AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,. 



629 



I)orts by saying that I have received 

 t wo, and lost both by following, to a dot, 

 the directions sent with them. But I 

 • an safely introduce such virgins by the 

 use of the nursery, and all sealed hatch- 

 ing brood. G. W. Demaree. 

 Christiansburg, Ky. 



Uniting Weak Colonies — Feeding-. 



1. What are the proper quantities of 

 sugar and water for feeding bees ? 2. 

 What is- the best method of mixing 2 

 weak colonies of bees, to make one out 

 of them. E. H. Murphy. 



Mananah, Minn. 



[1. For feeding the bees in the Fall 

 for Winter stores, take 3 pounds of 

 Coffee A sugar and 1 pint of boiling 

 water. Simmer 5 minutes. 



2, Sprinkle the frames and bees with 

 sweetened peppermint water, or smoke 

 them well, so as to confuse the ^ scent." 

 Then remove one of the queens, and 

 alternate the frames. Examine them 

 after about 20 or 30 minutes to see if 

 they are peaceable. If not, repeat the 

 dose of smoke or peppermint water until 

 they are quiet. — Ep.] 



A Busy Doctor. 



I have done very little writing during 

 the past three months, and have neg- 

 lected almost everything in order to care 

 for the sick. We have had a very fatal 

 form of typhoid fever here this Fall, and 

 again I have been called upon to treat 

 this class of cases. So far I have not 

 lost a case, and have at this time only 

 one case on hand, which is steadily im- 

 proving. The good old Americaj^ Bee 

 Journal comes as regular as ever, and 

 is appreciated. Eleven years have I 

 read its pages, and it grows instructive 

 and entertaining with the lapse of time. 

 May you stand at its head yet many 

 years to guide its course. 



G. L. Tinker. 



New Philadelphia, Ohio. 



Cappings of tlie Honey. 



Mr. Wander, on page 533, 



has 



"wandered" considerably. _ I did not 

 claim that Italian bees built finer comb 

 than the black bees. I claim that the 

 honey they gather Is clear at times when 

 the honey gathered by the black bees is 



dark, but at times the honey gathered 

 by the black bees is clear, and they cap 

 it white and nice. The reason that the 

 capping of honey by the Italians is the 

 color of the honey is, that they fill their 

 cells chock full, while the blacks do not 

 fill their cells more than about % full, 

 and then place a nice white capping on 

 them. J. H. Berry. 



Gale's Creek, Oreg. 



Amusing Boom. 



We are much amused at the booming 

 of the so-called " Punic bees," in Amer- 

 ica. I am pretty well acquainted with 

 the bees of Northern Africa, but do not 

 know of such a race as "Punic;" nor 

 is there such a species as Apis niger 

 known to entomologists. 



T. W. Cowan. 



London, England, Oct. 1, 1891. 



Gratifying Report. 



I had one colony of bees in the Spring. 

 From it I obtained 14 swarms, and 127 

 pounds of honey in the comb. Can any 

 one beat this record ? H. Denison. 



Stoddard, Wis., Nov. 3, 1891. 



Bees at the Massachusetts Fair. 



Our fair has closed, and the copies of 

 the American Bee Journal were dis- 

 tributed. I thinks fairs generally are 

 not conducted by the proper persons, 

 nor in a suitable manner. I took pains 

 to noise it around the shire towns, and 

 the bee-keepers flocked in. I had no 

 idea that there were so many. I rather 

 think that the Journal I gave them 

 was the first of the kind they had seen. 

 I had honey in boxes and jars, a full 

 hive, combs with queen-cells in various 

 stages, foundation in its changes to full 

 comb, pure beeswax inconvenient junks, 

 bee-escapes of three kinds, queen-cell 

 protectors, and if I had room I should 

 have had my honey extractor, also my 

 wax. Sidney A. Fisher. 



Boston, Mass., Nov. 2, 1891. 



l^lieii 'Writing a letter be sure 

 to sign it. Too often we get letters 

 with the name of the post-office, but no 

 County or State. One such came 

 recently, and we looked into the Postal 

 Guide and found there were places by 

 that name in 13 States. Be sure to 

 stamp your letter, or it may go to the 

 dead letter office, in Washington, D. C. 



