Enfield Centre, N. H., Jan. 10, 1879. 

 I have been reading Cook's new "Manual 

 of the Apiary," and think it the best of our 

 American works. Lewis T. Colby. 



Sherman, N. Y., Feb. 6th, 1879. 

 The winter here has been a severe one, 

 but I have yet to hear of any bees being de- 

 stroyed. Our farmers about here are not so 

 extensively engaged in bee-culture as in 

 other parts of Chautauqua county. I con- 

 sider the American Bee Journal a good 

 bee paper, and wish the publishers success. 

 M. L. Dorman. 



Monroe, Mich., Oct. 6, 1878. 

 I have just read the sixteenth annual re- 

 port of the Michigan State Board of Agri- 

 culture, and was pleased with Prof. Cook's 

 trial to plant food for bees, but do not find 

 among the plants our milk-weed, which 

 grows on any soil, no matter how poor. For 

 hundreds of years the Asclepias cnrunti 

 and incamata have been planted in Russia 

 for this purpose, and these flowers always 

 swarm with all kinds of insects, among 

 which the bees are the most frequent. As 

 these plants blossom at a time when the 

 earlier flowers are getting scarce, they are so 

 much the move welcome. The Russian 

 peasants, although Christians for many cen- 

 turies, pray yet to the bee-god, and offer him 

 on a little altar, honey and wax, concealing 

 it from the eyes of his pope or archiman- 

 drite, who would punish him for his super- 

 stition ; but with the help of his bee-god and 

 the asclepias, sowed on all waste places, he 

 expects a rich harvest of honey and wax. 

 E. Dorsch, M. D. 



[Prof. Riley, when he advised sowing 

 milk-weed or asclepias to entrap and kill the 

 bees, was no better informed in this matter 

 in relation to his own native Europe, than 

 he was in the United States. Dr. Dorsch is 

 right ; asclepias is a valuable honey plant, 

 as I stated in my "Manual," page 232.— 

 A. J. Cook.] 



Fort Atkinson, Wis., Jan. 22, 1879. 

 I put into my winter house 65 colonies, 

 most of them with plenty of honey, but of 

 rather poor quality. They weighed in 8 

 frame Langstroth hives, with cap off, from 

 50 to 73 lbs ; weight of hive 23 to 25 lbs. I 

 keep the temperture as near 40° as possible ; 

 they are very quiet and I think thelprospect 

 for them is good. L. M. Roberts.. 



Seymour, Ind., Feb. 6, 1879. 

 Success to the American Bee Journal. 

 I don't see how any bee-keeper can afford to 

 do without it. I consider every number 

 worth the subscription price, so you may 

 consider me as belonging to the Journal 

 family. I have been a keeper of bees from 

 boyhood up and as everybody it is said, 

 rides some "hobby," my " hobby " has been 

 bees. I have had the Italians for the past 

 five years and must say that in their purity 

 they cannot be spoken of too highly. And 

 as there is considerable talk about purity at 

 present I have concluded to send to six or 



more of the leading queen breeders and see 

 if there is any material difference in them, 

 and report my opinion through the columns 

 of the Bee Journal. Of course 1 shall 

 inform those I order from of this intention 

 and will give a fair and candid report. The 

 past few years I have been breeding from 

 queens purchased of Oatman & Sons, of 

 Dundee, III., and R. M. Argo, of Lowell, 

 Ky. I am not keeping a large number of 

 colonies, have been limiting my number at 

 25, as I have been living in the city but have 

 lately purchased 12 acres immediately ad- 

 joining the city of Seymour, and expect at 

 least to be able to attend double the number 

 I have now, and shall be happy to entertain 

 any of the bee-keepers who can make it con- 

 venient to call upon me after the 1st of 

 September, as by that time I hope to com- 

 plete my new buildings. 



C. H. Hancock. 



Swedesburgli, Iowa, Jan. 28, 1879. 

 This will be a hard winter on bees that 

 were left out as mine are. Several of mine 

 have died already. I calculated to put 

 a part of my 80 colonies in the cellar, but I 

 was taken with rheumatism in August. I 

 tried bee stings, but they give no relief ; I 

 tried 3 at a time, but received no benefit. I 

 tried a galvanic battery a week but could 

 perceive no benefit from it. I had to wear 

 it out by degrees. H. M. Noble. 



Hastings, Minn., Feb. 3, 1879. 

 In May, 1878, I purchased 2 colonies of 

 black bees at a cost of $12.00 ; also material 

 for 8 Langstroth hives and 100 section boxes 

 for $12.50. Total $24.50. From them and 

 the increase I have taken 425 lbs. of honey ; 

 140 lbs. being comb, and the remainder ex- 

 tracted. I now have 6 good colonies in 

 winter quarters. This is my first bee-keep- 

 ing. C. O. Ball. 



Bedford Station, Mich., Feb. 10, 1879. 

 The Southern Michigan Bee-Keepers' 

 Association was organized at Battle Creek, 

 on the 6th inst. A. D. Robinson, Pres.; B. 

 Salisbury, Sec. Annual meeting first Tues- 

 day in December. Quarterly meetings to be 

 called by the executive committee at their 

 discretion, at the apiaries of members. We 

 took our bees out for a fly on the 8th inst ; 

 they are doing nicely. Those left on the 

 summer stands are in poor condition. 



H. C. Wilde. 



Sandwich, Feb. 3d, 1879. 

 Mr. Chapman asks how to protect an 

 apiary from human robbers. He can pro- 

 tect his bees by building a fence around 

 them so that a person cannot get through 

 without climbing over the top, then string 

 or put a wire on for the top rail ; let this 

 wire run loose through staples driven in the 

 posts, and connect the end of the wire to a 

 bell on the house. The moment a party tries 

 to get in the yard they give the alarm. This 

 is the simplest, cheapest, and the best plan 

 I know of. I know it will work, for we had 

 such an arrangement attached to our barn- 

 door, and it saved us a splendid span of 

 horses at one time, and at another some 

 wheat, that a man wanted to get from a bin 

 in the barn. Alex. Wilder. 



