Bees Almost Starved in June. 



Hartford, Wis., July 16, 1880. 

 It has been a very unprofitable year 

 for bees in this vicinity. In June the 

 bees nearly starved, and in July but 8 

 days have been good. The basswood 

 came 10 days ahead of its time, and it 

 is now gone. I. S. Crowfoot. 



Horse Mint as a Honey Plant. 



Kirksville, Mo., July 20, 1S80. 

 I send by mail to-day what must be a 

 fine honey plant, judging from the num- 

 ber of bees working on it — it was liter- 

 ally covered with them. Please give its 

 name and use as a honey plant, and how 

 long does it bloom ? Swarms are not 

 numerous this season, but y 2 of them go 

 to the woods. We have quite an amount 

 of honey-dew. Bees are storing in the 

 boxes pretty well. The remainder of 

 the season (usually the best) promises 

 fair. F. A. Grove. 



[The branch you sent is one of the 

 mints, and is usually called horse mint. 

 It is an excellent honey plant, and the 

 bloom lasts 3 to 4 weeks.— Ed.] 



Bee-Catching Spider. 



New Lisbon, Wis., June 20, 1880. 

 I send a bee, a spider and a head of 

 white clover. Upon making my round 

 on the cranberry marsh, this morn- 

 ing, I discovered a honey bee (a rare 

 occurrence) on a clover blossom, but it 

 appeared to be dead. I picked up the 

 head of clover, in order to take a bet- 

 ter look at it, when, to my surprise, I 

 saw that this spider had the bee by the 

 neck in such a position that it could not 

 have a chance to use its weapon. It 

 looks so much like the clover that the 

 bee could not have noticed it until it 

 had fastened its mandibles around the 

 head of the bee. It is a curious occur- 

 rence to me, and perhaps it would in- 

 terest some of your readers. I never 

 saw such a spider before, and hope thev 

 are exceedingly scarce. Can you tell 

 me about its habits and wants V 



II. O. Krtjschke. 



[The spider was so dried up that I 

 cannot easily give the name. There are 

 several species in the United States that 

 prey on insects which they catch with- 

 out the use of a web, and not a few are 

 brave enough to attack, and strong and 

 quick enough to subdue the bee. The 

 mimicking the flower serves as well as 

 the web, as thus other insects come into 

 its grasp and power without fear of dan- 



ger. The Phymata erosa, or stinging 

 bug, so mimics the flowers on which it 

 usually rests that it is rarely observed 

 by its victims till they are in its and the 

 arms of death. Such mimicry is doubt- 

 less a developed peculiarity in the evo- 

 lution of such insects, which powerfully 

 aids them in the "struggle for life.' 1 — 

 A. J. Cook.] 



Vice President for Dakota. 



Sioux Falls, Dakota, July 18, 1880. 



President Newman : Having dis- 

 posed of my apiary and engaged in an 

 altogether different line of business, I 

 tender my resignation as Vice Presi- 

 dent of the National Association for 

 Dakota. 



I would recommend the name of Cal- 

 vin G. Shaw, of Vermillion, to fill the 

 vacancy. It affords me great pleasure 

 to state that an intimate acquaintance 

 with the gentleman, extending through 

 a term of 14 years, warrants me in be- 

 lieving he would make a first class offi- 

 cer, being an active, energetic and pro- 

 gressive bee-keeper, and, if appointed, 

 would, I am confident, prove a " work- 

 er." Jesse P. Watson. 



I hereby appoint Mr. Shaw to fill the 

 vacancy, and [hope to hear of some 

 effective work in Dakota as the result. 

 The present is just the time when it is 

 necessary to work up Honey Shows. 

 Thos. G. Newman, Pres. 



The Smallest Crop of Honey since 1872. 



Borodino, N. Y., July 20, 1880. 

 The white honey harvest is now over, 

 and my crop will be the smallest since 

 1872. I have taken but 800 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted and 1,200 lbs. of comb honey 

 from 70 colonies in the spring. The 

 comb honey may amount to 2,000 or 

 2,500 lbs. when I have gone over the 

 hives for the last time, which will be 

 the latter part of this week. 



G. M. Doolittle. 



Honey Season a Complete Failure. 



St. Charles, 111., July 20, 1880. 

 The honey season thus far has been a 

 failure here. During June, which usu- 

 ally is our best month for honey, 

 nearly all the bees in this (Kane) County 

 came as near starving as they could 

 and not starve. No white clover to 

 speak of. Basswood was very full of 

 bloom, but it lasted only 4 or 5 days. 

 Since then bees have not made their 

 board. M. M. Baldridge. 



