TMm MMERICMP* mMm J©^MIfSlLr. 



13 



ture low enough. Every evening I find 

 it 500, and sometimes above that. I 

 have the hous(! well ventilated, tmt the 

 weather is so warm that it is difflcult 

 to conti-ol the temperature. What 

 shall I do ? I think I will put the bees 

 oMt, if the weather does not change 

 soon. 



[Either the cellar may be cooled by 

 placing some ice in it, or the bees may 

 be placed on the summer stands. — Ed.] 



.\ddccl many Dollars U> his 

 Income, etc. — C. Theilmann, Theil- 

 mauton.o> Minn., on Dec. 19, 1887, 

 writes thus, when renewing his sub- 

 scription for 1888 : 



I never paid a dollar more cheer- 

 fully, as you have put many dollars 

 into my pocket, by advising bee-keep- 

 eis to wait for good prices for the past 

 crop. I would probably have sold one- 

 half of my crop at about 12J cents per 

 pound, biit I held it, on the strength 

 of your advice, and sold it for from 15 

 to 20 cents per pound. Please accept 

 my thanks. 



So far we have bad nice weather, 

 excepting a couple of cold spells, with 

 33-3 below zero on one of them, and 

 about 4 inches of snow ; but the last 24 

 hours it has been snowing, and is still 

 at it. Tht! show is about one foot 

 deep, and 28^ above zero. 



An Apieultural Treasure — Geo. 

 McCormick, Russell, 5 Iowa, on Dec. 

 26, 1887, says : 



I disposed of my bees two years ago, 

 but I cannot afford to do without the 

 American Bee Journal. Its attrac- 

 tive and convenient form, its able edi- 

 torials, and its vigorous defense of bee- 

 keeping against the enemy, together 

 with the masterly discussions of its ex- 

 cellent correspondents, all go to make 

 up a paper that is a treasure to pro- 

 gressive apiarists, and can be read 

 with profit by all lovers of progress. 



How the Bees are Wintering. 



—John Nebel & Son, High Hill.oMo., 

 on Dec. 28, 1887, writes : 



At this date our bees ar(> quietly 

 resting in the cellar ; they seem to be 

 in almost a dormant state. The tem- 

 perature in the cellar has ranged from 

 35^ to 40° in the past two weeks ; the 

 temperature out-doors this morning is 

 6° below zero. The mercury- fell 40^ 

 in 12 hours. We think that bees win- 

 tering in the cellar will get through 

 this wnter in a fair condition. The 

 past season has been so poor that bees 

 did not make enough to winter on. 



especially to winter out-of-doors, with 

 so few bees and insufficient stores, in 

 which condition all the colonies were, 

 that were not heavily fed during 

 August. 



Fully three-foiuths of the bees in 

 this county died during October and 

 November, long before cold weather 

 began. When inquiry is made now as 

 to how the bees were getting along the 

 last time when examined, we get the 

 pitiful answer that they are all dead — 

 starved ! Witli a great deal of extra 

 work and feeding- we have now 200 

 colonies (100 in each cellar) wintering, 

 that we think will come out in the 

 spring in good condition. Has the 

 loss in bees been as great everywhere ? 

 Will bee-keepers, when sending a re- 

 port, also please state about what the 

 losses of bees are in their vicinity ? 



Well Provided ^vitli Food. — 



W. Addenbrooke, North Prairie, tx Wis., 



on Dec. 29, 1887, writes : 



I wintered 130 colonies without the 

 loss of a single colony, and in the 

 spring I sold 22 polonies, which left 

 108. These I increased to 120, which 

 are now wintering in the cellar, all 

 well provided with stores from buck- 

 wheat. Thej- wei-e only able to make 

 a fair living- until buckwheat blossom- 

 ed, so that alone saved me a large 

 amount of feeding. My bees stored 

 only 200 pounds of white clover honey 

 in sections. I hope for a better season 

 the coming year. 



Fastening Foundation. — E. F. 



Rowe, Granite Falls, p Minn., on Dec. 

 23, 1887, writes : 



To fasten foundation in sections I 

 cut it the size wanted, fold the sec- 

 tion, place the foundation in it from 

 left to right about 1-inch beyond the 

 saw cut, and hold it firmly with the 

 left hand. I fasten it with a putty 

 chisel, or any round, smooth instru- 

 ment dipped into a saucer of extracted 

 honey, and rub liglitly at first over the 

 foundation, and increase the pressure, 

 rubbing the foun<lation down, up to 

 and a little beyond the saw cut. I 

 then bend the foundation to an up- 

 right position. I think this way is as 

 quick, and will give as satisfactory re- 

 sults as any. 



Raspberries for Bees. — ^Walter 

 Harmer, Manistee, -o Mich., writes : 



In reply to the query of C. A. Bunch 

 about raspberries, on page 735 of the 

 Bee Journal for 1887, I would say 

 that 1 have cultivated the " Philadel- 

 phia " for about 5 years, and they have 

 only winter-killed a little one winter. 



and that was the last one. It is a large 

 purple berry when well ripened, and 

 for a local market I think it cannot be 

 surpassed. Bees work on them in 

 season, and by placing the hives be- 

 tween them on low stands, they afford 

 considerable shade. 



Itee-Keeping iii Xexas, etc. — 



B. F. Carroll, Dresden, d Texas, on 

 Dec. 20, 1887, writes : 



Last year the drouth cut short all 

 crops, but we got half a crop of honey, 

 and bees went into winter in good con- 

 dition. In April I had 50 full colonies 

 of pure Cyprian bees, and as it was 

 very dry, I fed a barrel of sugar. The 

 drouth continued until Aug. 27, when 

 the great flood of 18 inches of water 

 fell in eight hours. By this time my 

 bees were very weak, many queeuless, 

 no drones, and not 5 pounds of honey 

 per colony. Many colonies dwindled 

 away, and now I have 30 colonies. 



I sold 4 colonies for $40, and for 10 

 queens, $10. I fed 300 pounds of 

 sugar at 7 cents a pound, $21, and I will 

 have to feed 300 pounds more as soon 

 as Jan. 15. Corn averaged 10 bushels 

 per acre ; wheat 5 bushels ; oats 10 

 bushels, and cotton one-sixth of a bale. 

 I have lived here for 40 years, and this 

 year has been nearer a complete failure 

 "than any other. It will be " nip and 

 tuck " for many of us farmers to make 

 another crop. 



CONVENTION NOTICES. 



J^~ The DeB Moines County Bee-Keepers' Associ- 

 ation will liold its next meeting on April 24, 1888, at 

 Burlington, Iowa. JOHN NATJ, Sec. 



Z^" The annual convention of the Vermont State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will be held at the Van 

 Ness House, in Burlington, Vt., on the Jan. 18 and 

 19, 1888. R. H. Holmes, Sec. 



tW The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 hold its annual meeting at Woodstock, Ontario, on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 10 and 11, 1888. 



W. C0U8K, Sec. 



CF~ The Hardin County Bee-Keepers' Aasociar 

 tion will meet at the Court House in Bldora, Iowa, 

 on the second Saturday in each month, at noon 

 (12 o'clock), until further notice. 



J. W. BnCHANAN, See. 



t^~ The Cortland Union Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will hold their annual meeting at Cortland, N. 

 T.. on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 1888, for the election of 

 ofQcers and to transact such husiness as may come 

 before the meeting. All bee-keepers are invited. 

 R. L. Weaver, See. 



ZW The Susquehanna County Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will meet at New Milford, Pa., on Jan. 

 7, 1888. Subjects for discussion : " The Best Way 

 to Prevent Swarming," and " Is It Advisable to 

 Italianize Colonies ?" All bee-keepers are cordially 

 nvited. H. M. Seeley, See. 



Z^~ The annual meeting of the Northwestern 

 Illinois and Southeastern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held in G. A. R, Hall, corner of 

 State & North Main Sts.. in Rocktord. His., on Jan, 

 17 and 18, 1888. Dr. Miller will be present, and a 

 good Drogramme is in course of preparation. 

 * D. A. FtTij:.BR, ate. 



J^" The Northeastern Ohio. Northern Pennsyl- 

 vania and Western New York Bef-Keopers' Associa- 

 tion will hold its ninth annuiil convention in the 

 Commercial House Parlor, in Meadviile, Penn., on 

 Wednesday and Thursday, January 25 and 26,1888. 

 Reduced hotel rates have been secured. 



C. U. COON. Sec. 



