262 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



their houses. If we could show the same 

 enterprise in repairinpf our houses we would 

 be all right soon. However, our work is 

 progressing and will be open again in a few 

 days." W. L. Mookes. 



[To know that our act of "disinterested 

 friendship" is duly appreciated, is to us far 

 better pay than money. If we would make 

 the proper application we might learn many 

 useful lessons from our bees.— w. j. a.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bees in Georgia. 



Friend Newman— While so many of the 

 shining lights are putting in their appear- 

 ance, perhaps it would not be amiss from 

 one that shineth less to send you a few 

 Items from the "bunny South," and more 

 especially from Northern Georgia. 



This perha])S has been one of the best 

 honey seasons ever known in this county. 

 The spring flowers opened well and afford- 

 ed a fair supply of both pollen and honey, 

 and swarms became very strong at an early 

 day. On April 27th, a honey-dew was dis- 

 covered, which increased and continued 

 imtil June 13th. Everything was covered 

 with honey, the thickest and finest flavored 

 of any we ever saw. There were no dews 

 of any account in the evenings during this 

 whole time, making the honey-dew still 

 thicker and harder to be obtained by the 

 bees. If we had light dews in the evenings 

 bees would have gathered twice as much as 

 they did. They gathered enough. It was 

 not an uncommon thing for young swarms 

 to fill their hives and give 100 lbs. of choice 

 surplus, besides casting a swarm. The 

 honey obtained was of a fine golden color, 

 of beautiful flavor, and difi'ering much in 

 taste to any we ever before sampled. 



HONEY EXTEACTOR BAFFLED. 



In all our experience with extractors, we 

 never before saw it "Avhipped." Mr. Clem- 

 ents, an attorney-at-law of this city, had 

 about 20 swarms of bees filled so full of 

 honey that he was compelled to remove it 

 in some way. From his knowledge of the 

 extractor, and the favorable reports given it 

 by practical apiarists, he resolved to pur- 

 chase the Peabody, and connnenced work 

 indeed, for work it was. He prepared his 

 combs as is usual and commenced turning, 

 expecting to see the honey fly like a shower 

 of rain, but no honey came; he tried again 

 and again, and the result was that the 

 combs would brake before the honey could 

 possibly be thrown from them. The honey 

 was so thick that it was impossible for any 

 extractor to remove it. After my friend 

 had tried several hives with the same result 

 he abandoned the whole thing in disgust, 

 and offered his extractor for sale. He 

 placed boxes upon his hives and will re- 

 ceive a fine surplus of beautiful honey. 

 The cause of the honey being so thick was 

 that there were scarcely any dews during 

 the whole time. Had there been dews in 

 the evenings as usual, the honey-dew would 

 have been thinner, and bees would have 

 gathered still larger quantities. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



We consider the perfect success of this 

 article a gi'eat advancement in tlie apicul- 

 tural department, and places our branch of 



industry together with improvements al- 

 ready niade.equal to those in other branches 

 of agriculture. With 2 years' experiments 

 with comb foundation, we don't see how we 

 could well manage an apiary without it. 

 Two years ago we purchashed some of 

 John Long, of New York; it was the best 

 we ever used. Last season we bought some 

 of C. O. Perrine, of Chicago; it was too 

 thin, and would stretch about 2 inches in 10. 

 Our frames are 10x1.5 in.; we filled the 

 frames and in the course of two days they 

 had stretched so that we had a fine time of 

 getting them out of the hive. When cut 

 in small pieces they worked well in boxes. 



FASTENING COMB FOUNDATION. 



Much trouble has been experienced by 

 beginners to fasten comb foundation. Take 

 three parts of rosin to one of beeswax; melt 

 together, and when cooled a little, dip the 

 edges of the foundation in it and apply it to 

 the box where needed. We never nad but 

 one such fall down. The rosin makes it so 

 hard that it does not give by heat, like wax, 

 neither can the bees knaw it off, as they 

 often do wax. 



ON THE bees' FEET. 



Mr. Morrison, of Corsicana, Texas, in- 

 forms us that a large number of his bees are 

 bringing in something clinging to their feet, 

 of rather a golden color; a peculiarly shap- 

 ed mass, which gives the feet the appear- 

 ance of a cord tassel and prevents them 

 climbing up the sides of the hive. He 

 notices that no bees gathering pollen has 

 this on their feet. The bees sent us with 

 the substance clinging to their feet had 

 something of the appearance of that some- 

 times obtained from the large milkweed. 

 He also states that they had frequent and 

 heavy rains about the time (May 18th) per- 

 haps some of the readers of the Journal 

 have had similar experience. 



A FINE YIELD OF HONEY. 



Our friend Dr. E. C- L. Larch, of Ashland, 

 Mo., writes us on the 12th inst., that he has 

 taken 6,000 lbs. of fine white clover honey 

 up to date, and expects to take 5,000 fts. 

 more. He has about 130 swarms. He says 

 that, part of April and up to May 20th was 

 unfavorable; since then it has been very 

 good. Basswood with him was an entire 

 failure. He lost no bees in wintei'ing, or as 

 some term it, in springing. His bees are 

 Italians. Who will now say bees do not 

 pay? 



The honey season in the South is about 

 over, and all are well pleased with their 

 honey harvest. A. F. Moon. 



Rome, Ga., July 17, 1877. 



A Hint to Beginners.— Those who may 

 desire to read up in the literature of bee- 

 keeping, are advised to obtain the first Vol- 

 ume of The American Bee Journal. It 

 is worth five times its price to any intend- 

 ing bee-keeper. It contains a full elucida- 

 tion of scientific bee-keeping, including the 

 best statement extant of the celebrated 

 Dzierzon theory. These articles run 

 through all the numbers, and are from the 

 pen of the Baron of B erlepsch. We have 

 but a few copies left; price, $1.25, in cloth 

 boards, postpaid. 



