590 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-. 



moonlight night, where we have been 

 looking out for the rascals. We have 

 hens' eggs lying ail over the apiary with 

 strychnine in them, and I saw to-night 

 where the "cats," as the boys call the 

 skunks, have begun eating the eggs, 

 and I suppose we will be able to find 

 plenty of dead " cats " in the morning. 



Where skunks are plentiful, they will 

 often ruin an apiary before the owner 

 knows it. I had about 50 colonies 

 nearly eaten up by skunks in 1884, be- 

 fore I found out what was the matter. 

 The skunk will place his skunkship 

 right in front of the hive, and scratch 

 on the hive; the bees will rush out, and 

 he will wallow them with his long bushy 

 tail until they are dead, then he has a 

 fine supper. I noticed a clean place in 

 front of about 20 hives to-day, and 

 plenty of " cat " tracks ; so we began at 

 once to plan their destruction, and I 

 hope we shall be able to make short 

 work of them. 



If any brother or sister bee-keeper in 

 California, or elsewhere, has had any 

 experience with these pesky things, I 

 will take it as a special favor if he or 

 she will inform me of the best or shortest 

 way to get rid of skunks. 



We are yet having fine, warm weather, 

 and bees are gathering some honey, but 

 it is fearfully dry. I hear that cattle 

 are starving for water in a great many 

 of the large pastures. I know of one 

 pasture here near by, that contains 

 70,000 acres, and I am told there is a 

 cow for every 10 acres in the pasture, 

 so you see there are 7,000 cattle in this 

 pasture, and it takes considerably more 

 water than one might imagine to keep 

 them. They have plenty of water just 

 under the surface a little way, but the 

 wind did not blow for three days, and as 

 the wind-mills were still, no water was 

 drawn, which is the principal cause. 



I have a great many nice things to 

 tell about this coast country, as soon as 

 I can have a little time to write it up. 

 Jennie Atchley. 



Honey as Foo«l an<l Medicine is 



just the thing so help sell honey, as it shows 

 the various ways in which honey may be 

 used as a food and as a medicine. Try 100 

 copies of it, and see what good 'sales- 

 men " they are. See the third page of this 

 number of the Bee Journal for description 

 and prices. 



One-Cent Postage Stamps we 



prefer whenever it is necessary to send 

 stamps for fractions of a dollar. By re- 

 membering this, you will greatly oblige us, 

 as we use manj' more one-cent stamps than 

 the two-cent kind. 



i^A^A^i^i^^m 



The Kind of Queen-Excluders 

 Preferred in Hives. 



Query 896.— 1. What kind of a queen-ex- 

 cluder do you prefer below the upper hive- 

 story V 2. What is your opinion of all-wood 

 queen-excluders ?— Illinois. 



1. Wood-zinc. 2. It is not practical. 



— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



1. Zinc. 2. I have never used them. 

 — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. The wood-zinc. 2. They're "no 

 good." — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Zinc. 2. I don't think wood would 

 be reliable. — E. France. 



1. The break-joint honey-board made 

 of "all wood." — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. Dr. Tinker's queen-excluding honey- 

 board. 2. Very poor. — A. B. Mason. 



With a large hive full of combs you do 

 not need a queen-excluder. — Dadant & 

 Son. 



1. A sheet of perforated zinc is the 

 only kind that I have tried. — P. H. El- 

 wood. 



1. Wood-zinc, bee-space, is my prefer- 

 ence. 2. I have never used them. — J. 

 H. Larrabee. 



1. The wood-zinc is decidedly the best 

 for me. 2. I have never tried the all- 

 wood excluders. — C. H. Dibbern. 



1. Full sheets of perforated zinc. 2. 

 Wood is apt to warp, swell or shrink, 

 and is easily broken. — Mrs. J.N. Heater. 



1. Wood slats with perforated zinc 

 between. 2. Those who have tried 

 them consider them unreliable. — M. 

 Mahin. 



1. A wood-zinc honey-board. 2. I 

 have never used them, but do not think 

 they will give satisfaction. — Emerson T. 

 Abbott. 



1 and 2. I never tried either a wood 

 or metal excluder, though I think my 

 preference would be for the metal. — 

 Will M. Barnum. 



1. Zinc. 2. It will not do to depend 

 upon wood separators in this country, 



