THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



185 



THE HUM OF THE BEES 



(By David Hall) 



In the warm summer time, with a 

 beautiful show 

 Of bright flowers with nectar well 

 filled, 

 It is pleasant to think of the gen- 

 erous flow 

 The warm rains and the dews have 

 distilled. 



It is then to the bee-yard we frequent- 

 ly go. 

 Just to hear the sweet hum of the 

 bees. 

 As they haste to the fields where the 

 white clovers blow. 

 Or perhaps to the tall linden trees. 



How the heart warms with gladness, 

 the pulse, too, is stirred 

 As the bees with a rush and a roar 

 Speed away in their haste with a 

 sound plainly heard, 

 In quest of their sweet winter's 

 store. 



The glad hum of the bees has a musi- 

 cal sound 

 Like a song with a joyous refrain 

 And each year as the genial spring 

 comes around 

 We are anxious to hear it again. 



In good faith let us trust as the years 

 come and go 

 There will be enough sunshine and 

 showers 

 That will give the beekeeper a boun- 

 tiful flow 

 Of pure liquid sweets from the 

 flowers. 



Quickly filling the supers with snowy 

 white combs 

 With enough in the broodnest below 

 To sustain in abundance the bees in 

 their homes 

 Till the bloom of the apple trees 

 show. 



Thus making the heart of the bee- 

 keeper glad. 

 With a sweet recompense for his 

 toil. 

 To his banking account quite substan- 

 tially add 

 What the farmer digs out of the 

 soil. 



How the Bees Have Wintered 



We herewith submit a few reports of how 

 the bees have wintered. As it is human na- 

 ture to report success and when losses occur, 

 say nothinp: about it, we may expect that the 

 following reports are somewhat above the av- 

 erage wintering. To illustrate: We know of 

 four different beekeepers who put in winter 

 quarters four hundred colonies that have lost 

 75 per cent of them. Those yards are located 

 in Ohio and Michigan, that did not report for 

 publication. 



Fresque Isle, Maine, April 20th. 

 The Beekeepers' Review : — 



I wintered my G2 colonies in a concrete 

 cellar, and at this writing, find them in fine 

 rhape. I winter with the bottom board re- 

 moved. My 40 colonies did fins last season. 

 Our main honey flow is clover and raspberry. 

 Yours very truly, 

 MRS. ALICE J. PULCIFER. 



Fisher, Ark., April 21st. 

 Editor Review : — 



We have had a very bad winter on bees 

 here, but the bloom is now on and the worst 

 is over. 



Yours truly, 



GEO. GORDON. 



Decatur, 111., April 12th. 

 The Beekeepers' Review : — 



Bees came through the winter in fine shape 

 on aster honey. March was a poor month 

 for Isees to breed well. April has been fine so 

 far with rain and warm weather. A consid- 

 erable pollen being gathered from willow and 

 forest trees. 



White clover is nearly all dead, the past 

 two years being so dry. 



Some sweet clover which looks fine. We 

 hope for enough rain to insure a fall crop 

 from smartweed and aster. 



Yours very truly, 



G. E. MOORE. 



Chittenango, N. Y. 

 Editor Review : — 



Bees have wintered with but small loss. 

 There is the least brood in the hives I ever 

 knew at this time of the year. Honey nearly 

 used up in many colonies. 



Yours truly, 



BURDETT HALL, 



Rochester, Ohio, April 14th. 

 Editor Review : — 



The indications are for a good honey year. 

 The bees are building up fast. All colonies 

 came through the winter in good shape. Our 

 principal honey flow is from clover and bass- 

 wood, although the latter is getting mostly 

 cut off. Last season iny thirty colonies av- 

 eraged one hundred pounds per colony. (Esti- 

 mated). 



Yours truly, 



C. H. HODGKIN. 



Try the Review Classified depart- 

 ment. 



Springfield, Ont., March 31st. 

 Editor Review : — 



I report that bees in Ontario have had a 

 very hard winter. Experienced beekeepers fed 

 last fall and their bees have wintered well. 

 The amateur did not feed, owing to the ex- 

 pense after the season's crop failure and hun- 

 dreds of colonies have perished for want of 

 stores. Have only lost one small nucleus thus 

 far and this never should have been put into 

 winter quarters, but should have been united. 

 We are looking forward to a good season. 

 Yours very truly, 

 (REV.) HERBERT WALTZ. 



