862 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



May 



ed \cry ixiorly. I am the only person in this place 

 who has the movable-frame hive. F. E. Brown. 

 Brimfleld, Mass.. Apr. 16, !888. 



PACKED VERSUS UNPACKED COLONIES. 



Colonies that were packed on summer stands 

 came out in fine condition. About 9.5 per cent are 

 alive yet in this neighborhood. Those that had no 

 winter protection, about tiO per cent are dead. 



Jacob Rannel. 



Sherwood, Defiance Co., O., Apr. 13, 1888. 



LCST only one. 



Apple-trees are in blossom, and bees are in g-ood 

 shape; loss during winter, verj' light. I have lost 

 only one out of 36. It was a 3-frame nucleus. They 

 wintered in the yard on summer stands. Honey is 

 in good demand now since the supply has been con- 

 sumed. I like the idea of getting up apiarian sta- 

 tistics, and will gladly aid so far as 1 may be able, if 

 necessary. S. L. Greek. 



Disco, Tenn., April 3, 1888. 



LOSS BUT a%. 



I put away 31 swarms last Nov. T put them in 

 the cellar on the 31st, and took them out the last day 

 of March, all healthy and strong, with the e.vcep- 

 tion of one. Bees have wintered well in this locali- 

 ty. 1 do not think we have lost 5'/ , although we 

 had the hardest winter I ever saw. It was as cold 

 as 46 below zero; and I tell you, 1 don't want to see 

 it any colder than that. The prospect is fair for a 

 fair crop, but we shall get but little white clover, 

 as we have had two years of drought, and it has al- 

 most killed the clover. C. V. M.\in. 



Boscobel, Wis., Apr. 11, 1888. 



ENCOlTR.\QING. 



Even to my surprise, my bees commenced to 

 swarm on the 11th Inst., which is nearly a month 

 ahead of their usual habits. They are pure Italians 

 in improved 8-frame " lawn " bee-hives. I find they 

 are full of bees, brood, and new honey; and they 

 have been just booming on the fruit-tree bloom for 

 the past two weeks, and drones are Hying lively. 



I have just laid out and seeded with white clover 

 a new apiary for over 100 colonies. Between each 

 bench of three hives 1 have planted a small cedar, 

 which they have already begun to utilize for swarm- 

 ing purposes. This season has opened with good 

 prospects. J. C. Frisbee. 



Suffolk, Va., Apr. 14, 1888. 



130 WINTERED, WITHOUT THE LOSS OF ONE. 



I have wintered 130 hives of bees without the loss 

 of even one; 31 were outdoors, packed in chaff, 99 

 in the cellar. This is the third wiuter that I have 

 not lost a swarm, when wintered in the cellar. My 

 bee-cellar is a corner of the house-cellar, partition- 

 ed off with rough boards, and covered with heavy 

 building-paper. It is perfectly tight— no ventila- 

 tion anywhere. The room is 10 x 30, and wjll hold 

 130 hives. I kept the temperature from 4.') to 50°. T 

 govern temperature by opening and closing a 

 dooi-. During the coldest weather it is closed tight. 



THE LOSS IN THIS SECTION. 



It has been quite heavy, and will probably be in- 

 creased before honey comes. One neighbor start- 

 ed with 33, and lost all b>it 4; another, 4 in fall, all 

 gone; another, 13 in fall, 3 left. Nearly all have lost 

 some. I would put the average at 14 loss in this lo- 

 cality. L. D. Gale. 



Stedman, N. Y. 



Bees have wintered well here. I went into win- 

 ter quarters with 5 colonies, and they are all right 

 so far. Cyrus Wilson. 



Fairmount, Ind., April 18, 1888. 



bees IN FINE SHAPE. 



The reports from 13 apiaries in my vicinity are 

 very encouraging, the loss being only about 5 per 

 cent for the winter and spring so far, and, as a 

 rule, bees are in fine shape. W. Crommie. 



Cobleskill, N. Y., March 30, 1888. 



NEW POLLEN. 



My bees are doing pretty well. They are work- 

 ing on natural pollen gathered from willow and 

 cedar; but there is no honey yet. I have one colo- 

 ny that is about to fail; they have plenty of sealed 

 stores, a laying quee?i, and a little brood; but there 

 are very few bees left in the hive. I put them in a 

 good new hive. They have as much brood as I 

 think they can take care of. What do you think is 

 the matter with them, and can I do any thing more 

 for them? D. M. Dorsey. 



Rainier, Ore., Mar. 33, 1888. 



As you describe your bees, we sliould say 

 they have the spring dwindliug. It is usual- 

 ly caused by, or seems to follow, unseasona- 

 ble weather in March and April, and some- 

 times clear down into May. See A B C. 



l^EPe^'Fg Digc0ai^)^^iN(i. 



"bees DON'T PAY." SO SOME SAY ; LOSS 75 fo 

 BECAUSE OF NO CARE. 



T HAVE been watching Gleanings for some 

 iMf time for some kind of a report from this part 

 ^t of the State in reference to the way the bees 



"*■ had wintered. Having seen nothing on that 

 subject T will now report that fully 75 per cent 

 of the bees in Nodaway County died from poor care 

 and lack of stores last wiuter. A great many 

 claimed that, if the bees could not make their own 

 living, they might starve. The consequence is, 

 there are but few bees left ii: this part; some men 

 losing as many as forty swarms; and almost all 

 who had but few colonies have lost all, and say 

 they are done with the bee-business, as It does not 

 pay. 



I went into the winter with eleven colonies, and 

 came out with three; but the fault was my own, as 

 I was not in reach of my bees when they ought to 

 have been fed, and I could not get to them to feed 

 them. G.W. Wii,cox. 



Hopkins, Mo., Apr. 6, 1888. 



winter losses. 



Last fall I had under my charge. In three apia- 

 ries, 53 colonies of bees in good shape for winter, 

 as 1 thought. 1 have just looked them over this 

 week, and And in my home apiary of 313 colonies 

 there are 11 living, and three of them are weak, but 

 all are gathering honey freely. In another yard of 

 17 hives there are 5 living, and the last lot of 13 has 

 9 alive and in good condition, three with dnmes 

 flying on the 30th of April, and one colony that was 

 queenless two weeks ago. J. C. Balch. 



Bronsou, Kan., Apr. 31, 1888. 



BEES IN BAD CONDITION. 



The Chapman honey-plant has gone where the 

 woodbine twineth. Jack Frost was too much for it. 



