AMERICAN BKJi JOURNAL. 



537 



^P~ Do not write anything for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper witn business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Prosperous Season Looked For. 



Bees here have wintered well on the sum- 

 mer stands, and everything looks favorable 

 for a prosperous season. 



Lester L. Price. 



Odell, Nebr., April 10. 



Bees Doing' Well. 



My bees are doing well. They came 

 through the winter all right, with plenty 

 of bees. They are now on the summer 

 stands. Not many bees died in a colony 

 the past winter. Herman F. Harris. 



Meriden, 111., April 9. 



Did Well on Orange Bloom. 



Bees have done extra well on orange 

 bloom. The colony on scales recorded 82 

 pounds from that source. Saw-palmetto 

 blooms in May and June, and is usually 

 much better. Jesse Oren, M. L). 



Daytona, Fla., April 9. 



Wintered Well — Early Spring. 



Bees have wintered very well in this sec- 

 tion, as far as I know, but I think the worst 

 is yet to come, and, in fact, is here already, 

 it being cold and wintry. On the morning 

 of the 27th it was only 10 degrees above 

 zero. 



1 winter my bees in the cellar, and prefer 

 that to any other way, having tried many 

 ways and plans in wintering. I put the 

 bees in the last of November, as I usually 

 do. 120 colonies, and took out 115, having 

 lost .5 in consequence of moving them some 

 distance last fall. I shall unite the weak 

 colonies, as I am doing already. I do so 

 both fall and spring, consequently I have 

 no small colonies to fuss with. 



Our bees commenced work the 18th — the 

 same day I finished putting them out — 

 about one month earlier than usual. I 

 think it no advantage, however, for all 

 blossoms that were out are spoiled, and 

 others that were forward are damaged 

 also. My bees' came out strong and in good 

 condition. I have as good a strain of bees 

 for business as can be found in this section, 



as I have been improving them for several 

 years. 



I dispose of about half of piy bees every 

 spring, as there is no one to care for them, 

 only my wife and self, and we are well 

 along in years. I do all the out-door work, 

 handling" the hives, etc., and my wife pre- 

 pares the sections, fixtures, and attends to 

 the honey as it is brought in. Our honey 

 crop last season was light, in consequence 

 of the. severe drouth. There was no honey 

 of any consequence after the forepart of 

 July. We hope for a longer and better 

 season the present year, and although cold 

 now, the prospect is quite favorable. 



H. F. Newton. 



Whitney's Crossing, N. Y., March 28. 



The Killing Blizzard in the South. 



Brother Brown's article, from Augusta, 

 Ga., is all right in the fact of the immense 

 damage done to vegetation, fruit-bloom, 

 etc., and the loss that will occur to bee- 

 keepers if the colonies are not fed. Indeed, 

 this killing blizzard was truly death to the 

 flowers. Here in my section, we may have 

 a few grapes from latest buds, and perhaps 

 persimmons, but that is about all, and our 

 outlook is dreary. J. W. Wright. 



Bowling Green, Ky., April 14. 



Hoping for a Good Season. 



The last season was a poor one for honey 

 here, but we have had a mild winter, and 

 very little snow. My bees wintered very 

 well. I hope we will have a good honey 

 season this year. 



I like the Bee Journal very much. I 

 like to read the contents of the letter-box. 



What has become of " The Stinger ?" 

 G. W. Mitchell. 



Union City, Tenn., March 24. 



["The Stinger" is too busy now to 

 "Sting," and, besides, our space is now too 

 limited to even hold all the " honey " that 

 " flows " in byway of practical informa- 

 tion, that will likely keep without any 

 "formic acid" applied by The Sting-er ! — 

 Editor.] 



Management of Swarms. 



Bees wintered well here — what was left. 

 The would-be bee-keepers were all swept 

 away during the last three poor seasons. 

 Farmers' honey is a scarce article. 



On page 408, Mr. Lathrop gives his 

 method of managing swarms with the 

 queen's wings clipped. When the swarm 

 issues he catches the queen and places her 

 in a new hive filled with empty combs, on 

 the old stand, and puts the old hive on a 

 new stand. 1 do not think his plan is prac- 

 tical if you have more than one hive, and 

 then only In a honey -flow in large apiaries. 

 A dozen swarms may issue at one time, 

 then you would need to have a swarming- 



