THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



337 



stands, if each Live is covered separately 

 with straw or hay ; the entrance being left 

 open so that they can come out if they 

 will. Always put a mat or bee-quilt over 

 the frames whether left out or in. 



3. 2,000 square inches inside is the right 

 size when two apartments are to be used, 

 one above the other. 



4. We can see no difference. 



I have one swarm of Italian bees in the 

 Buckeye hive, which 1 have had only six 

 Aveeks, being my tirst experience in bee- 

 keeping. They havo already tilled all the 

 combs with honey leaving no room for the 

 •queen to lay. There is plenty of sealed 

 brood but no eggs to be seen. As I have 

 but one swarm, I do not wish to get an ex- 

 tractor this season, so I wish to ask through 

 the columns of your journal, if there is any 

 way in which I can extract the honey from 

 a few combs, having brood in the centre, 

 without the use of a patent extractor. 



My bees are beginning to work in the 

 small frames for surplus, and honey seems 

 to be abundant yet, as the bees work every 

 day. Winona Washburn. 



JBig Thompson, Col. 



We know of no way to extract the honey 

 without an extractor, but you can remove 

 one or more frames from the centre and 

 put in empty combs if you have them ; if 

 not, empty frames. 



Dear Editor : — Is it natural for bees to 

 die this time of the year V I discover when 

 the nights are a little cool bees drop to the 

 bottom board. Some nights quite a num- 

 ber die or are cripled, and during the day 

 some came out of the hive in a crippled 

 state, attempt to fly, but failing to raise off 

 the ground, tumble around for a few 

 minutes and die. What can be the cause 

 of all this ? Is it natural for them to die 

 off in this way, this time of the season ? I 

 noticed that last season my bees died in 

 the same way. Bees did well in this 

 section of the country up to the 15th of 

 July. Since that time it has been too dry. 

 Bees are consuming more honey than they 

 now gather. I have 84 stocks of bees, and 

 M'inter in the cellar with success. Last 

 winter I lost one out of G3. I would like to 

 know where the Rocky Mountain bee plant 

 can be had. I want some seed. Please 

 answer in the next number of the Journal. 



Haggerstown, Ind. S. N. Replogle. 



We have never seen an instance of this 

 kind and can give no information as to 

 cause. Will some one answer who has 

 seen it, and has a reasonable solution of 



the'question. You can get all necessary 

 information about Die Rocky Mountain bee 

 plant from , H. A. Terry, Crescent City, 

 ■who advertises in our columns. 



Flax Cultivation in Nebraska. 



It was once supposed that flax would only 

 thrive on tlie sea shore; and hence Holland 

 had what may be regarded as a gi'cat monop- 

 oly in the growth of flax, and the manufacture 

 of linens. But the plant flourishes in Nebras- 

 ka; and the soil is too rich for even this ex- 

 hausting crop easily to affect it. The cultiva- 

 tion of the crop is therefore yearly increasing 

 — at present with a view to the oil expressed 

 from the seed, tliough (as there is now no 

 linen manufacture worthy of the name in the 

 State,) it may be ultimately to provide fibre 

 for the mills. Certainly the people of Ne- 

 braska may look to this conclusion; and set- 

 tlers in the State ought not to forget that flax 

 may be made a protitable crop. 



At a recent meeting of the Farmers' Asso- 

 ciation, of Lancaster County, held at Lincoln, 

 (the county-seat and capital of the State,) a 

 discussion took ])lace on the probabilities of a 

 flax crop for this year, and it was stated that 

 some Eastern gentlemen had offered to build 

 an oil mill, if the farmers would guarantee a 

 sufficient quantity of the raw material. The 

 correspondent who sends this item of informa- 

 tion in the interests of farmers moving West, 

 says that in Ohio the flax crop used to be a 

 most profitable one. Half bushel of seed to 

 the acre would produce from ten to twenty 

 bushels, worth $1.50 per bushel. Taking the 

 yield at ten bushels, the seed was worth $15 

 per acre; and allowing $8 per acre for ex- 

 penses, (which included the delivery of the 

 seed to the mill,) the net profit to the fanner 

 was .157 per acre. The straw also was worth 

 $6 per ton; and the yield was half a ton to the 

 acre. Nebraska is more suitable for flax cul- 

 tivation than Ohio; and farmers whomigi'ate 

 to this promising State, where the land is 

 virgin, rich and cheap, may wisely keep this 

 subject in view. 



A speculative Scotch gentleman, wanting 

 to dispose of some bees, to attract purchas- 

 ers, printed the following placard: "Ex- 

 tensive sale of live stock, comprising not 

 less than one hundred and four thousand 

 head, with an unlimited right of pasturage." 



Remedy for Bee Stings — A bee keeper 

 says : "I have made one discovery, that a 

 l^reparation of Ledum palustre (Labrador 

 tea) homcEpathically prepared, is a soverign 

 remedy for bee stings." But he does not 

 tell us how to prepare it. 



