268 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



•wellas not, say something also about that " cranium." 

 This barking up the wrong tree is bad business ; but 

 •when a fellow gets into such courses it is best to try 

 and get out again. — 



I annex a communication from the Chairman of 

 the Committee on Bread and Honey, at the Essex 

 County Fair last autumn, concerning the awards 

 made by that Committee.— H. Alley. 



Newburtport, Mass!, May 3.— Mr. Editor: — 

 My attention has been called to an article in your 

 February number, page 173, from Mr. U. T. Batch- 

 elder, and also one in reply in the March number, 

 page 196. from Mr. Alley, and again to another 

 from Mr.B. in the May number, page 243. As these 

 contradict each other, I thought I could set the 

 matter right by a simple statement of the facts. 



Mr. B. says he took his bees to the county fair, 

 and there obtained the first premium of four dollars. 

 Tliis is a mistake. No premium was ever offered by 

 the Essex Agricultural Society for Bees or Honey. 

 A sum "of money is placed at the disposal of the 

 Committee on Bread and Honey, to be awarded in 

 Gratuities, as the articles offered m:^jf seem to 

 merit. At the fair in Newtmryport last September, 

 of which Mr. B. speaks, there were four entries of 

 bees, viz; D. T. Batcheldor, D. C. Batcheldor, Mr. 

 Alley, and Mr. Green. The Committee unanimously 

 awarded to Mr. D. C. Batcheldor a gratuity of ¥3; to 

 Mr. D. T. Batcheldor a gratuity of' $3 ; to Mr. Alley 

 and Mr. Green $1, each. 



The Committee made an official report in accord- 

 ance with the above statement. It was publishVl in 

 the Newburyport Herald and the Society's Annual 

 Report : and Mr. D. T. Batcheldor has simply ob- 

 tained $3 which belong to Mr. D. C. Batcheldor. Of 

 course I do not know whether an error occurred in 

 copying the report of the Committee for tlie City 

 Treasurer, but if there was such an error, it does not 

 alter the fact that Mr. D. T. Balcheldor did not obtain 

 the first premium, because they were no premiums 

 given ; and that Mr. D. C. Batcheldor was awarded 

 an equal gratuity with Mr. D. T. B. admits of no 

 question. The Treasurer of the Society is officially 

 authorized to pay premiums and gratuities; but by 

 permission of one of the officers, the City Treasurer 

 was last year allowed to pay the small premiums, <fcc. 

 He, being unused to the business, perhaps made a 

 mistake ; but, whoever made it, tlie mistake should 

 be rectified. — Edmind Smith, Chairman of ComvnUee 

 on Bread and Money, for £'s'<ex Agr. Soc. 1869. 



East Saginaw, Mich., May 14. — Almost all the 

 bees in this part of the country are dead. I think it 

 was owing to the watery honey gatliered late last 

 season. The •weather came on cold before they had 

 time to evaporate the water and caj) the cells. — Bees 

 wintered in the cellar did not do as well as those out 

 of doors. There is not much to brag of, as niue- 

 tenths of those outside were lost. I have counted up 

 three hundred swarms that perished, in this vicinity, 

 during the winter and spring. One man lost fifty 

 swarms in his cellar (all he had) ; where heretofore he 

 wintered them successfully. — L. C. Wuiting. 



Jefferson, Wis., May 17.— My bees came out of 

 the winter very weak and poor. I lost not less than 

 seventy-one colonies out of the six hundred and 

 seventy, which I wintered in. The survivors, where 

 not too weak, are gaining rapidly. 



I had better luck this spring in getting young queens 

 purely fertilized this spring, than at any time during 

 the last five years. I have about twenty laying now, 

 and nearly as many more that are from three to six 

 days old. 



After learning how black bees came out in this 

 country I have again changed my mind about their 



being hardier than others. Almost every keeper of 

 black bees has lost nearly all he had. I have only 

 three colonies alive, and these are properly black 

 hybrids. 



•To make it appear that my prices are as low as 

 those of any other breeder, I have concluded to send 

 ofi" young queens about three days after they com- 

 mence laying. In my own apiary I had but few 

 hybrids last summer, and will have less this summer ; 

 and as no black colony is alive around me now, I can 

 easier furnish two queens without testing, than one 

 with the trouble of testing her. — In my southern 

 apiary, I expect some j-oung swarms within a week 

 from "now ; but not any at home within a month, if 

 then. All blossoms seem to have honey this season. 

 Some colonies, in my southern apiary, have as much 

 honey now, as they had seven months ago.— Adam 

 Gkimm. 



Erratum. 



Mr. Editor : — In the May number of the Journal, 

 Mr. Wm. M. Stratton corrects the figures, as publish- 

 ed, in an article I sent j'ou on Alsike clover. Not hav- 

 ing seen the article since it was sent you, I was not 

 aware that it was published. It should read 346,154 

 bees per acre, or 2,163 per square' >-of/, or 8 per 

 square foot. If I remember rightly it was so written, 

 and the mistake is in the copyist or the typesetter. 

 The figures, however, are not exact; fractions are 

 omitted. But they are sufficiently correct to serve as 

 an illustration, and to show that the keeper of a 

 large apiary, who grows any honey-yielding plant 

 for bees, with the expectation of being perceptibly 

 benefitted by it, must cultivate it on an extensive 

 scale. 



J. H. TOWNLET. 



Parma, Mich. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



Paper as a Non-conductor. 



I would say to Mr J. L. Way that I have tried 

 the Paper Ilive, with five thicknesses of paper, 

 cue fourth of an inch space between each paper. 

 It was calcuhited to absorb all the moisture of the 

 bees, and not mould or get damp ; and that the 

 bees would winter safe on their summer stands. 

 So I was ready to try one swarm. A friend gave 

 me the hive, and I gave liim five dollars for the 

 bees tliat were in the hive, and brought it home. 

 Before the middle of January my bees were all 

 dead. The paper was damp and mouldy, and 

 all gave way in small pieces. Thus I found that 

 paper was of no account. The hive was Cox's 

 patent. I. have u^ed nine difibrent patented 

 hives ; and all but two proved to be worthless. 

 I have bought wit very dear ! 



Bees have done very •*• ell here since the first of 

 January. Before that the weather was too wet 

 and cold. 



Now, Mr. Editor, if you think this worth an 

 insertion, use it. . I hope we shall got the Jour- 

 nal semi-monthly soon. I think we could not 

 well get along without it, as it is. Every bee- 

 man must have it. 



W. Rowley. 



Minn. City, Feb. 23. 



England uses two thousand tons of beeswax 

 per annum, valued at $2,000,000. 



