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THE AMERICA_N BEE JOURNAL. 



ing at Louisville, but are waiting for 

 the time of the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Society to be fixed at Cincin- 

 nati, as we wiuit to meet just before 

 that, so that we can go right on to 

 the National Convention. 



N. P. Allen. 

 Smith's Grove, Ky., April 24, 1882. 



Care of Comb Foundation. — What is 

 the proper method of treating comb 

 foundation which has been kept over 

 since last year ? Should it be softened 

 by heat, and if so, to what degree of 

 warmth should it be subjected ! 



E. R. BULLER. 



Canipbellford, Ont. 



[Hang it, one sheet at a time, in a 

 strong colony. The bees will heat it 

 to the proper degree for working. No 

 criterion can be given for heat, as 

 some makes are harder than others, 

 and age and exposure will affect it dif- 

 ferently. —Ed.] 



An Error. — I was in error in giving 

 the size of my frame in the Bee 

 Journal, of April 12, page 235. It 

 should read 12% inches in the 10th 

 line, instead of 12J^ inches, so as to 

 take 3 one-pound sections each way. 



Ben miller, Ont. Peter Eisher. 



The Indnstrial Exposition in Denver. 



—Colorado is fast taking rank with 

 the older States of the Union in the 

 matter of bee-culture, and before an- 

 other decade, no doubt, it will be an 

 important industry in this State. 

 There is no method at present of gain- 

 ing valuable statistics in regard to the 

 extent of the business, but if such in- 

 formation could be obtained, people 

 in and out of Colorado would be as- 

 tonislied at its magnitude. This is 

 especially gratifying; the more so, be- 

 cause it has only been a few years 

 since there was no bee- culture of any 

 importance in the State. To have ac- 

 complished the results as at present 

 existing, in so short a time, is a mag- 

 niticent tribute to the energy and pro- 

 gressive spirit of our people. Bee- 

 culture is being recognized as an im- 

 portant factor in the commerce of the 

 country, and if properly fostered and 

 encouraged, will soon grow to large 

 proportions. A bee-keepers' associa- 

 tion was organized in Denver, Dec. 

 15, 1881, consisting of 20 members, 

 who owned 425 colonies of bees ; but 

 this is scarcely a shadow of the num- 

 ber owned in the State at large. The 

 programme of the lirst annual exhibi- 

 tion of the National Mining and In- 

 dustrial Exposition, to be opened tlie 

 1st of August, 1882, has just been is- 

 sued. Space for exhibits is offered 

 free of charge. Every industry in tlie 

 country will be represented. Dairy- 

 ing, agriculture, tloriculture, horti- 

 culture, apiculture, manufacturing, 

 household goods, ornamenting, the 

 arts, food and medicinal preparations, 

 will be exhibited in abundance. Peo- 

 ple from every nation will visit the 

 Exposition this summer. Excursions 

 are being arranged on all roads. The 

 best place to invest a small capital is 

 in some of these Western States and 



Territories. Colorado, Wyoming.New 

 Mexico, Utah, Idaho and Montana are 

 the poor man's paradise. 



Woman's Industrial Ass'n. 

 Denver, Col., April 18, 1882. 



Last Year's Record.— Last spring I 

 started with 7 colonies in old box 

 hives. On the 16th and 17th of May I 

 transferred them to movable frame 

 hives, tilling f> frames for each hive 

 with comb and brood, and some 

 honey, leaving a surplus of about 100 

 lbs. of honey ; fed back abont 20 lbs. ; 

 increased to .31 colonies, and obtained 

 250 lbs. of honey. They liave come 

 through the winter splendidly ; win- 

 tered in the cellar ; lost 2 by spring 

 dwindling. They have been carrying 

 in pollen ; had a swarm April 4— earli- 

 est ever heard of here. Am feeding 

 them. As a suljscriber to the Bee 

 Journal will ask, can I expect to 

 bring them through and how, as the 

 weatiier is too cold at present for them 

 to fly, and little yet in bloom but wil- 

 jows. Am looking with bright hopes 

 for the |)resent year with my busy 

 bees, with the aid of the welcome 

 Journal. S. McLees. 



Tuscola, Mich., April 13, 1882. 



[Yes ; you can easily bring the 

 swarm through nicely. Give them a 

 couple combs of brood from some 

 hive which can spare them, and feed 

 plentifully till fruit is in bloom. — Ed.] 



Saw Palmetto. — I send you in this 

 mail two flower stalks and one leaf 

 and stem of the saw palmetto ; I tried 

 to get an average size, as you will see 

 I have cut off pai-t of the stem of the 

 larger flower stalk. I done it in order 

 to pack it better. I send the small 

 one because it is fully blown, tho\igh 

 I fear all the blossoms will drop off be- 

 fore you get it, it is about the smallest 

 stalk I ever saw. I can give you very 

 little data now, as I have never given 

 the matter any attention ; later on I 

 think that I will be better posted as 

 I intend to observe closely all the 

 honey plants that are here. 1 saw the 

 first flower stalks about March 1st, 

 and the same stalks that I saw then 

 are only to-day partly in bloom, so 

 they evidently 'require quite a while 

 to become perfect. These stalks were 

 evidently the " early " ones, as the 

 great bulk are just in bud. There 

 are from 3 to G stalks to one plant — it 

 is a small and weak one that i)rodnces 

 less than 3. On the large and thrifty 

 plants the flower stalks are from 2V2 

 to 3 feet in length, with numerous 

 lateral branches, making an immense 

 mass of blossoms. As to the length 

 of time that it remains in bloom I 

 cannot say, nor its value as a honey 

 plant. I will observe these points 

 and write you later on. I examined 

 the, colonies yesterday, but found no 

 increase of honey. Judging from the 

 length of time that tlie bloom requires 

 to open, I think there will not be 

 much gathered before May 1st. 1 am 

 a novice in the business, having never 

 even opened a l)ee hive until a couple 

 of months ago, so that I am not over- 

 flowing with bee lore, but any informa- 

 tion that I can give you I will cheer- 



fully send. Should any question oc- 

 cur to you that I have not answered, 

 please write me and I will do my best ; 

 when cabbage palmetto blooms I will 

 send yon all the data that I can. If 

 the bloom is lost or spoiled so that 

 you cannot use it, advise me and I 

 will send you again. 



W. H. Steacy. 

 Tampa, Fla., April 10, 1882. 



[The saw palmetto stalk and flower 

 came to hand, and Mr. Steaqj has our 

 thanks for the same. Much interest 

 has been felt regarding Florida for 

 apiculture — its climate, soil and spon- 

 taneous bloom— and any information 

 on the subject will be highly appre- 

 ciated. — Ed.1 



California Notes. — The honey season 

 last year came very suddenly, some 2 

 weeks earlier than the season before, 

 and the bees were just booming atthe 

 time of the frost. I had a number of 

 colonies with 2 tiers of sections, but 

 very few perished. At the time the 

 bees got to swarming, I had a consid- 

 erable number of young queens being 

 fertilized in nuclei, and queens and 

 swarms got mixed (my old queens had 

 clipped wings). I got a bunch of bees 

 that had 6 queens ; 1 got killed. They 

 were on a low bush, and more than I 

 could lift. The cluster was full 3 feet 

 high, just clearing the ground by 

 about 1 inch, about 10 inches thick, 

 and about 10 inches wide one way. 

 They filled 3 hives with bees, one of 

 which filled a tier of top sections. I 

 should judge they must have weighed 

 over 50 lbs., possibly 75. The surplus 

 queens I utilized. If my subscription 

 expires before you hear from me, do 

 not stop the Bee Journal— I should 

 feel like a lost sheep without it. I 

 have succeeded in sending queens to 

 Oregon the past season successfully. 

 1 find sugar better than honey in ship- 

 ping queens, but they must have 

 water. A very good bottle is made of 

 tin, with just a little hole. Atmos- 

 pheric pressure keeps it from leaking. 

 I have sent them with only a cake of 

 sugar and the water. They have to go 

 by steamer. In overhauling my nuclei 

 last winter, I united several, using 

 the cage mentioned in a former num- 

 ber of the Bee Journal. The next 

 day, as the bees were quiet, I released 

 the queen without trouble. I never 

 cut or mutilate the combs. Some- 

 times the bees will release her. Ordi- 

 luirily I raise the cage and let them 

 get together, always watching to see 

 if the queen is well received. I am 

 so well satisfied with It, that I shall 

 not look further. I have even in- 

 troduced virgin queens successfully 

 with it. The form I use is 2x3 inches, 

 i.< inch tin sides. No. 12 unpainted 

 wire cloth. I know of a number of 

 cases where parties had to be shown a 

 queen for the first time, who were 

 successful with it. In breaking up 

 nuclei, I found it very convenient to 

 make an upper story and place the 

 frames with all adhering bees therein; 

 there was no confusion nor quarrel- 

 ing. Some combs that had chilled 

 brood were entirely cleaned out, and 



