AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



217 



— -^,^ 1 J^ ,1(1 -^ 



^F~ Do not write anything for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper with business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Persimmon as a Honey- Yielder. 



As Dr. Miller has failed to answer N. 

 L. v., on page 106, I beg leave to offer 

 an answer. 



The persimmon is one of the best 

 honey-yielders. Its bloom is duvcious, 

 like that of the black-gum — that is, its 

 staminate and pistillate flowers are on 

 different trees. The male flowers are 

 on one tree, and the female on another. 

 The bees work more on the male bloom 

 than they do on the female. This, no 

 doubt, is a wise provision of Nature, by 

 depositing more honey in the male 

 bloom, the bees are more attracted to it; 

 and more pollen collected to insure the 

 fertilization of the female flower. 



The persimmon is a tree of easy cul- 

 tivation, and the fruit, when fully ripe, 

 is quite palatable. The wood is hard 

 and dense, and good for a variety of 

 uses. J. P. H. Brown. 



Augusta, Ga. 



Good Honey-Flow from Sourwood. 



The honey-flow from sourwood is just 

 now closing in this locality. The flow 

 was continuous for oO days or more, and 

 all the bees with numbers sufficient have 

 done well. In the spring, 'after the 

 freezes, I did not expect a pound of sur- 

 plus honey, but I have taken over a ton, 

 and my bees are rich with stores for the 

 winter. H. F. Coleman. 



Sneedville, Tenn., July 31. 



Booming on Mountain Flowers. 



Bees are just booming on mountain 

 flowers now. The mercury has been 

 hanging around 90- Pahr.; but we have 

 had no " hot waves" such as Mr?;. Atch- 

 ley speaks of, thank the Lord ! 



W. M. Barnum. 



Denver, Colo., Aug. 1. 



Short Crop, but Nice and White. 



Bees have done reasonably well, con- 

 sidering the dry weather. I finished 

 extracting honey last week, taking, 

 nearly 200 pounds. Bees have not beeni 

 ready sale, and consequently have a fine' 

 lot of combs built in my nuclei hiveSj 

 which is quite a gain to me. The 

 weather is very dry — has been since May 

 — so our honey crop will be short ; hoitj 

 the honey is very nice and white. 



Mrs. a. a. Simpson.. 



Swarts, Pa., Aug. 1. 



Some Honey from Basswood. 



Basswood honey is now gathered. It 

 commenced to yield on July 10th, and 

 lasted 17 days. I got 5,000 pounds of 

 very nice honey from 120 colonies, 

 spring count. Two years ago I had that 

 much from 65 colonies, so I don't think it 

 pays to have too many bees in one place. 

 J. R. Kauffman. 



Bellaire, Mich., Aug. 6. 



Won't Get Any Surplus Honay. 



On July 8th we had a hail-stormi 

 which destroyed all our crops, so the- 

 bees had to fly 3 or 4 miles to get food,, 

 but the weather has become so dry since 

 then, the farmers that did not get 

 hailed out, burnt up, so there is nothing 

 left for our bees to eat but sugar syrup. 

 I think its a settled fact that we woji't 

 get any surplus honey this year. 



J. C. Knoll. 



Glen wood Park, Nebr., Aug. 1. 



Honey from Daisies, Etc. 



The daisies have passed away (re- 

 ferred to in my last report), but the 

 honey still remains. I have quite a lot 

 of that sort of honey in sections, and 

 think that many of my colonies have 

 enough daisy honey to carry them 

 through the winter, or nearly so ; at any 

 rate it kept the bees busy, and kept up 

 breeding at a good rate, and also swarm- 

 ing. My first swarm came out on May 

 25th, and the last one, so far, on July 

 lUth ; so they were swarming nearly 

 two months. 



Basswood came out in good shape 

 (about July 10th), with a heavy bloom, 

 but there is so little of that sort of tim- 

 ber here now, and the weather was so 

 hot, and had become quite dry, conse- 

 quently we only got a light yield of 

 white honey. No white clover this sea- 



