3G4 



THE AMERICAl^ BEE JOURNAL.. 



total failure; It does not seem to 

 bloom very much. Bed clover is al- 

 most all killed by the vrinter. Out of 

 about 50 colonies of bees there is not 

 100 pounds of good honey, so you may 

 have an idea about the honey in this 

 section of the country. Bees did well 

 the past year ; they had more honey 

 when spring commenced than they 

 have now. I have had 3 swarms this 

 season out of 47 colonies. They had 

 about 10 pounds of honey to the hive 

 when spring came, and to-day they 

 have not got 2 pounds per hive. How 

 many colonies of bees can be kept in 

 one place, and make a paying busi- 

 ness of it ? 



[It is impossible to answer the last 

 question— so much depends upon the 

 season as well as the pasturage for 

 bees in the surrounding country .—Ed.] 



Loss of Bees by Moving, etc.— O. 

 O. Poppleton, Hawk's Park,© Fla.,on 

 May 21, 1887, writes: 



The item on page 291 is so worded 

 as to convey an entirely wrong idea 

 of the cause of the loss of the bees 

 brought from Iowa last fall. They 

 were not lost on account of the 

 climatic conditions here, as one would 

 suppose from the item referred to, 

 but from bad carriage in bringing 

 them down here. The car in which 

 they were packed was seven' weeks on 

 the road, and the only wonder is that 

 any were left alive on getting here 1 

 I tried to bring only 82 of my weakest 

 colonies, leaving 148 colonies back in 

 Iowa in care of my brother. He 

 writes me, under date of April 25, 

 that 138 came through in good condi- 

 tion, containing at that date from 2 

 to 7 frames of brood each, and averag- 

 ing about 5 frames of brood each. 

 This is an uncommonly good condi- 

 tion for bees to be in, so early in the 

 season in that latitude. 



Working up a Honey Market, etc. 

 — Earle Clickenger, Columbus,© O., 

 writes : 



I am trying to build up a local trade 

 on pure honey, but I find it quite dif- 

 ficult ; but with all the drawbacks of 

 prejudice in the public mind on ac- 

 couut of adulteration, last year I sold 

 about 9,000 pounds of pure honey, and 

 to-day have the largest trade in the 

 city in a retail way. It is a hard 

 thing to convince the people that they 

 can depend upon getting pure honey. 

 I sold 40 colonies of bees last fall, and 

 still have 40 colonies left ; those I sold 

 brought on an average $5 per colony. 

 Last year I produced 3,000 pounds of 

 comb honey, and 1,000 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey. I would like to have 

 saved all of them, but I have " too 

 many irons in the fire." 



Moving Bees to Basswood Bloom. 



— B. F. Woodcock, Pleasantville,? 

 Iowa, on May 27, 1887, writes : 



Will it pay to move my bees 3 miles 

 north of their present location to a 

 basswood grove V We have had but 



one or two little showers in this 

 locality since last October ; white 

 clover {my usual source of honey) is 

 drying up, and yields no honey , though 

 the fields are while with sickly, puny 

 bloom. I live on the prairie. I went 

 to the basswood grove to-day and find 

 thousands of trees which will bloom 

 profusely. I can get a good location 

 in a friend's orchard. The nearest 

 point for my bees now to reach the 

 timber is 2)4. miles, while the bulk of 

 the basswood is 3 to 3J^ miles. Do 

 you think it will pay me to move my 

 115 colonies at the opening of the 

 bloom ? The friend lives 2^4 miles 

 from me. Will many, if any, of the 

 bees come home to their old location 

 after being removed ? 



[No ; it would not pay for the ex- 

 pense and trouble of moving your 

 bees to the basswood grove, which 

 you state is only from 2% to 314 miles 

 from your apiary. Bees appear to 

 enjoy a flight when seeking stores ; 

 often passing by good pasturage near 

 the apiary, and working on inferior 

 bloom at a distance of 2 or 3 miles I It 

 is generally conceded that bees fly 

 from 3 to 5 miles in quest of stores, 

 and as the basswood grove is within 

 that distance, it is just in the right 

 place to suit their " notions."— Ed.] 



More Rain Needed.— A. D. Stock- 

 ing, Cedar Beach, 5 Ind., on May 29, 

 1887, writes : 



It has been very dry here for some- 

 time. White clover is very backward 

 in blooming, and unless we have good 

 rains soon there will be but little 

 white clover honey. We have had 

 several light rains within two weeks, 

 but we had so little spring rains that 

 what rains we have had lately seem to 

 have done sod lands but little good, 

 and grass is suffering ; but on spring- 

 plowed lands crops are growing finely. 

 Our prospects for apples are poor ; the 

 trees bloomed full, but from some 

 cause but little fruit has set; but 

 where peach-trees are alive we shall 

 have peaches. Bees have built up 

 strong, and have commenced swarm- 

 ing. They wintered well generally in 

 this locality. 



Honey from Bed Clover.— David 

 Brown, Maple Creek, o»Nebr., on May 

 31, 1887, writes : 



In the last paragraph of an article 

 by Prof. W. W. Cooke, on page 330, 

 he says : " In the United States, hive- 

 bees never suck red clover." For the 

 last 2 years my bees have collected 

 honey freely from the red-clover field. 

 During the summer of 1885, I acci- 

 dentally was crossing my clover field 

 (second crop), and found my bees 

 humming from flower to flower, and 

 on examination of the hives, showed 

 me that they were storing honey 

 rapidly from my red clover. Last 

 season they worked considerable on 

 the first crop, but quite freely on the 

 second crop, giving me the finest 



quality of honey lever obtained. So 

 satisfactory was the honey that my 

 customers have ordered for next year, 

 if I can only supply a corresponding 

 article. From S colonies, spring 

 count, I obtained over 2,000 pounds of 

 comb honey in one-pound sections, 

 mostly from my clover field. For 

 weeks bees could be found at every 

 step, during sunshine, in the clover 

 field. It yielded an abundant crop 

 of seed. Has no one else had a simi- 

 lar experience ? 



[The Professor, no doubt, meant 

 "•never — well, hardly ever" — some- 

 times — not universally. — Dd.] 



Honey and Beeswax Market. 



The following are our very latest 

 quotations for honey and beeswax : 



CHICAGO. 



HONEY.— Sellers ask from 7 to 10 cts. for any- 

 thing off in comb honey ; this includes dark unde* 

 sirable and croolied combs, and 2-pound aectiODS. 

 Good Mb. sections, iuf^i2c. : choice, 12W@I3C.— 

 BEESWAX,-250. R. A. BUKNBTT, 

 Mar. 28. 161 South Water St. 



DETROIT. 



HONEY.— Best white comb. Il(ai2c. Market i« 

 nearly bare, awaiting the new crop. 



BEK8WA-X.-23(s>24c. 

 May. 11. M. H. HUNT, BeU Branch, Mich. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



HONEY.— We quote : Extracted, white, 4t<®5 

 ctB. ; light amber. 4^c. ; amber, 4Hc. Comb, white, 

 J2iisl4c.: amber, 7@yc. Demand good. 



BEE3WAX.-23C. 

 Mays. SCUACHT&LEMCKE, 122-124 Oavls St. 



CLEVELAND. 



HONEY.— Choice white in 1-lb. sections, 12@lSo.; 

 second quality, lO^l ic; and buckwheat unsalable 

 at 8'a9c. Extracted, 5@6c. 



BBESWAX.-25C. 



Apr. 20. A. C.KBNDBL, 115 Ontario St. 



ST. LOOIS. 



HONEY.- Choice comb, 10@12c. Strained, In 

 barrels, 3V^'§4Mc. Extra fancy, H more than lore- 

 going prices. Extracted, 4!4®t>c. Market dull. 



BEESWAX.- Steady at io^^c. for orime. 



May 20. D. G. TUTT & CO.. Commercial St. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 

 HONE Y.— We quote : White comb, 12@14c. ; am- 

 ber, 7@ci0. Extracted, white, 49i@5c.: light amber, 

 3^®4Hc. Market quiet. 

 BEESWAX.- 19(ai2]c. • 



May 14. O. B. SMITH & CO., 423 Frout St. 



MILWAUKEE. 



HONEY.— We quote : Finest white 1-lb. sections. 

 12(312^0.; choice white i-lbs., ii@i2c.: choice 2- 

 Ibs., 10(41 Ic. ; dari not wanted, and imperfect slow. 

 Extracted, finest white in kegs, 6H@7c.: good 

 white in kegs and barrels, etaJBi^c.: dark, 4 to 4)tfc. 

 Demand good and market firm. 



BEESWAX.— 250. 



May 4. A. V. BISHOP, 142 W. Water St. 



NEW YORK. 

 HONEY.— We quote ; White comb, 9@12c.: dark 

 5&7C. California comb, Hftj9c.: extracted, 5@6c. 

 Sales large and demand good. 

 BEESWAX.— 23®24Hc. 



MCCAUL & HILDRBTH BROS., 

 May 10. 28 &. 30 W. Broadway, near Duane St. 



KANSAS CITY. 

 HONBY.-We quote : White clover 1-lbs., 10®12 

 cts,; dark, 9 to 10c. White clover 2-lb8., 10 to lie; 

 dark. 9 to 10c. Extracted, 5 to 6c. in small way. 

 Very little extracted in the market. 

 May 16. CLBMONS.CLOON & CO., cor 4th,S Walnut 



BOSTON. 



HONEY.— 1 -lb. packages of white clover honey 

 at I3@15c.; 2-poundsat ii®i3o. Extracted, 5®7c. 

 Sales slow. 



BEESWAX.- 26 cts. per lb. 

 Apr. 22. Blaks & RiPLBT, 57 Chatham Street. 



CINCINNATI. 



HONEY.— We quote for extracted, 3®7c. per lb. 

 Best comb brings ll@14c. per lb. Demand fair. 



BBES WAX.— Good demand,— 2oa23o. per lb. for 

 good to choice yellow. 

 May 21. C.F.MtTTH & SON.Freeman ft Central AT. 



