AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



35T 



increased, wc would bear down all oppo- 

 sition by sheer numerical strength. In 

 cases of Unions of this nature, I think 

 of the noted " Shay Rebellion." Wash- 

 ington, when asked how many men it 

 would take to put it down, was told, say 

 5,000 ; ho at once replied, if 5,000 will 

 do it, take 10,000, and there will be no 

 trouble. So, with us, while a few pre- 

 senting a bold front may work great 

 good, if he had a big body, we should 

 prevent many encroachments on our 

 rights, that we have to fight. But the 

 great trouble is this, as I look at it : 

 While many scientific men are bee-keep- 

 ers, as a rule bee-keepers are far from 

 having any knowledge of science. Too 

 many of them run in the old ruts of 50 

 or 60 years ago, claiming they know it 

 all. J. E. Pond. 



North Attleboro, Mass. 



Folding Honey-Sections. 



I have been amused in reading the 

 different ways men have of dampening 

 sections before folding. I have used the 

 one-piece section since first invented. I 

 keep them dry, and fold without moist- 

 ening. I have kept some five yeai's in a 

 dry place, and they folded as well as 

 new. It looks to me as though dampen- 

 ing the inside would swell the shoulder 

 and strain the joint more than when 

 dry. C. L. LovELAND. 



Plainview, Minn. 



[When sections are dampened, it 

 should be on the outside, not the inside, 

 as contemplated by Mr. Loveland in the 

 above. — Ed.] 



Carrying- Pollen — Mailing Queens. 



Bees commenced carrying the first 

 pollen on Feb. 13, which they gathered 

 from red elm. The colonies having 

 plenty of stores have brood in three to 

 four combs, with many young bees gnaw- 

 ing their way out ; and should this fine 

 weather continue, the roar of the drones 

 will ere long be mingled with the merry 

 hum of the busy bees. Some of our cor- 

 respondents wish to know if queens are 

 actually sent through the mails in 

 March. I will explain how they may be 

 sent in March, or even in February. Use 

 a modified Benton cage ; fill one parti- 

 tioned space with candy, first covering 

 th<^ cage with flannel, or other woolen 

 cloth, making a hole for air to corres- 

 pond with the hole in the lid. Then 

 nail on wire-cloth and the lid. Thirty 



or 35 workers should go with the queen. 

 Then wrap the cage with good wrapping- 

 paper three times around, and punch a 

 few holes through the paper to corres- 

 pond with the hole in the lid, for air. A 

 queen put up thus should go to any part 

 of the United States or Canada with 

 reasonable safety. The most trouble 

 has been found in sending queens dur- 

 ing very warm weather, and as few 

 workers as eight to accompany the 

 queen seemed to be too many. 



J. N. COLWICK. 



Norse, Texas, Feb. 22, 1892. 



Good White Clover Season. 



Up to date my 75 colonies of bees are 

 wintering well. They will all survive 

 the Winter, if the stores do not fail. 

 Last season was remarkably good for 

 white clover honey, of which I got a few 

 pounds over 2,000. The weather cut 

 off the Fall supply, making the white 

 clover honey fill the place of surplus and 

 stores. J. F. Latham. 



West Cumberland, Me., Feb.29,1892. 



Queens Purely Mated. 



If Mrs. Jennie Atchley will use my 

 method she will have better success in 

 getting queens purely mated. It is as 

 follows: "I have commonly selected 

 one imported queen to breed drones 

 from, crowding her at drone laying, and 

 then disti-ibuting the drone-brood 

 through the yard to hatch. If drones 

 are in all parts of the bee-yard, they are 

 much more likely to be flying at all times 

 of the day than when all are in one 

 hive." John Andrews. 



Patten's Mills, N. Y. 



Black Bees and Queen-Breeders. 



I have read, on page 253, John H. 

 Blanken's article. It surely sounds like 

 inexperience, that causes him to prize 

 the black bees so highly above all other 

 races. That they have some good points 

 we must all admit, but the bread-and- 

 butter side of the question for me says 

 that Italians are just as far ahead of 

 the blacks as Jay Gould's railroad-car is 

 ahead of the old-time ox-wagon. I have 

 kept both blacks and Italians for 20 

 years, and have long ago decided on that 

 question. In really good honey years 

 we cannot see so much difference be- 

 tween the two races as to the amount of 

 honey gathered, but when dry or bad 

 seasons come, the Italians rush right 



