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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I have obtained good amount of bee 

 knowledge from The American Bee 

 JouBNAL, and, I think now, that I could 

 not get along without it. I put out last 

 spring seven Italian swarms, have now 

 twenty-one, and have taken 600 fts of 

 honey, mostly extracted. I think it has 

 been a very good season for bees here, so 

 far. 



The prospects for the balance of the 

 season is good. We have had no frost 

 here on the river to hurt anything; yet 

 tlie woods are full of fall flowers and bees 

 are gathering honey very fast now. 



Our three best honey plants, / think, are 

 basswood, wild balm and white clover. 

 Clover blossomed about the middle of 

 June and is still in bloom. Basswood 

 about tlie 10th of July, and lasted about 

 fifteen days. Balm is in bloom now. 

 This is the first year I ever attempted 

 to study the habits of honey-producing 

 plants, sol can't give you much upon the 

 subject. 



I tried bee-keeping for a long time with 

 common bees, but could not get ahead. 

 One year ago last spring, I obtained an 

 Italian swarm and Italianized my bees, 

 and have gone right ahead without 

 trouble. If I was to start again, I would 

 rather pay $25 for an Italian swarm, than 

 to have a black swarm for nothing. I 

 use Langstroth hive, frame 10x16, eight 

 frames to the hive. I am going to put on 

 another story, next year, just the same 

 size, to extract from. H. F. Walton. 



Grant Co., Wis., Sept. 6, 1875. 



Dear Editor : — I wintered 19 colonies 

 of bees in good condition, from which I 

 obtained 32 natural swarms, having now 

 in all 51 colonies. I have extracted over 

 a ton of honey, up to date — the honey nets 

 me 20 cents per lb at home. 



Counting each swarm of the increase 

 worth $10.00, as I can sell at that price 

 readily for cash, the figures stand : 



32 swarms @ $10.00 $320.00 



2,000 lbs. of honey @ 20 cents 400.00 



$720.00 



The above figures show for themselves. 

 — The prospect for a further surplus yield 

 is not flattering, owing to a light frost on 

 the 22nd of August which injured the 

 honey-producing plants and for the last 

 10 days the weather has been rainy, keep- 

 ing the bees at home from their labors. 

 However, if the weather becomes warm 

 and clear, I anticipate quite a yield this 

 month. 



Our three principal honey-producing 

 plants are : white clover, basswood, and 

 golden rod. 



White clover begins to blossom about 

 the 10th of May and continues till Sep- 

 tember, but the bees will leave it for the 

 basswood, which blossoms about the 15th 



of July and continues about 8 or 10 days. 

 Goldenrod blossoms about the 15th of 

 August and continue- till the frost. We 

 have many other native trees and plants 

 of minor importance, and with a judicious 

 selection of cultivated plants that yield 

 honey, selected with a view to fill up 

 space, where the native plants fall oft' in 

 yield, this may be counted a very fair 

 country for bees. 



In connection with the above I would 

 state, I have not given my bees the atten- 

 tion they ought to have; as the time 

 allotted to work with them has been in the 

 morning before 8 o'clock, and in the even- 

 ing after 5. The remainder of the day 

 I have been occupied in my office. 



I notice, that a note I wrote in relation 

 to tlie foundation-comb, found its way in- 

 to the Journal. I would now correct a 

 statement which I thea deemed to be a 

 fact, viz. : I thought the price too great for 

 its use with profit, except by cutting into 

 inch strips for starting, but as I have now 

 given it a full trial for one season, I firmly 

 believe that if I had bought $50.00 worth 

 for the use of my young swarms and for 

 the surplus sections to my hives, I would 

 have taken at least $200.00 worth, or half 

 ton more of honey, besides the benefit of 

 getting perfectly straight comb, without 

 any trouble. The foundation comb is a 

 great invention, and I shall buy liberally 

 of it next season. 



I bought a tested Italian queen from 

 Mrs. Tupper this season and it is the 

 handsomest and most prolific queen I 

 ever handled, and I have liandled many. 

 I. Ingmundson. 



Mower Co., Minn., Sept. 6th, 1875. 



I commenced with 17 swarms this 

 spring; have increased to 44. I think 

 they will give about 100 pounds of honey, 

 on an average, not so much box honey as 

 last year. I think the cause is the cold 

 nights. There is an abundance of white 

 clover ajid basswood, and plenty of wild 

 plants that they work in the fall. 



John Cardinal. 

 Brown Co., Wis., Sept. 15, 1875. 



Dear Journal : — In answer to your re- 

 quest, I would say that I had twenty hives 

 of bees in the spring, and on the 15th of 

 June, I divided a part, and on the 25th 

 they began to swarm, and on the 25th of 

 July the last swarmed. I have in all, 

 now, twenty-six new hives. The white 

 clover being killed in the winter, my bees 

 did not make much cup honey, not to ex- 

 ceed 300 lbs. There was no basswood 

 trees near us — teasles and buckwheat are 

 the main flowers here. My neighbors, 

 who live near linden trees, have done 

 much better. Best honey is worth 25 

 cents, and poor 16 to 20 cents. 



A "W^TT SOW 



Onondaga Co., N. Y., Sept. 5, 1875. 



