THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



181 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



"Paper Hives," and "Claims" of N. C. 

 Mitchell. 



Time has moved apace, and to-niglit it occurs 

 to me that C. Hastings' last article on the paper 

 hive, in the September number of the Bee Jour- 

 isA-L, has not received from me the little attention 

 which is its due. 



In his first article, after describing Dr. Edwin 

 Cox's paper hive, Hastings says : "They * * 



* * meet the loants of the bees in every rexjject. ' ' 

 In his last article he says : " We do not approve 

 of the Doctor'' s form of hive or style of top -bar * 



* * ; but paper in some form we cannot dis- 

 pense with." So this paper "in some form" 

 proves to be the diminutive "mouse" that, in 

 Hastings' mind, has been brought forth by the 

 "Elephant" "paper hive," " which originally 

 met the wants of the bees in every respect." 



I can see no alternative now for Hastings, than 

 to "comedown" in frank acknowledgment that 

 he is himself found numbered among the "gen- 

 tiles" upon whom the Doctor " played sharp." 



Dr. Edwin Cox's theory of the growth of 

 honey comb enables him to work upon the cre- 

 dulity of such as are unacquainted with the 

 "mysteries of bee-keeping;" and when he has 

 persuaded the credulous to believe in his doctrine, 

 he has them in a fit condition for "gulling" them 

 to the tune of heavy sums. The same probably 

 holds true of the author of the little pamphlet 

 sent out in the interest of "Mitchell's Buckeye 

 Hive," who claims that he "can take one good 

 colonj^ of bees in early spring, and increase it to 

 sixty-four good strong colonies of bees, with am- 

 ple stores to carry them through the witter, if a 

 fair season for honej* ;" and hints in a most des- 

 perate way at being able to increase said colony 

 to one hundred equally strong and Avell-stored 

 colonies. If men who will advocate such non- 

 sense, by either word or pen, do not find those 

 whom they can dupe by making them believe in 

 the miraculous, and rob them, I know nothing of 

 human nature. 



Z. C. Fairbanks. 



Appletoji, Wis., Jan. 15, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Workers Reared in Drone Comb. 



At the suggestion of Mr. Charles Dadant, in 

 the January number of the Bee Journal, I pro- 

 pose to write an item or two concerning drone- 

 raising. 



In an effort to raise drones last season, I placed 

 two frames of drone comb in the centre of a 

 strong Italian colony, in the month of .September. 

 Three days after I found plenty of eggs, and nine 

 days after some of the eggs were missing and 

 honey was being stored in their place. The brood 

 that remained was capped level ; the cells not 

 contracted in any way perceivable. In due time 

 all hatched ; but not a drone was to be found, 

 to make sure I examined some of these bees and 

 found they had stings. 



I have also had drones raised in worker combs, 

 the cells being lengthened ; and alsopromiscously 



among worker brood.* In consequence, I am of 

 opinion that the queen determines the sex of the 

 eggs, and is governed according to circumstances 

 and the condition of the colony. 



Let me add a word concerning the improved 

 Langstroth non-swarming hive : Those I have 

 were made at Hamilton, Ohio, and are his stand- 

 ard hives. I elevate the back end of the hive to 

 an angle of thirty degrees, (30°.) In that way it 

 is not a shallow or a deep hive, but forms a me- 

 dium, with the advantage claimed for the trian- 

 gular-top hive. I have as yet always succeeded 

 in getting straight combs ; and use frames in the 

 upper box mostly. During the four seasons I 

 have used these hives they have given me, in the 

 poorest honey season, forty pounds of surplus 

 comb honey, and sixty pounds in the best season, 

 without swarming ; and with that I am satisfied. 



The honey resources are not sufficient to nig.ke 

 reports as some I see in the Journal. 



John L. Fisher. 



Tiffin, Ohio. 



* In stich cases the queen is evidently approach-- 

 ing superannuation, and should be removed and 

 replaced by a younger and better. — Ed. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Ohio Bee-keepers' Association. 

 Annual Meeting. — Election of Officers. 



The Bee-keepers' held their meeting on Friday, 

 January 14th, 1870, at the City Hotel, in Cleve- 

 land. During the war these meetings were sus- 

 pendeS, but were revived in 18G9, and will be 

 held regularly hereafter. On Friday morning a 

 meeting took place, and soon adjourned until 

 afternoon, when the committee on topics for 

 discussion reported the following : 



1. The best mode of cultivating the bee. 



2. The best mode of feeding bees. 



3. The best mode of wintering bees. 



4. Does a pure Italian queen, impregnated by 

 a black drone, produce pure drones ? 



5. The best way to change the breed of a 

 swarm from black to Italian. 



G. The best mode of securing surplus honey. 



The first two topics were discussed by Dr. J. 

 P. Kirtland ; H. D. Danks, of Fondulac, Wiscon- 

 sin ; A. H. Hart, of Appleton, Wisconsin, and 

 several others. The general opinion was that 

 honey is the most profitable food for bees, as it 

 is their only natural and safe diet. Crushed 

 sugar had been used with fair success, but the 

 result was not good enough to recommend it. 



Dr. Conklin, of Bennington, Morrow county, 

 said that the President of the Michigan Bee- 

 keepers' Association had told him that he had 

 found that the best way Avas to destroy the late 

 weak swarms in the fall, and not try and nurse 

 them through. He was in favor of wintering 

 through as many as possible, and then stimulat- 

 ing early breeding. One stock in May is worth 

 four in July. If fed on rye or oatmeal, until 

 natural pollen can be obtained, the prolific 

 queens will lay from two to three thousand eggs 

 per day, during the propagating season. His 

 Italian bees throw off their best and strongest 



