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THE AMEEICAN -BEE JOURNAL. 



[June, 



Agriculture, informs us that tlie plant above stated, 

 sent to us by Dr. Hamlin, is a rare Fipecies — Vesica- 

 RiA Lescurii. It is mentioned in Gray's Botany as 

 found by Leo Lesquereaux on the hills near Nashville, 

 Tennessee, and to be sought for in southern Kentucky. 

 Blooming early, long and profusely, it may prove to 

 be a valuable bee plant. 



Christiansburg, Va., April 21. — The prospect for 

 honey is fine here this spring. Apple trees are in full 

 bloom ; and tlie weather is warm and dry, giving the 

 bees a fine chance. Mine are breeding very rapidly, 

 and I hope to give you a good account of them as the 

 season progresses. I enclose a plant for name, which 

 is spreading all over this neighborhood rapidly. It 

 commences blossoming early in February, and con- 

 tinues up to this time. My bees forsook the rye-meal 

 in a few days after this came into bloom. J. R. 

 Gardnee. 



J^" The plant accompanying the foregoing note, 

 is the " Whitlow Grass" — Draba verna. Gray. It 

 is found in all the Atlantic States, though not com- 

 mon. It is annual, and probably valuable only as 

 furnishing pollen early for bees. 



WoRTHiNGTON, Pa., April 33. — Weather chilly. 

 Fruit nearly all killed from frosts. Bees not faring 

 well this spring. Have just concluded a series of 

 thirteen articles on apiculture, in our county paper ; 

 and I think, from communications received, that an 

 interest has been awakened in the right direction. 

 J. W. Barclay. 



West Edmistox, N. T., April 24. — My stock of 

 bees, in the spring of 1870, consisted of seven colo- 

 nies, in a fair average condition for bees in this section 

 that spring. By anificial means I increased them to 

 fifteen swarms. With the use of a honey emptying 

 machine I took five hundred and thirty-five pounds of 

 pure honey from them, besides obtaining two hundred 

 pounds of surplus in boxes. This made a sum total 

 of seven hundred and thirty -five (735) pounds, or one 

 hundred and five pounds to the original swarm. Their 

 net average weight October 1st, was forty pounds. 

 They have wintered splendidly, both in chamber and 

 on summer stands, and are in flue condition. I am 

 well pleased with ray experience in beekeeping, and 

 consider my success favorable for a new beginuer in 

 apiculture. H. Lonqworthy. 



Tuscola, Ills., May 1. — In the spring of 1870, I 

 started with eight stands of bees, and have at present 

 fifteen — having lost three last winter through careless- 

 ness ; but have found that it costs something to learn 

 certain facts in the bee line. Last season, was too dry 

 here for bees ; they hardly gathered enough to keep 

 them. It has been rather cool till the 29th of April, 

 when we had a good warm rain, and should the 

 weather stay warm the bees will do well. That patent 

 for feeding hogs is a pretty good illustration of some 

 patent bee hives - not that I would hint that beemen 

 would swindle one another. We all know that men 

 selling patent rights are, like horse jockies, too hon- 

 est to cheat anybody. I, at least, have not been 

 swindled yet, as I let patent vendors pass along on 

 their way rejoicing or grumbling, as they may choose 

 to term it. I use the Langstrotii patent, which can't 

 be beat in the present age. I paid for the right to 

 use it, and no man ought to use it without paying 

 for it. H. C. DuRBOROW. 



Saxon, Ills., May 8. — Bees through this section 

 are very strong for this time in the year. They 

 commenced gathering pollen about the 10th of March. 

 Weather cool, with frost the last two nights. Apple 

 trees nearly out of bloom. J. A. Maxfield. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Dysentery. 



Dear .Journal :— I am writinjT to-day on the 

 15th of February. Any day now, may be the 

 last day of confinement for my bees in their win- 

 ter jail. Thus far they have needed extra care. 

 As I told you, I had forty colonies, nearly half 

 of them in bee gums, and the other half in frame 

 hives, Gallup form. These I have emptied twice 

 often during summer, so that all their honey was 

 gathered during August and September. The 

 bee gums are all right — all in position of rank 

 and tile, so that the bees in not one of them stir. 

 The others have many dead bees, and although 

 the honey-boards are laid on them only half-way, 

 yet the bees cluster on them like swarms. This 

 state of things has been so for the last three days. 

 Every night I gave them more ventilation, but 

 the more I gave them the more noisy they are, 

 and dysentery has fairly set in. Tonight I shall 

 open the doors and take off the honey-boards 

 altogether. My bee gums have not half so much 

 ventilation, there being only a square hole, six 

 by five inches, with bars to fasten tlie combs. 

 Does not this look as if dysentery is the result of 

 the quality of the honey, and that some honey 

 has a greater degree of heat than others? Al- 

 though my bee house smells very unpleasantly, 

 I do not see that the bees are much affected. 

 They appear lively and active, as in midsummer ; 

 yet they soil their combs with faeces, and the 

 result will be a desertion of hives in the si)riug. 



I am glad to see friend Gallup gives us some- 

 thing more about the Davis queen nursery. Let 

 a good thing be encouraged, by all means. The 

 queen nursery may be regarded as the third 

 great invention in bee culture. There must be 

 some misunderstanding between Gallup and Nes- 

 bit. They differ widely. I wish our friend Nes- 

 bit would give us the assurance that his queen 

 nursery is identical with that of Dr. Davis. If 

 it is not, he would do well to style it my queen 

 nursery, instead of simply the nursery. This 

 would avert misunderstanding and unnecessary 

 explications. 



I have heard much about purity of offspring 

 in bee culture, and discussions on this subject 

 are not wanting, and conflicting notions are still 

 entertained. Met h inks there is no difficulty in 

 ascertaining pure blood. When I intend to com- 

 pai"e some bees, I take a piece of comb with 

 honey in it, go to some hive and hold the comb 

 several minutes before the fly-hole, or until eight 

 or ten bees collect on it. Then I carry them thus 

 on the comb into a room in my house, and let 

 them fly to a window on which the sun is shining 

 in full force. The pure bee is clear and trans- 

 parent, with a slender tapering body, and only a 

 small tip of black ; while the impure are of a 

 muddy appearance on the window. You can 

 discover the slightest adulteration. 



If any one knows of any evil resulting from 

 using maple sap for spring feeding of bees, say 

 half a gill every night, let his voice be heard iu 

 Israel. 



J. DUFFILKR. 



Bousseau, Wis. 



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