THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



443 



and where should the seed be sown V 

 3. What is thst quality basswood lum- 

 ber, suitable for making hives, worth, 

 sawed right thickness and at the saw- 

 mill ■■' Alfred Gander. 



Adrian, Mich., June 30, ISSi.'. 



[1 and 2. Some horticulturist will 

 probably give you all tlie information 

 desired regarding barberry shrubs. 



3. We cannot give a definite an- 

 swer. Write to any lumber dealer, 

 giving dimensions of what you want, 

 and quantity. We cannot recom- 

 mend basswood for hives— pine and 

 poplar or white-wood are better.— 

 Ed.] 



Motherwort.— Inclosed lind a plant 

 ■ on which my bees are working from 

 early morning till late in the evening. 

 It niust contain a great deal of nectar, 

 judging from the way they work on it. 

 This is the only stalk in tlie neighbor- 

 hood that I noticed. Please name it. 

 Bees are doing splendidly on white 

 clover, and basswood is opening a 

 new field for them. 1 have counted 

 198 trees within half a mile of my 

 apiary, and all full of buds just be- 

 ginning to open. The heavy rains 

 this spring and summer kept the bees 

 back some, but now they are making 

 up lost time. We had a storm ac- 

 companied with hail and rain, that 

 damaged the crops a great deal, pros- 

 trating the grain and clover on the 

 ground. No such storm has been 

 known in this place. 



.John W. Sturwold. 

 Haymond, Ind., June 27, 1882. 



Another. — I herewith inclose a 

 piece of spike from a plant to ascer- 

 tain the name. The spikes grow about 

 a foot or more long, and are in bloom 

 all summer into fall. The plant grows 

 4 to 5 feet high, and has very many 

 branches covered with these spikes, 

 and is the best honey plant I ever 

 §aw. It was brought here from 

 Pennsylvania by Mr. Musgrave. who 

 found it wild and scarce. Bees are 

 doing well in this locality. There 

 will be considerable buckwheat in 

 bloom in a week or two. 



J. S. McAllister. 



Columbus, Neb., July 3, 1882. 



[The plants referred to are mother- 

 W'Ort. It is needless for us to repeat 

 that it is a most excellent honey plant, 

 and worthy of more attention than it 

 generally receives. — Ed.] 



Prospect Excellent.— I had 70 colo- 

 nies tills spring to commence with, 

 all in good condition, with boxes on 

 them all, nearly completed, and only 

 awaiting capping, but no swarms yet, 

 nor do I want any for 10 days yet. I 

 never saw a season any better than 

 the present one. White clover is 

 abundant everywhere, and the bees 

 are working on red clover just as 

 much as they do on white clover. I 

 hope all bee-keepers will try and keep 

 the price of honey up, so tiiat we can 

 make up for what we lost last year. 

 F. G. Kinney. 



Bristol, Ind., June 30, 1S82. 



Captured While Laying. — I send 

 herewith a fertile worker. On May 

 fith I removed from a vigorous Italian 

 colony 4 frames of brood for the pur- 

 pose of rearing some queens. The 

 weather not being favorable, they 

 produced but 3 cells, whereas they 

 should have built 6 or 8. On the 10th 

 dav, or the IGth, we found two cells 

 that contained voung queens, and one 

 empty cell ; removed tile two cells 

 containing queens, destroying one 

 that did not appear perfect, and 

 placed the other in a nucleus. This 

 hatched and proved to be a fine queen. 

 After satisfying ourselves that the 

 colony was still without a queen, and 

 that the empty cell had never been 

 occupied, we gave them a frame of 

 brood tilled with eggs and larvie. I 

 examined tlieia on the second day, 

 but found no evidence of queen cells. 

 The eggs are hatched and the brood 

 finely capped over. Making several 

 careful searches for the cause of this 

 strange behavior, our labor was re- 

 warded on the 21st of June by finding 

 this fertile worker in the very act of 

 laying. She had deposited eggs in 

 one comb over a space of about 4 

 inches, in worker cells. The bees are 

 now extending the cells out, or mak- 

 ing drone comb of them. The bees 

 showed her the same respect by turn- 

 ing their heads to her and making 

 room for lier over the comb. She 

 showed all the peculiarities of a young 

 queen— frisky, etc. The prospect for 

 a good honey season in this section is 

 very discouraging ; too much rain. I 

 have extracted 3 gallons from 5 colo- 

 nies. Can hardly get bees to start 

 queen cells. W. A. Bradford. 



Butler, Ky., June 26, 1882. 



[The fertile worker and attendant 

 bees arrived safely. With the ex- 

 ception of a more tapering waist, and 

 more glossy abdomen, we would not 

 have recognized her from the other 

 bees, had her wing not been clipped. 

 In nearly every Italian colony there 

 are plenty of old bees presenting 

 all the characteristics of this one. 

 We give on page 444 of this issue, a 

 very interesting letter from Mr. P. L. 

 Viallon, relating to fertile workers, 

 and Prof. Cook's instructive dissec- 

 tion and examination of the same 

 with the microscope.— Ed.] 



A New Clover.— Enclosed find stalks- 

 and flowers of a plant, which please 

 give name and value as a honey plant; 

 also. If good as forage for cattle. The 

 plant grows and looks like Alsike clo- 

 ver, the blossom is pure white, re- 

 sembling white clover, excepting 

 much larger than either Alsike or 

 white clover. It is evidently a variety 

 of clover, but have never seen any of 

 it before. It is in bloom considera- 

 bly earlier than white clover. I found 

 it growing in a field, but cannot ac- 

 count for its appearance there. An- 

 swer in Bee Journal. 



Altamont, 111. Jerry Thomas. 



[A similar specimen, but not so 

 large, was sent us last week by H. 

 Besse. Delaware, O., see page 427. A9 

 the Alsike clover itself is said to be a 

 hybrid, matured and fixed in Sweden, 

 so these specimens may be of the 

 same character, and this is more than 

 probable, from the fact that Mr. 

 Besse's is reproducing itself, and ex- 

 tending its area. As to its value for 

 pasturage we cannot speak positively, 

 but can see no reason why it should 

 not be desirable, perhaps very supe- 

 rior. At all events, you owe it to 

 yourself, as well as to community, to 

 extend its cultivation till satisfied of 

 its worth. It may, possibly, in the 

 future, revolutionize our pasturage 

 for cattle, sheep, etc., and our forage 

 for bees. Certainly, its earliness of 

 bloom will be a great recommenda- 

 tion of itself, if it should prove 

 adapted to the bees.— Ed.] 



Bees are Doing Finely.— Bees are 



doing finely here this season. I have 

 just taken off 4s pounds each from 

 some of my best colonies, white clo- 

 ver honey, stored in one-pound sec- 

 tions of the Forncrook style. Take 

 the season so far. I think it ahead of 

 any for several years for honey gath- 

 ering. E. W. Wales. 

 Disco, Mich. 



Cold Wave.- This last wave of cold 

 has stopped the clover honey flow ; 

 basswood is not yet in bloom, but will 

 be in a few days. It is a pretty poor 

 season here, so far. 



James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., July 5, 1882. 



Honey Prospects in Ohio.— Bees in 

 this vicinity have done but little in 

 the way of honey gathering, until 

 within a few days. Prospects for 

 swarming are greater than for several 

 years, even after being somewhat 

 lessened by the damage done to fruit 

 bloom in early spring. Many impov- 

 erished colonies were lost during the 

 cold spell, but those that were prop- 

 erly fed, or lived through on their own 

 stores, are likely to pay a good profit 

 at the end of the season. 



R. A. Mollyneaux. 



New Richmond, O., June 29, 1882. 



>'ot One Pound Yet. — Bees are 



strong ; swarming profuse ; no honey; 

 not one pound taken yet; weather 

 very warm ; lots of rain ; linden just 

 in bloom ; fear we will have no har- 

 vest, but living in hope that the bees 

 will fill up fur winter. My bees have 

 never worked a whole day since last 

 April ; hope somebody will get some 

 honey. C. H. Deane. 



Mortonsville, Ky., June 27, 1882. 



Mercury at 



well on white 



50°.— Bees are doing 



..^.. „ ._ clover. Mercury was 



down to .50 ' on the evening of the 1st ■ 

 inst. Weather has been quite favor- 

 able for about 3 weeks. 



E. N. Lloyd. 

 Fayette, O., Julys, 1882. 



