happen to make a failure of the busi- 

 ness, you will have the consolation of 

 knowing that you have lost but from 

 $40 to $50, instead of from $300 to $400, 

 or perhaps as many thousands, as some 

 do. Also remember, if you wish to 

 succeed, you must look after your bees. 

 If any person expects to realize a large 

 income from his bees, and never look 

 after their condition (simply hive them 

 and put on boxes), he will rind himself 

 greatly mistaken. How many who read 

 this know the exact condition of their 

 bees at all times ? If you do not, my 

 friend, you are not caring for them as 

 well as you would for your cow or horse ; 

 neither can you expect any more profit 

 from them than you could from a cow or 

 horse if you never looked after it. Bee- 

 keeping only pays when our pets are 

 properly cared for, and if anyone cannot 

 spend the amount of time on them they 

 require, he had better keep out of the 

 business, for, sooner or later, he will 

 turn away from it in disgust. 

 Borodino, N. Y., March 2, 1879. 



[On page 113, of the March number, 2d 

 column, 10th line from bottom, for J 

 inch read " i inch." This was an over- 

 sight.— Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Experience with Comb Foundation. 



OSCAR COURTNEY. 



Having upward of 30 lbs. of nice pure 

 wax one year ago, I got it made into a 

 fine article of comb foundation. When 

 the season for surplus honey commenced 

 I used some of the drone comb founda- 

 tion in my sections, sparingly at first, 

 but soon learned that the bees accepted 

 it as readily as they did the natural 

 comb starters, and that I obtained more 

 perfect combs by the use of foundation 

 than I did with natural comb, and that 

 it was thinned down to such an extent, 

 that the " bone " was very small if at, 

 all perceptiable. My honey sold as well 

 in New York, as 1 could expect, with- 

 out being glassed upon either side. 



I used comb foundation in the brood 

 chamber with equally good results, and 

 to my entire satisfaction. 1 can show 

 some very fine specimens where foun- 

 dation was used. If there was any sag- 

 ging it is not perceptible to me, and 

 there is no waste, or unoccupied space 

 at the under side of top bar, the cells 

 being perfect enough to raise young 

 bees in. I use the Langstroth frame 

 and my method of fastening foundation 

 in the frame is as follows : Use the flat 

 top bar and slit it open from one end to 



the rabbet at the other with a thin saw, 

 then I put together my frames as in 

 using the V guide, except to leave one- 

 half of top bar as the end that is slit 

 clear out without nailing ; then I have 

 a board one-half the thickness of top 

 bar, nearly the size of inside of frame, 

 and lay it upon a table, put my frame 

 over with the loose side of top bar up, 

 take a sheet of foundation a little 

 shorter and about one inch narrower 

 than frame is deep, place it upon the 

 thin board, raise the unnailed half of 

 top bar up and slide the foundation into 

 the jaws of frames, just enough to have 

 a row of cells commence under the edge 

 of the top bar, let it back and nail 

 through with brads, then nail the half 

 of top bar that was left loose to end of 

 frame, and my work is done, taking but 

 a short time after being once prepared. 

 It makes a perfect fastening, without 

 the loss of a single row of cells upon 

 either side of top bar. 

 Marathon, N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Improvement in Bees. 



JOHN F. EGGLESTON. 



Can our bees be improved ? If not, 

 why not V If they can, what is the 

 most practical way of doing it V Prof. 

 Cook touched the right chord when he 

 gave a warning against the wholesale 

 use for breeding with untested " dollar 

 queens." In my opinion this is one of 

 the most vital points to be considered. 

 In locations where the barbarous prac- 

 tice of killing the bees to get their 

 honey has been abandoned, many colo- 

 nies every year survive the winter 

 so reduced in numbers and stores, that 

 they have to be coaxed and petted all 

 the summer, and not unfrequently 

 helped from other colonies that would 

 themselves be profitable, but for the 

 charities bestowed upon their worthless 

 neighbors, in order to get them through 

 to begin the next season where they 

 began the year before. The queens 

 would finally be removed or superseded 

 by the bees ; if by the latter, the young- 

 queen may be superior to her mother, 

 but would any sensible man believe the 

 chances were as good for the production 

 of a valuable queen, as though she had 

 been bred from the best queen at the 

 command of the apiarist, and fertilized 

 by a drone bred from a choice colony. If 

 it were not for the interference of man to 

 save that '" dollar queen," nature would 

 have corrected the error, by preserving 

 such only as were able to provide for 

 themselves. The trouble does not stop 

 here, for our valuable queens are as 



