396 



Tmm aMERicaif ^mm jqurksil. 



Do Xot be Discouraged. — C. P. 



Hewett, Kingston, Wis., on June 10, 

 1889, writes : 



Fellow apiarists, harden not vonr 

 hearts when the north wind bloweth, 

 and the rain falleth, and the frost 

 coiueth ; for the cornfield will turn to 

 a field of buckwheat ; for the sun will 

 shine and warm the earth. Have your 

 sections also ready, for no man can 

 tell when that day cometh, although 

 our apiaries are in a state of starva- 

 tion. He that tempers the wind to the 

 shorn lamb, will also temper it for the 

 busy bee, or the bee and lamb must 

 both die together. 



so that, were it not for constant feed- 

 ing, my bees would starve, although 

 locust and wliite clover are in bloom. 

 The queen that came out with the next 

 swarm was very prolific, and her 

 progeny were gi'eat workei-s, so that I 

 carefully saved the extra cells, but 

 none of the young queens have been 

 fertilized as yet. Please inform us if 

 the daisy is a honey-producer. Our 

 bee-keepers here differ on that point. 



[Almost every blossom contains 

 more or less nectar, and, in all proba- 

 bility, the daisy has some of it, but the 

 quantity is so infinitesimal that it could 

 not be classed with the honey-produc- 

 ing plants. — Ed.] 



killed about half of the bees that were 

 living. After spraying 6 colonies, I 

 desisted, and did not renew my work. 

 I have been thinking, that when the 

 Legislature is in session, probably 

 something could be done to protect 

 our industry. 



Good Season Expected. ^Frank 



Coverdale, Welton, Iowa, on June 12, 

 1889, says : 



It has been quite cool and rainy for 

 the past two weeks, but it is warming 

 up again. Bees are swarming right 

 a long. Honey is coming in fast when 

 it is so that they can be out. White 

 clover is an ocean of bloom, and is 

 well filled with nectar — in fact the 

 season has the appearance of a good 

 one. 



Bees Doing Finely. — John Has- 

 kins. Empire Praiiie, ]\Lo., on June 5, 

 1889, says : 



We have had an abundance of rain, 

 and I think that I never saw so much 

 white clover in this country before, as 

 there is this year. My bees are doing 

 finely. My first natural swarm was on 

 May'27. 



Abundance of White Clover. — 



A. F. Sanger, Pilot Grove, Mo., on 

 June 8, 1889, says : 



The bees are working well, and are 

 gathering plenty of honey. Thei'e is 

 an abundance of white clover. 



Frost and Flood. — Frank War- 

 ing, Philipsbui-g, Pa., on June 1, 1889, 

 says : 



We had a frost here on the night of 

 May 28, which killed all fi'uit and 

 tender plants. Last night and to-day 

 we have the largest flood since 1647 ; 

 doing great damage to roads and 

 bridges, as well as to the farms. 



Bass^vood and ~\Vliite Cloverc 



— H. M. Seeley, Harford, Pa., on June 



7, 1889, writes : 



My colonies are extra strong in bees. 

 I have doubled my number of colonies, 

 and they are working in the sections, 

 although it has been so wet that they 

 have only worked on raspberries three 

 days so far. White clover is begin- 

 ning to blossom, and there ■will be a 

 large amount of it ; also basswood is 

 budded as full as I ever saw it. I 

 have a small patch of the Chapman 

 honey-plant, which is from seed sent 

 me by the Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture ; it is now about two feet high, 

 and is looking fine. 



AVarni Weather Xeeded — A. C. 



Loomis, Grand Rapids, Wis., on June 

 6, 1889, says : 



My bees are building up strong, but 

 a month of cold and rainy weather has 

 prevented them from gathering honey. 

 I have been feeding all the spring. I 

 think that this will be a good year, if 

 it gets warmer. 



Constant Feeding Necessary, 

 etc. — D. F. Park, Athens, Pa., on June 

 5, 1889, writes : 



The prospect for a favorable season 

 is not so bright as it was a few days 

 ago. I wintered 80 colonies on the 

 summer stands without loss. They 

 bred up very early, and strong. My 

 first and only swarm came on May 14, 

 which was two weeks earlier than 

 usual. Another colony soon started 

 queen-cells, and every indication 

 pointed to heavy swarming, and a good 

 honey crop. Two weeks ago it be- 

 came cold and wet, so that no honey 

 was gathered, and the great excess of 

 bees soon consumed the surplus honey, 



'%Vhite Clover Yielding Honey 



— Chas. K. Bixler, Hoyt, Iowa, on 

 June 6, 1889, says : 



The bees are doing well now, gath- 

 ering a good deal of honey from white 

 clover. The latter part of May was 

 too cold, there being heavy frosts on 

 May 30 and 31. Corn on low ground 

 was frozen down to the ground. White 

 clover was hurt pretty badly, but is out 

 in good condition now. 



Continued Cold ^Veather — C. 



Theilmann, Theilmanton, Minn., on 



June 10, 1SS9, -nTites : 



The cold weather continues, with 

 plenty of rain now. Bees cannot get 

 enough outside to live on. Some colo- 

 nies have swarmed, but the swarms 

 can do nothing at building combs. 

 Red and Alsike clovers, also timothy, 

 are stunted (nearly frozen) from the 

 long-continued cold weather. Corn 

 was frozen to the ground a number 

 of times ; but small grain looks well, 

 and oats look exceedingly promising. 

 White, red and Alsike clovers are in 

 bloom, but all of them look very poor 

 and sick. Linden promises well. My 

 bees are much discouraged. 



Foul Brood.— I. H. Shimer, of 

 Decatur, Ills., writes: 



I consider tlie outlook quite gloomy 

 in this section for the bee-industry. 

 Nearly three years ago Prof. Gast- 

 man, of this place, discovered foul 

 brood in his apiarj', and he has let it 

 take its own way since, until his bees 

 are nearlj', if not all, dead. I think 

 that it is in my apiaiy. I did not sus- 

 pect it until late last fall. I made a 

 preparation by Prof. McLain"s formula, 

 but the mixture was so strong that it 



The " Golden.Rod Ticket."— 



O. L. Hershiser, of Big Tree Corners, 



N. Y., writes : 



I think that it would be nice for the 

 bee-keepers to vote the "Golden-rod 

 ticket " solid, and try to have it select- 

 ed. If selected to"^ be the National 

 flower, it will afl'ord it some protection. 

 A good source of fall honey has often 

 been the means of saving large expense 

 to apiarists in the items of food and 

 loss of colonies. I have just read of 

 such of a case, where bees did not 

 gather enough to winter on till after 

 Sept. 1. It is well to look to the 

 sources of fall honey, for such emer- 

 gencies often happen, and it then be- 

 comes important. The ballots can be 

 had at the principal book-stores and 

 news-stands. 



