THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



377 



swarm artiljcially, and second swarms 

 were prevented effectually. 



In 1857 I made nearly 100 hives on 

 this principle, and put bees into them, 

 whicli worked quite satisfactorily. 

 The present summer (185S) I have 

 used a lar^e number. But a difflculty 

 has arisen that I was not prepared 

 for, viz : crooked combs '. Last year, 

 among the whole number, there was 

 but one hive of them so crooked that 

 they could not be taken out, yet there 

 were a great many of them not per- 

 fectly straiglit. This year two-thirds 

 of the swarms that have been put into 

 empty hives have made combs in 

 every possible direction, without re- 

 gard to the bars, making them, so far 

 as movable frames areconcerned.no 

 better than the common hive. The 

 cause of this 1 have not been fully 

 able to determine. Last year the 

 bees gathered honey very slowly, this 

 year very fast ; probably this has 

 some effect. A little more experience 

 will decide. 



Last season I had a great many 

 combs made with but little or no 

 honey stored in them ; this season I 

 have used them for swarms, putting 

 two or three into a hive— two or more 

 empty frames between those with 

 combs. Even here, although they 

 have followed the frames with their 

 combs, some places are so very thick, 

 and others so thin, that it is extremely 

 difficult to raise them out. I did not 

 expect to hnd these difficulties with 

 this hive. A few weeks ago— before 

 the present swarming season— I 

 should have told the story somewhat 

 differently. Even now, with all the 

 uncertainty of the directions in which 

 the combs are built, there is a class of 

 bee-keepers who may make this hive 

 pay — such combs as are not built 

 straight can be made so by the fear- 

 less operator. But the bee-keeper 

 who has not the energy to prepare 

 himself to take off the top of his 

 hive, and open the door for thousands 

 of perhaps angry assailants to attack 

 him ; and the ignorant one, so totally 

 unacquainted with the nature of the 

 bee, that he could not tell what he 

 wanted to take out the combs for, had 

 better adhere to the common hive, be- 

 cause without making the frames 

 available as intended, they are worse 

 than useless, also money and labor 

 thrown away. The man who has not 

 much time or patience to bestow on 

 his bees, who pays for a patent, wants 

 it to work right at all times, without 

 depending on the caprice of the bees ; 

 and when those interested in the 

 movable frames can improve the pat- 

 ent with a plan that will make 

 straight combs in all cases, with some 

 other minor improvements, it will do 

 much better for the common bee- 

 keeper.— St. Johnsville, N. Y., 18.58. 



By all means let us have the fore- 

 going on record where it will not be- 

 come lost. 



St. Charles, 5 Ills. 



Rays of Light. 



Ailjiistalile Honey-Case. 



OLIVER FOSTER. 



This case has been in practical use 

 in ray apiaries for the past two years. 

 While it meets the long-felt need of 

 a case press, and holds the sections 

 compactly together on all sides, with 

 no spaces nor partitions between 

 them, it is cheap and simple, and is 

 easily and rapidly handled. 



It is made of four boards as wide as 

 the sections are high. The case is 

 nailed at two diagonally opposite 

 corners. The boards are mitred at 

 the other two corners, and are clasped 

 together by the folded angular tin 

 plates (D), the edges of which slide in 

 saw-kerfs in the board as shown in 

 the engraving, at the left. These tin 



„iy^ The .'ith reKular meeting of the Hill County 

 Bee-Keepern' Association will be held on ttie first 

 Tuesday In July, IsHd, at the apiary of Hon. J. M. 

 McDanlel, of I'eoria.Tex. At the same time and 

 place will be held a bee-keepers' honey picnic. 



H. A. GooDHlCH, Sec. 



corners allow the case to open half an 

 inch larger both ways, and hold it 

 rigidly whether opened or closed. 

 The case when closed is a little 

 smaller than the tier of sections. It 

 has no bottom- board, and it is the 

 same, either side up. 



To fill it with sections, place it on a 

 level board ; open it out, arrange the 

 sections inside, then draw them into 

 position by pressing the case together. 

 Now slip tlie light wrought-ii'on clamp 

 (j) over it, and by operating the 

 screws (m), draw it tight on the sec- 

 tions. Now slip in the tin wedges 

 (F), under the tin flange (e), and the 

 nail head (ii), to hold the case from 

 spreading. Remove the clamps and 

 the case of sections is ready to place 

 on the hive. 



The cases are easily and quickly 

 tiered up or may be inverted if de- 

 sired. The tiers are always in per- 

 fect contact with each other, and 

 with the honey-board below. These 

 cases are admirably adapted to use 

 without separators, but any number 

 of long separators may be used in 

 them, from one to the full set, by 

 simply dropping them in between tha 

 rows of sections, as shown at o. They 

 rest on the edges of two strips of tin 

 (p p), which pass between the rows of 

 sections crosswise at the bottom. 

 These narrow strips are held in place 

 like the sections by the lateral pres- 

 sure of the case. The clamp is not a 

 necessity, but very handy while Hlling 

 the case or taking them off the hive. 



Mt. Vernon, t> Iowa. 



ror tne American see JoumaL 



The Cold Weather in Florida, etc, 



BENJ. FRANKLIK. 



I have just read the article by Mr. 

 .John Y. Detwiler, of New Smyrna, 

 Fla., on page :!i;i. One year ago last 

 winter I was at Mr. Detwiler's house, 

 and I believe what he writes is the 

 truth. I was at Lake Worth through 

 the great freeze of last .Jan. 10, 11 and 

 12. I boarded some ;) rods from the 

 lake, and on the morning of Jan. 12 I 

 picked up flsh enough in a few min- 

 utes to fill a one-half barrel. After 

 they were dressed they would weigh 

 from 2 to 10 pounds each. There was 

 barrels of hsh scattered along the 

 shore. I picked up some that were 

 alive, but could not help themselves 

 on account of being so chilled. 



I was nearly 200 miles farther south 

 than where Sir. Detwiler lives, and I 

 did not see any frost nor ice while 

 there ; but some said that there was 

 ice on the west side of the lake near 

 the fresh water. But I saw that the 

 top leaves of the morning-glories was 

 touched by the frost, and some on the 

 sweet potato vines. Tomatoes were 

 not frozen where I was. But up at 

 the north end of the lake it looked as 

 though the frost had frozen the cocoa- 

 nut leaves some. I thought that it 

 was a sight to see the fish along the 

 lake, but wlien I got np at Jupiter 

 Inlet, in Indian river, they were so 

 thick along the shore that it was hard 

 work to walk and not step on flsh 

 along the edge of the water, and so it 

 was for a great number of miles up 

 the river. The vessel passed through 

 acres and acres of floating flsh, and 

 the water looked white with them. 

 The water was very clear and shallow, 

 and I watched for miles and miles, 

 but I could scarcely see a live fish. 



There were 12 or 13 colonies of bees 

 at the Lake. I examined some of 

 them on Nov. 22, 188-5, and took out 

 some lioney. It was quite yellow, 

 about like our raspberry honey here. 

 I did not like the flavor of it. The 

 bees work on cocoanut bloom all 

 winter, or every day that it is warm 

 enough. There were quite a number 

 of cool days while I was there that 

 they did not vpork. If bees can get 

 much honev from cocoanut bloom, 

 then liake Worth will be a good place 

 for bees, as there are a great many 

 cocoanut trees coming into bloom 

 every year. 



There are no mangroves around the 

 lake, but some 20 miles north, at 

 Jupiter Narrows, there is plenty of 

 the red mangrove. I saw some black 

 mangrove at Jupiter Inlet. As I 

 came through on Jan. 16, 1886, the 

 reil manarove was in bloom on some 

 trees. The river is so narrow in some 

 places that the mangrove caught the 

 sails, and our vessel got crosswise of 

 the channel. We had to use an ax 

 to cut the limbs out of the way. 



Further up, opposite Indian River 

 Inlet, I saw plenty of the black man- 

 grove.. It looked as though the frost 

 bad touched the leaves. I know that 

 the mangrove honey cannot be ex- 

 celled, as a year ago last winter I 



