Tmm MMKRICMM BIE® JOl^MIfMI^. 



43 



honey of fair quality, making in all 

 about 400 pounils. 



During the latter part of the season, 

 while manipulating with the bees, I 

 found them exceedingly cross ; so 

 much so that 1 was almost obliged to 

 give up working with tliem. The 

 theory of '• holding the breath " was of 

 no avail. 



In October I lost 3 colonies by rob- 

 bing. I commenced feeding them 

 sugar syrup, giving to each colony 

 about 18 pounds. Two colonies had 

 natural stores enough. In November 

 I placed them in the bee-house, just in 

 tlie rear of tlie bee-yard, raising each 

 liive up about 2 inclies, and placing 

 meadow hay around the three sides, 

 leaving the front exposed to the south. 

 So far the}- seem to be in good con- 

 dition. 



Sellings (lie Honey. 



I was determined then to sell the 

 honey for a fair price, and to first- 

 class customers. I represented the 

 goods as being fine, and to be just 

 what I said, or no pay. I called upon 

 a Doctor in one of our large cities, and 

 spoke to him about what I had. He 

 was afraid to invest, but after some 

 persuasion, he consented to take some 

 on trial. He did so, and the result 

 was that we was so well pleased with 

 the tlavor and quality, that he ordered 

 quite an amount afterwards, besides 

 selling some for me. 



Some I sold to parties living in New 

 York, along the Hudson river. The 

 lioney was just what I said it was, and 

 they promised me their custom for 

 next season. 



This same gentleman, who is a 

 wealthy merchant in New York city, 

 told me that he had paid as high as ^3 

 per poiind for wild honey, which came 

 from Norway. I received 25 cents per 

 pound for all I sold, and have only a 

 little left. 



I find plenty of customers in my 

 home market, and I prefer to retail it 

 in this way than to wholesale it. I 

 could dispose of much more, had I the 

 honey to sell. I have a good location 

 for bees, and I intend to increase my 

 apiary to 50 or more colonies. 



My neighbors have poor luck — no 

 swarms, no honey, and many often lost 

 all their bees during the winter. They 

 take no bee-paper, and read no books 

 on the subject, but go it blindly. To 

 me it is an exceedingly interesting 

 study. The American Bee Jodrxal 

 still grows better. 



Morgantown, Pa., Jan. 1, 1889. 



Xlic Ikatc on the wrapper label of 

 your paper indicates the end of the month 

 to which you have paid. If that is past, 

 please send us a dollar to carry the date 

 another year ahead. 



COWEXTIOX DIRECTORY. 



1889. Time and Place of Meetino. 



Jan. 16-19.— Enstt'rn New York, at .-Vlbany, N. V. 



TUOM. I'iyrce, Prea,, Westbury, N. V. 



Jan. 30, 31.-N.E.O..N.Pa.& W. N.Y.. at Franklin, Pa. 

 C. H. Coun. Sec, Now Lyme, Ohio. 



May 4.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose. Pa. 



II. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



tF" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Bd. 





VefAinfi; Kces in ^Vinter, etc. — 



Rev. Stephen Koese, Maiden Rock. Wis., on 

 Jan. 7, 1889, writes : 



The weather continues very fair for Jan- 

 uary, with no fnist and no snow, and the 

 bees still out on the summer stands. They 

 have a Hight almost every few days. X was 

 called upon to take the honey Irom 3 colo- 

 nies of bees, for a friend four miles from 

 here,and as I dreaded to kill the industrious 

 insects, 1 shook them all off from the combs 

 the best 1 could, and as they were weak 

 colonies, 1 put them all in one box, and 

 took them home. 1 placed them in a hive 

 with empty frames, as 1 had no frames 

 filled, and the weatlier being so mild, 1 have 

 been teedins; them about 8 or 10 pounds of 

 honey the last tlirep days. They are outside 

 alone ; but I do not I liink much nf unsealed 

 honey for bees to winter on. Would you 

 advise placini? the -'Good" candy over the 

 frames ; or furnish them with suaar sjrup ? 

 Bees in this locality are as yet doiinj well, 

 and we hope for a good season this year. 



[Candy over the frames will probably be 

 best now, but you must not disturb the bees 

 to put it there, except during a warm spell, 

 and in the middle of the day.— Er>.] 



:UiI<l "^Veallier.— Henry Alley, Wen- 

 ham, Mass., on Jan. 3, 18S9, writes : 



We have no more winter weather; here 

 now than we have had since Nov. 1. The 

 bees are flying nearly every day. 



Riirying Ilecs to Winter.— John 

 Broadhead, Chats worth, Ills., on Jan. 1, 

 1889, says : 



I have 30 colonies of bees buried in the 

 gr'iunil. Tnev are in good condition with 

 plenty of lionev. Fifteen colonies are pure 

 Italians. I will try to report in the spring, 

 telling how they winter, and describing my 

 method of burying tliem. 



Itee-llives and Rlieuniatism.— 



T. C. Whiting, Athens, N. Y., on Dec. 2G, 

 1888, writes : 



My bees had a Christmas frolic, and were 

 out in full force. The mercury was at •'J2' 

 in the atternoon. I would like to know the 

 name of the hive I use. The man X got it 

 of has no name for it, only " bee-hive ;" and 

 I suppose anything with bees in it would he 

 called a "bee-hive." The hive is 16'.; 

 inches long inside, 13 inches wide, and Vi 

 inches deep, and is made of boards 13 inches 

 wide. It has 8 movable frames. I asked a 

 neighbor who keeps about .50 colonies, and I 

 did not find out, although he uses a good 



many of tliem. I do not expect to keep bees 

 a great while longer, but it suits me first 

 rate, if I could only see. My eye-sight is 

 too poor, and I am getting too old. 1 have 

 had bees two years ; started with one col- 

 ony, and I now have 7, which were pretty 

 lively yesterday. 1 keep bees to cure the 

 rheumatism, and 1 am freer from it now 

 than 1 have been for the last two years. I 

 have got so that I do not mind a sting, un- 

 less I get too man:* in one place. They do 

 not swell as they did last year. I have read 

 that beestings are good for the rheu- 

 matism. I would not like to say that it has 

 helped me, for I do not know for a fact. I 

 have been subject to that complaint for .50 

 years. Sometimes I was pretty bad with it; 

 you would have thought so if you had seen 

 me when 1 was drawn into a heap about 2 

 feet long. 



[The hive is evidently a mongrel, taking 

 no regular size of frame. It is a great mis- 

 take to make hives not using a regular sized 

 frame. It is undesirable for use, because it 

 often requires frames, sections and supers 

 of irregular sizes to be made especially for 

 it ; and is a nuisance when bees are bought 

 or sold.— Kd.I 



Ciplier X«?les:ram.— E. Strong, of 

 Kalamazoo, Mich., on Jan. 3, 1889, writes : 



Report : Comb honey, 0. Extracted 

 honey, 0. Temperature, 44». Hones for 

 another year in the nineties. Fed, 0. 

 Enough to winter on the summer stands. 



Honey from Fire-lrVeed, etc.— H. 



E. Harrison, Covert, Mich., on Jan. 8, 1889, 

 says: 



I wintered 3 colonies last winter, in- 

 creased them to 5 during the past season, 

 and harvested 4.50 pounds of tire-weed honey 

 after Sept. 1. Tiie honey was nice and 

 white, and sold as well as basswood or 

 white clover honey, there being no differ- 

 ence except in ihn taste, which is strong. 

 The drouth of 1887 nearly killed the white 

 clover, and the basswood being scarce here, 

 it did not afford much honey. I did not get 

 any. 



Crood Honey Oop. — Mr. Adolpb 

 Wuerzer, Helvetia, W. Va., on Dec. 31, 1888, 

 writes : 



My location is not a bad one for bee-cul- 

 ture. We have hard maples, linden, poplar, 

 black gum, round wood, the clovers and 

 berries ; and my honey crop in 1886 was an 

 avprage of 38 pounds to the colony. In 

 1887 it was 39 pounds, and in 1888 it was 44 

 pounds. I read the American Bee Jour- 

 N.YL with nuicb pleasure, and anxiously 

 look for its arrival. I have 45 colonies of 

 bees in good condition, in winter quarters. 



Mild Winter— Japanese Buck- 

 ■»vl>eat.— n. L. Rouse, Ionia, Iowa, on 

 Jan. 5, 1889, writes : 



If a warm, dry fall and a mild winter are 

 favorable condilious for the successful win- 

 tering of bees, then surely beekeepers in 

 this locality ouijht to meet with but slight 

 losses this winter. No snow fell until the 

 night after Christmas, when it came down 

 very plentifully, so that it was a foot deep 

 on the level. The ground is not frozen 

 very hard, and as it is well covered with a 

 blanket of snow, what clover survived the 

 drouth will he well protected. Our honey 

 crop for 1880 all hinges upon the coming 



