300 



raised the cover, and there was the queen 

 of the transferred colony, " alone in her 

 glory." I put her back on the alighting 

 board among the bees, but she refused to 

 enter. I shook her in at the top, and have 

 not seen her since. Was not that a strange 

 freak ? D. P. Norton. 



[It is a fact that bees travel much longer 

 distances for forage than they were for- 

 merly supposed to do. This is an interest- 

 ing item, bearing on the question of "over- 

 stocking." Perhaps you forced out all the 

 bees but the queen. Many cases are on 

 record, however, of queens leaving the hive 

 after having been removed, and when they 

 have found their old home, of re-entering 

 it.— Ed.] 



Cambridge, 111., May 31, 1879. 

 Bees in this section did not winter well, 

 some having lost from % to % of their colo- 

 nies. They were mostly wintered on sum- 

 mer stands, without protection. My 48 col- 

 onies were wintered in a cave, dug in the 

 east side of a hill, and they came through in 

 in good condition, except 4 that got damp 

 by being on the bottom. I shall dig another 

 this fall, and put some in both ; will give 

 my plan for making a cave before winter, 

 as I am confident I can make a success of it. 

 J. V. Caldwell. 



Lexington, Ky., June 2, 1879. 

 Your esteemed favor, appointing me Mr. 

 R. M. Argo's successor, as Vice Presi- 

 dent of Kentucky of the National Associa- 

 tion, is duly appreciated. Knowing Mr. 

 Argo's eminent fitness for the position, 

 causes me to feel somewhat reluctant in ac- 

 cepting such a prominent position. How- 

 ever, I will strive to do everything in my 

 power to advance the bee-keeping interests 

 of Kentucky and bee-culture in general. 

 W. Williamson. 



Galesburg, 111., May 30, 1879. 

 I have kept bees for 30 years. The moth 

 used to bother some, but for the past six 

 years I have used the following preventa- 

 tive : Put a pint or more of sorghum mo- 

 lasses, with a little water added, or any 

 kind of sweets, in a jar or jug, and put it 

 close to the entrance, with a "float" of sticks 

 % in- thick. The liquid should be stirred 

 every few days. The vessels should be 

 cleaned, say once a month, and refilled. I 

 would like for others to try this plan, if 

 troubled with moths. R. Bandy. 



Columbus, Wis., June 4, 1879. 

 About % of the bees in this section have 

 died since last October. Dysentery is the 

 general cause. I put 6 colonies in the cellar 

 last November (all Italians), and all came 

 out strong. Our first swarm issued on June 

 2d, and the next day another issued from 

 the same hive. I am using comb founda- 

 tion with good success, one-half depth of 

 frame. I use 2 parts of resin and 1 of bees- 

 wax to fasten the foundation to the frames. 

 The American Bee Journal is a great 

 help to us, united with your work on "Bee 

 ■Culture " and Langstroth. E. Brown. 



Waterloo, Ky., June 8, 1879. 

 Bees are doing very badly in this neigh- 

 borhood this season. We had no rain for 

 about 7 weeks, and the bloom dried up, 

 yielding little honey, not enough for brood 

 raising. I have taken but very little honey 

 yet, and there is a poor prospect for taking 

 any more. White clover is in bloom, but it 

 came out in that dry weather, and seems to 

 yield but little honey. So far I have had 

 only 1 swarm, and there are no prospects 

 for more very soon. R. L. Aylor. 



June 2, 1879. 

 Please answer in the Bee Journal. Is 

 there any patent on the adjusting board 

 used in Mitchell's bee-hive ? He threatens 

 to prosecute persons using it. ** 



[If you mean by adjusting board, a simple 

 "division board," we say, No. Division 

 boards were in use for years before Mr. 

 Mitchell's adjustable hive was gotten up.— 



Ed.] 



Logansport, Ind., June 7, 1879. 

 Having been appointed Vice President of 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Association for 

 the State of Indiana, 1 desire all the infor- 

 mation I can obtain on all matters pertain- 

 ing to the interests of bee-culture in the 

 State. All bee-keepers are requested to 

 communicate with me freely. I would be 

 glad to be furnished with the names of per- 

 sons who will undertake to give me infor- 

 mation from their several sections. 



M. Mahin. 



Pittsford, Mich., June 6, 1879. 



Are queens reared from a tested mother as 

 good as those from an imported queen ? 

 G. A. Den man. 



[That depends entirely upon what the 

 "tested mother" was. We have queens in 

 the Bee Journal apiary that we would 

 not exchange for 10 unselected imported 

 queens ! If you have a good, pure, prolific 

 mother, her daughter may be far more valu- 

 able than an unselected imported queen. 

 The simple fact of a queen being imported 

 proves nothing in regard to her value. She 

 must be judged by her traits of character 

 and the quality of her progeny.— Ed.] 



Lindsay, Ont., March 22, 1879. 

 I have a devise for holding together the 

 closed end frames of the new Quinby hive, 

 as well as the cases of sections for the top. 

 Simply place a small-sized screw in each 

 end of the panels or side-boards, and put 

 the string, drawn a little tight, over the 

 heads of the screws. This is more readily 

 done, and holds together better than by 

 tying a cord around the whole, as illusarated 

 by L. C. Root, in the American Agricul- 

 turist for November, 1875; besides tying 

 knots on cords, while side-boards are pre- 

 versely pulling and 20,000 bees flying around, 

 is not always a pleasant part of the manip- 

 ulation. If friend Bingham will try them, 

 he will possibly find them more desirable 

 than his wires, as illustrated in Prof. Cook's 

 Manual. S. Corneil. 



