TttE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



45 



Unproliflc Queen. — I have been 

 greatly lieiielilted by tlie Bee Jouu- 

 NAi. in tlie past ami expect much 

 prolit from it in the future. I have 21 

 colonies of bees in my cellar, packed 

 with (iiiilts around the brood chamber 

 and straw over the (|uilts. Bees have 

 not done very well this summer, o\v- 

 ing to cold and cloudv weather in the 

 spring. I tried to Italianize my bees 

 this summer but failed. 1 bought a 

 queen which was introduced to a 

 colony, and was accepted, but she did 

 iu)t lay. 1 gave them a frame of 

 brood "and fed them S or 10 days, but 

 she did not lay an egg. What do you 

 think was the causeV Do you think 

 she will do better next spring V Please 

 answer through the Bee .Jouknal. 

 ClIAIlLIE W. Bradish. 



Glendale, N.Y., Dec. 24, 1881. 



[It was probably quite late when 

 you introduced her. and she did not 

 recover from her imprisonment and 

 change in location in time to lay last 

 fall— though she slioukl have done so, 

 even if but little. If she does not 

 show early signs of proliticacy in the 

 spring, you will find it protltable to 

 supersede her; we think she does not 

 amount to much. — En.l 



ural swarms, which made me 29 in all. 

 They did not get much honey until 

 about the l-lth of August, when we 

 bad a splendid How ; then I put on 2- 

 11). section boxes on part of the hives, 

 and second stories on 8 hives, with 10 

 frames in the second story, full of 

 foundation. The rest of them I ex- 

 tracted. I got 1 ,000 lbs. of extracted 

 honey, and 000 lbs. of comb honey. I 

 have" sold nearly all of it for 20 and 25 

 cts. per lb. My bees are in good con- 

 dition for winter, on their summer 

 stands. Geo. W. Stark. 



Ilolmesville, Xeb., Dec. 25, 1881. 



Mild Winter.— The winter so far 

 has been very mild, just cold enough 

 so that bees would not venture out of 

 their hives; the lowest dip was 12-", 

 highest 40-'; on Christmas day the 

 mercury ran to 45^, and the bees flew 

 some at noon. JNlonday and Tuesday 

 it rained continually ; Wednesday was 

 wartn as suunuer, and the bees had a 

 si)lendid lly, and are now in nice con- 

 dition tor the remainder of the winter. 

 1 coiunieiiced the season with 20 weak 

 colonies and bought 9 the last of -June 

 — 1 f)ld and 5 new swarms ; lost one in 

 getting them home ; have 50 now, 45 

 of which are in chaff hives on their 

 summer stands. 5 in single-wall hives 

 in the cellar, all in good order. Have 

 obtained 2,000 lbs. of comb and 250 

 lbs. of extracted honey, which is 

 nearly all sold at home at 16 to 20c. 

 for extracted. I have reared 40 Ital- 

 ian queens. I have taken the Bee 

 JouKNAi, for the last 10 years, and 

 think it is cheaper now than ever be- 

 fore. It is indispensable to bee- 

 keepers. J. II. Kennedy. 



Little York, N.Y., Dec. 31, 1881. 



In the Cellar.— Last winter I put 29 

 colonies in tlie cellar, Dec. 9; I did 

 not liother them through the winter. 

 The cellar was ventilated with 4-iiich 

 pipes, one running through the ground 

 to carry in fresh air. and one running 

 up through the center of the floor to 

 carry out foul air, both running down 

 within :i inches of the bottom ; had 

 slaked lime scattered all over the bot- 

 tom to alisorb the moisture. The cel- 

 lar was i>errectly dark, I took the 

 bees out the 15th of April; all dead 

 but 13 colonies, and they were weak 

 and moldy. The 20tli of .June I divi- 

 ded them all once ; I built up all of 

 them with the combs of the dead bees, 

 which had lots of honey in them. 

 About the 1st of August I had 8 nat- 



Prodiiction of Comb Honey.— I want 

 to know what frame and section to 

 use to get the largest amount of comb 

 honey. C. A. Pontius. 



Canton, O., Jan. 10, 1882. 



[A shallow frame is considered 

 much the best for comb honey, be- 

 cause of giving the bees less labor to 

 climb up to the sections, and giving 

 larger section surface above the 

 frames. As much honey can be ob- 

 tained in 1 and 2 lb. sections as in a 

 larger box, but. of course, the smaller 

 the section, the more attention will 

 be required in taking away or tiering 

 up promptly during a plentiful honey 

 flow.— Ed.] 



All that Conld be Desired.— The tirst 

 number of the Jouunal for 1882 is at 

 hand, and has been perused with 

 usual interest. I am much pleased 

 with its present form. It is surely 

 all that could be desired. I was a lit- 

 tle fearful one year ago that the 

 Weekly would not receive the pat- 

 ronage that it deserved, and sufficient 

 to make it pay. I now predict for it 

 a very bright future. You have la- 

 bored faithfully to make it what it is 

 to-day. Success to your efforts. 



F. A. Snell. 



Milledgeville, 111., Jan. 11, 1882. 



Dwindling.— I think the bees are 

 wintering quite well, so far. We have 

 had plenty of warm days and the bees 

 have had quite a number of good 

 flights. This necessarily implies some 

 dwindling, as I have found quite a 

 number clinging to fences, etc., which 

 are certainly lost. I did not have time 

 to attend to my bees the past season; 

 they did well early in the season, at 

 which time I missed the golden op- 

 portunity to extract. I had IG colo- 

 nies left out of 32, in a very poor con- 

 dition. I transferred 8 into Langs- 

 troth hives, increased 3 by natural 

 swarming, lost 1 entirely by excessive 

 heat melting down combs, had 4 or 5 

 queenless, and a bad time generally 

 to build up. I now have 18 colonies, 

 13 of which are in good ctmdition, all 

 on the summer stands, with blankets 

 over the frames — plenty of honey for 

 stores, and about 100 lbs. of surplus 

 honey in 4I4X4I4 sections. I had poor 

 success in either side or top storing. 

 I expect to lose some of my colonies 

 ill the spring, because I have too many 

 old (pieens and cannot prevent spring 

 dwindling, unless I can get early 



brood. I intend to Italianize all my 

 colonies if possible, and be better pre- 

 pared tor the coming year. I am try- 

 ing to introduce bee pasturage, and 

 hope to succeed. 1 am well pleased 

 with the new stvie of the Bee Jouu- 

 nal. It is just"tlie thing for conven- 

 ience; although not intending any flat- 

 tery, yet 1 must say each successive 

 change improves it in every sense. 

 You have indeed struck the key-note, 

 if I am any judge of bee journalism. 

 I wish you a happy and prosperous 

 year. F. A. GnovE. 



Kirkville, Mo., Jan. 12, 1882. 



Is there Danger of Smothering J— I 



have the hives with my 12 colonies of 

 bees set in a row. with 12 inches straw 

 on the sides, and orS inches of slough 

 grass on toj), some ventilation at the 

 top, and an air space 2 inches high in 

 front, at the bottom. I have been told 

 that they would smother; is there 

 danger of it, and should I remove part 

 of the covering V There are no dead 

 bees at the entrance. A. Hodges. 

 Shenandoah, Iowa, Jan. 10, 1882. 



[If you have even a slight upper 

 ventilation, with the air-space yon 

 mention below, they cannot smother ; 

 but they may become so warm as to 

 create uneasiness. Should this occur 

 they will gather around the entrance 

 in great numbers ; until then, let them 

 alone. — Ed.] 



The Last Prize Qneen.— It is due to 



Mr. Charles H. Lake, of Baltimore, 

 Md., to say that after the prize was 

 awarded to Dr. I. P. Wilson, of Bur- 

 lington, Iowa, I received the sixth 

 and last queen bee, that became a 

 contestant for the prize from Mr. Lake 

 in a nucleus hive, with two full-sized 

 frames, and about a quart of bees, 

 tlie progeny of the queen which he 

 forwarded." The queen herself was 

 not as large as the Wilson queen, nor 

 perhaps as bright a yellow color; but 

 the bees were very large and bright- 

 colored, and the gentlest which I ever 

 handled. Not one even threatened 

 war upon me, though I took them out 

 of the hive on two or three occasions. 

 At the same time, if a stranger bee 

 came sneaking about, he wasinstantly 

 seized and treated without mercy. 

 The queen filled 3 frames about ^;, 

 full of brood after she was inserted in 

 a larger hive, and went into winter 

 quarters in lirst-rate order. 



E. L. Brigos. 

 Wilton, Iowa, Nov. 28, 1881. 



('anadian Opinion. — As one of your 

 Canadian readers I write to express 

 my high apiireciation of the change 

 made this year in the Journal. For 

 present reading as well as future 

 preservation the size, stitching, and 

 cutting the leaves is a very great con- 

 venience, and very much enhances its 

 worth. " J. Carsivell. 



Adelaide, Ont., Jan. 10, 1882. 



l^° The Northeastern Ohio and 

 Northwestern Pennsylvania Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, will meet at 

 Jamestown. Penii.. Fell. 1, 2, 1882. 

 W. D. IIiiWKi.i.s. ^Vc. 



