THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



25 



remainder of foundation. I put on 

 surplus boxes, and closed the hive. 

 Tliis swarm gave me about 30 lbs. of 

 comb honey, besides building out and 

 filling the brood-chamber completely. 

 Cyprian bees color tlieir combs more 

 than the German bees. 1 think they 

 work over all the old comb they can 

 find ; besides, tliey are not careful 

 about the quality of propolis they use. 

 One colony used black paint from 

 barbed wire fences, and their combs 

 were as black as pitch, and had the 

 odor of coal tar. P. Bohngeh. 



Salem, Neb., Dec. 22, 18S2. 



An Ayerage of 57 Poiiuds per Colony. 



It has been a very hard season here 

 for bees, a year ago this fall I packed 

 29 colonies in sawdust, with cliaff 

 over the frames ; when spring came 

 they were all alive, but one was 

 queenless, which was united with 

 another weak colony. I succeeded 

 in bringing the 28 colonies through 

 the cold, late spring by feeding a 

 little over 100 lbs. of coffee A sugar. 

 My increase was from 28 to 44, mostly 

 by natural swarming. I also had two 

 swarms leave for parts unknown. 

 I took from them 850 lbs. of comb 

 and 750 lbs. of. extracted lioney, which 

 gives an average of a little over 57 

 lbs. for each colony in the spring. 

 My honey was sold here in Scranton, 

 the comb for 16 cts. per lb. and the 

 extracted for 14 cts. 



C. E. Miller. 



Industry, Fa., Dec. 20, 1882. 



Paste for Honey Labels. 



Please state, through the Bee Jour- 

 nal, how to make mucilage or paste 

 that will hold labels on new tin. I 

 have tried a mucilage of gum arable, 

 but it is not a success. 



\Vm. Roberts. 



Vaughansville, Ohio. 



[This question has been overlooked 

 for some time ; we will now answer it. 

 Mr. C. Haucke, of Kentucky, gives 

 the following, which he avers will be 

 successful : " Make a thin batter of 

 best buckwheat flour, stir this in boil- 

 ing water, on a slow fire; when cooked, 

 or thick, take it from over the lire, 

 and, to each quart, stir in 2 oz. of New 

 Orleans sugar or molasses, while hot. 

 Keep in a cool place. This paste will 

 stick as well to a non-porous surface 

 as to a porous one. — Ed.] 



Last Season was the Best in 5 Tears. 



The season of 1882, after fruit blos- 

 soms came out, was the best for the 

 past 5 years, for bee-keeping, in this 

 locality. Bees commenced swarming 

 and gave one swarm each all round, 

 during fruit bloom, which was the 

 most profuse bloom ever seen in this 

 section of the country. After fruit 

 blossoms had gone, white clover came 

 out in great abundance, yielding well. 

 I obtained, on an average, 40 lbs. per 

 colony of comb honey, in 1-pound sec- 

 tions, from white clover; and 20 lbs. 

 Eer colony in 1-pound sections from 

 asswood ; making 00 lbs. per colony 



of white honey in the comb. The fall 

 yield was equally as good ; my colo- 

 nies storing 40 lbs. each, from buck- 

 wheat and goldenrod. I notice that 

 some apiarists think buckwheata poor 

 honey plant; my experience is that it 

 is one of the best lioney plants we 

 have. Last fall there was a held of 

 buckwheat about a quarter of a mile 

 from uiy apiary, the road being be- 

 tween the field and the apiary. I 

 have repeatedly had people stop and 

 tell me that the bees were swarming, 

 such a roaring tliey made going to and 

 fro from the buckwheat field. My 

 bees are now all packed on the plan 

 given by Mr. Ileddon, except 12 colo- 

 nies which I put in the cellar, for an 

 experiment, having generally win- 

 tered on the summer stands. I think 

 either Mr Ileddon 's or Mr. Doolittle's 

 writiTigs are worth twice the subscrip- 

 tion price of the Bee.Iouhnal to any 

 one keei)ing bees. E. W. Wales. 

 Disco, Mich. 



Receipts for Cooking' Green and Dried 

 Fruits. 



Please publish the following receipts 

 and add to the pamphlet ou " Honey 

 as Food and Medicine." 



Green Fruit.— If mellow, use only 

 extracted honey, it being the only 

 liquid, it holds the fruit firm and gives 

 a very rich flavor, sweeten or season 

 with "spices, to suit the taste. Cook 

 slowly until done. 



Dried Fruit.— Cook same as above, 

 only add water enough to swell the 

 fruit, after which add the extracted 

 honey and spices, to suit taste. Cook 

 slowly until done. 



Bray & Seacord. 



Warthan, Cal. 



A Good Showing. 



The past year has been one of the 

 most laborious I have ever experi- 

 enced, having the sole care of my 

 apiary, and an orchard of 15 acres, of 

 both large and small fruits, adapted 

 to this clime ; also superintending and 

 working occasionally in an excavation 

 for a tish pond, in my orcluird, where 

 there is a number of small living 

 springs of water, affording a constant 

 flow the year round. I am in hopes to 

 finish it this winter, and shall stock it 

 with the German carp in the spring. 

 I commenced the season with about 

 40 colonies of bees, and by natural 

 swarming, increased to 160; sold off 

 20 in the summer, and secured about 

 3,000 lbs. of surplus comb honey, leav- 

 ing the hives with honey in store. 

 Hiram Craig. 



Fort Calhoun, Neb. 



Italians vs. Native Bees. 



As I have now got all of my bees 

 into winter quarters, I will hand in my 

 report. I had 175 colonies last fall ; 

 lost none ; wintered on the summer 

 stands, mostly black bees. I obtained 

 13,000 lbs. of honey, nearly all ex- 

 tracted. I have now 295 colonies ; 

 have 22 queens reared in 1881 from an 

 imported Italian ; got 1 imported Ital- 

 ian queen of Mr. Dadant, early in 

 1882 and I have about 40 queens reared 

 from her ; a part of them, I think, are 

 purely mated. I think that I will 



weed all of the blacks and hybrids out 

 of my home yard, next spring, and 

 run it with Italian bees. I think that 

 I can rear them very nearly pure there, 

 as there are no other bees within 4 

 miles. But I am not yet satisfied that 

 the Italian bee is better than the 

 blacks,taking all points into considera- 

 tion. I intend to have one yard of 

 them pure, and then watch them close- 

 ly. 1 want to know which is best, as 

 1 think of going more extensively into 

 the bee business. 1 shall make some 

 chaff quadruple Langstroth hives, tliis 

 winter, two stories high. I have one 

 now that I made last year ; it has 4 

 swarms of bees in it and I like it very 

 well, it is the only Langstroth hive I 

 have. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., Dec. 4, 1882. 



Strong Colonies Necessary for Success. 



The spring was very backward, sa 

 that owing to chilled brood and other 

 causes, my colonies were, if anything, 

 weaker on the 1st of June than they 

 were on April 1. This is my season's 

 work : April 1st, 7 weak and 2 strong 

 colonies, 9 ; Nov. 15, stored into win- 

 ter quarters, 14 strong colonies with 

 an abundance of stores. My crop is 

 600 lbs. extracted white clover ; 200 lbs. 

 extracted fall honey; 350 lbs. comb 

 honey ; total 1 ,1.50 lbs. My experience, 

 like that of many others, is that the 

 number of colonies is of less impor- 

 tance than their strength ; and 1 have 

 resolved hereafter to keep only strong 

 colonies, if I can have but a single 



one. F. P. BOUTEILLER. 



Belle River, Ont. 



Wintering in Chaff Hives. 



I had 98 colonies to start with in the 

 spring of 1881 ; increased to 204 ; all 

 in good shape for winter, and packed 

 them on from 5 to 7 frames, in chaff 

 hives with division-boards, with the 

 open space filled with chaff, and a chaff 

 box over the frames with muslin bot- 

 tom and from four to six inches of 

 dry oats chaff, and the whole hive, 

 except the front, covered with dry 

 hay. The winter was very open; the 

 entrance being open all the time. They 

 came through with less than 5 per 

 cent, of loss. Now, then, I had two 

 extremes of temperature, with bees 

 put away just the same way, except 

 that in one case tlie snow and ice 

 effectually blocked up the entrance 

 and in the other it was open. Now. 

 my opinion is that chaff hives and 

 chaff packing give a more even tem- 

 perature and that the chaff box on 

 top absorbed the moisture so that the 

 bees were kept in a healthy condition. 

 I have packed 58 colonies this winter 

 in chaff hives with chaff division- 

 boards 2 inches thick, with muslin on 

 one side and % inch boards on the 

 other, with the muslin next to the 

 bees. G. Rouse. 



Wahoo, Neb., Dec. 21, 1882. 



Glassed or Not. 



Please state whether the small sec- 

 tions (1 or 3-2 lb.) are expected to be 

 glassed, for market. 



A Subscriber. 



[No. The crates should be glassed,. 



but not the sections,— Ed.] 



