3IO 



September, 1909. 



American Vae Journal 



them coming out. and went to see what was 

 the trouble. Having a queen-guard handy I 

 put it on. but too late. The queen had 

 already come out. but I was too wise for 

 them. I had clipped her wing the evening 

 before. I found her on the ground, put her 

 back, and very soon tlie bees settled, and I 

 smoked them, and back to the hive they 

 went, but in about ^ minutes out thev came 

 again, so I let them settle and smoked them 

 and they went back. I decided that they 

 were hungry, for there was no honey in the 

 combs given them, so I got some of the old 

 comb with honey in it and ted them, and the 

 next morning they were bringing in pollen 

 and seemed contented with their new liome. 

 They had 15 or 20 pounds of honey in the 

 tree, but the most of it was dark. 



AH the honey I liave gotten at Kuttawa 

 has been dark, but I have taken, from the 2 

 colonies at Princeton, about iv pounds of 

 light honey with a fine flavor. The dark 

 honey has a line flavor, too. The bees have 

 gotten barely enough to rear brood since 

 .June 2? until about July 27. when they began 

 to gain a little, and are now storing in the 

 supers. 



On page 264 Mr. L. Boomhower seems to 

 have had bad luck with 2 swarms with 

 dipt queens, and has become discouraged; 

 says he wants no more clipped queens. 

 Well, for me. I want no other way but 

 clipped queens. If f have a young queen, as 

 soon as 1 lind eggs I cMp her. and all queens 

 that I have must be clipped. I think it the 

 only way to save swarms. L. S. Dickson. 



Princeton. Ky.. Aug. 16. 



Not Quite So Large a Crop 



In the .\ngust .American Bee Journal the 

 helper reported to Mr. Pryal incorrectly. 

 N'ot any helper knew the amount of mv crop, 

 i wish it had been the amount stated, but it 

 was nearly a tons less. The amount of bees 

 was beyond the loo-colony mark in the 

 spring, so you see the average was small. 

 The season was cold and backward, and the 

 working force decreased during the cold 

 spell to half the amount of the usual work- 

 ing force, and hot winds finished up. Mv 

 average in good years is from 200 to 300 

 pounds per colony. M. H. Menui.eson. 



Ventura. Calif.. Aug. 21. 



A Foul-Broody County 



In almost all the bee-papers nowadavs we 

 see quite a discussion on foul brood. A short 

 time ago our deputy foul brood inspector. 

 .\Ir. G. DeMuth. called on me. He invited 

 me to go out with him a day. which invita- 

 tion I gladly accepted- Our first was a visit 

 to an apiary of about 12s colojiies— as nearly 

 as we could find out about half diseased. 

 The owner had treated some. 



Our next was to an apiary of 8 colonies, i 

 diseased. The owner did not know any- 

 thing about foul brood. 



Next was to a one-colony aniarj-, diseased; 

 laying worker: and old combs scattered all 

 over, as he had transferred them. 



'I'he next was to a lady with 2 box-hive 

 colonies. They were simply rotten. When 

 we gave her instructions, she wanted to 

 know who we were and where from. She 

 said she had had bees pretty nearly all her 

 life and did not believe they were sick — only 

 moth. She said this was like Chicago tuber- 

 culosis wave with cattle-tirst tear every- 

 thing to pieces and then die out. It was very 

 amusing. 



The next apiary was i colonies, all dis- 

 eased. 



Our next was a large-sized apiary; as 

 nearly as I can remember about H diseased. 

 Although he was treating them, from the 

 foregoing you can see that this county is a 

 hotbed of disease. And I think it is high 

 time something is done, as it is pretty hard 

 on an up-to-date bee-keeper to keep his bees 

 healthy when such conditions exist around 

 him. Most slipshod bee-keepers are afraid 

 to tackle the job of transferring. 



Hknhv Rookt:>a. 



Fair Oaks. Ind.. Aug. 16. 



A Discouraging Season 



Another year for hones' harvest is gone for 

 this localit}". as buckwheat is not grown here 

 any more to speak of. Bees came out of the 

 cellar very strong, but light in stores. Soft 

 maple, box-elder and willow pollen were all 

 lost on account of cold. Ai^ple blossom was 

 immense, and the weather just right: dande- 

 lion the same. Bees built up fine and re- 



quired from one to i supers for room. White 

 clover dried out last fall, but plenty came 

 up from last year's seed, but no bees on it. 

 It has been a hand-to-mouth affair for the 

 bees. Alsike clover was fine, but the 

 weather conditions were such that some 

 days no nectar was gathered: some davs one 

 to 1 hours' work, then some days nothing 

 again. 



Bees were as cross as hornets. I began to 

 think I must use a veil. Then perhaps the 

 next afternoon the bees would come into 

 the hives like a returning swarm, all cross- 

 ness gone. Then basswood came verv good, 

 but strong winds hindered. The bees went 

 northeast 2^2 to 4 miles, and the flow- was so 

 good the bees roared early in the morning, 

 but by g o'clock a heavy west or southwest 

 wind came up and they could not fly against 

 it when heavily loaded. There would not 

 one bee plunk down at the entrance where 

 there would be 20 on alsike— all inside of H 

 of a mile. Bees 3 or 4 miles from alsike 

 clover or basswood are on the verge of star- 

 vation, even to tearing out the brood. 



Sweet clover is on now. but that is so liable 

 to get cut. The honey harvest will be the 

 poorest in years. Just last year it was the 

 best goldenrod in iK \ears. Bees worked 

 one fall, A long, black bug infests it and 

 spoils the flower for nectar. Only one sear 

 did I see bees on mamniotli clover; never on 

 medium. But plenty of bumble-bees and 

 plenty of nectar. The bees' tongues are too 

 short, N, A, Kt.uck, 



Lena. 111,. July 26. 



Bees Having Hard Time 



Last year was a good one for the bees, but 

 they are now having a hard time to live. We 

 have not had a good rain since last October. 

 E. W. SuTcr.iFFE. 



Weatherford. Tex.. .\ug. 0. 



White Clover a Failure 



Bees in this locality are doing but little 

 good. White clover was an entire failure. 

 I have not had a swarm this year. Not nev*' 

 honey enough to sweeten a pancake, 



(Rev,) Milton Maiiin, 



Newcastle, Ind,, July ii. 



IWostly Fair-Quality Honey-Dew 



The past season has been a poor one. The 

 honey that has been secured is mostly 

 hone.v-dew. though of fair quality. We will 

 feed all such back to the bees for winter 

 stores, and at the same time hope for better 

 results next season. Grant Stanley, 



Nisbet. Pa.. Aug. 24. 



About Half a Crop — Introducing Queens 



The honey crop in this locality is about 

 half, amounting to a superful to the colony 

 in my yard of >o. and gathered exclusively 

 from basswood. which bloomed and yielded 

 nectar more than in many years past. The 

 bee-keepers of this section sutTered also 

 from the honey-dew scourge, said by old 

 residents to be the first since the year I856. 

 The bees gathered continuously from this 

 Sfiurce for over 3 weeks, and filled the supers 

 with the stuff. When basswood began to 

 bloom I took all supers off and replaced 

 them with new' empty sections, and as the 

 bees had been accustomed to going above 

 they were storing nice basswood honey in a 

 day or two. in the new sections. I gave the 

 honey-dew honey away and found ready 

 applicants for same. 



I see from the reports of amateurs in the 

 bee-papers that a great many have trouble 

 in introducing queens by following instruc- 

 tions sent out by most queen-breeders with 

 the queens sold. These losses happen moie 

 frequently by trying to introduce during a 

 honey-dearth. I have had their experience, 

 losing as many as four-fifths of the queens 1 

 tried to introduce, by following instructions 

 on the mailing cage, and during a time when 

 bees were gathering no honey, I can intro- 

 duce every queen during a honey-dearthlby 

 the following method: 



I'^irst, take the queen from the colony you 

 wish to requeen, A day or two before put- 

 ting the strange queen in said colony, take a 

 Miller division-board feeder, putting it in 

 place of a frame of honey next to the side of 

 the hive. Place the ne«' queen, caged and 

 with attendants, across the feeder so as not 

 to fall in the feeder. Pour in a quart of 

 syrup made from equal parts of granulated 



sugar and water. This should be done late 

 in the evening. Then the next morning 

 early go to the hive and lift the quilt gently, 

 and pour another pint of syrup in the 

 feeder; after pouring a thin stream of luke 

 warm syrup between each frame, and when 

 all bees are busy taking up the syrup release 

 the queen and let her run down between the 

 frames, and close the hive. In 3 days after 

 her release I always find her laying. 



This method should be used in colonies 

 that are of sufficient numbers so as not to 

 be attacked by robbers, although I have 

 never had the least trouble by bees trying to 

 rob, James Wolfe, 



Captina. W, Va,, ,'\ug, 17, 



A New Departure in the book business has 

 been taken by the Werner Company. Akron. 

 Ohio, as you will note from their advertise- 

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 farmer at factory prices. We believe it to 

 the interest of our readers to send for their 

 catalog now, whether you contemplate pur- 

 chasing any books or not. Please mention 

 the ,\merican Bee .Journal when writing. 



A Great Poultry Offer The particular at- 

 tention of our readers is called to an adver- 

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 Success, of Springfield. Ohio, the world's 

 leading and best poultry journal is offering 

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The price of the Briggs Book has just been 

 reduced from S5.00. and is now offered in 

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 Poultry Success at only Si-25. 



We feel confident it will be profitable for 

 our readers who are interested in poultry 

 matters to investigate this offer and send to 

 l^oultry Success. Springfield. Ohio, for sam- 

 ples and circulars, although the advertise- 

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 formation. You will make no mistake if 

 you send the Si.2f; at once, being very careful 

 to address your letter in full as follows: 

 Hosterman Pub. Co.. Briggs Desk 40, Spring- 

 field. Ohio, and mention the American Bee 

 Journal when w'riting. 



National Convention at Siou-vt'ltv, 

 Sept. ti'2 and 2:i, 1 t)Ot> 



The 40th convention of the above 

 Association -will hold its first session 

 at 10 a.m., of Wednesday. Sept. 22, in 

 the Armory room on tlie upper floor 

 of the City Hall, in Sioux City, Iowa. 



The Chicago House will be the 

 headquarters for bee-keepers during 

 the convention. General Manager 

 France expects to be there the day 

 before the convention opens, and have 

 a reception committee at each train as 

 it arrives with bee-keepers. 



Tlie program will consist of papers 

 by some of the leading beedomites, 

 question-box, etc. A large attendance 

 is expected, among which will doubt- 

 less be many new faces. Come and 

 meet your fellow bee-keepers, and en- 

 joy the two-days' convention. 



Western Illinois Convention 



The annual convention of the West- 

 ern Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held in the County Court room, 

 at Galesburg, on Wednesday, Oct. 1.3, 

 1909. .Ml interested in bee-keeping are 

 invited to attend. 



W. B. Moore, J'i;s., Altona, 111. 

 F. B. Hazlett, .S'<<-., Galesburg, 111. 



