THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



491 



Hiingin^ Broad Frames.— I think it 

 a great "iniprovenient to hang the 

 broad frames of the surphis arrange- 

 ment for comb honey upon metal 

 rabbets, by means of ears or projec- 

 tions of sheet-iron bent at riglit angles 

 and nailed on the end ])ieces of the 

 frame, leaving off the top bar. The 

 sections are much more easily handled 

 where the topis open, while a blanket 

 keeps them clean. Is there any 

 patent on this arrangement V 



llUSTICUS. 



[We are not aware of any patent on 

 the above described arrangement. — 

 Ed.] 



Wee Stiiigrs for Deafness.— On page 

 444 vol. 18, No. 28 is an article headed 

 " Xot so Bright," from J. C. Thorn, 

 M. D. Streetville, Canada, who wishes 

 to hear frinn other Canadian points, 

 ill regard to bee forage. Whiteclover 

 has been in bloom over three weeks, 

 and seems to secrete plenty of honey, 

 and bees are doing well with us. On 

 the 27th of May, a bee friend from 

 Waterloo, wishing to see an Italian 

 queen in my possession ; the day was 

 a little rainy and foggy, and not very 

 pleasant to open a hive of bees. How- 

 ever it was done, but we could not 

 Mild tier, on account of tlie heavy mist 

 falling. I aroused the bees so that I 

 was obliged to cover them up. In 

 this I got stung on the back part of 

 my left ear which has been deaf and 

 of no use to me over 2-5 years. Two 

 weeks later, I received another sting, 

 but on the inside of the ear, close to 

 the ear-drum, which was somewhat 

 painful at the time. Thank fortune, 

 the sting I received from those bees 

 has restored my ear to hearing again. 

 Joseph M. Wisher. 



Jordan Station, Out., July 18, 18S2. 



More Motherwort.— I send to you 

 by this mail a sprig of fiowers that 

 grow wild in this part of the country, 

 and it is covered with bees from 

 morning till night. I would be obliged 

 if you will inform me through your 

 valuable Uee Journal, what is its 

 name. I am a beginner in bee-keep- 

 ing, and I like to work among them. 

 I had 4 colonies tliis spring, in box 

 hives, and sent for 2 Langstroth 

 hives, which are occupied witli black 

 bees, and 3 colonies in American 

 hives. They all seem to be very 

 strong and are working well ; but 1 

 have no surplus yet. They are now 

 working in the boxes. 



A Subscriber. 



Elmira,N. Y., July 24, 1882. 



[The specimen sent is motherwort, 

 mention of which has been made 

 several times in the Bee Journal. 

 —Ed.] 



No Honey Yet.— Prospects for a crop 

 of honey are very poor. I liave 12-5 

 colonies of Italian bees, and have not 

 had one swarm yet, neither have I 

 obtained a iionnd of honey. They 

 will not average 2 lbs. of honey to the 

 hive if I should extract every drop of 

 it. They are fall of bees. 1 tliiiiK I 

 shall get some biisswood honey ; it is 

 not in blossom yet, being two weeks 

 later than last year. Last winter was 

 very open, and all the clover was 

 killed. 1 have kept bees for 20 years, 

 but never had them do so poorly. 



W. C. Wells. 



Phillipston, Ont., July 17, 1882. 



A Large Yield in Maine. — There is 

 now a fair prospect for a large yield 

 of honey m Aroostook county. I 

 never saw such a liow of the nectar as 

 for tlie last 10 days, from Alsike 

 clover, which is now in full bloom. 

 We have had all we could do to fur- 

 nish hives, lixtures, etc., for the bee- 

 keepers in this vicinity, and for our- 

 selves. We are running our apiary 

 on Doolittle's plan, and have prohted 

 by so doing. I do not know how we 

 sliould get along without the Bee 

 Journal. It comes to us regularly 

 every week, with something new and 

 interesting, and it is very encourag- 

 ing to beginners to read how others 

 are doing in different parts of the 

 country. Henky Tilley. 



Castle Hill, Me., July 21), 1882. 



Worst Season ever Known. — We are 



having, thus far, the w(ust season 

 ever known in this locality for the 

 production of honey. That "silver 

 lining " does not make its appearance 

 yet. Basswood is in full bloom ; only 

 one tree in five has blossoms, and not 

 much lioney from it yet. We heard 

 of bees starving in the middle of June. 

 Ours are building up nicely, and will 

 probably get enough to winter with. 

 John II. Martin. 

 Hartford, X. Y., July 21, 1882. 



Not Discouraged. — Bees have done 

 very poorly here this spring, but are 

 doing well now on clover and various 

 other plants. I put 7 colonies in the 

 cellar last fall, lost 2 during the win- 

 ter, and the rest I lost after taking 

 them out in the spring. I think they 

 starved, as they, gathered no late 

 honey last season and reared no 

 brood, leaving old bees to winter. I 

 was not discouraged, however, but 

 purchased ,S colonies last spring and 

 shall try again. A. J. Abbott. 



Xortli Paris, Maine, July 2.5, 1882. 



Colored Bee-Keepers. — In ante-bel- 

 lum days I was a slave-owner, and I 

 believe I know the Southern negro as 

 well as any one, and it is a notorious 

 fact that there is a peculiar musky 

 scent about these people not found in 

 the white races ; but. I dare say, this 

 scent would not be more objectionable 

 to our little pets than whisky or to- 

 bacco. I am well acquainted with a 

 liost of negro bee-keepers ; one mar- 

 ried a girl that formerly belonged to 

 me, and 1 liave often counted as high 

 as 20 colonies in his yard. Jake 

 Smith, f. m. c, near Dresden, has 

 several colonies in American hives. 

 Ben Younger, f. m. c, has several. 

 He told me a few days ago his bees 

 were doing well. It is true that this 

 people are very superstitious, but if 

 you will show me a man that is en- 

 tirely free from superstition, I will 

 show you hairs in the palms of your 

 hands. They are taking some interest 

 in fruits and bees, and are sending ] 



their children to the free schools, and 

 the day is not far distant when scien- 

 tific bee-culture will be practiced, or 

 rather carried on, by these dusky sons 

 of the Old World, as well as their 

 more informed brethren. 

 Dresden, Tex. B. F. Carroll. 



This Year is "Badder."— Bees are 



doing very poorly here. The season 

 was so wet and cold, the bees could 

 do but very little in tlie way of col- 

 lecting honey, although everything 

 bloomed profusely in the early part 

 of the season, such as apple, pear, 

 cherry, plum, iieacli, and tulip trees, 

 raspberry and blackberry. White 

 clover was very scarce, owing to the 

 drouth last year. The basswood or 

 linden was a failure here this year. 

 Last year was very bad here for bees, 

 and as the little boy said, this year, so 

 far, is '■ badder." We hope to get 

 some surplus honey from fall flowers. 

 Catnip and buckwheat are now in 

 blooui, and blackheart (hydro-piper) 

 will soon be. I have a small patch of 

 sweet clover, and I think it is the 

 " boss " bee plant for honey. I will 

 have nearly an acre of it next year. 

 I had 7 colonies in the spring ; I now 

 have 15, all strong except one. 



Thomas J. Ward, J. P. 

 St. Mary's Ind., July 2-5, 1882. 



Hay for Shading. — Bees are booming 

 on basswood, while I am writing, 

 with the thermometer at 90- in the 

 shade, and this suggests the import- 

 ance of some kind of shade for our 

 hives.' We have tried putting on a 

 handful of newly cut grass, timothy or 

 some long grass is best, as by spread- 

 ing a handful each way you have a 

 protection to keep the sun from the 

 sides of the hive. Before the grass 

 gets too dry, put it away in the barns, 

 and lay on a new crop. Thus you not 

 only protect your bees from the sun, 

 but do your " haying " at the same 

 time. We have noticed that a colony 

 works much better if shaded all day, 

 than if left uncovered until they be- 

 gin to roar with the heat. 



G. W. Stanley. 



Wyoming, Jf. Y., July 24, 1882. 



Prospect Yet Good.— Until now the 



prospect for surplus has looked blue, 

 but basswood is just opening and we 

 feel in hopes of a fair crop yet. The 

 weather has become dry and hot and 

 is more favorable for secreting honey. 

 Last year basswood opened July 1st, 

 and it has been our main reliance for 

 surplus the past 3 years, and we es- 

 teem it the best honey we get. I had 

 12 acres of alsike clover in bloom this 

 year, but it did not yield much 

 honey. I think we are overstocked 

 witii bees liere, whicli may be tlie 

 principal reason why we do not get 

 more clover honey. 



W. H. S. Grout. 

 Kennedy, N. Y., July 24, 1882. 



A Sample Copy of the Weekly Bee 

 Journal will ue sent free to any per- 

 son. Any one intending to get up a 

 club can have sample copies sent to 

 the persons they desire to interview, 

 by sending the names to this office. 



