600 



American IRee Journal 



July, 1907. 



lion. _ They are killing off their drones and 

 no signs of swarming. I am feeding them 

 sugar syrup in the open air to keep them 

 alive till clover-bloom. The prospect for a 

 honey-crop is anything but bright now, but I 

 am living in hopes that we will get rain soon 

 to help the clover, and that we may get some 

 honey yet. Ceo. H. Adkins. 



Ticonderoga. N. V., June 15. 



Bees Doing Better. 



We liad very poor weather all spring, cool 

 and rainy, and nothing for bees to do, but 

 on June 14 they started to work on white 

 clover, which is abundant, and there is plenty 

 of nectar in it. Basswood also is going to be 

 Xo. I. I have had only 2 swarms so far, 

 but I made 4 nuclei which are as good as 

 primary swarms. The honey-bee is my best 

 friend and I give her the best care possible. 



I kept black bees in the old country but they 

 were different from the black bees the bee- 

 keepers write about here in the United States. 

 The common bee here ij a mixture. The 

 Italian and Carniolan are e.xtra-good honey- 

 gatherers if handled right, but do not look 

 so nice as pure Italians. They are just as 

 good workers, however. 



LaMotte, Iowa, June jr. Nick Tentgen. 



Poor Season, but Improving. 



The season was very poor here for bees 

 up to about 2 weeks ago. They are doing 

 nicely now on white clover; and the linden 

 trees are as full of buds as I ever saw them. 

 They will be in bloom in about 10 days. I 

 think there is a good prospect of the bees 

 making up now for lost time. 



I divided 3 colonies about a week ago in 

 our out-apiary. I looked into those colonies 

 yesterday (6 in all) and they are all doing 

 fine. \\ e now have 7 colonies in this apiary 



„ , , ^ (Kev.) J. W. Stine. 



Uurbam. Iowa, June 27. 



Bees are Backward. 



Bees are very backward. No swarming yet 

 There is plenty of white and alsike clover in 

 bloom, but the bees do not seem to be working 

 °" ;*• , , , Chas. Doan. 



Hull, Iowa, June 26. 



Honey Crop a Failure. 



The honey crop is a failure here. First 

 white clover gain was June 2. and only 20 

 pounds gain in weight since, and mostly brood. 

 1 hear of bees doing well here, but it is in 

 cases of one or more colonies in a place. It 

 will not affect the honey crop in the least, 

 it prospects do not change greatly soon, there 

 w-iM not be any xMissouri honey. Indeed I 

 thought 2 weeks ago I should have to feed 

 in June to keep them from starving 



-Marceline, Mo., June 17. Irving Long. 



Still Feeding the Bees. 



I am still feeding my bees and the end of 

 feeding is not in sight. The weather is quite 

 warm now and we had rains week before last 

 and the beginning of last week. There is 

 considerable white clover in bloom, but the 

 bees do not seem to get anvthing from it. 

 i suppose the conditions are the same all over 

 Iowa. If there is a flow anywhere I would 

 like to have some bee-keeper write to the 

 American Bee Journal and let us know about 

 "•, , , Edwin Bevins. 



l.eon. Iowa, June 17. 



Swarming and Working Sections. 



^Iy bees are swarming and starting to 

 work in sections. I think we will have a 

 good season here. I have for main sources 

 truit-bloom, raspberrv and blackberry, white 

 clover, basswood, chestnut, aster, golden-rod, 

 and buckwheat; also lots of other plants that 

 give the bees almost a steady flow. 



Jamestown. X. V., June 17. G. B. Babcock 



No Prospects for Surplus Honey. 



Bees are at least 2 months behind, with no 

 prospects for any surplus honey before Sep- 

 tember. There will not be any linden bloom 

 this year of any consequence, for there are 

 no buds to speak of. Bees are gaining a little 

 from white clover now, but not fast. Bees 

 wintered fine, but oh, what a late spring! 



I had to feed for 2 months, owing to all of 

 the early bloom having been killed, and if it 

 had not been killed it was so cold that bees 

 could not fly for weeks at a time. We have 

 had fine weather now for some days, but it is 

 too late for some things. I had to order some 

 honey from Chicago for my own use, owing 

 to having to feed so late, and so much. I 

 hope for the better things in the future. 

 Mast, N. C, June 25. A. T. McBride. 



Honey- Yield Small. 



The sage is about out of bloom and the 

 yield of honey is small at this apiary, but of 

 extra-good quality, as the backward spring 

 caused the bees to use up all the dark and 

 mixed honey. Delos Wood. 



Santa Barbara. Calif., June 19. 



First Alfalfa Flow. 



Bees have had a hard time this season here. 

 The first alfalfa honey-tlow is just on. It 

 is the first flow of any kind since everything 

 froze during fruit-bloom. 



The American Bee Journal is well worth 

 $1.00 a year to any one who has even one 

 colony of bees. F. G. B.\rker. 



Salina, Kans, June 15. 



Building Up for the Fall Crop. 



The season has been excellent so far and 

 all colonies that were strong enough have 

 stored a nice surplus; but as the weather had 

 been unfavorable for the rapid building up of 

 colonies in April, and in May, it rained al- 

 most every day, most colonies came to the 

 harvest in a weak condition, so that they 

 could not take advantage of the harvest to the 

 greatest extent. We do not expect a great 

 spring crop, but this flow is certainly fine- for 

 the building up of all colonies for the fall 

 flow, which is the one we mostly depend upon 

 here for our surplus. The weather is fine at 

 present, and we hope it will continue for a 

 while longer. Julius Happel. 



Evansville. Ind., June 27. 



Very Cold Spring. 



We are having a very cold spring. Apples 

 are just beginning to bloom. All weak colo- 

 nies of bees have dwindled out. I have had 

 to feed nearly all colonies up to now. but I 

 think if the weather is good, we will get a fair 

 honey crop yet. Kdward Ricard. 



Canaan, N. il.. June 12. 



Poor Season for Bees. 



This is one of the poorest seasons for bees, 

 as it is cold and rainy all the time. They 

 go out but never return. Therefore the colo- 

 nies are on the verge of starving at almost the 

 first of June. If we do not get a change soon 

 there will be no honey for bees or any one 

 else. My bees came through the winter all 

 right with plenty, but this weather is causing 

 it all to be consumed. The supply-manufactur- 

 ers will not be rushed this season for goods. 



Hibbets, Ohio. May 27. Henry Best. 



Cold Season for Bees. 



I took my 147 colonies out of the cellar, 

 all appearing very strong, on March 20 and 

 21, at a temperature of 85 and 93 degrees. A 

 week later the weather "caught cold," and no 

 amount of coaxing has been able to get rid of 

 it. If the bees had not been in first-class 

 shape, they never would have "stood the 

 racket." One colony was extinct at the time 

 of taking them out and it is there yet. and I 

 mean to keep it there until warmer days. 

 It had been marked "N'ery weak; watch" at 

 the time of cellaring. All colonies were tar- 

 papered, a la Hutchinson, on March 22, (hence 

 before Hutchinson's tar-papering got into 

 print). While I have lost some 20 colonies 

 since from spring dwindling, I am sure the 

 paper saved lots of bees. I afterward bought 

 out a yard of 26 colonies and have at this 

 time about 150. Some are yet very weak, bvit 

 most would get ready for white clover with 

 good weather, which will not be much short of 

 2 weeks yet. Dandelions are in "full blast" 

 and we are hoping that overgrowth of moss, 

 etc., can be mown off and let the sun shine 

 through a little. 



While we had several hard freezes w hi It- 

 fruit was in boolm, the fruit seems not to 

 have suffered total loss, and apples seem to 

 have been hurt but little, if any, by the frost. 

 The only explanation I can advance for it is 



that the slow growth in a low temperature 

 produced hardier buds and blossoms. Farm 

 crops look fine. Corn needs dry and warmer 

 weather. Judging from its appearance most 

 farmers must have planted the "little yellow" 

 kind this year. F. W. Hall. 



Hull, Iowa, June 10. 



Kerosene for Robber-Bees. 



I had one of the worst cases of robbing 

 I think I ever had. 'The robber-bees just 

 swarmed in and around the hive. I closed the 

 entrance so that but one bee could get in, 

 and took some kerosene and painted the en- 

 trance and the cracks under the cover. Every 

 bee left in 10 seconds. I went back in half 

 an hour and found a few of the robber-bees 

 hovering around, so I painted the open places 

 again. 



In painting be careful not to let any of the 

 kerosene get into the hive. I do not remember 

 ever seeing this cure in print, but it is sure. 



Emerson. 111., May 30. W. H. H. Stewart. 



No Bloom and No Honey. 



Weather conditions have been bad for bees 

 since the last of March. My winter losses were 

 few, but I have lost quite a number of colonies 

 in the last 2 months. I am now feeding all 

 colonies (about loo) in order to keep them 

 alive, and keep up brood- rearing. There is 

 no honey in any hive and there is no bloom 

 from which the bees can gather it, and what is 

 worse, there is no white clover in the fields. 

 There is no telling how long the feeding will 

 have to be carried on, probably for many 

 weeks. Edwin Bevins. 



Leon, Iowa, May 29. 



Coldest Spring in 24 Years. 



The oldest settlers say that this has been 

 the coldest spring since 18S3. Grain that was 

 seeded April 30 has not come up yet. The 

 dandelions have not commenced to bloom yet, 

 nor the fruit-trees. So far there is no sign 

 of buds to speak of. On May 19, last year, I 

 extracted dandelion honey. This year there 

 will be no extracting for 2 weeks at least 

 from date. I notice the Southerns have their 

 troubles, too, so, according to reports, the 

 honey-market will not be clogged this year. 

 Chas. O. Bergstraxd. 



,\mcry, \A'is., May 27. 



Bees Carrying Water at Night — First 

 Recorded Midnight Play-Spell 

 of Young Bees. 



It is all right to be suspicious when any- 

 thing is reported, yet as Mr. Miller says, "It 

 IS not safe to deny something because it did 

 not come under one's observation." 



In the controversy between Mr. Hasty and 

 myself, I wish to state that an error occurred 

 in my last article. While I have seen bees 

 at night around a certain barrel right at my 

 house, I incidentally remarked that although 

 plenty of bees are to be seen in daytime around 

 my pump, none could be found there at night. 

 Not all of my colonies sent out water-car- 

 riers at night, only those strong colonies hav- 

 ing a clear track, clear right of way on hot 

 nights. However, last fall, after bees had 

 stopped night work for 5 or 6 weeks, one 

 colony sent one water-carrier as late as either 

 Wednesday or Thursday on November 3, and 

 also another on the first Sunday in l^ecember. 



To satisfy my own curiosity I made the fol- 

 lowing experiments : 



1 . With a Monette Queen-Clipping device 

 I captured several bees (one at a time, of 

 course), to see whether that certain colony 

 whose night- worker was lost, would send out 

 another, as never more than a single bee goes 

 out of a hive after water. At least I have 

 never seen it otherwise. While this caging 

 interrupted for a while at least the water- 

 carrying ( the same work was resumed later 

 on. Right here I wish to remark that 

 bees never fly inside the barrel at night as 

 they do in the daytime ; no, they fly on the 

 rim of the barrel on the side nearest the hive, 

 and "foot it" or "leg it" down to the water. 



I next wanted to know whether it was the 

 same bees over and over again in the same 

 and a few following nights, but failed. I re- 

 membered reading something about painting 

 bees and queens with a quickly drying pow- 

 der. Why could not I paint this night-shift 

 of bees? After looking in vain for such a 

 powder in a few great Chicago mail-order 

 catalogs, I used alternately coach-paint, red, 



