216 



GLEA^UNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



mj' bees in a cellar, anil leave part of thpm out of 

 doors. 



Am I (liscoui-agcd? Oh, no! not in (he least. I am 

 buying more lie cs, and shall probably do a larger 

 business the coming season than over before. 



Bogcrsyillc, Mich. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



OIK 



OWN APIARY. 



B^^Y FRIENDS, to-day is the 13th of 

 'n, April, and all that remains of our 

 — *^ apiary of SOU colonies last fall, is 7 fair 

 stocks and 11 nuclei. Of course, we sold a 

 great many in the fall, and the rest were 

 doubled down to about 140, just before that 

 cold spell in November. All were in chaff 

 hives, and well protected, but they were not 

 nearly as strong as I knew they sliould be to 

 stand a hard winter. 1 have explained be- 

 fore that the unexpected cold weather pre- 

 vented our selling our usual number of 

 queens in Oct. and Nov., and so we had the 

 choice of killing valuable queens or running 

 the risk of being able to winter them, as we 

 had previous seasons. The 11 nuclei we 

 have taken out of the chaff hives, and set in- 

 to o-frame nucleus hives, covered with wire- 

 cloth at the top and bottom, and have set 

 them in the engine-room, to preserve the 

 queens, if we can, until we have a day warm 

 enough for them to fly. I have also bought 

 80 colonies of neighbor Rice, who has Avin- 

 tered his all right in the cellar (he did not 

 raise any queens for sale, you know), and I 

 shall probably purchase a great many more. 

 The outlook is sad, I know, from reports. It 

 is very sad to many of you, who feel as if 

 you had not the means to buy more bees to 

 cover your combs before the moth may take 

 possession of them. Still further, what is 

 the use of buying more when we get so little 

 honey, and then lose them almost every win- 

 ter? 



I see, by the letters, that some of the 

 friends are almost inclined to repine at a 

 kind Providence, and to doubt whether 

 God's hand is really in it at all. Suppose, 

 tor instance, that every day's w^ork was a suc- 

 cess, and that the weather was always propi- 

 tious. Would constant sunshine and favor- 

 able weather contribute more toward making 

 man grow strong and self-reliant, than the 

 average amount of ditticulties that one meets 

 in the usual duties of lifeV Does it make a 

 boy grow into a great and good man by giv- 

 ing him every thing he wants, Avithout ask- 

 ing him to work and strive for it? Surely 

 God knows ; and he watches not only anx- 

 iously, but even lovingly over ns, his chil- 

 dren, and he most assuredly will cause every 

 thing to work together for our good, if we 

 only love him and look up to him for help 

 through it all. 



In 1808 I lost all my bees but 11 colonies, 

 and as everybody else, almost, was about to 

 give it up, I felt very much like giving it up 

 too, as my friends urged. I did not, though, 

 but went quietly to work and built the 11 up 

 to 48, and wintered them all, as I have told 

 you in the A B C. Erom the 48, 1 took, the 

 next season, 61G21bs. of honey, and sold it all 

 at a large price. Suppose, now, I had given 

 pp. Gleajtings would, never had been 



started, the A B C book would never have 

 been written, and the world, in all probabil- 

 ity, would have been considerably poorer in 

 health, honey, and happiness. It is true, 

 many thorns have come with the roses ; but 

 none of us would have enjoyed our favorite 

 pursuit as Ave do noAV if it had not been for 

 these failures. You can never feel the keen 

 enjoyment that comes from success until re- 

 verses have taught you how much success 

 costs. The reverses have stimulated us and 

 given us an enexgy to Avork and study and 

 ieivrn, that success alone never could have 

 done. God knoAVS best. I have long been 

 thinking of a plan whereby we might raise 

 bees out of season, or, if you please, inde- 

 pendently of the weather and untoAvard sea- 

 sons, as many of you have gathered, by my 

 experiments Avith manure-heaps, artificial 

 heat, the greenhouse, etc., in the years that 

 are past. Well, I haA'e felt pretty sure, for 

 some time, that the matter could be man- 

 aged Avith the light we have noAV, Avere I not 

 too lazy or negligent to set really about it. 

 Well, this spring's disasters have stirred me 

 up to the point, I think, and I feel now just 

 like going into it in real earnest. Even if 

 Ave do raise queens, and reduce the strength 

 and vigor of our bees, I feel sure that it is in 

 our poAver to raise more, and build them up 

 at any season of the year, if we Avill only 

 take the trouble. I can raise plants in our 

 greenhouse of almost any description, and 

 keep them going all Avinter long, not only as 

 Avell as they can be raised out of doors, but a 

 great deal better ; for by keeping off cold 

 Avinds, and scorching suils, and giving plen- 

 ty of Avater, I can produce a growth that is 

 hardly ever seen in the open air. Eor about 

 a Aveek I have had a colony that was almost 

 at the point of death, in the greenhouse. Al- 

 though their entrance opens right out of 

 doors, none of the bees try to go out in un- 

 seasonable Aveather, and since they have got 

 accustomed to their home, I have kept the 

 entrance closed, except Avhen the Aveather 

 Avas tit for them to lly. The steady Avarm 

 temperature seems to "have restored them to 

 perfect health, and the queen lias been laying 

 so finely, that I have taken the Avhole 11 

 weak ones that Avould have surely died out- 

 doors, even in the chaff hives, and put them 

 indoors too. As soon as it is really Avarm, 

 I shall take them back to their hives again. 

 As they emitted the usual bad smell of bees 

 Avith the dysentery when first brought in, I 

 placed each one in a three-frame nucleus 

 hive, having Avire cloth over both top and 

 bottom, and then place them up from the 

 floor, so the warm air of the room could have 

 a full circulation right through them and 

 the combs. They have been there 48 hoitrs, 

 and, although confined, the bad smell has 

 nearly left them. 



NoAV a Avord nbout giving up. Every time 

 you give up and retreat, you Aveaken your 

 faith in yourself; and if you are not careful, 

 you also weaken your faith in God. EA'ery 

 lime you pull tiirough and conquer, you 

 gain conlideuce in your powers, and are 

 much better able to surmount the next 

 obstacle. You are, perhaps, Avell aAvare 

 that many of our large York State bee- 

 men use a stove or furnace in their bee- 



