206 



THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Ten tons of honey from 180 colouies, and 

 a good prospect of getting a few more tons, 

 is the report that " Rambler " sends me. 



"Bkes ake Booming," is the report that 

 comes from all parts of the countrj'. E. R. 

 Root writes me that it is the same story that 

 comes to Medina. We are having a good 

 flow from white clover here at Flint. 



E. R. Root asks if the lifting of supers 

 does not apply as an objection to the liang- 

 don, non -swarming system the same as it 

 does to the use of the Pratt self-hiver. Yes, 

 it does, so far as the supers are concerned, 

 but with the Pratt hiver we have the hive to 

 lift in addition to the supers and this doubles 

 the load. 



Old Bee Books are being written of in an 

 interesting manner by the proof reader of 

 Gleanings, and his writings printed in that 

 journal, but he says that the " awful dark- 

 ness in which those writers lived render their 

 works to-day of no practical benefit aside 

 from literary curiosities." 



Mks. Atohley's apiary of 400 colonies, 

 among which are sprinkled the members of 

 the Texas Bee-Keepers' Convention, is nicely 

 shown in Gleanini/s by a full page illustra- 

 tion. The tall, sprangley oaks make a splen- 

 did back ground. As a " picture," it is as 

 good as Gleaninys has shown in sometime. 



& 



Papeb Caktons, for enclosing sections of 

 honey that are sent to market, do not re- 

 ceive much endorsement from the two doz- 

 en proment apiarists that answer the "que- 

 ries and replies" in the A. B. J. The long 

 and short of it is, if it pays to use them in 

 your market, use them; if it does not, then 

 let them alone. 



—& • 



Alsike Clover is being cultivated to a 

 much greater extent in Michigan than was 

 formerly the case. In a ride of twenty miles 

 the other day on the railroad I saw several 

 fields that were masses of bloom from the 

 pink-white blossoms of the alsike. I fre- 

 quently hear farmers say: "I have sowed a 

 field of alsike this year. " An insect pest is 

 making such havoc with the red clover that 

 it is proving unprofitable. " It is an ill wind 

 that blows nobody any good. " This exten- 

 sive cultivation of alsike will be a boon to 

 bee-keepers. 



The Bee-Keepebs' Guide has suspended 

 publication. Bro. Hill writes that he has 

 been running his journal, the bee hive bus- 

 iness, the bees, etc., without competent help, 

 and he is overworked. The Kendallville 

 bank has failed, times are haid, Mr. Hill's 

 health is failing under the load he has V)een 

 carrying, and he finds himself compelled to 

 give up something, and that sometliing 

 proves to be the Guide. The unexpired 

 subscriptions will be filled out by the 

 Review. 



— Hi — 



E. R. Root, made a trip of 400 miles down 

 East, one year, and I believe that A. I. has 

 been to California once or twice. ( )ne ob- 

 ject in making these trips was to secure in- 

 teresting matter for Gleanings. And now 

 they have discovered that within four miles 

 of them was a first-class, most successful 

 bee-keeper of whose existence they did not 

 know. His name is Burt and he is to make 

 some practical experiments for the Roots. 

 One thing learned from a visit to his apiary 

 was how successfully sheep could be made to 

 answer the place of a lawn mower for keep- 

 ing the grass down in an apiary. I know 

 from experience that it is no small task to 

 keep the grass down with a lawn mower. In 

 the busy season there is a temptation to neg- 

 lect it. 



f<> 



The Langdon, non-swarming arrange- 

 ment has not proved a success with Mr. Tay- 

 lor as will be seen by reference to his report. 

 When I was over there I saw a swarm issue 

 from one of them. Frank Coverdale of Iowa 

 also writes me that he is having swarming 

 with them. It is not the depleted colony 

 that swarms, but the one that gets the double 

 dose of bees. It seems that such a great 

 mass of bees will swarm even without mak- 

 ing preparations for swarming. I must con- 

 fess that I am disappointed. I thought that 

 this arrangement was certainly going to en- 

 able us to do away with swarming. It seems 

 that it did work all right last year with Mr. 

 Langdon. He used it in the house apiary. 

 Whether this would have a bearing I do not 

 know. There is also a difference in seasons. 

 I shall be glad to get reports from others who 

 have used them. 



OLD BEES DO NOT LOCATE THEIR HIVE WHEN 

 THEY 8WABM. 



I had a little experience this season that 

 would seem to prove the truth of the above 



