eggs. Are these probably drone laying 

 queens ? 



3. A.re drones admitted to other hives 

 than their home ? 



Bees in this locality are doing nicely on 

 wliite clover and raspberries. Swarms are 

 issuing nearly every day." 



E. S. HOUGHTALING. 



[1. The bees, evidently, were dissatisfied 

 with the queen, and were determined to 

 supersede her. 



3. The queens are disabled, or drone 

 layers. You should either give them a 

 prolific queen, a queen cell, or double them 

 up with some other colony. 



3. Drones, having no propensity for 

 robbing, have no desire to enter other hives 

 than their own.— Ed.] 



Council Grove, Kansas, June 3, 1878. 



" In the hive recommended by Prof. Cook, 

 in his Mantml, there is no provision for 

 ventilation, in case the entrance is entirely 

 closed. How would it do to have a hole, 4 

 to 6 inches square, tiirough the bottom 

 board, the hole to be covered with wire 

 screen and open at all times ? Will not 

 bees do better for such ventilation ? Please 

 answer through the Journal." 



D. P. Norton. 



[If the hives are shaded they need no 

 ventilation more than spoken of in my book. 

 When cool, they ought to have only one 

 opening, and that small. As the weather 

 gets hot, push the hive clear forward, so as 

 to give entrance clear across. That is 

 enough. Of course, they must be given 

 plenty of room inside. I would never have 

 more than one entrance. 1 have experi- 

 mented much, and find more worse than 

 useless. See new book on this subject.— 

 A. J. Cook.] 



Otley, Iowa, April .30, 1878. 

 " Father and I put 81 colonies of bees into 

 the cellar, about Nov. 17. Took them out 

 about March 13. Wintered without loss.— 

 Seem to be in fine condition now, with the 

 exception of 2 or 3. Apple and cherry 

 bloom very good. Think prospects are 

 good for an excellent honey harvest. — 

 Everything about a month earlier than last 

 year. I like the Bingham smoker very 

 much. What is the best method of strain- 

 ing extracted honey ?" W. C. Nutt. 



[ This question is answered so concisely 

 in Prof. Cook's new work that we will 

 insert it here. Before doing so, let us 

 remark that every beginner, or person of 

 limited experience in bee-keeping, would 

 find it greatly to their advantage to get a 

 copy of this work. They will there readily 

 find, by the aid of copious indexes, any 

 subject they may want information upon. — 

 It will save them much perplexity, and 

 often many times the price of the book, by 



having it at hand just the minute when the 

 information is desired. In the " Manual of 

 the Apiary," page 198, Prof. Cook remarks : 

 " To render the honey free from small 

 pieces of comb, or other impurities, it should 

 either be passed through a cloth or wire 

 sieve— I purposely refrain from the use of 

 the word strainer, as we should neither use 

 the word strained, nor allow it to be used, 

 in connection with extracted honey — or 

 else draw it off into a barrel, with a faucet 

 or molasses gate near the lower end, and 

 after all particles of solid matter have risen 

 to the top, draw off the clear honey from 

 the bottom. In case of very thick honey, 

 this method is not so satisfactory as the 

 first. I hardly need say that honey, when 

 heated, is thinner, and will of course pass 

 more readily througli common toweling or 

 wire-cloth."— Ed.] 



Indianapolis, Ind., May 32, 1878. 

 " My bees are doing finely. They win- 

 tered well. I liave a bee house that I think 

 good to winter as well as to summer in. — 

 They are novif working in boxes. Is there 

 Comb Honey Racks to suit hives, 13x13 

 inches, with frames 13x13, and what will 

 such cost? Alsike is just coming into 

 bloom. I have about 3 acres. It looks 



well." W. A. SCHOFIELD. 



[Yes, such is described and illustrated on 

 the third page of the cover of this Journal. 

 It would contain two rows of boxes, 13 in 

 all. A sample, all complete with outside 

 boxes glassed, and tin separators, costs a 

 dollar. By the quantity they would come 

 cheaper than that.— Ed.] 



Putnam Co., 111., June U, 1878. 



" Dear Editor :— My bees made a little 

 fortune last year. My 300 colonies pro- 

 duced 1,300 4 lb. boxes of honey. I sold 30 

 colonies, leaving 170 and 4 swarms, up to 

 June 13. I do not expect many swarms this 

 season. Tlie hives were very full of bees 

 and honey early in May. Since then they 

 have done poorly ; now there is a little 

 white clover. The drone comb foundation 

 that J. Roberts and myself got of you is of 

 excellent quality. Bees are doing well with 

 it. Please answer tlie following questions : 



1. Why are drones sometimes produced 

 in worker comb ? 



3. Two of my queens produced worker 

 bees in March and April. In May they pro- 

 duced drones in worker comb ; then I killed 

 them. 



3. Is there three sizes of comb founda- 

 tion manufactured, —worker, drone, and 

 for honey ? 



4. I would like a pure Cyprus queen, but 

 do not know how they should look to be 

 genuine. Can some one give a descrip- 

 tion ?" Otto Halbeib. 



[1. When there are no drone cells, queens 

 will sometimes lay in worker-cells, and if 



