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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Using Old Combs.— I read the Bee 

 Journal and am much pleased with 

 it, especially as it now is a Weekly. I 

 am learning to be a bee-lveeper. Ilave 

 bought 10 colonies of black bees— 3 in 

 frame hives and 7 in box hives; aim to 

 transfer the 7 to simplicity hives in 

 the spring. One, however, died from 

 being robbed (by bees) some days ago. 

 The comb is straight, and 1 have put 

 it away carefully. It is somewhat 

 soiled by a few dead bees and larva', 

 and is dark. Will it jiay to put it in 

 frames for use, and for wliat purposeV 

 J. S. Kekr. 



McKinney, Tex., Jan. 15, 1882. 



[It will answer to transfer the combs, 

 even though soiled, and put in your 

 stronger colonies to clean up, and will 

 be very useful foreither brood-rearing 

 or extracting from. — Ed.] 



Bees recjiiire Care. — A number of 

 apiarists in our locality liave become 

 almost discouraged because of the ill 

 success they attained in wintering 

 their bees during the severe winter of 

 1880-81. A few of the industrious in- 

 sects survived the extreme cold, and 

 those that came through in good con- 

 dition seemed to put forth an extra 

 exertion after the appearance of the 

 sunshine of spring. Because of the 

 excessive flow of nectar and the lim- 

 ited number of colonies, the increase 

 was exceedingly rapid, and tlie beauti- 

 ful honey which was stored up during 

 the season of 1881, aroused the en- 

 thusiasm and caused the dispirited 

 hopes of some bee-keepers to vanish 

 away, as the mist before ttie morning 

 sun. By giving the necessary atten- 

 tion to the ''little fellows" we shall 

 bringthem safely through the ])resent 

 winter, and our watch-word success be 

 Inscribed on onr banners whicli shall 

 remain"waving"' in the balmy breezes 

 so long as we give our " littte pets" 

 the requisite attention. 



E. J. HiNSHAW. 



Lynn, Ind., Jan. 26, 1882. 



A Correction. — Besides a few mis- 

 takes of minor importance, there is 

 one or two which should not be left 

 incorrect with reference to the report 

 of the Erfurt Convention in Germany. 

 The Convention will meet next year, 

 not in Wiener, Austria, but in Wiener- 

 Newstadt, Austria, Wiener-Newstadt 

 being about an hour's ride from 

 Vienna., lleferring to an editorial re- 

 mark, as ij noted from translated re- 

 port of the proceedings of the Con- 

 vention, it should not be understood 

 as if German bee-keepers are of the 

 opinion that all or any of theimi)orted 

 American honey contained the germs 

 -of foul brood. But they are informed 

 that most or all extracted li<iney im- 

 ported from this country, is largely 

 composed of glucose. Many of them 

 having experimented with thatstuif 

 to convince themselves it would kill 

 bees and brood, thus furnishinga hot- 

 bed for the disease, or perliaps being 

 the first cause of it. To such impor- 

 tations under the name of honey, they 

 object. And, as they have no means 

 ■of preventing adulteration of the pure 

 article in this cowntry, they propose 



to put a heavy duty on everything 

 bearing the name honey. As to the 

 statement of a certain Professor in the 

 Boston Journal of Chemistry, I would 

 say that the gentleman is correct in 

 so far, tliat, after the bees have drawn 

 out thin foundation, the bee-keeper 

 may fill the empty comb witli any 

 thing he pleases, and seal it himself 

 too. The modus npercuHlil have known 

 for several years, but, considering 

 there is enough cheating and adulter- 

 ation going on, as it is,'I deem it not 

 advisable to give vent to this inven- 

 tion, though it would be a good thing 

 for some apiarists to know how to seal 

 open honey in the brood chamber in 

 fall. A. R. KoiiNKE. 



Youngstown, O., Jan. 28, 1882. 



From Northern Pennsylvania. — The 



past honey season was very good in 

 Northern Pennsvlvania. I wintered 

 48 colonies in chaff hives, with a loss 

 of oidy .5, increased to 93, and took 

 3.200 lbs. of comb honey, besides some 

 extracted, and expect to take 1,000 lbs. 

 more in the spring, the hives being 

 too full for brood rearing. Bees are 

 wintering splendidly this winter, there 

 being no dead bees and no signs of 

 anv disease. C. J. IIaight. 



Rush, Pa., Jan. 29, 1882. 



The Meloe.- This is mentioned by 

 E. T. Flanagan, on page 53. The 

 " meloe" is not among the honey l)ees 

 here, but it troubled the buudjle bees 

 badly last summer. " Among our 

 foot-prints," as quoted by him, is a 

 solid article; "small" bee-keepers 

 had better read, think, watch " among 

 our foot-prints," and wake n)). 



W. J. WiLLAUD. 



Jonesboro, 111., Jan. 29, 1882. 



Recipe for Sticking Labels on Tin 

 Pails. — Take laundry starch, dissolve 

 in a little cold water then add boiling 

 water, or boil the starch until it is as 

 thick as is used in starching clothes. 

 Api)ly the starch to the back of the 

 label with a flat brush ; put the label 

 in place, then smooth the face of the 

 label with the brush and starch, as 

 starch adds looks to the face of the 

 label. T. S. Bull. 



Valparaiso, Ind., Jan. 31, 1882. 



Under Sized Bees.— I had a bit of 

 experience last season which was 

 quite luwel, and somewhat interesting 

 to me at least, and desire to know if 

 any others have had a similar expe- 

 rience. Seven colonies were put to 

 rearing cells, and given brood from 

 an Italian queen. Strips of comb were 

 used fastened to tins ; these, imt in 

 frames were all tlie brood the colonies 

 had. The 9th day, all the frames with 

 cells were introduced to hatchers, 

 with the temperature at grp to 100-\ 

 1)1 12 days the queen cells begun to 

 hatch at a lively rate ; about 15 days 

 afterwards the few worker cells, 

 sealed up while rearing the queen 

 cells, began to luitcli. They were one- 

 half the usual size of worker bees, 

 lively, Vi'ell-marked, and ran about the 

 hatcher 3 or more days before they 

 died. Mr. Quinby tliought a high 

 temperature matured the bees early. 



but will some one of the more scien- 

 tific bee-keepers tell us why they 

 hatched only one-half the usual size ¥ 

 W. II. Malloky. 

 Worcester, N. Y., Jan. 30, 1882. 



Blizzards ! Whew !— I see G. M. 



Doolittle reports 18" below zero Jan. 

 Glh. I will report for the information 

 of all winter-packing bee-keepers that 

 we have not li;id one frost this year, 

 and do not expect any now until next 

 winter. White clover has been in 

 bloom since Jan. 1st, as well as many 

 oilier things in garden and lield. Some 

 trees that were baie of foliage in De- 

 cember, have leaves now as large as 

 one's hand. I send you a bouquet of 

 ro.ses, peas, yellow jasmine, orange, 

 white clover, magnolia, willow, dew- 

 berry . and several otlit'r blossoms I am 

 not able to name ; also grass, sugar- 

 cane, fern leaves; also Jajian plums, 

 and mulberry leaves and fruit, with 

 Hg leaves as large as your hand, etc. 

 Of course, bees are having a buzzing 

 time of it, carrying in loads of pollen, 

 if not honey, from every opening 

 flower. They generally commence 

 working on white clover here about 

 the 10th of February. Last year clo- 

 ver opened later than usual, and the 

 season proved better than the average. 

 J. W. Winder. 

 Thibodeaux, La., Jan. 31, 1882. 



[The bouquet came safely to hand, 

 and is a forcible reminder of the mag- 

 nificent extent of our proud country. 

 While its more northern portions are 

 now (Feb. 4) swept with a frigid tem- 

 perature and the silvery sleigh bells 

 make continual music ; in Louisiana 

 and other southern States the air is 

 redolent with the perfume of fragrant 

 tlovv'ers, the busy hum of bees and 

 happy birds making nature joyous; 

 here, though the nights are sharp 

 and frosty, the days are bright with 

 sunshine,andourbees sporting around 

 their hives at mid-c^ay remind us that 

 we, too, have glorious weather to be 

 thankful for. We congratulate our 

 readers at each extreme, but envy 

 neitlier. — Ed. J 



Bingham's Bees.— Yesterday Bing- 

 ham's bees flew if they pleased. They 

 did not seem to care much for the 

 chance, but a few flew from all the 

 hives. With this evidence that they 

 did not need a fly, I believe there is 

 safety in saying "they will keep." 

 I am glad to see the critics at work. 

 Still I think time is the best critic. 

 T. F. Bingham. 



Abronia, Mich., Jan, 28, 1882. 



Report for 1881.— I had 48 colonies 

 in the fall of 1880, and but 7 were left 

 in the spring. I bouglit 4, making 11 

 in all. I have obta ned from these 

 1,825 pounds of comb honey, and have 

 extracted 2-50 lbs. What I have sold, 

 so far, amounts to $260.55. 



Francis Cullen. 



Mottville. N. Y., Jan. 31. 1882. 



