250 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



don't care how many may make sugges- 

 tions — I will gladly listen to all. 



Yes ; I hear some one making this sug- 

 gestion: "Sell your bees at New Sedalia 

 and buy bees at Shawanee." Well, that 

 would do very well if it suited me, but the 

 fact is it doesn't exactly suit me at this time. 

 I have four queens that I bought last 

 spring, that I wouldn't give for half the 

 bees in five miles of this place, and there 

 are a good many bees around here, too. 

 Another reason it don't suit me, I have my 

 bees fixed up in a style that suits me, and I 

 don't want to have to commence anew. Let 

 me hear from several through the Bee 

 Journal. C. H. Coleman. 



Shawanee, Tenn., Feb. 8. 



Methods of Cellar-Wintering. 



My first plan was top ventilation with ab- 

 sorbents to receive the moisture. My sec- 

 ond was tight tops with 3-inch ventilation 

 at the bottom. My third was to cover the 

 bottom of the cellar with leaves, and tier 

 up just as I took the hives from the yard, 

 leaving the entrance wide open. I have 

 lost but two colonies in five winters, both 

 the result of neglect. I have now 109 colo- 

 nies in the cellar, tiered five high, just as I 

 took them from the yard. Probably two 

 quarts would cover the amount of dead 

 bees in my cellar up to date. 



I am satisfied with this last method, and 

 will experiment no further. 



John B. Black. 



Pattonsburg, Mo., Jan. 36. 



Cold "Weather — Basswood and Clover. 



As I write sitting by the fireside with 

 plenty of good dry wood for fuel, we man- 

 . age to keep warm. We bundle up well 

 when we go out, for we are now having 

 very severe cold weather— 10 to 25 degrees 

 below zero, with plenty of snow for good 

 sleighing. 



The bees are in the cellar (60 colonies) , 

 and are, to all appearances, wintering well. 

 They have good supplies of nice basswood 

 and clover honey for food, for we are in 

 one of the best localities for basswood and 

 clover honey there is. I think I can safely 

 say that I have taken nine pounds of clover 

 and basswood honey to one of any other 

 sort during the last ten years. 



A. C. Sanford. 



Ono, Wis., Jan. 34. 



Bees Wintering Well So Far. 



Bees are in good condition, and are win- 

 tering well so far. I have packed seven 

 hives with chaff, and the rest are without 

 protection. The winter up to Jan. Ibth was 

 very mild and warm, and there were but 

 few days that the bees could not fly. The 

 first rain we had since July 13th, to amount 

 to anything, fell on Jan. lyth and 30th; it 

 was the longest drouth we had for many 

 years. Cisterns, ponds and creeks were 

 almost all dry. January 34th and 25th were 

 the coldest days we have had so far, the 



mercury on Jan. 34th was 15 degrees below 

 zero, and 12 degrees below on the 34th. 



Like Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, of Flint, 

 Mich.. I am interested in photography. So 

 I got a small camera and outfit this winter, 

 and am now learning how to take photo- 

 graphs. Bee-keeping and photography are 

 good enough for me. 



The Bee Journal is indeed a very fine 

 paper, and all progressive bee-keepers 

 should read it. Frank N. Blank. 



Prairie Home, Mo., Jan. 37. 



Had No Bees to Gather the Nectar. 



Bees are wintering well, and are very- 

 quiet in the cellar, with plenty of honey. 

 The honey crop would have been very large 

 the last season if we had had the bees to 

 gather the nectar, but during the cold and 

 wet month of May, almost all the colonies 

 were killed, leaving a good many with no 

 bees at all. It was the worst spring I have 

 had in the last 33 years. 



Chas. H. Wiele. 



Stoddard, Wis.. Jan. 34. 



Bees in Fine Condition. 



The winter has been exceptionally fine 

 up to date. Day before yesterday (Jaa. 

 17th) the thermometer registered 70 de- 

 grees in the shade, at our apiary a mile 

 south of town. Our bees are in fine condi- 

 tion, on the summer stands. We examined 

 a couple of colonies, and found a patch of 

 sealed brood in one as large as a man's 

 hand, and eggs and larvae in all stages. 



W. J. Cullinan. 



Quincy, Ills., Jan. 18. 



Honey Predictions for Iowa. 



As requested, I wiU give the bee-keepers 

 of Iowa my predictions of the white honey- 

 flow for this year, from linden and white 

 clover. The flow won't be as good as last 

 year. It will be better in the eastern part 

 of the State, as a general thing. The worst 

 failure will be in the extreme southwestern 

 part. Let all bee-keepers watch, and see 

 how close I hit it. 



By the way. I would like to know how 

 " Coon Rapids " got along in getting honey 

 last year. He said he would get 100 pounds, 

 if my predictions hit as well as they did the 

 year before. I would like to hear from Mr. 

 Johnson. Sam Wilson. 



Cosby, Tenn.. Feb. 9. 



Best Crop of Honey They Ever Had. 

 Our bees were in good condition on Jan. 

 30th. They had a good cleansing flight. 

 We had 6 colonies, then 3 swarms came to 

 us last summer, and they went into the 

 hives as nicely as could be, and then went 

 to work with a good will. The crop of 

 honey was the best last year we ever had. 

 My wife takes great interest in the bees 

 with me. We run a small fruit farm, and 

 think the bees do much to help fertilize the 



