AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



223 



another man's second or shird-class 

 clover, although the commission man 

 understands it perfectly. Would it not 

 be better to put it In the second or third 

 grade on the start, and so class it ? 



Again, it is undesirable that the sell- 

 ing value of comb-honey depends more 

 upon its appearance than any other one 

 quality — provided, of course, it has not 

 an actually disagreeable taste. The 

 kinds of honey are legion. Unless a 

 man is familiar with all these varieties, 

 which is something hardly possible, how 

 is he able to make a guess at the value 

 of honey offered him from another 

 locality ? Even if he is familiar with 

 the kind of honey offered, there is much 

 chance for misunderstanding, for the 

 average bee-keeper is very much at sea 

 with regard to the sources from which 

 his honey was gathered. ' 



Moreover, there are very few localities 

 where any one variety of honey may be 

 secured free from admixture. The vary- 

 ing nature of this admixture so changes 

 the character of the honey, that what 

 passes .for white clover honey in one 

 locality may be a very different article 

 from the white clover honey of some- 

 where else. 



If honey is graded according to my 

 rules, and a sample of the honey sent in 

 a small vial by mail, the purchaser may 

 know just what to expect, or the com- 

 mission man will be better able to in- 

 form the intending shipper what his 

 honey will bring. — Oleaninqs. 



My Experience in Bee-Keeping. 



NATHAN MERCER. 



During the last five years I have had 

 bees, and have been quite successful. 

 The first year, from 50 colonies, I ex- 

 tracted nearly 3,000 pounds of honey, 

 and increased to 70 colonies. The next 

 Spring I lost all but 30 colonies, and 

 that season I secured no surplus honey, 

 but increased to about 60 colonies. 



The next Spring I had 46 colonies, 

 from which I extracted that season 

 nearly 10,000 pounds of clover and 

 basswood honey, and increased to about 

 80 colonies. 



I lost only 5 or 6 colonies the follow- 

 ing Winter, but the next season I 

 secured no surplus, though I increased 

 to 159 colonies, and last Spring I had 

 106 colonies left, having had 120 in 

 chaff hives, and the rest wintered in the 

 cellar; 75 per cent, died in the cellar, 

 and about 20 out of the 120 died out- 



doors. From 100 colonies I extracted, 

 in 1891, 11,000 pounds of basswood 

 honey, and have now 150 colonies in 

 chaff hives, and 20 in the cellar, seem- 

 ingly wintering nicely. 



I greatly prefer wintering bees in 

 chaff hives, and with them I am not 

 troubled with swarming. As soon as 

 the basswood flow is about over, I begin 

 dividing them, taking off the surplus 

 combs, of which there are 14 on top and 

 10 in the brood-chamber. I also have 

 about 4 combs in the super, not touch- 

 ing them all through the honey-flow. 

 These are well drawn oiH, and filled and 

 sealed, which came handy to make up 

 colonies with, or for stores for the 

 Winter. 



After I am through dividing, I look 

 the colonies all over and estimate the 

 amount of honey in each hive, and if 

 any are short, I feed them 3 to 5 pounds, 

 and also in the Spring to start brood- 

 rearing rapidly, keeping them evened up 

 as fast as possible. By the time clover 

 blooms, the hives are all boiling over 

 with strong colonies, which can gather 

 a large amount of honey in a short time. 



Neosho, Wis., Jan. 16, 1892. 



PoisoneJ Bees— Here is llie Proof. 



JOHN G. SMITH. 



On page 49 I notice that Mr. C. P. 

 Dadant brought my name into the dis- 

 cussion at the convention held at 

 Albany, N. Y., on Dec. 8, 1891, in con- 

 nection with the subject of spraying 

 fruit trees while in bloom. It behooves 

 me to make a statement in the matter. 



In the report of the convention, it is 

 stated that Prof. Lintner had doubts as 

 to whether any bees were ever poisoned 

 by gathering honey from fruit-bloom, 

 which, at the time of gathering, was 

 being sprayed by a solution of Paris 

 green and water. 



I want to say for the benefit of all 

 who are doubting, that I am fully satis- 

 fied that my bees were poisoned by ob- 

 taining nectar from the apple bloom in 

 the orchard of Mr. James R. Williams, 

 who was at that time (April 25, 1888), 

 with other employes, engaged in spray- 

 ing Jiis orchard with a solution of Paris 

 green and water, in the proportion of 

 one pound of Paris green to 50 gallons 

 of water. At first, finding the solution 

 so strong that it killed the foliage, he 

 reduced it by using 100 gallons of water, 

 but still the orchard in a very short time 

 looked as if a fire had been through it. 



