AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



131 



other bees, come out stronger and 

 there is no Spring dwindling. I have 

 seen them build up faster on the apple 

 bloom and they will go out on cold days 

 in the Spring when other bees will do 

 nothing. When they come to swarm 

 they are not as bad as the Palestine Bee 

 but about the same as the Italian and 

 when they cap their honey, it is finished 

 up nicely and white as snow. As to 

 gentleness, they have no superior if they 

 are purely bred. I produce nothing but 

 comb-honey and these boes answer my 

 purpose. There is another thing about 

 quiet bees. If you wish to sell a farmer 

 a colony of bees, the first thing he will 

 say will be about the stinging points of 

 them, and when you tell him they have 

 been improved, just like other kinds of 

 stock, he will not believe you until you 

 take him into your apiary and show him 

 the difference; then you may sell him a 

 colony. If it were not for the cross- 

 breeds of bees, there would be no trouble 

 to sell bees to farmers, if they were 

 Carniolans or Italians. About 8 years 

 ago we used to get our bee hives by the 

 car-load, but of late years we are not 

 using so many. Some of the bee-keepers 

 would not read a bee journal if I would 

 give it to them, and I give lots of them 

 away, to keep them on the right road to 

 prosperity. James Jardine. 



Ashland, Nebr. 



Bee-Culture in Washington. 



I am receiving a number of letters 

 from subscribers to the Bee Journal,, 

 asking for information about the State 

 of Washington, but many of them have 

 the address so illegibly written that I do 

 not know where to send my answers. 

 Please ask them through the Bee Jour- 

 nal, to write their addresses more 

 plainly. I am not in the real estate 

 business, but if they will write their 

 address plainly and enclose a 2-cent 

 stamp for return postage, I will give 

 them what information I can and send 

 them Seattle papers. John Boestler. 



Vashon, Wash., Jan. 10, 1891. 



Satisfied with the Increase. 



I commenced the Spring of 1890 with 

 28 colonies of bees, increased to 34, and 

 got about 700 pounds of extracted-honey. 

 Bees in this neighborhood have gone 

 into Winter quarters, the colonies rather 

 weak in bees and short in honey. A 

 good many new colonies have died 

 already, and many more will starve 

 before Spring. Fred Bechly. 



Searsboro, Iowa, Jan 16, 1891. 



Ventilation for Bee-Cellars. 



My bees were put in the cellar on the 

 evening of Dec. 1. They have been un- 

 usually quiet ever since, and there are 

 very few dead ones on the floor. The 

 temperature is almost constantly at 45^ 

 Fahr. The Winter is very mild, and 

 although the mercury was 2 or 3 times 

 as low as 25^ above zero, it went up also 

 to 55^. There is not much snow on the 

 ground. Last Fall I put in a sub-earth 

 ventilator made of 6-inch tiles, and 25 

 feet long. It enters the bee-cellar on 

 the east side, just a little below the floor. 

 This and a pipe in the chimney keeps 

 the air sweet and pure. 



L. Hammerschmidt. 



Amana, Iowa, Jan. 9, 1891. 



Bees of Great Benefit to Fruit. 



My honey crop, for the season ended, 

 did not come up to my expectations by 

 any means. I was looking forward to a 

 crop of 1,000 pounds. Everything was 

 flattering until July when the drouth 

 came on. and that ended the matter. I 

 got 100 pounds of very fine raspberry 

 honey, which I sold for 25 cents per 

 pound — the standard price for first-class 

 honey. I had many orders, from custo- 

 mers, for such goods but was unable to 

 fill them. My bees in early Spring 

 seemed slow to increase in strength, and 

 I did not put the sections on until after 

 cherry and apple bloom were over. This, 

 I think, was a mistake, as a friend of 

 mine then had his surplus on, and 

 secured a fine lot of both kinds. I com- 

 menced the season with 9 colonies and 

 increased only 2, and during the Fall, I 

 lost 2. Last Fall I introduced 5 Syrian 

 queens, 3 of which met an untimely 

 death and I have been sorry I did not 

 get Italians instead. During the Summer 

 my bees turned so cross that I could 

 scarcely work with them. During the 

 Fall the bees had quite a run on buck- 

 wheat which kept them in good working 

 order. I had to feed them for Winter 

 stores, and I am afraid I will lose a part 

 of them this Winter. I have them 

 packed with forest leaves, and under a 

 roof. I feel like giving up the bee busi- 

 ness sometimes, and yet I do not want to 

 be without them, as I am cultivating 

 strawberries and raspberries, besides 

 having an apple and peach orchard, and 

 I think, yes, believe, that they are of 

 immense benefit to me, even if I do not 

 get very much honey. I could do better 

 by extracting ; that is I could get more 

 pounds of honey, but I have some trouble 

 in selling it, as nearly all prefer to pay 



