fitter Jprawjer, 



Bee Pasturage. — When I last wrote 

 you I expected some honey from fall 

 flowers, but am disappointed ; out of 31 

 colonies I will not get 1 pound of sur- 

 plus. The season has been very unfa- 

 vorable ; I had but 2 swarms, both late ; 

 1 is doing well, the other is in a starving 

 condition, and I fear will not winter 

 over. I think all but the one named 

 will have sufficient for winter stores. I 

 find we must make pasturage ; we can- 

 not depend on nature's voluntary con- 

 tributions. In the early days of this 

 section the honey product was enor- 

 mous, but settlement and cultivation 

 have destroyed the greater part of the 

 natural bloom. I contemplate planting 

 melilot clover, large mignonette, borage 

 and motherwort. F. A. Grove. 



Kirksville. Mo., Sept. 10, 1880. 



Asilns Flies.— I send you to-day, by 

 mail, a package containing 3 bee-killers. 

 There are plenty around my hives and 

 must destroy a great many bees. Please 

 give name through the American Bee 

 Journal. Two of the specimens are 

 bruised some ; but perhaps, the perfect 

 one will be sufficient for name. 



R. Van Dusen. 



Palmyra, X. Y., Aug. 23, 1880. 



[These insects are Asilus flies, but not 

 A. Missoiiriensis. They are too much 

 injured to be easily determined as the 

 hair is all rubbed off. They are 

 smaller than A. Missouriensis. I should 

 be very glad to get some more in good 

 condition. — A. J. Cook.] 



Egg-bound Queens, &c. — I have at 

 present an observatory hive with Italian 

 bees, also extracted and comb honey on 

 exhibition at the Mechanics' Fair, at 

 San Francisco, which closes on the 11th 

 inst. The hive has drawn a good share 

 of attention : they have been there for 

 3 weeks in the building ; I took them 

 out every few days for a fly and they are 

 very healthy. They have come 45 miles 

 on boat, wagon and rail, and only one 



Eartly filled section got loose, and no 

 ees were killed. The hive shows both 

 upper and lower arrangement, bees, 

 drones, &c. Seeing in the July and 

 August numbers of the American 

 Bee Journal, regarding queens being 

 egg-bound, convinces me that I had a 

 case. 1 noticed a very fine Italian 

 queen with what I then supposed were 

 the parts of the drone attached to the 

 queen. I watched for eggs, to time her 



laying. That queen still had the same 

 appearance at the tip of the abdomen, 

 even after 30 days had passed, until 

 finally she disappeared and the colony 

 got much reduced. She was in a 3 

 frame nucleus. Had I known in time, I 

 might have saved her. She was a fine 

 looking queen and came from good 

 stock. I am sorry now that I did not 

 examine her more closely at the time, 

 but expecting that all would be right, I 

 did not trouble her. I would like to get 

 all the particulars about fertilizing in 

 confinement. Several subscribers to the 

 American Bee Journal are very 

 much interested in this subject. 

 Xapa, Cab, Sept. 10. J. D. Enas. 



[See article on Fertilization in Con- 

 finement on page 465 of this number of 

 Journal.— Ed.] 



> T o Sagging in Foundation. — Hearing 

 so much said about the sagging of comb 

 foundation, I have come to the con- 

 clusion that it is the fault of the one 

 that uses it. I have used 30 lbs. this 

 season and not one sheet has sagged. 

 My way of fastening it, is to cut sheets 

 so as to reach % of the way down, then 

 tack thin strips of wood over the foun- 

 dation to the top-bar. I have never 

 used any but the Dunham foundation, 

 and could not say how other makes 

 would do. Success to the American 

 Bee Journal; I could not afford to do 

 without it, and I think one copy is well 

 worth the subscription price for a whole 

 year. J. F. McCoy. 



Van Wert, O., Sept. 16, 1880. 



Report of a Beginner. — I have no cel- 

 lar tit to winter my bees in, and shall 

 winter them on the summer stands by 

 packing with flax straw. I commenced 

 last summer with a swarm I caught on 

 the fence, put them in a common board 

 box ; wintered them in a box with open- 

 ing at entrance of hive backed with 

 straw ; last March I bought 5 colonies 

 in movable-frame hives ; 1 died soon 

 after I got them home and left 20 lbs. 

 of honey and about a pint of bees; the 

 other 2 gave 2 swarms each. My boxes 

 are 10x14 inches, inside, 9 frames; the 

 2 first swarms have their lower stories 

 full and are filling 12 boxes on top, of 

 about 3 lbs. to 4 lbs. each ; the last 

 swarms have not quite filled their boxes 

 below. I have had 3 boxes filled in 

 June, with Italian bees. I shall not 

 have much surplus honey, this has not 

 been a very good year for bees; too 

 much dry weather. I like the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. 



Thomas Parke. 



State Centre, Iowa, Sept. 13, 1880. 



