clean the hive ; sprinkle strong peppermint 

 water in it, then take each comb and sepa- 

 rately sprinkle it and set back in the hive ; 

 then wet the bees thoroughly and pour down 

 at entrance of hive, and as they are going 

 in dip the queen in peppermint water and a 

 little honey, and let her go in with the bees. 

 In this way I have never lost a queen, and 

 have had them depositing eggs the next 

 day. There are other things 1 might write 

 about, but give way to older lights. 



G. B. Olney. 



Big River Mills, Mo., Aug. 30, 1879. 

 The season here has been unusually dry 

 from the beginning of spring till August 1st. 

 Bees have stored no surplus honey, while 

 some are in a starving condition. Those 

 which swarmed have become weak, and I 

 have doubled some, and expect to double up 

 more. Flowers are yielding abundantly at 

 present, and bees are storing rapidly ; they 

 are profuse around the oak trees, and seem 

 to be at work on the twigs where the leaves 

 grow out. I think they gather honey-dew 

 off the leaves. I saw a hornet catch a bee a 

 few days ago ; it killed it as quickly as if it 

 had been a fly. Bumble-bees have been 

 going into the hives this season and helping 

 themselves. I think I shall make the en- 

 trances smaller. I have 28 colonies at pre- 

 sent, 2 of which are Italians. We know 

 nothing more about extractors here than we 

 have learned from the Journal, as there is 

 not one anywhere in the country. Can 

 frames 9x14, and 10 inches square be extrac- 

 ted with the same extractor ? How tall does 

 melilot clover grow, what is it fit for besides 

 bee-pasturage, and when should it and al- 

 sike clover be sown ? S. G. Haile. 



[Most of the extractors on sale will extract 

 from combs of both sizes mentioned. Melilot 

 clover grows from 2 to 4 feet high ; has 

 bloomed with us from June 10th to Sep- 

 tember 1 ; it is said to furnish good pastur- 

 age, and make good fodder if cut before it 

 becomes too "woody" ; it is better sown in 

 the fall, but it will grow from spring sow- 

 ing. Alsike clover should be sown early in 

 the spring with timothy ; five to seven lbs. 

 of seed to the acre.— Ed.] 



Park's Corners, 111., Sept. 22, 1879. 

 As reports seem to be in order, 1 will send 

 mine. I started last spring with 10 colonies 

 — 7 Italians, 3 blacks, in rather poor con- 

 dition; have increased to 38 good strong colo- 

 nies ; had my stakes set for 50, but the 

 white clover all dried up just about swarm- 

 ing time, so I had to go a little slow. We 

 had a good yield of clover honey early, but 

 the drouth cutoff most all supplies, so much 

 so, that my bees went to work and converted 

 their homes into butcher-shops, by killing 

 off their drones, and stopped rearing brood, 

 but when buckwheat blossomed, all went 

 well again. The sign changed, and the 

 fragrant smell of buckwheat told us that 

 our pets were again at work for us. As 1 

 run them on the increase, 1 did not get a 

 very large amount of honey, but more than 

 my box-hive neighbors, both extracted and 



box honey. Some here say that they did 

 not get a pound of honey this seasou. I use 

 the Langstroth hive, and shall use all Ital- 

 ian bees, as they are moth-proof every time 

 for me. But how can I winter my nuclei 

 and save all my queens in them, as I have a 

 few beauties ? Success to the American 

 Bee Journal. D. G. Webster. 



Huntsville, Ala., Sept. 10, 1879. 

 Enclosed find samples of plants on which 

 I found the bees busily at work. No. 1 

 grows about a foot high ; main stem about 

 4 inches from the ground, sends out side 

 branches to the number of 15 or 20 ; the 

 stems resemble common plantain ; takes 

 kindly to hard tramped ground, such as 

 barn-yards and roadsides. No. 2 I found on 

 the side of a low mountain in great abun- 

 dance, the tallest about 2 feet high ; has 

 a mint smell. The bees were making merry 

 music on it. No. 3 stands 3 feet high ; is 

 called " snow on the mountain ;" is planted 

 in yards and gardens for ornament. The 

 center of the leaf is green bordered with 

 white; has the appearance of being covered 

 with snow; when broken a milky substance 

 oozes out ; is not equal to the first two as a 

 honey plant. Please give names as they 

 are all new to me. John R. Lee. 



[No. 3 is one of the cultivated Euphor- 

 bias. The leaf is variegated. The Euphor- 

 bias are much admired as ornamental 

 plants. No. 2 is a Verbena. The stem is 

 too short to enable one to give the species. 

 No. 1 is a mint.— A. J. Cook.] 



Hopkinsville, Ky., Aug. 13, 1879. 

 This has been one of the worst years for 

 honey we have had in this section for many 

 years. I have 21 colonies, all in 2-story 

 Langstroth hives, and so far have not taken 

 a pound of honey. Bees will secure a sup- 

 ply for winter in September, from a white- 

 top weed, I do not know name of it. It 

 yields abundantly, but it >s very strong, 

 hardly fit for use. In 1S77 my yield from 10 

 colonies was 1,100 lbs. ; sold at 15 to 25c. I 

 purchased from Chas. Dadant one of his 

 choice queens in June. At first I was not 

 pleased with her, but since the brood has 

 matured, 1 would not take double the price 

 for her I paid. Will Italianize my colonies 

 from her. Am raising queens now, but the 

 trouble is to get drones at this scarce season 

 of the year. Will some one tell me how to 

 secure good drones in August and Septem- 

 ber? Long live the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. R. M. Anderson. 



Richmond, Ind., Aug 13, 1879. 

 This has been a poor season for bees in 

 this vicinity. There are, I think, too many 

 bees for the amount of forage. There are 

 not less than 300 colonies of bees within 2 

 miles of this city, and our white clover and 

 basswood were both cut short by the drouth. 

 The best yield I have heard of was 35 lbs. 

 from a single colony. I think the average 

 yield in this vicinity will be not more than 

 8 lbs. to the colony. We all use the Lang- 

 stroth hive. I winter in cellar ; have never 

 lost a colony. I always feed my late swarms 



