430 



From 35 colonies I received 2,000 lbs. 

 extracted honey, and goldenrod yet to 

 come. My hives are full of honey now. 

 I lost Y 2 last winter and spring ; some 

 lost all. Last year at this time there 

 was no honey in the hives. The pros- 

 pect is good for 500 lbs. more of box, or 

 1,000 lbs. extracted honey. The 2,000 

 lbs. is linden honey. I increased to 70 

 colonies. H. H. Rosebrook. 



Owatonna, Minn., Aug. 7, 1880. 



xemmi 



The crop of honey is short. I win- 

 tered 37 colonies, and increased to 70. 

 I obtained 600 lbs. of extracted honey, 

 400 lbs. of comb honey in sections, and 

 100 cards of comb. I used 50 lbs. of 

 foundation. I had not much honey from 

 basswood. White clover was plenty, 

 but gave little honey. The season was 

 very wet. Martin Emigh. 



Holbrook, Ont., Aug. 10, 1880. 



I went into winter quarters with 23 

 colonies in Langstroth hives — 17 were 

 packed with chaff, which came out well, 

 the other fi were in the cellar, and I took 

 them out in March ; 1 was dead ; the 

 rest were in bad condition ; 2 of these 

 were robbed in April, leaving 20. These 

 increased to 30. The season has been 

 the poorest for years. I have no sur- 

 plus to sell. The bees were strong in 

 the spring, and gathered just enough 

 honey to live on and to rear brood, till 

 basswood came, when they filled their 

 hives ; it lasted about 2 weeks, but the 

 yield was poor ; it was too hot and dry 

 some of the time. The loss among the 

 small bee-keepers around here was very 

 heavy this spring, principally from rob- 

 bing, which was worse than for years. 

 Our bees have but little to work on till 

 apple bloom, and that was spoiled by a 

 hail storm ; the white clover was mostly 

 winter-killed, and yielded little honey ; 

 alsike yielded well, but there is but little 

 sown near here. I have a grand place 

 for basswood ; there are probably 10,000 

 trees within a mile. I sowed sweet 

 mignonette as an experiment, and am 

 very well pleased with it so far ; it has 

 been in bloom 5 weeks, and is literally 

 alive with bees from 8 in the morning 

 till night, in fair weather. I shall sow 

 more another season. Motherwort is 

 another plant that the bees have worked 

 on since the 1st of June, except in time 

 of basswood bloom, We have no fall 

 feed for bees of any account after buck- 

 wheat. The bees are nearly all blacks 

 and hybrids near here. I have taken 

 your valuable paper since I commenced 

 bee-keeping, and would rather have it 

 than all the rest together, and I wish 

 you and it success. E. J. Smith. 



Addison, Vt., Aug. 7, 1880. 



I started last spring with 33 colonies, 

 and increased to 55. I have obtained 

 1,600 lbs. of honey— 600 of extracted and 

 1.000 of comb; all light honey. About 

 }4 is basswood. The prospects are poor 

 for fall honey. I do not expect any 

 more surplus. E. A. Calvin. • 



EauClaire, Mich., Aug. 10, 1880. 



I commenced the spring with 29 colo- 

 nies, having lost 1 in the winter, queen- 

 less when I put it in the cellar last fall ; 

 3 came out queenless this spring, leav- 

 ing me 26 in good condition. I worked 

 1 for comb honey, the rest for extracted. 

 The bare ground last winter allowed the 

 white clover to freeze out, and we ob- 

 tained nothing from that ; basswood 

 yielded well for about 9 days, from which 

 we obtained 1,000 lbs. of very nice ex- 

 tracted, and 48 lbs. of comb honey. I 

 use what is known as the "' cottage 

 hive," 8 frames 10x15 inches inside, 2 

 stories high, for extracting, and store 

 my honey in 10-gallon tin cans. I have 

 increased by natural swarming to 51 

 colonies. Ransom Allen. 



Northville, Mich., Aug. 11, 1880. 



I cannot think the crop more than J£; 

 from my 15 colonies I obtained 50 lbs. in 

 sections, and a greater part of that 

 poorly filled and not one-sixth of it 

 capped. I did not extract at all. I 

 know of others who have not had 1 lb. 

 We have a favorable showing for the 

 fall crop, with any quantity of golden- 

 rods opening. There were many acres 

 not planted in corn on account of the 

 wet, which are now covered with gold- 

 enrods, also the asters on our bottom- 

 lands, and a larger acreage of buckwheat 

 than usual. Should the season close 

 now, most of the bees would starve if 

 not fed, I think. I am still hopeful of a 

 fall crop. H. Peachee. 



May wood, Ind., Aug. 5, 1880. 



I have 203 colonies doing well ; swarms 

 have been scarce, though some are still 

 swarming. I wintered 227 colonies on 

 the summer stand ; you can see the loss. 

 The fall crop promises well. They came 

 near starving, in fact 3 colonies did 

 starve, the bees rolling down in front of 

 the hives dead ; 6 colonies I saved by 

 feeding. The linden came just in time, 

 and they filled up, but gathered no sur- 

 plus. My bees are mostly hybrids. I 

 purchased queens from M. Quinby and 

 A. F. Moon. From the hitter's queen I 

 have 2 or 3 of the brightest daughters I 

 ever saw. Quinby's holds them in color, 

 but not in prolificness. I get rid of fer- 

 tile workers by taking a frame of comb, 

 bees and a good queen, and placing in the 

 hive. Bush plantain is a rich pollen 



