78 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 31, 



Qci;)eral Itejrjs* 



Back from "Sunny SoutWand (P)." 



I came back from the Sunny Southland 

 on Jan. fi, being gone 20 days, and traveled 

 8,400 miles. " Sunny Southland " is now a 

 misnomer for me, as I saw about 4 inches of 

 ice about 10 miles southwest of Beerille, 

 Dec. 20. My host's banana trees at Beeville 

 "got fits" the night of Dec. 28. I will 

 write up my trip for the American Bee 

 Journal as soon as the report of the bee- 

 meeting at Mrs. Atchley's is out. She may 

 forget something which I can tell. 



C. Theilmann. 

 TheOmanton, Minn., Jan. 23. 



Favorable Season— Banner Colony. 



The last was a very favorable season for 

 honey in this part of Colorado. Last spring 

 we had 10.5 colonies of bees, and harvested 

 11 tons of fine white honey. Our 209 colo- 

 nies of bees are in fine condition on the 

 summer stands, where they always do well. 

 The)' have a flight almost every week all 

 ■winter. Although the mercury went down 

 to 6 degrees below zero two days ago, the 

 bees can fly to-day. 



I have what I think is the banner colony 

 of Colorado. [ put it into the hive (8-frame) 

 June 10, and in three weeks it filled its hive 

 and six supers. During the season it tilled 

 14 supers of 24 pounds each, making 330 

 pounds of fine comb honey. Can anybody 

 in Colorado beat that ? 



J. D. Endicott. 



Abbey, Colo., Dec. 28. 



Did Better than His Neighbors. 



My crop for the past year was a little 

 over !500 pounds of comb and extracted 

 honey. I sold it at 10 and ISJ'o cents, here 

 at Greenville. My increase was one swarm ; 

 it issued the first day of September, and 1 

 hived it on drawn comb; they filled up suf- 

 ficient for winter. 



I visited one of my neighbor bee-keepers 

 about 2 miles northeast ; he said that he did 

 not get any honey from his bees — 28 colo- 

 nies. 



1 have another neighbor 2 miles north- 

 west. He got 75 pounds of honey from 1.5 

 colonies; and two others, 2 miles west, with 

 30 colonies, got nothing in the way of 

 honey to amount to anything. Several 

 others are on the same line, so it seems that 

 I am in the best locality, or have managed 

 differently from them. 



I notice on page 814 (Dec. 27, 1894) the 

 " l)oiling down " process. The process may 

 be all right, but I don't think that a man 

 ought to be boiled down so thick that be 

 can't move at all! 



"We are having some very cold weather 

 now; if it continues long it will be very 

 destructive to the bees in this section, as 

 they are not very well protected from the 

 cold. A. C. Babb. 



Greenville, Tenn., Jan. 1. 



An Experience with Bees. 



My experience with bees is not very ex- 

 tensive, but I have for n number of years 

 had a colony or two. Sometime in the sev- 

 enties I began with the movable frame, 

 known here as the Champion hive — frames 

 11x12 inches, inside measure, top-bar 12;?^, 

 front end I5i.< inches, and rear end piece 

 13% inches, to fit a sloping bottom, set in so 

 astodropli'i inches in front, suitable for 

 the above frames leaving a bee-space below. 

 The upper story, or cap, fits smoothly on the 

 hive, being inches deep, with 8 frames 

 (one a 'olank or board at one side) for sur- 

 plus honey. This was u great improvement 

 on the old box. Going on in this way for 

 some few years, until one severe winter 

 most of mine and my neighbor's bees died, 

 and from that until the autumn of 1873 I 

 had only one or two colonies. Then bought 

 8 more, some of them in the Champion 

 hive, but transferred them last spring to 



the Langstroth hive. I have now 11 colo- 

 nies. I took only 05 one-pound sections of 

 honey this year. The season was too dry 

 for honey. I have my hives boarded up on 

 the north, and a roof over them, and 

 packed with straw between the hives and 

 behind them next to the boarding on the 

 north, leaving the front open. I fed three 

 colonies some sugar syrup, thinking they 

 were rather short of stores, and I think now 

 my 11 colonies are all pretty strong, and 

 well supplied for the winter. 



Geo. McCnLLOuon. 

 Braddyville, Iowa, Dec. 31. 



Bees in Good Condition. 



Bees are in good condition up to date, 

 although we had a light blizzard here last 

 week. J. B. Griffin. 



Cat Creek, Ga., Jan. 8. 



'Worst in Eight Years. 



This has been the worst year for bees in 

 my experience of 8 years. I had 23 colo- 

 nies, spring count, put 23 into wiuter quar- 

 ters, and got about 200 pounds of surplus 

 comb honey. S. C. Booueu. 



Danbury, Iowa, Jan. 5. 



Late Swarm on a Stump. 



About Nov. 1, 1894, I transferred a swarm 

 of bees from a willow stump, fence hight, 

 and they are all right yet. I winter my 

 bees on the summer stands, with chaff- 

 packed winter-cases. I have 40 colonies in 

 good condition. 



I could not get along without the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. J. F. Wiuth. 



Rickel, 111., Jan. 7. 



Another Boy 'Who Likes Bees. 



I see in the Bee Journal that Chas. San- 

 ford has written a letter. I have no bees, 

 but I have been working for the Boulder 

 and Weld counties' inspectors the past sum- 

 mer. Mr. Sanford says that they have 

 their bees all in the cellar. It is so warm 

 here that all the bee-keepers have to do is 

 to fill the upper story of the hive with 

 straw or chaff, and leave the hives on the 

 summer stands all wiuter. 



I am thinking of getting some bees and 

 going into the business, as I am interested 

 iu the sub.iect. Arthur Angell. 



Longmout, Colo., Dec. 31. 



Separate Colonies 'Working as One. 



One of my neighliors has two colonies of 

 bees whose hives are on a stand with a 

 3-inch space iietween them, that have 

 worked back and forth just as one colony 

 all summer. Each colony produced one 

 case of comb honey. If any of the old bee- 

 keepers have ever seen anything like it, let 

 them talk out and explain. 



Bees did very poorly here this year. I 

 got only 200 pounds from 14 colonies, spring 

 count, and increased to 24. 



Henry Sutherland. 



Bainbridge, Mich., Jan. 3. 



Season of 1894 in Washington. 



I started the season of 1894 with 10 colo- 

 nies, spring count. They commenced 

 swarming May 17, and on June they had 

 cast 12 swarms — 7 out of the 12 absconding 

 after being hived. The hives contained 

 foundation and one frame of brood each. 

 One swarm worked uicely for three days 

 then pulled for the woods. The question 

 is, was I at fault, or were the bees '■ Coxey- 

 ites?" My bees are hybrids, and extremely 

 sharp at one end. 



By dividing and by natural swarms, I 

 came out in the fall with 18 colonies, 1,000 

 pounds of white section honey, and the bees 

 in fair condition for winter. I keep my 

 bees in an open shed on account of so much 

 rain. I have half of them housed this win- 

 ter, and the rest are on the summer stands 

 without any packing 



The American Bee Journal is a welcome 

 weekly visitor, which is well worth its cost. 



TnOS. WlCKEBSHAM, 



Wickersham, 'Wash., Jan. 1. 



The Season of 1894. 



I could not get along without the " old 

 reliable " American Bee Journal, and I like 

 its last form better than the previous one. 



I have .58 colonies of bees on the summer 

 stands, and they are all right so far. Last 

 year I worked 40 colonies, and I got 1.200 

 pounds of comb honey, and plenty for them 

 to winter on. I won't increase any next 

 summer, as I don't want to overstock my 

 locality. I have sold all my honey down to 

 about 200 pounds, in the home market. 



Henry K. Ghesh. 



Ridgway, Pa., Jan. 7. 



Expects a Good Crop this Year. 



The past season was not a good one for 

 honey, but I got some surplus from my 5 

 colonies. What little surplus I have came 

 from sweet clover. It is the plant for this 

 country. I lost oue of my black queens, 

 and sent for a queen from a Texas queen- 

 breeder, and introduced her successfully. 

 Cross they are, but she is a good breeder, 

 and has fine workers. 



I expect a good crop this year. 'White 

 clover is looking fine. 



The American Bee Journal is a welcome 

 visitor to our house. My wife and 1 take 

 much pleasure in reading it. 



G. W. Hanson. 



Lawrence, Kans., Jan. 1. 



Single vs. Double Walled Hives. 



I was greatly surprised in looking over a 

 late issue of the Bee Journal, to see so many 

 hands up in favor jf single-walled hives. I 

 usually omit reading essays on successful 

 wintering, and the various methods for 

 spring protection, and wondered why the 

 papers were burdened with such stuff. But 

 so long as many readers like to play 

 "freeze out'' with those shallow-depth 

 shells, such articles will be in demand. Here 

 in old Pennsylvania, the least of the honey 

 States, where we are forced to feed three 

 or four years in succession to keep up an 

 interest in the pursuit, I have tried the 

 single and double walled hives, side by side, 

 and can say for the former that in a mild 

 winter they do fairly well, but when the 

 old-fashioned winters drop down upon us, 

 we need nothing further to demonstrate 

 the fact that a chaff-lined hive, with a 

 thick chaff cusion, is the key to successful 

 wintering of bees. A. B. Baird. 



Belle Vernon, Pa. 



Experience with Dequeening. 



Notwithstanding the poor season of 1894 

 my honey crop was something more than 

 40 pounds of nearly all comb honey per 

 colony, spring count. I owe much of this 

 to dequeening, as the new swarms made 

 but little headway in the sections before 

 the dry weather overtook them. I think 

 highly of dequeening, having had three 

 years' experience along this line, and know 

 that more honey can be obtained than by 

 letting the bees swarm, and with less labor 

 and capital : and increase can be controlled 

 just to our liking. And, my! such queens 

 as I can get. I wish I could tell you all 

 about it, but I am no author. 



C. H. Chapman. 



Cohoctah, Mich., Jan. 7. 



[Don't you worry about being "no au- 

 thor," Mr. Chapman. The American Bee 

 Journal is more anxious to publish helpful 

 bee-information than simply brilliant liter- 

 ary productions. I hope every one who 

 has anything good to tell will not hesitate 

 on account of lack of literary education, 

 but just write out what they want to say in 

 the best manner they know how, and send 

 it in. Go ahead. Mr. Chapman, and set 

 some other people a "good example" to 

 follow. Tell all of us how you get " stich 

 queens," and about dequeening. — Ed.] 



