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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Lee Co., 111., May 18, 1877.—" I had, on 

 May 1st, 132 stands of bees in good condi- 

 tion. Tills is the best spring I have seen 

 for many years. I consider 1 have passed 

 one of the worst winters for bee-keeping I 

 ever knew, considering the condition bees 

 went into winter quarters." R. Millek. 



Fort Atkinson, Wis., May 1, 1877.— "From 

 10 to 75 per cent, of the bees in this vicinity 

 ai'e dead; cause— poor honey and want of 

 proper care." L. M. Roberts. 



Angola, Ind, May 1, 1877.— "I packed 2.5 

 stocks of bees in marsh liay, adout Dec. 1st, 

 with quilt on frames, nothing in caps, and 

 entrance contracted. Have 20 now (10 good, 

 4 medium, and 6 weak). I use the Farmer's 

 Hive, modified, with 9 frames, 12x13. Bees 

 —16 Italians, 4 hybrid." 



Wm. Macartney. 



Steuben Co., N. T., May 17, 1877.—" Last 

 winter was hard on bees here, as well as 

 spring. Those that wintered out lost 

 heavily in the winter, and those kept in- 

 doors 'lost heavily in spring. 1 put 150 in 

 the cellar and left 6 out. I put them out on 

 March 24th, all alive, and they appeared to 

 be storing honey, but our long cold spring 

 will reduce them 20 or more." 



D. S. McCallum. 



Pointe Coupee, La., April 12, 1877.—" I 

 have 52 stands of bees, all in good order and 

 doing well. Could begin extracting honey 

 by the 20th inst. without injury. White 

 clover is already yielding considerable 

 honey. This together with willows and 

 other honey-procmciag flowers which have 

 been in bloom for several weeks past, 

 renders this quite a desirable bee country; 

 and the great success of Mr. Chas. Parlange 

 with his splendid apiary located in this 

 parish has induced numbers of other resi- 

 dents to imbark in the bee business. You 

 may reasonably expect quite an extensive 

 list of subscribers to your excellent Jour- 

 nal from this section, when the new bee- 

 keepers get fairly started in the business." 

 ROBT. Montgomery. 



Grant Co., Wis.. May 15, 1877.— "Bees are 

 doing first-rate. I like the Bingham smok- 

 er I got of you. I tried it as soon as I got 

 home, and "it will keep the fire long enough 

 and is some on smoke I assure you." 



H. F. Walton. 



Lawrence, Mich., April 13, 1877.— "Last 

 fall I had 34 swarms; 1 have lost to date, 15; 

 alive now, 23. I wintered on summer 

 stands, with blanket on top, and 2 to 4 in. 

 of chaff in super. I use the Langstroth and 

 American hives. Bees are all in good con- 

 dition at present; about one-half very good. 

 Commenced bringing in natural pollen on 

 April 10. To the best of my knowledge, 

 three-fifths of the bees in this vicinity are 

 dead; one neighbor has but 35 left out of 

 108." Dr. a. S. Haskin. 



Woodville, Miss., May 14, 1877.— "I was 

 not able to give my bees necessary atten- 

 tion during the winter and early spring, and 

 so lost half or more in consequence. Have 

 16 stocks now, one of them with 30 and 

 another with 40 frames, which I think gave 

 me nearly as much honey as all the rest put 

 together. I never was so unfortunate in 



losing young queens, owing to bad weather, 

 rain, cold, and high winds. Had very little 

 good weather. The first honey I extracted 

 this season was from the holly, the^i a little 

 flow of poplar; now the bees are gathering 

 honey from the magnolia principally. It is 

 very pretty and thick; those who like 

 orange honey would like it." 



Anna Saunders. 



Appleton, Wis., May 7, 1877.—" Although 

 we have had a comparatively mild winter, 

 yet I find that many bees have died. The 

 loss is principally with those that tried to 

 winter on the 'will do' principle. Those 

 that were put into winter quarters as they 

 should be, are doing well, nearly 4 weeks 

 earlier than usual. Probably not over 5 per 

 cent, have died, while those mismanaged 

 have seven-eighths dead. With one or two 

 exceptions, those that have lost largely are 

 those that get along without a bee paper or 

 any elementary books. I have changed my 

 mind some of late years. I used to encour- 

 age persons that manifested a desire to keep 

 bees, but now I say to them, if you won't 

 post up, don't pay out your money for them 

 and loose it. Success to the Journal. 

 With 12 bound volumes of it I feel that I 

 have got a treasure." A. H. Hart. 



Edgefield Junction, Tenn., May 7, 1877.— 

 "The past winter was one of great severity. 

 Even the mulberry and peach trees are 

 nearly if not entirely killed. No peaches 

 this year, except on the highest lancf, where 

 a fair crop will be gathered. The crop of 

 strawberries, of which many acres are cul- 

 tivated here, promises to be unusually fine. 

 The first shipment from here will take place 

 about the 13th, and goes to Cincinnati. The 

 grass, owing to frequent rains, is very fine, 

 especially is this true of white clover. The 

 few bees kept here will have a fine range 

 and probably gather a large crop of honey, 

 should the weather be favorable. Clover is 

 now beginning to bloom and the bees do 

 not fail to give it their sweet compliments. 

 Most of the usual spring bloom is over. 



"Bees, as usual everywhere, have not 

 gathered honey enough to support their 

 brood, and have drawn heavily on their last 

 year's honey, of which they have so far had 

 plenty. The old apiary of Dr. Hamlin will 

 this spring, to all intents and purposes, be 

 numbered among the things that were. His 

 precepts still linger, and almost every old 

 lamily has a few Langstroth hives bearing 

 the Doctor's name, and showing the marks 

 of time also. Your correspondent has met 

 with about the average loss from the usual 

 causes which conspire to kill bees. My 

 apiary will be shipped to Abronia on about 

 May 15th, if the weather in Michigan should 

 be usually auspicious. By that time the 

 hives will be as full of bees as are safe to 

 ship so far. I expect to make the journey 

 in about 5 days and nights, no accident oc- 

 curing. What the summer may bring forth 

 is as yet an unknown quantity." 



T. F. Bingham. 



Lawson, Mo., April 2.5, 1877.—" Out of 100 

 colonies I lost 16; some died from want of 

 honey, others got too warm, they crawled 

 out of the hive on to the cellar floor and 

 could not get back. The balance came 

 through strong, with a few exceptions, and 

 are now gathering honey from plum blos- 

 soms." " J. L. Smith. 



