832 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of the bee season in the warmer sections 

 of the State. 



In consequence, I am coming to the 

 belief that our hot climate is not the best 

 for the bee-keeper, but that situations 

 which, having the necessary amount of 

 bloom, give the most days in the season, 

 with the proper conditions for the great- 

 est secretion of nectar. 



The neglected iields of Plumas, Las- 

 sen and Modoc counties, in this State, 

 with their unoccupied bee-pastures of 

 sage and sweet clover, will some day vie 

 with Ventura and San Diego in the yield 

 of honey, just as Nevada to-day holds 

 the palm in the Eastern markets, and 

 is credited with producing the finest 

 honey in all the West ; and not only is 

 this honey fine in taste, weight and 

 appearance, but the quality is all that 

 can be reasonably expected, with no 

 failures from year to year to record. 

 Now, as the correspondents are gen- 

 erally kept very busy answering the 

 numerous inquiries that follow every 

 article written, I would like to add that 

 in Lassen county, at Red Clover, and 

 throughout all the valleys in that 

 county, is an unoccupied bee-range that 

 for bloom and all the proper conditions 

 for successful bee-keeping cannot be 

 excelled. This section can be reached 

 by rail to Reno, Nevada, and thence by 

 rail to Amadee, in Lassen county, then 

 by stage to any section. — Rural Callfor- 

 nian. 



Murphys, Calif. 



Material for tlie Apiary Grouiiil, Etc. 



S. C. BOOHEB. 



I would like to ask what would be the 

 best material to keep the weeds and 

 grass down in the apiary. I suppose 

 some will say, "Mow it down, or use a 

 hoe." But what I want, is to have it as 

 smooth and clean as a floor, so that I 

 can see a queen anywhere. Would the 

 ordinary water-lime or cement do, if 

 put on pretty thick ? 



This has been the worst spring on 

 bees Vicre that we have had since I have 

 kept bees. It rained almost continually 

 the latter part of Ma^ch, all through 

 April, and most of May, and when it 

 was not raining, it was cloudy and cold. 

 The last two wcseks we liad a little bet- 

 ter weather, and I am in hopes that we 

 may have a fairly good season yet. 



I put my bees out of the cellar on 

 April 29, and I believe they would have 

 been better off if I had kept them in two 



weeks longer. They were in fairly good 

 condition when I moved them out, ex- 

 cept 3 weak colonies which were dead. 



I put out 18 colonies, and they have 

 dwindled, and I have doubled up until I 

 have but 16 left; but most of these are 

 very strong, and some are beginning to 

 rear drones. I am now trying to prepare 

 them for the basswood bloom, and if we 

 have a reasonable amount of sunshine, 

 I think I can have them booming by 

 that time. 



Basswood is the first bloom we can 

 hope to get any surplus from here, and 

 our principal honey harvest comes in the 

 fall from golden-rod and asters, and 

 other wild flowers. 



Danbury, Iowa, June 7, 1892. 



Italian ys. Blacli Bees. 



S. E. MILLER. 



It would seem that the discussion of 

 this subject should have been at an end 

 long ago, but when I see an article like 

 the one by Mr. A. D. Ellingwood, on 

 page 704, it moves me to say something. 



Mr. Ellingwood says : "I am greatly 



amused and when I come to sum 



the matter all up, I find that all of the 

 valuable qualities have been conceded 

 to the black bees." 



My brother and I commenced with 

 black bees, but are thankful that we 

 now have them all bred out. 



The one, and only, good quality that 

 I can concede to the black bees is that 

 they do cap their honey whiter. This, 

 however, is at the cost of more wax, and 

 not, as some seem to think, because they 

 make whiter wax ; and this, I consider, 

 more than over-balanced by the fashion 

 they have of bobbing off short the sec- 

 tion honey-combs whenever there is the 

 least cessation in the flow of nectar ; 

 then commencing again and again, 

 rounding off the combs on the lower end, 

 so that when the section is complete, it 

 is full of waves. 



Mr. E. says the black bees winter bet- 

 ter in New Ilampshire ! They do not in 

 Missouri. They swarm less. In Mis- 

 souri tlrcy will sometimes swarm when 

 the brgod-charaber is not over two- 

 thirds full of bees, brood and honey. 

 * They will work on any flower — clover 

 or anything else that any other race of 

 bees will work on. This I consider the 

 broadest assertion of all. While we had 

 yet a number of black bees, I often took 

 notice while walking through i*ed clover, 

 and found the best marked Italians 



