206 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



honey. I lost three, tlie past winter ; 

 they were on the summer stands, un- 

 der a slied, with straw packed behind 

 and between them, and chaff in top 

 story. They carried in their first pol- 

 len on the 6th inst. 



P. D. Johnson. 

 Bellmore, Ind.. April 11, 1883. 



Bees Moved in Winter. 



I have examined my bees and lind 

 them all in good condition ; all liave 

 laying queens and brood, and some 

 have drones flying. It will be remem- 

 bered that I shipped them over 200 

 miles last fall ; then I moved them 

 half a mile on a wagon on Jan. 15, 

 and about March 20, 1 moved tliem 

 about 05 miles on a wagon. I sold one 

 and have 17 left, out of 18, in good con- 

 dition ; they are all right, except a few 

 broken combs. L. G. Purvis. 



Oregon, Mo., April 10, 1883. 



Got the Wrong Paper. 



I am much pleased with the Weekly 

 Bee Journal, and I think it the best 

 paper published. Wishing to get the 

 Monthly Bee Journal for a friend, I 

 subscribed through a news agent here, 

 and not having your monthly on his 

 list, he sent my dollar to the Amencan 

 Bee-Keeper published in Mo. I had to 

 send another dollar to you for the 

 monthly for my friend, for the Mo., 

 paper is utterly useless as a bee paper. 

 Can you not see to it that these sub- 

 scription agents get your Monthly on 

 their lists as well as the Weekly y 

 Please mention this in the Weekly, 

 and it may save some one else trouble 

 and expense. 



R. J. & Phil Osburn. 



Leclair, Iowa, April 10, 1883. 



[Perhaps the best way is to send 

 subscriptions direct to this office. 

 "Subscription agents" often get 

 things mixed, and some of them are 

 perpetual annoyances to publishers by 

 their carelessness in giving addresses, 

 sending the subscriptions to the wrong 

 papers, etc. It is but just to say that 

 there are honorable exceptions. We 

 do not remember a single mistake 

 made by Mr. Doolittle of Borodino. 

 N. Y., or the Subscription News Com- 

 pany of this city. If by chance, a 

 mistake should be made, any honora- 

 ble publisher would correct it without 

 delay. Our Montlily is on the lists of 

 the principal subscription agents.— 

 Ed.I 



Almost Discouraged. 



Sometime ago, being anxious to see 

 how my bees were (as I had 3 colo- 

 nies last fall), as soon as I thought it 

 was warm enough, about the middle 

 of the day, I opened the hives to 

 know how the bees were, and found 

 one colony dead, and in tlie other two 

 I saw no queens ; neither am I, at 

 present, able to purchase either queen 

 or colony, and yet, although it is try- 

 ing. I do not like to say." class me 

 among tlie blasted hopes," for I must 



try again as soon as I am able, which 

 will not be till sometime in the sum- 

 mer. We have had a sharp winter, 

 sometimes .SO^ below zero ; however, 

 delightful spring is again close at 

 hand, and I trust a beautiful summer 

 will follow. Edward Moore. 



Barrie, Ont. 



Offensive Personalities. 



Mr Editor.— I protest against the 

 manner of discussing questions per- 

 taining to bee culture employed by 

 some correspondents. Friendly con- 

 troversies upon points of interest 

 to bee-keepers are proper and desira- 

 ble, but when I read such discussions 

 I w^ant arguments instead of person- 

 alities. Nothing can be added to the 

 force of an argument by petty flings 

 respecting the religious opinions of 

 an opponent. It cannot make tlie 

 slightest difference with the weight 

 of an argument whether the author 

 of that argument believes in this, that 

 or the other "ism," or no "ism" at 

 all. Such methods of discussions are 

 illiberal and unmanly, and serve only 

 to betray the narrowness of the writer 

 and disgust all candid and fair-minded 

 readers. When a writer has ex- 

 hausted the facts and arguments on 

 his side of a question he ought to 

 stop, and not rob w'hat he has said of 

 its value (if it has any) bv descending 

 to personalities. It "he has no facts 

 or arguments to otter, let him leave 

 the space he would otherwise occupy 

 to those who have. 



Wm. H. Francis. 



Frankfort, Mich., April 9, 1883. 



[True ; one of the most disagreea- 

 ble things an editor has to contend 

 with is the alarming proneness of 

 human nature to run to "offensive 

 personalities. This is the outcome of 

 a too broad an application of the prin- 

 ciple of a "free press." Public men 

 are daily misrepresented and their 

 characters defamed without stint, 

 simply because they are public " tar- 

 gets " for the populace to " shoot at." 

 " Your advice is good and timely," let 

 all remember that while it costs noth- 

 ing to be polite and kind, it adds much 

 to the comfort and unity of the fra- 

 ternity. — Ed.] 



Bees Without a Flight 1 45 Days. 



My 65 colonies of bees are removed 

 from the cellar all in good condition ; 

 they were in it 136 days in all ; they 

 were without a flight for 145 days. 

 F. A. Snell. 



Milledgeville, 111., April 12, 1883. 



Abiiormal Swarming. 



I have had quite a number of bees 

 swarm out, and go in with other colo- 

 nies during the past day or two ; what 

 is the cause ? Tliey left lots of honey, 

 a nice batch of sealed brood, larvre 

 and eggs ; the combs were nice and 

 clean ; in every case, it is about the 

 same. I have captured afew of tliem, 

 and returned them ; one swarm lost 

 its queen, but proceeded immediately 



to prepare cjueen cells, and now have 

 a nice lot of them started. The rest 

 proceed as usual, and are contented. 

 If you can give me some light on this 

 subject, it will be much satisfaction. 



A. J. NORRIS. 



Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 10, 1883. 



[The causes of abnormal swarming 

 are many ; but it is the weak colonies 

 that leave their hives. In this case, 

 we imagine, it is the fact that the 

 frames are too full of honey, which 

 are colder than partly empty combs. 

 Sometimes they can be kept from 

 swarming out, by giving them combs 

 containing pollen, if they have none. 

 They would not go away, if there 

 were not some things distasteful 

 about the hives or their • surround- 

 ings.— Ed.] M 



Bees Packed in Dry Sawdust. 



I purchased, in the spring of 1882, 3 

 colonies of Italian bees ; increased by 

 dividing to 9, and extracted a little 

 over 500 pounds of honey. We have 

 had a long severe winter, but all have 

 come through in good condition. I 

 packed tliem in dry savsfdust on their 

 summer stands. Wm. E. Harris. 



South Bay City, Mich., Apr'l 10, 1883. 



Southern vs. Northern Queens. 



In reply to T. S. Johnson, on page 

 182, I would say that, last spring, I 

 got two queens from Tennessee, one 

 from Kentucky, and one from Michi- 

 gan. As far as wintering is con- 

 cerned, I can see no difference ; they 

 are all strong and healthy ; the hives 

 are as clean and dry as they were last 

 November. I have about a dozen 

 colonies that have soiled their hives 

 some. I find it the same this spring, 

 as usual ; the more pollen in the cen- 

 tre of the hive the more dysentery. 

 Martin Emigh. 



Holbrook, Ont., April 11, 1883. 



Prospect in California. 



On the 28th and 29th of last month, 

 we had 2 inches more of rain, making 

 8}i inches for the season. Our bees 

 are in tine condition ; no swarms up 

 to this time, but I expect them every 

 day. The weather is fine, and there 

 seems nothing in the way for a mod- 

 erate valley harvest. 



A. W OSBUEN. 

 El Monte, Cal., April 3, 1883. 



Best Report on Wintering. 



I set my bees out on the 5th inst.. 

 Have wintered 241 colonies, without 

 the loss of a colony, all are in fine 

 condition. The hives are mostly full 

 of bees. If any one has a better re- 

 port on wintering, let them stand up. 

 H. R. Boardman. 



East Townsend, O., April 13, 1883. 



ig^ Do not let your numbers of the 

 Bee Journal for 1882 be lost. The 

 best way to preserve them is to pro- 

 cure a binder and put them in. They 

 are very valuable for reference. 



