AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



613 



Spring, to say nothing of several. If he 

 does not have the money to purchase 

 queens, his next best plan is to unite the 

 queenless colony with one having a good 

 queen, and in this way he will be well 

 paid for his trouble. If he has 3 colo- 

 nies, and 2 are queenless, unite the 

 queenless colonies with the one having a 

 queen, giving them all of the bees and 

 honey. W. L. Makshat.t.. 



Crab Orchard, Nebr. 



Life is Work, Said the Busy Bee. 



" Life is a song," so piped the thrush. 

 Perched on a sweet, white- blossomed bush. 

 " 'Tis an awakening," said the rose, 

 Wliose blushing petals 'gan to unclose. 



" 'Tis pleasure," breathed the butterfly, 

 Kissing the rose and fluttering by. 

 " 'Tis work," buzzed the busy bee. 

 Sipping the rose-sweets greedily. 



" 'Tis freedoni !" shrieked the eagle proud. 

 Piercing the fleecy Summer cloud. 

 From leafy copse, the gentle dove 

 Cooed, softly murmuring, "Life is love." 



" 'Tis labor ! that, and nothing more," 

 The wave moaned, breaking on the shore. 

 " A dream," the mist sighed, " set with tears. 

 The soft rain wept, " 'Tis tears, all tears !" 

 —Fred Lyster. 



Booming" on the Poplar. 



I have three apiaries, aggregating 

 nearly 300 colonies, and my bees all 

 came through the Winter in good con- 

 dition. They are now booming on the 

 poplar, and the prospects were never 

 better. Our crop was not very good last 

 year, on account of an unusual amount 

 of rain. About 30 pounds of honey per 

 colony Is the least that I ever knew in 

 this country. T. M. Edwards. 



Versailles, Tenn., April 27, 1891. 



dueer Actions of a Queen. 



I now have 33 cplonies of bees, having 

 lost none during the Winter, but 2 colo- 

 nies died of starvation in early Spring. 

 Twenty-four colonies were wintered in a 

 house apiary, and 11 in single-walled 

 hives, on the summer stands. The two 

 that died of starvation were among those 

 wintered on the summer stands. I had 

 a queer experience the other day. I have 

 about a dozen simplicity feeders, on a 

 stand, in which I give the bees water, 

 and in filling these I found a queen in 

 one of them. I picked her up and put 

 her on a board near by. She seemed to 

 be very lively, and in a few minutes had 

 a circle of bees around her. Every few 

 minutes she would deposit an egg on the 

 board. She remained on the board about 



3 days, and deposited from 15 to 20 

 eggs. The third day I tossed her in the 

 air, she circled around a few times, and 

 was lost to sight. O. C. Brown. 



Council Bluffs, Iowa, April 29, 1891. 



Perfectly Safe. 



Inclosed find a cell which I think is 

 infected with foul-brood, but am not 

 certain. It was taken from an old hive 

 that I got last year, the colony having 

 died this Winter. The combs were 

 crooked, and I could not examine them. 

 Will it be dangerous to feed the honey 

 from this hive to another colony ? The 

 hive smells badly, but the dead colony 

 had the diarrhea, and that, I think, is 

 the cause. The sinkage in the cap of 

 the cell is caused by squeezing, but 

 when I cut it out the cap was just about 

 level with the sides, with a small hole in 

 the center, as you will see. I only found 

 four cells like the one inclosed in the 

 hive. Will it do to put combs that are a 

 little moldy into a hive for a swarm ? 

 Willie C. Adams. 



Eleva, Wis., April 16, 1891. 



[There is no foul-brood in the cell sent. 

 There was a fully developed bee. So far 

 as this cell shows, it would be perfectly 

 safe to use both the combs and honey. 

 It is all right to use combs that are a 

 little moldy. Put one at a time into a 

 hive with a strong colony. The bees will 

 clean all up in good shape. — A. J. Cook.] 



Be^ Working Diligently. 



I wintered 4 colonies of bees on the 

 summer stands, and they are now in 

 splendid condition, and strong colonies — 

 working with a will. They are black 

 bees, and if they do not prove satis- 

 factory this season, I shall try Italians. 

 I have dovetailed hives, to which I wish 

 to transfer them, from the box-hives, but 

 do not dare to try it until the bee-veil 

 arrives. If yoii hear of any bees that 

 wear rubber coats, so they can work in 

 the rain, I should like to purchase some 

 of them, as it rains here almost every 

 day, and my bees refuse to work in the 

 rain. J. E. Prichard. 



Port Norris, N. J., April 24, 1891. 



"We Club the American Bee Journal 

 and the Illustrated Home Journal, one 

 year for $1.35. Both of these and 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture, for one year, 

 for $2. 15. 



