.^8>. 



VOL. XIX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 21, 1883. 



No. 8. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor. 



A Severe and Cruel Winter. 



The snowstorms, blizzards and very 

 severe weather of the past five or six 

 weeks, has now given way to a less 

 rigorous atmosphere, accompanied 

 with rain, and the results are, destruc- 

 tive floods and inundations all over 

 the country, by the rapid rising of the 

 great rivers and tlieir tributary 

 streams. The reports for weeks have 

 been about delayed and blockaded 

 trains, terrible snow drifts, with the 

 temperature so cold that steam could 

 not be maintained, and hundreds of 

 men and thousands of animals have 

 perished. Now, the song changes — 

 of those animals that are left many 

 more are drowned with inundations, 

 and men are robbed of their habita- 

 tions ; thousands being made home- 

 less and destitute. 



This state of things not only ob- 

 tains in America, but also in Europe. 

 England has been visited by storms 

 more severe than for many years ; her 

 coasts have been lashed with the 

 furious waves ; many of her stately 

 oaks and pleasure bowers have been 

 leveled to the ground, and much of her 

 shipping has been destroyed. On the 

 European continent, floods and storms 

 of unusual severity have destroyed 

 and laid waste many large tracts of 

 country, and the cry for help from 

 those made homeless and destitute, 

 ascends to Heaven from thousands of 

 those wlio, before this calamity, were 

 in pleasant circumstances. 



One of our exchanges, speaking of 

 the terrible disasters thus far, asks : 

 " Is 1883 to be a year of calamities V " 

 Well, surely, it seems already to have 

 made a terrible record in that line. 



including fires, floods, snow-blockades, 

 sleet-storms, blizzards, shipwrecks, 

 train disasters, financial failures and 

 earthquakes. 



Of course, the bees have suffered as 

 well as other stock. For nearly two 

 months, here in the North, those win- 

 tered on the summer stands have been 

 imprisoned by storm and tempest ; 

 and, finally, their hives were envel- 

 oped in an icy winding-sheet, or else 

 carried away on the wild waste of 

 waters, and the poor bees drowned by 

 the mad element, if they still sur- 

 vived the rigors of the Northern 

 wintry blast. 



In some places, disease has set in, 

 and many may yet die of that fearful 

 bee malady— dysentery. 



This winter will try, to the utmost, 

 all kinds of out-door wintering. What 

 the final results may be, can, as yet, 

 only be conjectured. Those in more 

 favored localities, where the floods 

 have less power, will be able to have 

 a " flight " soon, and the threatened 

 damage by disease may be averted. 



Many already have asked us, AVhat 

 effect all these troubles will have on 

 the bee industry ? We reply : .lust 

 the same as it does on the farmer, 

 manufacturer, merchant and stock- 

 men. The floods have destroyed the 

 stock of thousands of merchants, 

 stopped the " busy wheels" of manu- 

 facturers, and carried away thousands 

 of dollars worth of their property. 

 Will they become discouraged and 

 give up ? No ! with redoubled energy 

 they will start anew and retrieve their 

 losses ! 



Because the storm king has de- 

 stroyed thousands of vessels and many 

 cargoes, will the mariners forsake 

 their calling ? No ! but with daunt- 

 less courage they will pursue their 

 labors and bid defiance to the elements. 



Mr. L. James, on page 111, says that 

 the fruit trees, in his neighborhood, 

 are nearly destroyed, and the outlook 

 for fruit is discouraging. Will the 

 fruit culturist cjit down his trees. 



" cast them into the fire," andlookfor 

 some business that has no drawbacks ? 

 No ! he will plant again, watch, culti- 

 vate and hope for the best ! 



Millions of acres of land, by the re- 

 cent inundations, have been robbed 

 of fences and buildings, and many 

 winter crops destroyed— will the 

 farmer cease to plow and build barns 

 and houses for his cattle and herds, 

 and repair the damages V No ! To- 

 morrow's sun will illumine the skies, 

 earth will smile in gladness ; her fields 

 will soon be covered with verdure, 

 and her gardens with flowers ; luscious 

 fruit will gladden the heart of " the 

 sons of toil," and fill the pockets of 

 those whose dauntless courage impels 

 them to labor for the desired end ! 



The bees have been compelled to 

 fight for existence, with disease on the 

 one hand, and winter's fiercest bliz- 

 zard, ending in floods and tempests, 

 on the other. Is it any wonder that, 

 in this unequal contest, they have suf- 

 fered to a greater or less extent, gov- 

 erned by their location and the sur- 

 roundings, together with the care and 

 protection afforded them by their 

 keepers V Instead of being discour- 

 aged over tlie situation, we should 

 feel that our sympathies are needed 

 by the poor bees, who have been thus 

 tortured, and beset on every side with 

 warring elements in a mad career of 

 desolation. We should admire their 

 pluck, energy and endurance, instead 

 of being cowardly enough to try to 

 find an entrance for ourselves to that 

 dungeon over whose portals are writ- 

 ten the stinging motto—" Blasted 

 Hopes." There are no such words as 

 " blasted hopes !" in tlie vocabulary of 

 men of true worth. Reverses only 

 stimulate " progressive men " to 

 further diligence. 



When the fruit grower, the farmer, 

 the merchant, the sailor and the man- 

 ufacturer become discouraged and 

 " give up the battle," it will be time 

 enough for the bee-keeper to think 

 about being discouraged ! Until then. 



