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honey. Then I sell all I produce at home, 

 at from 13 to 15 cents, while comb honey 

 is slow sale at 20 cents a section, which 

 seldom weighs a pound, and for this rea- 

 son I induce my customers to buy 'the ex- 

 tracted, showing them that they get full 

 weight, while with comb honey they get 

 only 14 to 15 ounces, including comb, box 

 and all. At this time I have only about 

 250 pounds left. Last season I sold all I 

 had, and had to send to Iowa to get some 

 for the trade ; it was beautiful white 

 clover honey, but was put up in a burnt- 

 out whisky barrel, and it candied, and cus- 

 tomers were afraid it was sugar, lard, or 

 something else, but when they tested it, 

 they invariably took some, and it was soon 

 gone. Bees are all in good condition for 

 winter, and are wintered in all ways — in 

 chaff hives, out-doors, and also some Sim- 

 plicitj' hives ; then others in cellars ; but 

 for this latitude I prefer the cellar for win- 

 tering. There is scarcely any honey on the 

 mark^, of any kind. I seldom place any 

 of mine on sale in stores, only on special 

 orders, and allow none sold for less than 15 

 cents per pound. This season I use the one 

 quart Mason jars. R. R. Ryan. 



Bradshaw, Nebr., Oct. 11, 1890. 



had both the past summer, but not at the 

 same time ; hence our short honey-flow 

 came, not when the air dried off and before 

 the earth also became dry and hard. There 

 is no late honey here, although the bees 

 worked very late. Some have not enough 

 for winter. 



Taking Mr. Dadant's advice, I experi- 

 mented somewhat with large hives this 

 summer, and though the season was not 

 favorable for the experiment, still I think 

 they will prove a success. I winter my 

 bees in the cellar, and have had no loss, ex- 

 cept one colony, and that was caused by a 

 mouse. 



I think that Prof. Cook will have to 

 admit, some day, that bees do " boil 

 down" the contents of their honey-sacs 

 ''on the fly," whenever necessary. 



J. H. Stark. 



Waukon, Iowa, Oct. 10, 1890. 



is to be sown and harrowed in, providing 

 the ground is clean. 



I commenced the season of 1890 with 40 

 colonies of bees in good condition, increased 

 them to 55 full colonies, and doubled back 

 to 50 colonies. I took off 150 pounds of 

 comb honey, and fed 160 pounds of granu- 

 lated sugar syrup. About half of the colo- 

 nies gathered enough natural stores to 

 winter on, and the other half I fed each 

 from 3 to 18 pounds of syrup. My neigh- 

 bors often ask me why the bees did so 

 poorly this season. The best answer that 

 I can give, is that the flowers furnished no 

 nectar worth speaking of. To sum the 

 business up, it is just a little discouraging, 

 but as I have about S300 in bees and hives, 

 I will stick to bee-keeping until I find just 

 what there is in it by experience, before I 

 drop it. C. A. Bunch. 



Nye, Ind., Oct. 13, 1890. 



Past X«"o Seassons" Re!«iill!!j. 



I commenced the season of 1889 with 71 

 colonies of bees in fair condition, Imt the 

 latter part of May and first part of June 

 about half of the colouies dwindled down 

 to one quart, and some to about one hand- 

 ful of bees. But just as soon as warm 

 weather began, they recruited right up. I 

 worked 18 colonies for comb honey, and 

 53 for extracted, and secured 1,723 pounds 

 of comb honey, and 8,635 pounds of ex- 

 tracted, beside 90 Langstroth frames of 

 good, sealed honey. 



In the spring of 1890 I took out of the 

 cellar 90 colonies alive, which were put 

 into the cellar Nov. 19,1889. By doub- 

 ling up, on account of queenlessness and 

 spring dwindling, I had 75 colonies left. 

 I worked 83 colonies for comb honey, and 

 52 for extracted, and obtained 79 pounds 

 of comb honey, and 1,100 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey, and increased them, by 

 natural swarming, to 91 colonies, and each 

 colony has from 25 to 40 pounds of good 

 honey to carry them through the winter. 

 , This was the poorest season we have had 

 here since I commenced keeping bees in 

 1866. Wm. Seitz. 



Hustisford, Wis., Oct. 6, 1890. 



Untavoi-able Season tor Uees. 



The bees did not get much honey the past 

 season on account of the dry weather, and 

 now, while they might be getting a fall 

 crop, it rains all the time. Honey sells for 

 12i.< cents per pound here. 



B. E. Brown. 



Prairie du Chien, Wis., Oct. 12, 1890. 



Sea»>on's Kesiiilts Tvilli Itees. 



During the present season I obtained 85 

 gallons of extracted honey, and 580 

 pounds of comb honey from 23 colonies in 

 the spring, besides increasing them to 43 

 colonies. The honey is all sold except 60 

 pounds of comb honey. The extracted sold 

 at 75 cents per gallon, and comb honey at 

 12' r cents per pound. John D.wis. 



Birds, Ills., Oct. 11, 1890. 



Honey Crop in lotva. 



The honey crop here, as elsewhere, was 

 almost an entire failure. There is no comb 

 honey, and very little extracted ; still, by 

 careful management, I secured 42 gallons 

 of extracted honey from 3 colonies, spring 

 count, and 2 colonies increase by dividing. 

 The honey is the finest I have ever had or 

 seen. Last year 5 colonies, spring count, 

 produced 130 gallons of extracted honey, 

 and 1 2 natural swarms. This county is 

 certainly very rich in honey, being high 

 and dry, and large pastures. This year 

 flowers were as abundant as ever, and the 

 weather was favorable enough most of the 

 time in July and August for bees to be out 

 and at work, but there was no honey. In 

 the forepart of the season the air was too 

 damp ; in the latter part, the ground was 

 too dry. At first, not enough sap would 

 evaporate to leave a large residue of nec- 

 tar, and later on not enough sap would 

 circulate. I do not believe, as so often 

 stated, that heat consumes any nectar in 

 the flowers, nor do flowers ever contain 

 nectar before they open. A moist soil and 

 dry, warm air are the most favorable con- 

 ditions for producing a honey-flow. We 



Results of the Past Season. 



I started in the spring of 1890 with 40 

 colonies, all in good condition. The spring 

 opened well, and the prospects were good 

 in April, but May was cold and windy, 

 June was too wet, and July was a total 

 failure. August was the month for winter 

 stores. My bees are in good condition for 

 winter — better than I expected they would 

 be. I had 14 swarms from 40 colonies ; I 

 divided 3 colonies, and that made 57 colo- 

 nies in all. I obtained only 222 pounds of 

 honey this year from 57 colonies. Those 

 that winter there bees this winter will 

 make something next year. This year will 

 wipe out the fogy bee-keepers. My last 

 year's crop was 1,500 pounds from 43 

 colonies. C. A. Goodell. 



Mankato, Minn., Oct. 8, 1890. 



Ilnntins: IVild Uees. 



Take good honey and a glass tumbler ; 

 go to where the bees work on the flowers, 

 capture one in the tumbler, and cut a thin 

 slice of honey, which lay on a strip of 

 board or flat stone. Now turn the tumbler 

 upside down, over the honey with the bee 

 in. Place your hat over the tumbler until 

 the bee is at work at the honey, then take 

 the hat and tumbler away quietly, so as 

 not to excite the bee ; wait until the first 

 bee has filled herself. If the tree is not 

 over one mile away, the bees will return in 

 20 minutes, if not windy. When the bees 

 begin to come in numbers, then mix the 

 honey with water, but not too thin. If the 

 tree is not more than I4 of a mile away, 

 the bees will return in 10 or 12 minutes, 

 so you can know how far away to hunt. If 

 two miles away, the bees will stay over an 

 hour, if they return at all. I have tested 

 this plan thoroughly. D. D. Johnson. 

 Summit Mills, Pa. 



Japanese Hucb wheat, etc. 



I had the Japanese and common buck- 

 wheat growing side by side, and found the 

 bees working just the same on one kind as 

 on the other. On marsh land, here on my 

 place, the Japanese buckwheat stood up 

 nice and straight, while .the common was 

 badly lodged. I shall keep the Japanese 

 only for seed next year. 



In this part of the country buckwheat is 

 not generally considered a paying crop, 

 but I have found it otherwise. For profit 

 the ground must be well plowed with a 

 breaking plow ; next, well harrowed, and 

 sown from ^.: to ",' bushel per acre. The 

 ground should have the same culture that 

 a thrifty farmer would give wheat ground, 

 and sown about June 20. If these rules 

 are complied with, there will not be so 

 many disgusted with growing it. Corn- 

 fields that have been destroyed with wii-e- 

 worms, are best for the crop— only the seed 



My Experience in Bee-Keeping. 



I bought 5 colonies of bees one year ago 

 in August, and made boxes for wintering 8 

 inches larger than the hive, almost water- 

 proof. In the front I had an opening for 

 the bees to get out, and in the space around 

 the hive I put clover chaff. In March I fed 

 the bees 35 pounds of granulated sugar 

 syrup, right on top of the brood-combs, re- 

 moving the pillow, and packed with rags. 

 By the middle of May the hives were run- 

 ning over with bees, so that I hardly kne%v 

 what to do. Soon the apple bloom came, 

 and the wet and cold weather set in— poor 

 little bees, how hard they seemed to work, 

 but all in vain. They got some honey, then 

 they commenced to swarm in June. I had 

 5 swarms, which I secured, and one went 

 to the woods. I got 80 pounds of comb 

 honey from clover. The 5 colonies have a 

 nice lot of honey for winter— one has 18 

 Langstroth frames full. The old colonies 

 are in good condition for winter, already 

 packed as stated before. Jacob Moore. 

 Ionia, Mich., Oct. 13, 1890. 



All Who Subscribe for the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal can hereafter have our 

 Illustrated Home Journal also, from the 

 time their subscriptions are received to 

 Jan. 1. 1892— both papers for only Sil. 35. 

 We can also furnish Oleaninrjs in Bec- 

 CulUire for same time with the above, for 

 $3.15 for all three periodicals This is an 

 offer that should be accepted by all who 

 keep bees, and desire the regular visits of 

 these standard publications— all three pe 

 riodicals from now to Jan. 1, 1892, for the 

 price named. 



