THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



55 



&->4& 



Gentlemen : The time is now at 

 hand for ordering our supplies for the 

 coming season. The goods I ordered 

 of you last year arrived in the best 

 possible condition and gave good sat- 

 isfaction, and I take great pleasure in 

 recommending your goods to all who 

 are in need of supplies. The demand 

 for supplies this spring is good, and 

 my old customers, and many new ones, 

 are ordering from me. 



Bees did very poorly in this section 

 last year. In the first place, they did 

 not swarm until late, and half of 

 them did not swarm at all, so that 

 many bee-keepers got discouraged, 

 but my motto is, " try, try again." 



I am wintering about fifty stands, 

 most of them in the dovetailed hives. 

 I winter on the summer stands and 

 have good success, not having lost a 

 swarm from cold in three winters. My 

 wife and I take great pleasure in work- 

 ing our bees, and by the way, a woman 

 is a great help in the apiary, at least 

 mine is. 



The sample copy of theBEE-KEEP- 

 EE is just grand, and I think one num- 

 ber is worth the price of the whole 

 year. I expect to send you some sub- 

 scribers soon. 



The outlook is good for the coming 

 season, and I expect to do well with 

 my bees. E. E. Laflee. 



West River, X. Y., March 3, 1891. 



[We are not surprised that you have 

 had good success in wintering on the 

 summer stands without any outside 



protection during the past three years, 

 as we have had exceptionally mild 

 winters. We think without doubt, 

 you would have had far different re- 

 sults had there been a long cold snap 

 at any time. — Ed.] 



Ed. Bee-Keeper, Dear Sir: Last 

 year gave us a short honey crop, and 

 as a consequence my bees will starve 

 out if not fed. I have 250 colonies in 

 good condition; they are in differemt 

 localities. I think this is the best 

 plan to run the bees ; if they fail in 

 one location, they will very often 

 gather in another. I had last year 

 ■ fifty colonies away five miles distant, 

 and the} r secured a good crop. 



In this country we have spring 

 dwindling considerably. I use the 

 Simplicity hive, and the tiering-up 

 system. Last year I took 5000 lbs. 

 in one pound sections, of excellent 

 quality. 



I like Brother Doolittle's plan of 

 hiving all swarms on the old stands, a 

 plan I adopted seven years ago ; a 

 splendid plan, as you are not bothered 

 with second swarms. 



As a rule, I feed but very little. I 

 take honey from the strong and give 

 it to the weak. This is the only way 

 you can keep bees from getting in ad- 

 vance of the queen. 



Our bee pasture in this valley is 

 blue thistle and white clover; the two 

 make excellent quality of"' honey. I 

 hope we will have a good honey crop 

 the coming season. 



I will send my subscription to the 

 Bee Keeper the first of April, as my 

 subscription expires with another 

 journal then, and 1 must say I like the 

 American Bee-Keeper the best. 



With good wishes, I remain, 



Yours truly, Wm. Struder. 



Millwood, Va., Mch. 10. 



