22 



TIIE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July. 



About three-fourths of all the bees in southern 

 Minnesota died of bee dysentery or cholera in 

 winter quarters or soon after placing them on 

 their summer stands, and many of the surviving 

 stocks are so feeble that it will require much 

 material aid to build them up. Of b J >7 stocks I 

 placed in my bee house -and cellar, I lost 31. I 

 equalized all as nearly as I could, of bees and 

 honey, in September and early part of October. 



I found quite a number beside each other on 

 their summer stands that were in every respect 

 as nearly equal as they possibly could be last 

 fall, when 1 placed them together in winter 

 quarters ; this spring found some of said stocks 

 dead, presenting that oft described, loathsome 

 appearance, while their neighbors came out 

 clean as they were in September, with loss of 

 few bees and little honey. Tell friend Novice 

 that he must look for some other cause than 

 cider mills for that loathsome disease. Our 

 State does not own a single cider mill and yet the 

 disease has raged here fearfully. All the causes 

 given by oar great "bee fathers," are entirely 

 unsatisfactory to me, and 1 cannot find any satis- 

 factory cause myself. 



JOET.. BRITT8. 



Mantorxille, Minn. 



With your permission, I will give your read- 

 ers a few lines concerning bees in this section. 

 1 put 1 55 stocks into the cellar last December. 

 I set them out the middle of February and found 

 them all in good condition, except ten queens 

 which failed. There is no disease, here only 

 what is caused by long conlinement and im- 

 proper ventilation. Practical beekeepers have 

 lost heavy here ; cause, the want of proper care 

 in wintering. The farmers have lost no more 

 than usual. It would be well for beemen to 

 look more to winter and spring management, 

 and say less about patent humbugs. 1 am using 

 the Langstroth hive, and rind it the best I can 

 use. I keep the Italian bees and rind them 

 great workers, but think the queens have mated 

 with a jack, as the lees are very mulish. I 

 would like to unite with the beekeepers in the 

 northwest and establish a honey store in Chi- 

 cago. It is the only way to keep up the price 

 of honey. I hope all beekeepers will consider 

 the matter and act at once. 



S. W. 



Bees came out very poor here. Many lost all 

 they had. 



Thomas Lashbrouk 



Waverly, Iowa, June 10, 1872. 



There are but few bees in this part of the 

 country. The long-continued cold weather, 

 with no day warm enough to give the bees a 

 chance to discharge their i*a?ces without losing 

 their lives, used up a large portion of them. In 

 March they got thawed out, but the weather be- 

 came cold again before the combs became dry, 

 and the balance of the bees became chilled and 

 died. 



L. C. Whiting. 



East Saginaw, Mich., June 13, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Jourua.1.] 



Mn. Editor : — As facts are what we want, 

 and not theory, I will give you a few facts in re- 

 gard to wintering bees on their summer stands. 



I bought a stock of bees of one of my neigh- 

 bors last winter, and in the first part of Febru- 

 ary I moved it home. They were hybrid Italians, 

 in a frame hive 14 by 14 and 14 inches high, 

 single thickness, and a board laid on the top, 

 with cleats nailed in the under side. The cover 

 had warped up at the edges, till the bees pas -ed out 

 and in frely ; all the protection the hive had 

 from the weather, was a board fence on the 

 north. I examined them a few days after I 

 moved them home, and found they had brood in 

 four frames. It was the strongest hive out of 

 thirty. I lost five stocks that were in double 

 hives with carpet spread on the frames and the 

 honey brand on the top of the carpet. There 

 were more or less mouldy combs in all the hives 

 with carpet on the frames. I believe from what 

 experience I have had, that it is better to winter 

 a single hive on the summer stand than a double 

 hive, as a few hours' sun will enable them to get 

 at their stores. Those that I lost had consumed 

 all the honey in the cluster, and the frost on the 

 combs prevented them from moving far. I be- 

 lieve that if bees can be kept dry, they will 

 never freeze. 



As for wintering in special repositories, I think 

 that requires more care than the majority of 

 beekeepers will be likely to give them. I should 

 like to hear from some who have been success- 

 ful in wintering bees on their summer stands, in 

 regard to the exact amount of upward ventila- 

 tion necessary. This makes the third poor 

 season for bees in this locality. The drought 

 and cold winter killed nearly all of the white 

 clover. Most of the beekeepers here are sick 

 of the business. I have had over one hundred 

 stands of bees offered to me on their halves, aiid 

 I keep their half of the swarms, at $2 per swarm. 

 In my last communication I made a statement 

 in regard to bees eating grapes that you seem to 

 doubt. Now if it were necessary, I could bring 

 witnesses to prove that bees have been seen to 

 alight on sound grapes, and in a very short time 

 the> would have their suckers under the skin of 

 the grape. I have seen vines loaded with grapes 

 with scarcely a sound one on the vines, and at 

 the same time the bees were so thick it was un- 

 pleasant to gather the grapes. 



S. W. Loud. 



[From the Utica Herald.] 



Bee-Culture. 



We give below extracts from an interesting 

 address delivered before the Clinton (N. Y.) 

 Rural Art Association on the evening of June 

 12th, by S. P. Landers, Esq. : 



BEE-CULTURE. 



To the naturalist and to every curious observer, 

 a hive of bees, in its best working condition, 

 presents a scene of the most lively interest. 



The instructive ingenuity and habits of this 

 little insect have never failed to attract the 



