AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



891 



Fair Prospects for White Clover. 



I have 162 colonies of bees, which 

 were placed in the cellar on Nov. 27, 

 and all are doing well. The honey crop 

 was a total failure last year, but we 

 hope for a good crop the coming season, 

 White clover prospects are only fair for 

 this season, on account of the drouth 

 last Summer. J. V. Caldwell. 



Cambridge, Ills., March 10, 1891. 



Thinks a Trade-Mark Necessary. 



I am in favor of a trade-mark for the 

 Union, in the form of a stamp, and 

 think the clover blossom would be an 

 appropriate emblem. The name of the 

 Union should be given, and also the 

 name and address of the member using 

 the trade-mark. Each member to have 

 a number, which would be on his stamp, 

 in addition to his name. Let a contract 

 be made with some rubber stamp manu- 

 facturer, and the number affixed to each 

 one, in figures, as the orders are sent in, 

 and in this way counterfeiting would be 

 prevented. The stamp would thus serve 

 to advertise each member using it, and 

 be profitable to him for that purpose, 

 also. I have studied the trade-mark 

 question a great deal, and cannot come 

 to any other conclusion, and am con- 

 vinced that a majority of the members 

 are in favor of its adoption. 



Pulaski, Iowa. E. L. Kikk. 



Bees Dying" of Starvation. 



For the past two weeks the weather 

 has been very severe, the mercury hav- 

 ing been as low as 5-^ below zero, and 

 this morning it had risen to zero. On 

 March 7 snow fell to the depth of 6 

 inches. I have 60 colonies of bees in 

 fair condition, but they will require to 

 be fed for some time, before the honey 

 flow commences. A great many bees 

 have died of starvation in this vicinity, 

 during the Winter. George W. Cook. 



Spring Hill, Kans., March 9, 1891. 



Plenty of Blossoms, but No Nectar. 



From 52 colonies, Spring count, I re- 

 ceived only 300 pounds of extracted- 

 honey last season, after feeding 200 

 pounds of syrup. The Spring was cold 

 and wet, and the bees did not breed up 

 very fast until the latter part of June, 

 but by July 1 they were in good condi- 

 tion for the honey harvest, and I began 

 to pile on the surplus cases, as the clover 

 was blooming profusely. However, no 



nectar was secreted by the clover in this 

 locality, and, to my surprise, the supers 

 contained very little honey. I have 

 concluded that either ray strain of bees 

 are poor honey gatherers, or the queen- 

 breeders exaggerate, in the reports of 

 their varieties of bees. I purchased sev- 

 eral queens during 1889, but their 

 progeny did not gather as much honey 

 as my hybrids. Many persons claim to 

 make bee-keeping a specialty, but a 

 great many of them have some other 

 means of livelihood besides this industry, 

 and in those cases the claim is not valid. 

 Hageman, Ind. Frank Stevens. 



Good Honey Crop and Snow. 



This morning it is still snowing, with 

 just one foot of that beautiful covering 

 on the ground. White clover and alsike 

 were both in good condition previous to 

 the storm, and I do not think they will 

 be killed out. My best honey crops have 

 been gathered in seasons following a 

 snow in March. 



Frank Coverdale. 



Welton, Iowa, March 7, 1891. 



Weak Colonies the Cause. 



I noticed sometime ago a statement, 

 by one of your correspondents, that last 

 year's honey failure was caused by the 

 colonies being too weak to gather a crop. 

 Now, while that may be true in the 

 writer's case, and in other isolated in- 

 stances, it could hardly hold good over 

 so much of this vast country. Another 

 correspondent claims (page 346) that 

 close spacing is the cause of failure of 

 the honey crop lately. Like the former 

 reason, it could hardly apply to such a 

 large territory as this country, and cer- 

 tainly cannot be true. Here in my 

 locality, the bees did well until the mid- 

 dle of June, when dry weather set in, 

 with hot winds that dried up the nectar 

 in the flowers, continuing all through 

 the season. Large buckwheat fields 

 yielded hardly any honey. Heavy dews 

 here indicate plenty of honey, and vice 

 versa. J. Blackball. 



Hobart, Ind. 



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 The book can be had at this ofl3ce for 25c. 



