236 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[April, 



Friend "Novice," I am going to repeat just your 

 words: "I don't say what I have above to injure 

 your wares, but only wish to add my mite for the gen- 

 eral information of all concerned." 



Now, for an experiment, let a man set up the busi- 

 ness and commence with our movable comb hives and 

 boxes, and then send and get one of those "two-story 

 tea-kettle feeder-honey -knife-extractors-without-bot- 

 tom-metallic-corner quilts and iron-block," with all 

 the other "jim-crack" notions, and if he don't find 

 the simple hive, with boxes, the cheapest, most profit- 

 able and the easiest in the end, then I am mistaken. 

 "Novice" claims to have extra good success in bee- 

 keeping. I wonder if his neighbors do the same? 

 Of course such good success must be contagious in 

 that vicinity. 1 never knew that some bee-keepers 

 abandoned the pursuit in disgust, some ten years since, 

 on account of getting so little box-honey. Nearly all 

 the bee-keepers in the State of New York have their 

 honey stored in boxes, and send it to market by the 

 ton. Consider for a moment the vast amount of box 

 honey Quinby has sent to the New York market in 

 boxes. I wonder if he didn't find it profitable keep- 

 ing bees before "two-story Langstroth Hives, tea- 

 kettle-feeders and honey-extractors" were invented ? 

 I wonder if those bee-keepers in New York who send 

 their honey to Boston in small boxes don't find it 

 profitable to have their honey put up in that style. 



The man who undertakes to make bee-keepers 

 believe that the use of the extractor is the only way 

 to a fortune in bee-keeping, has got a big job on his 

 hands, until he first convinces the people that all 

 liquid honey is "simon pure." I shall cling to the 

 opinion that the use of small boxes is the safest, 

 easiest and only way to make bee-keeping profitable. 



Why is it that "Novice" feels obliged to answer all 

 questions of private correspondents through the col- 

 umns of the Journal? Would it not be just as well 

 to reply through the Journal only to those who 

 asked through the same? I would like to see the 

 names, in the Journal, of all that long list of persons 

 who have asked his opinion of the Bay State Hive. 



H. Alley. 



Wenham, Mass., Dec. 3, 1872. 



P. S. I wish all those who have purchased hives 

 of me to send me their name and address, as I intend 

 to give each of them an individual right to make and 

 use the Bay State Hive. H. A. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Of the Bees that Were, and a Few Questions 

 to Hosmer. 



In the February number, page 187, I find an 

 article from Mr. Hosmer, discussing the disastrous 

 mortality of bees last winter. He lays it all to the 

 old bees. I hardly think that fair. He says they 

 did not breed late enough in the fall to winter an 

 army of young bees. We had 46 stocks last fall, 

 all in good condition when put in their winter quar- 

 ters, and have lost them all ! 



Now let us see in what condition they were. All 

 the honey obtained was extracted, and the most of 

 that was extracted in the fall. We extracted all 

 the hives a few days before honey-gathering ceased, 

 and they only had barely time to gather enough for 

 winter, consequently they did not fill their brood- 



chambers with honey. Some of the honey was left 

 uncapped ; but as a general rule it was well sealed 

 up. 



On examining them about the 20th of December, 

 I found two dead, and one in a dying condition ; 

 the bees were clustered under the honey-board, (I 

 use building paper tacked on a frame made of 

 laths,) and the outside of the cluster were dead; I 

 gave them more ventilation, thinking perhaps that 

 was the cause. I also found signs of the dysentery 

 in about half a dozen hives. At my next examina- 

 tion, I found six dead, including the one just men- 

 tioned, and found that the dysentery had affected 

 nearly all. The winter was so severe that I could 

 not give them a chance to fly. They kept on dying 

 in spite of all our efforts to keep them alive. 



Now, Mr. Hosmer, how is it? If they died be- 

 cause they were too old, why did they not die in 

 former years in the same manner, and why is it 

 that they are all affected with the dysentery, and 

 that, too, in an aggravated form? Then such peo- 

 ple that hardly ever look at their bees, would lose 

 them nearly every year. One of our neighbors has 

 lost four-fifths of his bees, another one-half, and 

 still another did not lose one ! and neither one of 

 them stimulated their bees in the fall. You say if 

 it is the "epizootic," why it does not effect them 

 all? The same question can be asked in regard to 

 your theory. If it is because they are too old, why 

 do they not all die — that is, those that were under 

 the same management? 



Respectfully yours, 



J. D. Kruschke. 



Berlin, Wis., March 21, 1873. 



Letter from Mr. Geo. S. Wagner. 



D. M. WORTHINGTON, ESQ., 



Dear Sir: — I to-day received the March number 

 of the Bee Journal, and find your allusion to the 

 death of Mr. Richard Colvin. I was not aware of 

 his death until about the tenth of February, when 

 Mr. Langstroth passed through here, and since then 

 I have been so much engaged that it would have 

 been impossible for me to have prepared a fitting 

 notice of Mr. Colvin. Indeed, I would greatly pre- 

 fer that Mr. Langstroth should prepare the notice, 

 as he could, I know, write one that would do 

 greater justice to the merits and attainments of Mr. 

 Colvin than any efforts on my part. I write this to 

 let you know that it was not neglect or indifference 

 on my part, that the notice was not prepared, for 

 no one could have a higher appreciation of the 

 honesty, ability, and earnestness of Mr. Colvin than 

 I. When I last met him, some four years ago, he 

 was strong and robust, and I should have judged 

 had a long career of usefulness before him. 

 Yours truly, 



Geo. S. Wagner. 



Fearing that some readers of the Journal may 

 have formed an impression, from what I said in the 

 March number, that there had been neglect or in- 

 difference on Mr. Wagner's part, in regard to a 

 notice of Mr. Colvin's death, I thought it but just 

 to him to obtain his permission to have the above 

 letter published. Daniel M. Wortuinoton. 



St. Denis, Md., March 22, 1873. 



