, increased to 22, with enough 

 surplus honey for my own use. They win- 

 tered in the same cellar, which is very dry, 

 with the loss of two weak colonies. I com- 

 menced the spring of 1876 with 20 strong 

 colonies, and increa.sed to 57. I sold 4, and 

 now have 25 in the cellar and 28 on their 

 summer stands. We have had a very 

 severe winter up to Feb. 1st; during Feb. 

 the weather was mild and sunny. I know 

 that the 28 colonies out-of-doors are all 

 alive, for they have been carrying pollen 

 from rye flour on the nicest days. Of 

 course, these 28 swarms were the strongest, 

 and were well supplied with honey. I may 

 loose some of those placed in the cellar, 

 from weakness or other causes. If it is de- 

 sirable, I will report success next month, 

 and also describe my hive, which is double- 

 walled, but not ' back-actioned,' and costs 

 me .50c. each, not counting my own labor in 

 making and painting. Tell Mr. Heddon to 

 go on, I like to read his letters in the Jour- 

 nal; his head is 'about level.' " 



A. M. Crosby. 



[ Shall be pleased to have your report and 

 the description of the hive you are using, as 

 suggested.— Ed.] 



Trumbull Co., O., Mar. 5, 1877.— " I report 

 for 1876, 11 stocks. On May 1st most of 

 them were good; 3 strong and 1 weak. I 

 sold $1.50 worth of comb and extracted 

 honey at SOc. and 20c. retail, 2.5c. and 17c. to 

 the store. 6 miles from here. Increased to 

 20; could have had 5 or 6 more, but return- 

 ed them to other hives that had swarmed a 

 few days before. Last winter I made a 

 pair of scales out of some old carriage 

 springs: they will weigh to an }4 oz. I put 

 a good stock on it in the spring, balanced it 

 with bricks, then used weights. The most 



