THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



267 



colony ; this being the largest amount 

 from one colony ever secured in this 

 locality. This colony is a black one ; 

 I got it 2 years ago last September 

 from a tree which had been cut down 

 and the honey removed. Their queen 

 is still alive. The colony has never 

 swarmed. I have 12 of this queen's 

 daughters ; they are very gentle. I 

 also have Italians and Holy Land 

 bees, but none of them ever produced 

 more than 124 pounds of honey. The 

 Holy Land queens mated with black 

 drones are the crosest bees I ever 

 saw. I have one colony that 1 always 

 chloroform. I worked them for ex- 

 tracted honey last year, and the honey 

 of this one colony sold for over $20. 

 I shall kill the queen of this colony if 

 I can ever find her again. 



Losses of Bees in New York.— O. 

 L. Whitcomb, Argyle,o X. Y., on 

 April 15, 1887, says : 



There is a fearful mortality among 

 bees in this section this winter. Our 

 cold weather and snow covers a 

 period of 5 months already, with May 

 to hear from. I started in the fall 

 ■with 8 colonies, and have 2 colonies 

 left. "Eighty colonies out of 1.50" 

 is one man's loss within two miles — a 

 discouraging outlook. 



The Cappings over Honey.— C. P. 

 Dadant, Hamilton,*© Ills., writes : 



Mr. Hutchinson (on page 2.32) now 

 bases his arguments, mainly, on the 

 reports of some distinguished apiar- 

 ists who found " honey so thickened 

 that it did not fill the cell more than 

 half full." I do not wish to be un- 

 derstood as disputing this statement, 

 but I do say that I believe it comes 

 from mistaken observations. Let Mr. 

 Hutchinson take a can full of honey, 

 no matter how thin, when sealed by 

 the bees, and whenever he succeds in 

 evaporating it, by whatever process, 

 until the can is only half full, I will 

 silently, and willingly, give up. 



Bees Packed in Sawdust— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, Rogersville,t5 Mich., on 

 April 14, 1887, says : 



Bees have come through in excel- 

 lent condition. I have 110 colonies; 

 80 are packed in sawdust, as recom- 

 mended in the first chapter of my 

 little book. 



Protecting Sections from Propolis. 

 —Mr. J. J. Roe, Buchanan, p Mich., 

 writes : 



While taking off honey last summer 

 1 saw the desirability of a section- 

 case which would better protect the 

 sections from propolis. I thought of 

 a blank strip to correspond with the 

 sections, and had some of that kind 

 made. I then made up a hundred 

 cases, and thought I would not give 

 the invention to the public before 

 testing it in my own apiary. This 

 spring I received a catalogue from 

 the dealers in bee-supplies, who 

 made my cases, which advertised my 



dealers got the idea from the work 

 they did for me. I thought I would 

 get a patent, and so I sent a model to 

 Washington. On page 232, Messrs. 

 J. W. Powell & Son have illustrated 

 almost exactly my invention. My 

 case is reversible, and for Simplicity 

 of construction I do not think it can 

 be excelled. If Messrs. Powell & Son 

 invented their case before I did mine, 

 I willingly make my bow to them ; if 

 not, will they please make theirs, etc. 



[It is only a wctste of money to at- 

 tempt to patent the " blank strip to 

 correspond with the sections," to 

 keep the sections free from propolis. 

 As we stated in an editorial item on 

 page 147 of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal for March 9, 1887, we have sev- 

 eral of such " protecting strips," in 

 different patterns, in our Museum, 

 which have been there for years, and 

 antedate both Mr. Roe and Messrs. 

 Powell & Son — the only difference 

 being the use of one of these strips at 

 the top as well as on the bottom of 

 the " cases " by Messrs. Powell & 

 Son. The "cases" in our Museum 

 were each described in the Bee Jour- 

 nal, when received.— Ed.] 



White Clover in Bloom, etc.— John 

 H. Christie, Dyersburg,*o Tenn., on 

 April 18, 1887, writes ; 



Bees have wintered pretty well in 

 this part of Tennessee. The winter 

 has been very mild. My bees brought 

 in, pollen on Jan. 31. They got along 

 very well until the last cold spell, 

 then the most of the colonies stopped 

 breeding, and some of them run short 

 of stores so that I had to feed them 

 some. I have had 4 swarms so far, 

 all from one colony. It cast the first 

 swarm on April 2, then one on April 

 10, another on April 12, and the last 

 on April 14. They are about % Ital- 

 ians. I saved all of the swarms, and 

 they are all doing well. I have heard 

 of a good many swarms throughout 

 the country ; I had ripe strawberries 

 on April 15, and saw some white 

 clover bloom to-day— both in the open 

 country. I am 68 years old to-day, 

 and have kept bees about 25 years. I 

 have about 100 colonies in all. 



Two Feet of Snow on the Ground. 



— J. P. Latham, Cumberland, p Me., 

 on April 14, 1887, writes : 



At this date there is a greater body 

 of snow on the ground than I have 

 ever known at any corresponding date 

 before. Although bare spots are 

 beginning to appear in the open land, 

 there is still about 2 feet of snow in 

 the woods. The past winter has been 

 of unusual severity, cold and bluster- 

 ing. Feb. 9 was fair and mild, as was 

 also Feb. 16 and 19 ; then it was very 

 severe until March 12, when it began 

 to moderate again. On March 13 and 

 14 all of my colonies of bees, that 

 seemed to need it, enjoyed a cleans- 



invention. I thought perhaps the I ing flight. About a dozen colonies 



remained quiet. Three colonies have 

 evinced no desire to fly during the 

 winter, but are apparently in a most 

 satisfactory condition, dry, cozy and 

 comfortable. Six colonies soiled the 

 entrances to their hives before their 

 flight, but not badly. Everything 

 considered, I am well satisfied with 

 the status of all of my colonies at the 

 present time, as they have been work- 

 ing " with a will " on rye-meal for the 

 past five days, from every hive. Pol- 

 len on the willows is beginning to 

 make its appearance, which makes- 

 me feel like reporting " .50—50," but 

 as it is I will wait until spring, and 

 then see how many colonies I have. 



No Rain for Two Years.— W. G. 

 Ponton, Corwin,OTex., on April 9, 

 1887, writes; 



" Texas against the world for 

 honey," is what one of our Lone Star 

 bee-keepers has said. I really do not 

 know whether this is correct or not, 

 but I would state it thus : Texaa 

 against the world for drouth. We 

 have not had a good rain since the 

 spring of 1885, and 1887 is coming in 

 more gloomy than ever. Wheat and 

 oats are considered a complete fail- 

 ure ; there is yet hope for corn, should 

 we get a good rain this month, and 

 yet, consideringthe great drouth, bees 

 are doing remarkably well, owing to- 

 the peculiar flora of this country, 

 which makes it par excellence for the 

 production of honey. All we need 

 is enterprising apiarists. Bee-Keep- 

 ing is conducted here according to 

 the log-gum system. Every Saturday 

 a very spicy visitor calls about 11 

 a.m., in the shape of the American 

 Bee Journal, heaping full of good 

 news. 



Wintered Well in the Cellar.— F. 

 A. Gibson, Racine,o Wis., on April 

 18, 1887, writes : 



My bees have wintered in splendid 

 condition, having lost none. They 

 were confined from last Thanksgiving 

 Day to April 9, without having a 

 flight. They did not spot the hives 

 any when put out. There were such 

 large clusters of bees hanging from 

 the combs that I had to shake them 

 off to get the bottom-boards on. They 

 commenced carrying in pollen the 

 next day after being put out. The 

 temperature was at 41° in my bee- 

 cellar when I put them in, and con- 

 tinued so until I removed the bees. 

 The cellar is under the honey-house, 

 bricked up, with an air-space all 

 around it, and 10 inches of sawdust 

 on top, between two floors. The bot- 

 tom floor is of cement, closed by 

 double doors from outside. 



The Western 'World Gnlde and Hand- 

 Book of Useful Information, contains the 

 greatest amount of useful Information ever 

 put together in such a cheap form. The 

 printing, paper, and binding are excellent, 

 and the book is well worth a dollar. To any 

 one sending us two new subscribers besides 

 his own. with $3.00, for one year, we will 

 present a copy of this valuable book. 



