The present has been one our best 

 years for bees in Southwestern Iowa ; 

 the grove seems to be swarming with 

 them. Some 20 swarms have been cap- 

 tured in the woods near here. We never 

 had such a yield of basswood honey be- 

 fore. S. C. Smith. 



Wheeler's Grove, Iowa, July 30, 1880. 



Thus far I can see very little differ- 

 ence between this and last year's crop. 

 I had 25 colonies last spring, and expect 

 about 800 lbs., Y 2 of which is extracted, 

 and the remainder comb honey, mostly 

 bergamot and buckwheat. The extract- 

 ed is mostly white clover and linden. 

 If we get a rain, the bees will yet gather 

 considerable honey. 



L. II. Pammel, Jr. 



LaCrosse, Wis., Aug. 10, 1880. 



I have been taking the Bee Journal, 

 for years, and cannot well get along 

 without it. We have had a very poor 

 honey season. I wintered 20 colonies, 

 which came out strong in the spring, and 

 have increased to 33 — 3 by natural 

 swarming, and 10 by dividing, but I 

 shall not get a single pound of honey. 

 I put on over 200 boxes and racks June 

 7th, but there is not a pound in all of 

 them now. About % of the hives have 

 not to exceed 5 lbs. "each. If I winter 

 them all I shall have to feed them. It 

 has been very wet here this summer; 

 during May, June and July we had 96 

 rains. Wm. C. Wolcott. 



Eldorado Mills, Wis., Aug. 16, 1880. 



My honey crop for 1880 is 1,180 lbs — 

 600 basswood, the balance whitewood 

 and raspberry. The bees are getting 

 honey now, and the prospects are good 

 for 1,000 lbs. more. Mine is all extract- 

 ed. I commenced the spring witli 30 

 colonies, and had only 3 swarms. 



T. G. Zimmerman. 



Union City, Mich., Aug. 13, 1880. 



The white honey season is over, and 

 is the poorest I ever have had. I have 

 100 lbs. of white honey, and if it keeps 

 so dry I do not think I will have over 

 1,000 lbs. of dark honey from 46 colonies 

 in the spring. P. S. Grogan. 



Aquetuck, 1ST. Y., Aug. 14, 1880. 



This has been the poorest season for 

 honey for many years. It will not aver- 

 age % of a crop, though there are plenty 

 of bees. If this foil proves a failure, 

 we shall have to feed heavily for winter. 

 I have received a number of reports 

 from different parts of the Dominion, 

 all bearing the same complaint. 



M. Richardson. 



Ft. Colborne, Ont., Aug. 5, 1880. 



The present season has been one of 

 the poorest ever known in Xorthern 

 Georgia. Bees are in a light condition. 

 For a few days past they have been 

 gathering some. The scarcity of honey 

 has almost totally prevented queen- 

 rearing. A. F. Moon. 



Rome, Ga., Aug. 12, 1880. 



Bees are literally starving in this vi- 

 cinity. I had 75 colonies in the spring, 

 and have not had a swarm nor 1 pound 

 of honey, and have lost 8 colonies by 

 robbers. I fed till fruit blossoms came, 

 but have not fed since. I have not 

 heard of any one getting any surplus in 

 this region, and unless we get rain soon, 

 we shall lose all our bees. The only 

 thing we now have to depend on is 

 buckwheat or feeding. 



Wm. C. Gray. 



Pre-emption, 111., Aug. 6, 1880. 



At the commencement of fruit bloom 

 I had 100 colonies of bees in good con- 

 dition, as I supposed ; they did well on 

 that ; the white clover season was wet, 

 so that bees obtained no honey, and 2 

 colonies starved. They began to swarm 

 on June 17th, 3 weeks later than last 

 year, and increased to 184, besides doub- 

 ling up and putting back some. During 

 basswood bloom the weather was line 

 about }4 of the time ; they then gath- 

 ered honey very fast, and are doing well 

 on buckwheat now. I have 125 frame 

 hives, the balance being box hives. 

 Unless I sell some this fall, I shall kill 

 about 100 colonies. I have attended 

 them this season all alone, and it is 

 rather more than I wish to do, with 

 other business. O. C. Blanchard. 



Ironton, Wis., Aug. 11, 1880. 



I wintered 45 colonies of bees in my 

 cellar, which came out all right. Dur- 

 ing the apple bloom they filled the lower 

 stories of their hives well with brood, 

 and by the last of June I had about 10 

 swarms, and I divided about as many 

 more, giving them each 3 or 4 combs. 

 I do not think the new colonies have on 

 an average more than 3 lbs. of honey. 

 I am 83 years old, having kept bees over 

 60 years, and never before experienced 

 so poor a season for honey. 



L. BURDICK. 



Galesburgh, Mich., Aug. 7, 1880. 



This is my fourth year here with bees, 

 and not a good season have I had ; the 

 first year being the best. I shall dis- 

 pose of my 80 colonies, or move them to 

 a better place. They have honey but no 

 surplus to spare. I expect the fall har- 

 vest to make it up ; but for 3 years I 

 have been disappointed. I have only 



