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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 13, 





Dysentery and Lack of Ventilation. — 

 I ain very much pleased with the 

 Weekly Bee Journal. I put 17 

 colonies into my cellar last fall and 

 lost 11 ; they lived till April ; the dys- 

 entery was the cause of the trouble. 

 They are doing well now. The dys- 

 entery was, I think, caused by their 

 having no ventilation. 



Silas Noble. 



Stillman Valley, 111., July 1, 1881. 



Encouraging. — The weather has 

 changed at last ! Again the sun 

 shines out warm and clear, and the 

 fiat has come forth : " Let there be 

 honey, and there is honey'"—" honey 

 as is honey," too. Yes, the "boom" 

 has struck' at last, and the bees are 

 working as they have not worked be- 

 fore this season, or last, either. The 

 long continued wet weather has kept 

 the white clover blooming continu- 

 ously for the last 5 weeks, and it prom- 

 ises to continue for the next two, so 

 that there is some hope of a good har- 

 vest. IIakky G. Burnet. 



Blairstown, Iowa, July 2, 1881. 



Honey Crop.— The honey crop is al- 

 most a complete failure in Los An- 

 geles and San Diego counties, Cal.; 

 Ventura county also has a very small 

 crop. II. S. KlMKELL. 



' Cucamonga, Cal., June 25, 1881. 



Bees Doing Well.— Our bees are do- 

 ing well this spring. We only lost 16 

 out of 85, and wintered on the sum- 

 mer stands. About 3 3 of the bees in 

 this section died during the winter. 

 Foster & Hodge. 



York, 111., July 3, 1881. 



Honey Crop in Texas.— The first part 

 of the season here was excessively 

 wet and the latter part excessively 

 dry— between the two we had about 

 10 days of line honey How. I shall 

 not get more than l i a crop of honey 

 this year unless it rains in 2 or 3 days, 

 for which there is not the least pros- 

 pect, w. II. Andrews. 



McKinney, Texas, June 29, 1881. 



Honey Plentiful.— Bees are doing 

 well in this part of the country, with 

 a fine prospect for a large yield of sur- 

 plus honey. Accept our best wishes 

 for the welfare of the Bee Journal. 

 Scovell & Anderson. 



Columbus, Kan., June 27, 1881. 



[Messrs. Scovell & Anderson are 

 the publishers of the Kansas Bee- 

 Keeper, and with pleasure we give 

 place to their very friendly item. 

 The Weekly Bee Journal presents 

 its(g^', and wishes its Kansas cotem- 

 porary success. — Ed.] 



Well Enough. —I had 8 colonies left 

 out of 22, this siuing. I have 22 

 again; principally increased by na- 

 tural swarming. Black-bee anil box- 

 hive men have almost become extinct 

 in this section, although I transferred 

 one colony this spring that had come 

 through the winter similarly to that 

 mentioned in the Journal ; it stood 

 out-of-doors all the winter, without 

 protection ; it was strong and was 

 preparing to swarm on the last of 

 April. •! 01 1 N M. PEARSON. 



Tippecanoe City, 0., July 1, 1881. 



Unusual Amount of (lover. — The 



frequent rains of late have caused an 

 unusual growth of white clover with 

 an abundant show of flowers, and bees 

 are having a good time of it. Mine 

 began Swarming on May 20, and are 

 still keeping it up, but they cannot 

 equal my neighbors; Tims. Camerer 

 had 2 colonies in the spring, one has 

 cast 6 and the other 3 swarms, giving 

 him 11 colonies now. L. James. 



Atlanta, 111.. July 2, 1881. 



That Fertilizing Cage. — I have sev- 

 eral persons testing my fertilizing 

 cage and await the result before de- 

 scribing it for the Bee Journal. I 

 am making experiments this summer 

 endeavoring to lengthen the tongues 

 of the worker bees by careful and ju- 

 dicious crossing. M. B. 



Fincastle, Ind., July 1, 1881. 



Chips from Sweet Home. — While I 

 was at church (I seldom go), a swarm 

 entered one of my hives. Up to June 

 20 I did not see one live honey bee on 

 any bloom on my place, although I 

 watched closely. Three of us have 

 had a swarm enter our depopulated 

 hives. D. D. Palmer. 



New Boston, 111., June 28, 1881. 



Alphabetical. I sit that next year 

 the Bee Journal is to be enlarged. 

 I must say I like it better and better 

 every week ; I cannot do without it, 

 and wish it and its editor prosperity. 



American Bee Journal. 

 — Best bee paper printed. 



Cannot be excelled. 



-Don't do without it. 

 — Excellent type, easy to read. 

 — Fresh every week. 



-Good for all bee-keepers. 



-Handy to refer to. 



It is invaluable. 



-Just what all need. 

 — King of all bee papers. 

 — Latest news every week. 



-Most information for the price. 

 Ne plus ultra. 

 —Of all, it is the best. 

 —Purchase it at once. 

 — Quickly, as possible. 

 —Reasonable price — S2 a year. 

 —Sample copy sent free. 

 —Try one, and you will like it. 

 — Unfailing instructor. 

 — Very best in existence. 



Will inform you on every topic. 

 Xcellent adviser. 

 — You need it every week. 

 —Zealous friend of bee-keepers. 

 S. C. Frederick. 

 cadia, Kas., June 25, 1881. 



A. 



B. 



C. 



1>. 



E. 



F. 



G. 



H. 



L- 



J.- 



K. 



L. 



M. 



N. 



O 



P. 



Q. 



R. 



S.- 

 T. 

 U. 

 V. 



w 



X. 

 Y 

 Z. 



Ar 



Large Yield of Honey.— I send sam- 

 ple of honey from wild China, a tree 

 that grows in our Texas bottoms. 

 How does it compare with white clo- 

 ver honey V The linden commenced 

 blooming May 15; when it is nearly 

 out of bloom, then the wild China 

 conies in, which gives us about 4 

 weeks of good honey How. Then 

 horsemint conies in, giving very good 

 honey. My bees have done very well, 

 so far. In the last 20 days I have 

 taken 4,800 lbs. extracted, and 600 one 

 pound sections; the largest yield from 

 one hive (3 story simplicity), being 

 240 lbs. I took from it 120 lbs., gath- 

 ered in 7 days, and all sealed over 

 nicely. In July the milk weed blooms, 

 which gives us a good How of sharp 

 honey. In October and November we 

 have an abundance of golden rod. I 

 wish the American Bee Journal 

 much success. J. W. Eckman. 



Richmond, Texas, June 20, 1881. 



[It is very much like white clover 

 honey in appearance and flavor, but 

 somewhat thinner. It should bring 

 about the same price. — Ed.] 



Basswood Promising. — The clover 

 honey yield is small. The basswood 

 is opening and is promising for a good 

 honey yield. James IIeddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., July 1, 1881. 



The Honey Yield in Canada. — I am 



so well pleased with the Weekly Bee 

 Journal, that I would not be with- 

 out it if 1 only had 1 colony of bees. 

 Bees are doing extra well in this sec- 

 tion just now, and are gathering lots 

 of honey. Bees wintered well an mud 

 here last winter, considering how they 

 fared in other places. The loss, so far 

 as I can find out. would be about 10 



Eer cent ; >>tft bees are mostly kept in 

 ox hivi s !!< this country, with the ex- 

 ception at a very few, and it is hard 

 to induce people to use the frames. 

 My report tor 1881 is as follows : I put 

 84 colonies into winter quarters, and 



lost 9 colonies in winter, and 11 more 

 by dwindling after putting them out. 

 I had 64 to begin the season with, and 

 they are all doing well. My bees are 

 in the simplicity hives, with the stan- 

 dard Langstroth frame. I expect we 

 will have a large yield of honey here 

 this season. Our main source for 

 honey is from white clover and bass- 

 wood, which is here in any quantity. 

 John W. Calder. 

 Williamstown, Ont., June 29, 1881. 



Poor Y'ield of Honey.— White clover 

 everywhere, but the continued north 

 winds and frequent rains make me 

 and the bees quite discouraged. I 

 read, with interest, all the reasons 

 given for last winter's disasters, but 

 to me it is no " marvel of surprise," 

 that bees from sunny Italy cannot 

 live in our climate, in hives 1 inch 

 thick, even with all our chaff. We 

 pay a price for all our higher civiliza- 

 tion and cultivation, and we have our 

 choice between the old log gum or the 

 bees' natural home, the mixed honey 

 and safe wintering, or nice prize boxes 

 of honey and winter losses. 



Mary E. Rogers. 



Flint, Mich., June 27, 1881. 



The Honey Crop.— 1 am not going to 

 try to pull through the worst honey 

 season we have had for 20 years with- 

 out the Bee Journal. The locust 

 bloom was good for 4 days; then it 

 ceased. The white clover is a failure ; 

 not more than one blossom in a thous- 

 and to what there generally is, and 

 the heavy rains have washed all the 

 honey out of what blossoms there are. 

 The white clover season is over, with 

 us, and the basswood is in full bloom. 

 I think fully half of the bees in mova- 

 ble frame hives in this county died, 

 while those in box hives came through 

 with scarcely a loss ; not more than 2 

 per cent, at most. Bees have thrown 

 out more swarms this season than for 

 3 years past. I use the Langstroth 

 hive, and lost 4 out of 11 last winter. 

 My best colony, last year at this time, 

 produced 85 lbs., and now the best I 

 have out of 14 has given but 20 lbs. of 

 surplus. I think the Journal is the 

 bee-keepers' best friend. 



Thos. J. Nichols. 



New Richmond, O., June 24, 1881. 



New Crop of Honey. — By the end of 

 this week I shall have 50 barrels of ex- 

 tracted honey. The barrels hold 47 

 gallons each, and the honey is of good 

 quality. I have 300 colonies in good 

 condition. L. Lindsly. 



Waterloo,' La., July 4, 1881. 



Top vs. Side Storing. — About all our 

 bees are now working in sections, 

 placed at the sides, while very few are 

 at work on top. If it is objected to 

 let the results of experience pass as ar- 

 gument, would it not be more reason- 

 able to throw aside theory, no matter 

 how plausible it may appear, when 

 facts and actual experience prove the 

 contrary V We have had an abun- 

 dance of white clover for the last 3 or 

 4 weeks, but the weather has been 

 very unfavorable to receive any bene- 

 fit therefrom. Throughout the' month 

 of June it has been cool, with north 

 winds prevailing most of the time; 

 the nights especially have been too 

 cold to admit of bees working in sec- 

 tions. The thermometer has stood 

 near the freezing point many nights, 

 and several light frosts have been no- 

 ticed in some localities. Of course 

 we cannot expect progress in our sur- 

 plus receptacles unless we have warm 

 nights. The prospect, however, looks 

 a little more encouraging just now, 

 and if the present change should con- 

 tinue for a few weeks, we may yet 

 have a good flow of honey from bass- 

 wood. Since writing the foregoing, 

 we have taken a lot of finished sec- 

 tions from our side-storing frames. 

 We have hardly any sections on top, 

 that are even partly capped, so far. 

 and we are more and more convinced 

 that side-storing is an advantage. 



<; rkiner Bros. 



Naples, N. Y., July 2, 1881. 



Brushing Bees from the Combs. — A 



novice in handling bees wishes the 

 Bee Journal to tell her the best way 

 to get frames of brood or honey clear 

 of Dees. We are told to shake them 

 off, but there must be a particular way 

 to shake them that I do know of, for 

 that plan to answer, and if they are 

 brushed off with a wing or feathers 

 they get furious, and small blame to 

 them for resenting such rough treat- 

 ment. So, kind Journal, in tl'e in- 

 terests of humanity, pray tell us how 

 to proceed. II. F. B. 



[There is no better method, that we 

 are aware of, than to use a little smoke 

 judiciously, then with the soft edge 

 of a turkey-wing feather lightly brush 

 the bees off. During hot weather, con- 

 siderable skill is required to shake off 

 the bees, as the combs are very tender, 

 and break out easily. — Ed.] 



Calling Things by Wrong Names. — 



Mr. Editor : On page 204 of the Bee 

 Journal, you say: "Calling things 

 by wrong names leads to endless trou- 

 ble and vexation," and yet, you say 

 on page 206, " Yes ; there are fertile 

 workers." , Why this adulteration f 

 Why not say "laying workers:"' If 

 they were fertile, would not their eggs 

 produce other workers, like those of a 

 fertile queen V Critic. 



[We think had "Critic" consulted 

 Webster's Unabridged, he would not 

 have been so hasty. Fertile or laying 

 workers produce eggs, but do not re- 

 produce workers ; all queen bees are 

 supposed to be fertile, even though 

 not mated with a drone, but they do 

 not reproduce queens or workers un- 

 less properly mated with a drone. If 

 the orthographical definition and uni- 

 versal custom can sanction the use of 

 a special phrase, then "fertile" worker 

 is a proper expression, and Critic will 

 have to exercise his "fertile" brain 

 on some other technicality.— Ed.] 



A Month Behind.— My bees came 

 through to the 1st of April well, but 

 dwindled then and had lobe fed much. 

 They are one month behind in quan- 

 tity of bees and honey, compared with 

 1880. J. A. Burrow, M. D. 



Santa Fe, Tenn. 



It has Almost Rained Honey.— After 

 losing all my bees (150 colonies) I 

 bought 6 colonies of black bees. I 

 now have 2s colonies in fair condition, 

 with 24 laving queens. I expect 

 to have 50 colonies in the fall, and I 

 think I shall succeed. I have plenty 

 of honey and combs on hand from the 

 hives where my bees died. It has al- 

 most rained honey in this locality this 

 year. A. C. Balch. 



Kalamazoo, Mich., July 7, 1881. 



Loss 25 per cent.— 1 lost 25 per cent, 

 of bees last winter from starvation. 

 I use the 10-frame Langstroth hive; 

 wintered in a cellar under a barn, 

 built on a side hill, the lower side fac- 

 ing the east ; thermometer 30 to."5°; 

 absorbents on top of frames, 3 inches 

 of buckwheat chaff; caps on. front 

 entrance open ; dysentery showed 

 itself in spring, but not to any 

 amount. C. McDermott. 



Malone, N. Y., June 6, 1881. 



Doubled.— I have already doubled" 

 my number of colonies (I lost none 

 last winter). They are storing honey 

 very fast from white clover. 



John Heron. 



Lockridge, Iowa, June 14, 1881. 



l^The Northwestern Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in Chicago, on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, October 25 

 and 26.' " '! h«e fcef pers are cordially 

 invited to attend. It is desired to 

 make this one of the most interesting 

 conventions ever held in the United 

 States. C. C. Miller, M. D., Pres. 



C. C. COFFINBERUY', iScC. 



