1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



161 



friends, I must bid you adieu, and close my 

 short address. But I will say, go on with this 

 work, and read on, and put it to the test. This 

 is the only way to keep clear of all humbugs. 

 Eemember that bees need attention in the proper 

 way, and at the proper time ; and if you attend 

 to this rightlj^, you will undoubtedly reap your 

 share of success. With this I close, thanking 

 you for your kind attention and hospitality 

 during my visit. 



At the close of this address, the association 

 returned their sincere thanks to Mr. Whiting 

 for the interest he had taken in the association, 

 and in beekeeping generally. 



On motion, it was resolved, to hold the next 

 meeting at Ballwin, on the first Saturday in 

 January, 1873, commencing at 10 o'clock, a. m. 



On motion of Mr. Dosenbach, the association 

 then adjourned. 



J. C. HoLOCHER, Vice President. 



Enue Dosenbach, Secretary. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Notes from Northern Iowa, 



Dear Journal : — Perhaps a few notes from 

 Korthern Iowa will be as interesting to the read- 

 ers of the Journal, as notes from other States 

 are to me. I see the accounts from some parts 

 report a total failure of the honey season, while 

 in others it was tolerably good. We have had 

 an extra good season here, both for surplus 

 honey and for increasing stocks. My bees stored 

 honey from the loth of April to the 15th of 

 September (five months), without any cessation. 

 I had twenty stocks in the spring, which I have 

 increased to fifty, and have taken sixteen hun- 

 dred (1600; pounds of surplus honey. I did not 

 get an extractor till after the basswood season 

 was over, or I would have taken one hundred 

 pounds from each stock. I had eight colonies 

 in the spring that gave me eight hundred (800) 

 pounds of honey and ten new swarms. My new 

 swarms are mostly artificial. 

 ■ The plan I adopted was to drive out a swarm 

 and set it in the place of the parent stock, and 

 remove the parent stock to the place of a strong 

 colony, I'emoving the strong colony to a new 

 place. 1 do not know which is the best plan 

 to make swarms, but all plans worked well this 

 year. After I had doubled my colonies by arti- 

 ficial swarming, they swarmed ten times more, 

 just to show me that I wasn't boss. 



My bees were all black, that gathered the 

 honey ; but through the kindness of friend 

 Gallup, I obtained nine nice Italian queens, 

 which are all comfortably situated in their new 

 homes. I also sent to Adam Grimm for a 

 queen, which came by return mail, and has 

 proved to be all right. 



I am a new beginner in the improved style of 

 beekeeping. Last spring I said to my neigh- 

 bors that I intended to double my stocks and 

 take a thousand (1000) pounds of surplus honey. 

 They said I had "bee on the brain," and that 

 I would meet with obstacles enough before fall 

 to cool my fevered brow. But by the help of 



the American Bee Journal, and many valuable 

 lessons from Gallup, I have succeeded far be- 

 yond my expectations. 



Mr. Editor, I think that "bee on the brain" 

 is essential to success. If a person has other 

 business on the brain, his bees will go neglected. 

 I take solid comfort in my daily walks among 

 my little bu.sy workmen, while attending to 

 their many wants. My wife, who takes pleas- 

 \ire in assisting in the swarming season, often 

 takes charge of them in my absence. But when 

 it came to extracting, what then? Why, there 

 was honey in every dish ; honey all over the 

 house ; our hands and clothes were all daubed 

 with lioney ; and, to put in the variations, the 

 bees were so loving they lit on wife's face — 

 eyes she had, but they saw not, neither did they 

 want to see the bees again until a short time 

 ago, when returning from town with a bundle 

 of goods (bought with honey, you know), .she 

 gave them one look, which said : you little 

 scamps, I forgive you. 



I hope to meet lots of warm-hearted bee- 

 keepers at the Cleveland convention, where I 

 expect to have a good time. 



J. W. LiNDLEY. 



Mitchell, Iowa, Nov. 14, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Eeport from Bethlehem, Iowa, 



Mr. Editor : — In compliance with your re- 

 quest, I send report for 1871. I will be as brief 

 as possible. * 



In the spring, I found I had twenty-six 

 stocks, in good order, one queenless, one 

 crippled, and one black colony. The latter I 

 had run against an artificial Italian, as reported 

 in the November number of the Journal. It 

 was so weak that it could not stand the cold, and 

 gave up the ghost. The queenless one I doubled 

 up, and killed the crippled one, giving the combs 

 to others. Examined and equalized the colonies, 

 gave each a due share of bees, as near as I 

 could, and about fifteen pounds of honey. 



I also bought four swarms in gums and box 

 hives. Two of these had cast swarms before I 

 got them home. All new swarms were fed until 

 their hives were built full of comb, when the 

 weather rendered it necessary. 



The result of the season's operations, was an 

 increase to forty-nine (49) strong stocks, and 

 two weak ones. 



2,550 pounds of extracted honey. 

 1,503 " of box and fi-ame honey. 

 .iOO " in old combs. 



I cannot say much of the manner in which 

 my bees have been put to into winter quarters, 

 on account of the very serious accident I met 

 with, which prevented me from overhauling 

 them before putting them away. I had put in 

 empty frames for them to fill. They usually 

 lengthen out the cells, when put in late in the 

 seson, instead of starting new comb. 



Eked. Crathorne. 



Bethlehem, Iowa, Dec. 11, 1871. 



