AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



149 



witness the Doolittle process of queen- 

 rearing, which they saw under full head- 

 way, and were very m uch pleased with it. 



Bees are gathering some honey now, 

 and I think our cotton-blbom flow is 

 upon us, which will last until Septem- 

 ber. I have some new thoughts to write 

 when I get able. 



Mrs. Jennie Atchley. 



Floyd, Tex., July 15, 1892. 



Bees Storing Surplus Honey. 



We are having a very wet spell — it 

 has been raining here for at least 40 

 days, almost incessantly. Yet, with all 

 the rain, our bees are storing surplus 

 honey, which seems hardly credible, but 

 is a positive fact, for which I cannot 

 account. John Hager, Jr. 



Arabi, La., July 12, 1892. 



Good Fall Honey-Flow Expected. 



Last winter I lost 3 colonies out of 66 

 in the cellar, from poor stores, I think. 

 I put them on the summer stands on 

 April 5 to 10, mostly in good condition, 

 though some were weak in bees, but all 

 had honey or honey -dew to carry them 

 through: but owing to the cold rains, 

 they dwindled very fast. I was sick all 

 through May, so I could give them no 

 care. The strong colonies robbed the 

 weak, until I had but 32 left. They are 

 mostly strong now, and working in sur- 

 plus cases, filling them with white clover 

 and linden honey, of which there is an 

 abundance of bloom. Everything looks 

 fair for a good fall flow of nectar. 



J. L. Flint. 



Marion, Iowa, July 18, 1892. 



Sure of a Good Honey Crop. 



I began the bee-work at my home yard 

 on April 15, 1892, with only 38 colo- 

 nies of bees, a few of them being in 

 frame hives, but most of them in log 

 hives. To take the whole, it was a bad 

 lot of hives to begin with. One must 

 get ready for work, so I purchased 

 Cook's "Bee-Keepers' Guide," and 

 studied it well, and by experience I find 

 it well written, easy to understand, and 

 all correct. I also purchased an extrac- 

 tor, which I find very useful, as I can 

 sell all my extracted honey here at 10 

 cents a pound, and retain all the combs. 

 Now I have all my bees in hives of my 

 own make; have increased my number 

 to 107 colonies, each hive with 8 to 11 

 frames chock-full of bees. My bees did 



good work through May. The rain be- 

 gan about June 1, and it was so wet 

 until July 7, that bees could gather no 

 more than they consumed for brood- 

 rearing. I am glad to say that the 

 clouds have passed away, and we are 

 having some fine weather, and our sour- 

 wood is in its prime, and plentiful. 

 Sumac is yet to bloom, so I feel sure of 

 a good honey crop yet. I see much 

 said about bees swarming, swarm-catch- 

 ers, etc. I have full control of my bees, 

 which is easy, and will be explained in 

 the future. W. M. Scruggs. 



Tracy City, Tenn., July 18, 1892. 



Bees in Good Condition — Punics. 



The month for robbing bees is here, 

 and what little clover there was, is gone, 

 and the bees begin to try every colony, 

 but they are a little too strong to give 

 the robber bees comfort. The white 

 clover was a complete failure again this 

 year in this part of the country ; the 

 bees have just made a living, but they 

 are in good condition, all strong in 

 stores. I have had but 15 swarms from 

 35 colonies, making 50 in all. Our only 

 " show " is golden-rod and asters now, 

 which very seldom fail. What are the 

 so-called Punic bees doing this year? 

 I do not see anything in the Bee Jour- 

 nal about them. Are they storing so 

 much honey that it keeps the owner 

 busy all the time taking it out ? I have 

 been expecting to see a large re- 

 port from some one ; perhaps it will 

 come soon. Wm. Housel. 



Wertsville, N. J., July 12, 1892. 



[For something about the "Punic" 

 bees, we refer you to page 138 of this 

 number. — Eds.] 



Paste for Labels, Etc. 



On page 796, of the Bee Journal for 

 June 16, is a recipe for paste, which is 

 full of errors. In the first place, a defi- 

 nite quantity of water (2 quarts) is 

 given, and the rest is expressed as 

 "parts." What does a " part " mean? 

 Does it mean "parts " in relation to the 

 2 quarts ? If it does, there would be 

 about 2 pounds of sugar of lead — would 

 be rather poison, would it not? 



Again, the flour cannot be stirred in 

 as directed. I have had lots of trouble 

 getting labels to stick, and I spent $1 

 experimenting with that recipe, using 

 ounces where it said "parts," but it 

 would not stick. 



