538 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



"Vervain, {verbena hostata) and white 

 vervain, both growing on rioher soil 

 and attaining tlie lieislit of 4 feet. 

 Ttiey also bloom during the months of 

 July and August. As a third-class of 

 honey plants I will mention butterfly 

 weed or pleurisy root [Asdepias 

 iuOewsa). It belongs to the order, 

 Asdepiudacect;, milkweed family. Like 

 nearly all the other plants of this 

 -order, it has some milky juice, but 

 hardly noticeable. The flowers are a 

 bright orange, and may be distin- 

 guished by their stamens and a hood- 

 like, or ear-like appendage rising 

 back of the anthers. As a honey 

 plant I would give the preference to 

 Asclepias tuberosa. 



As a further example of the pro- 

 ductiveness of honey plants belonging 

 to this order, I need only mention the 

 ■common milkweed (Asckpias cornuti), 

 which is so well known to most bee- 

 keepers that it needs no description. 



Ijii Crosse, Wis. 





Indian C'lirriint or Coral Berry. — 



1 enclose you a specimen of a slirub 

 that my bee's are working on right 

 lively. I never knew bees to work on 

 it before till this season ; they are 

 ■out and at work on this plant by day- 

 liglit, but it seems about noon that the 

 bees desert it. Please give the botan- 

 ical name, and if the same is con- 

 ■Bidered a iionev plant. 



W. T. Claky, p. M. 

 Claryville, Ky. 



[It is Syinplwricarpus vulgaris — In- 

 dian currant or coral berry, and has 

 been several times noticed in the Bee 

 Journal as a lioney plant. — Ed.] 



Hive Covers.— From the Bee Jour- 

 nal, " Cook"s Manual " and " A B C 

 ■of Bee Culture '" I have learned all 

 the theory I have knowledge of, but 

 theory and practice must go together, 

 like faith and works — not much good 

 ■alone. I think I have done splendidly 

 for a beginning, notwilhstanding tlie 

 ■cold, backward, wet spring. I had 3 

 Italian colonies in simplicity hives 

 last winter, and -i colonies of blacks 

 in box hives. Wintered in cellar 

 without loss. I now have 24 colonies, 

 all heavy enough for winter, 20 of 

 them with Italian queens. I have 

 taken only a little over 100 lbs. of 

 honey, antl have about 100 lbs. more 

 ■in the supers. I was too anxious for 

 increase, consequently have but little 

 honey. I know now what it means 

 when old bee-keepers say, " Keep 

 your colonies strong." It means 8 or 

 10 combs full of bees both up and 

 down stairs (in supers); it is from 

 such that I get my s\irplns. My hives 

 have flat covers, but they are not the 

 thing. I have no shade, unless I put 

 them under the apple trees, and am 

 afraid that will hardly do. 1. Will itV 

 Aug. 6th was so hot that two heavy 



combs in the supers melted down, 

 which makes a bad muss. I ran out 

 of covers and covered a board with 

 zinc, letting it down over the edge. 

 They are water and storm proof. 2. 

 How will it do for heatV When the 

 zinc gets hot I cover with a loose 

 board, which I imagine is cooler than 

 a flat cover. 3. What is the best 

 cover for shade and coolness? 



John Yodek. 

 Springfield, Ont., Aug. 14, 1882. 



[If your orchard is composed of 

 standard trees, so the morning and 

 evening sun can shine fairly on the 

 hives, and the air have a free circula- 

 tion around them, it will be as good a 

 place as you can put them. 



2. With a comb or gable roof, painted 

 white, it will do, even in the sun, bet- 

 ter than a continual shade. 



3. Is answei'ed in 1 and 2 above. — 

 Ed.] 



Shiiok's Problem.— The article by 

 Mr. Shuck on "dysenteried nuclei,"' 

 induced me to add my plank to the 

 bridge which may yet carry us over 

 the "Slough of Despond," dysentery, 

 safely. In July, 1881, after basswood 

 bloom, I made some nuclei early one 

 morning. The evening before being 

 rainy prevented me from making them 

 according to my usual custom at even- 

 ing. They were made in tlie usual 

 way, by taking brood, shaking in bees, 

 etc., tlie entrance to nuclei hives be- 

 ing left open. Two hours after, when 

 the sun shone, there was as clear a 

 case of dysentery as you ever saw in 

 April. Everything near was bespatter- 

 ed. Could 2 hours be called long con- 

 flnementV Was it pollen y There was 

 none unless introduced with the brood. 

 Is July weather cold enough to have 

 that cause it? Was it moisture':' The 

 hive was dry and tilled mostly with 

 dry combs. Could they have been 

 starved into dvsentery in 2 hoursV 

 But, then, there"is bacteria, that ghost 

 that no one can describe and so hard 

 to locate or strike a blow at. It may 

 be it was "him."' If it was because 

 they had gorged themselves with 

 honey, why do they not always show 

 the same symptoms when forced to 

 All themselves unnaturally, as in 

 making nuclei, extracting, etc. 



Ithaca, Wis. C. A. Hatch. 



Sowing Catnip Seed.— I would like 

 to know the proper time for sowing 

 catnip seeds V I had a very large 

 swarm of bees yesterday, and am ex- 

 pecting another every day. I say let 

 them come ; I will give them honey 

 from other hives to winter on. There 

 seems to be a good flow of honey yet ; 

 the white clover and catnip are hold- 

 ing out splendidly. 



William Wells. 



Murrayville, 111., Aug. 12, 1882. 



1 We prefer sowing catnip seed in 

 quite early spring, but most any time 

 will do ; it requires but little atten- 

 tion.— Ed.] 



Tri-State Fair. — I wish to say to the 

 bee-keeping fraternity who intend to 

 make an exhibit in the apiarian de- 

 partment, or enter the Traftic Depart- 

 ment at the Tri-State Fair in Septem- 

 ber, that it is very desirable all should 

 make their entries, and apply for 

 space at the very earliest time possible. 

 All the space in the buildings now on 

 the grounds is spoken for, and the 

 Fair Association will erect additional 

 buildings for the bee-keepers' exhibits, 

 and they would like to know about 

 how large to' build. Any information 

 will be gladly furnished tree on ad- 

 dressing me. ]\Iy bees are still gather- 

 ing a surplus of honey, mostly from 

 sweet clover and catnip. I com- 

 menced the season with IH fair and 93 

 rather weak colonies, mostly hybrids. 

 Now have 09 and nearly a ton of ex- 

 tracted honey. I have just hived a 

 nice large swarm. A. B. Mason. 



Wagon Works, O., xVug. 15, 1882. 



Late Swarming.— I have 25 colonies 

 now; had 12 in the spring; had one 

 swarm yesterday. The season has not 

 been very favorable here this year for 

 bees. My bees are storing honey now 

 in sections, but not very fast. I do 

 not expect much surplus honey ; hives 

 are all well filled with both honey and 

 bees. \Vm. Jenney. 



Shiloh, Mich., Aug. 15, 1882. 



Linden a Failure.— My bees are do- 

 ing nicely on white clover. Linden 

 bloom is a failure this year, having 

 been killed by the early frosts. Bee- 

 keeping has been "np-hill"' work in 

 this vicinity for the past 3 years, and 

 apiarists are nearly discouraged. 



Chas. Follett. 



Osage, Iowa, Aug. 7, 1882. 



Qneen Cages.— Up to date of this I 

 have had only three queens reported 

 dead this season, and one of these was 

 the result of an accident. I use a 

 small wooden cage with sponge satu- 

 rated with honey. I like a small cage 

 best, as the queen is less likely to be 

 injured by being thrown against the 

 sides of the cage. Who can show a 

 better record with any other cage':' I 

 am experimenting with a cage having 

 a soft rubber lining, to prevent injury 

 to the queen by being thrown around 

 in the mail-bags. I am highly pleased 

 with them so far. and I think I can 

 manufacture them as cheaply as most 

 other cages can be made. 



E. A. TiiojiAS. 



Colerain, Mass., Aug. 14, 1882. 



Crops were Never Belter.— The 



heavy rains for the last two weeks 

 have greatly checked the honey flow. 

 To date I have 17,000 lbs. of extracted 

 and 400 lbs. of section honey. Crops 

 were never better. 



O. M. Blanton. 

 Greenville, Miss., Aug. 10, 1882. 



Progressive Transferring.— Mr.IIed- 



don has made it as clear as a whistle. 

 I will candidly admit that his head 

 has been clearer than mine upon this 

 transferring question. Of course, the 

 old queen is laying "all the same," 

 whether she is in the old hive or the 

 new. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Kogersville, Mich., Aug. 11, 1882. 



