1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



95 



somewhat better than they were last year 

 about this time, so far as the weather is 

 concerned, for we have had more rain 

 already up to date than we had the whole 

 of the last hear; but rain alone cannot do 

 us much good — we must also have plenty of 

 sunshine, and. besides the above, we need 

 the busy little workers to bring in the 

 "sweet stuff," or else it wiU do us no good, 

 and it seems they are greatly missing in 

 quantity, (or I hear from all quarters (of 

 this section) that a great many colonies 

 have either died out entirely, or else they 

 are so reduced in quantity that it will take 

 them a long time to build up in the spring. 

 One of our oldest bee-keepers told me the 

 other day that he finds numbers of his hives 

 that have less than a quart of bees in them, 

 and most of them are short of honey, and 

 the bee-keepers almost too poor to buy food 

 and raiment for themselves and their fami- 

 lies. Tough indeed, but what can't be 

 cured will have to be endured, yet we feel 

 courageous enough to go ahead ; we do not 

 feel lonesome, for we are a great company, 

 according to the reports of the fraternity 

 in the American Bee Journal. 



H. F. JOHANN'ISG. 



Et'.wanda, Calif., Jan. 9. 



Alfalfa to be Sown in Nebraska. 



I would like to see some reports from bee- 

 keepers in Nebraska. Mine for lS9i is as 

 follows: 



I increased from 24 colonies to 33, and fed 

 200 pounds of sugar for winter. I don't 

 know of any one near here who got any 

 surplus honey. There will be considerable 

 alfalfa sown here next spring, and we hope 

 for better honey-crops in the future. 



A. W. Smith. 



Shelton, Nebr., Jan. 14. 



The Future and Fast Season. 



All the main honey-plants are now up, 

 and looking fine. If our spring is favorable. 

 I think we will have a good honey crop. 

 We have had a very long cold spell ; my 

 bees were without a flight for 13 days, 

 which is the longest they have been so since 

 I kept bees in Texas. I run 28 colonies, 

 spring count, last season, and increased to 

 40, and secured S.50 worth of honey. The 

 price here was from 15 to 30 cents for good 

 honey. I produce mostly comb honey in 

 one-pound sections, as I find better sale and 

 a better price for it. I secured a full 100 

 pounds of honey-dew, which I will not de- 

 scribe, as I think Dr. Wm. K. Howard sent 

 the editor a sample of it. 



I am very much pleased with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and wish it much success. 

 Hurrah for " The Sunny Southland !" 



Leonard Cowell. 



Fort Worth, Tex., Jan. 8. 



Several Items from Tennessee. 



I had one colony last summer whose 

 queen failed to become fertilized. Not 

 knowing the condition of the queen, the 

 colony became weak, and starved out. On 

 examination I found the combs full of 

 young drone-brood. These drones were the 

 size of worker-bees, except drone shape. 



Our zero weather has broken up, the 

 thermometer registering 60 degrees today. 

 The bees had a good flight, and seemed to 

 enjoy the warm sun very much. My bees 

 are wintering better than usual. 1 packed 

 with chaff and hay pads. I think the pack- 

 ing is a great benefit to the bees in some 

 winters here, and in some it isn't. I find 

 the chaff to be the best absorbent. 



I have colonies that allowed some of their 

 drones to go into winter quarters. This 

 isn't a common thing in this part of the 

 country. I think the reason they took 

 them into winter quarters was due to the 

 amount of honey they had. The colonies 

 are a little ahead of any that I ever saw in 

 stores. They are 8 and 9 frame hives, the 

 frames are 15 inches long, inside, and 10 

 inches deep. 



I believe that a deep frame is the best 

 for aU purposes in the brood-nest. I don't 



think that there is a bee-keeper anywhere 

 but will agree with me on deep frames for 

 the best. Bees cluster at the bottom of the 

 the frames in the fall, and work their way 

 to the top by spring. If the frames are 

 shallow, they get to the top during a cold 

 spell, when they can't retreat, and cluster 

 again in a new place, and starve, to a great 

 extent. 



Well, I didn't know the " Old Reliable " 

 last'Friday morning, when the post-oflice 

 clerk handed it to me. Thinks I to myself, 

 •This is a sample copy of anew bee-paper." 

 I tore off the wrapper, and there it was, 

 the same old American Bee Journal in new 

 style, with its broad face, and new dress on. 

 It didn't look natural. I would read it if 

 it was in newspaper form. Much obliged 

 to you, Mr. York, for your new get up. 

 And I wish the " Old Reliable " much suc- 

 cess. 



I want to ask Mrs. Atchley, through the 

 Bee Journal, what kind of timber there is 

 in Bee county, and surrounding counties. 

 A. C. Babb. 



Greenville. Tenn., Jan. 7. 



Fears the Bees Won't Winter Well. 



I see the Bee Journal has come out with a 

 broad face for 1895, All right, I am satis- 

 fied with it. It is well worth twice the 

 money it costs, to any one having a few 

 colonies of bees. 



I put out 45 colonies last spring ; and it 

 was cold and wet, and they dwindled away 

 to .30, and some weak ones among them, 

 too. I got about 1,200 pounds of comb 

 honey, and increased to 52 colonies. They 

 are in the cellar, and some have commenced 

 to spot their hives already. They gathered 

 a lot of poor honey late last fall, which I 

 think causes it. I don't think they will 

 winter well. 



I wish the Bee Journal success, and rec- 

 ommend it to all who keep even one colony 

 of bees. Geo. H. Auringer. 



Bonniwell's Mills, Minn., Jan. 9. 



The 5-Banded or Golden Italians. 



I commenced two years ago with 3 colo- 

 nies, and we have had what bee-men call 

 bad years. I have had considerable honey 

 for home use. I sold one colony, and lost 

 one swarm by its going off. I carried into 

 the cellar, Dec. 1, 14 colonies in the best 

 condition for winter I have ever had. All 

 were strong, and their hives full of honey. 

 I am a pupil of Mr. J. C. Balch. My first 

 bees were black, and I got some queens and 

 introduced them, and of course some of 

 them proved to be more yellow than others. 

 but the colony that was the deepest, and 

 whose drones were better marked than any 

 in the yard, was the very best I had. Her 

 bees gathered more honey, and the queen 

 was more prolific than any I had. They 

 seemed to be cross, but I don't find fault 

 with them for that, as long as they are 

 rustlers. 



I have been reading the articles on the 5- 

 banded and golden Italians. Last fall I 

 sent to West Virginia and got a warranted 

 queen; I introduced her about Sept. 1, dur- 

 ing the fall honey-flow, and I must say she 

 is a dandy — almost all yellow ; and when I 

 carried the bees in for winter, nearly all the 

 bees in her hive were of her kind, and a fine 

 lot as to color, but they came too late to 

 test their industry before next spring. But 

 since reading the comments in the papers 

 recently on the golden queens, I thought I 

 would ask those commentators whether 

 they would advise me to kUl that queen 

 and colony before spring, as I don't want 

 to keep them if they are as bad as some 

 make them. If the yellow bees are better 

 than the black, does it not follow that the 

 purer the better ? And does not the most 

 of the fault come from the way they are 

 reared by our queen-breeders, and the arti- 

 ficial methods they use that produce 

 dwarfed bees, that have no vitality, and, in 

 fact, there is nothing left but the color ? I 

 think so. W. J. Price. 



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