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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bees have had Freqiifeut Flights. — I 



have been making very close observa- 

 tions in reference to color o( bees and 

 their qualities for honey gathering, 

 disposition in liaiidling, liardiness, 

 prolificness and beauty. My bees are 

 of the lightest strains, with but few 

 exceptions. 1 keep the darker ones 

 in my Southern apiary ; the light ones 

 at home. I will give the results of my 

 investigations to the readers of the 

 Bee Journal soon. Bees are win- 

 tering finely. I have 18.5 colonies in 

 good condition, on the summer stands. 

 The weather has been tine, with mer- 

 cury above zero all the winter. The 

 bees have had flights nearly every 

 week. The prospect is good for the 

 coming season. L. J. Diehl. 



Butler, Ind., Feb. S,18S;i. 



Bees Doins Well.— I put about 40 

 colonies of bees in my cellar on 

 Christmas day, and left 6 colonies on 

 their summer stands. All are in line 

 condition. Those left out-of-doors 

 have had frequent flights, and for the 

 last 2 or 3 days have been carrying in 

 pollen from soft maple. The weather 

 IS warm, being more like May tlian 

 February. I. P. Wilson. 



Burlington, Iowa, Feb. 15, 1882. 



Prospects Brighter. — Last winter 

 was so disastrous to my bees that I 

 wasasliamed to rei)ort ray losses, after 

 pronouncing my bees all right in 

 March. My bees did so well last sea- 

 son, however, thaX I am getting re- 

 conciled. My honey crop averaged 150 

 lbs. for each colony that I saved from 

 the wreck, and the increase by division 

 was 200 per cent. Now, with a bee 

 house built on the plan described by 

 Mr. Greening, in No. 29 of last year's 

 Bee Journal, and better prepara- 

 tion of each colony last fall, I hope to 

 report all my colonies lit for duty at 

 next spring's roll-call. I have never 

 had time to attend any of the Conven- 

 tions, but promise myself in the near 

 future the pleasure of taking yourself, 

 Prof. Cook, and other bee-masters by 

 the hand, and thank you all for much 

 instructive and valuable information 

 I have received by the perusal of your 

 communications. 



F. T. Bouteiller. 



Belle Kiver, Ont., Feb. 9, 1882. 



Cold.— Bees air right so far. Tliey 

 are getting a good fly to-day. An 18 

 inch snow fell on Saturday last which 

 is melting rapidly. The coldest here 

 this winter was on Jan. 24—2- above 

 zero. The Bee Journal comes regu- 

 larly and is appreciated. Generally 

 reaches me on Friday of each week. 

 J. W. Carter. 



Pleasant Dale, W. Va., Feb. 8, 1882. 



The Langstroth Hive.— I have tried 

 four different patent hives for many 

 years. The first was the Lauggtroth. 

 They were all tried side by side with 

 the Langstroth, and I found that the 

 Langstroth was tlie best for all pur- 

 poses, so I transferred all of my bees 

 to this hive ; tlierefore, I think that 

 Mr. Heddon's advice is perfect, sound 

 and provable. Wm. Roberts. 



Vaughansville, O., Feb. 14, 1882. 



Wintering Well in Chaff.— I put into 

 winter quarters 60 colonies, packed in 

 chaff. All had a depth of 6 inches of 

 chaff over the bees and inside of the 

 cap. Previous to Jan. 26th they were 

 not out for 6 weeks, but on that date 

 they had a good flight. 1 discovered 

 then that one had starved by cluster- 

 ing in one end of the hive and leaving 

 plenty of honey in the otlier, that they 

 could not get to, on account of the 

 cold. On Feb. 6th the mercury ran up 

 to 62^ in the shade. Taking advant- 

 age of this, I opened every hive and 

 found all in fine order ; there was 

 capped brood in a good many of the 

 hives. We are having remarkably 

 fine warm weather for tliis time of 

 year. C. W. McKown. 



Gilson, 111., Feb. 9, 1882. 



Packed in Chaff.— Bees are winter- 

 ing here finely. They enjoyed a good 

 fly on the 6th inst.,and one Dec. 18th. 

 I have 146 colonies packed in chaff ; 

 all but 2 are in good condition. I am 

 surprised at the reports of the extreme 

 cold East. Seven degrees above zero 

 is the coldest we have had. 



H. D. BURRELL. 



Bangor, Mich., Feb. 10, 1882. 



Spring-Like.— Isend herewith some 

 sprigs of smilax with bloom. My bees 

 have had some grand and glorious 

 flights the last few days. Some got 

 info my plant house and gathered 

 honey and pollen from smilax, etc. 

 Robin red-breasts and bine birds 

 greeted methisniorning, the first time 

 this season. The weather is like 

 spring. What a difference between 

 this and last season. 



H. S. Hackman. 



Peru, 111., Feb. 14,1882. 



Dairy versns Apiary. — I write to 

 draw out from some source liowmuch 

 the apiary detracts from tlie dairy. It 

 is well known, by observing dairy- 

 men, that bees take from their pastures 

 some of the richest and choicest ele- 

 ments of their milk and butter, and 

 the savory sweet and nourishing 

 qualities from their beef and mutton, 

 and their covvs give, so to speak, 

 skimmed milk when pastured near 

 large apiaries. We have all noticed a 

 vast difference in the savory elements 

 of milk, butter, beef and mutton, and 

 think the scientists will attribute a 

 part to the depredations of the honey 

 bee. I should like to hear through 

 the Bee Journal from some one 

 versed in agriculture, as well as the 

 apiary, about our bees depredating on 

 the dairy. 1 have .50 colonies of bees 

 in the cellar in good condition. I lost 

 8 colonies last winter out of 35, leav- 

 ing 27 last spring, some very weak. I 

 increased to 50, and took off about ."jOO 

 lbs. of section honey, and called it a 

 very poor year. Our bee pasture is 

 mainly white clover ; the quality of 

 honey is good, and sells at 20 and 25 

 cts. per lb. I am well pleased with 

 the present form of the Bee Jour- 

 nal. When Jan. 1, 1882, came, I had 

 52 numbers (none lost), making a 

 large book. 



Alvah Reynolds. 



Oneida, 111., Feb. 6, IS82. 



Bee-Keeping in (Jeorgia. — Bees have 

 had a flight nearly every day during 

 winter, and there were but few days 

 that they have not carried in pollen. 

 In examininga few colonies on the 10th 

 iiist., I found all of them breeding 

 finely, some of them with brood in 5 

 frames. Should they get no set back, 

 they will swarm in March. Drones 

 are nearly developed. The present 

 size of the Bee Journal I admire, 

 andalso the manner in which it is edi- 

 ted. I have not sent anything for 

 publication in it lately, seeing that 

 you had plenty tliat was much better, 

 but please do not think I have for- 

 gotten the old American Bee Jour- 

 nal — long may it and its editor live. 

 A. F. Moon. 



Rome, Ga., Feb. 10, 1882. 



Mild Winter.- The winter has been 

 a remarkably mild one, and well cal- 

 culated to bring bees through in good 

 shajie. My bees were carrying in pol- 

 len last Monday. 



H. H. Littell. 



Louisville, Ky., Feb. 17,1882. 



Bee-Keeping in Utah.— Cache valley 

 is about 100 miles north of Salt Lake 

 City, some colder, and subject to early 

 and late frosts ; much liealthier. We 

 have not many bees liere yet, but what 

 we have are doing and paying well. 

 We use the Kidder hive as yet. A 

 colony of Italian bees in ttie Kidder 

 hive will sell for about $14 ; extracted 

 honey about 25 cts. i)er lb. My report 

 from the county was 70 pounds to the 

 colony— a little over 6,000 pounds. I 

 am satisfied if we had more expe- 

 rience and your modern improve- 

 ments, we could do better. We will 

 keep working at it till we get tliem. I 

 guess you can appreciate the feelings 

 of a young bee-keeper. Our bee 

 pasturage is good — plenty of sweet, 

 red and Lucerne clovers, and about 

 2.000 acres of willows. I winter on 

 the summer stand, using stable ma- 

 nure and some sawdust, piling them 

 beneath, at the sides, back and on top, 

 and leaving the entrance clear. On 

 the 1st of May they are ready for 

 swarming. We generally increase 

 two from one. Some years past we 

 have been troubled with foul brood. 

 The County Courts have appointed 

 Commissioners to inspect and destroy 

 foul brood wherever found, and they 

 are doing a good work. The Courts 

 impose a tieavy line on any one who 

 refuses to destroy the infected hive. 

 Though new, our county realized 

 S20,000 frcnn honey alone. 



George IIiisbakd, Bee Com'r. 



Logan, Utah, Jan. 22, 1882. 



Yonng Bees.- Today, Feb. 3, I 

 looked over all of my bees, as it was 

 warm, and they had a good flight. I 

 found them iii excellent condition, 

 strong in bees, and several had com- 

 menced to rear brood ; one having 

 brood on two frames, and some were 

 hatching out. Some liad hatched. I 

 liave 28 colonies, all in chaff hives. 

 1 Mud a scarcity of pollen in all of my 

 colonies. 



X. C. McFatridge, M. D. 



Carroll, Ind., Feb. 3, 1882. 



