272 



THE AlVJERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Apr. 25, 



to the new, but her choice is not so marked 

 as is the choice of the bees. 



I have reasoned that this choice of combs, 

 especially by the bees, is instinctive. Bees 

 winter best in old combs, and they seem 

 to know this and store in them in prefer- 

 ence to the new. H. F. Colem.\n. 



Sneedville, Tenn. 



Suffered from the Cold. 



Bees in our county (Huron) have suffered 

 heavily from the continued cold. 



Hay, Ont., March 2tj. John Carrick. 



Wintered Very Well. 



Bees have wintered very well. I lost 3 

 colonies out of 01. As I write the bees 

 sound as if it was summer. They are work- 

 ing on chop — wheat and oats — that I feed 

 them. I do not think it does them much 

 good, but it keeps them busy and out of 

 mischief, which goes a good ways this time 

 of the year. They are not so apt to rob. I 

 scarcely ever have them rob each other. 

 We have had a very cold winter. It has 

 been cold since the last of December, 1894. 

 Mrs. a. a. Simpson. 



S warts, Pa., March 30. 



Worst Winter Ever Known. 



There is plenty of snow here at present. 

 It was nearly zero weather several morn- 

 ings the past ten days. The pleasant 

 weather last fall was somewhat favorable 

 for wintering bees, but the winter has been 

 the worst ever known. Probably it will be 

 the most disastrous through the northern 

 part of the United States known be- 

 fore in several years. Clover, etc., has 

 wintered well. This will offset the bad win- 

 ter, as less bees with plenty of forage is far 

 better than many in a starving condition. 



Reniff, N. Y., Mar. 25. J. H. Andre. 



A Steady Honey-Flow in 1894. 



White clover for honey was a failure here 

 last season, but with the blooming of bass- 

 wood until frost there was a steady and 

 uninterrupted flow. The market is now 

 well supplied. Indeed, there is more honey 

 in sight in commission houses than there 

 was in October. It is almost without ex- 

 ception attractive, and well crated, show- 

 ing that bee-keepers are up with the times. 

 January was a yery trying month on bees 

 out-of-doors, and there has been consider 

 able loss, but it is too early to report the 

 season's loss yet. We are not out of the 

 woods. John Morgan. 



Minneapolis, Minn., March 27. 



Bees in Continental Europe. 



After a prolonged stay in Sunny South- 

 land, among the kind and friendly people 

 of Kentucky and Virgiuia, we (Mrs. R. and 

 I) left Staunton, Va., Feb. 21 for New York, 

 where we embarked for Europe March 2. 

 The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 

 the French mail steamer •■ La Champagne " 

 was uneventful, the company pleasant, and 

 the accommodations excellent. We landed 

 safely at Havre, and after a short stay pre- 

 pared for a tour through France. 



The whole country we passed through is 

 beautifully level and fertile, almost like a 

 garden. In all the villages we saw on the 

 way, bees are kept, and without exception 

 in straw skeps, which are set up in open 

 sheds. In districts where the honey-flow is 

 short, but plentiful while it lasts, bees are 

 generally not kept the whole year, as they 

 would eat up the profits during the many 

 idle months. They are bought by the 

 pound in the early part of the season from 

 parts more favorable to breeding and main- 

 taining, and sulphurated when the honey- 

 flow ceases. The income obtained from the 

 sale of honey and wax is quite considerable, 

 and but little skill, outlay and labor is re- 

 quired. 



In France, Italy, Spain and other Catho- 

 lic countries there is a great demand tor 



pure wax candles for ritual purposes, and 

 the production of wax receives its atten- 

 tion from the peasant bee-keepers, as well 

 as the production of honey, especially as 

 comb-building can go on during the more 

 idle weeks preceding the honey-flow. And, 

 after all, brimstoning, if so carried out as 

 to cause sudden and painless death, is not 

 quite so bad as exposing the bees to death 

 by starvation or cold. However, I am 

 against the sulphur pit, and many more 

 ancient and modern apiarian, political, 

 social and religious institutions, but be- 

 lieve in putting the poor things, like wound- 

 ed Chinese soldifers, out of misery when 

 they can be put to no further use. 



An alternate system in vogue with some 

 of the more intellignt bee-keepers is to con- 

 fine the queen on a piece of comb in a cage 

 so constructed as to allow working bees ad- 

 mittance to her. This is done at the com- 

 mencement of the honey-flow, and stops all 

 increase for which at this stage no further 

 usefulness exists; the bees engage their 

 now most valuable time solely in gathering 

 the sweet nectar instead of rearing brood, 

 and the few bees remaining after the honey 

 is taken can easily be united to some other 

 colonies set apart for wintering. 



A. S. ROSENROLL. 



Aigle, Switzerland, March 23. 



Wintered Better than Ever. 



I have been waiting to see how the bees 

 wintered before writing, so that I could tell 

 the way I did it. As usual, I put the straw 

 mats and cushions on top, but instead of 

 leaving the main body of the hive on the 

 bottom-board I raised it up and slipped un- 

 der a super which was fixed in the follow- 

 ing way: 



I took ten boards the length of the super 

 and Jn inch thick, the depth of the super, 

 and placed them equal distances apart, or 

 as nearly under the frames themselves as I 

 could. I did this because I thought it 

 would keep the heat in better, and also keep 

 it darker in the hive, and my bees have 

 wintered better than they ever did before, 

 although it has been one of the worst win- 

 ters we have had. Besides this, they are 

 encased by a glass-top shed, and are packed 

 in leaves. 



The season is very backward here, the 

 early flowers being a month behind that of 

 last season. The bees were bringing in the 

 first pollen yesterday. The prospects for a 

 good honey-flow this season are fine. 



W. C. Briggs. 



Newton, Mass., April S. 



North Carolina Honey-Resources, Etc. 



I have had some inquiries about the 

 honey-resources of this part of North Car- 

 olina. 



Our bees are first stimulated to action by 

 the bloom of the alders, from which they 

 gather pollen the last of February or first 

 of March. Next comes the bloom of the 

 maples, from which our bees gather honey. 

 I believe that the maple secretes a large 

 amount of honey, but they bloom so early, 

 while the days are so short and cool, that 

 the bees cannot work much of the time. As 

 a rule, our bees always get a good start 

 from maple-bloom. 



Next comes the peach and apple bloom, 

 the last of March and first of April: also 

 the plum and cherry. These all produce 

 honey, but we seldom get an.y surplus from 

 them. Next, about May 10, comes the 

 huckleberry and poplar bloom. The poplar 

 is one of the best honey-producing trees 

 that we have in this part of the country. 

 About this time white clover begins to 

 bloom. About May 20 the persimmon be- 

 gins to bloom, and is a good honey-yielder. 



About June 20 sourwood begins to bloom 

 and lasts for several weeks — at times a good 

 honey-yielder, at others not so good. About 

 this time cotton begins to bloom, and lasts 

 until frost' yielding more or less honey all 

 the time, but not euough at any time to 

 get a surplus. Next comes the golden-rod, 

 about Sept. 1, then about Sept. 20 the won- 

 derful aster, which is a good honey-yielder, 



BEESWAX. 



We will jruarantec to get 28 cts. for all the 

 Beeswax of llf^ht color or yellow, shipped to 

 us for sale during the month of April, isg.'j, 



Ji Ai LAMUN| ' CHICAGO, ILL. 



14A4 



Please mention the Bee Journal. 



THE A. I. ROOT COS GOODS IN MISSOURI 



;i2-page Catulogue Free. 

 4Atf Joliii Nebel iV Son, High Hill, Iflo. 



WHEN ANSWERING THIS ADVERTISEMENT, MENTION THIS JOURNAL. 



10« Colonies 



RUBBER STAMPS 



OF BEES 

 FOR SALE 



In lots to suit. Correspondence solicited. 

 13A4 C. H. DIBBERN, Milan, Ills. 



Meyitian the Amcrlcaii Bcc Journal. 



100 BREEDING QUEENS 



We have got 100 very fliie Select Breeding 



Gray Carniolan Queens 



that we can ship b,v return mail for $3.50 each 



Don't fail to sent for our Free Descriptive 



Price-List of the 



GRAYCARNIOLANS.no 

 Address, GOLDEN ITALIANS. 



F. A. LOCKHART A: CO., 



1711 LAKE GEORGE, N. Y. 



Mention the American Bee Journal- 



Before buying 

 send for 

 Catalogue. 

 MIRWAIK RIBBER STA.IIP HURKS, NdRW.llK, OHIO. 



WHEN Answering this advertisement, mention this journau 



BEES, QUEENS 



..SUPPLIES 



We can furnish anything iu this line at bot- 

 tom prices. Catalog Free. 



1. J. STRimOHAIM, 



103 Park Place, NEW YORK, N. Y. 



Mention the Anwriean Dee Jonrnal 



STILL IN THE LEAD. 



HILTON'S Cliaff Hives, T-Sii- 

 ]>cr><. White Folisiicd SectioD§, 

 FoiiiKlalion, Smolters, and ever- 

 ylliiiig needed in liie Apiary. 



—Send for 1895 Catalog— 



GEO. E.HILTON, FREMONT, MICH. 



11A13 MentUm the American Bee Journal. 



In-Door & Out-Door Brooders. 

 112 FIRST PREMIUMS. 

 Send lor 114-page Illustrated 

 Prairie State incubator Co- 

 Homer City,' Pa. 



Mention the American UeeJmimaL 



THE ACCIDENTS OF LIFE 



Write to T. S. Ql'lNCEV, 

 Drawer 156, Chicago, Secre- 

 tary' of the Star Accident 

 Company, for information 

 regarding Accident Insur- 

 ance. Mention this paper. 

 By so doing you can save 



membership fee. Has paid over $600,000.00 for 



accidental injuries. 



Be your own Agent- 



NO MEDICAL E-XAMINATION REQUIRE^ 

 13AG Mention the American Bee Journal. 



Star^cident 



f(j0MPAt<Y 



