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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 27, 



Bee Locations and Hires. — This county 

 is thickly settled; we have plenty of 

 bloom of all kinds, and a runningstream 

 of water within 100 yards of my apiary : 

 white and red clovers are abundant, and 

 bees are few near here. Is this a good 

 location for bees ? 



2. Which kind of hive do you prefer ? 



3. I am a carpenter and can make my 

 own hives — are there any patents to hin- 

 der me from making a good hive ? 



4. Will it hurt to let bees fly when 

 snow is on the ground ? I like the Bee 

 Journal very much. F. V. 



Cambridge City, Ind. 



[1. With plenty of bloom (which im- 

 plies summer and fall flowers are abun- 

 dant), a runningstream of water (which 

 in Indiana is generally an indication of 

 basswood), and an abundance of white 

 and red clovers, we cannot possibly 

 imagine the absence of anything but 

 plenty of bees to make it one of the very 

 best locations. 



2. We prefer the standard Langstroth. 

 Many very successful and scientific 

 apiarists, however, prefer a shorter and 

 deeper frame, while some want a much 

 longer and deeper one. 



3. There is no patent in the way of 

 Jinking any of the standard hives— 

 J .angstroth, American, Gallup, or Sim- 

 plicity. With any of these, managed 

 promptly and scientifically during a 

 •good honey flow, results will be satis- 

 factory ; but all the patented clap-traps 

 in the world will fail to secure a honey 

 yield, when the bees return to the hive 

 without having found any. 



4. No ; a few may be lost in the snow, 

 but when bees are needing a flight badly, 

 and have commenced soiling the combs, 

 it is frequently profitable economy to 

 sacrifice a few to save the many. — Ed.] 



It Beats AH.— The last season seems 

 to be the worst one yet in the bee line. 

 The causes here seem to have been a 

 short crop of honey, then winter com- 

 ing so suddenly, before scarcely anyone 

 ■was prepared either in feeding or pack- 

 ing, and lastly the long confinement. 

 But according to all reports the best 

 are in the same boat. 1 hope this year 

 •will turn up the sure method for win- 

 tering. A. G. Woodbury. 



Winter Still Here.— My locality is, I 

 think, as good for surplus honey as any 

 part of Iowa. There is an abundance 

 •of linden timber all around here. I have 

 saved some expressly for my bees. In 

 November I put them on the south side 

 of a tight board fence, about one foot 

 apart. I packed straw all around ex- 

 cept in front, filled the surplus boxes 

 "with dry oak leaves and then covered 

 them with slough grass. I have 15 col- 

 onies left out of 25. In Warren county 

 % of the bees are dead that were win- 

 tered out-of-doors ; those in the cellars 

 are there yet. We expected warm 

 "weather but this morning finds there 

 are 10 inches of snow on the ground. I 

 like the Weekly Journal and I would 

 not like to do without it. 



Hibert Clark. 



Palmyra, Iowa, April 8, 1881. 



Good-Bye March. — The month of 

 March has come and gone and I ear- 

 nestly hope we may never see another 

 like it. It came in like a lion, contin- 

 ued like a lion, and went out like a 

 "whole cage of lions fighting and howl- 

 ins. It has been one continued cold 

 "blizzard all through with but 1 or 2 

 ■warm days in it. I say again, " hurrah 

 for chaff packing on summer stands;" 

 although winter set in early, continued 

 severe and remained late, still I have 

 mot lost a colony and have only one 

 "weak, and that was wintered in an ob- 

 servatory hive and did well until March 

 115 when I found the glass sides were 

 •covered with ice and bees were being 

 (chilled as it melted. I therefore united 

 Whem with another. If this month comes 

 wit warm I shall not lose any more. I 

 flhd a large amount of brood and hatch- 

 ing^bees in all my hives, some having 5 

 fcames well filled, This is due, I think, 



to strong colonies and packing on sum- 

 mer stands with plenty of honey. Many 

 bees in this locality were packed on 

 their summer stands but were not put 

 in proper condition; many were packed 

 after winter set in and seemed to die 

 first, late packing causing them to fill 

 with honey, and having no fly, after- 

 wards took the dysentery ; several I 

 have examined which died with good 

 packing, bees and honey dry, and emit- 

 ting a sweet odor; these I learned 

 ceased breeding in September, but 

 were strong in old bees. I have found 

 none starved. The honey yield last 

 fall gave them a chance to fill up well. 

 All withstood the severe weather of 

 winter and were in good strong condi- 

 tion March 1, but died during the 

 month. If all had had one frame of 

 brood Oct. 15, they would have had bees 

 to rear brood in February, which would 

 have saved them. I gave several of my 

 colonies a frame of brood from other 

 hives Oct. 15, which saved them, I 

 think. I look eagerly each week for 

 the Journal and follow its teachings. 

 E. A. Morgan. 

 Arcadia, Wis., March 31, 1881. 



Every Plan of Wintering Fails.— A 



thaw the last week of March gave our 

 bees a flight, and the bee-keeper a 

 chance to look them over and see "what 

 of life there yet remained." One-half of 

 my colonies were then dead and of those 

 left many were weak and by the time 

 spring comes (if it ever does) there will 

 not be over \4 left. It is cold and snowy 

 yet, not a bud is swelling on anything; 

 no farm work is done, and gloom rests 

 over hill and valley. Most of the bees 

 in this vicinity are dead. Three report 

 a total loss; 2 have lost 4 5; another 1 

 had 18 left out of 83. Mysplf and an- 1 

 other have 2-5 living. I wintered on 

 the summer stands without protection. 

 Every method of packing was used by 

 the apiarists referred to, while all used 

 the same kind of hives, and those un- 

 protected have done as well as those 

 packed on the most approved plan. 



Wm. Morris. 

 Anderson, Iowa, April 12, 1881. 



Swarming.— I have no difficulty in 

 wintering, and even in getting lots of 

 honey ; but the swarming propensity I 

 cannot control satisfactorily. Please 

 give information in the Journal. 



E.Gloucester, Mass. A. Parsons. 



[The swarming propensity can gener- 

 ally be checked by removing 3 or 4 

 frames of sealed brood to some weak 

 colony, putting empty combs or founda- 

 tion in their place, and destroying all 

 queen cells. Sometimes it can only be 

 controlled by transposing a weak colony 

 in place of the strong one. Should they 

 still persist, then divide, removing the 

 queen and leaving a ripe cell. — Ed.] 



Seven From One Colony. — I com- 

 menced last season with one colony, 

 and as increase was my object I bought 

 a lot of empty combs in Langstroth 

 frames, fed sugar-syrup and stimulated 

 breeding, and by dividing made 7 colo- 

 nies from one. I wintered in chaff 

 hives; after 68 days confinement they 

 had a good flight, and are now all in 

 good condition with brood in all stages. 

 Of the bees in this county % are dead. 

 Put me down for a life subscriber for 

 the Bee Journal. J. F. Right. 



Poseyville, Ind., March 21, 1881. 



The Survival of the Fittest.— In the 



early part of November I put away 31 

 colonies with blankets on the frames, 

 packed prairie hay around the hives 

 and filled the caps; they were protected 

 by a tight board fence on the north and 

 west — all south exposures ; tops were 

 protected from rain and snow ; 24 oth- 

 ers were in American hives and 7 in 

 Langstroth. I am feeding the weak 

 and giving them all the rye-meal they 

 will take. We have had fearful weather 

 —no natural pollen yet. I expect to 

 transfer all my bees from the Ameri- 

 can to Langstroth hives during the 

 season, if possible. Nearly all the bees 

 in this vicinity are dead ; I might say 

 at least 4-5 of them, yet under the law 

 of the " survival of the fittest " we may 

 expect our race to improve at least in 

 endurance. The different theories 

 about loss of bees are amusing to a 

 novice ; what is one man's meat is an- 

 other's poison — there seems to be "death 

 in the pot" from all quarters. I give 

 my results for all they are worth, with- 

 out comment. Out of 31 I have lost so 

 far 7 : expect to lose about Jg or nearly 

 so. I am glad to do so well, when I look 

 around and find death written every- 

 where. I like the. change in the paper 

 as it brines us information which in 

 the Monthly would be too late to be of 

 val ue to us. F. A, Grove. 



Kirksville, Mo., April 13, 'lssi. 



District Conventions.— I was much 

 pleased with Mr. Heddon's observations 

 on conventions. He is right. What 

 we want is talk and discu ssion, not long- 

 winded essays and speeches. Let me 

 suggest that the subjects be made up 

 and published, and then let the mem- 

 bers write out their experience on that 

 question in a short, terse manner, re- 

 membering that Cajsar sent home the 

 report of a whole campaign in 3 words. 

 Let me give a sample — subject : Laying 

 Worker.— I took from it all the combs 

 without the bees, distributed them 

 among strong colonies, replaced them 

 with combs of brood and some bees 

 from strongcolonies, gave them a queen 

 cell about to hatch, and in a few days 

 all was lovely. Again : Dysentery.— 

 Made several new swarms, noticed they 

 had the dysentery ; examined and found 

 they had no honey ; gave them some 

 and all was right again. I wonder if 

 St. Joseph county belongs to the south- 

 west corner of Michigan. 



E. B. Southwick. 



Mendon, Mich., April 15, 1881. 



Royal Jelly. — I see in the Bee Jour- 

 nal of March 29, page 89, that Mr. C. 

 J. Robinson takes the position that royal 

 jelly is composed of honey, bee-bread 

 and drones' semen, and that the semen 

 of the drone is annually deposited in 

 the combs, and affords a supply for 

 queen-rearing after the destruction of 

 the drones in the fall until their return 

 the next season ; also, that the semen 

 in the royal jelly is the agent that im- 

 pregnates the embryo ovary of the queen 

 while in a larval state, and vivifies myr- 

 iads of egg germs so they will produce 

 drones in the course of time. We are 

 furnished with no method of ascertain- 

 ing the truth of the assertion that a de- 

 posit of drone's semen is made in the 

 combs. Can it be so, and how shall we 

 find the truth ? Now, I propose a test. 

 by removing from a colony of bees all 

 the combs of the previous season, and 

 put the bees upon comb foundation and 

 teed well, before any drones make their 

 appearance. After the eggs hatch in 

 the new combs, remove the queen and 

 continue to feed honey and flour, and 

 see what the result will be. 



Camargo, 111. A. Salisbury. 



Ninety Per Cent, of Loss.— There has 

 been a fearful loss of bees in this sec- 

 tion. Some old bee-keepers have lost 

 as high as 90 per cent. I had last fall 

 20 colonies in the Shuck hive packed 

 with chaff, and 8 colonies in single- 

 walled hives with chaff cushions over 

 the frames— all were on the summer 

 stands. I lost 6 in the Shuck hives, and 

 in the single- walled, leaving 16 to be- 

 gin the season with. I think the pros- 

 pects are good for a plentiful honey 

 flow. I like the Weekly Journal 

 very much, but prefer the size and shape 

 of the Monthly. C. W. Hellems. 



St. Catharines, Ont., April 11, 1881. 



torn board; it is a 2-story hive. The 

 inside wall is both lathed and plastered, 

 and contains 8 Langstroth frames. I 

 am married to this last named hive as 

 you see the name indicates, for I believe 

 it is the best hive that can be produced, 

 both for summering and wintering. I 

 would like to see more in the bee-pa- 

 pers about plaster hives, lime absorb- 

 ents, etc., for I take more to the lime 

 idea than to chaff or sawdust. Honey 

 bees fared poorly in this section last 

 year; there was no surplus nor swarms 

 and many have died this winter and 

 spring, especially among the careless 

 and uninitiated bee-keepers. I like 

 the Bee Journal very much, and so 

 do those who snbscribe here as far as I 

 have heard from. A. W. Fisk. 



Bushnell, 111., April 18, 1881. 



Why The Bees Die.— About 80 per 

 cent, of the bees in this vicinity are 

 dead. The apparent causes of the mor- 

 tality are : First, the 5 months of close 

 confinement ; 2d, severe and long con- 

 tinued cold weather; 3d, improperly 

 constructed entrances stopped up by 

 sleet, snow, and dead bees, causing 

 smothering. I lost 2 out of 45 colonies 

 from the 2d cause. O. Foster. 



Mt. Vernon. Iowa. 



Long Winter.— Bees in central Iowa 

 are suffering greatly from long confine- 

 ment and losses will be very heavy, 

 more so than most of us are aware. 

 Bees have been dead as to sunshine 

 since the 20th of October, almost 6 

 months, and no signs for a flight for 

 some time yet, as we have 6 inches of 

 snow on the ground now and very cold 

 nights. We may safely say that % the 

 bees in this locality are dead. But I 

 do not think I have lost very heavily 

 yet. I never saw bees more quiet than 

 mine are considering the length of time 

 they have been up. But spring is a very 

 bad time on bees here, we have so much 

 cold wind in the spring ; that of course 

 results in spring dwindling and a great 

 many bees are to go after farmers are 

 satisfied that what bees they have left 

 are all right. J. E. Hastings. 



Carlisle, Iowa, April 14, 1881. 



Palestine Bees More Hardy.— About 

 9-10 of the bees in northern Indiana are 

 dead. I have lost 120 out of 170 colo- 

 nies. I had in my apiary one queen 

 imported from Palestine and about 50 

 young queens reared from her that have 

 stood the winter well, although my Ital- 

 ian queens are nearly all dead. I think 

 the Palestine bees will prove to be a 

 very superior race in all respects. 



Nappanee, Iud. I. R. Good. 



Chips from Sweet Home. — Our adver- 

 tisement in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal has brought us more inquiries 

 for our Sweet Home Raspberries than 

 all other papers we advertised in. I 

 send you a sample of such honey as our 

 bees have tried to winter on. It is 

 honey dew, which I understand to mean 

 the secretion of aphides which is neither 

 honey nor dew. D. D. Palmer. 



New Boston, 111. 



Upward Ventilation. — My bees were 

 wintered in the cellar, and those that 

 had honey enough (though of a very 

 poor quality) are all right. I was busy 

 in the fall and thought they were gath- 

 ering enough honey to winter ou, but 

 when I came to carry them into their 

 winter quarters I found, when too late, 

 that they were light, and, the winter 

 No Loss of Bees.— I am happily dis- b « in S extremely long they starved to 

 appointed, for my bees have come death I do not think bees will ever 

 through this long severe winter all : dle ™l tb the dysentery with plenty of 

 right ; they were confined in their hives I g° od honey, a good, warm cellar with 

 from November uutil March, and I ' plenty of upward ventilation ; at least 



feared the result. I wintered on the 

 summer stands in single-walled hives, 

 packed with sorgum cane grindings, 

 contracted the brood chamber on each 

 side with division boards, placed cobs 

 over the top boards of brood frames and 

 then gunny sacks and old clothing. I 

 have kept my bees mostly in the Dex- 

 ter hive ; it is like Root's simplicity, 

 only more simple, and supplied with 

 the American frame. I intend to trans- 

 fer them into the " Fisk hive." This is 

 a double-walled hive with dead air 

 space between the walls, with a very 

 slanting, self-cleaning, stationary bot- 



that has been my experience for the 

 last 15 years. My cellar is not a very 

 dry one, but I never had the combs 

 mold. I think that too little upward 

 ventilation and poor honey have killed 

 the bees. Nearly all the bees in this 

 vicinity are dead. I have but 45 colo- 

 nies left out of 80 last fall. 

 Marley, 111. Frank Searles. 



Loss SO Per Cent.— Bees around here 

 have suffered very severely ; nearly all 

 are dead. I have lost 30 per cent. 



O. Clute. 



Iowa City, Iowa, April 15, 1881. 



