bees could not withstand the pressure. My 

 honey crop is nearly disposed of, in spite of 

 hard times, &c. I want what I have left for 

 feeding, should I need it. Let us brace up 

 and look for that great crop of honey which 

 no doubt will come into our hives this year. 

 I hope none will fail to report their losses 

 this winter. This is the third winter that I 

 haye had ill-luck in wintering, but have 

 done well in getting honey, so I am bound 

 to try again. Wm. Perry Evritt. 



Jerome, 0., March 28, 1879. 

 1 am well pleased with the American 

 Bee Journal. 1 like its policy— holding 

 up honesty at all times and" frowing down 

 rascality and humbug. Is maple syrup good 

 for bees ? I had 3 swarms come from 1 col- 

 ony, that proved not to have a queen ; they 

 would breed drones but no workers. I gave 

 them frames from my Italians full of brood 

 and new laid eggs but they failed to raise a 

 queen and dwindled down to nothing. What 

 should I do in that case ? I lost all three. 

 1 use the American hive. I wintered in- 

 doors and none were lost. 



S. H. Ruebxer. 



[Some use maple syrup with success when 

 mixed with one-sixth the quantity of honey, 

 for feeding bees, but honey is the best bee 

 food. A colony failing to raise a queen 

 should be united with another having a 

 fertile queen.— Ed.] 



West Bay City, Mich., March 22, 1879. 

 Last spring I commenced with 6 colonies 

 of bees ; increased to It ; got 700 lbs. of 

 surplus honey and sold it for 13c per pound. 

 H. S. Walrath. 



Fish Creek, Wis., April 14, 1879. 

 My bees have wintered well that I got of 

 you last June, in a shed that I built, 12x6, 

 with no double walls nor sawdust about 

 them. I merely banked the snow round the 

 bottom outside. They had their first flight 

 on the second of March. It has been a long 

 winter for them here. Wm. Darling. 



Shreveport, La., April 12, 1879 

 Tinned wire, so far, is a success with me 

 for the brood chamber. Bees hatch as well 

 over the wire as in any of my combs. If the 

 wire stands the test the rest of the season, 

 I will use it hereafter in all the combs. I 

 do not consider foundation a complete suc- 

 cess without something of the kind. 



C. R. Carlin. 



Lansing, Mich., April 13, 1879, 

 In the spring of 1878, I began with 5 colo- 

 nies of Italian and 1 of hybrid bees ; the 

 latter I Italianized. They increased to 28, 

 and 3 swarms left us. I took from them 

 over 200 lbs. of extracted honey, but very 

 little in surplus boxes as 1 wished to in- 

 crease my stock of bees. Seven of the num- 

 ber swarmed naturally; the remainder I 

 divided. I think our location for bees could 

 not be excelled, as bee pasturage is abundant. 

 I use the Langstroth hive and winter in 

 the cellar. I gave them a fly the 8th of 



March, and all were alive and doing nicely ; 

 brood in all stages; 1 removed them to the 

 cellar the same day and did not disturb 

 them again until April 10th. I have them 

 all on; their summer stands, I hope for the 

 season (if weather keeps favorable). They 

 are as bright and active as ever. The 

 American Bee Journal is a great benefit 

 to me ; I could not well do without it. 



Mrs. J. W. Garlick. 



Lavansville, Pa., March 18, 1879. 



1. Can swarming be prevented so as to 

 put an apiary in a non-swarming condition 

 when worked for box or comb honey ? 



2. A bee-keeper having several apiaries 

 6 to 8 miles apart, if the colonies could be 

 arranged so as to be non-swarming, could 

 manage his bees without having an assist- 

 ant to continually watch during the swarm- 

 ing season, and also secure a much larger 

 quantity of honey if the swarming desire 

 or fever could be controlled at will of the 

 apiarist. H. H. Flick. 



[Experience proves it to have always been 

 more labor to prevent swarming than to 

 attend to it, in most localities.— Ed.] 



Battle Creek, Mich., April 17, 1879. 

 The Southern Michigan Bee-keeper's 

 Association, held a convention here yester- 

 day. As near as could be estimated fully 

 one-half the bees in this locality have died 

 during the past winter— especially those 

 wintered on summer stands— while quite a 

 number were lost in the cellar, and are now 

 dwindling. I packed mine in chaff hives, 

 without loss except a small quantity of bees 

 to each hive. B. Salisbury. 



Independence, Mo., April 14, 1879. 

 Bees generally have come through the 

 winter in poor condition ; % at least have 

 died in this section. Those wintered out, 

 have been the principal sufferers. Some 

 apiarists have lost all, while others have a 

 few remaining in weak condition. Those 

 wintered in-doors, especially in cellars, are 

 doing well, with but few losses. Of an 

 apiary of 140 colonies I have lost none, al- 

 though they have been out of the cellar 

 since January 25th. The extreme cold 

 weather is the principal cause, I think. 

 Some think it is honey dew stored in July 

 and August. Those in box hives have suf- 

 fered most. P. Baldwin. 



De Kalb Junction, N. Y., April 4, 1879. 

 My bees are in the cellar yet, all alive and 

 in fine condition. I presume they will re- 

 main there till quite late in May. There is 

 from 2 to 5 feet of snow in the bee yard at 

 this date, and this morning the thermome- 

 ter was nearly at zero, and at 11 a.m., the 

 windows are so covered with frost that I 

 cannot see through them, while the Jour- 

 nal reports bees working finely in the 

 Southern States. My honey crop amounted 

 to a little over 5000 lbs. of comb honey last 

 season, in 2 and 5 lb. boxes; sold for 15c per 

 pound in Boston. 1 have wintered my bees 

 in the cellar for nearly 20 years, and seldom 

 lose a colony unless one starves ; and they 



