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Mauston, Wis., Sept. 10, 1878. 

 " 1 lost 13 colouies early in the spring from 

 robbers and mice. I lose a few every year 

 from bad boys in the neighborhood. 1 use 

 box hives and 10 lb. boxes. 1 intend to 

 make the study of hives and boxes an im- 

 portant consideration this winter, and start 

 anew next spring." F. Wilcox. 



[As you are using 10 lb. boxes, we strongly 

 advise you to adopt the prize box. No other 

 package sells well in this market.— Ed. 1 



Boscobel, Wis., Sept. 16, 1878. 

 " The past sununer has been a failure here. 

 It has been impossible for honey to secrete 

 in good flowing quantities on account of 

 excessive rains. Our bees have enough good 

 honey, well capped for ordinary winter and 

 spring use. Colonies are very strong, and 

 thrifty, and we look forward for a better 

 season in 1879." Edwin Pike. 



Clark's Fork,Mo., Sept. 15, 1878. 

 "This season has been a rather poor one 

 for honey. For a short time in June our 

 bees did remarliable Avell, but when the 

 drouth set in tliey quit work and liave done 

 but little work since, with no prospect for 

 fall pasture, although I think tlie majority 

 will have enough honey to winter on." 



S. L. Jewett. 



Franklin, N. Y., Sept., 19, 1878. 

 "It has been the poorest season for honey 

 in this section, I have ever known for 10 

 years. All my hives have plenty of honey 

 for winter. 1 placed my boxes inside of 

 hives, they seem to like to store there better 

 tlian in top boxes. My hive contains 8 

 frames IGXxllK- After they get nicely 

 started, 1 place the boxes on top and put 

 empty comb in center of brood-chamber or 

 foundation. 1 have tried a few frames of 

 fomdation and like it very much for brood, 

 but don't want any more tor startes in boxes; 

 nice white comb is better." 



Benj. Franklin. 



Kiverton. Iowa, Sept. 13, 1878. 

 " The best part oi my honey season has 

 been the last 3 weeks. 1 have about (JOu 1 bs. 

 in the iiive yet to extract and about 200 lbs. 

 comb honey to take off. We have had 

 frosts for the last 2 nights and 1 am afraid 

 that it ends the honey season. 1 was trying 

 to get 600 sections tilled. 1 have 125 filled 

 and the rest about ready to cap, but if the 

 season is over, the capping I suppose is over 

 also. My crop of honey last season, was 

 about 4,000 lbs. I have had over 100 frames 

 of honey meltdown this summer. Onehive 

 of a capacity inside of 7,.500 inches, with ?A 

 frames, all melted in a heap, the tirst I ever 

 had." E. Wellington. 



San Bernardino, Cal., Sept. 8, 1878. 



" After last year's honey season we divided 



and got fertile queens, all doing well, but 



instead of letting well enough alone, we 



thought we would improve the stock-, having 



received some fine Italians from the east; 

 and killed off a good many laying hybrid 

 queens, but the season being late, and drones 

 scarce, we failed in replacing a good many 

 of them, hence the reason of such a discrep- 

 ancy in numbers between fall and spring. 

 We prevent swarming all we can, but last 

 spring several did come.out, 12 of which we 

 hived; which made up our number to 150 iu 

 all, and that is the number we worked this 

 summer. This valley of ours is seldom 

 noticed as a honey producing one, the neigh- 

 boring counties San Diego and Los Angeles 

 generally get all the credit. Now I wish to 

 state, that this valley is equal to any of 

 them, and in a year, such as last, far super- 

 ior, for while those counties were losing 

 colonies by the hundreds, none of our bee- 

 keepers lost any by'starvation, but instead, 

 most of them were aole to ship considerable 

 surplus honey. From our 102 colonies we 

 received 11,000 lbs. This year all have done 

 remarkably well, few averaging less than 

 200 lbs. to the colony. As to quality it can't 

 be beat. These are facts, wliich ought to 

 give San Bernardino honey a reputation 

 equal to any made in California. Those 

 who have used foundation most have done 

 the best, and all agree that it is essentially 

 necessary for large honey yields." 



James B. Stevenson. 



Fish Creek, Wis., Sept. 13, 1878. 

 " I wintered my one colony of bees in my 

 dwelling house, in a room up stairs. They 

 came out in the spring all right, but they had 

 no honey in the spring to keep them 

 through tlie wet, cold, weather we had here, 

 and i feared they would not do much, so I 

 sent to you in June, for a nuclei colony, 

 but before they arrived, I saw that my bees 

 were queenless, and I put them together in 

 the Langstroth hive, and they have increased 

 to 2 good colonies. I have kept them from 

 swarming by giving them plenty of room, to 

 work in, over the breeding apartment, and 

 they have done well, and are the nicest and 

 largest bees that I ever saw. I am going to 

 try wintering out doors this winter, and shall 

 report in the spring how they did." 



Wm. Darling. 



Canandaigua, N. Y., Aug. 31, 1878. 

 "My 122 colonies 1 obtained from 52 colo- 

 nies, in box hives, bought in the fall of 1877, 

 although they were wintered with cut straw 

 on top and straw on all sides except back 

 and front. I transferred them in the spring 

 of 1878; taking out the drone comb, was the 

 cause of my getting so much wax. 1 used 

 20 lbs. worker foundation to replace tlie drone 

 comb. Also, used about 15 lbs foundation 

 as starters in sections. Have fed my bees 

 nothing this year and will not be obliged to 

 feed any. I had 40 lbs. or thereabouts of 

 honey that I took from them, when 

 transferring, 1 fed that back. 1 have made 

 no estimate of that. Instead of chaff 1 used 

 cut oat straw. 1 did not get honey from 20 

 of my colonies. The season here has been 

 anything but tirst class. Bees lost 5 days in 

 the best of white clover bloom, on account 

 of its being cold and rainy. Also one day 

 in basswood season. Have taken no honey 

 from blacks since July 25th, nor do 1 think I 

 will get any. My Italians have made about 



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