XMIR MBfiKKICKH mMM JO>Wmf€RI^. 



371 



that bees have done but very little. Today 

 it snowed hard for about 2 hours, with the 

 mercury at 34 degrees. I have a theoi*y 

 for the heavy loss in bees, but of course I 

 do not know that I am correct. Last sea- 

 son was very dry, so that after basswood, 

 bees did not store any houey worth speak- 

 ing of, consequently the queens must have 

 ceased laying early, and a great many of 

 the bees died of old age, and I think that 

 the honey was poisonous to them. Our 

 prospect for white clover is very poor, and 

 we do not look for much basswood, as the 

 past two seasons have been good ; however, 

 the bee-business is a hopeful one, and we 

 will continue to trust, and hope for the 

 best. J. S. MolNTiRE. 



Maple Plain, Minn., May 7, 1890. 



Sowin;; Japanese Uiickfvheat. 



On page 332, Geo. Prey asks a question 

 about Japanese buckwheat. I would say 

 that in this locality I aim to sow buckwheat 

 about June 15. Last season I sowed 3 

 bushels of Japanese buckwheat on 5 acres, 

 on June 17, from which I threshed 150 

 bushels of clean seed. I had 11 pounds of 

 seed extra, which I sowed later at intervals, 

 on the roadside, some of which was sown 

 on July 17, and nearly all ripened. From 

 the 11 pounds sowed, I got 10 bushels. 



E. C. Eaglesfield. 



Berlin, Wis., May 16, 1890. 



Prospects Oood tor a <'rop. 



Our colonies are all strong, but it is so 

 wet that they cannot gather much honey, 

 or anything else. I have 26 colonies ; had 

 a swarm yesterday, and if we get some 

 warm, fine weather, I will have several 

 more swarms soon. I only lost one colony 

 out of 27, having wintered them in chaff 

 hives. The prospects are good for a honey 

 crop this year. J. A. Barnes. 



Pardee, Pa., May 19, 1890. 



L,ate Swarming Expected. 



My bees have wintered well— I lost but 2 

 small colonies out of 46. They began to 

 build up quite early, but of late we have 

 had so much rain and cold weather that 

 they are nearly idle. Apple trees are not 

 yet in bloom here, and swarming will be 

 very late, I think. John K. Rich. 



Cato, N. Y., May 20, 1890. 



fVet and Cold Weatlicr. 



My bees have just commenced to work 

 on apple bloom. I had to feed them 

 from April 26 until May 15. Early breed- 

 ing run them out of stores. They did not 

 get to work more than one day on fruit- 

 bloom, on account of wet and cold weather. 

 It is still raining here. The meadows and 

 pastures are getting white with clover. If 

 the weather would be favorable, I think 

 that the bees would soon store lots of 

 honey. They will be very late swarming 

 this season. Joseph A. Weeks. 



Young's Creek, Ind., May 19, 1890. 



Discouraging Prospects. 



My bees wintered splendidly, but as the 

 spring has been so cold and dry, so that 

 they could not gather much honey, they 

 have to be fed, at least some of them, and 

 now, as the white clover is coming into 

 bloom, I hope that they will gather a little 

 honey ; but it looks very discouraging, as 

 last night we had a hard frost, and it is so 

 very dry. John Haskins. 



Empire Prairie, Mo., May 16, 1890. 



fVhite Clover Just llloomin;;. 



Bees are doing better here than ever 

 before at this time of the year. The hives 

 are full of apple and wild-plum honey. 

 Young bees and drones are flying thick, 

 and white clover is just coming into bloom. 

 G. W. Wilcox. 



Hopkins, Mo., May 14, 1890. 



The Season''s First Swarm. 



I had my first swarm for this season on 

 Friday, May 9. The swarm issued during 

 my absence, and either absconded or re- 

 turned. However, I had a swarm. 



Will M. Baknum. 



Angelica, N. Y., May 12, 1890. 



Puttin;; on tlie Supers. 



I stored 35 colonies of bees in the cellar 

 last fall, and they came out in fine condi- 

 tion this spring, except one colony, in 

 which the queen had died. The spring has 

 been rather cold, and very dry, and the 

 bees have done well, the hives being well 

 filled with brood, and drones are flying, so 

 I will look for swarms soon. When is the 

 proper time to put on the supers ? 



Samuel Law. 



Winterset, Iowa, May 13, 1890. 



[Put on the supers as soon as the bees are 

 numerous enough to gather the harvest, 

 and the honey-flow has commenced. — Ed.] 



Cool Weather— Results in I8S9. 



I commenced with 15 colonies, spring 

 count, in 1889, increased my apiary, by 

 natural swarming, to 50 colonies, and had 

 2,000 pounds of honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions. I wintered the bees on the summer 

 stands, and now have 48 colonies, 2 having 

 died. Both of the colonies were lost last 

 fall, when I found them to be queenless. 

 My bees are doing well. I think that I will 

 have swarms by the 20th, if it does not 

 keep too cool. The weather is very cool at 

 present, for this time of year. It snowed 

 some to day. C. W. B.4Ker. 



Martinsville, Mo., May 6, '1890. 



Raininjs; IVearly Halt' tlte Xime. 



I put 83 colonies into the cellar last fall, 

 and took them all out this spring in very 

 good condition. They are doing very good 

 work at present, considering the chance 

 they have to move, as it rains nearly half 

 the time here, or has done so for the last 2 

 or 3 weeks. The prospect is very fine for a 

 large crop of small fruit, and that means 

 honey also, as well as berries. 



Wm. A. Hodge. 



Victory, Wis., May 23, 1890. 



Bees Oying: *'ery Fast. 



In March, two colonies of my bees com- 

 menced dying. The oldest bees died first. 

 It commenced in a colony reared from a 

 queen that I received from an Ohio queen- 

 breeder last July. The bees turn a dark, 

 shiny color, and before they di&, the bees 

 haul them out of the hive. They are very 

 much swollen, and are filled with a clear, 

 watery substance, like very thin honey. 

 The drones go the same way, and, I think, 

 one queen. After the bees are pulled out, 

 they keep still, except occasionally they 

 jerk their wings as if alarmed ; 2 colonies 

 are nearly all gone. I have examined the 

 brood carefully in all stages, and find noth- 

 ing wrong with it ; 2 of the colonies (there 

 are 4 dying) are rearing brood about as 

 fast as they are dying. All were strong 



colonies. After a night when the tempera.- 

 ture is as low as 50 degrees, they die faster; 

 some days, as much as half a pint die. Ail 

 the colonies gather honey as fast as the 

 number not afl'ected would do in a healthy 

 colony. No young bees die. The afl'ected 

 colonies are in different parts of the apiary 

 of 42 colonies. Some days, scarcely any 

 die, and then for several days they die very 

 fast. Except the 4 sick ones, my bees are 

 doing well. I think that tbere was not a 

 day last winter tbat they did not gather 

 honey and pollen. Now, what is the matter 

 with my bees 1 and what is the remedy* 

 A neighbor has one colony affected in the 

 same way. 



P. S.— May 13—1 have looked over ray 4 

 colonies of sick bees ; 2 of them, I think, 

 have lost a quart of bees each, in the last 

 24 hours ; the other 2 have only about a^ 

 quart each left. I see no cause why they 

 should die. 



P. W. McFatridge. 



Ontario, Calif., May 12, 1890. 



Wintered YVell— but Starring'. 



Bees wintered well, but consumed a good 

 deal of honey. There were a very few 

 weeks but they were out for a flight during 

 the winter, as it was a very mild one here. 

 Our first honey for the bees was from the 

 yellow willow ; it started them to breeding 

 nicely, and I thought that they would be 

 in good condition to gather the main crop, 

 which is from white clover. The weather 

 was cold and wet for about two weeks, and 

 the bees obtained nothing from fruit-bloom^ 

 they had consumed all their willow honey, 

 and were in a starving condition before I 

 discovered their real state. They were 

 killing the drones and uncapping the brood. 

 I began to feed them immediatel}'. I find, 

 by inquiry, that there are a great many 

 bees starving in this neighborhood. I had 

 45 colonies, fall count, but doubled-up to- 

 35 this spring. I am also working 25 col- 

 onies for my neighbor for part of the honey .- 

 J. G. Creighton. 



Preston, O., May 18, 1890. 



Xlie Results of Liast Season. 



Bees have wintered well in this locality. 

 It has been a very open winter, and there 

 has not been snow enough to make good 

 sleighing. The past winter bees could fly 

 most of the time when it did not rain and 

 the sun shone. I started on May 1, 1889, 

 with 24 colonies; I sold over 1.500 pounds- 

 of honey, and increased to 52 colonies. 

 About one third of the honey was clover 

 and linden, and the balance buckwheat and 

 corn. Clover honey is sold for 15 cents per 

 pound; buckwheat for 10 and 12 cents per 

 pound. I lost only 2 colonies, one of which 

 was queenless, and the other was robbed. 

 It has been very wet this spring. It is 

 raining now, and there is scarcely any 

 grain sown here yet. Bees are carrying in 

 pollen when it does not rain, and drones- 

 are running about the entrances of the 

 hives. There is a good prospect for white 

 clover, if frost does not injure it later on. 

 I learn more out of the Bee Joikxal each 

 week, by reading the experiences of others, 

 than I could in . one year by doing without 

 it. E. A. Henderson. 



Greenfield, Pa. May 13, 1890. 



Uood Prospects tor While Clo-ver- 



We are having cold weather and frosts at 

 night. Bees are in fine condition. I had 

 my first swarm to-day ; who, in Iowa, can 

 beat this ! The prospects for white clover 

 are very good this year. 



N. Staixinger. 



Tipton, Iowa, May 17, 1890. 



