78 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 30, 



ing, and they will come out stronger in the 

 spring than if packed all around. At least 

 mine do. 



I know that a cross between the Italians 

 and blacks are the best honey-gatherers for 

 me that 1 have tried. 



I don't know how bee-keepers that have 

 a three-months' honey-flow keep their bees 

 from crowding the queen out of room for 

 laying eggs enough to keep the colony 

 strong, with only eight frames for a brood- 

 chamber. 



I don't know why bees do not swarm in 

 August, when there is a good honey-flow, 

 the same as in the spring, if they don't rea- 

 son. I know some say their bees swarm 

 late in the fall, but mine do not. 



For a cough try this; Take half a tum- 

 bler of extracted honey and the yolk of an 

 egg ; stir well before taking, and see how 

 quick it will stop your cough. 



G. E. Nelson. 



Bishop Hill, 111., Dec. 30, 1895. 



Bee-Keeping "Away Up." 



We are nearly 8.000 ft. above sea-level, and 

 the past season the bees did finely. One ob- 

 jection is, they are '"Mormon bees." and 

 the way they believe in increasing is a 

 sight! I believe they keep a good mwiy 

 " frows " in the same house, all the samS 



Aspen, Colo. S. M. Brotles. 



S'weet Clover and Alfalfa Honey. 



Dr. Miller asks on page 3 what the quality 

 of sweet clover honey is as compared with 

 alfalfa honey. Here in Colorado we des- 

 pise it, because it spoils the sale of our 

 alfalfa honey, if mixed. After you eat 

 alfalfa honey for awhile, and then get 

 sweet clover honey, your liking for honey 

 will be gone. It is so with me. Where bee- 

 pasturage is scarce, as with me, of course a 

 lot of sweet clover honey comes handy, if 

 for no other use than for the bees ; it would 

 help out in the way of feeding. 



Montclair, Colo. S. M. Carlzen. 



A Poor Season in 1895. 



The past season was a poor one in Otsego 

 county. The frost and drouth were the 

 cause, my average being but 20 pounds per 

 colony, half comb and half extracted. But 

 the bees are in fine condition for winter, 

 with nearly all natural stores. 



What have I learned ? Well, I have 

 learned that the flowers may bloom in 

 abundance but yield no nectar. Our lin- 

 dens were loaded with blossoms, supers 

 were all ready, the sections filled with 

 foundation, the bees had made a nice start 

 on what clover and sumac there was, and 

 we gave more supers, but, alas I we soon 

 found that we must take them off again 

 and feed some extracted honey to get the 

 sections finished that were started before. 



I never saw so much trouble in getting 

 queens mated, and some were balled after 

 they were laying. I had 4 colonies queen- 

 less in the fall, and a neighbor about oue 

 mile from me had 11. 



The farmers around here have not made 

 any more money than the bee-keepers, so I 

 take fresh courage for 189B. 



Irvin Grover. 



Cooperstown, N. Y., Jan. 'i. 



Bees Did Fairly 'Well. 



I put into the bee-cellar on Nov. 9. 1894, 

 34 colonies iu good condition, and took out, 

 the latter part of March, 1895, 30 colonies 

 alive ; I afterward lost two. and two others 

 dwindled away, so they did not amount to 

 anything only to build themselves up. They 

 nearly all had dysentery when put out, and 

 had spotted their hives more or less (some 

 quite badly), but built up very rapidly on 

 willow, maple and wild plum blossoms by 

 May 9, when some of them were getting 

 ready to swarm, but heavy frosts on May 

 11 and 1'3 killed the blossoms. By the latter 

 part of June they had (or most of them) 

 little or no honey in the hives, and were on 



the point of starvation. Then the buck- 

 bush commenced to bloom, and from that 

 time on they stored pretty well until Sept. 1. 



I increased to 57 colonies, had 4 skip for 

 the woods, lost 4 from queenlessuess, and 

 took a little over 1,. 500 pounds of honey (not 

 sections, but actual weight) — 3.50 pounds 

 extracted, and the balance comb honey. I 

 have sold nearly 1,100 pounds of the comb 

 at 1'2},< cents; extracted at 10 cents per 

 pound" 



I put .57 colonies of bees into the cellar 

 Nov. '25, 1895, mostly in good condition, five 

 or six, however, rather light in stores. 



We had no white clover here to speak of 

 last season, owing to the dry weather last 

 year; and no basswood bloom on the low 

 lands, and but very little on the higher 

 land, on account of the heavy frosts in 

 May ; but the outlook now is good for 

 another season — plenty of young clover; 

 and basswood not blooming this season, it 

 ought to bloom well next, if we have no 

 frosts to kill it again. 



I sowed 4 acres of crimson clover in Octo- 

 ber, but being late and dry it did not come 

 up, so I look for nothing from that. I will 

 try it again next season. 



Long live the American Bee Journal. I 

 want to see no department cut down, but 

 would like to see them all enlarged; but 

 how can a man ask it, when he is already 

 getting more than his money's worth ? 



S. LaMont. 



Jarrett, Minn., Dec. 31, 1895. 



Bees in Good Condition. 



Bees are in good condition so far here. 

 We had very fine weather the past fall — 

 not as much rain as usual, but cold and dry. 

 We have only had one inch of snow, and it 

 was gone the next day, and only a little 

 freeze in the mornings up to date. We 

 look for our worst weather this month and 

 next, bpt it looks now as if we may not 

 have much snow this year. 



G. D. LiTTOOY. 



Taeoma, Wash., Jan. 3. 



A Beginner's Good 'Work. 



I started last spring with one colony of 

 bees in an old round hive; 1 now have 9 

 colonies, all in dovetail hives. I introduced 

 16 queens the past season, and losu only 

 two. How is that for the first year with 

 bees ? Jas. W. Woods. 



Sallisaw, Ind. Ter. 



A Beginner's Report. 



I started with three colonies last spring, 

 and increased to 10. Some of my swarms I 

 found on trees near the roadside; I put 

 them into a box and carried them home, 

 and put them in an 8-frame hive of my own 

 make. I am a beginner in the bee-business, 

 and I intend to give it a trial, as I am a crip- 

 ple, and not much good for anything else. 

 I have five or six neighbor bee-keepers, all 

 of whom keep their bees in box-hives; they 

 all claim they are the best. One neighbor 

 has his bees on a stand fastened to his hog- 

 pen ; another claimed the queen was the 

 male bee, and that the workers lay the 

 eggs. So much for a man that never reads 

 a bee-book. 



Our honey season was very good here 

 until the middle of July, when a drouth set 

 in, and the bees could find nothing to work 

 on. C. H. Mat. 



Grove Hill, Va., Jan. 6. 



Dr. Miller "On the Fence." 



Say, Bro. York, I wish you would pull 

 Dr. Miller off, for I imagined all the time 

 that we were on the same side of the fence, 

 and lo, and behold (on page 3), I find him 

 astride of it, throwing stones, and I am hit, 

 so here goes one back at him : 



We Califoruians live some distance from 

 the place where the last meeting of the 

 North American Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held, so if we have drawn wrong con- 

 clusions or inferences as to its " admitted 



failure," Dr. M. should hunt down its mem- 

 bers. 



"The North American has never been 

 what its founders hoped that it would be; 

 it is not representative, and if it cannot be 

 made such, I think it might as well be given 

 a decent funeral." — W. F. Clarke. 



" I doubt if the North American can ever 

 be made a representative body." — Du. A. 

 B. Mason. 



"It is useless to attempt to make the 

 North American representative unless it is 

 helped by Congress, and this will never be." 

 — Frank Benton. 



The above quotations are taken from the 

 report of the Toronto convention, on page 

 648 (1895). 



As to the Germans, Doctor, they as a 

 class have the reputation of doing much 

 and talking little; and if you (and others) 

 who " look at the grand success of the Ger- 

 man societies," had emulated them years 

 ago, there would be no need of the North 

 American attempting to work in the garb 

 of the National Bee-Keepers' Union. 



Geo. W. Brodbeck. 



Los Angeles, Calif. 



GIVING AWAY HIVES. 



On all orders received before Feb. 15th for 

 $30.00 or over, we will send a " Half-Joint 

 Hi ve." complete, ready for a swarm. 

 ^" Scud lor '96 Circular. 



I. J. STRIKGHAm, 



105 Park Place. NEW YORK, N. T. 



For Sale— A Bargain. 



119 Colonics of Italian Bees in Chaff Hives. 

 Good House, and ■; acres of Land, with excel- 

 lent well of water. E. 1.. <v*KKINGTON. 

 oAtf PBTTUS, BeeCo.,TEX. 



Honey & Beeswax Market Quotations. 



CHICAGO, III., Jan. 18.— White clover and 

 linden comb honey is scarce and commands a 

 premium over other grades of wbite of 1 to 3 

 cents per pound. There is a fair supply of 

 other grrades, which bring 12@13c. for white, 

 and amber to dark ranges at 9@llc. Ex- 

 tracted is without special change: the West- 

 ern ambers at iH^oc; white, 5(0i6c.; clover 

 and basswood in cans and barrels, 0@7c. 



Beeswax, 'iSaSOc. K. A. B. & Co, 



CHICAGO, III., Jan. 20.— We are having 

 good inquiry for fancy comb, but all other 

 grades are selling slow. Dark comb will not 

 sell on this market, and we would advise the 

 liroducer not toship It here. We are offering 

 It as low as 9@10c., with nobuyors. We quote: 

 Fanc.v. 15c.; No. 1. 14c.: light amber, 1*2® 

 l.'ic. " Extracted, light, 5@6!4o; dark, 4@5c. 



Beeswax, -iSSaOc. J. A. L. 



PHILADELPHIA. Pa., Jan. 3 —Honey has^ 

 declined in this market during the holidays. 

 Large lots of California honey arriving, and 

 selling at oc. in 60-lb. cans. We quote: Comb 

 honey, fancy, 16c.; fair to good. 8@14c. Ex- 

 tracted, 4@3!4c.; white clover, 10c. 



Beeswax, 30c. W. A. S. 



BUFFALO, N. Y., Jan. •2'2.— SaleS very light 

 and market dull. We quote: Fancy white, 

 14(S15c.; choice, ll@13c.; buckwheat, 7@9c, 

 Extracted. 4@6c. 



Beeswax. 25@'28c. B. & Co. 



CINCINNATI, O., Jan. 22.— Demand is slow 

 for comb honey, which brings 12@14e, for 

 best wbite. The demand is fair for extracted 

 honey at 4@7c.. with a scant supply. 



Beeswax is iti good demand at 25@28c. for 

 good to choice yellow. C. F. M.&S. 



KANSAS CITY, Mo., Jan. 20.— The demand 

 for comb and extracted honey is fair. We 

 quote: No. 1 white comb, 1-lbs., 13(ai4c. r 

 No. 2. 12@13c.; No. I amber, ll@12c.; No. 2, 

 S@10c. Extracted, white, 6@6^c.; amber, 5@ 

 aViC: dark, 4c. 



Beeswax, 22@-2oc. C, C. C. & Co. 



WISCONSIN.— The annual meeting of the 

 Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 be held Thursday and Friday, Feb. 6 and 7, 

 1895, In the capitol buildicg at Madison. The 

 program will appear in due time. 



PlattevlUe. Wis. N. E. France, Sec. 



