AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



507 



Old Times, Friends, and Love. 



There are no days like the good old days— 



The days when we were youthful ! 

 When human )^n& were pure of mind. 



And speech and deeds were truthful ; 

 BeJore a love for sordid gold 



Became man's ruling passion, 

 And before each dame and maid became 



Slave to the tyrant fashion ! 



There are no girls like the good old girls— 



Against the world I'd stake 'em ! 

 As buxom aud smart and clean of heart 



As the Lord knew how to make 'em ! 

 They were rich in spirit and common-sense, 



And piety all supportin' ; 

 They could bake and sew, aud had taught 

 school, too. 



And they made the likeliest courtin' ! 



There are no boys like the good old boys— 



When we were boys together ! 

 When the grass was sweet to the brown bare 

 feet 



That dimpled the laughing heather ; 

 When the pewee sung to the Summer dawn 



Of the bee in the billowy clover, 

 Or down by the mill the whip-poor-will 



Echoed his night song over. 



There is no love like the good old love — 



The love that mother gave us ! 

 We are old. old men, yet we pine again 



For that precious grace— God save us ! 

 So we dream and dream of the good old times. 



And our hearts grow tenderer, fonder. 

 As those dear old dreams bring soothing 

 gleams 



Of heaven away off yonder. 



—Selected. 



duEries and Replies. 



Coiitractlni tlie Broofl-Ctiainlier. 



Query 814. — Suppose I was working 

 my apiary for comb-honey in a good 

 season, and was using the 10-frame 

 Langstroth brood-chamber without any 

 contraction, how many pounds of sur- 

 plus, on an average, would 1 gain per 

 colony by contracting the brood-cham- 

 ber to 8 frames Instead of 10, and all of 

 the colonies being in good condition ? — 

 Iowa. 



I do not know. — J. M. Hambaugii. 



I have had no experience — A. B. 

 Mason. 



It is a very difficult question to answer 

 with any certainty. — H. D. Cutting. 



So much depends upon season, region, 

 apiarist and bees, that no one can tell. 

 — A. J. Cook. 



More or less, according to the amount 

 stored in the extra brood-combs. — G. M, 



DOOLITTLE. 



I have never practiced that kind of 

 contraction, and therefore do not know. 



— C. H. DiBBERN. 



If you contracted in good time, I 

 should "guess" you would gain 10 

 pounds, on the average. — R. L. Taylor. 



Much depends, in this question. If 

 there was a very decided honey-flow, I 

 would not contract at all. — J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



I am sure you would make a gain, but 

 the per cent, varies so much with differ- 

 ent localities and seasons, that I would 

 not try to give it in figures. — James 

 Heddon. 



That would depend upon so many 

 other things than the mere size of the 

 hive, that it would be impossible for me 

 to even make a guess without knowing 

 all the conditions. — J. A. Green. 



The honey that would naturally have 

 been stored in frames 9 and 10, would 

 go into the surplus, and perhaps more, 

 if the colony needed contraction to force 

 them into the sections. — P. H. Elwood. 



There are so many things that enter 

 into the calculation, that no one can an- 

 swer the question with any certainty. 

 What you would gain in the sections 

 would be more lost In the brood-combs. 

 — M. Mahin. 



I do not know. May be you would 

 gain nothing, and may be the honey that 

 would go in two frames or more. You 

 see, a great deal depends upon your 

 management, and other circumstances. 

 — C. C. Miller. 



As you state the case, there might be 

 no difference, still I prefer the 8-frame 

 hive. It is as large as I want to carry 

 into the cellar, and will hold honey 

 enough to winter the colony. — Eugene 

 Secor. 



I would use the whole 10 frames for 

 brood. More brood, more bees ; more 

 bees, more honey. I believe in big, 

 strong colonics, every time — at least up 

 to the time that the honey-flow com- 

 mences. — E. France. 



That would depend very much upon 

 the length of the honey season. In a 

 good season of average duration, the 



