114 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Surrejoinder. 



Mr. Editor: — I see, in the November number 

 of the Bee Journal, that Mr. E. Gallup is out 

 with a "General Rejoinder." As to his expla- 

 nations to others I have nothing to say, but his 

 notice of my article is some more of his "bun- 

 com." What right has he to put words in my 

 mouth ? How does he know what I would say 

 to his explanation, if he had made one ? Well, 

 I suppose he knew it about as well as he knew 

 that the Langstroth hive was "rejected all over 

 the West" — or rather "the shallow things," as 

 he is pleased to call them. Well, he may call 

 them what he pleases, but I simply say that it is 

 not so. The Langstroth hive is not rejected all 

 over the West, as asserted by Mr. G. My visit 

 this fall through the West satisfied me that Mr. 

 Gallup's assertion is not correct, and I can con- 

 ceive of no good reason he could have had for 

 making it, except to prejudice the public mind 

 against the hive. This fall I attended a public sale 

 of bees in western Illinois, where there was a 

 large quantity of bees sold in different kinds of 

 hives. Three or four hundred persons were pres- 

 ent, and those bees in the Langstroth hives sold 

 from five to eight dollars per hive higher than 

 those in any other kind of hive, and all that I 

 heard say anything at all about hives gave the 

 Langstroth hive the preference. Thinks I, this 

 does not look much like these hives being "re- 

 jected all over the West." 



Some wood be wise beekeepers in our coun- 

 try know that Mr. Langstroth has got up one 

 amongst, if not the very best hive now extant, 

 and has written the best work on the culture of 

 the honey-bee extant, and they imagine it makes 

 them look smart to find fault with and slander 

 his hive. Do not understand me to say that 

 his hive is perfect, or that no one has a right to 

 reject it and use some other if he pleases. But 

 I do object to these wholesale aspersions on 

 other people's credit. In all my acquaintance 

 in the West, I do not know of a single person 

 that has ever used the Langstroth hive and then 

 rejected it. No doubt there are many such 

 cases, but they are not "all over the West," as 

 Mr. Gallup would have us believe. Hoping 

 that Mr. G. will point out the defects of the 

 Langstroth hive, and condemn it on its de- 

 ments, whatever they be. and not assume to 

 speak for "all the West," I am, as ever, 



b. puckett. 



Winchester, Ind., Nov. 14, 1808. 



The Beekeeper, 



" intent from out their straw-roofed hives, 



Watches his little foragers go forth, 

 Boot on the buds to make, to suck the depths 

 Of honey-throated blooms, and home return, 

 Their thighs half smothered with the yellow 

 dust." 



A young swarm builds worker comb exclu- 

 s. 'ely at first. Weak swarms, second swarms, 

 an » artificial colonies having young queens, 

 .-ar Jy build drone comb the first year. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Eectangular Frame Hive. 



Mr. Editor : — I am much pleased with the 

 Journal, and take a deep interest in the va- 

 rious subjects therein discussed, as well as in 

 Gallup's awful muss ; and, as there seems to be 

 a free exchange of thought through its pages, I 

 write you a few lines to answer the request of 

 friend Davis, of Charleston, 111., and Dr. S. N. 

 Vickary, of Darien, as well as to set friend J. 

 M. Price, of Iowa, all right in regard to that 

 non-patented hive he tells us about in the No- 

 vember number. 



Firrt, I would tell friend Price that I con- 

 sider the hive he describes as one of the best 

 out, and I have had some opportunity of 

 judging, as I have used and bought rights in 

 Davis' Platform hive, Langstroth's Movable 

 Frame hive, the American hive,the Quinby hive, 

 Flander's Triangular and Hoop-frames hive, 

 and also his Book hive, and they all had a lack 

 of convenience in one respect or another, which 

 made them objectionable. I finally lit on the 

 rectangular frame, as Mr. Price has illustrated, 

 and which I will more fully explain when I get 

 my stereotypes, for which I have sent. Suffice 

 to say that I obtained a patent dated October 

 20, 1868, No. 83,257, which you will find noted 

 in the Scientific American of Nobember 4th. 

 Friend Price and I have come to the same con- 

 clusion in regard to its value, and I suppose he 

 was entirely ignorant of my hive and claims. 

 I had sent a photograph of it to my brother, W. 

 A. Oonklin, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, some time last 

 July or August. I also told Mr. Wagner of it, 

 and referred him to the Patent Office several 

 months ago, as he will remember. 



I will give a full description of it, together 

 with specifications and claims, as soon as I get 

 the stereotypes or electrotypes from the foundry. 



In conclusion, I would say that I have Langs- 

 troth's valuable work on bees, which I consider 

 the best ; also Quinby's, King's, Flanders, 

 Adair's, Mitchell's, and the fourth volume of 

 the Bee Journal. I now send you herewith 

 four dollars for the second and third volumes of 

 the Journal, which please seud me by return 

 mail. I would not do without the Journal for 

 twice its present price. 



Dr. A. V. Conklin. 



Bennington, Ohio, Nov. 5, 1868. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



How Much Honey to Winter a Swarm 

 of Bees ? 



Mr. Editor : — The question is often asked, 

 how much honey will winter a swarm of bees ? 

 The following, taken from my memorandum, 

 will assist the inexperienced, showing not only 

 the amount used from December 1st to about 

 the middle of April, but also the difference be- 

 tween the winter months, when they are breed- 

 ing but little, and later when breeding is going 

 on rapidly. 



My bees are wintered in a room about ten 

 feet square in the second story of a large build- 

 ing. The room is double-boarded, with a space 



