hive." If all persons keeping bees be- 

 came constant readers of some good bee 

 periodical, these blackmailing threats 

 would soon cease to be remunerative to 

 the persons making them. 



The return of the swarm to the parent 

 hive so often was probably owing to the 

 loss of the queen when first issuing, or 

 her inability to go with them ; during 

 the demoralization attendant, several 

 young queens were hatched, and each 

 went with an " after-swarm." — Ed.] 



The Curculio.— I saw in the August 

 number mention made of burning coal 

 gas tar as a remedy for curculio in 

 plums, etc. If this is a positive remedy, 

 I think a knowledge of it would be worth 

 twice the subscription price of the Bee 

 Journal, for those who want to raise 

 plums. We have what is called the Mi- 

 nor plum ; the trees were loaded with 

 plums, which are now rotting and fall- 

 ing off. What time does the curculio 

 work — night or day V How does the in- 

 sect look. We have looked day after 

 day, and could see nothing. Would the 

 burning of gas tar be injurious to bees V 

 Our bees are near the plum trees. It 

 seems as though they were stung after 

 they were more than half-grown. They 

 are very large plums. C. Fletcher. 



Columbia City, Ind., Aug. 8, 1880. 



[The curculio work (or eat) day and 

 night, when neither too hot nor cold. 

 They look like a small worm or weevil, 

 and their presence is usually indicated 

 by numerous tine, spray-like webs. The 

 burning of gas tar would be injurious 

 to your bees, if done while they were 

 flying ; but for several reasons the 

 smudging better be done in the evening. 

 Without knowing the situation of your 

 plum trees, we suspect the vegetation 

 around and under them is very tall and 

 rank, which is injurious, as it harbors 

 insects to sting the fruit, and frequently 

 causes earth-damp to blight it. — Ed.] 



Making Foundation. --On page 365 of 

 the August Journal, I notice an arti- 

 cle concerning Mr. F. W. Chapman's in- 

 vention to help the manufacture of 

 comb foundation. This is my plan to 

 accomplish what he states, though he 

 does not give the modus operandi. Just 

 before the end of the sheet gets to the 

 rollers, I lay another sheet, just lapping 

 the edges, thin end first, and so on, run- 

 ning it out as long as I want it. I use 



a root which grows in Southern Utah 

 and Arizona to prevent the wax sheets 

 from sticking to the rollers. We call it 

 soap root, or " ooze," and it works ad- 

 mirably. The tops are like bayonets ; 

 it grows in bunches about 4 feet in diam- 

 eter. I do not wash the foundation after 

 it is passed through the mill, and the 

 bees work on it as soon as it is put into 

 the hive. I think that wax melted in 

 the sun is better for foundation. I send 

 you two samples made on the Olm mill 

 — the lightest in color was melted in the 

 sun, on the cover of a hive; the other 

 was re-melted over a fire. Tou may 

 " mutilate" this letter all you wish, and 

 publish only such portions of it as you 

 think will be of general interest. 



J. G. Bigler, Jr. 

 Nephi City, Utah, Aug. 6, 1880. 



[The samples sent are very nice, and 

 the one " melted in the sun" is almost 

 white. We have placed them in our 

 Museum. 



We think our correspondents are well 

 satisfied that we never "mutilate" an 

 article sent for publication, except to 

 improve its grammar, or to condense it 

 to make it more readable and accepta- 

 ble to both the author and our readers. 

 All the *' hue and cry" about our "mu- 

 tilating articles" comes from those who 

 are not among our correspondents, and 

 they offer no proof, but bare assertions, 

 prompted by prejudice and a selfish de- 

 sire to injure the Bee Journal.— Ed.] 



Goldenrods, etc—What is the en- 

 closed weed V It grows in abundance 

 along the creeks here, and the bees are 

 now working greedily on it. It is now 

 about 6 feet high. My bees have done 

 splendidly, and are as busy now as dur- 

 ing the month of June. They are still 

 on the white clover, also red clover and 

 buckwheat. K. W. Keene, M. D. 



Versailles, Ky., July 22, 1880. 



[It is a goldenrod [Solidago), from 

 which bees obtain much nice fall honey. 

 —Ed.] 



Wired Foundation.— Our bees seem to 

 be using all their energy thus far this 

 season to increase, consequently there 

 has been but little surplus honey stored. 

 It has been a good season for bees up to 

 about July 20th. It has been so dry 

 since then that they have not done much. 

 Most apiaries have doubled, and some 

 have trebled, making up in many in- 

 stances the heavy losses of last winter. 

 There are more bees on the ripe peaches 



