American Bee Journal, 



DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. XI. CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER, 1875. No. 9. 



Seasonable Hints. 



From all quarters we hear that the sea- 

 son has been in some respects a discour- 

 aging one for the bee-keeper. A cold, 

 late spring was followed by excessive 

 rain, and this continued until the white 

 clover season was nearly over. Linn in 

 some places yielded little or nothing. 

 With us, it yielded honey only three 

 days, and then less than usual. 



In damp, wet weather, for some unex- 

 plained reason, bees use most of their 

 honey in brood rearing, and this accounts 

 for the reports which we have from many 

 to this effect. "My bees have stored no 

 honey in boxes and very little below — 

 every comh seems full of brood, but I get no 

 surplus." Now, there has been honej^ 

 or they could not have reared the brood. 

 In all sections where the fall pasturage 

 is good, we look for great yields of fall 

 iioney, because the hives are full of bees, 

 and also because the rains have kept the 

 corn fields weedy and promoted the 

 growth of all fall blossoms. Give the 

 bees, then, eveiy facility for storing 

 honey, and until frost they will do it. 

 They are not disposed to store in supers 

 so late in the season, but give room in the 

 main hive and then extriict it often. By 

 doing this you will also give the queen 

 room, and she will provide the young 

 bees that are essential to safe wintering. 



We have often said it — but we now 

 repeat the advice : What every hive 

 needs now is a fertile queen, room for 

 her eggs, and force enough to keep all 

 in working order. This is absolutely 

 necessary to secure good winter condi- 

 tion. Any colony that has not these 

 requisites now should be either broken 

 up or divided. In going through your 

 apiary now, you will find that exchang- 

 ing combs between a strong and a weak 

 colony will benefit both, and this is the 



time to do it, and equalize all preparatory 

 to winter. All changes can be made bet- 

 ter now while bees are still storing. Of 

 all the times to introduce young queens 

 we prefer the fall. Every Italian queen 

 put in a hive now will be at her best next 

 season, and by putting one in every hive 

 now, you make sure of having no black 

 drones next year. 



Leave no scraps of comb about now, 

 and no worms in hives to winter over. 



Too many beekeepers pay little atten- 

 tion to their stocks in this month, but 

 there is no time when work in the apiary 

 pays better. E. S. T. 



Special. — To Our Readers. 



In our October number of The Ameri- 

 can Bee JotJRNAL, we desire to publish 

 several pages of correspondence in an- 

 swer to the following questions: 



1. — What has been your success this 

 season up to date, as regards honey and 

 swarms ? 



2. — What is the prospect for the bal- 

 ance of the season ? 



3. — Which are the best three honey- 

 plants in your location ? 



4. — When do they begin to yield honey, 

 and how long do they thus continue ? 



We desire responses to the above on 

 receipt of this issue of our Joxjbnal, 

 and from every subscriber on our list. 

 Reader, we mean pou ! If responses 

 from the Pacific coast do not reach us 

 in time for our October Journal, we 

 will try to find room for them in the 

 November number. 



Do not fail to date your letters, nor to 

 give us your name and address. 



If you send any questions relating to 

 bees, be so kind as to write them on a 

 separate sheet of paper. 



