'FMM MMBRICAff BBE& JdURIfSIr. 



315 



CONVEJWTION DIRECTORY. 



1889. Time ond Place of MeeUng. 



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



D. A. l<"iiller. Sec, Cherry Valley, Ills. 



Dec. 4, 6.— International, at Brantford.Ont., Canada. 

 K. F. Holtermann, Sec, Brantford, Ont. 



tW In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinKB.— Ed. 



SBkSS^^&^^ 



Rolling in the Honey and Pol- 

 len. — E. E. Ewing, Rising Sun, Md., 

 on May 6, 1889, says : 



I have had two Carniolan swarms — 

 one on May i, and one on May 5. 

 The}' were ready to swarm a week be- 

 fore they did, having capped queen- 

 cells several days ago, and young 

 queens ready to come out ; but the 

 weather was cold and windj-. To-day 

 it is fine, and the bees are rolling in 

 honey and pollen. Apple-trees are in 

 full bloom. The hybrids are only get- 

 ting started to work fairly. 



Early White Clover Bloom 



W. J. Cullinan, Quincy, Ills., on May 

 2, 1889, writes : 



Fruit-trees have been blooming in 

 this locality for about two weeks, but 

 owing to the Ary, cool weather pre- 

 vailing, bees have not derived the 

 benefit that they should therefrom. 

 White clover began blooming here on 

 April 28, the earliest date at which I 

 ever heard of its blooming in this lati- 

 tude. Now for warm, shower}' weather, 

 and we still may be able to send in a 

 " bright side " report a couple of 

 months hence, as a sort of diversion 

 from the gloomy ones of the last two 

 years. Bees, where properly prepared, 

 have wintered well. 



Colonies in Good Condition. — 



Jos. L. Flint, Marion, Iowa, on April 

 23, 1889, writes : 



My 5 colonies of bees came out of 

 the cellar on March 25, all strong and 

 in good condition, with plenty of stores 

 and some sealed brood. They have 

 been carrying pollen evei-y warm day 

 since then, and some days they carried 

 it so fast that they dropped on the 

 alighting-board by the half dozen, so 

 that they could not be counted. We 

 have had 1} inches of rainfall, so 

 that white clover is " booming," of 

 which there is an abundance. The 

 fruit-buds do not seem to be hurt by 

 the winter frosts. 



^^^^^^jm..^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



W^orklng on Fruit.Bloom. — N. 



Staininger, Tipton, Iowa, on May 6, 

 1889, writes : 



I have had no loss for three years in 

 wintering. My bees came out in 

 splendid condition this spring. I put 

 them out about Mai'ch 20. A few col- 

 onies were put in on Nov. 5, and taken 

 out in April, being in 157 days; they 

 lost 13 pounds each in weight, and 

 came out in line condition, there being 

 not a spoonful of dead bees among 

 them. I never saw bees so strong at 

 this time of the year. To-day they 

 were lying out like they do in the sum- 

 mer. They are doing nicely on fruit- 

 bloom. The prospects are very good 

 for a grand honey-season. I had 

 plenty of drones flying in April, and I 

 expect some swarms soon. 



Good Crop Expeeted E. M. 



Showers, Pine Bluff, Wis., on April 22, 

 1889, says : 



Never have my bees come thi-ough 

 the winter better than the past winter. 

 I had 22 colonies in the fall, and they 

 are all right this spring. I wintered 

 14 colonies in the cellar, and 8 outside, 

 in chaff hives, and the latter wintered 

 the best. There are not many bees in 

 this place. White clover does not 

 look very promising, but there is a 

 great deal of Alsike in this neighbor- 

 hood, so I expect a good crop of honey 

 this year. 



Bees Doing Remarkably Well. 



— A. S. Crotzer, Lena, Ills., on May 7, 

 1889, says : 



One of my neighbors had a fine 

 swarm of bees yesterday. How is that 

 for Northern Illinois ? I have never 

 seen bees do so well at this time of the 

 year as they are doing now. 



[That is good enough. Yes, every 

 indication now points to the best 

 honey-season for many years past. — 

 Ed.] 



The Xcw Bee-Veil Mrs. L. 



Harrison, Peoria, Ills., writes thus con- 

 cerning the " New Bee-Veil :" 



"What is that, Mrs. Harrison, that 

 you have just received by mail — that 

 square box ?" asked a lady visitor who 

 was contemplating bee-culture. "A 

 bee-veil," I replied ; and she watched 

 me button the springs on the neck- 

 band, and adjust the veil. When it 

 was completed, I put it over her head 

 — '-O, my," she said, "I like this so 

 much better than that wire hat you 

 put on me in the honey-house; it is so 



light and airy." How crestfallen I 

 was, to hear my wire gauze hat being 

 cast in the "shade." It has so long 

 been my joy and pride, and the more 

 fun tliat was made of it, the more 

 dearly I loved it ; but now Thomas G. 

 Newman & Son have eclipsed it en- 

 tirely. " Light and airy" it certainly 

 is, and a cool head-cap can be worn 

 within it, when the mercury plays- 

 around the liundrcd in the sliade. My 

 objection to veils has been, that I 

 could not protect my neck and chin, 

 so but tliat bees could sting through ; 

 but these steel bows keep the veil so 

 far away, that bees, mosquitoes and 

 gnats are outwitted. 



Only One Colony L,08t — C. H. 



Stordock, Duraad, Ills., on April 17,. 

 1889, says : 



I finished carrying out my bees yes- 

 terday ; and of the 102 colonies put 

 into winter quarters, I took out 101 in 

 good condition, though I may find a 

 few queenless ones. 



New Honey, etc John Boerst- 



ler, Vashon, Wash. Ter., on April 29,. 



1889, says : 



I think that bees will do well here 

 this year. I have had 3 swarms from 

 one colony already, one on April 19, 

 one on April 22, and one on April 26 ; 

 also 2 pounds of new honey from the 

 same colony. 



Dry Weather, etc. — Wm. B. Ray,. 

 Alaska, Wis., on May 6, 1889, says : 



My bees have wintered well, although 

 the month of April was cold and windy, 

 and the first four days of May was cold ; 

 but the bees are just booming now, 

 although it is very dry. We have had 

 very little rain within two months, and 

 no snow to speak of. The last season 

 was not as good for honey as the sea- 

 son before, and if we do not get rain 

 soon, our prospects for this season will 

 not be very good. 



Evolution. — Dr. C. C. Miller writes^ 

 thus concerning the discussion of this- 

 subject : 



Mr. Editor, with your permission, I 

 will allow Mr. Latham's article on page- 

 282 to end the controversy between us. 

 If I ever happen around at Cumber- 

 land, Me., I may ask him to explain 

 some things to me ; but I do not be- 

 lieve it is best to take any more room 

 in the American Bee Jouknal. All 

 tlie same, I hope he will rear the best 

 kind of queens. 



