THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



G21 



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Delightful Weather for Bees. 



We ;iie now having very hot days 

 and warm sunimer' evenings. It "is 

 the best fall for bees to gather honey 

 that we have had for some years. 

 Yesterdav the bees returned from the 

 fields by" the thousands, before the 

 showers' came. Tlie air seemed not 

 like September— but we are liable to 

 have almost any thing up here, yet 

 more apt to have early frosts tlian 

 such delightful midsummer-like 

 weather as we are now enjoying. 



Jno. MORllIS. 



Maustou, Wis., Sept. 11, 1884. 



Only One-Half a Crop. 



We are now in the midst of golden- 

 rod bloom, and the weather is splen- 

 did for bees to gather honey from it. 

 We need it too, as bees have not 

 gathered any surplus lioney since 

 July 3. I am now looking over all of 

 my colonies, and examining their 

 condition, and those which have 

 combs to spare I take tliem and give 

 them to those that are in need of 

 any. Tliis is a good time to open the 

 hives, as there is no danger from rob- 

 bery. We can count this year's honey 

 harvest only half a crop. 



Wm. Bolling. 



Dunkirk, N. Y., Sept. 8, 18.84. 



Blue "Vervain. 



Enclosed, find specimen of plant, 

 which please name through the Jour- 

 nal. It yields a good deal of honey 

 and of fine flavor. It grows on low, 

 wet land and from three to five feet 

 high, witli a great many branches. 



Wyoming, Iowa. J. E. Hunter. 



[This is the blue vervain, verbena 

 hastata, which has been very often 

 described as an excellent honey-plant. 



— T. J. BURRILL.] 



Report for 1884. 



I commenced to extract honey on 

 July 2, and tinislied on Aug. 11. My 

 average is 2.S7 pounds to the colony. 

 Both bottom and top-boxes are full 

 now for their own use. My whole 

 crop was put in -^-gallon tin-cans. I 

 used new cans and cases, and sold my 

 honey, delivered at the depot, at Gfi 

 cents per pound. Twelve tons was the 

 amount of my crop. 



J. E. Pleasants. 



Santa Ana, Calif., Sept. 12, 1884. 



Best Season for Several Years. 



The honey crop of this vicinity is 

 the best that we have had for several 

 years. White clover yielded a surplus 

 of 2.') pounds per colony, which was 

 good in view of the empty condition 

 of the hives at the opening of the 

 season. Sweet clover was abundant 

 in blossom, but produced but little 

 honey. Buckwheat was the great 



crop, and with favorable weather a 

 large crop of honey has been pro- 

 duced ; yet a near neighbor who put 

 on boxes at the close of the clover 

 b'oom, and let the weeds grow over 

 his hives until they could hardly be 

 seen, has received no surplus, and 

 thinks that "this has been a very 

 poor season.'' We have never had 

 any honey-dew, but an abundance of 

 pollen ; yet willi loss in wintering not 

 exceeding 1 per cent., our bee-keepers 

 feel no alarm about the pollen theory. 

 Athens, Pa. I). F. Park. 



Not One Pound Per Colony. 



This region of country is nearly a 

 total failure, so far as a honey crop is 

 concerned. My apiary will not aver- 

 age one pound to the colony. No 

 honey was secreted in the flowers. 

 All of our hopes are blighted this 

 year. J. W. Margrave. 



Hiawatha, Kans., Sept. 17, 1884. 



Bee-Keepers' Meeting. 



We had a very pleasant and profit- 

 able meeting at Purdue College on 

 Tuesday, Sept. 2, with President Dr. 

 L. Snyder in the chair. Our next 

 meeting will be on the first Saturday 

 in October, at which time we shall 

 discuss several subjects of much in- 

 terest to bee-keepers. We cordially 

 invite all who have an interest in the 

 " faithfull little workers " to be pres- 

 ent at 1 p. m. on the appointed day, 

 at Purdue College, Lafayette, Ind. 

 J. M. Hicks. 



Battle Ground, Ind. 



Crop Almost a Total Failure. 



The honey crop in this part of the 

 country is nearly a total failure. 

 From 75 colonies, spring count, I have 

 increased to 120, and while the most 

 of them have ample stores for their 

 own winter use, I have not yet taken 

 200 pounds of surplus honey. Some 

 of them are now working quite lively 

 in the sections, but I cannot hope for 

 much honey, because of the lateness 

 of the season. We are having our 

 July weather in September. 



J. R. Baker. 



Keithsburgh, 111., Sept. 10, 1884. 



Marshall Co., la., Honey Show. 



The Apiarian Department at the 

 Marshall County Agricultural Fair 

 was a grand success for a beginning. 

 The exhibition of bees and honey was 

 quite large, although the premium 

 list was not all represented. It was 

 one of the most attractive features in 

 the Floral Hall, and was viewed by 

 hundreds of inquisitive spectators. 

 The display of comb and extracted 

 honey was grand and beautiful to be- 

 hold. But one colony of bees was 

 exhibited in an observatory hive. Mr. 

 S. W. Myers had a fine display of 

 queens, so that they were easily seen 

 by spectators, many of whom had 

 never seen a queen bee. Mr. Koefer, 

 on the third day of the Fair, brought 

 a fine bouquet of honey-producing 

 flowers in olooni, consisting of 22 

 varieties, and all properly labeled, 

 which was interesting to exaniine. 



The honey -extractor was a novelty to 

 many. Several supposed it to be a 

 "refrigerator" of some kind, but a 

 little explanation changed their minds. 

 The following are a few of those who 

 received premiums : Best colony of 

 bees, S. W. Myers ; largest display of 

 queen bees alive, S. W. Myers ; largest 

 and best display of comb honey, G. 

 W. Keeler. Mr. Keeler also received 

 the first premium on the best display 

 of extracted honey, and best sample 

 of comb honeynot less than 10 pounds. 

 Largest and best display of samples 

 of different kinds of honey, S. W. 

 Myers. The general feeling with our 

 bee-men, and bee-women, too, was to 

 try to do better next year. The dis- 

 play seemed to add a new zeal to api- 

 culture, and many bee-keepers were 

 led to inquire when the next county 

 bee-keepers' meeting would be held, 

 for they wanted to attend. The :\Iai- 

 shall County, Iowa, Bee Keepers' As- 

 sociation will meet at the Court House 

 in Marshalltown, Iowa, on Saturday, 

 Oct. 4, 1884, at 10:30 a. m. Subjects 

 for discussion, "Fall care and winter 

 care of bees." 



J. W. Sanders. 

 Le Grand, Iowa, Sept. 18, 1884. 



Goldenrod. 



Please give the name of the en- 

 closed flower and its value as a lioney- 

 plant. It grows around here in large 

 quantities, and bees leave buckwheat 

 for it. II. Herrick. 



Grand Rapids, Mich., Sept. 16, 1884. 



Lit is goldenrod, and is an excellent 

 honey-producer.— Ed.] 



"Worst Season for 10 Years. 



AVe have no new honey this year, 

 and all of the old honey is gone. I 

 have 80 colonies of bees, and not five 

 pounds of honey. One man had a 

 little early honey at the Fair, and he 

 will have to feed that back for winter. 

 We have less honey this year than for 

 ten years past. Cannot some one 

 send us enough for a taste when com- 

 pany comes V R. C. Aikin. 



Shambaugh, Iowa, Sept. 1.5, 1884. 



Convention at Chicago. 



^' The Northwestern Bee- Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold its fifth 

 annual convention at Owsley's Hall, 

 northwest corner of Robey and West 

 Madison streets, Chicago, 111., on 

 Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. l.S 

 and 16, 1884, commencing at 10 a. m. 

 on Wednesday, and holding five ses- 

 sions. Those who have attended one 

 of these annual reunions will need 

 no urging to induce them to come 

 again ; those who have not, should re- 

 member that Father Langstroth char- 

 acterized the last meeting as " repre- 

 senting the largest number of large, 

 practical and successful honey-pro- 

 ducers of any convention that he had 

 ever visited." This meeting being 

 held during the Inter-State Industrial 

 Exposition, reduced railroad fares 

 may be had on nearly all of the rail- 

 roads. W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



C. C. Miller, Pres. 



