570 



fHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



with linden honey. 1. What occa- 

 sions honey-dew? 2. What color is 

 the honey V 3. Is it wholesome for 

 winter V Bees are swarmina; every 

 day, from 1 to 4 swarms. I have .53 

 colonies and 1,035 lbs. of honey from 

 19 colonies in the spring, and some- 

 times almost wish for the honey flow 

 to stop till I can catch np. 



Wm. Malone. 

 Oakley, Iowa, Aug. 26, 1882. 



[1. In your case, you have pretty 

 well answered " what occasions hon- 

 •ey-dew." On page 556 we answered 

 the question for Mr. Wm. Sturgill. 



2. Sometimes quite dark ; at other 

 times amber-colored. 



3. We would not wish to risk it for 

 wintering on. — Ed.] 



Manuni's Hive. — I wish to correct 

 what is probably a mistake of the 

 compositor in giving the dimensions 

 of A. E. Manum's frame, which reads 

 "22 inches long and 9* deep." It 

 should read 12x9} inches inside. It is 

 on page 5,39, Aug. 23d. According to 

 my limited experience, Mr. Manum's 

 hive is of very simple construction, 

 and very easy to handle bees in. 

 All you have to do, is to turn back the 

 cap and remove the cloth from the 

 brood chamber, and raise the frames 

 with as much convenience as though 

 it was a simplicity Langstroth. I am 

 much pleased with your answers to my 

 questions in regard to swarming, 

 etc. Twenty years ago there were 

 hundreds of swarms of bees kept where 

 there is now hardly one, in this sec- 

 tion. In many instances those who 

 kept bees then have never seen a 

 frame hive, and know comparatively 

 nothing of tlie modern improvements. 

 They are afraid to expend a dollar or 

 two ifor a book or paper to learn from. 

 A. P. Fletcher. 



Ludlow, Vt., Aug. 27, 1882 



An Error. — I notice m the Bee 

 JouiiNAL of Aug. 23d, page 539, you 

 have made an error in giving the size 

 of my frame, in answering Mr. A. P. 

 Fletcher. You say my frame is 22 

 inches long ; to be correct it should 

 have read 12 inches long by 9* deep, 

 inside measure. This has been the 

 poorest honey season I have ever ex- 

 perienced. A. E. Manum. 



Bristol, Vt., Aug. 26, 1882. 



[It was a typographical error, such 

 as are easily committed, but some- 

 times lead to prejudicial impressions. 

 —Ed.] 



A 8ugg:estion. — Bees have not done 

 well in our part of the country. I 

 think it would be a very interesting 

 feature in the National Convention to 

 have some of the different makes of 

 mills at work manufacturing founda- 

 tion at some time during the meeting. 

 It would greatly help those desiring 

 to buy to decide which kind they 

 would like best. It is my intention 

 to he there, and I hope to see some 

 machines working. 



John Crawfoud. 



Pleasant. Ind., Aug. 28, 1882. 



Honey-Dew. — I send you specimens 

 of honey-dew on the "leaves of the 

 paw-paw, that I picked in the woods 

 this morning. It is very abundant, 

 and is mostly under the maples — is 

 general through ttie woods. Bees are 

 gathering it industriously, and build- 

 ing out foundation in a most satis- 

 factory manner. It is not conBned to 

 any particular leaves. 



II. R. Boardman. 



East Townsend, O., Aug. 30, 1882. 



[The honey-dew was nearly ab- 

 sorbed from the leaves into the paper 

 inclosing them ; on a very few there 

 was a glistening spot which showed 

 its presence, but even these had evap- 

 orated and entirely disappeared after 

 12 hours' exposure to the atmosphere, 

 from which we conclude there is very 

 little saccharine matter about the 

 honey dew.— Ed.] 



Botanical. — I send plants for name. 

 No. 1 grows 6 feet ; No. 2 grows 5 to 

 6 feet ; No. 3, 2 to 4 feet ; No. 4, 3 to 4 

 feet ; No. 5, 5 feet ; No. 6, .5 to 6 feet. 

 All these plants grow on dry soil ex- 

 cept No. 3, whicli grows on rather 

 moist soil. J. W. Pigg. 



Riverside, Iowa. 



[No. 1 is figwort or Simpson honey 

 plant ; No. 2 is a stranger to us ; No. 

 3, blue vervain ; No. 4, motherwort ; 

 No. 5, yellow-weed ; No. 6 is a ver- 

 vain.— Ed.] 



Oil the Wing.— I tookadrive through 

 the woods this morning, and honey 

 dew was abundant on the leaves of 

 hickory and oak trees. As I sit and 

 write I look across tlie divide, and see 

 the leaves shining with nectar, so 

 plentiful that a clear drop forms at 

 tlie terminal of the leaves. Many 

 fields are yellow with the bloom of 

 Spanishneedles, and white clover is 

 rank and blooming. Bees are swarm- 

 ing, and from iiresent appearances, 

 this locality will be favored with a 

 large honey flow this autumn. On the 

 wing. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Downing, Mo., Aug. 25, 1882. 



Large Increase.— The bees are now 

 booming. We have had, the last two 

 weeks past, the best honey weather 

 we ever had. This has been a very 

 good season for increase, and bees are 

 now storing honey very fast. I have 

 increased from 56 to 230 colonies, and 

 will not look for so large a crop of 

 honey as if I had increased less. My 

 bees have, however, enough honey to 

 winter on, and should the weather 

 hold favorable a reasonable time, I 

 will expect a fair average crop. 



H. S. Hackman. 



Peru, 111., Aug. 28,1882. 



Too Much Swarming.— My bees are 

 doing well. They swarmed too much 

 the 1st of August, but have got down 

 to business now, and I expect a good 

 crop of honey. .Iohn Erwin. 



Louisville, 111., Aug. 25, 1882. 



Bees and Crops.— Surely Providence 

 has smiled upon our Lone Star State 

 this year. VVheat, oats, corn, cotton, 

 and all kinds of fruit in abundance. 

 Sugar cane is doing finely. I have 

 lived here for 25 years, and have never 

 seen a more bountiful crop of every- 

 thing. A fine yield of honey has been 

 gathered in all parts of the State, ex- 

 cept a few of our Southern counties. 

 The linden crop was a failure. My 

 bees gathered enough to keep them 

 breeding up well, and now they are 

 gathering rapidly from what we call 

 milkweed and boneset. Next month 

 goldenrod will commence blooming, 

 and from appearances now we will 

 have a good fall crop. I have had 

 several swarms this month, and am 

 now rearing queens and superseding 

 old ones. We can rear them here until 

 November. I sell most of my honey 

 in Houston and Giilveston. In 2 pound 

 glass jars, I get $3.60 per dozen wliole- 

 sale, and 6 pound buckets, $9 per 

 dozen ; 1 pound sections, $15 per 100, 

 and find ready sale for it. Pure ex- 

 tracted honey is fast taking the place 

 of adulterated syrups. I get a great 

 many letters from bee-men in the 

 older States, and take pleasure in an- 

 swering them all, and will continue 

 to give all the information I can re- 

 garding the resources of our State. 



J. W. ECKMAN. 



Richmond, Tex., Aug. 24, 1882. 



Still Swarming.— I have been in 

 hopes, from day to day, that the bees 

 would quit swarming, but they do 

 not. We have had from 1 to 4 swarms 

 every day for the last 3 or 4 weeks, 

 and young swarms will fill a full hive, 

 with little foundation starters, in from 

 8 to 10 days ; and in from 25 to 30 days 

 I have taken out 25 lbs. of surplus 

 honey. Since spring, from 24 colo- 

 nies, I have increased my stock to 85 ; 

 all natural swarms. I often put 2 

 swarms in one hive, on account of be- 

 ing short of hives. 



I. W. Koch, M. D. 



Quincy, 111., Aug. 30, 1882. 



One Steady Flow of Honey. — Here 

 in Southwestern Iowa, in the fore part 

 of the season up to linden bloom, 

 about the first of July, we had to feed 

 to keep the bees from starving, and 

 from that time till the present we 

 have had one continual flow of honey, 

 and our bees our now swarming at 

 the rate of from 3 to 6 per day, which 

 is unprecedented here. We put them 

 back as fast as they come out, as there 

 is more profit in the honey than in 

 bees at this time of the year. If it 

 should continue as it is now up till 

 frost, we will be abie to send in a large 

 report at the end of the season. We 

 now have -500 two-poinid sections about 

 ready, in addition to 200 already taken 

 off from our 27 colonies. 1 inclose a 

 branch from a small busli that grows 

 here in the woods and fence corners, on 

 which the bees work from daylight 

 till dark. What is it V 



S. C. Smith. 



Wheeler's Grove, la., Aug. 27, 1882. 



[It is Indian currant or coral berry. 

 —Ed. I 



