THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



107 



My Experience with Bees.— K. H. 

 Fell, Bloomington,© Ills., on Feb. 4, 

 1887, writes : 



I left 30 colonies on the summer 

 stands in the fall of 1884, in what I 

 thought good condition. In the spring 

 of ISSi I had 3 weak ones left. In the 

 fall of 188.5 I had increased them to 8 

 good ones. In the spring of 1886 I 

 found them all right, and during the 

 season I increased them to 26 colonies, 

 which ere on the summer stands in 

 good condition, and I took as surplus 

 600 pounds of comb and extracted 

 honey, about an equal quantity of 

 each ; nearly all of which 1 have sold 

 at 16% and 10 cents per pound. I still 

 have considerable surplus to feed and 

 build up my apiary with in the spring. 



Benefiting Honey-Producers.— A. 



L. Leach, Dwight,© Ills., says: 



I believe that honey producers 

 would be much more benefited than 

 in any other way, by controlling 

 swarming as much as possible, and 

 uniting to ship their honey to a single 

 wholesale dealer in each city, who 

 would be governed by a national 

 committee, and give security to do 

 honest work. Then let each ship what 

 honey he cannot sell at home. 



Basswood in Illinois.- J. P. Faurot, 

 Hope,o» Ills., writes : 



I would like to ask the readers of 

 the American Bee Journal, 

 whether or not basswood ever yields 

 much hone^ in the State of Illinois. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison, of Peoria, said in 

 a communication that it did not. I 

 have no means of telling, as I live in 

 a prairie country, but 1 thought of 

 moving my bees to the timber if the 

 basswood would yield so as to make it 

 pay. My 33 colonies, spring count, 

 yielded 3,300 pounds of white clover 

 comb honey, with an increase of 20 

 swarms. 



Bees Doing Nicely.— P. L. Gibson, 

 Muscatine, o Iowa, on Jan. 21,1887, 

 says: 



My bees are doing nicely. They 

 are in a cave with the temperature at 

 40° to 4P above zero, inside, while it 

 ranges from 10° to S(P below outside. 

 I have 40 colonies, and although I 

 think the cave is a little cool, it is 

 perfectly dry ; but my bees are not 

 entirely quiet at that point. 1 received 

 40 pounds per colony, spring count ; 

 but on account of a dry summer I ob- 

 tained no fall crop. 



Glassed and TJnglassed Honey.— B. 



E. Foster, Utica,© N. Y., writes : 



I was pleased to see Mr. Crandall's 

 article on glassed and unglassed 

 honey, on page 57. I have kept bees 

 for 10 years, and if I should keep them 

 50 years no one would find a section 

 of my honey on the market without 

 glass ; for if glass is put on clean it 

 makes the honey look better. For my 

 glassed honey I get about 3 cents a 

 pound more than for the unglassed, 



because the latter leaks more, and 

 when a case is opened it is all daubed 

 up. I have kept store for 10 years, 

 and the more nice honey I could show 

 on the counter the more I could sell. 

 I never had a complaint about glassed 

 honey. About 14 to 15 cents is the 

 right price for comb honey at whole- 

 sale. Extracted honey should never 

 be sold for less than 10 cents per 

 pound. Honey at 6 to 7 cents per 

 pound is cheaper than " black-strap," 

 the cheapest grade of molasses. 



Bees Refusing Food.— Geo. W. 



Plinke, Louisville, 5 Ky., writes thus 

 on Feb. 5, 1887 : 



I have two colonies wintering in a 

 cellar; the temperature being about 

 40°. They are very quiet, and seem 

 to be doing well, although they had 

 only about 10 pounds of honey when I 

 put them in the cellar. I gave them 

 liquid honey, but they would not 

 store it away. 1. What was the rea- 

 son for their not doing so ? 2. "Would 

 it not be best to raise the tempera- 

 ture in the cellar? 3. Would it be 

 advisable to put them on the summer 

 stands on March 1. 4. If not, would 

 it do to put them out on some warm 

 day, and put them back again in the 

 evening ? 



[The reason your bees did not take 

 the feed you gave them was because 

 of the too low temperature, and be- 

 sides this, they had natural stores 

 within reach. I would not raise the 

 temperature or make any changes, 

 nor put the bees out until settled 

 weather, as long as they are quiet, 

 provided they can get at all of the 10 

 pounds of stores that their combs 

 contained. In the condition you de- 

 scribe, they have stores enough to 

 last until it is due time to put them 

 out, when you can feed them readily. 

 Whether or not they can get at all of 

 their stores depends upon the shape 

 of their hives, narrow, shallow hives 

 with fewer combs are best. If, upon 

 examination, you find they are out of 

 available stores, I thir.k in your lati- 

 tude your fourth, and last proposi- 

 tion, might be expedient. — James 

 Heddon.] 



Bee-Keeping in Minnesota.— I. W. 

 Rollins, Elgin, o. Minn., on Feb. 8, 

 1887, writes : 



I have kept bees in a small way for 

 about 10 years, and have increased my 

 apiary from 1 colony to 60. I com- 

 menced with the box-hive made of 

 rough boards. I now have 8-frame 

 Langstroth hives, and use two-pound 

 and one-pound sections with wide 

 frames. When I commenced to keep 

 bees there was no white clover, and 

 but little basswood within 5 to 10 

 miles, and bees had but little to 



father honey from except wild 

 owers, and did rather poorly. There 



is a large amount of clover when the 

 winters are favorable, and also a large 

 amount of Alsike, and some buck- 

 wheat. From .50 colonies last spring 

 I had 2,200 pounds of comb honey, 

 1,800 pounds of which was clover, and 

 tlie remainder from fall flowers and 

 buckwheat. 



My Success in Bee-Keeping.— Mile 

 George, Bowling Green,~oO., on Feb. 

 9, 1887, says : 



I commenced the season of 1886 

 with 18 colonies, which I transferred 

 from Gallup frames to American 

 frames. I did not get my bees until 

 the last of May, and had the hives 

 and frames to make after that. I put 

 32 colonies into winter quarters, and 

 they are all right so far. I got about 

 800 pounds of extracted and 100 

 pounds of comb honey. My bees are 

 all in chaff hives. 



Moving Bees a Long Distance.— 

 John H. Shelt, Spearville, 9 Kans., on 

 Feb. 7, 1887, says : 



I came to Kansas last Kovember 

 from Ohio, and carried a small colony 

 of bees with me on the cars, 900 miles, 

 and brought them through all right. 

 They have had two good flights since 

 I have had them here. I keep them 

 in a cave, and they are doing well. 



Association for Honey Producers. 



—James Heddon, Dowagiac, 9 Mich., 

 writes : 



I believe that we owe a debt of 

 thanks to Messrs. F. I. Sage & Son 

 (page 71), and Mr. M. M. Baldridge 

 (page 85) for their able articles on the 

 subject of our interests as honey pro- 

 ducers. Just compare Mr. Baldridge's 

 article, on page 85, with the report of 

 the decision of the members of the 

 Northern Illinois Convention, as 

 found on page 86, the middle of the 

 last column. The report of their 

 decision occupies three lines, and 

 contains no argument or reasons ; 

 Mr. Baldridge occupies three columnSj 

 every paragraph of which is brimful 

 of both. Whether or not we can 

 stop a " comet," " corner " the honey 

 market, or accomplish any other de- 

 sirable purpose, after having held a 

 hundred conventions devoted to the 

 best ways and means to produce more 

 honey in the United States, do you 

 not think that we can profitably hold 

 Just one to discuss methods of dispos- 

 ing of it, at a living price, and prevent 

 others from " cornering " its ? 



Convention Notices. 



^T" The annual meeting of the B."lstern Iowa 

 and Western Illinois Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held in Moore's Hall, nil East 3rd Street, 

 at Davenport, Iowa, on Wednesday and Thursday, 

 Feb. 23and 24, 1S87. commencinRat 10 a.m. Bee- 

 keepers and those interested in bee-culture are in- 

 vited to be present. Those wishinp to exhibit bee- 

 flxtures or toney, will please bring the .same for 

 inspection. J. Wausworth, See. 



tW The Pan-Handle Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will meet at Wheeling, W.Va., in the K. of P. Hall. 

 1 138 Main St., on Mar. 3 and 4l18»7. 



W. Ij. Kinset, Sec. 



