THU MMERICUrt mmW) JOURWaiLr. 



251 



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season to solve ; and if I find them eat- 

 ing live bees, I will tix their toadships. 



I»rioril}- in Bee-Keeping:. 



I think that priority of location is 

 the simple side of that question. If 

 one State should pass such a law, it 

 would not be constitutional, and would 

 not stand a test. It would be like one 

 farmer having a tine peach-orchard, 

 and the neighbor over the line (who 

 has none, but wishes to set out some) 

 saying, " You must not set your trees 

 so close to mine, as they will destroy 

 mine, and not do well." 



This is a world of competition, and 

 we must sometimes compete with our 

 neighbors, and the survivor will be the 

 fittest, with the bee-keeper, as with all 

 other pursuits. 



In 1880 I had here only one colony, 

 while our neighbor a mile or two away, 

 owned 145. My apiary gradual!}- 

 gained in numbers, and at the end of 

 8 years, from that sijigle colony, and 

 the purchase of one queen, I had the 

 largest apiaiy, and to-day I have a tine 

 apiary, while that neighbor has not a 

 single colony left ; but there are legiti- 

 mate causes for these changes, and it 

 depends considerably whether a man 

 dabbles in everj- new hive that is an- 

 nounced. 



Bravo, Mich., April 6, 1889. 



COWVEXTIOJf DIRECTORY. 



. 1889. Time and Place of Meeting. 



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

 John Wau, Sec, Middletown, Iowa, 



May 1, 2.— Texas State, at Greenville, Tex. 



G. A. Wilson. Sec, McKlnney, Tex. 



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



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Hartord, Pa. 



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



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



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

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinKs.— Ed. 



Bees Dying in Texas. — Jennie 

 A. Young, Ft. Worth, Texas, on April 

 5, 1889, writes : 



Bees in this part of the country are 

 dying from some unknown cau.se. 

 They seem to be building C(jmb and 

 storing honey, but it seems that the 

 young bees come out of the hive, and 

 are unable to Hy, crayl around for a 

 while, and then die. If any one can 

 enlighten us on the suVjject, through 

 the columns of the excellent American 

 Bee Journal, and suggest a remedy, 

 he will confer a lasting favor upon 

 benighted apiarists in this, our sunny 

 Southland. 



Oetling: Rid of .4nl8, elf — W. 



H. Graves, New Carlisle, Ind., on April 

 3, 1889, writes : 



My bees wintered nicelj'on the sum- 

 mer stands, only losing one colony. 

 My report for 1887 was a little " oft" ;" 

 I reported 25 or ;^0 per cent, loss, but 

 my real loss was 47 colonies out of 

 110. I have 82 colonies now in good 

 condition. In 1887 my expenses were 

 something near 1100, and I got about 

 $100 woi-th of honey; in 1888 I had 

 over $200 worth of honey, and my 

 cash expenses were 10 crates at 11 

 cents per crate. ]\Iy bees carried in 

 their first pollen on March 2G, and on 

 the 25th I saw the Urst dandelion in 

 bloom. 



Those whose apiaries are troubled 

 with ants, should try bruising green 

 catnip on the hives where they are in- 

 fested with aiits. That has been my 

 remedy for thi^ last 12 or 15 years, and 

 it drives them away when almost every- 

 thing el.se fails. I liave uever heard of 

 any one else using it. It seems to 

 quiet the bees also when they are 

 cross. 



Ciood Prospects for While 

 Clover. — Jas. E. Brown, Milwaukee, 

 Wis., on April 3, 1889, says : 



I never had bees in better condition 

 on April 1, than they are this year. 

 The prospects for white clover are 

 good. I have 75 colonies in the cellar 

 yet. I take my bees out of the cellar 

 about April 15. 



"Weigliing the Bees, etc. — Ira 



N. Lyman, St. Peter, Nebr., on April 



4, 1889. writes : 



We had the nicest winter here that 

 I ever saw. I was brought up in Iowa 

 and Nebraska, and have been ac- 

 quainted with bees ever since I was 

 about two or three years old. My 

 father used to keep his bees in hollow 

 logs and the box-hives ; the wind- 

 storms would blow them over, and we 

 set them up again. We left them on 

 the summer stands all winter, but it 

 was in the woods, in Johnson county, 

 Iowa. When we got any honey it was 

 in a little square box put on top of the 

 hive, with a few auger-holes to make 

 the connection ; or sometimes we 

 took off the top-bo.ard, and dug out 

 some honey. When the movable- 

 frames came into use, it did away with 

 the '-king-bee'' and digging down 

 from the top of the hive for honey. 

 Then the Italian bees came at $10 per 

 queen, the tirst 1 saw. With the 

 Langstroth hive and the Italians, bee- 

 keeping changed with me. I think 



that it is a pleasure and a profit in any 

 common season. 



My bees came out in splendid condi- 

 tion this spring, save one colon\- that 

 had some drones when put into winter 

 quarters; it died as 1 expected it would. 

 It had about 30 pounds of hone}' left in 

 in the hive. I weighed all of my bees 

 when I took them out of the cellar on 

 March 5, and weighed them after they 

 had been pretty well cleaned out, and 

 flying several day.s. Two colonics lost 

 5i pounds, one 17J, and one 8 pounds 

 — a little over 9 pounds per colony 

 during the winter in the cellar. One 

 colony that lost 17i pounds, was very 

 uneasy, and anxious to get out of the 

 hive. I had them fastened in with 

 wire-cloth in front of the hive-portico. 

 I think that the bees winter best in a 

 dry cellar, in a prairie country. Bees 

 gathered pollen from willows on April 

 1. My bees used lots of rye flour, and 

 are still working at it. Thd pr,airies 

 are getting green, and everything is 

 nice, only we get no rain, and had no 

 snow all winter. We are wishing for 

 rain. Small grain is nearly all sowed. 



Season of 1§§S Mrs. W. T. 



Henley, Black Jack, Mo., on March 31, 

 1889, says : 



I started last spring with 4 colonies 

 in good condition, and increased them 

 to 12, by natural swarming. I ob- 

 tained a good supply of honey, but 

 nothing like a full crop, some of it 

 being the loveliest that I ever saw. 

 There are not many bee-keepers around 

 here. Honey is in fair demand, and 

 brings good prices. I hope for a good 

 honey year for 1889. 



Seetion.Case. — M. Tailor, of Ben- 

 ton County, Iowa, writes thus : 



Seeing the great good the Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Union is doing, and likely to do, 

 my conscience gives me no rest until 

 I send you my dollar for membership, 

 and esjiecially as my crop last year 

 was exceptionally good, being about 

 $90 worth from 4 colonies, spring 

 count. I am only an amateur, and 

 keep a few colonies of bees on a town 

 lot, for recreation and pleasure, and I 

 got both, and profit too. 



I will here describe a section-case, 

 contrived by me last year. I will not 

 call it an " invention," although I have 

 seen nothing like it. It is very simple, 

 and above all, cheap and efficient. If 

 it is of any value, the bee-fraternity are 

 welcome to it. 



It consists of 4 pieces of board, and 

 8 common wood-screws, nothing more 

 unless separators are wanted, then tvvo 

 §-inch tin strips are put in crosswise 

 between the end rows of sections, and 



