AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



117 



would be only two tiers in one end of 

 the car, and 3 inches of air between the 

 bottom and top of each tier of hives. 

 Would they be apt to buzz or hum much 

 on the road ? The agent tells me the 

 trip will take about 11 days. How early 

 in the spring, or late in the fall, would it 

 do to ship them ? 



The season is very backward here on 

 account of so much cold and rainy 

 weather. Colonies are not as heavy as 

 they were a month ago, unless they have 

 been fed, but after the heaviest rain of 

 the season (July 2, 6 inches on the 

 level), it has cleared off, and we have 

 had eight or nine days of fine weather 

 for bees to work on the clover, and the 

 farmers to work at haying. Basswood 

 is just beginning to bloom, and if the 

 weather continues fair, we may get 

 some honey yet. Subscriber. 



Lenawee Co., Mich., July 11, 1892. 



[Bees may be shipped, if properly 

 prepared for the journey, at almost any 

 time of the year, but the spring, before 

 the hives are filled with honey, is pref- 

 erable. If the car is properly ventilated, 

 and the combs in the hive run parallel 

 with the rails on which the cars run, 

 your plan, as detailed above, will do 

 very well. — Editors.] 



Bees Doing 1 Nicely. 



My bees are doing nicely. I wintered 

 il colonies on the summer stands, and 

 all came through in good condition. 



Robt. Harvey. 



Aurora, Ills., July 12, 1892. 



Linden Promises a Good Yield. 



My loss of bees the past spring and 

 winter was 80 colonies, mostly from 

 being confined on honey-dew in the 

 cellar. I interviewed Mrs. L. Harrison 

 in regard to wintering bees on honey- 

 dew. She told me not to " put all my 

 eggs in one basket," but put some bees 

 in the cellar, and the balance on the 

 summer stands. Now I wish I had left 

 all of them out-of-doors, for I left only 

 30 colonies out, and 28 wintered all 

 right. I had about 40 colonies of black 

 bees, and not one of them lived to see 

 the clover bloom. One consolation I 

 have is, that the loss weeded out all the 

 inferior, and left the best. 



The clover honey is coming in very 

 fast now in the afternoon. The nights 

 are too cool to secrete honey in the fore- 



noon. The linden is just blooming, and 

 the trees are full, and promises a good 

 yield of nectar, if the weather keeps 

 damp and moist. A hard rain does not 

 wash the honey out of the bloom like it 

 does on clover, for the bloom hangs 

 down like a bell, and the water runs off. 

 The prospect for a fall crop of honey is 

 good, as the heart's-ease is coming in 

 the corn in abundance, and in the creek 

 bottoms and all lowlands. All the bees 

 in this vicinity are dead, with few ex- 

 ceptions ; but I heard of a great many 

 swarms going to the forest. They must 

 have come a good distance. I looked on 

 the sand-bars along the creek about the 

 time the new swarms began watering, 

 and I think I caught a "line " on them. 

 Geo. Poindexter. 

 Kenney, Ills., July 8, 1892. 



"Off" Year for Basswood Bloom. 



I am now here in charge of my bees. 

 The honey crop this year, up this way, 

 from basswood will be a very light one, 

 as this seems to be the "off" year for 

 basswood bloom. 



M. M. Baldridge. 



Richland Centre, Wis., July 12, 1892. 



Good Fall Crop Expected. 



I have had no swarms this spring, 

 though I have not lost any of my old 

 colonies, which number 10, but I have 

 had to feed some through April and 

 May. : This has been the worst spring 

 for bees that I ever saw. It has either 

 rained, or the wind has blown so hard 

 that the bees could not gather any 

 stores all spring, though they are quite 

 busy now, and the colonies are large 

 and strong. I think we will get a good 

 crop of fall honey, and perhaps a few 

 swarms this month. 



Mrs. R. A. Olin. 



Fall River, Kans., July 10, 1892. 



An Honest Pound Section. 



We depend upon the consumers of 

 honey for the sale of our product. A 

 seven-to-the-foot section averages 1-4 

 ounces. I have enquired of several 

 grocers, how much they ask for their 

 honey, and the answer came at once, so 

 much a pound, handing out a 14-ounce 

 section. I asked them if that was a 

 pound, and three out of four answered 

 "Yes." When requested to weigh it, 

 they would say, "Some of them run 

 over, others under a pound." The truth 



