66 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Sept., 



cellar, provided tliey be arranged just right. 

 But I have wintered bees very successfully iu 

 the Langstroth hive, on their summer stands, in 

 northern Illinois and eastern Indiana. But 

 young colonies that have new comb, should be 

 protected, if wintered on their summer stands. 



I hope Mr. Rogers will exi^lain the whys and 

 wherefores, and tell us wherein the Langstroth 

 hive is lacking. B. Pdckett. 



Winchester^ Lid., July 20, 1870. 



[For tlie Aiuorican Bee Journal.] 



letLer from Missouri. 



Mr. Editor : — ^I send you a sample of some- 

 thing that seems to be troubling my bees very 

 much. It is in small scales re.sembling the wing 

 of some insect.* The bees come in with from 

 three to live sticking to their mouths. It seems 

 to trouble them greatly. I think I could pick up 

 or rather scrape up a pint of it, on the bottom 

 board of some hives. 



This section of country is too much subject to 

 extremes for bees. Last year it rained all 

 through May and June, so that the bees could 

 not get out to work ; and they did notliing but 

 swarm after that until September. Pollen was 

 plenty, but honey scarce. This spring com- 

 menced well, but most of May and up to the 15th 

 of June the weather was too cold for bees to 

 work. Nearly all the fruit blossoms were killed 

 by cold. Wild plums and crab apples did not 

 bloom. We have had no rain for several weeks, 

 and very little since last fall. Everything is 

 parched up, leaving nothing for the bees. I am 

 feeding nearly fifty colonies, and will have to 

 continue doing so until we have raiu and 

 flowers begin to bloom again. 



I could exchange one little farm here for fifteen 

 hundred acres of mountain land in Pocahontas 

 county, Virginia. Is that a good bee section ? f 



Too much wind here, even if the pasturage 

 were good. My Italians are doing much better 

 than the native bees. 



I sowed the strap-leaved turnip last fiill for early 

 pasturage, but none came up this spring. Cold 

 killed them. What kind is best to sow, or what 

 is better? Would it do to sow ten acres in 

 turnips, and mix Alsike clover seed with it? 



I have watched nearly every movement a bee 

 can make for the last three years, and read all 

 the bee books I could get. J. K. Mktcalpe. 



Freedom, Mo., July 5, 1870. 



*The substance enclosed to us was so crushed and pulvei'ized 

 ia the mail that we could not make out what it was, eveu 

 with the aid of a microscope. At first view it seemed as if 

 minute scales of wax were miuLfled witli it, but uooe ofit melted 

 wheu expose 1 to heat. We presume it is of vej^'etable origia. 



■f- We do not know how bees thrive in the part of Virginia 

 referred to by our correspondent. Probably some of our sub- 

 scribers in that section could supply the desired information. 

 A large part of Virginia is unquestionably a first-rate bee 

 country, and hardly second-rate in anything else. 



What sort of crop to cultivate for early bee pasturage, 

 in a climate as variable and uncertain as that which 

 the writer describes, could only be ascertained by trial and 

 experience. Alsike clover is only suited to a somewhat damp 

 soil, otherwise in good condition. How far south or south- 

 west it can be cultivated with advantage, for bees ani cattle, 

 is not yet known. We have no seed for sale — not dealing in 

 seeds, bees, queens, or hives ; but contenting ourselves with 

 p-ublishiug the American Bee Journal, and striving to make 

 that unsurpassed and unsurpassable. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



How we made a Honey Knife. 



Some of our readers will perhaps remember 

 the trouble which we had last season in vmcap- 

 ping cells pi-eparatory to the use of tlie Honey 

 Extractor. In justice to Mr. Baldridge we will 

 say that the knife which we received from him 

 w.is found, upon trial, to work very well — much 

 better, in fact, than we expected. Our only 

 trouble with it, was to keep it in cutting order. 

 Still, we find that a knife for this business does 

 nut need to be kept so extremely sharp, if it be 

 kept hot while in use, by occasional y di]3ping it 

 in hot water. In shape we think this knife about 

 what is wanted. 



As two knives are found veiy convenient, one 

 to be heating in the water while the other is iu 

 use, we concluded to try our hand at making 

 one and succeeded so admirably that we will 

 give a description of it, and the manner in which 

 it was made. 



We first took an old scyiJie—an article which 

 can usually be found on every farm— and, with 

 a cold chisel, cut a piece out of the straightest 

 part, of such length as we wished the knife to 

 be. This was then laid uijon a block and cut 

 lengthwise about three-fourths of an inch from 

 the cutting edge. It was now taken and ground 

 down smooth upon the back and ends, and the 

 edge ground oli" at the ends a little in order to 

 straighten it. It is then fitted into a suitable 

 handle. You thus have a knife of whatever 

 length you choose to make it, which may be 

 ground very thin and wi.l yet hold an edge well. 

 The whole time occupied in making it, need not 

 exceed an hour, provided the assistance of a 

 second person can be had in cutting out and 

 grinding. It will present a much neater appear- 

 ance than one would think possible when com- 

 mencing the job, and will I think give perfect 

 satisfaction. 



Of course the style will be governed much by 

 the ingenuity of the maker. 



Since writing, the above, we have received the 

 August number of the Bee Journal, and in it 

 notice the advertisement of the National Bee 

 Hive Comitany, of which Mr. Baldridge is 

 Secretary. It say.s — "no wrought iron knives for 

 sale, in fact never kept them, nor sold them. Liars 

 will please to take the hint." Indeed! I sin- 

 cerely hope they will. Now, injustice to myself, 

 I must say a few more words in regard to that 

 knife, which we have already spoken about in 

 this communication. W^hen we received the 

 knife last fall, it was sliown to a person whom 

 we thought a competent judge of me al, and was 

 unhesitatingly pronounced — well, anything but 

 spring-steel, as it could readily be bent into 

 almost any shape, and would so remain. How- 

 ever as its quality was not mentioned before the 

 purchase ; and as it has been found, on trial, to 

 work well enough for all practical purposes, 

 when rightly used, I suppose we ought not to 

 have said anything about that part of the trans- 

 action. The difi'erence between the "best quality 

 of wrought iron" and the lower classes of 

 steel is so .slight that, to separate them, would 

 be like naming the hour that sweet cider becomes 



