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Early Surarming — Storing the 

 Honey. — J. M. Young, Plattsmouth, 

 Nebr, on May 3, 1889, writes : 



The past winter lias been so mild in 

 Nebraska that bees have come through 

 safely, and colonies are very strong in 

 bees. I had the first natural swarm 

 to-daj'. Who can report earlier swarm- 

 ing than thiSjin this latitude ? My bees 

 since my removal have been doing 

 tinelj-, and are storing considerable 

 honey — sufficient to keep brood-rear- 

 ing under good headwaj', and the hives 

 are now full of brood. There are sev- 

 eral large orchards near, from .which 

 the bees are getting their honey. Tlie 

 fruit bloom is good. 



Oood Pro$pec't§ for 18§9 



Frank A. Eaton, Bluifton, O., on May 

 4, 1889, says : 



Bees are doing finely here, and I 

 can report my first swarm- — a fine 

 prime Italian — this morning. Plentj' 

 of drones are flying. Prospects are 

 good for a fine crop of honej". 



Foggy Weather, ete. — Mr. Levi 

 Reichard, Ellison Bay, Wis., on May 1, 

 1889, says : 



1 lost 3 colonies the past winter, and 

 saved 4. We had a very poor season 

 in 1888, and now there is so much 

 foggy weather that the bees cannot fly 

 much, but when they can fly, they are 

 very busy on May flowers, willow and 

 poplar, which abound here. The trees 

 are not j'et in leaf, but the buds are 

 just ready to burst open. 



Old Colonie§ of Bees, etc. — J. 



S. Barb, Bristolville, O., on May 3, 

 1889, writes : 



Bees have not wintered the best 

 throughout this vicinity — lack of honey 

 being the main cause, and so much 

 warm weather during the forepart of 

 the winter, another cause, as the bees 

 consupaed a good deal more honey 

 than they otherwise would. The last 

 was a very poor honey season here, as 

 it was too wet, and the two seasons 

 before that were too dry. The pros- 

 pect for a good honey crop the coming 

 season is very good, as there is an 

 -abundance of white clover, and con- 

 siderable Alsike clover raised ; also, 

 there is much basswood here, which 

 will help the bees a little. 



Some three or four years ago I wrote 

 about an old colony of bees that I liave 

 in a very large box-hive, which I called 

 the "Old Pioneer." Well, this colony 

 is still alive, and in good condition. It 



was put into this hive on June 20, 

 1870, and has stood all the hard win- 

 ters that we have had since then. It 

 is from a stock of bees that was brought 

 on this place by my father in 1836. It 

 has stood close to the wood-pile where 

 we haul, cut, and split wood every 

 winter. I have an old log gum that 

 was brought to this farm with a swarm 

 of bees in it, when my grandfather, 

 Gabriel Barb, moved here, in 1821. 

 My uncle, Mr. Sager, has a few colo- 

 nies of bees that are of a stock of bees 

 tliat were brought on the farm where 

 he now lives, by his father, over 80 

 j-ears ago. 



I have a lot of frames of comb in 

 good condition ; would it be a good 

 plan to hive swarms on them ? If so, 

 how many should I use for each 

 swarm ? How soon should I put sec- 

 tions on after hiving the swarm ? 



[You can use the old combs if they 

 are in good condition for swarms — but 

 we prefer to use comb foundation, and 

 think nothing would be gained by 

 using the old combs. Melt them up for 

 the wax. — Ed.] 



Bees ^Vintered Poorly. — B. W. 



Peck, Richmond Centre, O., on Ma}' 4, 



1889, writes : 



I commenced the spring of 1888 with 

 45 colonies, increased them to 55, and 

 took about 1,000 pounds of hone}- in 

 one-pound sections. I have usually 

 been successful in wintering bees, but 

 on account of long confinement (from 

 early in November until March 4) and 

 black, inferior stores, I have lost 16 

 colonies out of the 55, leaving 39, and 

 most of them are now in good condi- 

 tion. I expect a good honey season, 

 and hope to make up my losses ; I will 

 try and do better next winter. Bees 

 in this vicinitj- have wintered poorly ; 

 but 5 or 6 miles south of this place, 

 bees wintered well. 



Bees Doing Well in Texas.— 



A. W. Lamkin, Cotulla, Tex., on Mav 



7, 1889, writes : 



Bees here are doing well for the 

 chance they have. I notice that a 

 great many bee-keepers are trying the 

 improved hive here ; heretofore we 

 have generally used dry-goods boxes, 

 or gums cut from hollow-trees ; or 

 more frequently, just cut a bee-tree, 

 get what honey that may be stored 

 therein, and leave the bees to shift for 

 themselves. This is a very thinly set- 

 tled country, and few persons are trj-- 

 ing to improve their bees. Those that 

 have given their bees any attention, 

 seem to do well with them. On April 



27, I extracted from two hives (the 

 property of Mr. D. M. Levels). I onl}- 

 extracted the top story of each (18 

 frames), and got 100 pounds of nice 

 white honey. I have had quite a nice 

 time this spring transferring about 30 

 colonies from dry-goods boxes — some 

 of them had been in the boxes for 

 three and four yeai's ; in some the 

 comb had fallen down, and had lain in 

 the box for a year or more. The out- 

 look for honey here this year is good ; 

 grass and crops of all kinds look well, 

 and all kinds of stock are fat. 



Bees Doing Finely. — Dr. J. M. 



Hicks, Indianapolis, Ind., on May 4, 

 1889, writes : 



Bees ai'e doing finelj' in my new 

 location. The State apiary has had 

 two new swarms. The bees all win- 

 tered well, having lost none except by 

 two-legged thieves, who relieved me 

 of two of my best colonies during the 

 winter, at my old home in Battle 

 Ground, Ind. Honey is in good de- 

 mand in my home trade here. 



An Early-Reared Queen. — S. 



D. Haskin, Waterville, Minn., on Ma}' 



7, 1889, says : 



Tally one for Minnesota ; for I have 

 reared a queen this spring, which, on 

 the first day of this month, was laying 

 worker-eggs, all in good order, and 

 bountifully. I think that the fertiliza- 

 tion must have been by a drone reared 

 in a worker-cell, for I had noticed a 

 very few such (perhaps a half dozen) 

 in one hive, and no other drones any- 

 where. 



Carex or Sedge Grass. — J. M. 



Doudna, Alexandria, Minn., on April 

 27, 1889, writes : 



Will you please name the sample of 

 native grass that I send ? It grows in 

 the timber-lands, and yields a great 

 amount of pollen ; and blooms just 

 after the willows and soft maples. 

 Bees are in fine condition. I never 

 had them winter better ; most of them 

 have from 5 to 8 frames of brood. 

 They got the first pollen on April 6, 

 from hazel. Last year the willows did 

 not bloom until May 10. 



The above was refei'red to Clarence 

 M. Weed, of the Ohio Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, who replies thus : 



The "native grass "is a sedge of 

 the genus Carex, and has been identi- 

 fied by Prof. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell 

 University (our best authoritj' on this 

 group), as Carex Pennsylvanica. 



