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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



COTVVENTION DIRECTORY. 



Time and place of meeting. 



1891. 

 Feb. 11, 12.— Eastern Iowa, at Maquoketa, Iowa. 



Frank Coverdale, Sec, Welton, Iowa. 



May 7.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



In order to have this table complete, 

 Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the place of 

 each future meeting.— The Editor. 



North American Bee-Keepers' Association 



President— P. H. Elwood . . . . Starkville, N. Y. 

 Secretary— C. P. Dadant Hamilton, Ills. 



National Bee-Keepers' Union. 



President— James Heddon ..Dowagiac, Mich. 

 Sec'y and Manager— T. G. Newman, Chicago. 



Bee aiid tloiieu Gossip. 



Minnesota State Association. 



The honey crop in this section was 

 very light last season, and but few ob- 

 tained any surplus. The local markets 

 are bare of honey. Many colonies of 

 bees went into Winter quarters with but, 

 little honey, and I predict a great Win- 

 ter loss. I have 19 colonies in the cellar. 

 They are very quiet, and I think most of 

 them 'have plenty of stores. We have 

 our State Association thoroughly organ- 

 ized with 30 members. 



M. Cutler. 



Sumter, Minn., Jan. 28, 1891. 



Fall Rains and the Honey Crop. 



On page 124 Mr. Draper argues that 

 an abundance of rain during the Fall 

 months will insure a good honey crop 

 from white clover the following season. 

 The following facts prove him mistaken: 

 In 1889 this section was blessed with 

 plenty of rain during the Fall months, 

 and white clover was abundant, and of 

 luxuriant growth for that time of year. 

 In the Spring of 1890 there was a better 

 show of white clover than I ever saw 

 before, and when June came it brought 

 white clover bloom in abundance, but no 

 nectar to speak of, and what seems most 

 strange, the bloom lacked its character- 

 istic aroma. Mr. Draper says: " I do 

 not believe a drouth in July and August 



will affect the white clover yield of nec- 

 tar the following season." Here, again, 

 he is mistaken, as the following facts 

 will show : In 1887 we were visited 

 with such severe and prolonged drouth 

 and heat during July and August that 

 the white clover was all killed except in 

 low, moist places. From the latter part 

 of September to about Nov. 10, we had 

 abundant rains, but no white clover 

 honey the next season. 



Gr. B. Replogle. 

 Centreville, Iowa. 



Patents and Property Rights. 



Mr. James Heddon quotes Prof. A. J. 

 Cook as saying that he knew that the 

 impressions gathered by the readers of 

 Oleanlngs, were that patents were not 

 honorable property. I am an old sub- 

 scriber to that periodical, and can truly 

 say that I never had that impression. I 

 know that the editor, A. I. Root, has 

 saved his subscribers many dollars by 

 exposing patent-right bee-hive frauds, 

 and by cautioning his readers about 

 going slow in purchasing patent-right 

 hives and territory. I believe that the 

 great majority of practical bee-keepers 

 approve of his course, and would think 

 it a foolish investment to purchase a 

 farm, county, or State right for the best 

 patented hive known. Our patent laws 

 need a radical over-hauling for the bet- 

 ter protection of the public, and the 

 hona fide inventor. N. P. Aspinwall. 



Harrison, Minn., Jan. 26, 1891. 



Bees for Honey, Not for Money. 



' I think this Winter will thin out the 

 bees very materially in this locality. I 

 have kept bees for the last 30 years, but 

 have no recollection of so poor a season 

 as the last one. All late swarms that 

 have not been fed will have to go ; and 

 not very late ones either — say, after July 

 1. I tried to feed some of mine by 

 placing frames filled with honey in 

 supers, after having shaved the caps off 

 with my honey-knife, thinking they 

 would store it below ; but they were very 

 slow about it. It seemed that they just 

 lived on it then, and took no thought for 

 the future. The weather being cool 

 most of the time was, perhaps, partly 

 the cause. They bred very sparingly — 

 not enough to repair the death loss — so 

 that cold weather finds them too weak 

 to keep up the necessary warmth. I 

 have lost 3 colonies by this dwindling 

 process. I put 9 into winter quarters, 2 

 of which are now dead. I have never 

 had more than a dozen colonies at any 

 one time, and never desired more. That 



