390 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



flights qiiito often. Tliis month, so far, 

 has bocii mild. I wintorcd my 1)0(!S on 

 tlid summer stands in sinKlo-walic.d 

 hives. I leave tlie scc,tion-cas(^ on, and 

 put a chaff cushion on tliat, which fills 

 the case. I rais(! the back of tii(>> hive so 

 th<i wattsr will run out. My loss, so far, 

 is one colony, by starvation, out of 

 M7. The last few days have Ixuin 

 like Spring, and bees hav(^ becMi on th<^ 

 wiiiK from morning until night. To-day 

 th(!y brought in j)o!hui. Tlio most of 

 them ar(i in good condition. I camo 

 from Orono, Mitsh., last April, and 

 brought my boes with mo. We came 

 here to farm and keep bees. My two 

 boys (!ame with me, one was 24 years 

 old, and the other 20 years. Hut, alas ! 

 our two dear boys are lying in Itie silent 

 tomb. We are living in sorrow and 

 despair. Tlx'y werci our two youngest 

 boys, and tiiere is now no on(U,o comfort 

 us in our old ago. One died Oct. 15, 

 and tiie other Dec. 9. We hope to moot 

 them in tliat bettor world. Th(!y died 

 witli typhoid fever. Wo shall go back 

 to our old home in Micliigan in tlio 

 Spring. Last year was a poor season in 

 this locality; but very little suri)l.us 

 honey was secured. L. Rkki>. 



Havana, O., Feb. 24, 1892. 



Grading of Honey. 



Th(>, grading of honey, as published, is 

 not suitable for me. Souk! years we 

 have the whitest, clear buckwheat 

 honey — so ch^ar that we could see 

 through a section of it, by holding it up 

 to the light ; and some years all our 

 honey is very dark, but last year we 

 had every color or flavor you could 

 think of. SioTii Nklson. 



Keating, Pa., March (5, 1892. 



Experience in Wintering Bees. 



Last Spring I i)ut out (> colonies of 

 b(i(!S in fair condition, and in the Fall I 

 had 21 colonies — tln^, (> having incrc^ased 

 to 20, and one came hero and clustered 

 in the yard. On examination, I came to 

 the conclusion that 18 of them would 

 winter, butr having no special place for 

 them they wore loft on the summi-r 

 stands until last month, when I found 7 

 of them wer(! dead. The remaining I 1 

 I placed in the cellar, where they should 

 have beiMi put in the Fall, but the cellar 

 being full, and tlu^ wejither being mild, 

 they were left out. Thos(i in the cellar 

 seom to be doing well now. There is 

 much complaint hero that those that 

 were celhirrd early were restless and 



uneasy. Those that were left out-of- 

 doors were taking a cleansing flight 

 yesterday and day before, but they have 

 consumed a large amount of stores, as 

 we have had sfsveral very cold snaps — 

 80" below at one time. I am pretty 

 thoroughly convinced that the best place 

 to winter bees, as far north as this, is in 

 a good ('.(illar, that is free from v(!geta- 

 bles, or anything that has a tendency to 

 nuik(! it damj). We ha've had two very 

 poor seasons. I did not get a pound of 

 surplus honey in siuitions last season. 

 L. J. Clarke. 

 Wiscoy, Minn., Feb. 27, 1892. 



Preventing After-Swarms. 



I see my name mentioned on page 1511 

 by souK^ correspondents who ask whether 

 my method of preventing after-swarras 

 is a humbug. I wish to thank you for 

 your unsellish answer. I presume now 

 that I am expected to offer an explana- 

 tion. I am no humbug; neither is my 

 method a humbug. 1 am luiithcir de- 

 ceived in it, nor do I wish to deceive 

 others. I sent out ;500 circulars as a 

 feeler, thinking that if there was a dis- 

 position to want it, I would then adver-" 

 tiso it in tin* different beo-periodicals. I 

 do not blame any persons for making 

 inquiries, but they should bo careful not 

 to get me or any one else into disgrace 

 unthinkingly. 



E. J. Cronki,eton. 



Dunlap, Iowa, March 7, 1892. 



I Wo still think that the plan we pro- 

 posed would have been better than to 

 have spent the money for the circulars. 

 That would have inspired confidence, 

 and have been perfectly safe on both 

 sides. liut as you thought otherwise, 

 and acted independently, you have no 

 one to blame for the result. — Ed.] 



Drones in February. 



On i)age 2i)4, Mr. Davis speaks of 

 drones in February. It is a very uncom- 

 mon thing at this season of the year this 

 far north ; although I saw drones in a 

 colony of bees yesterday (Feb. 2(i) ; also 

 two perf(U't (|ueen-c(>lls, and plenty of 

 drone-boood. From the indications, they 

 are preparing to cast a swarm. The 

 colony tliat has the drones wintered on 

 the sun)mcr stands; they belong to a 

 friend, about two miles from my apiary. 



CllAKI,KS WlIlTK. 



Farmer's Valley, Nebr. 



