AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



517 



iUr/A^u of them in my home apiary this 

 season. In using tlicm, whenever a 

 swarm commences to issue, immediately 

 adjust a catcher to the entrance, and in 

 five minutes the bees are all caught, 

 when it is closed tightly, and carried to 

 the wintering cellar near by, where they 

 remain until I am ready to hive them, 

 if that should not be for two days. 

 When ready to hive the bees, bring them 

 out — they will be perfectly still, and I 

 can just dump them down in front of 

 their hive, and they wMll march in, as if 

 they had no wings, hardly a dozen bees 

 taking to flight. I have had 4 swarms 

 in the cellar at one time, and can hive 

 them within 4 feet of each other without 

 danger of their mixing. Yes, the swarm- 

 catcher will stay, whatever becomes of 

 the self-hiver. B. Faylor. 



Forestville, Minn. 



Poplar Trees. 



On page 294 P. D. Ellingwood asks 

 concerning the time of blooming of the 

 poplar, and its value to the honey-pro- 

 ducer. We have considerable of it in 

 this section, and it is known with us as 

 white wood. We have two kinds, the 

 yellow and the white. It blooms in the 

 early part of June, and some years yields 

 heavily of a dark, thick nectar, and the 

 honey gathered from it has a very pleas- 

 ant flavor. In the Summer of 1888 the 

 nectar was in large drops inside of each 

 flower — so large that it could be taken 

 out with the tongue or finger nail. 



T. K. Massic. 



Concord Church, W. Va. 



Too Much Rain. 



I find, by reference to my "bee- 

 notes," that the first pollen was brought 

 in last year on Feb. 18, from soft 

 maples ; whereas, the first pollen gath- 

 ered this year was on March 24— more 

 than a month later. The Winter of 

 1889 the bees had good flights once or 

 twice every week, but the past Winter 

 they had but two flights between Jan. 1 

 and March 25. The cause of the great 

 difference is not cold, but cloudy and 

 rainy w^eather, of which we are tired. 

 My bees are pure Italians. Last year 

 they averaged 125 pounds per colony, 

 mostly comb-honey. I have, up to this 

 time, wintered my bees on the summer 

 stands packed with straw, but shall 

 hereafter adopt a different plan, and use 

 double-walled hives, of which I have 

 made several for next season. 



Trenton, N. J. Jor,EPH Ehret. 



Caused by Lack of Stores. 



My bees came tiirough the Winter in 

 fair condition. I lost 8 out of 39 colo- 

 nies, by starvation, but the remainder 

 are in good condition. The weather has 

 changed, and bees are flying nicely. 



Benj. E. Rice. 



Boscobel, Wis., April 8, 1891. 



White Clover Dead. 



I have 28 colonies of bees which win- 

 tered in the cellar without loss. I 

 placed them on the summer stands on 

 April 1, and it was a grand sight to see 

 them fly. Bees did not consume much 

 honey during the Winter, and are in fine 

 condition. They are now taking in rye 

 flour, extremely lively. White clover is 

 nearly all dead, so I can hardly antici- 

 pate a good honey year. 



Moline, Ills. W. P. Odendahi.. 



Protect the Bees. 



We are having a very cold, backward 

 Spring, and I fear many colonies of bees 

 will die for want of food. All who keep 

 bees should do what they can to secure 

 the passage of a bill making it a mis- 

 demeanor to spray trees and shrubs 

 while in bloom. We often see it stated 

 that all who wish to make fruit-culture 

 a success, should spray their trees, and 

 sometimes nothing is said as to the time 

 for spraying. An angry neighbor, who 

 wished to harm the bees, and did not 

 want to be bothered with them, could 

 easily kill them under pretense of spray- 

 ing his trees. Such a bill should be 

 passed at once, and no bee-keeper 

 should be satisfied until he is protected 

 by law. You are giving us a splendid 

 bee-periodical. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Roseville, Ills. 



Bee=K:ccping for Profit, by Dr. 



G. L. Tinker, is a new 50-page pamphlet, 

 which details fully the author's new system 

 of bee-management in producing comb and 

 extracted-honey. and the construction of 

 the hive best adapted to it — his "Nonpareil." 

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



F»lcase send us the names of your 

 neighbors who keep bees, and we will send 

 them sample copies of the Bee Journal. 

 Then please call upon them and get them to 

 subscribe with you. 



