THE KVaBMICKU SE© JQUmniLLr. 



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ill the Chamber of Commerce building 

 in this citj-, but I could not get any, or 

 I sliould liave sent a sample to the 

 office of tlie American Bee Journal. 

 The article that I saw was as black as 

 coal, and had a dull appearance. I 

 am informed tlial it can be bleached 

 white. It might be a fair substitute 

 for beeswa.x in some instances, but I 

 do not think that there need be any 

 uneasiness on the part of bee-keepers, 

 on account of it. The foregoing are 

 all the points that I have been able to 

 get in regard to it. 



care of a tlrst-elass hand (Mr. Hall), 

 who is constantly busy preparing and 

 putting on sections for surplus honey, 

 as the bees have commenced to work 

 in them. The present outlook in 

 northeast Alabama is favorable. 



Oood Prosipeot for Honey. — 



Orriu Maker, Westfiekl. Ind., writes : 



On May 11 I attended the county 

 bee-meeting, and all reported their 

 bees in good condition. The loss 

 through the winter was heavy — not less 

 than 25 per cent. The prospect is good 

 for a honey crop. 



The White Clover, etc.— Lionel 

 Brokaw, Summer Hill, Ills., on May 

 13, 1889, says : 



White clover looks promising, and is 

 beginning to bloom. We had a nice 

 rain to-day, which was needed 

 much. 



Poplar and White Clover. — T. 



M. Edwards, Kerrville, Tenn., on May 

 13, 1889, says : 



My 150 colonies of bees are now 

 booming, and all are in fine condition. 

 I took off comb honey all last week. I 

 have one swarm tliat was hived April 

 17, that has filled 56 one-pound sec- 

 tions alread}-. Tlie poplar and white 

 clover are tine, and the former is at its 

 l)est ; it never fails to give a good 

 yield of honey. We are having quite 

 a drouth at this time, and would be 

 very glad to have rain. 



very 



Swarming Early, etc — Caspar 

 Capser, St. Joseph, Minn., on May 4, 

 1889, says : 



I wintered 32 colonies of bees in the 

 cellar, the past winter. Last year I 

 had 2,300 pounds of honej', mostly in 

 one-pound sections. I lost no bees in 

 wintering, and every colony is strong 

 enough to cast a swarm this month. I 

 had the first swarm on May 2, which is 

 earlier than any I have yet heard of ; 

 it is doing well. 



Bee-keeping in Alabama. — B. 



B. Toney, Padgett, Ala., on May 11, 

 1889. writes : 



My bees are all doing well now. We 

 have had one of the most backward 

 springs for bees for several years. The 

 peach-bloom was plentiful, but it 

 secreted verj- little honey. The apple- 

 bloom was scarce, and also secreted 

 but little hone3' ; and this failure 

 caused the bees to consume all of their 

 winter stores, and for a few days it 

 seemed that we would have to feed to 

 keep them increasing. But the first of 

 this week the poplar opened, together 

 with the white clover, and ever since 

 then it has been a constant roar. The 

 bees are now storing honey as rapidly- 



Backward Spring — Gathering 

 Honey. — Miss Helen Betten, Goodells, 

 Mich., on May 13, 1889, writes : 



In May, 1888, I bought 2 colonies of 

 bees in box-hives, and placed them in 

 the yard. In June and July I had 3 

 swarms from the 2 colonies, and the 

 latter part of July I transferred the 2 

 old colonies to the Armstrong reversi- 

 ble hive, and used the T super. I 

 secured 24 pounds of comb hone}', and 

 12 pounds of extracted. In October I 

 doubled two of the weakest colonies, 

 leaving me 4 to winter, which was 

 done successfully. I packed the bees 

 for winter on Nov. 1, 1888, and I did 

 not touch them until the last of March; 

 when I opened the hives, I found 

 them all well stocked with bees, brood 

 and young bees, and they are gather- 

 ing honey from fruit^bloom. I expect 

 to have some swarms soon. We have 

 had a backward spring, but the 

 weather is warm and pleasant, and the 

 bees are making good use of it. 



trees, sprayed the trees with Paris 

 green dissolved in water, just as the 

 trees were in full bloom ; and, lo, our 

 bees got the full benefit. The result 

 is, that about ten or twelve bee-keepers 

 have been totally ruined, as far as get- 

 ting a spring crop of honey is con- 

 cerneil. The young bees of the colo- 

 nies that had never been out to the 

 fields, came out of their liives by the 

 thousands, and went hopping all over 

 the grounds ; the larvae in allst-ages of 

 growth, both drone and worker, were 

 thrown out of the hives by the (I sup- 

 pose) well bees. Yesterday I exam- 

 ined 4 colonies of the poisoned bees 

 belonging to Mr. Charles Dodge, and 

 I could not find any queen or freshly- 

 layed eggs. I do not know whether 

 the queens are all killed by the poison, 

 or not. Truly, the path of the bee- 

 keeper is a hard one. 



Bee§ at Work Early.— S. D. 



Haskin, Waterville, Minn., on May 13, 



1889, says : 



Are my bees ahead this time ? On 

 the first day of this month I had a fer- 

 tilized this-year's queen laying freely ; 

 and yesterday (May 12) I had a large 

 swarm of bees, which I hived. 



Paris Oreen. — John 

 Ills., on May 15,1889, 



Ruined by 



G. Smith, Barry 

 writes : 



The past winter was very mild in 

 this locality, and bees have wintered 

 well generally. I never had my bees 

 in better condition up to within two 

 weeks ago — in fact I was too much 

 elated over the prospect of harvesting 

 the largest prospective crop of spring 

 honej' that I ever saw ; white clover 

 never looked finer, or promi.sed a 

 greater yield of nectar, than it does at 

 this time ; but ahis ! the apple-ldoom 

 proved a "death-warrant" to millions 

 of bees in this immediate neiglibor- 



as they did last year, and our prospects hood. One of my neighbors, owning 



now are very fine. My bees are in I an orchard of about 100 acres of apple I for(,]'on",T,'ca'na<ii 



Prospeoli lor Honej' are Very 

 Favorable — Adolph Ott, Geneseo, 

 Ills., on May 6, 1889, writes: 



The weather is fine, and we had a 

 nice shower last night. I have 10 col- 

 onies of bees, which ai-e in good trim, 

 aiul 4 of tliem are already working in 

 tlie surplus sections. I am 37 years 

 old, and have been with bees for 37 

 years, never being away from them. 

 Father always had from 5 to 40 colo- 

 ni(?s, but never got any good out of 

 them. I have had bees for myself for 

 the last 14 years, but only commenced 

 making a stud}- of them abbut 4 years 

 ago. I have them in such a shape 

 now that I can handle them, and I find 

 it pays. I wintered my bees in the 

 barn, where I have a place so warm 

 that it won't freeze in the severest 

 of weather. I never lost anj' when 

 wintered in the barn. The last two 

 years were bad ones for bees in this 

 part of the State ; but this spring 

 everything looks favorable for a large 

 honey croi). 



tyf The International Bee-Kcepere' Association 

 wUt meet in the court-house, at Branlfurd. Ont., 

 Canada, on December 4. 5, and fi. iwwlt. All bee- 

 keepers are Invited to attend, and State and District 

 bee-keepers' societies are requested to appoint del- 

 egates to the convention. Full particulars of the 

 mectinn will beKiven In ducttme, Anyonedeslrous 

 of becoming amcmber. and receivinK tiie last Annu- 

 al Report bound, may do so by forwarding ll.tio to 

 the Secretary, — R. F. Holtsiuiann, Sec, Brant- 



