THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



229 



3. I am not very well versed in botan- 

 ical lore, my time has been too much in 

 demand by my professional duties, and 

 my experience in bee keeping has been 

 too limited, to determine satisfactorily the 

 best three honey plants in this locality; 

 but I think they are the peach, including 

 the wild laiiro mundi, tiie gum, of which 

 there are three varieties, the sweet, the 

 black, and the tupeh), and the smart-weed. 



4. The wild peach is an evergreen and 

 blooms in January. The domestic peach 

 blooms with us in February and March. 

 The bees gather honey from the two, I 

 suppose, eight or ten weeks. The gum 

 blooms in March and April, but I am not 

 prepared to say how long. The smart- 

 weed blooms about the first of September, 

 and continues until frost. I consider it 

 our best houej-producing plant, and the 

 honey gathered from it, though rather 

 dark, is of a most delicious quality. My 

 bees are now working at it in full blast, 

 though on account of the excessive heat, 

 their operations are pretty much confined 

 to the forenoon. About two or three 

 o'clock, P. M., the mercury then ranging 

 about ninety-six in the shade, they slack 

 off and hunt a shady place about the hive. 

 At that hour in the sun, empty combs melt 

 and run like water. J. Applewhite. 



Pike Co., Miss., Sept. 7, 1875. 



Mr. T. G. Newman: — In answer to 

 your questions I respond: 



1st. Very little success, as regards the 

 amount of honey gathered, and only a 

 moderate amount of swarms. 



2d. The prospect for tlie balance of the 

 season is not very flattering. Buckwheat 

 is now in bloom, but the bees seem to 

 gather little or no honey from it. Does 

 too much wet weather affect the honey- 

 producing capacity of it? August here 

 was very wet. 



3d. White clover, buckwheat and su- 

 mac. 



4th. White clover begins to yield June 

 15, and continues about a month. Buck- 

 wheat begins to yield about September 1, 

 and continues two or three weeks. Su- 

 mac begins about July 15, have not no- 

 ticed how long it continued. 



Forest Preston. 



Lancaster Co., Pa., Sept. 9, 1875. 



Answers to Questions : — 1. Bees stored 

 no honey, raised but little brood up to 

 July 20th. Then hives were soon filled 

 with brood, swarms were numerous and 

 considerable honey stored from August 1 

 to Sept. 3. Ten hives, Italians, increased 

 to 28, beside two that we know left us. 



2. The prospect is now good for re- 

 mainder of season. 



3. We have no clovers. Locusts de- 

 stroyed all my red and alsike. Pusunu, 

 buckwheat, smart-weed, and golden rod, 

 all very plenty near me this season. 



4. First two began to bloom July 15th 

 and 20th, and are yet. Last one not in 

 bloom yet. 



I am a beginner in bee-keeping and 

 Kansas farming; am in open prairie, IJ^ 

 miles from timber and water. Fruit trees, 

 hedges and cultivated trees, though young, 

 are numerous. I water my bees, keeping 

 water in trough in apiary constantly. 

 Just now the country is covered with 

 bloom, buckwheat, smart-weed, wild sun- 

 flower and two or three other large yellow 

 flowers, I cannot ascertain their names, 

 and they are entirely new to me. 



I have extracted 100 pounds honey, and 

 have from 100 to 200 now to extract, about 

 100 pounds in boxes nearly ready to take 

 off". Smith Talbot. 



Franklin Co., Kansas, Sept. 6, 1875. 



Mr. Thos. G. Newman : — I received the 

 Sept. number of your valuable Journal in 

 due season, wherein a few enquiries are 

 made to Bee Keepers in general, which I 

 propose to answer: 



1. My bees have done but little this 

 season, either in swarms or surplus honey, 

 because they were so much reduced in the 

 spring that it has taken all the season for 

 them to recruit up again to fair condition 

 for wintering. 



2. The prospect for the balance of the 

 season will greatly depend on the weather. 

 If we have an early frost nearly all fall 

 flowers will be destroyed in this vicinity, 

 and the honey season may be considered 

 closed; but if frost holds off", I presume 

 they will make a fair living but store no 

 surplus. 



3. The best three honey plants in this 

 vicinity, are white clover, linden and 

 buckwheat. 



4. They usually begin to yield about 

 the 10th of June. White clover continues 

 nearly all the season if the weather is not 

 too dry. Linden usually begins July 10th 

 or 15th and lasts from 3 to 10 days, owing 

 to the season. Buckwheat about the 15th 

 of August and usually lasts until about the 

 10th of September. 



With me this has been the poorest sea- 

 son for bees I have known in twenty years. 

 The cold weather in the early part of the 

 season destroyed nearly all the brood, and 

 the results were but few swarms issued. 

 D. W. Fletcher. 



Tompkins Co., N. Y., Sept. 13, 1875. 



Dear Bee Journal: — I commenced 

 the spring of 1875 with 19 stands — one 

 queenless as the spring was cold, we had 

 to feed our bees, till fruit blossoms came. 

 Then our strongest stocks only made a lit- 

 tle more than they consumed. We had to 

 feed again till June 1st, all kinds of clover 

 winter-killed. Our wet season commenced 

 about the 5th of July. About June 15th, 

 I divided two swarms, and on the 22d I 

 had the first natural swarm. In July I had 



