500 



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miss Abbie Spencer, an enthusias- 

 tic bee-keeper, daughter of D. C. Spencer, 

 M. D., of Augusta, Wis., and a subscriber of 

 the Ameeican Bee Journal, died of con- 

 sumption on July 18, 1889, aged 19 years. 

 From her windows she eagerly watched the 

 work in the apiary, and her ear could 

 quickly discern the first notes of swarming. 

 She calmly gave directions for the dis- 

 tribution of her little earthly effects, and 

 died the death of the righteous. Her 

 next younger sister, Hattie M. Spencer, 

 now takes her place in tlie apiary, at least 

 in part. 



Dr. Spencer writes as follows concerning 

 the honey crop : " Bees have done well in 

 this part of Wisconsin. We have not had 

 so good a white clover harvest for years as 

 this season has given us, and the prospect is 

 good for a good autumnal gathering." 



Vnitins: Colonies.— N. A. Dabn, of 

 Jefferson Co., Mo., asks the following 

 question : 



I would like to know when to unite bees— 

 in the spring or fall. I have 20 colonies of 

 bees, and 1 would like to double them up. 



They should be united either in the spring 

 or fall, as the " conditions " make it desir- 

 able. If they are weak in early spring, they 

 may be united, so as to encourage them to 

 breed up and be ready for the honey har- 

 vest. If they are weak at the end of the 

 harvest in the fall, they may be united for 

 winter to conserve heat and stores. It de- 

 pends on the " conditions " more than on 

 the " time." Consult a good Manual, which 

 is a very convenient companion in every 

 apiary. By the aid of its liberal index, you 

 can determine when, what, and how to do 

 things with ease as well as pleasure. 



Convenlion in Cliicago.- By no- 

 tice on page 501, it will be seen that we are 

 to have a convention of bee-keepers in Chi- 

 cago this fall. The time is Oct. 16, 17 and 

 18. The place is at the Commercial Hotel, 

 when we had such a nice time at the " Na- 

 tional," in 1887. Reduced rates are given 

 at the Hotel, and reduced rates may also be 

 had on all the railroads, because it comes 

 near the close of the Chicago Exposition. 

 Every arrangement will be made for the 

 convenience, comfort and pleasure of those 

 who attend. Let there be a generally rally, 

 and " a good time " will be the result. 



Ells & Co., Chicago, are advertising 

 recipes for making artificial lioney, among 

 other useless recipes for artificial humbugs. 

 Look out for them. They are flooding the 

 mails with their circulars— looking for 

 "dupes." Do not be "fooled" with their 

 artificial traps. 



Heavenly Echoes is the title of the piece of 

 music given this week, and it is ii delightful 

 song. We hope all our many readers will learn 

 to sing it, for the words and music are alike 

 enchanting. We promised another treat in that 

 line, and here it is. 



WUy Vote for Oolden-Rod.- The 



writer of " Rural Notes " for the Hartford 

 Times (Conn.), asks why bee-keepers should 

 vote for golden-rod for the National Flower. 

 Golden-rod should be voted for by bee-keep- 

 ers in preference to any other flower, be- 

 cause of its usefulness to the bees in yield- 

 ing honey. During the fall months thou- 

 sands of colonies derive the principal part 

 of their winter stores from it. Prof. A. J. 

 Cook pronounces the flavor of the golden- 

 rod honey "unsurpassed by any other." 

 Making it the National Flower would give 

 it better protection, scatter it more thor- 

 oughly over the country, increasing its use- 

 fulness to bee-keepers. At a recent meet- 

 ing of school-teachers in this State, golden- 

 rod received 16 votes and the the laurel 19, 

 which shows that golden-rod has other ad- 

 mirers than the honey-bee.— The Bee Hvve. 



Comb Honey Funiijspation.- M. 



Miller, of Le Claire, Iowa, asks these ques- 

 tions, and desires answers in the American 

 Bee Journal : 



How often should comb honey be fumi- 

 gated ; that is, how many days should 

 elapse between each fumigation ? 



Should it be fumigated as soon as taken 

 from the hives ? 



Should all of the cells around the edges of 

 the section be sealed before the heney is re- 

 moved from the hives ; that is, should the 

 last row of cells next to the wood of the 

 sections, especially at the top, be all sealed 

 over ? •. 



Deeming the subject a timely one, we 

 have procured an article from Mr. Doolittle 

 on the subject, and it may be found in this 

 issue. It answers the above questions, and 

 also those sent in by others. See page 504. 



We liave received a copy of the " New 

 Bee-Keepers" Text-Book "—27th edition. It 

 is revised, enlarged and illustrated by John 

 Aspinwall, New York. It was sent to us 

 by the present proprietors, J. B. Mason & 

 Sons, Mechanic Falls, Maine. It contains 

 328 pages, and is nicely bound in cloth. 

 Price, 75 cents in cloth, or 50 cents in paper 

 covers. It is simple in language, can be 

 easily understood, and is therefore just the 

 thing for beginners. For sale at this ofiice. 



Extracted Honey.— Mr. F. Wilcox, 

 Mansion, Wis., July 30, 1889, asks : 



In selling extracted honey in wooden 

 pails or other similar packages, is it custo- 

 mary to tare the pails, or are they weighed 

 and sold by the pound with the honey they 

 contain ? 



In selling extracted honey it is customary 

 to tare the honey - receptacle, no matter 

 what the kind or the material of which it is 

 made. 



Xlie Address of Geo. Neighbour & 

 Sons will hereafter only be 127 High Hol- 

 born, London, W. C, England. They have 

 discontinued their business on Regent 

 Street. It is an old and reliable firm, and it 

 is always a pleasure to do business with 



I them. 



A Xew and Effectual Cure for so- 

 called foul brood is announced in Ihe British 

 Bee Journal for July 18, 1889, in the follow- 

 ing paragraphs. If it is as potent when ad- 

 ministered to larger quantities of diseased 

 colonies, as it was In the individual case 

 described, it will be a valuable remedy, be- 

 cause of its simplicity, and the very little 

 work necessary to apply the remedy. We 

 expect fuller particulars soon, and will then 

 lay them before our readers. Our British 

 cotemporary says : 



I have just cured a colony of foul brood in 

 three weeks without feeding or destroying 

 an atom of comb or any larvfe. When I 

 started it was full of dead larvae, and cells 

 full of putridity. Now it is one mass of 

 healthy larvae, without the slightest sign of 

 disease. If it answers on all colonies as it 

 has done in this, foul brood will be soon 

 banished from everywhere. It is something 

 quite fresh, not entirely my own doings, 

 although the experiment was entirely con- 

 ducted by myself. It is really marvellous. 

 1 am quite excited over it. You have no 

 conception of the change in the colony from 

 its (the cure) first application, without even 

 opening the hive alter the first time. 



[We have received the above communica- 

 tion in a private letter ; but the announce- 

 ment it contains is so pregnant with bright 

 hope that we have ventured to give it pab- 

 licity, in order that our correspondent, who 

 is one of our most advanced bee keepers, 

 should have whatever credit or advantage 

 may accrue from priority of publication.— 

 Ed.] 



A Privilese.— C. F. Thomas, of 



Dorchester, Nebr., on July 17, 1889, writes 

 as follows : 



1 have been thinking for a long time past 

 that it was ray duty as well as privilege to 

 help pay the expenses of the tight on bee- 

 keepers' rights, and to become a member of 

 the Union, but with me ; it is as with lots of 

 others, I presume— it has been neglected 

 from time to time. The Manager has done 

 good work, and is entitled to the support of 

 eVery bee-keeper in the country. 



Yes ; Bro. Thomas is right. It is not only 

 a duty, but a privilege for bee-keepers to 

 join the Union, which has accomplished so 

 much good in defending our pursuit. 



Eun.— The American Agriculturist for 

 August has an engraving showing some 

 hives of bees on a bench, and a boy from 

 the city leans over the bench between the 

 hives, and says, " I smell honey." A farmer 

 who is raking hay near by remarks : " You 

 will smell something warmer than honey, if 

 you don't get out of there pretty quick." 



Xlie British Bee Journal has been 

 reduced in price to one-penny, or about one- 

 dollar a year. It is published weekly, and 

 is well edited and printed. The extra pos- 

 tage to America is 50 cents. It will be 

 clubbed with the American Bee Journal 

 in the United States and Canada for 82.40. 



Tlie Xliird annual Territorial Fair of 

 North Dakota will be held at Grand Forks, 

 Sept. 17 to 21, 1889. 



