82 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[August, 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Cheer from Tennessee. 



]\Ir. Editor : — I am certain that I like to read 

 the Journal as well as Novice or "any other 

 man," and will now try my hand at writing a 

 few lines for it. (I wish I could write as well as 

 Novice.) 



I was much interested in his account of two 

 queens in one hive But why did he not give us 

 his theory concerning it? He must have some 

 ideas about it. and knows how to put them in 

 writing as well as any one I know of. 



I will relate the case of the only hive that ever 

 came under my observation, in which there were 

 two queens together any length of time ; and 

 will watch the Journal to see if Novice's case 

 proves to be a parallel one. It was in a stock 

 having a very choice queen from Langstroth, — 

 in '69 or '70. The bees began building queen 

 cells, which were proniply cut out, and used. 

 This continued for more than two months, as 

 they kept supplying the place of those taken out. 

 When it was observed that the queen began to 

 fail, the bees were allowed to rear another, which 

 became fertile and performed her motherly office, 

 side by side with the "old lady" for about a 

 month, when the old queen was removed to a 

 nucleus, where she continued laying eggs until 

 she became too feeble to keep her hold on the 

 comb- thus fairly dying in the harness. 



I was somewhat interested in Gallup's article 

 on page 12 — not enough, however, to send him 

 the "almighty dollar;" for the Langstroth hive 

 is good enough for me. But I am anxious to 

 know W'hat you charge for that kind oj advertue- 

 ment, as I may some day have an axe to grind, 

 and would most certainly prefer space in the 

 reading columns to the outside pages ! But I 

 am not complaining, for your splendid paper 

 contains many valuable articles that are not ad- 

 vertisements. The one on artificial swarming, 

 on page 23,* is worth any bee-keepers' five years 

 subscription to the Journal. Hurrah for volume 

 seventh ! 



W. E. L. 



Tennessee. 



* That article is from the pen of an esteemed cor- 

 respoudent of the Journal, whose contributious have 

 of late been " fe v aud far between." May we not 

 Lope that he will let the former spirit revive, and not 

 content himself with merely thinking ? 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Notes, from Clark County, Indiana. 



Having been a close reader of the Journal for 

 the past twelve months, I feel now that I cannot 

 well "keep house" among my bees without it. 

 While I am inclined to think that some at least 

 of the prominent contributors to its columns 

 luive more in view the advertisement of their own 

 private wares, than the promotion of the inter- 

 ests of the bee-keeping public ; yet I am free to 

 admit that I have gathered many invaluable sug- 

 gestions from its perusal during one short year. 



With my renewal for another year, I send a few 

 notes for publication, provided the editor shall 

 deem them Avorthy. 



My first experience with bees was in the spring 

 of 1868. I had heard and read so much of the 

 large things others had done with bees, that I 

 determined to try my "luck," believing that 

 what others had done, I could do. I commenced 

 with a single black stock, taken from a tree in 

 the woods. To this I added by purchase several 

 others, until my outlay for bees, hives, and the 

 Langstroth right, had about reached seventy-five 

 (75) dollars. I had no increase of stocks, and 

 no surplus honey. In the fall, the great e])!- 

 demic broke into my ajiiary, as it did into all 

 others in this region ; and before the middle of 

 the following winter, I had not a bee left to tell 

 the tale of my folly. 



Thus eudeth chapter first of my bee experi- 

 ence. 



In the spring of 1870, conforming my actions 

 to the old saw that "the best place to find a 

 thing is where it was lost," I invested again in 

 five weak black stocks. These I Italianized, and 

 by artificial swarming, I succeeded during the 

 season in doubling my stocks, but yet got no 

 surplus honey. This was not very encoui-aging, 

 but was so much better than my first effort that 

 I was willing to "try again." 



On the 23d of November I went into winter 

 quarters with ten stocks, none very strong in 

 either bees or stores. They were all in the shal- 

 low Langstroth hive. I stored them away in my 

 cellar, first taking off the caps, and slipping four- 

 penny nails under the honey-boards, to give up- 

 ward ventilation, and then piled them uj), one 

 on the other. And right here I wish to acknowl- 

 edge specially the benefit I have received from 

 one suggestion made in the American Bee 

 Journal, in regard to the ventilation of cellars. 

 Although my cellar was dug in a bed of flint 

 gravel, yet everything I put in it in the winter 

 would soon be badly affected with mildew. Some 

 one in the Journal suggested ventilation from 

 the bottom. The idea struck me as a reasonable 

 one. I already had a flue built in the wall down 

 to within eighteen inches of the bottom, at which 

 point was an opening for the reception of a stove 

 pijDe from the cellar ; but I had never had a 

 stove connected with this flue, from above. At 

 the commencement of last winter, I turned the 

 pipe from the stove of my dining-room, which 

 is immediately above the cellar, into this flue. 

 This, of course, created a strong draft in the 

 flue, so much that at times a light piece of pai)er 

 would be drawn up from the opening in the 

 cellar. In my cellar thus arranged, I stored my 

 bees, in addition to the other articles I usually 

 keep in that jilace. It is enough to say that, 

 during the entire winter, I never discovered the 

 least appearance of mould on anything in the 

 cellar. Out of ten hives I think there was not 

 half a pint of dead bees ; and when I returned 

 them to their summer stands, on the 10th of 

 March, were as dry and clean as when put away, 

 nearly four months before. Hereafter I shall 

 ventilate my cellar from the bottom, whether I 

 store bees in it or not. 



Now for my "luck" the present season. The 



