158 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Season of 1868. 



Mr. Editor : — Tne white clover was of short 

 duration this season on account of the drouth: 

 consequently the swarming season was very 

 limited. When the clover failed our bees ceased 

 swarming. I had only sixteen swarms from 

 thirty-three stocks, which was an average in- 

 crease in this country. 



The bees scarcely gathered their living from 

 the time the white clover failed, until the ap- 

 pearance of the buckwhat blossoms — a space of 

 four or five weeks. Only twelve of my young 

 swarms were in a condition for wintering sepa- 

 rately. My old stocks are in fine condition for 

 wintering. I had two hundred and twenty-five 

 dollars C!f225) worth of surplus honey this sea- 

 son; but not a pound did I get from my swarms. 

 This country is well adapted to white clover 

 and buckwheat. These two crops are our main 

 dependance. I have proposed to furnish the 

 seed for any one that will sow ten acres and 

 upwards of buckwheat, over and above their 

 average crop for the last three years — provided 

 it were sown within one half mile of my apiary; 

 and I am satisfied that I will get pay for the 

 seed, if it be a good season and fine weather 

 when it is in bloom. 



Some time after I took the surplus honey from 

 off the hives, I found one box partly filled and 

 unsealed, that contained honey not much un- 

 like buckwheat for color, but of a bitter taste. 

 Now which hive it was taken from, and whether 

 the rest of boxes of that hive contained the 

 same kind of honey or not, I am unable to say; 

 but we found no bitter honey before nor since. 

 This bitter taste resembles that of black cherry 

 bark. Might this honey have been gathered 

 from the black cherry blossoms ? If so, why 

 was there no more like it? There are not ex- 

 ceeding twenty cherry trees in the range of our 

 bees' flight. 



Another observation I have made. I found 

 at two different times, a comb in the honey- 

 boxes that contained three lengths of cells fided 

 with honey. The middle and one outside 

 length contained clover honey; and the other 

 outside contained buckwheat honey. This is 

 surely a very uncommon occurrence; at least I 

 never heard of the like before. 



I have this fall (1868) procured three beautiful 

 Italian queens, and got them safely introduced, 

 as follows : two from W. J. Davis, of Youngs- 

 ville, Pa. On receipt of these two queens, I 

 drove out the natives; caught and secured their 

 queens; caged my Italian queens, placed them 

 between the central combs and returned the 

 workers to their respective hives. I let the 

 Italian queens remain caged ninety hours, and 

 then liberated them. My third queen I received 

 from the National Beehive Company, at St. 

 Charles, Ills., in one of their recently improved 

 study hives, which no new beginner should be 

 without — it is a completely finished hive, got 

 up by a workman. But the bees, both queens and 

 workers, from both parties, are what suits my 

 eye. They are fine specimens. My third queen 



remained caged just one week. On a recent 

 examination my queens are all right, except 

 that they have not laid any eggs. Allowing 

 me to judge from the pages of our valuable 

 Bee Journal, I have got as pure Italians as are 

 in the United States, though I cannot give an 

 opinion as to their superiority, until I have a 

 trial; but if their qualities are as superior to the 

 natives as their looks and appearance, I shall be 

 satisfied. 



I use the double-cased Langstroth hive most- 

 ly — some one story with boxes; and some two- 

 stories of frames. I get much the largest 

 amount of surplus honey in the frames. See 

 plate VII, figure 20, "Langstroth on the Hive 

 and Honey Bee." I prefer this style to any 

 other for wintering bees on their summer 

 stands. My hives are all planed and painted. 

 I get my boards planed at the planing mill, run 

 my saws by horse power, &c, and do all the 

 cutting, ripping, and rabbeting with circular 

 saws. 



M. "Wilson. 



Meredith, Pa. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Rye and Oat Meal. 



Mr. Editor — I see that some of your corres- 

 pondents do not know how to start bees to 

 work on rye or oat meal in the spring. I have 

 had the same difficulty until last spring. After 

 the meal is set out, and while bees are flying 

 freely, sprinkle a few drops of Essence of Anise 

 near the meal, and it will not be over five min- 

 utes before they will be at work on it lively. In 

 hunting wild bees the essence is used to good 

 advantage, for its scent will attract them. This 

 I have also tried. 



All Worker Comb. 

 In the November number of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for 1868, under the head " To obtain all 

 worker comb," it is recommended to use guide 

 combs in the space left just wide enough for 

 worker comb only. That is not good in prac- 

 tice with me, as I have found that bees will raise 

 drone brood by building the cells short on one 

 side of the comb, and long enough to accom- 

 modate drone brood on the other. And when 

 they could not put it in so, they built short 

 pieces crosswise; and this not in one instance 

 only, but in many. 



C. HODGKINS. 



Marlboro', N. H. 



Any one who goes through the world with 

 his eyes open, is sure to find out something that 

 even professed naturalists did not know before. 

 — R. Holland. 



It is rare to find men doubting facts, and still 

 rarer to find them doubting whether' the facts 

 be correctly coordinated. — 67. H. Lewes. 



Be not too hasty to erect general theories 

 from a few peculiar observations, appearances, 

 or experiments. — Dr. Watts. 



