THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



253 



needle begins the last part of August and 

 lasts till frost; smart-weed has given some 

 surplus this fall. Anderson Youk. 



Davis Co., Iowa, Sept. 7, 1(375. 



I put eleven colonies of blacks and hy- 

 brids into winter quarters, by making a 

 box for each hive, of botu'ds, coming 

 within six inches of touching the hive all 

 round, except in front, which 1 left open 

 to the south-east. The spaces between the 

 sides and hive I filled tightly with dry 

 leaves, about Nov. 10; and covered it 

 over to keep dry, a;iviug no upward ven- 

 tilation. I use the two-story Langstroth 

 hive. I did not lose a single colony, and 

 but few bees. In the spring I fed but little, 

 as they had plenty of honey. For pollen, 

 I gave them rye and wheat flour. They 

 gathered honey quite fast from the peach 

 and maple bloom (April 1st,) and nearly 

 filled their surplus boxes. On April 17th 

 a frost killed the bloom, and ended their 

 gathering honey. My first swarm came 

 on April 24th, while it was yet cold. I 

 had to feed all until white clover came. 

 Then they began to swarm again. June 

 1st, I extracted 7511us of honey, but the 

 bees never filled the frames again. Usu- 

 ally there is but little to be gathered in 

 July and August. For 15 days from Aug. 

 7th, I fed each hive }^ lb to stimulate them 

 for the fall crop, if there should be any. 

 Aug. 22d I had two swarms, and would 

 have had more but I prevented it by out- 

 ting out the queen cells. 



We have a plenty of aster, golden-rod, 

 and fall flowers, but it is too dry. If the 

 bees do not get enough to winter on, I 

 shall feed them sugar syrup. This I pre- 

 pare by mixing equal parts of "Cof- 

 fee A," sugar and water. When it boils 

 add a teaspoonful of salt to every 8 fcs of 

 syrup, and skim it. 



I expect to prepare my bees for winter 

 as for several years past, on their summer 

 stands. 



The three best honey-plants are : white 

 clover, (May 10th to June 10(h); poplar, 

 (May 1st to June 1st) ; aster, (Sept. 12th 

 to Oct. 10th). Henry W. Koop. 



Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 5, 1875." 



July to the 20th ; golden-rod from the 15th 

 of August to last of September. That is 

 about the time they generally bloom. 



A. S. Williams. 

 Laporte Co., Ind., Sept. 21, 1875. 



Editor Journal: — According to your 

 request, I send you an account of what my 

 apiary has done this season up to date. 



1st. I have averaged eighty-five pounds 



\ extracted and comb honey per hive, for the 



•^ old stocks I had in the spring. Increase 



in swarms one and one-third swarms to 



the old ones. 



2d. For the balance of the season poor 

 prospect. It has been raining and cold 

 for the last weeks. 



3d. The three best honey-plants are: 

 White clover, bass-wood, golden-rod. 

 White clover from the 10th of June to the 

 15th of July; bass-wood from the 8th of 



Mr. Newman: — It was rather wet this 

 season for honey, but the bees are all 

 heavy and prepared for winter. I took 

 about 1000 lbs of box honey. Our best 

 honey-plants and trees are : poplar, bass, 

 buckwheat, and golden-rod. This is the 

 place for bee-keepers, as bees need no 

 winter protection. I do not half attend to 

 mine, as I should, and they pay me 33 per 

 cent. My fruit farm keeps me busy. To 

 any one wishing to locate in a mild cli- 

 mate, and wanting any information in 

 reference to the country, I will cheerfully 

 give it. No grasshoppers here to eat up 

 the crops. A. F. Houine. 



Madison Co., Tenn., Oct. 12, 1875. 



I had twelve colonies in the spring, 

 which were in the eight-frame American 

 hive; now I have 21 colonies, and the 

 new colonies are all much larger than 

 the old; the new hives have 10 frarnes, 

 141^x121^. One of these colonies will 

 almost make two of the old ones — making 

 a pretty fair increase. I have about 50 

 lbs. of box-honey. We had too much 

 rain the fore-part of the season. This de- 

 creased my box-honey by about 100 lbs. 

 White clover has been about our best 

 honey-plant this season. It lasted from 

 the first of June till the 15th of August. 

 Buckwheat and corn fields were our next. 

 They lasted from about the 1st of August 

 to tlie 10th of September. Red clover 

 comes next; it lasts from about the 15th 

 of June to the 1st of October. We have 

 any amount of golden-rod here, but the 

 bees do not like it. 



In my article in No. 9 (Sept.), in the 

 6th line from the top, for 32, read twelve. 

 D. H. Ogden. 



Wayne Co., O., Sept. 8, 1875. 



After " springing time " was over, we 

 were left with 32 colonies, and from them 

 we report as follows : 56 strong colonies 

 at present. 



Aug. 5 extracted 95i gallons. 



AiiK- 12 and 1.3 extracted 60 " 



Auk- 19 and 20 " •''^ " 



Auij. 26 and 27 " 75'/^ " 



Sept. li and 4 " Tti " 



Sept. 10 and 11 " 94i4 



Sept. 17 to 21 " 106 



473'/2 gallons. 



We think we have left them stores 

 enough to winter on safely. The best bee 

 plants here are sumac, smart-weed, span- 

 ish-needle and buckwheat. As yet the 

 white clover is not here enough to count 

 on. Mrs. S. Dick. 



Benton Co., Mo., Oct. 13, 1875. 



