1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



which was certainly present. It had a beautiful minty flavor, and 

 in my estimation — and I think perhaps in that of Mr. York — it was 

 as flue honey as can be produced anywhere in the world. A swamp 

 near by it evidently gave the mint taste, so pleasant. I have 

 always considered the Colorado alfalfa, since I first tasted it, the 

 best; but this is fully its equal. 



The next morning, having had a delightful sleep and good 

 breakfast, I took the train for Toledo. The bicycle at this point 

 was resumed; and on reaching home, 110 miles was made in nine 

 hours. Thus ends my long trip on the bicycle to the Mississippi, 

 through Michigan. 



*-•-•■ 



Mr. E. E. Hasty— the man who furnishes the palatable 

 monthly "dishes" called "Condensed View of Current Bee- 

 Writings " for the Bee-Keepers' Review — says some very wide- 

 awake things about the first number of the American Bee Journal 

 for 1895. Rewrote: 



Looks very nice, and the whole thing is one of those extra- 

 interesting numbers Friend York has a trick of waking up and 



making once in awhile Very refreshing to find an editor who 



has manifestly been kicking around in these gloomy times — when 

 we almost expected them all to lie down in the snow, like Napo- 

 leon's soldiers on the retreat from Moscow. 



That's all right, Bro. Hasty ; but if you mean that I have a 

 "trick of waking up once in awhile " and simply " kicking around" 

 — why — well — yes, that's all right if you mean it. But I'll try to 

 keep aicaKr more hereafter, so as to be able to continue the " kick- 

 ing around," especially as the snow in Chicago (Feb. 5) is too cold 

 (20 degrees below zero) to " lie down in " for comfort. 



Moths, Bees and Hens.— Mr. J. B. Griffin, of Cat Creek. 

 Ga., sends in the following paragraph, clipped from a cheap paper 

 published in Augusta, Me. : 



A device interesting to farmers has been patented by G. Up- 

 ham. Everybody knows that the larvae of certain moths are de- 

 structive to bees, and undesirable in the hive. These moths are 

 mostly night-flyers. By an ingenious arrangement the bee-hive is 

 connected with the perch for the hens. When the latter go to 

 roost, their weight on the perch actuates the mechanism and closes 

 the door of the hives. When the fowls leave the roost in the 

 morning, the hives are opened automatically. 



My, but that's a " chestnut " from away back years and years 

 ago ! Some of the older bee-keepers will remember about it, 

 although just now it doesn't seem easy to turn to it in print. It is 

 somewhat doubtful whether such a thing has really been patented, 

 and still more doubtful whether the patent would hold, but not at 

 all doubtful that it's utterly worthless in any case. The fact is, 

 that the moth has a mysterious way of getting into a hive un- 

 noticed, and it is not at all certain that it does its work all at 

 night. An interesting paragraph on page 363 of the American 

 Bee Journal for 1861, bears directly on the subject in hand, and is 

 worth reproducing here. It reads as follows : 



The Bee-Moth. — Mr. Kaden, of Mayence, placed a second 

 swarm in a new and clean hive, which had just been made for the 

 purpose of this experiment, and set it remote from every other 

 hive on his premises. Daily, at dusk, as soon as the bees ceased to 

 fly, he carried this hive into the dwelling-house, and deposited it 

 in a chamber where moths or millers could not have access to it. 

 On the eighth day, he drummed out the bees, took out the combs 

 (containing pollen and honey, but no eggs or brood), and placed 

 them under a bell-glass, so adjusted that no insect could enter. In 

 less than three weeks, the combs were perfectly alive with worms. 

 As the bee-moth does not fly during the day, and the hive was 

 regularly removed every evening to prevent its entrance at night, 

 and the combs were all newly built, whence did these worms 

 originate ? 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a beautiful waltz song, 

 by Mr. J. C. Wallenmeyer. a bee-keeper at Evansville, Ind. Price, 

 40 cents, postpaid. Send for it, and then learn to sing it. 



BassM'ood Sprouts. — Several have written to me saying 

 they have basswood sprouts for sale, and asking how many I want, 

 etc. /don't want any at all. Subscribers to the American Bee 

 Journal in various parts of the country have been asking me where 

 they can get the basswood sprouts, and so I suggested that those 

 having the sprouts for sale would better advertise the fact in the 

 advertising columns of the Bee Journal. As free advertising never 

 helps to pay my bills, please don't try to work in anything of the 

 kind in your articles or letters written for the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. Such free advertising references I always cross out with my 

 pencil before the copy goes to the printer. 



Another thing : Only those who advertise in the American 

 Bee Journal need expect to see their catalogues noticed after I 

 receive them. 



^n)orfq i)r)c Bee-Papers 



Conducted bj' " GLEANER." 



KEEPING CELLAR-BOTTOMS CLEAN. 



Instead of sweeping out, Doolittle says In Gleanings that 

 he sprinkles sawdust on the floor, putting on a fresh flour sack 

 full once in two weeks. That helps take up moisture, and 

 keeps the dead bees from being mashed. 



REPORTS ON CRIMSON CLOVER. 



A. I. Root reports crimson clover, sown the last of Sep- 

 tember, green as in spring in the middle of January, although 

 it had several freezes almost to zero. On the other hand, the 

 report comes in the National Stockman, from the Ohio Exper- 

 iment Station, that no successful stand had been obtained, 

 although several attempts had been made. 



KILLING MICE IN CELLARS. 



Here's a plan that 0. Davenport gives in Gleanings; 

 catering to their tastes by giving such a fine lay-out is a new 

 idea, and a capital one : 



" You will need three or four old saucers. Tin covers, or 

 any small dishes that are not of much account for any thing 

 else, will answer for this purpose. In one put some cheese 

 that is mashed up fine; in another put some fresh lean pork 

 that is chopped up fine; and if beef is handy, put some of 

 that in with the pork. In the other, put some honey ; and if 

 you have both dark and light, it would be well to give them a 

 dish of each kind. Try to suit the taste of all. Season the 

 contents of each dish with arsenic well mixed in ; and if these 

 dishes are set around In the bee-cellar, and the contents 

 renewed every two or three weeks, mice will not damage the 

 bees much. It does not cost very much to feed them this way, 

 as one meal is all each one cares for ; and if any of you do 

 not care to kill them, it is far cheaper to feed them In* this 

 way without the arsenic than to let them help themselves in 

 the hives all winter." 



"DOVETAILED" HIVES — FRAME SHOULDERS. 



Mr. Morrison is quite right in saying (see page 36) that 

 our dovetailed hives and sections are not dovetailed at all. I 

 believe joiners call them "fingered." But we've had "dove- 

 tailed" sections in use so many years that it would be hard to 

 change the name now. The one he illustrates is a true dove- 

 tall, although not the kind most commonly in use, and I've 

 seen boxes made with his kind, only instead of the dovetail 

 being a separate piece it was part of one of the two pieces to 

 be dovetailed together. But the boxes I saw were not so 

 strong and did not last so long as those made the common way 

 like our sections. 



The plan of having the frame shoulder run clear through 

 to the outside he will find In use In the Aspinwall hive, and I 

 rather think the idea Is patented. 



With regard to getting frames of greater depth than 

 usual, I've had no trouble in getting manufacturers to make 

 anything to order at any time when not too much rushed. Of 

 course they can't make a small number at so cheap a rate as 

 when in large quantities. 



WHERE THE HONEY IS PRODUCED. 



The Nebraska Bee-Keeper denies with some warmth the 

 assertion that If a line were drawn from St. Joseph, Mo., east 

 to the Atlantic, and another north from the same point, the 

 territory embraced would contain the majority of the bee- 

 keepers of the nation, and that outside that area it is impos- 

 sible to hold large conventions. It holds that the number of 

 bee-keepers who produce honey for market by the ton is very 

 much larger outside than inside the given area, also that 

 honey Is more commonly used, and that many large and 

 wealthy cities consume tons of honey produced in their own 

 neighborhood that never enter the wholesale market. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL FOR JAN. 24. 



I think " Student " (on page 49) gives by inference an 

 impression that he does not mean to give. He says: "Clear 

 honey in a white comb commands a higher price than the 

 darker varieties, but many apiarists think the latter really 

 preferable, claiming that honey left long in the hive acquires 

 a fine, rich flavor," etc. The inference might be drawn that 

 white honey left on long, changes to the " darker varieties," 

 whereas I think the comb only becomes darker. 



Is there no mistake In the statement that, "In general, 



