THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



35 



resources nearly if not quite as great, 

 less honey is produced than is con- 

 sumed. i\Ierclia!its in Little Rock 

 will tell you lliat while their custom- 

 ers prefer tlie honey produced liere, 

 even at a lustier price, tlie supply is 

 not eipial to tlie demand, and they 

 sell California honey over tlieir 

 counters. 



There is a ready foreign demand for 

 every pound of pure honey this coun- 

 try lias to spare. A eom'uiercial ex- 

 change says that -'Tlie American 

 honev trade with Gre;it Britain is 

 growing rapidly. A recent Knglish 

 order calls for .58,000 one-i)oiHid cans 

 of pure extracted honey." Tlie same 

 is true of other nations; even Japan 

 is now hiiying largely of American 

 iioney. Tills country tal^es the lead 

 of ali others in tlie production of this 

 commodity. In other .States, with 

 natural advantages inferior to our 

 own, tliere are men who produce 

 honey hv the tons, and if we would 

 but turn" our attention to it, we could 

 produce tons where we now produce 

 pounds. The State Fair Association 

 could do mucli to encourage the de- 

 velopment of tliis industry in our 

 State by tlie offer of liberal premiums 

 on the products of the apiary. 



Tlie labors of Dr. Hipolite have 

 been rewarded. It was but a few 

 years ago that no notice whatever 

 was taken of bees and lioney in the 

 rremiiim List of the State Fair; but 

 now they are assigned a place as a 

 separate class, with a Superintendent, 

 and liberal premiums are offered, and 

 through his exertions, we have no 

 doubt, it will increase and grow in 

 importance yearly. 



We have no authority to call upon 

 the \'ice Presidents everywhere to 

 act— but in the interest of the pur- 

 suit of bee-keeping we would urge 

 them to attend to the matter without 

 another week's delay — " for the time 

 is at hand." 



Sundry ftuestions and Answers. 



Comb Foundation.— I intend going 

 to Florida soon to engage in bee-keep- 

 ing, and find I can buy my bees (if I 

 am on hand wlieii tliey swarm) for SI 

 per swarm. It would be my intention 

 to build them up rapidly by the use of 

 comb foundation in movable frames, 

 but there are still some points which 

 books thrown no light upon, such as : 

 1, Should foundation be full size of 

 the frames y 12. Will such a method 

 yield any returns the tirst season ? 3. 

 Would it he. nioreprotitableto buy the 

 old colony, hive and combs for So ? 



Boston, Mass, (lEO, E. Dupee, 



1. Much depends on the make and 

 weight of the foundation. With Dun- 

 ham foundation, about 5 feet to ttie 

 pound, tlie most satisfaction and the 

 greatest iirofit will be derived from 

 using full frames — that is, so the foun- 

 dation will hang about }i or ;'4 of an 

 inch from tlie bottom-bar, and witliin 

 ■K,, of an inch from the end-bars. 



2. Yes ; quite as satisfactory as the 

 parent colony, if the swarm be a strong 

 one, and foundation is used in all the 

 frames. 



8. If the colonies and combs you buy 

 for S5 each are in box hives, it would 

 be much clieaper to buy the first 

 swarms and foundation. Let us (igure 

 it up (taking two as the basis, for you 

 would probably buy your box hive be- 

 fore a swarm had issued): 2 first 

 swarms, $2 ; 4 lbs. (20 sheets) founda- 

 tion and freight. S1.88; 2 hives, $2— 

 total, $5,88 ; against, 1 box hive and 

 contents, S5 ; 2 new hives, $2 ; labor 

 in transferring, SI — total, $8; making 

 a difference of S2.12 in favor of tirst 

 swarms and foundation, aiid straight 

 new combs. 



Alderman & Eoberts, Wewahitchka, 

 Fla., enclosing stamps for reply, they 

 will take pleasure in giving you full 

 and reliable information upon every- 

 thing pertaining to the industry. 

 They are all practical men. 



Approbation. — Mr. James Ileddon. 

 Dowagiac, ilich., writes as follows : 



"The Weekly in its present form is 

 just what we need, and no one will 

 ever drop it for any other paper. The 

 Weekly was a long-felt want, and the 

 form it now is in is A No. 1. I think 

 I am as free to tell you what I do not 

 like ; so that gives the above its 

 deserved weight.'' 



Like all who have expressed their 

 opinion of the present form, we much 

 I>refer it— but, as the Weekly for last 

 year was an experiment, we were 

 obliged to take the most economical 

 form. The change for this year adds 

 a tliousand dollars a year to the ex- 

 pense account. An item we now feel 

 warranted in assuming on account of 

 our large increase of subscribers for 

 1882. The Weekly is no longer an ex- 

 periment, it is a fixed fact. 



BasswootI and Sweet Clover. — Where 

 can I get about 100 basswood trees 

 two years old '^ What method shall I 

 pursue to get basswood seed to grow V 

 I want to ))ut out a nursery. How old 

 must the trees be before blooming V 

 Where can I get .sweet clover seed, and 

 what is the price V I have 60 colonies 

 of bees. My yield was light last year ; 

 but they paid expenses, My bees are 

 in good condition up to this time. 

 Thomas Pratt. 



Carlisle, Iowa, Jan. 6, 1882. 



You can olttain young basswood 

 trees from nearly all nurserymen, and 

 they will bloom when six to eight years 

 old. The seeds should be sown in 

 drills, as are plums, cherries, etc., and 

 carefully cultivated till about one year 

 old, then transplant; it will be well 

 to partially shade them tne first sum- 

 mer after transplanting. Select soil, 

 if possible, in proximity to water- 

 courses, bottom-lands, or on gravelly 

 soils in which water lies near the sur- 

 face through tlie hot months of sum- 

 mer. As it makes a rich, luxuriant 

 shade tree, it is a great favorite in all 

 our northern cities in the parks and 

 along tlie avenues. Svveet clover seed 

 can be bought from most dealers in 

 apiarian supplies, at about 30 cents per 

 pound. See our advertising columns. 



Florida as a 15ee State.— I would like 

 to know something about Florida for 

 the bee business. 1. Is it a good 

 country for honey, and is ttie honey of 

 good quality V 2, What are the prin- 

 cipal honey plants of that State V 8, 

 What part of tlie State is the best for 

 honey V Please answerthese questions 

 in the Semi-Monthly Bee Jouknal, 

 The winter here has been very mild; 

 I think tlie bees will winter well. The 

 honey crop has been light for the last 

 two years, I hope the coming season 

 will make up for lost time, I have 

 28 colonies, all packed in chaff, and 

 t)iey are doing well, I wish the Bee 

 JouKNAi. a happy and prosperous 

 New Year. B. M. Linole. 



Paoli,Ill., Jan.7, 1882. 



We cannot answer your questions 

 with Die precisifHi and accuracy they 

 deserve, but presume if you will ad- 

 dress a letter to Mr. W. S. Hart, New 

 Smyrna, Fla., who is Vice President 

 for that State of the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Society, or to Messrs. 



Winter Feeding.— I must have the 

 Bee Jouknal. I cannot afford to 

 lose a number; it is too precious. I 

 commenced the .seasq^with 3 colo- 

 nies, increased to by natural swarm- 

 ing, and took 208 lbs. comb honey in 

 2 lb, sections. I fear some have not 

 stores enough below for wtnter use. 1. 

 At how low a temperature will it do 

 to open a hive. 2. At how low a tem- 

 perature will they take food at the 

 entrance '/ 3. At this time of the 

 year, is it best to feed at entrance, or 

 under chaff cushion ? Bees are flying 

 a little to-day, temperature -52-. 



F. S. Williams. 



Jackson, Pa., Dec. 27, 1881. 



1 . When the bees can fly freely. 



2. They will take feed from the en- 

 trance, if they are short, whenever 

 they can fly from tlie entrance with 

 safety. 



3. We would prefer to feed under 

 the chaff cushion, as the syrup or 

 candy is kept at a better temperature, 

 and the bees are more comfortably 

 ttxed to take it. 



Pliotographs of prominent Apiarists 

 — Langstroth.Dzierzon, and the Baron 

 of Berlepsch. — Price 25 cents each. 



