its place will spring up the demand — 

 " Give us of your honey; ours is ail gone!" 

 And as tiie demand increases, the prices 

 will increase correspondingly. 



This is no idle dream, but a sober reality! 

 If there be a general and thorough trial — 

 tiie result is certain/— " Creating a de- 

 mand" is sure!! 



Presistent effort will accomplish wonders 

 — united action will show results almost 

 miraculous I— Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Comb Foundation. 



:^;''y;>^^^^>^'\> 



For the American Bee Journal. 



I have made my comb foundations on a 

 plaster of Paris model, made by running 

 plaster into a mold with foundation on each 

 side, thus: 



No. 1.— Wooden box, size and shape for the 

 mold of plaster. 12x12, 13^ inches thick, I 

 think the best. 



No. 2.— The foundation tacked on the 

 sides of the box, for the plaster to run into 

 and shape. 



No. 3.— Plaster of Paris mold in position 

 in the mold. 



The foundation can be made at home, 

 from scraps of wax; saving freight and toll. 

 The foundations are 12 to li square feet to 

 the pound, and are not all broken up, like 

 those you buy, in transportation. It is a 

 perfect /rfc simile of the copy, on one side 

 of the machine foundation, and a faint copy 

 on the other. It is so thin that you would 

 not know it from natural comb, after the 

 bees have worked it out. The same dip 

 that gets tlie plain sheet for the machine 

 furnishes this, only be careful to keep the 

 plate well soaked and you can make about 

 10 lbs. an hour. The only draw-back is, 

 that some bees do not make the cell as 

 regular on one side as on the other. 



Buchanan Co., Iowa. J. M. Price. 



[The samples sent with this letter, we 

 think, are too thick for use in surplus box- 

 es, and though it might do, as suggested, to 

 work up odd pieces of comb, we should 

 much prefet to get the cells alike on both 

 sides. It is an ingenious way of doing it, — 

 the inventive genius is very commendable. 

 — Ed.1 



Transferring Bees. 



I will give my plan, which I think an im- 

 provement on anything that I have seen in 

 print : 



Alarm the bees with a little smoke, 

 reverse the hive under a tree, or near a 

 fence ; have a heavy blanket, I think a 

 .soldier's blanket best; fasten a ring, 10 or 

 13 inches in diameter, in the center, fasten a 

 strap across the center to hang it up and to 

 carry it by. It can be hung up to the limb 

 of a tree, or to a pole or rail, with one end 

 put across the fence. Drum a little and 

 raise the blanket on one side. Split or pry 

 off one side of the hive ; cut out the comb; 

 transfer to the frame, by using a transfer 

 board, a little larger than the frame; fasten 

 .the comb in, by u,sing an awl, if the 

 combs are empty; but if heavy with honey 

 and brood, tack a few strips of thin wood 

 across the frame cornerwise; remove the 

 strips when the bees have fastened the 

 combs. Take hold of the strap of the 

 blanket; carry the bees to the hive, placed 

 where you want it to stand; let the blanket 

 down; raise one side; turn it upside down; 

 the bees will then crawl into the hive. 



Let any one having bees to transfer, try 

 this plan, and they will not want to try any 

 other. 



I have transferred hundreds of swarms 

 and dispensed with the drum box altogether; 

 the blanket adjusts itself to any size of box 

 or gum. G. W. Zimmerman. 



Napoleon, O., March 12, 1878. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Humbugs and Swindles. 



This is the heading of an article in Olemi- 

 ings for February, in which the editor 

 states that Mitchell and his agents are ob- 

 taining money by fraudulent claims; that 

 Mitchell is the ring-leader of swindlers, &c. 



What I want to know is: Where the 

 humbug comes in ? Those who have fol- 

 lowed Mr. Koot for years, know that he 

 commenced with the Langstroth hive; then 

 after the "Common-sense Hive" was pat- 

 ented, he used the principal features of it in 

 his "Simplicity." When Mr. Mitchell got 

 his patent on the "Adjustable Hive," he 

 appropriated the cloth-end division boards, 

 and then called Mitchell a humbug. Is this 

 following the "golden rule"— doing to 

 others as he would that they siiould do to 

 him ? 



Now let us see if Mr. Mitchell is hum- 

 bugging the public. He charges $10 for a 

 right to make and use his hive. The mate- 

 rials cost but 50c.; his agents sell them, 

 complete, for.'i?1.2o. 



If a man has 100 colonies, the account 

 would stand thus : Eight, .IplO. Hives, 

 .f 125.00. Total, l:i5.00. Mr. Root sells the 

 Langstroth hive complete for ^'i.7o ; the 

 Simplicity, for .IJo.OO. Take the cheapest:— 

 100 at .'ifS.fS would cost $375.00. Now deduct 

 tiie price Mitchell's cost $i:>5.00. The bal- 

 ance, $240.00 is in favor of Mitchell and 

 against Hoot. 



Is it not better to pay for a right for 

 using a good hive, than to get a non-patented 

 one that costs three times as much? I like 

 to see fair play. 



1 transferred 100 colonies last season to 

 the Mitchell hive, and have not lost one; my 

 bees are now stronger than when 1 put 



