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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



more. A few days ago we had a little 

 summer weather, which gave me an op- 

 portunity to examine them somewhat. 

 My full colonies were in good condition, 

 but I am trying to winter some 50 

 nuclei colonies which were used for late 

 queen-rearing, which did not do so well. 

 I am wintering 12 nuclei with very late 

 queens. The queens I thought were too 

 late to be fertilized, as I could not find a 

 single drone, yet to my surprise, when 

 examining them, they had young bees 

 hatching in January. How is that ? My 

 bees are all on the summer stands, with 

 the exception of the 12 nuolei colonies 

 referred to. Chas. H. Thies. 



Steeleville, Ills., Feb. 6, 1893. 



Mesquite as a Honey-Plant. 



All over this southwestern country 

 there grows a scrubby tree called " mes- 

 quite," and 1 want to ask the bee-keepers 

 of Texas and Arizona what they know 

 about mesquite as a honey-producing 

 plant. I have had some evidence on 

 the question, but not enough to be en- 

 tirely satisfactory. I am of the opinion 

 that it outrivals the basswood of the 

 North, both in quantity and quality, 

 and that the reason it has not been more 

 noticed is that it comes before the aver- 

 age bee-keeper has bees to gather the 

 harvest, and consequently they have not 

 found out that they were losing any- 

 thing, or that the mesquite is a plant 

 that yielded nectar. It covers a vast 

 area of country that is almost entirely 

 unoccupied by bee-men. I estimate the 

 extent of the region where this tree 

 grows to be not less than one million 

 square miles. J. G. Stewart. 



Las Cruces, New Mex., Jan. 30,1893. 



who wish to participate in the honey ex- 

 hibit of Wisconsin must address the 

 agent of the association, or its Corres- 

 ponding Secretary (your humble ser- 

 vant), who will give you full informa- 

 tion regarding the subject. 

 Madison, Wis. J. W. Vance, M. D. 



Wisconsin Honey Exhibit. 



I think the Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' 

 Association are fortunate in securing 

 the services of Mr. Franklin Wilcox, of 

 Mauston, Wis., to take charge of their 

 honey exhibit at the World's Columbian 

 Exposition. Mr. W. is .a bee-keeper of 

 large experience and sound judgment, 

 and thoroughly qualified for the posi- 

 tion. It is sincerely hoped that all Wis- 

 consin bee-keepers will co-operate with 

 him in order to make the bee-keepers' 

 department of the Exposition a grand 

 success. The Executive Commissioner 

 of the World's Fair for Wisconsin — Hon. 

 R. B. Kirkland — has placed the honey 

 display of Wisconsin in charge of the 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association, and all 



Gathering Honey in Florida. 



Bees are gathering honey very fast 

 from peach-bloom and the ti-ti. They 

 carry in very pretty pollen, and drop 

 down at the entrances of their hives like 

 shot. The bees of this locality, with 

 few exceptions, are the common black 

 bees. The honey of this land is good, 

 yet bee-culture is in a very backward 

 condition. The weather is so lovely 

 here that it does not seem possible that 

 my bee-friends in the North are in the 

 midst of snow and ice. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



St. Andrew's Bay, Fla., Feb. 22, 1893. 



[We were pleased to get the above 

 from our friend, Mrs. Harrison, from 

 her Southern home in the winter. How 

 delightful it must be where she is. We 

 just wondered if she wouldn't favor her 

 Bee Journal friends with an occasional 

 note from that " Land of Flowers " and 

 honey. We are sure all would enjoy 

 reading anything that she might choose 

 to send. — Ed.] 



j Bee-Keeping- in "Egypt." 



I My bees are doing well. They had 3 

 j or 4 day's flight, after prolonged zero 

 ! freezing. They are on the summer 

 I stands without any protection. My 

 neighbors say they lost almost all theirs 

 this winter. I owe my success to read- 

 ing the Bee Journal and other bee- 

 literature on feeding and ventilating. 

 I am well pleased with the Bee Journal; 

 I can't get along without it. We got 

 scarcely any honey in 1892 ; 1891 was 

 a glorious year down hero in " Egypt" — 

 would like to see 1893 likewise. I have 

 the little brown bees — 4 colonies in mov- 

 able-frame hives, and 11 in box-hives. 

 I will get them all into frame hives in 

 the spring. I would like to Italianize 

 my bees. Allen Springer. 



Rose Bud, Ills., Feb. 3, 1893. 



Have You Bead that wonderful book 

 Premium offer on page 261 ? 



