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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bee-Keepers Produce the Beeswax. 



They are now the greatest consum- 

 ers of "tliis one of their own produc- 

 tion. In getting their wax to the 

 foundation mills and back home, does 

 it pay them to have the grocer, ped- 

 dler," commission merchant and gen- 

 eral dealer in wax, etc., each take a 

 ' margin out of them ? Just tliink the 

 matter over, and form correct conclu- 

 sions. Jasies IIeddon. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Nov. 17, 1883. 



Poor Season for Bees. 



This has been a poor season tax bees 

 here. We have had only a quarter of 

 a crop of honey, and very little in- 

 crease. It was so very dry that bees 

 could get no nectar. Enclosed I send 

 a plant on which bees work every 

 morning. What is it V G. Hill.jie. 



Sohnlenburg, Tex., Nov. 17, 1883. 



[It is figwort, or the Simpson honey 

 plant. — Ed.] 



Strange Bees. 



A negro man lately came to me and 

 asked me to buy a bee tree he had 

 foimd, near my "house. I bought tlie 

 tree for 50 cents, and went to cut it. 

 As bees had done so poorly, and had 

 so little honey, I thought the combs 

 would not break down, but every 

 comb broke down, being so full of 

 honey, and, to my astonishment, I 

 noticed they were a strange kind of 

 bees, being'larger than the common 

 bee, and having one and two yellow 

 bands around their bodies, and had 

 between 30 or 40 lbs. of honey ; nearly 

 twice as much as my home colonies 

 have. I put them in a clean hive, and 

 I am feeding the honey back to them 

 for winter. They must be splendid 

 honey-gatherers to get so much in 

 such a year as this. They were no 

 nearer the swamp than my bees. I 

 know that bees have gathered all 

 their honey from the swamp, this 

 year. W. S. Douglass. 



Lexington, Tex., Nov. 10, 1883. 



Explanation, and Report for 1883. 



On page -548, of the present volume, 

 you will see that I obtained 75,000 

 pounds of honey from 60 colonies of 

 bees, spring count. That is a mis- 

 take, omit one cipher and you will 

 have the correct amount. That Dr. 

 J. C. Thorn, of Streetsville, Ont., on 

 page 563 of the present volume, did 

 not understand how that was done, is 

 no wonder. I can only say it was 

 done, by adding a cipher. I will give 

 my brief report for the season, just 

 passed. After coming through the 

 spring, by loss and selling, I found 

 myself the possessor of 60 colonies of 

 bees, most of which were in good con- 

 dition. By the last of May, some of 

 the hives were filled with bees to 

 overflowing, and ready to swarm. Not 

 being in favor of swarms on fruit 

 blossoms, I commenced to equalize 

 them by taking from the strong and 

 giving to the weak ; in this way I kept 

 back swarming until -June 15, wlien 

 out came four swarms, followed by 

 from one to five swarms a day, initil 

 June 28, when I made what swarms I 

 thought best by dividing. July 4 



found me with 100 colonies, 90 of 

 which were given sections, and 10 

 prepared for extracted honey (4 new 

 and 6 old). The bees worked hard 

 on clover, but the nectar was very 

 thin) and they did not gain very fast. 

 On July 20, basswood blossomed, and 

 then the bees worked early and late, 

 rain or shine, for 24 days, when all 

 was over ; after which they hardly got 

 as much as they consumed. Sept. 1, 

 honey all taken". I find that I have 

 2,500 two-pound solid sections of 

 white honey, and 2,500 pounds of ex- 

 tracted, making a total of 7,-500 pounds 

 of honey from 60 colonies in the 

 spring. "This fall, I made by doubling 

 my nuclei, 6 more. So that now, in 

 all, I have 106 colonies in good condi- 

 tion, packed in chaff for winter. 



J. H. Kennedy. 

 Little York, N. Y., Nov. 19, 1883. 



My Report for 1883. 



As I did not make a spring report, 

 perhaps it would not be out of place 

 now. The first of June found me 

 with .30 fair colonies, out of the 45 put 

 in the cellar on Nov. 20, 1882. The 

 second day of March was the only day 

 between Nov. 20 and April 5 that the 

 bees could fly. At that time every 

 colony I had was suffering badly from 

 dysentery, and a number of them were 

 dead. As the day was warm and 

 pleasant, I set them all out, and such 

 a mess ! In a few minutes the snow 

 was completely discolored, and you 

 could smell it 10 or 15 rods from the 

 yard. After an hour's flight, I began 

 feeding them sugar-syrup, whicn I 

 prepared and warmed by tipping up 

 the front of the hive and pouring it in 

 at the entrance, giving each colony 5 

 lbs. of syrup, which was all taken up 

 before I set them in, in the evening. 

 I saw no more of the disease during 

 the rest of the winter. I set them out 

 on April 5. Now for the results of 

 my season's work : I took 2,000 lbs. 

 of comb honey, in two-pound sections, 

 and 1,2-50 lbs. extracted ; all from the 

 Alsike clover and basswood. I in- 

 creased to 56. The honey is mostly 

 sold in my home market, at 15 and 20 

 cents per pound. My queens are all 

 bred from Mr. Doolittle's best strain. 

 Wsi. Beretsian. 



Geneva. N. Y., Nov. 18, 1883. 



My Surplus Arrangement. 



I have been a reader of the Bee 

 Journal for one year, and think 

 every one that keeps bees should have 

 it, for it will more than pay. I see 

 that most of the bee men use a case 

 to hold sections. Some say I have 

 the case, and no doubt of it ; others 

 seem to doubt it considerably. I do 

 not use a case at aU, nor separators 

 either, and I have not had enough 

 crooked or bulged sections for table 

 use, this season. I do not say that I 

 have the best surplus arrangement in 

 existence, but one that is cheap, and 

 any one can test it for themselves. I 

 use a slot honey-board. Langstroth 

 hive, and one-pound sections. The 

 honey-board prevents the bees from 

 gluing the outside of the section, ex- 

 cept at the entrances. I place seven 

 sections in a row. I have glass cut 



the size I use, 4i^x43^ ; I place one at 

 each end of the row ; then take a com- 

 mon rubber band or cord and stretch 

 it around a row of sections and glass, 

 and you have the arrangement com- 

 plete. I use four rows or 28 sections 

 tor one tier, and I tier them up 2, 3, 

 and 4 high, using 112 sections on a 

 hive at once, it needed. Bee men 

 from several counties have visited 

 my apiary this season, and iill like the 

 arrangement first rate, and went home 

 and tried it. One said, " It is the 

 nicest thing I have ever tried." 

 Another said, " I will never use 

 another case, as long as I keep bees." 

 Frank E. Thompson. 

 Tiskilwa, 111., Nov. 16. 1883. 



From 8 to 20, and 500 lbs. Comb Honey. 



I commenced the season with 8 col- 

 onies of black bees ; increased to 20, 

 and got .500 lbs. of comb honey in two- 

 pound sections ; for which I found 

 ready sale at from 15 to 18 cents per 

 pound, near home, and could have 

 disposed of much more at the same 

 price, if I had it to sell. I procured a 

 tested Italian qiieen from Henry 

 Alley ; introduced her early in July, 

 and Italianized one-half my colonies 

 later.iii the season. J. A. Black. 



Pleasant Mound, ni., Nov. 19, 1883. 



A Question for Mr. Stewart. 



On page 576 of the Bee Journal, 

 is a very interesting article by Mr. W. 

 H. Stewart, entitled, " Shall we Clip 

 our Queens' Wings V" at the close of 

 which he says : " If I were offering 

 queens for sale as superior stock, I 

 would compel the brood mothers to 

 fly often, even if I had to toss them 

 up to give them a start." I wish to 

 ask him a question to illustrate the 

 matter in a different light. Suppose 

 that he had a brood mare from which 

 he wished to rear colts noted for 

 speed, would he consider it necessary 

 or advisable, during foal, that she be 

 driven at a high rate of speed, with a 

 view of transmitting that quality to 

 the offspring ? W. N. Howard. 



Derby, Vt., Nov. 19, 1883. 



The Michigan Convention. 



Dear Mn. Editor :— May I ask you 

 to call special attention to our next 

 annual meeting to be held in Flint, 

 Dec. 5 and 6, of the Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association. We expect to 

 have by far the best meeting ever held 

 in the State. It is expected that the 

 Rev. L. L. Langstroth will be present. 

 To see and hear him will pay any one 

 for the trouble and expense incident 

 to the journey. We also expect D. A. 

 Jones, A. I. Boot, C. F. Muth. and 

 hope to have C. C. Miller and T. G. 

 Newman. From what I hear, Michi- 

 gan bee-keepers are to be out in force. 

 Hotel rates are to be $1.00 a day. Fur- 

 ther particulars as to programme, will 

 be given soon. We expect to get re- 

 duced rates on the railroads. To aid 

 in this, and that I may know how 

 many certificates on railroads to ask 

 for, will every .one in this or other 

 States who expect to come, drop me a 

 card at once to that effect V 



A. J. Cook, Preside^U. 



[Sorry we cannot attend.— Ed. | 



