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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Dec, 



COEEESPONDENOE OP THE BEE JOUEITAL. 



M'T-NT Florence, Kansas. Oct. 16, 1S71. — I can- 

 not do without your invaluable Journal. You can 

 connt me on your list ae a constant subscriber. — F. 

 Grubbe. 



LEWisBrRo, Pa., Oct. 27.— I think the past season 

 hereabout has been pretty good for surplus honey, but 

 not at all so for the multiplication of swarms. 



I any of yonr correspondents jrive information as 

 to the storing of extracted honey in wooden casks, 

 showing what material is best, I wish you would pub- 

 lish it. " I should suppose that most woods would im- 

 part their flavor. — G. R. Buss, 



Ottawa, Ills., Oct. 28. — As I have kept bees for fif- 

 teen years, I thought, as a matter of course. I knew 

 something extra about them ; but happening to visit 

 one of my neighboi-s, who keei's bees, I was somewhat 

 surprised to see how much better his were doing than 

 mine. On inquirin^r of iiim how he managed them, he 

 said, in the tirst place, he tuok the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, and learned all he could from that, and tiien his 

 own experience and common sense filled up the bal- 

 ance. I bori-oiced the Journal, and bouirht some works 

 on bees, and soon found, thai if I had never had bees,, 

 I should have been better prepared to enter on the busi- 

 ness than now. I found i knew nothius really and 

 scientifically about them. It was too late to sret my 

 swarms inio movable frame hives, which I find are 

 the great desideratum. I have twenty seven colonies, 

 fiiteen of which made about three huiulred (3()0) 

 pounds of honey, oft" of buckwheat blossoms. I shall 

 sow four acres of Alsike clover next spring, and sow 

 bu kwheat twice, about the middle of June and July. 

 I have bought twenty-five more coionies, some of 

 them weak. I shall unite the weak ones, as an ex- 

 periment, and give tlie result. I enclose two dol- 

 lars, a year's sul>scription for the Journal. — L. Soule. 



RidgefieDT), Conn., Oct. 28. — Bees have done well 

 here the past season, mine having averaged over fifty 

 pounds of surplus honey, per stock. Italians again 

 showiuir their superiority as honey-iratherers. I have 

 lots of bee matters to talk about, but will defer it un- 

 til I get more time.— S. W. Stevens. 



Herman, Me. — Bees have not done anything in 

 this section for the past two years. Last year I had 

 ten stocks, and did not get one swarm. This year I 

 had tilteen, and got two swarms, and have to feed a 

 pari of my bees to winter. — J. Allen. 



GiRAKD, Pa., Oct. 80.— I notice that Adam Grimm 

 seems to practice natural swarming. Will he please 

 tell us if he considers that preferable to artificial ? 

 An opinion fi-om one so successful as he has been wiih 

 bees, cannut but be of great benefit. My bees have 

 done well for the last two years, having doubled with 

 each year. I have now seventy-five colonies ; am 

 using the Beebe hive altogether, as I consider it the 

 best "movable frame hive I have tried. — A. Battles. 



Peoria, Ills., Nov. 1. — We have a very fair season 

 for liees in this part of Illinois, though the amount of 

 surplus honey is not so great as during some seasons, 

 owing to the fact that the bees came through the 

 ■winter in great jjoverty, and conseciuently spent all 

 the early part of the season in providing for and rear- 

 ing their young.— W. T. Green. 



CniNQUACENSEr, Canada, Nov. 6. — Bees have done 

 very well this year. They gathered nearly all their 

 surplus honey from the basswood blossoms, but have 

 gathered none since. — J. Pjckeuing. 



Hopkinsvillb, Ky., Nov. 6. —This has been a very 

 good honey season ; and if I could spare the time, I 

 could make it profitable to keep bees. I have about 

 seventy stocks on hand, and tlu^y are in good con- 

 dition to winter. I would like to engage a reliable 

 young man for another year, to take charge of my 

 apiary. Can such be had ? I will give a portion of 

 the jtrocceds, or an interest in the whole stock, -^his 

 is a fine location for an apiary. The Evansyille, H. 

 & Nashville railroad passing through our place. I 

 want some one who is willing to work.~G. B. Long. 



Oquawka, Iils., Nov. 8. — Bees that have had care, 

 have done well here. One stock of Italians gave nie 

 165,' lbs. cap honey, and have 40 lbs. inoi'e in their 

 hive now th m tliey had in the spring. Old fogy's 

 bees have done very poorly — no swarms, no honey, 

 but plenty of moth. He don't take the " Journal." — 

 C. W. Green. 



Aurora, Ills., Nov. 12. — I have forty-two colonies 

 of bees, some pure Italians, some hybrids, and some- 

 native blacks, all in good condition for winteriuir. 

 The first part of the season here was excellent, but 

 after July our bees cotikl do very little. I have differ- 

 ent works on bee-keeping, but find your vahiable 

 Journal comes as handy as a little pet.- J. Divekey. 



Monmouth, Ills., Nov, 13. — The season here, 

 takinir it throuijh, has been a good one for honey. 

 Most stocks in this section liave too much honey and 

 too few bees for wintering well. But very few bee- 

 keepers in this county have yet begun to use the 

 movable comb hive. On the 9t!i of this month, I saw 

 bees carrying pollen, which I suppose was gatherel 

 from sweet clover. W(! have had several nights of 

 freezing weather.— T\ G. McGaw. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Esport from Ontario, Canada. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you allow me to inflict 

 upon you .some bee news from these parts. I 

 commenced bee-keeping four years ago, having 

 at that time been afflicted with a very bad (or 

 good ) attack of '" bee on the brain," I thought 

 that I would besiin with one hive and the Bee 

 Journal ; but owing to natural stupidity, or some- 

 thing else, my visions of immediate wealtli took 

 a backward stride ; yet I gained in knowledge 

 M'hat I lost in nnmey. By the way, Mr. Editor, 

 let me here remark that some people appear to 

 acquire knowledge at a remarkably rapid rate. 

 For instance, 1 have a neighbor (and I see by 

 the Journal that other localities are doubled 

 in the same way) who has had bees for one sea- 

 son, and could jjut Gallup or Novice, or any of 

 the greater liglits to the biusli in live minutes, 

 by his superior knowledge and experience. 



These last two years I have done very well, as 

 I have increased my stock from four hives t« 

 twenty- three. I thought to control swarming by 

 getting ahead of some of my colonies this year. 

 Accordingly on th6 24th of May I made two arti- 

 ficial swarms. But this seemed to be only an 

 incentive to redoubled exertion on the part of 

 the little rascals, as one of the swarms cast three 

 swarms and gave me forty-two jiounds of sur- 

 plus ; aiiil tbo old hive cast one very heavy swarm, 

 and gave me twenty-three pounds of surplus. 



The other hive which I divided, did very near 



