=Bees Uneasy in the Cellar.=—This has been a very hard winter for bees in this section of the country. Nearly all the bees are dead that were left on the summer stands. I have 40 colonies in the cellar, all alive but restless. They need a cleansing flight very much. The Weekly BEE JOURNAL pleases me very much.
=Bees Much Better Than Expected.=—My bees are much better than I had any reason to expect. I left them on their summer stands, and did not even take the tops off, but I have them all off now. I had about 80 and now have 70 colonies in good shape. I find I must either attend to my bees or quit the business, and have made arrangements with a friend who has about the same quantity, who will take charge. We shall call it the “Gipsy Apiary,” and our motto will be, “if the honey will not come to us we will go to the honey.” Mr. Heddon thinks it won’t pay to move for honey, and he is pretty good authority, but we will try. Keep us posted through the JOURNAL where is the best place to sell honey. Keep the ball rolling in the suppression of adulterated honey, as well as other adulterations.
=Have Young Bees and Brood.=—I put 15 colonies of bees into winter quarters and now have 13 in fair condition; some had young bees 2 weeks ago, and all of them have brood. The last 2 years have been very poor for bees; the last the worst, being followed by such a cold and long winter. About one half of the bees in this locality are dead.
=Bees in the Cellar 135 Days.=—I carried 22 colonies of bees out for a flight on March 8. This is the first suitable day for bees to fly there has been here since they were put in the cellar on the last of Oct. They came through the 4½ months’ confinement very well, except 2 or 3 third-rate colonies that had more hive room than they could well keep warm through this cold winter, and now they seem to be somewhat reduced in numbers. The day was rather cold, snow did not soften in the shade but the sun shone brightly, “the winds were asleep,” and the bees seemed to enjoy the fray, but left a good number of the slain on untrodden snow. They were returned to the cellar at night and will be supplied with water in their hives, hoping to secure the starting of a good cluster of brood before they are placed on their summer stands, about the 1st of May. I usually keep them in confinement without a flight for 5 or 6 months, with good results, but in 1879 brood rearing ceased about the 1st of Sept.; the hives were destitute of brood when carried out, April 18, and although the hives filled rapidly with brood, before it began to hatch nearly all the old bees were dead, giving me the most disastrous case of spring dwindling that I have known in an experience of 25 years. I hope to avoid such losses in the future.