764 



Tmm mvmsmi^MM mmm joiismmmi^. 



by Mr. Greiner in his sentence, "who are 

 working hard to make an honest living," 

 but who were working in every way to de- 

 ceive, to the end that some one might not 

 get a dollar, or an honor, more than they 

 have been able to command. 



The invention referred to by Mr. Greiner, 

 is that of another, and one who can well be 

 excused for being embittered by the treat- 

 ment his father has received. There are 

 many kinds of charity, all of which are 

 good, that should not be dealt out promiscu- 

 ously. Every one should deserve what he 

 gets. That would foster a deserving de- 

 portment. James Heddox. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



Honey Crop Almost a Failure 



The honey crop of Southern niiuois is 

 almost a failure in some localities, and 

 other places gave '4 to }4 of a crop. In 

 southwestern localities, among the poplar 

 (tulip) trees, bees did not do so well, on ac- 

 count of the cold spell in May, which is the 

 time that the poplar is in bloom. My bees 

 averaged only 33 pounds per colony this 

 year, and 43 pounds in 1888. 



Boyleston, Ills. Tiios. C. Stanley. 



Ciood Yield ot Honey— Robbing. 



I bad 49 colonies in chaff hives last fall, 

 and lost 3 in the spring, one having died (a 

 swarm that came tome), and the other 2 

 were robbed out, which left me 46, all in 

 good condition except a few weak ones, 

 which finally became all right. Then two 

 weeks of cold, rainy weather came on, and 

 all the bees would have starved, if I had 

 not fed them about 150 pounds of sugar 

 that lasted them until they could get out to 

 gather honey ; in a few days the brood- 

 chambers were full, and I bad to put on the 

 supers ; in a week I extracted 900 pounds 

 and in 3 or 4 days, 1,200 jjouuds more, and 

 so on tiU I had extracted nearly 10,000 

 pounds of honey, besides saving lots of 

 filled combs to put back for winter. I sold 

 all of my honey for 5 and 6 cents per 

 pound, but mostly at 6 cents. Another 

 person and I extracted 2,200 pounds in 

 one day. All of my crop is from 46 colo- 

 nies of bees. How is that for high? Be- 

 sides I increased my apiary to 90 colonies, 

 which are now in chaff hives. 



To stop bees from robbing, I take a 

 double handful of straw and put it at the 

 entrance against the hive. They cannot, 

 or will not, alight on this, and will soon 

 give up robbing. The bees in the hive will 

 not smother if straw is left there for any 

 length of time. Take it away in the even- 

 ing. N.iTiiAN Meeceh. 



Neosho, Wis. 



the earth is a mass of white clover this fall. 

 Some say that they are not discouraged by 

 a failure, but it hurts to have three years 

 of failure, and to see the bees starve to 

 death just when they ought to be thriving 

 and swanning. Still, one thing consoles 

 me, for I can think back to the time when 

 I had honej' by the ton — it was when I had 

 to back a wagon to my front door, and 

 haul the honey off by the ton. Then it was, 

 " Where can I sell all the honey '?" Now it 

 is, "What Willi do for honey for my cus- 

 tomers'" The question with me is. How 

 can I produce the honey? Golden-rod is 

 worthless for honey here. Spanish-needle, 

 heart's-ease and white clover are all that 

 we can depend upon for honey. 



D. R. RosEBROuon. 

 Casey, Ills., Nov. 15, 1889. 



Poor Sea!son t'oi- Honey. 



I started last spring with 30 colonies, and 

 I now have 51, increased by natural 

 swarming. The drouth held on in the 

 spring until it came nearly killing all the 

 white clover here in Clark county, and it 

 held on for weeks after it had commenced 

 to rain in all the other parts of the State, 

 and we could hear of its being too wet 

 there. The last of May it commenced to 

 rain here, and when it did begin it seemed 

 as if it would never stop; but at last it did 

 cease, and did not rain auy more, so that 

 the buckwheat came nearly dying just as 

 it began to bloom. Of course we got no 

 honey from it. Then the cold nights be- 

 gan, so that it was the poorest fall for 

 honey that I have ever known. I got only 

 500 pounds of honey, of bad quality. The 

 fall honey was better, and I trust that it 

 will winter the bees. I am in hopes that 

 next year's crop will be a good one, for all 



4tueen-CeII Knife, etc. 



I make a good queen-cell knife as follows ; 

 Take an old corset steel, about Ji-iuch wide, 

 break it off 3*2 inches long, and grind one 

 end in the shape desired for cutting, and 

 shai-pen the edge as far back as it will be 

 needed. Then whittle out a handle about 

 the size of a lead-pencil, 3 inches long, and 

 split it half the length and insert the steel ; 

 tie a thread around the end in a groove, 

 and it is ready for use. It is thin, and just 

 right for cuttiug out queen-cells. Make 

 several, and have one always handy. 



This has been another year of failure with 

 us here. White clover was abundant, but 

 the bees did not notice it much. From 23 

 colonies, I got only about 110 pounds of 

 honey, and increased them to 33. This is 

 the fourth year of failure in succession. 

 The fall honej'-flow generally fills the brood- 

 chambers. Hugh L. Lynn. 



Glenville, Ky. 



Cione to 'Wasliing'ton. 



As Secretary of the Northeastern Ohio, 

 Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western 

 New York Bee-Keepers' Association, I wish 

 to announce through the Ameuioan Bee 

 Journal, that our President, Mr. W. A. 

 McLain, from change of location, has been 

 obliged to resign the presidency of the 

 association. I know that it will be news 

 that all the members of the association will 

 be verj' sorry to hear, for Mr. McLain was 

 always genial and ready to do all in his 

 power to make our meetings profitable. 

 His hearty hand-shake will be very much 

 missed. Mr. W. A. McLain moved with his 

 family to Seattle, Washington (State), on 

 Nov. 12. Though he has sold his bees, we 

 believe that his interest in them is such 

 that he will secure some of his jjets in his 

 new' home. H. S. Sutton, of Franklin, 

 Venango Co., Pa., 1st Vice-President, is 

 now the President of the association. 



We are having a nice fall, and up to this 

 time we have not had snow enough to 

 cover the ground. Bees generally have 

 plenty of natural stores for winter. 



Geo. Spitler. 



Mosiertown, Pa., Nov. 19, 1889. • 



Varieties ol tlie Clover. 



I notice on page 725, that Mrs. L. Har- 

 rison, in her answer to Query 668. claims 

 to know of forty different varieties of 

 clover. Will she please to give the names 

 of the forty varieties, and also where they 

 exists C. E. Woodward. 



Xenia, O., Nov. 16, 1S89. 



[At our request, Mrs. Harrison gives the 

 following reply to the above.— Ed.] 



In the " Herborium " of the Department 

 I of Agriculture at Washington, D. C, are 



specimens of the forty varieties of native 

 clovers {TrifoUum). The largest number 

 of these belong to the Pacific side of the 

 continent. Of these forty species, only 

 eight (I think) have been experimented 

 with and cultivated, to determine their 

 value for forage and fodder. We have ex- 

 perimented to some extent with six varie- 

 ties. Then there is the Japan clover 

 (Lespedeza striaUt) ,that is not a TrifoUum, 

 but which has been found to be of value in 

 Florida, Southern Alabama, and Georgia, 

 for forage. For pasture in your locality, 

 there is probably nothing better than 

 Alsike clover {TrifoUum hybrkla). which 

 gives great satisfaction with us. The De- 

 partment of Agriculture has issued several 

 special reports on our native grasses, the 

 principal of these, called the " Agricultural 

 Grasses of the United States," is a pamph- 

 let of 144 pages, with 120 full-page en- 

 gravings. You can probably obtain it 

 through your Member of Congress ; or by 

 writing directly to Hon. Jeremiah Rusk, 

 Secretai-y of Agriculture, Washington, DC. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 Peoria, Bis. 



Bee Escapes Further Hescribed. 



On page 697, Frank Coverdale attempts 

 to describe a bee-escape to get bees out of 

 sections — a board 'Jh of an inch thick, to 

 just fit the section-case ; nail J's-inch strip 

 all around ; then a "4 -inch hole is bored in 

 the board, and a l-\-iucli cone made so fit 

 in the hole. This board is slipped between 

 the case of full sections and the brood- 

 frames, or between the top and middle 

 cases, and the cone dropped in the hole in 

 the board, through which the bees will de- 

 scend into the brood department. Observe, 

 the board is \-inch thick, and there will be 

 but a Jg-inch bee-space below it until the 

 sections or brood-fi-ames are reached — the 

 thickness of board and space under it mak- 

 ing in all % of an inch. The wire cone be- 

 ing 1?^ inches long, the point will rest on 

 the tops of sections or frames. How are the 

 bees to get down ; E. E. Ewinc;. 



Rising Sun, Md. 



[At our request, Frank Coverdale replies 

 to the above as follows : — Ed.] 



Judging from the letters received by me 

 concerning my bee-escape board, it has ap- 

 parently been quite plain to all, as far as I 

 know, except the above. In answer to Mr. 

 Ewing, as to how to manage the cone, I 

 would say: Bore the %-inch hole, as I 

 mentioned on page 697, over the opening 

 of the sections. This is done so that the 

 wire-screen cone will go down between the 

 sections or brood-frames — otherwise of 

 course it would not go down. When used 

 over a wood-zinc honey-board, the cone 

 must be made shorter, so that the lower 

 point will come down between the slats 

 close to the zinc perforations. 



Frank Coverdale. 



Welton, Iowa. 



TUe Honey Crop. 



On page 731, Mr. C. D. Barber, Stockton, 

 N. Y., says that I reported the honey crop 

 of Chautauqua county, N. Y.. a complete 

 failure, and avers that his bees never did 

 better, ami that my report " wasincorrect." 

 In justice to myself, I would respectfully 

 say that as I made no such statement, the 

 " incorrect report " applies more fittingly 

 to Mr. Barber's letter, than to any on page 

 556. The letter would convey the idea 

 that I had positively asserted that which I 

 did not know. In the future, Mr. Barber 

 will please read more carefully, and report 

 more correctly. H. E. Hill. 



Titusville, Pa., Nov. 19, 1889. 



