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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Fertile Worker.— I send you by mail 

 a small piece of comb, lately taken 

 from the hive of a neighbor. Tlie 

 queen, with nuclei, had been out of 

 this hive for about 6 days only. You 

 will find many eggs in "tlie same cell. 

 Is it a case of fertile worlter V An 

 answer will confer a favor on your 

 correspondent. Does this number of 

 eggs in one cell indicate a fertile 

 worker? Is tliere any sure indica- 

 tion V Phil Rearden. 



Jamestown, Col. 



[If the colony was queenless six 

 days, and you then found eggs in and 

 near the center of the brood-nest, it 

 was a pretty sure indication of fertile 

 workers ; and the fact of several be- 

 ing in each cell, is corroborative of 

 there being several. We believe that 

 those conditions which induce the de- 

 velopment of a single fertile worker 

 will also develope a plurality, so that 

 there is the same probability of half 

 a dozen, or more, as one. We have 

 had young mated queens, when Urst 

 commencing to lay, deposit from one 

 to four eggs in a cell ; probably be- 

 cause other cells were not properly 

 cleaned out in time for their use. 

 These, however, were in each case 

 thinned down to one in a cell by the 

 bees ; the extra ones, probably, being 

 put in other cells as fast as they were 

 ready.— Ed.] 



Anticipations Realized.— Bees are 



doing exceedingly well. I am fully 

 realizing my most enthusiastic antic- 

 ipations. Everything indicates an 

 uninterrupted flow of honey until 

 frost comes. Philip P. Nelson. 

 Manteno, 111., July 17, 1882. 



Comb Fonndation.— Uees have been 

 doing very well here for the last 

 month. Swarming in some eases has 

 been excessive, and colonies are get- 

 ting in good shape for w^inter. This 

 is the first year that I have put 

 swarms on foundation, and I And that 

 it pays well. We will get very little 

 surplus honey this season ; but we 

 have a large crop of vpheat now har- 

 vested and ready for the separator, a 

 tolerable crop of hay secured, and the 

 corn growing finely. Farmers are 

 happy. Isaac Shaup. 



Waveland, Ind., July 1.5, 1882. 



Only Fair Weather Seeded.— Bees 



are breeding rapidly now, but it is too 

 cold for surplus. Magnificent white 

 clover bloom, and all we need is good 

 weather for the boom to reach us. 

 Linden will open in two or three days, 

 and is very promising. With fair 

 weather the fall run cannot fail to be 

 immense. Your Journal is hailed 

 with pleasure, and is an invaluable 

 adjunct to every apiarian establish- 

 ment as well as to the amateur. 

 Have 35 colonies ; first swarm to-day. 

 L. S. Benham. 

 Alma, Mich., July 18, 1882. 



Pasturage for Bees. — We have 

 had the worst season for bees I ever 

 saw— too much rain, wind, cold, late 

 frosts, etc. I sowed in drills some 

 mignonette andcleome, but the latter 

 did not grow. I cultivated most of 

 the mignonette until harvest, and it 

 did well early, but since I quit culti- 

 vating the weeds and grass have 

 choked it so badly that it is doing no 

 good. The sweet clover I cultivated 

 is line, but the crop is so badly choked 

 up and spindling, it is of no account. 

 We have some motherwort and I like 

 it well, but am not satisfied. For a 

 general crop will it spread if sown 

 broadcast on good, rich timber land 'i 

 If sown early in the fall, on vv-ell-pre- 

 pared ground, will it thrive and bloom 

 the next year ? I never knew any 

 planted ; it grows spontaneously here 

 in rich fence corners. 



A. Mcknight. 



Bible Grove, 111., July 15, 1882. 



[It ought to do well if sown broad- 

 cast, provided there is not too much 

 timber. We planted some two years 

 ago in the fall. It blossomed the fol- 

 lowing season, and is doing well yet. 

 —Ed.] . 



The Honey Harvest.— The honey 

 crop here is an entire failure. The 

 present season has demonstrated that 

 there are other important prerequsites 

 to a good honey yield, besides plenty 

 of bloom. The latter condition has 

 been present in profusion, but there 

 has been but little nectar secreted, 

 and less weather suitable for bees to 

 have collected it. I have taken with 

 the extractor a few gallons of honey, 

 too thin for any use, and tliere has 

 not been sunshine sufficient to evapo- 

 rate it. There is still plenty of bloom, 

 but continuous rain keeps the bees at 

 home. My bees liave not been busy 

 in the fields two whole days at once, 

 at no one time for weeks. The wheat 

 and oats crops are better than they 

 have been for years. The growing 

 corn crop looks promising now, al- 

 though much of it did not get the 

 work it needed on account of tiie wet 

 weather. Much of the tobacco crop 

 is submerged in weeds and grass; 

 much of it will be entirely abandoned 

 and lost. G. W. Demaree. 



Christiansburg, Ky., July 17, 1882. 



Silyer Linings.— After many fitful 

 struggles the clouds have lifted and 

 the silver linings glimmer over our 

 house. Never before in the history of 

 30 years have I had to feed my bees 

 in the month of May, but it is bread 

 cast upon the waters, for those fed 

 most are now returning the largest 

 surplus, and I see no good reason why 

 the honey season should not continue 

 till Jack Frost nips the flowers. 



J. W. Bayard. 



Athens, O., July 17, 1882. 



Prospect Very Poor.— Up to this 

 date bees appeaV to have gathered no 

 honey from white clover. A good 

 deal in bloom, but yields none. Pros- 

 pect for honey very poor. 



W. D. Foote. 



Johnstown, N. Y., July 13, 1882. 



Still Hoping.— The season has been 

 very poor so far. It has been too cold 

 and wet. Not one pound of surplus 

 yet, and only one swarm, but if the 

 weather keeps dry and warm I think 

 we will get something yet. There is 

 plenty of white clover. Basswood 

 has a good appearance and will be out 

 in about two weeks. A great many 

 bees have died this spring. Nearly 

 all of the loss was caused by starva- 

 tion. Bees here are mostly kept in 

 box hives. We have 43 colonies in 

 Langstroth hives, double-wall. Lost 



3 colonies this spring. 



t)iCKS0N Bros.. 

 Lancaster, Out., July 15, 1882. 



A Large Honey Harvest.— My bees 

 are doing well. I have about 25,000 

 pounds of honey extracted up to date. 

 I would have had more, but two of 

 my men are down with the fever. The 

 weather has been unfavorable for the 

 bees for the last few days. As soon 

 as it clears off I w-ill extract about 

 2,000 to 2,300 pounds per day. There 

 are about 300 of my colonies that need 

 extracting, which" will give me from 



4 to 6 gallons each this extracting. 



L. LiNDSLEY. 



Waterloo, La., July 11, 1882. 



A Peculiar Season. — This has been 

 a very peculiar season here. The 

 commencement of clover bloom, about 

 June 10th, found bees very weak in 

 numbers. Clover has given a good 

 yield ever since that time, whenever 

 we would have sunshine long enough 

 for the grass to dry off ; but sun- 

 shine has been the exception — not the 

 rule. So far, bees have not been able 

 to work over one-third of their time, 

 and, of course, the amount of surplus 

 honey is small. Colonies are more 

 populous than they would have been 

 if the honey flow had been heavier, 

 and a fair yield can yet be obtained if 

 we should have good weather the rest 

 of the season. O. O. Poppleton. 



Williamstown, Iowa, July 15, 1882. 



Exasperated.— Mr. Editor : Your 

 serene liopefulnrss is simply exasper- 

 ating to bee-keepers who have not 

 taken a pound of honey this season, 

 and have fed the bees in May and 

 part of June to keep them in condi- 

 tion. I think you will find those dis- 

 tricts, which make a crop, to form the 

 exception, and not the rule as you 

 put it. Our only hope now here is the 

 fall crop, and if" the weather remains 

 as it is (which is more than likely), 

 we may have to feed for winter. 



T. H. Kloer. 



Terre Haute, Ind., July 18, 1882. 



[Our correspondent has our sympa- 

 thy in his disappointment ; but if the 

 mere recital, by the Bee JournXi., of 

 general prosperity is so exasperating, 

 with what bitter hatred must he read 

 Mr. Nelson's cheerful letter in the first 

 column of this page. We once heard 

 of an old lady whose grandchildren 

 had the mumps, but remarked, phi- 

 losophically, " La, we don't care while 

 the neighbors have measles." — Ed.] 



