,THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



33T 



bees are much better thau before. Of 

 course I have been breeding more 

 closely for qualities ; at the same time 

 my prejudices, whether right or 

 wrong, allow me to start no queen 

 cells other than by the will of the bees. 

 4. If your hybrids are crosses be- 

 tween the larger brown German bee 

 and longer-bodied leather-colored Ital- 

 ian, crosses produced in company 

 with your Judgment, and you desire 

 a strain of bees for qualities, I should, 

 by all means, breed from your queens; 

 otherwise not. 





White Clover Rich in Necf ar. 



The lioney boom has struck us here 

 since the rain stopped, four days ago, 

 and, if the weather continues favor- 

 able, the conditions are very promis- 

 ing for a large yield of honey. White 

 clover is very abundant and rich in 

 nectar, and, what bees are left, are 

 doing finely. I had 43 small colonies 

 left, out of 63 last fall. Many have 

 lost all. Basswood will probably not 

 bloom before July 20. 



W. H. S. Grout. 



Kennedy, Jf. Y., June 25, 1883. 



Report of the Biiclshorn Apiary. 



In November, 1882, I packed 30 

 colonies in my bee cellar ; all came 

 out in splendid condition, with only a 

 loss of two queens. I began this sea- 

 son witli 38 colonies ; they commenced 

 swarming June 16, and there are 1 or 

 2 swarms every day ; they are carrying 

 in honey at a great rate, and have 

 filled some half-pound sections nearly 

 ready for the market. My bees are 

 very busy on red and black raspber- 

 ries. The white and Alsike clovers 

 are out in full bloom, and basswood 

 is budding full. F. A. Gibson. 



Racine, Wis., June 23, 1883. 



Importance of Universal Frame. 



I see in the Bee Journal, a sub- 

 ject is being discussed by bee men 

 that has interested me from my first 

 experience in bee-keeping (as a pleas- 

 ure more than profit) ; that subject is 

 the " Standard frame." Now, it is 

 very natural, when this subject is 

 brought up, for each one to say : My 

 frame is good enough for me ; but if 

 we would stop to consider, I think all 

 would admit it to be a priceless boon to 

 the bee-keepers of this country, could 

 such a system be inaugurated. Sup- 

 pose I wish to sell a few hives of bees, 

 my frames are 12x12. B. would like 

 to buy, and would pay a good price, 

 but he uses the Langstroth frame, 

 and could not afford to pay mucli for 

 them, as he would have to transfer 

 them, so both have lost a profitable 

 sale in not having the same size of 

 frame. I have wished to get a frame 



of drone brood from a dealer, but as 

 he did not state the size of his frames, 

 I wrote him to learn this, and found 

 he used the Gallup, so I was again 

 disappointed, and he lost a sale. I 

 think the " coming bee " would be 

 sooner attained, for the "crossing" 

 could be better accomplished. But as 

 I am not much of a bee man, and 

 much less a newspaper one, I will 

 leave it for others, more competent ; 

 hoping the union may soon be effected, 

 for I am looking for the pleasant day 

 to arrive when I can leave the "throb- 

 bing mighty engine " and be with and 

 hear the happy hum of the " blessed 

 bees." A. P. Lanterman. 



Pullman, 111., June 26, 1883. 



Bnffalo Clover. 



I enclose two clover heads, which 

 please give the name of in the Bee 

 Journal. It grows on rich soil, has 

 a coarse foliage, and the bees work on 

 it splendidly. One head is full size — 

 the other is j'ust coming to bloom. 



W. M ALONE. 



Oakley, Iowa, June 18, 1883. 



[It is Buffalo clover or Trifoliuni re- 

 jiexum. This plant is much more 

 common in the Southern States of the 

 Union, being quite rare in the North 

 from New York westward. It is an 

 annual, or sometimes biennial plant 

 of vigorous habit, and undoubtedly a 

 good honey producer. The flowers 

 are larger than those of the common 

 red clover, but shorter, so that the 

 uectar is accessible to the hive bee, 

 whose visits materially aid the fertili- 

 zation of the seeds. The heads are 

 are especially distinguished from 

 those of red clover by the pedicels or 

 little stalks upon which the florets are 

 raised.— T. J. Burrill, Champaign, 

 111.] 



Storing Honey from White Clover. 



Bees are doing well here, at pres- 

 ent ; they are storing honey from 

 white clover, which is plenty. I have 

 one colony working in 72 one-pound 

 sections. My bees came through the 

 winter and spring in good condition, 

 considering the cold winter and late 

 spring. Alfred Gander. 



Adrian, Mich., June 25, 1883. 



Honey Prospects Good. 



Wind and rain appear to be the or- 

 der of things in these parts ; at least 

 so much so tiiat bees cannot work half 

 the time. Bees wintered well, and 

 are now in fine condition, but have 

 not swarmed much yet, on account of 

 its being so cold and wet. We never 

 before saw the like of white clover, 

 and it put in an appearance a week 

 earlier than last season. If the 

 weather gets favorable, tlie while 

 clover honey crop will be immense. 

 Bee-keepers are feeling good over the 

 prospects, and are laying in heavy for 

 supplies, for the prospects are good 

 for the largest honey crop ever gath- 

 ered in these parts. A. W Fisk. 



Bushnell, 111., June 18, 1SS3. 



Bees Doing Well. 



Bees are doing very well here this 

 year. There is any quantity of white 

 clover, although we are liaving rather 

 too much rain. I began with one 

 colony in the spring of 1882. I now 

 have 9, hybrids and Italians. I am 

 using a side-storing hive, but I see 

 from the Bee Journal that most of 

 the bee-keepers prefer other kinds. 

 J. C. Tanner. 



Huntington, W. Va., June 25, 1883. 



Bees so Busy as to Forget to Swarm. 



This is a most beautiful morning. 

 My bees are booming ; they are gath- 

 ering honey so fast that they forget 

 to swarm. I have only had about 20 

 swarms from 200 colonies, although I 

 have prevented swarming as much as 

 I reasonably conld. A. Snyder. 



Clarksville, N. Y., June 24, 1883. 



My Last Year's Work. 



I commenced the spring of 1882 

 with 10 colonies; increased to 24 ; had 

 1,030 pounds of honey, in one-pound 

 sections ; and sold it at 18 cents per 

 pound. I packed 10 colonies in saw- 

 dust, and 14 I wintered in a cellar. I 

 lost one packed, and 7 that were win- 

 tered in the cellar, all by spring 

 dwindling. I have had, to date, 6 

 swarms. The weather has been un- 

 favorable, until within a few days ; 

 but bees are wqrking nicely now, on 

 white clover. Wji. Penney. 



Shiloh, Mich., June 21, 1883. 



The Bee Moth. 



Please publish in the Bee Journal 

 the essay given by Judge Andrews, 

 at the Texas Convention, and oblige 

 many subscribers. 



John H. Christie. 



Dyersburg, Tenn.. June 21, 1883. 



[We will do so, with pleasure, if the 

 Judge will kindly send it for publica- 

 tion.— Ed.] 



My Spring Report. 



My report from Jan. 1 up to date, is 

 as follows : On Jan. 1 I had 90 colo- 

 nies ; I sold 30, leaving 60 to begin 

 with. I had 10 good swarms early in 

 April, and the hives are all full ot 

 bees. I increased them to 99 colonies. 

 I have had to feed these, to keep them 

 alive until the horsemint flow began : 

 it is now here, and nearly gone, and 

 not one pound of honey have I had 

 yet, but I think I will get my bees all 

 built up strong before the flow is gone, 

 which will be 10 days yet. If 1 only 

 had plenty of bees I could get a little 

 surplus, but bees liave dwindled badly. 

 Some brood chilled during the frosty 

 weather, in the latter part of May. 

 There is not one stalk of mint, this 

 year, where 20,000 stood last year. I 

 have about I4 acre of catnip, which I 

 planted in rows and cultivated ; if I 

 had 10 acres, I could not be found 

 now with blasted hopes. A few hills 

 of sweet clover 5 feet high are covered 

 with bloom and bees too. The Cali- 

 fornia pepper tree is also in bloom. 

 We could have perpetual bloom here 

 for 6 months, and often 9 months. 

 There is a field of mint, of 30 acres, 



