142 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Pel. 27, 



prophet, or the son of a prophet, but some- 

 times I can see what a face looks like, and 

 after looking at the face of a certain Presi- 

 dent down at St. Joe. I'd like him to give 

 me a categorical answer to the question 

 whether there was no essny read there that 

 he would rather had omitted. 



I give Bro. Abbott my gracious permis- 

 sion to listen to essays at conventions, and 

 also to write them. Probably I shall listen 

 to them myself, and possibly write them. 

 All the same, so long as it's the common 

 thing for more or less of them to be of such 

 character as to do more harm than good. I 

 believe it would be the better plan to omit 

 them. 



Although I couldn't be there, the editor 

 is quite right in thinking the thought of 

 that Wisconsin convention would make my 

 mouth water. I attended a number of such 

 conventions, and they were good, and some 

 of those Wisconsin men helped to make 

 Ibem so. C. C. Millek. 



Marengo, 111. 



Good Honey Crop— Wintering 'Well. 



My honey crop was good this year. The 

 bees are wintering well so far. I did not 

 put mine in until Dec. 2(1. 



Joseph Weber. 



Marysburg, Minn., Jan. 39. 



No Surplus for 2 Years— Destitution. 



We haven't had any surplus honey from 

 our bees for two years. Hail destroyed our 

 crops in 1893. and the hot winds and no rain 

 in 1894. I think that the honey the bees are 

 trying to winter on will kill them all off be- 

 fore spring, as it is very dark and bitter. 

 My bees are all dead now. There are a 

 great many people here that are in very 

 destitute circumstances. I will ask all fel- 

 low bee-keepers, where they have been blest 

 with crops, to ask each church and Sabbath 

 school to take up a collection, and forward 

 it here for distribution among the people 

 that are in destitute circumstances. 



Kenesaw. Nebr., Jan. '26. A. J. Rich. 



Bees Doing 'Well. 



This morning it was rainy, and the 

 sleighing is pretty nearly used up. The 

 mercury was at 44 degrees at noon. It 

 turned cooler this evening, the mercury 

 going down to 26 degrees. 



Ionia, Mich., Jan. 21. Jacob Moore. 



Bright Prospects in California. 



The prospects in southern California, for 

 both the agriculturist and apiculturist at 

 this time of the year, could not be brighter. 

 From Dec. 1 to Feb. 1 there has been 11}.; 

 inches of rainfall here in Riverside, which 

 is just immense! My bees are gathering 

 quite a little honey from eucalyptus, pepper 

 trees, and other sources at present. 



Riverside, Calif., Feb. 6. F. S. Pond. 



Condition of Bees in Tennessee. 



The winter, so far in East Tennessee, 

 has not been very favorable for bees. The 

 cold wave of Jan. 12 and 13 run the mer- 

 cury down in some localities to 12 degrees 

 below zero. This was for only a short time, 

 but where bees on the summer stands were 

 not well protected, it was a severe test to 

 them, and I am sure many queens were 

 lost. A laying queen cannot stand cold 

 like a queen not laying, and before this 

 snap the weather had been such that many 

 queens were laying. 



As to stores and strength of colonies, I 

 have never seen bees in better condition 

 at this season of the year, and from the 

 rainfall we have had, the prospects now for 

 the coming season are real good, and bee- 

 keepers here are generally hopeful. 



The indications now are that the coming 

 season will add many persons to our pur- 

 suit in East Tennes.see. The fact is now es- 

 tablished that bee keeping here will pay, 

 and the heretofore doubting ones are will- 



ing to engage in it. To this we have no ob- 

 jection ; there is room enough for us all, 

 and the country will be bettered thereby. 

 If we could have an apiary at every suit- 

 able situation in this section, operated in- 

 telligently, and on a scale sufficient to 

 gather our wasting sweets, it would be one 

 of the greatest boons to our people. 



H. F. Coleman. 

 Sneedville, Tenn., Jan. 28. 



Coldest 'Winter for Several Years. 



We are having the coldest winter that we 

 have had for several years, and the coldest 

 spell now that we have had this winter. I 

 fear bees will suffer greatly from the cold. 

 A. T. Mull. 



Knob Creek, N. C, Feb. 8. 



A Beginner's Good Report. 



Last year was my first experience with 

 bees. I had three colonies— two in s-frame 

 hives, and one in a box-hive, which I trans- 

 ferred in July. I got two swarms from the 

 box-hive colony, and one from one of the 

 others. One did not swarm. From the 

 latter I got 106 pounds of honey in one- 

 pound sections, and 100 pounds from the 

 rest. The honey season was from July 21 

 to Sept. 1. I thought that was doing well, 

 without experience, bee-books or bee- 

 paper; but I think I shaU do better this 

 year, as I now have the American Bee 

 Journal. I think it is a grand paper. I 

 read every word in it. A. P. Green. 



Cedarhome, Wash., Feb. 4. 



The Severe Blizzard in Florida. 



Another blizzard struck us last night. It 

 was even more severe than that of Dec. 28 

 and 29, and of course more disastrous in its 

 effects, as most vegetation was in tender 

 growth. The orange trees were nearly all 

 full of young growth, containing the fruit- 

 buds, and it is likely that oranges and 

 orange honey from Florida will be at a 

 premium this year. It is a discouragement 

 in all lines of agriculture, and fruit farming 

 particularly, as also to bee-keepers, for the 

 large honey crop here last year had at- 

 tracted the attention of many Northern 

 bee-men, who would have become settlers. 



I am a printer-bee-keeper (engaged on a 

 local paper), and from both stand-points I 

 consider the American Bee Journal as ex- 

 cellent. 'S'ou must work on a very close 

 margin to give so much good reading mat- 

 ter, in such gocd style, for the small sum of 

 $1.00. C. S. Harris. 



Holly Hill, Fla., Feb. 8. 



[Yes. Friend Harris, you are quite right. 

 The weekly American Bee Journal at $1.00 

 a year is " dirt cheap." There is no bonanza 

 or gold-mine in it— for the publishers. But 

 there's a heap of hard work. StUl, 'tis very 

 invigorating to receive so many kind and 

 encouraging words as have come to me the 

 past few months, and it helps to lighten 

 the burden.— Editor.] 



A Sudden Change of 'Weather. 



Saturday our deep snow commenced to 

 go a little. Sunday it was so warm (42 de- 

 grees above) that a few bees came out, but 

 yesterday it was warm. The snow went 

 rapidly, and by noon it was all gone, I 

 might say. And the bees came out in 

 great numbers. At 3:30 p.m. it was 68 de- 

 grees above zero. My bees that are out of 

 the cellar are packed in a long, low shed, 

 the shed being only about six feet high, 

 and the roof was covered with bees, while 

 the air was full of them flying. 



I was working in my shirt-sleeves, help- 

 ing them clean the hive-entrances with a 

 small wire. The sun was shining so brightly 

 that it was almost like a summer day, when 

 a sharp puff of wind struck me. I looked 

 in the west, when I saw there a Icng, dark 

 cloud approaching. Id an instant the sun 

 was darkened by the cloud, and the air got 



so cool that I had to run for my overcoat. 

 Bees that were flying dropped suddenly to 

 the ground never to rise more, while those 

 on the roof became so chilled they never 

 moved out of their tracks. In one hour the 

 mercury had dropped to 26 degrees above 

 zero, making a drop of 42 degrees. 



I got a broom and swept up from the 

 roof of the shed nearly a peck measure full 

 of bees, and lots the wind blew away as 

 soon as I had loosened them with the 

 broom, as the wind was blowing a gale at 

 the time. I am uneasy in regard to the \\ 

 colonies, for fear they did not get a cluster 

 formed in time to withstand the cold. 



The bees I swept up I took down cellar 

 and dumped them in a weak colony, and in 

 a few minutes there was the biggest uproar 

 in that colony I ever heard. There is now 

 perhaps a pint of dead bees on the bottom- 

 board, but I don't know whether they are 

 those the weak colony killed, or some of the 

 chilled that failed to come to life. It is 

 rather early to commence to manipulate 

 bees, some will say. 



My colonies must be greatly depopulated, 

 as bees perished in great numbers. In fact, 

 I think none survived to get into their 

 hives, only perhaps a few that were only 

 sticking their heads out of the entrances. 



I have up to date lost no colonies, either 

 in the cellar or out-of-doors. 



Chauncey Reynolds. 



Fremont, Ohio, Jan. 22. 



Bees in Good Condition. 



I have two colonies of hybrid bees in the 

 cellar in good condition. Our main honey- 

 flow, last season, was from mustard, of 

 which we have plenty. The weather here 

 is very cold this winter, with but little 

 snow. It has been as cold as 30 degrees be- 

 low zero. Evan J. Davis. 



Tracy, Minn., Feb. h. 



Report for 1893 and 1894. 



I commenced bee-keeping in 1893 with 

 two colonies of bees, increased to 6, and got 

 165 pounds of comb honey. I cut three bee- 

 trees, and bought 9 colonies of bees in the ^ 

 fall, which made 18 colonies. They all 

 came through the winter in fine condition. 

 In 1894 I got 713 pounds of honey, and in- 

 creased to 30 colonies. I never saw a queen, 

 or a hive with movable frames until 1893. 

 The past season was too dry, and my neigh- 

 bors wonder why I get honey and they 

 don't. I tell them that I take the American 

 Bee Journal, and I follow its directions. I 

 like it just splendid. It is the first paper 

 I open when I get my mail. 



J. W. Payne. 



Humrick, 111. 



From a City Boy Bee-Keeper. 



I can't help writing since Isaw something 

 again in the American Bee Journal from 

 Chas. W. Sanford. I was going to write 

 before, but 1 kept putting it off. I am a 

 boy bee-keeper, and take a great interest 

 in the business. 1 have four colonies of 

 Italian bees in Langstroth hives, all packed 

 for winter on the summer stands. This is 

 my fourth winter, and I have not lost a col- 

 ony yet. Last season was the poorest sea- 

 son 1 ever had— bad only 10 pounds of 

 honey from my bees, and one swarm, 

 which I had to feed in the tall to keep it 

 from starving. 



We are having pretty cold weather now — 

 sometimes the mercury is down to zero, 

 but it does not stay down this low very 

 long. 



There is one thing I have noticed about 

 my hives, and that is. there are a great 

 many bees dying during the cold weather. 

 I think Mr. Thomas Thurlow (see page 67) 

 is right in blaming it on the shallow Lang- 

 stroth frame, for I have a box-hive in 

 which the frames are about 2i.j inches 

 deeper than the Langstroth frame, and 1 

 And very few dead bees in this hive. 



I take the American Bee Journal, and it 

 is a great help to me. John R. Schmidt. 



Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 1. 



