236 



'rmm ffiMEmicMK mmm j^wmmmi*. 





>«ai*«>*« 



in winter f[uarters require as much air 

 as one person. 



In proof that I liavc not changed 

 my views on ventilation for several 

 years, I will refer Mr. Betsinger to an 

 article on page 233 of the American 

 Bee Journal for 1878, and to one in 

 the Bee-Kec2)ers' Magazine for 1888, 

 page 114. I have not headed any of 

 my articles "Scientific Vjentilation." 

 There is a great amount of nonsense 

 palmed off as science, and I have had 

 no desire to add to the quantity. So 

 long as I am in accord with such au- 

 thorities as Cheshire and Cornell, there 

 will be no need of bolstering up any 

 of my articles with a scientific title. 



Lost One-Third in Wintering;. 



— Wm. Robson, Rolla, Mo., on March 

 28, 1889, writes : 



For the past two seasons the busy 

 little honey-bees have not paid ; indeed 

 they have not stored honey enough to 

 winter upon. I have lost one-third, 

 fall count, and several have lost all 

 they had. The first pollen gathered 

 was on March 13 ; since that time there 

 has been considerable activity among 

 the bees, but, for a change, we are this 

 morning treated to a blanket of snow, 

 about 2 inches deep. From present 

 appearances, we will have considerable 

 white clover for the bees to revel in, 

 the coming summer. 



Bees Wintered Perfectly. — 



Frank Waring, Philipsburg, Pa., on 

 March 28, 1889, says : 



The winter being very mild, the 

 bees wintered perfectlj' on the summer 

 stands. On March 23 I saw them carry 

 in natural pollen (they had been carry- 

 ing rye flour for some days previous to 

 this), and they have been at it ever}- 

 day since. That is not bad for the 

 Alleghany Mountains — over 2,000 feet 

 above the sea level. The weather 

 seems about a month ahead of the 

 Almanac. 



Oood Prospects for the White 

 Clover — R. P. Blades, Carmi, Ills., 

 on March 30, 1889, writes : 



The prospect for white clover is bet- 

 ter this year than it has been for three 

 or four years. It seems that every 

 vacant spot is covered with white 

 clover ; but as for the honey that it 

 produces, I cannot say, as it has been 

 nearly a failure since I have been in- 

 terested in bees. The honey that is 

 gathered here is from black-gum and 

 poplar. Maple is our spring honey 

 source, but I do not think that it gives 



much nectar, but it is good for pollen, 

 and is very welcome, as it is the first 

 to bloom. The flow of fall honey is 

 from smart-weed and Spanish-needle ; 

 also other little blooms that have no 

 names, or at least I have never heard 

 any names for them. I have sown 4 

 acres of Alsike clover this spring ; if 

 the Italian bees like that, I will sow 

 more next year. I have 11 colonies of 

 bees in Simplicity hives, some of which 

 I transferred three years ago. The 

 combs in the brood-frames are rough 

 and getting old, and have too much 

 drone-comb also. Would it do to take 

 out the side frames, remove the old 

 comb, and refill the frames with comb 

 foundation ? 



[Yes ; that will not only get rid of 

 the excess of drone-comb, but give the 

 bees something to do, and incite them 

 to labor. — Ed.] 



My Experience with Bees 



Robert Schultz, Alma, Wis., on March 

 30, 1889, says : 



I commenced in the spring of 1888 

 with one colony of Italian bees, for 

 which I paid ItJ.OO. I had one swarm 

 from them. I then bought 3 colonies 

 of black bees, and put 2 of them into 

 box-hives, and the other in a Lang- 

 stroth hive ; the 2 in box-hives are 

 dead. I put my bees into the cellar, 

 and put them out on March 12. They 

 are strong yet. I found 4 clonics last 

 fall in hollow trees, 2 being Italians, 

 and 2 blacks. I took the honey from 

 the blacks, and the Italians I put into 

 the cellar, but they have all died. 



Favorable Winter for Bees 



S. B. Brillhart, Kendallville, Ind., on 

 April 2, 1889, writes : 



I have kept from 25 to 50 colonies 

 of bees for the past 18 years, but the 

 past season was the poorest of all, to 

 get surplus comb honey in the sections; 

 yet my bees seemed to do well, and 

 gathered enough to go into winter 

 quarters in good condition, but noth- 

 ing to spare for their keeping. I com- 

 menced the season with 38 colonies ; 

 in the fall I packed 42 colonies in 

 leaves on the summer stands, 40 of 

 which are now in good condition. I 

 also have 23 colonies ti miles in the 

 country, which were left standing out 

 without any protection, 18 of which 

 are reported in good condition. The 

 past winter was very favorable for win- 

 tering bees, so all that was necessary 

 here was, plenty of good stores ; but 

 unfortunately, many bees that had no 

 care will lack this essential, and will 

 have to be mentioned with the dead 

 before May 1, 1889. 



Bees Flying Every Day. — Mr. 



Nathan Mercer, Neosho, Wis., on Mar. 

 25, 1889, writes : 



Last year my bees dwindled down 

 to 30 colonies from 100 in the fall of 

 1887, so I worked for increase instead 

 of honey last year, and had 48 colonies 

 last fall, all in chaif hives. They 

 stored hardly enough for winter, so I 

 fed them in the fall about 300 pounds 

 of sugar and honey mixed together ; 

 to-day they are all alive and in splen- 

 did condition, whith plenty of honey, 

 lots of brood hatched in every hive 

 (excepts queenless ones), and with 

 bees enough to cover from 7 to 10 

 combs in each hive. They have flowa 

 out every day for the last two weeks, 

 and yesterdaj' they gathered pollen. 

 They are the strongest colonies that I 

 ever saw fov tliis time of the year. 



Bees are Booming. — Arthur H. 

 Weston, Gallatin, Mo., on March 3, 

 1889, writes : 



My bees are booming. All the 29 

 colonies on the summer stands, have 

 wintered well. I have finall)' adopted 

 the standard Langstroth hive. I have 

 taken the American Bee Journal for 

 several years, and I find it worth a 

 wagon-load of the common kind. 



Cellar-Wintered Bees. — S. J. 

 Youngman, Lakeview, Mich., on April 

 1, 1889, writes : 



Bees have wintered well in this part 

 of Michigan, both in cellars and in 

 chafl" packing ; but cellar-wintered bees 

 will undoubtedly suffer now, as at this 

 date there is 4 inches of snow on the 

 ground, and bees have been out at 

 least ten days, as the weather when 

 they were put out, was unusually fine. 

 My bees gathered pollen at that date. 

 I fear great mortality in bees under 

 such adverse conditions in thin, shal- 

 low hives, without even wind-breaks. 

 I prefer my bees snugly packed in 

 clover chaff until at least the middle of 

 May. 



None Liost in W^intering. — Mr. 



Lionel Brokaw, Summer Hill, Ills., on 

 April 1, 1889, writes : 



It is with great pleasure that I can 

 report my bees this spring without the 

 loss of a single colony, and it is the 

 first winter that I ever wintered all of 

 them. They are on the smnmer stands, 

 in single-walled Simplicity hives, as 

 described on page 27. I kept them 

 covered with snow during the winter, 

 when there was snow on the ground, 

 but this being the warmest winter that 



