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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Poor Outlook for Honey. 



The weather here has been very dry and 

 hot all spring. The bees seemed to be gath- 

 ering a great deal of pollen, but last Friday 

 night we had such a hard frost that now 

 the catalpas, mulberry and locust trees, 

 potatoes, peas, beans, grapes, and vines of 

 all descriptions are all dead, and what few 

 patches of alfalfa there were around are 

 also considerably damaged, so the outlook 

 for honey is slim, until corn and buckwheat 

 time ; and if we don't soon get a rain we 

 won't get much from them. 



J. C. Knoll. 



Glenwood Park, Neb., May 22. 



Hopes to Get Some Sweets. 



The bees are doing finely, and I hope we 

 will get some sweets for the buckwheat 

 cakes this year. I did not have one ounce 

 of surplus in 1893, and had to feed the bees 

 In the fall to get them through the winter, 

 and then some of them froze with plenty 

 of stores. So far we have had no swarm- 

 ing. It was very dry last summer, and a 

 drouth with us means a failure of honey. 

 We have last year's bee-supplies on hand, 

 and I trust we can use them this summer. 

 Sampson Stout. 



Udall, Kans., May 26. 



Bees Wintered "Well, Etc, 



We had considerable warm weather here 

 early this spring, but lately it has been 

 cold, and on May 19th this section was 

 visited with a severe frost, with ice as thick 

 as window-glass. 



Bees have generally wintered as well as 

 usual, and seem to be in good condition. 

 Some wild colonies I found last fall in the 

 timber, and left there to winter, have come 

 through in good condition, and are as lively 

 as crickets in August. Fruit bloom was 

 immense, but many think the late freeze 

 has done great damage. It is rather soon 

 to tell for a certainty yet. Many here, 

 after three years of failure and disappoint- 

 ment, are getting discouraged, and bees — 

 what there are, are for sale cheap just 

 now. It is a good time to go into the busi- 

 ness, if buying cheap cuts any figure for a 

 starter. Most of the bees kept here are the 

 native or German variety. 



Wiscoy, Minn., May 23. L. J. Clarke. 



Discouraging Weather in Tennessee. 

 The editorial of May 17th makes me feel 

 as if I am in one of the worst places in the 

 United States for bee-keeping. It seems 

 no one was hurt as to the strength of the 

 colony and brood-rearing. It was just the 

 reverse with me. My bees were doing as 

 well as could be expected, the peach-bloom 

 was just over, and the apples were coming 

 in, and my bees were spreading their brood 

 nicely when the cold spell came, and all the 

 early poplar was out enough to get killed, 

 so you see it put us here in a bad fix. 

 Nearly aU the brood was chilled, and the 



old bees were not able to stand the tug, and 

 I had to feed to save ray bees until May 

 10th, which brought in a fine honey-flow 

 from the late poplar. 



The bees did well, considering their 

 strength, for eight days, which brought 

 another storm of rain and thunder. The 

 18th and 19th brought rain and snow, and 

 on the 20th it was still snowing up to 10 

 a.m., which had the appearance of a final 

 destruction of all the remaining poplar 

 bloom, and the linden which blooms in 

 June, and the sourwood which blooms in 

 July. So you see we are in despair here in 

 this locality. 



The mountains, which are within from 

 one to three miles of me, are covered with 

 snow, where all the basswood is, and I 

 don't see how it can keep from being frozen. 

 I got a report the 19th that the snow was 4 

 inches deep on the mountain. The like 

 never was known here before at this time 

 of the year. 



It is a gloomy time here. The farmers 

 are looking for a freeze, which, it it comes, 

 will kill wheat that is heading, corn, oats, 

 potatoes, beans, and all vegetation. The 

 fruit was all killed in the other cold spell 

 which swept things like a tornado, if that 

 is a comparison. Wm. Webb. 



Sutton, Tenn., May 21. 



Dropping into Literature ! 



As the talented Bee Journal shows re- 

 cent signs of dropping into literature — clas- 

 sical literature, I suppose, and poetical — I 

 take the liberty to send a specimen of 

 poetry attributed to one of the Chinese 

 scholars while being taught at a Christian 

 misson : 



" How doth the little busy bee 



Delight to bark and bite. 

 And gather honey all the day, 



And eat it up at night." 

 Kalamazoo, Mich. E. Strong. 



The Way I Dampen Sections. 



I use a small bottle in which I put a 

 wooden stopper with a crease cut on oppo- 

 site sides, one to let in air, and in the other 

 I place a small quill. The bottle is filled, 

 with water, several sections laid on a table 

 with grooves up and in range with each 

 other. The quill is moved slowly along the 

 grooves, and the water flowing from the 

 quill dampens them nicely. The size of the 

 quill must be so regulated as to just let 

 down the required amount of water. 



J. W. SOUTHWOOD. 



Monument City, Ind. 



Packing Honey for Shipment. 



I am frequently requested to send in- 

 structions to shippers as to the best method 

 of sending honey to market. 



Crate from four to six cases of 24 sections 

 each, or if cases are smaller, place in one 

 crate from 100 to 150 pounds. Put large 

 cleats on the ends to take the place of 



