Jan. 31,1907 



American ^ee Journal 



thouf^ht of the subject a good deal be- 

 fore, but did not mention it. Mr. Mer- 

 rill's article tells my mind exactly. I 

 think all bee-keepers should consider 

 the matter as to the expense of pro- 

 ducing- comb honey in 2 pound sections 

 instead of one-pound, as it would be a 

 great boon to us. I do not know 

 whether the manufacturers of sections 

 would be against us or not, as it would 

 take fewer sections and less founda- 

 tion, and a good deal less work for the 

 bee-keeper. I know I can make the 

 change in my supers and other things 

 the first year, and still be ahead some. 

 Joseph Kichahd. 

 Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Jan. 19. 



[Any of the section manufactur- 

 ers will make 2pound sections if or- 

 dered ahead of the rush season — say 

 any time before May 1. — Editor.] 



Poorest Season In Over 30 Years 



The honey season of 1906 was the 

 poorest since I have been in the busi- 

 ness, now upwards of 30 years. I got 

 absolutely no surplus honey. In fact, 

 I had to spend about $150 for feed 

 for my bees. But I have kept every- 

 thing in good shape, and I will be 

 ready for a crop when it comes. This 

 is the first entire failure that I have 

 had in my long experience. In 1903 I 

 made $2C00 clear profit out of my bees. 

 In 1904 I made S1200. In 1905 I made 

 $800. In 1906, nothing. The average 

 per year for the 4 years, SIOOO. Not so 

 bad after all, when you consider that 

 those 4 years include the only entire 

 honey-failure that I have had in more 

 than 30 years ; and also when you con- 

 sider all the other irons I have in the 

 fire, besides. E. J. Baxter. 



Nauvoo, 111. 



Bees May Have European Foul Brood 



I have not been keeping bees for a 

 number of years, but I intend to have 

 some again if I can make a deal for ISO 

 colonies of Italians that are on the 

 place where I live. They seem to have 

 plenty of honey for winter, but are af- 

 fected with what is called " black 

 brood' — something similar to foul 

 brood — so they tell me here. I have 

 not opened any of the hives to see the 

 condition they really are in. I moved 

 into this valley only a short time ago, 

 and, from appearances, it ought to be 

 a fine locality for bees, since there is 

 an abundance of sweet clover and al- 

 falfa, with plenty of willow and fruit- 

 bloom to give the bees an early start. 

 But from what I can learn, the honey 

 crops of last year and the year before 

 were pretty short ones. I am told, 

 however, that bees used to do very well 

 here. The difficulty might result from 

 the condition the bees are in, since 

 they told me the young bees died in the 

 comb, which, if a fact, would keep the 

 colonies weak ; so if there were ever so 

 many blossoms in the field there would 

 not be enough bees to gather the nec- 

 tar, hence a short crop would result. I 

 will know more about the matter and 

 conditions later. Jacob Wirth. 



Montrose Co., Colo., Jan. 16. 



[It is unfortunate that Mr. Wirth has 

 not been getting the American Bee 

 Journal the past year or two, as we 



have had so much in it about black or 

 European foul brood, and other brood- 

 diseases. However, we are sending 

 him a copy of something containing 

 the information he wants. We are al- 

 ways glad to help out any bee-keeper, 

 whether he reads the American ]5ee 

 Journal or not, but, of course, we have 

 not room to repeat so much as is some- 

 times requested. When he was a bee- 

 keeper in Illinois, Mr. Wirth read the 

 American Bee Journal for years. We 

 hope he may soon be a regular sub- 

 scriber again. — Editor.] 



Peculiar Odor of Aster Honey 



The year 190i) was a rather poor one 

 for bee-keepers in this section. I had 

 37 colonies, spring count, increased to 



42, and got 100 pounds of comb honey 

 and 900 extracted. The only sections 

 of comb honey I got last year were the 

 unfinished -iections left over from the 

 previous season (1905), which I used for 

 "bait sections," and the rest of the 

 sections in the super were not touched 

 except to daub on propolis and gnaw 

 the foundation. I would not have had 

 any extracted honey if it had not been 

 for a supply of extracting,combs which 

 I put away carefully each fall for the 

 next year's use. We had a fall llow 

 that filled the hives with honey for 

 winter stores, and gave a few gallons 

 of extracted honey. This fall flow was 

 from wild asters, and is of good color 

 and weight, but rather strong for table 

 use. It also granulates very quickly. 

 When the bees are gathering this aster 

 honey, the hives give off a rank and 

 somewhat sickening odor, which can 

 be detected for quite a distance away. 



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