THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



195 



Voices from Anions the Hives. 



D. H. Ogden, Wooster, O., writes: 

 " liees in this section me not generally 

 doing well. There is neither honey nor 

 increase. About May 1st, 1874, had seven 

 weak colonies, but by Sept. 1st they had 

 increased to thirty-two strong colonies. 

 ]\[y hives were of the old style King pat- 

 tern. I also got 40 fts. of nice box 

 honey. About Nov. 1st, I packed straw 

 around them and covered them, to winter 

 them on the summer stands. It became 

 cold immediately, and I did not see an- 

 other bee until the end of January, 1875. 

 Then, on a warm afternoon, I opened the 

 tops of the hives to make egress easy, 

 and they had a good tly. From then un- 

 til March 10th they were covered up 

 again. I then took away the straw, 

 opened the hives and cleaned them all 

 out, and didn't lose a bee. I now have 

 21 strong colonies, the new ones in ten- 

 frame hives (123^x1413). They are now 

 nearly all filled. If my bees had not 

 been strong in the spring, I should have 

 had no increase. When I opened them 

 in March they had from seven to eight 

 cards full of brood, and the hives full of 

 bees too. The fruit was nearly all killed 

 b}' the frost, and there was no bloom till 

 white clover came, of which there was a 

 fair crop. My bees have done very well 

 considering the season. If the white clo- 

 ver lasts some time yet, I shall get con- 

 siderable box hone}'. I divide my bees 

 by taking from three lo four cards (with 

 bees on) out of the old hive and put them 

 into the new; I then set the new hive 

 where the old one stood, which I remove 

 some distance away (not less than four 

 feet). Of course I give the new one a 

 queen, and they always do well and pros- 

 per." August 2, 1875. 



William Reynolds, Boliver, Pa., 

 writes : In The National Bee Journal 

 for 1874, page 162, is an article, headed 

 " Bees or Hornets," from J. F. Rodgers. 

 My experience is similar, and it is this: 

 I received my queen from Col. Leffell, 

 Springfield, Ohio. She raised drones, the 

 greater part with white eyes and reddish 

 colored liead. I have still raised all my 

 queens from that strain and my experience 

 is this: Every hive in my apiary (some 

 fifty odd) has about one half of this kind 

 of drones. They are the finest colored 

 drones I ever saw, but they are stone blind ; 

 not one of the white heads that issues forth 

 ever finds its way back again. The other 

 half that have heads of natural color are 

 all right, fly in and out regularly, and 

 are in every respect complete. This shows 

 me that it is the breed, and that they are 

 of a superior breed too. This dropping off 

 of the blind drones prevents the hives 

 from being so full of drones as they other- 

 wise would be, and suits where bee keep- 

 ers are too careless to regulate their drone 



combs. From my experience I would 

 recommend every bee keeper to propagate 

 this strain of queens. Every queen I have 

 reared from this one, shows this feature 

 in the drone progeny." — July 20, 1875. 



G. E. CoRBiN, St. Johns, Mich., writes: 

 "On page 184 of your valuable Journal 

 for this month, a correspondent from 

 West Chester, Pa., essays 'o enlighten its 

 readers. I quote: "Bees are very pro- 

 lific, hatching out a brood every nine 

 days, from early spring until late in the 

 fall," etc. ..." The first hatching 

 in the spring is from eggs laid late in 

 the fall, which are protected in such a 

 manner as not to allow them to hatch un- 

 til new pollen is to be had." .... 

 "There are but two classes of bees, male 

 and female. . . . They, would all be 

 of one class if the cells were all made of 

 one size and shape; their disparity in 

 size makes the difference." Is an insane 

 asylum located at West Chester, Pa. ? It 

 does not matter, however. I, for one, am 

 willing to contribute to have the bees 

 spoken of sent to the nearest asylum, 

 wherever that may be." — August 3, 1875. 



Paul Viallon, Bayou Goula, La. — 

 "This season has been one of the best for 

 several years. From the 1st of April to 

 the 15th of July, I have made three new 

 colonies from nearly every old one. I have 

 extracted an average of 50 lbs. of clover 

 honey from each ; and from the few I did 

 not divide, I extracted an average of 140 

 lbs. each and expect as much from all 

 in September and October, from Golden 

 Rod and Boneset. I took a first natural 

 swarm on the 29th of March, which has 

 filled its hive (20 frame hive New Idea 

 plan) and has given a swarm, which has 

 also filled its hive, and both have been ex- 

 tracted several times. They are our na- 

 tive bees. So far I cannot see much 

 superiority in the Italian bees over our 

 native grey bees. We have two kinds of 

 bees here — the grey and the black. The 

 last named are smaller, and really worth 

 nothing in comparison to the others." — 

 Aug. 4th, 1875. 



Joseph Clizbe, Woodbine, Iowa, 

 writes: "I commenced the spring of 

 1874 with 13 stands in movable comb hives. 

 Increased by artificial swarming to 20 

 stands. I put them in a cellar 20x26 feet, 

 left them in care of an agent and went 

 East on a visit. The house over the cel- 

 lar had no fire in it, consequently the 

 cold and daiup chilled the bees, and they 

 all died except five stands that I took 

 out in March. Two of those were queen- 

 less; so I doubled them up into the other 

 three hives, and from them I have made 

 seven new stands. Having now ten 

 stands (mostly Italians) I extracted 75 Bjs. 

 of honey, and may extract some more, 

 but not much, perhaps, as I want them to 

 go into the cellar with abundant supplies. 



