THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



491 



Any colony of bees will accept a 

 virgin queen as soon as tliey begin 

 buildinsi qiicen-cells, wliicli will be in 

 about -4 hours. In most lases, I 

 liave succeeded immediately after 

 their old queen was removed from 

 them. I think that it is the best iilan 

 I have ever tried, and would be 

 pleased to know what others tliiuk of 

 it. So far, bees have done b>it little 

 ■work. I have about 1,000 pounds of 

 honey, and i5 swarms from sO colo- 

 nies." To-day is the first good honey 

 day that we have had since basswood 

 began to bloom, and I judge they will 

 gather 10 pounds per colony within 

 lU hours. If tliis weather holds out 

 for 4 or .5 days, we will have a crop of 

 honey from that source ; and if we 

 get ashower of rain, clover will yield 

 iouey for 2 weeks or more. 



A. WlCHERTS. 



ilattison, 111., July 19, 1884. 



"Wolf-berry. 



The bees which were wintered in 

 dry, well-ventilated cellars, in this 

 locality, came through in good condi- 

 tion. The spring was cold and wet. 

 I had my Srst swarm on Jlay 28. Bees 

 have done well on raspberry, clover, 

 and a plant of which I enclose a speci- 

 men. It grows in thick clusters about 

 S feet high. What is its name V Lin- 

 den has been in bloom .5 days, and the 

 bees are busy. Jos. Gilbert. 



Mankato, Minn., July 11, 1884. 



[The plant is Symphoricarpus ocei- 

 dentalis or woolf-berry— a good honey 

 plant.— T.J. BuKRiLL, Champaign, 111.1 



"Wiring Foundation Unnecessary. 



I have been experimenting with 

 c-omb foundation, this season, and find 

 that wiring it is entirely unnecessary. 

 I fasten the foundation in frames, 

 and place them in the top stories of 

 hives which contain strong colonies, 

 and let the bees draw it out, say half- 

 brood thickness. If they store some 

 honey, all the better, which will set 

 up the young bees in house-keeping. 

 Then place the frames in a new hive 

 to put the bees on. There will be no 

 warping or sagging, and I think it is 

 much easier and cheaper than using 

 wire. I hope jNIr. Heddon will give 

 this plan a trial, and report through 

 the Bee Journal. 



Peter Brickey. 



Lawrenceburg, Ky., July 19, 1884. 



ftuick Work. 



On Saturday, May 31, at 12:30 p. m., 

 I hived a swarm of bees on empty 

 combs. On Monday, June 2, at 8:30 

 a. m.. they had gained 30 pounds, all 

 from apple bloom. 



H. E. Mitchell. 



Greece, N. Y., July 13, 18&4. 



Honey Dearth Now. 



Bees are not doing very well in 

 Eastern Ohio. The weather has been 

 too dry ; we have had but little rain 

 since the first of April. Bees have 

 nothing to gather horiey from. 



Jacob 0.svvalt. 



Maximo, O., July 18, 1884. 



Bees with Diseased Feet. 



I send you some bees that have dis- 

 eased feet. It is something new to 

 me. Tlie bees are taking them out of 

 the hives and carrying them off at a 

 rate which will weaken them very 

 much in a sliort time. I wish to 

 know the name of the disease and the 

 remedy, if there be any. 



VV. W. Trtjssel. 



Colby, Mich., July 15, 1884. 



Answer.— The bees are weighted 

 with the pollen masses of the Asctepias 

 or milk-weed. This is illustrated in 

 my Manual. I think the losses from 

 this cause are not great, while I am 

 sure that milk-weed is an excellent 

 honey-plant. The bark-lice on maples 

 and otner trees can be washed off, 

 in cities, where they have high-pres- 

 sure water-works, by turning on the 

 hose. The grovied females in May, 

 and the young lice in June, may 

 easily be overcome in this way. 



A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., July 19, 1884. 



How to get rid of Ants. 



Two years ago I struck upon the 

 plan that is often used for rats and 

 mice. I mean poisoning. Thoroughly 

 poison a small quantity of meat or 

 honey with arsenic or strychnine, and 

 put it in wire-cloth cages, or in some 

 way manage to keep it from every 

 thing else, and place it in places fre- 

 quented by the ants ; and they will 

 quickly vanish, at least mine have. 



Saugatnck, Mich W. B. House. 



Fastening Starters in Sections. 



If the top piece of the section is 

 rubbed with wax, and the foundation 

 put in moderately warm, the starter 

 will be perfectly fastened, and with 

 very little pressure. We use a Clark 

 fastener, and have no further trouble 

 with falling starters, since pursuing 

 the above method. Bees have done 

 well on white clover, in our vicinity, 

 but vve fear that basswood will be a 

 failure. The weather has been cool 

 and cloudy during the past week, 

 thus checking the honey secretion ; 

 but clover still looks well, and, with 

 favorable weather, may continue to 

 yield honey for some time. 



LiBRiE Long. 



Williamsville, N. Y., July 18, 1884. 



Bees Not Busy. 



Bees are doing but little work now. 

 White clover was almost a failure. 

 Our main hope now is on heart's-ease. 

 J. W. Margrave. 



Hiawatha, Kans., July 21, 1884. 



Basswood Abundant, No Honey. 



With us the honey season has closed, 

 and we have to report only ,^3 of a 

 crop. No swarming this year. I 

 have 80 colonies which I fed heavily 

 during April and May, and all were 

 exceedingly strong. They made a 

 good start on locust, and tilled their 

 hives fit for winter, when the white 

 clover came on in abundance ; but it 

 rained continually, and north winds 

 prevailed during June. We hoped to 



have a good How of honey from bass- 

 wood bloom, as the bloom was un- 

 usually abundant ; but it came and 

 went, never a bee looking at it. 

 North winds have blown cold during 

 the whole month of July, so far, and 

 the mercury settles down to 38" and 

 MP above zero every night. Although 

 my colonies have been extra strong 

 all the season, only •') swarms have 

 issued, and now the colonies are idle 

 and listless, killing drones, etc. None 

 but experienced bee-men h.ave a drop 

 of surplus honey. E. A. Morgan. 

 Columbus, Wis., July 21, 1884. 



Honey-Dew Honey. 



Bees are not doing well at present. 

 My big crop of white clover honey 

 proved to be honey-dew honey. Every- 

 thing looks favorable for a big honey 

 crop this fall, if it is not too cold ; but 

 what the result will be, I cannot fore- 

 tell. Many of my customers say that 

 they like the honey-dew honey better 

 than any other that they can get. 



D. B. ROSEBROUGH. 



Casey, 111., July 18, 1884. 



Uncapping Knife. 



Do all who have occasion to use the 

 honey uncapping knife know how 

 much nicer and easier it works if 

 kept immersed in hot water as much 

 of the time as possible while in use, 

 or even dipped occasionally 'f Let 

 those who have never tried the plan 

 do so, and if not pleased I will be 

 surprised. " Typo." 



[Yes,- that is the most approved 

 method, and has been so stated many 

 times in the Bee Journal during 

 the past few years.— Ed.] 



Bees Gathering Honey-Dew. 



Bees have been gathering large 

 quantities of honey-dew of late, but 

 it is poor stuff. On the whole, bees 

 have done fairly well so far. 



W. H. Stout. 



Pine Grove, Pa., July 21, 1884. 



Accidentally Disabled. 



In the spring of 1883 I commenced 

 with 22 colonies of bees, from which I 

 received about 1,200 pounds of honey, 

 and increased them to 44 by natural 

 swarming. I sold 3 colonies, and 

 wintered the balance without loss. 

 Of these I lost one after placing them 

 on the summer stands. The result of 

 the season up to July 1, was only a 

 little over 600 pounds of comb hoiiey, 

 with enough left, perhaps, to supply 

 a family of nine members. Why my 

 bees have done so poorly, I cannot 

 tell. They were nearly all in flue con- 

 dition when white clover began to 

 bloom, and the bloom was quite pro- 

 fuse. From my 40 colonies I have 

 had but 4 swarms, thus increasing my 

 number to 44,33 of which I sold about 

 July 1. I think that bee-keeping is a 

 pleasant occupation, and though my 

 profits liave been small, I have taken 

 considerable delight in the business. 

 But from the fact of having been al- 

 most totally disabled in my back, by 

 ahorse which, in 1880, fell with me 



