184 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



has been in bloom for the past three weeks, 

 and is as fresh to-day as it was the first 

 week, and I go into it every day to see the 

 bees work on it. It is like being in the 

 midst of a swarm that has just issued from 

 a hive, but if I find ho bad flavors in this 

 mixed honey, I shall conclude that the 

 honey from this nameless plant is good. 



I work on the one-pound section plan, 

 and have never had bees store as much 

 section honey since I have lived in this 

 county as they do this year. If we can 

 have two months more as good as the last 

 mouth has been for honey, I shall expect 

 much from my bees. S. B. Smith. 



Keeville, Minn., July 15, 1893. 



[The plant is called symphoricarpos occklen- 

 talis by botanists, and is commonly known 

 as " wolfberry.'' It is very closely related 

 to the snowberry of cultivation, which is 

 also found wild in Minnesota. — Ed.] 



Shoe-String Binder— Poor Crop. 



Certainly no bee-keeper can afford to do 

 without so much instructive and helpful 

 matter as the Bee Journal contains, and 

 at so insignificant a price. 



I wonder how many of the readers have 

 learned how nicely, quickly and cheaply 

 they can bind their copies of the Bee Jour- 

 nal, by Dr. Miller's simple, home-made 

 binder, which employs common shoe- 

 strings ? I have Vol. XXXI bound by this 

 method, and what a pleasure it is to turn 

 from page to page, just as in any other 

 good bee-book ! 



As to the honey crop, it's a complete 

 failure here. Prom 30 colonies I have ob- 

 tained less than 20 pounds of surplus honey. 

 W. A. Campbell. 



Doogan, Ga., July 28, 1893. 



The Season, Wintering, and Alsike. 



I have 96 colonies of bees, an increase of 

 36 colonies this season. Bees are doing 

 splendidly here. I have 21 Langstroth 

 hives, and 21 of Hill's double-walled winter 

 hives, and for out-door wintering in this 

 locality, they are ahead of any other hive I 

 ever used. The surplus arrangements I 

 don't like. If they can be made so the 

 supers will work on the same plan as the 

 dovetailed hive, they would be the hive for 

 out-door wintering. 



To any one in Southei'n Indiana who is 

 thinking of chaff-packing, cellar- wintering, 

 and all such things, I will say, have plenty 

 of bees and honey in the hives, and keep 

 them in a dry place, and there isn't any 

 cellar that can give as good a showing. Try 

 it, and be convinced. My loss never has 

 exceeded over 10 percent., and I winter my 

 bees out-of-doors, altogether now. 



The Golden Italians seem to be " all the 

 go " now. For beauty, 'tis well, but for 

 honey give me a cross between the leather- 

 colored and the native black bees. I have 

 tried thera side by side for years, aud know 

 whereof 1 speak. I have under my control 

 325 colonies of bees, and a great . many of 



them are Italians, but the hybrids and Car- 

 niolans gather a great deal more honey 

 than the Italians. 



Bee-keepers of America owe Mr. G. M. 

 Doolittle more than they can soon pay, for 

 his book on queen-rearing. Who can fill 

 his place when he is no more ? The snows 

 of age fall lightly, but none faU heavier, 

 for they never melt. But may the All- 

 Wise Father spai'e us such men as Doolit- 

 tle, Miller, and a host of others for many 

 years, is my wish. 



Does Alsike clover make good pasture for 

 hogs ? I have my hill land in red clover, 

 and if I can change to Alsike I will be 

 pleased to do so, providing it is as good for 

 hogs. E. W. Moore. 



Seigerts, Ind., July 21, 1893. 



Another Cause of Foul Brood. 



I said some time ago that I would give 

 the origin of foul brood. It is caused by a 

 fly depositing eggs in the brood-cells when 

 the larvae are young. Look out for a very 

 small fly. C. P. Hewett. 



Kingston, Wis., July 28, 1893. 



Season Better than the Average. 



Bees wintered quite well in this section 

 of country. There was but very little loss 

 compared to a year ago. Some bee-keepers 

 that lost but very few colonies a year ago, 

 last winter lost quite a good many colonies. 

 It is something that I don't understand ex- 

 actly. I have had quite a considerable ex- 

 perience in the ups and downs of bee-keep- 

 ing. My parents were one of the first set- 

 tlers in the town of Sardinia, Erie county, 

 N. Y. My mother had bees before she was 

 married. Father brought them from Can- 

 andaigua in the winter on a sled, 75 miles. 

 I have taken care of them ever since I was 

 old enough to manage bees. The honey 

 season is quite a little better than the aver- 

 age, this season. Edwin Rice. 



Chaffee, N. Y., July 28, 1893. 



Who are the Fortunate Ones ? 



What bee-keepers are interested in now 

 is to know who are the fortunate ones to 

 secure a crop of honey, and the favored 

 localities this year. In this part of Illinois 

 (Jersey and Madison counties), so far as I 

 have been able to learn, the honey crop is a 

 failure. The drouth last fall, and the heavy 

 sleet the past winter, killed out the white 

 clover so badly that there was but liliMe of 

 it, and the bees failed to gather any sur- 

 plus ; and as they came out of the winter 

 and spring in poor condition, tke result is 

 they now have but little honey, and unless 

 we get a fall crop, bees in this locality will 

 be in a very poor condition to winter, un- 

 less they are fed. Unless the hot, dry 

 weather lets up soon, aud we have rain, the 

 prospect for a fall crop is quite slim, es- 

 pecially on the prairies. Along the river 

 bottoms they usually get some fall honey. 

 H. D. Edwards. 



Delhi, Ills., July 24, 1S93. 



