swarmed 1 gave them an Italian queen, 

 which was accepted, and in 10 days it gave 

 another large swarm; the combs being well 

 filled with brood. From the 2 colonies I 

 made 11, and introduced Italian queens, 

 which I sold him for $2 each. The account 

 stands thus: Eleven sw^arms, at §5 each, 

 and 550 tts. of honey, sold at 10 cts. per ft. — 

 Total, §110. The expenditures are: Eleven 

 queens, at .$2, and 11 hives, at $1.50 each, 

 amounting to §38.50; leaving a net profit of 

 $77.50." Wm. Hollom. 



Hillsboro, 111., March 20, 1878. 

 " Bees are out of winter quarters in good 

 condition, with a shrinkage of not over 3 

 fts. since the first of December." 



I. H. Shimer. 



Mishicott, Wis., Aprils. 1878. 

 " I put my bees out March 20tli. Winter- 

 ed them in" the cellar ; lost 2 colonies, and 

 found a few queenless. The rest of them 

 are in good condition. We expect a good 

 harvest." Fred Claussen. 



Garafraxa, Ont., March 11, 1878. 



" My report for the last 2 years would be: 

 In 1876, 1 put 18 colonies into a dark, but not 

 dry cellar. Thermometer stood 40 to 43°; 

 after 5 months' confinement, set out 16. In 

 1877, put 30 colonies . into same cellar, on 

 Nov. 7, and set out 30 on March 10. Ther- 

 mometer at 42°, during all that time. En- 

 trances open 3^ inch and nerv sheets of 

 duck over the frames. Water stood in the 

 cellar during both winters. I have noticed 

 that those colonies having the least pollen, 

 had least moldy combs. Please get your 

 readers to give more definite reports of 

 their modes of wintering." 



J. C. Thom, M. D. 



[ Yes; it would be more useful and satis- 

 factory, if all would give the manner of 

 their preparation for winter.— Ed.] 



Smithsburg, Ind., Feb. 15, 1878. 

 "I wish some expeit in bee-culture would 

 explain why a queen, reared in Italy, will 

 produce more eggs than one reared in 

 America, and why they are better honey 

 gatherers than the American bees, and why 

 the dark bees reared in Italy will gather 

 more honey than the yellow ones? And 

 also why we never could get yellow queens 

 from Italy before last season ? Some say 

 that their imported queens are very large 

 and yellow, and also their workers; even 

 more yellow than our home-bred Italian 

 bees. 1 would like to see some of these 

 beautiful, imported bees. I have had some 

 imported queens that cost me almost $16 

 each. They were small and dark, as was 

 also their progeny; and some of tlie queens 

 were impure. If the yellow, imported 

 queens are not the best, why does one of 

 our dealers ask one dollar more for them? — 

 He seems to think we should be satisfied 

 with imported bees, whether pure or not.— 

 I, for one, am not satisfied with any impure 

 bees; I would not have them in my apiary. 

 I have queens that will produce workers 

 with the 3 yellow bands solid, with no 

 black between them. These I call pure 

 Italians." D. A. Pike. 



Pontiac, 111., March 20, 1878. 

 "The American Bee Journal, has 

 saved me, in clear money, $56.25 in the mat- 

 ter of hives alone, in two years, to say noth- 

 ing of all the other information 1 have 

 gained, which cannot be shown so readily 

 by figures. Those who do not take the 

 Journal, stand in their own light." 



R. MATTHEW'S. 



" Albion, Iowa, March 14, 1878. 

 "My bees have wintered splendidly. — 

 They became so restless that I had to 

 remove them from their winter quarters on 

 Feb. 11; found 1 dead — queenless. I made 

 little increase in stock last year, but got a 

 very satisfactory yield of honey. Being 

 very busy with other business, last year, I 

 concluded to let them attend to the swarm- 

 ing business themselves. This year, I pro- 

 pose to run the swarming business myself. 

 Last spring, they came out of winter 

 quarters with a fair supply of drones. As it 

 is their custom to kill off their drones in the 

 fall, why did they deviate from the general 

 rule in this case? I see some writers on 

 honey-producing plants class thoroughwort, 

 or boneset as one of them. I have plenty of 

 it, but have never seen a bee on it yet. — 

 Are they not mistaken in confounding it 

 with motherwort, which is a honey-pro- 

 ducing plant? It is a prevalent theory 

 among apiarists, that it talvcs about 20 fts. 

 of honey to make one ft. of comb; and 

 therefore, that a colony of bees will make 

 that many more pounds of honey in the 

 same time, if they nave the comb furnished 

 them. In the first place, I would ask some 

 one to explain to me by what experiment 

 that fact (if it is one) has been ascertained? 

 I have seen 2 colonies, of apparently equal 

 strength, side by side, the one having a top 

 box, of 15 fts. capacity, filled with empty 

 comb, of last year's building; the other, 

 with an empty one, throwing off a swarm; 

 said swarm filling a 15 ft. box, while the 

 other had made no visible progress towards 

 filling their empty comb. Why is this ?— 

 Or why, as a general rule, will a young, 

 natural swarm fill its hive at the same time 

 of making its comb, and make as mucii 

 surplus honey in the season as the parent 

 hive?" J. C. Armstrong. 



[Will some one who has experimented as 

 to the cost, in honey, of comb-building, give 

 the desired information.— Ed.] 



Forestville, N. Y., March 11, 1878. 



" As I am thinking of building a winter 

 repository for bees, I would like a little in- 

 formation concerning the construction of 

 the same. Which is best, a cave, or a house 

 above ground, with walls of 8 or 10 inches 

 of saw-dust, and a 4 inch dead-air space?— 

 Would it be best to plaster it ? Is a gravel 

 floor better than concrete ? Please answer 

 through the Journal ? 



I went into winter quarters with 12 colo- 

 nies in Quinby hives; had them out for a 

 fly, on March 8, 9, 10. One is dead, the rest 

 are in good condition. I wintered in my 

 cellar, which is too damp for successful 

 wintering. 



I see you go for the crystal honey busi- 

 ness. A friend of mine obtained a recipe of 



