THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



443 



Local Convention Directory. 



1887. Time and place of Meeting. 



July 16.— Marshall County, at Marshalltown, Iowa. 

 J. W. SanUurs. Sec. LeGruiid, Iowa. 



Nov. lP-18.— North American, at ChicuKO. Ills. 



"W. Z. Uutchlnson, Sec. Koaersville, Mich. 



Dec 7-9.— Michigan State, at East Sa»rinaw, Mtch. 

 H. D. Cutting, Sec, Clinton, Mlcb. 



dT" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed. 





Filling Brood-Nests with Honey. 



—Abe Hoke, Union City,o» Ind., on 

 June 28, 1887, says : 



The prospect for a large crop of 

 honey looks rather slim at this time, 

 but I think it is improving. Swarm- 

 ing is 20 to 25 days later than last 

 year. The bees have been tilling the 

 brood-nest with stores for the last 

 two weeks, so if we get little or no 

 surplus we will not have to feed our 

 bees. I anj just as happy looking 

 after my bees as though they were 

 storing liouey. 



Apple-Blossom Honey, etc.— Chas. 

 D. Barber, Stockton, ? N. Y., on July 

 2, 1887, says: 



I began with one colony in the 

 spring, and in two weeks it stored at 

 least 75 pounds of apple-blossom 

 honey. We have four large orchards 

 for niy bees to work on, and I con- 

 sider the honey as good as that from 

 white clover. My bees are Italians, 

 and they swarmed three times before 

 June 21, each swarm being a large 

 one. The tirst swarm has its hive 

 almost full of honey now, and bass- 

 wood is not yet in bloom. 



Little Yield from White Clover.— 

 J. F. ilays, Macomb, J Ills., on June 

 30, 1887, says : 



The honey crop is comparatively a 

 failure here, and the bee-keepers are 

 " blue." We had an abundance of 

 white clover, but it yielded very little 

 honey. I got only 10 swarms from 

 100 colonies. The weather continues 

 very dry. 



Elongated Cells.— William L. Job, 

 Fillmore,*o Ind., on June 26, 1887, 

 •writes : 



I have just read " Symptoms of 

 Foul Brood," on page 393, with much 

 interest. If Mr. Hoyle is correct, that 

 elongated cells is a symptom of foul 

 brood, 1 fear it is in this locality. 

 After reading his article, I remem- 

 bered noting one a few days ago in 

 looking for a frame of brood to give 

 to a weak colony. I have just been 

 out and examined the colony. It has 

 been somewhat weak this spring, and 

 the bees seem to have no energy. 

 They have plenty of sealed honey 

 carried over winter, and at present 



have plenty of pollen and considerable 

 brood, yet one-half of the brood is in 

 elongated cells, some of them not 

 capped over, while two-thirds prob- 

 ably are capped. I put a frame of 

 this brood in the hive of another col- 

 ony a week or more ago, and now I 

 hud no raised cells in that frame of 

 brood. I did not look for the queen, 

 but saw plenty of eggs and brood in 

 different stages. Bees are storing no 

 surplus, as white clover is dried up. 

 Our last chance is linden, and it is 

 just beginning to bloom. 



Width of Hives— Division-Boards. 



—A beginner in Sunapee, 9 N. H., 

 asks the following questions : 



1. I bought some hives last winter 

 just 1314 inches wide, which the dealer 

 said were just right for nine frames. 

 Was he correct V If not, what is just 

 the right width for nine frames? 2. 

 Should there be a bee-space below the 

 division-boards, or should they Bt 

 close to the bottom of the hive V 



[1. For hives to contain nine frames 

 we make them 13 inches in width. 



2. Division-boards should fit close 

 to the bottom of the hive.— Ed.] 



Virginia Water-Leaf, etc.— Abel 

 Gresh, Weedville,5 Pa., on June 28, 

 1887, says : 



I send a sample of a plant found 

 wild in the woods here, which appears 

 to be very attractive to bees. Please 

 give the name, and state its probable 

 value as bee-forage. Bees are about 

 done swarming, and have some sur- 

 plus, but if rain does not come soon 

 the honey crop will be cut short. 



[This is Hydrovhyllum Virginicum, 

 belonging to the Water-leaf family. 

 The common name is the " Virginia 

 water-leaf." It is a shade-loving 

 plant, or rather does the best in the 

 woods, and, like the other members 

 of the family, is an excellent honey- 

 plant, both for the quality and the 

 quantity of nectar produced. It is a 

 native, and is very widely distributed 

 throughout the country, though 

 usually not in great abundance.— T. 



J. BURRILL.] 



Honey Crop a Failure.— H. C. Gil- 

 ford, Morris, 5 Ills., on June 29, 1887, 

 writes : 



I work for comb honey, and never 

 take any out of the brood- chamber. 

 My 24 colonies came out strong. in the 

 spring, with lots of honey, and to day 

 I do not think there is as much honey 

 in the hives by 400 or 500 pounds as 

 there was when I unpacked them. I 

 have had 7 swarms, which I hived, 

 and how they live I cannot tell, but I 

 do not believe that one of them would 

 have staid in the hive if I had not 

 filled it half full of foundation to en- 

 courage them. We had no white 

 clover to speak of, and the bees are 

 quiet, except a little while in the 



morning and evening. I am on the- 

 Illinois river, and there is plenty of 

 timber here, but until the last few 

 days it seemed there was nothing for 

 them to do. They are working now 

 some on the linden. I think the crop 

 in this section will be a failure. 1 am 

 the only one that I know of here that 

 has had a swarra. Last year, from 12 

 colonies, spring count, I got l,20a 

 pounds of honey, and I did not use 

 foundation. I put on the sections the 

 first thing in the spring, and all the 

 best of them have done is to draw out 

 the comb. Some have not touched 

 it yet. 



Few Swarms and Little Honey.— 

 Oliver Foster, Mt. Vernon,i>Iowa, on 

 July 1, 1887, says: 



I can report from this section few 

 swarms and but very little honey this 

 season. We had a good rain to-day, 

 but it is too late to do much good to 

 the bees. 



Lots of Bees.but Little Bloom.— W. 



Mason, Fillmore,*o Ind., on June 29^ 

 1887, writes : 



Through this part of the State every 

 thing is drying up badly. Bees are 

 storing but little surplus honey, the 

 white clover bloom being almost a 

 failure. But very few swarms have 

 issued so far. The hives are full of 

 bees, and would do good work if there 

 was plenty of bloom. The basswood 

 has just commenced to bloom, and 

 we are hoping that a good yield from 

 it, with what little is stored from 

 white clover, we may have a small 

 crop at least. Unless good fall bloom 

 should follow, we will be able to re- 

 port a failure such as we have not meti 

 with in ten years ; which will be quite 

 a discouragement to beginners. 



White Clover and Drouth.— Rev. 

 L. Lobeck, Key,c$ Iowa, on June 27, 



1887, says : 



Bees are doing poorly. From 9 col- 

 onies of hybrids, which are in a very 

 good condition, and from which I 

 allowed only two to casta swarm, I 

 have taken but 30 pounds of comb 

 honey. I do not think that they will 

 average 15 pounds of surplus each 

 this year. White clover is nearly 

 killed by the drouth. Last year my 

 colonies averaged 85 pounds of comb 

 honey. 



Report— Shelled Honey. — James 

 Winters, Kenton,K) Ohio, on July 5, 

 1887, writes : 



Bees in this locality are not doing 

 much so far this season. They came 

 through the winter in good condition, 

 with very little loss, but they have 

 not swarmed much, nor gathered 

 much honey. I have had only one 

 swarm from 36 colonies, and there ia 

 very little honey in the surplus boxes. 

 The white clover did not yield much 

 honey ; what surplus they have gath- 

 ered carae mostly from the linden,, 

 and that is nearly exhausted. They 



