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61 



Oood Honey-Flo^v trom Uiick- 

 ■whcat.— G. D. Schell.Barron Lake.Micli., 

 on Dec. 81, 1888, writes : 



We hear from every part of the country, 

 that bee-keeping does not pay, but my bees 

 have paid expenses, with a small balance 

 over. I took from the bee-cellar on April 

 15, 1888, 83 colonies in Langstroth hives in 

 fair condition, but the cold and rainy 

 weather for ten or twelve days, reduced the 

 number to 09 colonies, that I built up during 

 apple-bloom, which was the best we have 

 had for years. The hives were running over 

 with bees, eager for the basswood harvest, 

 which was a total failure, and to my dismay 

 the white clover was mostly winter-killed ; 

 so with millions of bees, and nothing to do, 

 the future looked discouraging until the 

 buckwheat bloomed. My, but didn't the 

 bees hustle then ? Everything was soon 

 running over with the best of buckwheat 

 honey. I got over 1,000 pounds of it, and 

 increased my apiary to 83 colonies, which 

 were put into the cellar with plenty of 

 stores, but light in bees. They are winter- 

 ing nicely so far. 



Splendid ^Veather for Bees.— 



Chas. £. Dow, Lawrence, Mass., on Jan. 8, 

 1889, says : 



We are having splendid weather. There 

 is no snow on the ground, and the river is 

 free from ice. Inside of two weeks there 

 have been six days that my bees have had 

 good flights. 



Poor liocality tor Bees.— Isaac 

 Darling, Steuben, Ohio, on Jan. 14, 1889, 

 writes : 



My bees for the past four years have not 

 paid more than 7 per cent, on the capital 

 invested, to say nothing of the time that 1 

 have spent with them. I have come to the 

 conclusion that this locality is a poor one 

 for bees, and unless I can do better this 

 year, I think X will try and dispose of them. 



Warm ^Vinter So Far.— Mr. P. J. 

 Bates, White Hall, Ills., on Jan. 16, 1889, 

 says : 



So far this winter we have had unusually 

 high temperature— the first ten days of Jan- 

 uary the mean temperature being 30° above 

 zero. In 1888 the mean temperature was a 

 little over 12° ; in 1887, a little over 3°. So 

 far this has been a very favorable winter on 

 the bees in this section of the country, as 

 the most of them went into winter quarters 

 rather short of stores. They have been 

 quiet, and I am in hopes that they will come 

 tnrough all right. 



Cider Stores and Bee-Uiarrbea. 



—Joseph Funk, Beach City, O., on Jan. U, 

 1889, writes : 



Some of my bees are in bad condition. 

 They got into some boiled-down cider that 

 was almost like molasses. There was nearly 

 a colony of bees in it before 1 noticed it. 1 

 dipped out the bees and spread them on the 

 grass, and they carried so much of the cider 

 Into their hive that tliey now have the diar- 

 rhea very badly. What can I do to remedy 

 It? They crawl out of the hive on the 

 floor, and die by the quart daily. My honey 

 crop was so short, and the bees swarmed so 

 late, that •'. colonies did not build combs 

 enough to cluster on, and they starved be- 

 fore cold weather came. I fear they will all 

 dwindle away before they can get new 

 honey in the spring. After July 1, they did 



^^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^^'^^ — ' — -- t a ^.-^.-...-...^.. — . ^^^ 



not gather enough to live on. The last two 

 seasons were the poorest that I have seen 

 for .50 years. 1 kept bees for 47 years in 

 succession, using the box-hives until four 

 years ago, when I commenced to use the 

 movable frame hives. I will have a nice 

 lot of bees for next season, if they do not 

 succumb this winter. 



[The bees only need a chance to fly and 

 cleanse themselves. This they can have on 

 any warm day, if they are on the summer 

 stands. If they are in the cellar, they can 

 be taken out and given a flight. Should 

 there be no day suitable for this very soon, 

 you can take the hive into a light, warm 

 room, put a square frame of netting over it, 

 and let the bees fly, permitting the tempera- 

 ture to run down, when the bees will cluster 

 again on the frames, and the hive can be 

 returned to its place. The latter may not 

 pay for the trouble, unless the queens are 

 valuable, or the affected colonies very few 

 and choice.— Ed.] 



Xlie Union.— James A. Nelson, Mun- 

 cie, Kans., on Jan. 9, 1889, when sending his 

 dues to the Manager, writes as follows : 



I suppose I have lost my vote for officers, 

 but I expect my choice will be elected, viz : 

 all of the old officers. They do as well as 

 could be expected, as well as any one could 

 do, and much better than some would do. 1 

 hope nothing may happen to cause the 

 Manager to resign. I trust that the Union 

 may prosper, even if the members are few 

 in proportion to the number of bee-keepers 

 who should belong to it. 



[Yes ; the old officers were all re-elected. 

 It is surpassing strange that thousands do 

 not flock to the support of the Union. It 

 certainly is their duty to sustain an organi- 

 zation created and managed to sustain their 

 rights.— Ed.] 



Taliie ofOId Combs.— G. H. Ashby, 

 Albion, N. Y., on Jan. 17, 1889, on the rela- 

 tive value of combs and comb foundation, re- 

 marks as follows : 



For bee-keepers to melt up good combs 

 and use comb foundation, seems to me to be 

 runious. Combs for extracting improve 

 with age, for several years, when well cared 

 for, as they grow tougher, and are not as 

 liable to break in handling. If on melting 

 combs you get one-half as many sheets of 

 foundation as you had combs, you would do 

 well. Combs can be kept clean and nice 

 easier than they can be cut out of frames, to 

 say nothing of melting and making founda- 

 tion. Three cents worth of brimstone, and 

 a very little time, will keep the moth from 

 a thousand frames of comb. All the surplus 

 we obtained in these parts this season was 

 from drawn combs, in sections or extracting 

 combs. It was obtained before June 25, and 

 not a particle of foundation was drawn out 

 in the brood-chamber or surplus case. 

 Where would we have been had we de- 

 stroyed our combs ! 



What time of the year should sweet clover 

 seed be scattered in waste places, to obtain 

 the best results ? 



[It can be sown at any time, and if scat- 

 tered upon the snow and allowed to sink 

 down into the ground when the thaw comes, 

 it will germinate and prosper. It does not 

 bloom until the second season.— Ed.] 



^^.^M^SRIO^jj^ 



BD8r>rE98 MANAGER. 



Utsiness %otxtt5. 



It Tou L,iire near one post-office and 

 get your mail at another, be sure to give the 

 address that we have on our list. 



Give a Copy of " Honey as Food and 

 Medicine " to every one who buys a package 

 of honey. It wUl sell lots of it. 



»r. Miller's Book, "A Year Amon(? 

 the Bees," and the Ajiekican Bee Jour- 

 nal for one year— we send both for $1.50. 



If yoM Lose Money by carelessly en- 

 closing it in a letter, it is without excuse, 

 when a Money Order, which is perfectly 

 safe, costs but 5 cents. 



Mew Subscribers can obtain the full 

 numbers for 1888 and 1889 tor S1.80, if appli- 

 cation be made at once, before all the sets 

 of 1888 are gone. 



Paper Boxes— to hold a section of 

 honey for retail dealers. We have two sizes 

 on hand to carry sections 4Kx4Jjf and 5J^x5^. 

 Price, 81.00 per 100, or «8.50 per 1,000. 



Preserve Your Papers for future 

 reference. If you have no BIBBER we 

 will mail you one for 60 cents ; or you can 

 have one FREE, if you will send us 3 new 

 yearly subscriptions for the Bee Joubnal. 



Please ■WT-ite Amerlcwn, Bee Jawmat 

 on the envelope when writing to this office. 

 Several of our letters have already gone to 

 another firm (a commission house), causing 

 vexatious delay and trouble. 



Honey.— We have for sale a quantity of 

 Extracted Honey in kegs holding about 220 

 pounds each, which we are selling, free on 

 board the cars, at 8 cents per pound for 

 Amber and 9 cents per pound for White. 



In order to pay you for getting new 

 subscribers to send with your renewal, we 

 make you this offer. For each yearly sub- 

 scriber, witli $1.00, you may order 23 cents 

 worth of any books or supplies that we have 

 for sale— as a premium. 



Apiary Register.— All who intend to 

 be systematic ui their work In the apiary, 

 should get a copy of the Apiary Register and 

 begin to use it. The prices are as follows : 



For 50 colonies (120 pages) $1 00 



" 100 colonies (320 pages) 125 



" 200 colonies (420 pages) 150 



