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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



An Old Stock of Bees. 



Campbell Wakefield, Esq., of Heyworth, 111., 

 has a stock of bees that has been in the same 

 hive for twenty-nine years. He informs me that 

 for fifteen years not a particle of comb has been 

 removed, and that most of the comb has re- 

 mained in the hive the whole twenty-nine years. 

 The hive is the old-fashioned "gum," being 

 nothing but a hollow log with crosspieces. I 

 lately examined, with some care, the size of the 

 bees. There were several stocks on the same 

 bench. Some of these were but a year old. I am 

 obliged to confess that the bees were fully as 

 large as any in the apiary. The idea so frequently 

 advanced, that bees in old combs are so much 

 smaller than those in new, does not seem to hold 

 good in this instance. Is it ever true ? 



E. A. Gastman. 



De.atur, III, Aug. 10, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Honarda Punctata. 



Last spring I got some of the plants and 

 planted in my garden, which is a heavy clay ; it 

 did very well, and bees worked on it readily. I 

 sowed some of the seed in a rich, loose piece of 

 ground. It is now most all in bloom, and is about a 

 month later than the plants. The bees are work- 

 ing on it nicely now at this date ; it looks as if 

 it would continue till frost. I gave some of the 

 seeds and plants to my neighboring bee men : it 

 makes a fine show on the sandy land of one of 

 the beekeepers, and the bees are on it all day. 

 This man thinks it will pay to cultivate it for the 

 bees alone, and he intends to go into its cultiva- 

 tion more extensively. I think one acre of it is 

 sufficient for thirty swarms to store up for win- 

 ter on, and the honey is the best I know of, even 

 better than basswood or white clover. 



My bees and those of my ne ghbors were re- 

 duced about half during the long winter, being 

 too long confined ; but I have now got them up 

 to the old number and in good order. We had 

 a very dry season. The honey season was closed 

 about July 5th. I did not get half as much as I 

 got last season. I would like to hear of some 

 more good honey yielding plants that come into 

 bloom the latter part of summer and last till 

 frost. Does anybody know how the Rocky 

 Mountain bee plant grows, and how cultivated ? 

 Let us know through the Bee Journal. 



J as. McSay. 



Mad son, Wis., Aug. 30, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal 1 



Mr. Editor : — It has been about eight months 

 since I have become acquainted with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. I do not regret that I have 

 become acquainted with it or the money that it 

 cost, for in it I find a great amount of valuable 



information, if I was able to bring it into prac- 

 tice. But with the rest of my brother bee 

 keepers, I have met with a great loss of bees the 

 past winter and spring. Last November, I had 

 one hundred and twenty-three stocks of bees. I 

 reduced them down to sixty-two colonies which 

 I put into winter quarters, giving them double 

 the amount of ventilation that I gave thirty- 

 two colonies the winter before last. In January, 

 I noticed that my bees were sick with the dysen- 

 tery. What to do I did not know. The 

 weather being so cold that I could not let them 

 fly out until the 12th of March. At that time 

 twelve colonies were dead. I concluded not to 

 put them back. When the spring flowers began 

 to bloom I had only twelve colonies left and they 

 were in very poor condition. I have now thirty- 

 three colonies, and have obtained about one 

 hundred pounds of box honey. Perhaps I may 

 obtain one hundred pounds more. It has been 

 very dry in this part of Michigan this season. 

 If my bees collect impure honey this autumn, 

 will some one please inform me through the Bee 

 Journal what to do in order that I may preserve 

 the life of my bees ? 



E. R. Wlidman. 

 Grand Lodge, Mv-li., Aug. 26, 1872. 



[Translated from Die Honeybiene.] 



The Linden. 



There is no tree of more interest to beekeepers 

 than the Linden. How we rejoice at the unfolding 

 of its leaves, and the appearance of the buds. With 

 what interest we watch the swelling of the buds 

 and then the opening of the first flowers. Then 

 comes the golden harvest for our favorites. 

 The happy buzzing of the bees among the leaves 

 grows stronger and stronger from day to day, 

 till at last when the blossoms send forth their 

 exhalations far and wide, we with rapture hear 

 their humming, sounding like the noise of a dist- 

 ant waterfall. 



But not alone when in blossom does this noble 

 tree yield food for the bees ; but for three or 

 four weeks before, there distils from the leaves 

 a sweet juice which the industrious workers 

 quickly transfer to -the hives. The following 

 are the various species of Linden. 



1. Tilia Pahvefolia hyliuda, having large 

 leaves, blossoming about the middle of June. 

 In 1865, the first blossoms appeared on the 6th 

 o June. When in fall bloom this is the first to 

 receive the attention of the bees. 



2. Tilia Parvhfolia, has leaves nearly as large 

 as the foregoing species. Comes into bloom 

 from six to eight days later, and is much visited 

 by the bees yet no species is so much valued as 



8. Tilia Eukopcea, which has small leaves 

 and flowers, which latter appear in large clus- 

 ters. It is the most cherished of all the species 

 of Linden, and the rush of bees for its sweet 

 nourishment is wonderful. It blossoms from 

 three to six days later than the second >pecies. 



4. Tilia Ocoidkntalis, has small dark leaves, 

 and often covered all over with blossoms which 

 are however not visited so eagerly as the bios- 



