62 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOU.RNA' 



[For the American Bee Journal. 1 



A Letter from Windsor County, Ver- 

 mont. 



Mr. Editor : — By yonr permissiou I will 

 give the readers of the Bee Journal a short 

 statement of how the bee business stands in this 

 sect'on. There are only a few persons in this 

 county that keep upwards of fifty stocks. 

 Prcbably there are more tlian three hundred 

 owners of bees, and a majority of tlieni do not 

 know a queen from a drone. We have only a 

 few practical bee keepers here, Tliey of course 

 use movable comb hives, make artificial swarms, 

 have Italian bees, and make bee-keeping a pay- 

 ing business. Langstroth's hive is the principal 

 movable comb hive in use about here. How- 

 ever, a few of K. P. Kidder's hives are scatter- 

 ed about here and tliere ; but those that use 

 them soon get sick of them. 



I have thirty swarms of bees. A majority 

 of them are in Laugstroth hives, and I shall 

 transfer the rest into tliem next s^pring. Bees did 

 very well about here until the 1st of July. Since 

 then they have hardly held their own. Unless 

 we have a favorable fall, black bees will gener- 

 ally be in poor condition for winter feed- 



Bees swarmed here generally from one to 

 three times, and some four times. I had only 

 four stocks that cast off swarms, and therefore 

 have about oOO pounds of surplus honey. This 

 honey was made befpre July. Stocks that cast 

 o5" swarms have ica^ariably not made any sur- 

 plus honey. . 



A gentleman in' the south'part of this county 

 has -fifty stocks of black bees, and up to this date 

 (August lOtli) has only two finished boxes of 

 surplus honey, A lady in Reading, Vermont, 

 told me that her husband took up two swarms 

 the old way, with brimstone, and only got three 

 pounds of honey from the two. Unless we 

 have an unusual amount of fall pasturage, prob- 

 ably more tlian one-half of tlie young swarms, 

 and many of the old stocks, will starve before 

 next spring. Italians, both old and new stocks, 

 are now generally well supplied with stcres for 

 winter. 



I close by wishing success to the Editor and 

 readers cf the American Beis; Journal. 



Geo. H. D. Kuggless. 



Hartland, Vt., Aug. 10, 1869. 



•Journal.: 



[For the American 



A Challenge, 



To all those originating or using hives of 

 description, and especially those ^1101^^^-- 

 claimed that there could be no tunher jm *^" 

 rnent in hives; and also those who stat'^'^"^* 

 bees -will store as much in one hive \ ^^ 

 another : Likewise, to all old fogies who tt-'' 

 a lifetime in the old beaten track only quai'fi 

 one for success, and shut their eyes to all • 

 provements, and cannot see throun-ij ^^^ 

 cobwebs that the world is moving awav f " 

 them : •' "°« 



I horew).th challenge all manufactur 

 ventors, and users of hives of 



wer.s,l 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Card. 



Quinby and some others.are so veiy sensitive j 

 on t)ee -matters, that I have concluded not to ' 

 publish my little work on straight combs and 

 dividing bees. They might "possibly learn j 

 something, and that would be too bad. Nearly ! 

 all the money that was sent for the book has 

 been returned to the senders. Should anyone j 

 not receive his money prior to October 1st, I 

 please notify me by letter. 



M. M. Baldridge. 



St. Charles, Ills., Aug. 19, 1869. 



ny kind or 



scription, to put up a sum or money, from tw 

 ty-five to filty dollars, as a premium to^ 

 awarded to the one presenting the most clai 

 for meritorious points in the construction 

 tlieir hives, based upon those well-knowanri 

 pies in their economy, and practical in 

 successful management. Those points to be 

 cided by a committee of experienced, and 

 prejudiced bee-keepers ; and in the event o^ 

 unsatisfactory decision, to be left for final l 

 sion to the Editor of the American Bee Jqi 

 NAL. The following to be the main poini 

 superiority : 



Fii'st. Best hive for safely securing the 

 and best surplus honey. 



Second. Best hive for fitting surplus ; 

 for sliipment aud for exliibillou, and in 

 most desirable shape for the wholesale and re. 

 tail trades respectively, aud for ready and rt- 

 munerative sale. , ,>._ 



Third. Best ftivo for out-door wintering. ■ i^' 



Fourth. Best hive for spring breeding. \'v 



Fifth. Best hive for stimulating bees to wort " 

 aud affording accessible room to work. 



Sixth. Best hive, in its adaptation to larjeor 

 small swarms. 



Seventh. Best hive, in the control of veaii. 

 tion and annual heat. ^jk 



Eighth. Best hive for wintering i|^ 

 swarms. ■i,'": ' 



Ninth. Best hive for raising surplus queew. 



Tenth. Best hive and arrangements for sear- 

 ing desired impregnation of queens. 



Eleventh. Best hive to equalize stocks, breei - 

 and swarm artificially. 



Txoelfth. Best hive for riddance of dro« 

 comb. 



Thirteenth. Best hive for ease and conveni- 

 ence of handling frames. . 



Fourteenth. Best hive for the cheapest and ; 

 best method of securing straight combs is f: 

 frames. 



Fifteenth. Best hive for merits of simplicit' 

 beauty, cheapness of construction, and for i^ 

 eral use. 



GeoRGE P. Kelloga. 



Waukegan, Ills. 



If a colony does not destroy its drones at tiie 

 time Avhen they are killed in other liives, it is » 

 suspicious indication which demands immema'- J 

 investigation, to ascertain the presence or tur 

 queen. 



