1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



211 



public teacher, was almost impossible. My disease 

 being caused by my constant teaching during so 

 many years, I gave up my profession, and honey 

 was my only medicine, whereby I, by the simplest, 

 safest, quickest and pleasantest manner (for I was 

 fond of honey), relieved the disease in my throat; 

 and out of thankfulness I now write this book for 

 the use and benefit of many, especially for the use 

 of those suffering from diseases of the throat and 

 lungs." 



Note by Ed. A. B. J. — Many of our readers 

 will recognize the above quotation as part of an 

 article of considerable length, which appeared in 

 last November's Journal. We reproduce it here 

 under the high medical sanction of the Herald of 

 Health, in reply to enquiries made to us as to 

 whether honey is good for persons of consumptive 

 tendency. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Review of the December Journal. 



Mr. Editor: — I am again highly pleased to 

 receive the Journal. Novice leads off as usual. 

 That is all right, for if he did not we would not 

 begin to read at the first page, but turn to where 

 we found him and begin there. Novice is certain- 

 ly mistaken when he says Mr. Leuthe, and every 

 other bee-keeper, can certainly get a barrel of 

 honey from every ten stocks in the poorest season, 

 and that it looks bad to see so many correspondents 

 telling about poor seasons, "the poorest ever 

 known," &c. I did not keep an exact weight of 

 honey this season, but it was just about five hun- 

 dred and fifty pounds, from thirty-one stands, 

 in the spring, and I used the extractor exclusively 

 and more freely than I ought to have done ; though 

 the flowers were never more abundant. Never 

 did I know such abundant autumn bloom as we 

 had this year, and yet it contained no honey. 



Those who have read my article in the December 

 number, dated Sept. 10th, will see that I expected 

 to have to feed back as much as I had taken away, 

 if the then abundant bloom did not furnish the 

 bees with honey. I had to feed back in sugar 

 syrup far more than I had taken away. Honey 

 was very abundant for about two weeks at the time 

 I was extracting, so I got deceived, and, Novice- 

 like, extracted all out of almost every hive that I 

 extracted from, thinking the season would continue 

 good, and the bees would fill up again in a few 

 days. But a sudden end to the season taught me a 

 very valuable lesson, which I shall ever heed here- 

 after. That is, to always leave the four middle 

 frames, or about at least fifteen pounds of sealed 

 honey, in case the season should suddenly end. 

 Now, I would ask Novice how I could have got a 

 barrel (375 lbs.,) from every ten stands under these 

 circumstances. Does not almost every report from 

 Canada to Iowa, and also south, agree that the 

 flowers the present season contained little or no 

 honey, and has Novice forgotten that bees do not 

 make honey but gather it, and as the flowers did not 

 secrete it this year in every location, how could the 

 bees gather it ? 



Next comes the Bay State hive, that with 

 Alley's piece on page 128, I will answer to night, 

 under the head of Bee Houses. 



Dronings, in the present number, is sound in his 

 bee doctrine. 



No one will fail to read the "Chatauqua Co. 

 Bee-keepers." To notice many items of interest 

 in it would extend my present piece too long. 



C. S. Rogers wants to know from some experi- 

 enced importer .of Italians about Ed. Uhle's queens, 

 &c. I also want the same information, having 

 received two queens last year, in July and August, 

 from Uhle, and bred a lot from one of them at a 

 time when there was not a black drone living. 

 The mother and every one of her daughters were 

 pure hybrids. 



Next comes the New Idea hive. I am inclined 

 to believe from experience, though not in any new 

 idea hive, but the principle, that bees will store 

 three times as much in the main body of the hive, 

 near the brood, as they will on top with a honey 

 board intervening, or on sides with a partition 

 board. I have six double Langstroth, but never 

 got any good out of them only when I give the top 

 one empty combs to fill. If any one thinks I never 

 had the New Idea in my head before, let him come 

 here and I will show him a New Idea hive I made 

 June 1, 1870, and transferred bees into it the same 

 evening, and would not give it for any other hive in 

 my apiary. But I give Adair and Gallup the credit 

 of putting empty frames in the middle. I had never 

 thought of that which I consider the main gist of 

 the whole idea. There is still, however., a difficulty 

 to be overcome which I would like to state to Adair 

 and Gallup. When you put empty frames in, how 

 do you prevent the bees building drone comb in 

 them? In taking out full frames to make swarms 

 and replacing empty ones, in six cases out of ten, 

 I get drone comb, no matter what the age of the 

 queen is, unless I previously insert half an inch 

 thick pieces of worker comb on the top and sides 

 of the frame as gviides. 



M. Malin tells us how to get straight comb. A 

 bee-keeper is very stupid who cannot get straight 

 comb. 



Well, Mr. Cameron, I think the winds of Kansas 

 are so strong that bees will never flourish there. 

 I have sent bees there several times, and the winds 

 blow them away. 



Here is friend Novice again on page 133. He is 

 right this time, and proposes to keep right through 

 1873. This has always been my aim, to give both 

 sides, the dark as well as the bright. I did my 

 best with bees this year, and wouldn't say I got a 

 barrel from every ten stands, as Novice says I 

 could have done. As great bee men as Novice, 

 who had no better season than I did this year, will 

 say they have done no better, if as well. Did not 

 friend Burch think my calculations of the amount 

 of honey and increase of bees for this season, 

 if it was a good one, very large ? I still think I 

 can do better than that calculation in a real good 

 season, with the same number of stocks. 



My article is getting too long, so I will hurry 

 over to friend Burch on page 142, and close. 

 Well, friend Burch, do you know what you are 

 doing, when you tell us what A. C. Balch says he 

 has done by forced fertilization ? I fear it will be 



