338 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



some 4 miles off, as thick us wheat, 

 and i feet high. This field was 

 plowed last fall, and on account of the 

 cold wet spi-ing, followed by 8 weeks 

 of drouth, it could not be planted. 

 Mr. W. K. Melton, who lives 400 yards 

 from that Held, has 100 colonies of 

 bees that are simply booming, so you 

 see it pays to plant for honeij, wet or 

 dry. I can go to the woods and hunt 

 wild bees for the wax and bees, for a 

 pastime; and when the old, tried, 

 true and trusty friend, the Bee Jour- 

 nal makes its weekly visit, I have 

 time to read all, even the letters about 

 cellars and chaff and all other such 

 fixings that " we 'uns, down here." 

 know nothing about practically. It 

 makes me feel glad to hear such good 

 news from Kentucky, "Bee-keepers 

 all worked down," "Honey flow 

 enormous." My time next, brother, 

 you see. B. F. Carroll. 



Dresden, Texas, June 18, 18S3. 



Bees (Jathering Honey. 



We have now had nearly a month 

 since it became warm, and during this 

 time there has been but three days 

 that it has not rained at some time 

 during the 24 hours, and many of the 

 days it has " rained all day." On the 

 night of the 18th, 3?4 inches of water 

 fell upon a level, and this, with the 

 ground already soaked, caused our 

 streams to rise up to high watermark. 

 But little corn and potatoes have been 

 hoed, and the tields are nearly as 

 green as meadows. Plenty of white 

 clover is in bloom, but it is" of no use 

 to the bees, which I am feeding to 

 keep them from starving. 



Later.— We have had 4 days of 

 good weather now, and the bees are 

 getting a living, and storing a little in 

 the body of the hive. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., June 2«, 1883. 



Generous Honey Season. 



The honey season here was never 

 better. The flow Is generous, and 

 the quality is most excellent. The 

 swarming impulse has been simply 

 rampant. My apiary has sent out 

 bees with the energy of a Vesuvius 

 for three weeks past. 



G. W. Dejiaree. 



Christiansburg, Ky., June 22, 1883. 



Bee-Keeping in Maine. | 



The bee business is increasing very 

 fast in this part of the State ; new 

 land clover, and acres and acres of 

 lire weed furnish abundance of honey 

 of superior quality, bringing the 

 highest price in the market. The 

 only drawback that we have had in 

 the past year, is the hives that we 

 have had to use. Being so far from 

 any of the manufactories of bee im- 

 plements, we have had to use any- 

 thing we could get for a hive, now we 

 are better prepared, as a manufactory 

 has started near us. This is a help to 

 us here, and will greatly improve the 

 business. I am not prepared to furnish 

 much in regard to the statistics of 

 bees or honey, but I will hereafter 

 gather what I can and send you. It 

 is a good thing to hear a little news 

 from every one having bees, as we do 

 not all get experience alike, and we 

 ought to give ours to others. 



O. B. Keene. 

 Fort Fairfield, Maine, June 16, 1883. 



Rain, Bain. 



It " rained 40 days and nights." I 

 would like to know if there is any 

 account as to whether Noah fed his 

 bees on granulated or grape sugar, to 

 preserve them through that spell of 

 wet weather ? J. G. Whitten. 



Genoa, N. Y., June 26, 1883. 



[We give it up.— Ed.] 



High Aspirations. 



.Several of my bees have selected 

 the highest tree in my yard to alight 

 upon, when swarming, out of the 

 reach of a 26 foot ladder. Why they 

 should select such a high point, I do 

 not know. Two of them liave selected 

 the same limb, about 40 feet from the 

 ground, but prematurely, as " their 

 mother did not knoff they were out." 

 I was obliged to let them hang until 

 they found that their mother was not 

 out, then they returned home, if not 

 sadder, perhaps wiser ; so, I may liave 

 another chance at them. Why is it 

 that one of mv colonies seem to be 

 full of the Old Nick. I cannot touch 

 them with a 10 foot pole, as a dozen 

 will start for me at the same time V 

 It is one that was partly robbed last 

 fall, and was attacked this spring 

 again; but witli judicious care and 

 good feeding, I brought them through, 

 and even now they do not appreciate 

 my good intentions. I was obliged to 

 use the "Conqueror," that little engine 

 of smoke, upon them ; which brought 

 them to terms. What would the 

 apiarist do to-day without the smoker, 

 at this advanced age of apiculture V 

 John Gochenour. 

 Freeport, 111., June 25, 1883. 



[Eobblng has been the cause, no 

 doubt, of angering them. The smoker, 

 judiciously used, will conquer them, 

 however. — Ed.] 



out of the second story, tiirew out the 

 honey, and gave them foundation, 

 and in three days they had all filled 

 again and swarmed. We are getting 

 1,000 two-pound sections of comb 

 honey each week, and every 8 days. 

 1,200 pounds of extracted honey. We 

 only run 40 hives for extracted, the 

 balance for comb honey. We find it 

 very difficult to run for comb and ex- 

 tracted honey in one apiary ; so, next 

 year, we intend to start another apiary 

 of 300 hives for extracted honey only, 

 with all improvements, such as evap- 

 orating tanks, etc. We intend, of 

 course, to retain our present apiaries 

 for comb honey, as there is a good 

 market for No. 1 comb honey, and we 

 put up a first-class article. Can you 

 inform us if there is any machine 

 which makes a No. 1 article of section 

 box foundation and brood chamber 

 foundation, both being made on the 

 same machine V We think there can 

 be a machine to make both by having 

 two sets of rollers. If we do not 

 have any set back, we shall have a 

 full crop, and the bees will store honey 

 up to October. Bray & Seacord. 

 Warthan, Cal., June 15, 1883. 



[We think both kinds can be made 

 on the Vandervort mill, and, perhaps, 

 on them all, by having the sheets of 

 wax thinner. Will some one having 

 experience please reply to this.— Ed.] 



Bees Worliing in the Second Story. 



After selling some bees, I have 23 

 colonies left. I have not had a swarm 

 yet, but 1 have nearly all working in 

 the second story, for extracted honey. 

 They have done well for about a week. 

 We have had a cold, wet spring, and 

 it is raining yet, about every other 

 day. It is too wet to do anything on 

 the ground. White and Alsike 

 clovers look well, and are now in full 

 bloom. My bees are in a better con- 

 dition than I ever had them. I lost 

 about 1 out of 6, this winter and 

 spring. I put my bees in the cellar 

 late in the fall, and took them out on 

 March 13. I have given up uniting 

 bees in the spring ; I think it is a 

 failure to do so. I have an imported 

 queen, but I do not sell queens. 



E. S. IIlLDBMANN. 



Ashippun, Wis., June 23, 1883. 



Straight Combs, etc. 



I have one colony of bees which 

 have the frames and combs all con- 

 nected together, will some reader of 

 the Bee Journal inform me how to 

 get them apart. It is a Langstroth 

 hive. I also wish to know how to get 

 my bees to build their combs straight. 

 J. Hurst. 



Minooka, 111., June 21, 1883. 



A Lively Rushing Season. 



Our swarming season is just over, 

 and we are not sorry, as we have not 

 hardly had time to breath, working 

 day and night ; the bees began to 

 swarm on April 1, and continued up 

 to June 10. We have more than 

 doubled our stock, while doing our 

 best to prevent swarming. The Ital- 

 ian queens we got from the Bee 

 Journal apiary, two years ago, are 

 good workers, and right on the 

 swarm. We have had them fill a 2- 

 story hive in a week without the aid 

 of foundation, being 80 pounds of 

 honey in all. We took the comb all 



White and Alsike Clover. 



Never was such a sea of bloom 

 known here before. White clover 

 commenced blooming May 11, and it 

 looks as if it was not at its best yet. 

 We have a rain storm every few days, 

 and it has done great damage, es- 

 pecially in creeks and river-bottom 

 lands. It has killed nearly all the 

 growing corn, and it looks as if it 

 might continue to rain yet, for some 

 weeks. The "blessed bees" make 

 good use of every fair hour of day- 

 light, gathering the sweets and 

 swarming. My 51 colonies are boom- 

 ing. I have had 60 swarms, up to 

 date, and I am extracting and taking 

 off comb honey, to give them room. 

 My swarms all return to the old stand, 

 as I have clipped all my queens' wings. 

 I do not think the clipping of my 



