Washington, Iowa, July 5, 1879. 

 Bees are doing finely liere now; much in- 

 terest is being taken in that direction. Con- 

 siderable loss last winter, mostly by win- 

 tering on summer stands. The white clo- 

 ver season has been extra good, and there is 

 still plenty of clover. Mostly black bees 

 are kept here, though many wish to Italian- 

 ize. We contemplate holding a bee conven- 

 tion at Washington in August or September. 

 Many are using old-fashioned boxes, be- 

 lieving them the best and cheapest. 



J. R. Crumpacker. 



Vandalia, Mich., July 9, 1879. 

 The poorest half our bees died in the win- 

 ter and spring, Four-fifths of the bees in 

 this locality died ; men owning from 3 to 10 

 colonies, in box and movable-comb hive 

 alike, generally lost all or all but lor 2. The 

 most successful wintering that we are aware 

 of, was where 65 colonies were in box hives 

 on summer stands, with no protection ex- 

 cept that the caps were filled with straw, 

 and a hole bored through the side of the 

 cap. All but 3 colonies came through all 

 right; these starved, being late swarms. 

 We got surplus between the 10th and 29th 

 of June. Catnip yields well. How can we 

 stop swarms that are "going over," flying 

 low and slow ? C. F. & F. Smith. 



[There are several methods, each of which 

 is practiced more or less extensively, viz : 

 1st. By throwing water pretty freely among 

 them, when the bees will generally "settle" 

 on the first object convenient. 2d. By the 

 use of a looking-glass, flashing the reflec- 

 tion rapidly among the bees, then throwing 

 it steadily upon a green shrub or limb of a 

 tree. 3d. Many use a shot-gun or musket, 

 discharing a blank cartridge among them, 

 when over a suitable place for the swarm to 

 alight. Many other methods are in vogue, 

 each of which has more or less advocates. 

 -Ed.] 



Oneida, Knox Co., 111., June 16, 1879. 

 After writing to you last April I lost 1 

 colony out of 32 last fall. My bees are do- 

 ing splendid ; nearly a bushel of bees in 

 some hives working vigorously in sections, 

 and I am nearly as busy putting on and 

 taking off sections, one crate of sections 

 above another, tiering them up and spread- 

 ing the brood to keep them from swarming. 

 I think bees can be Kept from swarming by 

 putting empty combs or foundation between 

 the sheets of brood, and not interfere ma- 

 terially with their prosperity. I differ 

 somewhat from friend Dadant on "Abnor- 

 mal Swarming," or I do not fully compre- 

 hend him. His summing up leaves the 

 bees in a perfectly natural, healthy, pros- 

 perous and vigorous condition. I believe 

 bees swarm in compliance with the great 

 divine command — "Go forth, multiply ;«nd 

 replenish," and not from uneasiness, and 

 unless some natural law is violated they 

 will swarm. The plan that least interferes 

 with their prosperity is the best, and, in 

 my experience, spreading the brood 10 days 



before they take the swarming fever, or as 

 soon as they commence queen cells, will 

 usually keep them from swarming. A good 

 way is to raise a sheet of brood covered 

 with bees up between two crates of sections, 

 thus bringing the open ends of the sections 

 close to the brood, and the bees readily and 

 naturally take to the sections with starters, 

 and seem to work as vigorously as though 

 nothing had happened. A. Reynolds. 



Brooklyn, N. Y., June, 1879. 

 Please describe the within in the next 

 American Bee Journal. I found him 

 near the hive with his victim in his mouth. 

 A. Van Derwerken. 



[This is not an insect at all, but a very 

 handsome black spider. Insects have 6 legs, 

 spiders 8; insects have 3 divisions to the 

 body— head, thorax and abdomen, spiders 

 have but 2— cephalothorax and abdomen; in- 

 sects have compound eyes, spiders simple 

 eyes; insects have antenna?, spiders do not; 

 insects undergo striking transformations, 

 spiders do not. A baby spider looks every 

 whit a spider, not so with insects. The 

 spider sent by Mr. Van D. is coal black, 

 with a conspicuous white triangular spot on 

 the middle of its abdomen, the apex of 

 which is toward the cephalothorax. Two 

 white ^crescents,) one on each side, appear 

 about one-third of the distance from the 

 spot to the tip of the abdomen. Midway 

 between the crescents and the tip are two 

 white dots, one on each side. Beneath the 

 abdomen and along the legs are some gray 

 hairs. A fine row of white hairs deck the 

 anterior edge of the dorsal surface of the 

 abdomen. The four simple eyes form a 

 crescent-shaped row, and look like jets in a 

 black setting. The two central eyes are 

 the larger. Beneath the eyes the brilliant 

 green jaws are pla'nly visible. From my 

 observation I think we may have little fear 

 of spiders, if we keep all webs removed 

 from the hive.— A. J. Cook.] 



Lewistown, Md., June 16, 1879. 

 The season has been very backward. 

 Bees did not get an early start, and did not 

 do much till the cherries blossomed, and 

 gathered very little from the peach or apple. 

 We had a good flow of honey from the lo- 

 custs and poplar ; white clover is quite 

 plentiful. Mr. D. A. Pike said he had 

 drones April 6th, and wants to know who 

 can beat it in this latitude with imported 

 queens. We had drones from an imported 

 queen March 10. As a general thing home- 

 bred queens will not rear drones earlier in 

 this latitude than imported. If my golden 

 strain of Italians were to reardrones sooner 

 in the season than my imported queens, I 

 would soon commence to pull their heads off 

 as a run-out strain. But as I am breeding 

 for improvement, I have no fear of it. He 



