THE AMERICAI^ BEE JOURNAL 



123 



thing of the kind, and desire to know 

 where I can do the best. Bees in this 

 locality are all right, up to this writ- 

 ing ; if the spring opens fairly, the 

 coming season, will be a prosperous 

 one. I take my opinion from the con- 

 dition of the soil. The freezes and 

 dry weather have not destroyed any 

 of the plants, as yet. I hope soon to 

 see some advertisements of plants and 

 seeds for the coming season, and also 

 to hear of interest taken in sowing 

 and planting — that prosperity may 

 abound among bee-keepers. 



Thomas Prall. 

 Carlisle, Iowa, Feb. 3, 1883. 



Bees Dneasy in the Cellar. 



My bees are in frame hives ; some 

 of them are covered with gunny or old 

 coffee sacks placed on top of the 

 frames and a board laid on top of 

 that ; one is covered the same way 

 with heavy paper in place of the 

 gunny ; the others have a honey board 

 that fits the top of the hive, and a cap 

 that comes down over the top of the 

 hive and shuts it up tightly. They 

 are all well tilled with honey, and are 

 strong colonies. They are in a dark, 

 dry cellar, and those that have the 

 caps on are very uneasy, while those 

 with the gunny and paper on are quiet. 

 Should I take the caps off, and give 

 the hives ventilation at the top '? 

 Would it do to put lights in the cel- 

 lar, and let them fly in the cellar? 

 How warm does it need to be for 

 them to fly '{ W. T. Gkeen. 



Union Pier, Mich., Feb. 16, 1883. 



[By request, Mr. Heddon replies to 

 the above, thus : " I should have to 

 know further of the exact condition, 

 in every respect, of the two classes of 

 hives you mention, in order to account 

 for the difference in behavior of the 



\ colonies. Try alterations of two or 

 three of the uneasy colonies, and note 



I effects y Often colonies are very un- 

 easy and yet persist in wintering well. 

 By no means give them any induce- 

 ment to fly in the cellar, nor out-doors 

 until the temperature is right. Let 

 your cellar remain dark, and at such 

 temperature as that in which the bees 

 keep most quiet." If Mr. Green 

 wishes any further answer than the 

 above, he will please send particulars 

 to Mr. Heddon.— Ed.] 



Sending Bees South for Winter. 



On Feb. 6, at about 4 p. m., a gen- 

 tleman came into my oflice and said 

 to me : "I am E. T. Flanagan, of 

 Belleville, 111." After reciprocated 

 compliments, we went to the apiary 

 and examined bees and queens, until 

 it was too dark, when we returned to 

 the oflice, and we got so interested in 

 discussing bees, that it was nearly 9 

 o'clock when I thought of supper, 

 after which we resumed the subject, 

 and it was 2 o'clock in the morning 

 when we thought of bed. Next morn- 

 ing, after showing him my steam 

 factory, we went back hi the apiary, 

 and showed him how 1 reared queens. 



and we also examined my 4 and 5 

 frame nuclei, wintering on their sum- 

 mer stands, etc. I am wintering 3.5 

 colonies of bees for him, which are to 

 be sent back to him by May 1, in- 

 creased to double and full of bees. 

 He has taken with him 5 of the best, 

 to Kennerville, La., so as to Italianize 

 100 colonies he has just bought there, 

 and they are to be doubled up and 

 sent back to him in May ; he has a 

 man tliere to attend to the bees, so 

 that he will get about 250 to 275 colo- 

 nies of bees in his apiaries at Belle- 

 ville, 111., by themiddleof May, strong 

 and in condition to gather a crop. He 

 says that he intends to send his bees 

 South every fall to winter, and have 

 them returned double in number by 

 the first week in May, and thus not 

 run the risk of wintering, and have 

 them home, etc. The cost of sending 

 me the colonies were 50 cents each ; 

 they will cost flo more to return, and 

 as far as I can calculate, they will not 

 cost him much over $2.50 each, in- 

 cluding the new queens for the divis- 

 ion, etc. P. L. VlALLON. 



Bayou Goula, La., Feb. 9, 1883. 



Had the Dysentery. 



I put 70 colonies of bees, into win- 

 ter quarters, well Hlled with winter 

 stores ; 50 of them I put into an out- 

 side cellar on Nov. 15, especially pre- 

 pared for them, and they are doing 

 well. Some of tne 20, left on the sum- 

 mer stands, had the dysentery about 

 Jan, 20 ; these I moved into the cellar, 

 and it seemed to check the disease ; 

 as just as I saw symptoms of the dis- 

 ease I moved them in, until I have 

 only 7 left on the summer stands. I 

 see no more of the disease in those 

 that I moved into the cellar. Will 

 there be any danger of the disease 

 spreading in the cellar V 



M. H. Lewis. 



Green Top, Mo., Feb. 15, 1883. 



[The cause having been removed, 

 the effect ceases ; there is no danger 

 of the disease spreading in the 

 cellar.— Ed.] 



Expects a tJood Season tliis Year. 



My 107 colonies of bees, up to the 

 present time, are in splendid condi- 

 tion ; they were put in the cellar Nov. 

 15, 1882, and will there remain until 

 natural pollen appears. I expect a 

 good honey season, this year ; last 

 year was a very poor one, but there 

 was a good demand for honey at 18 

 cts. per lb. F. G. Kinney. 



Bristol, Ind., Feb. 22, 1883. 



What Bees (Jet from Corn. 



Bees had a glorious flight to-day ; 

 they flew from 11 a. m. till 4 p. m.; 

 they commenced cleaning house, 

 brought out some half-grown young 

 bees. Every colony is alive and 

 strong, one crawled up ray coat into 

 the back of my neck, and elevated me 

 a trifle. What is the use of breeding 

 any longer for the coming bee y VVhy 

 not get some of the bees Mr. Stewart 

 spealis of, tliat can split a corn stalk 

 from end to end, and just flood the 

 whole country with honey V I have 



seen bees work in corn stalks late in 

 the fall, after the corn was cut up and 

 the sap oozed out of the stump, but 

 that is all. They gather pollen from 

 the tassels, early in the morning, and 

 on moist, cloudy days. If bees can 

 gather honey from corn stalks, there' 

 is corn enough grown in Illinois and 

 Iowa to float the United States navy. 

 James Ronian. 

 Villisca, Iowa, Feb. 20, 1883. 



Maryland— Bees All Right. 



I took off the cushions from vaj 

 hives and put one thickness of burlap 

 over them. They came through all 

 right, and had a good flight last Sat- 

 urday. I put wire screens over the 

 entrances, and to keep the bees from 

 suffocation, by the entrances being 

 clogged up, I tipped the hives back 

 a little. Thos. Thurlow. 



Federalsburgh, Md., Feb. 19, 1883. 



Symptoms of Disease. 



Please give symptoms when the 

 bees have dysentery. Do the feces 

 look any different from the healthy 

 ones y Some of my bees are very un- 

 easy, and when they come out to the 

 air, they eject a great deal more feces- 

 than others. W. T. Green. 



Union, Mich., Feb. 19, 1883. 



[Y€s;the feces are yellowish, and' 

 the bees soil the entrance and combs, 

 their bodies being unusually dis- 

 tended. A good cleansing flight will 

 remedy the difficulty.— Ed.] 



Bees Gathering Pollen. 



My bees are all very strong in num- 

 bers, and are gathering pollen rapidly 

 now, and the queens are filling empty 

 combs with eggs. R. J. Adams. 



Lakeport, Ark., Feb. 16, 1883. 



Cold, but Bees are Comfortable. 



We have had a very cold, change- 

 able winter. The mercury has been 

 29 times at and below zero. On the 

 16th it fell 20° in 3 hours. On the 27th 

 of last month it was 28° below zero. 

 Our 84 colonies are wintering nicely 

 in the house cellar, although it seemed 

 impossible to keep it as warm as it 

 should be ; they keep very quiet, and 

 show no signs of dysentery, and but 

 very few dead bees on the floor. 



S. L. Vail. 



Coal Creek, Iowa, Feb. 19, 1883. 



Sealed Brood on Two Frames. 



Last fall I packed 37 colonies of 

 bees. Yesterday and to-day they had 

 a good flight. I looked tliroiigh 22 

 hives and found sealed brood on two 

 frames ; some hatching, and all doing 

 well. Some I packed on the summer 

 stands ; the rest were put on a broad 

 board, 6 inches apart, the spaces Hlled 

 with straw, the hives faced the south, 

 and they were covered with boards, 

 extending well over the fronts ; corn 

 fodder was placed along, back of the 

 hives (the north side). I see no dif- 

 ference in the bees, between those 

 packed and the ones on the board. 

 Wm. G. Gosney. 



Demossville, Ky., Feb. 16, 1883. 



