weeks transferring bees from all kinds of 

 hives into the Gallup hive, the one 1 use. 1 

 shall transfer until October. I think I have 

 a nice way of defeating robbers where I 

 have more than one to transfer ; 1 shut up 

 the hives all but one, in the morning ; while 

 transferring that one they will get so full of 

 honey that they will not meddle with others 

 until they get cleaned up and unloaded, 

 which will take them all day. I take one 

 after another until I get through. I have 

 never been disturbed by robbers since adopt- 

 ing this plan. This season has been very 

 cool and wet. We have had no drouth at 

 all ; as we usually do. Bees are at work on 

 golden rod and aster, we have abundance of 

 them here. I think the American Bee 

 Journal, is the best investment that a bee- 

 keeper can make. W. H. Green. 



Cook's Mills, 111., Oct. 8, 1879. 

 1 send you specimen of a honey plant. 

 Please give me the name and properties. 

 A. J. Monroe. 



[The specimen sent is an aster. It is a 

 good honey plant. See "Cook's Manual," 

 page 243.— Ed.] 



Topeka, Kansas, Oct. 2, 1879. 

 I find the enclosed plant blooming on the 

 prairies about Topeka the first of October, 

 and the bees working on it. What is it ? 

 Frank Rix. 



[This, like the above, belongs to the aster 

 family of plants.— Eu.] 



Peru, 111., Oct. 25, 1879. 

 I have met with nearly all the principal 

 bee-keepers within 20 miles, representing 

 nearly 2,000 colonies of bees, (principally 

 black) and the universal cry is no surplus 

 honey. Many young swarms in this locality 

 have not gathered sufficient honey to winter 

 on ; in fact many have deserted their hives 

 during the past two months. Last year my 

 colonies averaged over 100 lbs. of honey 

 each. It was mostly extracted, and I sold 

 it from 12 to 14 cents per pound. Last win- 

 ter the loss of bees in this locality was great; 

 I lost 12 out of 69. I have in winter quar- 

 ters 90 very good colonies. 



H. S. Hackman. 



Dupont, Ind., &ept. 29, 1879. 



I send parts of 2 plants from which bees 

 are largely gathering honey of a nice golden 

 color and good flavor. 



No, 1 grows along with golden rod (soli- 

 dago), fig- 99, page 242 of "Cook's Manual," 

 and is much the same in style of growth ex- 

 cept the flower, but is much preferred by 

 the bees. 



No. 2 is known here as wire-weed, and is 

 a great nuisance in marshy meadows. It 

 will bloom and secrete honey after frost 

 sufficient to kill almost everything else. 

 S. E. O'Neel. 



[No. 1 is double-bristled aster (Diplopap- 

 pus umbellatus). This might be mistaken 

 for a true aster. 



No. 2 is Aster trndescanti, variety fragi- 

 Lis, a very common species.— W. J. Beal.] 



Knowlersville, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1879. 

 Last winter I put 90 colonies in my bee- 

 house ; left 60 on summer stands ; lost 28 

 colonies, most of which were of those win- 

 tered out-of-doors. Sold 1 colony, leaving 

 121 (20 of which were very weak, the rest 

 in good condition) to commence the season 

 with. We had considerable of unfavorable 

 weather during the yield of honey, but the 

 result, on the whole, is quite satisfactory- 

 Swarming commenced May 22, and con- 

 tinued until July 18, with but little Lnterup- 

 tion. As high as 16 swarms issued in ojie 

 day. I had about 150 swarms, part of which 

 were returned, leaving the total number of 

 colonies now at 200. I have taken 9,650 lbs. 

 of comb and 1,385 lbs. of extracted honey, 

 total amount 11,035 lbs.: 7,000 lbs. of this 

 was gathered from buckwheat, the rest from 

 clover, basswood, &c. W. I). Wright. 



Los Gatos, Cal., Nov. 12, 1879. 



I commenced in the spring with 45 colo- 

 nies ; 39 Italians and hybrids, and 15 blacks. 

 I increased to 61, all from Italians and hy- 

 brids ; and almost all the honey 1 obtained, 

 was from them. It was a rather poor sea- 

 son, although I did very well for the season 

 —3,905 lbs. of extracted noney. I think I 

 should have had a full thousand pounds 

 more, had it not been for drone-rearing, but 

 being a cold spring the bees took possession 

 of the upper part of hives which contained 

 a large amount of drone comb and we had 

 to slice an immense quantity of drones. I 

 think I shall try floor oil cloth for covering 

 frames, and so keep the heat, queen and 

 brood below, and have the upper combs 

 worker, thus preventing drone rearing. 

 Have any of your readers tried floor oil- 

 cloth under the covers and for division 

 boards ? I get second-hand cloth and find 

 nothing as good, the bees cannot gnaw 

 through it. 



I have a very convenient atmospheric 

 feeder made of two oyster cans one, % of an 

 inch larger than the other ; I make them my- 

 self ; I can make one in about 5 minutes ; 

 the cans cost nothing but picking up at the 

 hotels ; they work perfectly inside or out. 

 The feeders are made by melting off one end 

 of each ; filling the small one ; turn it bot- 

 tom up,, in the large one. After cutting a 

 hole in the large one, Mxl)£ and % inch 

 from the bottom, for the bees to enter. 

 Where used outside, make it so that the 

 bees can enter the hole from the entrance, 

 and none get in from outside, and put a 

 cover on the outside can. The cover is 

 made by cutting off the can same size cut- 

 ting the rim which is % inch deep about 

 every inch ; pressing out the rim so as to 

 open the cuts a little, and it will slip on and 

 answer just as well as if made by a tinner. 



Perhaps this may help some to keep combs 

 from melting down. My Langstroth hives 

 are made with ventilators in the center of 

 the bottom 3xS, and covers nailed at each 

 end to pieces 1x3, and when the hot weather 

 comes I raise up the covers by nailing a lath 

 on the under edge of the end pieces, at each 

 end, and putting it on top of hive, putting 

 on burlap sacks, so that the cover is 3 inches 

 above the sack. I have never had but 3 

 combs melted. 1 acknowledge that I am 



