cyj^' 



DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., JAKUAKY 16, 1884. 



No. 3. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Pbopkietou, 



^- Mr. A. II. Holcomb, of Winne- 

 bago, has sold his apiary, as advertisetl 

 in Bee Journal, to Mr. C. M. IIol- 

 lingsworth, of Iowa City, Iowa. 



^" We have received Vennor's 

 Almanac for 1881, published by the 

 American News Company of New 

 York. Vennor is sadly " out " on his 

 guesses about the weather for Janu- 

 ary, so far. He talks of " brightness 

 and balminess," when the mercury is 

 dancing around the thirties below zero. 



^" Just as last week's Bee Jour- 

 nal was ready for the press we re- 

 ceived by mail a fine Christmas bou- 

 quet from Mr. J. D. Enas, of Napa, 

 California, which he cut on Christmas 

 day out of doors. It was a pleasant 

 contemplation when we were enjoy- 

 ing (V) the winter weather at 28° be- 

 low zero, that in California— the flow- 

 ers were blooming out of doors, 

 spreading their fragrance all around. 

 Mr. Enas has our thanks for the fine 

 bouquet. 



1^ It is now quite time to be mak- 

 ing arrangements for all the hives, 

 sections, foundation, and other arti- 

 cles needed in the apiary which re- 

 quire time to make and get in readi- 

 ness for the coming honey harvest. If 

 you fail to send your orders to some 

 responsible dealer in proper time, you 

 must not complain if these necessary 

 articles are not on hand in time to aid 

 in augmenting your receipts of 1884. 

 The reason for trying to impress this 

 upon the minds of all, is the fact that, 

 last year, there were many complants 

 because orders could not be filled as 

 soon as received by the dealers all 

 over the country. 



^"Mr. O. O. Poppleton, of Wil- 

 liamstown, Iow;i. has sent us the fol- 

 lowing extract from the New Hampton 

 Courier, on the subject of bee pastur- 

 age: 



Look out for the spread of alsike or 

 melilot clover in tiie grain fields. Brit- 

 ish uiillers say its seed come to them 

 in California wheat; they are highly 

 objectionable fmm the odor, and it is 

 hard to sep.arate them from the wheat. 

 We notice that this clover is becoming 

 a positive nuisance along the road- 

 sides in some portions of northern Ill- 

 inois. We drove along roads this fall 

 where the alsike was so abundant and 

 so tall, that it was with difficulty two 

 teams could pass each other. It hid 

 the fences as effectually as snowbanks 

 ever did in winter, and extended com- 

 pletely out to the line of travel. The 

 law about noxious weeds along the 

 roadsides, should be enforced against 

 this pest.— Prairie Farmer. 



The above extract from the editorial 

 columns of the Praiiie Fanner, is 

 about as stupid a blunder as is possi- 

 ble to make. It speaks of alsike clover 

 [Trifolium hybrida) as being identical 

 witli melilot clover (Melilotus alba). 

 while in fact, the two plants bear no 

 more resemblance to each other, than 

 does common clover and milkweed. 

 Alsike clover very much resembles 

 common red clover, and on some soils 

 makes more valuable forage than red 

 clover. Its seed is also very valuable, 

 bringing from $H to $12 per bushel in 

 the wholesale markets. It is utterly 

 impossible for it to become a roadside 

 nuisance, as it rarely grows over 2 feet 

 high. 



Melilot or sweet clover is, of course, 

 the plant referreil to by the editor. It 

 grows to the heiglit of 4 to 6 feet, and 

 is valuable for the large amount of 

 fine flavored honey which it yields. 

 Some of our liest bee-keepers are 

 growing it on their farms quite largely, 

 and the editor of the Prairie Farmer 

 could dome no greater service than by 

 teaching me liow I can induce this 

 " imisance " to grow on my farm as 

 thriftly as he says it does in Northern 

 Illinois. I am afraid he thought 

 more of the little trouble it happened 

 to make him personally, than of its 



real value in furnishing such a boun- 

 tiful yield of one of our sweetest and 

 purest productions of nature. 



The idea that its seeds are objec- 

 tionaljle to millers is a new one, and I 

 am very much inclined to think that 

 it is another blunder, the seeds of 

 another kind of clover being referred 

 to. I judge this is so, from the fact 

 that the seeds of both, the Alsike and 

 melilot clover, are so small as to be 

 quite readily separated from wheat. 

 O. O. Poppleton. 



i^ The Price List for 1884 of Henry 

 Alley, "Wenham, Mass., is received. 

 Mr. Alley has inserted the following 

 offer, which our new subscribers may 

 desire to take advantage of : 



The American Bee Journal 

 (Weekly) is published by Thomas G. 

 Newman, Chicago, Ills., at $2.00 per 

 annum. To all new subscribers to the 

 above, we will send one of our best 

 queens on receipt of $1.00. 



1^ Mr. J. M. Hicks, in the Grange 



Bulletin, gives the following opinions 

 about good tested queens and laying 

 workers : 



A good prolific queen will always 

 lay her eggs in close, concentric circles, 

 and but one egg in a cell. You will 

 also find both sides of the combs 

 filled with eggs and brood alike, which 

 is sure evidence of a fertile queen, 

 which has mated with a drone. Never 

 buy cheap queens, believing them to 

 be as good as the high-priced queens, 

 as there is as great a difference in the 

 real value of queens as in any other 

 stock. 



One of the most troublesome things 

 for the apiarist to contend with, is 

 the pest, called a fertile worker, which 

 is frequently very annoying to queen- 

 breeders, as well as to some who only 

 keep a few colonies of bees. You can 

 always know when a hive is posssessed 

 with a fertile worker, by the appear- 

 ance of the brood in the combs, which 

 is always drone-brood, and very un- 

 even, with many of the cells contain- 

 ing from two to six eggs in each, as 

 well as several cells havnig none. 



I8^ We now club the British Bee 

 Journal and our "Weekly for $3.50. See 

 •change in prices on first page. 



