AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



167 



Bees in the Greenhouse. 



The article on page 42, on this subject, 

 reads very well, and there is no doubt 

 but that the bees are just the thing to 

 fertilize the cucumbers. But if you are 

 raising choice flowers for sale, they are 

 an injury instead of a benefit. The 

 worst of it is, if you own the bees, it is 

 very expensive ; for I think that not 

 more than one-fourth ever get out to tell 

 the story. I judge by the great number 

 of dead bees found on the ground ; the 

 loss is so great that I have tried to shut 

 them out, by tacking netting over the 

 openings, which is a great bother. I 

 would like to learn the experience of 

 others. L. C. Lincoln. 



Greenville, Mich. 



[We would like to hear from others on 

 this subject, who may have choice 

 flowers in greenhouses, as suggested by 

 Mr. Lincoln. It seems, by his testimony, 

 that the flowers of clwice plants are not 

 only injured by the bees, but that in 

 turn, the bees are killed by the flowers. 

 This is getting quite interesting, and we 

 want to know all about it. Let all who 

 have noticed anything of the sort, give 

 us the facts, for publication. — Ed.] 



Good Yield for a Poor Season. 



The past season has been a very poor 

 one for bees in this locality. I had 10 

 colonies in the Spring, and the weather 

 being unfavorable, I was obliged to feed 

 them until June. They increased to 20 

 colonies, and they gathered 830 pounds 

 of comb-honey. My bees are Carniolans. 

 George W. Nivee. 



Bentley Creek, Pa., Jan. 17, 1891. 



Bee-Keeping" in Tennessee. 



I would like to know how bee-keepers 

 manage to attend to their bees when 

 strawberries are to be gathered, and 

 other farm work attended to, during a 

 honey-flow. I have 40 colonies of bees, 

 and 9 acres of strawberries, with 75 or 

 100 pickers to look after, besides other 

 things. When the bees swarm, I do not 

 know what to do, as I can get no one to 

 handle them but myself, all are afraid of 

 stings, and I cannot leave my other work. 

 This troubles me more than cellar-win- 

 tering, chaff-hives, or diarrhea, because 

 I am not bothered by such things. 



Owing to the heavy rains that we had, 

 during poplar bloom, our honey crop was 

 very short, and I was unable to supply 



my customers. I sell comb-honey for 10 

 cents per pound, and extracted for 8X 

 cents. My bees are in good condition 

 now, and I look forward to a good sea- 

 son. I grow all kinds of fruit, for bees 

 and fruit go hand-in-hand, and all my 

 fruit trees are in good condition. 



R. H. C. Mitchell. 

 Fruitland, Tenn., Jan. 15, 1891. 



The Bee-Keepers' Union. 



I have voted for the re-election of all 

 the officers for the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union. I am well satisfied with the 

 work done by the Union, and hope the 

 time will come when the General Man- 

 ager will be paid for his services, as he 

 ought to be. Green R. Shiver. 



Greene, Iowa. 



Cost of Transportation. 



Can some of the readers of the Bee 

 Journal who have had experience in 

 buying bees in the South, state the cost 

 of express charges on a 4-frame nuclei, 

 from Louisiana or Texas, also the charges 

 for the transportation of a colony to 

 Indiana or Illinois. This is something 

 that will interest us all. 

 * State Line, Ind. W. P. Faylor. 



Good Honey Crop. 



Last Spring I began with 5 colonies 

 of bees, 4 Italians, and 1 hybrid, which 

 increased to 13, by natural swarming. 

 My first swarms issued on May 16 and 

 20. In June the bees were on the verge 

 of starvation, and ceased brood-rearing. 

 White clover did not yield nectar of 

 any account. About the last of June the 

 bees commenced to store surplus, and 

 gave me 335 pounds of comb-honey in 

 %-pound sections — 238 pounds being 

 secured from 2 colonies. They have 

 plenty of honey to winter upon. I have 

 them packed in chaff upon the Summer 

 stands. Nearly all of the bees in this 

 part of the country (Wayne county) are 

 blacks, and are kept in old-fashioned 

 box-hives. Most of my queens are mis- 

 mated. D. I. Wagar. 



Flat Rock, Mich., Jan. 10, 1891. 



Binders made especially for the Bee 

 JouKNAL for 1891 are now ready for 

 delivery, at 50 cents each, including pos- 

 tage. Be sure to use a Binder to keep your 

 numbers of 1890 for reference. Binders 

 for 1890 only cost 60 cents, and it will 

 pay you to use them, if you do not get the 

 volumes otherwise bound. 



