366 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



work on. This was entirely lost by the 

 long, cold and heavy rains. The fruit- 

 bloom, which comes next, was lost in 

 the same way. Then set in, in earnest, 

 what is known as spring dwindling. 

 Some bee-men lost 50 per cent., while 

 others lost all they had. The only 

 remedy was feeding for two months ; 

 where this was neglected, those that did 

 pull through were so weak that they 

 would store no surplus honey. 



Heart's-ea^ie, smartweed and Spanish- 

 needle are blooming nicely. These are 

 the best honey-plants we have here. 



I began bee-keeping in Effingham 

 county, Ills., in 1849, and sold out 

 there and moved to Putnam county, Mo., 

 in 1.853. In 1854 I started out in the 

 old-fashioned log-gum way. I kept bees 

 for pleasure and profit until 1869, when 

 I sold out and moved to this (Bates) 

 county. I went into the bee-business 

 with varied success until 1886, when I 

 sold out again, but did not move away, 

 as I had intended. I bought property in 

 this place, and am likely settled for life. 



Last July 4th it was four years since 

 I had cut a large sycamore tree in the 

 Osage river bottom, and got my present 

 start of bees, which consists of 90 fine 

 colonies in all, of four different races. I 

 am dropping all but two — the Italian 

 and Albino. I sent to nearly all the 

 leading queen-breeders, and some that 

 were not, and got from one to twelve 

 queens from each. This has changed 

 my black bees to as fine bees as — yes, I 

 am going to say it — as there is in the 

 United States. 



I have used several kinds of hives, but 

 I now use the Gallup hive altogether, 

 with good results. W. A. McGee. 



Rockville, Mo., Aug. 19, 1893. 



Bees and Poultry in Bell Co. , Tex. 



The Belton Reporter, of Bell county, 

 Tex., republished the following from 

 the Texas Farm and Ranch, about a 

 noted bee-keeper and poultry-raiser in 

 Bell county : 



While in the city of Belton, Mrs. S. E. 

 Sherman, known as one of the most en- 

 ergetic, persevering, plucky ladies in 

 Texas, gave me a very hearty and cor- 

 dial invitation to ride out to the town 

 where she lives, on a visit to her neat 

 little home, which I readily accepted. 



Mrs. Sherman's beautiful little home 

 is located in the suburbs. Everything 

 about this homo is neatly and tastily 

 arranged. The bee-hives in the apiary 



are arranged iu beautiful rows with nice 

 walks between them, so that each colony 

 can be easily reached from every side, 

 and every hive is so tastefully painted 

 that the sight is really charming. It 

 was quite a curiosity to me to go from 

 room to room and be introduced to the 

 latest and most improved bee-fixtures, 

 honey-extractors, wax-extractors, hives, 

 frames, and, in fact, everything needed 

 in a first-class apiary. 



Seeing how nicely and easily bees can 

 be handled, and seeing them feeding 

 and " clothing " themselves, and laboring 

 so industriously for their mistress, with- 

 out one word of complaint, made me 

 wish that bees did not have stings, for 

 then I am sure I would pitch into the 

 bee-business up to my eyes. 



But Mrs. Sherman's poultry yards had 

 such an attraction for me that my eyes 

 kept turning in that direction, and at 

 last we turned towards them, and soon 

 I was bowing and smiling, and talking 

 to the chickens. The pens were for con- 

 venience, health and beauty, the equal, 

 if not the superior of any that I have 

 seen in the State. The White Houdans 

 were indeed a curiosity, as they are the 

 only White Houdans on record. Mrs. 

 Sherman has five pens, including Hou- 

 dans, White Houdans, White Crested 

 Black Polish, S. S. Hamburgs, and Black 

 Langshans. To these, as well as to 

 bees, Mrs. Sherman is giving the very 

 best of attention, and is making a grand 

 success of both. 



The evening was pleasantly spent, 

 and the next morning we drove up on 

 the top of College Hill, where a fine col- 

 lege building is located, and there we 

 enjoyed the beautiful scenery surround- 

 ing it. We next drove down to the clear, 

 sparkling river, and there drank from 

 those wonderful springs as fine water as 

 can be found in Texas. These springs 

 are superior to the famous San Pedro 

 Springs of San Antonio. Bell county, 

 taken as a whole, ranks among the best 

 counties in the State. Uncle Snokt. 



Pleased witli Half-Pound Sections. 



I am very favorably impressed with 

 the half-pound sections. By mistake I 

 bought 5,000 4Jix4>ixl>i sections, 

 and I have been using some of them. I 

 just place eight of them in a Langstroth 

 frame, and hang them in the upper 

 story. I also use them for side-storing 

 in the brood-chamber, and it works 

 well. The sections sell as fast as we 

 can hand them out at 10 cents each. I 



