1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



31 



express charges being $3.00 on each 

 colony. The weak colony and one of 

 those we bought cast no swarms, but the 

 other six cast 12 ; so we put into the 

 •cellar 20 colonies in good condition, 

 though the cellar is not just what it 

 ought to be for wintering bees. 



After the honey-flow was over, the 

 bees were fed some sugar syrup. The 

 summer and fall were dry and warm. 

 Not enough rain at any time after the 

 forepart of May to wet the ground three 

 inches deep. Everything else was favor- 

 able. The summer was warm, with no 

 storms. The bees worked hard and 

 gathered all they could, and gave us 425 

 one-pound sections of honey — ranging 

 from amber to white. This, of course, 

 is nothing compared with those wonder- 

 ful stories of honey that some people 

 report, but we are satisfied with the re- 

 sults — living, as we are, near the 49th 

 parallel. 



No honey has been taken out of the 

 brood-chambers, although some of them 

 were so full of honey that there was 

 scarcely" room for the bees. 



The weak colony mentioned above. 

 Lad, the middle of May, less than a 

 double handful of bees. They were fed 

 moderately up to that time, and were 

 then somewhat strengthened by the re- 

 moval of two colonies that stood by 

 them to another place. A few of the 

 bees (and but a few) in looking for their 

 old homes on the old stand went in with 

 the weak one. Well, that colony built 

 up and became strong, and gave us 20 

 one-pound sections of good honey, and 

 had plenty for winter. 



We did not try to keep the bees from 

 swarming, but let Nature take her 

 course. 



And now we want to tell you what one 

 colony did. It cast a large swarm on 

 May 30, and 11 days after that it cast 

 a second swarm ; then the swarm of 

 May 30 cast a fine swarm July 14, and 

 a second one July 25. From the one 

 colony we got four new colonies, all put 

 into the cellar in good condition, and 75 

 one-pound sections of nice honey -from 

 the parent colony and her children. If 

 we had killed the four young colonies in 

 the fall, and taken the honey, there 

 would have been not less than 125 

 pounds to add to the 75 — making 200 

 pounds. Now the question is, would the 

 parent colony have produced that much 

 if it had not swarmed at all ? You must 

 remember that the summers here are 

 very short. F. A. & H. P. Willson. 



Bathgate, N. Dak., Dec. 14. 



Buckbush and Golden-Rod. Honey. 



The bees in this part of , the country 

 did not do much the past season on ac- 

 count of the drouth. The weather is 

 fine, and bees in the cellar are uneasy. 

 I have one colony out-doors yet, and 

 they had a nice flight this month. I 

 wish my bees were all out on the sum- 

 mer stands. Only six colonies out of 

 29 swarmed the past summer. 



I got some of the nicest amber-colored 

 honey this fall I ever saw or tasted. We 

 have four different kinds of the golden- 

 rod here that the bees gather honey 

 from. We don't get any basswood sur- 

 plus — too scarce here. 



Our bees gather lots of white, nice 

 flavored honey from buckbush or nine- 

 bark, which blooms just as basswood 

 begins to fail, and this year it lasted 

 about 10 weeks. It seems to produce 

 more honey iu a dry season than a wet 



one here. I think it a fine shrub to sow 

 for honey alone. It grows and thrives 

 in waste places, such as openings in the 

 timber, in pastures, on roadsides, gopher 

 knolls, or almost anywhere where it gets 

 a start. It blooms profusely the second 

 season. It is a fine honey-plant for a 

 dry climate. The seeds liang on until 

 the leaves start in the spring. I can 

 furnish seed if any of the bee-friends 

 want it. Also golden-rod seed next fall, 

 at the right time. 



I have 34 colonies which I take away 

 out on the prairie to the large, wild 

 golden-rod fields or pastures, with asters 

 also. Ebb Watson. 



Redwood Falls, Minn., Dec. 16. 



Three Poor Seasons for Bees. 



I have not taken enough good honey 

 the last three years to pay for the Bee 

 Journal one year, but still I enjoy read- 

 ing it every week, and will as long as I 

 have a few bees. 



I keep from 20 to 25 colonies, on the 

 summer stands, well packed with out- 

 side covers. I have never lost any bees 

 in wintering, but I fear I will lose some 

 this winter, from starvation. I fed some 

 of my bees sugar syrup, but I think I 

 began too late to do any good. There 

 are more dead bees thrown out at the 

 hive-entrances than I ever knew this 

 early in the fall. 



There is no one in this connty, that I 

 know of, who got any surplus honey 

 except the Hon. J. M. Hambaugh. His 

 apiary is situated on the Illinois river 

 bottom, where the Spanish-needle and 

 linden is very plentiful. 



G. W. Williams. 



Mount Sterling, 111., Dec. 18. 



The Season of 1894 in Kentucky. 



The season of 1894 will be long re- 

 membered by the farmers and bee-keep- 

 ers of this part of the country. The 

 ground was not thoroughly wet, six 

 inches in depth, at any time between 

 May 20 and Dec. 1. Notwithstanding 

 these unfavorable conditions the crops 

 seemed to adapt themselves to the con- 

 aitions from the beginning, and yielded 

 beyond all expectation, and grain is 

 plenty and comparatively cheap. So 

 abundant and low in price has been the 

 wheat crop, that thousands and thou- 

 sands of bushels of wheat have been fed 

 to stock — hogs, horses and cattle. Corn 

 and wheat have now about come to- 

 gether in price — 40 cents per bushel. 



For over two months a water famine 

 stared our farmers squarely in the face. 

 I saw my bees " watering" in the fashion 

 they are usually seen in July and 

 August, as late in the fall as the last 

 days of November. December rains 

 brought relief in a general way, but it 

 will require a great deal more rain to fill 

 up the stock reservoirs, so completely 

 depleted by the drouth. 



What about the hooey crop of next 

 year? Well, we may as well dismiss the 

 hope or expectation of a, full honey crop 

 next year — we can't have it. The clover 

 plants are not, and without the modest, 

 little white clover, we can never have a 

 full crop of honey here. 



To-day is Dec. 24, and Christmas is 

 here. To some of us it is the remem- 

 brance of " Peace and good-will," and 

 joy. To some, a mere frolic. 



G. W. Demaree. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



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