442 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



" here is lots of work to do." "I believe 

 so," he replied, I asked him if I should 

 put them in good condition, would he 

 give me a colony for my work. " Yes, 

 sir," he said, "you can take any one you 

 please." And then I commenced the 

 operations. 



I transferred the combs from the 

 covers to the movable-frame hives. In 

 other colonies I cut all out in the covers 

 — the old colonies I mean. You ought 

 to have seen what honey he got. He 

 had washboilers, dishpans and milkpails 

 full. I asked the lady of the house if I 

 should help her take care of the honey. 

 " Oh no," she said, " I understand how 

 to do that," and she cut up the comb in 

 small pieces, and laid it down in stone 

 jars, one piece on top of another, until 

 the jar was full, and then she put cloth 

 over it, and took them to the cellar. I 

 told her to strain the honey, and then 

 she said she wanted comb honey, and 

 she would keep it in the cellar to have it 

 fresh. 



I advised the gentleman to subscribe 

 for some bee-papers, and buy some bee- 

 books. Then he went to his library and 

 showed me the "A B C of Bee-Culture," 

 and sample copies of Oleanings and 

 other papers. I told him he had all the 

 information he needed. I had to answer 

 so many questions that I was really 

 tired, but at the same time I had lots of 

 fun. 



When all the work was done I re- 

 ceived a good colony of bees for my 

 work, and then I said good-bye, about 5 

 o'clock in the evening. 



John A. Holmberg. 



St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 1. 



Had a Fair Crop of Honey. 



It was very dry here the past summer, 

 but I got a fair crop of honey — over 60 

 pounds per colony, spring count, and all 

 comb honey, mostly in one-pound sec- 

 tions. I increased about 30 per cent., 

 and they all have plenty of stores for 

 winter. I am well pleased with the 

 American Bke Journal. It is worth 

 many times its cost to any person that 

 keeps kees. C. Monette. 



Chatfield, Minn., Sept 26. 



Harvesting and Swarming, Etc. 



In reading the Bee Journal of Sept. 

 6th, I find that Dr. Miller rather mis- 

 takes the meaning in my article on page 

 242. 



When I compared harvesting and 

 swarming I meant to infer that harvest- 



ing included more than it really does, 

 perhaps; that is, the result of causes un- 

 til the time of harvesting, and by swarm- 

 ing the result of preceding tendencies. 

 I believe that swarming measures the 

 quantity of honey more than any other 

 part of bee-culture. I believe that in a 

 good honey-flow, with my method, I can 

 get more honey from a colony allowed to 

 swarm (making two swarms — a young 

 one and an old one), than can any per- 

 son with any method which prevents 

 natural swarming. Am I right, Dr. 

 Miller ? That was the idea before. 



I am interested in an apiary of 240 

 colonies, and I am satisfied that the 

 above is true from experience. 



But in regard to the amount of honey 

 a colony will consume, I cannot tell ex- 

 cept from observation. The amount of 

 honey they consume in winter is easily 

 known, but for the amount in honey- 

 gathering I don't believe any one can 

 possibly know, except by comparison. 

 Mr. Doolittle guessed too high for my 

 ideas, yet he may know exactly. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. S. C. Markon. 



Lard for Removing Propolis. 



I saw in the last Bee Journal a 

 recipe for washing propolis off the 

 hands. Change that for this, to prevent 

 propolis sticking to the fingers, which is 

 vastly better : Keep along with the 

 tools a small box with lard in it, and 

 grease the inside of the thumb and 

 fingers occasionally when handling the 

 frames, and propolis will not stick either 

 to the fingers or smoker, which will get 

 greased by the fingers in holding it. Mr. 

 Root, to whom I sent the idea, wrote 

 about using vaseline. That may do, but 

 it suggests an extra expense, which I 

 believe entirely unnecessary. I consider 

 the use of lard most important for com- 

 fort in handling frames. 



Utica, 111. Alfred Mottaz. 



Oood Honey-Sellers will likely be 

 needed now, and the little 32-page pamph- 

 let, "Honey as Food and Medicine," has 

 for years proven itself valuable in making 

 repeated sales of honey. Its distribution 

 will create a demand for the honey first, and 

 then the bee-keeper can follow it up and 

 supply that demand. Send to us for a 

 sample copy, only 5 cents ; 10 copies, post- 

 paid, 3.5 cents ; 50 copies, $1.2.'); or 100 copies 

 $2.00. Try .50 or 100 copies, and prove their 

 ability to aid you in disposing of your 

 honey at a good price. 



