AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



373 



should not. Let those fellows who think- 

 so, just say why not. 



Our bees are wintering nicely on the 

 summer stands, with a muslin sheet and 

 three or four thicknesses of woolen cloth 

 over it, and the top story set on. Around 

 the lower hive is perhaps a dozen thick- 

 nesses of newspapers, a heavy card- 

 board, and over this boards leaned up to 

 keep all in place. 



Grant Centre, Iowa, Feb. 19. 



Wolfderry Honey— Bees In Coli Climate. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY S. B. SMITH. 



It is a dull time now for bee-keeping 

 as well as other vocations, and as I have 

 a little leisure I will fulfill a promise I 

 made last summer in regard to the 

 quality of the honey gathered from a 

 flower that I sent a sample of to the 

 editor of the Bee Joubnal to ascertain 

 its name. 



This flower (wolfberry) produces a 

 very clear, light-colored honey, very 

 beautiful to look at, but I think not as 

 sweet as clover honey. I took some of 

 this honey and some golden-rod honey 

 to the Fair last fall, and received the 

 first premium. I set out some of both 

 kinds for the judges and others to test, 

 and about 8 per cent, of the people pro- 

 nounced the golden-rod honey the bet- 

 ter. I think I never saw as good golden- 

 rod honey as I had last year. 



My honey yield was 130 pounds in 

 one-pound sections from 3 colonies, and 

 I consider this a good yield for this sec- 

 tion. I suppose our Southern neighbors 

 will laugh at this small yield, but they 

 must remember that we are about as 

 near the North Pole as we can live and 

 keep bees. 



Our honey season is short, and the 

 winters are long and cold. I put my 

 bees into the cellar on Nov. 21st, and 

 do not expect to put them out before 

 April 15th. They had a flight about 

 Nov. 10th. They are in good condition 

 now (Feb. 20th), being very strong, as 

 they did not swarm last season. In all 

 of my experience I never knew a season 

 when so few swarms issued as last sea- 

 son in this section. There are a number 

 of bee-keepers here that did not have a 

 swarm issue last year. 



There is a good home market for 

 honey here. I sold all of my honey for 

 18 and 20 cents per pound. I sow a 

 small amount of Alsike clover every 

 year for my bees to work on, and I find 



it pays. It will keep in bloom longer 

 than any flower we have here. 



Last year I sent to Utah for some of 

 the Rocky Mountain bee-plant seed, and 

 will give it a trial the coming summer. 

 Honey-producing flowers are rather 

 scarce here. The first flower we have 

 in the spring is the wild crocus, which 

 furnishes pollen, but I think not much 

 if any honey. Then follow the willow 

 and plum blossoms. It is too cold for 

 apple-trees here, so we are deprived not 

 only of the beautiful sight of an apple 

 orchard in bloom, but of the fruit also. 

 Groves of wild plums are very abundant. 



There is much suffering here this win- 

 ter among the poor, and many families 

 —among them many farmers— that are 

 supported by charity, and unless we 

 have better prices soon, many farmers 

 will be ruined. 



Keeville, Minn. 



Ontario Honey at tlie World's Fair. 



Written for tlie American Bt,e Journal 

 BY R, m'knight. 



Editor York :— A few weeks ago you 

 passed some strictures on what I wrote 

 in the Canadian Bee Journal about 

 Canadian honey at the World's Fair. I 

 replied in a private note (which I have 

 since given you permission to publish). 

 I intended that note to be all I should 

 say on the subject, bu* Mr. Cutting's ar- 

 ticle on page 274 compels me to forego 

 my decision, or lie under a series of 

 charges, which, if true, I would deserve 

 all the uncomplimentary things he deems 

 himself justified in saying of me. 



Mr. Cutting declares my mention of 

 Dr. Mason's name, " is not only a slur on 

 Dr. Mason, but to many other American 

 honey-producers." There is one American 

 bee-keeper who will not consider what I 

 said in any way personal ; and that one 

 is Dr. Mason himself. He will know 

 that what I said was a very natural 

 sequence to a long discussion (and a 

 good-natured one, too), which he and I 

 had years ago on the relative merits of 

 United States and Canadian honey. 



By way of parenthesis I desire here to 

 extend to Dr. Mason my sincere sympa- 

 thy in his affliction, and to express the 

 hope that he will soon be restored to his 

 wonted health, and that his genial pres- 

 ence may light up the proceedings of 

 many a future meeting of bee-keepers. 



My " article is one mass of misstate- 

 ments," says Mr. Cutting; my article is 

 one mass of correctly compiled statistics, 



