THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



125 



gained in one day was 8 lbs.; there was 

 some gain nearly all the summer. If they 

 gained 5 lbs. through the day, they would 

 weigh I R less at sunrise. In Sept. I was 

 taken sick and did not see my bees for 12 

 weeks, so 1 could not lix them for wintering 

 as 1 wished. I got <'i put in the cellar, the 

 others are on the stands packed with hay 

 and chaff on top; they were all living a few 

 days since. On fine days i take the hay 

 from the front, and put it back in the eve- 

 ning. It has been a pleasant winter here, .5 

 or 6 below zero one or two mornings, was 

 the coldest. We had plenty of snow, two 

 months good sleighing, and fine during 

 Feb. I live 2}^ miles from the Pennsylva- 

 nia line and 10 miles north of 41 deg. lati- 

 tude. Our chief dependence for surplus is 

 white clover." J. Winfield. 



Fremont County, Iowa, Feb. 13, 1877.—" I 

 have been managing my bees on the im- 

 proved plan for 5 years. 1 started with 5 

 stocks, and at one time lost 17 by dysentery, 

 and now have 50 stocks, besides some that 

 I am keeping for neighbors. Last season 

 was a poor one for honey. We got a little 

 surplus from the linden bloom, about the 

 middle of August. Honey was an entire 

 failure. Bees that are properly cared for 

 are wintering all right, but those on sum- 

 mer stands will suffer loss. I have part of 

 my bees in cellar and part in an out-door 

 shed, well packed with straw, qui Its over the 

 frames and caps filled with fine hay or 

 chaff. All are doing well. We have no 

 trouble to sell comb honey at 25c. per ft, 

 and extracted at 16c. to 18c. at home. We 

 have an organization of bee-keepers in this 

 county, which we look to for good results 

 the coming season, but depend more on the 

 A. B. J. than anything else. We lack bee 

 forage here, as the wild flowers are mostly 

 killed out; white clover and alsike failed, 

 and buckwheat yielded but little honey." 

 John H. Martin. 



Cincinnati, O., Mar. 7, 1877. — " I wintered 

 my 33 colonies on their summer stands 

 without loss, and now that spring is putting 

 in an appearance they are looking splendid- 

 ly, witli every promise of a good year." 



R. L. CUKKY. 



Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 10, 1877.— "Dear 

 Editor: I commenced the year 1876 with 22 

 colonies; took 1,000 lbs. of box-honey, and 

 sold it at an average of 16c per ft. My bees 

 also gathered enough honey to winter on. 

 There has been more cold weather in Dec. 

 and Jan. than I ever witnessed before. My 

 bees, thus far, have done well. For the last 

 20 days the weather has been fine. On Feb. 

 1st my bees were gathering pollen quite 

 freely, and have been ever since. The 

 queens are laying more freely than I ever 

 knew them to, in this month, before. My 

 bees are carrying in water from a watering 

 trough near the hives. The thermometer 

 this morning stood at 32 deg. It has been 

 frequently as high as 70 during the last 20 

 days. I have a colony of black bees that I 

 got from the woods iu 1870, and, having 

 watched it closely, I am sure it has never 

 swarmed since. It has raised 3 queens in 

 7 years. It stands near a poplar tree, front- 

 ing the east, and is no more shaded than 

 other colonies and has been treated tlie same. 

 It gathers 50 to 75 &s. of honey a year. I 

 have noticed my bees working in red oak 



sawdust, where we sawed the green wood; 

 they preferred it after it dried a little, then 

 they rolled themselves in it and gathered, 

 in their baskets, a dark gummy substance. 

 When first I saw it I thought that tliey 

 wanted pollen, and I offered them wheat 

 flour, but they did not visit it. They may 

 have gathered it for pollen, but I do not 

 think so, as considerable natural pollen can 

 now be gathered from the willows. What 

 do the readers of the Journal think about 

 it ? It might turn out to be a benefit to us. 

 Success to the Journal." H. W. PiOop. 



Johnson Co., Ind., Feb. 8, 1877.— " I saw 

 an advertisement in the last issue of the A. 

 B. J., of Hill's gas-pipe extractor. I expect 

 to buy one this season, and would like some 

 further description of it in the Bee Jour- 

 nal." J. H. Jones. 



[The frame being made of gas pipe, that 

 gives it the name. It is made wholly of 

 iron and tin, and weighs but 12 fts. This 

 cut will give a good idea of it. 



The comb holders are made of tin, with 

 wires about J^ an inch from the tin back, to 

 keep the comb sufficiently far away from it 

 to discharge the honey, and then it runs 

 down to the bottom of these holders, and is 

 carried by the pipe frame to the centre and 

 there discharged under the frame. It has a 

 crooked handle which serves as a means of 

 whirling the holders of the combs. — Ed.] 



Jefferson Co., Ind., March 18,1877.—"! 

 have kept bees 45 years, and have 45 stocks 

 now on their summer stands, in good con- 

 dition. I use the Falkner hive, with 32 six- 

 pound boxes. It is a good and durable hive. 

 Our county bee convention is to take place 

 on the 31st inst." A. Wright. 



Crystal Springs, Miss., March 14, 1876.— 

 "My bees came through the winter in fine 

 condition. On Feb. 1st, I found plenty of 

 brood in nearly every hive, and on the last 

 of Feb. I found many drones. The prospect 

 is now good for some extra early swarms." 

 J. W. McNeil. 



