in barrels, but I lefttbe bung out and it 

 did not candy in tbe least, though it 

 was exposed to the coldest zero weath- 

 er all tbe winter. For several months 

 it remained tbe same; while some of it 

 being kept in an open vessel became 

 thicker and somewhat grainy, but 

 not absolutely solid. 1 would not care 

 much as to the consistency, were it not 

 for the llavQr, upon which the money 

 value of honey depends, for it is just 

 here where the cause lies that so much 

 honey is pronounced adulterated. Such 

 honey does not bear that mellow, charm- 

 ing and agreeable taste, and any person 

 not accustomed to the use »of honey, 

 will say that it has a strange, strong, 

 rank and wild taste, and he does not 

 like it. 



Unless bee-keepers pay more atten- 

 tion to this«*natter, we need not look for 

 an increased demand, but rather the 

 reverse. I have heard many express a 

 preference for ordinary syrup rather 

 than such honey. I have seen and 

 tasted, this year, in dozens of places in 

 the city of Toronto, such honey. Some 

 of it is as thick as tar and clear as 

 water, but with the peculiar rank flavor, 

 with an acetic aroma and bitter taste ; 

 and the vendors, in the majority of 

 cases, did not think the honey pure. 



As I have rarely found pure honey 

 not granulated in November, I would 

 caution all bee-keepers against extract- 

 ing honey before it is capped by the bees. 



Klineburg, Out. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Queens Duplicating Themselves. 



D. A. PIKE. 



In an article in the September number 

 of the American Bee Journal,, I no- 

 ticed a proposition made by Mr. A. F. 

 Moon, to the effect that he would give, 

 to any one seeding a queen that would 

 duplicate herself twelve times in regard 

 to color, $25 for each queen. 



Now, I know that it is hard to find 

 such queens, and that they are very rare 

 in some places ; yet I am confident that 

 I have them in my apiary, and I do not 

 fear to come forward, accept the propo- 

 sition, and. provided a fair and just de- 

 cision is rendered, do not have any fear 

 that I shall bear off the palm. The 

 flag still waves over us Americans, as 

 apiarists, and it seems strange that a 

 question of so great moment to queen- 

 breeders should be decided in the nega- 

 tive, simply because nobody can pick up 

 courage enough to send a queen that he 

 knows will stand the test, and quietly 

 await the result. I have tested the mat- 

 ter, and now I accept the proposition. 



I will send my queen, some time during 

 the month of June next, to Prof. A. J. 

 Cook, as per conditions, who may rear 

 the young queens, and submit them to 

 the committee of judges for a fair and 

 just examination and decision. 



Smithsburg, Md., Jan. 21, 1S80. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping in Spain. 



ciias. dadant. 



I have translated from the Bulletin 

 (V Apiculture de la Gironde, for January, 

 the following article, which will be of 

 interest to the bee-keepers of America : 



Here the colonies of bees are few in 

 number compared to the space of land. 

 They are all located near the heath ; 

 none can be seen around the villages or 

 in the orchards. 



The owners of bees place them in 

 groups of 5 to 20. in the spots the most 

 favorable ; mainly on the side of a hill, 

 towards the southeast; sheltered from 

 the north-western winds, and whose soil 

 produces rosemaries intermixed with 

 cystuses and heath trees. 



The bee yard (asiento) is prepared by 

 means of a few blows of the mattock, to 

 level the ground. The shrubs are cut 

 all around, to prevent the risks of fire, 

 and the hives are placed directly on the 

 ground. The hive {corcho) is a cylinder 

 of cork, about 75 centimeters high and 

 35 in diameter (30x16 inches). A round 

 of cork {tempano) shuts up one end of 

 the gum, which is placed on a piece of 

 the same material {solera) and this is put 

 directly on the ground. 



Such a hive is worth a peseta (about 20 

 cents) ; with a colony of Dees, and filled 

 with combs, it is worth 6 pesetas 

 ($1.20). From about the middle of Feb- 

 ruary till the last of March, the bees 

 work on the flowers of rosemary ; in 

 April on the heath ; in May on an indefi- 

 nite number of plants, especially on 

 thyme (tomillo) and broom heath {quizu- 

 ela) with white blossoms; in June on 

 the cystus, on the catkins of oaks and 

 chestnuts. July and August are poor 

 in flowers. In September there is an- 

 other heath with white flowers ; in Oc- 

 tober and November there is the arbutus 

 tree. 



In December, January and February 

 the bees find very little ; yet, if the 

 weather is favorable, they can find 

 enough to live on. But rain or cold 

 prevents them from flying out, and when 

 such bad weather lasts till March, a 

 great many bees are liable to starve. 

 They are never fed by their owners. 



In March the hives are raised to clean 

 the solera, and to cut the combs, which 



