AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



343 



Disastrous Season to Bee-Keepjng. 



The past season has been the most 

 disastrous to bee-keepers, throughout 

 this locality, that they have experienced 

 in 20 years. So far as I can learn, not 

 a pound of surplus honey was gathered, 

 and over 50 per cent, of the bees went 

 into winter quarters short of stores, 

 and notwithstanding the large amount 

 of feeding done, fully 25 per cent, are 

 starving, which, added to the 25 oT 30 

 per cent, losses already sustained from 

 the extreme cold weather, so unusual in 

 this latitude, leaves the majority of bee- 

 keepers very much disgusted, giving the 

 pursuit a blow from which, I fear, it 

 will take many years to recover. 



J. W. Barringek. 



Berryville, Va., Feb. 20, 1893. 



Temperature of the Weather. 



If the following notes can be of any 

 value to the " weather bureau," which 

 was published on page 24 and on page 

 248, I submit them with pleasure from 

 my daily note-book. The temperature 

 was taken each day between 10 and 11 

 a.m. : 



The degree columns 

 exterior temperature 

 of hive ; 3rd, temp, at 

 last frame. 



below denote— 1st, the 

 ; 2nd, temp, in middle 

 the side of hive on the 



The bees were active nearly every 

 day, except during a sudden change. 

 The colony from which the temperatures 

 were taken is on the roof, the hive fac- 

 ing the south, and is at present doing 

 well. (Mrs.) Carrie B. Aaron. 



Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 1, 1893. 



No Flight for 100 Days. 



Last fall I left on the summer stands 

 75 colonies, from which I took 3,000 

 sections of honey the last season, and 

 they started into winter in fine condi- 

 tion. All were in double-walled hives, 

 and well packed, but they have not had 

 a flight for about 100 days, and they 



are getting uneasy now, and I am afraid 

 that they will suffer badly if they do not 

 get a chance to fly pretty soon. Last 

 winter was a very hard one on bees here; 

 I lost from 75 colonies down to 50, and 

 in May and the first of June I thought 

 that we would not get any honey or 

 swarms, but when they did commence to 

 gather honey I never saw them build up 

 faster or store honey more rapidly. 



J. H. Manchester. 

 Preble, N. Y., Feb. 22, 1893. 



Wintering Well— Long, Cold Winter. 



I have 20 colonies of bees in chaff 

 hives, and I think they are wintering 

 well. We have had a long, cold winter. 

 Mrs. S. a. Davenport. 



Roseville, Ills., Feb. 28, 1893. 



■*— ^ — * 



Bees Flying in Winter. 



I put my bees into the cellar on Nov. 

 19, 1892, and there has not been a 

 warm day since. Would it do to let the 

 bees take a flight the first warm day, 

 even if the snow is two feet deep ? or is 

 it better to leave the bees in the cellar 

 until the spring, when the snow is gone? 



John Peterson. 



Weyauwega, Wis., Feb. 7, 1893. 



[Read Dr. Miller's article on page 300 

 of this number of the Bee Journal, 

 which will doubtless help you. — Ed.] 



A Colorado Report — Mongrel Bees. 



Six summers ago I came to this the 

 Uncompagre valley, with 7 colonies of 

 bees, in the month of June. I got 375 

 pounds of comb honey, and 3 swarms. 

 The next spring I started in with 10 

 colonies, increased to 27, and secured 

 2,000 pounds of comb honey. These 

 were the results from black bees. 



The next spring I introduced 2 Ital- 

 ian queens, spread them out " muchly," 

 and obtained an average of 175 pounds. 

 My average gradually fell off to 120 

 pounds, until last year our State only 

 reported one-fourth of a crop, bub my 

 average was 65 pounds. My black bees 

 are still ahead — and I am unable to find 

 any other bee-keeper who has made that 

 average, even where ihey run part of 

 their bees for extracted honey, and have 

 been trying to follow Mr. S. E. Miller's 

 plan of buying queens to improve their 

 stock. Climate and locality may ac- 

 count for the wide difference of opinion 

 on these two races of bees, but what I 



