country and Europe, than the bee-keep- 

 ers on this side have ever offered for 

 sale, and American producers will 

 realize more good, later on, than is now- 

 apparent. 



Build up a good home reputation for 

 our American honey and its fame will 

 soon spread abroad, not only the local 

 demand, but also the foriegn trade in 

 it will increase. There has been con- 

 siderable talk among bee-keepers about 

 developing a market in every neighbor- 

 hood. Now in visiting American 

 apiaries, I have found that all the best 

 honey is either sold to the regular buy- 

 ers, or sent off to the commission mer- 

 chant, and all the k- off" quality kept 

 for the neighbors. The home market 

 is regularly repelled by neglecting to 

 give it the best that can be produced. 

 The true way to find a home market, is 

 not by baiting it with stale or unmar- 

 ketable stufL If bee-keepers were as 

 solicitous about the wants of their im- 

 mediate neighborhood, as dealers are 

 for the capricious taste of city patrons, 

 they would quadruple the home market. 



London, England, Oct. 6. 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Honey Season in Florida. 



The fall has been too wet for best re- 

 sults from our bees. We have more 

 flowers during this season than any part 

 of the year. Our pine lands are car- 

 peted with a profusion of variegated 

 colors that is beautiful to behold. Not 

 many of these are honey producing 



Slants. I regret that my ignorance of 

 otany prevents my naming those that 

 mostly attracted the bees. Partridge 

 peas seemeed to be highly esteemed by 

 them. Several acres of fallow land 

 near me grow them luxuriantly, pre- 

 senting a solid mass of golden bloom. 

 Every favorable day the roar of the 

 bees along them could be heard a hun- 

 dred yards away. More pollen than 

 honey seemed to be gathered. The 

 bloom lasted G weeks. Before blooming, 

 the bees sucked the stems as they do 

 those of our cow pea. The latter was 

 quite prolific in honey. 



Golden rod followed closely the part- 

 ridge pea, they are still in bloom, but 

 will last only a little while longer. Bees 

 are now bringing in some pollen and 

 honey. The latter is gathered from 

 flowers, but mainly from cracked, 

 thorned and fallen oranges, and from 

 palmetto berries. Being able to gather 

 from these sources until the maple and 

 willow begin to bloom in January, they 

 require but little stores to carry them 



through the winter. I have recently 

 transferred 7 colonies from box hives ; 

 they are doing finely. Will transfer 

 more in a few days. 



My experience does not correspond 

 with Mr. Mclntyre in October number. 

 Perhaps the difference in the locality is 

 the cause. My bees are not at all cross. 

 I have had little or no trouble with ants. 

 Some disposition to rob has been mani- 

 fested, particularly while transferring ; 

 contracting the entrances, however, pre- 

 vented any bad results. Mr. Mel. 

 states that the present cost of trans- 

 portation eats up the profits. I am 

 further south, near lake Jessup through 

 which the St. Johns river runs, and we 

 have water transportation to New 

 York. The cost on 40 gallon barrels of 

 honey the past summer to that city, was 

 $2.05 each. We expect to get a reduc- 

 tion in freights this winter. 



The November number was exceed- 

 ingly interesting and instructive — 

 worth more than the price of a year's 

 subscription to the American Bee 

 Journal. 



Clifton Springs, Fla., Nov. 18, 1879. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering and Transferring. 



W. L. COGGSHALL. 



In the fall of 1878 I procured dry- 

 goods boxes and packed 30 colonies by 

 cutting an entrance in the box and tak- 

 ing off the front supports, and honey 

 board and spreading old carpet over the 

 frames, then packing buckwheat chaff 

 around and over them, not less than 6 

 inches thick ; but lost 6 of them. I put 

 30 in a bee house, lined from 8 to 11 

 inches with sawdust; and of them I 

 lost 25, by wintering and swarming out 

 in spring ; those wintered in chaff did 

 not dwindle like those wintered in house. 



I purchased colonies in box-hives in 

 April, increasing my number of colo- 

 nies to 75 ; they gave me an increase of 

 40, and 4.200 lbs. of extracted and 800 

 lbs. of comb honey. I use the Lang- 

 stroth hive for getting comb honey ; 

 the Kidder hive for extracting. 



I think my way of fastening combs 

 superior to any I have heard of. I take 

 bright wire, cut %. inch longer than the 

 frame, measuring from the bottom 

 over the top to the bottom on the other 

 side, then bend into a clamp; I bend 

 them at right angles on top, so as not to 

 interfere with the honey board. I have 

 them of a good length, so that the lower 

 ends of the wire may rest against the 

 bottom-bar. With a little experience 

 the wire may be slipped on while the 



