THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



619 



Inch thick. Nail two strips across, 

 and you have a cover that costs 

 almost nothing, and will last for 

 years, as the hees do not cut the mat- 

 ting as they do burlap. The strips 

 raise it above the frames, and does 

 away with Hill's and all other de- 

 vices. In winter till it with chaff or 

 planer shavings. If you wish to feed 

 m the spring, remove tlie chaff and 

 cut a hole, put in all the feed you 

 please, and there will be no danger 

 rrom robber bees. My losses in win- 

 tering do not exceed one per cent, 

 while last winter 75 colonies came 

 through without loss, on the summer 

 stands. 

 Athens, 5 Pa., Sept. 15, 1887. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1887. Time and place of MeetiiiQ. 



Oct. 5. — Eastern indlnna, at Richmond. Ind. 



M. G. Keynolds, Sec, WilliumsburK, Ind. 



Oct. 18.— Kentucky State, at Falmouth, Ky. 



J. T. L'onnley, Sec, Napoleon, Ky. 



Oct. 26, 27.-Pan-Handle, at Wheeling, W. Va. 



W. L. Kinsey, Sec, Blaine. O. 



Not. 1B-I8.— North American, at Chicago, nis. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec, Rogersville, Mich. 



Dec. 7-9.— Michigan State, at East Saginaw, Mich. 



U. D. Cutting, See, Clinton, Mich. 

 1888. 

 Jan. 20.— Haldiroand, at Cayuga, Ontario. 



K. C. Campbell, Sec, Cayuga, Onl. 



^F" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particuiara of 

 time and place of future meetings.— El). 





Pleasing Results.— John McKeon, 

 Dryden,ON. Y., on Sept. 14, 1887, 

 writes : 



We (Mrs. M. and I) commenced the 

 season with 41 colonies, increased 

 them to 61 by natural swarming, and 

 have taken 2,400 pounds of comb 

 honey in one-pound sections, about 

 100 pounds more in unfinished sec- 

 tions, and 20 gallons of white ex- 

 tracted or amber color. We have 10 

 supers full of buckwheat honey to ex- 

 tract, and therefore we are well 

 pleased with the result. We have 

 taken the advice of Mr. Hutchinson, 

 and " carry a stiff upper lip." 



Better than the Average Yield.— 

 W. 1). Markham, Hart,*c Mich., on 

 Sept. 17, 1887, writes : 



I commenced the season on May 1 

 with 80 colonies, and had 60 first 

 swarms, but only increased my apiary 

 to 108 colonies. I never saw so much 

 swarming ; the want of room did not 

 seem to make any difference. Those 

 colonies worked for extracted were 

 almost as bad as any. I worked two 

 together, and the sequel shows that it 

 was a good scheme, for honey was not 

 very plenty, only just enough to stim- 

 ulate them to swarm. But on July 1 

 we had a good rain ; basswood was 



Justin bloom, and what honey they 

 got for me they gathered in about 

 seven days, except about 400 pounds 

 of fall honey, which is more than 1 

 have had for a number of years. My 

 surplus is 2,-500 pounds, 600 pounds 

 in sections, and the balance is ex- 

 tracted honey, but it is almost all line 

 and white. 1 never had my bees in 

 belter condition for winter. I have 

 the surplus arrangements all off, and 

 shall feed up a few colonies that have 

 been worked for extracted honey ; but 

 those worked for comb honey have 

 plenty, and some of them could spare 

 a little. I hope to realize a good price 

 for my honey, and I notice that it is 

 generally conceded that honey will 

 command a high price. 



Bug-Juice for Winter Stores,— W. 

 Mason, rillmore,K) Ind., on Sept. 19, 

 1887, says : 



The drouth was broken on Aug. 1-5, 

 and since then the showers have 

 started the bloom on several plants. 

 Bees are gathering some honey, and 

 are getting in lair condition; but at 

 this writing the bees have taken to 

 the burr-Oiik leaves, gathering the 

 bug-juice or honey-dew stuff at a 

 fearlul rate, and will till their hives in 

 a short time. The leaves are dripping 

 with it. There is plenty of bloom to 

 woikon, but it is neglected by the 

 bees. Will this prove to be bad for 

 wintering V I have greater tears in 

 less copious feeding of sugar syrup. 

 Will it prove to be a remedy, how- 

 ever? A great deal is being stored 

 in the upper story, which will be re- 

 moved later. What would you do? 

 Extract it and feed ? 



[Extract the bug-juice and feed 

 sugar syrup, is the best advice we can 

 give. Thin, sour honey is just as bad 

 for winter stores as bug- juice. Be 

 careful not to have the syrup too thin. 

 —Ed.] 



We have considerable goldenrod, 

 but it is not as good as the two above- 

 named plants here, although the bees 

 seem to work on it better this year 

 than usual. We also have heart's- 

 ease and Spanish-needle. We have 

 had a gentle rain of a day and a half 

 duration, that will make the bees 

 hum, unless it should continue to be 

 wet and cool. Let the name "ex- 

 tracted honey " still heexlracted honey! 



[No. 1 is thoroughwort, also called 

 boneset [eupatorium). No. 2 is one of 

 the numerous family of asters [trades- 

 canti), or Michaelmas daisy. Both are 

 excellent honey-producers.— Ed.] 



Thoroughwort, Asters, etc.— Eden 

 M. Coombs, Memphis,? Ind., on Sept. 

 19, 1887, writes : 



I wish you would name the honey- 

 plants that I send. No. 1 has been 

 secreting nectar for about two weeks, 

 and some colonies are beginning to 

 seal it in the upper stories, gathered, 

 I think, mostly from this plant. 

 There is a great deal of it, and I have 

 seen as many as a dozen bees on a plant 

 at a time, and they work on it the en- 

 tire day. The plant grows from 1 

 foot to 6 feet high ; those of 1 foot 

 have generally only one stalk each ; 

 larger plants have several stalks from 

 the same root. Each stem has sev- 

 eral laterals, each one throwing out 

 small, short stems, and hundreds of 

 blossoms. 



Plant No. 2 is called by some here, 

 the " last rose of summer." It is just 

 now beginning to bloom, and secretes 

 nectar for about three weeks. It 

 grows on an average about 20 inches 

 nigh. There are "oceans of it," and 

 if it secretes nectar like it has in 

 former years, I may bo able to take 

 some surplus honey yet this fall. 



Bee-Cellars, Clover and Ooldenrod. 



—James Shaw, Keed's Landing,©. 

 Minn., on Sept. 18, 1887, writes : 



I have a bee-cellar dug in a bank. 

 The temperature was down to 37° at 

 times last winter, and my bees win- 

 tered well ; they came out strong and 

 healthy. 1. Will you please tell me 

 whether it would be advisable to rai.se 

 the temperature by using an oil-stove 

 with a 2-inch pipe running into the 

 ventilator. 



2. What season of the year is best 

 to sow clover ? Will it seed itself 

 after it is started ? I wish to raise it 

 for bee-forage. 



I have 10 colonies, and they will 

 average 75 pounds each. This is my 

 second year in bee-keeping. I have 

 used small starters this season, and 

 the bees have made some crooked 

 combs. I like large starters the best. 



3. I send you a branch of a plant 

 that the bees are working strong on. 

 I wish you would tell me its name. 



[1. It is preferable to have the tem- 

 perature a few degrees higher, and it 

 can be easily raised by the judicious 

 use of an oil-stove. 



2. Sow white clover seed in the 

 spring broadcast, 5 or 6 pounds to the 

 acre ; if for grazing, mix with timothy 

 or blue grass, using 3 pounds to the 

 acre. It will re-seed the ground after 

 once sowing. 



3. The bloom is that of one of the 

 numerous goldenrods (solidago), and 

 is excellent for honey of a rich, golden 

 color.— Ed.] 



Market Nomenclature.— C. F.Muth . 

 & Son, Cincinnati, P O., on Sept. 20, 

 1887, write : 



In reply to a number of inquiries, 

 allow us to make the following ex- 

 planations: The expression, "On 

 arrival," means that honey (like other 

 goods) brings the stipulated price at 

 the wharf or other depot here. It is 

 the net price, no charges being made 

 for hauling, storage, commission, etc. 

 It does not mean that any one will 

 buy all the honey that arrives at the 

 wharfs or depots at that price. Buy- 

 ers take all they want at the range of 

 those prices. " In a jobbing way " 

 means the price which honey brings 

 when it passes from the hands of the 

 wholesaler into those of the retailer. 



