412 



itmm m^mmmiQ'mm mmm ja^MHMt.. 



*• t^ ■» ■* -^ ^ ^ -^ 'L^kA 



tains sufficient heat to prevent un- 

 pleasant soot}' accumulation, and fur- 

 nishes hot, diy, strong smoke all the 

 time without working the bellows, thus 

 rendering it ready for use evei'y in- 

 stant. 



Of course the direct-draft smoker 

 will burn anything combustible, and he 

 who uses it may choose his fuel accord- 

 ing to circumstances and tastes. 



It may be asked here if it would not 

 be better to have cold smoke. Such 

 an idea has been advanced very much, 

 but as the object of smoke is to 

 frighten bees, not convert them into 

 bacon, anything that will accomplish 

 the fright in the easiest and most ef- 

 fective manner, will serve the purpose 

 best. 



Hot air will do this just as well as 

 smoke, as far as it goes, but the air 

 cools so quickly it is. of no value except 

 just as it leaves the smoker. The mak- 

 ing of smoke goes on fast or slow just 

 in proportion to heat, so that when 

 there is heat there is little smoke, and 

 vice versa, where there is much smoke 

 "there is some fire." 



Abronia, Mich. 



n«»»»»»m»»«»««ii i nii i im zc 



CONVESITION DIRECTORY. 



1888. Time and Place of Meetint. 



Aug. 3. Ionia County, at Ionia, Mich. 



H. Smith, Sec, Ionia, Mich. 



Aug. 14.— Colorado State, at Denver, Colo. 



J. M. Clark, Sec, Denver, Colo. 



Aug. 27.— Stark County, at Canton, O. 



Mark Thomson, Sec, Canton, O. 



Sept. 8.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



By In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetlDKs.- Ed. 



Xliree Weeks l,ate.— Wm. Enke, of 

 Kochester, Mhiu., on June 9, 1888, writes : 



The season here is about three weeks late. 

 Dandelions are now in tull bloom, and bees 

 are gaining fast. My bees were in tlie cel- 

 lar ItiS days, and I lost 1 out of 90 (in the 

 cellar), but these were reduced to 75 by 

 uniting. 



Spring' )>-trindIiiigf.— S. D. Haskin, 

 of Waterville, Minn., on May 29, 1888, 

 writes : 



1 will describe the condition of my bees 

 and those of my neighbor : Mine were win- 

 tered on the Slimmer stamisj and his in an 

 out-door cellar. About the middle of March 

 It was warm, and 1 examined mine. Tliey 

 appeared to be in sijlendid condition, but 

 they did not have a general flight untd May 

 1, and as is usual with so hard a winter, and 

 such a long eontinenient, they had soiled 

 thi'ir hives badly, and many fainted and 

 faili (I as they flew, and my 30 colonies are 



now reduced to 6. The wild phims, cherry 

 and willows, and many other wild flowers 

 are open, that they usually work on, but 

 they do not seem to work energetically. 

 My neighbor's bees were inside over 6 

 months. There was no suitable weather to 

 get them out. There has been so very much 

 wet and cold weather. His bees are much 

 reduced, but are in better condition than 

 mine. I have taken 20 of his colonies to 

 run on shares this season, giving him one 

 dollar per swarm for the young swarms to 

 hive in my hives, which are full of comb. 

 1 give him one-half of the honey of the old 

 colonies, but the prospect so far is slim, 

 indeed. To-day is warm and clear ; the 

 best we have had tliis spring. 



Have Testert XUem.— Daniel Whit- 

 mer, of South Bend, Ind., 6n May 16, 1888, 

 writes : 



Having used the Heddon divisible-hrood- 

 chamber hive for two years, 1 would say 

 that I find it more convenient for handling 

 than any hive I ever used. I can find queens 

 very readily in it, and prefer it for the pro- 

 duction of comb honey, as well as for get- 

 ting it in the liquid form. For moving them 

 in and out of the cellar I find them exceed- 

 ingly convenient. Of course I shall test 

 them more fully this year, If we have a 

 good honey flow. 



moved my Mees.— W. H. Stringer, of 

 Guthrie Center, Iowa, on June 1, 1888, 

 writes : 



I moved my bees this spring on a wagon 

 about ten miles. I lost about 12 colonies 

 through the winter. I had 3 colonies that I 

 wintered out-of-doors ; the rest were In the 

 cellar. I have 36 colonies, including a few 

 which I divided. I think that fully one- 

 half of the bees in this county died last 

 winter. I secured about 1,000 pounds of 

 honey last year. I like the Bee Jouenal 

 very much. 



Xliat Xhree-Sided Hive Mr. D. 



Chalmers, of Poole, Out., on June 3, 1888, 

 asks us to make some corrections of his 

 article on page 340. He says : 



In giving a description of my improve- 

 ments in bee-hives, there afe a few mistakes 

 which should be corrected : In the l9th line 

 below Figure 1, it should read thus : " The 

 upper level of the frames are that distance 

 below the level of the top of the hive ;" 

 then, again, in claiming the properties of 

 the honey-board, it should read : " Only 

 being propolized around the inner edge of 

 the hive," instead of under edge. There is 

 a misprint in the first line of the second 

 column, in that you have " abjustable " 

 side instead of adjustable. 



Still Peedins •!•« Bees.— Mr. O. K. 

 Goodno, of Carson City, Mich,, on June 10, 

 1888, writes very discouragingly of the 

 prospects— but he is yet hopeful : 



Spring is not yet in sight for bees. Spring 

 dwindling still continues. I am feeding the 

 bees every night lo keep them from starving. 

 Fruit bloom and dandelii>ns are past and 

 gone, with the above existing conditions. 

 I would like to see Mr. Doolittle, or any 

 other man, produce his starters tor surplus 

 which he advofates in fruit bloom, in this 

 section this year. I have seen the first rasp- 

 beiry and white clover bloom to-day, for the 

 season. For several days nothing has been 

 in bloom, with a lair prospect for a slight 

 frost to-night, but never mind. " Wind her 

 up again, John." 



Bees Scarce Here.— A. S. Camblin, 

 of Selma, Iowa, on June 13, 1888, writes : 



There are no large apiaries in this part of 

 the State, and it is likely that there will be 

 but few small ones for some time to come. 

 Owing to the two years' drouth, the bees 

 have nearly all died. There is not more 

 than 35 colonies within four miles of this 

 place, and 15 of tliem are what I saved out 

 of upwards of 30 I put into the cellar last 

 fall. I hope for a full honey flow. 1 put 

 off feeding until late. The season here has 

 been backward. During fruit bloom it was 

 cold and windy most ot the time, so that the 

 bees could not fly ; but by feeding I have 

 my 15 colonies in pretty fair condition. I 

 have nearly a clear field, and if the season 

 is favorable, I expect to get some honey 

 this summer. I have? or 8 acres of Alsike 

 clover sowed this spring with fall wheat. 

 Will it bloom this summer to atford any 

 honey ? 



[Tes. It is an annual, and blooms the 

 first year from the seed.— Ed.] 



But L.itlle Surplus Honey.— C. 



Solveson, Nashotah, Wis., on June 14, 1888, 

 writes : 



In this vicinity we shall have but little if 

 any surplus honey this year. Not only is 

 the white clover badly killed out, but we 

 will not have the bees to gather what little 

 honey there will be. Out of 94 colonies 

 placed in winter quarters last fall, I had 90 

 colonies left this spring in good condition ; 

 since then I have lost 30 per cent, from 

 spring dwindling. No pollen was gathered 

 in April, and but little in May. 1 have not 

 a colony to-day that is stronger than when 

 taken from the cellar on April IS, and I am 

 feeding them daily to keep life in the few 

 remnants I have left. The Editor's remarks 

 in regard to that infamous Wiley, are to the 

 point exactly. His position and present 

 employment is a disgrace to the Nation ! 



Crood Prospect <br Honey.— J. M. 



McDaniel, of Peoria, Texas, on May 11,1888, 

 writes : 



Our prospect for honey is good. Bees 

 here have been near starvation lor the last 

 two years, but now the few tliat have sur- 

 vived are booming. 



Successful Work.— A. S. Straw, of 

 Edwardsburg, Mich., on June 14, 1888, says : 



I have kept bees for 35 years of my life, 

 and I thought 1 was well posted on thera, 

 but after reading the Amekican Bee Jour- 

 nal, I find I am at the foot of the ladder. 

 I can look back and see where I lost lots of 

 bees by not reading and posting myself. I 

 commenced two years ago with 3 colonies 

 of bees, and got 300 pounds of comb honey. 

 In 1887 I had 7 colonies ; I got no surplus, 

 but 1 increased them to 15. I commenced 

 this spring with 15, all in good condition, 

 and they are gathering honey fast now. 

 They wintered in the cellar; the tempera- 

 ture was from oil' to 43° above zero. I give 

 the Amekican Bee Joubnai, the credit for 

 mv success. 



Has a Good Market.- J. M. Jacobs, 



DeWitt, Iowa, on June 14, 1888, writes : 



I have, this spring, in good condition, 30 

 colonies of Italian bees. This year, in this 

 region, prospects are good. The year 1887 

 was uniavorahle for honey. I had orders 

 for 10,000 pounds of honey more than I 

 c.iuldfill. In ISSGI sold in 14 days 33.000 

 pounds of honey. lean sell this fall 100,- 

 000 pounds of one-pound sections of white 

 clover honey. 



