44 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[August, 



till he can eat no more, and leaves the rest. Bat 

 if others are with him, he cuts a square piece 

 of hark, and after having his part of the hive as 

 a reward for his exertion, brings clown a mass 

 of honey and comb mixed up together, which 

 though not inviting, is greedily devoured by his 

 partners below. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bees in Pella, Iowa. 



Dear Bee Journal : — Many a heartache have 

 we had since we last addressed you, in conse- 

 quence of losing so many of our bees. 



We had heard and read of bee cholera, but 

 hoped we never should see its effects ; but vain 

 was our hope, for it made its appearance among 

 our bees in the latter part of last winter, and 

 many stocks were dead before we were aware of 

 its presence. We removed the living stocks to 

 their summer stands, cleaned them out, and fed 

 sugar syrup, but many stocks died after being 

 taken from the cellar. 



When the disease disappeared, we had only 

 thirteen (13) hives with bees in them ; some had 

 enough bees to cover five (•>) frames of comb, 

 and others had not more than sufficient to cover 

 three frames, we had but four (4) stocks that 

 did not show signs of the disease. 



At this writing (July 8th) we have nineteen 

 full stocks, and fourteen (14) nuclei of three (3) 

 frames each, and two (2) glass nuclei of one 

 frame each. Our bees have no comb to build 

 this season, as there was good comb and plenty 

 of honey left in the hives by the bees that died. 



We are now raising queens from those im- 

 ported last fall. Owen & Ladd, Brentwood, 

 Tenn., are sadly mistaken when they suppose 

 the foreign queen raisers thought they were 

 sending queens to a Miss Morgan over here in 

 America, as we signed our name with Mrs. pre- 

 fixed, when we ordered our queens, so you see 

 there was no particular charm in the prefix. 

 But it maybe that they are partial to the weaker 

 sex, to test this matter we advise importers to 

 use the names of their better half when order- 

 ing foreign queens. Ours came all in good 

 order, and not one died during the winter, only 

 where the bees died with cholera, and no one 

 could expect a queen to live when her colony 

 were all dead. 



artificial queens. 



Our experience is quite different from that of 

 R. Miller, of Malugan's Grove, 111. It appears 

 from his article on page 270, American Bee 

 Journal, June, 1872, that not one of twenty (20) 

 queens raised artificially, lived over one year. 

 We know nothing of how he raises what he 

 calls artificial queens, but suppose he must have 

 at least one frame of comb, containing honey, 

 brood and bees, enough to cover and care for the 

 brood and queen cell inserted. 



Just the way we raised our queens the two 

 past seasons, and we have never lost one (1) 

 queen thus raised, only when the bees died of 

 disease ; have as yet never had a stock of Italian 



bees left queenless. We now have queens two 

 (2) years old just as prolific as ever they were ; 

 one in particular, that we raised last season, and 

 escaped the disease that carried off so many, 

 became very strong very early in the season ; we 

 have divided it twice, and now every sash in the 

 hive is full of brood, the outside frames not ex- 

 cepted. 



We have but little experience in the mysteries 

 of bee-culture, but think we have been rather a 

 close observer of what has transpired among 

 our own bees. 



We use three frames in nuclei this season, as 

 we find it more convenient to keep them strong 

 in bees and supplied with honey. 



We do believe queen cells should be con- 

 structed in a full stock of bees, and transferred 

 to nuclei well supplied with bees and honey. 



As this is our first communication since the 

 death of your excellent Editor, suffer us to say, 

 deeply do we sympathize with you and your 

 many readers, yet we must bow with humble 

 submission to the will of Him who rules all 

 things in wisdom. May his successor be a wise 

 and good man, and the American Bee Journal 

 increase in usefulness, and have yet a wider cir- 

 culation among beekeepers. 



K. A. D. Morgan. 



Bella, Iowa, July 8, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Eeceipts. 



Metheglin. — Honey, fourteen pounds ; warm 

 water, three gallons ; yeast, half gill ; two ounces 

 hops boiled in one quart water. Mix this water, 

 after straining out the hops, with the rest of the 

 material. Put all into a cask or demijohn, and 

 add enough water to make the whole four gal- 

 lons ; let it work three days, then bottle and tie 

 down the corks. When strong, will intoxicate. 



Mead — Same thing, only about half amount of 

 honey is used. 



Mead — Another receipt. Twelve gallons water ; 

 whites of six eggs, mix well, then add twenty 

 pounds honey ; boil one hour, then add cinna- 

 mon, ginger, cloves, mace, rosemary ; as soon as 

 cold put one spoonful yeast to it. Barrel, keep- 

 ing the vessel full as it works ; after working 

 stop close. When fine, bottle for use. 



R. H. Dixon. 



Canandaigua. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Old Combs. 



Mr. Editor :— I have for several years prac- 

 tised preserving old combs from the depredations 

 of the moth, when it is not convenient to melt 

 them up at once. Lay them in the sun until 

 they become softened, then roll them up and 

 press them with the hands into hard round balls. 

 In this condition they may be kept without loss 

 or danger for years. 



