Tjroocl in a nucleus, from which to raise a 

 ■queen for a colony received from Michigan, 

 besides having strengthened said colony 

 with 2 large fully-packed frames of capped 

 brood. Almost 2)^ colonies of bees from 1 

 small frame and 1 monstrous queen! Is it 

 any subject of wonder that the young folks 

 ■of the neighbors have engendered tlie su- 

 perstition that we have a new kind of bees 

 that cannot sting;— from seeing us bare- 

 headed, sleeves rolled up, females and all, 

 grouped around our hives, lifting out frame 

 after frame, while the bees in clouds sported 

 around us on the wing? Never but one of 

 my family stung by them, and that my 

 youngest, who, inadvertantly, placed his 

 hand upon one alighted on the plank walk, 

 and who, instead of blaming the bee, com- 

 miserated having hurt it. Mr. Chandler, an 

 old bee-man, said, were the queen his, $50 

 would not buy her. I have handled many 

 imported queens this season, and many fine 

 ones held at fancy figures, but none for 

 which I would exchange her." C. C. C. 



Detroit, Mich., Aug. 15, 1878. 

 Fkiend Newman :— My nephew, Chas. 

 Benton, Hubbardston, Mich., writes that 

 the comb foundation you sent him arrived 

 all right, and is very satisfactory. He says, 

 " It would pay to buy a car-load." The 

 smoker and comb foundation sent here 

 arrived very promptly." Frank Benton. 



[Comb foundation is a grand success, 

 and will soon be universally used.— Ed.] 



Valley Mills, Texas, Aug. 8, 1878. 

 "I have been taking the American Bee 

 Journal for several years. Can't well do 

 without it. I have handled bees for 40 

 years in the old fashioned way, but I am 

 now going to turn a new leaf in that line. — 

 Bees in this vicinity wintered well, but 

 have no surplus, as yet, and I fear will not 

 have this season. This has been, so far, the 

 poorest honey season I ever saw in any 

 country. It makes me wish that I was able 

 to get and tiy the Italians, and seeiftliey 

 could find honey to spare in extreme wet 

 and dry weather." A. M. Barnett. 



Boundary City, Ind., Aug. 17, 1878. 

 " I do not see how any one can do without 

 the Bee Journal and be successful with 

 bee-culture. I have 17 colonies now ; com- 

 menced in the spring with 8 ; all Italians.— 

 In June and July they did well. I had one 

 colony on the scales in June ; the most 

 honey gathered in one day was 5 lbs.— the 

 least, 3 tt)S. During June they gathered 105 

 t)S." D. K. Knoll. 



Charles City, Iowa, Aug. 21, 1878. 

 "I have some things to suggest to accom- 

 pany that queen stand, illustrated in the 

 last Journal ; one is, a leather sheath on 

 one end, to carry honey knife in ; another 

 is, a place to slip some turkey quills in, and 

 another, a little tin box or pocket on one 

 end, to carry some cotton filling or rags in, 

 to use for smoking the bees ; still another, 

 a little post put on one end a little higher, 

 with a hook or pin to hang a smoker on. — 

 Bees have done very little making surplus 

 honey here, this season. Not more than 



half of the basswood trees budded this year, 

 and these buds were blighted and dropped 

 off the first thing, which was about July 

 12th. I have made 22 new colonies from 40 

 in the spring. Those that did not swarm in 

 June, got some honey. My best hive for 

 box honey gave only 40 tts." L. Sutliff. 



Sumner, 111., Aug. 21, 1878. 

 " Is there a strain of pure Italian bees 

 without the yellow bands ? Some here 

 assert that there is." W. Emerick. 



[The three golden bands form the badge 

 of purity of Italian bees. German or black 

 bees are found in Italy, but to call them 

 Italians would be about like calling a cat 

 that happened to be born and reared in a 

 stable, a horse ! The German or black bee 

 is a distinct variety, and is found in almost 

 every civilized country. While the Liguri- 

 an or Italian bee is a native of a province of 

 northern Italy, south of the Alps. These 

 mountains kept them for ages a distinct 

 variety from the German bee. They were 

 afterwards developed ^in "sunny Italy" 

 to the variety now known as Italians.— Ed.] 



Paoli, Ind., July 24, 1878. 



"I wish some reader of the American 

 Bee Journal who has tried the Alsike 

 clover as food for stock would state if it is 

 as good as the red clover. I have a lot that 

 I wish to sow in clover, and if the Alsike is 

 good for food I will sow it, as it will help 

 my bees along too. 



" The honey crop in May and June was 

 splendid, but I don't think the bees have 

 made a living since June." B. M.Lingle. 



[ Will some one who has had experience 

 with alsike and red clovers please give 

 their relative merits for fodder ?— Ed.] 



Connersville, Ind., July 29, 1878. 

 " I began this spring with 7 colonies in 

 Langstroth hives, and am delighted. I have 

 increased to 11 by natural swarming. I have 

 colonies that made 75 fts. of comb honey 

 each during June. I like the Langstroth 

 hive. I think the Journal 'the uoss;' 

 It is the first paper I read." J. H. Riley. 



Foirit Coupee, La. 

 1. What is the best remedy for the dis- 

 ease known as foul brood? 2. How do you 

 wax the inside of barrels to contain honey? 

 8. How late in the season is it safe to extract 

 honey in this latitude? " Creole." 



[ I. For answer to this question, see July 

 No., pages 212 & 241. 2. See July, page 333. 



3. You can extract with safety at any 

 time, if the hive is too full of honey to allow 

 the queen room to lay her eggs. " Time " 

 cuts no figure in the calculation— the condi- 

 tion of the colony is the only safe guide.— 

 Late in the fall, if the colony has more than 

 30 tt>s. of honey, it will be safe to extract it, 

 as that it sufficient for wintering.— Ed.] 



