1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



777 



or for that matter every day, and suffer no inconvenience 

 from it. The wax would be in small pieces, and produce no 

 bad effects. Suppose the worst possible case, that in eating 

 the pound section one of the three men got more than his 

 share and got all the wax, and suppose that by some means it 

 got workt into a solid ball, it would be about an Inch in diam- 

 eter, and could pass through in that form without clogging 

 either stomach or intestines. 



We think no one need stop eating comb honey on account 

 of the above instance, for in all probability there were other 

 complications besides the little wax that conspired to cause 

 the death of the young man. 



We believe we never before heard of three persons eating 

 a pound section of honey at one sitting. Of course it may be 

 easily done, but why should any one want to fill up with so 

 much sweetness all at once? People ought to use common- 

 sense in eating as well as in anything else. 



Large Hives Abroad.— In OleanLcgs, C. P. Da- 

 dant gives an interesting sketch of the introduction of large 

 hives into France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, etc. This was 

 accompllsht chiefly by the elder Dadant, altho ha was living 

 in America. Of course it was through writings in the bee- 

 papers. L'Apiculteur, at that time the leading journal In the 

 French language, was bitter In its opposition of large hives, 

 and also of movable-frame hives. Mr. Dadant sent a transla- 

 tion of a report given by A. I. Root in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal for 186S, page 64. By. giving extra stories and extract- 

 ing frequently, Mr. Root had taken 203 pounds of honey up 

 to July 21. The easy reply of the French editor was that the 

 whole thing was a hoax. This will not be so hard to under- 

 stand when it is remembered that the Europeans at that time 

 used hives smaller than the 8-frame Langstroth, and Bastian 

 wrote that there was no necessity for a super containing more 

 than 6 to 12 pounds of honey. Later, M. Bertrand started 

 Revue Internationale, and slowly but surely new methods 

 took the place of the old ones, and today large hives are the 

 rule. The editor of Gleanings is strong in the belief that 

 large hives and large colonies, the two together, are the things 

 for producing honey. 



Mi.5s Mathilda Candler, of Grant Co., Wis., called on 

 us last week. She has had a fair honey crop this year, and 

 has 60 colonies now, in good condition for winter. 



^ Mr. Frank McNay and wife left last week for Southern 

 California, where they expect to spend the winter. Mr. M. 

 called to see us when passing through Chicago. We trust 

 they will have a pleasant winter, and we commend them to the 

 California bee-keepers. 



Mb. John A. Blochbr, of McLean Co., 111., wrote us 

 Nov. 25 : 



"The Bee Journal is all right, and I like to read It. It 

 helps me out in a good many things. My bees did well this 

 season, considering." 



Mr. Geo. W. Huf.stedler, perhaps the most prominent 

 queen-breeder in Bee Co., Tex., writing us Nov. 25, said : 



" We are having some real winter weather here. My bees 

 are in fine shape for next season — about 225 colonies after 

 doubling up for winter." 



Dr. C. C. Miller, of McHenry Co., III., attended the reg- 

 ular quarterly meeting of the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, Dec. 1. He was feeling fairly well, or as well as could 



be expected at his age — 6T years. But his heart Is .just as 

 young as when It first began to "beat Its way" in this world. 

 Dr. M. is very hopeful that next year may be a good honey 

 season. This year he harvested about 1,000 pounds of 

 honey — good, bad and indifferent. He had nearly 300 colo- 

 nies, run for comb houey. 



Mr. W. a. Ckandall, of St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., writing 

 Nov. 26, said : 



"I can hardly wait until the American Bee Journal gets 

 here each week. I feel like thanking all the correspondents 

 for the many good things." 



Mr. M. H. Mendlkson, of Ventura Co., Calif., writing us 

 Nov. 22, had this to say : 



"It is still dry here, and some are crying ' dry year 

 again.' I do not expect early rains, but I hope' for a rainy 

 winter. I wish you continued success." 



Mr. M. M. Baldridge, of St. Charles Co., III., made us a 

 pleasant call Tuesday, Nov. 29. Altho living only about 40 

 miles from Chicago, he has not been here for a year. Mr. B. 

 still gets from consumers his old price of .'i!L.20 for a 5-pound 

 pail of honey, as shown by his pocket order-book. His crop 

 was about nothing the past year, iu common with many other 

 bee-keepers. 



Mb. a. p. Raymond, of Clark Co., Wis., called to see us 

 last week. Years ago he was an extensive bee-keeper in N6w 

 York State, but for some years he has been a traveling man. 

 He expects very soon to engage in bee-keeping again. He will 

 succeed. He is a fluent writer, and we trust we will have the 

 pleasure of hearing from him frequently when he once more 

 enters the field of bee-keeping. 



Mr. J. F. Moore, of Seneca Co., Ohio (a brother of Mr. 

 H. F. Moore, Secretary of the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion), called last Friday. He has about 250 colonies of bees, 

 but secured only a small crop the past season, like the great 

 majority of bee-keepers this year. Mr. Moore is a very pleas- 

 ant gentleman to meet. It would have been a fine thing if 

 he could have attended the Chicago meeting of bee-keepers 

 had he been here a day sooner. 



Cotton as a Honey-Plant. — H. H. Hyde says, in the 

 Southland Queen, that cotton is his main honey-plant in July 

 and Angust, giving a long and continuous, slow flow, usually 

 producing a good crop, of fine flavor. 



Swarms Leaving with Strange Virgin Queens that unite 

 with the swarms after issuing are spoken of sometimes as 

 making trouble when queens are dipt. J. B. Hall says, in the 

 Canadian Bee Journal, it is a mistake to suppose such a thing. 

 A swarm that issues leaving Its dipt queeu may go off with a 

 strange laying queen, but not with a strange virgin. In such 

 supposed cases a virgin queen issues from the hive together 

 with the laying queen. 



Bee-Hives are discust by W. Z. Hutchinson in the Country 

 Gentleman. He advocates small hives, less rather than more 

 than an ordinary queen will fill in the height of the breeding 

 season, eight Langstroth frames being suflicient ; prefers an 

 outer case with temporary packing to chaff hives ; thinks the 

 Heddon the best hive and the dovetailed next ; says closed-end 

 frames can be handled more rapidly than open-end ones ; and 

 thinks the honey-board will hold Its own against wide, deep 

 top-bars. 



Getting Bees Oflf Extracting-Combs.— Bees leave capt 

 combs more readily than uncapt ones — an extra point in favor 

 of leaving combs to be capt, according to J. R. Jasek, in South- 

 land Queen. He takes oil the super without taking out the 

 frames, but he doesn't use bee-escapos. Too many bees re- 

 main, even if the escape is put on the evening before, some- 

 times ants take possession after bees are scarce in the super, 

 and sometimes the combs melt down In the hot sun. He has a 



