no 



THE AMERICA!^ BEE JOURNAL. 



there is an unusual amount of dead 

 bees in the iiives. As the weather is 

 too cold to disturb them, out of doors, 

 I did notliins more than to put a well- 

 filled comb of honey, having a passage 

 cut through it, over the cluster, wliich 

 will be sufficient for them until the 

 middle of March, if dysentery does 

 not kill them. 1 shall move part of 

 them to the cellar and give them 

 plenty of upward ventilation, and ex- 

 periment with tliem and report later. 

 I cannot say how my bees are winter- 

 ing in Virginia and W. Virginia, as I 

 have not seen them since the fall ; 

 then they had plenty of stores. We 

 have not had extremely cold weather 

 this winter, but it has been continuous 

 for over 2 months, and damp, with no 

 chance for a flight. S. Valentine. 

 Hagerstown, Md. 



How the Bees are Doiiiir. 



This is another very severe winter. 

 The weather has been very cold ever 

 since Dec. 1. Old bee men think we 

 will have another grand disaster, like 

 the season of 1880-81. However, I 

 hope they are mistaken. My bees had 

 been confined since Dec. 1 until Jan. 

 27, when a portion of the bees had a 

 flight. Those in two-story hives came 

 out the most. When I say two-story 

 hives I mean 2 hives, one on the top 

 of another, with both entrances open. 

 They seemed to be dry and bright. 

 Those in one-story hives did not come 

 out as much, although similarly lo- 

 cated. Very few dead bees were under 

 the clusters of the two-story hives, 

 but considerable more in the single 

 ones. The snow is over a foot deep ; 

 the thermometer, in the shade, sliovvs 

 2° below freezing point. Compara- 

 tively few bees remained on the snow, 

 considering the chilly air. The bees 

 are packed in leaves, on the back and 

 between, and the front open to the 

 sunny side. The bees spotted the 

 snow some, but not much. 



II. S. Hackman. 



Peru, 111., Jan. 31, 1883. 



Sundry Questious. 



My 35 colonies are all packed on 

 their summer stands in straw, chaff, 

 leaves and cobs, as an experiment. 

 They had a good cleansing flight on 

 Dec. 2-1 and Jan. 28. They seem to 

 be strong and healthy, so far. The 

 index for 1882, is a great convenience. 

 I have been looking over and review- 

 ing some of the articles written last 

 year. I intend to try Prof. Cook's 

 plan of preventing increase, on page 

 474, July 26, 1882, and if it works well 

 with my bees it will be worth more to 

 me than the price of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for a year. Mr. Heddon's honey 

 board is new to me. When the sec- 

 tions are all on and full of lioney, will 

 not those ^g inch slats sag in the cen- 

 ter with the weight, or how is it pre- 

 vented V Will Mr. Ileddon tell us? 

 Do yon think the one-piece dove- 

 tailed sections as good as nailed ones V 

 Do you know anything about Low- 

 master's drone trap, referred to on 

 page 313 of the Bee Journal for 

 May 17. 1882 V I want one of some 

 kind. Does not Prof. Cook and others 

 teach that the brood combs must be 



3 inches from centre to centre ? That 

 is what I understand ; if so, how can 

 you get ten frames in a hive of 14% 

 inches, as the Langstroth hive is de- 

 scribed on page 55, Jan. 24, 1883, by 

 M. M. Baldridge ? I have been taught 

 and practising with a hive 15 inciies 

 wide for ten frames, and 12 inches for 

 eight frames. I never handled the 

 movable frame hive much, and I want 

 to be sure I am right ; " then go 

 ahead." D. S. Kalley. 



Mansfield, Ind. 



[We believe the one-piece sections 

 are as good as any, and are supersed- 

 ing all other kinds. We know noth- 

 ing more of the drone trap than is 

 mentioned by Mr. Lowmaster. 



You are mistaken about the dis- 

 tance between brood frames. Prof. 

 Cook, as well as all others, state that 

 the distance should be about IJ^ inches 

 from centre to centre. — Ed.] 



Hard Wiuter— Bees Dying. 



Bees are beginning to die, here. A 

 good many colonies, with chaff and 

 similar protection, are dead. I have 

 about 100 colonies in a well-ventilated 

 bee-cellar, that begin to show symp- 

 toms of dysentery. The cellar has 

 been of uniform temperature, about 

 35°, with all other conditions favor- 

 able, but present prospects of success- 

 ful wintering are not promising. 



Leonidas Hubbard. 



Waldron, Mich., Peb. 12, 1883. 



Last Season's Work. 



Last spring we had 14 colonies ; in- 

 creased, by the middle of July, by 

 natural swarming, dividing and nu- 

 clei, to 24, and there we set our stakes. 

 But bees, like many others, are 

 whimsical. On the last of July they 

 commenced swarming. Nearly every 

 pleasant day out came a swarm, and 

 when threshing ; while I, with the as- 

 sistance of a young girl, was getting 

 dinner for 19 men, one day, two 

 swarms came out ; the next three, be- 

 tween 10 and 12 o'clock (bee-keeping 

 and farming makes lively work ; no 

 time for blues, dyspepsia, and other 

 luxuries of that kind). Well, I drop- 

 ped all, to help hive or return them. 

 One swarm, of our best Italians, the 

 largest I ever saw, had come out, two 

 days previous, and had been returued. 

 The third time they clustered on an 

 apple tree, near by. We hived them 

 under it, and when I saw them going 

 in nicely I skipped to that dinner. 1 

 never forget the old adage, •' The way 

 to a man's heart is through his stom- 

 ach." I think it was my nice bread 

 and butter that made such a big hole 

 in my husband's heart (and I really 

 believe honey has a tendency to make 

 it larger every day). In the hurry, 

 instead of putting on the cover, the 

 "gudemon" laid aboard on top of 

 the hive. Well, the swarm left, and 

 the question is, was it for want of 

 ventilation, or had its conduct of the 

 two previous days something to do 

 with it. We should learn from fail- 

 ures. They kept up their swarming 

 till Sept. 1. Some we hived, returned 



some, and 8, to our knowledge, ab- 

 sconded. On Sept. 1, 2 came out ; the 

 first we hived ; it lilled the body, and 

 gave 20 lbs. in sections ; the others we 

 returned ; hives were exhausted, so 

 they stand 39, a very nnromantic 

 number. While extracting, during 

 the middle of September, we found 5 

 colonies without queens. We im- 

 ported 3 Italians, and introduced 

 them safely. The others we gave 

 larva), and, on Oct. 5, they had queens. 

 They are all on their summer stands 

 yet, with chaff cushions and quilts 

 over them. They were not fixed for 

 winter when the blizzard came, and I 

 am fearful. Does anybody ever get 

 quite ready for winter? A word 

 about that delinquent nuclei. They 

 reared a queen about Sept. 1, and 

 filled the body of the hive ; we got 

 about 1,000 lbs. of honey. Our best 

 colony of the three, tliat did not 

 swarm themselves to death, gave 125 

 lbs. of comb honey. Last year, comb 

 and extracted honey sold readily for 

 20 cts. There is so much fruit here, 

 this year, that honey is a drug. Egypt 

 might be called, this year, if not the 

 granary, the fruitery of the East. 

 Thousands of barrels of apples have 

 been hauled by our house one mile to 

 the depot. There are two orchards in 

 our vicinity of 150 and 160 acres re- 

 spectively. There were hundreds of 

 busliels of black or rather dew ber- 

 ries, picked from those orchards and 

 shipped to Cincinnati and other points 

 along the O. & M. road. We have 

 sold 200 lbs. of honey at 20 cts., and 

 100 lbs. shipped away at little less. 

 Many producing honey in the old way, 

 bring it to town and sell at 12 and 13 

 cents. Mrs. C. J. Allison. 



Noble, 111. 



Cellars and Summer Stands. 



Time with his sickle is mowing the 

 days and hours. Seasons come and 

 go ; days and months, like the sea- 

 sons, succeed each other. Summer, 

 with all the joyous anticipations that 

 could be produced by the warm and 

 genial rays of the sun, and change of 

 the season, has given place to au- 

 tumn, and this to cold bleak winter. 

 We are all anxiously waiting for 

 spring-time to come, hoping for the 

 best results with our bees. The bees 

 I put in the cellar seem to be doing 

 finely ; the thermometer registers 

 from 40'- to 44° ; they remain so quiet 

 you can hardly hear a hum ; most of 

 my bees are packed on their summer 

 stands in sawdust, as recommended 

 by Mr. Heddon, and all seem to be 

 doing well, except one colony, which 

 seems to be afflicted with the dysen- 

 tery. On Jan. 7, when the nieicury 

 registered 20'^, the bees from this col- 

 ony flew out and stained the snow 

 badly, and many died. I am not able 

 to attribute the cause of this colony 

 being affected, while the resf seem to 

 be doing well packed in the same way. 

 Perhaps it is owing to their long con- 

 finement, as they have not been able 

 to fly out since Nov. 20. I am very 

 much pleased with the Weekly Bee 

 Journal, its value has greatly in- 

 creased, and it is now indispensible. 



Disco, Mich. E. W. Wales. 



