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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Nov. 23, 



st^su^msg* 



vox 



Bees in Good Condition.— I now have 

 25 colonies of bees in good condition 

 for winter. The 13k k Jouknal just 

 siuls me. John Feicstel. 



lnglefield, Ind., Nov. 12, 1881. 



Bees Show Signs of Dysentery.— My 



bees lire now lixed for ttieir winter 

 quarters on the summer stands, but 

 several show signs of dysentery which 

 I c moot account for. I believe thai 

 the cause is this : Owing to the drouth 

 of this season andthescarcityol honey 

 producing (lowers, the bees kept up a 

 continual hum over the broken and 

 mashed melons, which were scattered 

 throughout the country by thousands. 

 This district is becoming famous for 

 melon-raising, and 1 am fearful it will 

 prove, disastrous to the bees. One 

 station alone, near me, shipped 550 

 cars this season. Why is it that bees 

 consume such a vast amount of water 

 during a scarcity of honey? I have 

 made a note of this on several occa- 

 sions. I am located near a lake or 

 marsh which is under water the, year 

 round. It is tilled up with flag, weeds. 

 etc.. which do not produce honey. Is 

 there a honey plant or seed that can 

 be sowed in spring or fall, that will 

 germinate and grow in the water t I 

 believe I have fertilization in a nut- 

 shell. Will test it thoroughly this 

 coming season. J Smith Head. 

 Benton, Mo., Oct. 31, 1881. 



[Your surmise regarding the cause 

 of dysentery is undoubtedly correct 

 and we see no way to obviate the dif 

 Acuity, unless you extract closely at 

 the close of the melon season, and give 

 the bees a winter supply of good honey 

 or sugar syrup. It may be that during 

 a scarcity of honey the bees use more 

 water in thinning the feed for lame, 

 but we doubt it. On your marsh} 

 ground try liydro-piper, known alsr 

 as marsh-smartweed and blackheart 

 We do know that it will grow in stand- 

 ing water, but along the Illinois, Ohio 

 and Mississippi river bottoms, and 

 other places subject to frequent and 

 protracted floods, it abounds largely. 

 It gives a generous though late supply 

 of beautiful amber honey. Plant it 

 in the fall. If it will not till the want 

 we know of nothing that will. Win 

 not give the public your method ol 

 fertilization, and let them experiment 

 with it too; they might remedy de- 

 fects you would overlook?— Ed.] 



The Chicago Convention and Honey 

 Report.— 1 regret very much my ina- 

 bility to attend the Chicago Bee Con- 

 vention, in which I purposed to ex- 

 hibit some of the best of my prize 

 queens and their progeny, but the 

 constant rain and cold. cloudy weather 

 prevented. Is not October entirely 

 too late in the season for such exhibi- 

 tions? Why not have the next some 

 time in September of next year ? My 

 report for the year 1881 is as follows: 

 Being away from home last fall and 

 winter, my' bees were left upon their 

 summer stands, and all died, 35 ill 

 number. In April, I purchased _ one 

 imported colony, and 8 others. From 

 these 9, I have increased to the num- 

 ber of 52 colonies this fall, all my 35 

 old hives being refilled with bees, 

 "iving them the old combs from last 

 year, and 8 colonies over. I have also 

 taken 410 lbs. box honey, and 120 lbs. 

 extracted honey, a total of 560 lbs. 

 This gives an average of 62J^ lbs. per 

 colony, for each of the nine that 1 

 commenced with. E. L Briggs. 

 Wilton Junction, Iowa, Nov. 8, 1881. 



Honey Cake.— Having noticed in the 

 American Bee Journal a request 

 for a recipe for honey cake, I send you 

 the following; the boys pronounce the 

 cake made bv it excellent : One pint 

 of flour. 1 tablespoonful of butter, 1 

 teaspoonful of soda. 2 teaspoonfuls ot 

 cream tartar, and honey sufficient to 

 make a thick batter; spread about an 

 inch thick, and bake in a hot oven. 

 A Subscriber. 



Louisiana, Nov. 15, 1881. 



fearful from last winter's experience. 

 Grass and pastures are tine, and the 

 fruit trees are taking a second growth. 

 If frost holds off 20days our bees will 

 be ready for winter, and be in better 

 condition than we ever had them since 

 I can remember. J. A. Burrow, 



Santa Fe, Tenn., Oct. 4, 1881. 



[The flowers sent are asters. While 

 in attendance at the National Conven- 

 tion. Oct. 5-7, we observed large quan- 

 tities of asters in bloom through the 

 central portions of the State of Ken- 

 tucky, and a copious flow of honey was 

 the general report.— Ed.] 



Apiary Record Book.— I endorse Mr. 

 E A. Thomas' letter ill the Bee 

 Journal, to the effect that vou ought 

 to get up a small, handy book to keep 

 i record of each hive and for use gen- 

 t-rally. It strikes me as a capital idea. 

 Frederick C. Bowditch. 



Boston, Mass., Nov. 14, 1881. 



The Drouth and Feeding.— I had 10 



colonies in the spring, winch increased 

 by natural swarming to 23, am 1 gath- 

 ered over 3(10 lbs. of comb honey. The 

 season was pretty good for a short 

 time, but we have had such a seven 

 drouth that bees hive not done any- 

 thing since the middle of July: I have 

 been feeding inside the hives since tin 

 middle of September, and have them 

 in pretty good condition for winter 

 On looking over one of my young col 

 onies about the middle of August, I 

 found it had a fertile worker, and see- 

 ing an article in the Bee Journal ol 

 Aug. 10. bv E. A. Thomas, explaining 

 liow to get rid of fertile workers. I 

 tried it and succeeded. They have 

 reared themselves a queen from brood 

 I gave them, and arein good condition 

 now. with brood in all stages. Will 

 the most, or like all. I must say that 1 

 like the Bee Journal very much. 



A. RlCKENBACIIER. 



Gehenna, O., Nov. 14, 1881. 



Bereaved.— You will see by the fol 

 lowing notice from one of our county 

 papers, that I have recently passed 

 through a dark cloud of affliction 

 No, I cannot say that I have passed 

 through it, for it hangs likea pallovei 

 our home now. 



"Mrs. John II. Martin died quite 

 suddenly after a short illness, of heart 

 disease. The funeral services were 

 held in the Baptist church, Monday. 

 Oct. 31. Rev. Mr. Ernst, of the Con- 

 gregational church, at South Hart- 

 ford, of which she was a member, of- 

 ficiated, assisted by Revs. A. A. Wat- 

 son and R. Campbell. She was held 

 in high esteem by all who knew her. 

 and her death will be mourned by a 

 large circle of relatives and friends 

 Her social and amiable qualities have 

 endeared her to her many friends in 

 this vicinity. She will long be re- 

 membered as a zealous and devoted 

 Christian— a warm and geni il friend, 

 and a loving and faithful wife." 



My wife was sick barely 2 weeks, 

 when death relieved her of her suffer- 

 ings, and the pure Christian p issed 

 across the river where all is peace and 

 i uV . .1. II. Martin. 



Hartford, N. l r ., Nov. 12, 1881. 



Unexpected Good Luck.— After 78 

 days of the most fearful and destruct- 

 ive drouth ever witnessed by the old- 

 est man now living in this State, I 

 write vou a few notes by way of report 

 from this section of the bee world. 

 Thank the Lord ! if he does afflict us 

 sometimes, he always blesses us at his 

 own good time. I came through the 

 long, cold and dreary winter with 6 

 colonies as weak as ever pulled through 

 Uy nursing, feeding and warming 

 Soon as peach and apple bloom came 

 fully out and spring fairly opened a 

 most incessant rain set in, that entirely 

 lestroyedthe poplar and most of the 

 white clover. Then came the linden 

 bloom which was rich and abundant, 

 but lasted only about 5 days. On the 

 29th of June set in the unparalleled 

 drouth of 78 days. During the month 

 if May I made 4 artificial swarms, in- 

 troduced Italian queens, etc.. making 

 inv number 10 colonies. They were 

 dl full and booming with young bees, 

 irood and eggs, when the droyth came 

 in and cut everything off. My buck- 

 wheat just literally burned up; one 

 icre did not produce half a gram ot 

 honey. I examined a few of my best 

 colonies the last of July and first of 

 Vugust, and did not find 5 lbs. of honey 

 in the whole apiary. I shut up the 

 hives, shook hands with them, saying 

 • Good-bye. 'Liza Jane !" Yes. right 

 there and then I went into -'Blasted 

 Hopes," as A. I. Root would say. But 

 trloriousl I found them full up to-day. 

 i" had to put on another story with 

 frames, to give them more room. You 

 never saw bees work stronger in May 

 uid June. Thev lie, out and roar all 

 night just as they do in the flow ol 

 poplar and linden. I inclose a speci 

 men of the wonderful, little, insignifi- 

 cant bloom that has done this wonder- 

 ful thing ! We call it aster. There is 

 the greatest profusion of it on all the 

 glades and pasture lands. The bees 

 »et something from sinartweed and 

 goldenrod. but this little plant is a 

 world-beater. Heretofore the bees 

 have not gathered much from it, but 

 this season it is our great stand-by— 

 our salvation for the bees. Please give 

 me the name of the flower. I could 

 extract a quantity of honey, but am 



Dividing Colonies I.ate in the Season. 

 —At some distance from home, latelv 

 I was asked by a gentleman to see his 

 bees. On doing so. I found that he 

 had allowed some full colonies to b' 

 divided, each half colony being placed 

 on about two frames of their own 

 comb, containing 2 to 3 lbs. of honey 

 and a little brood, with frames of comb 

 foundation to till the remaining space. 

 This was done about the first week in 

 October, on the theory that by feeding 

 the article called diamond drip, the 

 half colonies would build up to propei 

 strength for wintering. I saw thest 

 bees about 10 days after they were di- 

 vided, when some had deserted tin 

 hives, some had queen cells, and in a 

 few cases as much as one frame ot 

 foundation was drawn out, and about 

 half filled with sealed brood. When 

 the fed article was sealed it had tin 

 appearance of light comb honey. 1 

 advised the gentleman to form colonies 

 tor winter bv uniting the fragments 

 that were left, but I did not know 

 what to say about leaving I hem to de- 

 pend mainly upon the diamond drip 

 for winter supplies. If vou will inform 

 us on this point, and also tell us what 

 vou think of dividing as late as Oct 

 1st, under any circumstances, vou wil' 

 confer a favor. J. E. Pitman. 



Marlboro, Va., Nov. 2, 1881. 



[If diamond drip is made from pure 

 cane sugar, bees will winter on it very 

 nicely; if it is a glucose fraud, wf 

 would not trust it. We can see noth 

 ing to gain, and everything to lose, bj 

 dividing so late. Possibly the portion 

 containing the queen might survive 

 the winter; but we do not think it 

 probable that the queenless parts can 

 rear queens in time for winter rein- 

 forcements. Under no circumstances 

 would we divide later than August. 

 -Ed.] 



Oregon for Bees ami Honev.— After 

 a prosperous journey of 17 days. 1 

 am here in a mild climate with my 

 family, where I expect to try my old 

 profession of keeping bees. I have 

 seen very few in the State, as yet. 1 

 have not 'talked with any bee men vet 

 as I have just arrived. When I loot 

 around some, I will say what I think 

 of it as a honey State. 



David Rice. 



Albany, Oregon, Nov. 7, 1881. 



Fertile Worker.— In July I found my 

 old Italian colony queenless. with 

 plenty of bees and'honey, but no eggs 

 or larvae. I obtained a tested Palestine 

 queen, and introduced heron the 28th. 

 She commenced laying on the 3d day, 

 and on the 20th of Sept. I found 13 

 queen cells, all capped, but no eggs, a 

 few large larvse. thousands of brood 

 ready to hatch. and the old queen gone. 

 I took off all the queen cells, for I had 

 no drones in my apiary. The hive was 

 crammed full of beautiful Palestine 

 bees. Do yon think the old queen 

 would have swarmed out and left this 

 late in the season ? On the 1st of Oc- 

 tober I obtained another queen, and 

 when I examined the hive before in- 

 troducing her, I found, to my surprise, 

 thousands of eggs, with from 1 to 8 

 in a cell. I searched through 4 times, 

 but failed to find the egg-laver. so I 

 olaced a new hive on the old stand, 

 -letting the old hive back about 2 feet. 

 I then smoked them heavily, took the 

 frames anil combs out. brushed the 

 bees all off into the old hive, and put 

 he combs and frames into the new 

 hive. I tilled theold hive with empty 

 frames, except one comb which had 

 no eggs in it. All this time the bees 

 were swarming back to the new hive 

 m the old stand. I then moved the 

 ild hive away some 30 feet, and by 

 lark all the bees had returned to the 

 new hive except about a pint, which 

 were clustered on the comb in the old 

 nive. Next morning I found I he comb 

 T,x4 inches) nearly filled with eggs. I 

 lipped the comb, bees and all in a tub 

 if water, and killed all. On the 3d of 

 October I introduced the queen. She 

 commenced laying the 3d diy after, 

 ind the bees then cleaned onfall the 

 fertile worker eggs, and her brood is 

 now about all hatched. She is now 

 retired for the winter. 



R. M. Osborn. 

 Kane, 111., Nov. 5, 1881. 



[It is not probable the old queen 

 swarmed out so late, and left the hive 

 ' crammed full " of bees.— Ed.] 



Bees in Good Condition.— The old 



•olonies are in good condition ; late 

 warms, that are notlooked after, will 

 lie before spring. I do not think 

 here is within 75 per cent, of the col- 

 lides in this county there were four 

 vears ago. I am sold out to 15 colonies 

 n good shape ; sold 80. 



I. II. Shimer. 

 Ilillsboro, 111., Nov. 17,1881. 



Tulip Tree Plants.— Please answer 

 the following through the Bee Jour- 

 nal : How many pounds each of cat- 

 lip, figwort and motherwort are re- 

 piired to sow an acre, when sown 

 together as recommended by W. T. 

 Stewart, in the Bee Journal for Oct. 

 10? 2. Where can I get the tulip 

 poplar in quantities ? We are always 

 inxiouslv looking for the next number 

 if the Bee Jouknal. and very highly 

 irize it; cannot see how any one that 

 <eeps bees can afford to be withoutit. 

 .1. E. Pryou. 

 Arbor Hill, Iowa, Nov. 11, 1881. 



[1. If sown broadcoast, one pound 

 each will be a great abundance ; if in 

 drills, much less. The figwort will be 

 best sown in forcing-beds and trans- 

 planted in rows. 



2. We do not know. Parties able 

 to fill orders, will probably advertise 

 in time to make arrangements for 

 spring planting.— Ed.] 



i^- New subscribers for the Weekly 

 Bee Journal, for 1882, will have all 

 the remaining numbers for 1881 free 

 from the time the money is received 

 it this office. Therefore, the sooner 

 hey subscribe for it, the more they 

 will obtain for the $2. 



gf- It will pay to devote a few hours 

 n getting up a club for the Bee Jour- 

 nal. Read the list of premiums on 

 mother page, and take advantage of 

 the fall gatherings to .get up clubs. 



