lished in the Bienen Zeitung and in the 

 Journal of UApiculteur by Mr. Hamet. 



In spite of the extreme rigor of the 

 season, and through my opportune and 

 constant cares, the colonies are now in 

 good condition. I have had the pleas- 

 ure of overcoming tins last and grave 

 difficulty, and I hope that my journey 

 in the East will prove useful to our na- 

 tional industry. While the crossing of 

 the races are 'always to he advised to 

 increase their vigor, no douht the Ital- 

 ian hees will increase in beauty and 

 quality. Such are the accomplishments 

 that f have found in that new kind 

 which I was the first to import directly 

 into Italy. 



Monselice, Jan. 9, 18S0. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Comb Foundation Made on Wood. 



CIIAS. F. ECHARD. 



Two years ago I invented what I call 

 •■ Board Foundation," and have manu- 

 factured and used it ever since with the 

 most complete success. I showed my 

 invention to a few friends, but on the 

 whole did not make much noise about 

 it, because I intended to take out a ] lat- 

 ent on it as soon as I had thoroughly 

 tested it. This was now done, and I 

 was just about to apply for a patent 

 when 1 was startled by seeing Mr. 

 Jones' letter in the Journal and in the 

 Bee-Keepers' Magazine, about Mr. Ab- 

 bott's wooden foundation. 



My first thought was that, of course, 

 my expectations were now all fudge. 

 The next day (yesterday) I took down 

 to Mr. A. J. King a comb 2 years old 

 completely tilled with brood, nearly 

 all sealed, and some of it just hatching, 

 1 comb just drawn out, and 1 blank 

 pannel of the foundation as I manufac- 

 ture it. 



He was exceedingly pleased with it ; 

 thought it a much better thing than 

 Mr. Al.hotfs. I also take the liberty 

 to send you to-day by express 1 drawn 

 out and 1 blank pannel of the founda- 

 tion for your examination, and respect- 

 fully solicit your comments in the 



JOTJ i:\AL. 



Besides being absolutely proof against 

 breaking down by rough handling or 

 excessive heat, this board foundation is 

 invaluable for queen rearing. To this 

 end I cut it in narrow strips, say 1 inch 

 wide, and tack these on thin strips of 

 wood so as to form something like lad- 

 ders, which will just tit inside my 

 trames. The spaces between the strips 

 of foundation I make about '.. inch 

 more than the width of the strips, tak- 



ing care that commencing with a strip 



at the top of the frame 1 have a space 

 at the foot. 



Now putting 2 such ladders together, 

 1 of them upside down, and the strips 

 facing each other, they will fill the 

 frame like a solid pannel of foundation 

 with only narrow sides in it, 1 inch apart . 

 The frame so prepared I put in the hive 

 from whose queen Iwish to breed, leave 

 it there until drawn out and tilled with 

 eggs, then take it out, separate the lad- 

 ders by running a thin knife through 

 the comb, following the slides, and give 

 them to queenless colonies. In this way 

 I get great numbers of queen cells in 

 the best possible shape for separation, 

 without wasting any comb. 



Woodside, L. I.,N. Y., July 7,1880. 



[All the difference we notice between 

 this and the foundation forwarded by 

 Mr. Jones, is that these cells are lozenge- 

 shaped, as in the ordinary Root comb 

 foundation, while Mr. Abbott's has the 

 flat-bottomed cells, like the Van Deu- 

 sen foundation. Our experiments with 

 wood-base foundation are reported in 

 the Editorial columns. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Cure for the Weevil. 



LYNN BONHAM. 



I notice in your last issue an inquiry 

 from R. R. Stukesberry, with a very in- 

 teresting reply by Prof. Cook. Prof. 

 Cook suggests the use of the mallet and 

 sheet as a means of destroying the wee- 

 vil on the apple tree. I have tried this 

 method thoroughly in the case of cur- 

 culio, but without satisfaction. Where 

 a person has a large number of trees 

 it is tedious and to me very unsatisfac- 

 tory, as I never had a quart of plums 

 mature after its use. This year 1 tried 

 a new plan. I procured some coal gas 

 tar. It can be obtained at any of the 

 gas works at small cost. I then placed 

 some live coals in an old tin pan, and 

 on these coals laid some corn cobs 

 dipped in the tar; this made a dense 

 smoke, and as it rose and passed through 

 the branches of the tree I could see the 

 curculio leaving by the quantity. I have 

 repeated this treatment once a week 

 during the summer, and the tree is now 

 loaded with fine plums. I have another 

 tree near it that was not treated in this 

 way. and it is destitute of plums, all 

 having fallen off. I should suggest that 

 the gentleman try the mallet and sheet 

 as Prof. Cook recommends, and should 

 be pleased to have him try the coal tar 



