AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



Is two miles from my apiary, and only 

 the strongest bees can fly to it. I saw 

 an account in one of the bee-periodicals 

 of some one having bees that would 

 work from 15 to 30 miles away from 

 home, and if I had such bees it would be 

 no trouble to secure tons of honey. But 

 there are doubts in my mind about bees 

 flying 15 miles from home in search of 

 nectar, or even 4 miles. Within one- 

 half mile to two miles of my apiary, on 

 the east, are hundreds of acres of white 

 clover, while on the west, about two 

 miles distant, is a grove of basswood. 

 When the honey-flow is good from the 

 clover, there are ten bees at worlv on 

 clover to one on the basswood. The 

 nectar being easier to obtain from the 

 basswood than from clover, this great 

 diiference is accounted for by the 

 distance, my observation being that 

 from one-half to two miles is the best 

 range of flight for bees to do good work. 

 The prospect is good for a Fall flow of 

 nectar from heart's-ease, if we have 

 plenty of rain in July and August. We 

 have had a great deal of wet weather 

 this month. J. R. Eskew. 



Shenandoah, Iowa, June 30, 1891. 



Cold Weather in Minnesota. 



The weather has been very unfavor- 

 able for bees during the past two weeks 

 — wet, cloudy and cold, with considerable 

 wind. There was a heavy rain yester- 

 day and last night, and this morning the 

 mercury stands at 46°. Basswood is in 

 bloom, but unless the weather moderates 

 soon, the bees will gather very little 

 honey from it. The weather is too cold 

 for' comb-building, and the bees are 

 leaving the sections, and going down 

 into the brood-chambers. 



C. Theilmann. 



Theilmanton, Minn., July 8, 1891. 



Bloom Devoid of Nectar. 



This is one of the poorest years for 

 honey that I ever knew. It promised 

 everything, and has fulfilled nothing. 

 I have 250 colonies in my apiaries, and, 

 after six weeks of abundant bloom, I have 

 no more surplus than I fed to the bees 

 in the Spring. The season began un- 

 usually early, and now seems drawing to 

 a close. On pleasant days the bees have 

 been busy all the time, but they seemed 

 to gather no more nectar than was neces- 

 sary for their own use. This is the 

 general complaint in this locality. 



B. H. Standish. 



Evansville, Wis., July 6, 1891. 



Not Much Surplus. 



The weather this month has been poor 

 for the bees. Basswood bloom is just 

 opening on the low lands. There will 

 not be much surplus from white clover. 

 P. H. Elwood. 



Herkimer, N. Y., July 8, 1891. 



Useless Honey-Dew. 



My crop of early honey is entirely 

 ruined by honey-dew. I have thousands 

 of sections of the stuff, and do not know 

 what to do with it. It will not do to 

 sell, as it would certainly spoil the 

 market, even for good honey ; and it 

 will not do for Winter stores. The only 

 way I can devise to make any use of it 

 at all, is to extract it, and keep it for 

 Spring feeding. I am afraid that some 

 bee-keepers will put this stuff on the 

 market, as it is generally capped white, 

 and thus disgust people with all honey, 

 and again give the old Wiley lie a great 

 boom. C. H. DiBBERN. 



Milan, Ills., July 8, 1891. 



Put No Honey-Dew on the Market. 



I fear the bug-juice honey, that is so 

 plentiful this season, will ruin the 

 market for good honey, if bee-keepers 

 cannot be persuaded not to offer it for 

 sale. One man told me that he had 

 large quantities of it, and that he was 

 selling it at 5 cents per pound. Perhaps 

 you can, through the Bee Journal, 

 discourage the sale of the stuff, so that, 

 if we get a flow of good honey in the 

 Fall, there will be a market for the 

 genuine article. G. W. Cole. 



Canton, Ills. 



[Yes, indeed. Let no one presume to 

 offer such stuff for sale as honey. His 

 reputation is at stake ! The pursuit is 

 also in danger of being sadly injured if 

 that is done. — Ed.] 



Poor Prospects. 



Bees began working on alsike and 

 white clovers about June 10, and have 

 stored a few pounds in the sections up 

 to date, but there has been too much 

 rain and cold, northwest winds. Bass- 

 wood has been in bloom for a week, but 

 the bees have been confined to their 

 hives much of the time, and unless it 

 clears up within a few days, the crop 

 will be slim. Wm. Pearson. 



Oswalt, Iowa, July 2, 1891. 



