[Probably during some of the milder days of winter the bees became scattered in their hives, the weather suddenly changed, and they perished before they could form their cluster on honey, and thus starved.—ED.]
=From Florida.=—The BEE JOURNAL is at hand; we do not know how we could do without it. The past has been a very good honey season here. We have 255 colonies of bees in Langstroth hives. Some are Italians—we like them as honey-gatherers, but they are crosser than our natives. We obtained 850 gals. honey, and 500 lbs. wax. The latter we obtained from about 90 hives which we transferred. We think apiculture will pay here with good management. We extracted from one colony 32 Langstroth frames well filled with honey. Our apiary is located on a “gum” swamp, 5 or 6 miles wide and 15 or 20 miles long, which is our main honey source, and blooms from April 15 till May 15; we also have many other honey producing flowers. We have a vine which grows in the swamps and yields a great deal of amber-colored honey. We inclose a sprig—please give the name.
[The vine you send is commonly known as snow vine, and is quite abundant in several of the Southern States.—ED.]
=Bee Feeding.=—I have thus far used the “bag feeder,” of our friend Prof. Cook, with this addition: I have a long tin tube, shaped like the handle to a water-dipper, long enough to reach through the bag of chaff and empty into the bag; then, with the aid of a funnel, I can daily place the warm food within reach of the bees without disturbing them or letting out the heat—so precious in early spring to a depleted colony. Have never tried the Professor's “Perfection”—thought I saw objections to it. If any of our more experienced bee-keepers have devised a “better way,” please tell me through “our” JOURNAL.
=Introduced a Queen.=—Bad luck to bees in this valley of the Ohio. Of 32 colonies in Langstroth hives, 18 now remain, and the 4th day of March a perfect “blizzard” all day, so I fear I will lose more from spring dwindling. I found, one day in February, all the bees dead but two, and the queen nearly gone, in one hive, but plenty of honey. I had a queenless colony, and laid these 3 bees on the frames to see if they would come to life; they became warm and crept down among the bees. The next warm spell I looked, and the yellow queen was safe among the black bees. A novel way to introduce a queen in February.
