THE AME ?,I0 AN APIC UL TURIS T. 



89 



gather more, departed for the woods, so 

 I had nine good swarms from those three, 

 which, with the other two, left eleven 

 good sw irais last fall, and eleven good 

 swarms this spring. 



I can tell you what occasioned my 

 loss in the winter of 1890-91, but 1 

 won't do it in tliis letter. The fact is I 

 am a little ashame;! of it, but I consider 

 the le-sjns learned by that loss worth 

 more than the bees would be, alive. Ex- 

 perience leaches a dear school, but a 

 certain class can learn in no other. 



During the past warm days I've given 

 my bees a dose of candy, made a la 

 Alley. 



You have heard of the darkey who was 

 accused of stealing chickens, and when 

 brouglit before the justice his lawyer 

 prosed that he didn't steal "dem" 

 chickens, but when he came to hear the 

 other lawyer talk, the darkey says, "By 

 golly, I guess I did steal dem chickens." 

 So, when I read that upward ventilation, 

 /. I?., cloth, and cushions made of chaff, 

 let the warmth of the bees escape and 

 destroy them, I was afraid my bees 

 would all be dead in the spring, but 

 wlien I came to find them all alive and 

 kicking this spring, "by golly" I guess I 

 did save "dem" bees with cotton cloth, 

 and chaff cushions made of bran sack 

 cloth, lilled with oat chaff six inches 

 thick and two feet square, or just the 

 size of the outside case of the hive. 



Now, in closing, let me introduce you 

 to Captain Graham, of Ludlow, a vet- 

 eran heekeeper ninety-two years old, 

 and spry as a man of seventy-five. 

 Ludhnu, Vt. A. P. Fletcher. 



LETTER FKOxM A BEGINNER. 



Having read in your paper that you 

 solicited articles from your sul)scribers 

 telling what they aiid their neighbors are 

 doing with bees, I thought I would write 

 you a short account of what we are do- 

 ing in this locality. I am only a begin- 

 ner, as I am but eighteen years of age, 

 but am greatly interested in beekeeping. 

 '91 was a poor season for bees in this 

 locality. I began in the spring with 



two colonies of black bees in box-hives, 

 and now have five colonies of Italian 

 bees in dovetail hives, four of which 

 swarms are from a queen obtained from 

 you. Queens are large and very pro- 

 lific. 



This is a good place for bees, and the 

 majority of farmers, in this locality, own 

 one or more swarms, nearly all of which 

 are black bees in box-hives. I think the 

 time is coming and will soon be here, 

 wlien a great deal more attention will be 

 l)aid to bees by the people of this neigh- 

 borhood. The interest in them seems 

 to be increasing, and many show a strong 

 desire to learn more about the busy 

 little workers and the care which they 

 should receive. 



Your Api contains much which is very 

 interesting to me. If this reaches the 

 "Apf," I may write again. 



Fillmore, Ohio. Joseph Place. 



HOW I HIVED MY FIRST SWARM. 



I will tell you my experience in hiv- 

 ing my first swarm of bees. 



A neighbor gave me a swarm and 

 helped me hive them (or did it himself, 

 rather) in a pine box which I furnished. 

 It was seven years ago in South Mis- 

 souri, where tlaey all use the old gum. 

 I had moved there the year before from 

 the North, and, although I had never 

 handled bees, I had seen it done on 

 scientific principles, and I thought I 

 could revolutionize the bee business in 

 that section by having frame hives and 

 doing things on the latest improved plan, 

 ami so when my friend of the bee gum 

 offered to give me a colony, I sent at 

 once and bought Mr. Newman's book, 

 "Bees and Honey," and subscribed for 

 the ^•American Bee Journal." My 

 swarm ac last came out and I was noti- 

 fied and carried my box over, and my 

 friend got them in all right, and that 

 night I carried them home. The next 

 day they concluded they did not like 

 that box and so came out, and the air 

 was full of bees, but they finally settled 

 back on the outside and would not go 

 in. They remained on the outside all 



