T^mm mmimmicMn mmm j@^rkj£il. 



387 



be derived from this metliod are mauy. 

 Much valuable time is saved ; but one 

 set of extracting tools is needed. 



No extracting being done in the 

 apiary, no building is needed except 

 an open shed with a roof to protect 

 from rain or sun. A lawn tent has 

 served my purpose well, and I have 

 mostly dispensed with shelter of all 

 kinds. No robbing is started, as is 

 often the case where the extractor is 

 used, and time taken sufficient to take 

 combs from the hive, extract and re- 

 turn them, as is usually practiced. 



Bedford, Ohio. 



COlVVEIVTIOiy DIRECTORY. 



1890. Time and place of meeting. 



July 17.— Carolina, at Cbarlotte, N. C. 



N. P.i.yles, Sec, Derita N. C. 



Sept. 10.— Ionia County, at Ionia, Mich. 



H. Smitli. Sec. Ionia, Mich. 



Oct. 29-31.— International American, at Keokuk, la. 

 C. P. Dad,ant, sec, Hamilton, Ills. 



Oct.— Missouri State, at Mexico. Mo. 



J. TV. Rouse. Sec, Santa Fe, Mo. 



In order to have this table complete. 

 Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the place of 

 each future meeting. — The Editor. 



International Bee-Association. 



President— Hon. R. L. Taylor.. Lapeer, Mich. 

 Secret.iry— C. P. Dadant Hamilton, Ills. 



ITational Bee-Keepers' Union. 



President— James Heddon ..Dowagiac, Mich. 

 SEC'y. AND Man.iger— T. G. Newmau, Chicago. 







Season 2Vot Eiicoiirasi";.- 



The season here is not now encouraging. 

 Bees went through the winter well, but the 

 elements are against us just now. What 

 may come, remains to be seen. For myself, 

 I still am troubled with rheumatism, and 

 expect to be so troubled always, /jfe-s(i?i(;.s 

 as a remedy notwithstanding. Allow me 

 to congratulate the American Bee Journal, 

 which is still prospering and growing more 

 prosperous. As a bee-periodical it is still 

 ahead ; its motto might well be Dlrigo — the 

 Director. J. E, Pond. 



North Attleboro, Mass., May 26, 1890. 



Movin;; Itees on a. River. 



The bees were located on the bank, and 

 all prepared to close the entrance at dark. 

 Four siuiill row-boats were all ready, the 

 hive-entrances closed, and all on board by 

 9 p.m.. and all floated out into the stream. 

 There were 40 strong colonies, and were 

 moved 15 miles I'iff the river to their new 

 location. All were put ashore, and on the 

 stands about 100 feet from the river bank; 

 all done and the entrances opened as the 

 sun's ra3's in the morning began to appear. 

 They were all safe without a mishap or a 

 broken comb, and the bees were out in 

 their new fields without the loss of one hour 

 to them, for they were returning to their 

 hives laden with honey and pollen before 

 the sun was half an hour high. 



This method of moving bees, to estaVilish 

 out apiaries along the rivers would be, I 

 think, far the better method when so situ- 

 ated to avail of this way of moving them; 

 and the best fields are most usually found 

 along the streams. The expense is very 

 light ; a small, flat lighter costing but a few 

 dollars, will carry .50 colonies, and all their 

 fixtures. 



There are thousands of locations in the 

 United States that could be used in this 

 way, and made useful, and cheaply avail- 

 able tor this out apiary work. Try it, some 

 of you who contemplate the production of 

 honey as a specialty, for you must take 

 your bees to the fields if you hope for suc- 

 cess. John Cray<'Raft. 



Astor, Fla., May 34, 1890. 



Honey Prospects in Knsriand. 



Bees have wintered well here in England, 

 and are in good condition tor the coming 

 season. The weather could not be better. 

 We are looking for a good honey season, 

 and I hope you in America will have the 

 same. , W. T. Crawshaw. 



Welwyn, Herts, England, May 5, 1890. 



Creating^ a Oemand Ibr Honey. 



The Honey Almanac is upon my desk. I 

 find it just the thing to create a demand for 

 honey. Every bee-keeper should obtain a 

 number of copies to distribute among cus- 

 tomers. It is just the right size to be car- 

 ried in the pocket. It contains a number 

 of valuable recipes, and many fine illustra- 

 tions. J, M. Young. 



Plattsmouth, Nebr., May 27, 1890; 



Cold and liVindy. 



For the past three weeks it has been rain, 

 rain, cold and windy all the time. This, 

 together with honey-dew for winter stores, 

 has brought the bees down to remnants of 

 colonies all through this section. We had 

 a flood here yesterday. 



The new edition of your book, " Bees and 

 Honey," came to hand last week. You 

 may well be proud of it. It is like all of 

 your work — of the highest class. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., May 31, 1890. 



<jrood Prospects. 



Bees are working well. Prospects for a 

 big honey crop are now favorable. I only 

 lost one colony out of forty, wintering in 

 the cellar. We work here mostly for comb 

 honey — people are prejudiced against ex- 

 tracted honey, and would rather pay 16 

 cents for the comb honey than 10 cents for 

 the extracted. Folks generally do not 

 know everything about the sweets. 



W. S. Narding. 



Mason City, Iowa, May 26, 1890. 



Puttin;; Bees in too Early. 



Perhaps some will remember my letter 

 on page 204, in reply to remarks of Dr. C. 

 C. Miller, in which he said that he had 

 never known of anybody having put their 

 bees into winter quarters too early, and, if 

 there was such an one, he would like to 

 hear from him. My reply was that I be- 

 lieved I was that "one," as my bees were 

 in bad condition, and I did not, at that 

 time, think that halt my colonies would 

 live until spring. Now I write this to " take 

 it all back," as every colony of my 33 

 lived through, and are doing nicely at 

 present — not having dwindled any to speak 

 of. I do not know how to account for it. 



unless the bees were breeding all winter,, 

 and came out strong in young bees. I ask 

 Dr. Miller's pardon, and will try to remem- 

 ber that children (in bee-keeping) may be 

 " seen," but should not be "heard" very 

 much— only to ask questions. 



Bees have commenced swarming, and all 

 are building up very fast. White clover is 

 all right, and the prospect is exceedingly- 

 good. S. H. Herrk k. 



Kockford, Uls., May 24, 1890. 



Heavy Loss in ^Vinter, etc. 



Bees are working lively upon fruit-blooia 

 this morning. There has been a great loss 

 of bees in this part of New York by spring 

 dwindling ; I think that it is sate to put the 

 loss at 50 per cent., and there are many 

 weak colonies. The weather has been cold 

 and very wet ; farmers are blue, as well as 

 bee keepers, and not much has been done- 

 toward getting seed into the ground. 

 There i^ a fine prospect for white clover, 

 and we hope to soon have weather that will 

 enable us to go forward with our work. 



I am pleased with the weekly visits of the- 

 Bee Journal, and I am sure that its stan- 

 dard of excellence will progress in the 

 future as in the past. John H. Martin. 



Hartford, N. Y., May 20, 1890. 



Colonies Strong; in Bees. 



We have had a great deal of rainy 

 weather during apple-blossom time, so that 

 the bees could work only a part of the time ; 

 but I never saw them stronger in bees at 

 this time of the year, though light in stores. 

 The prospect tor white clover is good. I 

 started into the winter with 38 colonies, 

 and lost 4 by starvation, and one by being 

 queenless, which leaves 33, allot which are 

 in good condition excepting one, that 

 nearly starved during a long wet spell. I 

 do not have time to give my bees the at- 

 tention that I would like,as I do all my ow-n. 

 work on a 55-acro farm. 



C. A. Wright. 



Little Prairie Ronde, Mich., May 25. 



Liosses of Bees in Winteriujs:. 



My bees seem to be doing well so far ; 

 drones have been flying strong for some 

 time, but the weather has been cold and 

 backward, and rather dry. The early fruit- 

 blossoms were frost-bitten, but the late 

 fruit seems to be all right yet. I look for 

 early swarms and lots of honey. All the 

 bee-men that I have heard from lost a few 

 colonies during the winter, or this spring. 

 One man — a good bee-man — who had one of 

 the largest apiaries here, lost over 100 

 colonies of bees last winter, by having 

 them buried in the ground without venti- 

 lation enough. I wintered my bees in the- 

 cellar, and some were late swarms of last 

 year — as late as Aug. 22 — and I did not 

 lose a colony. Ira N. Ltman. 



St. Peter, Nebr., May 22, 1890. 



Bee-Keeping; in I>ouisiana. 



Our honey crop for this season (1889> 

 will, I do believe, fall short by more than 

 one-half of what it was last year, and I 

 think that it will reach but about one-fourth 

 of last year's yield. The cause of the 

 shortage is due to the freeze which visited 

 our section of country about March 2 and 

 3, 1890. The cold wave was so severe 

 that the live-oak trees which were in 

 bloom, also the willow, orange, plum, 

 blackberry, cherry, peach, etc., and clover, 

 which was also beginning to put upon itself 

 its snowy whiteness, had to succumb to the 

 frost and ice. Hardly had a week passed 



