AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



37T 



quickly during a honey-flow if the room 

 is below the brood. 



The brood-combs, after the bees are 

 hatched out, make excellent extracting 

 combs, and will be securely attached all 

 around— except two little passage holes 

 at the bottom corners. Try it. 



Bees promise to do well in the Palouse 

 valley. They have swarmed some, and 

 all have stored more than enough to 

 winter on. John A. Balmer. 



Pullman, Wash.,' Aug. 31. 



Wintering- — Rolling in the Honey. 



After reading W. P. Faylor's letter, 

 on page 813, 1 concluded to let the craft 

 know how I winter my bees, which is 

 similar to his plan. I build a shed 5 

 feet deep, and 5 feet high at the front, 

 or high side, open to the soath, and 3 

 feet on the north side, closed tight. I 

 place the hives in a single row, about 

 one foot apart, and fill in between the 

 hives with forest leaves packed down as 

 solid as I can with my own weight (not 

 very light), till the top is reached, then 

 I cover the top with leaves and straw, 

 leaving the entrance open on all fair 

 days. In stormy weather 1 spread a 

 gunny bag loosely over the front till the 

 storm is over. 



By the way, I must tell you that I had 

 a great treat a few days ago. Bro. 

 Frank Coverdale called on me. He is a 

 live bee-man, sure enough, and well up 

 in bee-lore. 



Bees have been doing well since the 

 drouth was broken, about three weeks 

 ago. They are just rolling in loads of 

 honey from an enormous crop of heart's- 

 ease. Perhaps I will report when we 

 round up. S. H. Clark. 



Elwood, Iowa, Sept. 8. 



Poor Season for Bees, Etc. 



It has been dry and hot here all sum- 

 mer. The dry weather last fall and the 

 hard freezing that we had the latter 

 part of last March finished up the white 

 clover in these parts, which was our 

 main source of a honey crop. So my 

 bees had nothing but red clover to work 

 on, and the season was so dry that it 

 did not secrete much honey. About 

 half of my bees will have enough to win- 

 ter on, and the rest will have to be fed 

 or they will starve. I did not get a 

 single section of honey this season, and 

 I don't know of a man around here that 

 did. This was the poorest season that I 

 remember seeing in my lile, and I am in 

 my 61st year. Of course the forepart 



of my life I would not remember much 

 about, but in my young days there were 

 many wild flowers here, but now there 

 are but few. 



I think we all will have to go east, 

 where oui- bees can get pine rosin from 

 which to build their combs, I will refer 

 the reader to pages 77 and 78 of the 

 Bee Journal for July 20, 1893. That 

 is about like queens reared in the fall 

 and mated in the spring, and making 

 good, prolific queens. I don't know 

 what kind of beeswax the rosin would 

 make, as I have never had a chance to 

 try it, but I think that it would be a 

 good thing. I don't believe that the 

 moth would bother our bees if the comb 

 was made of rosin, and I suppose the 

 honey would be more healthy if it did 

 not partake too much of the taste of the 

 rosin. I don't know whether the foun- 

 dation machines could make sheets from 

 it or not. But 1 think it would do for 

 those six-months-old virgin queens to 

 lay in, that had not been previously 

 mated ! Thos. S. Wallace. 



Clayton, 111., Sept. 3. 



Two Honey-Plants. 



I send samples of two honey-plants. 

 Please name each, and tell us their 

 value as honey-producers. The white 

 flower grows on low bottom lands, and 

 is just blooming. The other has been in 

 bloom since early spring. 



J. D. GiVENS. 



Lisbon, Tex., Aug. 26. 



[The white blossomed plant is boneset, 

 sometimes called thoroughwort, which, 

 as Prof. Cook says, " fills the marshes of 

 our country, and the hives as well, with 

 their nectar." 



The other plant is Diclipterabrachiata. 

 It seems there is no common name in 

 the botany of Texas for this plant. 

 Doubtless the bees get some honey from 

 it. — Editor.] 



The Lebanon, Ind., Fair, Etc. 



Our Lebanon Fair was held Aug. 20th 

 to 24th. Premiums for the exhibits of 

 bees, honey, etc., were awarded as fol- 

 lows : 



Best queen-bee, J. V. Emmert, $2.00. 

 Best display queen-bees, J. V. Emmert, 

 1st, $2.00. Comb honey, 10 pounds in 

 most marketable shape, J. R. Reynolds, 

 1st, $4.00. Extracted honey, 10 

 1 pounds, J. W. Henderson, 1st, $2.00 ; 



