260 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



acres next year. It will do to sow either 

 in the spring or fall; I sow four or five 

 pounds to the acre. If we expect profit 

 from our bees, we must furnish them a 

 plenty of honey-producing bloom. 

 Lee Co., 111., Oct. 9, 1875. R. Millek. 



I put 80 stocks in the cellar; on March 

 29 I took them out in good condition, 

 only losing two, but a few of them had the 

 dysentery. For ten days they did splen- 

 didly. Then they commenced to 

 "dwindle," and by the time the long spell of 

 cold weather was over, I had 20 weak, 

 and some queenless hives. We had no 

 white clover nor fruit bloom. I sowed 

 eight acres of alsike this spring. After 

 the rain ceased, I extracted a few hundred 

 pounds of really nice honey; it was gath- 

 ered from rape. With alsike, rape and 

 buck wli eat, I think honey-raising can be 

 made remunerative, besides the profit of it 

 on a farm. A. Stibbs. 



De Kalb Co., 111., Sept. 13, 1875. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Jottings. 



Having bees, and having been associated 

 with a practical apiarist for two years, 

 and being an attentive student of apicul- 

 ture, though on my first legs, I send you a 

 few jottings, which will, like a "straw, 

 show which way the wind blows," in the 

 field covered b}' your journal. In San- 

 gamon county, white clover being late, 

 swarming was also late, of course, and 

 when the little creatures got in the way 

 of it, they certainly lost discretion. A 

 neighbor bought a colony of bees at a 

 sale in March last, and I lately passed five 

 colonies, all natural swarms, in his door- 

 yard, and he was expecting another. My 

 own have not been so wild, increase only 

 240 per cent, and are now rapidly gather- 

 ing nectar, which is abundant. I have 

 both Italians and blacks, and the former 

 will, under some conditions, have honey 

 sealed up first, and will grow stronger 

 without swarming. I procured my Italian 

 stock from A. Salisbury, of Camargo, 111., 

 who, to my mind, is one of the most con- 

 scientious apiculturists and queen raisers 

 of the west. You may notify your readers 

 that a deal willi Mr. Salisbury is alwa3^s 

 " on the square." He is a Christian gen- 

 tleman, and I take great pleasure in re- 

 ferring to him, as his unostentatious man- 

 ner has kept his merits as a queen-breeder 

 and an lionest dealer within too narrow 

 limits, for the good of apiculture in the 

 west. 



The continued rains of June and July 

 have produc(!d a wonderful crop of 

 "smart-weed" in every cultivated field, 

 and roadside, and in the ditches and 

 " swales." The golden fiower of the 

 «' spanish-needle" meets the eye. In 



short, everything indigenous to this lati- 

 tude as a fall honey-producer is in per- 

 fection, and bee raisers are happy. More 

 anon. W. W. Curnutt. 



Rochester, 111., Sept. 1, 1875. 



For the American Bee Journal, 

 Practical Notes. 



BEES AND GRAPES. 



I have had bees and grapes for over 

 thirty years, and I never knew them to eat 

 grapes at any time. I have never had any 

 of the tender kinds ot grapes; mine have 

 been the Isabella, Catawba, Concord and 

 Diana. They grow near the hives, and 

 sometimes shade them. Two years ago I 

 took a cluster of Diana grapes and 

 fastened them on a hive three inches above 

 the entrance ; the next day they were there 

 all safe. I then took my knife and opened 

 three, and the next day the three were 

 eaten except the skins. 1 opened some 

 more, and the next day they were eaten. 

 Then I opened the rest, and they ate them, 

 but did not eat any on the vines. 



BEES LEAVING THEIR HIVES. 



I have had bees leave their hives, and it 

 was a mystery to me; but after a while it 

 was plain enough. They would leave on 

 a hot day; at first I supposed they dis- 

 liked the hive, and put them in another, 

 but after a while I found it was occasioned 

 by the heat, so I put tliem back in the 

 same hive, and then took cold water from 

 the well and with a broom-brush sprinkled 

 the ground and hive everj^ half-hour until 

 the air was cooler; and from this I 

 learned in a hot day to sprinkle them when 

 first hived, and also to raise the hive and 

 give them air. I keep them in the shade. 



Marcellus, N. Y. A. Wilson. 



For the American Bee Journal. 

 Retrospection. 



It is said "By others' faults, wise men 

 correct their own." 



It is desirable to be able to correct our 

 own mistakes resulting in loss; and as 

 far as may be, seek profit from the mis- 

 takes of others by avoiding instead of 

 adopting them. 1 notice a few cases. 



D. H. 'Ogden, Wooster, O. Seven old 

 colonies. 25 new colonies, 40 lbs. of lumey. 

 This is 5 5-7 lbs of honey from each seven 

 colonies. If we suppose it will require 

 GO lbs. for the consumption of each colony 

 during summer and winter, we liave con- 

 sumed by the bees — surplus 40-1920 — near- 

 ly 1-48. Then 1-49 of tlie product is sur- 

 plus and 48-49 is consumed. 



Jos. Clizbee, Woodbine, Iowa. Seven 

 stands increased to ten — 75 pounds ex- 

 tracted honey, 75-600=1-8; this is 1-9 of 

 the product in surplus ; and 8-9 consumed 

 by the bees. 



A. Boyd, Jay Co., Indiana. Doubled 



