132 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the difference, and besides that they 

 imagine that the extracted - honey is 

 mostly made of sugar. Bee-keepers in 

 this neighborhood take little interest in 

 bees and they are left to take care of 

 themselves the best they can, and the 

 result often proves disastrous. Those 

 who do keep bees for profit, take one or 

 more journals. Very little encourage- 

 ment is given to bee-keepers by our 

 Apicultural and Horticultural society of 

 Berks County. The premiums are so 

 small that only two or three persons 

 exhibit, and then only in small quantities. 

 Berks County should have an association 

 for bee-keepers. Many are in favor of 

 the. scheme but it seems to all end in 

 talk. 



Evan R. Styer. 

 Morgantown, Pa., Jan. 13, 1891. 



Bee-Culture in^Kansas. 



In 1887 I commenced with 2 colonies 

 of bees, one was so weak that it starved, 

 and the other was stolen. Determined 

 not to be beaten, the next Spring I 

 bought 23 colonies, all of them being 

 small. I was obliged to transfer them, 

 and in so doing I lost 2 colonies and 

 there being 2 queenless ones, it left me 

 but 19. I have now 24 colonies all in 

 good condition. From 9 colonies T took 

 80 pounds of comb and 12 pounds of 

 extracted honey per colony ; and, from 

 11 colonies, I took 12 pounds of 

 extracted-honey per colony. We had a 

 very poor season on account of the 

 drouth. Our Winters are very mild and 

 this Winter the bees have been flying 

 every few days, the mercury ranging 

 from 50^ down to 15^ above zero, the 

 average being about 40^. I winter my 

 bees on their Summer stands in single 

 walled hives, and have had no loss or 

 Spring dwindling. We have a good 

 market for honey, I sold my comb-honey 

 for 15 cents per pound and extracted 

 for 12>2 cents per pound. 



L. Wayman. 



Chanute, Kansas, Jan, 7, 1891. 



Strange Freak of Nature. 



In the Fall of 1888, there was grow- 

 ing on a vacant lot adjoining my 

 residence, a lot of golden rod and some 

 white and pink flowers, the name of 

 which I did not know, but which 

 appeared to be a honey plant. They 

 were in full bloom and literally covered 

 with what looked like bees, but on catch- 

 ing some, I found them to be flies. On 

 the wing and also on the flower, they 



looked exactly like a bee, but when 

 caught and examined they proved to be 

 lighter in color, the abdomen was fiat 

 and on the under side they looked like a 

 lightning bug. I had a good joke on 

 passers-by, telling them that I had my 

 bees mixed with lightning bugs, so that 

 they could work at night. I caught 

 some and upon dissecting them, I found 

 they had a honey sack which was full of 

 honey. They made a noise like the bee 

 only louder and in a lower key, and it 

 was hard to distinguish them from the 

 bees, which they outnumbered 5 to 1, 

 until they were caught. They were 

 never noticed here before or since. 



J. E. Peichaed. 

 Port Norris, N. J., Jan. 13, 1891. 



[You should have sent some samples 

 of them to Prof. Cook. He is always 

 pleased to receive such. — Ed.] 



Bee-Keeping" in Northern Nebraska. 



As a general thing the bees here have 

 gathered enough honey to Winter on. 

 Doctor Porter, who lost so many colonies 

 last Winter, has been dividing them up. 

 He had 15 colonies left in the Spring 

 and I hear that he divided them until he 

 had over 60. He used the combs and 

 honey left by the colonies which died. 

 Another man had a few late colonies but 

 as they did not gather enough honey to 

 winter on, he thought it would not pay 

 to feed them. Bee-keepers here say 

 that their bees will winter on the stores 

 they have gathered, but they have no 

 surplus honey. One man started last 

 Spring with 2 colonies, he had 3 swarms 

 but 2 of them went together, so that he 

 only doubled his number. Another, who 

 had a large increase in 1889, had a very 

 small one last season, and no surplus 

 honey. It is the same all over this 

 country, small increase and very little 

 surplus honey. I weighed my hives 

 when I put my bees into the cellar and 

 put honey into the 3 lightest ones, 

 together with some sugar syrup, and I 

 intend to try and keep these colonies 

 alive. I have 60 or 70 pounds of sur- 

 plus honey. 



Ira N. Lyman, 



St. Peter, Iowa, Jan. 9, 1891. 



R. 'Word, of commendation from our 

 readers to those not among our subscribers, 

 will be more potent than anything we can 

 say. If you like our Journal— please let 

 your neighbor know it, and let us thank 

 you in advance for this favor. 



