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I keep from 50 to 75 colonies of bees, 

 and usually obtain from 2,000 to 6,000 

 lbs. of honey per annum ; but I shall 

 have none to sell this year. 



J. L. WOLFENDEN. 



Adams, Wis., Aug. 5, 1880. 



I have 40 colonies of bees, but have 

 obtained no honey this season. 



A. Cramer. 

 Bloomingsport, Ind., Aug. 6, 1880; 



I have 8 colonies of black bees, and 

 have now obtained 350 lbs. of comb 

 honey. I expect not less than 100 lbs. 

 of dark honey. Bees are working finely 

 on buckwheat. We have had no swarms 

 in a radius of 4 miles. Bees in box hives 

 have done poorly. I use the Langstroth 

 hive. Thos. J. Nichols. 



Bees wintered well in this section. 

 Apple bloom yielded a fair crop, putting 

 the bees in good condition. We expect- 

 ed a good honey harvest, but white clo- 

 ver did not blossom, red clover Avas 

 nearly all winter killed, and even the 

 alsike clover, which has always given 

 me large yields of the best honey, failed 

 in its secretion, although there was an 

 abundance of blossoms. Basswood only 

 yielded honey 3 days. The result is but 

 very few swarms, and from near 300 

 colonies in this neighborhood there has 

 not been an average of 10 lbs. to the 

 colony, and all of inferior quality. Un- 

 less we get a good fall yield, we shall 

 lose many colonies. P. A. Riegle. 



Arlington, O., Aug. 6, 1880. 



This has been a poor season, so far, 

 for bees. On May 8th I finished trans- 

 ferring 13 colonies from box hives into 

 10-frame standard Langstroth hives. I 

 had left 3 empty Langstroth hives into 

 which I put natural swarms on the first 

 of June. The colonies that I trans- 

 ferred only having 5 and 6 full frames to 

 commence with, 1 gave them frames 

 with comb starters as fast as needed. 

 From the 16 colonies I have received 100 

 lbs. of comb honey in sections, mostly 

 basswood, which I have sold at 18@20c. 

 per lb. , in this place. There was a great 

 quantity of white clover, but the bees 

 paid no attention to it. The prospects 

 for a fall crop are poor, as buckwheat is 

 the main honey-producing plant in this 

 vicinity. If I get 50 lbs. more of sur- 

 plus honey I shall be satisfied. I think 

 I can get 15(a>16c. per lb. for dark honey. 

 My surplus sections are 5x6x2. I shall 

 not extract any honey this season. I 

 am well pleased with the American 

 Bee Journal,, and do not see how I can 

 do without it. F. H. Seares. 



Girard, Pa., Aug. 6, 1880. 



My crop of white clover comb honey 

 will be a little better than I at first ex- 

 pressed it. It will probably average 50 

 lbs. to each colony in the spring. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., Aug. 7, 1880. 



This has been a good honey season ; 

 amount of white comb honey, 1,200 lbs.; 

 extracted, 200 lbs., from 20 colonies in 

 the spring. I expect 500 lbs. for my fall 

 crop. Francis Cullen. 



Mottville, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1880. 



I had 35 colonies last spring ; 30 fair 

 ones, and 5 too weak to get much honey. 

 The season has been better than the 

 average. I have taken 1,355 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted, and 129 lbs. of light comb hon- 

 ey, most from white clover and rasp- 

 berry. I have no basswood. Bees are 

 now working on buckwheat, with every 

 prospect of a large yield of fall honey. 

 A. W. Smith. 



Parksville, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1880. 



Honey has been nearly an entire fail- 

 ure here. I commenced the season with 

 67 colonies ; I have obtained 1,800 lbs. of 

 comb honey, but expect none in the fall. 

 My bees are all Italians, and I have the 

 largest crop of honey of any one in this 

 section of country. Some bee-keepers 

 now having from 20 to 50 colonies, will 

 have scarcely a pound of honey to sell. 

 I have purchased one of D. A. Jones' 

 " holy queens," from which I expect to 

 rear queens, and shall introduce 50 of 

 her daughters into my apiary this fall. 

 These I shall keep in an apiary by them- 

 selves, in order to keep them pure. I 

 have a Given foundation press, which I 

 like very much. It is just the thing for 

 making foundation in wired frames, or 

 without the wires. A girl 15 years of 

 age can work the press with ease. I 

 expect to be at the District Convention 

 in Chicago next month. I. R. Good. 



South West, Ind., Aug. 6, 1880. 



The yield throughout this part of the 

 country has been the poorest I ever 

 knew, although last year was but very 

 little better. I have been keeping bees 

 for 20 years, and never experienced two 

 such unfavorable seasons. I have 25 

 colonies, and have only about 300 lbs. of 

 honey, while many have no surplus. I 

 had 2 swarms each this year and last. 

 White clover was abundant, and lasted 

 a long time, and some is still in bloom. 

 There was a heavy rain storm in the 

 height of the bloom, and after that the 

 bees gathered but little honey. My bees 

 all wintered through, and bred up early 

 in the spring. J. W. Donley. 



Surry ville, O., Aug. 7, 1880. 



