for me and I have fed it by the 100 lbs. I 

 generally put a little sweet anise close by it 

 to attract the bees (for a few moments) and 

 throw just a little flour on the bees at the 

 entrance of the hive, and in from 10 to 30 

 minutes I have them at work on It, if they 

 are breeding lively, and there is no pollen 

 in the plants or trees, the day being warm 

 and pleasant. It will not do to give bees all 

 that they will carry in, or some of it will 

 get so hard that they cannot get it out of 

 the cells. I cut some out several years ago, 

 that they had carried in faster than they had 

 used up. M. Bailey. 



Elk Creek, Ky., March 14, 1879. 

 I began the season of 1878 with 9 colonies 

 of Italians which increased to 25. I got 

 450 lbs. of comb and 90 lbs. of extracted 

 honey. Wintered them on their summer 

 stands and lost but one colony, though there 

 has been great loss of bees in this section. 

 I had a great deal of trouble last season with 

 my bees beginning at the bottom of frames 

 in second story and building upwards. I 

 gave them nice starters and cut out the 

 comb from bottom of frames. Still they 

 persisted in building up and in some colo- 

 nies they would build both up and down. 

 . A. E. Norman. 



[Bees will sometimes build from the bot- 

 tom of the section frames upwards, and we 

 know of no remedy that will absolutely pre- 

 vent it. For, if "they will, they will, 

 depend on it." To give them starters and 

 cut away the comb below is about the only 

 thing that can be done to prevent it.— Ed.] 



Milledgeville,Ill., March 17, 1879. 

 Dear Editor:— In your mention of the 

 Eclipse hive in the Journal for March, 

 you stated that the surplus honey recep- 

 tacles do not contemplate the use of tin 

 separators. Now, lest the readers of your 

 valuable Journal should get the wrong 

 impression in relation to the hive, I will 

 explain. In the hive sent, there was no 

 allowance made for admitting tin separators. 

 Where patrons desire the separators, I 

 furnish them with the boxes complete for 

 the bees, with boxes that may be glassed, if 

 so ordered. For my own use, I make the 

 sides of the boxes 2 inches in width, top and 

 bottom \)4 inch in width, leaving a larger 

 opening through which according to my own 

 experience the bees enter the boxes more 

 readily than where the space between the 

 boxes' is only J^ inch in width. The boxes 

 for comb honey are used on top only ; each 

 box has a wax guide for bees to start on. 

 I have used side boxes but with me their 

 use has not been satisfactory, and I have 

 nearly discarded side storing. In reference 

 to glassing boxes containing comb honey, I 

 think we must be governed by the demand 

 whetner it be for glass or unbiassed boxes. 

 In the Eastern markets there is a fair 

 demand for glassed boxes, but if I am not 

 mistaken, the demand for such is diminish- 

 ing and the unbiassed box is gaining favor. 

 In the West I believe unglassed boxes are 

 more popular than the glassed. Intact, at 

 all points at which I sell honey there is no 



demand at all for glassed boxes. Customers 

 generally want to pay as little extra as 

 possible in these hard times. In buying 

 honey they want no glass included in 

 weights. 1 put my comb honey all in crates 

 which contain, lengthwise, three tiers of 

 boxes and seven boxes in width, the same 

 num6er as are used in each tier on the hive 

 so that those next the sides of case on the 

 hive come next to the glass sides of the 

 crates. My crates hold 40 lbs. of honey and 

 contain 21 boxes. I am glad to note the 

 improvements in the Journal. Each num- 

 ber seems to outstrip its predecessor, if such 

 is possible. It has beyond doubt the most 

 able corps of contributors of any bee 

 periodical in the world. Success to your 

 efforts. F. A. Snell. 



New Franklin, Mo., March 5, 1879. 

 I commenced the winter with 27 colonies — 

 22 in American and 5 in Quinby hives ; all 

 are dead but 8. Four of the 8 are in Quinby 

 hives. At the commencement of winter I 

 put all but 4 (3 American and 1 Quinby) 

 under a shed, facing the south, with some 

 protection on the North. Of the 4 1 left out, 

 every bee died, including the one in the 

 Quinby hive. One of my neighbors left his 

 bees on the ground, without any protection; 

 they were nearly covered with snow for two 

 months, without any ventilation top or bot- 

 tom, and all are living. Please answer the 

 following in the April number : 



1. Will it do to put new swarms in the 

 hives the bees died in ; they are full of comb 

 with some honey ? 



2. How can I keep the moth out of them 

 until swarming time ? 



3. Do the moth or the eggs live through a 

 cold winter without live bees in the hive ? 



4. How can I get the honey out of old 

 combs that have bee-bread scattered through 

 them, or had I better keep it to feed the bees 

 after pasture fails ? Wm. H. Settle. 



[1. It will. 



2. Keep them in a cool place and in a 

 closed, tight box, after fumigating them with 

 sulphur. 



3. A temperature of about 10° Fahr. 

 destroys all germs of the'moth. 



4. You can extract the honey, and save 

 it for feeding purposes.— Ed.] 



'Morrison, III., March 11, 1879. 

 Since last December I have received sev- 

 eral communications and suggestions as to 

 how to protect an apiary against night 

 thieves, from barbed wire fences to watch 

 dogs, but allow me to say that, that kind of 

 protection is of no avail to the determined 

 thief. Mr. Manum, of Bristol, Vt., says in 

 February number that generosity and kind- 

 ness ! ! is his protection, and that he gives to 

 all that come, &c. I suppose that in the 

 summer, as I live near a large town, I have 

 from 2 to 20 every day, and bread and honey 

 is always offered to those that will eat, and 

 some to carry away. It has been my prac- 

 tice for years, and also to publish in our town 

 papers invitations to all to come— but some 

 are so lost to reason and kind treatment, as 

 not to recognize the "mine and thine" of 



