1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



95 



forty-eight colonies wintered, I have increased my 

 stock to eighty-two. All are in splendid condition to 

 go into winter quarters. I have also taken twenty- 

 eight hundred poundsof very nice box honey. This 

 I consider very good for a novice in bee-culture. — H. 

 Root. 



Campbell's Cross, Canada, Aug. 23,-1871. — The 

 more I read the American Bee Journal the better I 

 like it. With such close observing men as Novice, 

 Gallup, and others whose writings I might mention, 

 beekeeping is being brought from, I might say a busi- 

 ness of uncertainty and loss, to one of profit and 

 pleasure. We call this one of the poor seasons in this 

 part of Canada. Owing to the dryness of the weather, 

 the flowers soon failed, and the consequence is there 

 is not much box honey. Later in the season we had 

 Bome honey dews that have made the hives in gooS 

 condition for wintering. With the use of the honey 

 machine and the aid of the Italian bees, I have secured 

 a large quantity of pure honey during the short honey 

 eeason, that 1 would otherwise not have had.— H. 



LiPSETT. 



Danvers, Mass., Aug. 25.— Bees have not done 

 much in this section, as far as surplus honey is con- 

 cerned. They csime out in good condition in the 

 spring. ]My seventeen colonies swarmed some twelve 

 or fifteen times, and we have got about one hundred 

 or one hundred and twenty-five pounds of honey. I 

 read of big stories in the Journal, but would rather 

 read of more small stories. Those who succeed best 

 are those most apt to tell of their siiccess, and those 

 who do not succeed do not like to tell their st(3rie8 

 among the big stories, for fear of being laughed at. 

 My bees are in good condition, only one colony want- 

 ing feeding out of seventeen. I doubled up my 

 swarms and put them back. I sold three of them, 

 and one left for the woods. — E. E. Pokteu. 



Elm Grove, West Va., Aug. 35. — Having taken a 

 great interest in the reports contained in the Journal 

 from various parts of the country, ot the season, I 

 would say that the yield of honey has been very good 

 in this section. Bees commenced to gather pollen 

 from the elms about the middle of March. The fruit 

 trees were full of bloom, and bloomed very early, but 

 did not yield much honey. The white clover was in 

 bloom by the 30th of May, but the weather being a 

 little dry, there was not at any time a heavy bloom. 

 There was more rain the latter part of June, which 

 prolonged the season till the middle of July, thus giv- 

 ing the bees a long period in which to store honey. 

 There did not appear to be an excess of honey at any 

 time, but a good regular supply throughout the season. 

 The weather was bright, and not excessively 

 hot, so that the bees could work all the time. We 

 have all the forage necessary for a good honey sup- 

 ply. A few of my hives yielded ninety pounds of 

 surplus box honey, and also some extracted. First 

 swarms issued on the 9th of May, but they were easily 

 prevented from swarming by a little attention. There 

 is a fine prospect of fall pasturage, and it is just the 

 beginning of the fall season here at this time. — J. 

 Baird. 



Lawrence, Kansas, Aug. 36. — The prospects are 

 good for a yield of honey this season. August has 

 been a good month for honey, and if wo have a few 

 showers the season will last till frost, which generally 

 comes about the middle of October. — N. Cameron. 



Fenn's Mills, Mich., Aug. 28.— I wintered my 

 bees in clamps, a la Mr. Schultz in Langstroth's book, 

 with the exception that I gave them more ventilation 

 and did not cover the outside with straw. Found but 

 few dead bees when I look them out, but the combs 

 and doors were somewhat soiled, and some of the 



combs a little mouldy. Very little honey consumed. 

 The weather was very warm in March, but cold in 

 April and the fore part of May. One swarm came 

 out and left the 3Sth of May ; "filled their hives prop- 

 erly, but did not go to work in boxes by the second 

 M'cek in June, and lay still till into July. Then they 

 commenced swarming, without stopping to fill the 

 boxes, except a few of the most backward ones, which 

 did well in boxes and did not swarm. Such populous 

 swarms I never saw before. They have all filled their 

 hives, and some of the first filled several boxes each. 

 I want to see those plates, etc., of comb frames in- 

 vented previous to the Laugstroth patent, so as to be 

 able to distinguish between his and other frames ; for 

 it is still a question in my mind if he has invcaued the 

 Taylor frame, published by Munn about the time 

 Langsroth obtained his patent. — H. Hudson. 



KiPON, Wis., Sept. 3.— In this section of our State 

 the summer has been a strange one. The honey 

 season commenced in June, and for three weeks I 

 could not have wished ray bees to do better in honey- 

 itiaking. July 1st the change came; swarming 

 stopped, and bees remained idle up to date. Large 

 prime swarms, coming from June 29th to July 7th, 

 have not made five pounds of honey in the body of 

 the hives, and will have to be fed largely or taken up. 

 The old stocks are very heavy, and in fine condition 

 for winter ; and in three weeks' work in June, sixty- 

 six of them filled one hundred and thirty (130) six, 

 eight, and fourteen pound boxes. A long continued 

 drouth is the cause of our losing July and August. 

 "We expect nothing from September, for we are as 

 dry as a powder mill, and no prospect of any change. 

 — R. Dart. 



CoNSTANTiA, N. T., Sept. 4.— My bees have not 

 done well this summer. I got only five new swarms 

 from twenty good strong stocks, and but very little 

 surplus honey. I think the season has been a poor 

 one for bees in this coimty (Oswego). — W. Sueldon. 



Pocahontas, Mo., Sept. 4. — I enclose two dollars 

 for the seventh volume of the American Bee Journal. 

 I am a farmer, but have made more clear money from 

 the sale of honey this summer than from my wheat 

 ciop. Much of my success I owe to the editor and 

 contj'ibutors of the Jourual. — J. C. Wallace. 



Palmetto, Tenn., Sept. 7.— Bees have done no 

 good in this part of the country this year. — J. F. 

 Montgomery. 



Gdelph, Canada, Sept. 7. — Enclosed please find 

 two dollars, subscription for one year from January 

 1st, 1871. Send me all the back numbers, and keep ma 

 on your list as a constant subscriber. — P. H. Gibbs. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Introducing Queens. 



I promised to report the first case of failure in 

 introducing a queen without caging, where a 

 queeuless colony had started queen cells. 



Well, I have failed. I have had two queens 

 introduced in tliat way, killed. All went well 

 enough until the latter part of July, when the 

 drouth cut off the supply of honey. Then, when 

 I made an artificial swarm by removing the hive 

 and setting a hive containing brood but no bees, 

 in its place for the returning bees to occupy ; 

 after these old bees had started queen cells, I 

 gave them a queen, and they killed her. I think 

 if there had been a yield of honey at the time, or 



