1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



137 



usually small in numbers, it may be well, on the 

 first morning after the sheet has been removed, 

 to close the ante-room entirely, so that there can 

 be no entrance from without, until the bees from 

 the hive have filled said room. Then it may be 

 opened a little, and all will be right. To make 

 the ante-room, take two blocks, from one to two 

 inches thick, and about five inclies square, and 

 place a corner of each against the hive on each 

 side of the enti'ance; bring the other two corners 

 nearly together, then cover them on top, and the 

 work is done. The bottom board should extend 

 beyond these blocks, so as to give the bees an 

 alighting board. The shape of the blocks will 

 be a guide to them, to enter at the right place. 

 As the danger of fighting decreases, these 

 blocks may be put further apart, till removed 

 altogether. 



The above mode of preventing robbing is 

 given by Mr. C. Dadant, in the April number of 

 the Bee .lournal, vol. V., page 204, and I con- 

 sider it of importance enough to be worth re- 

 publishing. F>esides, a correspondent in the 

 last Journal asks for such information. 1 tried 

 the above with three hives, that were being 

 robbed last spring, in an apiary of twenty-nine 

 hives, find it worked to my satisfaction. Last 

 fall, in preparing for winter, while there was no 

 honey to be gathered, and bees consequently 

 most inclined to rob. I have given to a hive a 

 quart of sugar syrup in the morning, while the 

 weather was warm, and no harm followed ; and 

 this fall, while there was no honey to be gathered, 

 my bees threatened to fight, but something in the 

 form of the above house, only with a side open- 

 ing, effectually prevented harm, as robber bees 

 do not like to be cornered. 



Mr. Editor, I wish through the Journal to re- 

 quest corresi^ondents of the same, not to tear on 

 eaclh other, for we are brethren. Whatever is 

 brought to light as an improvement in agricul- 

 ture, be it patented or otherwise, let us content 

 ourselves with showing what %ce know^ for or 

 against it. We are not all best suited with any 

 one thing. Any one who thinks he knows some- 

 thing to advance beekeeping, should be en- 

 couraged to make it public. We probably have 

 as yet heard from compax-atively lew of those 

 that take our Journal. 



Some have advised having the Journal pub- 

 lished semi-monthly, at double price ; but I 

 would advise that if all the matter truly im- 

 portant that is written is not published, the 

 Journal be sufficiently enlarged to piiblisli the 

 same, with price to cover expenses. 



By the by, where is Mr. J. H. Thomas, of 

 Ontario, whose articles we once so frequently 

 and profitably read? I should be happy, now, 

 as formerly, to hear from him. 



The honey season here this year has been so 

 bad that we do not like to talk about it. " We 

 have nothing to say." Alonzo Barnakd. 



Baiigor, Me., Oct, 11, 1871. 



[For the Americau Bee Journal.] 



Precision Wanted. 



It is really disgraceful for such a country as 

 ours to import wax or honey. We ought our- 

 selves to export thousands of tons of each every 

 year. 



Mr. Editor : — On page 6 of the July number 

 of the Journal, Novice tells us how to make his 

 queen nursery and how to apply, and then adds 

 — "You can thus cage all the queen cells in a 

 hive, without cutting a comb, and when removed 

 your comb is uninjured." I was surprised when 

 I put this and the following together — "and if 

 on the edge of the comb all the better." 



I always supposed that Novice gave practical 

 facts and teachings. Well, his teaching might 

 be true, if the cells were but sparsely situated on 

 the edge of the comb. Yet since they are often 

 huddled together in groups of half a dozen or 

 more, he would have to use the dissecting knife, 

 and reniove or mutilate some of them before his 

 cages are applied, unless indeed he cages two or 

 three of them together. Then, again, he did not 

 tell us what to do if a cell is found on each side 

 of the same comb, so that they would be en- 

 closed in the cage when in place. Perhaps the 

 queens will not get to each other through the 

 comb. Let Novice explain himself. 



I am sorry that I caused my friend Argo to 

 lose a queen, by not being a little more explicit 

 about how far to remove the nursery away from 

 the hive, when he went to let his queens loose. 

 Little did I think that he would not remember 

 the teachings of the books, and remove them far 

 enough, so that they would not make a mistake 

 about their locality and return to the wrong 

 home, as his queen did. That point should 

 always be guarded against, as some queens may 

 not be as particular as others, to mark their pre- 

 cise location, and hence may vary a few feet, if 

 deceived by a similar mark in two objects ; or, 

 as in his case, on finding her home vacated, seek 

 the nearest hive, though dissimilar in appearance, 

 since they are inclined to social and family re- 

 lations. 



Of course we should remember Mr. Argo's 

 warning, for there seem to be exceptions to gen- 

 eral rules, and there may be one in reference to 

 his queen returning to the locality from which 

 she had been removed. Still the general rule 

 holds good, if the hives, nuclei, or cages are re- 

 moved far enough from each other. 



Jewell Davis. 



Charleston, Ills. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Observations and Eeflections. 



Mr. Editor : — I am much interested in read- 

 ing your Journal. Of some things mentioned in 

 it by beekeepers I have had experience, and 

 know them to be true. Of others I will not say 

 I know them to be true, neither will I say they 

 are false, for I have no means of testing them to 

 a certainty, 



I have the impression from some source that 

 those who have made the honey bee a study, 

 state the queen in her bridal flight mates with 

 only one drone, and never after that mates again. 

 How this is known I am at a loss to learn. If 



