It would take more space than we can give a single article, to explain why we have much confidence in Prof. Vennor's latest prediction, referred to above—though perhaps “the wish is father to the thought.” We feel confident many of our readers will cordially unite with us in welcoming the better time coming.
Why do not the enterprising bee-keepers of these parts go South with their bees, and wait till the March “blizzards” are over? Seems to me the bees and honey saved would about pay the expenses of the trip. How much does a colony need in those parts to winter on? Would there be any prospect of obtaining any surplus down there before the season opens here? These and a dozen other questions I am vainly speculating upon. Are Messrs. Bingham and Perrine the only ones that have tried the migratory plan? I believe neither of them was successful; at any rate, they have abandoned it. Probably they could not give it the necessary attention. The loss of larvæ in shipping seems but trifling compared to the gain in young bees. Considerable damage may be done by combs breaking down, but wired frames would obviate that difficulty. Is not wired foundation (wired in frames) the only kind that can be depended on under all circumstances? You report in the October number, 1880, page 468, that the Northwestern Convention disapproved of wired foundation. There were but few present that had given wired foundation a fair trial, and if I am not mistaken, they were strongly in favor of it.
The first question is difficult to answer, as enterprising bee-keepers, like the balance of humanity, are generally governed by motives of convenience or profit. There are very few but have other business connected with bee-keeping, and this would suffer if close attention was given the migratory system. The amount of honey required to winter in the South is much less than in the North, but the quantity is governed by contingencies, as would be the question, How much honey will a colony obtain in the South in a season? Usually bees obtain considerable surplus in April and May, in some localities. Mr. Bingham, we believe, abandoned the migratory system on account of excessive freights, while Mr. Perrine met with a series of disasters from the first which would have discouraged any one. Mr. W. O. Abbott was engaged last season with a floating apiary on the Mississippi river, from which large returns were anticipated; but as nothing definite has been made public since the close of the season, we suppose it was not a success. Others have tried Southern wintering, but we have no data upon which to base conclusions, except the fact of its abandonment. The trouble has not been so much from destruction of combs, as the expense attending the removal.