Then, why not conform as nearly as 

 possible to such a mode of queen-rear- 

 ing, and not try to *' climb up some 

 other way," which can certainly be no 

 better, and has numerous chances to be 

 a partial, if not a total failure ? Let us 

 in this, as well as in all else we do, strive 

 to use only the best means, and put 

 forth every energy in our power to be 

 advancing, until we shall have a strain 

 of bees and a system of management 

 that shall be as near perfection as is 

 possible for mankind to obtain. 

 Borodino, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Honey-Dew in Profusion. 



W. M. KELLOGG. 



After reading on page 324 of Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for July, William 

 Maxwell's article on honey-dew, I really 

 wish he was here to-day. I would take 

 him over to Benton Island and show him 

 honey-dew to his heart's content, and he 

 need not give me the $10 either. For 

 weeks back it has been very hot and dry 

 here, and during that time our bees have 

 been working lively on honey-dew. 



Our honey-yielding flowers are drying 

 up sadly, yet, by the help of honey-dew 

 our hives are very heavy with honey, 

 and bees are going into the sections ; 

 some few have sections ready to come 

 off. I know not whether this yield of 

 honey-dew is universal on the river- 

 bottoms, but with us it is very abund- 

 ant, and the bees make a literal "roar" 

 on it, from as early in the morning as 

 they can see till long after sundown. I 

 have seen none of it dripping from the 

 trees, but maple, oak, hickory, grape 

 leaves, etc., are literally covered with it. 



To stand under a tree on tie island, 

 one would think a huge swarm of bees 

 was clustering overhead. I do not pre- 

 tend to say what this substance is, but 

 I do know there are great quantities of 

 it, and our bees are doing finely on it. 

 I have extracted some of it, and find it 

 a very dark-colored honey (?) which I 

 know comes from honey-dew, for at this 

 time of year our honey is usually very 

 white. But people seem to like the 

 taste of it, and call it good ; for myself 

 I prefer something else. I have been a 

 bee-keeper for many years, and this is 

 my first experience with honey-dew. 

 It is not only found on the islands, but 

 the leaves on melon vines, and on the 

 ground under them, have their load of 

 it, on the sand 50 feet above the water 

 •level. I have seen no signs of insects 

 in connection with it. This substance 

 on the leaves can not only be tasted, but 



if one had a biscuit along he could get a 

 pretty good dinner of biscuit and— what 

 shall I call it ? 



The high water injured our honev 

 prospects, but this honey-dew is helping 

 us out finely, and we hope for a contin- 

 uance of it. 



Oquawka. 111., Aug. 16, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Those Egg-bound Queens. 



H. L. JEFFREY. 



On page 387 of the August American 

 Bee Journal, I see that Mr. M. S. 

 Snow seems to think that I might have 

 been mistaken. Now, for the queens 

 (and thanks to him for calling my at- 

 tention to it again), if they had been 

 just mateds according to my observa- 

 tion, they would not have shown any 

 foreign substance after 48 hours, as it is 

 generally absorbed from sight in that 

 time, or nearly so; but in the cases I 

 alluded to, the queens had been laying 

 for some time, and, furthermore, they 

 had their wings clipped, making it im- 

 possible to mistake young queens just 

 mated for the ones introduced or belong- 

 ing in the hives. 



I have, since writing the first letter 

 to the Journal, had the satisfaction of 

 seeing a queen in the primary stages of 

 the disease. The lower end of the ab- 

 domen began to enlarge, and the orifice 

 began to spread open ; in about 4 or 5 

 days it began to show quite plainly but 

 the substance still remained soft, and 

 when it begins to harden, and as soon 

 as hard like the scab of a sore it will do 

 to run a needle through and tear off ; if, 

 in tearing, it should cause any bleeding, 

 dip the queen's abdomen in thin warm 

 honey and drop her among the bees. 

 The honey will prevent the bees from 

 attacking her, and will help to cleanse 

 any matteration and take out any sore- 

 ness caused by tearing off the substance 

 resulting from the hardening of the 

 eggs. 



I did not intend that, if anyone saw a 

 queen whose abdomen showed some- 

 thing attached should amputate it im- 

 mediately ; butas I had just been called 

 on to examine that colony and saw the 

 situation, I penned the short article to 

 call the attention of our best informed 

 bee-keepers to the fact, and hoping some 

 one else would be able to give some 

 light on the subject; also to prevent the 

 pinching off of the heads of some good 

 queens or that have been good, because 

 they have stopped laying. I also ob- 

 ject to giving a colony containing such 

 a queen a frame containing any larvse, 



