THE? ftMERICJtfi BEB JOURNAL. 



779 



class lionoy ; and are favorably situated 

 for transportation. 



Our bees will be located alonj^ the 

 banks of the St. Johns river, oppositt^ 

 Deland, Volusia Co., Fla. We will 

 take the bees to the orange groves 

 along the river, at their blooming, 

 and take them back to their permanent 

 locations, near the hammocks and 

 swamps, where some of the finest 

 honej- known is gathered — the wild 

 grape (a sample of which I sent you). 

 We have orange blossom, the grape, 

 and palmetto honey, all of the ver}' 

 best, each of which is very easily 

 separated from other lionej', and all 

 can be placed in the markets in the 

 North before their crop is gathered. 



Our bees are storing surplus honey 

 yet ; and we extracted from the upper 

 stories of many of the hives the past 

 week, getting a very fair honej-, gath- 

 ered from the blue aster, golden-rod, 

 and smart-weed. The river swamps 

 are full of bloom, and will be until we 

 have frost. There has been none here 

 yet, the coldest being 44 degrees above 

 zero, and if the cool weather keeps off 

 much longer, we will not be in much 

 danger of weak colonies to get ready 

 for the orange bloom the last of 

 February. 



To have the hives full of bees, ready 

 for the harvest, we will give them a 

 little stimulant of honey, commencing 

 the first week of January, and con- 

 tinuing until we have both stories of 

 the hives full of brood and bees. The 

 .seci'et of success is to have laborers 

 when the harvest is ready. 



CLOTH-MADE FOUNDATION. 



I think that there will be some new- 

 developments made in comb founda- 

 tion soon, that will make the handling 

 of combs and their shipment safe, with 

 no such things as broken combs — .all 

 straight, no sagging, and one can turn 

 in a .swarm on the foundation and rest 

 assured that there will be no breaking 

 down, yet all be straight and full at 

 lops, ends, and bottoms of the frames. 



How will all this be done ? Very 

 easil}- — use cloth-made comb founda- 

 tion, which is made as follows : 



Take fine, close-cotton unbleached 

 muslin, dip it in the melted wax (the 

 .same as is used for foundation) a suffi- 

 cient number of times to coat it well, 

 so as to make it about the thickness of 

 the plain sheets of wax ; then pass it 

 through the mill the same as the wax 

 sheets, and you have a foundation that 

 will be all that could be desired. 



The cloth can be cut into long strips, 

 and passed through the wax the same 

 as wire-netting is coated with the 

 metal. I will have this comb practi- 

 cally tested by the bees here in a short 

 time. I know of no reason why it will 

 not work. We will see what the manu- 



facturer will say abo\it it, as he has 

 made me a sample of it to test in the 

 hives here. 



I have made application for a patent 

 upon such comb foundation, using any 

 cloth, paper, wire-netting, or any 

 coated material forming a base, and 

 tlien putting it through the foundation 

 mill. I claim to be the originator of 

 such comb foundation, and would like 

 to have the credit, even if I should 

 never make a great profit from it. 



St. Francis, Fla. 



[The sample of honey from wild 

 grapes came to hand, and is very pleas- 

 ant to the taste. It is light amber 

 colored, and of thick body. 



la making comb foundation, pai)er, 

 cloth, straw boards, and thin wood 

 have all been used — but all have been 

 objectionable, and nothing has been 

 so successful as the plain wax sheets 

 put through the mill for configurations. 

 The trouble with the muslin is that the 

 bees will pull out the threads. — Ed.] 



COIVVEIVTIOIV DIRECTORY. 



1889. Time and Place of MeeUno. 



Dec. 17, 18.— Northern Illinois, atRockford, Tils. 



D. A. Fuller, Sec, Cherry Valley, Ills. 



Dec. 16.— Huron & Tuscola Go's., at Sebewalng. Mich. 

 J. G. Knudlnger, Cor. Sec, Kilmanagh, Mich. 



Dec. 26, 27.— Michigan State, at LaDSlng, Mich. 



H. I). Cutting, Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



1890. 



Jan. 22.— Vermont State, at Burlington, Vt. 



J. H. Larrahee, Sec, I.arrabee's Point, Vt. 



May 2.— Susquehanna Co.. at Hopbottom. Pa. 



U. M. Seeley. Sec, Harford. Pa. 



Pf~ In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetlnm.— ED. 



Uiit E>ittle Feedine Neces.-iiary. 



Bees did fairly well in this section the 

 past season. From my 40 colonies, spring 

 count, I took over 2.000 full sections of 

 comb honey. Some colonies were quite 

 weak early, and I strengthened them and 

 increased my apiarj' to .55 colonies, which 

 are all in good conditiou now. I have had 

 to feed the least this fall, of any in the si.x 

 years that I have kept bees. The coldest 

 weather we have experienced in this vicin- 

 ity this fall occurred on last Fridaj' night, 

 the inercurj- reaching 12 degi'ees, Fabr., 

 above zero. I hope for a good season next 

 year. Clakesce W. Wh.kixs. 



Cortland, N. Y., Nov. 18, 1889. 



IVeM' Vie^v ol tlie Almanac. 



The Honey Almanac for 1890 is at hand, 

 and while we are much jileased with it, and 

 think that it will be a great help to many 

 bee-keepers to tiud a market for their 

 honey, we have no use for more than the 

 copy sent to us. Here we have been work- 



ing almost night and day, packing and 

 shipping honey, and trying to see daylight 

 through the orders ahead, and more con- 

 stantly coming in; when here you come 

 with j'our Almanac to boom our honey 

 trade ! Great Scott! Do you want to work 

 us to death; Just think of it, here we are 

 trying to get out an order of 50 cases of 

 honey, with a number more awaiting our 

 immediate attention: and had we sent out 

 a few hundred Honey Almanacs, here 

 would come a great crowd, with pots and 

 pans, for honey in all kindsof shajies. Why, 

 we would be out of stock in just no time, 

 and then we would have to increase our 

 apiary, and hire more help, and build a 

 bigger honey-house, and there is no telling 

 where the end would be. No, sir; we have 

 no use for any Almanacs to boom our honey 

 business. Some extracting bee-keepers 

 may need them, but we don't. Our honey 

 sells at sight. C. H. Dibubbx & Son. 



Milan, Ills., Nov. 21, 1889. 



[We are glad to hear that there is one 

 bee-keeper who is not looking for a market 

 for his honey ; but Messrs. Dibberns' re- 

 marks in regard to the Honey Almanac are 

 just as favorable to the necessity of the use 

 of the Almanacs in selling honey, as though 

 they intended to scatter several thousands 

 of them. If we could succeed, through 

 urging the free employment of the Alma- 

 nacs, in having nil bee-keepers overworked 

 in filling orders for their honey, we would 

 be very willing to labor day and night, if 

 necessary, in order to bring it aliout. Let 

 every producer of honey try this means of 

 advertising his honey, and at the same time 

 place in the hands of his customers such 

 knowledge as will lead to the constant use 

 of our delicious and health-giving product. 

 — Ed. 1 



Spraying: Fruit Xrees ^Veecllcsei. 



On page 691 is an article on "Spraying 

 fruit trees," to prevent the curculio from 

 damaging the pluiu crop. I have a simple, 

 easy and sure remedy to prevent the cur- 

 culio, without using any poison, or the 

 trouble of the spray. Tell the (ireen Nur- 

 sery Company, and the rest of mankind, 

 that all they have to do is to take a yarn 

 string and saturate it well with spirits of 

 turpentine, and tie it around the plum 

 tree, about 2 or 3 feet high, or below the 

 limbs; and as the curculio crawl up the 

 tree, thej- are stopped liy the yarn string, 

 and turn back — they will not cross it. This 

 has been tested to perfection, and never 

 fails. This is valuable information for all 

 fruit-growers. Peteu Buickev. 



Lawrencel)urg. Ky. 



Fogy Itee-KeeperM— <iiol<1en>Kod. 



I prize the Bke J<>rnx.\L very highly, and 

 think that it should be found" upon "every 

 one's table, who is at all interested in bee- 

 culture. I have been engaged in the care 

 of liees for about eight years, gradually 

 adding to my stock, as my cajiacity for tak- 

 ing care of bees increased, until I now have 

 5;-i colonies in good condition for the ap- 

 proaching winter. During the season just 

 past I harvested 1.200 pounds of extracted 

 honey, and 100 pounds of comb houey — all 

 from white clover. The comli honey was 

 stored in one and two pound sections. I 

 find that one-pound sections are i)referable 

 in market. I have a good local market for 

 mv extracted houey, at 12.!... cents per 

 pound, though I have some difficulty with 

 a few old fogies who hive bees in soap- 



