First Year's Experience.—Bees done poorly here last season. There was an abundance of bloom, but too much rain. I sowed 1 acre of buckwheat; while this lasted my bees stored more honey than at any other time in the season; I think it an excellent honey plant. Pumpkin blossoms yield considerable honey; would it pay to plant them all over a field of corn? My bees are packed in chaff, and they are all in good condition at present. They have not had a flight since the 1st of Nov. Success to the Weekly Bee Journal; I like it better than the Monthly.
Wm. Hagan.
Holly, Mich., Jan. 18, 1881.
[Pumpkin blossoms yield a rich, but strongly flavored honey; we think the pumpkins would be remunerative for their cultivation to feed to stock, and that the honey obtained from the blossoms would be a net profit.—Ed.]
Summer a long way off.—This winter has been, so far, the most severe known for many years in this part of the State. Snow-storm has followed snow-storm, and cold spell has followed cold spell, until now there is more snow on the ground than we have had altogether for 6 or 7 years. And the poor bees! how have they fared through all the snow and cold? Badly, I fear from the reports I hear every few days; but so far as heard from, where they were properly cared for, either in cellar or on summer stands, they are doing quite well; but summer is a long way off.
Harry G. Burnet.
Blairstown, Iowa, March 5, 1881.
A Little Discouraged.—I am a little discouraged this spring. I put 54 colonies into winter quarters last fall and now have but 23, and some of them are weak. Those in my bee-house suffered the worst. I had 20 colonies on the summer stands, packed with cut straw, and lost 6 of them by dysentery and starvation. If bees are strong in numbers and have plenty of honey, I can see that there is no danger of loss. Last season it was so dry here that the white clover dried up, and the bees could get but little honey, and what they did gather was very dark. I am glad to receive the Bee Journal weekly now; the news comes and seems so fresh. I hope it will be well supported.
J. W. Rikie.
Mont Clair, N. J., March 6, 1881.
Why Did They Die?—Last fall I put my bees into a dry cellar; some of them had 75 lbs. of honey, and in 4 or 5 weeks there were many dead bees. I cleaned them up but in a few weeks more they all died; what was the cause of this? Over 80 per cent. of all the bees in this vicinity are dead.
R. L. Holman.
Springfield, Ohio, Feb. 19, 1881.
[Your colonies were strong, had a large quantity of honey, and the cellar was too warm; they commenced breeding, became uneasy, and left their hives from disquietude.—Ed.]