AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



243 



lutely necessary), and again poured over 

 the heated cappings ; let stand again for 

 48 hours, and pour off into the barrel it 

 is to remain in. A few combs filled with 

 pollen will be found to accelerate the 

 alcoholic fermentation. By this process 

 I have made strong honey-vinegar in 

 six weeks. A lot started on July 11 is 

 now far advanced in acetic fermentation. 



We have had rain here every day 

 since June 8, resulting in a considerable 

 diminution of our honey crop. I have 

 extracted from 150 colonies only 3,600 

 pounds of very dark iioney, but the bees 

 are stronger than usual at this season, 

 and tLe prospect of a fall crop is good, 

 provided it does not rain for another two 

 months as it is raining now. 



Avery, La., July 30, 1892. 



The Season in A. W. Wisconsin, 



REV. STEPHEN ROESE. 



The season of 1892 with its discour- 

 aging experience will long be remem- 

 bered by bee-keepers in this section of 

 the country. The losses by winter- 

 killing were few, but spring dwindling 

 and starvation swept away more than 

 one-half of the bees through the country 

 here. 



The weather having been cold and 

 rainy all the spring and forepart of the 

 summer, even to this date (July 30) 

 with the exception of a few hot days 

 from April 1 until June 20, we did not 

 have 15 full days of sunshine, and bees 

 dared not venture from home, for they 

 never would return. The season being 

 uncommonly late, and no nectar in any of 

 •the honey-producing plants, the best 

 cared-for colonies were soon brought to 

 the verge of starvation. 



Apple-bloom did not benefit bees in 

 the least, all clover fields having been 

 killed out, and what little white clover 

 did appear, did not seem to be noticed 

 by the bees ; and were they not fed and 

 specially cared for here, the y^mng brood 

 would chill, and colonies die off one by 

 one. 



On reading the wonderful honey re- 

 ports, and bees booming, in the Bee 

 Journal, the sensible bee-keeper's 

 thoughts were nearly brought to a stand- 

 still. Providence must either have 

 favored special ones, or forgotten to be 

 gracious to others. Mr. C. Theilmann, 

 of Theilmanton, Minn., has given a fair 

 picture and true statement of things 

 regarding apiculture in this .section of 

 the country ; and judging from the tenor 



of most of the writers in the American 

 Bee Journal, his statements are correct. 



It is only during the last three or four 

 days that bees have been busy on bass- 

 wood, but surplus honey of any kind has 

 not been seen yet, for truly not more 

 than two weeks ago the combs in the 

 brood-nest were empty of honey, and 

 only the strong colonies retained their 

 drones. Swarms have been very few 

 and late, only such colonies which were 

 strong in early spring had made prep- 

 arations for swarming. The writer has 

 thus far not realized one new swarm to 

 every 3 colonies alive this day. 



The late and most terrible storms we 

 had here a few days ago, have laid 

 nearly all crops of any kind flat on the 

 ground, as if a roller had passed over 

 them ; and unless buckwheat and fall 

 flowers will help us out, bee-keepers will 

 have to feed their bees for winter, to 

 save them from starvation. 



The writer saved about two-thirds of 

 bis apiary as "by the skin of the teeth," 

 by feeding carefully, and placing hot 

 bricks over the brood-nest night and 

 day to keep the young brood from get- 

 ting killed, and leaving on the winter 

 packing until the middle of June ; and 

 for all this labor and anxiety I have not 

 one drop of honey yet. I wonder if Dr. 

 Miller thinks this is fun. 



Maiden Rock, Wis. 



The Wintering Problem, 



C. LOWER. 



What I know about the wintering 

 problem is this : That the first two 

 points in wintering bees that are in a 

 healthy condition, with plenty of stores, 

 is to keep them dry and quiet ; top ven- 

 tilation will give the former, and to 

 keep bees quiet in winter quarters, the 

 temperature must not mark more than 

 47° above zero. 



I prepare my bees for winter quarters 

 thus : The hives are 1% story, with 

 cloth over the brood-frames, which I 

 turn back 2 inches at the back part of 

 the hive, and cut a piece of wire-screen 

 large enough to cover the opening, and 

 then fill up the hive with oats straw, so 

 full that the cover will not go down by 

 about one inch, and I find that the un- 

 derside of the cover, and one or two 

 inches of the top of the straw, kept 

 quite wet, while the lower part of the 

 straw, and also the bees were dry and 

 comfortable. 



