AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



249 



ingly careful not to allow any honey-dew 

 to get mixed with the crop that you 

 expect to sell, as it will very much injure 

 the honey trade. 



A gentleman who was watching our 

 experiment asked why there were no 

 blossoms on the tree. We could not tell 

 him but simply knew that our second- 

 growth trees have had no bloom on this 

 year, or very little. We were wondering 

 whether every basswood tree secreted a 

 certain amount of sweet every year, 

 whether the bloom was there or not. 



This gentleman remarked that he 

 thought, as there was no bloom, that 

 these insects were sent to suck the honey 

 out through the limbs of the trees, and 

 discharge it where the bees could get it ; 

 but if that was the kind of honey we had 

 to have for basswood honey in future, we 

 would step down and out of that part of 

 the business. — Canadian Bee Journal. 



Benefit of a Cold Winter. 



Such a Spring drought as we have had 

 this year in many parts of Canada is 

 unprecedented in the memory of "the 

 oldest inhabitant." We usually have a 

 dry spell in midsummer, but are seldom, 

 in seed time, without sufficient rain to 

 give the grain and grass a good start. 

 But the present season has been remark- 

 able in many localities for a long-con- 

 tinued Spring drought. In some parts 

 of the country there was hardly a drop 

 of rain from the middle of April to the 

 middle of June, and this following a 

 comparatively mild Winter, during which 

 frost did not penetrate the soil to any 

 great depth, made the long "dry spell" 

 the more trying. When the frost goes 

 to a considerable depth into the ground, 

 it takes longer to thaw out, and there is 

 a retention of moisture far on into the 

 Spring. It is this which makes the 

 climate of Manitoba and the Northwest 

 favorable to the wheat crop. The frozen 

 soil thaws very gradually, and Is a reser- 

 voir of moisture for the growing crop, 

 which it supplies with water by capillary 

 attraction. 



In the Northwest there are no Spring 

 rains, and the water supply rises from 

 the depths of the earth, instead of falling 

 from the regions of the sky. The writer 

 has seen excavations in Winnipeg during 

 midsummer, out of which big chunks of 

 frozen earth were taken to make room 

 for the foundations of buildings. But in 

 "old Canada," as it is sometimes called, 

 frost is rarely found in the ground after 

 the first of May, and this compensating 

 advantage of a severe Winter is not 



present to mitigate the effects of such a 

 drought as we have had the present 

 year. — Rural Canadian. 



Honey Vinegar from Cappings. 



Drain all the honey that can be got 

 from the cappings, which are then cov- 

 ered for an hour or two with water. The 

 cappings from 1,000 pounds of honey 

 will sweeten enough water for 45 gallons 

 of vinegar. The water is drained into 

 an open barrel which is kept covered 

 wiih a cloth. The scum is removed as it 

 rises. In about a year the change to 

 vinegar will be completed. — Exchange. 



Keep Honey-Dew for Spring Feeding. 



A bee-keeper who lives in the woods 

 of the Illinois River bottoms, called 

 lately to inquire what he had better do 

 with the honey-dew that his bees h«d 

 stored. He said the brood-nests were 

 filled with it, so that the queens could 

 not lay. He had extracted from surplus 

 cases about 1,500 pounds. It was dark 

 stuff gathered from the secretions of an 

 insect, living upon the oaks and hicko- 

 ries. Such a product may not be good 

 food for bees to Winter upon, but for 

 Spring feeding, would promote brood- 

 rearing, and do no harm. — Mrs. L. Har- 

 rison, in the Prairie Farmer. 



Removal. — Circumstances have 

 made it to our advantage to remove to 

 more commodious quarters, and we may 

 hereafter be found at 199, 201 and 203 

 East Randolph Street— two blocks north 

 and one block east of our former loca" 

 tion. Previous to removal we occupied 

 the fifth floor of a building, but we now 

 occupy the third floor of a building near 

 the corner of Fifth Avenue and Ran- 

 dolph Street. Our friends are always 

 welcome. 



'Wlien IJVriting a letter be sure 

 to sign it. Too often we get letters 

 with the name of the post-office, but no 

 County or State. One such came 

 recently, and we looked into the Postal 

 Guide and found there were places by 

 that name in 13 States. That order for 

 goods will have to wait until another 

 letter comes to give the proper address. 

 Be sure to stamp your letter, or it may 

 go t'j the dead letter office. 



