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AMERICAN BEiE JOURNAL. 



we have already had enough of that. 

 Now, as I have been intimately ac- 

 quainted with Mr. Muth, and have pur- 

 chased large quantities of honey from 

 him in the past seven or eight years, I 

 fee! like entering my protest against 

 any such unwarranted attack, and I 

 think it the duty of every honey-pro- 

 ducer, and every honey-dealer, to uphold 

 and defend one who has done so much 

 for them, and so much to educate the 

 people in regard to honey, as Mr. Muth 

 has. W. O. Titus. 



Toledo, Ohio, May 31, 1892. 



[Dr. A. B. Mason says : " I heartily 

 concur in what Mr. Titus writes in the 

 above letter." So do all who know our 

 friend Muth. The charge of adultera- 

 tion is entirely unfounded, and without 

 the slightest excuse whatever. — Eds.] 



Wavelets o[ News. 



Description of Two Bee-Feeders. 



The first is a quart basin of cheap 

 tamped ware, with a 13^-inch hole cut 

 in the bottom, into which a tube is sold- 

 ered. The top of the tube comes to 

 within }4 inch of being even with the 

 top of the basin. Now open the hole in 

 the honey-board, or remove packing, 

 and cut a small hole in the quilt, over 

 which place the basin so that the bees 

 can come up through the tube. Make a 

 tube of coarse paper, and push it into 

 the tin tube to aid the bees in climbing 

 up. Pill the basin with syrup as far as 

 the top of the tube, place a float of cloth 

 or anything to keep the bees from 

 drowning. Now cover the basin over 

 with paper, and make it as warm as 

 you please with packing. The bees will 

 come up and take that food in cool 

 weather, and no openings have been 

 made to allow the much-needed heat of 

 the hives to escape. 



The other feeder is made in this way : 

 Take a Mason quart jar. Break the 

 porcelain lining out of the cover ; punch 

 a dozen or more small holes in the cover 

 with an awl. Now get a piece of pine 

 board, %x4 inches square; with an ex- 

 tension bit bore a hole through it large 

 enough to receive J^ inch of the top of 

 the jar. When the cover is on, fill the 

 jar with thin sy/up. Screw the per- 

 forated cover on tightly, place the block 

 over the hole in the honey-board or 



quilt; invert the jar and insert in the 

 block ; replace packing, etc. The bees 

 will suck the contents out of the jar in 

 one or two days, though of itself it will 

 not run out. I think this is an improved 

 method of using the Mason jar as a 

 feeder. Of course they are cheap, as 

 you spoil only the covers, and every one 

 has empty Mason jars not in use at this 

 season of the year. — OLeanings. 



Feeding- and Dividing Bees. 



I agree with Mr. Muth, of Cincinnati, 

 that the most profitable time for feeding 

 bees is after fruit bloom, in the interim 

 preceding white clover bloom. Many 

 seasons in this locality it is not needed, 

 as there are acres of dandelions, some 

 wild cherries, and honey and black 

 locusts. The only secret that there is 

 about making bee-keeping a success is 

 to liave the bees strong in workers at 

 the right time. And the right time 

 should be known approximately at least, 

 by the owner of the apiary. This is the 

 measure of success, and it matters not 

 by what route it is reached, so that the 

 owner "gets there." 



A lady consulted me lately in refer- 

 ence to the best time to divide bees. I 

 wrote her that I thought the bees knew 

 more about that than we do. And I am 

 fast coming to the conclusion that we 

 have meddled too much and too often 

 with their domestic arrangements. 

 There has been a scarcity of honey 

 throughout the country generally for 

 three years, and now there is an omen 

 in our favor that there 'will be honey 

 this season, and let one and all try to 

 secure as much as possible while it lasts, 

 in lieu of increase, for bees can be 

 reared during poorer seasons. The bee 

 industry should be well represented at 

 the Word's Fair, and this is the pcason 

 that the honey must be produced if an 

 exhibit is to be made. — Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son, in the Prairie Farmer. 



Can Bees Hear ? 



The "bee-specialist" may say that 

 bees do hear, but not as man hears. If 

 a row of blocks be set up in juxtaposi- 

 tion, and a blow be struck on the out- 

 side block, the man with his hand on the 

 block at the other end of the row will 

 feel the blow, or the effect of it, com- 

 municating to each block and carried 

 through them all, however long the row 

 might be, if the blow be struck with 

 suihcient force. 



