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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



one queen can lay all the eggs the bees 

 can take care of. If, in your locality, 

 there is so long a time between swarm- 

 ing and the fall flow for the two colonies 

 to be stronger when united than one 

 single colony would have been, then the 

 plan may be profitable. 



If you choose to divide, there will be 

 need to kill queen-cells. You put in the 

 division-board — the bees will do the rest. 



Making a Patented Article. 



Is there any article patented in the 

 United States that a person cannot make 

 for his own use? W. H. R. 



Woods, Oreg. 



Answer.— A patent that will not al- 

 low an article to be made for sale by the 

 thousand, equally prevents a single 

 article to be made for the use of the 

 maker. 



Cow Pea Honey— Linden Honey. 



I take the liberty of mailing yon a 

 sample of section honey-comb mashed in 

 a bottle ; it was gathered late in Sep- 

 tember and October from the stock or 

 cow pea of the South — a small bean of 

 many varieties of growth, mostly vining 

 like pole-beans, planted here in the corn- 

 fields. The beans are good fattening 

 food for hogs, also a good forage plant 

 cut for hay or ensilage. I cannot say if 

 it will grow as far north as your place. 

 I will send you seed next spring, or now, 

 for spring planting, if you want to test 

 them. 



As to Mr. Muth's classing honey as 

 dark except clover, mangrove and sage, 

 my linden is as white as this 1 send you. 

 Please sample it, and give your opinion 

 on this pea-honey, as many readers of 

 the "American Bee Journal" in the 

 Southern States will be interested. 



I am glad to see 13ro. Theilman defend 

 the pure linden honey, as it deserves, 

 both North and South— as there is as 

 good white linden comb honey produced 

 in my apiary (in northeast Texas) as 

 any of our markets demand. 



The cow pea is a " Trifolium," or be- 

 longs to the clover families— with white, 

 cream and purple blooms, much like 

 English pea-blooms. G. W. li. 



lily, Tex., Oct. ;U. 



Answer.— The sample of honey sent, 

 while not comparing with white clover, 



is beautiful in appearance and very light 

 in color. Coming at the time it does, it 

 seems to me it ought to be of great 

 value. The cow pea has been known 

 for years as a honey-plant, but not much 

 has been said about it, perhaps not as 

 much as it deserves. I've some doubt 

 whether it flourishes in the North, but I 

 would like to try it. A plant that pays 

 to cultivate as a forage plant, and at 

 the same time gives a yield of honey of 

 as nice quality as the sample received, 

 and at a time when bees have little or 

 nothing else to work on, is certainly 

 something to excite the interest of bee- 

 keepers. 



As to the color of linden honey, it 

 seems to me the whitest honey I ever 

 saw was granulated linden. 



Italians are Preferred. 



Are Italian bees best for Minnesota ? 



Answer. — I think the majority of bee- 

 keepers in Minnesota, as well as in 

 other States, prefer Italians. 



Cellar Wintering of Bees. 



Which is the best way to winter bees 

 in the cellar? Is it a good way to re- 

 move the bottom-board and pile them 

 on top of each other, with 8-inch space 

 between each hive, with sealed covers ? 

 or leave the bottom-board on, and give 

 top ventilation? My cellar is dark, and 

 stays at about 88^' in cold weather. 



Hayward, Minn. 



Answer. — Some like one way and 

 some the other. I suppose the main 

 thing is to let the bees have the right 

 amount of change of air, without having 

 too much of a current through the clus- 

 ter. Perhaps it will generally be safer 

 to use the first plan you mention, for in 

 that way you can't go far wrong, where- 

 as there is some danger, the other way, 

 of having too little or too much through 

 ventilation. 



Dead Bees on the Combs. 



I have 10 colonies of Italian bees, and 

 they are well supplied with honey, and 



