312 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



White Clover Bloom. 



The boom is here on white clover. 

 The ground is literally covered with 

 bloom. The bees are busy from morn- 

 ing till night. The battle opened th'is 

 day week, and the hives are now full 

 of honey, and the bees are working in 

 the boxes. It is the tinest flow I ever 



saw. I. H. SHI3IEK. 



Hillsboro, III, June 7, 1883. 



Good Prospeet for Honey in New York. 



My 30 colonies wintered without 

 loss, but I lost 2 by spring dwindling. 

 They are now in good condition for 

 the honey liarvest. for which the 

 prospect is good. 



Charlie W. Bradish. 



Glendale, N. Y., June 10, 1883. 



Discussion on tlie Best Frame. 



I have had some letters concerning 

 my article on i>age 2B3 ; they speak of 

 it as a challenge to discuss the frame 

 subject. I ask all to read the article 

 once more. Generally discussion 

 soon merges into contention ; and 

 then long articles are written on both 

 sides, to show that what one asserted 

 is ture or false, when, whether true or 

 false, is of no consequence ; for in- 

 stance, of what use is it to know if 

 they have got the Langstroth frame }4 

 inch too large, to a sensible man tliat 

 uses a sensible frame. J. W. Porter's 

 style, on page 288, is what we want. 



E. B. SOUTHWICK. 



Mendon. Mich., June 8, 1883. 



Not at all Discouraged. 



I put 112 colonies of bees in the 

 cellar last fall, and took out 108, all in 

 good condition. The spring has been 

 cold and windy. The bees consumed 

 more honey this spring, than during 

 all the winter. I never lose any bees 

 unless I was to blame for not liaving 

 them in proper condition for winter. 

 I can manage 300 colonies alone, with 

 some cheap help to make hives and 

 boxes, and to assist in swarming 

 time. Chas. Follett. ' 



Osage, Iowa, June 8, 1883. 



May 2-5, and lasting from 4 to 5 weeks, 

 during which time it is entirely cov- 

 ered with bees. The leaves are al- 

 most hid by (lowers. F. A. Bohl. 

 Summum, 111., June 4, 1883. 



[It is mock orange (FhikuUlphus 

 coronari(i) ; an exotic shrub, very com- 

 monly cultivated.— T. J. Burrill.] 



Mock Orange for Honey. 



Bees, in tliis vicinity, are swarming, 

 very lively. I have had 9 swarms ; 

 one colony having given 3 swarms, 

 viz.: May 26, June 1, and June 4. 

 Another one, an Italian, has swarmed 

 twice. My bees Inive stored no honey 

 in the surplus boxes yet, but I expect 

 to receive some soon, as the Alsike, 

 wliite clover and locust ai'e in bloom. 

 The ants are very troublesome, mak- 

 ing their nests in the upper story, 

 around the surplus boxes, and run- 

 ning into the lower story when I open 

 the hives, irritating the bees so that 

 it is impossible to work with them. 

 Basswood, which commences to bloom 

 about July l,is very full of bloom, 

 this year. I enclose a flower and 

 leaf for name. It is an ornamental 

 shrub commencing to bloom about 



Swarminjr and Storing Honey in Ark. 



I started the spring with 30 colo- 

 nies ; and have already taken over 

 2,000 pounds of pxtracted and 60 

 pounds of comb honey. Had it not 

 been for the recent cold weather and 

 the last few days of rain, I should 

 have done much better 1 have an 

 increase of 1.5 good strong swarms. I 

 would nc* be without the Bee Jour- 

 nal for any price. I shall work a 

 large number of oolonies. another 

 season. R.J.Adams. 



Lakeport, Ark., June -5, 1883. 



Good Outlook for Honey. 



1 put into winter quarters 4.5 good 

 strong colonies, and 44 came out. My 

 bees are in tine condition, and are 

 booming, giving from one to Ave 

 swarms every day. My section boxes 

 are almost ready to take off. White 

 clover is abundant, and the outlook is 

 good. Wm. Taylor. 



Sinclair, 111., June 11, 1883. 



Long, Cold Spring Weather. 



We have had a long, cold winter ; 

 and even since the spring quarter has 

 appeared, we have had only sometimes 

 a day which we rejoice to see. as a 

 summer day. but the day following, 

 and for several days, the old cold 

 gloom again. One day in May, .it 

 commenced to rain, then turned to 

 snow, and snowed the whole after- 

 noon ; however, at present, and for 

 some days past, it appears like settled 

 summer weather, and plum trees are 

 in full bloom. There is an abund- 

 ance of dandelion bloom, apple trees 

 also are coming in nicely, and I hope 

 we shall have a good season yet. 



Edward Moore. 



Barrie, Ont., June 5, 1883. 



National Convention. 



Providence permitting, I shall go 

 to the National Convention at Toronto, 

 if the time is made to suit. For my 

 own part, and 1 believe the majority 

 of Southern bee-keepers, would prefer 

 the last of September, as the most 

 suitable time for holding the meeting, 

 or not later than the 10th of October. 

 The reason I prefer September is, 

 there are more opportunities then of- 

 fered for the purchase of " excursion 

 tickets " to the North. I hope the 

 committee of arrangements will select 

 the time at as early a day as possible, 

 so as to give bee-keepers ample time 

 to effect all necessary arrangeements 

 to go. J. "P. H. Brown. 



Augusta, Ga., June 7, 1883. 



Too Mnch Rain. 



We have had rain. rain, rain, for 

 the past two weeks, till everything is 

 flooded with water. It became warm 

 about May 2-5, but since then it has 

 been so wet that the bees could do 

 little or nothing. I am feeding my 

 bees to keep them from starving. 

 White clover promises well, and with 

 good weather I hope the bees will 

 soon get a living. My best colony 

 gave a swarm on the 9th. owing to 

 extra care, as I wished to get queen- 

 cells produced by natural swarming 

 as early as possible for queen-rearing. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., June 12, 1883. 



Wonderful Honey Plant. 



The winter before last I procured 

 a small package of sweet clover (meli- 

 Jot) seed, and sowed about 6 square 

 rods in March, 1882, for a test. It 

 grew last year, and sent its roots well 

 in the ground. The past spring it 

 shot up from the roots quite early, 

 and. although from the lirst week in 

 April to the present time, a good rain 

 has not fallen on it, it put on a wond- 

 erful growth, and much of it is 6 feet 

 high. It began to bloom about the 

 middle of May, and is now a perfect 

 mass of flowers, swarming with bees. 

 I do not know how long it will last, 

 but it certainly is one of the finest 

 honey plants I ever saw. I think an 

 acre of it would supply a large apiary. 

 It is certainly worth trying in Texas, 

 as it seems to resist the effects of dry 

 weather so well. The spring has not 

 been a favorable one for bees ; but 

 little swarming; doing well now, how- 

 ever. W. P. Hancock. 



Salado, Texas, June 7, 1883. 



Perpetual Bloom. 



On April 1, 1883, I sold off what 

 bees I had in Southern Nebraska, and 

 I made up my mind to find a milder 

 climate for myself, and also a place 

 that my bees would not have to re- 

 main housed for from 5 to 6 months 

 in the year. Here, near Trankeyone, 

 we are locating an apiary of 200 colo- 

 nies, some of which have, at tliis 

 writing, 70 pounds of as fine honey as 

 I have ever saw. The honey flow has 

 every appearance of being good for 6 

 to 7 weeks yet. This is a land of al- 

 most perpetual bloom, as I am told 

 by the oldest inhabitants, the climate 

 being so mild that it scarcely ever 

 freezes, and at the same time never 

 becomes extremely hot ; it is rarely 

 above 70^ Fahr. All kinds of fruit 

 grow to perfection here. Apple, pear, 

 peach, apricot, plum, cherry, grapes, 

 oranges, lemons, prunes, figs and al- 

 monds, and small fruits, such as cur- 

 rants, raspberries, blackberries, etc. 

 The wheat and barley crop promises 

 a big yield. Trankeyone is a signal 

 station on the coast range, in Southern 

 California. Joseph Sayler. 



Santa Barbara Co., Cal.. June 1.1883. 



Bees Doing Lively Work. 



We have had a very cold, wet spring 

 here ; but, in spite of the cold and wet, 

 my bees are doing finely. I had the 

 largest natural swarm, to-day, that I 

 ever saw. I could hardly get them 

 into a one-story simplicity hive. They 

 have been storing lioney from the 

 willow. Basswood will not bloom till 

 late ; the bees of this locality are 

 nearly all black. Chas. Harrold. 



Onawa, Iowa, June 3, 1883. 



