300 



Tmm aBiBmiC'Mif mmm .j&jsmmmi^. 



be working on plum-blossoms, if the 

 weather keeps good. Grass is grow- 

 ing rapicllj', and leaves and blossoms 

 are coming out. Bees wintered pretty 

 well, generally, last winter, though a 

 few colonies were lost, as usual. I 

 hope to get a good increase of colonies 

 this }-ear. I like the American Bee 

 Journal ver}- much, and would not 

 do without it as long as I could get the 

 small sum of |1.00 to pay for it. 



Good Re§ults in Winterings 



Samuel Flory, South English, Iowa, on 

 April 22, 1889, writes : 



I have wintered my bees in the cel- 

 lar the last two seasons with very good 

 results. In the fall of 1887 I put in 25 

 colonies, and all came through nicely. 

 Last fall I put in 33 colonies for win- 

 ter, and when I took them out this 

 spring, only one was dead, and that 

 one I did not much expect to winter. 

 All are doing finely so far. [ hope we 

 will have a better honey season this 

 year, than we have had for the last 

 two years. 



First While Clover Blog^omni, 

 etc. — Geo. W. Morris, Cornishville, 

 Ky., on April 20, 1889, writes : 



My bees wintered without the loss 

 of a single colony, and are in a better 

 condition than I have ever had them 

 before at this season of the year. 

 Drones have been flying for about ten 

 days. White clover looks tolerably 

 fair at present, and if not grazed too 

 closely, I hope for a moderate crop of 

 honey from this source. I saw a few 

 white clover blossoms to-day — the ear- 

 liest that I have ever seen them. Mr. 

 J. E. Pond, on page 250, gives my 

 idea exactly, in regard to the size a 

 bee-hive should be. 



White Clover L,ooiiing Well.— 



B. A. Manley, Milo, Iowa, on April 26, 

 1889, writes : 



My 22 colonies of bees wintered 

 without any loss, all in excellent con- 

 dition, and are doing better than I ever 

 knew bees to do at this time of year. 

 Some of them are working in full "force 

 in the sections, gathering honey from 

 fruit-bloom, which is abundant. The 

 prospect for a good honey crop was 

 never better ; white clover is looking 

 well, and the i-ains have come just as 

 we need them. I have been supplying 

 my bees with plenty of room, topre- 

 vent early swarming, and yet the indi- 

 cations are tliat we are to "have plenty 

 of early swarms. Drones have been 

 flying for more than a week, and 

 young bees are plaj'ing outside in line 

 condition. 



Bee.Keepins In Texas. — G. F. 



Davidson, Fairview, Tex., on April 17, 

 1889, writes : 



I have about 100 colonies of the 

 meanest hybrid bees that I ever saw. 

 A friend of mine bought 46 colonies 

 last year, and let me have them to 

 work, and I did the best I could with 

 them. I saved 32 swarms, and pro- 

 duced only about 1,000 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey. It rained so continu- 

 ously last year through the spring, that 

 the nectar was all washed out of the 

 cat-claw and cactus plants. These are 

 our main dependence for a spring crop 

 of hone}-, and all that my bees gath- 

 ered was from the flax or "broom- 

 weed," in the fall. 



1. Are you acquainted with the cat- 

 claw and cactus honeys ? If so, how 

 do they compare with the honey of the 

 North ? 



2. How long should combs be used 

 in the brood-chamber ? 



3. Will some practical bee-man of 

 Southwestern Texas, give, in the Bee 

 Journal, his management of bees both 

 in winter and in summer ? 



[1. We are not familiar with the 

 honey from "cat-claw" or "cactus." 

 If samples were sent we could judge of 

 its quality. 



2. Combs will last a long time in the 

 brood-chamber, but it would be desir- 

 able to melt them up and give the bees 

 comb foundation, after 8 or 10 seasons 

 — for the cocoons left in the cells, from 

 brood, make them smaller after long 

 use. 



3. We request Judge Andrews to 

 give us an article on management of 

 bees in Texas, as desired by our corres- 

 pondent. — Ed.] 



Bees Doings Well — J. R. Lawton, 

 Lafarge, Wis., on April 19, 1889, says : 



Bees are doing well. I put them out 

 of the cellar on March 26, and they 

 found pollen the first day. All had 

 young brood. If we have any honey 

 for tliem to gather, I do not know why 

 they will not do well. I have 42 colo- 

 nies, and I want 100 pounds from each, 

 of extracted honey. 



Strong Colonies— White Clover 



— L. J. Waldci, Merrow, Conn., on 

 April 24, 1889, writes : 



My bees have wintered finely ; I 

 have not lost a single colony, and 

 never saw bees so strong at this time 

 of the year. I have some colonies so 

 strong that they liang out on the hive 

 as much as they do in July. The hives 



are just solid full of bees. I shall look 

 for swarms as soon as apple-trees 

 bloom. I think that this is going to 

 be a fine year for honey in this part of 

 the country. I believe that I never 

 saw white clover come up any thicker 

 than it has this spring. Bees are just 

 booming on maples now. I winter my 

 bees on the summer stands, part in 

 Langstroth hives, and part in Bristol 

 chaff hives. 



A Large Colony of Bees. — Mr. 



Sanders Johnson, Odon,Ind., on April 

 17, 1889, says : 



Bees are doing finely on fruit-blos- 

 soms. I have a fine colonj' of Italian 

 bees on a 5-foot green, that I have had 

 four years. It casts three large swarms 

 every spring — a half-bushel meas'ure 

 would hardly hold the colony. I have 

 been offered all prices, but no sale. I 

 value the colony at |25, but that would 

 not buy them. It was caught, or 

 found, in the woods four years ago. 



Bees Ready for Work. — Mrs. 

 H. A. Gale, Shelby, lud., on April 15, 

 1889, writes : 



Last fall I had 20 colonies of bees, 

 and all wintered well. I put 5 of them 

 into the cellar as an experiment, and 

 those on the summer stands did as 

 well as those in the cellar. All are in 

 good condition for summer work. On 

 March 10 they gathered the first yellow 

 pollen, and had a general rejoicing in 

 gathering it, as it was new, and better 

 than the old. The bees had a good 

 cleansing out, and are now prepared 

 to stow away for young brood. The 

 elms are flowering and yielding plenty 

 of pollen ; also catkins and the wil- 

 low, which yield abundant honey; and 

 the maples and birches that skirt the 

 banks of the Kankakee river are loaded 

 with bees that come back heavily laden 

 with the sweet nectar, to furnish food 

 for the young bees that soon will hatch. 

 From recent reports, bees in this county 

 have wintered in good condition, with 

 very small loss, and have plenty of 

 honey until white clover comes, as 

 everything is much earlier than last 

 season. My bees paid me better than 

 my cows last year. I have always 

 found a ready market for my honey at 

 liome and abroad, and never have 

 enough to supply the orders as they 

 come in. 



A Favorable *Voi-«l from any of our 

 readers, who speak from experience, has 

 more weight with their friends than any- 

 thing we might say. Every one of our 

 readers can lend us a helping hand, in this 

 way, without much trouble, and at the same 

 time help to scatter apicultural knowledge 

 and promote the welfare of our pursuit. 



