THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



123 



other engagements, to give the Sec- 

 retary the necessary information in 

 time to liave the matter set right, 

 wliicli I regret very mucli. Tlie N. 

 E. Wisconsin Convention will yet 

 meet at Berlin, when it does meet 

 again, and will probably do as well for 

 the friends of the Association to make 

 amends for this disappointment, as 

 they did for the friends in the vicinity 

 of Pewaukee at the meeting there. 

 T. E. Turner. 

 Sussex, Wis., Feb. 10, 1882. 



The Lewis Section.— 1. lias any one 

 tried to use the Lewis improved one- 

 piece section V 2. Is it really an im- 

 provement y 3. How do the bees get 

 into the sections without a side inset V 

 Please answer through the Bee Jour- 

 nal. W. S. Buchanan. 



[Having had no experience with the 

 " Lewis improved one-piece section," 

 we cannot say whether it is an im- 

 provement. Mr. Lewis' circular gives 

 directions to use them in cases by 

 spreading, allowing spaces between 

 for the entrance of the bees. For use 

 in the rack, they will, of course, re- 

 quire to be spread in the same man- 

 ner, using wooden separators between 

 them.— Ed.] 



Irregixlar Combs. — To straighten ir- 

 regular combs I have practiced tlie 

 following plan : Warm the combs 

 by placing them in the sun until they 

 are soft and pliable, then lay them on 

 a flat, smooth surface, as a liive cover, 

 and another flat surface, as a piece of 

 plank on them, to press them down 

 level, and let them remain thus till 

 cold. Tliey are then ready to hang 

 in the hive, nice, even, and straight 

 as could be desired. This is my 

 practice, and my hundreds of straight 

 combs, without an irregidar or crooked 

 one, is the result. I never shave down, 

 nor melt up good combs into wax. 

 S. D. McLean. 



Columbia, Tenn., Feb. 10, 1882. 



An Excellent Report. — Last winter I 

 only saved o colonies out of 41 pre- 

 pared for winter the fall previous. 

 These -5 were in very weak condition 

 and I had but little hopes of any sur- 

 plus from them. I obtained 2 colonies 

 froru my neighbors, making 7 to be- 

 gin witli. When the warm weather 

 came they built up beyond my expec- 

 tations, and gathered a small surplus 

 from wliite clover ; basswood lasted 

 but a short time; red clover did well 

 for the Hrst time in a number of years, 

 and huckwbeatyieldedsparingly. To 

 sum u)) : 1 obtained ],6.'50 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey from my 7 colonies, 

 spring count, averaging20.j5-71bs. per 

 colony. I increased to 10, which are 

 in the cellar with sugar syru|) and no 

 pollen. The honey wliich would have 

 been required to winter them, is not 

 included in the 1, 0.^0 lbs. After read- 

 ing Mr. Heddon's articles, it set me 

 thinking about my losses last winter. 

 I found, by examination, that the colo- 

 nies I fed the syrup to, liad only such 

 combs in tlie hive as 1 had used for 



extracting, and had no pollen, while 

 those that died, with natural stores, 

 had large quantities of it. 1 think I 

 never had bees winter so far with the 

 loss of so fevF, as the present, but the 

 worst time is yet to come, of course. 



A. A. E. WiLBEK. 



Moravia, N. Y., Feb. (i, 1882. 



Will Air-tight Jars prevent Honey 

 from Candying? — When extracting 

 last August I tilled a Muth two-pound 

 glass jar and corked it. The rest of 

 my honey I turned into a can. I drew 

 otT a portion of it into tumblers in 

 the fall, and while the honey in these 

 has candied solid, that in the jar re- 

 mains as clear as when extracted, 

 thougli it has stood in the light every 

 day since. The honey remaining in 

 the can is still liquid, though it shows 

 signs of granulating. W^ill honey 

 which is put in an air-tight jar im- 

 mediately after extracting remain 

 liquid y Or, how do you account for 

 some of this honey candying, and 

 some not ;' Please answer through the 

 Journal. Jas. McNeill. 



Hudson, N. Y., Feb. 9, 1882. 



[We cannot account for it, except 

 that it has remained where it did not 

 become so thoroughly chilled as did 

 that in the can. Perhaps the lack of 

 evaporation had soraetliing to do with 

 it. We have had many samples of 

 extracted honey, which have candied 

 in air-tight bottles ; some, too, that 

 was quite new when put up. — Ed.] 



Wiat Was It?— In May of last year 

 2 colonies of bees, in fair condition, 

 were found to be idle and hanging 

 listlessly around the entrances to 

 the hives, while their neighbors were 

 busily engaged in bringing in honey 

 and pollen. An investigation re- 

 vealed the fact that perhaps J4 of their 

 brood was dead and decayed in the 

 cells — some of it unsealed and some 

 sealed, but with perforations in the 

 cappings. The bees could not, or 

 would not, remove the sticky mass 

 from the bottom of the cells, so I pro- 

 ceeded to do it for them with a bent 

 pin, and I continued to do so for one 

 of the colonies, at intervals, until they 

 fully recovered and made a prosperous 

 colony. With the other I adopted a 

 more radical course, by removing all 

 their combs and making them start a 

 fresh lot of brood, which all proved to 

 be healtliy. What was it V 



J. L. WOLFENDEN. 



[It was brood which had become 

 chilled, and the bees were disheartened 

 and discouraged. Had it been foul 

 brood there would have been a recur- 

 rence of it in the two hives, and would 

 have extended to other colonies.— Ed.] 



Bees in the Cellar doing Well. — I 



have .50 colonies in Laiigstroth hives 

 in the cellar, doing finely. Last sea- 

 son was a very poor one for bees, in 

 these parts, but little surplus honey 

 was produced. A. Reynolds. 



Quaker Springs, X. Y., Feb. 6, 1882. 



Climbers for Shade.— Can the Beb 



Journal give the name of a good 

 annual climber that will furnish shade 

 for hives and pasture for bees V In 

 view of the action of the N. E. Con- 

 vention, I should be sorry to become 

 famous for anything, in apiculture. 

 If the National Association cannot 

 honor every man, they had better not 

 mention any, for fear some side affair 

 will kick up a row about it. I have 

 lost six colonies already. Direct 

 cause, old bees ; indirect cause, poor 

 bee pasture. Wm. Camm. 



Murrayville, 111., Feb. 11, 1882. 



[We do not know what to recom- 

 mend as the best annual climber for 

 shade and hee pasture, too ; but would 

 try some of the better and more pro- 

 lific varieties of cucumbers, thus 

 realizing a shade, honey, and a profit- 

 able crop of cucumbers for market, 

 which of itself would pay the cost of 

 cultivation. In all attempts at plant- 

 ing for honey, we would advise a 

 preference always to be given that 

 which possesses a value aside from its 

 honey yield — not that honey itself will 

 be unremunerative, but because a 

 double crop, and hence, a double pro- 

 fit, is more desirable than the single 

 return. We are convinced the N. E. 

 Convention will at some future time 

 see the error of their way, in condemn- 

 ing so unmercifully the National Con- 

 vention. A mild reproof will often 

 carry stronger conviction than bitter 

 denunciation.— Ed.] 



All Right, So Far.— As long as I 

 have one colony left and the Bee 

 Journal continues so far to excel all 

 others, I shall take it. Ipiit into win- 

 ter quarters, tlie fall of 18S0, 30 colo- 

 nies, caps packed with rags, hives set 

 under a shed boarded up tight on the 

 west and north, and about 18 inches 

 of straw packed between the wall and 

 hives; came through with 20 colonies 

 strong in honey, but weak in bees. 

 Tliey carried in pollen April 18th and 

 built up rapidly from that time, but 

 the droutli came just in time to find 

 the hives crowded with young bees, 

 which had nothing to do but consume 

 wliat they had gathered from white 

 clover. They swarmed but little, in- 

 creased to 28 colonies, and went into 

 winter quarters in the same manner 

 that 1 jDacked last winter, and seem 

 to be doing well so far. 



G. W. Pagett. 



Oxford, Ind., Feb. 9, 1882. 



Recipe for Making P.aste. — Make a 

 thin batter of best wheat flour, stir 

 this into boiling water, on a slow fire; 

 when cooked, or thick, take from over 

 tlie fire, and to each quart stir in 2 

 ounces of New Orleans sugar or mo- 

 lasses, while hot. This paste will ad- 

 here as well to a non-porous surface 

 as to a porous one. Keep in a cool 

 place. C. IlAUCKE. 



fireenup C. H., Ky., Feb. 6, 1882. 



