THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



395 



Local Convention Directory. 



!884. Time and place of Meeting. 



June 19.— Northern Mich, at lonin. 



K. A. Palmer. Sec. 



June 20.— Iowa Central, at VVhiterset. Iowa. 



J. E. I'rvor. Sec. 



Oct. 11, 12. —Northern Mich., at Alma, Mich. 



F. A. Palmer, Sec, McBride. Mich. 



Oct. 15. IG.— Northweatern. utChicnEo, 111. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. Sec. 



Nov. ;.').— Western Micb., at Frpmnnt. Mich. 



Geo. E. Hilton. Sec. 



Dec. :i. -Southeastern Mich., at Adrian. Mich. 



A. M. Gander, Sec. 



Dec. m, 11.— Michigan State, at Lansint^. 



11. D. Cutting. Sec, Clinton. Mich. 



fW" In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requeftted to forward full particulars of 

 time :ind place of future meetintfs.- Ei). 



s^i-^SS^ii^p// 



ou/t 



Honey-Dew. 



There is a dearth of bloom here at 

 present. The tirst few white clover 

 blossoms just making their appear- 

 ance. Yesterday I noticed that the 

 bees were worliing rapidly, darting 

 away witli a jump from the' entrance, 

 and upon returning tliey entered at 

 once— tliere was no loitering. I knew 

 honey must be the Held, and I went to 

 find where it could be. I found the 

 bees busily at work on the leaves and 

 some of the twigs of the maples. I 

 send a sample of leaves and twig. 

 There is a sweet substance on the 

 leaves. Is it honey dew y The bees 

 were sucking around the little wart- 

 like protrusions on the twig. What 

 are they V I'lease answer in the Bee 

 .JouiiNAL. W. B. Dresser. 



Hillsdale, Mich., June 2, 1864. 



[Yes ; it is what is usually called 

 " honey-dew '' — which is reported to 

 be quite plenty this season. It is the 

 excretion deposited on the back of 

 the leaves by small insects called 

 aphidie or vine-fretters. The fecund- 

 ity of plant lice is almost incalculable. 

 Reaumur supposes that in one year 

 there may be 20 generations ; and he 

 has proved by experiments that one of 

 these insects may be the parent of 

 .5.90-1,900,000 descendants during its 

 life.— P:d.1 



Honey from White Mustard. 



I lost quite a number of colonies in 

 wintering. The honey they gathered 

 late last fall was not good. I think ; 

 for it was those which died that fed 

 on late honey ; and those which had 

 early spring honey came through in 

 good condition and are doing well 

 DOW. They have been working on the 

 white mustard bloom for tlie last two 

 weeks, and some of it hasljloom over 

 8 inches long. It grows about 3 feet 

 high, flourishes best on cultivated 

 land, and is a sure crop twice a year — 

 once for a .June, and the next for a 



fall crop. I have also a fine lot of 

 Rocky Mountain bee-plant for the 

 bees io work on during ,July and Au- 

 gust. It is a sure crop any where. If 

 sown in the fall it yields" line honey, 

 and keeps in blooni for a long time. 

 My cure for bee stings is alcohol. I 

 always keep a small quantity in the 

 bee-yard and ai>ply a little to the part 

 stung when it prevents any swelling 

 wliatever ; but I lind what will cure 

 bee-stings on one bee- keeper will have 

 no effect on another. 



JAS. JAIIDINE. 



Ashland, Neb., June 9, 18S4. 



Good Work. 



The season, although cold till with- 

 in a few days, has been very promis- 

 ing with me". By slight feeding every 

 night, brood-rearing has been fully 

 kept up, and my colonies are now in 

 No. 1 condition. During the week 

 ending May 31, one colony of pure 

 Italians gathered 72 pounds of honey 

 from apple bloom ; and the other col- 

 onies produced an average quantity. 

 The prospect is fair now for a good 

 yield from white clover ; still we may 

 have it spoiled by a drought. So far 

 in June the weather has been very 

 warm. J. E. Pond, Jr. ' 



Foxboro, Mass., June 7, 1884. 



Damaging Floods in Texas. 



We are ha\ing too much rain for 

 bees or anything else. Such floods 

 were not seen here since the days of 

 Noah. Thirty-two inches of water 

 fell in 16 days ; and 20 inches of it 

 fell in 48 "hours. The farms are 

 washed away, crops are badly dam- 

 aged, and millions of dollars worth of 

 property destroyed. Railroad bridges 

 are all gone, and the mails are slow. 

 Horse-mint is now blooming, and if 

 we can have nice weatiier, we will get 

 a fair honey crop this year. I have 

 been looking for a report in the Bee 

 Journal of the Texas Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, as it was selected as the 

 bee-paper in which to publish the 

 proceedings. Seventy-one full colo- 

 nies and 100 3-frame nuclei is my re- 

 port now. B. F. Carroll. 



Dresden, Tex., June 4, 1884. 



[The report you mention has not, as 

 yet, been received.— Ed.] 



A Great Loss. 



Owing to the extreme drouth of last 

 fall in this section, a large number of 

 colonies of bees starved to death dur- 

 ing the past winter and this spring. 

 What few colonies are left, unless 

 tliey were fed early in the spring, are 

 still weak. White clover was never 

 better. Strong colonies are doing 

 splendidly at present. 



Wm. Robson. 



Rolla, JIo., June 9, 1884. 



Good Results in Wintering. 



My 101 colonies of bees were left on 

 the summer stands, and were fixed 

 up last winter simply by placing 

 sticks .across the holes of the tops of 

 the close-fltling 12x12 frames, tucking 

 quilts over the satne, contracting the 



entrances to the hives, and thus 

 severely letting them alone until May 

 1. The result is: 9.") colonies are iii 

 excellent, active condition ; (i died 

 from being out of stores. I do not 

 use the extractor, but work my bees 

 for c(mib honey exclusively. I feed 

 them no '• slops," but winter them on 

 the best ripe, sealed honey. I use no 

 chaff or double-walled hives, and have 

 always succeeded in wintering bees 

 with but little mortality, and to my 

 own entire satisfaction. 



II. S. Van Anglen. 

 Waverly, Mo., June 9, 1884. 



Those Trembling Bees. 



On page 364 of the Bee .Journal, 

 a correspondent writes about trem- 

 bling bees that are killing off small 

 black bees. I have a colony that has 

 been acting in a like manner for a 

 fortnight. I opened the hive and 

 could see these shiny blacks among 

 the Italians on the combs. It appears 

 to me that these little shiny ones 

 originate in tlie colony which is in- 

 fested by them. In the Dictionary of 

 Practical Apicolture, recently issued, 

 I find the following: " Robber bees 

 that have lost their hair, and become 

 black and shiny, were supposed by 

 Huber to be a distinct kind of bee; 

 and in several works they are men- 

 tioned by the name of black bees." I 

 caught a black one, a few moments 

 ago, and tried to make it sting, but it 

 did not. I tried the same experiment 

 before, and the bee made a very feeble 

 attempt at stinging. I saw the same 

 thing several years ago. The colony 

 thus infested is quite populous, and 

 apparently all right. The query is : 

 Where do the trembling Italians and 

 shiny blacks come from V If they are 

 robbers, why do they not attack weak 

 colonies V Why persist in attacking 

 a strong one for weeks? And, what 

 makes the Italians tremble V 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Peoria, 111., June 10, 1884. 



ANSWERS BY 



fames Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Fastening Foundation in Sections. 



Will Mr. Ilcddon describe as ex- 

 plicitly as possible through " What 

 and How," the manner of using the 

 Parker foundation fastener V 



Mrs. E. L. Swartwood. 



Clearfield, Iowa, June 3, 1884. 



Answer.— Yes ; and I shall be glad 

 to do so. In my estimation this fast- 

 ener will never be equaled by any 

 other that does not have the sliding- 

 back movement, and any that does is 

 a Parker fastener, is it not V When 

 these machines are turned out from 

 a manufactory, they are not fittted 

 up. Tlie receiver must adjust the 

 screws (if they need it), and see that 

 the bearing is equal on all sides and 

 corners ; that the section-rest is added 



