366 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Nov. 16, 





Best Hive for Comb Honey.— I com- 

 menced last spring to keep a Bee Ac- 

 count Book, noting down everything 

 of consequence, which I shall keep for 



future reference. We had snow on 

 Nov. :;. but it is all gone ami my bees 

 arc now bringing in pollen. Please 

 state in tin- Bee Journal which size 

 df hive you think best for the produc- 

 tion of comb honey. F. H. Sears. 



Girard, Pa., Nov. 6, 1881. 



[For comb honey nearly all agree 

 that a shallow frame is best— we pre- 

 fer the Langstroth.— Ed.] 



Poor Honey Season.— The honey 

 season in this section lias been the 

 poorest known for many years. No 

 rain, to do any good, since June 10. 

 till the 28th of this month. Waters 

 lower than they have been for years : 

 many of the streams are entirely dried 

 up. Bees had to be fed to get them 

 in condition for winter. 



II. II. Brown. 



Light Street, Pa., Oct. 31, 1881. 



[In the West there has been a super- 

 abundance of rain for the past month. 

 To have had it equalized between the 

 East and West, would have been more 

 agreeable all around.— Ed.] 



Entirely Satisfied.— I had 5 colonies 

 in the fall of 1880, and lost 3 las! win- 

 ter; they were wintered on summer 

 stands. I have taken 130 lbs. of line 

 section honey, and 12 lbs. extracted; 

 increased to 7, all are well provided 

 for winter. 1 am entirely satisfied 

 over the result of last season's labor. 

 I send my best wishes for the prosper- 

 ity of the' Bkb Journal. I am much 

 pleased with it and cannot do without 

 it F. C. Gastinger. 



Kenton, O., Nov. 2, 1881. 



Honey from Alsike Clover.— After 



uniting a few weak colonies in the 

 spring, I had Kill colonies; sold (11 first 

 class colonies and 2 nuclei, which lefl 

 me 73 colonies to begin the season 

 with. I worked 27 colonies for ex- 

 tracted honey; have taken an average 

 of 21 1 His. per colony. I put boxes on 

 2(1 young colonies, and have an aver- 

 age of 40 lbs. each of comb honey. I 

 run the rest of them for increase, and 

 have this fall 147 colonies. Our bees 

 had IS acres of new seeding and 4 

 acres second crop Of alsike clover to 

 work on. from which they gathered 

 most of the honey. Basswood did not 

 yield much honey this year. 



C. M. Woolver. 

 Hallsville, N. Y., Nov. IS, 1881. 



[Here is a very good illustration 

 that even in New York, where land is 

 most valuable, it will pay to plant for 

 bee pasturage. Had our correspond- 

 ent not run for increase, and suppose 

 only 150 of the 211 lbs. of honey were 

 directly attributable to the alsike, he 

 would have realized 10,950 lbs. from 

 his 73 colonies, which, at 10c. per lb., 

 would have brought the handsome 

 sum of SI, 095 rental for 22 acres of 

 clover-land.— Ed.] 



seems throughout a great lack of in- 

 terchange of views. Now, I consider 

 the discussion of the various topics in 

 bee-keeping the backbone of all bee- 

 meetings, whether local or National ; 

 but long articles, however excellent, 

 crowd out other work. I do hope, in 

 till future meetings throughout the 

 country, this evil will be remedied by 

 having- shorter addresses and more 

 discussion. Geo. Thompson. 



Geneva, 111. 



[ We quite agree with Mr. Thomp- 

 son regarding the desirability of pub- 

 lishing more debate, buthow can it be 

 done without omitting the essays, or 

 limiting their number to two or three? 

 Much of this essay business is very 

 monotonous to the general reader, and 

 might, without loss to the public, be 

 omitted from the published reports. 

 Certainly, no editor would be excused 

 by these essayists if he was to neglect 

 publishing their productions in exU nso, 

 while giving an official report, and no 

 reporter can do himself justice in giv- 

 ing sketches of debate, where his 

 allotted space is already much more 

 than consumed. We cannot see any 

 way in which it can be done, except for 

 the Society to employ a stenographic 

 reporter, and publish the proceedings 

 in pamphlet form.— Ed.1 



Italians are Good Enough.— I com- 

 menced this season with 22 colonies, 

 rather weak ; increased to 33 by divid- 

 ing, and bought 17. I now have 50 

 strong, pure Italian colonies, except 

 one pure Cyprian, the head of the 

 queen of which I intend to " pinch " 

 early in the spring. The Italians are 

 good enough for me, i. e., the long, 

 leather-collared ones I have taken 

 700 lbs. of extracted honey of the fin- 

 est quality, sold at 15 cts. ; reared and 

 sold nearly 200 queens, and have not 

 quite done yet. There is plenty of 

 honey in the hives to last through the 

 winter. J. S. Tadlock. 



Kingsbury, Tex., Nov. 1, 1881. 



breeding in the swamp colonies ; they 

 bad fresher honey, more pollen, and 

 deeper frames to concentrate the heat 

 in the center. We imagine that bees 

 but seldom die from old age— certainly 

 not in summer; but with everything 

 the most favorable for wintering, the 

 long, semi-dormant period is one of 

 rest and repose, rather than debility 

 and exhaustion. — Ed.] 



Spring and Summer Honey Plants.— 

 Which are the most suitable honey 

 plants (annuals) for early spring and 

 summery My soil is light sandy. 

 Answer in Bee Journal. 



Tiios. R. Smith. 



Leighton, Ala., Nov. 7, 1881. 



[Catnip, motherwort and summer 

 rape, ought to do well on your soil. 

 Although a biennial, try a patch of 

 sweet clover [Melilotus alba).— Ed.] 



The National Convention.— I have 

 just finished reading that gem of an 

 article by Dr. J. P. II. Brown, on the 

 " Races of Honey Bees." To the sci- 

 entific bee-keeper it is worth the price 

 of a year's subscription to the Weel.lv 

 Bee Journal. 1 suppose this ends 

 the proceedings of the National Con- 

 vention, where a great many other 

 Splendid articles were read touching 

 points on our noble and interesting 

 calling. But notwithstanding all this. 

 the National Convent inn did not come 

 up to my expectations. When I read 

 the programme. and then the proceed- 

 ings, I was disappointed. There 



Using Drone Foundation.— I have 

 colonies of Italian bees; should I use 

 drone foundation in each hive, and 

 how much V Had I SOcolonies, should 

 I use it. and bow much V Or. had I 

 Letter use a larger quantity in only a 

 few hives located in the center of the 

 apiary. One colony had 12 His. oi 

 honey, I gave them a frame of granu- 

 lated sugar candy a week ago. nexl 

 l he side-wall. The bees have been 

 carrying it out at the entrance ever 

 since. I removed the candy, and one- 

 fourth was consumed or carried out at 

 the entrance. Bid I get the candy too 

 bard, or burned, or should I have 

 waited until their stores were nearly 

 consumed before I gave the candy? 

 To another colony having 8 lbs. of 

 honey mostly unsealed, I gave 2 

 frames of sealed honey, next the side- 

 walls. The bees carried the honey to 

 the center frames, stripped the frames 

 of comb, and I think used it to cat) 

 over the honey. Why did they do so V 

 F. M. Cheney. 



South Sutton, N. H. 



[Use no drone foundation, unless 

 you have a particular strain that you 

 desire drones from, in which case one 

 or half a comb with dronecells will he 

 ample, near the centre of brood nest. 

 Nothing will be gained by placing this 

 hive in the center of the apiary. Had 

 you placed the sugar candy near the 

 center, there would have been no ne- 

 cessity for the bees to carry it there ; 

 being granulated, the bees could not, 

 without too much labor, liquefy it so 

 as to carry it in their honey-sacs to 

 the center. In winter, the moisture 

 in the hive softens the candy so the 

 bees can consume it. The combs of 

 sealed honey might have been placed 

 near the center. The cell-walls were 

 cut away by the bees to give room for 

 a greater number f> assist in empty- 

 ing them.— Ed.1 



Honey Cake.— At the request as 

 printed* in the Bee Journal, I here- 

 with give the recipes for the honey 

 cakes that I presented to the Toronto 

 Convention : 



Honkv Sponge Cake.— Two- thirds 

 of a breakfast cup of sour cream. 3 

 cupsful of flour, an even teaspoonful 

 of soda, 1 cup of butter. 3 eggs, lyibs. 

 of honey, 1 tablespoonful of cinnamon, 

 half tablespoonful of allspice, and a 

 little extract of lemon ; mix the spices 

 with the flour; put the soda in the 

 milk and stir well, that all the ingre- 

 dients may thoroughly mix ; beat the 

 cake well for another 5 minutes ; put 

 it in a buttered tin— bake from one- 

 half to three-quarters of an hour. 

 This is nice eaten warm. I used buck- 

 wheat honey for those at the Con- 

 vention. 



Ginger Cake.— Take \% lbs. of 

 honey, "4 lb. of butter, lj^lbs. of flour, 

 1 ounce of ginger. % ounce of ground 

 allspije, 1 teaspoonful of carbonate of 

 soda, y of a pint of sour milk cream 

 if you choose, 3 eggs ; put the flour 

 into a basin with the ginger and all- 

 spice ; mix these together, warm the 

 butter and add it with the honey to 

 the other ingredients; stir well; make 

 the milk just warm and dissolve the 

 soda in it. and make the whole into a 

 nice, smooth paste with the eggs 

 which should be previously well 

 whisked; pour the mixture into a but- 

 tered tin— bake it from three-fourths 

 to 1 hour; take the white of one egg 

 and beat it up with a little sweet milk 

 and take a feather and brush the top ; 

 this will give it a glossy appearance. 

 This cake can be baked in 2 equal pie 

 tins. Mrs. J. G. A. Wallace. 



Brighton, Out., Nov. 7, 1881. 



[If some good sisters would make a 

 honey cake for every Convention of 

 bee-keepers, it would materially add 

 to the interest. Anything to awaken 

 enterprise and develop the uses for 

 honey, must he advantageous to the 

 bee and honey industry.— Ed. 



Old Queens.— I have several colonies 

 of bees that have retained their drones. 

 Supposing they were queenless, I 

 opened one and found the queen all 

 right. Please let me know through 

 the Bee Journal why it is. 



C. Berkt. 



Savannah, O., Oct. 3, 1881. 



[The queens are old, and honey- 

 gathering and breeding having proba- 

 bly been kept up till quite late, a larger 

 proportion of drones than usual have 

 been reared.— Ed.] 



New Courage for Next Season.— Al- 

 low me to thank you for the very com- 

 plete table showing the amount of 

 surplus honev. increase of colonies, 

 etc., for 32 States. This table adds 

 one more essential feature to the al- 

 ready popular American Bee Jour- 

 nal", and no bee-keeper that expects 

 to keep pace with the rapid strides 

 of our progressive pursuit, can think 

 of getting along without it, and lile 

 away for future reference every num- 

 ber that comes into his possession. 

 The full report of the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Society, so recently 

 held at Lexington, Ky., is a rich feast 

 of great things which so many of us 

 (though we could not be present), by 

 our own quiet firesides, can be in- 

 formed of all that was said and done 

 through the columns of the Bee 

 JOURNAL. I will not comment upon 

 any particular paper or speech read or 

 delivered before the Convention, but 

 simply say that it is " all good.'' The 

 bees are doing well in the mountains 

 on goldenrod. A line rain Oct. 25, 

 gave us new courage, and renewed 

 confidence in the season of 1882. 



A. W. OSBURN. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Nov. 1, 1881. 



Why the Difference?— One year I had 



in my home apiary 60 colonies thai 

 ceased brood-rearing and honey and 

 pollen gathering about August 15lh. 

 Accordingto the best authorities, they 

 should have died off before spring from 

 old age. Six miles away, in a swamp. 

 were 24 colonies which gathered fall 

 honey and pollen for six weeks later— 

 these I bought. According to rule, 

 they should have come through in 

 prime condition. All were wintered 

 in the same cellar from Nov. 17 to 

 April 18. My home apiary, mostly 

 old bees, spring honey, and little pol- 

 len, wintered well, and dwindled in 

 spring 10 per cent. The swamp bees, 

 with tall honey and pollen, wintered 

 well also, and dwindled 00 per cent. 

 The only point of difference percepti- 

 ble was that of frame— the swamp 

 hives having frames 14 inches deep, 

 and the home hives being ll'o. Are 

 we to blame the fall honey and pollen 

 on which the swamp colonies wintered, 

 or the difference in depth of frame? 

 It American bee-keepers will visit To- 

 ronto Agricultural Fair next fall, I 

 have no doubt they will be somewhat 

 astonished by the honey products ex- 

 hibited there, as to quality and quan- 

 tity. I- C. Thorn. M. 1). 

 Streetsville, Canada, Nov. 3, 1881. 



[The difference in spring dwindling 

 was probably attributable to earlier 



li Helen's Babies."— An entirely 

 new edition of this famous book is in 

 press, and will be published in. a few 

 days by T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 

 Philadelphia, Pa., with a very hand- 

 some illustrated cover having por- 

 traits of Budge and Toddie, Martha, 

 Mary and the Goat upon it. John 

 llabberton, the author, has given 

 Budge and Toddie world-wide celeb- 

 rity ; they have pleased thousands 

 with their pranks, and will please 

 thousands more, for it is simply im- 

 possible to resist their fascination. 

 Orders should be sent in early. 



®p" The Southwestern Wisconsin 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its 

 next meetingin Platteville, GrantCo., 

 Wis.. Nov. 30. 1881. 



N. E. France, Sen., Platteville, Wis. 



<®~ The Michigan State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, will convene at Bat- 

 tle Creek, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 1881. 

 We have reason to expect one of the 

 largest and most, interesting meetings 

 we have ever held. Let all arrange 

 lo he present. All District Associa- 

 l ions should send delegates. Each per- 

 son should come with their best ex- 

 perience in their bands, ready to band 

 it over to the others of the fraternity. 

 Commutation rates are expected on 

 railroads. A. J. Cook, Pres. 



T. F. Bingham, 6'ec. 



(gf The Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention will be held at McKinney, 

 Texas, on Tuesday, April 25, 18^2. 



