AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



807 



after I took them out of the cellar, from 

 the soft maples, and ever since that day 

 they have had honey and pollen to 

 gather, whenever the weather was so 

 they could fly — in fact, every variety of 

 bloom seems to yield pollen and secrete 

 nectar, and now white clover bloom is 

 well under way. Wild grape bloom, 

 also, is well .started, so that at present 

 the bees cannot possibly gather half of 

 the honey there is in the field. I expect 

 a good swarming season, and a good 

 crop of honey this year, and am making 

 all preparations necessary to assist the 

 bees in procuring it. Crops are badly 

 damaged by the drouth, though we had 

 a fine rain yesterday morning, but I fear 

 that it was not general. 



, Gr. N. Benham. 

 Red Wing, Minn., June 11, 1891. 



Small Loss. 



I wintered 45 colonies of bees on the 

 summer stands, and up to date have 

 hived 10 swarms this month. During 

 the eight years I have been engaged in 

 bee-keeping, I have lost but 4 colonies 

 in Winter. F. A. Kinneak. 



Lindenville, Ohio, June 9, 1891. 



Cleaning Wood-Zinc Honey-Boards. 



What is the best method for cleaning 

 the wood-zinc honey-boards ? I have 

 over 100 in use, and many of them have 

 one-half or more of the perforations 

 entirely filled with comb and propolis. 

 W. E. Forbes. 



Plainwell, Mich., June 8, 1891. 



[Full directions are given on page 798 

 of this issue. — Ed.] 



Swarms During Fruit-Bloom. 



We had an extra good honey-flow this 

 season from the fruit-bloom, and I had 

 11 swarms from 45 colonies during the 

 time. The first one on May 15. By 

 forming nuclei from the colonies that 

 swarmed first, I have young queens 

 laying. That is early for this locality, 

 as swarming does not usually commence 

 before this time. The clover season is 

 close at hand, and I am ready for it. For 

 a queen-cell protector, nothing that I 

 have seen equals those sold by N. D. 

 West, of Middleburgh, N.Y. No apiarist 

 can afford to be without them. They 

 are cheap, and will last for years. I put 

 some in use to-day. C. Russell. 



Conesville, N. Y., June 8, 1891. 



Honey from White Clover. 



Last Fall I put 18 colonies of bees 

 into the cellar, and they all came out 

 sound this Spring, but I lost one colony 

 after putting them out. The remaining 

 17 colonies are booming. One colony 

 cast a swarm on May 21, a second 

 colony swarmed on the 30th, and a third 

 on June 3. We have a fine crop of 

 white clover, and the bees are working 

 on it industriously. They did well on 

 the fruit bloom, and that, together with 

 the sugar syrup which I fed to them 

 previously, put them in good condition 

 for the clover. J. B. Dunlap. 



Rochester, Ind. 



New Crop Honey. 



We have had some fine weather for 

 bees to work, and they have done 

 exceedingly well. At present .they are 

 working in the sections, and the swarm- 

 ing season is about over in this locality. 

 I took about 25 pounds of honey from 

 one colony yesterday, and the prospects 

 are good for a fine -crop. Some new 

 crop honey is already in market. We 

 are having more drizzly weather, which 

 confines the bees to their hives. 



John D. A. Fisher. 



Faith, N. C, June 6, 1891. 



Working" on the Clover. 



Within half a mile of my apiary there 

 are 72 acres of land seeded to alsike 

 and red clover. Last night there was a 

 heavy dew and the bees are perfectly 

 crazy after honey. To-day is the first 

 time I have noticed them working on 

 the clover. This afternoon we had a 

 fine shower of rain, and the prospects, I 

 think, are very good. 



Jacob Moore. 



Ionia, Mich., June 8, 1891. 



Hiving Swarms with the* Smoker. 



To hive a swarm of bees quickly, use 

 the smoker on them. They will enter 

 the hive quicker from the smoke than 

 from a rain storm. I find this an 

 excellent plan, and can hive a swarm in 

 two or three minutes by this method. 



South Park, Ky. J. Shaffer. 



The Bee-Keepers' Directory, by Henry 

 Alley, Wenham, Mass. It contains his 

 method for rearing queens in full colo- 

 nies, while a fertile queen has possession 

 of the combs. Price by mail, 50 cents. 



