mix %6nn Mox. 



Koseville, 111., July 30, 1878. 

 " We would like to hear how bee-keepers 

 manage tiieir work wiio have several api- 

 aries to care for. We have 85 colonies 53^ 

 miles from home and send a hand over daily 

 to care for them during swarming time. 

 Wish we could hear from several who make 

 $1 queen-rearing a success; just how often 

 they give comb, brood, &c., &c., as it seems 

 to me honey pays me better than queen-rear- 

 ing, unless I can find a labor-saving way of 

 doing the work." L. C. Axtell. 



Collins, 111., Aug. 1, 1878. 

 "When is the best time to transfer bees 

 from box hives to obtain the most honey 

 and give the bees time to procure sufficient 

 supplies for wintering?" 



M. A. Newman. 



[The best time is early in the season when 

 there is but little honey in the hives. It 

 may be done on any warm day when the 

 bees are actively engaged in storing, before 

 the fall honey harvest.— Ed.] 



Hastings, Minn., Aug. 8, 1878. 

 "Bees have done very poorly for the last 

 3 weeks, but we are looking for a big yield 

 of honey yet this fall. Last season I had 

 colonies that made 75 pounds of surplus 

 honey after July 20. The flowers on our 

 bottom lanes are just beginning to bloom. 

 Last year they were 2 weeks earlier; they 

 usually produce a large amount of honey. 

 Should tney fail this year, the honey crop 

 in this part of the State will be short. 



Wm. Dyer. 



Knoxville, Iowa, Aug. 3, 1878. 

 " Enclosed I send you stem and flower of 

 a plant that abounds here. Bees work on it 

 from morning till night, not only on the 

 flowers, but on the leaves and stem. What 

 is it ? Bees have done very well, so far, 

 this season. They are quiet now. The fall 

 harvest promises to be good." 



A. M. Crosby. 



[This is Cassia Chamceerista, or part- 

 ridge pea. This is a leguminous plant, and 

 a near relative of the Judas tree, or red- 

 bud ; but it is an annual. It is certainly a 

 beautiful plant.— A. J. Cook.] 



Pike Co., Ky., July 28, 1878. 

 "Bees have swarmed but very little here 

 this summer. A great many about here 

 have tlieir bees in log gums, and very tew 

 frame hives are used. I have 35 colonies in 

 frame hives, made large with 4 honey boxes 

 on each, holding 16 fts. They have all been 

 well filled, making 64 lbs. of box honey to 

 the colony. I take only box honey from my 

 bees. Wintered out doors last winter with- 

 out the loss of one colony. My hives have 

 an entrance at each end with slides to shut 

 out the cold, and making it warm enough 

 for them in the spring. I raise one of my 

 slides for the bees to go to work; when it 



gets warm enough I raise both slides. It 

 seems to give the little fellows much com- 

 fort for the air to circulate tiirough. We 

 hive when it is very warm, and when they 

 are crowded with bees. I made 10 swarms, 

 all of which did well; nearly all filled their 

 boxes and have plenty to last them through 

 the winter. They are now idle for the first 

 time this season. The poplar bloom this 

 year has been good. Honey dew has been 

 plenty. We have had no linn bloom this 

 year, but every other bloora has been good. 

 My bees are all blacks. I have them scat- 

 tered about over my oi chard, so 1 have no 

 trouble making my swarms. 



Julius C. Williamson. 



Reynoldsburg, O., Aug. 6, 1878. 



"I am well pleased with the Bee Jour- 

 nal. I don't see how any one can do with- 

 out it that intends to handle bees; it is the 

 best I ever read, and I have read several. I 

 have 2.5 colonies of bees in the N. C. Mitchell 

 hive, all doing well. I am using the Bing- 

 ham smoker; have sold several of them; all 

 give good satisfaction. 



Bees swarmed here late on account of the 

 cold weather in May, but did well through 

 June and July. I have swarms that came 

 the 15th to 20th of June that has made 20 

 to 25 pounds of surplus honey. Is it best to 

 put bees in the cellar or leave them on the 

 summer stands? S. M. Oldham. 



[The cellar is best for a northern climate; 

 but some winter with success on their sum- 

 mer stands. If the latter, they should be 

 prepared by being packed in straw, and 

 provided witji a plenty of honey to winter 

 through in safety.— Ed.] 



Nashua, Iowa, Aug. 14, 1878. 

 " This has been the poorest honey season 

 I have ever yet known, and I have been 

 in the business 10 years. There is the 

 greatest demand for honey in fancy shape 

 this season I ever knew. I cannot begin to 

 fill the orders for honey at 20 cts. per lb. in 

 my new 1% lb. sections. Will send you one 

 of my crates with 12 of my boxes filled with 

 honey after the fairs are over. Melilot 

 clover is a No. 1 honey plant. I have had 

 some experience with it this season; will' 

 sow about 10 acres more." 



E. J. SCHOFIELD. 



Glen Rock, Pa.. Aug. 2. 1878. 

 "The Journal and honey pamphlet came 

 to hand in due time; 1 am much pleased 

 with both. Please give the following 

 strange freak of a virgin Italian queen to 

 the readers of your good Journal. On the 

 2.5th of July the queen left to meet the 

 drone, no eggs or larva being in the hive, 

 the workers followed her. After flying for 

 some time they clustered. 1 put them back 

 in the hive, thinking they would stay, but 

 they immediately went straight to the 

 woods, and I gave myself no further trouble. 

 On the 29th my queen with their little band 

 of workers came home. They came the 

 same course that they took when they left, 

 four days before. It nuist have been my 

 queen for there are none raised except one 

 place 6 miles in the opposite direction my 



