428 



ARIEPJCAN BEE lOURNAL 



Julys, 1902 



an improvement in less than two 

 weeks, and it is seldom that I have to 

 give more than one dose. If it makes 

 its appearance again give them another 

 dose. The sulphur has the merit of 

 being harmless. 



When they go into winter quarters 

 with that disease they are reduced very 

 weak in the spring, and if they build 

 up they do not seem tohaveanj- energy. 



What a bad spring for bees in this 

 part of Minnesota — cold and rainy. 

 The maple buds were frozen, and the 

 bees did not gather pollen for a long 

 time after leaving the cellar. It is 

 now June 15, and cold and no swarms. 

 Thej' commenced swarming June 4 last 

 year. Mrs. E. B. Hawkins. 



Wabasha Co., Minn., June 15. 



Hardest Spring on Bees. 



This has been the hardest spring on 

 bees since I have been in the business. 

 I lost 20 colonies — almost all dwindled. 

 The spring was cold and windy. 



I have not had a swarm this spring. 

 Quite a number of colonies are weak. 

 The weather has been so cold that 

 they don't build up fast. 



G. W. Bbll. 



Clearfield Co., Pa., June 12. 



Bees Starving. 



Bees are doing poorly on account of 

 the wet weather. There is no white 

 clover yet, and they need to be looked 

 after or they may starve. They are 

 killing the drones, and that is a sure 

 sign of starvation. 



L. HiGHBARGER. 



Ogle Co., 111., May 12. 



California Crop Over-Estimated. 



The honey season has been grossly 

 over-estimated in Southern California. 

 I do not think it will average one-fifth 

 of a crop, and in some localities that 

 are considered among the best in favor- 

 able seasons will produce none at all. 

 The weather was so unfavorable dur- 

 ing orange-bloom that little surplus 

 was stored, and then there was an ex- 

 cessive amount of swarming in both 

 comb and extracting apiaries. 



L. L. Andrews. 



Riverside Co., Calif., June 6. 



California— " Boom, or Busted." 



As I promised a report of my last 

 year's honey crop I will turn it in now. 

 It is rather late, so I don't think it will 

 do any one any good, neither will it do 

 harm. 



I think we can as individuals come 

 nearer an estimate of a crop, after it is 

 harvested, rather than before. Apropos 

 Prof. A. J. Cook's California crop re- 

 port, on page 347. 



Xow, every one who knows Prof. 

 Cook, either personally or through his 

 writings, knows what a great, big 

 heart he has, and that it is exactly in 

 the right place, and if he makes any 

 mistakes they are of the head and not 

 of the heart. 



From all that I can gather the honey 

 crop of Southern California will be 

 very, very short. I have reports from 

 San Diego County, Los Angeles, San 

 Bernardino, and I am situated in about 

 the center of Riverside County. All 

 reports are for a total failure, or very 

 light crop in my own vicinity. Bees 



BEES AND QUEENS ! 



We have a strain of 

 bees bred specially for 

 honey - gathering and 

 longevity. We feel con- 

 fident of giving satis- 

 faction. 



C PRICES: 



for the remainder of this 

 season : 



1 Untested yueen $ .60 



1 Tested Queen 80 



1 Select Tested Queen . . . 1.00 



1 Breeding Queen 1.50 



1-Comb Nucleu?, no queen 1.00 



J. L. STRONG, 



204 East Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. 

 25A3t Please metition the Bee Journal. 



A Good Way 



10 bepin full fencing is to write for our catalog. 

 PACK WOVEN niltK KKNtE CO., AltltUX. JIICH. 



t'lease mentlor Bt^*^ .loui-na' v^Vt^T? .-r-fTi-aP 



Low Rates to Atlantic Coast Points. 



July 5 to 9, inclusive, the Nickel 

 Plate Road will sell tickets to Portland, 

 Me., and return, at one fare for the 

 round-trip. It will be to your interest 

 to obtain rates via that road before 

 purchasing elsewhere. Three daily 

 trains. Write John Y. Calahan, Gen- 

 eral Agent, 111 Adams St., Chicago. 

 26— 26A2t 



DAIRYMEN ARE DELIGHTED 



to Tueel ttioBc wno wi.rktor us. Li.w keej.rrs .1 ■• a\ S 

 have monej-. We start you in biisines-. Vou nvike 

 l.irge protits. Easy work. We furuish ca|.iit:il. hvn<\ 

 10 cenis for fu!l line of pam(>IeB and rai tir-ulat--. 



DRAPER PUBLISHINQ CO.. Chicago. Ills. 



Please mention Bee Journal "when writirg. 



Dittffler's Foundation ! 



Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing. 



I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY 

 ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST 

 and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO- 

 CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my 

 own inventions, which enable me to SELL 

 FOUNDATION and 



fork fax Into Fonndatioii For Casli 



at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving 



Full Line of Supplies, 



with prices and samples, tree on application 

 BEESWAX WANTED. 



GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis, 



Adel Queens and Bees 



QUEENS BY RETURN MAIL. 



The standard strain of yellow-banded bees. 

 All select-tested Queens. Each, JI.imi. Ready 

 to mail J une I. Cat. free. 



HENRY ALLEY, 



26Atf WENHAM, MASS. 



^lea.'se mention Bee Journal when -writing. 



Nickel Plate Excursions 

 To Portland, Ale., July 5th to 9th, in = 

 elusive, to Providence, R. !., July 

 7th to 9th, inclusive. 

 One Fare for the Round-Trip. 

 By depositing' tickets with a{,'ent ter- 

 minal line, an extension can be ob- 

 tained until Aug-. ISth, returning. 

 Write John Y. Calahan, General Agent, 

 111 Adams b,.., Chicago, for particulars. 

 I 27— 26A2t 



will just about make enough to carry 

 them through to nest year in four 

 counties of the seven of Southern Cali- 

 fornia that produce large crops, and 

 Orange County lies contiguous to Los 

 Angeles, San Diego and Riverside 

 Counties, so that puts it in the doubtful 

 list. , As I said, the bees in this vicinity 

 vfill just about make a living ; quite a 

 fall from last year, but this is Califor- 

 nia — ■■ boom, or busted." 



I began the season of 1901 with 147 

 colonies in three different sizes of 

 frame hives and various sizes of boxes. 

 I had built 1000 new combs in Lang- 

 stroth frames from I'j inch starters 

 of foundation ; at the end of the season 

 I had all of my bees (ISO colonies) in 

 Langstroth hives, had 30,500 pounds 

 of extracted honey, and 536 pounds of 

 beeswax. 



I increased just 3 colonies, and I did 

 all of my transferring after the honey- 

 flow was over. My honey was well 

 ripened, and of first-class quality. 



From June 3 to July 1 I extracted six 

 tons. That was one of my successes ; 

 later I will tell how I manipulated to 

 obtain that result. 



I run every tenth colony as a reserve, 

 and as they filled one super up I would 

 put on another, and tiered them up to 

 the end of the season, then distributed 

 the honey through the apiary, and 

 quite a lot of it is there yet. 



J. W. George. 



Riverside Co., Calif., June 7. 



BEEDOM BOILEfl 



Sweet Clover. 



As a plant for green manuring, Prof. 

 S. M. Tracy, formerly of the Missis- 

 sippi Experiment Station, says of it 

 in Farmers' Bulletin 18, of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture : 



"As a restorative crop for yellow 

 loam and white lime lands this plant 

 has no superior, and for black prairie 

 soils it has no equal. The roots are 

 very long, penetratitig the soil to a 

 depth of three or four feet : are quite 

 large, and by their decay at the end of 

 the second year leaves the soil with 

 innumerable minute holes which act 

 as drains and loosen the soil, so that 

 the roots of other crops can go deeper 

 and find more abundant supplies of 

 food, and bear drouth better." 



Makeshifts— A Paper Honey =House. 



It seems that F. L. Thompson has 

 conceived the idea of a paper honey- 

 house, and the following conversation 

 regarding it between Mr. Smith and 

 Mr. Thompson is given in the Progres- 

 sive Bee-Keeper : 



Mr. S. — Whoever heard of such a 

 thing as a paper honey-house? And 



no floor ! 



Mr. T. — Yes, this is a makeshift ; 

 that is, at present. But when the rest 

 of it is built this part will do just the 

 way it is for storing empty supers, and 

 it will not be a makeshift ; because for 



