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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-, 



to August. This plant Is the only one 

 we can always count on in this part of 

 Kentucky for a crop— June being the 

 principal month of its blooming, and 

 some years the whole face of the earth 

 is covered with it here. It always 

 blooms more or less, and always yields 

 honey — enough for an abundant winter 

 supply. 



"We have a few basswoods left yet, 

 and some poplar, and no doubt we get 

 some honey from these sources yet, but 

 not in paying quantities. Strawberries, 

 raspberries, squash and tomatoes all 

 give us some honey and pollen. Heart's- 

 ease, or smartweed, which grows in 

 damp places, frequently yields well, but 

 I know nothing of the honey. Buck- 

 wheat for bees here is nearly always a 

 complete disappointment. Golden-rod 

 has been observed very closely by me 

 for a number of years, but I have never 

 seen a bee on it." 



Alabama.— The following data was 

 furnished by that whole-souled bee- 

 keeper, J. M. Jenkins, of Wetumpka, 

 and will correctly apply to his part of 

 the State : 



" My bees begin swarming about April 

 5th to 15th. Our honey comes from 

 willow, poplar, maple and swamp flow- 

 ers. This locality is not much for 

 honey. Cotton plantations are all 

 around me— only a little natural growth 

 along the rivers— no clover, and not 

 much basswood here." 



I have correct data for nearly all the 

 Southern and Western States, and to 

 make this lesson short, considering its 

 great subject— the honey-plants— I will 

 say that the six southern counties of 

 California, from which counties the most 

 honey is obtained, that their principal 

 honey-plants are the black and white 

 sages, the white variety growing upon 

 the mountains or highlands, and the 

 black grows upon the valley lauds. The 

 honey from white sage ranks first along- 

 side of any honey in the United States, 

 and the black sage is also good, but has 

 an amber color, which spoils its sale in 

 white-honey markets. 



Nearly all the Southern States get a 

 crop of nice, while honey. I used to 

 keep bees in Tennessee, and some of the 

 finest honey I ever saw was gathered 

 there. Also Arkansas has some fine 

 honey. Mississippi, the Carolinas, and 

 Georgia, all produce good honey. It is 

 a fact beyond a doubt that honey gath- 

 ered from plants, trees, etc., in low lands 

 Is not as white as that gathered from 



the high lands. Bees have been kept 

 more extensively in the low lands of the 

 South, and almost all their honey has 

 been dark, and when shipped to North- 

 ern markets goes by the name of 

 " Southern strained," as though the 

 bee-keepers of the South never saw an 

 extractor ! There is also white honey 

 in all the Southern States. 



Jennie Atchley. 

 (To be continued.) 



Will Have Good Fall Crops. 



It is raining again to-day (Aug. 25th), 

 and vegetation is growing very fast. 

 Our whole landscape has the fragrance 

 of a flower-garden. People are going to 

 have good fall crops here, and have 

 plenty. Bees are working like Trojans, 

 and may fill their hives again. 



Jennie Atchley. 



Bee-Keeping for a Livelihood. 



Mks. Atchley : — I take the American 

 Bee Journal, and I think it the best 

 bee-paper printed. I am now 66 years 

 old, and am trying the bees for a liveli- 

 hood. I am going to see what there is 

 in bees. I have done well so far, and if 

 common bees will pay, I think the better 

 grades will pay better, and my motto is, 

 "Try the best." J. F. Carey. 



Phoenix, Ariz., Aug. 11. 



Friend C, I think you are quite right. 

 I am glad that you are in line with so 

 many other bee-keepers in thinking the 

 "Old Reliable" a good bee-journal. 



I am also in line with you when you 

 say that if common bees will pay, that 

 better bees will pay more. I think now 

 that if I had to fall back to the old 

 native German or black bees, that I 

 would keep only bees enough for my 

 own use, as they cannot be manipulated 

 to pay as the Italians can. 



Jennie Atchley. 



Kind Words— Severe Drouth. 



Mrs. Atchley: — We are just as anx- 

 ious to hear from you as ever. When 

 the "Old Reliable" comes, the first we 

 examine is your writings, and as the 

 American Bee Journal now stands, it 

 is the best bee-paper we have, giving 

 information both from North and South. 

 You have not said anything in regard to 

 the country lately. We are anxious to 

 hear about how vegetation is down 



