THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



123 



The past season in our section has 

 been a very disastrous one to apia- 

 rians. In fact we have had two con- 

 secutive fixilures in tlie honey crop. 

 The drought of 1884 cut short the white 

 clover yield, in fact lost to us en- 

 tirely; the very severe winter of 1884 

 and 1885 dealt a terrible blow to the 

 colonies scarce in stores, and the first of 

 May 1885 found us with few and weak 

 colonies. Decoration day brought us 

 a tremendous wind and hail storm, 

 cutting short the flow of honey from 

 locust; and the white clover, having 

 been entirely killed, yielded ns nothing, 

 so that the season of 1885 gave us but 

 about two or perhaps three weeks only 

 of nectar and that from fall flowers. 



Some very careful apiarists among 

 us have come through so far in good 

 shape, but have had to feed heavily, 

 but the majority have lost heavily. I 

 know of one man who has lost thirty 

 stands. 



Our prospect for this season is good. 

 White clover during the past summer 

 has grown well and is now out of dan- 

 ger and we look to do well with what 

 bees remain. Hoping for prosperity 

 to the "Api." under its change of 

 owners, 



I am yours truly, 



Fkancis W. Blackford. 



Masqueton, loioa. 



Enclosed find $1.00 for American 

 Apiculturist. 



Bees wintered well, no loss, all fly- 

 ing to-day and cleaning house. No 

 dead bees in hives, comb bright and 

 clean. Wintered in cellar on natural 

 stores. 



Long live "Api. " 



A. M. Firman. 



Sterling, 111. 



I consider the " Apiculturist " the 

 most impartial paper on the subject 



extant. 



W. A. E. Murphy. 



Pawtuckct, li. I. 



The twenty-seven colonies packed 

 on summer stands are all alive and 

 very strong, with the exception of one 

 which is queenless; several of the 

 combs are partly flUed with brood. 



You can count on ray hearty support 

 so long as you give us as good a 



monthly as you have the last three 

 months. 



Samuel Cushman. 



Bxa'nt Eiver, Ont., Can. 



P. H. MORANT & Co., 



Gents: — I have received the Febru- 

 ary number of the "Am. Apiculturist." 

 Thanks for the same. I find in it an arti- 

 cle written by Mr. Corneil of Lindsay, 

 Canada. I have no hesitation in saying it 

 is the best article I ever read touching the 

 same subject. It is hke the Dutchman's 

 horse, " a big one done up in a small com- 

 pass." 



The paper should be in the hands of 

 every beekeeper and kept for future ref- 

 erence. 



John T. Beech. 



BRIEF REPORT OF THE NO. WEST- 

 ERN Pa. Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



At the late interesting and prof- 

 itable convention of the North- 

 eastern Ohio and Northwestern 

 Pennsylvania Beekeepeis' Associa- 

 tion, held at Meadville, Pa., much 

 information of practical value was 

 given out. 



The following is the amount of 

 colonies represented and the yield 

 of honey. 



No. of col., fall of 1884, 3,771. 

 " " "spring" 1885, 1,838. 

 " " " fall " 1885, 2,958. 

 " lbs. comb honey, 1885, 48,890. 

 " " extracted, 1885, 12,240. 

 " " beeswax, 1885, 488. 



PRICE REDUCED. 



Mr. Alley has reduced the price 

 of his "Handy Book or 22 years' 

 experience in queen-rearing," from 

 $1.50 to Si. 10 by mail, or the 

 book and drone and queen trap are 

 sent by mail for $1.50. This is a 

 fine chance to get these two arti- 

 cles at a very low price. 



