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283 



ARKANSAS. 



Bcc-Keeping in Soulli\irci«tcrn 

 Arkan<«as — Bees Dying, ete. 



Written for the American Dee Journal 

 BY R. M. KAWLINS. 



Last year the honey crop was cut 

 short by the drouth, the bees storing 

 only about | of a crop. Linden did 

 not yield any honey, but the honey- 

 flow up to May 15, Was better than 

 usual ; after that the bees gathered but 

 little surplus, in fact we did not take 

 any after the rattan bloom in May. 

 Tlie}- had more honey than they really 

 needed, unless it is in a late spring, 

 such as we have sometimes. 



Here bees are usually wintered on 

 the summer stands, with the top stories 

 on the hives. Bees do not freeze to 

 death much, the gi-eatest loss being 

 from starvation, which occurs in 

 March and April, after the hives are 

 full of combs of brood and bees ; when 

 it is cold and rainy, if they have not 

 plenty of honey, they have to be 

 watched very closely and fed. With 

 the movaljle-frame hive this can be 

 attended to much better than with the 

 box-hive, hence the loss is not so great 

 now as formerly. 



The principal honey plants are rat- 

 tan, holly and linden (or " linn," as it 

 is called here). The fall flowers are 

 principally asters, but cotton yields 

 some honey. Clover is not sown very 

 much, but the farmers are increasing 

 the acreage in this honey-plant. We 

 are dependent upon the forests for the 

 most of our honey, and they are being 

 cut down and the land cultivated, so 

 we will have to encourage the planting 

 of clover more than ever. 



The box-hive bee-keepers say that 

 the bees do not jjroduce as much honey 

 now as they used to do. They surely 

 do not for such bee-keepers ; but the 

 Italian bees, kept in movable-frame 

 hives, average per colony about 40 

 pounds, on the hills ; bees near the 

 river-bottoms produce one-half more. 

 The llnlou and Itti Non-Suppurterit. 



I think, as the editor has said, that 

 among so many bee-keepers it is a 

 shame that no more belong to the 

 " Union." It is too bad for an honest 

 industry to be trampled upon as has 

 been done in Mr. Z. A. Clark's case, 

 at Arkadelphia. Mr. Clark had in- 

 vested a considerable sum of money in 

 bees and fixtures, and had increased 

 them to the number of colonies that he 

 expected to keep (150 or 175 colonies), 

 expecting to get a living from the bees. 

 Bees Divlndliug and Dying. 



Last spring, 5 colonies in 12-frame 

 Simplicity hives, with top-stories on, 

 strong in bees, and with plenty of I 



honey, commenced dwindling. The 

 bees that work s(>eni to die the worst. 

 Their abdomens are somewhat swollen, 

 they crawl out and try to fly. and 

 when the aftected ones do work, it is 

 very easy to detect that they are sick. 

 Some hop from the alighting-board, 

 and lie flaj)ping their wings until they 

 die. Some are dragged out by the 

 well bees, and some rest on the alights 

 ing-board, flapping their wings, and 

 constantly kicking and rubbing their 

 feet. About the same number of colo- 

 nies are in a similar predicament this 

 spring, but not all of the ones that 

 were aftected last year. 



The best, colony in the yard is one 

 of the sick ones. 1 s.ay " sick," but I 

 do not know what is the trouble with 

 them. It cannot be the diarrhea, and 

 if they are poisoned, why are not more 

 of them aftected ? 



During the honej'-flow last year, 

 they gradually stojjped dj-ing, but the 

 colonies became very weak before it 

 ceased. Is there anything that bothers 

 bees at night ? It seems to me that 

 they were troubled in that way. Can 

 any one, judging from what I have 

 described, tell what ails the bees, and 

 how to cure them ? 



Okolona, Ark. 



COLUMBUS, O. 



The Bee and Honey Show at the 

 Centennial. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY DR. A. B. MASON. 



The following is the premium list 

 for bees, hcftej-, apiarian supplies, 

 etc., for the Ohio Centennial Exposi- 

 tion to be held at Columbus, O., from 

 Sept. i to Oct. 19, 1888. 



No entrj'-fee will be required, and 

 no charge made for space in this class, 

 and all intending exhibitors in this 

 class will be furnished with entr}- 

 blanks, rules, regulations, etc., free on 

 application to me. Others desiring 

 premium lists, etc., should apply to L. 

 N. Bonham, Secretary, Columbus, O. 



Exhibitors can begin arranging their 

 exhibits on Aug. 21. Exhibitors' ad- 

 mission tickets, good during the Ex- 

 position, .fo.OO. Competition and ex- 

 hibition in this class, is confined to 

 Ohio. 



A Innlding is to be erected for this 

 Department, and it is vert/ desirable to 

 know at once how manj- will want 

 space, and how much they will want 

 for honey, and how much for other 

 exhibits, so as to have the building of 

 suitable dimen.sions ; and I hope such 

 as intend to make an exhibit will let 

 me know immediately, what space 

 they will need. Sometime since I made 



such a request in Oleanings, and only 

 two responded. At that rate no build- 

 ing will be needed, for a corner in 

 some other building would do, and 

 Ohio bee-keepers would have occasion 

 to be ashamed of their lack of inter- 

 est in this display of the State's ma- 

 terial progress in this direction during 

 a hundred years. 



It is expected that the annual meet- 

 ing of the North American Bee-Keep- 

 er.s' Society will be lield in Columbus 

 during the Exposition, a»d Ohio bee- 

 keepers ought, and I trust will, have 

 pride enough in the good name of their 

 State, and in this industry, to make 

 the grandest display ever made on this 

 continent. 



As shown below, there is a first, sec- 

 ond, and third premium oftered on 

 most of the exhibits, or articles, and 

 the total amount oft'ered is over $400, 

 being the largest amount ever oifered 

 by any State. 



Such exhibitors as do not desire to 

 remain at the Exposition, can leave 

 their exhibits in my care, and they 

 will I)e looked after and cared for to 

 the best of my ability, and without 

 charge ; a.nd such as do not care to 

 arrange their exhibits themselves (ex- 

 cept for display of comb and extracted 

 honey) can send their exhibits to me 

 at Columbus. O., after Aug. 21, with 

 all charges paid, and I will see that 

 thej' are properly placed and cared 

 for, without charge, and they can 

 visit the Exposition at such time as 

 will best suit their convenience, and 

 find their exhibits all in place. 



I am in hopes that we shall be able 

 to have an apiary established on the 

 grounds, and have public manipulation 

 of the colonies by bee-keepers who 

 may visit the Exposition. As the Ex- 

 position is intended to show the 

 material advancement of Ohio in a 

 hundred years, it will be "just the 

 thing " to have on e.xhibition the most 

 antiquated appliances, as well as the 

 most modern, and to show also how 

 bees used to be kept and honey ob- 

 tained, and I hope those having old 

 things of interest in bee-keeping 

 whether they live in Ohio or not, will 

 correspond with me with a view to 

 having such things on exhibition. 



The old " log gum," box-hive, and 

 the straw hive, all with bees at work 

 in them, will be among the attractions, 

 " if it takes all summer " to get them. 

 The cow-bells, tin horns, and tin pans 

 that used " to make the bees alight," 

 will recall to some " the days of child- 

 hood," and make them young again. 



Here is the Premium List in the 

 Apiarian Department : 



Bees, Honey, and Apiarian Supplies. 



A. B. Mason, AUBUKNDALE, 0.. Superintendent. 

 All entries close Aug. 6. Anything com- 

 petins; for a single premium cannot be in- 

 cluded in a display. Colonies must be 



