44G 



gL1i:An1Kgs IK BEii CULTullJi:. 



July 



search of honey, but were those dyspeptic kind 

 father Langstroth speaks of in his book. 



White clover is now (June 18th) blooming- every- 

 where, but as yet is yielding little or no honey. 

 Bees so far have made only a livinjr. There is very 

 little swarming, and[the queen-cells are very dimin- 

 utive—mere excuses for royal cradles. There has 

 been a good dealof cool rainy weather, and the fields 

 are white with clover; but on chewing the heads, 

 they lack sweetness. The nights are cool, with very 

 abundant dews, and bees are not seen on the clover 

 until afternoon. 



We have some spider lilies that have been trans- 

 planted from the woods, and bees work upon them 

 daily; we notice that they are favorites with the 

 bees every year. The locust yields honey in this 

 locahty^this year. Mrs. L. Haurison. 



Peoria, 111. 



My friend, it is a fact tliat colonies are very 

 mucli crippled by taking eggs and larva> 

 when they are too weak to spare tliem ; and 

 it is such weak and crippled colonies that 

 seem to be np to such tricks as balling and 

 superseding queens, right when they ought 

 to be gathering honey.— I have soiuetiines 

 thought, with yourself, that the bees that 

 buzz about and sting, or pester a body even 

 if they do not sting, are a sort of quarrel- 

 some'set'that are not of much use any way. 

 My plan is to knock them down with a comb- 

 guide ; and after knocking down two or three 

 I have secured a little peace. It does seem 

 sometimes as if it were only about* half a 

 dozen bees in an apiary of a hundred colonies 

 that annoy and worry one. It is rather bad 

 business.^however, to be seen killing your 

 own bees. — The lack of honey in the clover 

 is cansed.by the abundant rains which I siip- 

 pose you are having as well as ourselves. 

 When there comes a lull in this wet weath- 

 er, however, I think you will lind the honey 

 begins to pour out from the clover to your 

 full satisfaction. It usually takes half a 

 day, and sometimes a whole day. after a 

 drencliing rain, for the clover to begin to se- 

 crete honey again. 



Bee Bdmw, 



OR, HONEY -PLANTS TO BE NAMED. 



INCLOSE a plant which grows plentifully here 



I" on wild prairie land which has been closely pas- 



[ tured, and on which.the bees work freely, seem- 



ing;[1o [prefer it to dandelion, which is almost 



the only other honey-plant in bloom here at 



present. rCan^you^tell me its nameV I send a plant 



in^bloom, and a stalk which has^gone to seed, both 



of the natural size. IJuudett Hassett. 



Howard.Center, la.. May 23, 188r>. 



Prof. Devol replies : — 



KVERI.ASTING. 



The specimen of plant from liurdett Hassett is 

 Antennaria plantaguiifoUa, IJr., commonly called 

 Everlasting, or'Mouse-ear, a small plant 4 to 8 inch- 

 es high, covered with whitish down, and bearing 

 fadeless heads of white and purplish flowers. Found 

 mostly on knolls and side hills, on poor soil, in thin- 

 lyjwooded places. W. S. Devoi.. 



I inclose in this letter a twig from a bush that 

 grows about or 8 ft. in height, and is covered with 

 bees during thcentire period of bloom (about three 



weeks). This morning I found on a single bush 15 

 or 20 bumble - bees and 20 or 25 honey - bees, from 

 which I think it must yield a good deal of honey. 

 Traer, la.. May 26, 1885. A. D. McKay. 



Prof. Devol says of this : — 



This is a specimen ot Loniccra ciVid^i, Muhl. (Fly 

 Honeysuckle), a well-known honey-plant found in 

 woods, and blooming in May and June. It grows 3 

 or 4 to 5 ft. high, and when in bloom is covered with 

 its pretty straw-colored flowers. \V. S. Devol. 



Columbus, O., June 22, 188,5. 



KEEPING THE GRASS DOW^N AROUND 

 BEE-HIVES. 



AL.SO SOMETHIX(i ABOIT I.AWN-MOWERS. 



8N'T it true, that a neatly kept lawn is 

 f evidence of an intelligent and progress- 

 t ive spirit possessed by the OAvner V A 

 lazy and shiftless mail seldom has any 

 lawn at all. Many whose occupation 

 keei)s them indoors a great part of the day, 

 derive health and enjoyment in taking care 

 of a lawn, even though it be just a little one. 

 And what makes life pleasanter than to see 

 pleasant homes as we happen to pass along 

 our country roads (u- village streets V Where 

 you see a liandsome lawn outside, you will 

 almost always lind the magazines and pro- 

 gressive journals of the day inside. One im- 

 pediment in the way of these handsome 

 lawns is the expense of a lawn-mower ; and 

 as we have spent some little time in looking 

 the matter up. and trying the different 

 kinds, especially those adapted to mowing 

 around bee-hives. I thought I would tell you 

 the result of it. The one pictured below 



seems to i)!e.ise us best ot all toi \\niknig in 

 the apiiiv , and anothei thing that pleases 

 me IS, th.it it costs onlj ^().jO. E\en at this 

 low price we like it better than some that 

 cost twice as much. It does not make a very 

 wide cut, it is true : but it runs so easily that 

 the children can do the work. Its simp'licity 

 is an advantage in the apiary, for it will run 

 up close to the entrances, and it will cut 

 weeds and grass of a considerable height 

 without difficulty. 



Friend Fiadeiiburg, as you may remember, 

 prefers rabbits to lawn-mowers ; but the rab- 

 bits might mow down something you don't 

 want mowed down. We can furnish them 

 promptly at the price named. As the ma- 

 chine weighs but ;10 lbs., it will probably go 

 cheaper by freight. 



