368 



N. W. 111. and S . W. Wis. 



According to vote, the Northwestern Uli" 

 nois and Southwestern Wisconsin Bee- 

 Keepers' Association met at the residence 

 of H. W. Lee, 2 miles northwest of Peca- 

 tonica. Mr. Lee being President, and one of 

 the largest bee-keepers of the Association. 



Many questions were asked, and answered 

 by Messrs. Lee, Holly, Williams, Conkling, 

 Whitlesy and others ; some of whom have 

 kept bees for 40 years or more. All were 

 enthusiastic. 



After a pleasant time looking at the Pres- 

 ident's 207 hives of beautiful Italian bees, 

 and partaking of a bountiful meal, it was 

 decided to adjourn. Owing to the rapid 

 growth of the Association, a proposition 

 was made and carried to make the next 

 meeting a basket picnic, to be held at Shir- 

 land, 111., on the last Tuesday in August. 



The annual meeting will be held at Davis, 

 111., on the second Tuesday of December, 

 1879. J. Stewart, Sec. 



Kock Eun, 111., May 6, 1879. 



®xxv %ttUv %a%. 



Lexington, Ky., July 5, 1879. 

 The honey crop in this section so far has 

 been almost a failure. The locust-bloom 

 honey is all we have had and that was of 

 short duration ; the white clover has been a 

 failure, and there will be barely enough for 

 home consumption. W. Williamson. 



Pine Grove, Pa., *une 9, 1879. 



Inclosed you will find a bug Or beetle that 

 I found in a colony of bees. Please let me 

 know of what species it is, and also if it 

 does any harm to the bees. H. Stout. 



[The insect is the common cockroach. 

 They are sometimes quite a pest in houses, 

 but are not in any way injurious to bees. A 

 sugar-tooth probably induced him to enter 

 the hive.— A. J. Cook.] 



Monterey, 111., June 12, 1879. 

 To fasten foundation to section boxes or 

 to frames : Take a table-knife, break it in 

 the middle ; have a tumbler with honey in 

 it ; lay the foundation in the box or frame, 

 dip your knife in the honey and give the 

 foundation one stroke backwards and for- 

 wards, and it is as tight as wax. 



John Bcerstleb. 



Quaker Springs, N. Y., June 10, 1879. 

 We are having a bad season for bees here 

 so far ; it is very cold and dry, and there is 

 but little for bees to work on. I wintered 

 in the cellar 65 colonies, which came out 

 apparently in good condition. I have since 

 lost 8 ; they were not so strong and others 

 robbed them. I have sold some and have 

 40 colonies left, all in movable frame hives 

 of the Langstroth pattern. They are doing 

 very well for this season ; have no swarms, 

 and some are at work in surplus boxes. 



A. Reynolds. 



Jonesboro, 111., June 21, 1879. 



To-day I send you an insect which 1 cap- 

 tured while sucking the blood of a bee. I 

 could find but the one ; will send you more 

 as soon as I find them. W. J. Willakd. 



[This is Phymata erosa, fully described 

 and illustrated in "Manual of the Apiary," 

 Vol. 4, p. 293— A. J. Cook.] 



San Bernardino, Cal., June 8, 1879. 

 We are having an exceedingly cold, dry 

 season. No honey to speak of in the flow- 

 ers, and no prospect for any surplus this 

 year. In the valley below us bees are re- 

 ported as already starving. Your Eastern 

 apiarists need not fear any competition 

 from California honey this year, and 1 hope 

 they will avail themselves of the favorable 

 opportunity to advance the price of honey. 

 May your valuable Journal receive the 

 success it so highly merits. 



_____ A. W. Hale. 



Henry, 111., July 6, 1879. 

 A good word for the bees once more,— 

 they are capping honey lively. I have 226 

 colonies of bees, of which 68 are new ones. 

 I have had over 200 swarms already. How 

 should queens be shipped long distances ? 

 Should they have comb honey or artificial 

 food ? I had 2 queens shipped from Geor- 

 gia, with artificial food given them ; when 

 they arrived the bees were nearly all dead, 

 and the survivors died in a short time after- 

 ward. Otto Halblieb. 



[Much difference of opinion exists as to 

 the best food, and many ways of preparing 

 queens are practiced. Our experience leads 

 us to favor artificial food for shipping long 

 distances in hot weather. Honey is ob- 

 jectionable in warm weather, as the queen 

 and bees are liable to become more or less 

 daubed, then exhaust themselves in their 

 efforts to get cleaned. With good A sugar 

 or candied honey in a roOnry cage, accom- 

 panied by 20 to 50 workers, with a vial filled 

 with water and slit in cork, or sponge sat- 

 urated and placed where it will not dampen 

 the food, queens can be shipped to Califor- 

 nia with little risk. If honey is used, we 

 prefer a cage large enough to contain a 

 piece of honey well capped, and so secured 

 as to be stationary.— Ed.] 



Boscobel, Wis., June 13, 1879. 

 My bees are doing the best that I ever had 

 them so far. If favorable weather con- 

 tinues throughout July and August we will 

 get the best crop of honey ever known here. 

 I had splendid luck in wintering ; only lost 

 one, which must have been queenless in 

 the fall. Am keeping them down all I can, 

 so as to get honey. Sometimes they swarm 

 at the rate of 5 in 15 minutes. It is just fun 

 to hive 2 or 3 swarms in one hive. They 

 fill a double story hive, 2 ft. 1 in. high, 1 ft. 

 wide, and 19% in. long, inside measurement, 

 full of bees from top to bottom. 



Edwin Pike. 



