250 



AMERICAN BEE JOURMAU 



always>comes in good— such 'as farming; 

 small-fruit growing or poultry-raising. 

 If one fails, all don't fail. Small grain 

 crops have been comparatively good, 

 but fruit of all kinds proved a failure. 

 Stephen Roese. 

 Maiden Rock, Wis., Aug. 7. 



Light Honey Crop. 



In this part of Ohio some won't get a 

 pound of surplus honey, nor a swarm. 

 The best of us will get about K of a 

 crop. I had 21 colonies in the spring, 

 and have had 9 swarms ; also about 

 250 pounds of honey. But I am going 

 to take the Bee Journ^al another year. 



Ridgeway, Ohio. Milton Limes. 



Destroyed by the Drouth. 



Our crops are, or will be, if we don't 

 get rain very soon, a total failure. We 

 have had a very severe drouth here, 

 extending over a large area of land. 

 Many people will suffer therefrom. Our 

 bees would have done well this year if 

 the dry spell had not lasted so long. My 

 husband is a regular bee-lover. 



Mrs. J. P. Simmons. 



Forest Lake, Minn., July 26. 



P. S. — August 8th, and no rain yet. 

 Our crops are lost. 



Best Honey-Flow m 16 Years. 



We are having the best honey-flow 

 that we have had for 16 years, or since 

 I have owned bees. White clover came 

 first, then honey-dew. I find that the 

 young acorns are blasted or injured 

 by insects, and a thick, sweet substance 

 drops out, covering leaves and falling on 

 the ground like great drops of rain. I 

 have secured about 50 pounds per col- 

 ony, of very nice honey, some of it dark 

 but mild flavored. A few colonies have 

 stored WO pounds each. I have it tiered 

 up on the hives yet, as there is not much 

 market for section honey here — they 

 like chunk honey best. A party ofl'ored 

 to take 60 pounds if I would cut it out 

 and keep " them little boxes," and let 

 him have it for 23^ cents less on the 

 pound. 



Brimstone is used here to a consider- 

 able extent — no bee-literature wanted. 

 One of my neighbors owned a colony (or 

 gum) of bees that he claimed was so 

 very cross that he could do nothing with 

 them, so he piled straw (not "stray 

 straws") around them, set fire to it, and 

 got ofif a safe distance and threw rocks 



at it. Result — loss of both bees and 

 honey. I was offered $2.00 to go six 

 miles and take honey from one " gum " 

 that no one so far had been able to rob. 

 I did not have the time. I suppose it 

 will meet with the same fate as the one 

 mentioned above. 



This is a land that flows with "blue 

 milk and chunk honey." 



Logan, Mo., Aug. 7. G. W. Logan. 



Another Bee-Boy Heard From. 



The Editor's answer to Chas. W. San- 

 ford gives me the liberty to write. I am 

 am an orphan boy, 14 years old. My 

 grandma and I live together. We have 

 kept a few bees in box-hives for the last 

 5 years, but since Mrs. Jennie Atchley 

 moved to Bee county we have put them 

 into frame hives. 



West Texas is a paradise for bees. 

 The wild currant begins to bloom the 

 last of January and then continues to 

 bloom until about the middle of March, 

 and by that time there are plenty of 

 other blooms for the bees to work on. 



Will some of tne bee-keepers let me 

 know where I can get some catnip seed ? 

 Warren W. Downing. 



Pettus City, Tex., Aug. 6. 



Making Foundation Moulds. 



Make a frame like a double slate 

 frame with hinges, cut a piece of comb 

 foundation the size of the frame, turn 

 one frame bottom upward, with the 

 comb foundation inside, lying flat on a 

 table or bench ; then make a liitle mor- 

 tar of plaster of paris thin, rub on the 

 comb foundation all over it, then fill the 

 frame full of the mortar thick. When 

 the mortar is well set, turn the frame 

 over, shut tight together, and fill the 

 other frame the same way. Make a 

 back for each side, of some thin wood, 

 and fasten to the back of each frame, 

 then pry apart, peal off the comb foun- 

 dation, and you have it. 



Melt wax and use a dipping-board to 

 get thin sheets of wax. Wet the machine 

 and put the sheet of wax in as warm as 

 you can handle It, and press the frames 

 together, and you have an exact copy of 

 the comb foundation you used in making 

 the machine. I made one of the moulds 

 but seldom use it. 



There is scarcely atiy expense, and 

 but little time in making one, and time 

 put in using it is much better than spent 

 in a saloon, though I hope very few if 

 any bee-keepers ever patronize saloons. 



We are suffering from a severe drouth. 



