194 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of my experience in bee-culture. I first 

 bouglit a stand of bees of my sister. I 

 paid 6 dollars for it. It was money got 

 by trapping, when I was a lad. They 

 died the next winter. The next, I worked 

 with my father in his apiary and he gave 

 me two swarms for helping him ; these 

 I kept; the\' increased to five and 

 winter-killed the next winter. I am trying 

 very hard again. I understand but very 

 little as yet about them. I use the Quin- 

 by hive and the American too ; I like the 

 latter the best." Ed. J. Hill. 



[Better use only one kind of hive. It 

 is easier to settle upon one kind now 

 than to change when the number is 

 greater. — Ed.] 



Franklin Co., N. Y.— "I put 15 

 swarms of black bees in my cellar Nov. 

 4th, 1875, and took them out April 15th, 

 1876, all in good condition, and strong in 

 bees. My cellar is dry. I kept it dark, 

 temperature 37o to 40o ; they were in the 

 old fashioned 8 frame Quinby hive. I 

 made 15 new Langstroth hives this spring 

 and transferred my bees and comb into 

 them two weeks ago. If I was capable 

 of writing for the American Bee Jour- 

 nal I would state how I did it. It is sim- 

 ple and easy ; it took me about fifteen 

 hours. I worked hat ofl" and shirt-sleeves 

 rolled up; did not get stung; used a little 

 smoke, applied with the Quinby smoker. 

 I intend to Italianize all my bees this 

 summer; that prince of good fellows, Mr. 

 J. P. Moore, of Binghamton, N. Y. prom- 

 ises to instruct me." 



Clement McDermott. 



[Tell us how you transferred if your 

 plan is new, by all means. Also, why do 

 you transfer from Quinby to Langstroth 

 hives ? — Ed.] 



Henry Co., lowA.-May 24, 1876.-"See- 

 ing no uew9 in your valuable Journal, 

 from Henry Co., I hasten to tell you of the 

 favorable and most promising season that 

 has just opened within the last few days. 

 Although the wind blows, it does not stop 

 the busy little workers from performing 

 their daily labor, which the God of Na- 

 ture hath made for their skillful talents to 

 complete. Fruit trees are in full bloom. 

 There is a good prospect of having abun- 

 dance of fruit. Father says he never saw 

 bees make so much honey from the bloom 

 as they are making thfs spring. We could 

 begin extracting now, but father ihinks 

 he will put boxes on most of the hives. 

 Is everybody so particular as my father, 

 I wonder? Every spring he scrapes, sand- 

 papers and washes the bee-hives (with my 

 help) and puts every swarm into clean 

 hives. Is it any use to be so particular? 

 Will we liavc any better success? Father 

 lias never had as good luck as some. Our 

 bees are all Italians. Some are preparing 



to swarm. Our bees all lived through last 

 winter. We put some in clean hives yes- 

 terday and found one to be queenless. 

 Some are preparing to swarm. Father 

 has twenty-six swarms and I have five. I 

 am as yet a beginner. Wheat and oats 

 are all sown, but not much corn is planted 

 yet." Miss L. J. Noble. 



Jasper Co. Iowa. — "It seems foolish to 

 hear so much about the different methods 

 of wintering bees. That matter is settled 

 with us, since we have wintered bees, for 

 tlie last three winters, on the summer 

 stands with perfect satisfaction, in Finn's 

 porous double-walled bee-hive. Our 

 neighbors that are using this hive are 

 equally as well pleased as ourselves. All 

 we have to do is to see that they have 

 stores in the fall, and put on the chaff-box 

 well filled with chaff." 



Mrs. a. D. Keyes. 



HopKiNsviLLE, Ky.— May 10, 1876.— "I 

 wintered 18 hives — all came through safe 

 and sound. All wintered on summer 

 stands with no protection at all ; one, a nu- 

 cleus of 3 frames only. Last season was 

 very bad for honey in this part of the state 

 but I had enough and to spare ; while most 

 others who keep bees in box hives had 

 none. I had about 400 lbs which sells for 

 25c and 30c. Have had two swarms this 

 season, all doing well. I want some infor- 

 mation about one of my queens. She is 

 fine and healthy looking, and lays an 

 abundance of eggs, but none of them ma- 

 ture. B«es seem to be trying to make 

 drones out of them, and try to rear 

 brood from them, but none mature. Of- 

 ten 3 or 4 eggs in one cell ; what is the 

 matter? I have broken the colonj- up and 

 keep Tier in an observing hive to find out, 

 if I can, something about her. I send two 

 dollars to pay for Journal. Can't get 

 along without it." R. M. Anderson. 



Henderson Co., N. C— April 6th, 1876. 

 — "We had the most wonderful honey dew 

 ever known in Rutherford and Polk coun- 

 ties, N. C. about 20 miles from where I 

 live, in the month of January. Bees got 

 wonderfully rich; the people robbed 

 their bees to the cross sticks in the log 

 gum, and in two weeks they robbed again. 

 I was told by a reliable man that the 

 honey dew was dripping from the pine 

 trees. My bees are doing well, so far; 

 my first drones were fiying on the 4th, 

 two days ago. We had "a heavy fall of 

 sleet and snow on the 19th of March, to 

 depth of 12 inches, that killed all the 

 peach and maple blooms, which put the 

 bees back considerably." 



Robert T. Jones. 



Marshall Co., Kansas. — "Last spring 

 1 started with 6 stands of bees, five black 

 or mostly hybrids. They increased to 13 



