AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



587 



the busy hum of bees on the orange 

 bloom in March, while their cherished 

 workers were wrapped up in ice and 

 snow in the North. 



" Brethern and sisters, what do you 

 think of our suggestion." 



Astor Park, Fia. John Craycraft. 



[We stand corrected, Friend Cray- 

 craft. Certainly, the South is entitled 

 to its turn in having a meeting of the 

 North American within its borders. We 

 should like to see it go to our Sunny 

 Southland sometimes. Doubtless it will. 

 — Editor.] 



Central Iowa Convention. 



The Central Iowa Bee-Keepers Asso- 

 ciation met at Oskaloosa on Oct. 5th 

 and (3th. The attendance was light, but 

 an interesting meeting was had. The 

 discussions were full and instructive. 

 The next meeting will be held at Oska- 

 loosa, in December, 1895. The officers 

 for the following year are as follows : 

 President, T. C. Mendenhall, of Oska- 

 loosa; Vice Presidents, Hon. Hardin 

 Tice, of Oskaloosa, T. J. Howard, of 

 Cedar, and G. W. Rhine, of Taintor; 

 Secretary and Treasurer, W. E. Bryan, 

 of New Sharon. The meeting in 1895 

 should be well attended, as this should 

 be the best bee-keepers' association in 

 Iowa. W. E. Bryan, Sec. 



New Sharon, Iowa. 



Varieties of Golden-Rod, Etc. 



I will send you with this three or four 

 stalks of golden-rod of different varities. 

 One has a large bushy, top, grows from 

 three to four feet high, and is worthless 

 as a honey-plant. Another kind that 

 somewhat resembles corn-tassel, I think, 

 is also worthless for bees, so far as I 

 have seen. But then there are two other 

 kinds that are good, as I have frequently 

 seen bees working on them. One is a 

 square top, about two feet high, with a 

 reddish looking stem, and deep yellow 

 flowers. The other kind — the best of 

 all for bees or honey — is a small kind, 

 and grows from one to two feet high, 

 with reddish purple stem, and spire or 

 cone-shaped top, with bright yellow 

 flowers. I have watched this plant 

 quite closely this fall, and I never saw 

 bees working on anything better. The 

 trouble is, there are not enough of them. 



I would say for the benefit of H. H. 

 H., on page 458, get of this last-named 



variety, if he thinks of planting golden- 

 rod. 



I have been a reader of the American 

 Bee Journal for nine or ten years. I 

 have had my ups and downs with bees, 

 and some experiences not worth while to 

 mention here. I started last spring with 

 (iO colonies, and worked them for comb 

 honey, but got only a little surplus 

 honey — about 400 pounds in all, but 

 they are in good condition for winter 

 quarters, with plenty of basswood honey 

 to last them until spring. 



My apiary is located about two miles 

 north of the Iowa river, and about one 

 mile from the nearest basswood trees— a 

 little too much to one side of the bass- 

 wood for best results in times when it is 

 yielding nectar, which it did this year to 

 perfection, or at least it bloomed well, 

 and lasted for fully two weeks, but our 

 bees were in poor condition to gather 

 the nectar- — too weak in numbers. 



Ackley, Iowa, Oct. 15. N. Young. 



[Friend Young, the specimens of gold- 

 en-rod came all right. Thank you. We 

 are quite sure that several of the vari- 

 eties you sent do not grow around Chica- 

 go. The only kind we have noticed here 

 is the one with a bunch of bloom at the 

 top. — Editor.] 



In Good Condition for Winter. 



I took from the cellar 22 colonies of 

 bees on March 24, 1894, having lost 

 only two colonies by uniting in the cel- 

 lar. They did well up to June 1st, 

 when the drouth, which lasted until 

 Sept. 1st, shut them off so that they 

 gathered a small amount of surplus. Of 

 light honey I got 370 pounds, and of 

 dark 330, or TOO pounds in all ; but 

 my bees (30 colonies, including increase) 

 are in good condition for winter, with 

 plenty of stores. My honey was all in 

 one-pound sections. 



Austin Reynolds. 



Cataract, Wis., Oct. 8. 



Second Year's Experience. 



We are very much inserested in bees, 

 have read the Bee Journal one year, 

 and think we cannot do without it. This 

 is our second year. We started with 

 seven colonies, and only increased to 10 

 the first season. The past season we in- 

 creased to 26. We lost a part of one 

 swarm. They were going to the woods 

 as fast as they could go. They had only 

 been hived about one hour when we saw 



