Good Fall Crop Expected. 



Otsego, Mich., July 19, 1880. 

 The white clover crop or honey has 

 heen poor here, but Ave have had so 

 much rain that we can almost safely say 

 we shall have a large fall crop of honey. 

 Bees arc in fine condition, and we have 

 hope— ■• verily, we believe"— we shall 

 have an average crop. T. F. Bingham. 



Thick Foundation Does Not Sag. 



Napa, Cal., July 9, 1880. 

 Our season is now over. Bees are 

 emptying the unfinished sections and 

 filling and capping it in the brood cham- 

 ber, crowding the brood, and giving 

 work for the extractor, of which I have 

 •2— a Root and an Everett. The latter 

 I like well, it works easy and quick, and 

 a child could operate it. I think an ex- 

 tractor should take the frames as they 

 hang in the hive. I have had several 

 combs break down by being placed on 

 the ends to extract. What will become 

 of the Italians when superseded by the 

 < '\ prians V I wish a standard of purity 

 for bees could be laid down. It would 

 save much trouble in ascertaining their 

 purity. This lias been a poor season for 

 fertilizing queens. Inclosed I send you 

 samples of foundation made on a Koot 

 machine from old and dark combs. I 

 have 400 frames filled this season with 

 thick worker comb foundation, none 

 having sagged a particle, and the hives 

 were not shaded. I have had a frame 

 built solid and filled with eggs in 24 

 hours. I fail to discover any effect that 

 the color of the wax may have on the 

 color of the bees. I have had some of 

 the brightest yellow Italians from old 

 and black combs. J. D. Enos. 



I When the Cyprian bees have super- 

 seded the Italians, will be time enough 

 to inquire what will become of them. 

 Undoubtedly the thickness of your dark 

 foundation has had much to do with the 

 rapidity of the bees working on it, as 

 also in preventing its sagging. We are 

 not among those who think the thinnest 

 foundation is always the cheapest and 

 best in the brood chamber.— Ed. J 



Only One-Third of a Crop. 



Vandalia, Mich.. July 14, 1880. 

 The white honey season is over here, 

 and is only l :i of a crop. I increased by 

 natural swarming 45 to 7."). after uniting 

 all small swarms. M. S. Snow's swarm 

 catcher is a success, if you jump around 

 lively, it is really not complete until 

 you have a basket tied to the end of a 

 25-foot pole. C. F. Smith, Jr. 



367 



Best Honey Season in Many Years. 



Culleoka, Tenn., July 13, 1880. 

 Succeeding a good Mow of "honey from 

 fall plants we had a very mild winter, 

 and bees generally came through in 

 good condition. In May we had a good 

 yield of honey from poplar, which was 

 followed in June by the best yield from 

 linden we have had in several years. 

 On the 30th June, with one machine, 

 we extracted 1,153 lbs. of honey at our 

 home apiary. We would like to know 

 who has had a better yield. No guess 

 work, but honey weighed carefully. 

 With many kind regards. 



S. I). McLean & Son. 



Not a Pound of Surplus Honey. 



Waveland, Ind., July 14, 1880. 

 The bee business with me this season 

 amounts to nothing, as far as profit is 

 concerned ; not a pound of surplus have 

 I bad this season. The bees did not 

 crowd the hives, from some cause ; they 

 would have a good supply of brood, but 

 for all that they did not increase as they 

 should. f ,I cannot account for it in anv 

 other way than that they dwindled un- 

 usually fast. I had 1 hive that carried 

 out sick and dying bees up to about the 

 20th June. They had about 8 frames of 

 brood all the time, which appeared to 

 be all right. Some of the sick bees kept 

 their natural color while others turned 

 dark ; the abdomen of some being dis- 

 tended, others were contracted. 



Isaac Sharp. 



More About Ants. 



Jordan Station, Ont., July 14,1880. 

 In the Bee Journal for July I no- 

 ticed a letter headed " Ants Trouble- 

 some in the Apiary," by W. W. Bur- 

 nett, which were annoying him so much 

 that the apiarist " became nervous," 

 and afterwards despondent, losing all 

 hopes of conquering the ants. I feel it 

 to be my duty, as a bee friend, to give a 

 recipe which my mother-in-law gave 

 me to kill the black ants that have pes- 

 tered her in the upper garret among her 

 fruits; her preserves were to a certain 

 extent destroyed. All she would do to 

 destroy the ants of any description was 

 to take black molasses and mix some 

 red precipitate and feed the mixture to 

 the ants; bear in mind this is severe 

 poison ; put it in divers places where 

 nothing but ants can get at it. It kills 

 them, and the living ants will carry the 

 dead ones to their nest, we suppose to 

 feed the young ants with, which causes 

 them to die also. This will soon destroy 

 the whole nest. So that it is not neces- 

 sary for the apiarist to become despon- 

 dent. Joseph M. Wismer. 



