52 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUKNAL. 



vexatious cases I have felt like opening the 

 sides with an axe, for with the very best I 

 could do, I would often crush the combs, kill 

 the bees, and have the honey streaming down 

 on the bottom board, which speedily brought 

 the robbers by scores 1o annoy me. Whereas, 

 if my hive had been side opening, I could easily 

 have removed a comb without so much work. 



I am not a defender of any hive ; have but a 

 single side-opening hive in my apiary, and have 

 no interest in any such. But while I use the 

 Langstroth hive, I know it is not altogether 

 perfect ; nor do I condemn all others as alto- 

 gether bad. Love of justice is my only object 

 in writing. 



AVhile I am on this subject, I would like to 

 ask bee-men everywhere, whether they have 

 observed any difference in the honey-producing 

 qualities of different hives. Will not bees take 

 possession of honey boxes much sooner that 

 rest on the top of the frames, than of those sep- 

 arated by an air space and honey board ? My 

 observations lead Die to think they will ; and 

 where honey is our object, this is an important 

 question. 



One of my bee-keeping friends uses the Flan- 

 der's hive, and he uniformly gets honey earlier 

 than I do, notwithstanding his are black bees, 

 and mine Italians ; and this too when wintered 

 the same, and on the same range. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 

 Closed or open top Frames. 



[For the American Bee Journal. 



The Bee Plants. 



Though the writer of the article of page 234, 

 June number of the Bee Journal, may be 

 well "informed in regard to the first principles 

 of practical bee-culture," yet it is very evident, 

 from the slashing manner in which he goes into 

 the comb of every closed top frame he handles, 

 that he has never used the American or any 

 other good hive with fixed frames. I believe 

 that if he will try the American or Champion 

 hive one season, he will alter his opinion and 

 the "objectionable features" that exist only in 

 the imagination, will vanish. I have used the 

 American two seasons, and as far as my experi- 

 ence goes, there is much less irregularity of 

 comb in it than in the Langstroth frames. 



The main argument of Mr. See and others 

 against fixed frames is based on the idea that, 

 in order to get out the last frame it is ne- 

 cessary to remove every other frame from the 

 hive. By removing two frames and inserting 

 the blade of a knife between any two of the 

 frames, one or more may be moved sideways, 

 without injuring the comb or the bees, and the 

 desired frame can then be taken out, and the 

 evils of his supposable cases disappear. And if 

 he will use the hives, as a sensible man ought 

 to do, he will find that instead of being able to 

 manage only twelve colonies in the same time 

 that he could manage forty in the Langstroth 

 hives, he will be able to manage about thirty- 

 nine colonies and a half in the same time, and 

 not kill a bee except through carelessness. 



J. H. Smith. 

 Fremont Centre, Ills. 



In early spring I sent to Mr. Hubbard, of 

 New Hampshire, and obtained a paper of the 

 seeds of the Polanisia purpurea, and to Mr. 

 Terry, of Crescent City, for a paper of the seeds 

 of the American bee plant, (called by some 

 Cleorne integrifolia) , and I found, to all appear- 

 ance, that the seeds of the two lots were alike. 

 And now that they &re grown, I find the plants 

 and bloom are alike in every respect. I con- 

 clude therefore that they are the same, and 

 would notify the readers of the Journal of the 

 fact, so that they need send to one place only 

 for seed, thus saving themselves the disappoint- 

 ment it would occasion from not having two 

 new bee plants. 



I bought of R. K. Bliss & Co. a paper of seeds 

 to sow in my flower garden, two years ago, 

 called the Cyanus, and I find it will keep bloom- 

 ing for two or three months. If sowed in May, 

 it will come into bloom about the middle of Ju- 

 ly, and continue until in September. It is a 

 great favorite with the bees. They work busi- 

 ly on it from morning till night. It is an an- 

 nual, of easy cultivation, and may be so arran- 

 ged as to bloom when most needed for bee pas- 

 turage. It is a profuse bloomer. The seed must, 

 of course, be sown annually. 



I bought another paper of seeds of the same 

 firm, called the Chelone barbata, a Mexican 

 plant. Being a perennial, it does not bloom the 

 season it is sown, but blooms profusely the 

 second. The bees work constantly in these 

 flowers, having to crawl into them to obtain the 

 honey, which appears to be in large amounts. 

 The flowers are Pentstemon-like, and showy 

 The plant grows about four feet high, does not 

 bloom quite as long as the Cyanus, and is in 

 blossom during the white clover season. It is 

 quite ornamental for the flower garden. 



. J. Davis. 

 Charleston, Ills. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal ] 



Swarming. 



I believe it is the generally received opinion 

 that a hive must have a queen cell started, with 

 larva therein, previous to swarming ; and that 

 a prime swarm will not come out until one cell 

 is sealed. (See Quinby, and others). 



I have lately had hives swarm when an after 

 examination revealed the fact that there were 

 but the rudiments of cells, such as are found in 

 most hives at any time during the swarming 

 season : and I could not discover larvae in any 

 of them. 



Now is this an unusual case, or have others 

 met with such exceptions to the general rule ? 

 Lucius C. Francis. 



Springfield, III. 



A mixture of laurel oil, oil of turpenline, and 

 clarified honey, is used in some parts of France 

 for the cure of frost bitten limbs. 



