332 



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Colonies Swarmins Out. 



I have been keeping bees for 8 years. In 

 the autumn of 1888, I had 50 colonies, 

 which I put into a house cellar, as usual. 

 Towards spring they got very uneasy, and 

 a great many left the hives, so I took them 

 out quite early in the spring, when I noticed 

 that the comb was somewhat moldy. The 

 first warm day following, 32 colonies of 

 them swarmed out, and all clustered on 

 one bunch on a fence-post, and several 

 others left their hives to join in with 

 another. All effort to separate them from 

 the post, to put them back into their hives, 

 or into some other, was in vaiu, for they 

 would come out the same as before, to 

 remain there and perish during the cold 

 night. Have any readers of the Bee Joru- 

 NAL had a like trouble ? Will some of the 

 bee-specialists give advice through the Bee 

 JovKNAL, as to what I should have done to 

 save the bees '. O. D. Heuking. 



St. Michael, Minn., April 29, 1890. 



Flatleriiis: Prospects. 



Bees wintered well in this locality. Mine 

 wintered in the bee-house without loss, 

 although 2 colonies were weak, which I 

 united. Yesterday I noticed drones flying, 

 and on opening the hives I found, to my 

 surprise, that some colonies had new queen- 

 cells ready for the queen to deposit her 

 eggs. I look for some early swarms. Just 

 now the bees are working on the cherry 

 and apple blossoms, and if the weather 

 continues favorable, the bees will make 

 things lively in the apiary. A few days 

 more, and Nature will be clothed in her 

 best. Everything looks very flattering for 

 a good honey year. 



Just now I am employed in painting my 

 new beehives; when completed, they will 

 be "dandies." They are two-story Sim- 

 plicity hives, painted white, with the ends 

 of the covers painted scarlet, and the front 

 and rear sides of the brood -chamber painted 

 light blue, the second story remaining 

 white. This gives the hive the national 

 colors — red, white and blue, on the front 

 and rear sides, and when placed in the 

 apiary, gives it a very fine appearance. 



I am contemplating sowing some Japa- 

 nese buckwheat, and as 1 have never raised 

 any buckwheat, I would like to ask the 

 experienced through the Bee Joukxal, 

 ho%v much they sow to the acre, and when 

 is the best time to sow it, both for harvest 

 and for honey. Will some one who is suc- 

 cessful, please answer through the Bee 

 Journal ? Geo. Fret. 



Genesee, Uls., May 1, 1890. 



still I always keep a little on hand to fall 

 back on, should I ueed it. I shall work 

 mostly for extracted honey, as I can sell 

 so much more of it. I sell mostly at 10 

 cents per pound I just take a barrel in 

 the wagon, and stop at every house, and 

 soon dispose of a barrel of honey at that 

 price. Then I always have the honey ripe 

 when selling it, and guarantee it to be 

 good, and pure honey. I have principally 

 the Italian bees, though my best honey- 

 gatherers are hybrids. One colony stored 

 250 pounds of surplus honey last season. 



In regard to the Carniolan bees, I have 

 failed to see their good qualities as yet. 

 The first queen that I had, proved to be a 

 drone-layer; this the dealer generously 

 replaced with another, but I hardly think 

 it is pure, as a good many bees in the hive 

 resemble the Italians, still most of them 

 are black or gray banded, but they are not 

 half so docile to handle as the Italians ; and 

 when I lift the cover or cloth, they are all 

 astir, and I have failed to ever look at 

 them, or remove a frame from the hive, and 

 not get stung. They remind me of a 

 hornet— they make a bee-line for the face 

 and eyes, and are generally "sure shot." 

 For my part, I like the albino strain of the 

 Italians. I expect a fair crop of honey this 



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BUSINESS MANAGER. 

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year 



R. R. Ryan. 



Bradshaw, Nebr., May 1, 1890. 



Bees Have'.IViiiterecl Well. 



Bees have wintered well, as far as I have 

 heard. I lost but one colony, and that was 

 a late swarm. There was but very little 

 surplus taken here, as there was no bass- 

 wood bloom, and white clover did not seem 

 to secrete much nectar ; but the bees gath- 

 ered enough from golden-rod to winter on. 



R. A. RUMMEL. 



Butler, Ind., May 1, 1890. 



lusiucss Sloticcs. 



__ Subscribers who do not receive their 

 papers promptly, should notify us at once. 



Money in Potatoes, by Mr. Joseph 

 Greiner. Price, 25 cents, postpaid. For sale 

 at this office. 



1^" Send us one 3iEW subscriber, with 

 *1.00, and we will present you with a nice 

 Pocket Dictionary. 



Jt^" Red Labels are nice for Pails which 

 hold from 1 to 10 lbs. of honey. Price SI. 00 

 per hundred, with name and address printed. 

 Sample free. 



^W" Calvert's No. 1 Phenol, mentioned in 

 Cheshire's Pamphlet on pages 16 and 17, as 

 a cure for foul brood, can be procured at 

 this office at 25 cents per ounce, by express. 



rWebraska Hee-Keepin;;. 



For the past month, bees have been doing 

 finely. I began the winter with 97 colonies 

 in good condition, on the summer stands, 

 in Langstroth hives, and lost 10 during the 

 winter and spring, caused by too early 

 breeding in the warm weather in January, 

 which con.sumed a great deal of honey; 

 then it turned cold, and bees starved for 

 want of food in reach of them. Just now 

 they are, and for the past week have been, 

 booming on wild plums and cherries. Goose- 

 berries and strawberries will soon be out 

 for them; the apple trees are also covered 

 with tine bloom, and prospects are good 

 for a crop of nice fruit of all kinds, and the 

 way the farmers are improving the time in 

 spring work, looks fair for large crops the 

 coming season ; but just now we need rain 

 badly, which would also improve the honey- 

 yield. Mr. E. A. Wells reports the first 

 swarm of bees in April, for this locality. 



I have been able to dispose of all of my 

 honey in my home market, and more, too, 

 for I had to buy to sui)ply the demand ; 



Favorable ^Veatlier for Bees. 



On Nov. 26, 1889, we put 113 colonies of 

 bees into the cellar, and it was very mild 

 and warm all winter, the temperature hav- 

 ing been the highest that we ever saw, and 

 we feared bad results; but we removed 109 

 colonies on April 12, and they are the 

 strongest and the most even colonies that 

 w-e ever had. On May 1 there were some 

 spotted hives, but not to any extent, and 

 not any since their removal from the cellar. 

 So far the weather has been quite favor- 

 able for them, and they are at work on 

 soft maples, willows and dandelions, and 

 they seem to be as far advanced as at the 

 first of June last spring. It promises a 

 good honey season now. White clover 

 looks well, and there is an abundance of 

 AJsike sowed by the farmers here, and we 

 hope for good results from our bees this 

 season; at any rate, we will take our 

 chances with the farmers. So far it has 

 been wet here, and some are predicting a 

 drouth later. I would like to hear from 

 more bee-keepers who winter their bees in 

 cellars. Mus. Emma Hulett. 



South Dayton, N. Y., May 5, 1890. 



Convention Notices. 



jy The Darke Co. Union Bee-Keepers' Society, 

 will hold a basket meeting on the Fair Grminda at 

 Greenville, Ohio, on Saturday, May 17, 189o. 



J. A. Roe, Sec. 



t^~ The next meeting of the Carolina Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will be held in Ch.>irlottc, N. C, on 

 Thursday, July 17, 1S9". N. 1». Lyles, Sec. 



tW The spring meeting of the Northern Illinois 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, will meet at the residence 

 of D. A. Fuller, in Cherry Valley, Ills., on May 20th. 

 Iggij D. A. FULLER, Sec. 



Clubs of 5 for $4.00 to any addresses. 

 Ten for S7.50, if all are sent at one time. 



The date on the wrapper-label of this 

 paper indicates the end of the month to 

 which you have paid. If that is past, please 

 send us a dollar to advance that date another 

 year. 



U^" Please send us the names of your 

 neighbors who keep bees, and we will send 

 them sample copies of the Bee Journal. 

 Then please call upon them and get them to 

 subscribe with you. 



d^" Any of the Political Dollar Weekly 

 Newspapers will be clubbed with our Jour- 

 nal at $1.85 for the two; or with both our 

 Home Journal and Bee Journal for $2.50 

 for all three papers. 



Jt^~ As there is another firm of "Newman 

 & Son" in this city, our letters sometimes 

 get mixed. Please write American Bee 

 foximal on the corner of your envelopes to 

 save confusion and delay. 



^" Systematic work in the Apiary will 

 pay. Use the Apiary Register. Its cost is 

 trifling. Prices : 



For 50 colonies (120 pages) $100 



•• 100 colonies (220 pag-es) 1 2o 



■' 200 colonies (420 pages) 1 50 



IfW When talking about Bees to your 

 friend or neighbor, you will oblige us by 

 commending the Bee Journal to him, and 

 taking his subscription to send with your 

 renewal . For this work we will present you 

 with a copy of the Convention Hand Book, 

 by mail, postpaid. It sells at 50 cents. 



m^" We offer the Monthly Philadelphia 

 Farm Journal, and either the American 

 Bee Journal or Illustrated Home Jour- 

 nal for one year, for the small sum of $1.80. 

 Or, we will (live it free for one year tp any 

 one who will send us one new subscriber for 

 either of our Journals with $1.00 (the sub- 

 scription price) . 



