THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



99 



ever lost so good an opportunity of 

 ving the best "way of eomuieting sucli 



I nev( 



show „ 



controversies as we deem necessary in 



defence of our rights. 



About two vears ago I itersonally express- 

 ed to Mr. II. A. King, my regret tor the in- 

 vidious comparisons in wliieli 1 liad indulg- 

 ed, and my intention of witiidrawing tlieni 

 as publiclV as tiiey were made. Able again 

 to use niy"pt''i. I 'ii" "hid to carry out this 

 intentit)n. If my example has encouraged 

 llie acrimoniousness with Avhich (lucstions 

 liavebeen discnsed. and controversies car- 

 Tied on amoim American Bee Keepers, I 

 hope this ])crsonai may contribute some- 

 Avhat to soften such needless asperities. 



April 2ord, 1875. L. L. Langstkotii. 



Voices from Amono: the Hives. 



n. GooDLAXDER, Leesbiu'g, Ind, writes : 

 " Bees can be wintered just as safely, and 

 more easily than any other stock. The ma- 

 terial front wiiich a hi\e is made, has a 

 great inlluence on thehealtli of the bee." 



Er.iAS Hershey, Leaman Place, Pa., 

 writes; " I wintered 27 stands out of doors, 

 ■without protection, except blankets on top 

 of frames, and they all came out strong, and 

 are ready for work as soon as the blossoms 

 come." 



R. R. MrEPHY, Fulton, 111., writes ; 

 " About March 2()th, some one sent me a reg 

 istered letter, but the Post "Office was bur- 

 glarized on the 25th. The safe blown open, 

 and the building fired. Nothing was saved. 

 This is the reason why I have not been able 

 to answer that letter." 



.Toiix DivEKEY, Aurora, III., writes ; " I 

 put my bees — i:^swarms— in abasenu^ut on 

 the loth of Nov. They came out all strong 

 •and healthy about the middle of March with- 

 out loss. They had no llightfor4 months. 

 They were carrying natural Pollen on the 

 4th of April. The winter here was very se- 

 vere, but the opening of Spring is exceed- 

 ingly favorable. Long may your valuable 

 Bee Journal live and prosper." 



Dr. N. P. Allen, Smith's Grove, Ky., 

 writes; " I have succeeded in wintering 

 my bees in Langstroth hive on suunner 

 stands without losing a single stock. My 

 bees are in fine couditinii and have beeii 

 gathering from the fruit blossoms for the 

 last week. I had eleven in top story, one 

 Aveek ago. I have four new idea hives. I 

 like them very much. I see by the Journal 

 that they are'not so regarded by some, but 

 my experience is that we can raise more 

 bees by inserting empty comb in tiie center 

 of brood-nest. Can eidarge the broofl-uest 

 to double the size, it is ordinary, and that 

 they will come out in the spring witii more 

 bees than the Langstroth hive, and witii 

 more honey. I ho])e to be able to make a 

 good report of this season's operations." 



H. M. Noble, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 

 writes: ''My bees have wintered better 

 than for the ])ast three winters. I had 20 

 swarms last fall. I put 5 of the poorest in 

 a cave and one died. I i>ut 15 in the cellar, 

 fl,nd as some of them got the dysentery I 

 nuide a box 3,1^ ft long and i)ut a wiiulow 

 sash in one end, and out' (Ml the top, leaving 

 one of the sash that 1 could open so that I 



could put my arms in and takft off the quilt 

 or honey board, i took some of the frames 

 out and set them on the out side of the hive 

 and cleaned out tin; dead bees. itc. The 

 most of my bees came through the winter 

 liealthy. Igotaipicen one year ago last 

 Julv; said to be from an imjiorteil mother. 

 I think she is a regular Kgy|>lian from what 

 I have read about them. I'hcy have the 

 grit; they work well, breed well, and sting 

 like a delnon." 



.Jas. B. Wilsox, Des Moines, Iowa writes: 

 "The winter that has just passed, has been 

 a verv hard one in Iowa. 1 had 4 colonies 

 of bees to go into winter quarters last fall. 

 My bees have been on their summer stands 

 for the past 4 winters, audi have not lost 

 any by disease or freezing, during that time. 

 During the winter, any day that the sun 

 shined or was a little warmer than other 

 days, thev would flv out as in summer. 



1 have not had to feed them this winter or 

 spring, as they laid up enough feed in the 

 lower combs for their own use during the 

 whole winter. I have used the "FinnPorus 

 Wall Hive," ever since I commenced keej)- 

 ing bees. 1 am not afraid to recommend it 

 to apiarians, as the only one that their bees 

 can be safe in, during the summer or winter. 

 Eace colony is so strong in the spring and 

 summer that moths or robbers dare not ven- 

 ture near them." 



Wm. H. S. Gkout. Poland Center, N. Y., 

 writes :— '"The following is what I have 

 done the past season with five, 32 (Kidder) 

 frame Gallup hives and Italian bees : 



Average yield per hi e, 268 2-5 E>8. 



I think the Gallup hive is just the thing to 

 work bees in, for extracted honey. It is 

 more convenient than two-story hives, and I 

 tliink will yield better. When yon get all 

 the light honey, you have swarms that will 

 gather enough fall honey to winter on, and 

 strong enough to winter on their summer 

 stands. At ' least that is my experience. 

 Mine having gathered enough for winter for 

 the past three years. The supply is princi- 

 pally from smart-wce<l. The long hives are 

 7iot ■humbug, practically, if my experience 

 amounts to'auything ; and I believe that I 

 can get more honey from them than I can 

 from the same number- of coml>s in small 

 hives. If 'Eccentric' will try them in a 

 good season he may think better of them, 

 and conclude that they are not such a hum- 

 bug after all. lie shouhl remember that 

 strong swarms gallicr the honey, and stand 

 a better chance to winter than if they were 

 divided up." 



Ed. Wellixotox, Ilivertown, Iowa, 

 writes :— "Our long and severe winter is 

 now past. The l)ee-keeper now knows how 

 many of his stocks of bees has been con- 

 sumed bv it. I came out better with 

 mine than I expected, and as good as the 



