Chapter I: R. Good, Nappanee, Ind.--1 page--Holy Land Bees and Queens

H. Barber, Adrian, Mich.--1 page--Russell Hives, Italian Queens and
Bees.

Geo. H. Lamb, Wilmington, N. C.--1 page--Italian Queens.

J. M. Brooks & Bro., Columbus, Ind.--2 pages--American-bred Italian
Queens and Bees, and Apiarian Supplies.

F.A. Snell, Milledgeville, Ill.--18 pages--Bee Hives, Italian Bees
and Apiarian Supplies.

H. A. Burch & Co., South Haven, Mich.--40 pages--Bees, Queens and
Bee-keepers’ Supplies.

Riegel & Drum, Adelphi, O.--8 pages--Italian Bees and Queens and
Apiarian Supplies.

A. T. Blauvelt & Co., Blauveltville. N. Y.--16 pages--Fruit and
Ornamental Trees.

Vennor’s Predictions for April.

So remarkable have his predictions been fulfilled in the past that we hope we shall not be disappointed in his predictions for May weather during at least a part of this month. The following are his probabilities for April:

There will be sharp frost in the beginning of April, with a
snowfall on the 4th or 5th, but the spring will open favorably, and
everything will be pretty well advanced by April 15. Floods may
be expected in Chicago about the first week in April, with high
winds also prevailing in the early part of the month. Snow-falls
are probable about April 5. Navigation is likely to open on Lake
Ontario about April 7.

The St. Lawrence will be open about the 9th or 11th, and the first
steamship will probably arrive about the 17th or 18th. The weather
will be very stormy in the Lower Provinces about the 20th, with
very high water prevailing, but in the West, April will be a dry
month. There will be warm weather just following the 20th, ending
in thunderstorms on the 24th and 25th. Snowstorms are probable in
the far West on the 25th and 26th, and snow-falls are not unlikely
to occur in England at the close of the month. The month will end
wet and cold, but, on the whole, will be like a May month.

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=Two Queens in a Hive.=--Mr. Fradenburg says: “I think I can throw a new ray of light on this subject, which is now-a-days attracting some attention among bee-keepers. I have come to the conclusion that there are but just two causes or conditions in which two laying queens will be found in a hive at once--the first is the superseding of an old and failing queen, in which case each queen seems to have a sort of reverence for the other; the second condition is that the bees in one part of the hive do not know at all times what is going on in another part of the hive. This assertion may raise a storm of opposition among the fraternity, but I believe I have the positive evidence to support it.”

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☞ We have received a very nice specimen of thin foundation for surplus boxes, made on the Root Mill, from G. W. Stanley, Wyoming, N. Y.

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☞ This issue of the BEE JOURNAL, the first in the month, goes to all the subscribers of the Weekly, Monthly and Semi-Monthly. Should any of the latter wish to change to the Weekly, they can do so at any time, by paying the difference.

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☞ We can supply but a few more of the back numbers to new subscribers. If any want them, they must be sent for soon.

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☞ California has had its floods, and now the Northwest is having a severe experience in the same line. According to Vennor our turn is next. Let all be watchful, and prepare in time, if possible, to avoid loss.

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☞ Single copies of the JOURNAL are sent postage paid for 5 cents each.

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☞ Constitutions and By-Laws for local Associations $2 per 100. The name of the Association printed in the blanks for 50 cents extra.

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☞ The Volume of the BEE JOURNAL for 1880, bound in stiff paper covers, will be sent by mail, for $1.50.

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☞ When changing a postoffice address, mention the _old_ address as well as the new one.

SELECTIONS FROM OUR LETTER BOX

=Correction.=--In the BEE JOURNAL for March 16, page 85, the number of my colonies is given as 25; it should be 85. So far as I can learn they are in good condition. I winter them in the cellar. I have been handling bees for 6 years. Osage is a growing city, and will consume all the honey produced in this locality. There are about 500 colonies of bees in Mitchell County, and I will do my share in supplying the market with honey.

CHAS. FOLLETT.

Osage, Iowa, March 21, 1881.

=Good Enough.=--My bees wintered well. I only lost one out of 92 colonies. Some have lost all they had; others 2/3, etc. The spring is backward. As yet we have had but few days that bees could fly.

W. H. HOWLETT.

Union, Ky., March 22, 1881.

=Using Old Combs.=--Is it not dangerous to use combs with dead brood in from defunct colonies? Is there not danger of getting foul brood started? I have a good many of them, and I am undecided whether to melt them up or save them. The losses here have been fearful. I do not think there are 10 live colonies in Dixon outside of my apiary, and I have lost ⅓. Those lost were packed in dry chaff, as Prof. Cook’s Manual directs, in Langstroth and Simplicity hives, while Root’s chaff hive has come out ahead, only 2 or 3 hives of this kind have failed, out of about 30 chaff hives in use. There were as many as 10 or 12 different apiaries in and near Dixon, and I can count 8 of them now that are all dead; the most of them were small, containing from 6 to 30 colonies each. And the end is not yet. Those yet alive may die soon unless spring opens at once.

B. F. PRATT.

Dixon, Ill., March 27, 1881.

[It is hardly possible there is a great deal of dead brood in the combs to be removed. We should not hesitate, if the brood is dry and shrunken, to place the combs in strong colonies; but if the brood is putrid and ropy, and sticks to the cells, we would not wish to use them, as it is easy to imagine the possibility of foul brood or other diseases arising therefrom. If, as we suspect, your combs are filled with starved bees, you can easily remove them by adopting the plan recommended in the Weekly BEE JOURNAL of March 16, page 86. Mr. H. T. Collins gives his method in this number of the JOURNAL.--ED.]

=Never Give Up.=--Bees are nearly all dead. A long winter is the cause, of course. “Never give up” is and must be our motto, but we must learn not to venture too far without experience to back us.

N. J. LONGSDON.

Byron, Ill., March 26, 1881.

=Good Prospect.=--There is every prospect of a prosperous season now, as we are having rain enough, and I never saw bees in better condition. I commenced on the 3d of March to divide colonies, rear queens, &c. I have my hives nearly completed for the season’s operations. There is quite a contrast between northern Iowa and southern Cal. for bee-keeping. I commenced the last season with 48 colonies in very poor condition, and this season I start with 108 in extra good condition; in fact, the poorest colony I have is in as good condition as the best was last season at the same time.

ELISHA GALLUP.

Santa Paula, Cal., March 18, 1881.

=Spring Come at Last.=--The weather is spring-like here, and has been since March came in. The snow has all disappeared, and our roads are dry and dusty. As I write the blue birds and robins are singing merrily.

HENRY ALLEY.

Wenham, Mass., March 23, 1881.

=Come Gentle Spring.=--I have 60 colonies in the cellar; they are in poor condition and will all die if Vennor does not give us fine weather soon, so that the bees can have a flight. They were all right March 1st. I like the Weekly much better than the Monthly.

WM. C. GRAY.

Pre-emption, Ill., March 24, 1881.

=Bees All Right.=--I have lost 2 colonies out of 16, and the remaining 14 are strong. I had them packed in buckwheat chaff, which is considered the best packing we can get. I have wintered for 4 years with it, and had success. In the winter of 1877 and 1878 I had 45 colonies packed in kiln-dried shavings and wheat chaff: but 4 were packed in buckwheat chaff and those 4 lived; the rest died. There was a very heavy loss around here among those that were left unpacked. I am well pleased with the Weekly BEE JOURNAL.

W. S. BAIR.

Rollersville, O., March 24, 1881.

=Lost 6 out of 100 Colonies.=--The snow is all gone now and our bees have had several flights. On the 16th they gathered some pollen; but this has been the most disastrous winter among bees in Maryland for many years; 75 per cent of all the bees in north Md. are dead. We had a very poor honey season last year, except 5 weeks during the first crop of red clover, which ended about the 1st of July; and after that but little honey was gathered. The bulk of the loss was from neglect or starvation. As I had a fair demand for queens and I was breeding for improvement I kept up the queen breeding until the last of Oct., and my bees were in poor condition for an ordinary winter; much more for such a one as we have just passed through. I have lost 6 colonies at home, that starved; I have 96 left in fair condition. I wintered in a cellar expressly arranged for the purpose; it is perfectly dark, and the temperature in this place was kept all through the winter at 46° and 47°. All those that wintered in cellars fared the best. I am much pleased with the Weekly. I should lose a friend were I to be deprived of it. I wish it every success.

S. VALENTINE.

Double Pipe Creek, Md., March 22.

=Vexed and Perplexed.=--When I go into my bee lot and look around I am vexed over the situation and perplexed to know what to do with my hives and combs. I put into winter quarters 16 colonies (all blacks) and now have one, very weak. I have a lot of nice, well-made and painted hives on hand, and a lot of combs. As I have never handled Italian bees, and have concluded to purchase, and I hear they are larger than the blacks, will you please answer these 2 questions in the BEE JOURNAL: Are comb cells of the black bee too small for the Italians to raise brood in? Will it not cramp them in size? Will it be safe to feed the thin uncapped honey that has caused dysentery to other bees? The bees in this vicinity are all dead. Success to the BEE JOURNAL.