524 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



which are quite frequently very cold 

 in this latitude, although the last win- 

 ter was a very mild and pleasant one, 

 favorable to the safe wintering of bees. 

 But with the first of March there 

 came cool and gloomy days, clouds 

 were hanging overliead in a threaten- 

 ing manner the whole month through, 

 and it seemed as if winter was al)out 

 to commence in earnest. To say that 

 it was a disappointment, after having 

 had such pleasant passage by the win- 

 ter months only to get into a backward 

 spring-time, is but a feeble expression ,• 

 still, the weather was never hitter 

 during the spring opening. April and 

 Maywerenot very good, still during 

 those months and up to the present 

 time there have been but a very few 

 days that the bees have remained at 

 home all day long. The present week 

 has been a week of the most beaiitiful 

 showers that I ever saw, and tlie 

 clouds are still flying in haste towards 

 the southwest, and as the light from 

 the sun occasionally bursts forth 

 through some of the openings above, 

 the merest sliowers of rain are some- 

 times seen falling in the sunlight and 

 producing scenes worthy of attention. 

 The atmosphere is warm, the fields of 

 buckwhe-at are getting whiter, and the 

 bees are on their wings every hour 

 during the day-time. From tlie pres- 

 ent view of things about here, one 

 would think of a heavy yield of sur- 

 plus lioney in the next few weeks to 

 come, and of a mild winter following. 

 John Morris. 

 Mauston, Wis., Aug. 5, 1882. 



reliable breeders, at much less figures 

 than can imported queens, such as. at 

 least, the majority of the breeders of 

 dark bees and queens breed from. 

 W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Rogersville, Mich., Aug. 4, 1882. 



Entouiological.— I herewith send 

 you a worm that I caught on the 

 alighting-board of one of my hives. 

 When taken, it was about one inch in 

 length, nearly blood-red, and about 

 Yi, an inch thick. Please give it a 

 name. . S. C. Frederick. 



Coal Valley, Kan. 



[The " worm " is the caterpillar of 

 a silk-spinning moth, iJo?n6?/cid(f. It 

 was only accidentally upon the alight- 

 ing-board of the bee hive. It feeds 

 only on green leaves, and I judge 

 npon those of the soft maple, but the 

 specimen is not in condition for me to 

 certainly pronounce upon the species. 



— T. J. BUKRILL.] 



Whose Loss is it?— Two months since 

 I received an order for a copy of Cook's 

 Manual, whicli I can certify was im- 

 mediately sent him by mail. pro|ierly 

 addressed. The person who ordered 

 it, now informs me that the book has 

 not been received by him. I would 

 like to know if it is right for me to 

 suffer the loss and send him another 

 copy? Please answer this question in 

 the Bee Journal, and oblige both 

 the buyer and The Agent. 



[The loss is undoubtedly for the per- 

 son ordering it, if it can can be shown 

 that it was properly mailed. Had it 

 been registered, (costing 10 cents 

 extra) it could have been traced, but 

 now it cannot. Some dishonest em- 

 ploye of the mail service probably 

 "appropriated" it. When such is or- 

 dered from this office and lost, we 

 usually divide the loss with the person 

 ordering, and although we have noth- 

 ing to do with this transaction, we 

 will send a copy to the person losing 

 it, upon receipt ot one-half of the price 

 of the book, so as to save hard feelings 

 between bee-men. — Ed.1 



My Honey Crop. —I have already 

 taken from my bees over 2,000 lbs. of 

 as nice honey as I ever saw, and can 

 take about 1,000 lbs. more in a few 

 days. This season has been a very 

 fair one with me, although the old 

 style bee-keepers in this county have 

 complained of the scarcity of honey 

 and have secured very little surplus, 

 and even that in bad shape. Honey 

 is selling for 20c per lb. in 2 lb. sec- 

 tions, and 15c per lb. for extracted. 



L. J. DiEHL. 



Butler, Ind., Aug. 4. 1882. 



"(liohleii Dollars vs. Golden Bands." 



—Mr. Benedict says, "There is another 

 class of breeders who make it their 

 steady aim to breed bees as light- 

 colored as they can, and they have 

 succeeded in producing what appears 

 to be a distinct variety of bees." Per- 

 haps this is true, but the majority of 

 us keep bees for the honey that they 

 will gatlier,and we care little whether 

 the bees are a distinct variety or not, 

 so long as the honey is forthcoming. 

 We care much more for the golden 

 dollars than we do for golden bands. 

 Mr. B. further says, "Such breeders 

 cannot afford to sell queens for a dol- 

 lar each." Will he please tell us why 

 it is any more expense to breed from 

 light-colored stock than from darkV 

 Light-colored, home-bred queens can 

 lie obtained for breeding purposes of 



the disadvantages. To take out sec- 

 tions, pry off the top bar and all is 

 easy. I liave used them four years. 

 Nonpatent. J. M. Shuck. 



Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 3, 1882. 



[The metal projections mentioned 

 consist of cast iron, so made as to 

 screw on the tops of the end-bars of 

 the broad frames, and rest on the rab- 

 bets. Mr. Shuck describes above their 

 method of using too plainly to require 

 any attempt on our part, or to be mis- 

 understood.— Ed.] 



Honey Enonph to Winter On. — Bees 



have done nothing here this season. 

 Strong colonies have now almost 

 enough to winter them. September 

 may yield us a surplus. 



Jos. M. Brooks. 

 Columbus, lud., Aug. 5, 1882. 



Iron Lugs for Hanging Broad Frames. 



—I note the letter of Rusticus, in No. 

 31, 1882, about hanging broad frames 

 without top-bar. I have sent out a 

 number of hives with the device 

 spoken of, and send you lierewith two 

 pairs of lugs, or (irojections, tor the 

 purpose. I now make my bioad frames 

 with wooden separators tixed pernia- 

 nent,nailed to stay, top bar removable, 

 not nailed ; and then with tliese metal 

 projections, wkle frames of sections 

 are very handy. Two frames are 

 placed face to face in the hive, and 

 you have all the advantage of a four- 

 inch box the size of the frame ; after 

 work is well started, turn half of the 

 frames around and all the advantages 

 of separators are secured, and none of 



Afr.aid of Eohhing.— My wife, self 

 and one boy have attended 78 colonies 

 and some 8 or 10 nuclei. Have taken 

 6 30-gallon barrels of honey (about 

 2.161 lbs.) with the extractor, and be- 

 tween 700 and .sOO lbs. of comb honey. 

 We have a good home market at 20c. 

 for comb and lOe. for extracted honey. 

 The harvest is just closing with us. 

 Black sumac anil privet or buck bush 

 are our main resources for July. We 

 will now have a honey dearth till the 

 1st of September, when will come the 

 aster or hybrid Spanishneedle, which 

 gives us our largest crop in valley lo- 

 cations. I took most of my comb 

 honey in 2 lb. sections, and found 

 ready sale for it. My hives are full of 

 honey and capped, and I fear that the 

 queens will be crowded out. The 

 bees are ill-natured, and I fear rob- 

 bing if I extract any more. What 

 would you do in such a case ? I am 

 using all the foundation they will 

 draw out. J. T. Bruton. 



Joplin, Mo., Aug. 5, 1882. 



[Do your extracting mornings and 

 evenings, when the bees are not fly- 

 ing much. It will be necessary, of 

 course, to do the extracting in the 

 honey-house, or a room that will be 

 secure against intrusion. You can 

 lift the outer frames in the morning, 

 extract during the heat of day, and in 

 the evening spread brood frames in 

 the hive and return the empty combs^ 

 alternating them with the brood 

 combs, or putting them in the center. 

 Do not extract too close— four frames- 

 from each brood chamber should be 

 sufficient.— Ed.] 



A Good Season.— The honey season 

 here has been a good one ; white clo- 

 ver has been in bloom for eight weeks. 

 My iLiees have done vi'ell in the sections; 

 am using the 1 lb. section, and like it 

 very much. Bees had quit swarming, 

 but to-day I had a large swarm come 

 off. The prospect is good for fall 

 honey, as the cornfields are full of 

 smartweed, owing to the wet weather. 

 J. V. Caldwell. 



Cambridge, 111., Aug. 7, 1882. 



A Fair Yield Anticipated. -Bees do- 

 ing ordinarily well, very few swarms 

 cast this far, and but little siu-plus 

 stored. Should the wet weather con- 

 tinue, I anticipate a fair yield of fall 

 honey. John Y. Detwiler. 



Doniphan, Kan., July 31, 1882. 



