154 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The Drouth and Honey-Dearth. 



"Ben There," on page 85, has evi- 

 dently been where "planten" and 

 " pussley " grow, and where "the fes- 

 tive muUen raises it head toward the 

 eaves," and where there is "the want of 

 knowledge and its judicial application 

 which resulted in a ' dearth ' " of honey ; 

 but as in Iowa but little of purslain or 

 plantain grows, and very rarely a mul- 

 len stalk raises its head towards the 

 eaves, and as we have a great dearth of 

 honey which we attribute to the great 

 drouth, I suppose "Ben There" would 

 say it was lack of "common sense and 

 earnest work." The fact is, bees win- 

 tered splendidly, built up strong, and 

 have been very strong nearly all sum- 

 mer, ready for the honey harvest which 

 never came, except the basswood, and 

 while that lasted they filled the brood- 

 nest so that we are in hopes we will not 

 have to feed sugar, and a very few 

 stored a few pounds of surplus. Very 

 few swarms came off, and so far this is 

 the worst season in many years, with no 

 prospect of a fall flow of honey. But 

 when I look at the prospect of farm 

 crops, I do not feel like complaining. 

 O. B. Bakrows. 



Marshalltown, Iowa, July 23. 



Discouraging Experiences. 



I still like to read the Bee Journal, 

 although I feel discouraged almost to 

 disgust with the bees in this (McDon- 

 ough) couniy. I have kept from 70 to 

 yO colonies, and this is four failures 

 with the outlook good for a continuance, 

 as clover is our dependence, and owing 

 to drouths or other causes it has about 

 ceased to show up. The merry bee has 

 a lonesome hum to me now, as I recently 

 lost my good " better half." Success to 

 the " Old Reliable." W. M. Ragon. 



Macomb, 111., July 9. 



For the Boys and Girls. 



I wonder if any of the bee-keepers 

 have any boys or girls. They seemingly 

 don't have any — at least they are seldom 

 ever heard from in the American Bek 

 Journal. Father has been a bee-keeper 

 for about 18 years, and I am interested 

 in the bees. We have about 60 colo- 

 nies, and our crop this season is nothing 

 extra large. It is of good quality, and 

 mostly basswood. I run the extractor 

 this season, and father takes the honey 

 from the bees, and tends to the swarm- 

 ing. Last year I did a good share of 



the hiving, while father cultivated the 

 corn, but this year I cultivated and 

 father looked after the bees and garden. 



Now, if the bee-keepers do have any 

 boys or girls, I would like to see some- 

 thing from them in the Bee Journal, if 

 the Editor doesn't object, and I guess he 

 won't if we write about bees. If you 

 write, perhaps I may get courage enough 

 to write again. Chas. W. Sanford. 



Ono, Wis., July 21. 



[That's right, Charlie. We hope your 

 interesting letter will be read by the 

 boys and girls in the thousands of fam- 

 ilies receiving the weekly visits of the 

 Bee Journal, and then we trust we all 

 may hear from them. If a suflScient 

 number respond, we may devote a page 

 or two each week to a department in the 

 Bee Journal for the boys and girls, 

 who will some day be full-grown bee- 

 men and bee-women. How does that 

 strike you, boys and girls ? 



For your encouragement, we want to 

 say that from the top of our head to 

 the sqles of our shoes, we believe fully 

 in our boys and girls ! May god bless 

 their dear, young hearts, and help them 

 to grow up into good and true men and 

 women ! — Editor.] 



Doing Nicely on Cotton. 



Bees are now doing nicely in this 

 county on cotton. G. W. Hufstedler. 

 Clarksville, Tex., July 24. 



Prolitii1>le Bee-Kcepiiig-, by Mrs. 

 Atchley, will continue for some time in her 

 department of the Bee Jouknal, at least 

 each alternate week. Until further notice 

 we can furnish the Back numbers from May 

 1st, beginning with her " Lessons," to new 

 subscribers who pay $1.00 for a year's sub- 

 scription to the Beb Journal — that is, we 

 can commence their year with the number 

 having the first lesson, if they so desire. 



Tlie r^ovelly I»oclief-Knife is 



worth having. Mr. A. G. Amos, of New 

 York, says tliis about it: " The ' Novelty' 

 pocket-kiiife which I received with the 

 Ameku!an Bee Jouknal arrived all O. K., 

 anii it is a dandy." Better get one your- 

 self, and then you will know what a 

 " dandy " thing it is. Hee page 13H for ad- 

 vertising offer. 



