1S70.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



SOMETHING ON HIVES. 



Last year I made me tliroe Price hives accord- 

 ing to "V ■]. IV., page 87. On inspecting my 

 hives, after the bees liad been put in, I found in 

 the first one all its frames lodged on one side. 

 To obviate this, I drove small tack-nails on 

 top sidewards, to hold the frames at proper dis- 

 tance apart ; but this does not do. In lifting out 

 the frames I slightly damaged brood and honey. 

 The second hive was in order, but the combs 

 very uneven. The third had its combs straight 

 every time, impossible to be otherwise down to 

 the middle ; but from the middle corners down 

 to the lower corner they were fastened together 

 and all gone astray. Further, the crusliing of 

 bees by the honey-board annoyed me much. 

 They are so very heavy and troublesome to han- 

 dle, tiiat I have "broken up the whole concern. 



Now, I have constructed a hive on the Gallup 

 pattern, say one foot square, and use twelve 

 frames in it. This is what I like. My combs 

 are as straight as a piece of board, and very easy 

 to handle. I shall stick to it. But, dear editor, 

 I fear I have infringed on some one's patent, and 

 I do not like others" to do the tliinking, and my- 

 self to reap the haVvest — which is about as crimi- 

 nal as stealing another man's brains. The ques- 

 tion is : whom have I to pay ? My frames are 

 made thus : 



They hang on a rabbet, suspended by half an 

 inch of iron wire, the thickness of an ordinary 

 lead pencil. They are very easy to take out, and 

 are never gummed fast. Now, do you not think 

 I have infringed the Langstroth principle ? If 

 so, please inform me. My frames are three- 

 quarters of an inch thick, and are very strong. 

 I have had much trouble with frames as com- 

 monly made, when filled with honey. They are 

 then too weak. 



Finally, I have constructed 



A nONEY MACHINE 



according to Mr. Hubbard's description. I had 

 not the slightest troul)le in making it. My can 

 of zinc, eighteen inches in diameter and twenty 

 inches high ; cost three dollars. The iron wire 

 cost one dollar, but I had more than enough. 

 The whole cost Avas less than five dollars. I 

 used the crank of a fanniiig-mill, to see what 

 efiect it would have, but found it too long. I 

 was compelled to turn it with a peg half way 

 down, which is just the thing. I can turn it as 

 rapidly as wanted — so rapid, indeed, that the 

 larvfe would be thrown out. I shall use no gear- 

 ing. I found the machine all that could be 

 desired, and only regret that I had it not in 

 June. The queens might have produced some 



thousands of pets more, if empty cells had been 

 provided for them. Now, something about 



STRONG STOCKS. 



Novice says if we are well-rooted anywhere it 

 is in strong stocks. This, I find, is a very indefi- 

 nite saying. I wish some one would give me a 

 clear idea of what is meant by the expression 

 strong stocks. Is it a large, prime swarm, or a 

 first and a second swarm united, or any swarm 

 well wintered and built up by spring feeding on 

 Gallup' s system ? 



Ah, indeed, N. Woodworth, of Rochester, 

 Wisconsin, on page 47, Vol. VI., has thrown 

 a skunk in the face of the bee family. A skunk 

 cannot stink more than that statement. Surely, 

 he designs to see what effect it will have. Well, 

 the best way is to let the skunk alone. The 

 meanest bee-gum bee-keeper Avho manages to 

 winter his bees so that they do not all die, has to 

 acknowledge that bee-keeping pays ; how much 

 more can one accomplish who knows how to 

 employ skilfullj' scientific means and methods ? 

 Joseph Duffeler. 



Rousseau, Wis.., August 36. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Queen-Breeding for LDprovement of Eace. 



Mr. Editor: — In the September number of 

 your excellent Journal, page 58, Mr. Alley 

 accuses the writer of "pitching into him." But 

 I find he can still hold up his head and " pitch " 

 back, as well as raise cheap queens ; so he is not 

 badly wounded. But, to be serious, I most sin- 

 cerely regret that any sentence in my article, in 

 the August number, was so worded that it was 

 thought to be personal. It has been a favorite 

 project with me to see the honey bee improved 

 to its highest possible extent. And even Mr. 

 Alley concedes the principle for which I contend. 

 For, says he, "/ ijay the Idghest prices for my 

 breeding queens, and now have queens of my oion 

 raising that 1 loould not sell for fifty dollars.'''' 

 This is a higher price than I proposed for such 

 queens, five or six times over. He says he will 

 take my whole lot at my figures, if I have such 

 queens as I describe. 1 would not like to spare 

 them, Mr. Alley, for I value them as highly as 

 you do your best queens ! 



I do not doubt that every man who gets a 

 queen from Mr. Alley, or from any other man 

 who sends the genuine breed, gets the worth of 

 his money; but what I did mean to s:ty, was, 

 that if a man wishes to get the highest grade of 

 Italians, let him get one that has been raised from 

 the best selected stock, under the eye of an ex- 

 perienced apiarian, and thoroughly tested before 

 she is used as a breeder. Tlien the buyer will 

 know what he is getting, and would find his 

 purchase cheap at twenty dollars — rather than 

 one that was untested and raised at haphazard, 

 at two dollars and a half. 



I repeat— Let the Queen-Raising Brotherhood 

 unite to state these facts fairly and squarely before 

 the world ; and let men who believe in sharp 

 practice keep such things out of sight. 



I, too, if ever I go into the business again, will 



