AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



185 



then the blossoms fell off, and the bees 

 have been working on those old, dried- 

 up blossoms on the ground for ten days, 

 and they seem to have gathered more 

 honey from them than they did when 

 they were on the trees. The nectar that 

 had been secreted in the blossoms while 

 on the trees had remained in them and 

 fell off, instead of being washed out 

 by rains, as is usually the case when we 

 have rains : (but we have dispensed 

 with those wet, nasty things called 

 rains, and for six weeks have been doing 

 without them !) The dew falling on 

 these dried blossoms has moistened them 

 enough so the bees could sip the nectar 

 from them. Wm. H. Bkight. 



Mazeppa, Minn., July 30. 



Very Satisfactory Season. 



The spring was cold and wet, but the 

 weather came around all right after a 

 time, and white and Alsike clover and 

 raspberry blossoms were abundant in 

 their season. The yield of honey from 

 these sources was about all that could be 

 desired, while since basswood opened up 

 (on July 13th) the bees have been in 

 ecstasies. Taken all together, the sea- 

 son has been very satisfactory. 



E. VV. Chapin. 



Marion, Mich., July 2y. 



Experience and Honey. 



I have just taken ofif 150 pounds of 

 white clover honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions. I have four colonies, and had 

 one swarm this year. The bees are still 

 working In the sections. My neighbors 

 say I can't learn anything out of bee- 

 papers. They have had 40 years' ex- 

 perience and don't want any paper to 

 tell them anything. They have the ex- 

 perience and I have the honey. 



Chas. J. Beck. 



Redding Ridge, Conn., July 31. 



Bee-Keeping in Maine. 



Never having seen anything in the 

 columns of the Bee Journal from this 

 section, I thought an attempt from a 

 small source might induce some of the 

 bee-keepers here to send in something 

 of interest. 



Though our summer seasons are short, 

 they make up for it with a nearly con- 

 tinuous succession of honey-producing 

 blossoms, and a good honey crop is as- 

 sured. White clover and Alsike bloomed 

 profusely, and a weed, commonly called 



"fire-weed," furnishing a beautiful white 

 honey of mild flavor, is just coming into 

 bloom. 



One of our most prominent bee-keep- 

 ers, Edward Tarr, of " Haystack Api- 

 ary,'" had his first swarm on May 31st, 

 with 25 pounds of surplus honey from 

 willow, maple and dandelion early in 

 June from one colony. I think Mr. 

 Tarr could furnish much of interest to 

 the readers of the Bee Journal in this 

 section, at least. 



I had a swarm issue on June 15th 

 that 1 hived in a 10-frame Simplicity 

 hive, with starters. In a few days I 

 gave them 48 pound boxes with starters. 

 On July 21st I took off 40 pounds of 

 honey, all nicely capped. The parent 

 colony has 40 pounds nearly ready. 



I find the American Bee Journal in- 

 dispensable. O. B. Griffin. 



Caribou, Maine, July 23. 



Bees Did Very Well. 



Bees did very well here till within the 

 last two weeks. They have stored all 

 the way from 25 to 100 pounds of sur- 

 plus honey to the colony. 



Wm. Plymell. 



Choctaw City, Okla. T., July 30. 



Nothing But Honey-Dew. 



Never before in my experience of 16 

 years' bee-keeping have I had reason to 

 complain of the quality of honey pro- 

 duced in southern Indiana; but this 

 season "caps the climax." Honey-dew 

 in its purity ! That, and that only, is 

 the product of the honey crop in this 

 part of the State. The cold, wet spring 

 prevented the usual supply of fruit- 

 bloom and poplar, and left nothing but 

 honey-dew to be gathered, and not much 

 of that. It has been the poorest season 

 I ever knew, but I am not so much dis- 

 couraged, and will still "Hope on, hope 

 ever." W. C. R. Kemp. 



Orleans, Ind., Aug. 1. 



A Fvill Crop of Comb Honey. 



It has been excessively dry, and I fear 

 bee-keepers on this side of Ontario have 

 suffered, having visited several, and 

 have had several communications re- 

 porting short crops— about one-half of 

 last year's, which is poor encourage- 

 ment for the business. 



I am happy to state that I have a full 

 crop of comb honey, an average of 77 

 4^x4j<xl?^ sections per colony, and 



