204 



Tmm rnmmmiGmM mmm j©^kkmiu. 



was almost always sure to give them 

 the colic, when, if they would eat a 

 good lot of it, with bread and lots of 

 butter, they never feel any unpleasant 

 efifects therefrom. 



Last week the weather was fine, and 

 continued so until last Wednesday, 

 when it commenced snowing, and con- 

 tinued until the snow was two inches 

 deep ; this morning it commenced 

 raining, and is still at it, and from the 

 appearance of the sky, it may rain the 

 remainder of the week, in which case 

 the danger from high water will be 

 the first of the season. 



My 12 colonies of bees that are in 

 the cellar are in good condition, from 

 all outward indications, for I have not 

 examined them yet, but I think that 

 they will all come out strong and 

 healthy. Honey keeps at a steady 

 price, 20 cents per pound for comb, 

 and 12J cents for extracted, regardless 

 of color. 



Moving Bees, etc. — Mr. David 

 Crumrine, Fayette, O., on March 18, 

 1889, writes : 



I finished moving my 70 colonies of 

 bees 20 miles on March 4, with no 

 combs broken, and no colonies smoth- 

 ered. We had fine weather and good 

 roads, and the bees are in fine condi- 

 tion. I cannot do without the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, as it contains so 

 much instruction, and that is what 

 every bee-keeper is in need of, that 

 has a desire to keep up with the times. 



Oatliering Pollen from Maples. 



— K. A. Dyke, Effingham, Ills., on 

 March 16, 1889, says : 



We are having very fine weather the 

 whole of this week ; bees have been 

 very busy bringing in pollen from 

 maple every day. White clover is 

 coming up finely, and appears all right 

 here, and very thick ; but we rarely 

 have much honey from it in this 

 locality. Our bees have wintered with- 

 out loss, on the summer stands again, 

 and are very strong for the time of 

 year. They have consumed quite a 

 large amount of stores, though. 



ing plenty of stores and plenty of bees. 

 Now, if only white clover will continue 

 to do its part, we may expect plenty of 

 honey. The clover has stood the thaw- 

 ing and freezing weather the past win- 

 ter, without any material injury ; but 

 the clover has looked as favorable 

 many times before, and entirely failed 

 to secrete nectar, with fields white with 

 millions of blossoms, and we have 

 failed to secure any surplus honey. 

 We cannot predict for the honey crop 

 the coming season, though the pros- 

 pects are good at present. Neither 

 can we count on honey until it is 

 gathered. 



Very Favorable Prospects. — 



John Nebel & Son, High Hill, Mo., on 

 March 15, 1889, write : 



We are having April showers to-day, 

 with the temperature at 70°, and bees 

 are gatlicring pollen. This is surely 

 spring weather, and it is two to three 

 weeks earlier than usual. Our bees 

 are in good condition for commencing 

 this season's work, as they have win- 

 tered excellently, each colony still hav- 



C'lover in Excellent Condition. 



• — Thos. B. Reynolds, Dayton, O., on 

 March 15, 1889, says : 



We have had remarkable weather 

 the past week — 70° in the shade — 

 while a year ago this time it registered 

 zero. The bees are fli'ing like they do 

 in June weather, and gathering pollen 

 fast. There is every prospect for a 

 fine season, the white clover being in 

 excellent condition. 



Be§t Season in Ten Years. — B. 



M. Tate, Elihu, K}'., on Mar. 18, says : 



Bees in this part of the State are in 

 fine condition, as we have had but 

 little cold weather this winter. The 

 past year, in this county (Pulaski), was 

 a good one for honey — the best in ten 

 years. I have only 14 colonies, in 

 Langstroth hives, and all have come 

 through the winter safely. 



Bees Wintering Splendidly.- 



J. L. Way, South Newbury, O., on 

 March 11, 1889, says : 



Bees have wintered splendidly so 

 far, and have a good lot of honey on 

 hand yet. Mj' 25 colonies, in the Fal- 

 con chaff-hives, are all right, and as 

 clean and sweet as they were last fall. 

 They are packed on the sides with 

 clover chaff, and on top with leaves. 



Bees and White Clover all 

 Right. — Thomas S. Wallace, Clayton, 

 Ills., on March 16, 1889, writes : 



On Nov. 27, 1888, I put 100 colonies 

 of Italian bees into the cellar, which 

 has stone walls, and the floor cement- 

 ed, which keeps dry and dusty. The 

 bees arc all in movable-comb hives. I 

 put them out on March 5, and 99 were 

 alive, one having starved to death ; 3 

 other weak colonies had lost their 

 queens, and the rest were in the best 

 condition that I have ever seen bees at 



this time of the year. I have ex- 

 amined them, cleaned the hives out. 

 and found the queens all laying ; most 

 of the hives had sealed brood and bees 

 hatching out. Our prospects for honey 

 this year are good. I have 9 acres of 

 Alsike clover, that was sowed last 

 spring, and it looks well. The white 

 clover is all right now ; it came from the 

 seed last yeai'. The past two seasons 

 killed out almost all of the old white 

 clover, and if we can have seasonable 

 weather this year, we will have a large 

 crop of honej'. 



White Clover and the Bees. — 



Geo. L. Transue, Easton, Pa., on Mai". 

 15, 1889, says : 



I examined my bees on March 13, 

 and found them in splendid condition, 

 very strong and considerable brood ; 

 in fact I do not think that they could 

 be anj' better. Prospects for white 

 clover are first-class in this section of 

 the countr}'. 



Bees in Oood Condition.— A. 



W. Fisher, Ganges, Mich., on March 

 16, 1889, says : 



I commenced the season _ of 1888 

 with 43 colonies, increased them to 54, 

 and took 3,400 pounds of comb honey 

 in one-pound sections, and 120 pounds 

 of extracted honey. I am wintering 

 my bees on the summer stands, packed 

 in chaff"; all seem to be in good condi- 

 tion now. I have wintered my bees 

 on the summer stands for the past 15 

 years, and I have never met with a 

 serious loss. 



A Flower. — R. H. Campbell, Madi- 

 son, Ga., on Feb. 27, 1889, writes as 

 follows : 



I send you a species of flower that at 

 this date is covering the earth almost 

 everywhere, and though nearly every 

 day is cool, the Italians are fairly 

 roaring on it. I never saw it before 

 here, and frost has no effect upon it. 

 It has i-ained nearly all winter, and the 

 earth is full of water. Vegetation 

 ought to be very rank this spring. We 

 had no winter until January and Feb- 

 ruary, but those months have been 

 genuine winter. Mj^ bees wintered 

 well, and have an abundance of honey. 



Uncapping Honey. — H. E. Hill, 

 Titusville, Pa., on March, 16, writes : 



In reply to Mr. Henry Durham's 

 question on ])age 172, I would say, 

 having a pail of cold water hand}-, and 

 occasionally dipping the imcapping 

 knife into it. will be found to obviate 



