AMERICAN BE] 



rOURNAL. 



123 



in the San Joaquin valley, consisting of 

 Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Modara, 

 Merced, and Modesto — all were joined in 

 large tracts, and had their herds after hei'ds 

 of bellowing cattle roaming over its one 

 level plain, as the Wan Joaquin valley is 

 level, not one elevation 50 feet high in a 

 valley that is 75x200 miles in size. 



Our Senator, Tom Fowler, who owned 

 cattle all along the coast from San Fran- 

 cisco to Los Angeles, used to say: '• I own 

 the cattle that roam ou a thousand hills." 

 I am the same old 7ti. Tom and all of his 

 bellowing herds are no more. The •' 76 

 ranch," which is located in Tulare county, 

 was Tom's head-quarters. It has been cut 

 up into small farms, all the way from 20 up 

 to 2.000 acres, and there are thousands of 

 happy and beautiful homes, school houses, 

 churches and towns, instead of the mustang 

 and its master. 



Our part of the State is not generally 

 known, as this is central California, and 

 the cities north and south try to claim us 

 as theirs. Feed M. Hakt. 



Traver, Calif. 



A Little Experience with Bees, 



Bee-keeping has about " gone to seed " in 

 this part of the country. If a person un- 

 dertakes to keep bees on modern principles, 

 he is considered a crank. They think '• pa " 

 knew it all. " Pa " kept 15 or 20 colonies, 

 and would get 20 or 25 pounds of honey 

 from one colony. '"Pa" would take care 

 of his bees ; he would put little blocks or 

 nails under each corner of the hive, and 

 then moths would not bother them ! 



I have read Quinby's book, " A B C of 

 Bee-Culture," G/mviiiy.s for two years, the 

 Bee Journai, for one year, also '• Bees and 

 Honey," and with my practical experience, 

 I feel that I am just beginning to learn my 

 A B C's. 



My experience is not very extensive. I 

 ran one colony this year for increase, and 

 made 10 colonies from it, and they only 

 cast one natural swiirm. I got the idea of 

 artificial increase from " Bees and Honey." 

 That alone has been worth ten times the 

 price of the Bee Jouuxal to me. Those 10 

 colonies of bees could not be bought for 

 $20. People will say " times are too hard — 

 I can't spare the money." 



I can't close without telling how much 

 I enjoy "In Sunny Southland." That alone 

 Is worth the price of the paper. Long live 

 the American Bee Journal! 



C. L. Doyle. 



Fayette Corners, Tenn. ' 



Half a Crop—Golden Italians, Etc. 



The common vei'dict regarding the honey 

 season in this locality is but half a crop. A 

 cold, wet and late spring left the colonies 

 in such a weak condition, that were they 

 not stimulated, they would have been in no 

 condition at all when the honey-flow came. 

 We had a splendid flow from honey-locust, 

 altbLOUgh there were such high winds and 



continual rains during the bloom, that the 

 bees could work scarcely a day at a time. 



Right here I want to say one good thing 

 for those golden 5-banded Italians, which 

 race almost every one wishes to condemn. 

 They were working almost every day, 

 while the others did not dare venture out. 

 This shows them to be very strong on the 

 wing, but as to their superiority as every- 

 day honey-gatherers, over the leather-col- 

 ored variety. I am not prepared to say. 

 For a hardy strain, long livers, and a busi- 

 ness class of bees, give me uniformly 

 marked leather-colored Italians, every 

 time. 



To return to our honey-resources : White 

 clover was almost a total failure, as a 

 severe drouth existed during the bloom, 

 and it did not secrete much nectar. Smart- 

 weed was our main stand-by. with golden- 

 rod a close second. They yield an excellent 

 honey. 



My style of marketing is three one-pound 

 sections in a frame, for which I had no 

 trouble in obtaining 60 cents. Extracted 

 brings 123.< cents, although there is com- 

 plaint of adulteration in our market. 



Our bees are in fine condition for winter, 

 and we have hopes for a better season next 

 year. J. C. Wallenmeyer. 



Evansville, Ind., Dec. 17, 1893. 



Good Season in 1893, Etc. 



A queer winter we are having thus far. 

 The forepart of December was cold, the 

 mercury reaching zero a number of times, 

 with very little snow. The middle of De- 

 cember it warmed up, the snow all disap- 

 peared, and on the 22nd it was 70 degrees in 

 the shade; on the 25th it was 00 degrees, 

 and I let my bees have a flight. They were 

 not as thick as in June. 



The last season was a good one in this 

 locality. I never saw white clover so thick 

 before. We had a heavy wind and hail 

 storm in buckwheat bloom, which was a 

 complete stop to the buckwheat flow, which 

 started in well. Golden-rod and asters did 

 not yield much. There were a good many 

 runaway swarms the past season, quite a 

 number being found on the lake shore. I 

 got four. The lake takes oft" one-half, or 

 nearly that, of my pasture (being situated 

 ou the sbore). We have about S inches of 

 ice now, and have had very good ice-boat- 

 ing so far. S. H. Eastwood. 



Cicero Centre, N. Y., Jan. 8, 1894. 



Won't Winter on Sorghum. 



On page 559, of the Bee Journal for 

 1893, there is an item concei'ning sorghum 

 for wintering bees. Mrs. Atchley suggests 

 that I try it and report, which I will do 

 with pleasure. 



I can only report failure. Mrs. Atchley 

 reports that she could not get her bees to 

 take hold of sorghum. I had 5 colonies 

 which I fed ou it last October, sufficient to 

 carry them through the winter. They are 

 now all dead but one colony, and that one 

 is reduced in numbers to a mere handful of 



