1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



81 



severe Aviiiter so tar, aud I think tlie 

 winter losses will be small. 



Warren H. Winch. 



Angleton, Tex., March 8, 1904. 



Editor Bee-Keeper : — Enclosed find 

 35 cents for a trial suscriptiou to The 

 Bee-Keeper. I liked the sample copy 

 very much. 



Bees in this part of the country are 

 in very good condition, for this time of 

 year. (Plenty of pollen and some honey 

 are coming in, and brood-rearing is go- 

 ing oi"ward at rapid rate. J. D. Yancy. 



Salina, I. T., March 8, 1904. 

 Editor American Bee-Keeper: 



Dear Sir — We've had a very mild 

 winter — no snow. Bees never winter- 

 ed better. Loss will not exceed one 

 per cent. Needing rain. 



J. T. Hairston. 



Leota, Miss., March 21, 1904. 

 I report that my bees wintered well 

 on their stands. I went into winter 

 quarters with 146 colonies. I inspect- 

 ed every colony the first week in 

 March and found brood in every col- 

 ony except three. Tuo. Worthington. 



I had gotten them thoroughly aroused. 

 I hope the Cyprians of the present day 

 are not as vicious as ttiose of twenty 

 years ago; yet if pure, I snould expect 

 little change in them, if no one ever 

 handled the bees but myself, I should 

 not object &» seriously to their sting- 

 ing; yet I cannot say I enjoyed it by 

 any means. L. B. Smith. 



Di^ACON HAKDSCRABhLE DEAD. 



Rescue, Tex., March 20, 1904. 

 Editor American Bee-Keeper : 



Having noticed a request in the 

 March number of The American Bee- 

 Keeper to those having had experience 

 with Cyprian bees to report as to ami- 

 ability, viciousness, etc., 1 will say: 

 Away back in the oO's, when the Cy- 

 prians were first imported to the Uni- 

 ted States by D. A. .Tones and Frank 

 Benton, I sent to B. F. Carroll, of 

 Dresden, Tex., and got some queens 

 of the "new races." They proved such 

 wonderful workers in my hands I set 

 to work and Cyprianized my small api- 

 ary, then of about twenty^five colonies 

 of black and Italian bees. They prov- 

 ed to be extra good "vorkers with me, 

 but were the most vicious bees I ever 

 had anything to do with. So after try- 

 ing them for three years, I reluctantly 

 gave them up. I admit, I hated to part 

 ^with them, as I found them the best 

 of honey gatherers, great breeders, 

 and, in fact, I believe they were just 

 suited to this hot, drouthy climate of 

 Texas; but their extreme vicious dispo- 

 sition was too much tor me. On sev- 

 eral occasions my wife had to keep 

 the doors of our house closed for half a 

 day at a time to keep them out, when 



The Deacon's Last Portrait. 



The last of the series of Hardscrab- 

 ble letters, which have been so popular 

 with our readers during the past two 

 years, appeared in our February issue. 

 The following brief note explains their 

 non-appearance recently: 



American Bee-Keeper: — Uncle John 

 died Jan. 27th. He thoughl a heap 

 of The Bee-Keeper. I will send his 

 last picture — taken in October. 



Eben Hardscrabble. 



