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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I am now having paste made as fol- 

 lows : Good clear corn-starch paste, 1 

 quart ; pure gum-arabic (dissolved in 

 just enough warm water to dissolve it), 

 1 jounces; % ounce of alum, and % 

 ounce of sugar of lead, the two pulver- 

 ized and put into enough water to dis- 

 solve them. Mix the whole together. 

 I am only trying this, but I have no 

 doubt it will do the work. That recipe 

 caused me to waste a dollar, and I write 

 so that others may not go and do like- 

 wise. 



Bees are just rolling in white clover 

 now, and prospects are good for Span- 

 ish-needle. F. H. Richardson. 



Moberly, Mo., July 14, 1892. 



[We are glad that Mr. Richardson 

 wrote about his experience with the 

 paste recipe. Of course, we cannot test 

 everything that is published in the Bee 

 Journal, and so have to leave that to 

 the readers. We would advise, how- 

 ever, "going slow " on any new sugges- 

 tions that are offered, unless accompa- 

 nied by a strong endorsement. This 

 will apply to new things in any line, or 

 else we all sometimes are liable to "get 

 stuck " worse than were the labels that 

 Mr. R. experimented with. — Editors.] 



Asparagus as a Honey-Plant. 



Please inform me whether bees gather 

 honey from asparagus, and as to the 

 quality, etc. I can hear them in the 

 asparagus as thick as in the white 

 clover. The weather here now is quite 

 warm, and bees are working well. 



R. S. Mackintosh. 



Langdon, Minn., July 21, 1892. 



[Asparagus yields pollen, but jnot 

 honey. — Eds.] 



Boiling the Honey in and Swarming. 



Bees in this neighborhood did very 

 poorly last winter and spring. I do not 

 think that there was over 30 per cent, 

 of the bees left late in the spring ; what 

 the cold, wet weather and starvation did 

 not kill, the robber bees tried to finish. 

 This spring was a trying one for me, 

 which I shall never forget as long as I 

 may keep bees. I saved 18 colonies 

 out of 21, fall count. All spring it was 

 too cold and wet to do anything with, 

 them, as I keep mine on the summer 

 stands ; and then they came through 



very weak, and staggered as if they were 

 intoxicated. They are doing well now, 

 as they are just rolling the honey in, 

 but are filling the brood-chamber more 

 than I like to see. Swarming has just 

 fairly set in now. 



The Bee Journal is a welcome visitor 

 in this house. I would not like to do 

 without it. Frank Hentrick. 



Wall Lake, Iowa, July 15, 1892, 



Have Had a Good Honey-Flow. 



I have a nice apiary of 40 colonies in 

 fine condition, and they are gathering a 

 fine quality of basswood honey now. I 

 produce the comb honey ; the prices 

 range from 15 to 20 cents per pound 

 here. It is my whole delight to handle 

 bees. We have had a good honey-flow 

 here this season so far, but it is getting 

 a little dry now, though it looks as if it 

 would rain, it has been threatening rain 

 for several days. 



I have been reading the book en- 

 titled " Bees and Honey," and it does 

 me good to read it. J. W. Fouts. 



Missouri Valley, Iowa, July 18, 1892. 



Bees in Fair Condition. 



Colonies are strong in bees, and in 

 fair condition, but no honey yet. They 

 wintered without any loss on the sum- 

 mer stands, packed in chaff. I think 

 that out-door wintering is preferable to 

 any other for this locality, at least I am 

 satisfied with it. We experienced a very 

 cold and wet spring, but are having very 

 warm weather now. I do not know 

 much about how other people's bees are 

 getting along in this section, as I have 

 been confined to the house for more than 

 two months with a sprained knee. 



J. W. Peterson. 



Grand Island, Nebr., July 19, 1892. 



Bees on a Bush — The Prospects. 



Mr. Charles Wood, of this county, 

 found bees working around his place the 

 other day, and commenced baiting them, 

 and soon had a strong " line" working, 

 which he followed but a short distance 

 when he found a large swarm hanging 

 on a bush. There had been two or three 

 rainy days, and the bees had the appear- 

 ance of being there through the storm. 

 They were undoubtedly hungry, and 

 had built no comb. 



The prospects are that we shall be 

 obliged to record another failure in the 

 honey crop in this locality. There is 



