634 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Alley's Self-Hiver.— It is said 

 that " The proof of the padding is in 

 chewing the string." The practical test 

 of any utensil is the best proof of its 

 utility. Mrs. Sallie E. Sherman, Salado, 

 Texas, sends the first report for 1891, 

 concerning tho use of this self-hiver, 

 and this is what she says : 



On Saturday, March 28, 1891, I 

 placed one of Mr. Alley's self-hivers at 

 the entrance of a hive from which I 

 knew the bees would swarm in a few 

 days ; near this hive was one prepared 

 to receive the swarm when it issued. 

 On Sunday afternoon about 4 o'clock, 

 when walking through the apiary, I saw 

 the bees at work in the new hive. They 

 had swarmed and hived themselves, and 

 were working nicely, without any assist- 

 ance whatever on my part, except to 

 make the necessary preparation for 

 them. This self-hiver will certainly be 

 a wonderful help to bee-keepers. Mr. 

 Alley, the inventor, should receive not 

 only the heartfelt thanks of all who are 

 interested in bee-keeping, but something 

 more substantial in the way of our lib- 

 eral patronage. 



By the use of the drone-trap and 

 queen-cage combined, which was in- 

 vented by the same gentleman, I secured 

 48 swarms out of 49, in 1888, without 

 so much as having to cut a single twig in 

 hiving them. 



Mrs. Sallie E. Sherman. 



Marine^ a village of Madison Co., 

 Ills., is agitated about bees. A man 

 moved into that locality two years ago, 

 and is now circulating a petition asking 

 to have the bees removed. We have 

 been informed that it is simply "spite- 

 work." There are several bee-keepers 

 in that locality, the principal one being 

 Mr. M. Hettel, who has kept bees there 

 for 26 years. The authorities have been 

 dosed with the decision of " the Supreme 

 Court of Arkansas." We hope that will 

 cure the foolishness. 



UVe are Sorry to learn by last 

 week's Canadian Bee Journal that Mr. 

 Macpherson, assistant editor of that 

 periodical, is no better. The accident 

 seems to have beert much more serious 

 than was at first supposed. 



I^arger l^orlter Bees are 



advocated by C. W. Smith, in the Api- 

 culturist. He says : 



I do believe that by care and skill in 

 selecting our queens, and close attention 

 to the conditions necessary for the re- 

 production of young, such as plentiful 

 feeding, and new brood-combs made by 

 the hees, and renewed each year (of tener 

 if I could), we shall approach the time 

 when all the drones will be in prime 

 physical condition to mate our young 

 queens, and that by following this 

 method we may look for a larger worker- 

 bee in the near future. The fact that 

 the present Italian bee travels farther 

 and faster, and gathers more honey than 

 the common small black bee, and that 

 their size is what enables them to do so, 

 demonstrates that this is the road .to 

 follow. 



Double the size of the worker-bee — if 

 we can increase its size by only a trifle, 

 and that trifle on thee?ic?of its proboscis; 

 then the red clover is at our command, 

 and that means more than double our 

 honey crop. 



Here is a hint for the queer-breeders, 

 who will doubtless give it attention. 

 They have been breeding larger queens, 

 finer and more beautiful drones, and 

 now should try their hands at the pro- 

 duction of larger worker-heen. If they 

 can give us the bees having tongues long 

 enough to gather the wealth of nectar 

 in the red clover, there will hardly be 

 any limit to the honey that can be pro- 

 duced. Let us hear from queen-breeders 

 on this subject. 



Cooking: BgfgS.— Dr. C. C. Miller 

 describes the way they boil eggs at his 

 house thus : 



Pour boiling water on the eggs, at the 

 rate of a quart to a half dozen ; cover, 

 and set on the reservoir. In 10 or 15 

 minutes the yelk will be done "soft," 

 and longer will make it harder ; but the 

 white will not get hard in all day. 



Comto-Honey is more of a luxury 

 than a staple article, and we do not be- 

 lieve that the reduction of the price of 

 sugar will affect its price to any partiC" 

 ular extent, 



