AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



505 



possibly we will icnow what it is very 

 soon. 



I have been a bee-i<eeper for 40 years, 

 and believe I know a little about the 

 business, but my principal study the 

 past few years was to determine the 

 proper plant to propagate so as to fur- 

 nish the busy workers food when from 

 drouth or other causes the crop was cut 

 off. 



I find by sowing buckwheat, a failure 

 some seasons ; dries out ; the same with 

 hoarhound, catnip and other plants. 

 The Washington flax grows here almost 

 everywhere in the timber, especially 

 where part has been removed, or in log- 

 ging camps, but this year's experience 

 shows that about Sept. 15th it goes to 

 seed. 



I have had the best luck with sweet 

 clover. Here I have it 10 or 11 feet 

 high, and my two colonies I have at 

 home are working on it, and it shows in- 

 dications of being in bloom until frost. 

 As a honey-plant, I pronounce sweet 

 clover superior to all, and the flax next. 

 If the bee-culturist had an acre of 

 sweet clover and one of flax, he would 

 need no other fall feed, as both stand 

 the drouth — both are perennial — and 

 after you have the roots once growing it 

 will take care of itself. All stock should 

 be excluded. 



In States as far south as Kentucky, 

 plant either as soon as the seed arrives. 

 In States where the freeze is consider- 

 able, I would take early spring for it. 



I mail the Editor a specimen of Wash- 

 ington flax, buds taken while out at my 

 apiary last week. R. H. Ballinger. 



Port Townsend, Wash., Sept. 24. 



Honey Thieves Caught. 



On the night of Aug. 15th two un- 

 known men entered my bee-yard and 

 stole 86 sections of honey, supers, and 

 what bees were in the same. I had 

 them tiered up, and was going to take it 

 off the next day, but they saved me the 

 trouble. They went Ji of a mile and 

 built a fire to smoke and burn the bees. 



When I arose in the morning, I dis- 

 covered a smoke, and at once looked 

 into its cause, and discovered bees, 

 empty sections, and some honey; that 

 the sections were burnt off, and lots of 

 dead bees. I scratched my head a mo- 

 ment, and then, not like a bloodhound 

 with my nose on the ground, but like a 

 greyhound, went by sight, looking for 

 tracks. I soon discovered the direction 

 they took. I then used the telephone. 

 At 5:30 p.m. of the same day I was 



called by the prosecuting attorney, and 

 after answering the call, he said : " We 

 have caught your honey thieves; have 

 tried them, found them guilty, and they 

 are sentenced to the house of correction 

 for 90 days !" 



I went the next morning to see them, 

 and give them a little advice, but they 

 had gone, accompanied by the sheriff, 

 to take a free ride of 195 miles. 



This is how I described the thieves : 

 •' Two men having honey in supers, 

 smoked and leaking. Honest men do 

 not carry honey that way. Men are 

 daubed with honey, and faces and hands 

 swollen by bee-stings." 



My description gave satisfactory evi- 

 dence as to cause the arrest. 



J. W. Miller. 



Rodney, Mich., Oct. 1. 



Laying- Workers — Introducing Queens 



If any one has a colony with a laying 

 worker, and he wishes to introduce a 

 queen, all he has to do is to remove the 

 old colony and place a hive on the old 

 stand ; then shake oflf all the bees from 

 four frames (leaving the brood in the 

 hive with the laying worker), and put 

 them into the new hive on the old stand, 

 then go to any hive and take out a 

 frame of honey, bees and brood (the 

 more bees the better), put the frame be- 

 tween the four frames, and then intro- 

 duce the queen. As soon as the queen 

 is laying, shake all the bees back. There 

 is no use losing on account of a laying 

 worker. 



My honey crop is very light, on ac- 

 count of dry weather, I have 40 colo- 

 nies of nice, yellow bees, and should 

 have had lots of honey if the weather 

 had been favorable. A. S. Straw. 



Edwardsburg, Mich., Sept. 26. 



Dr. Howard and His Book. 



I am much pleased that Dr. Howard 

 has been appointed Professor of Bacteri- 

 ology in the Medical Department of the 

 Fort Worth University, as he will fill 

 the place with credit to himself and his 

 country. His book on " Foul Brood " is 

 a credit to him. I mailed nearly 100 

 copies of it as presents to the best bee- 

 keepers in Ontario. Canada. Many of 

 those I sent his book to "had been 

 through the mill " and had an experience 

 with foul brood. I am sure that Dr. 

 Howard would have been very much 

 pleased if he had read the unlimited 

 amount of praise of his book that I did 

 in the letters I received from the bee- 



