THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



811 



very busy, and gathered about 4,500 

 lbs. of surplus honey, half of which 

 was conil), the other half extracted, 

 and increased to 1H(>, which are all in 

 good condition for winter. 1,S0 are 

 now in the bee house and keep very 

 quiet at a temperature of 40- to 42^ 

 above zero. Tlie outside temperature 

 this morning showed 23° below zero. 

 I feel myself obliged to add that I ob- 

 tained more profit by tlie three year.s' 

 subscription to tlie Bee Journal 

 that would overrun a hundred times 

 the price I paid for it. 



C. Theilmann. 

 Theilmanton, Minn. 



Platform for Hives.— Has any one 

 vised stones for iilatforras for hives V 

 What size sections can I use on a hive 

 12x1.514 inches V I have heretofore 

 used small frames. This has been the 

 best honey season I have had since 

 1877. George Drew. 



Bunker Hill, 111., Dec. 12, 18S2. 



[We can see no advantage in using 

 stones for platforms ; they will be very 

 cold for the bees to travel over. You 

 ■can use eitli^ the regular one or two- 

 pound sections in a comb honey rack, 

 or even the half-pound sections ; or 

 you can use " cases " to hold either 

 size, for side storing, as may be de- 

 sired. See article on small sections 

 for surplus honey elsewhere in this 

 paper.— Ed.] 



The Season's Operations.— I had 48 



colonies of bees last spring. I had to 

 feed all my bees from the last of April 

 till tlie 1st of .June, wlien tliey began 

 to gather some honey from wliite and 

 red clover, but jiot very much. Next 

 came basswood and sourwood. I took 

 800 lbs. of honey ttiat was gathered 

 from basswood and sourwood. and ob- 

 tained 1,800 lbs. of aster honey. I had 

 2,100 lbs. of extracted lioney and 500 

 lbs. of very nice comb honey in 1,2 

 and 4-lb. sections. My honey is all of 

 the very best quality. I increased 

 from 48 to G'i colonies, mostly by nat- 

 ural swarming. I hiive a good home 

 market for all my honey. I sell ex- 

 tracted honey at 15 cents" per pound, 

 and comb honey at 20 cts. 



Jno. F. Fry. 

 Ronceverte, W. Va., Dec. 6, 1882. 



Best Honey Crop in 10 Years.— As 



the season's work has closed I will 

 send in my report for the year 1882. I 

 commenced in early spring (Februaryj 

 -with 27 colonies ; had 52 natural 

 swarms; have taken t),4Gl lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey and 274 lbs. of comb 

 honey ; total, (1,785 lbs. Average, per 

 colony, spring count, 249 llis. The 

 largest amount from 1 colony and its 

 increase was 475 lbs.; largest yield 

 from 1 colony 2(i3i lbs. (Pure hybrid.) 

 From a 3-frame nucleus, set out with 

 queen-cell February 25, I took 162 lbs. 

 of honey ; 3 of my nuclei swarmed. 

 About the time the queen's progeny 

 began to tly, the queens, not being 

 clipped, the bees made good their es- 

 cape to the woods, but they were not 

 counted as swarms. I cannot say 



what my yield of honey would have 

 been if I could have kept up with 

 them. For about 12 days, right in the 

 height of the honey harvest, my hives 

 were all honey-bound, and I could get 

 no help, and being engaged in the 

 supply business, with such a rush on 

 me for hives, etc., that I could not 

 avoid it. Could not tier-up, for I had 

 no extra hives; hived many swarms 

 in boxes until 1 could catch up with 

 my work. Now, for fear that some 

 may think this was an average season 

 in Texas. I would say that it has been 

 the best of many seasons, perhaps, 

 the best in ten. I have kept bees tor 

 30 years in Texas. I enclose $2 for the 

 Weekly Bee Journal for 1883, for «o 

 progressive bee-man could do without 

 it. J. S. Tadlock. 



Luling, Texas, Dec. 11,1882. 



Do Bees Pay ?— In 1881, hive No. 1 

 (in mv care) increased to (i by natural 

 swarming, and gave 12t)i lbs. of comb 

 honey. In 1882, the 6 wintered all 

 right, and gave 10 swarms and 823 lbs. 

 of comb honey. They are all blacks 

 or hybrids. One of them. No. 35, gave 

 236M lbs.; its first swarm gave V2-I)i 

 lbs. No. 35 was a swarm on the Isl 

 of August, 1881, from a swarm from 

 No 1 E. Pickup. 



Limerick, 111., Dec. 4, 1882. 



Excellent.— I had 5 colonies of bees, 

 all blacks, last spring ; bought 1 three- 

 frame nucleus of Italians ; increased 

 by dividing and natural swarming to 

 23 colonies, in good condition. I liave 

 6 colonies of Italians, 1 Cyprian, and 

 16 blacks and hybrids. I received 

 from them .573 pounds of comb honey, 

 and 227 lbs. of extracted; in all, SOO 

 lbs, I think that is doing tolerably 

 well for a novice. I shall try and do 

 better next year. John Nebel. 



High. Hill, Mo., Dec. 14, 1882. 



Have Done Well.— I have 40 colonies 

 packed in sawdust. I had several 

 colonies that gave over 100 lbs. of 

 comb honey, each, in 2-lb. sections. I 

 am a life subscriber to the Bee 

 Journal. 



Henrt W. Burnham. 



Ballston Spa, N. Y. 



Progress in Bee-Keeping.— With the 



Bee Journal in its present form, it 

 seems to me all should be satislied, 

 and also with the reading matter it 

 contains. When I look back over the 

 25 or 30 years that have passed, and 

 compare the management of bees at 

 that time with the present, I feel sat- 

 isfied, as one in the family of bee- 

 keepers, that we have made as great 

 progress as in any other calling in life's 

 labor. One very important part in the 

 managementof our bees to make them 

 more profitable and less vexatious, is 

 to be able to successfully carry tliera 

 through all kinds of winters. As there 

 are so many of us experimenting in 

 this directioii, it is to be hoped some 

 will succeed perfectly. There may be 

 such now. but it is not generally 

 known ; when it is. and when such is 

 generally followed, then our business 

 will be more reliable. In its present 

 uncertainty, few of us can know what 



amount of preparation to make for 

 our bees in the wav of hives or honey 

 receptacles. Mauv have had an apiary 

 in the fall of which they were proud, 

 but that pride was turned into disgust 

 the next spring. Be patient, dear edi- 

 tor, and keep giving us the experience 

 of the bee keepers in this part of our 

 calling, and, by-and-by, we shall get 

 light L- James. 



Atlanta, 111., Dec. 14, 1882. 



Packed in Chaff. — I now have 70 

 colonies in good condition. My bees 

 are principaily Italians and are packed 

 in chaff. 20 colonies were packed as 

 early as the latter part of September. 

 I think, next year, I shall pack all my 

 bees as early as September. I do not 

 think my bees were ever so uniformly 

 in good condition for winter as at the 

 present time. From 43 colonies in the 

 spring they have increased to 70, prin- 

 cipally by natural swarming. My 

 surplus honev was 2,200 lbs., one-third 

 extracted honey, and the rest, comb. 

 I sold the comb honev at 15 cents and 

 the extracted honey at 12Ac. per lb. I 

 think I have done well with my bees 

 for the past two years, and how could 

 I do otlierwise with so good an in- 

 structor as the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, and with such appliances as the 

 Excelsior honey extractor, ilethering- 

 ton's uncapping knife and Bingham's 

 smoker •t' Long life to the Bee 

 Journal. '^ AV. S. Pierson. 



Eureka, Mich., Dec. 8, 1882. 



Large Increase.— I began with 2 

 colonies in the fall of 1881, and now 

 have 23 colonies in good condition, in 

 winter quarters. Wm. Sabins. 



Burlington, Iowa, Dec. 14, 1882. 



^- When changing a postofiBce ad- 

 dress, mention the old as well as the 

 new address. 



A Religious Newspaper.— We desire 

 to call the attention of our readers to 

 one of the largest, ablest and most pop- 

 ular religious newspapers published— 

 one that' secures the best writers in 

 this country and Europe, regardless 

 of expense ; has the best and fullest 

 book reviews of any paper in the 

 country ; has able articles upon finan- 

 cial and commercial subjects; has de- 

 partments edited by specialists and 

 devoted to Fine Arts, Music, Science, 

 Religious Intelligence, Missions, 

 School and College, News of the Week, 

 Hymn Notes,the Sunday-school, Legal 

 and Sanitary questions. Biblical Re- 

 search (something that cannot be 

 found in any other newspaper in the 

 United States), Farm and Garden, In- 

 surance, Weekly Market Reports, etc. 

 —in fact, a newspaper which, with its 

 twenty-two distinct departments, is 

 suited to the requirements of every 

 family, containing a fund of informa- 

 tion which cannot be had in any other 

 shape, and having a wide circulation 

 all over the couiitrv and in Europe. 

 We refer to The Independent, of 

 New York, now called " The largest, 

 the ablest, the best." See advertise- 

 ment, in another column, and send a 

 postal card for free suecimen copy. 



