22 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



should be of a mesh not more than six to the inch which 

 I find to work far more satisfactorily than finer cloth, 

 especially in extracting thick honey. 



The swarming season with me is now ended. With 

 few exceptions, all my swarms have issued naturally. 

 I never have any first swarms to leave without set- 

 tling, and that without noise of any kind, giving 

 ample time to secure them. My apiary now numbers 

 eighty hives — six not having swarmed yet. My purest 

 Italian stock threw out a very large swarm on the 

 27th of March ; and on the 30th of April this new 

 stock threw out a swarm, after 'first filling several 

 boxes with beautiful surplus honey — the old queen 

 leading both swarms. This is another recommenda- 

 tion for the Italians. Of the remainder of the hives 

 in the apiarj', the first swarms commenced issuing on 

 the 6th of April, and were hybrids— the blacks coming 

 out some days later. 



Our spring has been backward. Honey gathering 

 was good three weeks ago, but on account of a very 

 dry spell, with cool nights, the bees are accumulating 

 nothing now. For a week past the drones in most of 

 the hives have been driven out. June has always 

 been a good honey gathering month here. I have ob- 

 served that about the middle of July the queens cease 

 laying almost entirely, and every available cell is filled 

 ■with honey throughout the hive. After that period 

 no more surplus honey is accumulated, though an 

 abundance is to be had to supply their wants until 

 ■winter comes on. — John R. Bledsoe. 



Knightsto'wn, Ind., May 31. — We have had a very 

 dry spring so far. In fact we had only about two 

 inches of rain fall in the last two months ; and the 

 flowers do not secrete honey as if the weather had 

 been warm and moist. But in the last few days the 

 nights have been cool, and there seems to be a differ- 

 ence in the working of our bees. So far the weather 

 has been rather unfa-vorable to bee-keeping, this spring. 

 There appears to be a fine crop of -white clover bloom, 

 but the bees have not stored any honey from it yet. I 

 hope for the better. — J. C Deem. 



KiNGSViLLE, Mo., June 4. — Bees came out strong 

 here tliis spring and bid fair to do well, but the 

 weather has been so very dry for some time past until 

 a few days back, that they have not yet commenced 

 swarming. Bee-men in this section seem to be taking 

 more interest in their bees than usual, though few 

 have yet obtained the Italian bee yet, and the common 

 drum or box-hive is still almost universally used. Dur- 

 ing the past two seasons, however, a few have been 

 using the movable comb-hives, and are delighted with 

 them. — This spring the country is flooded with all 

 manner of patent hives. Nearly all, if not all, have 

 their moth traps connected with them, warranted to 

 out-wit the miller in his efforts to get into tlie hive. I 

 regard the traps as humbugs, and most of the hives. 

 — D. B. Reavis. 



West Chester, Conn., June 6.— In the Bee Jour- 

 nal the machine for emptying honey from comb, has 

 many commendations, and about as many names — 

 namely, honey-emptying machine, honey extractor, 

 honey slinger, melextractor, smelatore, &c., &c. Now, 

 why not call it Hruschka (pronounced Rooshka). 

 Many have had their names attached to their inven- 

 tions. Daguerre has his name immortalized, in the 

 daguerreotype, and bee-keepers will doubt whether 

 his invent!' n is more of a boon to humanity than 

 that of Major Von Hrushka. I wish we might hear 

 no more of honey slingers, melextractors, &c., but 

 instead thereof let us have Rooshka, an honor justly 

 due to the illustrioiis inventor of a most valuable 

 machine. — W. H. Kirk. 



New Bedford, Mass., June 8. — I received the last 

 number of your interesting and valuable paper to-day, 



and hasten to send the subscription for Vol. VI. My 

 friends say that I have "bee on the brain ;"but if being 

 exceedingly interested in the wonderful and invaluable 

 instincts of the bee is bee on the brain, I confess to 

 the disease. If, however, they would take the Jour- 

 nal, and read it as carefully as I do, they also would 

 suffer the same malady. I think 7iow that they begin 

 to show incipient symptdms, for several have applied 

 for swarms ; and the next stage will be the applica- 

 tion for the Journal. 



Bees have swarmed earlier and better so far, this 

 season, than for quite a number of years, in this lo- 

 cality. — E. P. Abbe. 



Springfield, Ills., June 10. — We appreciate the 

 Journal here, and like it for its independence and 

 freeness from axe-grinding ; and sincerely hope the 

 subscription list will soon warrant the issue of a semi- 

 monthly or weekly. 



Spring opened early and dry here. Bees come out 

 of winter quarters in good condition. Blossoms lasted 

 only a short time, owing to the drouth. Bees are 

 strong in numbers, but backward about swarming. — 

 G. Atres. 



Dan-vers, Mass., June 13. — The season has again 

 arrived when those who keep bees expect to get some 

 profit from them, either in swarms or honey, and 

 perhaps some account of our success or failure might 

 not be uninteresting to your readers. 



Our first swarm of bees was found on a heap of 

 brush on the first day of July, 1857. No schoolboy 

 was prouder with his first jacknife, than we when we 

 carried home our first swarm. The next year our 

 hive swarmed once, and from so small a beginning, 

 we have continued bee-keeping, with various results. 

 We have purchased six Italian queens, and have at 

 this time nine Lan<rstroth hives. Last fall we had 

 eighteen colonies. Five of them being out of doors, 

 we concluded to winter them in a building, it being a 

 large out-house clap-boarded and pretty warm. Those 

 wintered in this outhouse came out all well, and of 

 those wintered in bee-houses, we lost two, making 

 our stock in the spring sixteen hives. We have had, 

 to this time, seven swarms. Two came out yesterday 

 at about tlie same time, and went together. 



Our stocks are all in good condition, and the bees 

 are working in the surplus honey boxes, except those 

 just swarmed. We had one swarm issue on the 30th 

 of May, but the queen being heavy, fell to the ground, 

 and the swarm returned. Having found the queen, we 

 drove a swarm out, and by exchanging the old 

 stock with another strong colony, brought them into 

 good condition again. 



There is every prospect at this time of a good honey 

 harvest here in Massachusetts, for which we most de- 

 voutly hope, as we have not had a really good honey 

 season for five years. And now, Mr. Editor, the time 

 has arrived to renew our subscription for the Bee 

 Journal, for I do not see how we can do without it. 

 You need not be afraid that I will mistake your Bee 

 Journal for any other, for there is no other good one 

 that I know of. I enclose two dollars for the sixth 

 volume, and wish you all success in your undertak- 

 ing. — E. E. Porter. 



FoxBORO', Mass, June 13. — Fnclosed please find 

 two dollars, in advance payment for the American 

 Bee Journal for the ensuing year. I have at various 

 times during the past year thought of wri'inga series 

 of articles for your Journal, but business has so 

 driven me that I have been unable to do anything in 

 that line. 



The last season, as every bee-keeper knows, was a 

 very poor one; but I was successful enough to carry 

 all my stock, by seeing in September, that they were 

 well supplied and fed. This spring has opened finely. 

 The blossoms never seemed to yield so bravely, and 



