588 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and, again, I have seen diarrhoea in 

 its worst form in well-ventilated cel- 

 lars. AVlien we learn how to, and do 

 winter our bees without the disease, 

 we will then be able to find out the 

 best methods of ventilation, and the 

 importance of their use. I think you 

 do not need any artificial heat, for tlie 

 temperature sustained by the earth 

 and 135 colonies of bees will be high 

 enough at all times. I think that the 

 probability of bee-diarrhcea does not 

 rest with any method of cellar-yenti- 

 lation. 

 2. No. 



(0 1/^ i?r WyfPR^^^^^ 



IWBXTM 



Honey for Children. 



The most discouraging part of bee- 

 keeping, to me. is disposing of the 

 honey at a paying price. If it would 

 sell in the market like butter or 

 cheese, it would be a great relief to 

 me. I wonder why parents do not buy 

 honey for their children instead of 

 adulterated candy that will kill " 40 

 rod." E.Bacon. 



Verona, N. Y. 



Half a Crop of Honey. 



"We have little more than half a 

 crop of honey here. It has been very 

 cold all through the summer. ^Ve 

 have no basswood. 



M. L. Spencer, 81-107. 



Little Genesee, N. Y., Aug. 26, 1884. 



Aster. 



Please give the name of the en- 

 closed plant. It grows plentifully 

 here, and the bees work on it all the 

 day long. Jas. Elliott. 



[It is an aster — an excellent honey- 

 producer.— Ed.] 



Direct Introduction of ftueens. 



■'Direct Introduction of Queens," as 

 advised by S. Simmins, on page 4.56, 

 has worked much damage here. Every 

 one of the pupils in bee-keeping in 

 this vicinity, have tried his plan, and 

 in every instance failed ; and to any 

 one who understands the natural laws 

 governing the honey-bee, it is simply 

 absurd. I am satisfied that no queen 

 was ever accepted in that way by a 

 colony in normal condition, and it is 

 right that they should not, or how 

 would they protect their hives without 

 this trait. " I thoroughly tested it my- 

 self. Three colonies were selected, 

 one being gentle Italian, one hybrid, 

 and the other black, all had laying 

 queens, which were removed with a 

 frame of brood and bees, and the 

 frame of brood and bees from nucleus 

 with laying young queens given as 

 directed, and the hive closed gently. 

 Now for results : In 4-5 minutes the 

 queen and every bee were dead and 

 tumbled out of the hive of the gentle 

 Italian and hybrid colonies, but the 

 blacks merely balled the queen, and 



the next morning she was found out- 

 side, but the bees were not killed in 

 that case. The nuclei were all fine 

 Italian bees and queens, It is need- 

 less to say the result was precisely as 

 I told the" lookers-on that it would be, 

 and each one acknowledged it to be 

 like their own cases. "W e have had 

 two weeks of hot weather, but to-day 

 it nearly freezes again, just like tlie 

 weather of June and July. No fall 

 honey here. We have oiir colonies 

 about ready for winter, but have to 

 record the poorest season in 10 years. 

 E. A. Morgan. 

 Columbus, Wis., Aug. 2-5, 1884. 



Garden Carrot. 



I send you a blossom, will you be 

 kind enough to tell me what itis, and 

 whether it is a good honey-plant ? 



Wilcox, Pa. A. T."Aldrich. 



[This is the common garden carrot. 

 It is becoming very abundant in some 

 parts of the country (Middle and 

 Eastern States) as a weed in fields 

 and along the roadsides, as the pars- 

 nip is in the richer soils of the West. 

 It cannot be recommended as a valua- 

 ble honey-plant.— T. J.Burrill.] 



Worst Season within 12 Years. 



The honey season is over, here in the 

 southeastern part of this State. Every 

 thing is drying up. We have had no 

 rain since July 4. Bees are idle the 

 whole day long, for neither the buck- 

 wheat nor the goldeirrod have secreted 

 any nectar. Spanish-needle cannot 

 thrive on account of the drouth. I 

 can report but half a honey crop this 

 season, yet the 31 colonies which I 

 have, are in good condition ; but if it 

 does not rain soon so that they can 

 gather some honey, I will have to feed 

 them. In short, this is the worst sea- 

 son since 1872. J. W. Sturwold. 



Havmond, Ind., Sept. 1, 1884. 



for the occasion. Again, I extend an 

 invitation to the United States and 

 Canadian bee-keepers to come to Lon- 

 don and let our honey show be one 

 that will advertise the industry and 

 open the eyes of the people to the fact 

 that " there is millions in it." 



Wm. H. Weston. 



Bee and Honey Show at London, Ont. 



Bee-keeping in this part of Canada 

 has been very successful this year. 

 We have had the nicest kind of 

 weather, and the bees have done their 

 part by gathering a large quantity of 

 the best kind of honey, although'the 

 basswood yield was very limited. We 

 had a very large amount of white 

 clover, and there was lots of it in 

 bloom on Aug. 1. I noticed a pecu- 

 liarity about my bees, and a number 

 of others have mentioned it— they 

 swarmed without hanging out at all. 

 Two of mine absconded in that man- 

 ner, although the i| story was on and 

 not halt full of honey. The bee and 

 honey show at the Western Fair, to 

 be held in this city during the last 

 week in September, promises to be 

 the best ever held in this part of 

 Canada. Special rates on all the lead- 

 ing lines of railroad will be offered, 

 so that a large number of the United 

 States bee-keepers are expected to be 

 present. During that week the Mid- 

 dlesex County Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion meet in the Board of Trade 

 rooms, which was kindly offered them 



Honey-Dew for Winter Stores. 



I have talked with several bee-keep- 

 ers about this honey-dew or bark-louse 

 honey, and we would ask Prof. Cook 

 to tell us, through the Bee Journal, 

 what he thinks about its use for win- 

 ter stores. It has been said that early- 

 gathered honey, well-sealed, was all 

 right to winter'on, but a good many 

 bee-keepers are a little afraid of this 

 nasty, black stuff. L. Fatzingee. 



Janesville, Wis. 



(Where the stores are black and dis- 

 agreeable to the taste, I sliould fear 

 to use them for wintering. This In- 

 sect-secretion is becoming quite a 

 serious matter. It so perfumes the 

 air that some beekeepers have been 

 anxious for fear that their bees had 

 the "foul brood." In riding along 

 the country, we often find the air 

 odorous for rods away from it, only 

 here it comes from the trees instead 

 of the hives. Unless the honey tastes 

 good, and would do to put on my 

 table, I should exclude it from the 

 hives in winter. — A. J. Cook.] 



Only Half a Crop. 



The honey crop in this section is 

 only about one-half a crop. 

 Cuba, N. Y. F. A. Burrill. 



Honey-Dew. 



I notice on pages 5.36 and -537, arti- 

 cles from W. C. K. Kemp and J. A. 

 Bayard, asserting that itis impossible 

 for honey-dew to be the result of 

 plant-lice. Such assertions are made 

 in the absence of close observations 

 and experiments. That scientists are 

 sometimes mistaken. I know ; but it 

 is generally by taking otlier mens' 

 views without personal observation 

 and experiment. It does not take a 

 scientist now, in this age of progress 

 in apiarian knowledge, to decide 

 where lioney-dew,' at least some of 

 it, comes from; but a common bee- 

 keeper can, if he has the opportunity, 

 satisfy any one on this subject. Dur- 

 ing the drought of last autumn, a 

 large willow tree in this section was 

 found to be covered with plant-lice. 

 The ground, grass and fence under 

 the tree were in a sticky mass with 

 evaporated honey dew. Upon taking 

 a position in the morning or evening 

 so as to bring the space between the 

 branches and ground between us and 

 the sun. the "vile stuff" could be 

 seen falling, in the shape of fine rain 

 or mist, in such quantities that the 

 bees and flies could not take care of 

 all of it. Upon closer examination, 

 since it has been proven that it was 

 exuded bv these same plant-lice. 



Webste'r, Ind. I.P.C.Steddom. 



