AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



357 



would be nothing uncommon, as many 

 colonies get caught in that position, and 

 starve during a cold spell, when they 

 cannot get to the honey. A few years 

 ago I thought to prevent this by using 

 larger frames, and less of them, so that 

 the bees would not have to change from 

 one frame to another during the Winter. 

 I now have over 80 hives with frames 3 

 feet long and 93^ inches deep, outside 

 measure. The frames being made thick, 

 to prevent sagging, are only 7% inches 

 deep inside. I have from 6 to 8 frames 

 in a hive, and they run from front to 

 rear. The intention was to have the 

 bees clustered in the front of the hive in 

 the Fall, and move back' slowly as they 

 eat the honey, not being obliged to 

 change from one frame to another. The 

 hives are not satisfactory for wintering, 

 as the bees sometimes eat their way to 

 the top-bars of the frames, .and then 

 starve with plenty of honey on the same 

 frames, and within 8 or 10 inches of the 

 cluster. I am now thinking of building 

 hives with frames 18 or 20 inches deep, 

 so I can have honey enough above the 

 bees to winter them without their get- 

 ting to the top-bars before warm weather 

 in the Spring. Harvey Backus. 



Slocum's Grove, Mich. 



Not a Bureau of Information. 



I receive from 3 to 5 letters every 

 week containing inquiries regarding this 

 State, and while I am willing to give all 

 the information possible concerning this 

 portion of the State, I am not an ani- 

 mated gazetteer of the whole of it, and 

 parties desiring information concerning 

 any other portion of the State must seek 

 it elsewhere. When I wrote to the Bee 

 Journal,, volunteering to give informa- 

 tion to the subscribers, I did not expect 

 to be called upon for facts and figures in 

 regard to the whole State, and should 

 the number of inquiries continue to 

 grow, I shall be compelled to employ a 

 Secretary to answer them. 



Vashon, Wash. John Boerstler. 



Is it from the Asters? 



For the last two seasons there has 

 been a strong, sour and peculiar scent 

 around my bee-hives, of an evening, 

 after a hard day's labor in the field, that 

 I cannot account for unless it is from 

 the aster. Some of my bee-keeping 

 neighbors claim it is soured honey, but I 

 claim it is from the aster, and I would 

 like to hear the opinion of other bee- 

 keepers. Jas. W. Adams. 



Athens, Ky. 



How to Make a Cheap Level. 



Take a large bottle and fill it with 

 water to within about one-fourth of an 

 inch of the cork, then put in the cork. 

 If this is laid on a flat surface, the little 

 air space, or bubble, will be just in the 

 center of the surface if level. This will 

 be found convenient for setting bee- 

 hives. A string can be tied around the 

 neck, and the bottle hung up on a tree 

 in the apiary, where it will always be in 

 sight, thus saving time hunting for it. I 

 forgot to say in, "A Watering Place for 

 Bees," on page 11, to put a handful of 

 salt into the keg about once a week. 

 Bees are doing well ; no loss, as yet, and 

 do not think I shall have to feed them. 

 If " Rambler " should ever, in his ram- 

 bles, come near here, I wish he would 

 call upon me. Ed. E. Smith. 



Carpenter, Ills., Feb. 21, 1891. 



Right Conditions, but No Honey. 



We had no honey in this vicinity last 

 year, although the conditions seemed to 

 be all right — plen.y of flowers, atmos- 

 phere well charged with electricity, and 

 winds in the South and West. I placed 

 one of my best colonies on the scales 

 when the white clover was at its best, 

 but the weight decreased every day, and 

 in the end I was compelled to feed the 

 bees. One thing I learned to my satis- 

 faction, and that is, that all the colonies 

 in white hives had to be doubled up with- 

 out a single exception, while those in the 

 brown hives nearly all came through the 

 season in fair condition. The Spring was 

 cold and backward, and the hives single- 

 walled, and I consider this a very good 



test. J. H. OSTERHART. 



La Crosse, Wis. 



Italianizing an Apiary. 



On page 293 J. M. Mitchell says, in 

 answer to A. J. Duncan, that should he 

 introduce 40 queens in the Spring, he 

 would have 40 colonies stocked with 

 black drones ; but if he introduced them 

 in the Fall, this trouble would be avoided. 

 That depends on who has them to re- 

 queen ; if they were mine, and I had the 

 means, I should re-queen in the Spring, 

 in this manner: Write to some breeder 

 and procure 25 or 30 queens for May or 

 the first of June. These queens I would 

 put into my best colonies, and double up 

 the weak ones, thus saving queens, and 

 making strong colonies. Keep the 

 drones cut out — which is not much 

 trouble — until the queens arrive. It will 

 cost less in this way, than to wait until 



