268 



T^H® ms^mmi^MM mmm j@^kmmi*. 



growth of the orange and other trees that 

 were about coming into flower. The orange 

 trees are putting on new buds, and will 

 probably bloom to some extent later on, 

 but I do not look for much honey from 

 blossoms out of season. The mangrove— 

 our main stay— seems to be all right, and 

 we hope to hare a heavy flow from it, in 

 which case those whose bees are iu good 

 condition, will get a good, paying crop of 

 our finest grade of honey. 



My own bees are in fair condition, and 

 well supplied with honey in their hives, as 

 a rule: but, as is my custom in April, I am 

 feeding a little to keep them breeding, so 

 as to be ready for the honey-flow that com- 

 mences in May and lasts until August. 

 Having many dropped oranges on the 

 ground in my groves, I have split some of 

 them for my bees, and they gather thickly 

 upon them, and suck up the rich juices 

 until nothing but a dry shell remained. I 

 believe there is profit in doing this late in 

 the season, where circumstances will allow 

 of it. I do not look for a large honey 

 record here this season, but I believe we 

 have reason to hope for a fair crop. 



W. S. Hart. 



Hawk's Park, Fla., April 4, 1890. 



hive for several weeks ; and after a close 

 inspection about the hive and in the grass 

 under the alighting-board, I believe three 

 pellets of pollen were found, and this was 

 after the bees had been at work several 

 hours carrying in pollen. So much for that. 

 Now let us go a little further. 



A good deal has been said in years past 

 about too much pollen in the brood-nest. 

 How would it do to use stiil smaller perfora- 

 tions in the metal, and try to keep out a 

 large part of the pollen? I will say, how- 

 ever, that I never saw a colony that had 

 too much pollen. 1 have seen, on many 

 occasions, cases where brood-rearing was 

 retarded in the early spring on account of 

 the scarcity of pollen. 



No, the bees are not in the least disturbed 

 when a trap is placed at the entrance of 

 their hive. The perforations are not too 

 small for the worker-bees to pass trough— a 

 thing which you can discover in a short 

 time after a trap is placed on the hive. 

 There are now nearly 100,000 traps in 

 use, and no one has ever complained that 

 the bees have trouble in passing the metal. 

 Test it for yourself. Hexry Alley. 



Wenham, Mass. 



4. Would it not be better to go on in a 

 go-as-you-please plan, and try to keep up 

 with the procession* J. W. Tefft. 



CoUamer, N. Y. • 



[Until that which is perfect has come, it 

 would not do to impede progress by adopt- 

 ing a " standard." Invention and improve- 

 ment go hand in hand— but inventions are 

 not all improvements, by any means.— Ed.] 



IVintered Poorly— I)ipl«tlieria. 



I have 20 colonies of bees left, out of 77 

 colonies put into the cellar last fall. I took 

 out a few on March 1, and they are all 

 right— all had plenty of honey. My family 

 have all had the diphtheria; for four weeks 

 I had but three nights of sleep. We are all 

 over it now. Fatette Lee. 



Cokato, Minn., April 7, 1890. 



Hard 'Winter on the Bees. 



The winter is over, which was a hard one 

 on my bees. They seem to have gone the 

 same as Mr. EUingwood's bees (see page 

 220). My Italians do not seem to stand 

 the wmter the same as the hybrids and 

 blacks. I lost 6 colonies of Italians, and 

 only one of the hybrids; I have only 8 col- 

 onies left, 4 being Italians. They are work- 

 ing hard, and getting pollen from willow 

 and other trees. John Boerstler. 



Vashon, Wash., April 1, 1890. 



Wintering iu a Bee-IIouse, etc. 



I am drifting into the bee-business. I 

 commenced with one colony, and now I 

 have 17. They are now in the bee-house, 

 and are doing finely. I find it a pleasant 

 and profitable business; my spare time can 

 be occupied in my favorite pursuit— invent- 

 ing and experimenting. Finding it neces- 

 sary last summer to have a device for fast- 

 ening foundation in one-pound sections, I 

 got up one which I think is better than any 

 other that I have seen. John Lucas. 



Use of Wrone and Queen Xraps. 



On page 2136, Mr. D. B. Cassady asks the 

 following question, which is referred to me 

 for reply: "If the drone and queen trap 

 is used on hives to catch the queen, will it 

 not hinder the workers from carrying in 

 pollen, as the perforations seem too small to 

 admit of the bees getting the loads of pollen 

 through;" 



In answer to the above inquiry, I w-ill 

 say that the bees are not in the least hin- 

 dered in their work by placing a queen-trap 

 at the entrance of the hive. If a trap is 

 placed at the hive-entrance of a large col- 

 ony of bees.and a box arranged to catch the 

 pollen which happens to be rubbed off when 

 the bees pass through the metal, it will be 

 seen that there is no more than would be 

 found at the entrance of a hive where there 

 is no trap. 



An expert bee-keeper once visited my 

 apiary, and the trap was talked about. 

 Said our friend, " I don't like the trap, as 

 it brushes so much of tlie pollen off the legs 

 of the bees, when they pass through the 

 metal." I replied that he was mistaken, 

 and that the trap did not work as he sup- 

 posed. We at once went into the apiary 

 and made an examination, as there were 

 several traps in use there. We first ex- 

 amined a large colony which were working 

 through a trap ; the trap had been on the 



Small Loss in Wintering. 



Bees have been bringing in pollen lively 

 to-day, and I am surprised to find mine m 

 so fine a condition. I considered the stores 

 poor last fall, and expected a loss of 25 per 

 cent., but it will hardly reach 5 per cent., 

 if we have reasonable weather from this 

 on. Every winter strengthens my opinion 

 that double-walled hives are the best 

 adapted to this climate. My colonies are 

 very strong and uniform. 



Geo. E. Hilton-. 



Fremont, Mich., April 8, 1890. 



Colonies Strong in Bees. 



Mv bees all came through the winter in 

 good condition. They are gathering pollen, 

 and have been for several days. I never 

 saw them so strong in the sprmg, m my 

 thirty years of bee-keeping. Everything 

 looks fair for a good crop this season, but I 

 fear we will have too much rain. Our last 

 three seasons have been too dry, and we 

 have had poor honey crops, but stUl the 

 bees have paid their way. 



W. H. Grave.s. 



New Carlisle, Ind., April 9, 1890. 



Bees 'Wintered ;^icely. 



I started last spring with 10 colonies,aud 

 increased them to 30, all of which I will 

 have to commence with this season. They 

 have all wintered nicely, so far. This is a 

 queer year — when we ought to have our 

 spring, we are getting our winter. Last 

 year was the poorest that I ever saw smce 

 keeping bees ; from 80 colonies I got 600 

 pounds of honey. J. H. Scherer. 



Lena, Ills., March 30, 1890. 



HONEY AND BEESWAX MARKET. 



BOSTON, April 9.— 'Wo ijuote: Fancy 1-lbs., 

 IfifflilTc- very little in the market. Iwo-lbs., 

 l.")C. Extracted, 8®9e. No Beeswax on hiind. 

 BLAKE & KIPLEY, 57 Chatham St. 



CHICAGO, April 8.— Comb honey has sold 

 well lately— there is practically none 9n the 

 market, it being taken soon after arrival, if 

 in desirable shape. Consignments that have 

 bung along all winter have been closed out at 

 l'.;@13c. tor good, and 14o. for fancy. Ex- 

 tracted is dull at 6@8c. Beeswax, 27®2Sc. 

 K. A. BUKNETT. 161 S. "Water St. 



MILWAUKEE, April S.-Demand good, and 

 supply fair. "We quote: White 1-lbs., 12(S.l.!c.; 

 very fine 14o.; medium. ll®12c.; dark and 

 old 9®10c. Extracted, white, in barrels and 

 '/. barrels, 7',4®8c.; in tin and kegs, /@8V4c.: 

 dark, in barrels and H barrels, e®d%c. Bees- 

 wax, 23@2e^ ^ BISHOP, 142 W. Water St. 



CHICAGO, April 8.-We quote: White clo- 

 ver in active demand, and receipts find ready 

 slle : 1-lbs., imuc; 2-lhs , 12@1214c. Bas^ 

 wood 1-lbs., 12@13c. Buckwheat 1-lbs., 8® 

 9c Extracted, 6V4@7'/2C. Beeswax — bright, 

 23@26c.; dark, 23@24c. 



S. T. FISH & CO.. 189 S. Water St. 



KANSAS CITY. April 7.-Supply of ;''>'Wte 

 1-lbs is very limited-10,000 or 20,000 lbs. 

 more of fancy comb iu 1-lb. sections would 

 find a market here before the new crop comes. 

 Extracted sells very slowly. We quote: Fancy 

 1-lhs., white, 13c. ; choice 1-lbs., 12c. Fall am- 

 ber I-lbs. and 2-lbs., 9@10c. Choice white 2- 

 Ibs ll®12c. Extracted, white, 7c.; amber, 

 o®ec. No Beeswax iu the market. 

 CLEMONS, CLOON & CO.. 



Cor. ith and Walnut Sts. 



KANSAS CITY. Mo.. April r).-The market, is 

 cleaned up. We quote: 1-lbs. white 12@13c . 

 ■'-lbs white. 10@11. Dark 1-lbs.. 8@10c.: dark 

 "-lbs 8®9c. Extracted, white, 6@6'/.c.; dark, 



^"^ "hTmBlIn i BEARSS. 514 Walnut St. 



DENVER, April 9.— 1-lb. sections, 13®15c.; 

 Extracted, 7®8c. There is suflBcient comb 



Standard Implements. 



1. Should a hive, frame, section, or any 

 apiarian implement be adopted as the 

 stx:uulardi' 



2. If we do, would it not be a waste ot 

 time, money, patience, energy and genius, 

 on the part of the inventor, to give more 

 rigid scrutiny to our industry ? 



3. Would it be the proper proclamation 

 to the world, that we have arrived at the 

 summit of our art, and that we had no 

 further use for the inventor, bee-papers, or 

 conventions? 



K.\t.raeieu, iviyou. j.uv..^ .^ y,"*--,:" „ 



honey to supply the market till the new crop 

 arrives. Beeswax, 22®2.5c. 



J. M. CLARK COM. CO., 1517 Blake St. 



DETROIT, April 10.— Comb honey is selling 

 slowly at!'10®13c. Extracted, 7®8c. Beeswax. 

 scarc-e at 26@2|«; g^j^^. Bell Branch, Mieh. 



CINCINNATI. March 7.— Good demand for 

 extracted honev. especially from manufactu- 

 rers at 5@8c. Comb honey, 12@15c. lor best. 

 Demand fair. , ^ -.^^ .-,- * 



Beeswax is in good demand at20@.nc.toi 

 good to choice yellow. C. F. MUTH & SON, 

 ■ Corner Freeman & Central Aves. 



