374 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Honey Tree of India. 



In December I was in Aiistraliaand 

 saw a tree, a native of India, in bloom. 

 Wherever I saw the trees they were 

 covered with bees. I believe it to be 

 the best honey tree I ever saw in any 

 country. 1 liave just returned from 

 there and found the seed nearly ripe. 

 I have made arrangements to gather 

 seed. It is an evergreen, branches 

 thick from the ground, grows a beau- 

 tiful sugar leaf shape, although only 

 a few years introduced into tlie coun- 

 try ; I saw some nearly 80 feet high. 

 I think it is a hardy tree and will live 

 in your climate, and think it would be 

 a valuable addition for bee and honey 

 culture in America. I have lived 

 many years in the United States. 



Edward Parsons. 



Auckland, N., Z., June 19, 1S83. 



[The tree belongs to the linden 

 family [Tiliiuxm,) so is a near relative 

 of the most noted honey tree of our 

 woods, the linden or bassvvood. It is, 

 however, highly improbable that the 

 tree can be grown in the United 

 States; if so, assuredly only well 

 South. The family is really a large 

 one, but nearly all belong to the tropics, 

 only represented in our country by 

 one species. 



Is it not evidence of botanical rela- 

 tionship which amounts to something 

 when natives of opposite sides of the 

 world, and in wholly different climates, 

 thus possess similar properties V Last 

 year a specimen of stercuUa, intro- 

 duced into the Sonthern States, was 

 received for name, its lioney qualities 

 also being observed as excellent. Our 

 linden is tlie nearest botanical rela- 

 tion of this tree too, and therefore the 

 same remark auplies.— T. J. Burrill, 

 Champaign, 111.] 



Bees in New York. 



It is still wet here, and bees are 

 getting httle more than a living. We 

 had a few days during which a little 

 gain was made in the brood combs, 

 but no work has been done in sec- 

 tions. I am glad to hear of good 

 yields in other parts of the United 

 States. Basswood will be in bloom 

 in about a' week, when I hope for 

 better times. G. M. Doolittle 



Borodino, N. Y., July 12, 1883. 



Bees Hanging Out, 



Why do some of our bees lie out so 

 much y They fill the portico day and 

 night. We have taken the honey and 

 given them more sections. 



^ . „ ^ J. L. Harris. 



Griftin, Ind., July 17, 1883. 



[They probably find it too warm in 

 the hive for the numerous family, or 

 there is nothing to gather. Give them 

 a little ventilation by placing a small 

 piece of wood under the cover, and 

 they will go to work all right, if tliere 

 is anything to do.— Ed.] 



Bees ill Arkansas. 



I wintered 125 colonies in 1, 2 and 

 3 story hives without loss. They 

 never breed much before the middle 

 of February. On the last of March I 

 united them down to 100 colonies. 

 March 1.5 brings us plenty of bloom, 

 but our bees never gathered much 

 honey, on account of cold weather. 

 On April 1, the weather turned warm 

 and dry, and a honey flow came from 

 willows, clover and poplar. On May 

 1, every hive was solid with brood and 

 honey. I extracted from 2 story 

 hives, from 40 to 60 pounds ; on May 

 20, we had a cold rain ; on the 21st the 

 thermometer, at day break, was at 35'J 

 above zero ; frost was reported in low 

 land, but no damage was done. On 

 the 24th, our bees went to work again. 

 On May 28, 1 extracted again about 

 40 pounds, from the 2-story hives. 

 Now I could extract again, 40 to 50 

 pounds, from the second stories. Bees 

 are working well now on sumac, and 

 horsemint begins to bloom. For the 

 last two seasons we have had no con- 

 sumers among the bees; every nuclei 

 has been built up to a strong colony 

 and given a surplus. This year there 

 has not been much swarming. Ex- 

 tracted honey sells from 8 to 10 cents 

 per pound ; comb honey 12 cents. I 

 cannot make a large and full report. 

 I had a crop planted, and I could not 

 obtain the necessary help, but next 

 year I shall become a specialist with 

 bees. I send you a specimen of what 

 is called here horsemint. It blooms 

 from July 1 until frost, and grows all 

 over this State. It is same mint as 

 in Texas, please name it. 



FRA>fK TniAVILLE. 



Forest City, Ark., July 3, 1883. 



[It is the horsemint (3Ionarda). and 

 yields an excellent quality of honey. 

 It is the principal honey-producer of 

 Texas.— Ed.] 



Clover Honey Harvest Over Now. 



The clover honey harvest is over 

 now, and a busy one it was. We had 

 good weather, with the exception of 

 five days last week, which were too 

 hot. and killed the last clover that 

 would have kept the bees at work a 

 little longer. But when I look at my 

 honey, I am well satisfied for this 

 year. I commenced with 23 colonies ; 

 devoted 3 for experiments, and, of 

 course, the result was, not much sur- 

 plus from them. I devoted 7 for comb 

 honey; the result was about 250 

 pounds, in one-pound sections, an 

 average of 36 pounds ; not a very good 

 result. Swarming is the cause; could 

 I control it, I could do much better. 

 From one Cyprian colony, devoted to 

 comb honey, I obtained 5 swarms, 

 but only about 12 one-pound sections 

 filled nicely, and the honey in the 

 brood department was well used up. 

 From one colony that did not swarm. 

 I got 66 pounds in one-pound sections; 

 that is the best I ever did with one 

 colony devoted to comb honey. Give 

 me the cross of Italian and German 

 bees for all purposes. From the 13 

 colonies devoted for extracted honey, 

 I took 85 gallons, and can easily get 15 

 gallons more, to make it 100 gallons ; 



but to do this I must take up the in- 

 crease, for 25 colonies is about all I 

 can keep here, in the city limits. But 

 here 1 run against B. F. Carroll, on 

 page 336 of the Weekly Bee Journal. 

 What does he call one who kills bees ? 

 He may say advertise and sell your 

 queens. But I think after purchasing 

 cages and paying postage, there would 

 be very little left for my work. I 

 might unite the bees, and board them 

 until October, when they may die a 

 natural death, from old age. Is it not 

 strange that those sbmdard frame 

 advocates have not stated the great- 

 est score against the Langstroth 

 frame, namely standing the frame on 

 end, when extracting ? 



Louis HOFSTATTER. 



Louisville, Ky., July 13, 1883. 



Bees Reveled in Clover. 



Basswood is just coming into bloom. 

 Bees have done well on white clover, 

 considering their condition in April 

 and May. I have now 282 colonies, 

 and 18 more to hear from. I could 

 not run an apiary of that size without 

 clipping queen's wings. I have taken 

 70 pounds of fine honey from one hive 

 of Italians, and think they have about 

 20 pounds more. I am extracting all 

 clover honey, and marking the barrels 

 so as to avoid mixing. I do not think 

 it a suitable pursuit for an invalid to 

 follow. Wji. Lossmo. 



Hokah,Minn., July 13, 1883. 



Houey from Dog Fennel. 



Mr. Enas, of Napa, Cal., asks if 

 honey from dog fennel is poisonous V 

 We get a good de^l of honey here 

 from wild camomile, which resembles 

 the dog fennel of Tennessee, which is 

 very bitter, but not poisonous. It 

 loses the bitter taste, to some extent, 

 but not entirely, after several months 

 keeping. E. P. Massey. 



Waco, Texas, July 13, 1883. 



Bees in Alabama. 



We have had a perfect drouth al- 

 most eversince April 1. Until the last 

 10 days, bees have scarcely gathered 

 enough honey to keep up brood-rear- 

 ing. But now the sourwood is just 

 in, and it brought honey with it ; bees 

 are booming, and the honey is very 

 white. Some ask when we can rear 

 the best queens? We can rear just 

 as good queens in one month as 

 another, from April to September, 

 provided our rules are carried out, 

 viz. : plenty of pollen, plenty of honey, 

 and plenty of bees. This has been 

 one of tlie coldest and most backward 

 seasons we ever experienced. We 

 had frost in May. If there are any 

 bee-keepers who wish to move South, 

 there is room enough among our 

 mountains ; thousands of pounds of 

 honey are wasting for the, want of 

 bees to bring it in. T. S. Hall. 



Kirby's Creek, Ala., July 2, 1883. 



Basswood Opening. 



Bees have done very well up to the 

 present week ; this week has been too 

 cool and wet. Basswood is just 

 opening. J. I. Parent. 



Charlton, N. Y., July 14, 1883. 



