THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



169 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Season, Feeding, and "Wintering. 



Mr. Editor : — The summer of 18G8 was the 

 poorest for bees in all this immediate section, 

 that any owner of bees remembers. Those who 

 apply common sense to matters petainmg to 

 bees, as well as to other transactions of life, 

 find no difficulty in accounting for the fact in 

 the peculiarity of the season. The spring and 

 early part of summer was exceedingly wet, and 

 afterwards proportionately dry until late, and 

 the bees stored no honey. I bad no swarm and 

 did not bear of more than half a dozen swarms 

 of black bees in all the country around. There 

 were last spring only two persons who had 

 Italian bees, and those did not all send off 

 swarms. The result of the whole matter is 

 that, at this date, more than half of the bees in 

 the country are already dead, with a prospect 

 that more than half the remainder will die be- 

 fore spring. All around you hear people won- 

 dering what is the matter with the bees. I 

 answer, starvation. But, says one, such a per- 

 son's bees are all dead, and they left honey. 

 Now occasionally a colony may have perish- 

 ed from some other cause, aud left honey 

 enough to have wintered them. But I appre- 

 hend that, in a majority of cases, the honey left 

 is small in amount and in such remote corners 

 of the hive as to have been unattainable. One 

 gentleman had about thirty colonies of Italian 

 bees, and about an equal number of natives. 

 About the first of October, he overhauled all of 

 his bees, and took the stores from most of his 

 natives, leaving them to perish, and strengthen- 

 ed his Italians. Another, having some fifty or 

 more colonies, mostly Italians, fed ihem freely 

 of sugar syrup in the fall. 



I thought that if I had expected any of mine 

 to live until spring, I must supply them with 

 something to live on. During the last half of 

 October and first of November, I gave them an 

 average of about ten pounds to the colony of 

 good white sugar made into syrup. Having no 

 house or dry cellar of my own, I took a part of 

 mine to a neighbor, who had a dry cellar ; and 

 the others I protected on their summer stands. 

 Yesterday was warm and I set them all free, so 

 that they could fly, and all appear active and in 

 good health, with very few dead bees about 

 them. 



I have heard of only two reliable instances 

 where there appeared to be any disease in bees, 

 and that I think was dysentery. 



Beekeeping is still in its rudest state here, and 

 consequently all the old superstitions about 

 bees, with lucky and unlucky persons, places, 

 and seasnos, are rampant. The latest thing in 

 that line I have heard advanced a few days 

 since, by an old lady. It was new to me at 

 least, and was this— that this was the locust 

 year, and that the bees always all died olf the 

 winter alter the seventeen-year locusts made 

 their appearance. Now, I always look for 

 some connection between the cause alleged and 

 the effect produced. I can see none here, and 

 reject the figment. But it is not more unrea- 



sonable or improbable than many other stories 

 which are cr< dited by persons otherwise sensi- 

 ble. There is a greal deal of such rubbish to 

 be cleared away before, bee-keeping is placed on 

 a level with the other industrial pursuits of the 

 country, and made sure and reliable as well as 

 pleasing and profitable. 



What is settled conclusively about the aisike 

 clover, as to its adaptability to our soil and 

 climate, and its value for bee-pasturage partic- 

 ularly, and also for forage and pasture? It has 

 been long enough introduced, and enough talked 

 about, for something definite to be known. 

 Whatever is known, however, should be pub- 

 lished truthfully, so that, if it lias any value, 

 people may be en couraged to cultivate it ; and 

 if it is worthless, as I strongly suspect, they 

 may be saved from the wiles of sharpers.* But 

 I have already lengthened out this scrawl too 

 much for the "first, if it has any value. 



John C. Helm. 



Maurice, Ind. 



*A gentleman in Columbia County, New York, 

 writes that he considers aisise clover the best bee- 

 pasturaae in the world. He has fourteen acres of it; 

 and intends sowing more. — Ed. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Some time last year I read the announcement 

 of "Nature's Bee Book." a valuable manual on 

 bees, published by Professor W. Flanders. 



I wrote for the book, sending twenty-five 

 cents, and received in return a pamphlet of 64 

 small pages containing chiefly the praises of the 

 Flanders' Bee Hive, Flanders' Bee Charm, Gol- 

 den Queens, &c. &c. The small remainder of 

 the book was a sliapeless mass of compilations, 

 intermixed with some qneer notions about bees, 

 written in a euphuistic style. 



Of course, as the process of selling a circular 

 so dear, was little encouraging to the purcha- 

 ser, I did not seud any money for the hi-ve, or 

 the bee charm, or the golden queens — conclud- 

 ing to expose the deception in the Bee Jour- 

 nal ; but meantime the man was reported to be 

 dead. 



However, as be reappears to-day, big and fat, 

 I write this to put beekeepers on their guard 

 against sending even the smallest sum for the 

 book, for they would be far from getting value 

 for their small outlay. 



I have received Mr. E. Kretchmar's "Bee- 

 keeper's Guide Book." Although I am not 

 partial to hives with closed top frames, I consi- 

 der the book as amply worth its price. 



I am so pleased with the hive of Mr. Price,. 

 as described in the November number ot the 

 Bee Journal, that I will construct tifty such 

 hives, this winter, for my own use. 



You are in the right way, friend Price, in 

 giving so good a hive without patenting it. I 

 thank you, on behalf of the beekeeping com- 

 munity. 



Ch. Dadant. 



Hamilton, Ils., Jan. 6, 1869. 



