Longmont, Col., April 13, 1879. 



1. What is the best method for obtaining 

 straight worker comb in the brood chamber? 



2. In working for extracted honey, shall 

 1 extract from the brood chamber, and to 

 what extent ? F. J. Whitney. 



[1. See answer to W. C. Leonard on page 

 224. 



2. Whenever the queen has no room to 

 lay in, use the extractor, especially during 

 the honey harvests. An extractor is a 

 necessity in every apiary.— Ed.] 



Owatonna, Minn., April 5, 1879. 

 My bees have wintered well in my cellar, 

 losing but a small nuclei made late last fall. 

 The weather has been so cold of late that I 

 am afraid they have suffered considerable. 

 The cellar is, in this climate, I think, the 

 only safe place for bees. I have 66 colonies 

 I believe now. Sold last year about 20 colo- 

 nies from $8.00 to $ 10.00 each, and got 1000 

 lbs. of extracted honey. Steele county, 

 raised the most honey of any county in this 

 state in 1878 (see statistics of Minnesota 

 for 1878). White clover blossoms here 

 through the whole season or summer, if we 

 have a shower once in a while, which is 

 quite an advantage, but basswood is our 

 main honey producing plant; that failed 

 entirely last year. H. fl. Rosebrook. 



Dunkirk, N. Y., April 11, 1879. 

 The spring is very backward; as far as the 

 eye can reach westward from Dunkirk, Lake 

 Erie is now covered with ice. A very cold 

 west wind is blowing and at night the 

 ground freezes hard. Bees in reality had 

 only but 2 days this season on which they 

 could fly out lively. Last fall I put up for 

 winter 12 colonies, in good condition, by 

 driving stakes in the ground and putting 

 dry leaves, out of the woods, all around 

 them, except the front. I lost 1 which was 

 a late July swarm, and fearing it would not 

 gather enough for winter, I fed them, early 

 in August, some sour honey which I had. 

 This I think caused it, and never shall I try 

 it again. 1 think they did not starve for 

 there was honey in the hive. The others 

 are in fair condition, occupying about 4 

 combs (frames 10x12 inch). The elm, soft 

 maple, and early willows, are on the point 

 of blooming when we get warm weather. I 

 wish we could have a bee-keeper's society 

 in this county. Mr. Rainey introduced the 

 Bee Journal to me, and I never shall do 

 without it as long as I keep bees, and I 

 shall introduce it wherever I find a chance. 

 Wm. Bolling. 



Dixon, 111., April 7, 1879. 

 There has been great loss in bees here, 

 during the past winter and spring; fully 50 

 percent. Last fall there were 3 apiaries in 

 this town, consisting of 31, 40 and 45 colo- 

 nies; of the lot, there are only now about 50, 

 in very poor condition. I have not lost a 

 colony. I have 22 now, all but 1 or 2 strong 

 and healthy, with plenty of brood and honey; 

 enough to last until June. I doubled up 2 

 weak colonies this afternoon, so 1 am really 

 minus one. A man 14 miles east of me, has 



lost 60 colonies out of 80. I set out some 

 moist brown sugar for the bees to eat, but 

 they will do nothing with it ; they carry in 

 about 1 quart of flour every warm day. 

 There is no natural pollen yet; last year 

 they gathered it on the 7th of March. I use 

 the Simplicity hive with Prof. Cook's bot- 

 tom board, packed according to his direc- 

 tions and had no loss. I do not like the 

 bottom boards and I would rather have the 

 Langstroth blocks to close the entrances. I 

 rather incline to the Langstroth hive also, 

 only I must have tin rabbets to move the 

 frames easily. B. F. Pratt. 



Plymouth, Wis., April 4, 1879. 

 Bees are wintering poorly ; never was a 

 winter more disastrous. Each day adds 

 another colony to the "dead." Dysentery 

 has destroyed one, half of all the bees in 

 this part of the State, and I fear the worst 

 is not yet over. Neither cellar, house, or 

 summer stand furnished security against 

 that terrible scourge. Many have lost all, 

 while a few, more fortunate, have lost from 

 quarter to half. We would most earnestly, 

 yet respectfully, petition old " Sol " to give 

 us more sunshine. The late cold spell has 

 destroyed the brood to a great extent in 

 many of my colonies. Yesterday 3 strong 

 colonies left their hives; a fourth would 

 have issued had I not been present. In two 

 cases out of the four, the queen was the 

 first to leave the hive. J. N. McColm. 



[Your petition to old Sol, has been heard 

 and answered. The warmth and pleasant 

 sunshine that now prevails we hope will put 

 a stop to the ravages, and brighten up the 

 future.— Ed.] 



Fort Atkinson, Wis., April 16, 1879. 

 The bees in this vicinity have wintered 

 poorly; fully one-third of those put into 

 winter quarters last fall have died ; cause, 

 poor honey. I have lost % of mine and 

 nearly all have from 10 to 15 lbs. of honey 

 left. I think our cellars and wintering 

 houses are not just right ; they are too damp, 

 especially if the honey is thin and poor. 

 What bees are left are in fair condition. 

 S. M. Roberts. 



Woodman, Wis., April 2, 1879. 

 I notice in April number, page 154, Mr. A. 

 E. Norman complains of his bees begin- 

 ning to build comb upon the bottom of 

 frames in the second story. Perhaps he 

 puts the second story on before the bees are 

 strong enough to go up into them to work 

 and having space above they begin to build 

 from these combs up and after they get 

 started that way are quite apt to continue. 

 If he will keep his upper story off until the 

 bees get strong and become crowded, then 

 they will take to the top of upper story at 

 once; this has been my experience, the same 

 rule applies to sections or boxes. Bees that 

 were not well cared for in this locality have 

 died. I put 69 colonies in the cellar and took 

 out 63, nearly all in good condition. To-day 

 it is snowing and blowing ? looking like mid 

 winter. My best wishes tor the American 

 Bee Journal and its editor. 



II. F. Walton. 



