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the separators rest on them. The case 

 holds 28 l}-ineh sections. I use say f- 

 inch lumber, cut all pieces the exact 

 width of the sections used, usually 4} 

 inches ; the length of the sides are the 

 length of 4 sections — 17 inches ; add 

 one thickness of the boai'ds used, f inch, 

 and from this I deduct say J inch, so 

 as to make a close fit over the sections. 

 The end-pieces will be 13^ inches long. 

 The joints all lap one way. 



In using the case, two alternate 

 corners can be screwed together per- 

 manently, but this is optional. Place 

 the sections together upon a level 

 board, slip the case over them, and 

 screw up the other two alternate cor- 

 ners until the sections are held firmly 

 in place. This makes a surplus case 

 that can be reversed, storified, or 

 handled in anj^ waj'. Of coui'se it is 

 necessary to use a honey-board, but 

 a queen-excluding honey-board ought 

 to be used with all kinds of surplus 

 cases for comb honey. 



In taking off the sections, all that is 

 required is to unscrew the two alter- 

 nate corners (or all four, if desired), 

 and the sections will all come out in a 

 bunch. This will save many mutilated 

 sections, and broken cappings, es- 

 pecially by the novice. 



I have been reading the American 

 Bee Journal for one year, and I con- 

 sider it indispensable for any one 

 wanting to keep posted. 



Wintered in Straw Mires. — 



Abe Hoke, Union Citj-, Ind., on April 

 8, 1889, writes : 



My winter report for 1888-89 is 

 much better than I expected last fall. 

 I put 26 colonies into winter quarters, 

 and lost only 3, by starvation, two of 

 which were no good last summer. One 

 colony was one of the best that I had, 

 but it did not have as much stores as I 

 thought it had. It was in a round 

 straw hive, with the frames running to 

 the centre. I think that with plenty 

 of stores, a colony would winter safelj- 

 in it, in any climate. It is double- 

 walled, and cost me six days' work to 

 make it. It has 23 frames ; one runs 

 across the centre of the hive, and sup- 

 ports the ends of the others. 



Early-Reared Queens, etc 



James Kincade, Clay Centre, Nebr., on 

 April 5, 1889, writes : 



As a general thing the bees have 

 wintered finely. A few bee-men have 

 lost some colonies. I have 24 colonies, 

 all in fine condition. I examined them 

 lately, and found all with queens, and 

 laying. The greater part of them have 

 not used half of their honey ; but one 

 colony needs feeding, that swarmed on 



Sept. 2, and would have had plentj', 

 but was robbed. The rest of the api- 

 ary do not need anything except warm 

 weather to bring out the bloom. Thej' 

 are getting pollen from ground feed, 

 wherever they they can find it. The 

 weather is fine most of the time. We 

 have had a few windy days this month. 

 My neighbor has 2 colonies, one of 

 which he found without a queen this 

 spring ; the other had brood and eggs, 

 and was all right until latelj', when he 

 saw what he thought to be queen-cells, 

 so he took one frame and gave it to 

 the colon}' that had no queen ; now he 

 has two young queens. The question 

 now is, will those queens remain until 

 there are drones to mate with ? or will 

 they have to be destroyed, and others 

 reared, as this is rather earlj* for 

 drones ? I have seen 2 drones flying 

 from one of my colonies for the last 

 week. 



[You give no dates, and all we can 

 say is, that if the queens were not fer- 

 tilized within 15 or 20 days, thej' will be 

 drone-layers only. — Ed.] 



Shipping Honey, etc Rev. S. 



Roese, Maiden Rock, Wis., writes: 



We are living in an age of wonders, 

 and this great American nation seems 

 to take the lead in science and art, and 

 the invention of machinery of all de- 

 scriptions, with steam and electricitj' 

 subjected to serve at will. The bee- 

 keeping family all over the land has 

 reason to feel grateful for modern im- 

 provements in bee-keeping, and the 

 friendly ties of associations and bonds 

 of union which have been formed to 

 promote industry, love, harmony and 

 good-will for each other. It is rejoic- 

 ing to see what the Bee-Keepei's' Union 

 has accomplished in defending bee- 

 keepers in their industrial rights. 



I have now SO colonies of bees, 

 mostly Italians, and 4 colonies belong- 

 ing to another man, which I keep on 

 shares, but the weather last winter was 

 so mild, that I had to open the bee- 

 house door at night, to admit cool air. 

 My bees are mostly in good condition, 

 with the exception of (i or 7 colonies 

 which need some feeding. I shall 

 make some of the •' Good " candy, and 

 place it over the frames. All weather 

 indications seem to point to a good 

 honey crop the coming season. 



I shipped some of my comb honey to 

 St. Paul by express, and found it all 

 broken, so that I had to sell it at any- 

 thing that I could get for it. I shipped 

 tlie next lot by freight, which arrived 

 all right. I would advise bee-keepers 

 never to ship comb honey by express, 

 for I see that they handle boxes and 

 packages very roughly, without any 

 care whatever. 



Oronnd €orn and Oats for Pol- 

 len. — O. B. Barrows, Marshalltown, 

 Iowa, on April 6, 1889, writes : 



Before I put mj* bees out of the cel- 

 lar in the spring, for 80 colonies I pro- 

 cure one-fourth of a ton of meal, by 

 grinding corn and oats together. I 

 turn about one dozen hive-covers bot- 

 tom upward, one end higher than the 

 other, and put two or three quarts of 

 the meal into the upper end ; when it 

 is worked to the lower end, I reverse 

 the end, as recommended by Dr. 

 Miller, but alwaj's so changed as to be 

 most exposed to the sun. When it is 

 pretty well worked over, I add new 

 meal. 



After reading Allen Latham's article 

 on feeding Graham flour, on page 219, 

 I bought a sack of Graham flour, and 

 iwt some in each box at one side ; but 

 my bees showed a decided preference 

 for the corn-and-oats meal. Bees were 

 at one time nearty done working on 

 the meal, but since the freeze, they 

 work on it immensely. The losses in 

 wintering in this vicinity will not aver- 

 age 2 per cent. ; but unless we have 

 rain to make the clover grow, it will 

 probably be a misfortune that they did 

 not all die in wintering ; still we are in 

 hopes of yet seeing the silver lining to 

 the cloud. 



Experience with Bees, etc. — 



Geo. H. Auringer, Bonniwell's Mills, 

 Minii., on April 6, 1889, writes : 



Two years ago I bought 3 colonies 

 of bees, one was strong, and the other 

 two were weak. The strong colony I 

 was afraid to touch, but the others 

 paid no attention to me at first. I got 

 no swarms from the weak ones, but 

 the other swarmed three times, and 

 the first swarm swarmed, so I secured 

 4 new colonies from one. I sold 2, 

 and put 5 colonies in the cellar. I ob- 

 tained about 300 pounds of honey the 

 first season. Last spring I put the 5 

 colonies out ou April 20, seemingly as 

 strong as they were the fall previous, 

 and tliey all went to work the same 

 day carrying in pollen. They were in 

 three dift'erent kinds of hives which I 

 did not like, so I bought 14 hives that 

 were all alike. I let the bees swarm 

 all they would, and had from 2 to 3 

 swarms from each colony, aud some 

 of the first swarms swarmed again. I 

 now have 19 strong colonies. I se- 

 cured 600 pounds of honey in 1 and 2 

 pounds sections. I have one colony 

 out of the cellar that is carrying pollen 

 in now. I will put the rest out in a 

 few days. I am well pleased with the 

 American Bee Journal, and can 

 heartily recommend it to all who keep 

 bees. 



