AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



91 



Will Make a Bee-Keeping a Specialty. 



I have not been very successful with my 

 bees the past season — they have just about 

 paid expenses. I comiuenced the season 

 with 85 colonies, and increased them to CO, 

 all of which are in the cellar, and are win- 

 tering well so far. I am going to make a 

 specialty of the bee-business in the future. 

 I have been in the business six years, com- 

 mencing when I was 15. I am going to 

 stick to it until success crowns my efforts. 

 G. F. Tubes. 



Turtle Point, Pa., Jan. 5, 1894. 



Fine Weather for the Bees. 



I find the Bee Joukxal a great help to 

 me, and would not do without it as long as 

 I have bees. The weather is fine here at 

 present. The bees were out for a flight for 

 three days at Christmas time. 



Hamilton, Ont. James Somerville. 



Seem to Be Wintering Well. 



The winter here has been a mild one so 

 far, and bees seem to be wintering well. 

 The mercury at no time has been lower 

 than 10 degrees above zero. White clover 

 promises well, and with favorable spring 

 weather we anticipate a good honey crop 

 for the year 1894. F. H. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn., Jan. 1, 1894. 



Farming, Poultry and Bees. 



My bees are wintering well so far. They 

 are quietly humming in the cave. We have 

 had 10 inches of snow this winter so far. I 

 have a 40-acre farm, and had $200 worth of 

 corn, 1200 worth of honey, |135 worth of 

 stock, bees .fl5, and poultry $50. Total, 

 $600. This is what I sold the past year. I 

 was not out any money for hired help. 



Anthon, Iowa. Geo. W. Nance. 



Moving Bees in Winter, Etc. 



Last winter, when the mercury was be- 

 low zero, I moved my 40 colonies of bees 

 from Moberly to this place (4J-^ miles) in a 

 farm wagon, with a foot of straw under 

 them to take the jar ofl". I wrote to the 

 Bee Journal, asking what was thought 

 would be the result, and was told that prob- 

 ably the bees would suffer much damage, 

 and requested me to report results. Well, 

 I am happy to say that every colony was 

 alive and in good condition on March 15th. 



At that time I went to St. Louis and re- 

 mained until in July. The spring turned 

 out to be very cold and wet, and my wife 

 (she and her sister remained in Elliott to 

 attend to the bees) removed the packing 

 too soon, and failed to feed some colonies 

 that needed it, and the consequence was, 

 that when I came back I had 26 colonies in- 

 stead of 46. 



There was an abundance of white clover 

 bloom, but it yielded no nectar, and as it 

 was too cold and wet for the bees to get 



anything from fruit-bloom, they got barely 

 enough from other sources to "keep up 

 running expenses." 



In July I wanted to sell out, and move to 

 St. Louis, but though I offered 26 colonies 

 and an extractor and other supplies for 

 $100, I could And no purchaser, so I con- 

 cluded to stay here and tend to the bees 

 myself. I just pitched in, and by Spanish- 

 needle bloom, I had 23 colonies of Italian 

 bees just booming, and though the bloom 

 only lasted eight days, on account of dry 

 weather, yet I got 810 pounds of magnifi- 

 cent extracted honey, which I let the bees 

 ripen and cap over, and 32 pounds of comb 

 honey. The extracted I sold for 123^ cents, 

 and the comb for 20 cents. The Spanish- 

 needle did not yield well. 



I now (Dec. 15th) have 23 colonies in 

 Heddon hives, with a wooden butter-dish 

 lengthwise across the frames, and 3 inches 

 of dry sawdust above them, and straw 

 packed around the hives, which set 3 inches 

 apart in two rows, back to back, and the 

 whole thing covered with boards. 



I have bought 167 acres of land, and I in- 

 tend next year to attend to my bees and 

 farm it. In season, I shall do nothing but 

 attend to the bees. 



Two years ago, when I first commenced 

 with 60 colonies of bees in Heddon and 

 dovetailed hives, I said through the Bee 

 Journal that I did not like the Heddon 

 hive. I now desire to apologize to Mr. 

 Heddon, and will say that I would not h^ve 

 any other hive on my place. It is easy, 

 quick and convenient to manipulate; the 

 best to move, on account of having shallow 

 combs, and I can contract or expand the 

 brood-nest in half a minute. It is best in 

 every way for both comb and extracted 

 honey. F. H. Richardson. 



Elliott, Mo. 



The Last Season a Poor One. 



The past season was so poor that we are 

 discouraged. My bees set out to do some- 

 thing, but they did well for two or three 

 weeks, and swarmed as long as they could 

 get an ounce of honey. By July 10th they 

 were through. There were then about 100 

 colonies in all, and quite a number left 

 their hives, or died, and I doubled up until 

 I had 68 to put into the cellar. I think they 

 were in good condition for winter. This is 

 my 76th Christmas. A. F. Crosby. 



Sheffield, Iowa, Dec. 25, 1893. 



A Busy Lady Bee-Keeper, 



I will explain how I came to take up the 

 bee work. My husband's health failed, as 

 well as his inclination to attend to the bees, 

 and he has now been confined to his bed 

 since Feb. 10, 1893, with both legs bent up 

 by disease, a hopeless cripple. I have 71 

 colonies of bees, and alone have done all 

 the work about them, as well as the work 

 of the house, for a number of years, but I 

 took time to visit Chicago and the Fair in 

 October. Mrs. O. W. Barker. 



Nunda, N. Y., Dec. 28, 1893. l__J 



