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THJi AiMERlCAISf BEE JOURNAL. 





Bees Gathering Honey. 



Bees are doing well— taking in 

 honey fast from black locust; white 

 and red clovers are coming into bloom. 

 I have 03 colonies. 



Wm. Hamilton. 



Louisville, Ky., May 17, 1883. 



Bees Biiihllng' New Comb. 



My bees built some new comb in 

 the small sections from apple tree 

 bloom, but did not complete any. My 

 colonies are now very strong, and 

 have mostly nine full frames of brood. 

 There will be a great amount of 

 swarming in this section, this year. 

 Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



New Philadelphia, O., May 21, 1883. 



What Became of His Bees ? 



Neighbor A. had two colonies of 

 bees last fall ; this spring one was 

 dead, the other good and strong. He 

 cleaned out the hive in which were 

 the living bees, and wliile doing so 

 set the frames (and bees) in the hive 

 tliat had contained the dead bees. 

 After having nicely cleaned up, he 

 thought the bees might as well stay 

 where they were and save the trouble 

 of replacing them in their own hive. 

 So lie placed them on their own stand 

 and took their own hive away. After 

 a few days he opened the hive, when, 

 lo ! not a hundred bees were found. 

 New, he is anxiously inquiring of his 

 neiglibors, who are amateur bee-keep- 

 ers, " What became of my bees V Can 

 vou tell T J. B. Craig. 



Beatrice, Neb., May 21, 1883. 



[It is a case of abnormal swarming. 

 The hive was distasteful to the bees, 

 and they " left for parts unknown." 

 Perhaps it was quite dirty, much be- 

 spattered by the diseased bees that 

 finally died in it, and the bees placed 

 there against their will, concluded to 

 " take to the woods," rather than re- 

 main in a hive that was too highly 

 perfumed for their comfort. — Ed.] 



Bees in Good Condition. 



I have 36 colonies of bees now, in 

 good condition ; I lost 8 in the winter; 

 5of them by neglect, on account of 

 being away from home. 



E. S. HOVET. 



Swanton, Iowa, May 17, 1883. 



A Cold Wave in Kentucky. 



Notwithstanding the weather here 

 has been very changeable, the season 

 so far has not been altogether un- 

 favorable. My bees have built up 

 rapidly, and have done well on fruit 

 bloom, dandelion, etc. Locustopened 

 on the 13th inst., and gave a deluge of 

 nectar till cut short off by the cold 

 wave of the 21st. We had a skift of 

 snow (a sight never before witnessed 

 here at this season of the year), on 



the night of the 21st. The bees were 

 housed for 3 days. White clover is 

 wasting. I have been feeding a swarm 

 that issued just before the present 

 cold, rainy, gloomy spell. The pros- 

 pects look better to-day (23d). I notice 

 that the three dismal, cold, rainy days 

 just past, have afflicted some of my 

 nursing nuclei wiih dysentery. The 

 weather has been unfavorable to 

 queen rearing— too changeable. 



G. \V. Demarbe. 

 Christianburg, Ky., May 23. 1883. 



Phacelia for Houey. 



I send you a bee plant for name. It 

 is an early bloomer, and the bees 

 swarm on it. The plant is a native of 

 this country. • E. E. Ewing. 



Highlands. N. C, May 8, 1883. 



[This is Phacelia pusilla, a plant 

 with no other common name than 

 that of the genus or, first part of the 

 scientific name here given. It is a 

 peculiarly Southern species, though 

 the genus is well represented through- 

 out the United States, and are all im- 

 portant honey producers. Most of the 

 members of the family (Waterleaf 

 Family), grow in shady places, but 

 this and a few others thrive in the 

 open sunshine on prairies, etc. They 

 often clothe the banks of railroads, 

 etc., on particular soils, and this, no 

 doubt, might giveahint as to their 

 cultivation, should this be desirable. 

 The ilowers are almost wholly de- 

 pendent on honey - loving insects — 

 especially bees— for fertilization, as the 

 stamens and pistils of the same flower 

 mature at a different time. The at- 

 tractions for the bees are, however, 

 such, that there is little loss in seed 

 production on this account; the pollen 

 is abundant, and the nectar copious 

 and easy of access. — T. J. Burrill, 

 Champaign, 111.] 



Cold, Cold, Cold. 



We have not had 5 days so far this 

 year, warm enough to open the bee 

 hives without danger of chilling the 

 brood, of which there is but little. It 

 freezes nearly every night. On the 

 morning of the Htli, ice was found y 

 inch thick. Bees are getting poor in 

 numbers and short of stores. 



G, M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., May 17, 1883. 



The Spring in Texas. 



The spring thus far in Texas has 

 been cold and backward. We are three 

 or four weeks later than usual. Our 

 spring crop of honey will be short. 

 On the prairies, the bees, as yet, have 

 gathered but little honey. I have 

 moved my bees from Shreveport, to 

 Arlington, west of Dallas, to take 

 advantage of the horsemint. This is 

 the great honey-producing plant of 

 Texas. My bees wintered well, as 

 they always do when they have plenty 

 of honey. Without an unusual sum- 



mer, and fall, we will not have so good 

 a honey season as the last. Our State 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention met at Mc- 

 Kinney, on the 16th of Api-il; we had 

 a good turnout, and considerable en- 

 thusiasm. The business of bee-culture 

 is largely on the increase in Texas, 

 and bids fair to be, in a short time, 

 one of our largest industries. We. of 

 the South, hope that the bee papers 

 will have nothing more about winter- 

 ing bees in them, this year. This is a 

 subject that does not interest us ; in 

 fact, we do not read the articles on 

 that subject. We would Tike, at least 

 for the summer, to have the periodi- 

 cals filled up with matter relating to 

 the general interest of bee-culture. 

 I am glad you. Mr. Editor, are dis- 

 posed to exclude personal matter, and 

 personal crimination from the Bee 

 Journal. W. R. Marshall. 



Marshall. Texas, May 18. 1883. 



Still Snowing. 



Byron said, "The moon is up, and 

 yet "it isn't night." We can say, "It 

 snows yet. but still it is not winter." 

 Bees were never so weak and poor in 

 stores at this date in my apiary. I 

 have lost 125 out of 350, and the loss 

 will amount to 150, ere warm weather 

 arrives. As the law of supply and 

 demand governing prices has not yet 

 entirely deserted apiculture, every 

 dead colony enhances the value of all 

 the living. All bloom is 2 weeks be- 

 hind time. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., May 22, 1883. 



Prospect Good. 



The bees are doing well, in spite of 

 the weather. We had a white frost 

 last night, and the night before, and 

 a big swarm of bees to-day. White 

 and alsike clovers are coming on finely, 

 and the prospects are good for a large 

 honey crop. J. V. Caluwell. 



Cambridge, 111., May 23, 1883. 



Cyprians Ahead. 



Last fall I had 55 colonies (5 being 

 weak ones) ; and, out of the 55, I lost 

 11 ; one starved, 3 swarmed out this 

 spring, and seven died with the dys- 

 entery. The Syrians and Cyprians 

 wintered the best of all, with few ex- 

 ceptions, and the Cyprians are ahead 

 of all, for they have more brood and 

 honey than any of the rest ; the out- 

 side combs are filled up with new 

 honey, and sealed up two-thirds of the 

 way down, and last Saturday (liith) 

 one of them swarmed. How is that, 

 for Cyprians, for a wet and cold 

 spring ? I think the Cyprians are the 

 hardiest race of bees in America. I 

 handle mv Cyprians without gloves 

 or veil, and "do not get stung very 

 often either, I think the man that is 

 disposing of his Cyprians is fooling 

 his time away. The snow is 2 inches 

 deep this morning, and is melting 

 fast, and it is raining now. This has 

 been the worst spring for bees I ever 

 saw, and it does not look very favora- 

 ble this morning. I do not think my 

 Cyprians will swarm to-day, and yet 

 I expect them to swarm as soon as it 

 gets warm again. 



L. A. LOWMASTEK. 



Belle Vernon. O., May 22, 1883. 



