1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



261 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Washington, May, 1872. 



All communications and letters of business should 

 be addressed to 



GEO. S. WAGNER, 

 Office of the American Bee Journal, 

 Washington, D. C. 



The continued and prompt appearance of the Jour- 

 nal will, we trust, dispel the doubts raanj" have had 

 as to its continuance. No efforts have been spared, or 

 will be spared to make it the most reliable aid-to bee- 

 culture in the United States. Beekeepers throughout 

 the country should continue to send us lists of beekeep- 

 ers in their neighborhood who do not take the Jour- 

 nal, so that it may become known to every beekeeper 

 tUroughout the laud. 



Mr. Langstroth's wound is so nearly healed that he 

 expects to be able to return home by the 6th of May. 



We have received an article from Mr. J. M. Price, 

 in reply to Mr. Chas. Dadant, which we shall insert 

 in the June number, unless -the parties can come to 

 some amicable settlement of their difficulties. 



We call special attention to the metal corners of 

 Mr. A. J. Root (Novice). We have seen them, and 

 are of opinion that they will prove a great success. 



Accounts of heavy losses from bee dysentery come 

 to us from all sections of our northern and middle 

 States. Thin, late gathered honey souring in the un- 

 capped cells^ and long continued cold precluding the 

 bees from a cleansing flight, are supposed to be the 

 main cause of the disease. 



CoRUECTiON. — By an oversight, the following sen- 

 tence was omitted in the article of Mr. Bingham on 

 " Italian Bees at the Cleveland Convention." It 

 should come in immediately following the amount 

 and product of the Italian bees, and read as follows : 

 " Four thousand six hundred and seventy-five 

 stocks of con)mon or black bees gathered one hun- 

 dred and fifteen thousand six hundred and seventj'- 

 four pounds of surplus honey, or an average of 

 nearly twenty-four pounds per hive." 



The day before the death of our beloved editor, the 

 beekeepers of Italy experienced a similar loss. Count 

 Resia, one of the founders, and the president for five 

 years of the association for the promotion of bee- 

 culture in Italy, died on the 16th of February ; Mr. 

 Samuel Wagner died on the 17th. To Count Resta, 



Italy owes much of its progress in bee-culture, just as 

 to Mr, Wagner and his journal the United States are 

 largely indebted. The American beekeepers share the 

 grief of our Italian friends, as we know they will 

 share ours, for the name of our lamented editor was 

 well known and often cited in the columns of the 

 Italian bee journals. 



Ch. Dadant. 

 Hamilton, Illinois, April 10. 



Since Dr. Blumhoff left Italy, I have tried in vain 

 to make the importation of Italian bees a paying 

 business. The moths, running honey, dysentery, 

 rough handling, delays in custom houses or depots, 

 and foul air on steamers, have always caused me to 

 lose many queens. In one year my net loss amounted 

 to over $300. I am receiving a number of letters 

 asking for imported queens, which I cannot furnish ; 

 and the need of such queens is generally felt through- 

 out the country to regenerate the breed of Italian 

 bees. 



In order to answer this call for Italian bees, I have 

 planned to go myself to Italy, to procure queens 

 that I can sell at a comparatively low price. My 

 traveling expenses will be paid by the care that I shall 

 be able to give to the packing and transportation of 

 the bees. 



I will go in July, because at that time I can buy 

 3'oung queens from second swarms which have been 

 raised in large colonies, and which are consequently 

 better than queens raised in nuclei. 



The queens will arrive here in September, after as 

 short a journey as possible. The trip will not take 

 more than seventeen days, and perhaps may be 

 shorter. The bees will be sent to purchasers fi-om 

 New York. 



I hope the beekeepers of this country will take this 

 opportunity of renovating their stock of Italians, as 

 they will not probably have as good an opportunity 

 for a long time. 



Cu. Dadant. 



Hamilton, Illinois^, April 10, 1872. 



[For the Ainericau Bee Journal.] 



Six Months of Disasters. 



On page 286 of last volume, I gave my reports 

 of my last year's result. 1 wintered forty stocks, 

 losing fifteen from dysentery or consequential 

 desertion, leaving me twenty-five to begin with. 

 I brought these up to number fifty-eiglit. The 

 mouth of June was very favorable. I had to 

 use the machine every tenth day. In July I 

 had something more than twenty-four hundred 

 pounds of white clover honey. My swarms 

 were all very strong. I extracted nearly all the 

 honey in the beginning of buckwheat blossoms, 

 of which I had several acres near my apiary. 

 September is always a good month here because 

 of the abundance of fall flowers. I kept two 

 barrels of white clover lioney in resei've for an 

 emergency. August was dry and the bees gath- 



