THE ftMERICar* BEE JQURNSl,. 



701 



noticed that only one kind was usually 

 in a case. 



Value of Honer-PlanU. 



Our honey-plants, with which we 

 have been experimenting, are now 

 done blooming, and we can now form 

 some idea of their value. We are well 

 satisfied with the outcome of our four 

 acres of sweet clover. It kept the bees 

 busy for about a month at a time when 

 there was almost nothing else for 

 them. It is true they did not gather 

 honey fast, but it kept up brood-rear- 

 ing, and the bees more than held their 

 own, and when the fall blooms came 

 they were ready for it, and how they 

 did work ! 



The Chapman honey-plant com- 

 menced blooming about the same time 

 as sweet clover, and went out of bloom 

 a little sooner. It is undoubtedly very 

 rich in honey, as the bees were on it 

 constantly. Still I do not think it will 

 ever be very extensively cultivated by 

 bee-men, as it requires too much at- 

 tention the first year. Then, too, it is 

 known to ha\'e several enemies that 

 may play sad havoc with it in the fu- 

 ture, (ithers will regard it with dis- 

 favor, as it looks so much like thistles. 

 Cattle will not touch it, and on this 

 account we believe it will be valuable 

 to scatter in waste places, about old 

 stone quarries, etc., where other plants 

 could not exist. 



Some years ago I got some of Dr. 

 Tinker's golden honej- -plant seeds and 

 scattered it far and wide. Now thej- 

 are growing in many places, and bid 

 fair to add another important source 

 of honey to our field. 



We shall save all the seeds this fall 

 that we can use, and send for several 

 other varieties, and do all possible to 

 improve our honey resources. We 

 sliall also do what we can to induce 

 farmers to sow Alsike clover. 



Brood-CIiainbera Full of Honey. 



In many sections of the West, brood- 

 ehanibers of hives will be found clog- 

 ged with honey. Especially is this the 

 case with large hives, or where surplus 

 arrangements are defective. A colony 

 does not need over 40 or 50 pounds of 

 good honey to winter nicely. In fact 

 more is a detriment to them, as they 

 cannot cluster and pack in the combs, 

 on the approach of cold weather, and 

 on this account many bees will become 

 chilled, and lost between cold, solid 

 combs. 



A verj- good plan is to take out the 

 side combs whicli are usually solid 

 with honey, and extract them, and re- 

 turn empty combs to near the center 

 of hives. It is best to do this before 

 the weather gets too cold, as the bees 

 are then harder to handle, and the 

 honey is more difficult to throw out of 

 the combs. 



Bruiib Tor Removins Bees. 



A brush of some kind is necessary 

 to brush the bees otf the combs. We 

 have found nothing better for this pur- 

 pose than a handful of the stems of 

 anj- suitable green grass, made into a 

 small wisp broom. Bees do not seem 

 to mind being .swept oft' with grass in a 

 green state, but would become furious 

 if a hair or feather was nsed. In open- 

 ing hives and handling combs at this 

 lime of year, a good deal of caution is 

 necessary to prevent robbing. Use 

 entrance-blocks where hives have been 

 opened, and do not let bees have ac- 

 cess to honey anywhere. Do not put 

 extracted honey into old whisky bar- 

 rels, on economic grounds, as the 

 honey will be spoiled. 



Milan, Ills. 



COIVVENTION DIRECTORY. 



1888 Time and Place of Meeting. 



Nov. 3.— Stark County, at Canton. Ohio. 



Mark Thomson, Sec, Canton, O. 



Nov. 14.— Alabama State, at Montgomery, Ala. 



J. M. Jenkins, Wetumpka, Ala. 



Nov. 21, 22.-Pan- Handle, at Wheeling. W. Va. 



W. L. Kinsey. Sec , Blaine, O. 



Dec. 



-Michigan State. at.Ja("k^on. Mich. 



H. D. (Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



83?" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Kd. 





■^^^ 



Snow.— Mr. S. F. Reed, North Dorches- 

 ter, N. H., oil Oct. 9, 1888, writes : 



It is snowinj hard here today. There 

 are nearly ti inclies ut snow on the ground 

 now. A heavy frost killed all vegetation 

 about Se^it. .5th or 6tli. 



Xlie Season o< 1S88 — Mr. Leslie 

 Stewart, Jefferson, N. Y., on Oct. 15, 1888, 

 writes as follows : 



The honey season of 1SS8 is over, and the 

 bees will now be quiet until the buddinn 

 spring arrives, when it is hoped tiiat a good 

 season will be in store for us. Certainly we 

 ought to have one then, if we stand the past 

 two poor seasons without flinching. We 

 have now had two very discouraaing sea- 

 sons—in 1887 there was a very short crop, 

 and the crop of 1888 is yet smaller ; still we 

 must not complain, for will not this clear 

 our markets of all old and second-class 

 honey, and give a clear market for 1889 ? 



Let us auain prepare for the coming sea- 

 son, with li>;ht hearts and high hopes. Let 

 us get out a better lot of liives and crates 

 than ever. Let us see that our bees have 

 first-class stores on which to winter. If 

 they are to be wintered out-doors, let us 

 pack them carefully ; if in the cellar, let us 

 see that it is clean, dry and warm. We 

 canuotbetoo particular about such things, 

 and you know we are rather inclined to be 

 a little careless at such times. 



To be sure the season has been a poor 

 one, and the honey crop was small. The 



prices are not as high a^ we might expect, 

 jet the deiuand Is good, and we will prob- 

 ably have a great abundance to winter the 

 bees on ; and some of us have quite a nice 

 lot to spare, which will go a good ways to 

 pay our actual expenses. My crop for the 

 season is atiout as follows : Basswood, 

 raspberry and white clover extracted, 4.> 

 pounds per coloiy, and of buckwheat, 65 

 pounds per colony. Comb honey, 20 pounds 

 per colony ; of buckwheat, 50 pounds per 

 colony. While there is not a large yield, 

 yet 1 am satisfied, and feel sure that it is 

 better than the most of us have done ; but 

 it has cost me and my Italians a great deal 

 of hard labor, to say nothing of the ex- 

 penses. 



It has been the poorest season for the 

 rearing of queens ever known to me. I was 

 obliged to have very strong nuclei, and 

 sometimes the cells would become chilled, 

 and the young queens would not hatch out ; 

 yet I succeeded in rearing some of the finest 

 queens that I ever saw, when the weather 

 was favorable. 



Fall Crop in Georgia.— W. H. 



Prior, Madison, Ga., on Oct. 10, 1888, writes 

 as follows : 



My bees have been gathering honey nicely 

 for the past ten days, there being quite a 

 good tlow of honey from the fall flowers, 

 especially from the golden-rod, which is 

 very abundant in this section, and is still in 

 full bloom. Frost generally occurs with us 

 from Oct. 15 to the 20th. 



Resiill»> of llie Season.— J. M. 



Jacobs, DeWitt, Iowa, on Oct. 17, 1888,says: 



I started last spring with 20 colonies of 

 Italian bees, increased them to 45 colonies, 

 and have taken I.UOO pounds of fine fall 

 honey. I sold .500 pounds for 18 cents per 

 pound, in one-pound sections. I produce 

 comb honey, extracting unfilled and un- 

 capped sections. I winter my bees in the 

 cellar, darkened, with the temperature at 

 40° to 45° above zero. I have tiie bottom- 

 boards loose, and change them during the 

 winter, so as to remove dead bees and mold, 

 if there should be any. I have been very 

 successful so far. I have a market for 50,000 

 pounds of honey in one-pound sections. 



Bee-Keepins: in I\el>raslia.— Mr. 



Wm. StoUey, Grand Island, Nebr., on Oct. 

 13, 1888, writes : 



My 30 colonies of bees wintered well in 

 the winter of 1887-8S ; but owing to ray ab- 

 sence from home (in June, July and part of 

 August), and other causes, but 20 colonies 

 were in a condition to gatlier any surplus 

 when I returned. From them 1 took 62 

 pounds of comb honey, and 1,348 pounds of 

 extracted. I had but one colony to produce 

 comb honey in one-pound sections. My 

 system of manaiieinent is such that I so far 

 have successfully controlled increase to 

 suit myself. This season I have only kept 

 up the number of colonies I had in the 

 spring, and they are all strong, and in good 

 condition now, except 3 colonies that are 

 rather weak in numbers. 



Mj bees have, on an average, 25 pounds 

 of honey for winter stores, and I have 100 

 well-filled and sealed combs besides, re- 

 served fur spring stimulation and feeding. 

 I have superseded all queens over 2 years 

 old, and tiave now nine queens reared in 

 1S»7, and 21 queens reared during this sum- 

 mer. It was owing mostly to old queens 

 that 10 of mv colonies became deranged 

 during this summer. All of my bees are in 

 their winter quarters, and well packed now. 

 It is the melilot and alfalfa which, for the 

 la.st three years, have enabled me to render a 

 good account trom central Nebraska. 



