THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



26r 



Correspondence of the Bee Journal. 



WiCKHAM-BREAUx, Englani>, March 30.— Bees did 

 very poorly in this country, last summer. Most bee- 

 keepers lost half their stocks during the winter, and 

 those still alive are scarcely out of danger. — W Hew- 



SON. 



Fulton, Ills., April 20.— The bees in this section 

 have generally wintered well. They have been carry- 

 ing in pollen for a week or ten days, when the 

 weather would admit of it. The soft maple and the 

 elm are in bloom; also the hazelnut and poplar. — R. 



R. MURPUY. 



Brooki.in, Canada, April 29.— The spring so far is 

 backward here. There Avas a fearful loss of bees 

 during the winter, owing to a want of honey. Last 

 season was so extremely wet and cold, that very little 

 honey was stored. I think fully one-third, if not 

 one-half, of the bees have died in this province.— J. 

 H. Thojcas. 



Mobile, Alabama, May 7. — The season here has 

 been in many respects remark alile. Bees commenced 

 obtaining pollen about the middle of January, and 

 began breeding very rapidly. Many stocks, well 

 supplied with honey, exhausted all their stores by the 

 1st of March. The spring was backward — nearly 

 twenty days later than usual. Consequently stocks 

 had to be fed not only to prevent a cessation ot 

 breedintr, but actual starvation. It continued thus 

 until Tuesday the 12th of April, when they com- 

 menced obtaining honey, which, though very thin 

 and transparent, was so abundant that on Friday 

 evening, the 1.5th — or in three days — some stocks that 

 were fed on jNIonday to keeptlicni from starving, con- 

 tained fifty pounds of honey. In a few days more 

 honey from the blackberry blossoms became abundant, 

 and has so continued ever since. The amount of 

 honey collected within the last three weeks is with- 

 out a precedent in this locality. — In order that I 

 might the easier Italianize my apiary, I reduced the 

 number of stocks and permitted no swarming ; con- 

 sequently all my stocks were strong. I am not yet 

 prepared to state the exact amoimt of honey obtained 

 within about three M'eeks, but some stocks have cer- 

 tainly collected one hundred and fifty pounds and 

 made two-thirds of the comb to store it in. Every 

 young bee that emerges from its cell, has its place 

 at once supplied with honey, hence I have never 

 known a geason in which the melextractor was more 

 necessary.— J. M. Worden. 



Knowersville, N. T., May 9. — The last season was 

 a poor one for bees, in this locality. The Italians 

 proved their superiority beyond a doubt — swarming 

 and storing surplus honey, Avhile the natives were 

 doing comparatively nothing. ' 



This year the season opens with better prospects. 

 The plum and cherry trees are in full Bloom, and 

 the bees are improving the time. 



I like the Bee Journal very much. I wish it came 

 weekly, instead of monthly. I have used some of 

 Novice's bee-feeders and like them very well. — W. D. 

 Wright. 



"Wenham, Mass., May 10.— In the May number of 

 the Journal I find another communication from Mr. 

 D. T. Batcheldor, of Newburyport. Now as I very 

 much dislike to be made out a liar, as Mr. B. would 

 make it appear, I mean to show proper resentment, 

 and shall try to turn the tables on Mr. B., which I 

 think I can do, as I have plenty of evidence to prove 

 my statement was correct. 



I can prove by the " Honey Committee'" that my 

 statement in the February Journal, page 196, is true 

 in every sense of the word. I was present in the room 



when the Committee made up their awards, and 

 know whereof I speak. I say again that Mr. D. T. 

 Batcheldor was awarded only two dollars on his bees, 

 and his brother, D. C. B., was awarded a likeamount. 

 I know, Mr. Kditor, that this correspondence is not 

 very interesting to many of your readers, but while I 

 am about it, I would like to have it known how it 

 was that Mr. B.'s bees did so well. That hive of bees 

 had been in my care for several years. They were in 

 a hive that I devised (except the movable frame prin- 

 ciple). They were transferred into it by me ; and, in 

 fact, it was about the same thing as taking one of the' 

 best stocks of bees from my apiary. Now he has 

 come out in the Bee Journal, boasting how well his 

 bees have done, and intimating that he beat friend 

 Alley and two or three other old bee-keepers— new 

 style of hive and all ; and all this with only one year's 

 exiicrience ! What a wonderful Ijead that man must 

 have ; why 1 should think he would have the head- 

 ache all the time. 



Mr. B. says he has not seen Mr. Noycs,.of Sea- 

 brooke, "where friend Alley has been inserting 

 queens, dividing swarms, &c." Well, now, I have 

 seen Mr. Nr ami will say, for the benefit of Mr. B., 

 that Mr. Noycs had one" stock of bees in the same 

 kind of hive and they were only two miles from Mr. 

 B.'s apiary. They stored one-third more honey last 

 season than ISfr. B.'s did, in the same kind of boxes. 

 And what is still better, I have seen Mr. N.'s bees this 

 spring, and the one stock alluded to is worth more 

 ih'ij}L both Mr. B.'s. Mr. Noyes is an old bee-keeper, 

 and friend Batcheldor cannot expect us old bee- 

 keepers to make our bees do as well as his. I sup- 

 pose we haven't got the " backbone and cranium." 

 I will say, however, that Mr. Noyes has had excellent 

 "luck" with his bees up to the past winter, and is 

 satisfied with what his bees have done — having done 

 as well as tlie average. — If any one informed Mr. B. 

 contrary to the above, I can only say that they knew 

 nothing about it. I will add also that I never divided 

 more than one hive of bees for Mr. Noyes, and that 

 was four years ago. 



Mr. B. says his brother told him, within one 

 month, that his bees did not store as much honey as 

 I stated (forty pounds) "by more than one-quarter 

 part." All I have to say about this is, that I have 

 seen that brother within three days, and his word is 

 my authority, and he says he told his brother no such 

 thing. Mr. B. also states that his brother had old 

 comb in his boxes. I am inclined to think Mr. B. is 

 mistaken about this, from the fact that 1 put all the 

 comb in those boxes, and the whole put together 

 would not have filled six of the boxes. I merely put 

 in a small piece of guide comb, to induce the bees to 

 go into the boxes and commence work. I have re- 

 commended this same thing in the Bee Journal 

 some time ago. 



I stated that, " on the first day of June one of the 

 combs in the brood box broke down and destroyed 

 more than two quarts of bees." Mr. B. thinks this 

 part of the story intended as an advertisement for my 

 hive. I will remind him that he can find my adver- 

 tisement concerning my new hive in the advertising 

 columns of the Bee Journal. I believe I did not 

 commence to advertise my hives until I had made 

 and tested it. Neither did I give notice through the 

 Journal that I had a wonderful hive (" different from 

 any other") that I would describe in the Journal as 

 soon as I had "proved it." 



I think I said that Mr. D. C. Batcheldor had re-- 

 ceived two dollars for Ms bees. What I intended to 

 say was that he was awarded two dollars. I may add 

 that he has not yet called for his money, but intends 

 to do so as soon as convenient. 



Now, friend B. when you write again tell us some- 

 thing more about that " backbone ;" and if you can as 



