AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



711 



COWVEXTIO^f DIRECTORY. 



Time and place of meeting. 



1891. 

 June 2.— Des Moines County, at Burlington, Iowa. 

 John Nau, Sec, Middletown. Iowa. 



Aug. 6.— Rock River, at Sterling, Ills. 



J. M. Burtch, Sec, Morrison, Ills. 



Sept. 3.— Susquehanna County, at So. 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. 



frorth 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 and Poneii Gossip. 



j^" JDo not write anything- for publication" 

 on the same sheet of paper with business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Flattering" Prospects. 



My bees are in good condition, after 

 wintering on the summer stands ; loss 

 only 9 colonies, 4 of which were queen- 

 less. I keep from 90 to 120 colonies, 

 and produce both comb and extracted- 

 honey. White clover is beginning to 

 bloom, and bees will be booming in 

 about ten days. Prospects are flatter- 

 ing, J, Doty. 



Gait, Mo., May 16, 1891. 



Clover Promises Well. 



I notice that by most of the leading 

 lights in apiculture, Query 765 is an- 

 swered in the negative. I take affirma- 

 tive grounds on this question, but would 

 use neither gloves nor mittens, but for 

 protection for the hands I use a pair of 

 half-hand mitts, made out of an old pair 

 of stocking legs. Take a pair of stock- 

 ings, cut off the feet through the upper 

 edge of the heel, hem them and fit them 

 to the hand by sewing around the fingers 

 so as to leave the fingers and thumb ex- 

 posed, and fasten to the sleeves with 

 safety pins. They are cool, but very 



little in the way, and you have no 

 trouble from bees on your wrists, nor 

 crawling up your shirt sleeves. With 

 me, these mitts take rank alongside of 

 the smoker and a good bee-hat, as arti- 

 cles which are indispensable in an apiary. 

 Bees in this part of Illinois are in splen- 

 did condition for the clover bloom, which 

 now promises wonders. 



Henry Stewart. 

 Prophetstown, Ills. 



Alfalfa Pasturage. 



Two years ago I began bee-keeping 

 with 3 colonies, and now have about 

 40. Am located in the midst of several 

 thousand acres of alfalfa, in consequence 

 of which I obtain an abundance of 

 alfalfa honey, without the bees going 

 far — probably not more than half a 

 mile. This honey is of the best quality, 

 far superior to any other product in this 

 market, and sells readily. I have 

 gained many valuable points from the 

 American Bee Journal, and enjoy the 

 different ideas advanced. 



Denver, Colo. S. W. Sprague. 



Spreading" the Light. 



Since ray arrival here, three years 

 ago, I have succeeded in convincing sev- 

 eral of my bee-keeping neighbors that 

 it would pay them to subscribe for a 

 bee-periodical, and they have abandoned 

 the box-hive, log gums, black bees, etc., 

 and invested in movable-frame hives and 

 the gentle Italian bees. 



A. M. HOYLE. 



Whistler, Ala., 1891. 



Heavy Losses of a Bee-Keeper. 



I have about the only bees kept in this 

 immediate vicinity, and I came very near 

 having none. I put 74 colonies, mostly 

 strong ones, into winter quarters in 

 good order, but for reasons unknown, 

 only a few more than half survived the 

 Winter. My cellar seems to be perfec- 

 tion, and those that did well were fine 

 when taken out, but my number is re- 

 duced to 24 colonies, although they 

 have had all the honey they could con- 

 sume. The season is very backward, 

 with cold, dry, north winds, and forest 

 fires raging as never before known here. 

 At times the smoke makes it dark at mid- 

 day, it is suffocating to breathe, and 

 terrible upon the eyes. The loss of my 

 bees, however, is but a drop in the 

 bucket. The fire has cleaned out my 



