AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



127 



pounds of honey, and the number of 

 colonies increased to 11. I lost 2 colo- 

 nies last Winter through dampness and 

 3 more from Spring dwindling, which 

 eft me 6 colonies. The season was very 

 poor here, we had too much rain in the 

 honey season and the Spring was very 

 backward. We had actually no warm 

 weather until June. 1 put 10 colonies 

 in Winter quarters on Nov. 10, and 

 expect to leave them there until the 

 latter part of April. C. J. Winkler. 

 Treherne, Manitoba, Dec. 29, 1890. 



Failiire of Crop. 



The honey crop in this locality was an 

 entire failure, and most of the bees, that 

 were not fed, will starve before they can 

 obtain a living in the Spring. The 

 Winter thus far has been exceedingly 

 fine, with no snow to speak of. After 

 seeing a copy of the Illustrated Home 

 Journal, I wondered how any home could 

 be without it. Wm. Enke. 



Rochester, Minn., Jan. 6, 1891. 



A $2,600 Fire. 



My shop and all the machinery, 

 together with all my bee-fixings, were 

 destroyed by fire last July. I had no 

 insurance. It even burned my gold 

 watch, coat, etc., but I have 170 colo- 

 nies of bees left, and must have the 

 American Bee Journal. It looked 

 hard to see it all go ($2,500 worth) but 

 like "Josh" I don't cry for spilt milk, 

 but grab up the pail and go for the next 

 cow. I like the new form of the Bee 

 Journal. It is more like a book and 

 takes up less room. 



D. G. Webster. 



Blaine, Ills., Jan 12, 1891. 



Weighing Bees. 



Our bees, 93 colonies, are very quiet 

 in the cellar, the same number as we 

 wintered one year ago. We only secured 

 a half-ton of honey. We weighed our 

 bees the last of September and they 

 weighed from 40 to 60 pounds. We 

 weighed them again in a month, and 

 were surprised to find them turn the 

 scales at the same weight they did a 

 month before. Was it Hibernation? 

 We think darkness, dryness and 

 dormancy are the 3 requisites for cellar 

 wintering, with a temperature from 42 

 to 44". The hives should be covered 

 with something ijorous. 



J. A. Pearce. 



Grand Rapids, Mich. 



Fears Loss this Winter. 



Our Fall and Winter so far has been 

 very dry and mild, until last night, when 

 it rained, and to-day it is snowing. Bees 

 that have plenty of honey I think are 

 doing finely, but I think there will be a 

 heavy loss this Winter. Some have 

 already lost a good deal by starvation. 

 I doubled up a good many of mine. I put 

 31 colonies in the cellar on Dec. 24, and 

 I think they are doing well. 



Samuel Flory. 



South English, Iowa, Jan. 1. 1891. 



Summer Weather Yet. 



It was very dry here last Summer, so 

 I will not have to give a long report of 

 my surplus honey crop, though I have 

 some honey for sale. My bees are on 

 the summer stands yet, with stores 

 enough to take them through the Winter. 

 The weather is very mild so far this 

 Winter. I have 35 colonies. 



Lionel Brokaw. 



Summer Hill. Ills., Jan. 1, 1891. 



Bees are Wintering Nicely. 



All are very quiet in tha cellar with 

 the thermometer ranging from 45° to 

 48°. I raised the hives off the bottom 

 board about 3€ inch, which gives plenty 

 of ventilation. I have left a few hives 

 outside to try the experiment of seeing 

 which will winter best. I have about 

 135 colonies in my cellar. I attended 

 the convention at Rockford, where I met 

 many kind friends and new acquaint- 

 ances, and where we discussed many bee 

 topics as best we could. Take it as a 

 whole, I can say we had a very pleasant 

 time, and I thought it very profitable. 

 A. Y. Baldwin. 



DeKalb, Ills. 



Wintering on Uncapped Stores. 



My 22 colonies, put into Winter quar- 

 ters in the Fall of 1889, came through 

 without loss. Every one was strong. 

 The first of June found them all full of 

 bees, many of the queens laying, just on 

 the point of swarming, as I supposed. 

 Instead of receiving swarms, I noticed 

 most of the colonies were killing their 

 drones. The weather during fruit-bloom 

 was wet and cool, so that it prevented 

 the bees from working. The result was 

 but few swarms and but little fruit, in 

 this locality. I have the very general 

 report to make, " Honey crop a failure, 

 and we had to resort to feeding." I 



