AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



55 



Though we had an abundance of fruit 

 and white clover bloom, my bees did not 

 store any surplus white honey until 

 after harvest, and then got but about 

 1,500 pounds. The fall flow was much 

 better. My entire crop for the season 

 amounted to about 4,000 pounds. 



Swarming was fair for the desperately 

 poor season. I increased the number to 

 150 colonies, but in the fall united the 

 weaker with the stronger, to the number 

 of 125 colonies, and this is the way I 

 did it : 



I use the Heddon eight-frame Lang- 

 stroth hive. With an extension-bit and 

 brace I bored a 1}4 inch hole in the bot- 

 tom of an empty hive, then placed it on 

 the colony I wished to unite the bees 

 with, having first removed the surplus 

 cases, and placing a queen excluder on 

 the brood-chamber. I use in all my 

 uniting of bees, and introducing of 

 queens, whether they be virgins or fertile 

 queens, green or fresh catnip leaves, 

 placed over the wood in the fire-box of 

 my Bingham bee-smoker. It is the best 

 and most convenient means I ever used. 

 Daniel Whitmeb. 



South Bend, Ind., Dec. 20, 1892. 



A Poor and a Sad Report. 



My report for the past year is the 

 poorest one I ever made. In the fall of 

 1889 I put into the cellar 110 colonies, 

 and by the next spring I only lost one. 

 In the fall of 18901 put in 120 colonies, 

 and only lost 2 by the next spring, and 

 the rest were all in good condition. I 

 obtained 8,000 pounds of honey, and in 

 the fall of 1891 I put into the cellar 

 130 colonies. The next spring, when I 

 took them out of the cellar, some were 

 dead, and the rest dwindled down to 75 

 by the time they could get enough to 

 live on. They have now increased to 

 95, and because I prevented swarming 

 this year, I secured about 200 pounds 

 of honey. It was a very poor season in 

 my location. They gathered just about 

 enough to keep the queen laying, but 

 the bees are in good condition now, and 

 I live in hopes of better things next year. 



The reader of this report will properly 

 call it a heavy loss, and so did I until 

 Aug. 27, 1892. Since that date I have 

 learned that heavier losses can occur 

 than the foregoing ; for on the above 

 date I lost my only daughter — Lydia 

 Koehler. She died with diphtheria, at 

 the age of about 10 years. One hour 

 before she left us, she prayed to God to 

 leave her with her papa and mamma 

 and her brothers ; still the Great Shep- 



herd took her away from us to a better 

 land, where the storms of this life will 

 never reach her any more, and where 

 all diseases are unknown — to a home in 

 Heaven. What a joyful thought. * 



A home in heaven ! where our friends are 



fled 

 To the cheerless gloom of the mouldering 



dead, 

 We wait in hope of the promise given ; 

 We will meet up there, in our home in heaven. 



Louis C. Koehlek. 

 Tisch Mills, Wis., Dec. 20, 1892. 



[Dear friend, the latter part of your 

 letter is indeed a sad report, and yet 

 what great satisfaction is in the thought 

 that your beloved Lydia is at home and 

 at rest forever. Our prayer is that the 

 Great Comforter of all the sorrowing 

 and bereaved may be your constant sup- 

 port in this time of your sadness and 

 distress. May you all so live as t© some 

 day meet your little " guardian angel " 

 in that better and brighter home beyond 

 earth's cares and sorrows. — Ed.] 



Bees Did Better than Ever. 



My bees did better this year than they 

 ever did in the years I have kept them. 

 I had 10 colonies, spring count, and 5 

 swarms during the season. They were 

 late in swarming, and only one of the 

 swarms stored any surplus honey. The 

 average, per hive, was 25 pounds, 

 spring count. My hives were all in good 

 order, and worked like a charm. 



I winter my bees on the summer 

 stands. I have cases outside of the hive 

 that takes 33^ inches of chaff over the 

 top, with some loose, porous cloth that 

 will keep the dirt out. Then I put six 

 inches of chaff on the top, or grass cut 

 with a lawn mower. I don't believe my 

 bees had over 15 pounds of honey each 

 last winter. They had never stored 

 much honey, and I did not care whether 

 they lived or died, but they came through 

 all right, and did better than ever before. 

 Telah C. Whiting. 



Athens, N. Y., Dec. 23, 1892. 



Wintering on Honey-Dew, Etc. 



The past two seasons have been very 

 discouraging for bee-keepers in this 

 county. I did not get a pound of white 

 honey. The crop of white clover (which 

 is our only source for white honey) was 

 rather short, but what there was did 

 not seem to have any attraction for the 



