B e
Early Breeding. Upon this depends success in all the Northern and 
Middle States. If the bees do not breed early they are 
not prepared to take advantage of the blossoming of the fruit trees, etc. If they 
swarm at all they swarm late and the new colony often fails. 
The hives have much to do with early breeding. If by want of protection 
against the cold or any other cause many bees are lost in the winter there 
will be too few bees to breed early. This the reason why so little realized 
from bees. If a hive be thin of bees in the fall it can not be expected to breed 
early, hence the importance of having all hives well stocked with bees in the 
fall. This ought often to be secured by union. If the hives are too much 
exposed [crossed out: to the air] or too much air is admitted to chilly weather the young brood may perish 
and this will prevent early breeding and of course defeat early swarming. When chilled 
the young brood perishes likes eggs left too long by the hen. 

Bee Bread. Young swarms are often quite deficient in this article and are
not able to breed early as fast as they otherwise would. Dzierzon speaks of his 
bees bringing in rye flour from the miller in pellets. If a substitute could be found 
it would be of the greatest advantage. Save combs containing bee bread for Spring use. 

Cleveland, March, 1862
Breed of Bees. How to improve this: The honey [illegible] can get but little 
from the red clover. It superabounds in honey; 
they must scent it. Why were they not made to gather from it? 
 (1) They might have been endowed with a propensity to gnaw into the nectaries 
- their mandibles strong enough for this. Such a propensity would 
have made them depredatory upon our fruits - bees made for men, fruit 
also (2) Might have had somewhat longer tongues (only a little longer 
needed. Then in a state of nature if in such cavities as are of a 
swarming capacity they would have died from over [illegible] Things were 
not prepared for the bee to get into the red clover until we had the control 
of the combs as we now have. Has not the time come then for an improved 
race of bees to get honey from this plant? Would not an effort 
in that direction be in the line of the Divine arrangements? I propose 