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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ternity in our yearly meetings. The 

 Legislature of Illinois passed a Bill ap- 

 propriating $500 per year to the Illi- 

 nois Association to pay their expenses, 

 but not a dollar of it is to be used to pay 

 the oflScers for their services. I think 

 if we had an appropriation of $100 per 

 year, we should have crowded rooms at 

 each meeting. In order to arouse more 

 iBterest, I would recommend that every 

 bee-keeper who is present this year go 

 home, tell his neighbor what a pleasant 

 time he had, and urge them to come to 

 the next convention \ and when the 

 time comes, don't let them forget it. 

 Even the oldest bee-keepers can learn 

 much from the novices and beginners. 



Peter Raab, of Brightwood — I had 

 only one colony of bees this year, and 

 got but 16 pounds of honey. I had no 

 increase. 



James Catterson, of Brownsburg — I 

 had 30 colonies, sold $7.00 worth of 

 honey, and have on hand 200 pounds. 

 My best colony yielded 40 pounds. The 

 increase was 6 swarms. Generally 

 speaking, the bees did not do well. 



Chas. F. Muth, of Cincinnat. — Bees 

 stored no honey the past year, the prin- 

 cipal cause being cold nights. My bees 

 were very strong in April, and I fed 

 them as they were short of stores. I 

 got about 800 pounds of surplus honey, 

 resulting from 20 acres of Alsike 

 clover. I got no fall honey. I think 

 one cause of the general failure was 

 that in spring the stores were used in 

 brood-rearing, and the bees starved for 

 want of being fed. I have each year 

 from 20 to 40 acres of Alsike clover, 

 and the bees get most of their honey 

 from that. I never got any surplus 

 honey from the weak colonies. 



George C. Thompson, of Southport — 

 My colonies were very strong, but I got 

 no honey until fall, and then the smart- 

 weed furnished about as much as they 

 would consume during the winter. 



Walter S. Pouder, of Indianapolis — My 

 bees were in good condition, but I got 

 very little honey ; they had enough, how- 

 ever, for winter stores. I should have 

 had some surplus honey if I had not 

 disposed of so many bees in filling or- 

 ders. I expected to have to feed in the 

 fall, but was surprised to find the hives 

 well filled with honey, which I thought 

 was from the smart-weed. 



R. S. Kitley, of Julietta— I got 50 

 pounds of comb honey, and three gallons 

 of extracted honey. I had in all 20 

 colonies of bees, but they did not do well 

 at all. 



W. H. Wright— I had only a few bees 



— in all two colonies — and from these I 

 get no honey at all. There was none in 

 my neighborhood. I had two swarms. 

 The hives were full in the fall, probably 

 from buckweat, as I saw buckwheat in 

 the corn at the last plowing. 



A. J. Simmons, of Indianapolis — My 

 bees are all in Illinois. They did fairly 

 well there, getting honey from bursted 

 acorns. They had plenty of honey for 

 winter stores. It was too cold and rainy 

 for honey from white clover, although I 

 succeeded in getting some from the red 

 clover. 



James Catterson — Early in the spring 

 I looked over my bees and found them 

 in good shape, but found that they were 

 removing the larvte from the cells ; this 

 signified that they were out of stores. I 

 then fed them, and had no further 

 trouble. The month of June was very 

 wet until about the 10th, then for about 

 ten days the bees did well ; after that 

 the flow stopped, and there was no more 

 honey until fall. I use the old American 

 hive. 



Chas. F. Muth — Mr. Simmons speaks 

 about his bees getting honey from 

 bursted acorns. I think he must mean 

 that they got it from honey-dew. There 

 were no fall honey-plants where I was. 

 Buckwheat yields honey about once in 

 five years, and I used to think that 

 melilot was good, from what others said; 

 but it is a failure — in fact, a perfect 

 nuisance, for it grows so thick and rank 

 that it kills the white clover. The best 

 fall honey-plant is the aster ; the honey 

 from this plant is perhaps not so good, 

 but it does very well for baker's use. 



John Manford, of Noblesville — My bees 

 did not do well, but I got some surplus 

 honey. The fall flow was good, and the 

 hives were full for winter. In June I 

 united 14 colonies down to five. 



What, in your opinion, is a strong 

 colony ? Ans. Eight frames of brood 

 with the adhering bees. 



(Continued next week.) 



"Xlie Winter Problem in 



Bee-Keeping" is the title of a splendid 

 pamphlet by Mr. G. R. Pierce, of Iowa, 

 a bee-keeper of 26 years' experience. It 

 is 6x9 inches in size, has 76 pages, and 

 is a clear exposition of the conditions 

 essential to success in the winter and 

 spring management of the apiary. Price, 

 postpaid, 50 cents ; or given as a pre- 

 mium for getting one new subscriber to 

 the Bee Jouknal for a year. Clubbed 

 with the Bee Journal one year for 

 $1.30. Send to us for a copy. 



