Crop Report—Appreciates the Journal. 



Union Point, Ga., July 5, 1880. 

 I cannot get along without the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal. When it comes 

 I am not fit for anything till I have read 

 it through. The honey crop so far is a 

 complete failure. I have obtained only 

 29 lbs. from 55 colonies. My best wishes 

 for the success of the Bee Journal. 

 J. F. Hart. 



Plenty of Bees, but no Honey. 



West Liberty, O., Jidy 13, 1880. 

 My 31 colonies of Italian and hybrid 

 bees will not store enough surplus honey 

 to pay expenses. I never had my hives 

 so full of bees and brood since I have 

 been in the business. There is plenty 

 of white clover, but still they gather no 

 honey. There are bees enough in each 

 hive to make two good colonies, and 

 plenty of room for storing honey. 

 What had I better do V Success to the 

 American Bee Journal. 



L. Z. Lantz. 



[There is probably very little nectar 

 secreted in the white clover, and they 

 cannot store that which is not to had. 

 Were the brood chambers full, we might 

 suppose they were averse to working in 

 the sections, and recommend a most 

 liberal use of the extractor. — Ed.] 



Good Prospect for Honey. 



Kane, 111., June 22, 1880. 

 I prepared all my bees for winter on 

 Oct. 25, 1879, on their summer stands, 

 16 colonies in all, in Armstrong's cen- 

 tennial hives. I weighed the bees, comb 

 and honey, which weighed per hive, in 

 pounds, respectively : 21, 21, 13, 20, 18, 

 13, 20, 13, 10, 14, 10, 10, 9, 12, 12, 11. On 

 the same day I crammed clean rags 

 and pieces of carpet between the divis- 

 ion boards, and piled on the top of the 

 brood chamber, and I made holes 

 through each comb. In January and 

 February last I fed each of 9 colonies 

 with 4 pounds syrup made of A sugar 

 and soft water with apple vinegar 

 enough to keep the syrup from grain- 

 ing. No. 6 had a 4-year old queen : she 

 died in February. The queen in No. 8 

 was 1 year old, and died in March, all 

 leaving brood in good condition. April 

 21, 1880, 1 overhauled them and took 

 the rags away from each hive ; they 

 were all dry and nice, not one speck of 

 mold or damp was found, nor moth. 

 They had plenty of hatching brood. 

 No. 10 contained a beautiful Italian 

 queen I received Aug. 7 of H. Alley. 

 No. 10 weighed 14 lbs. on Oct. 25. I had 

 to move it out of my apiary, for when 



the weather was cool, the Italians 

 would visit black hives early in the 

 morning and rob them. Rains and 

 frost in time of apple bloom were so 

 numerous that it did little good for the 

 bees ; about all the old white clover was 

 killed in the winter. The young clover 

 is very thick ; I do not think it will 

 bloom much this season. There is not 

 much linden here ; it is in bloom now. 

 The bees are now busily working on 

 the timothy bloom. The hearts-ease 

 (or smart weed) is beginning to 

 bloom. We have plenty of good rains, 

 and that is hurrying the Spanish 

 needle and figwort. The prospects 

 now are that we have a splendid honey 

 harvest in the fall, and my bees are all 

 in good condition, plenty of brood, 

 drones and workers, and yet I have had 

 no swarms this season. The loss of 

 bees in this neighborhood, last year, 

 was about 75 per cent. I am the only 

 one in this neighborhood that had suc- 

 cess the past winter, and I am the only 

 subscriber here to the American Bee 

 Journal. I read and I heed it. It is- 

 good enough for me. Without it I should 

 be in despair ; so pay no attention to 

 demagogues. R. M. Osborn. 



Queen Cage—Albino Bees. 



Double Pipe Creek, Md., July 5, 1880. 



I mail you one of my introducing 

 queen cages. You will notice there are 

 2 doors in it — the one is filled and cov- 

 ered with candy. All that is necessary 

 is to remove the cover and place the 

 cage on the frames and let the bees eat 

 out the candy and liberate the queen. I 

 have not lost a virgin queen with them 

 yet. I think it is the very thing for be- 

 ginners. I also put in it a few of my 

 albino worker bees and 2 drones. I will 

 give the origin of them when I have 

 more time. S. Valentine. 



[The cage is good enough, but it does 

 not conform to the letter of the postal 

 law, not having a " double wire screen. ' r 

 The "albinos" are very " pretty," but 

 we have them just as handsome, and 

 much larger. Perhaps Mr. V. also has. 

 larger ones. — Ed.] 



Poor Prospect for Honey. 



Clear Point, Ark., June 18, 1880. 

 Bees wintered well here, but did not 

 swarm any. I wintered 25 colonies, and 

 obtained 3 swarms ; 2 of them left for 

 parts unknown. Bees have gathered 

 very little honey so far ; they are work- 

 ing on sumac now, with prospect for a 

 little honey. Italians are doing better 

 than the blacks. D. F. Kissinger. 





