one of J. H. Reeves, 78 Nassau St., N. Y., 

 to make the celebrated crystal honey, pay- 

 ing $5 for it, which he (Reeves) claimed 

 would make an article as much superior to 

 bee honey as bee honey is superior to New 

 Orleans molasses. My friend made some of 

 it, and was badly humbugged. Could send 

 you the recipe, if I thought it would be in- 

 teresting." H. D. G. 



[Either a cave or a house Vt'ill usually 

 winter safely, if properly prepared. A 

 house, such as you mention, will do if tlie 

 temperature be Icept from 3 to 10 degrees 

 above freezing point, and it is perfectly 

 dark and well ventilated. These points 

 are more important than plaster, concrete or 

 gravel. A cave should be beneath the sur- 

 face, in sandy, or well ventilated soil ; straw 

 should be packed below and around the 

 hives ; the entrance open, but secured 

 against mice. A mound of earth should be 

 over them, to secure equal temperature.— 

 Ed.] 



St. Charles, Mo., April 12, 1878. 

 "I have 100 Italian colonies in good con- 

 dition. Never in 10 years have had such a 

 favorable spring. Bee-keepers ought to be 

 happy," A. S. Williams. 



Vermont, 111., April 11, 1878. 

 " My bees are now doing better than they 

 did a month later Jast year. Drones are 

 flying, and a small amount of lioney is 

 being gathered ; brood in all stages of devel- 

 opment. Could not do without the JouB- 

 NAL." Hardin Haines. 



" I enclose some blossoms of a tree that 

 the bees work on from morning till night.— 

 Please give its name." D. A. Pike. 



[ It is the staminate flower, of one of tlie 

 willow family. Locality, time of bloom, 

 and more of the plant than one simple 

 blossom should be sent. We need to know 

 the habit of the tree, and to see the leaves. 

 —A. J. Cook.] 



Smith's Grove, Ky., April 16, 1878. 

 "My bees are in good condition. I did 

 not feed any this spring, and never had 

 better success in springing my bees. They 

 are now preparing to swarm. I am raising 

 queens, and the white clover is just begin- 

 ning to blossom. We are a month ahead of 

 time. The weather is balmy, and our pros- 

 pect is good for a rich honey liarvest, though 

 we may have a freeze yet. In Italianizing, 

 we sometimes find it very troublesome 

 to find the black queen, especially if the 

 bees are strong. I have succeeded in Ital- 

 ianizing a few such colonies in this way : — 

 1 put a queen cell in the honey box, on the 

 top of the hives, and it was a complete suc- 

 cess. The young queen, being the most 

 active, was victorious in the contest. The 

 cell must be put in the honey box, where 

 the old queen does not go, or she might 

 destroy it." N. P. Allen. 



McKinney, Texas, March 1, 1878. 



"In the last January number, of the 

 American Bee Journal, page 10, you 

 answer a question, put by F. R. Davis, and 

 the first sentence goes beyond the ' old 

 school,' and. by implication, indorses the 

 doctrine of Mr. Martin Metcalf. as set forth 

 in your very excellent Journal, Nov. No.. 

 1877, page 381. Did you intend to go so far ? 

 I have no doubt of the correctness of the 

 doctrine of Mr. Metcalf, notwithstanding 

 the learning of the great bee-men and the 

 books. Please speak out, right in the 

 meeting." W. H. Andrews. 



[Certainly. Friend Davis had a swarm 

 with an Italian queen, and hybrid bees, 

 settle in his bee yard. The bees that this 

 queen produced were all beautiful Italians. 

 He asked : " Were they pure, when the 

 queen came witli a hybrid swarm ?" We 

 remarked : " If the queen was pure and 

 purely mated, her progeny is pure, no mat- 

 ter in what company she may be. Most 

 likely she had been recently introduced to 

 the colony and led off the swarm." We see 

 no reason for changing that opinion.— 

 Being pure and purely mated, her progeny 

 must be pure. Decidedly so.— Ed.] 



Rockton, 111., April 2, 1878. 

 " I put in my bee house 41 colonies, last 

 fall, and took out 41 colonies this spring, in 

 good shape, dry and nice, with lots of 

 brood." H. W. Conklin. 



Dunn Co., Wis., April 13, 1878. 

 " I have quite an amount of empty comb ; 

 how can I keep it from the moths ?" 



J. Stoddard. 

 [Examine frequently, and if any traces of 

 moth are discovered, fumigate them with 

 a little sulphur.— Ed.] 



Burlington, Kansas, April 5, 1878. 

 " I have wintered 13 colonies, 9 of them I 

 transferred from box hives, during the 

 winter, with success. All are now in fine 

 condition. Gathered first pollen, Feb. 5, 

 and to-day, I have drones flying, hives full 

 of honey from fruit and red bud bloom, 

 which is now making the little fellows 

 happy, judging from the music among the 

 flowers. Some colonies have commenced 

 queen cells already, and they have not been 

 pushed any either ; neither are we away 

 down south, only on the 38th parallel. Our 

 prospect for a rich harvest is promising." 

 J. W. Henderson. 



Winnesheik Co., Iowa, April 9, 1878. 

 " I put 43 colonies in the cellar, about" 

 December 1st, and took them all out Febru- 

 ary 1st ; all but 3 were in good condition; 

 these were weak last fall, and I did not 

 expect to save them. Two were robbed 

 when I was away from home, the other is 

 doing well. There was but very little loss 

 of bees. I winter in the cellar." 



O. E. COOLEY. 



