146 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Some English bee-keepers use the sheets 

 of wax "without any cell impressions on 

 them and seem to think them about as 

 good. We have used these sheets and any- 

 one can make them, as we think there is 

 no patent on them. Take any vessel that 

 is most convenient and melt beeswax in 

 it, putting in first, water enough to make 

 the vessel tolerably full after the bees- 

 wax is in. Of course, it would do just as 

 well to have all bees wax and no water, 

 but a very little wax can be used if water 

 is added. Dip into this a piece of com- 

 mon window glass, and after taking it out 

 of the wax, dip it into a vessel of cold 

 water to cool it and you will have a thin 

 sheet of wax on each side of the glass. 

 If wanted thicker, dip again in the wax. 

 We think, however, we should much pre- 

 fer the pressed sheets. 



To fasten in the frame, a little melted 

 wax or rosin may be dropped on as a kind 

 of solder, or a hot iron may be run along 

 the edge of the wax where it touches the 

 frame. 



If much is to be fastened into frames, 

 the plan given by Novice is good. Make 

 a board just large enough to fit easily into 

 the frame, and nail stops around it so that 

 the foundations will be just at the right 

 place to be fastened into the frame. 



If the foundations cannot be used for 

 surplus honey, then it seems to us, their 

 chief value will be gone. 



W. W. Lynch asks, how to preserve combs, 



not in use from tlie moth. They may be put 



in a closet or box which closes so tight 



that no moth can find an entrance. They 



may be hung in an attic allowing a space 



of one or two inches between the combs. 



We have kept them standing all the year 



in a hive out doors just as the frames 



would be hung for the bees to occupy; 



but this might not be so well in all 



localities. 



. . ^. » ■ 



A. G. Hill did not say, in his article on 

 Artificial Swarms, whether he used woolen 

 or cotton cloth for curtains. If cotton, 

 would it not be a good plan to make them 

 double with a thickness of newspaper 

 between? C. T. Smith. 



I use one thickness of woolen or two of 

 cotton cloth. The paper may be an im- 

 provement, but I have never tried it. 



A. G. Hill. 



Mr. F. W. Chapman has sent one of his 

 extractors to this ofllce, and the cut on 

 the advertising pages is a very exact rep- 

 resentation, except that the corner posts 

 of the machine are neater in appearance 

 than those in the cut. The wooden frame 

 work about the can adds unnecessarily to 

 the weight, but it has the advantage of 

 being always mounted, ready for work. 

 For every revolution made by the crank 

 the comb makes four revolutions. 



Not Hay, but Honey. — The first line 



on page 137 of May number, R. Miller's 



article on Melilot Clover, should read: 



" I got 6,000 pounds of honey," not hay. 



It will be well to make that correction on 



your copies, for it is an important change 



of words. 



■ ♦ ■ 



li;^'~The first article in this number 

 from the pen of the Rev. W. F. Clarke* 

 was intended for the May number, but 

 was received too late. 



Mr. J. S. CoE writes us that he pro- 

 poses to have the ground about his house 

 apiary, planted with honey-producing 

 plants; and asks that bee-keepers send by 

 mail specimens of the honey-producing 

 plants of their various localities, directed 

 "J. S. Coe, House Apiary, Exhibition 

 Grounds, Philadelphia, Pa." 



On page 117 of last issue, D. H. Og- 

 den's address is wrong. It should be 

 "Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio." Those 

 who have written him to Mass., will 

 do well to write to the postmaster and or- 

 der the letters forwarded to Wooster, 

 Ohio. 



We had a pleasant call last month from 

 the Rev. A. Salisbury, of Camargo, Ills., 

 who is extensively engaged in aparian 

 pursuits. 



m I ■ 



On April 25th, G. W. Maryatt, of Milton, 

 Wis., lost his residence bj"- fire. In his 

 cellar were 40 swarms of bees, and all 

 were consumed. 



Mr. C. C. Vaughan, of Columbia, Tenn., 

 has been added to the firm of Staples «fc 

 Andrews, of the Columbia Apiary, in that 

 place. One month ago they had 175 full 

 colonies, and were then having natural 

 swarms. 



