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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 11, 



entrance as desired. The cover of the 

 box should be made to keep perfectly 

 dry. By wintering in this way ray bees 

 come out clean. I weighed all of my 

 hives last fall to ascertain the amount 

 of honey ; they had from 13 to 28 lbs. ; 

 the one that died of dysentery consumed 

 26 lbs. : others that were soiled con- 

 sumed in like manner ; those that came 

 through all right consumed the least 

 honey. Geo. Wickwire. 



Weston's Mills, K. Y., May 6,*1881. 



The Winter and Bees in Maine.— After 



reading so much about disaster among 

 bees elsewhere it is encouraging to 

 know that in this part of Maine we have 

 done well. My bees wintered well 

 and are in good condition. I have 

 heard of but one colony here that is 

 lost, and that had no care or protection. 

 It has not been colder than 8° below 

 zero here ; cold weather commenced 

 early and continued until about Febru- 

 ary 25, when we had a rain, which, 

 with the warm sun, took off the snow, 

 and gave the bees a cleansing flight. I 

 like the chaff hive, either for wintering 

 on the summer stands or in the cellar; 

 it keeps them dry and warm. The Bee 

 Journal is a welcome visitor — the 

 more I read it the better I like it. 



A. P. Miller. 

 Camden, Maine, May 6, 1881. 



Only 7 Saved out of 140.— I com- 

 menced the season of 1880 with 93 colo- 

 nies ; the honey season was late, none 

 being stored until about June 20; I in- 

 creased to 140 by the •'shaking off'' 

 process, making 1 new colony from 2 

 old ones, and a few natural swarms 

 that came out from those very strong, 

 although I examined often and de- 

 stroyed the queen cells to prevent in- 

 crease. I extracted all the white clover 

 and basswood honey ; all honey left for 

 wintering was gathered after July 25. 

 All were very strong in numbers and 

 they soon tilled up the hives, so that 1 

 had to extract the fall honey from some. 

 Our first frost was on Aug. 17, which 

 nipped buckwheat and fall blossoms and 

 checked the flow of honey ; still they 

 gathered more than they used. On 

 Oct. 10 the weather became cold and af- 

 ter that the bees did not fly. I exam- 

 ined them on Feb. 1 and found 3 dead, 

 and many were getting very uneasy; by 

 March 1 only 88 answered to the usual 

 rap ; on Mar. 0, down to 02 ; on the 15th, 

 to 55 ; these then had a flight, but many 

 were lost on the snow, and by the end 

 of the month only 42 remained. The 

 first week of April was very cold and 

 unfavorable, and by the 10th only 12 re- 

 mained, and to-day only 7 survive out 

 of the 140 ; a few bees are left in some 

 of the hives, but they do notcount any- 

 thing ; all had plenty of honey. Now I 

 think all, or nearly all my bees had as 

 much unsealed and late gathered poor 

 honey as they would consume for a 

 month after they were confined to the 

 hive, and if they could have had a flight 

 early in November all would have been 

 well. I winter on the summer stands 

 and in different hives, some being dou- 

 ble and having 4 inches of sawdust all 

 around them ; the bees in some of these 

 double hives were the first that died. 

 Geo. Garlick. 

 Warsaw, Out,, May 0, 1881. 



Abnormal Swarming.— The Weekly 

 Bee Journal comes regularly to hand. 

 1 am well pleased with it and would 

 not be without it" for twice its cost. I 

 like to read the articles of Messrs. Doo- 

 litlle and Ileddon. I think they are 

 both earnest in what they say, and 

 hope they will continue from time to 

 time to furnish us with their interest- 

 ing articles on bee-ology. While work- 

 ing close to one of my black colonies I 

 noticed a small cluster of bees on a 

 piece of plank lying in front of the 

 hive directly under the alighting-board. 

 I was a little curious to see what they 

 were doing, and was astonished to find 

 the queen ; she was so quiet that at 

 first I thought she was dead, but she 

 was alive and the bees were in a circle 

 around her caressing her and offering 

 her food. On opening the hive to re- 

 place the queen 1 found everything all 

 quiet, but immediately on dropping the 

 queens on top of the frames the bees 

 attacked her as they would a stranger. 

 I immediately ran and lit my smoker 



and smoked them loose, covered up the 

 hive, and in about 2 hours after on ex- 

 amining the hive found all quiet, and 

 the old lady apparently following her 

 usual duties as though nothing unusual 

 had happened. What was the cause 

 of her leaving the hive and brood in 

 this manner? The hive contained only 

 about 4 or 5 frames of bees and brood. 

 I had them closed up with division 

 boards. The queen had a clipped wing, 

 otherwise she might have left for good. 

 W. T. Clary. 

 Claryville, Ky., May 9, 1881. 



[It was an attempt at abnormal 

 swarming. Those bees which you 

 found in the hive had undoubtedly 

 come out with her, but when she 

 dropped to the ground lost sight of her 

 and returned to commence the work of 

 rearing a queen. Of course they were 

 loth to accept her till after smoking.— 

 Ed.] 



Bee-Keeping in Missouri.— I have 100 

 hives— 56 containing bees in good con- 

 dition, the rest empty, ready for the 

 swarming season. I prefer natural 

 swarming for increase. My hives are 

 10 inches above the ground and 10 feet 

 apart each way, located in a locust grove 

 of 60 trees 5 or 6 inches through, tops 

 about 12 feet high ; 3 of_ these trees 

 were struck by lightning ; I do not 

 know whether it is the electricity in the 

 bees, or the locust trees that attract 

 the lightning ; or either of them. There 

 is heavy timber close by. I have lost4 

 colonies ; they were moved to another 

 part of the yard soon after their first 

 flight. There has been great mortality 

 among the bees in this county during 

 the past winter, but principally with 

 those in box hives or log gums. Great 

 ignorance prevails here among those 

 keeping bees; they will yet be com- 

 pelled to discard these " old fogy " 

 ideas, sooner or later, for scientitic ad- 

 vancement is rapidly gaining ground 

 west of the Mississippi. 



Benton, Mo. J. Smith Head. 



Plenty of Honey but few Bees.— It is 



hard to make a report when our efforts 

 have not been successful. I had 70 col- 

 onies last fall, now have 9 or 10, and 

 most of them are weak ; they all had 

 plenty of honey, but long confinement 

 did it. Our first natural pollen came 

 April 15. I think % of the bees in this 

 vicinity are dead. I shall try again but 

 will have to go slow ; I shall buy a few 

 queens from those who don't raise dol- 

 lar queens. It may be profitable to dol- 

 lar queen breeders to rear them, but it 

 is loss to the purchasers. I thank God 

 for the men who are opposing cheap 

 queens, glucosed honey, and other 

 frauds which are doing great injury to 

 bees and their true friends. I like the 

 Bee Journal, and want to see the 

 subscription list large enough to sustain 

 it well. L). G. Parker. 



St. Joseph, Mo., April 21, 1881. 



No Loss in Wintering.— I finished put- 

 ting out my 240 colonies on April 25. 

 They are in prime condition with only 

 8 dead ones (4 starved and 4 destroyed 

 by mice). Two of my neighbors win- 

 tered 100 and 105, respectively, without 

 losing any. I like a solid- cold winter 

 for bees. Ira Barber. 



De Kalb, N. Y., May 2, 1881. 



What is Required.— The article on 

 page 99, by A. Webster, is worthy of 

 careful consideration, and if a hive- 

 frame or system of bee-management 

 can be established in exact accordance 

 with the honey bee, it will be a grand 

 success. Let us have a hive in which 

 we can control the colony, be it small 

 or large ; in which we can produce 

 extracted or comb honey in thebestpos- 

 sible shape for market ; that the honey 

 can be taken from the hive without 

 disturbing the brood nest : that the 

 frames can be lifted out without stick- 

 ing or scraping ; that swarming may be 

 encouraged or" prevented, as desired; 

 that bees can be safely wintered on the 

 summer stands on the smallest possible 

 amount of honey, without chaff, saw- 

 dust, lime, or any other packing (all 

 such prove a deficiency in the hive); that 

 the bees can keep cool in during the hot 



sultry days of July and August, and 

 one in which they can keep warm when 

 the mercury marks 20° below zero; a 

 hive that is cheap and simple, and that 

 can be made with a saw and hammer. 

 Let us have no hobbies to ride or scis- 

 sors to grind. Such a hive will be uni- 

 versally adopted. Movable frame hives 

 have been in use long enough for all 

 their good qualities to be known, and 

 the size of frame best adapted for sum- 

 mer and winter use. Let the entomol- 

 ogist, the honey producer, the queen 

 breeder, and the hive maker reason to- 

 gether, and the result ought to be what 

 is wanted. J. S. Duncan. 



Browning, Mo., April 18, 1881. 



Wintered in the Cellar.— I put 119 col- 

 onies in the cellar Nov. 15, and took out 

 alive 107 April 16. I left 6 out for want 

 of room, all of which died, of course. 

 Those taken from the cellar were put on 

 the summer stands between 7 and 9 a. 

 in., without reference to their former 

 location. The caps were left off till 

 towards night and put on while the bees 

 were out ; the result was a dozen colo- 

 nies went in with others (all had plenty 

 of honey), and now, after robbing, etc., 

 I have 89 colonies in the best of con- 

 dition. My loss was wholly the result 

 of carelessness. The cellar was 8x16, 

 partitioned off from the family cellar 

 by sheeting paper. But a few nights in 

 the winter that the outer door was not 

 opened to cool the atmosphere. In 

 March I made a "blower" so that I 

 could cool them at any time. My bees 

 consumed from 8 to 10 lbs. of honey on 

 the average in the 5 months. I have had 

 good colonies winter well on 4 lbs.; 

 some used 18, but generally 6 to 10. 

 About % of the bees are probably dead 

 in this locality. Will Hiram Roop 

 please say why he would rather have 

 100 colonies wintered out of-doors than 

 150 in the cellar ? Do queens go out 

 with the bees on their first flight r How 

 can I keep a queen for future use ? 



Thos Tracy. 



Nashua Iowa, May 1, 1881. 



[Queens do not go out with the bees 

 on their first flight. If your bees are 

 allowed to swarm naturally, you cannot 

 keep the queen without clippingg one 

 wing. By dividing, you can save her 

 by removing to the new colony, or de- 

 pleting the colony in which she re- 

 mains. — Ed.] 



Good Prospect. — The winter has 

 passed and so have many of the bees. 

 The past 2 seasons were a total failure. 

 There are but 6 colonies of black bees 

 left in this vicinity ; the Italians have 

 held their own better. I doubled down 

 last fall from 95 to 70 colonies; wintered 

 them in a house apiary ; put them in 

 the house Nov. 14 and took them out 

 March 20 ; 1 found 4 weak colonies, all 

 dead now ; 3 queenless, 2 with drone 

 laying queens, and several weak in 

 numbers. I doubled down to 56 which 

 are all in fair condition. Fruit trees 

 are beginning to bloom ; if we have 

 fair weather now I think we shall have 

 a fair crop of honey, for white clover 

 promises to be abundant. When I read 

 the reports in the Journal I feel that 

 I have reason to be thankful. I am 

 now engaged in other business, so if it 

 is a good season I shall have all I can 

 attend to, and if it is a poor season I 

 have enough. J. M. Valentine. 



Carlinville, 111., May 4, 1881. 



Loss One in a Thousand.— Our terrible 

 winter is nearly ended. It has been 

 more fatal to bees than any for many 

 years. Nearly all who had a dozen or so 

 of colonies have lost all. Judging from 

 the reports in the Journal those 

 who wintered out-of-doors will be try- 

 ing something different, and I am 

 rather glad that they have had some- 

 thing to open their eyes. It may be all 

 right to winter out in the cold, but to 

 me it lias the appearance of barbarism, 

 and I cannot see how anyone with the 

 least kindly feeling for the bee can 

 sleep on those cold dreary nights, when 

 they must know their bees are having a 

 death struggle with the cold. If the 

 winters' losses shall teach a lesson to 

 such men, then all the bees have not 

 died in vain. Anotherreason why peo- 

 ple should house bees is, it pays ; much 



less honey is consumed in a warm room 

 than out in the storm. The walls of 

 my bee house are 26 inches thick, filled 

 in with tan bark and sawdust, with 

 double doors and ventilators — ground is 

 covered severaHnches with dry sawdust, 

 to take the moisture. The bees were 

 kept in 160 days this winter with no 

 signs of dysentery. I took about 950 

 colonies out of my old apiary April 9 ; 

 all were alive, though one had but the 

 queen and a very few bees, and soon 

 perished. Of about 44 colonies bought 

 last fall in bad condition, and kept in 

 another room, I lost 7. My bees are 

 stronger than ever. P. T. Griffith. 

 Danby, Vt., April 19, 1881. 



Cellar Wintering.— For the past 5 

 years this has been always satisfactory 

 with me, although loss from dwindling 

 always averages from 20 to 30 per cent. 

 I have now 50 good colonies out of 70 

 last fall. J. C. Thom, M. D. 



Streetsville, Ont, May 10, 1881. 



A Loss of One-third.— About Nov. 15 

 I packed with chaff 30 strong colonies 

 on the summer stands — part were in 

 hanging-frames and part in Quinby's 

 standing frames. I have 20 now. I see 

 no choice between the different styles 

 of frames for wintering. I also had 12 

 nuclei, each with from 2 to 4 frames and 

 about a quart of bees ; of the 3 I 

 packed in chaff on the summer stands 

 there are but 2 weak ones left ; the oth- 

 ers I put in the cellar without packing 

 — 2 or 3 in a hive, with division boards 

 between. On jvpril 15 I took them out 

 and 5 were alive, but 2 dwindled away. 

 The other 3, 1 think, will build up. My 

 cellar was damp. Robert Downs. 



Naugatuck, Conn., May 0, 1881. 



' Experienced Bee- Beepers.— While a 



large percentage of the Dees in this lo- 

 cality are dead, experienced bee-keepers 

 who had their bees in cellars have lost 

 but few, and their bees are now doing 

 well. J. Dewar. 



Tiverton, Ont., May 10, 1881. 



Good. — From 90 colonies placed in the 

 cellar Nov. 12 I have 82 in fair condi- 

 tion. I estimate the loss in this locality 

 at 25 per cent. W. H. Fletcher. 



Sauk Rapids, Minn., May 2, 1881. 



Heavy Loss.— Mr. Knowles and I had 

 about 45 colonies each last fall ; now he 

 lias 5 and I 6. All were packed in chaff. 

 Nearly all the bees in this locality are 

 dead. R. Walton. 



Industry, Pa., May 7, 1881. 



Lost 2 out of 7.— I have lost 2 out of 7 

 colonies in wintering ; the cold came on 

 last fall before I was prepared for it, 

 and I left them unprotected ; the other 

 5 have now sealed brood and I hope are 

 all right. Can I hive my new swarms 

 on those old combs this spring V they 

 have each about 5 lbs. of honey in the 

 hive and I have no extractor. A neigh- 

 bor of mine has half a dozen colonies 

 in box hives ; the back of the hive is 

 hinged and the brood chamber closed 

 in with a pane of glass ; about the first 

 of March when I saw them I found one 

 of them with the glass out of the brood 

 chamber, and the back of the hive so 

 swelled and warped that it would not 

 close within 6 inches, leaving one side 

 almost wholly exposed to the weather. 

 I was told that they had been so all 

 winter, and yet that hive contained the 

 best colony in the lot, and on April 1 the 

 bees were carrying in pollen lively. 

 The combs were as bright and fresh as 

 when first made. In the surplus cham- 

 ber were 2 large boxes that the owner 

 did not dare to remove, on account of 

 the bees flying out front and back. 

 Perhaps they kept that warm enough 

 to live in during the winter, and so 

 were not obliged to go on the other 

 edge of the combs for food. I am of 

 the opinion that you " builded better 

 than you knew " when you made the 

 Journal a Weekly ; it has already be- 

 come a necessity, and the bee-keepers 

 of this country, as well as Europe, ap- 

 preciate it. C. W. Dow. 



Lynn, Mass., April 18, 1881. 



[Yes ; those combs are as good as so 

 much gold. Let them dry thoroughly 

 before using. — Ed.] 



