T'H® m^mmmicMM mem j&wmMmi^. 



109 



■•*—•*— *-^*-^* 



kAmAmkhmt 



Diat th-ead disease. So do not "de- 

 horn " the bees ! 



In one part of my article, on page 

 5G, I am made to say tliat the tem- 

 perature of my cellar is from 32^ to 

 45°, and in the closing paragraph it 

 reads from 40° to 45°. Either I made 

 a kqisKf: calami, or it was a typographi- 

 cal error. It should read "from 30=3 

 to 45^," to be exact. 



In extreme cold weather it has been 

 down to 28° at the bottom of the cellar, 

 and in the spring, during soft weather, 

 it was 450. I meant to give the aver- 

 age (which I believe to be the secret 

 of my success in wintering bees), which 

 is from 30° to 45°. 



Newark Valley, N. Y. 



[It was printed exactly as written 

 in the copj'. — Ed.] 



CONVEJVTIOM DIKECTORY. 



1888. Time and Place of Meetino. 



Apr. 11.— Stark County, at Canton. O. 



Mark ThoniBon, Sec, Canton, O. 



Apr. 24.— Des Moines County, at Burlington, Iowa. 

 John Nau, Sec, Middletown, Iowa. 



May 5.— Susquehanna County, at New Milford, Pa. 

 H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



B»" In order to haye this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed. 



stiSP^^iMMM 



Colonies in Good Condition.— W. 



D. Reufro, Troy, Ills., on Feb, 7, 1888, says: 



I have 37 colonies in good condition on the 

 summer stands. Last month on two days 

 they had good flights. I examined some ot 

 the hives, and they have plenty ot bees and 

 honey. As the last year was a poor one lor 

 honey, I got only about 300 pounds of comb 

 honey, in one-pound sections. I am tliank- 

 ful that we liave as much as we need for 

 ourselves, and some to spare. 



Xlie Season of 1887.— M. L. Barney 

 &Bro., Hartford, Wis., on Jan.18, 1888, write: 



We wintered 117 colonies last winter, and 

 lost one colony by spring dwindling. We 

 had a poor season last year. We sold 817.5 

 worth of bees and queens, and 4,.57.5 pounds 

 of honey. We have now on hand 140 colo- 

 nies, all of which are doing well. We ex- 

 pect to lose a few colonies this winter,owing 

 to an accident which prevented our prepar- 

 ing them properly for winter. 



Vcw I>4'ad Bees — Iloncy Xrnsts. 



-J. AI. A. Miller, Galva, Ills., on Feb. 1, 



1888, writes : 



In 1887 I had only 3 swarms from 50 colo- 

 nies, and about 30 pounds of honey. I had 

 a lot of honey on hand last May, and I only 

 realized about 8 cents a pound tor it ; now 

 I notice that honey is selling in the same 

 store for 30 cents per pound. That is a great 

 change, indeed. 1 have 48 colonies safely 

 stored in the cellar • some are quite strong, 



and others not so strong. I examined them 

 yesterday, and all are as quiet as I ever saw 

 them ; yet they are quite lively, and lor 

 some cause, that 1 cannot explain, there Is 

 not a pint of bees on the cellar bottom. 

 Why is this? 



I was told the other day that a "honey 

 trust "was being formed in Chicago, and 

 that was the reason honey was so high and 

 scarce. I thhik tiiat the dry weather has 

 had more to do with the scarcity and jjriees 

 than any " trust." Hence, if we have a 

 good season this year, the first honey that 

 is put on the market will receive the highest 

 price. Of course the price will soon fall, 

 but not to where it was last spring. 



[The formation of a honey trust in Chi- 

 cago, is a myth I 



As there are but few bees dead on the 

 cellar bottom, the presumption is that late 

 breeding gave them mostly young bees to 

 go into, winter quarters with, and conse- 

 quently there are but few to die with old 

 age.— Ed.] 



Talne of PaeUing Bees. — Jno. A. 

 Buchanan, Holliday'sCove, W. Va., on Jan. 



35, 1888, says : 



Mr. Seabright, on page 45, expresses him- 

 self as being in accord with the packing 

 system. He began the last season with 6:-i 

 colonies. They were strong, as they had 

 been packed all winter and spring ; he got 

 60 pounds of honey. His not-far-distant 

 neighbor, Mr. Lewedag, from 36 colonies, 

 wintered in single-walled hives, with but a 

 cushion over the frames, secured 3.50 pounds 

 of comb lioney. Will Mr. S. " fix this 

 up," so that it will help him out with his 

 pet theory ? 



Bees Breeding- Early, etc.— A. V. 



Kouba, Crete, Nebr., on Jan. 31, 1888, says : 



We are having very cold weather this 

 winter ; on .Ian. 15, the thermometer regis- 

 tered 33° below zero. My bees are being 

 wintered on the summer stands, and so far 

 they seem to be in fine condition, except 

 one colony that is weak. We are having 

 nice weather now, the mercury being up to 

 65°. The bees had a good flight to-day, and 

 also a few days before. I examined the 

 weak colony to-day, and contracted its 

 brood-chamber to three frames. In tlie 

 middle of one comb I found a circle ot eggs. 

 I opened the hive of a strong colony, and 

 found three combs with eggs, in a circle 

 from 3 to 4 inches in diameter. I prefer a 

 good chaff hive, for wintering out-doors. 



■Wintering on Siunnier Stands. 



—J. Rosecrans, Auburn, N. T., on Feb. 1, 

 1888, writes : 



I commenced the season of 1887 with 7 

 colonies, increased them to 9 colonies, and 

 took off 400 pounds of lioney in one and two 

 pound sections. The bees are on the sum- 

 mer stands without any packing or cush- 

 ions, with only a piece of cotton-cloth. 

 They were all right when last examined, 

 and I trust that they will continue to be so. 

 I wintered them last winter on the summer 

 stands, in tlie same way, with the loss of 

 only one colony, which starved. 



Early Breeding of Bees, etc. — 



Wm. Stolley, Grand Island, Nebr., on Jan. 

 31, 1888, writes : 



From Dec. 30, 1S87 until Jan. 35, 1888, we 

 had fearfully cold weather in central Ne- 

 braska ; it was at zero or far below, and 

 once even 35% Fahr., below zero. On Jan. 

 26, it became warm enough for bees to fly, 



being 50° in the shade. Ever since it has 

 been quite warm, and to-day the mercury 

 was 60° in the shade. I have improved this 

 warm spell, and overhauled all of my bees. 

 The hives were cleaned, all chaff packing 

 dried, and in a few cases frames of honey 

 were put in, where the winter stores were 

 insufficient to last the bees well into spring. 



I found all of my bees in excellent condi- 

 tion, but I was surprised to Bud that a num- 

 ber of colonies had in one, two, and even 

 three frames, patches of capped brood. My 

 aim always is, to keep my bees from early 

 breeding, and I cannot understand why 

 they should breed earlier in this excep- 

 tionally cold winter, than in previous mueli 

 warmer winters, since the winter packing 

 is the same as usual ; unless it is that my 

 bees are vvinterinj^ exclusively on natural 

 stores, with lots ot pollen, when formerly I 

 removed the pollen as much as possible, and 

 fed the best coffee A sugar syrup instead. 



I will try to give my bees fretiuent flights, 

 if possible, and thus I hope to prevent diar- 

 rhea and loss. I learn that many bees have 

 succumbed to the cold that we have tiad in 

 this section of Nebraska. 



Cold 'Weatlier — Canadian Eoco- 



niotive.— Chas. Solveson, Nashotah, Wis., 

 on Jan. 31, 1888, says : 



Bees in the cellar are wintering finely, 

 but those on the summer stands are having 

 a hard time of it, and it is not to be wonder- 

 ed at, with the mercury for weeks at from 

 zero to 40° below, with but two or three 

 abatements of but a day's duration. To-day, 

 however, we are having mild weather. 



By-the-way, how slow that Canadian 

 " locomotive " travels ! I have been pa- 

 tiently waiting for the sounds of the "merry 

 bells "that were to convey such astound- 

 ing news of an invention that would "cause 

 a great commotion among the dry bones, 

 and not yet extinct fossils of bee-dom :" 

 and yet so simple that the relator could 

 hardly refrain from " laughing out right at 

 the stupidity of the whole tribe, tliat not 

 one of their number ever thought of it be- 

 fore." Did you ever ! Well, well ! I hope 

 Bro. Clarke will not keep us in suspense 

 much longer, as I fear it will be the " whole 

 tribe" that will laugh next, unless some- 

 thing turns up pretty soon. 



[This is respectfully referred to Bro. 

 Clarke for reply.- Ed.] 



Cleansing Flights for Bees, etc. 



— Evan R. Styer, Morgantown, Pa., on Jan. 



33, 1888, writes : 



On Nov. 14, 1887, 1 packed 11 colonies in a 

 bee-house, placing the hives within 3 inches 

 of each other, and putting meadow-hay 

 around the insides. The house opens to 

 the south. I fed 150 pounds of sugar syrup 

 to 10 colonies, one colony having stored 

 enough for winter use. On Dec. 9, bees had 

 a good fiight,and on Jan. 14 they had another 

 cleansing flight. There was snow on the 

 ground, and but few bees were lost in the 

 snow. All the colonies have lost consider- 

 able in bees during the veinter. If this con- 

 tinues until March, some will be weak. 

 Some ot the coloides have only six frames 

 each, while the rest have eight. What 

 comb honey I produced was nice, and I re- 

 ceived 30 cents per pound for it ; and now I 

 am selling extracted for 18 cents per pound. 



I prefer the two-story Langstroth hive to 

 any other. I expect better results the com- 

 ing season, as I intend to sow a great deal 

 of Alsike clover .seed, and will prevail upon 

 my neighbors to do so. 



The Bkk Joukxai, is a welcome visitor 

 at our fireside, and the information which I 

 receive is of great advantage to me. Indeed, 

 I cannot see how I could get along with- 

 out it. 



