egg-bound for about 10 days. I caught 

 her and held her carefully by the head 

 in my left hand, and, with a sharp nee- 

 dle in my right hand, I laid her side- 

 ways on the edge of the hive, and run 

 the needle through the bunch close to 

 the orifice of the abdomen, and pulled it 

 out. In 2 or 3 days she began to lay 

 again, and is now doing well. This is 

 the 5th case that I have found in the 

 last 2 years, and they were all good pro- 

 lific queens. In 3 of the cases, I tried 

 honey and warm water, and soaking 

 them in warm water, but to no purpose. 

 In the last 2 cases, I used the needle 

 with perfect success. It is of no use to 

 <lo anything for the first 5 days ; but, 

 after that time the accumulated eggs 

 ■can be torn out, and in 3 to 5 days sue 

 will begin to lay again, and continue to 

 do so all right. II. L. Jeffrey. 



Dunlap, Kan., June 18, 1880. j 

 I have some yellow melilot or sweet 

 clover. It is 6 weeks earlier to bloom 

 than the white clover, giving us that 

 advantage. I want to know if this is a 

 new bee plant. 1 have only about a 

 dozen stalks of it, and these I obtained 

 by an accident. One came up in my 

 stock yard. I think it was brought by 

 wild pigeons. It has all the good 

 qualities of the white clover. 



S. P. Sowers. 



[ Melilot is one of our best honey pro- 

 ducers, and gives honey of the very best 

 quality.— Ed.] 



Camanche, Iowa, May 26, 1880. 

 I buried 195 colonies of bees last fall ; 

 I lost 7 in wintering thus, and 23 in 

 springing them. My bees are all Ital- 

 ians, and are in good condition. 



A. F. McKenrich. 



Decatur, 111., June 19, 1880. 

 No swarms ; no honey ; and bees are 

 almost starving. I have kept bees foi- 

 ls years but never saw anything like 

 this. There has been plenty of rain, 

 but not too much ; white clover is 

 nlooming abundantly, still there is no 

 honey. Last year, with almost the 

 same weather, we had a great yield of 

 honey. Will not some kind friend 

 *' rise and explain?" E. A. Gastman. 



[In all probability the winds have 

 prevailed from the north-east or north- 

 west. We have often noticed that we 

 get no honey unless the wind comes 

 from the south, south-east or south- 

 west. Honey is now being gathered 

 very fast. — Ed.] 



Nassagaweya, Out., June 17, 1880. 

 I am well pleased with the American 

 Bee Journal; especially the way you, 

 dear editor, defend your rights when as- 

 sailed. Do yourself and the Bee Jour- 

 nal justice, and the great majority of 

 bee-keepers will maintain and defend 

 your rights. Mr. Heddon, in the June 

 number, has done one side of the sup- 

 ply dealers' question ample justice, but 

 omitted a very grave part on the apia- 

 rists' side. Allow me to show how a 

 large majority of supply dealers act. 

 They advertise with a great flourish ; 

 and, of course, we, at a distance, think 

 they are all right. We make inquiry 

 about something they advertise ; a bar- 

 gain is concluded, in a few days we 

 forward the money. Now comes the 

 trouble. Eor weeks and months we at- 

 tend the mails, but receive not a word. 

 The articles ordered are forgotten ; 

 while the supply dealers are whist- 

 ling some merry tune, at home, or 

 on some excursion of pleasure, it may 

 be, while we are disgusted with their 

 silence and delay. It seems this habit 

 is too general. Canadian supply deal- 

 ers and queen-breeders are dragging 

 along, a month behind their orders. 

 Some facts will illustrate. In Septem- 

 ber, last year, I sent to a queen-breeder 

 for queens ; it was three weeks before 

 I got a reply. This spring I placed an 

 order with a foundation manufacturer ; 

 I got it on the 12th of June. Last, and 

 not least, I ordered a tested queen, and 

 paid for her last May. She was to be 

 shipped about the 20th of that month, 

 but no queen has yet come to hand. 

 Such things should not exist. Now, I 

 would suggest that each of the bee 

 journals exact a deposit of $500 from 

 those advertisers, to be applied on all 

 the non-fulfillment of their contracts. 

 Brother bee-keepers, be careful to whom 

 you send your money. I shall be more 

 careful in future. It is my duty to say 

 that during 3 years I have only found 

 T. G. Newman & Son, A. I. Boot and 

 G. M. Doolittle to be punctual in filling 

 orders for the respective articles they 

 advertise. B. L. Meade. 



[Now that we are out of the business 

 of " supply dealing," like Mr. Heddon, 

 we feel free to make a few remarks for 

 the general good. Our correspondent 

 mentions some names of dilatory deal- 

 ers. Out of a sense of justice to all we 

 have omitted the names. The transac- 

 tions mentioned will sufficiently point 

 out to the persons referred to, the mat- 

 ter complained of, and we hope hasten 

 the filling of the orders, and the adop- 



