190 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Feb., 



Many of my farmer neighbors complain because the 

 money-lender asks twenty per cent, for the use of his 

 money, and say they can't make that at farming. 

 Bees are the fellows for me. They board themselves 

 and work for nothing. — Dk. D. L. Lewis. 



SoLxn KorALTON, Vt., Jan. 6.— We did not have 

 an average yield of box honey, in this section, the 

 past season, and next to no swarming. A large por- 

 tion of the box honey was of poor quality, dark, and 

 bitter, the product of "aphides " or plant lice, and 

 the so-called honey dew. In some towns, however, 

 bees did well, storing a fine quality and a fair amount. 

 Four-fifths of the beekeepers are using the Langstroth 

 hive, pure and simjule ; and -the remainder are fast 

 coraing into the ranks.— D. C. Hunt. 



Winchester, Va., Jan. 8.— Our bees started in the 

 spring as finely as we ever saw them ; and with the 

 abundance of fruit bloom we had, I looked for many 

 swarms. But out of eighty colonies of black bees 

 and eight colonies of Italians, I had only two swarms 

 of blacks and two of Italians. They worked finely 

 on white clover, alsike clover, and blue thistle, 

 until the 15th of July. After that time. I do not 

 think they made any honey, as I put one stand on a 

 pair of scales, the 20th of May, and they never in- 

 creased an ounce in weight after the l5lh of July. 

 The largest amount of honey stored in one day was 

 three and a quarter {'d{) pounds outhe oth of June. 

 The largest amount of honey got from one stock of 

 black bees was seventy-one (71) pounds; and the 

 largest amount from an Italian stock was one huu- 

 dred and six (106) pounds, in twelve pound boxes 

 with glass sides. I use the Langstroth movable comb 

 hive ; and like it better than any I have ever tried. I 

 have never had my colonies heavier in honey than 

 they are this winter. Some of my friends recom- 

 mend me to take some of the honey from them, but I 

 think I shall let them alone.— B. F. Montgomeky. 



Vermontville, Mich., Jan. 9.— My success has 

 been indiffbrent, thus far ; and my bees, I find, ap- 

 proximate closely to the cost of Horace Greeley's 

 turnips. I have sixteen colonies in my apiary, all 

 in Langstroth hives ; one colony of pure Italians, the 

 remainer blacks. I hope, however, to be able to give 

 you a better report hereafter. — H. J. Martin. 



Blairstown, Iowa, Jan. 15. — I have kept bees for 

 only two years. I commenced with three stands in 

 box hives, on shares, and put eleven in movable 

 frame hives, in my cellar this fall. I use the Lang- 

 stroth hive, only dcejier than the usual form. Mine 

 are 14 inches wide, 15| deep, and lU high. I like 

 this form better for this windy prairie.— H. D. Moel- 



LEIi. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Tennessee Apiarian Society and Outside Talk. 



Mk. Editob : — In the December number of 

 the Journal, Mr. W. R. King, of Milton, Ky., 

 in speaking of the Apiarian Exhibition at the 

 Tennessee Agricultural and Mechanical Associa- 

 tion Fair, recently held at this place, in which 

 he had entered his "Triumph " hive, says : 



"As I was a stranger, and a long way from 

 home, I kept quiet and looked on, listening to 

 outsiders, and it was tlie general talk that the 

 Tennessee Apiarian Society did not intend that 

 the Langstroth hive should be beat, for their 

 President owns the State of Tennessee for that 

 hive ; besides, they had adopted it, as a society, 



and they mean to hold on to it, no matter what 

 better hive may be shown them." 



Now, as this does very great injustice to the 

 Tennessee Apiarian Society, I desire, as a mem- 

 ber of this Society and as one of the superin- 

 tendents of the Apiarian Department, to totally 

 deny that any such feeling existed in the Society. 

 My relation to the Society is such that such a ques- 

 tion could hardly be discussed where I would not 

 hear it, as I probably see more of the members 

 between times of meetings than any other mem- 

 ber, and 1 can assure Mr. King that I have never 

 heard one word spoken, as outsiders inform him. 

 The only thing that gives the least plausibility 

 to any partiality for the Langstroth hive, is the 

 fact that, some three or four years ago, the 

 Society adopted a resolution recommending the 

 the u.se of the Langstroth hive. At that time 

 the right to this State was owned by Mr. Otis, 

 and not by Dr. Hamlin, the President of the 

 Society. He only purchased the right of the 

 State about one year ago. There have been ad- 

 ditions to the Society since then, and no one has 

 any right to infer what hive would be endorsed 

 by a vote of the Society now. And right here 

 a few facts in regard to the status of some of the 

 members of our Society will go far to refute the 

 outside talk referred to by Mr. King. The Vice 

 President of our Society prefers the Adair hive ; 

 another member of the Society uses the Adair 

 hive, and owns the patent right for this county ; 

 another uses what he calls the " Tennessee Im- 

 proved " hive, which was in competition with 

 other hives at the Fair ; and still another has an 

 invention of his own (a side-opening and side- 

 surplus box hive), which he uses exclusively, and 

 will introduce it soon. Two others use both the 

 "Buckeye" and the "Langstroth" hives; and 

 two others use the " Alley " and " Langstroth " 

 hives. To any one acquainted with the number 

 of active members of our Society, this will be 

 conclusive evidence that they are not so wedded 

 to the Langstroth hive as to turn out in a body 

 to prevent any other hive from taking a pre- 

 mium. 



Now I have not the least doubt that Mr. King 

 heard just such talk as he states, for I have 

 heard the spirit of it myself, but I doubt if it 

 was very general, or if a single person, not in- 

 terested in other hives spoke of it. 



There is a certain hive in use in this part of the 

 country, called the "Buckeye." Two or three 

 years ago, at the Fair held at the same place, 

 the Langstroth hive, entered by Dr. Hamlin, took 

 the premium over the Buckeye. The Buckeye 

 parties chose to believe that this premium was 

 awarded to the man and not to the hive, Dr. 

 Hamlin being the most prominent apiarian in 

 the State, and they have declined to enter their 

 hive for premium since. I do not allude to this 

 to open any discussion as to the fairness or un- 

 fairness of the award, as it was before my bee 

 days ; but only to account for this present out- 

 side talk Mr. King heard so' much of. I have 

 several good friends interested in the "Buck- 

 eye " hive, and after I was appointed one of the 

 superintendents of the Apiarian Department, 

 knowing their feeliirgs about it, I tried to in- 

 duce them to exhibit their hive, honey, &c., for 



