(Concluded next month.)
Our Correspondents
Ed. Am. Bee-Keeper, Dear Sir: I inclose herewith 50 cents for renewal to the Bee-Keeper, and in a month or so you will receive a little order for supplies from me, but I wish to find out first what I need. There is a lot of reading in the American Bee-Keeper for beginners, but there are so many different ideas given that the beginner must have a big head indeed to remember them. I will take the liberty to tell you how I began. It was a year ago about Christ Christmas when I resolved to keep bees. I wrote to the New York Volkszeitung, a German newspaper, for the address of a good bee paper, and I received your address. The same day I sent 50 cents and received in time the American Bee-Keeper, in which I found the address of Mr. Knickerbocker of Pine Plains, N. Y., to whom I wrote for a catalogue and price list for bees and queens. The price of a good colony of Italians was $8.00, and I sent him $16.00 and got two colonies of bees about the 20th of May, which was after all fruit trees had blossomed. The bees commenced to work, and the 15th of July I took out of each hive the surplus case of 28 sections well filled with white honey. I replaced them with new surplus cases, and about the 12th of October both the hives were as full of honey as they could be again. I left the hives in this condition for winter so the bees can consume as much as they please, and if there should be any honey left this spring it is just as good for me as if I took it out in the fall. I left them on the summer stands packed up good and warm and will leave them alone until spring. I do not think much of looking into the hives every little while. I may be wrong, but I think this would make the bees swarm earlier next season.
I cannot find any one around here who knows anything about bee-keeping. I sold 40 sections of honey and 16 I kept for myself. There is at least 35 pounds in the hive yet, and I think I did very well for the first year. With regards I remain,
Yours truly, F. Tlegman,
Seymour, Conn., Feb. 10, 1892.
[Friend Tlegman: We are glad to hear from you and your success the first season with bee-keeping. You were unusually fortunate with your bees and must not be discouraged if the coming season or the one following, you find your bees doing nothing. Evidently you are in a good location for keeping bees, and would advise you to go into it more extensively. We shall be pleased to hear from you again later in the season.—Ed.]
Ed. Am. Bee-Keeper, Dear Sir: As my subscription has expired, I send you herewith a postal note for 50 cents, as I cannot do without the Bee-Keeper. I think it is the best bee paper for new beginners or old ones. I put seven colonies in my cellar and left the balance on the summer stands, so far they have all done well; some that were a little short I fed up. Last season was a poor season for bees here, so those that came off late did not gather enough to get through the winter.