54 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



And on next page, in line 25 from the bottom, 

 occurs tlie ludicrous blunder of substituting 

 ^'■cJieese^^ box for "c/ose" box! Did the com- 

 positor serve on one of the Monitors ? 



A. I. Root. 

 Medina, Ohio. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Mr. "W". A. Flanders, in his April excursion 

 thro' the United States, B. J., Page 190, Vol- 

 ume Second, among other memorable feats of 

 animalcular dynamics humbly condescended to 

 ask the "Knowikg Ones" a series of questions 

 which they have hitherto been unable to answer 

 satisfactorily to myself and other learned cqn- 

 cuUiirians. After much hesitation, lest I should 

 betray my ignorance in experimental science, I 

 must at last confess that I have "to give it up," 

 Idndly beseeching the Professor to publish the 

 solutions to his apiarian problems, as also to the 

 following puzzle, which I know he can dissolve 

 to the entire satisfaction of the bee-keeping 

 public. 



A nucleus of bees having been abandoned 

 to their supposed destruction on the 11th day of 

 July, on account of repeated robbing and conse- 

 quent total want of food and forage, on exami- 

 nation was found minus queen cells, brood and 

 eggs. There was nothing visible in the combs 

 but a very few cells containing pollen. On the 

 20th day of the same month a half finished 

 queen cell was discovered, apparently entirely 

 dried up within, and of eggs or honey not a 

 trace. On the Gth day of August a small, 

 though perfectly formed Italian queen was 

 found laying, as also several cells containing 

 honey. 



Query 1st. Supposing an egg to have escaped 

 notice, might it not have retained vitality 

 enough from the eleventh to the seventeenth of 

 July, when I suppose the queen cell may have 

 been commenced, and the egg manipulated 

 upon ? 



Query 2d. Supposing the above hypothesis 

 to be erroneous, wliere did the bees obtain the 

 egg that ultimately hatched into a jDcrfect 

 queen ? 



Query M. How did the bees perfect the 

 cell and queen without any visible subsistence 

 in the field or hive, except the few cells of pollen 

 above mentioned ? 



Query 4th. My bees being all blacks, having 

 repeatedly failed at Italianizing them, and no 

 Italians nearer than Prof. Varro's of Washing- 

 ton Co., Pa., a distance of at least nine miles 

 from here, could the bees have obtained this 

 egg at such a distance from where it was trans- 

 lormed into a queen ? 



Now, will not Prof. W. A. Flanders, or some 

 other "knowing one" dissolve this problem 

 and greatly oblige , 



Prof. A. P. A. Alsatius, A. M., 

 Corresponding Secretary of Coon Island Golden 

 Apiary, 2^ miles from shore. 



West End, Aug. 6th, 1867. 



[For the American Bee Jonrnal ] 



Straight Combs. 



" Always straight combs has never been and 

 never will be true in practice, except guide 

 frames are used." — Bee Journal Vol. 3, page 

 28. Reply to Querist. 



Place a swarm in a movable comb hive ; ex- 

 amine when they start combs. Have a table 

 knife ready, if a low hive is used ; or a painter's 

 knife if it is a tall hive ; or lift the frames. 

 Bend the combs in place, even to the cutting 

 out and fastening again by melting the edges 

 over a lamp or candle. If one side is extended 

 at the expense of the next nearest comb, use tlie 

 knife. Press the combs from the side and bot- 

 tom upwards ; that is, cap the combs, as that 

 gives the bees a pattern. If extended too much 

 to cap, cut it olf over a dish, or if a tight-bot- 

 tomed hive is used, elevate the front as in leed- 

 ing, so that the honey will stay in till the bees 

 gather it up again ; then replace the hive. The 

 knife will cause the bees to build their combs as 

 straight as a board, if practically used. Three 

 visits have been enough for most of my hives 

 this year. I have straightened fifty hives a day, 

 besides cutting out and grafting queen cells in 

 other hives, and building up several nuclei 

 a day. It will be seen, or can be, that the 

 combs are made straight ; and this can always 

 be at the option of the beekeeper. 



I have seen the combs in fifty hives of a 

 neighbor, as straight and of as uniform a thick 

 ness as a pile of boards cut from a log. Will 

 this, neighbor please give the Journal his ex- 

 perience with straight combs, as he has an 

 entire apiary ot that description ? 



James M. Marvin. 

 St. Charles, Ills. 



lE^" Send us the names of bee-keepers, with 

 their Post Oflice address. 



Our correspondent's "neighbor" will 

 much oblige us, and greatly benefit a large 

 number of beekeepers just introducing movable 

 comb hives in their apiaries, by furnishing us 

 with a detailed account of the means used to 

 secure straight combs, and which have proved 

 so signally successful. 



Surplus Honey. 



I have taken honey from a swarm of Italian 

 bees which threw otf a swarm June 1st — as 

 follows : June 16th thirteen pounds ; June 20th 

 five pounds ; July 5th two upper cones thirty- 

 eight pounds ; July 5th eight frames fifty -five 

 pounds — making in all, from June 1st to July 

 5th, one hundred and eleven pounds. I have 

 left fourteen frames in the lower Lox untouched, 

 which are capable of holding seven pounds of 

 honey each, but the greater part are filled with 

 brood, and probably do not contain more than 

 from thirty-five to forty pounds of honey. 

 They have gone to work in good earnest 

 to repair their loss, with almost half the honey 

 season left, and many beekeepers think the 

 buckwheat season the best in the year. 



Correspondent Tiffin Tribune. 



