AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-. 



389 



about July (frames are not filled sooner), 

 and again in the Fall; -this time, take 

 all the honey out of the second story, 

 and if they do not have enough honey in 

 the brood-chamber to keep them through 

 the Winter, feed granulated sugar. I 

 do not average over one swarm from 3 

 colonies, and the yield of honey and the 

 amount of sugar fed, for the past four 

 years, is as follows, in pounds : 



Ext. Comb. Sugar. 



June, 1887, to June, 1888 . .425 25 200 



June, 1888, to June, 1889 ..410 .. 125 



June, 1889, to June, 1890 . .450 ^OVz 150 



June, 1890, to date 525 25 225 



I expect, next Spring, to feed at least 

 75 pounds more of sugar. ' My poorest 

 season was from June, 1883, to June, 

 1884 ; the yield was about 10 pounds 

 of comb-honey, and I had to feed 415 

 pounds of sugar to supply the bees with 

 stores for the Winter. My bees are 

 Italians, black and hybrids, average 

 hybrids ; at present two-thirds are pure 

 Italians. I had 34 colonies last Spring 

 (had only one swarm), but, last Fall, 

 reduced to 27 colonies, and packed out- 

 doors — have not examined them since. 

 Think my average Spring count is 

 about 25 colonies, and that my average 

 yield, per colony (less sugar fed) has 

 been about 10 pounds. If any one can 

 give a poorer report, I would be pleased 

 to hear from them, as I do not feel very 

 anxious about keeping the champion- 

 ship. Have seen, or heard from, a 

 dozen or more bee-keepers in this part of 

 the State, and they all report that the 

 season of 1890 was the poorest that has 

 been known in Northeastern Pennsylva- 

 nia for years. P. P. Carter. 



Scranton, Pa., Feb. 25, 1891. 



White Clover Prospects. 



Since I began reading the Bee Jour- 

 nal, I have had better success with my 

 bees than ever before. My 10 colonies 

 are in fair condition, but shall have to 

 feed them. I have wintered on the sum- 

 mer stands, packed in clover chaff and 

 leaves, the last two Winters, with very 

 good results so far. Prospects for white 

 clover are very good, at present. 



Lee Powelson. 



Batavia, Iowa, March 6, 1891. 



Recovering Swarms from Trees. 



For the purpose of capturing swarms 

 that may alight in tall trees, I have a 

 long cane fishing rod, with' a strong iron 

 hook on the end, and a wire swarming- 

 box, on a 20-foot pole. I climb the tree 

 with the swarming-box, and hold it as 



near under the cluster as possible, while 

 an assistant, by means of the hook on 

 the fishing pole, catches the limb on 

 which the bees are clustered, and, with 

 two or three vigiorous shakes, lands 

 them in the swarming-box. Then I de- 

 scend, and shake them into a hive. My 

 swarming-box had a cover, but I con- 

 sidered it a nuisance, and removed it. 

 The bees were apt to cluster around the 

 rim, until it became impossible to close 

 dowii the cover without crushing many 

 of them, and, if I did not close it, the 

 cover would fall while pouring the bees 

 into the hive. John Burr. 



Braceville, Ills. 



Poor Honey Crop. 



In this section, last season, the honey 

 crop was not more than half as good as 

 usual. Bees are in fine condition, the 

 colonies being strong, with plenty of 

 stores. The Fall flow of honey was of 

 such short duration that the bees were 

 not reduced by work. The Winter, so 

 far, has been very moderate. 



A. L. Beach. 



Pineville, N. C, Feb. 2, 1891. 



Preparing Sections for Bending. 



If Mr. E. C. Eaglesfield will throw an 

 old wet bag across the crate of sections, 

 a few days before he wishes to bend 

 them, they will be all right. I put up 

 2,000 in that way last Summer, and did 

 not break a good one. I use beeswax 

 aud rosin, kept hot, over an oil stove, to 

 fasten the joints, and with a machine I 

 can easily put up a hundred in an hour. 



Wilcox, Pa. A. T. Aldrich. 



Bees in Good Condition. 



In the Spring of 1890 I had 19 colo- 

 nies of hybrids. I had wintered them on 

 the summer stands, packed on three 

 sides and top with oat chaff, the cap 

 being filled with forest leaves. They 

 began rearing brood very early, and by 

 April 1, the weak colonies were entirely 

 destitute of stores, and I fed them with 

 granulated sugar, thus saving all but 

 one colony, which swarmed out, and 

 " took to the woods." By this time the 

 fruit bloom had commenced, but the 

 weather was cold and wet, which pre- 

 vented the gathering of much honey, 

 and stopped brood-rearing. Owing to 

 dry weather, the white clover did not 

 yield as much nectar as usual, and the 

 basswood lasted but a few days, with a 

 very light yield. I then took from the 



