604 



THE AMERICAJSf BEE JOURNAL. 



is now in full bloom. The brood- 

 chambers are filled with capped honey 

 in nearly all the 11 colonies, and some 

 are now storing honey in the sections. 

 I do not see anything else to gather 

 honey from, as the pastures are all 

 dried up, and stock is suffering for 

 want of water and feed. The wheat 

 and oats crop was excellent ; the corn 

 crop is very short. I have not heard 

 of any surplus honey within a boun- 

 dary of 5 miles around me, or within 

 100 miles. I hear that the general 

 complaint is that bees are starving. 

 One man near me had over 30 colo- 

 nies in the spring, and he has now 3 

 colonies left. Everybody is discour- 

 aged, but I intend to " keep a stiff 

 upper lip," and stand by my bees. 



Bees Doing Poorly.— Wm. Ander- 

 son. Sberman,o Missouri, on Sept. 13, 

 1887, writes : 



Bees are doing very poorly here. I 

 never saw a year so hard on bees. 

 They have not had enough honey to 

 keep the amount of bees required to 

 make a strong colony. During the 

 summer months the vyeather was so 

 hot and dry that everything was 

 burned up, and there was nothing for 

 the bees to gather. Half of the bees 

 in this part of the country are ' dead 

 now, and a hard winter yet in view. I 

 will not get a pound of honey from 50 

 colonies, and will have to feed for 

 winter. Those who have bees to sell 

 next spring, will doubtless be able to 

 get good prices for them. 



Clipping ftueens' "Wings-— Mrs. 

 Josiah Sanborn, Almont,ot Michigan, 

 writes : 



I am a new hand at bee-keeping, 

 and stop my bees when swarming, by 

 ringing bells. Some say that is no 

 use, that I ought to clip the queens' 

 wings. Please tell me in the Bee 

 Journal how to do it. 



[The day has passed away for beat- 

 ing pans and the like. You can cap- 

 ture swarms by a force-pump and 

 water. Prof. Cook says : 



To clip the queen's wing, take hold 

 of her wings with the left thumb and 

 index finger— never grasp her body, 

 especially her abdomen, as this will be 

 very apt to inj ure her ; raise her off 

 the comb, then turn from the bees, 

 place her gently on a board or any 

 convenient object— even the knee will 

 do ; she will thus stand on her feet, 

 and not trouble by constantly passing 

 her legs up by her wings, where they, 

 too, would be in danger of being cut 

 off. Now, take a small pair of scis- 

 sors, and with the right hand open 

 them, carefully pass one blade under 

 one of the front wings, shut the 

 blades, and all is over. 



Dr. Miller cuts off both wings on 

 the left side with a small pair of em- 

 broidery scissors. Great care should 

 be taken not to cut off a leg also, and 

 to cut off more of the lace than of the 

 fleshy part.— Ed.] 





illJODMI^ 



Issued every Wednesday by 



THOMAS 0. NEWMAIf & SON, 



PROPRIETOKS, 



923&.925WESTMADIS0NST., CHICAGO ILL. 

 At One Dollar a If ear. 



ALFRED H. NEWMAN, 



Business manager. 



To Correspondents. — It would save 

 18 much trouble, if all would be particular 

 10 give their P. 0. address and name, when 

 WTitlng-to this office. We have several letters 

 some inclosing money) that have no name; 

 nany others having no Post-Offlce, County 

 ■>T State. Also, if you live near one post- 

 jfflce and get your mail at another, be sure 

 :o give the address we have on our list. 



As tbere Is Another firm in Chicago by 

 the name of " Newman & Son," we wish our 

 correspondents would write *' American Bee 

 Journal " on the envelope when writing to 

 this ofBce. Several letters of ours have 

 already gone to the other firm (a commission 

 house), causing vexatious delay and trouble. 



We wriU Present Webster's Dictionary 

 pocket edition), and send it by mail, post- 

 paid, for two subscribers with $2. It is 

 always useful to have a dictionary at hand 

 to decide as to the spelling of words, and to 

 determine their meaning. 



Money Orders can now be obtained at 

 the Post Offices at reduced rates. Five 

 dollars and under costs now only 5 cents. 

 As these are absolutely safe, it will pay to 

 get them instead of the Postal Notes which 

 are payable to any one who presents them, 

 and are in no way safe. 



Red Labels for one-pound pails of 

 Honey, size 3x4% inches. — We nave now 

 gotten up a lot of these Labels, and can 

 supply them at the foUowiug prices : 100 

 for $1.00 ; 250 forSl.50 ; 500 for $2.00 ; 1,000 

 for $3.00 ; all with name and address of 

 apiarist printed on them— by mall, postpaid. 



E, Duncan Snlffen, Advertising Agent, 

 3 Park Row, New York, inserts advertise- 

 ments In all first-class Newspapers and 

 Magazines with more promptness and at 

 lower prices than can be obtained elsewhere. 

 He gives special attention to writing and 

 setting up advertisements in the most at- 

 tractive mantier, and guarantees entire 

 satisfaction. In all bis dealings, he is honor- 

 able and prompt. Send for hie Catalogue 

 of first-class advertising mediums. Mailed 

 tree. 52A40t 



A Valuable Book Given Atvay.— We 



have made arrangements by which we can 

 supply the American Bee Journal and 

 the New York World— both weekly— for one 

 year, for $2.10, and present the^ubscriber 

 with one of these books, bound In Leath- 

 erette Free Calf : 



History of the United States— from 

 432 to 1887.-320 pages.— Price, $2.00. 



History of England— from before the 

 Christian era to 1887.— Price, $2.00. 



Everybody's Book— a treasury of useful 

 knowledge. — 410 pages.— Price, $2.00. 



The extra 10 cents is for postage on the 

 book, which must be selected by the sub- 

 scriber at the time of sending the subscrip- 

 tion, and cannot be afterwards exchanged. 



The book selected will be mailed in a card- 

 board case, at the subscriber's risk; if lost 

 it cannot be replaced. Be sure to write your 

 name, post-oflice, county and State plainly, 

 and then the risk of loss is very small. The 

 subscriptions can commence at any time. 



Remember, the amount is $2.10 for both 

 papers, and the Book and postage. 



Sweet Clover, (Melilotus alba), furnishes 

 the most reliable crop of honey from July 

 until frost, and at the same time it furnishes 

 the most delicious honey, light in color, and 

 thick in body. It may be sown In waste 

 places, fence corners, or on the roadside. 

 Sow two years running, on the same land, 

 and the honey crop will be without inter- 

 mission. Money invested in Sweet Clover 

 Seed will prove a good investment. The 

 Seed may be obtained at this office at the 

 following prices: $6.00 per bushel (60 lbs.); 

 $1.75 per peck, or 20 cents per pound. 



Simmlns' Non-Snrarming System.— 



We have received another shipment of these 

 books, and have made such favorable terms, 

 that we will now club them with the Bee 

 JODBNAL for one year, both postpaid, for 

 $1.25. We can supply all orders by return 

 mail. The subscription to the Bee Jour- 

 nal can be for next year, this year, or may 

 begin anew at any time. 



Enameled Cloth for covering frames, 

 price per yard, 45 inches wide, 20 cents ; if a 

 whole piece of 12 yards is taken, $2.25 ; 10 

 pieces, $30.00 ; if ordered by mail, send 15 

 cents per yard extra for postage. 



Preserve your Papers fer reference. 

 If you have no BINDER we wUl mail you 

 one for 60 cents, or you can have one frkb 

 If you will send us 3 new yearly subscrip- 

 tions for the Bee Journal. 



igf Sample Copies of the Bee Journal 

 will be sent free upon application. Any one 

 intending to get up a club can have sampls 

 copies sent to the persons they desire to in- 

 terview, by sending the names to this offloe. 

 or we will send them all to the agent. 



Yucca Brushes are employed for re- 

 moving bees from the combs. They are a 

 soft, vegetable fiber, and do not irritate the 

 bees. We can supply them at 5 cents 

 each, or 50 cents a dozen ; if sent by mail, 

 odd 1 cent each for postage. 



