140 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Dec, 



Bees at Pulton, 111. 



Editor Journal. — As the season is over for 

 the -work of the busy bees, I will try and give 

 you a report of my season's operations. I had 

 30 colonies of bees this spring, saved out of 05 in 

 the fall of 1871, and only about oue-third of them 

 in good condition, and the loss of bees in this 

 section was not from thin or unsealed honey, as 

 I never seen the honey thicker or as near all 

 sealed up as it was in the fall of 1871. 



I took all the honey from my bees this spring 

 with the extractor, as soon as the weather was 

 warm enough, and in doing so, took out all the 

 drone comb, and took cards of worker comb and 

 put in the place of them, and fed most of the 

 honey back to the bees as they wanted it to keep 

 up as rapid breeding as possible, and com- 

 menced equalizing at same time, and commenced 

 dividing as soon as there was any honey in the 

 flowers, and using all the worker comb from the 

 stocks. Host and have increased to 00, count- 

 ing three swarms that came to my yard and went 

 into the hive themselves, when 1 was away from 

 home. I did not have any natural swarms on 

 account of dividing in the usual swarming sea- 

 son, but the stocks got so strong they began to 

 swarm in the latter part of August, when the 

 flowers began to yield honey the second time. 



Yield of honey for the season of 1872. — The 

 white clover did not yield any honey before the 

 middle of June, to amount to anything; not 

 enough to keep the bee^ breeding, without feed- 

 ing. After middle of June until first week in 

 July, white clover yielded moderately*, but the 

 most of it was used in breeding, or stored in 

 brood chamber. I only got 800 lbs. of white 

 clover honey with the extractor, and none in 

 boxes. The bass wood, or linn, as it is called in 

 some parts, did not yield any honey in this sec- 

 tion this year. The rains in last July and first 

 of August, started the heartsease and other 

 flowers so, the bees began to store honey and 

 swarm about the middle of August, and a great 

 many hives did not have over 2 or 3 lbs . of honey 

 in the hives by the time the second yield of 

 honey commenced. The first honey the bees got 

 in August was from a weed that grows on the 

 bottom lands, and comes into bloom from 1st to 

 10th of August, and lasts about two weeks, and 

 yields a honey almost as light as white clover, 

 Dut not as pleasant a flavor. Part of my bees 

 went four miles to work on this flower, and part 

 of my bees I took to the flowers, and they done 

 a great deal the best. I have taken in ail this 

 season, about 1800 lbs. of extracted honey and 

 250 lbs of box honey. There is very little box 

 honey in this section this year, the bees have not 

 seemed to want to build comb this year out of 

 the brood department of the hive. I have not 

 been able to get much comb built in frames in 

 top stories, even where the honey board was re- 

 moved and put on the top of top story. I have 

 my top stories same size, as lower part of the 

 hive, so I can take the honey board off from the 

 main hive and put it on top of the top story, so 

 I do not get the underside of my covers all stuck 

 up with propolis. 



My method of wintering on summer stands as 



soon as the middle of November, if not before, 

 take the honey boards off the hives and have 

 good, thoroughly dry, corn cobs cut just the 

 length, so two will reach across the hive (I have 

 a machine that cuts both ends of the cobs at the 

 same time, as fast as you can handle a single 

 cob at a time). Lay the cobs' butts and points, 

 turn about, and that keeps them straight. After 

 the frames or top of hive are all covered with 

 cobs as close as you can lay them together, lay 

 over top of cobs a common newspaper, at least 

 two thicknesses, so as to stop the excess of 'up- 

 ward ventilation, and close the entrance below 

 so only a few bees can go in or out at a time, or 

 perhaps it might be better to have a three-quar- 

 ter inch hole bored in front end of hive below 

 the portico (I use the Langstroth hive with top 

 bar of frames seven-eighths wide, as the cobs 

 would not do any good on the close fitting 

 frames), this lets the moisture pass off, and the 

 bees are kept dry, and my bees usually begin 

 breeding about the first to middle of January, so 

 as the old bees die off the young bees take their 

 place, and are healthy and strong in the spring, 

 but last year my bees stopped breeding in fore 

 part of September, and did not commence until 

 March or first of April, this spring, and I think 

 this is the reason of the heavy loss in this sec- 

 tion, as the loss was mostly in March and April, 

 whether wintered indoors or out. R. R. M. 



[F.jr the American Bee Journal.] 



Bees in New Hampshire. 



Mr. Editor. — It is very interesting to read 

 the reports of beekeepers from different parts of 

 the country. I, therefore, thought it best, and 

 it may be of interest, to you and others, to know 

 how we get along away up here in Coos county, 

 N. H., which I have found to be the wrong place 

 to keep bees for profit or in large numbers. 



I have paid out, first and last, for bees, hives, 

 patent rights, bee "vails, smokers, &c , &c, to 

 the amount of $10 ). Had 30 swarms three years 

 ago ; have lost them all but ten, and they are in 

 a bad condition, lacking honey. I have not had 

 but one swarm come off this season, and that did 

 not make me any surplus. 



I got 50 lbs. of box honey mostly from one 

 hive. It has been so wet they could not work. 



Now, I am getting sick of the buisuess here, 

 and have wished I was in Iowa or some good 

 place where I could make bees a speciality and 

 profitable. 



I have a lot of empty hives on hand, comb- 

 frames, dry comb, and honey boxes of the K. P. 

 Kidder pattern. So I shall winter what 1 can, 

 and wait through another year, to see what next 

 season will be, hoping for a good season, as I 

 have always done. 



William C. Merrill. 

 Colebrook, Coos Co., N. H. 



When honey abounds, black bees will probably 

 gather as much as Italians; when it is only to be 

 got by extra labor, the Italians are sure to do 

 much better than the blacks. 



