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Street Road, Pa., May 29, 1879. 

 Bees have done very well this spring 

 here, though we had a long cold winter. 

 Many bees died in this neighborhood. I 

 lost 5; have 25 leftj all in good condition. I 

 am well pleased with the Bee Journal. 

 W. H. Yeabsley. 



Canton, N. Y., May 17, 1879. 

 My bees came out of the cellar in tine 

 condition, and now are from 2 to 3 weeks 

 earlier than usual. The weather has been 

 warm and tine since they were taken from 

 the cellar, on April 22d. They brought in 

 pollen the same day that they were put out, 

 and the blossoms have continued, one after 

 another, till now. The hives are full of 

 bees and brood, and if nothing happens, we 

 may expect early swarms. 



James Baird. 



Oregon City, Oregon, May 17, 1879. 

 E. P. Massey, in May number of the 

 American Bee Journal, complains of 

 bitter honey, and thinks the bitter taste 

 comes from horehound. 1 have lots of 

 horehound, and my honey crop last year, 

 from that source alone, was considerable 

 and equal to white clover ; I shall sow 

 more this fall. It is in continuous bldom 

 for 3 months. Clover needs no culture to 

 speak of, and buckwheat very little (see 

 May No. Aeeeican Bee Journal), and I 

 would advise all who keep bees to sow all 

 three— buckwheat, clover and horehound. 

 Besides the honey, clover is an excellent 

 pasturage for stock, and, I dare say, bees 

 will prefer to work for the honey they pro- 

 duce, rather than any bitter honey they 

 may have been gathering. A. W. Steers. 



Maiden, 111., May 9, 1879. 

 In the fall of 1877 I had 20 colonies in fair 

 ■condition. I numbered and weighed them, 

 putting 7 of the lightest into the cellar, 7 

 more into a box-house packed in hay, and 

 left 6 on their summer stands. The differ- 

 ence in the spring of 1878 was as follows: 

 Those in the cellar consumed 5 lbs. each, 

 those in the box-house 7 lbs. each, and those 

 on the summer stands 12 lbs. each. I kept 

 them closed till March 12th. They built up 

 to strong colonies in the fall. The spring 

 and summer being unfavorable, they did 

 not get as much as they consumed, but in 

 the fail they gave some surplus. Last year 

 1 put my 20 colonies on their summer 

 stands on March 6th. Two became queen- 

 less, but I strengthened them up, and they 

 became good colonies in the fall. I ran one 

 for queen-raising, and from the remainder I 

 got 900 lbs. of comb honey and 600 lbs. of 

 extracted, besides 29 colonies of increase. 

 The weather was cold and backward, and 

 continued so till June 10th. After that, for 

 a month, the honey season was excellent. 

 Then there was a month of drouth. From 

 fall flowers they got a nice lot of box honey. 

 1 wintered 46 colonies, and will give the re- 

 sults in this year's report. 



Robert Corbett. 



Marengo, 111., May 29, 1879. 

 My 134 colonies are working lively on 

 white clover, and the present prospect is 

 for a good harvest. C. C. Miller. 



Merritt, 111., May 29, 1879. 

 I have 40 colonies of bees, all doing well. 

 Robbing may be stopped by putting a little 

 cow manure in front of the hive, near the 

 entrance. H. W. Hitt. 



Smith's Grove, Ky., May 26, 1879. 

 My bees are gathering honey rapidly, and 

 the outlook for a rich honey harvest is very 

 good. We hope to build up our apiaries to 

 their former strength, and harvest a good 

 crop of honey. N. P. Allen. 



Carlton, Mich., May 19, 1879. 

 I think that 90 per cent, of the bees in 

 this vicinity are dead, caused by having 

 too much honey. They filled up so full last 

 fall that the queen had no room to lay, so 

 that they went into winter-quarters with 

 only old bees. As this spring was a month 

 later than usual, the old bees died before 

 young brood was raised. An extractor 

 would have saved all the trouble, in my 

 opinion. A. J. Wright, M. D. 



Arkadelphia, Ark., May 29, 1879. 

 We have a good country here for bees; 

 the forest is full of a large brown bee. We 

 do not have the black bees; I do not know 

 the name of them. 1 have 18 colonies ; 

 they are good workers, and very quiet. 

 They are now getting honey very plenti- 

 fully. Twelve months ago 1 sent to one N. 

 C. Mitchell, of Sandusky City, O., for two 

 queens. He has my money, but never sent 

 me any queens. 1 am satisfied he is a hum- 

 bug, but it cost me $9 to find it out. I am 

 much pleased with the American Bee 

 Journal. S. A. Rudisill. 



Bristol, Vt., May 10, 1879. 



We have had a very backward spring in 

 Vermont. There is great complaint of 

 spring dwindling here, but for the past few 

 days the weather has been very favorable, 

 and bees are now doing remarkably well. 

 Fruit blossoms are just making their ap- 

 pearance. I find that talking while look- 

 ing over bees aggravates them very much, 

 and they are more apt to sting than when 

 there is no talking going on. Is it the noise, 

 or the breath, or the motion of the lips that 

 disturbs them ? A. E. Manum. 



[Human breath is often quite offensive to 

 bees, especially when it comes from a dis- 

 eased physical system.— Ed.] 



Glasgow, Mo., May 19, 1879. 

 I have 48 colonies in good condition, 5 

 with Italian queens and 43 blacks; they 

 have commenced building combs in the 

 honey boxes, but I have no swarms yet. 

 Last year I had a large swarm on May 5, 

 and had 7 more in May. Nearly all the bees 

 in Chariton and Howard counties are lost; 

 a great many bees left their hives; two 

 came to my place; one very large swarm 

 came to a neighbor and went in with a 

 weak colony, and with a little feeding got 

 through all right. Ben. F. Johnson. 



