VOL. XIX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., JUNE 6, 1883. 



No. 23. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 



The Clouds of Adversity Departing. 



The pipoent Spring, if it deserves 

 that name, has been one of severe 

 trial for the bee-keeper. Winter, as 

 an unwelcome guest, lingered in the 

 lap of Spring so long that his presence 

 became irksome and disgusting. We 

 have the following wail from Mr. 

 Heddon : 

 Still Snowing. 



Byron said, "The moon is up, and 

 yet it isn't night." We can say, " It 

 snows yet, but still it is not winter." 

 Bees were never so weak and poor in 

 stores at this date in my apiary. I 

 have lost 12.5 out of 3-50, and the loss 

 will amount to 1.50, ere warm weather 

 arrives. As the law of supply and 

 demand governing prices has not yet 

 entirely deserted apiculture, every 

 dead colony enhances the value of all 

 the living. All bloom is 2 weeks be- 

 hind time. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., May 22, 1883. 



And Mr. Doolittle wrapped himself 

 In his overcoat and sighed : 

 Cold, Cold, Cold. 



We have not had 5 days so far this 

 year, warm enough to open the bee 

 ihives without danger of chilling the 

 brood, of which there is but little. It 

 freezes nearly every night. On the 

 morning of the 14th, ice was found i| 

 inch thick. Bees are getting poor in 

 numbers and short of stores. 



G, M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., May 17, 1883. 



While Mr. Demaree records the 

 fact of having 

 A Cold Wave in Kentucky. 



Notwithstanding the weather here 

 has been very changeable, the season 

 so far has not been altogether un- 

 favorable. My bees have built up 

 rapidly, and have done well on fruit 

 bloom, dandelion, etc. Locustopened 

 on the 13th inst., and gave a deluge of 

 nectar till cut short off by the cold 



wave of the 21st. We had a skift of 

 snow (a sight never before witnessed 

 here at this season of the year), on 

 the night of the 21st. The bees were 

 housed for 3 days. White clover is 

 wasting. I have been feeding a swarm 

 that issued just before the present 

 cold, rainy, gloomy spell. The pros- 

 pects look better to-day (23d). I notice 

 that the three dismal, cold, rainy days 

 just past, have afflicted some of my 

 nursing nuclei with dysentery. The 

 weather has been unfavorable to 

 queen rearing — too changeable. 



G. W. Demaree. 

 Christiauburg, Ky., May 23, 1883. 



And Mr. Frazer is not at all pleased 

 with 



A Snow Storm in Indiana. 



We have had the worse snow storm 

 ever known for this time of year, in 

 Indiana. It commenced with a cold 

 rain, and yesterday, about 10 o'clock, 

 it turned to snow, and snowed until 

 night ; althougli it melted very fast, 

 there was about 2 inches of snow on 

 the roofs, boards, etc. It snowed 

 more last night, and fruit trees are 

 bent to the ground, and the timber 

 is mourning under its heavy burden. 

 I think there has fallen quite one foot 

 of snow, since yesterday morning. 

 Bees were doing extra well ; their 

 brood-chambers are full of brood and 

 honey, and some were storing honey 

 in the boxes. White clover is begin- 

 ning to bloom, and is as plenty as I 

 ever saw it, and everything looked 

 favorable for a good harvest, but it 

 looks dismal this morning. 



A ^^^T? A7FT? 



Bloomingsport, Ind., May 22, 1883. 



Mr. G. W. Ashby grows despond- 

 ent over his 

 Sad Case of Spring Dwindling. 



I send the discouraging news of my 

 sad disappointment in my bees. I 

 doted upon my 66 colonies which I 

 had in the fall of 1882. Now I have 

 56 ; they wintered well enough, but 

 dwindled awav in the springy till my 

 loss is ten ; and nearly one-half of the 

 others are to-day nothing more than 

 nuclei. If I unite them, or wait until 

 they build up, I shall get no honey 

 this season, from a part of them. VVe 

 are now in the loctist, poplar and white 

 clover bloom, etc. The bees all have 

 a good quantity of brood. It has 

 been a very bad spring here ; it was 

 too cold during peach and apple 

 bloom. On May 15, we had almost a 

 blizzard. We had to wrap up as in 



winter. Now it is too windy and dry; 

 the bees cannot stick to the locust 

 blossoms ; they are blown and tossed 

 about in every direction, and many 

 are lost in the pond. It is awful to 

 see my pets have such a time, I 

 fondly anticipated a glorious harvest, 

 this season, of several thousand 

 pounds of honey. I ordered a lot of 

 bee supplies and foundation to aid 

 them, but all my fond hopes are 

 blasted. Not a swarm yet, and but 

 few colonies look likely to make a 

 surplus. I have one colony in the 

 Cunningham hive, which seems to 

 outstrip all the others. They are at 

 work in four boxes of 5 pound weight; 

 more than one-half built out, and 

 partly filled with honey. The others 

 are in the Langstroth hive. If you 

 ever saw any one have the blues, I am 

 the one. I have quit looking after my 

 farming interest, and gone wild on 

 the bee, that wonderful insect. I will 

 have to give up, and keep one or two 

 to study their mysterious ways. My 

 whole thoughts were centered on the 

 bee, but, alas, I must look after some 

 other business for a livelihood. I got 

 all kinds of seeds to sow for my bees ; 

 last year I had a tine lot of sweet 

 clover. My bees went wild over it ; 

 this year there are only about 100 

 plants to the acre, all told. Alsike is in 

 tolerable condition ; Simpson honey 

 plant, line; Rocky Mountain bee plant, 

 none ; spider plant, none. My grief 

 is past endurance. G. W. Ashbt. 

 Valley Station, Ky., May 17, 1883. 



Judge Andrews gives a cheerless 

 account of 



The Spring in Texas. 



There never has been such a spring 

 for bees in South Texas before ; my 

 bees have not swarmed as much up to 

 this date as they did last year by the 

 27th of March. They have not in- 

 creased 3 percent, yet, and the pros- 

 pect for more thaii 25 per cent, is 

 poor ; but I confess that we are sailing 

 in " unknown waters." 



W. H. Andrews. 



McKinney, Texas, May 27, 1883. 



And Dr. H. M. Williams reports 

 discouragingly that it is 



Still Cold in Georgia. 



We are having the latest spring 

 here I have known in 20 years. For 

 the last three mornings the thermom- 

 eter stood at 42^, and we have had 

 considerable frost. Bees have done 

 nothing in the way of storing honey 

 in the upper story. My bees are 



