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a sugar as you ever saw; for salt is so clear 

 and white, you know. AVheu this discov- 

 ery is generally known, salt will be worth 

 something. 



HOW DO YOU LIKE IT? 



How do you like to hold up a frame for 

 inspection, with a bunch of black bees 

 dangling on the bottom, so you can't set it 

 down witliout crushing about fifty; how 

 do you like to have a bee come at this 

 critical moment and plant you one between 

 the fingers V I don't appreciate this sacri- 

 fice of the "busy bee ! " If I had been 

 brought up in a Christian community, under 

 these circumstances, I think I would swear. 



Mr. Editor, there is no use trying to 

 white-wash these honey-merchants ; you 

 can't get around their actions, "nohow." 

 bay Perriue did do the fair thing with 

 some; he even paid two of my neighbors 

 5 per cent, interest on the money not sent 

 on time, but that don't help my case in the 

 least. I think I and Mr. Bird had better 

 light our lanterns, and, like Diogenes, hunt 

 for an honest honey-merchant. 



Yours, J. D. Kkuschke. 



Berlin, Wis., Aug. 18. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Scraps. 



The old "American Bee Journal" 

 since it lost its founder and head, the late 

 Samuel Wagner, has been moving around 

 considerably, though it has been in good 

 and faithful hands. And now as it has 

 "gobbled up" another journal we can say 

 good bye to the "National," but we 

 hav'nt lost it, though it has uuirried and 

 changed its name. / like the change first 

 rate and wish success to tJie new order of 

 things. 



Friend Argo says his cliickens will pick 

 worms off the bottom board and not touch 

 any bees. I think ours can beat that, for 

 besides getting what few moths there are, 

 they will go uo to a cluster of bees and 

 pick out the flies and drones by the half- 

 hour, and I never saw but one take a work- 

 er and he dropped it and looked as though 

 he had made a mistake and was sorry for 

 it. Plow will that compare witli king 

 birds ? 



To the advice to "keep bees" I would 

 add keep chickens, set your hives up from 

 the ground and snap your fingers at moths. 



Friend Hester says: "I have had no 

 experience with these large single story 

 hives," and, "I should think it would also 

 be quite diflicult to contract the space with- 

 in them to suit a small stock, or to winter 

 oven a full stock." AVe use the Langstroth 

 frame, Adair size, IG and 20 frames to the 

 hive, and find them to work well. We had 

 but one strong stock in the spring, a 20 

 frame hive. Made one new stock, bought 



5 light ones, and built them all up mostly 

 from the big stocks, and have extracted 34 

 lbs. of honey besides. The hive has al- 

 ways been full of brood, at least 16 out of 

 the 20 frames, and is now very strong, 

 enough bees and brood for two good 

 swarms. 



As to using them for light stocks, that is 

 easy enough ; just put in a division board, 

 or two of them, and give them room as fast 

 as they require it. I transferred a light 

 stock from box hive to 16 frame hive ; 

 could get but five frames of comb out of it 

 for them ; put in the division board and 

 now tliey are a good strong swarm. 



In wintering you can put the swarm in 

 the centre of the hive, with a board or wire 

 division on each side and pack the two 

 ends with clean straw, or shavings which 

 will absorb the moisture and keep the bees 

 dry and warm. 



in the old directions for transferring it 

 was always stated to put the brood the 

 same side up as in the old hive. All of us 

 "Novices " thought it was all law and 

 gospel and so took special pains to do it. 



We have a glass fish tank and the bees 

 gather around it by hundreds to get the 

 dripping water. While looking at the fish 

 we noticed one bee who did'nt seem to care 

 about the ills of life, for she had a big hole 

 stove in on one side as large as a pin head, 

 the scale sticking out at right angles. The 

 said bee came after a load of water 4 or 5 

 times in an hour, and we uoticed her for 

 several days. How is that for presever- 

 ance under difficulties ? 



A writer in the National some time ago, 

 said in regard to the qualities of Black and 

 Italian drones : "Don't be afraid of black 

 drones, but let them fly if any should be 

 out at this time. Your Italian drones know 

 what is up. You will then have an oppor- 

 tunity to test the superiority of Italian 

 drones over black ones. You will also no- 

 tice that if there are any black queens fly- 

 ing at this time in your neighborhood, 

 there will be a majority of them fertilized 

 by Italian drones." 



Your Italian drones know what is up ! 

 Yes, they do, "in a horn." I made three 

 new stocks for a friend, and one of his old 

 stocks raised a new queen. They had hun- 

 dreds of Italian drones, eleven swarms in 

 all. About a fourth of a mile from them 

 are four of the insignificant black stocks, 

 while in difl'erent parts of the town are 

 about 40 stocks of Italians, and uo other 

 blacks within a mile. Three out of the 

 four new queens mated with black drones, 

 and one or two others that I know of. One 

 of the black stock swarmed, and the new 

 queen in the old hive mated with a black 

 drone; — four bhick stocks against over 40 

 Italians. Superior fiddlesticks ! 



Oneida, 111. W. M. Kellogg. 



