244 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



week was favorable for the honey-flow, 

 with plenty of sunshine and continuous 

 warmth. 



July 17. — The past week was cool. 

 White clover is in full bloom. Basswood 

 commenced to bloom on the 14th. Bees 

 are bringing in considerable honey. 



July 24. — The past week closed the 

 white honey season with me. 



It must be remembered that extreme 

 rains and cool weather had something 

 to do with this season. I had a nice lot 

 of surplus honey that season. So much 

 for the season of 1892. 



The fail of 1892 was dry and warm 

 up to Nov. 17th, when our first heavy 

 snow fell, and continued to fall during 

 the winter of 1892-93. This winter 

 every one remembers. 



We will hurry on to our notes for May 

 12, 1893, viz.: Bees wintered in the 

 cellar in good condition. White clover 

 is abundant. 



May 21. — The average temperature 

 of last week was low, but was rising the 

 latter part. Apple, plum and dandelion 

 is in full bloom. Bees are gathering 

 stores from these sources. 



May 28. — Temperature has been cool. 

 Everything in good growing condition.:; 

 June 4. — Bees gathering some honey 

 from white clover. First swarm to-day. 

 June 11. — Honey is coming in rapidly 

 from white clover and wild blackberry. 

 Warm and rainy. 



June 16.— There is a heavy flow of 

 honey from the locust trees (of which 

 there are many around our house), 

 which gives a good quality of honey. 



July 6. — Bees are working hard on 

 white clover. Basswood is coming into 

 bloom, and the outlook is good. 



July 19. — The honey-flow from bass- 

 wood and white clover has come to a 

 full stop. 



As this practically ended my honey 

 harvest for last season, I will not draw 

 from my notes any farther, only to say 

 that the bees gathered sufficient stores 

 in the fall to winter on, the weather 

 being too dry in the fall for the flowers 

 to secrete nectar. 



The season of 1898 gave me more 

 honey per colony than any season in the 

 past six years. On Nov. 21, 1893, our 

 first heavy snow fell, and a continuance 

 of cold and snow up to about the 15th 

 of December, then we had some nice 

 weather mixed in with rains, up to the 

 present time. 



I give these notes for what they are 

 worth. If they prove nothing more 

 than to be interesting to the casual 

 reader, then I am satisfied. 

 Andrew. Iowa. 



Mr.P. J. Matian— Soinetliliig Historical 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY C. J. ROBINSON. 



On page 814 (1893), appears an in- 

 quiry as to the whereabouts of Mr. 

 Mahan. The inquirer mentions that 

 "Mr. Phineas J. Mahan left here (Phil- 

 adelphia) in the latter part of 1859, for 

 Texas." Evidently the inquirer, Mr. 

 Wm. N. Huntington, is mistaken as to' 

 dates. Mr. P. J. Mahan advertised Ital- 

 ian queens for sale in the early issues 

 of the first volumes of the American 

 Bee Journal that made its debut in 

 January, 1861, which was first pub- 

 lished in Philadelphia, by A. M. Spang- 

 ler & Co., who were publishers of the 

 Farmer and Gardener. The lamented 

 Samuel Wagner was editor of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and Mr. P. J. Mahan 

 was the prompter of the enterprise, and 

 pursuaded the publishers of the Farmer 

 and Gardener to undertake the venture 

 into an unexplored field of periodical 

 literature. Mr. Samuel Wagner, the 

 brilliant scholar, possessing shining 

 talents, resided at York. Pa., where he 

 was cashier of the York bank. He was 

 formerly a resident of Europe, and well 

 versed in bee-literature of foreign coun- 

 tries, particularly throughout Germany. 



Early in the summer of 1859, I joined 

 with P. J. Mahan, who was an enthusi- 

 astic bee-fancier, in an effort to get Ital- 

 ian bees. Mr. Wagner had failed in two 

 attempts to import from Dr. Dzierzon's 

 apaiary — first in 1856, the bees having 

 perished on the voyage. The years fol- 

 lowing a few colonies were ordered by 

 Messrs. Wagner and Colvin, but the 

 captain of the ship refused to allow the 

 bees on board, fearing for his passengers. 



The next attempt to import Italian 

 bees was early in the season of 1859. 

 Mr. P. J. Mahan and I conceived the 

 plan, that is, to induce the Chief of the 

 the United States Agricultural Depart- 

 ment (then a branch of the Patent 

 Office), to commission Mr. Mahan to go 

 to Italy, and as Government Agent, to 

 purchase bees in Italy and bring them 

 to the Department to be tested. The 

 official refused to send Mr. Mahan, but 

 transmitted an order to Mr. S. B. Par- 

 sons, who was acting as Government 

 Agent in Europe, to send forward a few 

 colonies of Italian bees. The attempt 

 proved a failure so far as the Govern- 

 ment was concerned, but Mr. Parsons 

 got the bees— the "Parsons importa- 

 tion " we have read so much about. See 



