THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Clinton Co., Ills. — Jan. 21, 1876. — 

 " Yesterday I noticed the ground nearly 

 covered with dead bees in front of one of 

 my September swarms, and on examing 

 them I found that many of them were 

 young bees, some of them almost white, 

 though apparently perfect, but 1 thought 

 they looked very large for worker bees. 

 To-day being pleasant and the bees flying 

 freely I thought T would look into them. 

 They are in an old box hive of about 2,000 

 cubic Inches (I had run short of frame 

 hives) about three-fourths full of comb. 

 I turned up the hive and smoked the bees ; 

 to my surprise the drones began to fly out 

 quite lively and from what I could dis- 

 cover, the foul center combs appear to 

 have been full of drones for several inches 

 in height, and there are a good many yet 

 in the worker cells. I could not discover 

 a drone cell in the hive. There are plenty 

 of worker bees, and honey enough to last 

 them till spring if they drive out the 

 drones which they appear to be doing 

 pretty fast. There has not been a week at 

 a time this season that my bees have not 

 been flying, and some of them have carried 

 in loads half the day, the one spoken of 

 above, being among the busiest. I think 

 some of the old hives have not taken in 

 anything though flying as lively as those 

 that do." C. T. Smith. 



Columbia, Tenn. — Jan. 21st, 1876. — 

 " We made an examination of our hives 

 to-day, found they all had plenty of stores, 

 and a large majority of the queens laying. 

 Our Dadant queen had sealed brood, so 

 we will have young bees in a few days. 

 Every mail is bringing us letters inquiring 

 how soon we can furnish queens. We 

 will have new queens by April 1st, or 

 sooner. These letters are called forth by 

 our advertisement, as we have not sent out 

 any circulars, except in response to cor- 

 respondents." Staples & Andrews. 



Boone Co. Mo.— Feb. 12, 1876.—" Bees 

 safely on their summer stands ; 120 colo- 

 nies all in perfect health ; combs as bright 

 as the day they were housed ; without the 

 loss of a single colony; fewer bees lost 

 during their first flight than ever before." 

 E. C. L. Larch. 



MiLLEDGEViLLE, III. — Jan. 17, 1876. — 

 "We received the chromo all right. It 

 more than met our expectations. It is 

 simply beautiful. We never saw such a 

 good present given to a single subscriber 

 to any paper. Our bees (35 stocks) are 

 wintering well, so far. We put them in 

 the cellar Oct. ^9, about four or five weeks 

 earlier than ever before. By the way, we 

 have been reading the proceedings of 

 Michigan Beekeepers' Society. A paper 

 was there read from Mr. A. Salisbury, 

 which I would be glad to see publislied 

 in the A. B. J." F. A. Snell. 



[We will publish it if the Secy, or Mr. 

 S. will forward it.] Publisher. 



Barnes' Corners, N.J. — Feb. 5, 1876. 

 — "We had but 15 colonies, last spring, left 

 from 41 put into winter quarters, and 12 

 of these died before June 10th, leaving 

 but three swarms — one very weak. They 

 did not starve; and I attributed their de- 

 mise to the late honey gathered. Perhaps 

 they did not cap it, and that may have 

 been the cause. They were wintered in a 

 building used for several years for that 

 purpose. It is a double walled brick, 

 filled in with sawdust. The last season 

 was a poor one." A. S. Lucas. 



SanPatrico Co., Texas.— Jan. 18, 1876. 

 — To-day, my bees are gathering pollen 

 and honey. Only three light frosts this 

 winter, so far. This, though, is not usual 

 at this season, even here. I am a little 

 South of28c N. latitude. 



John W. Baylor. 



Peoria Co., III.— Jan. 3, 1876.—" My 

 Italians were at work on Jan. 1st, very 

 busy; all day they came in loaded down, 

 very often being unable to reach the hive 

 from sheer exhaustion. I watched them 

 for a long time, and saw dozens of them 

 drop into the grass within a rod or two of 

 the hive, and on going to them, found 

 that they invariably got up and went for 

 the hive lively after a minute or so of rest. 

 Thej^ appeared a third larger on their re- 

 turn to the hive than when they started 

 out. There is a grove of willows about 

 a half mile distant, to the northeast of my 

 place, and as they invariably came and 

 went in that direction, I imagined that the 

 past week of very warm weather had 

 opened them a pasture in that grove. Isn't 

 it very unusual for bees to find anything 

 to work on, or to have a disposition to 

 work at this season of the year ? 



Geo. M. Piper. 



Trumbull Co., Ohio.— Jan. 20, 1876.— 

 I have made a pair of scales for weighing 

 honejs hives, etc., on the plan of grocer's 

 tea scales; length of beam 30 inches, 

 made out of two pieces of old buggy 

 springs. I intend to use them to set a 

 hive on next season, so as to tell at any 

 time whether they are gaining or losing. 

 The scale can be balanced by bricks, 

 stones or anything else. One set of 

 weights, from a 4 lb. to 1 oz. will be 

 enough, or balance the hive on the scales 

 and hang over a small spring balance 

 attached to the hive, which will give 

 the amount gained. I am now making a 

 pair all wood, except the centres, which 

 are steel, that can be made for 25 cents. 

 Any one that can make a hive could make 

 a pair of scales. I could make the cen- 

 tres, if desired. If I thought scales would 

 sell, I would get up patterns and make a 

 good scale for weighing hives or honey. I 

 coax Italian bees to work in boxes by 

 sticking a piece of comb on the bottom of 

 the box, and the bees will work up. Try 



it. J. WiNFIELD. 



