for Maryland, J. M. Valentine, of 

 Double Pipe Creek. I am the only 

 Valentine at Double Pipe Creek, and I 

 believe in the County or State, who 

 keeps a large stock of bees and is mak- 

 ing a business of apiculture. I mention 

 this that there may be no mis-mailing 

 and for the good of' the Society. 



S. Valentine. 

 Double Pipe Creek, Md., Nov. 9, 1880. 



[This was an error in the initials and 

 is duly corrected now. Thanks to Mr. 

 Valentine for calling our attention to 

 it.— Ed.] 



Prairie Hay for Winter Packing. — I 



obtained no surplus honey this year. I 

 am now doubling up weak colonies for 

 winter, and feeding dissolved sugar. I 

 am, however, not discouraged with one 

 poor season. I have no doubt but that 

 we shall have a good season next year, 

 and that it will pay to care for the bees 

 this fall. Prairie hay is the best pro- 

 tection I have tried to prevent chilling 

 the bees. I enclose my subscription for 

 the Weekly Bee Journal as the best 

 evidence that I appreciate it, and am 

 unwilling to do without it. 



II. S. Heath, M. D. 

 Muscotah, Kansas, Nov. 8, 1880. 



Short Crop.— I had 85 colonies in the 

 spring; I have obtained 4,500 lbs. of 

 honey in the comb. It is a short crop. 

 Three years ago I had 5 tons from 110 

 colonies. I have been taking the Bee 

 Journal 10 years. J. M. Bennett. 



Waterloo, Iowa, Oct. 29, 1880. 



A Visit.— In September I made a long- 

 contemplated visit to Douglas county, 

 111., calling on the Rev. A. Salisbury, 

 and he surprised me by opening hive 

 after hive, early in the morning, with- 

 out the use of a smoker. He has young 

 Cyprian queens, now laying, bred from 

 a Cyprian queen of Mr. Jones' impor- 

 tation. On my way home, I visited 

 Chicago, and had a good chat with the 

 genial editor of the Bee Journal, and 

 also with Mr. Coffinberry. I arrived 

 home abundantly pleased with my visit. 

 J. V. Caldwell. 



Cambridge, 111., Oct. 12, 1880. 



A Long-Felt Want.— Allow me to con- 

 gratulate you upon your contemplated 

 undertaking, viz : the publication of the 

 Weekly Bee Journal. Such a Jour- 

 nal, if properly managed, will supply 

 a long-felt want, and I am sure would 

 meet with a success. 



Geo. W. House. 



Fayetteville, N. Y., Nov. 13, 1880. 



Size of Entrance.— Please state in the 

 American Bee Journal the proper 

 sized opening to a hive, that will allow 

 free egress and ingress to workers, but 

 prevent all possible escape of drones or 

 a laying queen. Mr. Garlick gives 5-32 

 of an inch— is not that too small ? 



w. E. Flower. 



Shoemakertown, Pa., Oct. 18, 1880. 



[Five thirty-seconds of an inch will 

 allow ingress and egress to the worker 

 bees, but such a small entrance is quite 

 detrimental to the welfare of the colony 

 in the working season. Often quite a 

 quantity of pollen may be noticed at the 

 entrance of such a hive, caused by the 

 bees scraping themselves while entering 

 with their load. Every plan suggested 

 to prevent the queen and drones from 

 going out and in with the workers is 

 objectionable on this account.— Ed.] 



Bees have not done Well.— The Bee 

 Journal has been a welcome visitor, I 

 have learned much from it. I am glad 

 it is to be published weekly next year. 

 My bees have not done well the past 

 season ; it has been too wet and we have 

 had too many north-west winds. I have 

 now only 9 colonies, and I think of try- 

 ing chaff packing for winter. Success 

 to the Weekly Bee Journal. 



F. W. BURTNETTE. 



Glass River, Mich., Nov. 5, 1880. 



A Prediction for Next Year.— I think 

 this has been the poorest season for bees, 

 in this part of the country, thai we have 

 ever experienced. I had about 110 

 colonies of bees on the first day of 

 May. By putting together and feeding, 

 I have reduced them to 103 colonies. It 

 will take about 150 lbs. of sugar and 50 

 lbs. of honey togetthem ready tor win- 

 ter. By estimate, we have 245 lbs. pf 

 comb and 1,049 lbs. of extracted honey. 

 I think our bees have done as well or 

 better than other bees around here. M> 

 crop is mostlv disposed of at 15 and 20c. 

 per lb. We 'must make up in price to 

 partly compensate for the loss in quan- 

 tity. I hear of some quite extensive 

 bee-keepers within about 20 miles, that 

 extracted during linden bloom, who will 

 now have to feed it back or let their 

 bees starve. I think bees gathered 

 about half enough this fall to winter on. 

 We had two short harvests : apple and 

 linden. White clover was generally 

 winter-killed. Pastures nearly dried up 

 during July and the first part of Au- 

 gust, so that people had to feed their 

 cattle. We have had some heavy rains 



