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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 22, 



THOMAS C. NEWMAN. 



Editor and Proprietor, 



CHICAGO, ILL., JUNE 22, 1881. 



Special Notice. 



The next number of the Weekly Bee 

 Journal completes the first six months 

 of its existence. We are more than 

 pleased with the manner in which it 

 has been received, and the welcome 

 that has been accorded to it every- 

 where. 



Several thousands have only sub- 

 scribed for six months, and their sub- 

 scriptions expire with the next number. 

 To all such we wish to make a few re- 

 marks : 



B) sending on their renewal at once. 

 they will not only prevent the annoy- 

 ance, to themselves, of missing the 

 regular visits of their old friend — the 

 Weekly Bee Journal, but they will 

 save us much trouble in taking their 

 names off from our mailing lists, and 

 then re-entering them within a short 

 time. We hope all will renew at once 

 or else send us a notice, by return mail, 

 if they desire its visits continued. 



Once in a while we receive a rather 

 uncourteous letter because the Bee 

 Journal is discontinued when the 

 time is out that has been paid for. We 

 try to please all our subscribers, but it 

 is not an easy task for us to determine 

 who does and who does not want it 

 so continued ; so we must ask to be in- 

 formed on the subject. 



The following is just such a notice 

 as we wish all would send who desire to 

 have it continued without intermission. 

 Then we put this mark, "||Jun 81," after 

 the name on the wrapper label, and 

 when so marked we do not stop sending 

 the Journal until we receive an order 

 from the subscriber to do so. 



" Please continue my Journal right 

 along ; if I do not send the money on 

 the day it runs out I do not want you to 

 stop it, for I want every number as soon 

 as it is published. I will send you the 

 money just as soon as I can make it 

 convenient to go to the post office to 

 get a money order. W. C." 



Now, if all who desire it so continued 

 would drop us a postal card, or men- 

 tion it when they are sending a remit- 

 tance, it would save us much trouble, 

 and themselves the annoyance of having 

 the Journal stopped. 



Too Much Drone Comb. — Mr. B. P. 

 Williams, of Goldsmith, Ind., asks the 

 following questions : 



1. How much drone comb should be 

 left in the hive V 



2. Will all eggs laid in drone comb 

 hatch drones V 



3. I have some very nice combs which 

 contain all drone cells; how can 1 keep 

 the drone brood out of it, or shall I cut 

 it out ? 



4. How many queen cells ought to be 

 left after dividing, in the colony that 

 has no queen 't 



5. Is it the fault of the queen, or the 

 bees, that there is too mucli drone comb? 

 Ho the bees make the comb, whether 

 she is a drone-laying queen or not? 



1. As little as possible, if you are 

 running for surplus honey. 



2. Yes. 



3. Do not, under any circumstances, 

 leave more than two drone combs in a 



hive — one at each outer side of the brood 

 chamber ; better, however, cut it up 

 and put it in the surplus boxes, and 

 supply its place with good worker foun- 

 dation. 



4. It matters not how many ; the first 

 queen emerging from a cell will look 

 after the remainder. 



5. At the time of honey-gathering, if 

 obliged to build new combs at the out- 

 side of the brood-nest, the bees quite 

 frequently construct it with drone cells. 

 This is one of the forcible arguments 

 in favor of the use of comb foundation. 

 Of course, when bees are determined to 

 have drone cells, they will build them, 

 even though they have to cut away 

 worker cells to get room to do so ; but, 

 as a rule, drone comb can be almost en- 

 tirely excluded from the hive, by using 

 good worker foundation, to be given no 

 faster than they can work it out. If it 

 is desirable that the queen occupy it, 

 place it alternately in the centre of the 

 brood-nest ; if desired for honey-storing, 

 then place at the sides of the brood-nest 

 next the hive. 



Law against Adulteration in Illinois. 



The Legislature, just before adjourn- 

 ing, passed the following law against 

 adulteration in Illinois. We hope it 

 will not be allowed to stand, " a dead 

 letter on the Statute Books of the 

 State." It should be strictly enforced : 



The law provides that no person shall 

 mix, color, stain, or powder, or order 

 or permit any person in his or her em- 

 ploy to mix, color, stain, or powder any 

 article of food with an ingredient or 

 material, so as to render the article in- 

 jurious to health or depreciate the value 

 thereof, with intent that the same may 

 be sold ; and no person shall sell or of- 

 fer for sale any such article so mixed, 

 colored, stained, or powdered ; that no 

 person shall, except for the purpose of 

 compounding in the necessary prepara- 

 tion of medicine, mix, color, stain, or 

 powder, or order or permit any other 

 person to mix, color, stain, or powder 

 any drug or medicine with any ingred- 

 ient or material so as to affect injur- 

 iously the quality or potency of such 

 drug or medicine, with intent to sell 

 the same, or shall sell or offer for sale 

 any such drug or medicine so mixed, 

 colored, stained, or powdered ; that no 

 person shall mix, color, stain, or pow- 

 der any article of food, drink, or medi- 

 cine, or any article which enters into 

 the composition of food, drink, or med- 

 icine, with any other ingredient or ma- 

 terial, whether injurious to health or 

 not, for the purpose of gain or profit, or 

 sell or offer the same for sale, or order 

 or permit any other person to sell or of- 

 fer for sale any article so mixed, col- 

 ored, stained, or powdered, unless the 

 same be so manufactured, used, or sold 

 or offered for sale under its true and 

 appropriate name, and notice that the 

 same is mixed or impure is marked, 

 printed, or stamped upon each package, 

 roll, parcel, or vessel containing the 

 same, so as to be and remain at all 

 times readily visible, or unless the per- 

 son purchasing the same is fully in- 

 formed by the seller, of the true name 

 and ingredients (if other than such are 

 known by the com -non name thereof) of 

 such article of food, drink, or medicine, 

 at the time of making sale thereof or 

 offering to sell the same ; that no per- 

 son shall mix oleomargarine, suine, but- 

 tenne, beef fat, lard, or any other for- 

 eign substance, with any butter or 

 cheese intended for human food, with- 

 out distinctly stamping, marking, or la- 

 beling the article or package contain- 

 ing the same with the true and 

 appropriate name of such article, and 

 the percentage in which such oleomar- 

 garine or suine enters into its compo- 

 sition ; nor shall any person sell, or of- 

 fer for sale, or order or permit to be 

 offered for sale, any such article of food 

 into the composition of which oleomar- 

 garine or suine has entered, without at 

 the same time informing the buyer of 



the fact, and the proportions in which 

 such oleomargarine, suine, or butter- 

 ine, beef fat, fard, or any other foreign 

 substance has entered into its composi- 

 tion : 



Provided, That nothing in the act 

 shall be so construed as ti> prevent the 

 use of harmless coloring matter in but- 

 ter and cheese or other articles of food; 

 that any person convicted of violating 

 any provision of any of the foregoing 

 sections of this act shall, for the first 

 offence, be fined not less than $25 nor 

 more than $200 ; for the second offense 

 he shall be fined not less than $100 nor 

 more than $200, or confined in the 

 county jail not less than one month nor 

 more than 6 months, or both, at the dis- 

 cretion of the court; and for the third 

 and all subsequent offenses he shall be 

 fined not less than S500 nor more than 

 $2,000, and impisoned in the peniten- 

 tiary not less than one year or more 

 than 5 years; no person shall be con- 

 victed under the foregoing sections of 

 this act if he shows to the satisfaction 

 of the court or jury that he did not know 

 that he was violating any of the pro- 

 visions of this act, and that he could 

 not, with reasonable diligence, have ob- 

 tained that knowledge ; the State at- 

 torneys of this State are charged with 

 the enforcement of this act, and it is 

 hereby made their duty to appear for 

 the people and to attend to the prosecu- 

 tion of all complaints under this act, in 

 their respective counties, in all courts. 



Methods of Usin^r Foundation. 



We frequently receive inquiries simi- 

 lar to the following, from parties who 

 have been more or less annoyed with 

 foundation breaking down, etc. : 



I am perplexed — almost out of humor. 

 I fastened the foundation on to the 

 frames, as I supposed, according to law 

 (pressing down with a putty-knife), but 

 it does not stay. As I opened the hive 

 of a swarm two days old, the other night, 

 I found three sheets of foundation lying 

 on the bottom of the hive. I was vexed ; 

 I resolved to go to headquarters for in- 

 formation. Now, will you please give 

 in the next issue of the Bee Journal 

 full directions for fastening foundation 

 on the frames ? Give full directions for 

 handling foundation. Is it best to fill 

 the frames full, or will starters two or 

 three inches wide serve to keep the 

 combs straight '{ Nothing is more pro- 

 voking than crooked combs in a colony 

 of bees. I wintered in the cellar, had 

 good luck, and bees are doing nicely 

 now, with plenty of clover and rain. I 

 examined a swarm one week old Satur- 

 day, that was nearly full of nice comb, 

 honey and brood; will put on surplus 

 sections this week. J. M. A. M. 



Galva, 111., June 13, 1881. 



We can only answer the above ques- 

 tions by giving our way of using it, and 

 referring to some of the methods prac- 

 ticed by others, but will recommend no 

 particular plan for fastening it, for the 

 reason that practice and painstaking has 

 much to do with acquiring facility and 

 perfection in anything pertaining to the 

 internal economy of the hive, and we 

 do not wish to provoke any discussion 

 with those who have derived satisfac- 

 tion from a plan differing wholly or in 

 part from ours. 



We use Langstroth frames with a 

 V-shaped top-bar; the foundation is 

 just as wide as the inside of the frame 

 from the bottom-bar to the lower point 

 of the top-bar, and is one inch shorter 

 than the frame from end to end. When 

 ready to use a set of frames, the foun- 

 dation is placed on clean paper, evenly 

 piled, with the straightest edge next the 

 operator ; now with a sharp knife make 

 four incisions or cuts half an inch long 

 down through the foundation to the pa- 

 per, and at equal distances from each 

 other and the ends ; with the hands 

 placed at each end of the pile, turn up 

 the two end-cuts with the thumbs, and 

 proceed- to the center, which is also 



turned up, now lift the sheet clear from 

 the pile and turn the two remaining 

 cuts or Haps in the opposite direction ; 

 lay the sheet down with the top edge 

 nearest you, place the frame with the 

 lower or sharp edge fitting closely to 

 the joints formed by alternately bend- 

 ing up and down the flaps, and press 

 the foundation to the top-bar with the 

 thumbs, drawing to you. When warm 

 and the wax quite pliable, the work is 

 very speedily and effectively performed 

 — scarcely requiring more than ten min- 

 utes for a full set of frames. The foun- 

 dation will reach within half an inch 

 of each end-bar and the bottom-bar, and 

 give ample room for the bees to pass 

 from side to side. Of course, a greater 

 number of cuts will do no harm except 

 to take up more time. With good foun- 

 dation we have never had any breaking 

 down, warping, nor sagging to any ap- 

 preciable extent. The engraving will 

 give a comprehensive idea of the ap- 

 pearance of a sheet of foundation ready 

 for the hive. 



Many bee-keepers use a top-bar with 

 a tongue or in-set projecting below its 

 surface, to which they fasten the foun- 

 dation by pressing with a putty-knife. 

 Others lay the edge of the foundation 

 along the tongue, and fasten by tacking 

 a thin strip of wood over it. Melted 

 beeswax and rosin is used a great deal, 

 with which the foundation is sealed to 

 the top-bar. Split top-bars are used by 

 many, and possess some advantages 

 over most other kinds. These, however, 

 necessitate considerable labor, as the 

 nailing down of the top-bars cannot be 

 completed till after the insertion of the 

 foundation. 



Starters two or three inches long will 

 not always insure straight combs, but, 

 of course, are much better than empty 

 frames; but with a good article, full 

 sheets are much more satisfactory. 



In hiving swarms, if very strong, we 

 would throw them on full sheets and a 

 full complement, to prevent concentra- 

 ting too much weight on a few ; but if 

 building up, then give full sheets, in the 

 centre of the brood-nest, only as fast as 

 they can use it. 



gg" On page 2 of the first number of 

 the Weekly Bee Journal, "M. B." 

 had an article on "Fertilization in Con- 

 finement," and promised a full descrip- 

 tion of the cage used, etc., during the 

 present year. Mr. Louis Hofstatter has 

 waited patiently, but says he has now 

 become very anxious to hear from the 

 experiment, and asks us to call on " M. 

 B." to "rise and explain." He must 

 remember, however, that so far we 

 have had but little suitable weather for 

 such experiments, and must wait toiih 

 patience, and give time sufficient to 

 make several experiments, for such 

 only will be of any value to the science 

 and art of bee-keeping. Slip-shod ex- 

 periments and hasty conclusions are al- 

 ways deceptive and undesirable. Let 

 all wait until the experiments are com- 

 pleted, and then, doubtless, all will re- 

 ceive the coveted information, or else a 

 full explanation concerning the failure. 

 We can well afford to wait. 



