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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 19, 



H. G. ACKLIN, of Ramsey Co., Minn., wrote us May 10 : 



" Bees are doing well, and the prospect for a good honey 

 crop is good." 



Mr. W. B. Chapman, of Orange Co., Calif., writing us 

 April 24, said : 



"The honey crop will be non est here, and bees will 

 starve out for a certainty. Give us plenty of news of what 

 the other fellow is doing, to keep our spirits up." 



Mr. John Dotv, of Grundy Co., Mo., who is a 7-i-years- 

 old bee-keeper, wrote us as follows. May 12 : 



"Bees are all right and doing well. I have 70 colonies : 

 had 38 last sprine, secured 4,000 pounds of surplus honey, 

 and increast to 75 colonies." 



Mrs. Mate L. Williams, of Wadena Co., Minn., reported 

 May 11: 



"My 70 colonies came out of winter quarters in fine con- 

 dition, and the weather has been very favorable so far. 

 They are building up very fast. Very many hives are about 

 full of bees." 



9 

 the 



Dr. C. C. Miller spent the night with us Monday, May 

 when on his way to attend the 40th annual convention of 

 .„a Illinois State Sunday School Association, which met at 

 Galesburg. last week, Tho in his 67th year the Doctor is as 

 light-hearted and jolly as a youngster. But he is a very busy 

 man. With his nearly 300 colonies of bees, and all the writ- 

 ing he does for the bee-papers, for the next few months he 

 will have to work about IS hours a day. We hope he will not 

 overdo. Bee-keepers can't afford to let him off— not even to 

 take a well-earned rest. 



Mr. L. Kkedtzingeb, of Cook Co., 111., who has two api- 

 aries near Chicago in charge of Mr. J. T. Hammersmark, 

 wrote us as follows, May 12 : 



" Your kind attention is called to the fact that the 'ob- 

 servatory' at my apiary, recently built, has been equipt with 

 the newest improvements and appliances for the purpose of 

 properly testing any kind of modern inventions pertainine to 

 apiculture. Any new production, design or improvement of 

 modern apicultural implements and fixtures will, if sent for 

 that purpose, be subject to a careful examination and practi- 

 cal test in order to ascertain and establish their usefulness 

 and merit." 



Should any of our readers desire to send anything as sug- 

 gested, they can forward it to us, being sure to prepay all 

 charges. 



Mr. H. H. Bdckman, of Bucks Co., Pa., wrote us May 9 : 



"My bees commenced swarming this morning, and are in 

 good condition." 



Mr. a. D. Fink, of Jewell Co., Kans., when renewing his 

 subscription, May y, exprest himself as follows : 



"The American Bee Journal is the paper for any person 

 who eats honey, who is contemplating going into the business 

 of rearing bees and producing honey, or who is in the busi- 

 ness, and who loves to study the habits of bees." 



Mr. J. H. Martin, of Los Angeles Co., Calif., wrote us 

 May 3 to send his copy of the Bee Journal to Siskiyou Co., 

 and added : 



"This is in the extreme northern portion of the State, 

 near the Oregon line. When we have it dry here in the South 

 they get some droppings from the Web Foot State ; and there 

 is a good prospect of a honey crop there, so I am going to look 

 into the matter." 



We will be glad to hear from Mr. Martin again, as to the 

 outlook in his new field, after he gets there. 



Ventilating Cellars. — The editor of Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal proposes to supply air to bee-cellars by a clock-work 

 arrangement that regularly pumps fresh air into the cellar 

 and forces out an equal amount. When the weather is cold, 

 the air is to be forced through a compartment having a stove, 

 and when the air is too warm it is to be forced through a shaft 

 containing ice. But the question may be raised whether any 

 pumping is needed except at such times as those when the 

 temperature outside is just about the same as that in the 

 cellar. 



Do Bees Empty Brood-Combs into Super ? — Ten strong 

 colonies had their brood-chamber well tilled with brood and 

 stores, the latter being mostly buckwheat. When clover 

 bloomed extracting-supers were put on over excluders. Seven 

 of the ten showed plainly buckwheat honey in the supers, 

 which goes to show that if there's any objectionable honey in 

 the brood-chamber, it should be separately extracted as soon 

 as the bees stop carrying it up, and if sections are to be filled 

 an extracting-super must first be used till danger is past. — 

 Ontario Experimental Apiary Report. 



Spacing-Nails in Brood-Frames are supposed to be ob- 

 jectionable when the frames are to be put in the extractor, 

 hut actual trial proves that some at least do not find them so. 

 O. O. Poppleton (Gleanings, p. 296) quotes Dr. Miller and E R. 

 Root to that effect, and says he has himself used spacing-nails 

 for 25 years, finding no trouble with the old style of extractor, 

 but with the reversible extractor the uarrow baskets give less 

 room for handling the combs, and the nails trouble by catch- 

 ing. Editor Root replies that the staples they use for spacing 

 come just outside the wire-cloth, the comb-pockets being made 

 shorter than a Langstroth frame. 



Prof. Cook on Sweet Clover. — A. I. Root, in Gleanings, 

 quotes Prof. Cook as saying, " I think the plant is worthless 

 except for bees." Mr. Root cannot believe Prof. Cook meant 

 to say just that, in view of the amount of testimony that has 

 been given for years in bee and agricultural journals to the 

 effect that in some localities farm stock eat it with avidity, 

 and in view of its unquestioned value in rendering fertile the 

 unproductive alkali lands of Arizona and Utah, and also in 

 view of the immense traffic in sweet clover seed among those 

 who have nothing to do with bees. He expects Prof. Cook to 

 modify his statement, or say what he means. 



Instructions for Handling Comb Honey. — A bright sug- 

 gestion comes from G. A. Deadman, in Canadian Bee Journal. 

 Id every crate of honey to be shipt put a slip 5x8 inches (the 

 editor says 3x4) printed as follows : 



COMB HONEY. 



HOW TO HANDLE IT. 



You must not drop it. Hold it only by the wood, and 

 when removing it from the crate, or at any other time, do not 

 break the delicate cappings covering the cells, otherwise the 

 honey will run out. 



WHERE TO KEEP IT. 



In a warm, dry room. No place too warm In which a 

 person can live. Never put it in the cellar, as honey will draw 

 dampness, and cause the cappings to break and the honey to 

 leak. 



Bee-Space Above Sections. — Editor Holtermann has no 

 sympathy with the idea that a section not fully filled out all 

 around is a desirable thing, and insists that a bee-space above 

 sections helps to get them better filled. J. E. Crane having 

 exprest an opposite view in Review, Mr. Holtermann proposes 

 a test. Crane to select 50 colonies and have no bee-space 

 above sections ; Holtermann to select .jO to be run with the 

 bee-space. At the close of season each to have photo taken 

 of best side of 200 sections, then if decision can't be made 

 from photos, Crane to cross the line or settle it in some way, 

 the loser to pay all expenses. Some will think that a more 

 satisfactory test could be made by having all in the same 

 apiary and at the same time on the same harvest; and some 

 might think better to make the test without anything that 

 smacks of betting or gambling. 



