brood removed, that the bees will generally 

 build drone comb in the empty frames." 

 Having no empty combs, what am I to do? 

 ldo not want my hives filled with worthless 

 combs, and my yard with worse than worth- 

 less drones. Had I better take the risks and 

 trouble of natural swarming; or will Mr. 

 Doolittle tell me how to divide, without 

 empty combs, and have the bees build work- 

 er, and not drone comb ? John Fox. 



The people of Brunswick, Mo., tell me 

 that in 1860, for several days, the bees passed 

 over this place in immense swarms all day 

 long for three days, like swarms of grass- 

 hoppers in Kansas. They went in a south- 

 westerly direction, and in Howard county 

 they were stacked up like small hay-stacks; 

 they hauled straw and covered them, then 

 set it on fire and burned them up. The 

 people are willing to swear to it. Now, is 

 this possible or not ? Cosmo. 



[The story is " too thin" to be believed by 

 any intelligent bee-keeper of to-day. Un- 

 doubtedly they were flies, or something in 

 some measure resembling bees. Think of 

 the multitude of things, wholly impossible, 

 that many good people have been willing to 

 •" swear to" in ages past. We are progress- 

 ing, but superstition is not yet extinct. — Ed.] 



Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 7, 1879. 

 On the morning of the second day of this 

 year it commenced to snow very fast and 

 continued to do so till yesterday. At noon 

 Jan. 2, the wind came up from the north- 

 west blowing at a fearful rate, and the air 

 was filled with drifting snow, in a twinkling. 

 Thus it continued till last night and as a 

 result a part of our bees are 10 feet under 

 the snow, and most of them are out of 

 sight. Our bee cellar, also, we have lost all 

 track— all being one smooth plain of snow 

 over nearly all our bee-yard. We have had 

 no mail since Jan. 2, and have wished so 

 many times for the January number of the 

 American Bee Journal to read during 

 this time. Our roads are from 4 to 12 feet 

 under the snow. G. M. Doolittle. 



Callicoon, N. Y., Jan. 10, 1879. 

 1 see on page 41, January number of your 

 valuable Bee Journal, that Mr. Heddon 

 has gotten up a surplus honey register, which 

 indicates the state of the boxes in a hive, 

 whether full, nearly so, &c. It is neat and 

 and very useful." Without claiming the 

 neatness, I have adopted a plan, practical and 

 useful, in my apiary of some sixty hives, for 

 precisely this object in view, where one 

 glance over the whole apiary will give indi- 

 cations of hives needing looking after, or 

 their probable arrival at that state. It is 

 simply as follows: By taking any ordinary 

 stick, like a piece of lath for instance, say 1 

 foot long, and placing it lengthwise with the 

 eaves or outside edge of the roof or cap indi- 

 cates the first stage ; at right angles there- 

 with, indicates nearly filled ; placed on the 

 center of roof or cap, full or being capped, 

 etc., or any mode upon this principle will 

 answer sufficiently ; as no positive register 

 of progress of surplus is needed in writing, 



if so, the simple registering slates are good. 

 The whole business of the apiary being 

 made up of small (in themselves insignifi- 

 cant) items, this suggestion of mine is so 

 simple, I think it will be adopted by many. 

 With Cook's Manual, the New Year's gift I 

 volunteered myself, 1 am more than pleased. 

 It is up to the times in every particular, and 

 not with canting tones does the Professor 

 frown down new and useful inventions ; but, 

 on the contrary, compliments the ingenuity 

 and genius of those who may improve upon 

 the old — willing to reward honest labor, and 

 thus keep the 8th and 10th Commandments, 

 to which he refers (Exodus 20 : 8, 10), a real 

 incentive and legitimate zeal to spur on to 

 Excelsior. This Manual is as far ahead of 

 the old, as Langstroth's and Quinby's were 

 such in their day. I hope the richest reward 

 awaits the author. A. E. Wenzel. 



Lansing, Mich., Jan. 9, 1879. 



I wish to express my deep sorrow, that 

 my friend, "Common Sense" (a sorry nomde 

 plume for such an article) — for I recognize 

 the style as that of a warm friend — should 

 write the harsh letter about Mr. A. I. Root, 

 which appeared in your January number. 



If we have a reverent love for Christ's 

 teaching, as the writer suggests, will we 

 not avoid "evil speaking" ? will we diso- 

 bey the "judge not" ? will we condem, in 

 the most ungenerous terms, a man who is 

 working with untiring zeal to further the in- 

 terests of our art, who has done a mammoth 

 business so fairly that we hardly hear 

 a word of complaint? whose daily walk 

 among his neighbors is stoutly commended; 

 and besides his immense business, finds 

 time, aye, and inclination, to visit the jails, 

 and the rough and dissipated of his neigh- 

 borhood, working successfully to lead them 

 to a better life ? The men inured to 

 crime, whom he has persuaded to better 

 things, would certainly answer, No. 1 can- 

 not defend some of Mr. Root's views and 

 teachings, I do not admire his frequent per- 

 sonal allusions, nor his oft-repeated pub- 

 lic references to his past wayward life ; yet 

 1 can and do rejoice that he is striving, and 

 I believe with success, to do good, and live 

 a better life than he has in the past. There- 

 fore, I can but feel that to compare him 

 Uriah Heep, is very unkind and uncalled 

 for. Would not "Common Sense" do far 

 more good to write a kind personal letter to 

 Mr. Root ?— though not for publication, for 

 such letters better never go to the public. 

 He will then leave out harsh words, the 

 odious comparisons, and will couple with 

 his " reverent faith " more of Christian 

 charity. Mr. Editor, I sincerely wish that 

 you, as well as all our editors, would 

 entirely omit in future, these unkind words; 

 they make not for peace not good will; they 

 are not profitable. A. J. Cook. 



[Several articles on this subject, pro and 

 con, are received, but having now given 

 space to one on each side, we must be ex- 

 cused from publishing any more. The Jour- 

 nal is "devoted exclusively to bee culture," 

 and criticisms upon the "good taste" of self- 

 accusations in the religious department of 

 another paper, are quite "out of order." — Ed. 



