AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



311 



with the Italian type and the Albino, 

 and I vouch for the Albinos being equal 

 in all respects to the common Italians. 

 I have proved that the true Ligurian; or 

 Italian Alps bees, are quite superior in 

 point of ijeing "hardy," and endure 

 Winter better than any other variety of 

 yellow marked bees. I tested the Alps 

 bees during four yeurs, and this season 

 I concluded to import the Ligurian vari- 

 ety. My first attempt failed, but I 

 ordered more queens. They do stand 

 the stern Winters more successfully than 

 bees bred in less rigorous climates, and 

 they are less pugnacious than bees bred 

 in warm and temperate climates. 

 Richford, N. Y. C. J. Robinson. 



Taylor's Swarm-Catcher. 



Will Mr. B. Taylor please give us a 

 little more definite description of how 

 the small end of his swarm-catcher is 

 made ? The illustrations in the Ameei- 

 CAN Bee Journal, and in the Review, 

 together with his description, make it all 

 plain excepting the end that fits up to 

 the hive. He says that the small end is 

 made of a strip of carpet 3 inches wide 

 by 16 inches long, but he evidently does 

 not mean that. The small end, he says, 

 is 4x16 inches, and after the swarm is 

 in, it is closed by a thin strip of board 

 33^x16 inches — why is the board 3^ inch 

 narrower than the end of the catcher ? 

 His description makes the catcher the 

 same width as the end of the hive, 

 but the illustration ' shows it to be 

 wider than the end of the hive, and 

 neither one makes it plain to me how it 

 fits into the right angle formed by the 

 end of the hive and the alighting-board, 

 so as to be bee-tight. I feel sure that 

 his catcher is a good thing, and I pre- 

 sume that a few words of explanation by 

 Mr. Taylor would make the small end 

 as plain as the large one. 



Plainwell, Mich. .W. E. Forbes. 



Light Crop. 



White clover was quite plentiful this 

 year, but yielded very little nectar. 

 Basswood was a total failure, and the 

 flow from buckwheat was only fair. The 

 average crop will be about 10 pounds of 

 comb-honey per colony. My bees cast 

 their first swarm to-day, Aug. 25. The 

 hives are not large enough to hold the 

 crowded masses of bees, and it looks 

 as though I would have to build an 

 addition to hold them. 



Aristotle, N. Y. H. C. Farnijm. 



Requisites of a Good Smoker. 



I do not like to find fault with others, 

 but how the older apiarists have put up 

 with the Bingham smoker for eleven 

 years in its present shape, is more than 

 I can understand. Why, I had not looked 

 at mine more than 15 minutes before I 

 voted it old fogy. Why don't he make a 

 hole, with a slide, just above the grate 

 when in place, so that It can be filled 

 with whatever Is desired to burn, placing 

 a few fine shavings in the bottom, and 

 when wanted for use open the slide and 

 stick a lighted match in and it is off in 

 an instant. This building a fire outside, 

 and then putting it in the stove is too 

 much like the man snuffing the candle 

 with his fingers, and then putting the 

 snuff in the snuffers, and extolling their 

 merits. J. E. Prichard. 



Port Norris, N. J. 



[We requested Mr. Bingham to reply 

 to the above and this is what he writes : 



Such a slide would weaken the smoker, 

 get out of order, leak smoke and add to 

 the expense. Had he thought and looked 

 ten minutes longer, he could have 

 answered his own query in several ways. 

 Probably no Instrument used In an apiary 

 has received more attention, with a view 

 to its betterment, than the Bingham 

 smoker; but, like the Langstroth frames, 

 It has practically met the wants of bee- 

 keepers In every country and condition. 

 — T. F. Bingham.] 



Sunday School Teacher — "And 

 now, children, who have we to thank for 

 the beautiful sunshine, and, more than 

 all, the health-giving rains with which 

 we are blessed ?" Texas Class (in 

 unison) — " Uncle Jerry Rusk !" — Denver 

 Sun. 



Remoiral* — Circumstances have 

 made It to our advantage to remove to 

 more commodious quarters, and we may 

 hereafter be found at 199, 201 and 203 

 East Randolph Street — two blocks north 

 and one block east of our former loca-. 

 tion. Previous to removal we occupied 

 the fifth floor of a building, but we now 

 occupy the third floor of a building near 

 the corner of Fifth Avenue and Ran- 

 dolph Street. Our friends are always 

 welcome. 



