AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



633 



but how to accomplish it was a question 

 hard to answer. 



The next morning I was up " bright and 

 early." I got a small rope, long enough to 

 reach over the limb, tied one end of the 

 rope to an old ram-rod, loaded my shot-gun 

 with powder, and started. 



I shot several times, but it fell short of the 

 mark. I then climbed a tree about 75 feet 

 from the bee-tree, and succeeded in getting 

 the small rope over, after which it was very 

 little trouble to draw a larger one over and 

 climb up. The bees went into the tree just 

 below the fork, so I cut out a portion of 

 the tree and lowered it to the ground. 

 Everything was in splendid shape, and the 

 bees had stored 100 pounds of honey. 



I then subscribed for the American Bee 

 Journal, and I give it the credit of bring- 

 ing my bees through the winter O. K. 



D. A. Holeman:. 



Selkirk, Va., April 7, 1893. 



Backward Season — Heavy Losses. 



The season is backward. My bees were 

 removed from the cellar on April 18th, and 

 since that time they have been active only 

 three or four days. The loss in winter, and 

 up to date, is about 10 per cent. I have 

 seen but little pollen brought in. There 

 was much rain and snow during April, and 

 vegetation is later in starting than usual. 

 The loss of bees is quite heavy in this part 

 of the State. They were wintered generally 

 in cellars, but perhaps too cold ones in some 

 cases. Eugene Secob. 



Forest City, Iowa, May 8, 1893. 



Colonies Came Out Very Strong. 



I started in the winter with 43 colonies. I 

 found one queenless in November, and 

 united it with another, so that left me 40. 

 They have come through all right, and are 

 the strongest this spring that they have 

 been since I have kept bees. I have been in 

 the business for nine years. Bees have been 

 doing well for a month here. The ground 

 is covered with snow this morning. 



Jumping Branch, W. Va., April 33, 1893. 



Wintered Poorly — Black Bees. 



My bees have wintered poorly, and some 

 others have lost heavily, ^ having died in 

 some cases. I have lost 7 out of 23 — 6 Ital- 

 ian colonies and one black. All had plenty 

 of nice honey, and were packed alike in 

 good chaff hives. I think the black bees 

 stand the winter best. The Italians stick 

 to the comb best when handling, are not so 

 cross, and are more inclined to early 

 swarming, but not so hardy. I shall stick 

 to the blacks until the Gulf Stream comes 

 this way again. 



It is a backward spring. It snowed two 

 inches last night, and is still snowing. We 

 have had but few warm days this spring. 

 The colonies of bees are building up very 

 slowly this spring. Why do bees die when 

 packed nice and warm, with plenty of nice 



honey, while others winter nicely in a salt 

 barrel? I suppose Dr. Miller "don't 

 know." A neighbor of mine had one in a 

 barrel, and gave it to me. I transferred it 

 on April 3rd. It was a nice and strong 

 colony of black bees, and had stood exposed 

 all winter. Charles Taret. 



Houghton, N. Y., April 15, 1893. 



New Honey-House— Fine Weather. 



I have just finished a honey-house. It 

 would do you good to see it. I will put it 

 up for comparison with any other honey- 

 house in Tennessee. Of course I will not 

 bore you with a description of it, but it is a 

 " daisy." 



We are having fine spring weather, and 

 bees are building up finely, but will have to 

 " hoove it " to get ready for the honey -flow. 



H. F. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn., April 8, 1893. 



Granulated Sugar that Looked Queer. 



I bought 150 pounds of granulated sugar, 

 supposing it to be the best, and when I came 

 to use it to feed to my bees, I found it was 

 mixed with some sort of a mixture resemb- 

 ling indigo blue. I am afraid to use it, for 

 my family or my bees, until I find out more 

 about it. I think it would not be a bad 

 idea to publish this in the Bee Journal, so 

 as to put all others on their guard, who 

 have to use sugar for the same purpose that 

 I do. Andrew Girard. 



Lin wood, Mich., April 25, 1893. 



Extremely Backward Spring. 



This has been an extremely backward 

 spring, cold and windy nearly all of this 

 month. Ice formed here last night. A 

 part of my bees are still in winter quarters 

 — no trouble in keeping them quiet this 

 spring. Those removed came out in fair 

 condition, and all alive. I hope we shall 

 have some improvement this year, upon the 

 past four poor seasons. 



I have aU of the volumes of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, having purchased the 

 first four, and have been a regular sub- 

 scriber ever since. W. D. Wright. 



Altamont, N. Y., AprU 28, 1893. 



Bees Fared Badly —Chilled Brood. 



Bees left on the summer stands, without 

 protection, fared badly last winter ; about 

 % of all that I have heard of are dead. I 

 had 24 colonies in the cellar, and took them 

 out on March 7th ; they are all in good con- 

 dition at present, and 2 colonies out of 5 

 wintered out-of-doors are dead. The weath- 

 er is very unfavorable for bees at present ; 

 it is cold and rainy, and my bees bring out 

 a good deal of chilled brood. 



Fred Bechlt. 



Searsboro, Iowa, April 30, 1893. 



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