168 



' One year ago we decided not to no- 

 tice the unkind personal allusions then 

 being made in a contemporary, and re- 

 quested our correspondents to omit as much 

 as possible all offensive personal allusions. 

 In this paper we have answered some 

 charges and misstatements made by a Con- 

 vention, but in order to do so, we were 

 obliged to use some personalities, but en- 

 deavored not to use offensive ones. We 

 desire to keep the Journal above such 

 personal strife. It has, however, been 

 stated in public print that we objected to 

 such personal allusions, simply because we 

 were " cunning and crafty enough to know " 

 that this onslaught was to be made— and 

 because we could not reply, &c. The 

 present Journal will probably disappoint 

 them in this particular. In the same con- 

 nection they assert that we have not suf- 

 ficient "brains" to do so. Well it is so 

 hard to please them — one minute we are so 

 "cunning and crafty," and the next we 

 have no "brains"— that we fear we shall 

 be all the time disappointing them, in the 

 one capacity or the other. 



E3iP Just as the last form is going to 

 press, we have received a letter from Mr. 

 D. A. Jones bearing date Feb. 17th, from 

 Corfu, Ionian Islands, in Greece, who is on 

 his way to Cyprus. He has visited the bee 

 masters of Europe, and is very much elated 

 concerning the Cyprian bees. We shall 

 hear further from him in time for our next 

 Journal. 



HGP~ In Gleanings for last month, Mr. R. 

 C. Taylor calls attention to an article on 

 " uniting bees," by C. F. D., of Niles, Ont., 

 on page 407 of the Bee Journal for last 

 September, saying it was mostly copied 

 from Mr. Root's article on the same subject 

 in Gleanings for October, 1S77. This is 

 true. We have also noticed several articles 

 written by the editor of the Bee Journal, 

 lately copied into other papers, and credited 

 to or signed by others. Neither Mr. Root 

 nor ourselves object to having our articles 

 copied, but credit should always be given, 

 to make it an honest transaction. 



S®" Mr. J. II. Maatman asks: "How 

 can I prevent bees robbing each other?" 

 To close up the entrances so that but a sin- 

 gle bee can pass at a time, will usually 

 prevent robbing. If it cannot be thus con- 

 trolled, it would be well to move the colony 

 preyed upon into the cellar for a few days. 



$W Mr. N. Levering, Los Angeles, Cal., 

 has sent us a sample of sugar made from 

 honey, which is very nice and of light 

 color. We fail to see how its manufacture can 

 be made profitable, however, for the honey 

 necessary to make the su^ar is more valu- 

 able as honey than sugar. Mr. T. S. Bull, 

 some three years ago, sent us a small box 

 of such honey sugar. TVe would like to 

 learn whether it can be made profitable as 

 a commodity. Can Mr. Levering give us 

 light on that point ? 



ddT Mr. W. B. Weatherbee, of Mass., 

 writes : " If I had obtained the Bee Jour- 

 nal ten years ago, it would have been 

 worth hundreds of dollars to me." 



53P"Mr. H. L. Lankton, Weathersfield, 

 Conn., says in answer to H. W. F., on page 

 152 of March Journal : " I have used 

 queen yards for the past years, as des- 

 cribed by Quinby in his old edition, and 

 find them advantageous, as my business 

 takes me away from home in the day time." 



' Wire Cloth for Hive Bottoms.— Mr. 

 P. Moyer, Clark, Pa., wishes to hear from 

 any one who has used wire cloth for the 

 bottoms of hives. He says : 



"If bottom packing is beneficial, wire 

 may be used to separate it from the bees in 

 winter, and in summer takeout enough for 

 ventilation. It may bother the bees to 

 travel over it, unless only a little was used 

 in a hive, and that put in the back part of 

 bottom. How much is needed for ventila- 

 tion ? In the Quinby hive (some years ago) 

 it had 72 square inches. I do not know how 

 many are in the latest style of that hive. , I 

 once saw a hive with the whole bottom 

 made of wire cloth ; did not see any bees in 

 it. Thought then it was rather airy. If 

 the carbonic acid gas goes out at the bottom 

 (some say it does not, but goes any or all 

 ways) that hive could not be beat in ventila- 

 tion much." 



Bees caunot rear brood without pol- 

 len ; if they have but little or none, place 

 rye meal in some warm sheltered spot, so 

 that they can get it. They also need water. 

 See that both are within their reach. Feed 

 all needy colonies. 



igi° From Berlin comes the official 

 announcement, that His Majesty, the 

 Emperor William, has presented to 

 Herrn Emil Hilbert, residing on his 

 estate at Maciejewo, near Otloczyn, the 

 royal order of the crown, for his services 

 in discovering a scientific method for 

 curing " foul-brood" among the bees. 



