sponge with water and lay on the bottom- 

 board at the entrance of the hives. Several 

 times I found my bees hanging out in front 

 of the hive, as they sometimes do in hot 

 weather. My ventilation holes in the wall 

 under the floor were not large enough for 

 the bees I had, and I could not enlarge them 

 this winter. K. R. Murphy. 



Kenton, Tenn., April 13, 1879. 

 "Our pets" suffered severely during the 

 extreme cold weather the past winter. Many 

 still use the old-fashioned box hives. Last 

 spring their bees swarmed excessively with 

 very unfortunate results, weakening the 

 colonies so that they either perished from 

 starvation or cold, or became an easy prey 

 to the bee-moth. One peculiarity of last 

 summer's work was that the bees gathered 

 an insufficient supply of pollen and many 

 of them literally starved to death with an 

 abundant supply of honey. 



H. T. FULLERTON. 



Sullivan, Ind., May 8, 1879. 

 My bees are all in box and log hives ; they 

 do not rest on bottom but are suspended in 

 a sack or frame and the bottom is suspended; 

 they have no protection except boards tem- 

 porarily set upon the west side, where is 

 also a paling fence. In each of the 5 box 

 hives was made a % inch hole near the top, 

 bottom closed except 3 % inch holes ; the 

 logs have no opening in top except into the 

 cap for honey, all got through in tolerable 

 condition except one that was weak in the 

 fall. I read the Journal, and have pro- 

 cured movable-frame hives and will transfer. 

 Geo. Goodwin. 



Kome, Ga., May 13, 1879. 

 The season for 1878 was one of the poorest 

 ever known in this locality for bees; the 

 winter also was cold, much more so than 

 usual, and many colonies perished. The 

 present spring has been cold and wet, and 

 bees have been backward about swarming. 

 They commenced work near the middle of 

 April and are gathering honey rapidly now. 

 In a previous number of the Bee Jour- 

 nal allusion was made to my experiment 

 with foundation made upon tin foil. The 

 frames used for this test were very nicely 

 and handsomely completed, without sag- 

 ging in the least. We concluded to experi- 

 ment still further, and we now have bees at 

 work on this foundation, and we propose to 

 show, in a short time, "honey in comh" 

 one " solid foot." A. F. Moon. 



West Creek, lnd, March 24, 1879. 

 In the spring of 18751 purchased colonies 

 of bees in box hives; these gave 11 swarms, 

 which I wintered in old gums and cracl-er 

 boxes, sitting on a bench out in the yard 

 without any protection. That winter I re- 

 ceived a circular from N. C. Mitchell, and I 

 got a township right of him, but sold no 

 hives, for the Mitchell system did not suit 

 me. My bees increased to 47 colonies, ami I 

 had some hives cut double the last of the 

 swarming season and put 5 late swarms in 

 them, and left them on the summer stands. 

 The Mitchell hives I moved up together and 

 covered them with straw while the cold 



weather lasted, and then set them on the 

 summer stands, and when apple blossom* 

 came 1 had 13 good colonies and 3 poor ones. 

 I started afresh in 1877, and went into win- 

 ter with 42 colonies and came out with 41; 

 the millers killed one. The year 1878 found 

 me on the road to success, as I thought. I 

 bought 125 hives of Sperry & Chandler and 

 put 51 swarms into them, intending to trans- 

 fer the bees from the Mitchell hives this- 

 spring. My bees were well stocked with 

 honey. I put a wide board up in front of 

 the hives and covered the hives with straw 

 about 3 feet thick, and when the cold and 

 deep snow came I piled the snow on the 

 back part of the hives to keep the wind off. 

 The front of the hives were left so that 

 I could lay the boards down and let the sun 

 shine on them. The Mitchell hives I left on 

 the summer stands and lost 12 of them. Of 

 the 51 colonies in the North Star hives 37 

 died. The five I have in the double-walled 

 hives are to all appearance in just as good 

 condition as last fall. My profits so far are 

 nothing. My son had 22 colonies in North 

 Star hives. He moved them away from 

 here when the snow came, and intended to 

 cover them, but that night the big snow 

 storm came and it turned so cold that he 

 banked snow up around the sides and back, 

 and they all came out right, except one that 

 lost its queen. The bees attempted to raise 

 another, and had two queen cells sealed 

 over, but they perished before the cold 

 weather broke. Nearly all the bees in this 

 vicinity are dead, and it will be a poor place 

 to sell hives this season. 



I expect to attend the National Convention 

 this fall at Chicago, and would like to know 

 whether there is any fee to pay in order to 

 become a member, or whether any one is 

 allowed to attend. J. P. Spaulding. 



[All are welcome to attend the National 

 Convention, but those who become mem- 

 bers pay $1 a year, which entitles them to a 

 voice in the management and helps to pay 

 the necessary expenses. — Ed.] 



Hastings, Minn., April 27, 1879. 

 Bees have not wintered as well as usual; 

 I have lost more than for several winters 

 before. I attribute it more to the house 

 than any other cause. It was built by a 

 neighbor on purpose for wintering, capable 

 of holding over 200 colonies. I lost 10 out of 

 49. Mr. Morse, the man that built the house, 

 lost 38 out of 52. Rev. Mr. Bosteon put in 

 65 and took out 31 alive, but many of them 

 very weak, and I understand has lost several 

 more since. Another man, C. O. Ball, put in 

 6, lost 2. Many of the hives came out very 

 mouldy. Those covered with quilts, with 

 tight bottoms, were the worst. Those win- 

 tered in dry cellars came out all right. Rev. 

 J. F. Wilcox, of Northfield, put in 25 colo- 

 nies, lost none. Also, Mr. Cocayne, same 

 place, put in 42 with same result. Their 

 cellars were very dry and nice. I looked 

 them all over, and never saw bees come out 

 with cleaner hives or combs; not a particle 

 of mould. Mr. Wilcox uses the Langstroth 

 style of hive, caps off, with quilts on, piled 

 up 4 deep. Mr. Cocayne's were mostly in 

 box hives and log gums. They were large 



