AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



23 



will not be disturbed until the honey 

 harvest is near at hand. 



As long as things are going well with 

 a colony of bees, they are better off with- 

 out any interference from the bee- 

 keeper, and this is especially the case in 

 the early spring, when all unnecessary 

 opening of the hive should be avoided. 



Ottawa, Ills., Dec. 19, 1892. 



_ Do notwrite anything for nublication 

 on the same sheet of paper witn business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Texas Weather — Honey in 1893. 



This is Dec. 22nd, and bees have not 

 had a flight for three days. It has been 

 raining almost all the time, but it is not 

 cold yet. We had ice only on two or 

 three mornings, so far. We expect a 

 little " norther " any time from across 

 the peach orchard, forcing us to put on 

 wraps and overcoats. I really would be 

 glad to see a little snow, but often we go 

 clear through the whole winter without 

 any. 



Southern bee-keepers, look out. nl look 

 for one of those old-time bee years, that 

 makes this our land flow with milk and 

 honey. Why ? Just because we have 

 had fine fall and.winter rains, and horse- 

 mint and other lioney-furnishing plants 

 are growing finely, which means honey 

 next year. Mks. Jennie Atchi^et. 



Greenville, Texas. 



Cleaning' Propolized Separators. 



I want to thank Miss Emma Wilson 

 for that valuable recipe by which tin 

 separators, etc., can be cleaned of propo- 

 lis, which was published on page 80. 

 In order to show its value, I will explain. 



I have about 2,500 tin separators to 

 clean every season. Until last spring, 

 the glue was scraped off with a case- 

 knife, which scratches the tins, is slow 

 and tedious, and, worst of all, it is 

 bound to leave some stains, and bees. 



like people, are ashamed of the daubing 

 that others do, and therefore cover up 

 those stains with a new coat of glue, 

 from end to end. (If you don't believe 

 it, try a row of stained sections in a case 

 of clean, smooth ones, and be satisfied). 



But now I heat some water to the 

 boiling point, dissolve in a box of con- 

 centrated lye, throw in my separators, 

 stir them a little, and with a pitch-fork 

 throw them out on some straw, and pour 

 some clean water over them. I then 

 spread them out, or set them up on end 

 to drain and dry — and the job is done. 

 The tins are as bright and clean as new. 



Now you can see what I have gained 

 by that one article in the American Bee 

 JouRNAX, and there are thousands of 

 others who, no doubt, have tried It and 

 found it good, and, like myself, come 

 very nearly forgetting to say, " Thank 

 you." But some say, "Oh, they get 

 paid for it !" I doubt whether the writer 

 or editor ever gets full value. 



Savanna, Ills. Jno. HANDEiy. 



The Season of 1892. 



My report for 1892 is as follows : 

 Spring count, 16 colonies ; fall count, 

 18 ; 7 natural swarms; and I took 400 

 pounds of honey with the extractor. I, 

 fed 100 pounds of granulated sugar for 

 winter stores, and'^'put 16 colonies of my 

 bees into the cellar on Dec. 10 ; 2 are 

 packed on the summer stands, and are 

 wintering nicely so far. This has been 

 the poorest year for bees since I have 

 been in the business, but white clover 

 never looked any better in this vicinity, 

 and as basswood did not bloom this year, 

 I have good hopes for 1893. 



Oakwood, Wis., Dec. 19, 1893. 



That Q,ueen-Bee Experience. 



On page 828 Mr. Kauffman tells his 

 experience with a queen-bee, and wants 

 to know what made her do as she did. 

 She was not to blame for going up the 

 tree, nor over the house and being struck 

 with a lightning-rod. But she was to 

 blame for going off and staying two days 

 in a snow-storm, when she came from 

 the South. If it had been one of our 

 Northern queens I should not have 

 wondered at it so much. She is from a 

 hardy race, I should think. I wish he 

 would send me one of her daughters by 

 telegraph. Chas. Tarey. 



Houghion, N. Y., Dec. 24, 1892, 



