94 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



For the past few days bees have gathered honey 

 rapidly here, and many stocks that I had made 

 up my mind to feed, will winter without feeding* 



We are looking for a good season next year. 

 We have had plenty of rain during the summer, 

 and white clover will be abundant. Have sent 

 out 650 queens this season, and never had bet- 

 ter luck in raising them. H. Alley. 



Wenham, Mas*., September 16. 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The September Journal. 



We were much pleased to know that friend 

 Dadant has reached fiurope in good health, with- 

 out meeting any accident to mar the pleasure of 

 his journey. 



We do most earnestly hope that he may be 

 successful in his endeavors to procure and safely 

 bring to our shores, a large numb: r of choice 

 Italian queens. Believing, as we firmly do, that 

 the Italian bee, in its purity, is far greatly su- 

 perior in almost every respect, to our native 

 black bees, we can fully appreciate the great ben- 

 efit that will result from the success of the un- 

 dertaking. Again, wo recognize the need of a 

 new importation of pure queens, selected by a 

 good judge of pure Italian been, fiom the fact that 

 it is with the greatest difficulty that we are able 

 to procure pure queens. 



Is it possible that Novice has turned his at- 

 tention to the bee-hive business, and set his wits 

 at work to invent a "new hive?" So it seems, 

 and then it duly takes three columns of the 

 Journal to describe its simple features; another 

 proof that those things which are the simplest 

 and most readily understood when seen, are not 

 always the easiest to fully describe. But we see 

 that Novice has invented a new wholesale bee- 

 feeder, which is making quite a sensation in the 

 apiarian world. A few days ago, we received a 

 letter from a prominent New York beekeeper, 

 who asked: "How do you like Novice's new 

 bee- feeder ? Is he not going to extremes'?" 

 Well, perhaps so; but we hope it maybe only, 

 to prove a benefit to those of us who move more 

 slowly. 



Do not be afraid, friend Novice, that your ar- 

 ticles will get too long ; we always read them the 

 first thing after cutting and sewing the Journal ; 

 and very many of our readers no doubt do the 

 same. 



Sorry to learn that our friend, the Miller, (who 

 is not a moth-miller), has had so much trouble. 

 The best way to keep clear of the bees when run- 

 ning the honey slinger, in our opinion, is to make 

 a small frame large enough -to operate in, and 

 cover it with musquito netting. Place it in the 

 shade of some tree, convenient to the apiary. 

 Of course it must have a close fitting door on 

 one side. We see that many who use the Mel- 

 extractor, claim they can run the machine any- 

 where without being annoyed by the bees. But 

 we cannot ; perhaps our be^s possess a better 

 taste for stolen sweets than those of others. 



The articles which friend Gallup mentions as 

 possessing real merit, are, we doubt not, of prac 

 tical value. We, too, are using, some tilings 



which we like very much. Gray & Winder's 

 new safe queen cages have given us the greatest 

 satisfaction. Since we last wrote you, we have 

 procured one of their new honey extractors — the 

 No. 1 machine— and having tested it quite thor- 

 oughly, we must say that it suits us first-rate. 

 It requires hut very little labor to turn it, start- 

 ing and stopping easily ; does its work as thor- 

 oughly as any ; and by using a simple device 

 which we add, will not injure newly made combs. 

 Moreover, it can be easily cleaned, and when not 

 in use, protected from files, dust, &c. 



The Beebe-feeder, we find to be just the very 

 best thing of the kind we have ever tried; es- 

 pecially is it valuable for stimulating the rearing 

 of brood, and this is the principal use we make 

 of any bee feeder. If we wish to feed and have 

 it stored in the combs, the quickest, easiest and 

 surest method is we think, to pour the food di- 

 rectly in the combs 



And, ihen, there is one thing that has puzzled 

 many others as well as ourselves, and that is a 

 good bee hive. After trying many of the best 

 ones that were patented, we went to work to see 

 if we could not remedy some of the difficulties 

 that lay in our path. We wanted to use but one 

 style or size of frame, but those we used did not 

 suit us. We wanted our frames so arranged 

 that they could not get out of place nor swng 

 and slide about when transporting bees or honey 

 to market. We did not like the space around 

 the frames, nor the facilities given the bees to 

 glue and wax themselves fast. We also found 

 that in order to accomplish the easy and rapid 

 handling of the frames, they must admit of re- 

 moval without being lifted out of the top of the 

 hive. After having devised a plan that would 

 surmount all these difficulties, we lound that 

 "our hive" was subject to the patent of Mr. J. 

 M. Beebe, whose hive was accidently brought to 

 our notice. We have since adopted his improved 

 hive, having modified it to suit our own notions, 

 and now have a hive that is as much ahead of 

 Novice's latest, (we have used hives just like his, 

 except the entrance), as his is better than the 

 old box or gum, at least so we think and many 

 others say. 



We have used Novice's honey knife, which 

 an- wers our purpose the best of any we have 

 tried. No hot water is required, and it does its 

 work well. But we think that Mr. Heller's 

 method will be found much the best. 



Dr. Jewell Davis' queen nursery we like very 

 much, as it enables us to keep on hand a supply 

 of extra queens, the value of which is well known. 



We wish we could say as much of the fertiliz- 

 ing attachment. Has any one succeeded with 

 it? If so, will they please report. 



We cannot agree with Heir Schonfelds's 

 "Theory of Wintering," as translated from the 

 Bienenzviung. His fears of the danger of ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold are, in our climate, 

 groundless. If bees are to be wintered in a cold 

 atmosphere, they must be strong in numbers and 

 kept well ventilated, to prevent the accumula- 

 tion of frost in the hive. Several years ago, 

 while residing in western New York, one of our 

 neighbors, by way of experiment, set an old box 

 hive, which had a large crack, some three inches 



