TUm MMERICJEP* WEW JQUmSKI^. 



501 



^^^'■■^'■^'■^'■^^^^^^^^ 



Honey CrOp of Callfi»riiia.— Mr. 



J. S. HarOison, the celebrated apiarist of 

 soiitliern California, was interviewed by a 

 reporter of the San Diego Union, relative 

 to tlie report about a large crop of honey 

 being gathered this year in that State. 



The report in the CDmmcrcial Bulletin 

 was represented as being derived from 

 conversiitions with men prominent in busi- 

 ness circles of California, and tlie substance 

 of it was that honey is going to be cheaper 

 and more plentiful this year than ever be- 

 fore. Particular attention was called to 

 San Bernardino and San Diego counties, 

 ■where it was reported that honey had 

 opened at low prices, and that 3'.; to 4 cents 

 would be the maximum price. 



This report, Mr. Harbison said, was, to 

 say the least, a most remarkable statement. 

 probably written in the interest of brokers' 

 firms, and is a fair specimen of a "bear 

 trap." He then added : 



The truth is, that not one-half as much 

 honey will be gathered this year as have 

 been in some years past< The spring bloom, 

 which should yield one third of tlie total 

 crop of the year, has gone by, and it yielded 

 but little honey. Owing to llie long-con- 

 tined Rold weather, the bees in the moun- 

 tain ranges had hardly made a living up to 

 June 1, and now only about 60 days remain 

 tor the flowers and the storing of huney. 



Even if the weather is favorable from this 

 time on, the honey gathering cannot be 

 large. Another reason why the report re- 

 feired to must exaggerate the amount of 

 honey in this season s crop, is the fact that 

 there are not at present halt so many bees 

 in southern California as there were six 

 years ago, and the supply of sage and other 

 iioney-furnishing shrubs has been dimin- 

 ished at least 50 per cent, by the clearing up 

 of land. 



Moreover, the low prices at which honey 

 has been sold for some years past liave de- 

 stroyed the incentive to care tor and work 

 the remaining bees to their full capacity, 

 and the supply this year will not glut the 

 market. 



Arrangements have been made, however, 

 for the handling iif the honey crop in this 

 county, which will insure better returns to 

 the producer than they have received in 

 years, and the honey industry here be 

 stimulated. 



A SM'arm on a, Man's Hat.— Mr. 



E. C. Jordan sends us the following from 

 the Eeciml of July 19, 1888, published at 

 Kustburg, Va., as a supplement to the cir- 

 cumstance mentioned on page 4ii8 : 



Mr. W. E. Ballard, in conversation with 

 us about the bees swarming on the cow's 

 back, told a little of his own experience. 

 He was in a field with several otheriiersons 

 when a swarm of bees came over. They re- 

 sorted to the usual methods to induce the 

 bees to settle ; rinaing bells, beating tin 

 pans, etc. Mr. Ballard soon found the bees 

 settling on his hat. Ho did not like the 

 proximity, so he quietly took off his hat 

 and laid it on the ground. The whole 

 swarm soon settled upon it. They were 

 liived and taken home. 



Home Markets for honey can be 

 made by judiciously distributing the 

 pamphlets, " Honey as Food and Medicine." 

 Such will create a demand in any locality at 

 remunerative prices. See list on the second 

 page of this paper. 



Hill's «>evic-e.-H. S. Ball, Granby, 

 Quebec, on July 19, 1888, asks thus : 



Will you inform me through the Ameri- 

 can Bee Johknai. the best device for tmt- 

 ling over broudtranies, to Kive space above 

 the frames for wintering. How much space 

 is reiiuired ? How is this device con- 

 structed ? 



Hill's device for covering frames in win- 

 ter is placed over the frames and under the 

 cushions, and forms a chamber for the bees 

 to cluster in, and ]iermits them to pass 

 freely from one comb to another, even dur- 

 ing a shady zero freeze. It consists of four 

 pieces of half-inch basswood strips sawed 

 on a curve that would make a circle of 

 about 11 inches in diameter; the two mid- 

 dle ones being 9 inches in length, and the 

 two outer ones 8 inches. These are held 

 together by a strip of hoop iron about a foot 

 long, holding the ribs about 4 inches apart. 

 The hoop iron runs parallel with the brood- 

 frames. 



!\o Neotarin tlie FIoM-ei-s.— Henry 



Stewart, Prophetstown, Ills., on July 19, 

 1888, makes this inquiry : 



Are there any scientific principles known 

 in reference to the formation of nectar in 

 flowers? If so, why under the apparent 

 favorable circumstances, has the white 

 clover and <ither honey-producing plants 

 yielded so little bee-forage ? 



Unfavorable atmospheric conditions, as 

 well as the direction of the wind, of ten ac- 

 count for the lack of nectar in the ffowers. 

 Rain also will apparently wash out the nec- 

 tar from the opening buds. Last season's 

 drouth dried up the clover in many parts, 

 and the weak and sickly growth of this 

 spring yielded no bloom worth mentioning 

 —now it looks like blooming again. 



tVliat Alls tlic Bees?— Mrs. Ada 



Dorsey, Holliday, Mo., on July 18, 1888, asks 

 the following question : 



What ails my bees ? In search of queen- 

 cells to cut out, yesterday, I found that four 

 of my young colonies of bees were diseased. 

 1 do not know what the disease is. The 

 old bees are well, and working right alona, 

 but the uncapped brood are dead in the 

 cells, and the bees do not seem to be clean- 

 ing them out. Please answer through the 

 Bee Jouknal, as it may beueht some one 

 else as well as myself. 



It is evidently what is usually called foul 

 brood. Remedies were considered in our 

 issue of July 18. 



Fowl Brood.— r. M. Aldrich, Fair- 

 mont, Nebr., on July 19, 1888, asks the fol- 

 lowing question : 



About three-fourths of the bees in this 

 vicinity have died from foul brood ; and in 

 Grafton, s^ven miles we.--t of here, quite a 

 number of colonies died last year. 1 think 

 that the hives were left on the stands, not 

 knowing what had killed the bees ; and 

 nearly all are dying this year. I watched 



mine, and those near me, and killed and 

 burned them ai soon as I found it in a hive. 

 Please tell nie if I did riuht. Do you think 

 that there is a cure ? I have not seen a siun 

 of it among my hees this season. I had 35 

 colonies left from HO last year. They are 

 swarming and duing finely now. 



Tou did just as we should have done, 

 uiion discovering the disease in our apiary. 

 We have but little confidence in the so- 

 called cures for foni brood. The editor of 

 the Canadian Bcr J<iumal, R\v\ns his ex- 

 perience with foul brood, says : " Last sea- 

 son we experimented with phenol, as did 

 also Mr. A. I. Root, and neither had the 

 success which would enable us to recom- 

 mend it as a permanent cure. It did re- 

 lieve, and to a certain extent cure, the colo- 

 nies aftlicted, but we could not depend upoa 

 it as lasting." 



Mr. A. I. Root says that if he should own 

 a small apiary and discover foul brood in it. 

 he would burn up the whole rather than en- 

 deavor to experiment In curing the disease. 

 If the larvae he elastic and ropy, it is a sure 

 indication of foul brood. This is a sure 

 test, but the odor is not to b6 relied upon. 

 Fire is our favorite remedy. 



I>ost Twenty Bollars.— The Rev. 



John Nemmers, of Gilbertsville, Iowa, on 

 July 14, 1SS8, gives a little of his experience 

 in these words : 



If I had subscribed for the American 

 Bee JornxAL two months sooner, I would 

 be *30 better off than I am now; and if I 

 had sooner known what a wood and instruc- 

 tive paperthe Bee Journal was, I would 

 have been a subscriber long ago. 



The experience of our reverend brother is 

 but a counter-part of hundreds of others, 

 who lost money by not knowing what was 

 going on in the apicultural world, by not 

 taking the American Bee Jottrnai,. 



A <'alifornian, in G/oxningg, says 

 that a sick man planted a little hoar-hound, 

 intending to use the product in making tea 

 for the cure of his ailment. Wind and 

 water and sheep have scattered the seed 

 abroad, and the plant flourishes far and 

 near. The writer says his bees have access 

 to it, but complains that the honey they 

 make is strong, dark, granulates easily, and 

 is bitter. He offers his honey at live cents 

 a pound. Possibly the hoar-hound honey 

 may be utilized by hoar-hound candy mak- 

 ers, and for medicinal syrup with that 

 flavor. 



Xlie XriSitnte Fair (Ohio, Michigan 

 and Indiana) opens at Toledo, 0., Aug. 27, 

 and closes Sept. 1. Dr. A. B. Mason is 

 superintendent of the Apiary Department. 

 The premiums amount to S87.00. Those in- 

 terested should send for a premium list. 

 Address, John Farley, Sec, 209 St. Clair 

 St., Toledo, 0. 



Your Fnll Address, plainly written, 

 is very essential in order to avoid mistakes. 



