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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I find growing lieie, that the bees ai-e 

 working on in preference to anytliing 

 else, that is, any other flowers that are 

 growing about wliere tliis grows, and 

 there are a good many otlier kinds. 

 What is its value as a lioney plant? 

 It seems to grow on sandy, barren 

 land the best. 11. C. Whitlow. 



North Manchester, Ind., Aug. 11. 



[The specimen of plant sent is a 

 vervain, and an ex'cellent honey 

 plant. — Ed.] 



Shipping: Crates. — 1. Is a shipping 

 crate made of 3>^ inch, or ^ inch ma- 

 terial, tliat will' hold 12 two-pound 

 sectionsV '2. Will the crate be re- 

 turned or notV 3. Should the crate be 

 weighed and marked before it is 

 filled? W. T. IIonENsnELL. 



Munster, 111. 



[The top, bottom and sides should 

 be }4 inch, and the ends % inch ma- 

 terial. 



2. The crates are not returned. 



3. You can weigh and mark the 

 crate before it is filled, or, if they 

 average about the same, make a note 

 in the bill, and deduct as tare from 

 the gross weight ; but always specify 

 the weight, so tjie retailer will not be 

 obliged to empty a crate before buy- 

 ing, to get its weight.— Ed.] 



No Honey from IJasswood. — Very lit- 

 tle honey"in this part of the State. 

 Cold and rainy in white clover time. 

 Basswood was in bloom 2 weeks, and 

 weather was warm and dry, but it 

 failed to yield or secrete honey. I 

 have known more honey to be gath- 

 ered in 5 days ; only 20 11)8. to the col- 

 ony, and an aveiage of half a section 

 of white ; 175 colonies spring count ; 

 increased 2o. l^ast year I obtained 

 100 lbs. of wliite honey, and doubled 

 with increase. Prospects for buck- 

 wheat are good, but that m ly fail, like 

 the rest. W. L. Coggsiiall. 



West Groton, N. Y., Aug. 10, 1SS2. 



days before finishing up the " job," as 

 by that time many drones would very 

 likely be hatched, if the first colonv 

 be driven out during first bloom, and 

 tlie bees, such as usually found in 

 box hives, unless I did not care as to 

 the stock I introduced into my apiary, 

 and would much prefer to have a few 

 irregular combs, which may be easily 

 exchanged for foundation later in tlie 

 season. A. J. Hatfield. 



Xew Carlisle, Ind., Aug. S, 1S.S2. 



Is Satisfied. — I am glad to say that 

 the " cloud with silver lining " came 

 this way long enough to give us a nice 

 little shower of honey. The first of 

 the season was very cool and wet, but 

 about July 8th the weatlier cleared, 

 and though still cool, we liad a few 

 days' yield from white clover ; and 

 on the 14th the bees commenced to 

 work on basswood, ami for 16 days 

 strong colonies did nicely. On the 

 23d one of our colonies was set on the 

 scales at S^o o'clock a. m., and at S p. 

 m.,it liad gained io lbs., and on the 

 24th, from 6 a. m. until S p. m., it 

 gained 2234 lbs. Myself and son have 

 taken from .50 colonies 3,s00 lbs. of 

 extracted and SOO lbs. of comb honey, 

 and have sufficient in the liives to 

 bring the amount up to .5,000 lbs. 

 This, of course, is not a big yield, but 

 when there is so mucli general com- 

 plaint, we are thankful for such small 

 favors. I am mucli pleased with Mr. 

 Ileddon's manner of transferring, as 

 given in the Bee Journal of July 

 12th, but should object to waiting 21 



pleased with it. After extracting 

 a frame, I reverse it wlien I put it 

 back in the hive, and in three days the 

 comb is fastened to the bottom bar as 

 securely as it is to the top bar, which 

 is a great advantage in extracting, 

 shipping bees, etc. Your combs are 

 not breaking and falling out in manip- 

 ulating them. I Ijelieve the "coming 

 hive" must liave a reversible frame. 

 H. D. Edwards. 

 Delhi, 111., Aug. 10, 18S2. 



Robbing Parent Colony. — Bees win- 

 tered well around here last winter. I 

 wintered 35 colonies on their summer 

 stands, losing 2 queenless colonies. 

 We had a cold, wet spring, so much 

 so that the bees could not do any- 

 thing till the first of June. They 

 were in better condition on the first of 

 April tiian they were on the first of 

 June. They had to be fed till that 

 time; since'then they have done pretty 

 well. I got 19 swarms, and 4 by divi- 

 sion. One swarm that came off in 

 July commenced to rob the old stand 

 a few day,s after ; the two colonies are 

 about .50 feet apart; I have tried 

 everything that I have lieard of to 

 stop them, but all in vain, so I shut 

 up the robbers for 2 days and put 

 them in the cellar. Everytliing was 

 quiet then; on the second day, an 

 hour before sundown, I put them out 

 and tliey went to robbing again, so I 

 guess I will have to take them a mile 

 or two away for a month or two. One 

 among the'best ways to stop robbing, 

 I find, is to take a pane of glass 10x12, 

 or larger, and set it slanting before 

 the entrance ; tlie robbers will fiy 

 against it, and if they do find tlieir 

 way in, the guard will attack them, 

 and if they fly up tliey will fiy against 

 the glass and fall back, only to be at- 

 tacked again by the guards. The 

 regular bees will soon learn their way 

 out and in. 1. What is the reason of 

 the old colony allowing the young 

 swarm to rob them, and not allow no 

 others to rob them. 2. How can I 

 stop them. A. Rickenbacher. 



Gahanna, Ohio. Aug. 10, 1882. 



[The parent colony allowed the rob- 

 bing, probably, because tliey were 

 powerless to prevent it, and, perhaps, 

 the robbers themselves helped to re- 

 pel others. 



2. The better way we think, in this 

 case, is to exchange places with the 

 hives. — Ed.] 



Crops Enormous.— The season here 

 for tlie apiculturist as well as the agri- 

 culturist has been all that could be 

 desired. Our crops of every thing 

 that the earth produces have been 

 enormous. W. S. Rainey. 



Columbia, Tenn., Aug. 12, 1882. 



Fall Italianizing.- 1 have some old 

 black queens tliat I wish to supersede 

 with Italians this fall, after lioney 

 harvest. 1. Wliich would be the best 

 time, just as the (low of honey ceases 

 or later, when done breeding, or just 

 before going into winter quarters? 

 2. Can I take out tlie old queens and 

 introduce dollar queens late, and then 

 pack tliem up for winter? 



Henry Tilley. 



Castle Hill, Maine. 



[1. It will be better to introduce the 

 queens early as possible, so as to liave 

 time to introduce others should any 

 disaster happen. 



2. Yes ; but we would not put it off 

 that long, for the above reason. — Ed.] 



Reversible Frames.— Bees have done 



very well here this season. The sea- 

 son opened late, but has continued 

 later than usual ; white clover yield- 

 ing honey nearly through July. If we 

 get a fall yield of honey we will have 

 no reason to complain of the season's 

 work. I have been using a reversible 

 frame some this season ; and am highly 



Best During Fourteen Years.— My 



report of the honey season just past, 

 is the best during the 14 years of my 

 bee-keeping. I commenced the sea- 

 son witli 30 good colonies, and 12 that 

 in the beginning I did not expect any 

 surplus from, but from the 42 colonies 

 I liave taken 630 lbs. of comb honey, 

 and 3,700 lbs. of extracted, the best 

 colony yielding over 300 lbs., and it 

 being the best Italian colony in my 

 apiary. I have increased to 84, all in 

 the best condition for winter. I ex- 

 pect some late honey yet, as every- 

 thing is very favorable. I had 7 

 swarms run away that I know of. 



Tiios. B. QUINLAN. 

 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Aug. 9, 1882. 



Bees Robbing:.- There is no honey 

 flow now and bees are following me 

 around as I am working in the yard, 

 trying to rob. From all I can learn, 

 the present season has been the poor- 

 est for honey, in this State, for the 

 past 13 years. G. M. Doolittle. 



Borodino, N. Y., Aug. 10, 1882. 



Bees Increased 250 per cent. — My 



bees have increased by natural swarm- 

 ing 250 per cent., and are all full now 

 in tlie lower story of the hives (I use 

 Langstroth hives). They are storing 

 honev in the sur|)lus boxes, from buck- 

 whea't, catnip, goldenrod, and smart- 

 weed. "We have plenty of basswood 

 and this has been a wonderful year for 

 white clover. No swarms until June 

 25. T. F. KiNSEL. 



Shiloh, O., Aug. 11, 1882. 



1^ The Bee Journal is mailed at 

 the Chicago Postoftice every Tuesday, 

 and any irregularity in its arrival is 

 due to the postal employes, or some 

 cause beyond our control. 



