12 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 





"'.^ii^' 



Recipe for Making Honey Pop-Corn 

 Balls. — Take one pint of extracted 

 honey, put in an inm frying pan and 

 boil "until very tliiek, then stir in 

 freslily parched corn, and when cool 

 mold into balls. These will especially 

 ■delight the children, and the older 

 ones will not refuse them. Try tliem. 

 Mus. A. M. Sanders. 



Interested. — As a bee-keeper I can- 

 not do without the Journal, and even 

 if I did not keep bees I should take it 

 for the interesting information it con- 

 ■tains on scientilic matters. 



L. Johnson. 



Walton, Ky., Dec. 26, 1S81. 



A Correction.— In the Bee Journal 

 -of Dec. 14, page -397, H. P. Sayles is 

 reported saying that " tlie Italians re- 

 quired more care and attention than 

 the blacks, and he believed, taking 

 the season througli, that lie could get 

 ■more box honey from the blacks than 

 the Italians, and a better quality of 

 •extracted lioney.'" It was Mr. John 

 Hodgson that exjiressed himself in 

 that way respecting the two races of 

 bees, and not Mr. Sayles. Mr. Sayles 

 was emphatic in expressing his pref- 

 ■erence for Italians to black bees, and 

 Mr. Hodgson for blacks in preference 

 to Italian bees. Further on in the 

 report of the Northeastern Wisconsin 

 Convention, on " the Yield and In- 

 crease of the Present Year," Mr. 

 Sayles' increase in stock is omitted 

 entirely. He liad increased to 38 full 

 ■colonies. His yield and increase was 

 regarded as the largest of any one 

 present, but leaving out his increase 

 ■of stock, it would not be as large as 

 3ome ottiers. Will you, Mr. Editor, 

 make this correction for the benefit of 

 all concerned. 



T. E. TvR-HER, Sec. pro tern. 



State Society for New Jersey.— In 

 Bee Journal for Dec. 7, I see Mr. 

 <T. W. Thompson sounds a bugle-note 

 for a State Society for Mew Jersey. 

 That is what we want. It is high 

 time New Jersey was on her feet in 

 this matter. Chas. II. Rue. 



Manalapan, N. J.. Dec. 23, 1S81. 



Bees Winterinjr Well.— Bees are win- 

 tering nicely so far; they had a good 

 fliglit on Nov. 30, and again Dec. 18 

 and 19. Tliey went into winter with 

 plenty of good stores, and we hope 

 will come out much better next spring 

 than they did last. The past season 

 was rather poor here, the bees gather- 

 ing but little surplus honey. 



C. A. Graves. 



Birmingham, O., Dec. 22, 1881. 



Mild Winter.— Will the continued 

 warm sunshine we now iiave, and have 

 had all the fall and winter, cause bees 

 to consume more honey than if it were 

 colderV Up to this time we liave liad 

 no snow, except, perhaps, t.,' an inch 

 observable on sidewalks aiid fences 

 one morning late in November. We 

 have not had ice to exceed one incli 

 in thickness and not more than ten 

 mornings ; days generally are clear 

 and warm ; bees lly almost every day; 

 there is no danger of dysentery. A 

 few days ago I lieard a farmer say 

 that he had some, cherry blossoms; 

 there is quite a difference between 

 this and last winter, up to tliis time. 

 We had 30 to 40 snows and everything 

 froze up solid, and remained so until 

 Feb. 1. Possibly our winter is yet to 

 come. Bees are in good condition, 

 and do not appear to be consuming 

 but little boney. 



D. W. Bellemey. 



Vienna, 111., Dec. 25, 1881. 



[Yes ; if the weather is cold enough 

 to require artificial heat, and yet not 

 so intense as to produce the semi-dor- 

 mant state incident to extreme win- 

 ter.— Ed.] 



Bees On The Wing.— The season has 

 been mild, so far, and my bees cele- 

 brated Christmas while oii the wing, 

 *n Dec. 24 and 2-5, 1881. 



AVm. Stolley. 



Grand Island, Neb., Dec. 27, 1881. 



splendid flights Dec. 18, 2.5 and 26,and 

 carried in water both days. The loss 

 from my 19 colonies will not exceed a 

 pint, while last year each colony had 

 lost more tlian that. I have no fears 

 for their safety. Geo. E. Hilton. 

 Fremont Center, Mich., Dec. 30, 1881. 



That Cougli Medicine. —Many people 

 are probably not aware that much of 

 the linseed oil, especially that termed 

 boiled, is adulterated with poisoned 

 drugs. Therefore, when doctors rec- 

 ommend it for medicine, as Dr. Tin- 

 ker has, they should caution tlie pub- 

 lic. P. F. TW^ITCIIELL. 



Andover, O., Dec. 27, 1881. 



(jnestions. — 1. Can honey extractors 

 be made so as to accommodate two 

 different sized frames— Langstroth on 

 one side of the comb basket, and a 

 frame 11x12 on the other ? 



2. Where quilts are entirely covered 

 with propolis, shoidd they be used for 

 winter coverings y 



3. Where natural swarms repeatedly 

 fly up from the alighting-board and 

 settle again upon a limb, wliat is tlie 

 best course to pursue V Neai'ly all my 

 swarms troubled me in this way last 

 summer, and sometimes they would 

 go to the woods. A. M. Sanders. 



[Yes ; the Excelsior extractor, Nos. 

 3, 4 and .5. will accommodate Lang- 

 strotli and American frames at the 

 same time. Nearly all the apjiroved 

 patterns can be manufactured to carry 

 combs of two sizes. 



2. We would not advise their use. 



3. Probably the best course to pur- 

 sue is to clip off about half of one 

 wing of the queen, and, if increase is 

 wanted, hive them on a new stand ; if 

 no increase is desired, destroy the 

 queen cells in tlie parent hive, clip the 

 queen's wing, and return them. — Ed.] 



Mignonette.— I would like informa- 

 tion on the following points : 1. What 

 can I plant in my yard that my bees 

 can feed on V I have ?4 of an acre of 

 a black loam, rich and dry. I want 

 something that will bloom the same 

 season sown, and be ornamental at 

 the same time. 2. What is the proper 

 space between the bottom-bar of a 

 frame and the bottom-board of the 

 hive '? 3. Will the distance make any 

 difference in wintering ? I am a be- 

 ginner. I bought 4 colonies of black 

 bees last spring, which have increased 

 to 9, besides giving me 350 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey. All are in good shape 

 for wintering, and have at least 20 lbs. 

 of sealed honey each. I am the only 

 one keeping bees in this town, and 

 have no trouble in mating my queens. 

 I cannot discuss bee matters with the 

 scientists, but I have the comfort of 

 reading the Bee Journal weekly, 

 and anxiously await each number. 



A. MONTREVIL. 



Walkerville, Ont. 



[1. You can plant mammoth mignon- 

 ette, sweet basil, and many other an- 

 nuals with good ornamental effect and 

 remunerative profit. This will also 

 give opportunity for planting to ad- 

 vantage during the season with bien- 

 nials and perennials. 



2. Three-eighths of an inch is the 

 proper space to allow between the 

 bottom of the frame and the bottom 

 board of the hive. 



3. The space in the bottom will make 

 no perceptible difference in wintering, 

 unless, indeed, it should run to an ex- 

 treme.— Ed.] 



Bees in N. W. Michigan.— In accord- 

 ance with Mr. Deiuaree's suggestion, 

 I will say for niuthwestern Michigan, 

 that bees went into winter quarters 

 al30ut the middle of November ; had 



Bees in Georgia.— Dear Editor : 

 Permit me to congratulate you for the 

 successful accomplislimeiit of the 

 great task you have ventured upon — 

 the establishing of a Weekly bee- 

 paper. Now tliat you have conquered 

 the initial difliculties, I trust tliat the 

 path before you will be smooth. The 

 past year has not been a prosperous 

 one for the bee-keepers in this lati- 

 tude. Indeed, the past summer and 

 fall have been even more disastrous to 

 them tlian the winter had been to the 

 Northern bee-keepers ; for, during the 

 unpi ecedented drouth of 4 or o months' 

 duration, tlie bee-forage absolutely 

 failed, the queens stopped to lay, the 

 colonies dwindled down, the inva- 

 sions of the moths could not be 

 checked, and thus most of the bee- 

 keei)ers I know lost all tlieir bees. I 

 saved mine (kept in my garden in the 

 city), only by the closest attention and 

 watchfulness; lint the colonies are 

 now extremely weak. They, of course, 

 did not afford any surplus honey during 

 the past season. L. Knorr. 



Savanna, Ga., Dec. 23, 1881. 



