AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



647 



n the season of 1891, only 3 complaints 

 have been made. This is not a bad 

 record. I am glad that so many bee- 

 keepers were willing to try the new 

 races and new strains of bees. 



Henky Alley. 

 Wenham, Mass. 



Rainy Weather — White Clover. 



If you have any good weather to 

 spare, please send us a few sunshiny, 

 warm days, to get our bees warmed up 

 so that they can get around a little. We 

 live in hopes that the weather will clear 

 up sometime, but it does not look much 

 like it to-day. The rain is pouring 

 down. Where can I get 8 or 10 pounds 

 of good bees to put in with my light 

 colonies, to help them out in this time of 

 cloudy and rainy weather "? My 50 col- 

 onies that I put into the cellar last Fall 

 are reduced to 20, and a chance for still 

 further reduction. A Mr. Snow put in 

 125 colonies last Fall, and has 62 left, 

 and some of them will probably go, too. 

 White clover looks well here, but it is of 

 no use without bees to gather it. 



Mark D. Judkins. 



Osakis, Minn., May 4, 1892. 



[By consulting the advertising columns 

 of the Bee Journal a little later, you 

 will doubtless find a number of parties 

 who have bees to sell by the pound. You 

 will then be able to build up some of the 

 reduced colonies you mention as being 

 weak. — Ed.] 



Kansas Bee-Keeping- — Sick Bees. 



This is my first year of bee-keeping in 

 this climate. 1 find that bee-keeping in 

 the South and bee-keeping in Kansas 

 are different things. Last Fall I had 

 40 colonies in, as I thought, good condi- 

 tion. This Spring I found I had lost 

 during the Winter 8 colonies, and some 

 of the hives had considerable honey left 

 in them. Three have died sinee the 

 Spring opened — I think they were 

 queenless. The 8 that died in Winter, 

 I think was caused by dampness. I am 

 led to believe that dampness is one 

 great drawback with bee-keepers in 

 Kansas. However, I may be differently 

 impressed after I have further experi- 

 ence. As is well known, Kansas has 

 some very fine weather in Winter, and 

 changes very suddenly. During the 

 Winter we would have warm rains, and 



in less than six hours everything would 

 be frozen. 



I met with one thing last week that I 

 had never heard of before. A swarm of 

 bees came near my apiary last week, 

 and settled. I suppose they had been 

 starved out somewhere. I hived them 

 nicely, then I gave them a pint of thick 

 syrup, made of granulated sugar. In 

 less than an hour I found a number of 

 the bees sick and crawling aimlessly 

 around on the ground. The next morn- 

 ing a number were dead ; tiiey would 

 crawl out of the hive, not able to fly, 

 and would start off ; some would get a 

 rod away before they became helpless. 

 This was kept up for four days, and 

 finally all died. I am at a loss to know 

 the cause of this strange occurrence. I 

 wish some one would tell the cause. 

 Leavenworth county, Kansas, is, in 

 my judgment, a splendid county for bees 

 and honey. There are a great many 

 fruit-growers in the county, and much 

 timber, with a considerable amount of 

 basswood. My bees are doing well, 

 storing honey very rapidly, and rearing 

 brood. J. L. Wood. 



Lansing, Kans., May 2, 1892. 



Favorable for a Great Honey Crop. 



At this date. Central Indiana is just 

 right for bees. The atmosphere is right, 

 being warm and cloudy, with occasional 

 showers. I have not seen fruit-bloom in 

 as fine condition for 20 years. All is 

 very favorable for a great honey crop 

 this year, as well as for fruit. But red 

 clover is not as plentiful as usual, and 

 as it is one of our best honey-plants here 

 in dry seasons, we may yet be disap- 

 pointed. Bees are in very fine condition, 

 and will be ready to save the harvest if 

 it comes. R. S. Russell. 



Zionsville, Ind., May 5, 1892. 



Swarmed on May 5. 



The loss in bees has not been as great 

 as expected. Considering the bad 

 weather, they have built up surprisingly 

 well. The first swarm issued on May 5. 



W. ROBSON. 



Rolla, Mo., May 6, 1892. 



Spring Playing- Havoc with Bees. 



Bees have wintered very poorly, or 

 rather it is the Spring that is playing 

 such havoc among them. 



Mks. Parkek Erway 



Hastings, Mich., April 30, 1892. 



