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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Council Bluffs, Iowa, Oct. 20.— I promisea to let 

 you know how much honey mj' swarm that came otf 

 on the 0th of September made from that time till 

 frost cut down the flowers. They made just seventv- 

 two (72) pounds. WJio can beat that so late in tlie 

 season?— H. Faul. 



Sandusky, N. Y., Oct. 25.— This has Ijeen the poorest 

 season for bees that we ever knew. We started in 

 the spring witli one hundred and forty-three (143) 

 colonies, and increased them to two hundred and 

 fifty (2.50). This fall we have reduced them to two 

 hundred and ten (2i0), and fed them l,S5u pounds of 

 coffee sugar. We hope we shall not see another sea- 

 son like this very soon.— Baldwin Bros. 



RiPON, Wis., Oct. 28 —I liave to report to you the 

 poorest season for bees 1 have seen iu this State for 

 thirty years. In lodkinii- over my si'venty stocks the 

 fore part of this mont !i, l found thirty of them not to 

 have honey enou;;ii to can \- 1 lieni throuijcli iJeeember, 

 and fortyof tlieiii needinLi'fiHM tocany them to May. 

 Taking 'up tliirty, and feeding forty to make tliem 

 strong for winter, is the work I did. My old stock 

 hives were in the pool■e^l eondition. One of them— 

 an oM box hive, I h tve had bcs iii for sixteen years, 

 and the eondxs were in line eondit ion— this being the 

 first year in sixteen, that it has hei^n in j)fi')f ^^■inter- 

 ing condition, or omitted to cast a swaiin, or init as 

 much honej'^ in boxes as any of the best prime swarms 

 In the yard. 1 think this shows us plainly that if 

 combs are kept in good order, they can be used for 

 twenty year§, as store combs and for breeding 



Last year, lf68, from eightj^ swarms I had no honey 

 put In boxes; this year no honey, and lose almost 

 half of my bees ! Question— Zv this a good country for 

 beesf—B,. Dart. 



Fair Grove, Mo., Oct. i:5.— Dees have done well in 

 this section, the present year, in swarming. The 

 hou'^y season was good for a wliilt!, but cut sliort by 

 thedry w(^ather. '1 he Ijees in this region, are natives. 

 Heretofore the distanee from railroad has been so 

 great that it was difHeult to procui e Italians ; but as 

 we now have railroad advantages, ). think another 

 season will materially change the breed. At least 1 

 shall make the change in tliis vicinity. 



I have lieen carefully reading the Bee Journal for 

 a few months past, anil am so well pleased with it 

 that 1 shall not sever my connection with as a reader 

 while it maintainsits standingand J am ableto raise 

 two doUais for it annually. — I). U. "WiiBSTER. 



RocKviLLK, Conn., Nov. 3.— Bees have done very 

 poorly in this vicinity this season. Not more thaii 

 half the stocks are in condition to winter, unless fed. 



I prize the Bee Journal very much, and should be 

 sorry to lose a number. I look for it eagerly, and 

 seldom leave it, until I have read it through.— K. 

 Bill. 



East Haedwick, Vt , Nov. 2.— The honey season 

 here has been the poorest for ten years past. The 

 frequent rains and cold winds almost prevented any 

 secretion in the flowers ; consequently there are 

 many hives not well provisioned for winter. 



1 commenced the season with sixty-five colonies, 

 and have obtainefl 1,450 pounds of surplus honey, 

 with only an increase of ten swarms. I have mainly 

 loUowed Mrs. Tupper's plan of artificial swarming, 

 as given in the Report of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture for 1865. I consider this a safe way if a fertile 

 queen is given to the new swarm at the time it is 

 made ; otherwise it becomes too much reduced be- 

 lore they can raise one. 1 find oue objection to it. 

 In taking away the full ronibs and replacing them 

 with empty frames, especially if the drone comb was 

 all or nearly all taken away in the spring, the bees 

 are quite sure to build all drone comb, even if guide 

 -worker comb is given. Will some one who is posted, 

 tell us how to prevent this?— J. D. Ct. 



Emine^^k, Kt., Nov. 5.— I lost all inybees theseason 

 previou;- \o this, "of that bee disease." Last spring 

 i purchased one stand of Italians, and now have six 

 strong colonies and have taken forty pounds of sur- 

 plus honey. There are about a dozen colonies of 

 black bees' within ffve miles of me that survived the 

 "bee disease;" and they all together have done no 

 more than mv single stand of Italians. I cannot do 

 without the See JCumal.— E. C. Beisht. 



East Bethel, Vt., Nov. 4.— The honey season was 

 very favorable here, up to the close of clover bloom- 

 ing. The basswood blossomed veiy beautifully, but 

 did not yield any honey. The consequence is that 

 new swarms are veiy light, and have to be fed. 



1 have i)een troubled with queens laying eggs in 

 honey boxes. On one iiive I put three boxes, and by 

 the 20th of June they were filled. Then I put three 

 more under them, by raising them up. 1 soon found 

 that two of the boxes were nearly full of drone 

 brood. I spoiled all of it by running a knife through 

 it. But as the honey season wound np soon after, 

 the bees did not repair damages by filling them up 

 with honey. The boxes I put under were partly 

 filled with comb, also with brood in one of them. I 

 learn that a great many beekee]:)ers in this vicinity 

 have been troubled in tin; same wav. I never saw 

 anything of the kind before in my ap"iai-y. The hive 

 above-mentioned did not send o"ut a swarm. Wish- 

 ing -success to the Bee Journal, 1 subsciibe myself, 

 Charles S. Paine. 



Appleton, Wis.. Nov. 6.— 1 have travelled most of 

 the time for about four weeks this fall, calling on 

 manj' beekeepers in northern Wisconsin, and find a 

 general complaint that Ijceshave donepoorlyin that 

 part of the State. No surplus honey has been ob- 

 tained ; many arc; discouraged, and will sell all the 

 bees tluy have tor one dollar a swarm. I have a 

 neighboi- that from eighty stocks last .spring, had 

 only four swarms come out during summer, and is 

 now taking up many of his stocks that have not 

 honey enough to winter. But we will hope for bet- 

 ter days ; we have two poor seasons, perhaps the 

 next will be better ; " three times and out " is the 

 motto.— x\. il. Hart. 



PocoHoNTAS, Mo., Nov. 12.— The first part of the 

 past season our bees, in this section of country, gath- 

 ered just enough honey to keep them brooding and 

 swarming for an unusual length of time. Then the 

 liry hot weather set in, and by the first of September 

 they Avere nearlj' out of honey. But our fall season 

 was the best we have hatl for some years. They are 

 now in better condition for wintering than they have 

 been for the last two years. — I. C. Wallace. 



WoRTHiNGTON, Pa., Nov. 19.— Bees have only done 

 on an average in this locality. Too much rain. Be- 

 sides, the buckwheat— whicli is our fall pasturage- 

 was only a light crop, and mostly of the gray kind, 

 which scarcely has any honey in it. Please change 

 my address, l cannot'do without the Bee Journal : 

 wish it came oftener.— J. W. Barclat. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees. 



I have often read that the cellar is the best 

 place for winteriug bees, provided it is kept dry 

 and from freezing. I have had some experience 

 in this diixctiou, and find the cellar, when kept 

 from freezing is too warm, so that the bees get 

 uneasy, many getting lost by coming out of their 

 hives. Last winter I put into the cellar sixty 

 swarms iu box hives. They were put in about 

 the first of December. The hives were set in 

 rows, two feet from the bottom, the entrances 

 being left open. In a short time the air of the 

 cellar was very warm — in fact, warmer than in 

 the upper part of the house in which we live I 

 The combs molded rapidly, and the bees died so 

 fast that I removed them from the cellar in about 

 four weeks. I then made bee-houses for them, 

 so constructed that the bees could leave the hives 

 at pleasure. 



It is my belief that a cellar is a poor place for 

 bees. Of all the places I have tried, I find the 

 open air much the best. The fresh air keeps 

 them healthy. 



A. J. Brundage. 



Ottawa, Ills. 



