.June 28, 1906 



American Itee Journal 



at present are in the best shape. We have no very large bee-keepers, 

 as we have no great honey-plants here. The gallberry plant is what 

 settled me here. 



I might send you some photographs later, and may write a little 

 for you at odd times. 



Our association has done a great work. We hope to have a good 

 ' meeting this fall. Come down. We want to get bee-keeping on a 

 better paying basis, and are hard at work to that end. 



I will write you again at my earliest convenience. 



J. J. Wilder. 



A brief write-up of your 5 years' experience in keeping 

 bees, traveling and living: in an ox-wagon in our State of 

 Texas 26 years ago, I am sure would be interesting to most 

 of us tenderfeetof nowadays. Perhaps you would find time 

 to jot it down some time and send it along. Those photo- 

 graphs and other writings will be greatly appreciated in 

 " Southern Beedom," for you see the entire South is 

 included in "Southern Beedom." 



Will you be kind enough to send us the names of the 

 officers of your association, and also the time and place of 

 the next meeting, with the program ? 



You are on the right "track," and may Georgia soon be 

 upon a high basis as an apicultural State. Hard work to 

 that end should certainly accomplish it. 



Unsealed Brood On Outside of Brood-Nest to 

 Prevent Swarming 1 



As everybody who has bees has a plan to keep them 

 from swarming, I will tell mine. We have practised it for 

 3 years, and where we followed it up carefully we have not 

 had a swarm, and have had from 150 to 600 colonies of bees. 

 The plan is this: 



Simply keep open brood on the outside of the brood- 

 chamber, and sealed brood in the center. Work through 

 the yard from 6 to 8 days ; keep all queen-cells cut down. 

 It is my experience that the bees will not swarm if there is 

 open brood in the outside frames. The natural condition 

 of a colony of bees at swarming is all sealed brood outside 

 of the brood-nest and open brood in the center. So just 

 change it. Cut down all queen-cells, and I will guarantee 

 no swarming until the open brood is sealed on the outside 

 frames. W. T. Brite. 



Verdi, Tex. 



^ 



Reports and Prospects— Bitter Honey 



The weather so far has been very unfavorable this 

 spring for bees, there being too much rain and cool nights. 

 However, it looks a little more favorable now. Corn has 

 begun to tassel, and horsemint is in bloom. The last 2 sea- 

 sons have been very poor here for bees, except last fall, 

 when there was a very good honey-flow, but the honey was 

 so strong it was like eating red-pepper, and I can't account 

 for it, unless it was from smartweed ; but it has been here 

 all the time, and I never saw any honey like it before. 



Lone Oak, Tex., June 10. H. L-. Russell- 



Bees have been on a boom for 2 weeks. Never in ray 35 

 years of handling the honey-bee have I seen as good a 

 honey-flow first from locust. Poplar is now coming into 

 full bloom. The fields are white with white clover, and 

 blackberry is in full bloom. Raspberry and swamp-dog- 

 wood also are in full bloom, all yielding an abundance of 

 nectar. The weather has been fine up till to-day ; it is 

 raining now, which is bothering the bees some, but my 50 

 colonies are all in fine condition for gathering nectar, and 

 do not seem to have any desire to swarm. I hope for an 

 old-fashioned honey-yield this season. 



Mast, N. C, May 28. A. J. McBride. 



Bees have not done well here for 2 years on account of 

 cold, rainy and late springs, giving very little surplus 

 honey. A good many starved out. I have 11 colonies in 10- 

 frame Langstroth hives. They are storing some nectar 

 from horsemint and corn-tassel. This is a poor location 

 for bees. Those who have bees here keep nearly all of 

 them in old box-hives, and will not read oee books or papers, 

 as I have tried them. I expect to read the American Bee 

 Journal as long as I can pa ' for it. May it live long. 



Jonesboro, Tex., June ' 1. J. M. Cooper. 



ee- Keeping 



Conducted by Emma M. Wii ,-uN, Marengo, 111 



Work-Shop Struck by Lightning 



May 23, during a severe thunder-storm, our work -shop 

 was struck by lightning. Fortunately it did not catch fire. 

 It would have been rather a serious affair for us had it 

 burned, as all our supplies, including about 25,000 sections 

 all ready for the bees, were stored there. I think I never 

 before realized what a force there is bottled up in lightning, 

 until I looked around at the way things were splintered. It 

 seemed to strike in several different places on the in 

 and on each side of the roof. But we considered oursef 

 fortunate when we thought of what the loss might have 1 

 been. The damage was more than covered by insurance, 

 but we did some lively hustling to get the piles of supers 

 covered up to keep them from being ruined by the rain 

 which poured through the broken roof. 



Honey-Paste for the Hands 



Honey-paste for whitening and softening the hands : 

 Rub together 1 pound of honey and the yolks of 8 eggs; 

 then gradually add 1 pound of oil of sweet almonds, during 

 constant trituration ; work in 8 ounces of blanched and 

 ground bitter almonds, and perfume with 2 drams each of 

 attar of bergamot and attar of cloves. This makes quite a 

 large amount. It would be better to experiment with half 

 of the portions. Red, rough hands must be kept out of hot 

 water as much as possible. When bathing, use the very 

 purest soap you can find, and be sure to dry the surface of 

 the hands thoroughly. — Mme. Qui Vive, in Chicago Record- 

 Herald. 



Mr. Acklin's Death 



The news of Mr. Acklin's sudden death came as a great 

 shock to his many beekeeping friends. At the Chicago 

 convention of the National, last December, he seemed the 

 very embodiment of strong, vigorous manhood. The ear- 

 nest sympathy of all the sisters go out to Mrs. Acklin and 

 Miss Ethel in their great sorrow. 



A «' Southern Beedom " Sister Caring for Italian Queens 



Now, see here, Mr. Scholl, don't you think it naughty 

 of you to try to lure the sisters from their very own corner, 

 to go South, as you did on page 507 ? Then, do you really 

 think it gentlemanly not to answer a lady when she asks 

 you a very direct question ? Mrs. Williams asked you, 

 " Can I take brood out of one or two hives and put it into a 

 new hive, and put the ordered queen with them ? Of 

 course, take some bees with the brood. I want Italian 

 queens, but do not like to destroy the common queens." 

 And never a word of reply did you give her. Of course, we 

 will forgive you this time, if you are truly sorry and prom- 

 ise to do better in the future. What say you ? are you 

 going to be good ? 



If Mrs. Williams will stay in her own corner she may 

 have her questions answered more promptly. And to save 

 her the trouble of asking again it may be well to answer 

 right here and now : 



Yes, you can do that way ; only if you take no precau- 

 tion the bees that you take with the brood will be likely to 

 desert it, if you have only 2 or 3 frames of brood. « So it 

 will be well for you to imprison the bees for 2 or 3 days. A 

 good way is to stuff green leaves or grass into the entrance, 

 then if you forget to open it in 2 or 3 days the green stuff 



