OBSERVATIONS BY APIARISTS. 97 



and that the drones build the combs, and that the wax is gathered 

 from sunflowers. Every farmer who is located within two or three 

 miles of alfalfa or clover fields should get a few stands of bees, and 

 have nice honey for his family, instead of buying the filthy glucose 

 jellies and other stuffs that are for sale in every store." 



JOHN W. LABAR, Erie, Neosho county. "I have not been engaged 

 in bee-culture except as a side issue and to furnish honey for our own 

 table. We now have twenty -five colonies. We have taken 500 or 

 600 pounds of honey this fall, and the bottoms of hives seem to be 

 full. There seems to be a good deal of white clover in this locality, 

 and it is really the first honey flow we get that we can take off for 

 table use, and is the finest flavor of any we get. This is a business 

 that to be successful must be looked after in every little particular, 

 and I believe it can be made to pay almost any year." 



D. P. NOE, Burlington, Coffey county. "The difficulty here is the 

 constant winds. Too many bees are lost as they come home laden 

 with honey, and swarms are thus diminished in workers. Alfalfa is a 

 good honey plant. Alsike clover is one of the best. I have visited 

 several bee-keepers and asked them why they do not sow all kinds of 

 clover and plant linden, locust and fruit-trees, raspberries and black- 

 berries. The excuse was, bees do not pay. Neither would any kind of 

 stock pay on a farm if it had to hunt its own living." 



S. B. McGREW, Kossuth, Linn county. " The study of the honey- 

 bee in its home and ways has always been a fascinating employment 

 for my leisure hours. I have completely failed to secure an alfalfa 

 crop after several trials. Linn county farmers, so far as I have 

 learned, have had no success in growing it. The worst and only diffi- 

 culty that I have met with is the lack of honey-producing plants in 

 sufficient quantities for large numbers of colonies. I have done fairly 

 well with rny bees and would like to learn if there are any better plans 

 than I have known." 



OLEY OLSTON. Cimarron, Gray county. " Alfalfa is considered a 

 good honey plant in this section upon irrigated bottom river land." 



J. P. EMERY, Cimarron, Gray county. " I purchased two stands of 

 Italian bees in spring of 1897. That fall I had increased them to ten 

 strong colonies. I took off about 500 pounds of honey. Alfalfa is 

 the main honey plant in this section upon irrigated bottom lands." 



E. DAVISON, Garden City, Finiiey county. "Alfalfa is the only 

 honey-producing plant that we have in Finney county, with the ex- 

 ception of fruit bloom in spring." 



P. H. BOLLINGER, Everest, Brown county: "I have forty stands of 

 bees. Have found Italians to be best. Have never sowed anything 

 but buckwheat." 



