THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



283 



Bees Wintered Well. — Geo. W. 



Homer, Dubuque,o Iowa, on April 

 22, 1SS6, says: 



My bees wintered well ont-doors, 

 the loss being 4 colonies out of 7.5, fall 

 count. Their condition is fair to first- 

 class. The weather here could not 

 well be better than it has been for the 

 past week, being as balmy as in June, 

 and the bees are merry. 



Nice Weather for Bees.— F. M. 



Taintor, Coleraine,*o Mass., on April 

 24, 18S(i, says : 



I placed my bees on the summer 

 stands on April 14, after a conflue- 

 ment of 5 months in the cellar. They 

 wintered well, but are light in bees, 

 owing. I think, to flying so much last 

 fall. We have had very warm weather 

 since I carried them out, so at present 

 they have a tine lot of brood for this 

 time of the year ; and if this weather 

 continues they will be all right. 



Bees in nice Condition.— Wm. H. 



Graves, Duncan.© Ills., April Si, 

 1886, writes : 



My bees have wintered in fine con- 

 dition. I had 59 colonies last falL and 

 now I have 58. Never since I nave 

 kept bees have I had them in as nice 

 condition at this time of the year. 

 They began carrying in pollen on 

 March IB. I wintered them on the 

 summer stands, except 4 that were in 

 the cellar— the first that I ever win- 

 tered in a cellar, and they came 

 through nicely. I could not help but 

 ■wonder at the small amount of honey 

 consumed. Last season was the 

 poorest for honey I ever saw ; I had 

 only about 500 pounds from 60 colonies. 

 We have every prospect now for a 

 good honey season. My bees are build- 

 ing up rapidly. 



Upward Ventilation, etc.— J. W. 

 Johnson, Mcrall,N3 Mo., on April 21, 

 18&5, writes : 



I tliink that I have the winter prob- 

 lem settled, at least to suit me. Ven- 

 tilation is necessary, and upward 

 ventilation at that, for we must keep 

 from the bees the hot air that rises in 

 bitter cold weather. In the fall of 

 1884 I put my bees up for winter— 50 

 colonies in all— and when the next 

 May came I had 7 colonies, and only 

 1 out of the 7 was very strong. When 

 I examined them I noticed an open 

 space in the honey -board. The upper 

 story was just set on. and no straw 

 nor anything else was in it. Last fall 

 I had some 40 colonies, and when I 

 put them in for the winter this hive 

 was left in really a worse condition 

 than it was the previous winter, and 

 the colony in it came out strong again 

 this spring ; while lots of my colonies 

 that were put up in good condition, 

 as I thought, were dead. I now have 

 27 colonies of bees. I took a frame 

 from this strong, colony yesterday to 

 build up a weak one, and it had brood 

 in it. Upward ventilation is the best 

 in winter. I think. 



Feeding Maple Symp, etc.— Free- 

 man Chute, Port Hurwell, Ont., on 

 April 19, 1886. writes : 



Although I have been a bee-keeper 

 for about 30 years, yet I find that I 

 know nothing as I ought. I com- 

 menced the winter of 1885 with 24 

 good colonies, and the next spring I 

 had 1 colony. The winter just past 

 I tried to winter 11, and came through 

 with 8. The cause of my loss of the 3 

 colonies I attribute to too many 

 frames in the hive, which did not 

 allow the bees to cluster enough to 

 keep up the natural warmth. The 

 cellar I keep them in is wet, but 

 roomy, and has not much ventilation. 

 1. Does the presence of vegetables 

 injure the wintering of bees in the 

 same room ? 2. Is maple syrup good 

 to feed bees when they are short of 

 honey V 3. What is the occasion of 

 bees swarming out in the spring and 

 alighting, and if put back will come 

 out again and act so till they perish V 



[1. If the cellar is kept sweet, the 

 presence of vegetables will not be 

 detrimental. 



2. Yes; maple syrup will answer 

 when the bees have occasional flights. 



3. They are disgusted with their 

 quarters, short of food, or something 

 of that kind. The causes are numer- 



Ed.] 



ous.- 



strengthening Colonies, D. S. 



Goff, Ridgefield,6 Ills., on April 28, 

 1886, says : 



I have 1 weak colony of bees, and a 

 neighbor about 10 rods away has 3 

 colonies. 2 of them being pretty strong 

 ones. The 2 strong colonies have 

 commenced to rob mine a little, and 

 I thought it would be a good plan to 

 strengthen them with a pound of 

 Italians. What is the best thing I 

 can do V 



[Yes; if the queen is good. Buy a 

 pound of bees and give them to the 

 weak colony. — Ed.] 



No Loss in Wintering. — D. R. 



Rosebrough, Casey ,o Ills., on April 



24, 1886, writes: 



It perhaps will be remembered that 

 last fall I stated if it was a detriment 

 to have too many bees in the hives to 

 winter, it would affect the wintering 

 of my bees, for my hives were then 

 full of young bees ; but the winter is 

 ended, spring is here, and my bees 

 are all right. I wintered .55 colonies 

 without loss. Hov>' is that for out- 

 door wintering, and in thin hives V 

 All except one of my queens are 

 living, and all had brood but one 

 colony, and that was strong in bees, 

 so I exchanged some of its frames 

 with those of other colonies. This 

 has been the finest week for bees that 

 I have ever known at this time of the 

 year. Apple, cherry, and plum trees 

 are in full bloom. It is as safe to work 

 with the bees now as it is in the mid- 

 dle of white clover bloom. I have 



drones flying, and a few colonies are 

 working in the surplus apartments. 

 I have no weak colonies. The past is 

 my second winter without loss. 



Early ftueens, etc.— N. H. Rowland, 



Keene.QKy., on April 26, 1886, 

 writes : 



Bees are booming. I never saw 

 them breed up faster. Apples are in 

 full bloom, and the weather is just 

 right. I have already reared one lot 

 of e^rly queens to supply some colo- 

 nies that had lost their queens 

 through the winter. The queens were 

 laying on April 20, and have had 

 drones flying since March. This is the 

 earliest I have ever reared queens. 

 Our old friend, the Ajlekican Bee 

 Journal, still makes its weekly 

 visits, as it has been doing for years ; 

 and though an old visitor, it is always 

 a welcome one, for, in my opinion, it 

 is still ahead of all others. 



Breeding in the Cellar. — S. J. 

 Youngman, Cato,© Mich., April 17, 

 1886, writes : 



Bees have wintered fairly well. I 

 removed my own from the cellar on 

 April 9, after a confinement of 126 

 days. Several of the colonies were 

 very heavy, one havingseveral frames 

 of brood in all stages, from the uewly 

 laid egg to hatching bees, and no 

 diarrhea. How does this agree with 

 the pollen theory V Oue of my neigh- 

 bors also had a colony wintered in a 

 cellar, with brood in all stages, and it 

 had drones flying on the next day 

 after being put out. Is it cocomon 

 for bees to breed in dark cellars t 



Bees Wintered Fairly Well.— F. 



H. McFarland, Charlotte,^ Vt., on 

 April 26, 1886, says : 



Bees have wintered fairly well here, 

 although some have lost quite heavily. 

 Mr. A. E. Manum called a tew days 

 since, and informed me that his bees 

 never wintered better, having lost 

 less than 2 per cent, of the colonies 

 which I prepared for winter for hini 

 last fall. He has, this spring, about 

 700 colonies. The past week has been 

 quite warm, and considerable pollen 

 and some honey has been gatherea. 

 Our early honey-plants, before truit 

 bloom, are the willow, elm and maple. 



Bees Wintered Splendidly.-Jno. 



Haskins. Empire Prairie,-o Mo., on 

 April 27, 1886. says : 



All of my bees have wintered splen- 

 didly but one colony that was queen 

 less, I think. I wintered all of ttiem 

 except 2 on the summer stands ^^'■I'C 

 out any protection, but snow thai i 

 shoveled around them, except in i"" 

 fronts of the hives. The fruit trees 

 and red-bud are in bloom. 



To any One sending us OTie new sub- 

 scriber with their own renewal (with $2.00), 

 we wJU present a copy of the new " Con- 

 vention History of America." 



