1S71.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



167 



would have been poorer still. We only And trouble 

 to decide on the hive which is best adapted to the 

 slinger. — J. Bei.z. 



Batavia, Ills., Dec. 9. — I received two Journals 

 this week, and concluded No. 2 was sent expressly 

 to have me get you a new subscriber. So I went di- 

 rectly into the street, and did not return till I had 

 secured two subscribers. Now, Mr. P^ditor, if eacli 

 one of your pntrons will do the same, you will have a 

 good addition to the number of subscribers for your 

 valuable paper. The American Bee Journal is a 

 paper which all bee-keepers should have, and a little 

 exertion by eacli one of its patrons will give it a good 

 circulation. I like Mr. Alley's movement, and will 

 do all I can for the Journal. I should be glad to 

 have it come twice a month. My bees are all quiet 

 in their winter quarters, with plenty of stores to carry 

 them througli the winter. It has been a poor season 

 for bees in this section, because of the dry weather; 

 but I am glad to see my brother bee-keepers prosper- 

 ing in other sections. — W. J. Fraziek. 



NoRTHFiELT), N. H., Dc'C. 9. — T am much pleased 

 witli the American Bee Journal; think it a very de- 

 sirable pulilication, and hope will soon be able to send 

 it out oftener than you are now able to do. — A. P. 

 Cate. 



Smith's Mills, Pa., Dec. 10. — Bee-cnlture in this 

 section of the country is very much behind the age; 

 still there are many perscms who are using the mova- 

 blecomb hive. ijees did well this summer, more 

 particularly in casting swarms. They worked very 

 late in the season. On the 3d of November they were 

 very busy in carrying in pollen, although we had a 

 number of frosts. Tliey built comb aiul stored honey 

 the last week in September, and worked, more or 

 less, all through October. "With this you will find a 

 specimen of the flower on which they worked strong. 

 [It is the New England Aster, or Aster ericoidcs, L.] 

 Some one, at one of the Bee-keepers' Conventions, 

 said that tlie bees will collect honey from the SjJauish 

 Needles. The weed is quite a pest in this section, 

 and during the summer I made it my business to 

 watch for bees on it, but never found one. 1 do not 

 think they will touch it.— J. S. McKiernan. 



NnNDA Station, N. Y., Dec. 13. — I do not know 

 how I could get along without the Journal. Mv bees 

 have done exceedingly well the past season. I com- 

 menced in tlie spring witli nine colnnies, and have 

 increased them to seventeen, and have taken over 

 seven hundred (700) pounds of surplus honey from 

 tliem. One new stock filled one of H. Alley's Lang- 

 stroth or Bay State hives, and made over seventy 

 pounds of box honey. Wishing success to the Ame- 

 rican Bee Journal, I close. — J. A. Thompson. 



East Saginaw, Mich., Dec. 13. — Allow mc to ac- 

 knowledge, in few words, the fairness, honesty and 

 promptitude of Mr. Adam Grimm, of 'Wisconsin, and 

 the purity of his Italian bees. — J. Cark. 



Newton, Iowa, Dec. 13.- Our bees are out of doors 

 yet, the fall weather has been so fine. In some lo- 

 calities in our county bees did well last season, but in 

 others rather poorly. Some old bee-keepers say they 

 never knew so poor a season. Very few natural 

 swarms issued — probably not more than one to a 

 hundred hives. Those bee-keepers who did not un- 

 derstand dividing lost by getting no increase. Colo- 

 nies that were divided early did very well. All hives 

 were full of honey last spring, and with all the in- 

 crease of swarms, there is probalily not as much honey 

 now in the county as there was on the 1st of April 

 last. The season of 1809 was exceedingly wet, and 



that of 1870 extremely dry. We are all hopeful for 

 the season of 1871. I wintered thirty colonies last 

 winter, one-half of tliein in my cellar and the other 

 half in a small room up stairs. All came out in good 

 order, nearl.v as heavy in the si)ring as when put 

 away, and, I think, with many more bees. I divided 

 one hive May l.'ith, and three times more duiing the 

 season, and also divided the first three swarms — thus 

 making eight from one, and all as strong as any of 

 those that were divided only once. Was the qiieen 

 the sole cause, or why so much difference from other 

 hives, apparently as strong both in bees and stores ? 

 Our State Convention meets at Des Moines next 

 Thursday, 1.5th inst. You will, no doubt, be favoied 

 with what the combined wisdom of Iowa apieultu- 

 rists shall devise. I trust that our expeiienced ones 

 will so ventilate the subject that an increased impetus 

 will be given to the science in our youuir State, and 

 of course the American Bee Journal get an increai<ed 

 number of subscribers. Please tell us, or ask Novice, 

 or some one else who knows, where we can get the 

 best jars for honey, and the price of pints, quarts, 

 etc. — C. J. HousEL. 



MouNTjoT, Pa., Dec. 13.— I enclose two dollars for 

 the American Bee Journal, which I think is not fool- 

 ing the money away for nothing. The Journal is 

 worth twice its cost. Bees did poorly here last sea- 

 son. The white clover had very little honey, and the 

 ■rrasshoppers destroyed the second cropof i-ed clover. 

 It was all grasshoppers in the field but a little, and 

 that was grasshoppers. I have forty-two colonies, 

 which have all enough to carry them through the 

 winter, except a few, to which I will give honey in 

 combs. Long may live the editor, to publish" the 

 American Bee Journal. — J. F. Hershey. 



Vermon'Tville, Mich., Dec. 14. — I first became in- 

 terested in bee-keeping by reading the article of Mrs. 

 Tui)per, on that subject, published in the Keport of 

 the Department of Ai;riculture, in 1865. Last spring 

 I commenced in a small way, but having no practical 

 knowledge, and but imperfectly understanding the 

 writteu theory, as might be expected, "made a iiad 

 botch of it." Yet, as I never succeeded in anything 

 at the first attempt, I am not discouraged, and, like 

 Mordecai at the King's gate, am determined to " hold 

 on" and persevere. I have read the Bee Journal at- 

 tentively the last year, and like it. Enclosed find 

 four dollars, for which please send Journal the next 

 year to myself and my friend. I double the subscrip- 

 tion list in this place, as you see, which in multijili- 

 cation of stocks, is by Ijcst authorities considei-ed a 

 safe rule for beginners. I suppose that, with your 

 longer experience, you could perhajis manage a 

 larger increase successfully, but for this year must be 

 be content with " making haste slowly." — II. J. 

 Martin. 



[We should be perfectly content with a like rate of 

 annual increase all through the mail book. — Ed.] 



Athens, Ohio, Dec. 19 — The past season was a 

 most remarkable one. Scarcely any rain fell from 

 May to December, yet the honey crop was most 

 splendid in quality — almost able to etand alone when 

 raken upon the knife. The months of May, June 

 and July were unuju illy warm, with an unusuilly 

 humid atinosi)here, which must account, I think, for 

 the remarkable secretion of so much fine honey. The 

 year 1869, though hot and dry, with an entirely dif- 

 ferent atmosphere, produced honey that appeared de- 

 termined to escape the jaws of death, by escaping 

 from the combs, runnin: out of sight — so much so 

 that I had great ditlieulty in getting it to market. 

 Verily, is there not much yet to be learned on this 

 subject? — J. W. Bayard. 



