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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



My colonies are strong in bees and honey ; 

 the honey season is over. 



The best honey plants are baas-wood, 

 chestnut, and white and red clover; the 

 raspberry is equal to the best; honey sells 

 for 15 cents for dark, 20 cents for white. 

 The bees have gathered great quantities of 

 pollen this fall. James Markle. 



Albany Co., N. Y., Sept. 10, 1875. 



Three-fourths of my bees of last year 

 were lost in wintering, occasioned by 

 being too weak in bees and supplies, and 

 wintering in an outdoor repository, banked 

 on the sides with earth and sawdust, and 

 covered with boards and straw. During 

 the severe winter, the bees were much of 

 the time surrounded by frost. They would, 

 I think, have been better off in the open 

 air; I commenced this season with the 

 remnant — only six feeble swarms. These 

 have built up strong, but have afforded no 

 increase, and but little extracted honey. 

 I obtained three new swarms of a neigh- 

 boring bee-keeper, by exchanging old 

 comb, — giving two hives of comb for one 

 of bees. These I have increased artifi- 

 cially, by giving the old comb to six 

 strong swarms, I have extracted from 

 them about 150 lbs of honey. 



The three best honey plants in this 

 I'egion are, white clover, bass-wood, 

 and weeds on the Mississippi bottoms. 

 White clover commenced about the middle 

 of June, and continued in bloom three or 

 four weeks. Bass-wood commenced a 

 little before the middle of. July and con- 

 tinued about two weeks, not furnishing as 

 mucii honey this year as usual. The bot- 

 tom weeds commenced to bloom about the 

 20th of July and have continued until 

 the present time furnishing honey in great 

 abundance. One of these weeds grows 

 from four to five feet high, blossoms in 

 large clusters, purple in color, with white 

 pollen. The other resembles Gray's de- 

 scription of golden-rod, — grows about two 

 feet high, — yellow blossoms radiated at 

 the base — center large and cone-like. 

 There are near here hundreds if not 

 thousands of acres of these blossoms, 

 furnishing excellent fall pasturage for 

 for bees. 



One veteran bee-keeper 'in this vicinity 

 has seventy-five swarms. Has extracted 

 this season over a ton of honey. He lost 

 during last winter less than five per cent. 

 Winters in a warm, dry cellar, with caps 

 filled with straw and no upward ventila- 

 tion. His bees came out with clean comb 

 very strong. 



Another intelligent bee-keeper within 

 three miles, lias about a hundred swarms. 

 He discards the extractor. Is laying aside 

 frames, and going back fifty } ears to a 

 plain box hive, with an arrangement for 

 boxes in the top, — planning only for box 

 hone}^, and he succeeds finely. Sigma. 



Dakota Co., Minn., Sept. 21, 1875. 



I commenced with 19 colonies. Had 

 twelve natural increase, and nine artificial. 



I took 400 lbs extracted honey. Prin- 

 cipal source of honey: fruit blossoms, 

 white clover and buckwheat 



C. C. Miller. 



McHenry Co., Tils., Sept. 24, 1875. 



I began the season with twenty-two 

 stocks of Italian bees, having lost eighteen 

 during the winter and spring. The most 

 of my stocks were very weak. The fruit 

 blossoms were nearly all killed, and the 

 beefe got a veiy late start. The}^ did well, 

 however, while the black gum and poplar 

 were in blossom, and stored some honey. 

 The wet weather set in the first week in 

 June, and from that time until the middle 

 of August, they did not gather more than 

 enough to supply their own needs. In 

 fact in some of the hives not enough I 

 have increased by artificial swarming to 

 thirty-five full colonies, and two nuclei, 

 and have taken thirty-three lbs of extracted 

 honey. For the last two weeks my bees 

 have been gathering hone}' very fast, 

 principally from buckwheat and several 

 varieties of polygonum, the species to 

 which the common smart-weed belongs. 

 The prospect now is that they will store 

 enough to winter on and some to spare. 



I am at a lost to determine what answer 

 to make to the question, " which are the 

 best three honey plants in this section of 

 country? White clover, ho doubt, stands 

 first in importance, and yet some seasons 

 it yields very little honey. This year it 

 was almost worthless. 1 am inclined to 

 place black-gum and poplar (tulip tree) as 

 the next two in importance. We have so 

 little bass-wood, or linn, in this neighbor- 

 hood that it is not worth mentioning. 

 The blackgum blooms in May. I am not 

 able to give the precise time, and remains 

 in bloom about ten days, perhaps a little 

 more. The poplar comes in about the 

 time the black-gum is done, and continues 

 about two weeks. White clover begins to 

 bloom in May and continues through 

 June, and sometimes well into July, ac- 

 cording to the season. M. Mahin. 



Henry Co., Ind., Aug. 4, 1875. 



Dear Editor: — This is my first year 

 in the business. I reside in the central 

 part of the city. Started last spring with 

 two good stocks of common bees; in- 

 creased now to five. The spring was verj-- 

 wet, cold and backward, and but verj^ lit- J 

 tie honey was gathered till about the 1st of 

 July, when tlie white clover came, the 

 weather being favoruble, it lasted almost 

 six weeks, during wliich time, when it 

 did not rain, the tlow of honey was very 

 abundant and had my bees been in good 

 sliape I might have had at least two hun- 

 dred pounds of box honey. One stock is 

 strong and has yielded fifty lbs of nice 

 box honey. Three others are now quite 



