712 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



summer's run of logs, and destroyed 

 many thousand dollars' worth of val- 

 uable timber, until I now can class my- 

 self with poor men. The only bees that 

 did well last Winter were those that 

 were under the treatment of my New 

 Idea, and they still survive. The pres- 

 ent prospect this season, here, is very 

 poor with bees, as well as agricultural 

 produce, and the timber of Northern 

 Michigan has been badly riddled by fire. 

 F. D. Lacy. 

 Nirvana, Mich., May IT, 1891. 



Very Little White Clover. 



We have never had to feed bees so 

 much in the Spring as we are doing 

 now. Apples blossomed very sparingly, 

 but the pear, peach and cherry bloom 

 was quite profuse. There is very little 

 white clover here, compared with former 

 years. Mks. L. C. Axtell. 



RoseVille, Ills., May 18, 1891. 



New Comb-Honey. 



The weather is glorious, and the bees 

 are gathering honey very fast. On last 

 Tuesday I took off 2 frames of new 

 honey — the first of the season. They 

 weighed 8 pounds each. Bees are not 

 swarming much, as I use large hives. 

 G. B. Cartmell. 



Jackson, Tenn., May 15, 1891. 



Fruit-Bloom Honey. 



This Spring has furnished the most 

 bountiful harvest of honey from fruit 

 blossoms that I have known during the 

 last ten years. All the strong colonies 

 are simply rolling in the honey from 

 morn to eve, and I keep close watch for 

 preparations for swarming, and not in 

 vain, as cells were started in several 

 hives. The Spring was very late and 

 cold, with many cloudy, rainy days, but 

 for the past twelve days there has been 

 continuous sunshine. Almost every sea- 

 son fruit bloom is accompanied by gloomy 

 weather, so that the bees are confined 

 to their hives nearly all the time. Pres- 

 ent prospects are that the season will be 

 a dry one. While the dry weather we 

 are having now does not interfere with 

 the honey yield from fruit blossoms, it 

 is going to cut off our clover yield very 

 much, if not entirely. We need rain 

 now, and must have it or clover cannot 

 grow. C. W. Daytox. 



Clinton, Wis., May 16, 1891. 



Loss Ninety Per Cent. 



I put 71 colonies of bees in the cellar 

 l^ast Fall, and on taking them out April 27, 

 found 69 colonies living. I united 

 several colonies until they now number 

 62. Found no sealed brood, except in 

 one or two colonies. The Spring has 

 been very backward, and this morning 

 the ground was white with snow, and 

 ice had formed 3^ of an inch in thick- 

 ness. As Vice-President of the Vermont 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, I have re- 

 ceived reports from XI small apiaries, 

 containing 4 to 15 colonies each, and 

 90 per cent of the bees are dead ; 4 col- 

 onies being the most any one of then? 

 have left. My bees are looking finely, 

 and if frost does not kill the basswood 

 bloom, I expect a large yield of honey. 

 M. F. Cram. 



West Brookfield,*Vt., May 18, 1891. 



Injured by FrOst. 



On April 22 I arrived here from 

 Michigan. Cherries and peaches were 

 just beginning to bloom, and the bees 

 did splendidly while they lasted ; follow- 

 ing them came the buckeye and apple 

 bloom, and although we had several . 

 frosts, they did not do much damage 

 until May 16, when the weather ^became 

 very cold, and ice formed one-fourth of 

 an inch thick. Peaches and cherries 

 were as large as peas. Fruit of all kinds 

 is killed, and I think that wheat and 

 oats are badly injured. It is very dry 

 here, and the prospects for a honey crop 

 are quite poor. There will be nothing 

 for the bees until white clover and bass- 

 wood bloom comes, and I fear they are 

 injured. We shall have to feed our bees 

 for some time, but they are strong, and 

 have plenty of brood. At my old home 

 in Michigan the bee-keepers fared worse 

 than we did. I am very much discour- 

 aged, but we must look on the bright 

 side. L. Reed. 



Havana, Ohio. 



Foundation from Foul-Brood Combs. 



I wish to say a few words about comb- 

 foundation made from foul-brood combs. 

 I have bought arid used such foundation, 

 and no evil results followed its use, and 

 I would as soon use it as any other foun- 

 dation. I have had an experience of 18 

 or 20 years with foul-brood, and have 

 no trouble in curing it. One apiculturist 

 whose bees I cured of the disease last 

 Fall, had 18 or 20 colonies badly 

 affected with foul-brood. He got, I 



