18'73.] 



.THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



137 



by bfeefe, because each sheet of comb forms a 

 wall and' obstruction to both bees and 'warm 

 air; the'narrow passages around the couubs seem 

 insufficient ; whereas. Ijoxes jDlaced on the end 

 of the brood combs only, with no partition be- 

 tween them, and noupicard escape of warm air, 

 are as readily occupied by the bees as' top 

 boSes ever are, e^^en in early spring or late in 

 fall. On the contrary, we have obtained more 

 box honey from hives having an end l)ox, than 

 from hives having top boxes only at 'the same 

 time; and sinct^ we found such to be the fact, 

 all theories to the contrary notwithstanding, it 

 is more pleasure to open a hive and handle the 

 combs in pivot frames, never glued, no honey 

 boxes'' to lift away, or crushing of bees. 

 Well, here I am getting too enthusiastic, and 

 unless I stop, ere long, some one will say I am 

 advertising in the wrong place ; but, be easy, 

 we propose to do our advertising in the adver- 

 tising columns, — see it. E. Kretchmer. 

 Coburg, Montgomery Co., Iowa. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Notes from Morrison, Ills. 



Mr. Editor: It is a long w^iile since we re- 

 ported, and having passed through another bee 

 season, we resume the notes. We cannot re- 

 port an extra season passed, ' but fair to medi- 

 Hm, first of the season cold and wet, with no 

 linden blossoming. Sumac yielded but little or 

 BO honey. White clover was good at times, 

 and our pets have done well considering all 

 things. Our stocks last winter went from 13 

 to 3. This spring I purchased 3 black stocks, 

 and from the 6 trom May 1, I now have 18, be- 

 sides having sold $30 worth of bees, and having 

 extracted over 7751bs. of honey. Reckoning 

 the honey at 15c. (I get l6c. and 20c.), and bees 

 at f 10 a stock (I wcnild not sell them for less,) 

 it makes $326.35 from six stocks of bees, dur- 

 ing the season, or over $54 a stock, and they 

 have boarded themselves besides. I now am 

 fitting them for winter, rather late, I fear, but 

 other matters have demanded my attention. 



By the w^ay, why do you allow so many hard 

 things in the A. B. J. about "Novice"? He 

 has done very much for the beekeepers, and 

 should be helped, rather than slurred. I don't 

 like all of his ideas, nor does he mine ; but 

 that is no reason why we should rush into 

 print, and abuse each other, like the " monthly 

 criticisms," abusings, or ridiculings, I call 

 them, of A. and D., C. and B., and so on. I 

 don't believe it is relished by a majority of 

 jour jjatrons, and I would vote for a less 

 amount of it. 



Speaking of " Novice," I have a better, be- 

 -cause cheaper, bee-feeder, than his tea kettle — 

 not patented ; a saw, hammer, and nails, are 

 the tools necessary to make it. I'll tell you 

 how it is done. It's a tight box, any size you 



wish to make, with a .wooden, bottom or top 

 when in use,and a piece of fine muslin drawn 

 tight over the other side, and fastened ; the in- 

 side of the box, cracks, and conic rs are painted 

 with wax and rosin, before the cloth is put on. 

 Small strips of wood are nailed on the edge. of 

 the box, to raise it up from the frames, and a 

 hole is bored in the side to fill it, a cork being 

 used to stop the hole when filled, a small piece 

 of glass is placed in the wood, to use when the 

 feed is out, and you have feeder that won't 

 cost a dollar, and will hold from one to twenty 

 pounds, according to size. To use it, fill it, 

 stop it up, and invert it, cloth down, over 

 something till it stops dripping. Wait a min- 

 ute or two, and then place it on the frames, 

 and with the cloth honey board cover up the 

 balance of the frames. I made three one 

 evening, and I knoio they work splendidly. 



The idea is new (to me), but the principle, 

 forming a vacuum, is old. I consider it a great 

 improvement in feeding, over the tea-kettle, 

 although that is good; but mine won't cost 

 scarcely anything. 



Mr. Kruschke wants to know about the rape 

 seed. I sowed one acre : not any more for me. 

 My neighbors laugh at my turnip patch, for 

 bees; it's nice and green now (Oct. 15), but I 

 don't think there was a hundred blossoms at 

 one time on the piece. I kept close watch of 

 it. for I was much interested in it ; but when- 

 ever I went to it I found more or less bees hov- 

 ering around the few flowers that were there. 

 I exj^ect it was too dry for it to come up good, 

 and it did not grow well. I would not con- 

 demn it, but prefer to use something else for 

 bee pasturage, for the present. 



Success to the A. B. J., but please don't al- 

 low so much bickering in it. 



Frank W. Chapman. 



Morrison, III., Oct. 29, 1873. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Not Mistaken. 



Mr. Editor : In the August number of the 

 A. B. J., we gave the result of an experiment 

 with a swarm of bees, which proved to us that 

 bees can build combs and rear brood when fed 

 upon honey and water alone, and confined to 

 the hive. 



On page. 112, November number, Mr. Chas. 

 Dadant attemjits to prove that we are mistaken, 

 and says that brood cannot be raised without 

 pollen. 



Now, Mr. Editor, we do not propose to have 

 any controversy with Mr. Dadant on this sub- 

 ject. But if Mr. Dadant contends that his ex- 

 periment in returning those swarms and giving 

 them a frame containing pollen, is the proof^ 

 we, for one, can't see it. 



Now, brother beekeepers, let us see. In Sep- 

 tember No. A. B. J., page 53, Baron von 



