THE AMERICAiN BEE JOURNAL. 



587 



readers of the Bee Journal had a 

 like experience 'i There seems to be 

 occasionally an oasis in this State, 

 but here the season for snrplus has 

 been the poorest in 10 years. It my 

 liopes are realized, I shall consider 

 that bee-keeping pays even in such a 

 season as tliis, with all its contrary 

 weather. W. 11. S. Grout. 



Kennedy, N. Y., Sept. 4. 1882. 



Preparing to Feed.— The long drouth 

 Las been very hard on my bees— no 

 rain to speak of since July 18. I have 

 several colonies that will not get 

 honey enough to winter on. 1. When 

 shall I commence to feed? 2. Are 

 there any sweets that I can make a 

 good syrup from, that will cost me 

 less than A sugar. W. A. Small. 



Waltham, Mass., Sept. 5, 1882. 



[1. Commence feeding soon as satis- 

 fied they will need it. 



2. There is nothing cheaper than 

 A sugar that we would recommend. — 

 Ed.] 



Why is It !— I have one colony of 

 bees that has been carrying out brood 

 for about 4 weeks. Tlie brood is in all 

 stages, from larva; to full grown. 

 They were transferred June 12. The 

 colony is an old one, from which no 

 swarms have issued either this or 

 last year. Please give the cause of 

 this destruction of brood, and, if pos- 

 sible, a remedy 'i 



Wm. Glennon. 



Williamstown, Mo., Sept. 2, 1882. 



[The queen in that hive, or the 

 strain of bees, are good for nothing as 

 workers, and they are probably in a 

 starving condition. The only remedy 

 we can suggest, is to supersede the 

 queen and give plenty of feed. — Ed.] 



Quite Cheerins. — My bees, since the 

 last of June, nave done well. My 

 crop this far is 9.000 pounds of very 

 nice extracted honey. The weather is 

 now fine, and honey is coming in fast. 

 If the good weather holds, I shall get 

 several thousand pounds more. 



() Cluxe 



Iowa City, Iowa, Sept. 4, 1882. 



Bees on a Spree.— Old Sol has scarce- 

 ly shown us his blushing face this 

 summer. Great black clouds have 

 hidden it completely ; but whetlier or 

 not these clouds are lined with silver 

 I cannot say, still, this I know, they 

 are brimful! of rain, and they have 

 copiously sprinkled the country witli 

 that cooling beverage, and that they, 

 or something else, have filled the flow- 

 ers with honey. Everything that 

 grows, from a skunk-cabbage to a 

 rose, seems to bubble over with nec- 

 tar. The bees are on a spree for the 

 first time in three years. One would 

 think that they swarmed for mere 

 recreation. They come without end, 

 and, like riches, " betake to them- 

 selves wings and fly awav." From .5 

 colonies in the spriiig I have lost 7 or 

 8 swarms, and yet have a decent in- 

 crease. One swarm I hived three 



times, and the last time I gave them 

 a frame of brood, but they evidently 

 thought very little of babies, for they 

 filed out again and sougtit some 

 " leafy bower among the wooded dell," 

 and oh, such tempers as they have, 

 too. Nothing seems to give them 

 more pleasure than to jab five minutes 

 of profanity and physical activity in- 

 to the unsophisticated looker on. Is 

 the Swiss wax extractor patented ; if 

 so, by whom is it held 'i 



F. L. Dresser. 

 Hillsdale, Mich., Sept. 4, 1882. 



[It is not patented.— Ed.] 



Solidagro. — Please give name of 

 plant enclosed, and its value as a 

 honey plant ; bees work on it very 

 much. It grows 5 to 6 feet high 

 in waste places, and there is a splendid 

 flow of honey from it when the 

 weather permits the bees to fly. 



Frank A. Eaton. 



Bluffton, Ohio, Sept. 2, 1882. 



[It is a solidago, to which family 

 the goidenrod also belongs. The 

 solidagos are all good honey plants. 

 —Ed.] 



A Few Good Days Needed. — My 



honey crop will be short this season 

 unless we have favorable weather 

 from this time until the last of the 

 month or later. I have a great deal 

 of nice honey which a few days would 

 get capned so I can crate it. 



II. W. Anderson. 

 Gibson's, Ind., Sept. 6, 1882. 



No Let Dp.— We are having the 

 largest and longest honey flow I ever 

 knew in Illinois; there has been no 

 let up here since it commenced, the 

 first week in June. Bees continue to 

 swarm, notwithstanding some have 

 divided them and taken other plans 

 to prevent it; but swarm they will, 

 and some are the largest swarms I 

 ever saw. I divided a colony (No. 6) 

 and left the queen in the old hive, and 

 In about 3 weeks afterwards the par- 

 ent hive cast 2 swarms on the same 

 day, one about 9 a.m., and the other 

 at 2 p.m.; both swarms had queens, 

 and are now making snrplus honey. 

 This is something new in my experi- 

 ence, and I write to know if it is a 

 common occurence among bee-men. 

 I have a garden near my bees, sown 

 to buckwheat, and it has been in 

 bloom over a week, but I have never 

 seen a bee work on it. Can you tell 

 me the reason, and what is the best 

 kind of buckwheat for honey ? 



A. W. FiSK. 



Bushnell, 111., Aug. 1, 1882. 



[It is not unusual for two swarms to 

 be cast almost simultaneously; and 

 in the^case cited, tlie queen was super- 

 seded or lost in the division. As to 

 the bees not working on the buck- 

 wheat, it was because the bees found 

 a better llow in something else. We 

 doubt if there is much in buckwheat 

 as regards honey flow, although it is 

 claimed by some that the silverhull is 

 much the best.— Ed.] 



Crooked Combs.— I am a beginner 

 in bee-culture and wish to grow into 

 it as fast as I can with my limited 

 means. I have a lot of 1.59 acres in 

 town, but there is considerable vacant 

 land about me. I bought one colony 

 of bees in a Langstroth hive in July, 

 put a second story on in August, took 

 two frames of brood and honey from 

 the lower and put in the ui)per story, 

 had no foundation, so I filled it up 

 with empty frames. Aug. 30, having 

 received foundation, I opened the 

 hive and found that the bees had been 

 building crooked, crosswise, etc,; also 

 there was a queen-cell on one of the 

 old combs which I had taken from the 

 lower part, capped over. I took out 

 the empty frames and some of the 

 worst of those that had comb and 

 honey, and inserted frames with 

 foundation. 1 wish soon to introduce 

 a new queen, but the lower frames 

 are so badly stuck together by comb 

 built between, that I do not know 

 what to do. Will you please inform 

 me through the Journal? Also 

 whether you think I can make it a 

 success here in town ? 



J. M. FOOTE. 



Creston, Iowa, Sept. 1, 1882. 



[You had better let them remain as 

 they are till apple bloom, then transfer 

 them to hives with foundation. 

 Adopt Mr. Heddon's system of trans- 

 ferring. Vou can make a success of 

 bee-culture in town, if you do not aim 

 to keep more than 100 to 200 colonies, 

 by planting waste places with sweet 

 clover, catnip, motherwort, etc. By 

 planting a little each year, your bee 

 pasture will increase with your bees, 

 and you will scarcely realize the ex- 

 pense.— Ed.J 



The Swarming Fever.- There are 

 many things in the bee papers that 

 I do not swallow quite. I have tested 

 the anti-swarming plans this year, 

 and for several years, but I have no 

 sure way yet. The new swarm on the 

 old stand has answered about a third 

 of the time this year. Cutting out 

 queen-cells does not amount to much 

 with Italians ; giving room is of small 

 account ; changing and room, and 

 cutting out will work tolerably. Re- 

 sult— no sure way,when the honey flow 

 is good. Change, with room, and you 

 will succeed nearly every time. Just 

 a little living amount of honey, and 

 the Italians will swarm and nothing 

 can stop them. Bees have done well, 

 but honey is rather scarce. Too much 

 rain. Amount for July .5.6.5, Aug. 6 

 inches; nice drizzling showers and 

 often, good weather for crops but poor 

 for honey. White clover extra bloom, 

 but honey washed out by the frequent 

 rains. Basswood the same. Prospect 

 for fall (lowers is extra good, and if 

 frost holds off, may pile up the honey. 

 I do not think the market will be 

 glutted with honey this fall. I sell all 

 of mine at home and could sell much 

 more if I had it. I think I never had 

 nicer honey than 1 have had this year. 

 But no great rush. Hives filled with 

 bees and working well but honey 



