60 



THE A^^ERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the 12th day after she was started, 

 ieing delayed on account of the flood. 

 •On July 4, 1 put her with a few black 

 bees ; it did not seem much over a 

 month until the hive was full of beau- 

 tiful Italians, and there were no blacks 

 to be seen. I love my bees, although 

 they sting me some. I obtained 77 lbs. 

 of honey in 1 lb. sections. I was late 

 starting with the bees, and there was 

 no fall honey. I have 13 colonies, and 

 I think they are well provided with 

 good honey. I left them on the sum- 

 mer stands, protected with straw and 

 chaff cushions. To-day the bees are 

 out ; some dropped on the snow, but 

 rose again, as there is no wind. This 

 is the first flight they have had since 

 Dec. 21. Mrs. Kate Fisher. 



StewartviUe, Mo., Jan. 12, ISvi. 



Foundation with Natural Cells. 



My 44 colonies are all alive today, 

 takiiag a flight in the open air, having 

 a good time. I used 7-5 pounds of flat- 

 bottom foimdation, last year, and if 

 there was an old comb in the hive, 

 the queen would lay in the old comb 

 and not touch the t'oundation, unless 

 forced to use it. It appears that there 

 is no place for the eggs. I found the 

 eggs at one side of tlie cell, not in the 

 centre ; in concave-bottom, the egg 

 would be in the centre of the cell, 

 showing me it was not natural, and 

 the queens did not like it. 



H. KiCHET. 



Sing Sing, N. Y., Jan. 14, 18.S4. 



Diphtheria— D eath— Hygiene. 



It was with no little pleasure that I 

 read Mr. Pringle's letter under the 

 above caption on page 23 of the Bee 

 Journal. Mr. Pringle stands square 

 on his feet, and on solid ground, as I 

 well know by experience in my own 

 family. As many enquiring ones do 

 not know where to look for aid in 

 their extremity, I would suggest that 

 Mr. P. make a list of books that he 

 would recommend, and that our 

 worthy editor keep these books for 

 sale to those who may need them. 

 E. M. Hayhurst. 



Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 14, 1884. 



[We win do so, with pleasure. — Ed.] 



The Season in Arkansas. 



The season of 1883 I will call an or- 

 dinary good one. Colonies in two- 

 storj' twenty-frame Langstroth hives 

 have given from 75 to 100 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey ; those in box hives 2.5 

 to 30 lbs. The fall of 1883 was fair. 

 We only had cold snaps on Xov. 17 

 and 18, but on Jan. 2 it turned cold, 

 and on the 6th and 7th we had snow 

 for three days ; at daybreak the ther- 

 mometer was at zero. To-day, at day- 

 break, it was V2P\ at noon, 45-', with a 

 few bees flying. My bees are in one 

 and two-story Iiives, and in good con- 

 dition. Those having upward venti- 

 lation are very quiet and dry ; those 

 having no upward ventilation are a 

 little frosty. The honey market is 

 poor : business dull ; no trade ; cause, 

 the failure of the cotton crop and 

 drought. Frank Thiaville. 



Forrest Citv, Ark., Jan. 10, 1884. 



Pollen and Brood Rearing. 



In an article by G. M. Doolittle 

 (page 606 of the Bee Journal for 

 1883), it would appear that old bees 

 will not eat pollen when not rearing 

 brood. I think my experience proves 

 the opposite. One" colony starved tliis 

 winter which I neglected to give pro- 

 vision enough in the fall. The bees 

 appeared to be in good condition 

 otherwise, but not a particle of honey 

 or pollen could I find in the hive. I 

 found one cell in the centre of a comb 

 which was capped, tliis being the only 

 sign of brood. There were no pains 

 taken to exclude pollen from this hive 

 in the fall. I like to read the Bee 

 Journal very much, and camiot do 

 without it. W. FisHBR. 



Hamler, O., Jan. 16, 1SS4. 



A Real Winter. 



I put 17 colonies in winter quarters 

 on Nov. 1, on summer stands, a la 

 Heddon. They had a flight on Nov. 

 24 ; since that time we have had a 

 winter. On Jan. 5 and 6 it was 20^ 

 below zero ; to-day my bees are flying 

 some ; it is 4.5°. Ilooked at some col- 

 onies, and they are all right yet. The 

 last two weeks have been the coldest 

 that I ever knew, in the last 20 years, 

 in this section of the State. 



J, W. Sturw^old. 



Haymond, Ind., Jan. 14, 1884. 



Bees Alive and Well. 



I am alive and well, and so are my 

 70 colonies of bees ; they passed 

 through the blizzard all right, without 

 loss. They had a grand flight on Sun- 

 day. Jan. Is. James RoNiAN. 



Villisca, Iowa, Jan. 15, 1884. 



No Winter Loss or Spring Dwindling 



Bees are wintering well ; mine took 

 the first flight of 1884 yesterday, and 

 all look bright and in the best condi- 

 tion. They are left out-of-doors, 

 packed in chaff. I have packed them 

 this way for four winters without the 

 loss of a single colony, and they never 

 spring dwindle. J. G. Norton. 



Macomb, El., Jan. 14, 18S4. 



Bees Packed in Leaves. 



We have just survived a very cold 

 spell of weather, 30'-^ to 37^ below zero; 

 but, to-day, was quite mild, so much 

 so that the most of my bees were fly- 

 ing some, and but few were left on the 

 snow. My bees are packed in leaves 

 on the summer stands, and really look 

 comfortable. The honey flow stopped, 

 last season, about the last week in 

 July. I started with 105 colonies in 

 the spring ; increased to 133, and got 

 about 300 gallons of extracted and 

 3,000 lbs. of comb honey, and 100 lbs. 

 of wax for my season's crop. Not so 

 bad for a side show. I have not had 

 time to attend to the selling of honey, 

 as I have wished. I have now sold 

 some over S300 worth, principally in 

 the stores in wholesale lots, but have 

 to sell from 12J-^ to 15 cents per pound. 

 I would promise you great results in 

 bee-keeping only for two obstacles in 

 the way, these are, successful winter- 



ing and the disposing of honey at fair 

 prices. It seems that extracted honey 

 finds but little demand, this season. 

 I caimot see why honey is so little 

 used as food when it caii be bought at 

 121-^ to 20 cents per pound, when butter 

 brings from 25 to 35 cents per pound, 

 and adulterated syrups 85 cents per 

 gallon. Considering the advantages of 

 honey for food and medicine, it is by 

 far the cheapest sweet now sold in the 

 market. H. S. Hackman. 



Peru, 111., Jan. 13, 1884. 



A "Bee Story." 



A neighbor of mine, in the fall of 

 1882, put a colony of bees in his 

 kitchen chamber, to winter them, the 

 boards of the floor are loosely laid, and 

 consequently a high temperature was 

 maintained where the bees were. A 

 considerable quantity of maple sugar 

 was stored in the chamber. The bees 

 worked on the sugar most of the win- 

 ter, increased very fast, and on Feb. 

 22, a fine swarm came out which was 

 hived, and when the bees were moved 

 to the summer stand, in April, the 

 old colony was very strong, the swarm 

 had built a large quantity of comb, 

 and had about lo lbs. of honey. How 

 is that for " winter dairying V" 



H. H. McNett. 



Carpenter, Pa., Jan. 14, 1884. 



The Dowagiac, Mich., Times, of Jan. 

 9, contains this report of Mr. Shirley's 

 apiary : 



W. H. Shirley, the Glenwood apiar- 

 ist, has put into winter quaeters 167 

 colonies of bees, all of which he thinks 

 are in safe condition for wintering 

 successfully. His honey crop last year 

 was a good one, as he has already sold 

 1,800 pounds of extracted honey, and 

 his comb honey aggregated 5,000 lbs. 

 Mr. Shirley is a close student of Mr. 

 Heddon's system of bee-keeping, and 

 his business ability and industry en- 

 ables him to carry it out successfully. 

 He is a gentleman with whom it is a 

 pleasure to deal ; and he is destined to 

 take a front rank with the honey pro- 

 ducers of the State. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1884. 



Jan. 28.- 

 A 



March .5. 

 W. 



Mar. 29.— 

 April 18.- 

 April 22.- 

 Oct. 11, 1 

 Dec. 10, 1 



Time and place of Meeting. 



-Bee-Keepers' meeting at Monee, Ills. 

 .. Wicherta. W.CosBena, B. Heyen. Com. 



— N. E. MichiKan, at Lapeer. Micb. 

 Z. Hutchinson, Sec, Rogersville, Mich. 



Union Association, at Dexter, Iowa, 



M. E. Darby. Sec, Dexter, Iowa. 



-Iowa Central, at Winterset, Iowa. 



J. E. Pryor. Sec 



-Des Moines Co., at Middleton, Iowa. 



John Nau, Sec. 



2. —Northern Mich., at Alma, Mich. 

 F. A. Palmer, Sec, McBrlde, Mich. 



1.— Michigan State, at Lansing. 



H. D. Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich, 



^~ In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed. 



^" We now club the British Bee 

 Journal and our Weekly for $3,50. Sec 

 change in prices on first page. 



