THE AMEUICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



257 



to feed from the time we took them out of 

 the celhir until fruit trees bloomed, whicii 

 was six weeks. Fetl tlu-m about one dol- 

 lar's worth of sugar per day. I gave thcni 

 what comb they could use and cover, and 

 added empty comb as they increased in 

 strength. 1 helped the weaker colonies 

 with brood -from the stronger, and when 

 white clover came all were strong. 



They went to swarming instead of stor- 

 ing hone}'. We clipped the queen's wings 

 to prevent this. They then settled down 

 and went to work, and to this time we 

 have taken about 1000 Ihs. of extracted, and 

 yOOlbs box-honey, and increased our colo- 

 nies to fortj'. 



Shall not extract much more, for I do 

 not intend to be short of supplies this 

 year. 



The bass-wood yielded but little honey, 

 but white clover was so abundant that we 

 hardly missed the bass-wood. Our priu- 

 cipal resources are white clover, linn and 

 buckwheat ; we have also, mustard, catnip, 

 smart-weed, golden-rod, iron-weed, and a 

 multitude of other honey-producing plants, 

 which greatly help in their seasons. 



The demand for extracted honey is very 

 small, almost no call for it at all. There 

 has been so much said and written on the 

 subject that people are afraid of it. I do 

 ngt see what will restore it to the confi- 

 dence of the people, but it must be done. 

 All engaged in bee-culture in this vicinity, 

 have gained courage for all have been 

 successful. Mrs. S. G. Van Anda. 



Delaware Co., Iowa, Sept. 7, 1875. 



Dear Journal : — Our best honey-plants 

 lor spring are: maple, elm and tame 

 grass. For fall, heart's-ease has super- 

 ceded buckwheat. Bees are doing well, 

 and the prospect is good. 



Wm. Faxjlkner. 



Switzerland Co., Sept. 24, 1875. 



I notice in the JouRNAL,come complaints 

 from almost all parts of the country, that 

 the bees are doing notliing. I am happy 

 to report that this is not the case in regard 

 to this part of central Illinois, (Cham- 

 paign Co). In the early part of the sea- 

 son thej' did not do very well on account 

 of the excessive rains, and but little honey 

 was stored, beyond the immediate re- 

 quirements of the hive, till linn came into 

 bloom; during which time we had less 

 \ rain, and they filled their hives pretty full, 

 ^ but stored very little in boxes. About the 

 10th of August, when buckwheat com- 

 menced blooming, they began their sum- 

 mer's work in earnest, and I have never 

 seen bees do better than they have done 

 since, and are still doing. 



Just as the regular swarming season 

 came on and the bees had made all prep- 

 arations for it, the rains interfered and 

 stopped them. 



My hives have mostly been full of bees 

 all summer, and about the middle of Aug. 

 they commenced swarming, and I have 

 had more or less swarms almost every day 

 since, sometimes four in a day, — had one 

 to-day. 



The first two I gave separate hives, but 

 I began to fear they were going to overdo 

 the business, and I put all the rest back, 

 consequent!}' they are strong, and are 

 storing honey finely. The two that I gave 

 hives the middle of August, have their 

 hives full, and are at work in boxes. I 

 have had about twenty-five swarms since 

 that time, and how long it will continue I 

 cannot tell. 



2d. The prospect for a good run of fall 

 honey was never better, if frost holds off. 



3d. The three best honey-producing 

 plants we have, are usually white clover, 

 linn, (near timber), and buckwheat; but 

 this year white clover has not done as 

 well as usual ; for this season, the list 

 would be, linn, buckwheat and heart's-ease. 

 The latter is very abuuaaut. The corn 

 fields and grain fields are filled with it> 

 and it is an excellent honey-plant. 



4th. Linn continues in bloom two or 

 three weeks ; heart's-ease and buckwheat, 

 with other fall flowers, will continue till 

 frost. J. G. Thompson. 



Champaign Co., Ills., Sept. 8, 1875. 



Ed. Journal. — Our honey season com- 

 menced about July 20th, on sumach, and 

 has been favorable ever since. Previously 

 our bees were at the point of starvation. 

 We never lose colonies from any cause. 

 After the spring sales, we commenced the 

 season with twenty-five colonies, and one 

 of them was queenless. We have taken 

 128 Its. extracted per colony of old stock, 

 and $22.50 worth of nice box-honey, and 

 will get enough to make from 150 to 175 

 tt)S. of extracted, per colon}', and increase 

 to forty-four colonies. I shall double up 

 some of them this fall. This has been the 

 best season I have ever known in this 

 country. . 



The three best honey-producers are: 

 honey-dew, from 20th of May to 20th of 

 June; sumach, 20th of July, and lasts 

 tliree weeks; heart's-ease, and a yellow 

 fiovver, looks like a bastard spanish-ueedle. 

 Both of these grow in stubble fields quite 

 profusely, in wet seasons, and produce 

 more or less honey during all the fall. 



E. LiSTON. 



Cedar Co., Mo., Sept. 13, 1875. 



Dear Sir: — I report the following, in 

 reference to the " Special to your readers," 

 in your September journal: 



1. I commenced July, 1874, with one 

 Italian and five black colonies. Closed 

 the year with eight Italian and two black 

 colonies. The spring of 1875 was very 

 late, and consequently short. Summer 

 came in soon after spring commenced. 



