624 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



On page 405 of the "American Bee Journal" are to be found some questions 

 and remarks by Mr. Chas. F. Jaessing, on this same subject of migratory bee-keep- 

 ing. Mr. Jaessing seems to think that he would prefer the scheme outlined by 

 Mr. McArthur, viz.: that of getting full colonies of bees from the South just before 

 the honey harvest, to the one of getting the bees in lots of one or two pounds, and a 

 queen with each lot. My experience in this matter is too limited to be of much 

 value, but such as it is it inclines me to the belief that I would prefer Mr. Jaessing's 

 plan to that of Mr. McArthur's, especially if the latter is to carry with it the 

 slaughter of the bees every fall. 



It was a question by Mr. Jaessing and its answer by Mrs. Atchley which ap- 

 peared in the " American Bee Journal " last February, that led me to send South 

 for two lots of bees by the pound. One was a two-pound lot, the other a three- 

 pound lot, and each lot had a tested Italian queen. Each lot came on two frames of 

 comb with just honey enough for the journey, and on arrival were placed in 8- 

 frame dovetailed hives, between two frames of honey left by a colony which had 

 become queenless and died the winter before. 



These bees reached me May 19, and we fed sugar syrup every third or fourth 

 day until about June 20, at which time they were as strong as any colonies in the 

 yard, and there were some pretty strong ones. Sections were placed on the hives 

 about June 20. This has been the poorest of all poor seasons for honey here, but 

 the three-pound lot of bees completed more than sections enough to pay all its cost. 

 The other fell a little short of that result. Had the season been an ordinarily good 

 one, I am sure they would have paid two or three times their cost. I shall try the 

 experiment next spring on a larger scale, but shall not send so far for the bees, and 

 shall get untested queens— the expense can thus be considerably reduced. In the 

 absence of frames of honey I will try frames of comb, and feed some extracted 

 honey. I would not get bees in less than two-pound lots — three pounds would be 

 better. 



" Shake!" — Here's my ^W, Mrs. Livingston. I am more than willing to shake 

 hands with any bee-keeper who is in love with the bees for something besides the 

 money they bring in. I might draw the line at the man or woman who would kill 

 his or her bees just before winter, then buy a new supply in the spring to be slaugh- 

 tered when cold weather comes again. To tell the truth, I do not believe such an 

 idea would ever originate in the brain of a woman. Yes, I think I would shake 

 hands with Mr. McArthur, for I think he is a very estimable man, notwithstanding 

 his bee-killing notions. We will "have it out" in a friendly way when we meet at 

 Toronto, next fall ! Leon, Iowa. 



bee-:notes FRom ax octoghi^ariai^. 



BY E. L. HOLDEN. 



Perhaps I cannot write anything that will interest the readers of the " Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal," as I am an old man, an octogenarian, but the editor gave a gen- 

 eral invitation to his patrons to write, and as I have been in practice among bees 

 for more than 60 years, I will give a few items of my experience. 



I once wintered in my house a colony that I found in a tree. I cut out a section 

 of the tree, about 2X feet long, and set it in the buttery (or pantry, now), and fed 

 them at the bottom every few days, by slipping a saucer of honey in through a door 

 cut for the purpose. The next spring they were in excellent condition, though they 

 had no chance for a flight all winter. 



Next, I will astonish some by saying that I once hived a fine swarm in a hive 



