1S71.] 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



to 



same stands they occupied the previous year. 

 This must be a decided advantage over having 

 the hives numbered in the ordinary way, as one 

 changes often (at least in the spring, witli the 

 Langstroth hives) a colony entire from one hive 

 to anotlier, and then, if the number on the hive 

 cannot be changed, it makes trouble with the 

 record. 



At the time of my visit he was experimenting 

 in the direction of comb-making. Whether he 

 has made a success of it, or whether the patent 

 of Mr. Wagner covers the whole ground, the Bee 

 Journal does not say. I had much hoped that 

 before this time we could buy comb foundations. 

 When can we have them ? If they can be sold as 

 low as has been hinted, I want tive hundred of 

 them. 



Novice's queen nurseries I have tried, and 

 have failed with them — the bees gnaAving them 

 out of the comb. Perhaps I put tliem in in a 

 blundering way. I have tried his cloth covers or 

 quilts, instead of hoiiey boards, and so far am 

 highly pleased with them. I have used news- 

 papers in them instead of cotton batting*, and it 

 answers a very good purpose. I think very few 

 would use wooden honey boards after trying the 

 cloth ones. That one item I consider of more 

 value than a year's subscription to the Journal. 



B. LUNDERER. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Visit to Mr. Alley. 



Having business in Boston during the month 

 of August, I was glad of the oi)i;)ortunity of visit- 

 ing the apiary of Mr. Alley, in Wenham. I 

 have generally found that the true lover of his 

 bees is an accessible, genial kind of person. I 

 was sure of a welcome from my friend though a 

 stranger, and was not disapijointed. A short 

 half mile from the station, the long array of 

 hives scattered through an orchard of pear trees 

 laden with delicious fruit at once i)ointed out to 

 me the residence of Mr. Alley, and a cordial re- 

 cexjtion from his wite soon made me feel at home. 



]Mr. Alley was absent, and waiting his return, 

 I strolled among the hives. 



Two hundred hives in full working order is a 

 sight to gladden the heart of an apiarian at any 

 time ; but here, where all were Italians, the 

 sight of the golden rings of the bees gleaming in 

 the sun, was a pleasure indeed. 



Mr. Alley soon returned with a wagon load of 

 hives well tilled with 'common) bees ; and after 

 a cordial invitation to dinner, enlivened by a 

 niost interesting and instructive "bee talk," I 

 had the pleasure of seeing thousands of bees 

 handled in a way Avhich would astonish some of 

 our friends, who are so ready to run at the buzz 

 of one. 



As it may interest some of the readers of the 

 Journal, I will give a bi'ief account of the way in 

 which nucleus colonies are made. 



Carefully raising the top of a hive, a good 

 whift' of smoke (his fumigator, by the way, is the 

 best 1 have ever seen) is blown in, and after a 

 short pause, comb after comb is lifted or cut 

 out and the bees brushed off with a lijiht whisk 



broom into an empty box, the bees clustering 

 together in the most amiable quiet manner. In 

 this instance the bees from eight or ten nucleus 

 hives who had fulfilled their mission, were also 

 brushed in, making one united family. I thought, 

 as I sat by, if discordant human creatures, who 

 oftentimes have so much venom, could thus be 

 shaken up together, and made to be of one mind, 

 what a good thing it would be. 



The queen was of course destroyed. And 

 now, with a long-handled dipper, the bees, like 

 so many berries, were measured out into the 

 small hives until all were disposed of ; the hives, 

 one by one, set aside, each with its combs, to be 

 ready in three days to i-eceive its comb of Italian 

 eggs. 



I saw the mothers of these eggs, and there 

 was no room for doubt as to their beauty and 

 size — the handsomest queens lever looked upon. 

 If an exception could be made it was the directly 

 imported ones ; but only the keen eye of Mr. 

 Alley would find a blemish — if blemish there was. 



Of Mr. Alley's hive I can only say that, after 

 seeing one taken apart, — full of bees — the ease 

 with which it was done, and the regularity of 

 the combs, it seemed to deserve all the j^raise it 

 has received. Certainly the ready access to the 

 main hive, in the full working season, is a great 

 desideratum ; and if side working boxes are as 

 successful as supers, or boxes on top, then there 

 is nothing more to be wished for. 



For wintering, the hive has important desira- 

 ble features, viz. : the iiower of concentration and 

 protection (with the side boxesj from extremes 

 of heat and cold. 



After such a bee-lesson, I returned to Boston 

 with a most pleasant recollection of my day's ex- 

 perience. 



It seems to be a favorite expression with some 

 of the correspondents of the Journal, that they 

 have "no axe to grind." I certainly have none, 

 and do not care to grind any body else's axe ; but 

 I do hope that such a good friend of the Journal, 

 and such a good apiarian, may have (which has 

 not always been the case) a fair trial and ample 

 justice. D. C. MiLLETT. 



Holmesburg, Pa. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Mr, Alley a Fair Dealer. 



Dear Journal :— If I knew half as much 

 about bees, as some who write for your columns 

 think they do, I would have written you a letter 

 long since. But, having a wonderful stock of 

 modesty, and not knowing anything strange or 

 interesting to tell, I have kept still. I would 

 not have spoken even now, had it not been that 

 I think Dr. C. N. Austin puts the case rather 

 hard against Mr. Alley. I have had some deal- 

 ings with Mr. Alley, and have found him a 

 perfect gentleman. I am not sure that there are 

 many other queen raisers quite as honorable. 

 Last summer I sent to him for a couple of queens. 

 He answered that he had so many orders to fill, 

 that he was afraid that it would be too late 

 before he could supply me. I insisted that he 



