1895. 



TEE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



89 



just taste it at the end of the first 

 week. A little salt in the water is 

 an excellent relish with the bees but 

 it won't preserve the water fresh. 



I was much interested in Mrs. L. 

 Harrison's experience in soap-mak- 

 ing, described in January Bee-Keep- 

 er. As she says, if her friend had 

 given her the " so and so " directions 

 at the start she would not have fail- 

 ed. I assume that she was not like 

 the bride who obtained a friend's re- 

 ceipt for bread-making. -The receipt 

 wound up with the directions " Put 

 a piece of the dough thus formed, the 



size of a into a common bread 



pan and bake minutes. " (1 allow 



the women readers of this article to 

 fill out these blanks properly, as 1 

 have forgotten the figures. ) Imagine 

 the friends surprise some time later 

 to receive from the bride a telegram 

 inquiring what to do with the rest of 

 the douoh. 



Discussion is one of the best possi- 

 ble ways of bringing out all there is 

 in a subject. Nevertheless 1 have 

 been wondering whether, after this 

 mighty controversy between the eight 

 and ten frame advocates has subsid- 

 ed, the professional bee- man will not 

 plod right along in his favorite way 

 and leave the bewilered amateur to 

 dispose of the surplus dough. 



At a recent sale in this vacinity a 

 moderate sized apiary went at from 

 $1.60 to $2.00 per colony, and was 

 not perhaps so very cheap at that, 

 although the bees were in as good 

 condition as could be asked consider- 

 ing that the queens had not been 

 changed in many years. Why is it 



that practical farmers who abhor any 



suggestion of in-breeding in their 

 stock, ignore the subject when appli- 

 ed to bees ? There is probably no 

 more prolific reason than this course 

 for the ofl'-hand complaint ; ' ' Yes, 

 I used to keep bees, and they did well 

 enough for a few years. But they 

 soon runout." Of course they did. 

 Why shouldn't they ? 



CURRENT COMMENTS. 



BY H. E. HILL. 



April. 



Springtime. 



Hum, Sweet Hum. 



Look out for robbers. 



Avoid handling the bees during 

 chilly weather. 



In the north, the work this month 

 consists chiefly in protecting the hives 

 from the cold, and doing all possible 

 to retain the animal heat of the col- 

 ony, in the brood nest. 



The first bright, sunny day, see 

 that all colonies have queens, and 

 contract the brood chamber to the 

 covering capacity of the bees , by the 

 use of division boards. 



Stimulative feeding may be prac- 

 ticed with profit after the weather be- 

 comes settled and warm. The feeder 

 should be placed beneath a. sawdust 

 cushion, directly over the brood nest. 



Owing to the unusual heavy rain- 

 fall in California, the prospects of a 

 bountiful honey crop have not been 

 been better in years, while it is esti- 

 mated that three-fourths of the bees 

 of that state have perished, died of 

 starvation, as a result of the failure 

 of the honey crop of "94, and the in- 



