124 



'TMi^ m.^mMm.iemn mmm j@^mi«mi*. 



'*-^-'--*-*-^*^ *^*^^^o< 



will crack late in the fall, and furnish 

 a hai'vest of honey after frost has killed 

 all the flowers. 



Also plant a few soft and hard 

 maples, and tap lightly in two or three 

 places early in the spring. These trees 

 should be near the house, as many bees 

 are chilled and lost in rambling for 

 these early sweets. 



Be sure and spare all the basswood 

 on your farm, and plant a few more in 

 old pastures for shade. Plant catnip, 

 the more the better, near the apiary. 

 This is fine for the young bees. Spare 

 all the golden-rod when mowing the 

 fence-corners, also all asters. The 

 bees will tell you what they are when 

 in bloom, if you do not recognize your 

 friends. Sow a patch of buckwheat on 

 July 1 and 20, and also on Aug. 10 and 

 Sept. 1. 



Last, but not least, procure at once 

 a supply of Simpson honey-plant seed. 

 It can be sown in *liot-beds, and trans- 

 planted the same as cabbage, or sown 

 in open ground. It will grow any- 

 where, in fence corners or waste 

 ground, in shade or in cultivated 

 fields, planted 2J feet apart. It can 

 be sown in your woods pasture. It is 

 a certain grower, and will " get there" 

 whether cultivated or not. This is 

 beyond doubt by far the best honey- 

 plant of all, giving a steady flow of 

 good honey from the middle of July 

 until killed by frost. The honey ac- 

 cumulates in the cup-shaped flowers, 

 and, if all is removed, it will almost im- 

 mediately fill up again, thus affording 

 an inexhaustible supply faster than the 

 busy workers can remove and store it. 



I have noticed no disease in my api- 

 ary since I have raised this honey- 

 plant. I think the secret is, it keeps 

 the bees employed gathering good, 

 healthy honej-, instead of trying to ex- 

 tract it from decaying fruits and veg- 

 etables in the fall months, whicli they 

 are sure to do unless they can work on 

 something better. It is a medicinal 

 plant, but is not eaten or disturbed by 

 stock of any kind, and will take care 

 of itself after the first year. It is not 

 a noxious weed that will take posses- 

 sion of your farm, but is easily ex- 

 terminated. 



I can imagine no lovelier stroll than 

 through my woods in August and Sep- 

 tember. The honey-plants are in full 

 bloom, and the beautiful Italians make 

 the woods musical from daylight till 

 dark. I will not speak of the merits 

 of the different varieties of clover, as 

 of necessit}' they will be sown, and help 

 to round out a full season for the most 

 industrious creature of God's creation 

 Zionsville, Ind. 



COIVVENTION DIRECTORY. 



1889. Time and Place of Meeting. 



Apr. 23.— DesMoines County . at Burlington, Iowa. 

 John wau, Sec, Middletown, Iowa. 



May I, 2.— Texas State, at Greenville. Tex. 



G. A. Wilson, Sec McKinney, Tex. 



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



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



May 21. — Northern Illinois, at Pecatonica, 111. 



D. A. Fuller, Sec, Cherry Valley, Ills. 



t^" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinKS.— Ed. 



sikSSI4^Mm*f 



i^ri 



mS^ 



Fine ^Vinter for Bees. — Mr. D. T. 



Kennedy, Batavia, Iowa, on Feb. 9, says : 



We have had a fine winter so far for the 

 bees. Last May I had but 15 colonies, and 

 but half of them were strong. I took 800 

 pounds of comb honey, and left the brood- 

 chambers full of fine honey ; I now have 59 

 colonies in tine condition — 44 in the cellar, 

 ann 15 in chaff hives outdoors. I had 

 swarms as late as Sept. 11, that are now in 

 good condition, with plenty of honey to 

 last them. 



tVintering IVeU Mr. L. D. O'Dell, 



Protection, N. Y., on Feb. S, 1889, says : 



1 commenced the season of 1888 with 15 

 colonies, increased them to 38, and took 500 

 pounds of surplus honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions. I put my bees into thecellar on Nov. 

 18, and, to all appearances, they are winter- 

 ing well. My tirst year's experience with 

 bees has been very satisfactory, consider- 

 ing the poor season. 



Season of 1888.— Clarkson Pember- 

 ton, Lamoille, Iowa, on Feb. 11, 1889, writes: 



I commenced the season of 1888 with 19 

 colonies, and increased them to 30, by nat- 

 ural swarming. My bees looked well in 

 the spring, and I hoped for a big yield of 

 honey, but white clover and linden failed, 

 and all the surplus I got was from wild 

 flowers, which yielded well. I obtained 20 

 pounds to the colony, of surplus at last, for 

 which I am thankful. My bees were put 

 into the cellar in good condition, and 1 hope 

 for a better crop in 1889. 



past poor year. I do not work my bees for 

 experimental purposes, but solely for honey, 

 and 1 have no supplies of any kind for sale. 

 I have used 100 hives with closed-end 

 frames, but I have discarded them for one 

 with all its good qualities, and none of its 

 faults— for serious faults it has. 



[Being an extensive and practical honey- 

 producer, we shall be pleased to have Mr. 

 Taylor describe his management for our 

 readers. We want the best there is in every 

 line of practical work.— Ed.] 



Starting Apiaries. — L. Wayman, 

 Chanute, Kans., on Jan. 30, 1889, writes : 



I commenced beekeeping here in the 

 spring of 1887, with 2 colonies, it being a 

 poor season. One of the colonies starved, 

 and the other one some person stole, leaving 

 me none in the spring of 1888. I bought 7 

 colonies, and lost 2, thus leaving me 5. I 

 have just finished stocking my apiary of 22 

 colonies here at home to day. I am putting 

 in an apiary of 20 colonies in Arkansas, 

 having bought 11 of them. The last two 

 seasons were very poor, but not so poor as 

 in some of the older States, judging from 

 the reports in the Bee Jouenal. The win- 

 ter is very mild here. 



Uees Flying Halt tile Time.— Mr. 



James Kincaid, Clay Centre, Nebr., on Feb. 

 8, 1889, writes : 



I started with 9 colonies last spring, in- 

 creased them to 25, and secured 600 pounds 

 of honey, mostly comb. Our houfy here 

 last season was fine— better than we ever 

 had before. People are taking quite an in- 

 terest in bees, and some are making it pay 

 well. Bees do well, as a general thing. No 

 bad disease has affected them yet, and the 

 moth has not troubled any. We have a fine 

 class of bees, mostly Italians, some that are 

 not pure, but high grades. We have had a 

 very fine winter, with but little snow, and 

 not much cold weather. I am wintering my 

 bees out-of-doors ; some are packed in chaff, 

 and some are not. They are all alive, and 

 seem to be all right so far. They are flying 

 about half of the time. 



t^F" The DesMoines County. Iowa, Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold its animal convontion in the 

 Court House at Burlintilon, on April 2:t. IWH9, at 10 

 a. m. All bee-keepers are invited. John Nau, Sec. 



Small Hives and System of 

 Mauasement.— B.Taylor, Fillmore Co., 

 Minn., on Feb. 5, 1889, writes as follows : 



I have kept bees on a large scale for the 

 last 25 years, and make it a specialty. I am 

 wintering 260 colonies in two apiaries. I 

 have a shop 22x40, with steam power, and 

 perfect machinery for making everything 

 connected with my business. I have prac- 

 ticed the identical system, and used the very 

 same small hives mentioned as new in the 

 Bee Journal by Dr. Tinker, for the last 

 8 years, and have my bees in such hives 

 now. I think that I have a better hive tor 

 that system than anything yet offered. I 

 will send you one with it^ honey-board and 

 fixtures for your inspection, and if you 

 think my long experience on a large scale 

 with such system and hives would be inter- 

 esting, I will do my best to de.scribe them. 

 I secured 7 tons of comb houey by it, in the 



Oilorotorni tor Bee-StinRS.— H. 



Link, Millard, Nebr., on Feb. 6, 1889, says : 



In regard to a remedy for the sting of a 

 bee, often alluded to in the Bee Journal, 

 I have for 12 or 15 years used chloroform, 

 and have always found relief from pain in- 

 stantaneous upon an application, so have a 

 number of my family, and many friends 

 to whom I imparted the fact. With a small 

 bottle in the outer vest pocket, with a solid 

 cork and well projecting, so as to be readily 

 withdrawn by the teeth when one hand is 

 engaged— the suffering is reduced to a bare 

 knowledge of the fact. By " solid cork," I 

 mean one free of defects that render so 

 many of them readily to break. In 31 years 

 residence in the prairies of Nebraska. 1 have 

 had many patients that had been bitten by 

 the rattlesnake, and since finding the merit 

 of the remedy for the sting of the bee, I 

 have used it, and it alone, for all the subse- 

 quent cases. I give about two (never more 

 than three) applications, full strength, to 

 the parts bitten, and, for a time alter, fre- 

 quent sponging of the part ; and beyond in 

 the direction of returning circulation, with 

 a wash of 1 part of chloroform to 6 of water, 

 and at the start 20 to 30 drops well diluted 

 with water, given internally, and repeated 

 every half hour, till mv judgment prompted 

 a discontinuance. The relief has been 

 prompt and complete in every instance. 



