AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



243 



work in the sections, and could also be 

 used in lieu of contracting the brood- 

 nest, if this is desired at the end of the 

 season. 

 Knoxville, Tenn., July 10, 1893. 



Season for Honey, and Other 

 Bee-]Votes. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY C. A. BUNCH. 



The season for basswood and clover 

 has been better than for years, but as a 

 great many bees died during the fore- 

 part of last March, the average bee- 

 keeper was not in a position to reap the 

 bountiful flow. At this writing we are 

 having a honey-dearth, which came on 

 earlier than usual, and bids fair to put 

 a stop to a fall honey harvest, which is 

 generally much better than the bass- 

 wood and clover harvest; and should a 

 heavy rain be delayed much longer, it 

 means death to many bees that belong 

 to bee-keepers (not bee-masters) who 

 never feed their bees, but let them feed 

 themselves or starve. 



A fair sample of these bee-men was at 

 my bee-yard awhile ago for pointers^^ 

 not bee-stings — but points on bee-keep- 

 ing, I supposed. To interest him I be- 

 gan to open the hive to show him my 

 breeding queen and her bees, but, says 

 he, "Don't open the hive, it might 

 bother them." I assured him it would 

 do no harm, and showed him the inside 

 workings of several colonies ; one, in 

 particular, that had a row of queen-cells 

 built along the under side of a small 

 square stick instead of a piece of brood- 

 comb, as given in Alley's "Handy- 

 Book," and of course I had to tell him 

 how it was done, and about that time 

 he remembered his work at home. After 

 presenting him with a few copies of the 

 Bee Journal, he went on his way re- 

 joicing. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



After trying the Simmins' method of 

 introducing queens, I find that I am 

 able to successfully introduce about 8 

 out of 10 queens, and I followed the 

 method of introducing to the letter. To 

 successfully introduce a queen from a 

 distance, or one out of the hive from 

 one to 16 days, I want the colony to be 

 re-queened to be queenless three days, 

 then introduce on the candy plan, and 

 leave the colony undisturbed three days. 

 This last plan of introducing is old and 

 well known, but good enough for me. I 

 usually test a colony as to their behavior 



toward a queen, by laying the cage on 

 the frames of the colony to be intro- 

 duced, a minute or two, and their actions 

 will serve as a pointer. 

 Nye, Ind., Aug. 7, 1893. 



Bean Honey — A Xew California 

 Production. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY W. A. PRYAL. 



California is about to come to the front 

 with a sauce for the Bostonians to serve 

 on their Sunday morning brown bread 

 and beans. The State named is to be 

 congratulated upon discovering some- 

 thing that will appeal not only to the 

 cultured bean-eater's intellect, but to 

 his stomach as well. Right here it might 

 be remarked that th^i Golden State has 

 been getting pretty close to the vital 

 parts of the dwellers of the Hub. It was 

 only a few years ago that it was ascer- 

 tained that a couple of the lower coun- 

 ties of California could produce beans of 

 unrivaled quality, and in enormous 

 quantities. This struck the average 

 Bostonian in the spot where he did the 

 most thinking, that is in his pocket— we 

 were going to say stomach, for some 

 persons have been so unkind as to inti- 

 mate that those people have their seat 

 of wisdom in that part of their body. 



When California beans began to flow 

 into the pantries of the Bostonian house- 

 keeper, she thanked the Californian 

 grower for sending her such delicious 

 beans ; the only thing she regreted was 

 that they were not sent to her already 

 baked. Perhaps some day those wide- 

 awake bean- producers of the Ventura 

 hillsides and valleys will devise means 

 to send the product of their ranches 

 ready cooked, that they may be served 

 upon the table at a moment's notice. In 

 fact, we have heard that some of the 

 fruit canneries in California have been 

 putting up Boston brown bread and 

 beans in cans, the contents being already 

 cooked. 



This is a step in the right direction ; 

 but there is now a prospect that the 

 canneries, and for that matter the Bos- 

 ton baker, too, will no longer have to 

 resort to vile molasses as a sweetening 

 for the said beans, or the favorite bread 

 that must necessarily go with the beans. 

 This substitute is said to be one fit for 

 the gods, and, consequently, fit for the 

 Bostonian, as he believes that he stands 

 close to, if not above, the ancient deities 



