the many good qualities possessed by it. 

 The honey is milder than that of clover, 

 growing in its wild state in swamps, near, 

 and on the borders, and increasing in pro- 

 portion to its nearness to the sea shore. 



I thought if it could be of service in the 

 bee direction, no matter if not known who 

 called attention to its cultivation as a bee 

 forage plant, but when all the credit is given 

 to another, this I consider an injustice to 

 Mr. Parsons as well as myself. Please rec- 

 tify this mistake in your next number of 

 the Journal. Amelia Parsons. 



[We are sorry for the misapprehension, but 

 no one would be able to tell from the simple 

 signature of " A. Parsons," whether it was 

 Mr., Mrs. or Miss. Mr. Manning will no 

 doubt cheerfully make the correction.— Ed. J 



Otley, Iowa, May 3, 1879. 

 Father and I put 137 colonies of bees in 

 the cellar, about Nov. 20th ; some were 

 small nuclei. We took them out April 13th 

 to 20th, and lost only 2 queenless colonies 

 while in the cellar. Wehavelost2or8since 

 taking out of the cellar, by neglect, as they 

 got out of honey. We moved 30 colonies 

 about 1% miles, and kept 105 at home. I 

 think we have as much as 150 acres of white 

 clover pasture, within 1}4 miles. Have we 

 too many bees in one place for our locality? 

 Basswood is quite plenty within the same 

 distance. • Buckwheat, together with numer- 

 ous fall flowers, make pasture quite plenty 

 in the fall. Fruit trees are coming into 

 bloom nicely now. I think, for some things, 

 this season is a month behind last year. 

 Father died last February, so I will have to 

 attend to the bees this summer myself. I 

 prevent increase as much as I can, and run 

 bees mostly for box honey. What is the 

 shortest distance it will do to move bees after 

 they have marked their location ? 



W. C. Nutt. 



[A good yield of honey from an apiary so 

 well located as yours, is a reasonable ex- 

 pectaion. Though possibly not as much pro 

 rata as you would from fewer colonies. 



Bees moved less than 3 or 4 miles at this 

 season of the year are apt to perish in con- 

 siderable quantities. If moved a short dis- 

 tance it should be gradually done. An ob- 

 struction placed at the entrance, to cause 

 them to re-mark their location is essential, if 

 moved more than a few inches.— Ed. J 



Kichland Springs, Tex., April 18, 1879. 

 I am on the frontier of Texas, in San 

 Saba county, with 95 colonies of bees, all in 

 good condition. Try this : Transfer your 

 bees late in the evening, early next morning 

 put them on a clean bottom board, stopping 

 all the cracks, then with a rag wet with 

 kerosene, rub all the cracks and front end of 

 bottom board, and all is done. Clean up all 

 waste before morning. Bees brought in 

 pollen almost every week last winter. This 

 is a land of milk and honey. 



R. Devenport. 



Chippawa Hill, Ont., April 26, 1879. 

 Bees have not wintered well, on the aver- 

 age, in this part of Canada. I have lost 9 

 out 16. W. K. Moore. 



Otsego, Mich., April 26, 1879. 

 From % to % of all the bees in this vicin- 

 ity are dead. The old question—" What is 

 it ?" I have lost 10 colonies, and am con- 

 vinced that it is a disease to all intents and 

 purposes— notwithstanding, some think 

 otherwise. T. F. Bingham. 



Downsville, Wis., May 7, 1879. 

 My bees have wintered well and drones 

 are commencing to fly. Fully one-half the 

 bees in this section died the past winter and 

 many colonies are still dwindling. 



A. J. Tibbetts. 



Augusta, Ga., April 24, 1879. 

 Bees in this section have been set back 

 by a very hard freeze which occurred about 

 April 6th ; this was followed by a succession 

 of heavy frosts that killed all the bloom. 

 There have also, this spring, been high 

 winds and heavy rain. J. P. H. Brown. 



Smithsburg, Md., April 28, 1879. 

 I had drones on the 6th of April, from the 

 nice yellow queens which produce those 

 nicely marked drones ; who can beat that 

 with imported queens in the same latitude ? 

 I live 4 miles south of Mason and Dixon's 

 line. My Imported stock are from 15 to 18 

 days behind, and they were behind last year 

 in swarming and honey gathering. 



D. A. Pike. 



Wellsville, O., April 25, 1879. 

 I had 112 colonies last fall in good condi- 

 tion, but with too much honey in the hives. 

 I was very busy and left them on summer 

 stands, and now more than % are dead. I 

 have kept bees for the last 30 years, some- 

 times having as many as 500 colonies, but 

 never had such a wholesale slaughter. 

 Some in this section have lost all, and some 

 have given up in despair. 



D. S. Silver, M. D. 



Westfield, N". Y., March 13, 1879. 

 We have had but a few fine days since 

 L>ec. 1st; it has been intensely cold and 

 stormy nearly all the time. It has been a 

 hard winter for bees, but mine are in the 

 best possible shape for a good season's 

 work. They had a good cleansing flight on 

 the 9th and 10th of March. I examined 

 them and found brood in from 4 to 5 frames 

 in each hive in all stages. I have not lost a 

 single colony during the past two winters. 

 I winter in a frost- proof building, putting 

 them in as soon as cold weather comes. I 

 take out one or two frames of comb and 

 spread the rest in order to give more space 

 between the combs for the bees to form 

 thick clusters. 1 ventilate them by leaving 

 the cap on the hive with one or two of the 

 box holes open and about one-half of the 

 front entrance open. This leaves no draft 

 through the hive, and at the same time lets 

 off all moisture, leaving the combs dry and 

 free from mould. Many lose their bees by 

 spring dwindling; this I think is caused by 



