604 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



as the season is almost a total failure, and very 

 many of those who were so enthusiastic a month 

 a.go are disgusted with the whole business. This is 

 the fourth year that the white clover and basswocd 

 have failed to secrete honey. A. B. Herman. 



Burnett's Creek, Ind., July 25. 



CROP WILL BE LIGHT. 



Our crop of white honey here on the Missigsippi 

 bottom will be very light. Clover never promised 

 any better, but we had one hot week the last of 

 June, and the bees don't seem to get any honey 

 from it since. Basswood is about done blooming. 

 Bees get honey from it early in the mornirg, but 

 very little comes in through the day. 



Savanna, 111., July 11. John Handel. 



UTTER FAILURE OF THE HONEY CROP. 



Bee-keepers in this vicinity report an utter failure 

 of the honey crop. There are plenty of flowers, but 

 there is no honey. We never had a better outlook 

 for honey than we had in fruit and dandelion bloom. 

 The bees began storing then, but they have been 

 making only a living since then. There was an 

 abundance of white clover here, but it yielded no 

 honey; and those living along the timber re- 

 ported no basswood honey. Bees are very strong, 

 but they consume all the honey they gather. If 

 fall bloom does not jield more honey than we have 

 had so far, we shall have to feed our bees for win- 

 ter; but I look for a better fall, as there is lots of 

 buckwheat in this vicinity. Bees swarmed but vf>ry 

 little here. The honey crop is reported better in 

 the south part of the county, and swarming was 

 better. O. D. Nichols. 



Owasa, la., July 26. 



BEST SEASON EVER EXPERIENCED IN MASSACHU- 

 SETTS. 



This has been the best season for clover that I 

 ever experienced. It is so dry now, however, that 

 the bees are robbing, and cross as blazes. If we 

 don't get rain soon, our buckwheat and fall honey 

 will amount to nothing. Allen Latham. 



Lancaster, Mass., July 24, 1890. 



A BEGINNER'S SUCCESS. 



One year a?o last spring I had one swarm of bees 

 given me. It swarmed three times, and the 20th of 

 August they had no surplus honey, and last fall we 

 took from them 256 lbs. of honey, most of it being 

 in pound sections. The honey was very nice, and 

 looked like white-clover honey, but it was made 

 from horsemint. I now have 15 swarms of bees, so 

 I begin to think I am a bee-keeper, though they 

 have no surplus honey now. Carrie Kesler. 



St. Anne, 111., July 30, 1890. 



A GOOD YIELD FROM BASSWOOD AND CLOVER. 



In this locality the bees have had plenty of clover 

 and basswood to work upon, and I have hives that 

 have already, no doubt, 100 lbs. of clover and bass- 

 wood honey stored in 1-lb. boxes. But the increase 

 with me has been very small. I had T old colonies, 

 all strong, I placed the supers on early, and have, 

 for the number of swarms, lots of honey, but only 

 one new swarm. This may be peculiar to my bees, 

 and the way I have dealt with them, as my neigh- 

 bors have had, some of them, quite an increase. 



The honey is superb, and clover and basswood not 

 gone yet either. Milton L. Bissell. 



Gerry, N. Y., July 28, 1890. 



0a^ QaEg3Fi0]\[-B0^, 



With Replies from our best Autliorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in tor this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip or paper, 

 and marked. "For OurQuestioii-Box." 



Question 166 —1. Can I. hy feeding, raiise as gnod 

 qneen>< licf ore the general swarming sea wn as during 

 tfiat timef 2. Can as gnnd queens he raised after the 

 swarming season? 



1. 2. Yes. 

 Ohio. N. W. 



Yes, every time. 

 Ohio. S. W. 



A. B Mason. 



C. F. MUTH. 



1, 2. Yes, if the colony is strong. 

 Illinois. N. W. 



Dadant & Son. 



1. Doubtful. 

 Ohio. N. W. 



Still more doubtful 



E. E. Hasty. 



1. Yes, I think so. 3. I say yes. 



Ohio. N. W. 



H. R. Boardman. 



Theoretically, no to both. Practically, yes to 

 both. 

 Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



I should slightly prefer queens reared in swarm- 

 ing time to those reared either before or after. 

 California. S. W. R. Wilkin. 



1. I do not think you can, quite. 2. Yes, they can 

 or can not be, according to circumstances. 

 Michigan. C. James Heddon. 



1. Yes, but attend closely to the feeding; feed 

 regularly every day, and have the hive or nucleus 

 box full of bees. 2. Yes, by the above plan. 



Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



Some of our best queens have been reared either 

 before or after swarming; but as a rule they are 

 not quite as uniform. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



Yes, to both, if you put the colony rearing 

 queens in the same or a similar condition to what 

 they enjoy during the swarming season. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



1. Yes, if your colonies are strong enough and 

 weather is warm enough. 2. Yes. If the conditions 

 are favorable, just as good queens can be raised in 

 August, or even September, as earlier. 



Illinois. N. C. J. A. Green. 



I don't know. I have never raised queens after 

 the middle of July; but having so many young 

 queens to clip every spring, I know that the bees 

 do supersede some queens after the middle of July. 

 As for the goodness of those late queens, I think 

 they are all right. 



Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



Yes, select your strongest and best colonies, and 

 by regular and systematic feeding stimulate them 

 to the swarming-point. The best queens we have 

 ever had were raised that way. 2. I can not speak 



