AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



119 



No Honey from Clover Last Year. 



Our loss last Winter was one-third, so 

 we started in the Spring with 50 colo- 

 nies, good and weak. Now we have 57 

 colonies in the cellar in fair condition 

 for Winter, providing their stores are 

 good enough to live on, of which I am 

 somewhat fearful. They gave us 150 

 pounds of comb-honey, 25 pounds being 

 very dark; 500 pounds of extracted, 

 mostly dark. The latter I sold at the 

 bakery at T cents per pound, and the 

 comb-honey at 8 and 123^ cents. The 

 cause of our honey crop failure was on 

 account of no nectar being secreted in 

 the clover, and very little in other 

 flowers. The honey-dew saved the bees 

 from starving, but it may kill them in 

 wintering. I must have the Bee Jour- 

 nal whether the bees die or not. 



S. J. Church. 



Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jan. 7, 1892. 



Three Consecutive Dry Seasons. 



In the Fall of 1890 I placed 143 col- 

 onies of bees (nearly all Italians) in the 

 bee-cellar ; they wintered fairly well, 

 but I lost some that were light in stores. 

 I doubled up the hybrids with the Ital- 

 ians, and began the season with 100 

 Italian colonies, inci-eased them to 165, 

 and secured 25 pounds of comb-honey, 

 and about 700 pounds of extracted. 

 This is almost nothing by way of get- 

 ting honey, and certainly is discourag- 

 ing, but owing to three consecutive dry 

 and very unfavorable seasons in this 

 locality, we have had very light crops of 

 honey. I placed 150 colonies in the 

 cellar this Fall, and they are doing 

 finely so far. Daniel Whitmer. 



South Bend, Ind., Jan. 8, 1892. 



Golden-Banded Italian Bees. 



I cannot do without the Bee Journal, 

 as I get the views of so many different 

 bee-men, making it very instructive. I 

 have 24 colonies of bees, and I tell you 

 they are 5-banded golden Italians — and 

 they are the best workers of all the bees 

 I ever saw. They are also the prettiest 

 bees, and the yellowest drones I ever 

 saw. They will work on red clover, and 

 if there is any honey to be had, they 

 will have it if they have to steal it. I 

 know they robbed me of 40 pounds of 

 honey after the honey-flow stopped. I 

 purchased 52 warranted queens last 

 year, and they were all just as the 

 queen-breeder represented. I winter 

 my bees on the summer stands, and I 



have never had any bad luck by winter- 

 ing them on the summer stands. I think 

 it best, for the reason that every warm 

 day through the Winter they can have 

 a cleansing flight. I pack them about 

 Nov. 15, and then put a pine box over 

 the hives. The past year was a poor 

 one for bees. The black bees will all 

 starve this Winter if they are not fed. 

 The old stock of Italians does not come 

 up with the golden banded ones for 

 honey. R. D. Davis. 



Commercial Point, O., Jan. 8, 1892. 



Comb-Honey Manufacturers. (?) 



I have just read the editorial on page 

 38, about the firm in the West that 

 makes artificial honey. I received the 

 same kind of a letter as Mr. Newman's, 

 from the same parties, and requested 

 them to send samples, but I never ex- 

 pect to get them. I do not see what they 

 mean by writing so, unless it is to have 

 mony sent for samples. 



J. H. M. Cook. 



New York, N. Y. 



[We have never had a reply to our 

 request for samples, and cannot under- 

 stand their object in writing such 

 letters. — Ed.] 



How to Handle Bees with Smoke. 



After 20 years' experience in handling 

 bees, let me say to the beginner not to 

 attempt it without a smoker in good 

 trim. Go in front of the hive, and blow 

 in the entrance three or four strong 

 puflfs of smoke, then rap with the 

 knuckles, or a small stick, half a dozen 

 times, then two or three more puffs of 

 smoke in the entrance ; after which re- 

 move the cover of the super or hive, and 

 raise the corner of the quilt and puff 

 smoke in from the top, gradually draw- 

 ing back the quilt or cloth, and cover 

 the sections or frames with smoke. 

 Remember that the reason some of the 

 bees are cross, and will sting is, that 

 they have had no smoke. Be sure that 

 every bee in the hive has been smoked, 

 and you can handle them as you please. 

 J. I. Brought. 



Strode's Mills, Pa. 



"We Have only two Binders left 

 of the large size, for the Bee Journals 

 previous to last year. If you want one, 

 please send at once, before all are gone. 

 Price, 60 cents. 



