824 



THE AMERlCAl^ BEE JOURNAL. 



than in many other places ; and the 

 same condition of things appears to 

 have existed in other localities also. 



In the American Bee Journal, 

 page 613, VV. J. Cullinan, of Mt. 

 Sterling, Ills., makes the following 

 statement : " We have had this year, 

 without exception, the largest wheat 

 and oat crop that was ever known in 

 this section of the country, and I see 

 the same recorded for Missouri and 

 other States. We had a fair crop of 

 hay, and will have more corn than we 

 had last year. We have double the 

 yield of clover seed than was ever 

 known before. It is true that the 

 honey crop has been a partial failure." 



I desire to call special attention to 

 that part of Mr. Cullinan 's statement 

 wherein he says, " We have double 

 the yield of clover seed than ever was 

 known before." Now, the complaint 

 is almost universal from Illinois, 

 Iowa, and Wisconsin, and many other 

 places, that the yield of honey from 

 white clover was very light indeed, 

 notwithstanding the fact that clover 

 bloomed profusely and yielded seed 

 abundantly, at least in some places 

 where the honey crop failed. 



From the foregoing I draw the con- 

 clusion that it was not altogether the 

 lack of rain that cut the honey crop 

 short the past season. 



A pertinent and interesting query 

 very naturally arises at this point: 

 What, then, is the reason the flowers 

 did not supply their usuaLquantily of 

 nectar V If I were called upon to an- 

 swer this question. I should freely 

 admit that I do not know. But judg- 

 ing from appearances, I have foimed 

 the opinion that the failure did not 

 result altogether from the want of 

 rain, but was also equally due to 

 some peculiar state of the atmosphere, 

 which I do not fully understand, and 

 therefore cannot explain satisfactorily 

 even to myself. I am not a scientist. 

 The secretion of nectar in the flowers 

 is a very delicate process, achieved 

 only by the spontaneous action of 

 natural laws which are dependent 

 upon suitable atmospheric conditions 

 for the fulfillment of their functions ; 

 and are very sensitive to any inter- 

 ruption of. or changes in, those con- 

 ditions. Even the changing of the 

 wind from one point of the compass 

 to another, will sometimes appear to 

 suspend the operation altogether for 

 the time. We can understand the 

 effect, although we may not be able 

 to comprehend .the " why and where- 

 fore " concerning it. 



Every one that has had much ex- 

 perience with maple sugar, is doubt- 

 less familiar with the fact that the 

 flow of sap from the trees is governed 

 almost wholly by the state of the at- 

 mosphere. When the conditions of 

 the atmosphere are just right there 

 will be an abundant flow of sap ; when 

 they are not right no sap can be ob- 

 tained, although there may be no 

 visible difference in outward appear- 

 ances. Is it not reasonable to sup- 

 pose that the flow of nectar in flowers 

 is equally as much affected by at- 

 mospheric conditions, as is the flow of 

 sap in the sugar maple V 



Seymour.o* Wis. 



ror tiie American Bee Joumair 



1mm Swarms— Interesting Relic. 



E. L. HOLDEN. 



I began the last winter with 14 colo- 

 nies on the summer stands, all being 

 packed in sawdust. All but one came 

 through the winter in good condition, 

 and that one was destroyed by mice. 

 From these 13 colonies, and two new 

 ones, I took 563 one-pound sections of 

 honey, and 2.51 two-pound sections, 

 making some over 1,000 pounds of 

 comb honey. 



My method of managing was, to 

 take out all queen-cells, and then re- 

 turn the swarm to the old hive, when 

 a swarm issued. I do not like this 

 way, because I never know when the 

 bees are through swarming. In some 

 instances they came out again in six 

 days after being returned, with sealed 

 queen-cells. In other, cases they 

 would come out in two days, but not 

 with sealed queen-cells. My bees be- 

 gan swarming on May 16, and the last 

 swarm issued on July 16. 



I was 73 years old last May, and 

 have had the management of bees, to 

 some extent, ever since I was large 

 enough to handle a bee ; and the more 

 I see of them the more interest I take 

 in them. 



AN OLD RECEIPT. 



I have a receipt for the right to use 

 the Langstroth hive, signed by the 

 hand of L. L. Langstroth, in Green- 

 field, Mass., and dated Feb. 18, 18,58, 

 nearly 30 years ago. The receipt was 

 for $5. I am glad to hear of the good 

 health of the inventor of the movable- 

 frame. 



N. Clarendon,*© Vt., Dec. 13, 1887. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



DicaBBei Honey— Consunmtion Cure. 



JOHN A. RICKENBACHEB. 



The past season has been another 

 total failure in this locality, making 

 three years of failure out of the last 

 four years here. When fruit bloom 

 opened, the bees gathered a little 

 honey from that source. White clover 

 was a failure, but the bees gathered 

 enough honey from linden bloom to 

 carry them through until fall bloom, 

 from which they gathered barely 

 enough to last until spring. My bees 

 had a great deal of uncapped honey, 

 and some had nothing else but un- 

 capped honey when 1 packed them for 

 the winter, which was about the last 

 of October. Do you think they will 

 winter well on that kind of honey, if 

 other conditions are right V I am 

 going to try it. The honey is thick, 

 and of a good quality. 



I had a conversation with a grocery- 

 man in Columbus, last summer, who 

 told me that this was the first sum- 

 mer for a number of years that he 

 could get no honey to sell. What has 

 become of the comb honey manufac- 

 tors I* Has the disastrous year killed 

 them ? Two years ago a man told me 

 that there was a firm in Columbus 



that was selling manufactured comb 

 honey, but I hear nothing of them 

 now. I suppose that they have also 

 gone to sleep with the rest. 



The following is a good recipe for 

 consumption : To two ounces of alli- 

 copaign roots add two quarts of 

 water, and boil down to one-half ; 

 then add one quart of honey, also 5 

 cents worth of the best licorice slick, 

 and boil down to one-fourth. A dose 

 is a table-spoonful, to be taken before 

 each meal. 



Gahanna,© O., Dec. 13, 1887. 



[Being thick honey, even though 

 uncapped, it will probably answer 

 very well.— Ed.] 



For tbe American Bee JonniaL 



No Conmlaints-Oilorless Font Brood. 



WM. B. M'CORMICK. 



While others are complaining so 

 much about the last season being so 

 poor for honey, I have no reason to 

 complain, although we have had the 

 driest summer that has been known 

 here for many years. No rain has 

 fallen since the middle of May to the 

 present, at any one time, sufllcient to 

 wet the ground 2 inches deep ; yet we 

 had enough to keep vegetation in 

 good condition until July 5, when it 

 became so hot and dry that the white 

 clover (our only source of surplus 

 honey) was completely dried up. But 

 about Aug. 1, we had some good 

 showers that started the fall flowers 

 to blooming nicely, and during Sep- 

 tember and October the bees had a 

 good time, and tilled their hives 

 mostly from asters, which was the 

 first time I ever knew them to pro- 

 duce honey to any extent. The honey 

 came in in such quantities that the 

 whole yard, for rods around, was 

 scented with it. 



My crop from white clover was 

 1.800 pounds, which has been disposed 

 of in my home market at 20 cents per 

 pound. Some of my colonies produced 

 from 90 to 120 pounds each. 



I have wintered my bees the last 

 two winters without any loss, except- 

 ing one or two that became queenless. 

 I winter part on the summer stands, 

 well packed, and part in the cellar. 

 Those wintered out-of-doors I think 

 stand the sudden changes in the 

 spring better than those wintered in 

 the cellar. 



ODOKLESS FOUL BROOD. 



I was very much interested in the 

 article on " Odorless Foul Brood." on 

 page 730, as that exactly described the 

 kind of foul irood that we are plagued 

 with in this locality, and what a few 

 years ago destroyed nearly all the 

 bees in this county, as well as in sev- 

 eral of the adjoining counties. Also 

 the remedy there recommended is 

 what I have been practicing, and I 

 find it effectual, and 1 do not fear the 

 disease now as much as I do spring 

 dwindling or bee diarrhea. 



I am not yet satisfied as to its 

 origin, but I am rather inclined to 

 believe that it comes from chilled 



