granulating ! For fear some may think I 

 have an "axe to grind" 1 will say 1 do 

 nothing to keep my honey from granulating; 

 I fed my bees nothing, and what honey I 

 have, the bees gathered without my assist- 

 ance. Some of my honey granulates but 

 some does not. Can some one give a reason ? 

 W. E. McBride. 



[Mr. John F. Lafferty, of Martinsville, 

 111., also states that not a particle of his 

 crop of this year has granulated, nor does it 

 show signs of it, although kept in the honey 

 house and is as nice a crop as ever he had. 

 He adds ; " Usually it granulates, but not 

 always by any means." It is evidently true, 

 therefore, that pure honey does not always 

 granulate— though it does usually.— Ed.] 



Waveland, Ind., Dec. 25, 1878. 

 The last season was a good one, here, for 

 bee-keepers. Although up to May 20, it was 

 very poor. Apple bloom did well and gave 

 the bees a fine start in brood rearing. When 

 that was over we had a spell of cold, wet 

 weather, lasting to about May 20. 1 had to 

 feed to prevent starving. Isaac Sharp. 



Winterset, Iowa, Jan. 3, 1879. 

 The honey season was poor, with but 

 little section in the bloom, until August and 

 September. We extracted about 1,000 lbs. 

 from 27 colonies and their increase. Our 

 bees were short of stores in the spring, and 

 being short of means, they suffered and I 

 lost probably 1,000 lbs. from not feeding. 

 Have 47 colonies with plenty of stores. 

 *' Honey, as Food and Medicine " came to 

 hand ; I shall send for a lot of them soon. 

 It and Cook's Manual are very valuable. 

 Moses Bailey. 



Harrisonville, Mo., Dec. 31, 1878. 

 On December 12, it began snowing, and 

 continued, without intermission for 24 

 hours. It settled to the depth of 18 inches 

 and still remains on the ground. This is 

 the deepest snow ever seen here. My 90 

 colonies of bees are all on their summer 

 stands and snowed under, but the snow is 

 settled, so that I can now see all the hives. 

 I have not disturbed any of them for I think 

 the bees all right. All I did to prepare them 

 for winter was to remove the upper stories, 

 or supers, and contract the entrances. I 

 use Langstroth hives. All bees in this 

 region are wintered on their summer stands. 

 I received your copy of "Cook's Manual" 

 and find it terse and practical. 



Lee Emrick. 



Hadley, 111., Jan. 6, 1879. 

 The year of 1878 is gone, and it was not 

 the most successful one for our bees that 

 1 have seen. I got about two tons of 

 extracted, and half ton of comb honey. It 

 is nearly all sold ; my home market will 

 consume it all. I have at present 138 colo- 

 nies, part in cellar and the rest in a house 

 built for the purpose. I have not lost 10 

 colonies in wintering during the last 6 years. 

 Some one asked in a late number of the 

 Bee Journal if Italian bees worked on 



red clover ? With me they did through the 

 month of June, and until the first crop of 

 clover was cut. On all fine days I found 5 

 bees on the red clover to 1 on the white. 

 This 1 have observed for the past 10 years, 

 or ever since I introduced Italian bees, and 

 I consider them nearly moth proof. 1 have 

 not wintered less than 100 colonies for the 

 past 15 years. 1 have not sold any for 2 or 3 

 years, until this fall. I like natural swarm- 

 ing the best. I do not let any swarm but 

 once. From 100 to 125 colonies being all I 

 care to handle. I keep them down to that 

 number. The hives, combs and honey are 

 worth more than the beees would sell for, 

 though there is nothing I so dislike as kill- 

 ing my pets. Frank Searles. 



Noblesville, Ind., Jan. 4, 1879. 



I commence the New Year with many 

 new and good ideas. I expect to make the 

 coming season one of pleasure and profit, 

 for surely hoth are found in practical bee- 

 keeping. I wish, by no means to insinuate 

 that 1 am a practical bee-keeper, as my 

 short experience would not insure the 

 assertion, but I will say that by persistent 

 labor, assisted by the American Bee 

 Journal, I expect to acquire a considerable 

 knowledge of that industrious little insect. 

 My success last year was very encourag- 

 ing, and much I owe to comb foundation, 

 for by its use I was able to increase my colo- 

 nies, and receive more honey that I could 

 have possibly done otherwise. 



I would like to hear an expression from 

 the friends and the editor of the A. B. J., in 

 regard to the practicability of wired-flat- 

 bottomed comb foundation. Also, how 

 would you establish a honey market, in a 

 town of 2,500 inhabitants ? 



1 winter my bees in a bee-room not a cellar, 

 like it much better than out-door wintering. 



Hone to see a great many bee-keepers at 

 the National Convention next October. 



L. M. Wainwright. 



[Both questions are answered in this num- 

 ber of the Journal.— Ed.J 



East Fairfield, O., Dec. 27, 1878. 

 Our bees came through the winter without 

 loss, and were strong enough to give several 

 swarms before fruit bloom ceased. The cold 

 rainy season followed paving the way for an 

 abundant white clover harvest. We aver- 

 aged from 40 to 50 lbs. of comb honey to a 

 hive, besides a handsome increase. 



Job Huestis. 



Brecksville, O., Dec. 27, 1878. 

 Bees are in winter quarters, in apparently 

 good order. But the weather during the 

 past week has been very cold and "trying" 

 to those outside— high winds and mercury at 

 zero. The Amehican Bee Journal is the 

 leading periodical of its class in this country, 

 if not in the world ! and we recognize it as 

 the standard authority in apicultural matters 

 among bee-keepers generally. I trust that 

 no efforts will be spared to maintain the high 

 position it already occupies in the estimation 

 of producers as well as consumers. Accept 

 a host of good wishes for its success. 



Chas. S. Burt. 



