fied with it, but wander around and 

 nibble it. I make a foundation with 

 high, sharp, side wall, and, finding them 

 contented therewith, adopt it. I find 

 by inserting line wire to give strength 

 to the brood comb, I have produced 

 what I call a perfect foundation. For 

 brood comb, say 6 square feet to the lb. 

 Now, I give the screws to the same ma- 

 chine an extra turn and produce a foun- 

 dation 10 to 14 square feet to the lb., 

 with high, sharp, side walls, that are all 

 utilized in the construction of the cells, 

 and find a delicate foundation that, 

 when used, is acceptable to the con- 

 sumers of honey. Not- that an expert 

 in testing honey may not occasionally 

 detect it, but the general consumer will 

 accept and enjoy it as a luxury. 

 Sprout Brook, N. Y. 



South Bend, Ind., April 9, 1880. 

 My 50 colonies of bees wintered with- 

 out loss, so far. I think some of them 

 are stronger than in the fall ; part are 

 in the cellar and part on the summer 

 stands protected. I could not do with- 

 out the American Bee Journal. 



A. J. Hatfield. 



Dundee, 111., April 3, 1880. 

 I took my 80 colonies of bees from 

 the cellar to-day. They are in splendid 

 condition. I lost but one. The day is 

 lovely ; all nature is clad in the habili- 

 ments of joy, the birds are filling the 

 air with their notes of music, and why 

 should not man be happy ? I never had 

 my bees to come through so strongly 

 before, and with so many young ones. 

 I introduced two of the Pometta Italian 

 Queens into my hives on Sept. 18. The 

 Dives are full enough to swarm, if it 

 was time for it, and the combs are full 

 of young bees in all stages. I intend 

 to stock my apiary from those two 

 queens. I" shall allow one to rear queens, 

 the other drones, to the exclusion of all 

 others. Can I doit? As it is nearly 

 swa lining time, I will state my plan of 

 treating bees that are high minded and 

 have exalted notions, those that settle 

 in the top of the tall oaks. In my yard 

 I go through the hive and remove all 

 queen cells but one ; and when the clus- 

 tering is well under way I get my shot 

 gun and put a charge of bird shot into 

 the cluster. In a short time they come 

 back to the hive like doves to the win- 

 dow ; a few are sacrificed but the ma- 

 jority are saved. As soon as quiet is 

 restored, I go through the hive again, 

 and if I find the queen uninjured, I 



destroy the saved cell. If the queen is 

 injured in the least I destroy her an.! 

 raise a young one ; that generally ends 

 the swarming tor the season. 1 wish 

 but little or no increase. 



E. J. Gould. 



[ You cannot prevent drone-breeding 

 to some extent among your black bees ; 

 but can greatly facilitate drone-rearing, 

 where desired, by placing drone com lis 

 in the centre of the brood-chamber and 

 stimulating the colony by night feeding, 

 when the bees will rear the drones pre- 

 paratory to swarming.— Ed.] 



Poplar Bluff. Mo., May 7, 1880. 

 I extracted 220 gallons of honey last 

 spring from 58 colonies, in about 4 

 weeks. One of my neighbors found 15 

 bee trees here last fall and winter ; from 

 some trees he obtained 100 lbs. of honey. 

 This is a good locality for bees, but 

 there are few persons here who give 

 them attention. The forests are abun- 

 dantly spread with flowers from spring 

 till fall. White clover is also plenty. 

 W. N. Craven. 



Northville, Mich., March 28, 1880. 

 Last season 1 commenced with 17 col- 

 onies of bees. I increased to 35, and 

 obtained 1,400 lbs of honey from white 

 clover and basswood, having noneafter 

 July 12. I sold 5 colonies, and 1 became 

 queenless in the cellar in the winter 

 and died. The rest are all in good con- 

 dition. One of my neighbors put 17 

 colonies into a light cellar, closed up 

 the entrances, and lost all but 2, and 

 cannot think'why ! He uses box-hives 

 and takes no bee papers. Hees that 

 were properly taken care of in this lo- 

 cality have wintered well. 



Ransom Allen. 



Richmond. Ind., March ;;i, lsso. 

 Last fall, anticipating a mild winter, 

 I departed from my usual custom of 

 wintering my bees in the cellar, and 

 packed on the summer stands, with 

 quilt and sawdust, covering all with a 

 good roof. They wintered without loss. 

 and are in good condition. Some or 

 my neighbors who gave no protection 

 have lost a few, and are feeding to save 

 others. Mybees remained quiet in their 

 hives, and when unpacked, bees were 

 living freely. It made a saving to me 

 in stores. "Bees are gathering pollen 

 and breeding strongly. I think the 

 prospect is excellent for a good season 

 and a large crop of honey. Success to 

 the American Bee Journal. 



M. II. WOLFER. 



