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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Aug. 17, 1905 



son, remembering how near exhanstion our 

 country's wood-supplies are, can loolf at such 

 crazy waste with placid feelings. I'll guess 

 that the winning way will be a loop of slender 

 steam pipe thrust through a big bunghole — 

 next shake it a good plenty — next turn out 

 into a tank and finish the process there. The 

 value of such a barrel as honey ought to be 

 trusted in, would more than pay a laborer for 

 a day's work getting the honey out. Page 473. 



THE HIGH PRICE OF SECTIONS. 



Mr. Bevins is puzzled at my seeming so in- 

 different to the high price of sections. I wrote 

 fin a private letter) just as I felt. Presum- 

 ably I felt that way partly from willingness to 

 see good people make a good profit — as long 

 as they refrain from making hogs of them- 

 selves altogether. Moreover, I felt that the 

 cost of suitable wood would soon be up to the 

 flve-dollar-a-thousand mark, if it isn't now. 

 Not wise to do kicking (mostly in vain) about 

 so short a period of overcharge. I'll bend a 

 little, however — can say that I don't at all 

 admire selling No. 2 sections as No. 1. Per- 

 fectly white and clear material will have to be 

 high while material that will make No. 3's 

 holds out yet. Page 473. 



I 2?cports anb 

 Experiences 



Bees Ooing Well 



I have 9 colonies. On June 15 they were 

 all doing super work. On July b three of 

 them began on their fourth super, having 

 stored 72 pounds each. J. R. Chkistie. 



Miami Co., Kans., July S. 



Hot Weather Burns the Clover 



The bees in this locality stored several 

 pounds of surplus honey as long as it lasted, 

 which was about 2 weeks in June and the 

 first part of July. Then hot weather set in 

 and burned the white clover and basswood 

 brown, leaving the bees in a condition to do 

 nothing. They hang about the hives as if 

 they were half asleep. To-day we had some 

 rain, but it didn't last long, though it helps 

 the bees. They were working on mustard 

 right after the rain. The average will be 

 about 7.5 pounds per colony. 



„, „ B. F. Schmidt. 



Clayton Co., Iowa, Aug. 2. 



Fine Crop of Honey 



We had a fine crop of honey here. I have 

 up to date about 3500 pounds of as fine honey 

 as I ever produced, and have increased to 200 

 colonies of bees. There is prospect of a good 

 fall flow. Everything seems to be favorable. 



Madison Co., 111., July 17. L. Webneb. 



Bees Doing Fairly Well 



The bees are doing fairly well, but it has 

 been too wet in this locality. I am taking off 

 some fine honey to-day. F. McBride. 



Hardin Co., Ohio, July 28 



Inspecting Apiaries 



The State Inspector of Apiaries, Mr. J. Q 

 bmith, visited some of us recently by invita- 

 tion. He first called on Mr. J. E. .Johnson, 

 president of the Western Illinois Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, who has an apiary of 56 col- 

 onies in the south part of Knox county. His 

 bees were found in good condition. When he 

 overhauled my apiary of IC colonies he found 

 8 diseased. He pulled off his coat, slid into a 

 pair ol overalls, and went lo work. We put 

 foundation into nearly !i)ij lirood-frames, the 

 bees of the fS colonies into ntw hives, and the 

 hives which had contained ihe diseased bees 

 aside for the rendering tank. 



I spent 3 days with Mr. Smith, visiting and 

 caring for apiaries in this vicinity, and would 



recommend any of our members who have dis- 

 eased bees to call upon him. He is thorough 

 in his work, and has practical knowledge of 

 the various diseases of bees. 



Alt AH Retnolds. 

 Knox Co., 111., July 17. 



" Culver's Physic " a Honey-Plant 



I am sending a blossom of what I would 

 call a weed, but I tell you it is a good one, 

 and 1 find the bees working on every blos- 

 som. What is it? 



I have just 100 colonies with my increase 

 and they are doing very well. 



C. M. Laurence. 



Black Hawk Co., Iowa, July 20. 



[The weed to which you refer is Leptandra 

 Virginica, or Culver's physic, but if you find 

 it more useful than useless, it might be well 

 to call it simply a plant rather than a weed. 

 Of course, weeds are plants, but plants that 

 keep their place, and are orderly and valua- 

 ble directly or indirectly to man, should not 

 be called weeds.— C. L. Walton]. 



Heavy Loss in Wintering 



I put 35 colonies of bees into winter quar- 

 ters last fall, and there was not one living 

 bee in the 35 hives when I took them out, so I 

 had to start anew, and was quite discouraged. 

 I bought 3 colonies, which came on the train, 

 and as they were being loaded on the car some 

 of the bees got out, and the men who were 

 handling them threw the hive down. I lost 

 one colony in this way. I sent for 2 more to 

 Ontario, and when they came both queens 

 were dead. I hope I will have better luck 

 another year. Henbt Swain. 



York Co., N. B., July 39. 



About Half a Honey Crop 



There is about halt a honey crop here in 

 southern Iowa. Two weeks of rain did it. 

 Bees ceased gathering June 27. 



A. B. Tackaberry. 



Van Buren Co. , Iowa, Aug. 2. 



The Great Value of Honey 



I am very much interested in bees, having 

 started with 11 colonies. I have discovered 

 that honey is very healthful, so much nour- 

 ishment is to be derived from eating it. In 

 our home it is a remedy for all ills. To use it 

 is to know its true value. A. .McConket. 



Lyon Co., Iowa, July 31. 



Not a Good Honey-Flow 



The honey season is over for the present. 

 We have not had a very good flow. I have 

 3 bee-yards located in a valley running not 

 quite north and south. The home bee-yard 

 did the poorest; my next yard about 5 miles 

 north did the best; the other one about 12 

 miles north comes next. It would seem that 

 the latter has the best chance, as it has a more 

 extended te-ritory, while the other two yards 

 are wedged in between the hills. 



I may not have much more than a ton of 

 white comb honey and 1000 pounds of ex- 

 tracted, from 160 colonies, spring count. I 

 increased but little. 



We expect some buckwheat honey, par- 

 ticularly in the yard that has already done 

 the best. j. Greiner. 



Ontario Co., N. Y., July 31. 



Good Bee Country— Hot Weather 



I live 20 miles from a railroad, in the hills, 

 and have about 10,000 acres of farming land, 

 all in grain and cattle raaches. Our town has 

 only two families, but we have a post-office. 

 The Valley is stocked with heavy oak timber, 

 and so are the hills, and one does not need to 

 go very far to find a bie-tree in a 200-acre 

 patch. I have found 11 of them. 



Last spring I had 2(; colonies of bees, but 

 did not have enough exira hives on hand for 

 swarms that might issu;-, so I made boxes and 



sent to San Francisco for the fixtures. After 

 4 months the goods came. During that time 

 I lost more than half of my bees. The very 

 day the supplies came I lost a big swarm with 

 the queen which I received from the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal last year, and shortly after- 

 ward I lost the rest. I saved only 6 out of the 

 whole apiary. By the first of April swarming 

 was all over. 



I increased to 48 colonies, and from one col- 

 ony took 4 supers of the nicest and whitest 

 honey I ever saw, and it has 3 supers on yet. 



July 4th was exceedingly hot in this local- 

 ity. The thermometer was 115 degrees in my 

 house; at different places in the Valley 3 

 miles from my home it was 120 degrees, and 5 

 miles below it was 122 degrees. 1 heard that 

 some places in the San -loaquin Valley it was 

 as high as 138 degrees, dogs went mad and 

 had to be killed, and men became insane and 

 jumped out of windows. The combs in hives 

 with brood and sections full of honey melted 

 down to the bottom, drowning everything. I 

 lost at least $50 worth of bees and honey. I 

 raised all the covers during this hot weather, 

 and had shade-boards on all the hives. 



This is a good bee-country, and I would 

 like to make a business of bee-keeping. But 

 I am ilone, have poultry besides, and have to 

 do my own cooking and housekeeping, so I 

 am afraid I shall not make a success of it. 

 Bernhard Schnuchbl. 



Monterey Co., Calif., July 18. 



Different Races of Bees 



In speaking of races of bees, the different 

 authorities on bee-keeping do not give a 

 description sufUoiently definite to enable 

 those unacquainted with the different races 

 to distinguish one from the other, except per- 

 haps the 3-banded light and dark, and the 

 golden or 5-banded, Italians. I wish some 

 one would describe the Caucasian, the Cyp- 

 rian, the Carniolan and the Holy Land bees , 

 giving size, color, and general appearance. 



Just now all these different bees are being 

 advertised for sale, and very many bee-keep- 

 ers know nothing about them. I have been 

 acquainted with the different colored Italians 

 and the Egyptians, but the other varieties 

 named I have never seen, nor read nor heard 

 a clear description of, by any of the authori- 

 ties on bees. Dr. G. Bohreb. 



Rice Co., Kans., July 31. 



Very Short Honey Crop 



As far as I can learn the crop so far is short 

 — very short. We had a very unusual cold 

 and wet spring. May 29 bees were starving. 

 They have been very slow to breed up since 

 then, and were not in good condition for the 

 first honey-fiow, which is just past. We will 

 hope the next crop will be a great deal better. 

 I am running for extracted honey, although 

 nearly all other bee-keepers are producing 

 comb honey. J. T. Hammersmark. 



Washoe Co., Nev., July 31. 



HanT' Comb Foundation Mills 



Honey Glassware 



We have for sale a 0-inch and a 10-inch 

 Second-Hand Comb Foundation Mill. Used 

 scarcely any ; good as new. If interested write 

 for prices. 



%-lb. and 1-lb. Octagon Xip-1"op tilass 

 Honey- Jars. Prices: 84-pounds, $4.50a 

 gross; 3 gross for $13. 1-lb., 1 gross, $5.25; 

 3 gross for §14.50. Address, 



YORK HONEY M^^'^^y^ CO. 



(Not iacorporated) 

 141 Ontario Street, - CHICAGO, ILL. 

 Flease mentloii Bee .iomual vtrtien wrttlaK 



Please meutlou Bee Jonrual 

 when writing Advertisers. 



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