248 



The combs that the bees died on were 

 covered with a dark colored substance that 

 smelt bad. Was it dysentery that killed the 

 bees? Will it do 10 put those frames in 

 other hives ? There is considerable honey 

 in them. Henry S. Walkath. 



[It was evidently dysentery The combs 

 may be used without danger in other hives. 

 The bees will clean them up.— Ed.] 



Linden, N. Y., May 5, 1879. 

 I have wintered 16 colonies of bees and 

 lost 2, one queenless the other of dysentery. 

 I packed them in chaff; they are all in nice 

 chaff now; hives full of bees; they are now 

 gathering some honey from dandelions. 

 Many bees have died in Genesee and Wy- 

 oming counties this winter, that were left 

 on their summer stands; one man has lost 

 18 out of 20; another 50 out of 75; another 6, 

 all he had. Fully 50 per cent, have died, and 

 the rest are generally weak. 



Jas. S. Lord. 



Mahoning Co., 0., May 3, 1879. 

 Bees in this locality have not wintered 

 very well; from 25 to 50 percent, havingdied. 

 I have not lost as many as some. Those 

 wintered in-doors came through in good con- 

 dition. The greatest loss occurred to those 

 wintered on their summer stands, no differ- 

 ence how protected. "Experience teaches 

 in a dear school," but a certain class learn 

 only by it. I cannot see why all do not read 

 some good journal, say the American. I 

 have found it worth many times its cost. 

 Therefore, I say success to the American 

 Bee Journal. Leonidas Carson. 



St. Charles, 111., April 28, 1879. 

 The bees in this county (Kane), wintered 

 in cellars have come out in fine order— never 

 better. Of those wintered out doors 25 or 50 

 per cent, have perished. Bees in-doors were 

 generally put out the fore part of March. 

 They are now at work on willow, hard 

 maple, cottonwood and dandelion. They 

 get some honey and considerable pollen. 

 White clover has wintered finely, and the 

 prospect for a large yield of honey therefore 

 is flattering. We have had so much cold 

 spring weather that we may have a warm 

 spell when fruit trees are in bloom. If so it 

 will be an unusual occurrance. 



M. M. Baldridge. 



Brecksville, O., May 12, 1879. 

 Bees came through with a loss of 2 colo- 

 nies only, the balance in fine condition. 

 The changeable weather since, however, 

 has made it necessary to consolidate a few 

 of the lightest, and we shall go into the sea- 

 son with 40 good colonies of the 46 put in the 

 cellar. The 2 packed in chaff outside came 

 through as good as the best, notwithstand- 

 ing the severe winter. Probably the loss of 

 bees in this section in wintering will exceed 

 50 percent. The mortality has upset all our 

 theories. One man wintered all his bees with 

 no protection; another lost all under simi- 

 lar circumstances. But our best and most 

 careful apiarists have lost heavily, and the 

 ways we account for it would fill volumes. 

 Chas. !S. Burt. 



Newhall, Cal., April 26, 1879. 

 Please answer the following questions in 

 the next Bee Journal : Have you or any 

 of your readers had any experience with 

 pine honey barrels not waxed ? Is it abso- 

 lutely necessary to wax them ? Will honey 

 dissolve glue if barrels are coated with it ; 

 or will the glue give a bad taste to the honey? 

 Is there anything equally as good for coat- 

 ing as wax, but cheaper ? Do you know of 

 any drinking vessel for chickens, whei - ebees 

 will not drink also ? I use a tin can, straight 

 up and down, and bees cannot well go in or 

 out, yet every day there are some about it 

 and they get drowned. If I use a wooden 

 vessel tlie bees crowd out the chickens, al- 

 though they have a much handier place to 

 get water— a trough with a raft or float in it. 

 D. C. Mensino. 



[We have had no experience with pine 

 barrels. If any of our readers have, we 

 should like to hear the result. Oak barrels 

 do well for honey without waxing. 



We know of no way for watering chick- 

 ens out of doors that will exclude the bees 

 —the latter being the smallest.— Ed.] 



Concordia, Mo., April 24, 1879. 

 I noticed an article in the April number 

 of the American Bee Journal, p. 166, on a 

 " New Method of Hiving Bees." It appears 

 to me that it is a poor method to sprinkle 

 bees when they issue to swarm, because it 

 very often makes the queen turn back and 

 also a good many bees go back again, and 

 you will often have a failure. My method 

 for 20 years has been to catch swarms in 

 sacks when they issue, made for that pur- 

 pose. I cannot see how an apiarist can 

 nave success without catching swarms when 

 they issue, and I hardly believe that a better 

 plan can be invented than to catch them in 

 sacks. I am only puzzled that this method 

 is not better known among our American 

 bee friends. Christ Brunke. 



Winchester, 111., May 4, 1879. 

 My 22 colonies came through the hard, 

 winter splendidly. Had drones flying from 

 No. 20 in the middle of April. It is so very 

 dry I have delayed putting on supers, but 

 to-night I find one portico hanging full of 

 bees. Fourteen colonies were in hives with 

 two walls, each % thick and % inch dead- 

 air space; they have done best. Three were 

 in telescope hives holding8 Quinby frames: 

 outer wall or cap only % thick; inside wall 

 full inch with % inch dead-air space. Three 

 had 8 Gallup frames; hives made same style 

 as last; but while all did well the larger 

 frame is the strongest now. One in box 

 hive, put in a dry-goods box, packed in 

 straw, and covered from wet, with passage 

 for bees to pass in and out, did very well; 

 and a sassafras "gum," with stakes driven 

 about and well packed with straw, with 

 small entrance open, also did wHl. I put 

 new quilts over my frames last fall, but the 

 Dees enameled all they could get at. A 

 neighbor had a colony in my single-walled, 

 hive with an old gum cloth over the frames 

 and it wintered well, but he had another 

 very strong colony in my double-walled 



