AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



773 



CONVEBJTIOIV DIRECTORY. 



Time and place of meeting. 



1891. 

 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, 



North American Bee-Keepers' Association 



President— P. H. Elwood . . . . Starkville, N. Y. 

 Secretary— C. P. Dadant Hamilton, Ills. 



National Bee-Keepers' Union. 



President— James Heddon ..Dowag-iac, Mich. 

 Sec'y and Manager— T. G. Newman, Chicago. 



Bee and Bones Gossip. 



1^" Do not write anjthing for publication 

 ou the same sheet of paper with business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering- with either part of the letter. 



Fine Weather. 



The weather is fine, and the outlook 

 was never better for a large yield of 

 honey than at present. I have 100 

 colonies of bees in excellent condition. 

 Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



Columbus, Nebr., June 1, 1891. 



Good Bee Country. 



Our bees are in splendid condition, and 

 are swarming. I am confident this 

 would be a good country for bees, if they 

 were given proper care and attention. 

 Black, bees are sold here, in box-hives, 

 at $2 to $S per colony. 



Chanute, Kans. T. P. Roby. 



Honey from Persimmon Bloom. 



We are having more cold weather and 

 rain, with a northeast wind, and just at the 

 time when the bees should be at work, 

 they are shut up in their hives, by 

 the inclement weather. White clover is 

 still in bloom, and the persimmon trees 

 are just beginning to bloom. The per- 

 simmon yields a beautiful, white, clear 

 honey, delicious to the taste. The 



blossom is small, bell-shaped, with mouth 

 down, consequently the rain does not 

 wash away the nectar, and as soon as 

 the weather will allow the bees to get 

 out, they can bo heard roaring among 

 the persimmon blossoms. I have a nice 

 lot of honey just about ready to cap, and 

 also some capped and partly capped. 

 My bees are storing too much honey in 

 the brood-chamber. I have a colony of 

 brown, or German, bees that have not 

 cast a swarm in four years, but always 

 gave me a good lot of honey each year, 

 except last year. Yesterday a very 

 large swarm issued from this colony, 

 and with them came the largest and 

 darkest queen I ever saw. I have seen 

 many queens, both Italians and blacks, 

 but never saw as large a queen as this 

 one. I recovered a swarm of Italian 

 bees from a hickory tree a few days ago, 

 first catching the queen and caging her, 

 then taking a tin pan and securing as 

 many of the bees as possible in it, 

 carrying them to a prepared hive, and 

 ■as they began to run in releasing the 

 queen among them. Within a few 

 minutes the remainder of the swarm 

 came from the tree and joined the queen 

 in the hive. John D. A. Fisher. 



Faith, N. C, May 27, 1891. 



Working on White Clover. 



The season so far has been very 

 encouraging for a good honey crop. I 

 have 60 colonies of bees, which are now 

 working nicely on white clover. The 

 apple blossom furnished considerable 

 honey for brood rearing. I have not had 

 any swarms yet, as the wind has been a 

 little bit too high. I think the first 

 warm day will bring them out in a hurry. 

 H. B. Tickemyre. 



Shackelford, Mo., June 3, 1891. 



Fertilization of Queens. 



Fertilizing queens at will is almost 

 simple in warm weather. Put the 

 queen-cells in nucleus colonies to hatch ; 

 these colonies not to have more than 

 enough bees to cover and keep warm 

 four frames, or the equivalent of one 

 Langstroth frame, 8}^xl6K inches. At 

 the apex of the gabel, have a 2-inch 

 hole, covered with wire-cloth, for the 

 purpose of ventilation. When the queen 

 is four days old, close the entrance until 

 4 p.m., when everything is all right, but 

 at noon on the sixth day be sure to have 

 the selected drones in the same hive, so 

 if neither the queen nor the drones have 

 had a chance to fly, they will pour out 



