Seasonable Hints— August. 



White clover having yielded abun- 

 dantly in nearly every locality, and 

 basswood being now past its prime, the 

 summer season for storing surplus 

 honey will soon be over, till buckwheat 

 comes in. Between the yield of bass- 

 wood and buckwheat, if the surplus has 

 been taken largely, it may be necessary 

 to feed some ; all should know how 

 their bees are doing, keeping a close 

 watch. All impotent queens should be 

 superseded, so that the colonies may 

 be kept strong to gather the fall crop 

 of honey. Queenless colonies should 

 be given queens or frames of brood, if 

 they have none, in order to raise a 

 queen. If the brood chamber is full of 

 honey, it should be removed from a 

 few of the central frames with the ex- 

 tractor, in order to give the queen room 

 for brood. The opening of hives and 

 the removal of surplus honey should be 

 done at night, in the early morn, or on 

 a cool day. 



Surplus honey should be kept in a 

 cool dry place. Examine the boxes and 

 sections occasionally ; and if any moth 

 worms are found, remove and destroy 

 them. Extracted honey may be kept in 

 barrels, wooden vats or tins ; the bar- 

 rels or vats should be coated with wax 

 to prevent leakage. 



Care should be taken not to expose 

 the honey, to start robbing. The en- 

 trance to weak colonies should be con- 

 tracted, to enable them to defend them- 

 selves from robbers. 



By the last of August buckwheat will 

 have come in ; boxes partly filled shoidd 

 be removed and extracted before that, 

 so as not to liave the honey mixed. 



During August and September the 

 bees will be more irritable than usual, 

 and all who.are nervous or timid should 

 provide themselves with a good smoker 

 and veil, if they find such necessary. 

 These will steady the nerves and enable 

 even the most timid to control their 

 bees at all times, and make the neces- 

 sary examinations with confidence. 



In handling them let the novice be 



careful to avoid jars, working quietly 

 and steadily, always keeping perfectly 

 cool. Should a sting be given, remove 

 it, squeeze out the poison, and apply 

 honey, soap, hartshorn, essence of pep- 

 permint or even a little mud. 



Bee Stings, a cure for Rheumatism. 

 — Our friend Chandler, to whose skill and 

 good taste so many fine engravings have 

 been produced in the Bee Journal and in 

 Cook's New Manual, had been for weeks 

 laid up with rheumatism. Last year we 

 liad sold him a colony ot Italian bees, and 

 he now has six colonies from that one. A 

 tew days ago we saw him get off the street 

 car, opposite our office, and we expressed 

 our supprise at seeing him out, as we knew 

 he had not been able to be at his office for 

 weeks. He informed us that, as the bees 

 were swarming, he managed to hobble out 

 of doors and tried to hive them. Rheu- 

 matism preventing any scientific work, 

 he received several stings in his disabled 

 rheumatic arm. It then swelled up ; and 

 after caring for the bees he went again to 

 his bed and slept. On awaking, he was 

 surprised to find that the rheumatism had 

 disappeared, and he has not had it since ! — 

 He is now a firm believer in bee stings ! ! 



' The increase of the products of the 

 apiary, of late, have caused some to fear a 

 glutted market. Instead of this, the de- 

 mand is still in advance of the supply. The 

 export of honey to Europe has made the 

 article scarcer at home than it has been for 

 years. It can now be shipped to any part 

 of the world as easily as any other article 

 of commerce. The Shipment of comb 

 honey sent to Bordeaux last season has 

 been satisfactorily disposed of. Thus, at 

 least, we bid fair to turn the tide of gold 

 Avhich flows to Bordeaux from this country 

 in return for the shipments of wine and 

 raisins which they make to us. 



I^A new kind of feed for bees in 

 transit cages has been brought to notice 

 by friend Alley. It works well, the bees 

 living for some two weeks on it while 

 encaged. lie is testing it further, and 

 when it has stood the utmost test it 

 will be brought before bee-keepers in a 

 public way. We had a sample cage on 

 our desk, with the bees as lively as one 

 could wisli, after being therein 14 days. 



