208 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



wintering my bees; never lost a swarm in 

 wintering or springing yet. I take tiie 

 honey board off and place a mattress, made 

 of chaff or tine shavings, over the top and 

 leave the caps off". I put tlieni in a dry cel- 

 lar and kept the temperature about 35° to 

 40°. I also have plenty of bottom ventila- 

 tion. About Aug. IStli, I hived two natural 

 swarms, and gave each of them a set of yel- 

 low foundation, tilling the frames about 

 two-thirds full; they now have a very nice 

 set of combs, and are starting plenty of 

 brood in them. I think if the foundation is 

 made with 5 cells to the inch, there would 

 be no trouble about the queen laying in 

 them; and when we learn how to use it we 

 can get them tinished without sagging, jf 

 made of pure beeswax. I am sure they use 

 the same material to lengthen the cells out, 

 as far as it will go. I tried a piece of white 

 and yellow in the same frame. When they 

 make new comb they cluster themselves 

 together to pi-oduce the material. When 

 they work on foundation they scatter all 

 over and work more separately. I have 

 several styles of hives, but only two sizes 

 of frames— American and Langstroth. 1 

 have made a lot of frames with metal 

 corners this winter, they are made of 

 galvanized iron, placed in a tine saw scaff 

 in the middle of the wood on the upper 

 corners and clinched on the top and inside 

 of the side pieces. They are nailed in also 

 with some % in. finishing nails. The 

 frames are made without any projecting 

 ears of wood on the corners, as the metal 

 corners project out far enough to rest on 

 the rabbits. In this way they are not liable 

 to get stuck fast with propolis. I will send 

 you a sample and you can give your opinion 

 of them. 1 tried them last summer and 

 they worked well." Lp:vi Sutliff. 



[ They are similar to Novice's in shape, 

 but heavier, and on that account not so 

 desirable as his — though we prefer the pro- 

 jecting top bar ft III Langstroth.— Ed.] 



Rock Co., Wis., May 21, 1877.— "I com- 

 menced .5 years ago with 4 swarms; have 

 sold 100, and now have 130. 1 have taken 34 

 swarms from one in that time, by putting a 

 card of brood in a hive and setting the old 

 one away and putting the new hive in its 

 place, and giving it a queen. I had one 

 year 1400 lbs. of honey; the next, 3.500 lbs. 

 My bees are in splendid condition. Lost 

 through the winter, 5 nuclei and 1 swarm. 

 I agree with Cyula Linswik, women should 

 keep bees; they can do it as well as men. 

 Bee-keepers that took care of their bees had 

 but a light loss, but those that depended on 

 the bees taking care of themselves, lost 

 heavily; some lost all they had; some half; 

 others two-thirds. My bees are all Italians 

 I had drones flying on April 18th." 



Mks. D. M. Hall. 



Warren Co., 111., April 24, 1877.—" I took 

 my bees here (home apiary), 80 stocks, out 

 of the cellar on the 6th inst., in fair condi- 

 tion. Have sold some, will probably begin 

 work with about 70 colonies. Mr. Hollings- 

 worth, myself, and Dr. D. G. Campbell, 

 wintered about 200 colonies in a cave on the 

 Mississippi, 5 miles above Oquawka, 111. I 

 have now at the river, 38 stocks in medium 

 condition. Mr. N. L. Jarvis put in a cave 

 adjoining ouis 108 stocks in the fall; took 



out 104 alive this spring. Has been selling 

 some; will probably start this spring with 

 75 stocks. Mr. Hollingsworth's and my 

 bees were taken out of the cave on the 

 nights of the 17th and 18th inst. Mr. W. M. 

 Kellogg, of Oneida, 111., will take charge of 

 Mr. Hollingsworth's bees this season. 

 There is no need of any one going to Cali- 

 fornia to go into the bee business. Taking 

 the diffierence in freight and other ex- 

 penses, the locality between Oquawka and 

 Keithsburg, 111., is just as good as Califor- 

 nia. The Monarda Fistulosa or wild bei'- 

 gamot grows by the thousand acres in pure 

 sand. Drought nor cold does not seem to 

 kill it, and 1,000 colonies could be kept in 

 one locality and tind plenty to do." 



T. G. McGaw. 



Fulton Co., 111., May 17, 1877.— "My colon- 

 ies are. averaging, per hive. 1)4 fi>s of honey 

 per day. This is earlier than I ever saw it 

 before in this section of the country, for 

 honey." Hardin Haines. 



Morgan Co., Ala., May 1, 1877.— "The year 

 1876 being an uncommonly poor one, bees 

 did not make honey enough to support 

 themselves during the winter, and gave no 

 surplus honey. We winter our bees on 

 their summer stands; do not know any- 

 thing about wintering in cellar, etc. At 

 least }i of the bees in this county died dur- 

 ing the past winter, on account of severe 

 weather and lack of honey. I lost 5 out of 

 16; others lost more or less. We use any 

 kind of a hive here. A hive over 12 or 14 in. 

 high will not suit this climate, the weather 

 being too changeable. Bees are scattered 

 all over a hive, say to-day, with the ther- 

 mometer at 65 to 80, and by 12 o'clock, p.m., 

 it is freezing; naturally bees become chilled 

 and die. I have observed that bees do bet- 

 ter in the old box hive than they will in a 

 tall, patent hive. I have cut all my 24 in. 

 patent hives down to 14 in., and tind my 

 bees are doing better, being more contract- 

 ed and the heat equalized. About May 1st, 

 I put on the top, with frames 6x12, or honey 

 boxes. Our bees are in their glory now, 

 plenty of young brood, some swarniing, and 

 making suriilus honey; and should the 

 weather continue favorable, we will have a 

 bountiful harvest. 



"In this town there are about 200 colonies, 

 and in the county, about 1800. We knew 

 nothing about patent hives here, until about 

 3 or 4 years ago, some few bought them; 

 had their bees transferred late in the season 

 when the colonies were weak, and the 

 result was a failure. Some of them turned 

 out regular moth harbors, especially a hive 

 called the 'Tennessee Hive,' which has too 

 many openings; the frames rest on a bot- 

 tom and hang on a back board. When you 

 wish to look in, you have tirst to take off 

 the top, then open a front door, and pull the 

 frames clear out to examine. In pushing 

 the frames back, bees in bottom and rear of 

 hive are crushed; and the door is warped, 

 leaving a space at both sides for the moth. 



"The indications at inesent are for a good 

 honey crop, but should we fail this year, 

 many will be disheartened in this section. 



"I have about 50 chickens, old and young, 

 running about my yard, but have never 

 seen a chicken catch or swallow a bee; but 

 have noticed my chickens running when- 

 ever a bee gets too close to them, and do not 

 think chickens will eat bees; on the con- 



