508 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Good Season.— B. D. Scott, Ovid 

 Centre.© >'^. Y., on July 30. 1885, says: 



I put into the cellar 43 colonies of bees 

 last fall, and I lo>t Hi. I commenced tlie 

 season witli '^7 colonies, and increased 

 them to TO, and have extracted 4,000 lbs. 

 of honey from clover and basswood. Tlie 

 season has been good, but not as jjood as 

 that of 1SS3. 



Fifty Pounds per Colony .—J. G. Nor- 

 ton. (33—83), Macomb.K) Ills., on Aug. 

 8, 1SS5, writes : 



The honey-flow in this section has 

 again come to a close, and although as in 

 many seasons tlie prospects for a big crop 

 were flatlerinL'. tlie results are far from 

 being so. The white chiver bloomed full, 

 but rain and cold weather up to June 35, 

 destroyed the flow of honey. Bees 

 swarmed profusely (wlien there were any 

 to swarm), but the reports all around here 

 seem to be, plenty of swarms but no sur- 

 plus. The weatlier is very dry here now, 

 and every flower is dried up, so that our 

 fall flow is only guess work. My bees 

 have enough now to winter on, if they do 

 not eat it before winter comes. I received 

 51 swarms from 33- colonies, and have 

 taken .50 pounds of surplus honey per col- 

 ony, spring count. 



Large Wasps.— In answer to an in- 

 quiry. Prof. A. J. Cook, Agricultural 

 College, Mich., on Aug. 8, 1885, re- 

 plies as follows : 



The insects sent by Mr. A. T. Kelly, 

 Franklin, Ind., are two of our largest, 

 finest wasps. One is Stiziis Speciasus 

 Dru ; the other is Stizus Grandis Say. As 

 Mr. K. says, they are powerful stingers. 

 They sting insects as large as the cicada, 

 falsely called seventeen-year locust, and 

 bury them in holes which they dig in the 

 earth. It is said they do not always kill 

 such insects, but only paralyze them, so 

 that they may remain fresh, and so prove 

 toothsome food for the young of the 

 wasps. When the wasps catch insects, 

 they lay eggs on them, and bury their 

 victims with the eggs attached. Thus 

 when the eggs hatch the young wasps 

 have plenty of tender steak at liand. I 

 have never received these wasps before 

 from so far North. I have received them 

 from Kentucky and other more southern 

 States, and have heard that they some- 

 times attack and kill bees. Were it not 

 for this habit, they would be counted as 

 friends ; in that they destroy many nox- 

 ious insects. 



Robber Bees, etc. — J, W. Sanders, 

 Le Grand,© Iowa, on July 30, 1885, 

 says: 



We are having very hot weather — 100' 

 to-day in the shade. It has been hot for 

 several days. I had a general war with 

 one very strong colony on July 28, caused 

 by a breaking loose of some comb, which 

 set the honey to running. 1 gave them a 

 good sprinkling with a rubber hose, and 

 covered the hive, it being about 5 p. m. I 

 uncovered it after dark, but before 

 o'clock the next morning there was a gen- 

 eral raid on the colony. I had tipped the 

 the hive to the back and closed the en- 

 trance the previous evening, but it seemed 

 to make but little difference. The broken 

 honey was all taken up, but rob they 

 would ; so I then gave them a good smok- 

 ing and drencliina with flour when I soon 

 cleared the hive of part of the robber 

 bees. I then made a change of hives — 

 robbers for the robbed— and in a short 

 time all was again qifiet. I have near my 

 apiary some water works used for liot- 

 bed work, wilb a 40-foot rubber hose, and 

 this 1 turned so as to work in my apiary. 

 It is arranged so as to throw a Hne spray 



if desired. I find on these hot days that 

 the bees seem to enjoy a little sprinkle 

 and a general wetting of the srounds and 

 hives. Is it not a good plan ? Our first 

 honey-season for surplus closed several 

 days ago. The bees were busy when it 

 was not too hot, and they are in pretty 

 good condition for the late harvest. If we 

 have one. I have just obtained a large- 

 size Excelsior wax-extractor, and I find it 

 a grand success. It is a sight to behold 

 the amount of filfli there is in old combs. 

 I do not find any difficulty about the black 

 water spoken of by one correspondent. I 

 keep water in the pan the wax drips into, 

 wasli this black water all ouf,and put more 

 water in the pan with the wax, and melt 

 again, which makes it nice. I shall use 

 no more old black combs after this. 



Good Fall CropExpected.— 7— Henry 



Cripe, (18), N. Manchester,^ Ind., on 

 July 30, 1885, says: 



We have had the best season, so far, 

 that we have had since I have kept bees. 

 I am looking for a good fall crop. Mr. G. 

 M. Doollttle hits the nail squarely on the 

 head in the last few lines of his article on 

 page 453, as well as in all of his other 

 articles. 



Bee-Keepers' Union.- W. C. Nutt, 



Newton,© Iowa, on Aug. 1, 1885, 

 writes : 



The Union, I think, is what bee-keepers 

 want every where. There is so much 

 ignorance and superstition among people, 

 in regard to bees, that something similar, 

 if not "a sheep and bees lawsuit," is 

 likely to spring up almost any time. 



In union there ia strenKth, 



In union's cbiiin. 



Beneath its ^pell, 

 Freedom, peiice and safety dweU. 



I am well pleased with the Constitution 

 and the officers elected. I have changed 

 my address from Otiey to Newton, Jasper 

 county, Iowa, I think I have located in a 

 neighborhood where my rights will be re- 

 spected. But I am ready to help in what 

 I deem right. I think all bee-men should 

 be enrolled as members of the Union at 

 once. 



Bees Lying Out.— C. H. Dibbern, 



Milau,~o ills., on July 29, 1885, says : 



We are having very hot weather here 

 now, and plenty of room and all the ven- 

 tilation I can think of will not keep the 

 bees in their hives. I have now about 100 

 bushels of bees lying out on the shady 

 sides of the hives enjoying the cool 

 breezes. My apiary is well shaded by 

 trees, and if there i.s" any way to keep bees 

 at work inside tlieir hives when the mer- 

 cury gets up to 90" and above, I would like 

 to know it. 



Best Season for 10 Years.— L. Reed, 

 Orono,© Mich., on July 27, 1885, 

 writes : 



We are having the best season for 

 honey that we have had in 10 years. Bees 

 were 3 weeks later in swarnnng this sea- 

 son, but we have had a large yield from 

 red raspberry and white clover. Bass- 

 wood has been in bloom for 5 days, and 

 every tree that is 10 feet high and up- 

 wards, is full. Bees have gained from 5 

 to 8 pounds per day since it has been in 

 bloom, and it will last 3 or 4 days longer. 

 Prospects are good for a full crop, as we 

 have had just rain enough. I extracted .50 

 pounds from one colony to-day, that had 

 been extracted from 2 weeks ago, and I 

 lefts frames untouched. 1 will get about 

 75 pounds of surplus per colony, being 

 mostly comb honey in one-pound sections. 

 I have 45 colonies, and I let them swarm 

 just once. My first swarm issued on June 



as, and the last one on July 14. The fol- 

 lowing is my way of managing after- 

 swarnis : I mark on the hive of every 

 colony the day and date when it swarmed, 

 then 1 know when to look for a second 

 swarm. When I hear the queens piping, 

 I go through the colony and cut out all the 

 queen-cells (there is always one queen 

 out), and I drop the cells into a glass can 

 with a loose top ; if 1 want to save a good 

 one, I take a card of brood and bees, put 

 them in a 3-frame nucleus, place them in 

 the cellar for 24 hours after giving them 

 the queen, and then they are all riaht. I 

 rear all iiiv queens for my own use in that 

 way, and I have several nice queens that 

 are laying now, that I have reared this 

 season. I am glad to see the bee-keepers 

 organizing for the jiurpuse of defense. I 

 will send in my S1.25 as soon as possible. 



Short Crop.- C. A. Hatch, Ithaca, P 

 Wis., on Aug. 2, 1885, writes as fol- 

 lows : 



The white honey harvest has ended 

 with us, and we have to report a short 

 one, as there was only two whole days 

 during basswood bloom that bees could 

 fly. We had rain all the time ; clover gave 

 a good crop, but bees had too much build- 

 ing up to do, to get the moat out of it. 



Bees are Timid when away from 

 their Hives.— 1\ A. Snell, Milledge- 

 ville,x3 Ills., writes thus : 



The formation of the National Eee- 

 Keeepers' Union is a move in the right 

 direction, and I hope bee-keepers will all 

 join in the work. There is great ignor- 

 ance and prejudice in regard to bees, and 

 if it is not the duty of all intelligent bee- 

 keepers to work to enlighten the ignorant, 

 I am at a loss to know what our duty is. 

 I stand ready to pay more if needed. Bees 

 are very timid when away from their 

 hives, and fly upon the approach of any 

 object, while gathering in the fields. 



Profuse Honey Yield.— Prof. A. J. 



Cook, Agricultural College,© Mich., 

 says : 



I never saw such a yield of basswood 

 lioney as we have just had. 



Convention Notices. 



tS^TheLiuwoorl licc-Keepers' Association 

 will be held at Kock Ehn Centre, Wis., on 

 Tuesday, Sept. 1st, at 1 o'clock p. in., in Con- 

 dit's Hall. All interested are cordially invi- 

 ted to attend, and make the meeting a 

 profitable one. B. J. Tho.mpson. Sec. 



tW The Western N. Y. and Northern Pa. 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will meet at Sala- 

 manca, N. Y., in Odd Fellows' Hall, on Sept. 

 1 and 'J, 1885. A. D. Jacobs, Sec. 



^^ The Cortland Union Bee -Keepers' 

 Association will hold a basket jjicnic at the 

 apiarv of Mr. Miles Morton, at Uroton, N. Y., 

 on Tiiesday, Aug. 18, 1885. All tiee-lceepers, 

 with their families, are cordially invited to 

 be present. W. H. Beach, Sec. 



pw The next meeting of the Northwestern 

 Illinois and Southwestern Wisconsin Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will he hold at Rock 

 City, Ills., on Aug. "-5, 188.5. 



J. Stewart, Sec. 



t^~ Owing to a very heavy rain-storm 

 during the forenoon of Jidy is, the meeting 

 of the Marshall County Bec-Kee]iers' Asso- 

 ciation was deferred until Satuiiln.v. .Vug. '29, 

 188.'i, at 10.:!0 a. m., in the Court House at 

 Marshalltown, Iowa. Subjects: "Fall Man- 

 agement of Bees" and "Care and Sale of 

 Honey." All hee-keepers are invited. It 

 will be a time of rest from other labor, and 

 we hope to have a good aioeting. 



J. W. Sanders, Sec. 



