every package should bear a number or 

 name, which would ensure a purchaser of 

 honey of an approved flavor, being able at 

 all times and places to get other parcels of 

 the same precise quality. 



Some of our readers are aware that a 

 few unkind remarks have appeared in 

 the British Bee Journal in reference to 

 American honey. We did not think 

 them of sufficient moment to make any 

 remarks in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal concerning them, feeling assured 

 that when Mr. Abbott had obtained a 

 better knowledge of Americans and 

 their products he would most willingly 

 make amends. This he has done, in 

 the above editorial comments, and we 

 now safely "say that no better under- 

 standing could be desired than now 

 exists between the Bee Journals of 

 both countries, as well as the bee-mas- 

 ters of both continents. Certainly, this 

 IS "well." 



McPherson's Frame Holder. 



We give an illustration of a very neat 

 and ingenious contrivance gotten up by 

 Mr. G. McPherson, of Chicago, in- 

 tended to hold a frame while under- 

 going the process of a critical examina- 



tion to hunt the queen, discover eggs or 

 larvse, cut out or insert a queen cell, or 

 for any similar purpose. The frame hol- 

 der is made of gas-pipe, and is so con- 

 structed that the lower portion turns in 

 a socket made of the same material, and 

 can be easily swung around for the pur- 



pose of examining both sides without 

 lifting the frame from the holder. The 

 bottom is a broad disc with three coun- 

 tersunk screw holes, for the purpose of 

 screwing on the top of a stand or box, 

 which is provided with a single drawer 

 about 8 inches wide, while the remain- 

 der (A) is left with an open surface, in 

 which to hang the frames with bees as 

 fast as examined. Of course the holder 

 can be made any size as may best suit 

 the hive in use. 



"Afloat." 



The subjoined paragrph we find go- 

 ing the rounds of the press, and copy 

 it only to show how many errors can be 

 embraced in one short article : 



Floating bee-hives are a success, as is 

 proved by the experiment of an Ameri- 

 can honey dealer, who constructed a 

 vessel to contain 2,000 hives, which he 

 moved gradually up the Mississippi 

 river from Louisiana to Minnesota dur- 

 ing the spring and summer months, and 

 back again as the autumn advanced, 

 thus keeping pace with the blossoming 

 of the flowers, and securing therefrom 

 a good succession of blossoms at the 

 height of the season all along the coast. 

 The longest stay was made at St. Louis. 

 Skilled attendants accompanied the 

 vessel, and the honey was periodically 

 extracted from the hives in a manner 

 now largely adopted in America— by 

 contrifugal force. The actuai yield of 

 this gigantic apiary has not been stated 

 but it is said to have been enormous, 

 some hives producing as much as 200 

 weight of honey. 



1. The success of the floating apiary 

 consisted only in expending several 

 thousand dollars, from which no ade- 

 quate return was received. 



2. There was no "vessel constructed 

 to contain 2,000 hives." Mr. Perrine, 

 to whom allusion is made, had about 

 600 colonies of bees in his floating 

 apiary, and they were placed upon 

 barges. 



3. He did not go as high up the river 

 as Minnesota with his bees. Finding 

 the scheme impracticable, like a pru- 

 dent man as he is, he abandoned it in 

 the neighborhood of Grafton, near the 

 mouth of the Illinois river. 



