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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



sects, which deposited a sweet substance 

 in such abundance, that drops of it on 

 the pine needles, sparkled in the sun. I 

 feel certain that the honey was deposited 

 by the green bugs. My bees worked in 

 the pines almost the whole of last Win- 

 ter, but when the Spring came, we had 

 so much cold rain, that they did not 

 prosper. I did not get a single swarm, 

 or a pound of honey from my black bees. 

 I had bought an Italian queen, and her 

 colony gave me 25 pounds of surplus 

 comb-honey, but did not swarm. I have 

 6 colones, and if all had given me as 

 much as the Italians, I would have had 

 150 pounds of comb-honey. I am in 

 favor of Italians. 



John D. a. Fishes. 

 Faith, N. C, Jan. 21, 1891. 



Packages for Honey. 



Responding to an article on page 109 

 of the Bee Journal, in which a corres- 

 pondent asks about the best style of 

 package in which to ship extracted- 

 honey, I would say, that off-grades and 

 dark honey will sell in large barrels as 

 readily as in small packages, as this 

 grade sells to wholesalers for special 

 uses ; but fine grades of honey should 

 always be put in 60-pound cans, or new 

 kegs, holding 100 pounds of honey. In 

 a future article, I will discuss the style 

 of package for comb-honey. I believe 

 that each State Convention, as well as 

 the National, ought to decide the packa- 

 ges in which honey should be put. 



Chicago, Ills. S. T. Fish. 



Practical Information. 



For practical information in its line, 

 the American Bee Journal is the 

 cheapest periodical that comes to my 

 desk, and I read many. It is worth to 

 me ten times its subscription price. 



R. B. Schofield, M. D. 



Newark, Mo., Jan. 30, 1891, 



Likes the Trade-Mark Idea. 



Yesterday was a warm day. My bees 

 in the home-yard were flying, and, as far 

 as I could see, all are in good condition. 

 I should be very glad, if the Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Union would get up a "Trade-Mark," 

 as suggested in last week's Bee Journal. 

 This would help every bee-keeper to sell 

 extracted-honey. I find (in the vicinity 

 of New York city) that it is very hard to 

 sell candied honey. People think it is 

 not pure ; but the honey put up in whole- 

 sale houses in New York, and mixed with 



some stuff, will sell before candied honey; 

 not 1 in 5 knows what pure honey is, 

 around here ! I have always found it 

 very hard to make people believe that 

 candied honey is the only pure article, 

 but a nice-looking tumbler, with a small 

 piece of comb in the center, and white 

 liquid around it, will sell — while the 

 candied honey will not. This is enough 

 to vex any bee-keeper, but what can we 

 do about it ? John H. Blanken. 



Jersey City, N. J., Jan. 24, 1891. 



Trade-Mark Problem. 



I think the idea of a Trade-Mark for 

 bee-keepers is a good one, especially for 

 producers of extracted-honey. As the 

 emblem, for the Trade-Mark, how would 

 it do, to have our two most noted pioneers 

 in bee-keeping — Langstroth and Quinby, 

 clasping hands, with the American 

 Eagle, with wings spread over them, and 

 holding a spray of our National flower, 

 in full bloom, in its beak. Or, if that is 

 too elaborate, cut it in two, leaving out 

 one-half. S. H. Mallory. 



Decatur, Mich., Jan. 24, 1891. 



Losses Already Commenced. 



My bees did very poorly last Summer. 

 I had 42 colonies. Spring count, but they 

 dwindled down to 36 in the Spring, and 

 then increased by natural swarming to 

 50, and they stored 200 pounds of comb- 

 honey and 300 pounds of extracted- 

 honey. I started to Winter 40 colonies 

 on the Summer stands, but have lost 7 

 colonies so far. They were full of bees, 

 and had lots of honey. Why it was so, I 

 cannot tell. E. M. Shower. 



Pine Bluff, Wis., Jan. 27, 1991. 



Bees Rearing Brood. 



We are having a beautiful W^inter. 

 We have had three good snow storms, 

 and still it has not been very cold. It is 

 very clear to-day^ and the bees are out, 

 as they have been for several days. They 

 also have brood in all stages. 



Ed. E. Smith. 



Carpenter, Ills., Jan. 23, 1891. 



An exchange says that the largest 

 amount of wild honey ever taken from 

 one tree, was reported from Oregon re- 

 cently. A farmer took 700 pounds 

 from one cotton-wood tree, in which a 

 huge colony of bees had stored up the 

 annual accumulations for many years. 



