THE aMERicjLN mmm j^T^mmmi^. 



325 



Xliat Arkadelpliia I'asf, etc — 



Messrs. Harmon & Skiuner, Zeuos,Arizoiia, 

 on April 25, 18SS, write : 



It was with feelings of joy tliat we read 

 of that Mayor and aldermeu being kicljert 

 out of office in Arkadelphia. It sliould not 

 stop at that, but they should pay Mr. Z. A. 

 Clark the damage and expense to which 

 thev have put him. We are ready to help 

 the Bee-Keepers' Union if they need any 

 means. There liave been some threats 

 made Iiere lately, of passing a city ordinance 

 to oust the bees from the city limits. We 

 hope there will be no one so unwise and 

 foolish, as to start any such thing here ; but 

 it seems as if tliere is a craze on the subject 

 of bees. We hope that Mr. Clark will re- 

 ceive full satisfaction. 



Our bees are doing well this season. We 

 extracted honey two weeks ago, and took a 

 little over 26 pounds per colony, from 70 

 colonies. We use the Heddon 8-frame 

 Langstroth hive, and like that size of hive. 

 We have 2 colonies of hybrid bees, from 

 each of which we took 30 gallons of ex- 

 tracted honey in one season. The honey 

 was extracted seven times in the season. 



Tlie Bee-Keepers' Union will have use 

 for all the means within reach next July, 

 for it has decided to leave no stone un- 

 turned to win the suit against Mr. Clark in 

 Arkadelphia. The very best legal talent 

 has been employed, and every inch of 

 ground will be hotly contested. The oust- 

 ing of the Mayor and councilmen, and the 

 election of men of reason only guarantees 

 for the future. The suit, having been ap- 

 pealed to the upper court, will have to be 

 fought just the same. 



A Snsar-Producingp 'JPree.— O. O. 



Poppleton, of Apartado 278, Havana, Cuba, 

 writes as follows : 



On page lfi4 is a clipping from the Orocers' 

 Criterion, about a " Sugar-producing tree in 

 India." Judging from the part of the de- 

 scription about the yield of suuar in the 

 West Indies, tlie entire thing can be safely 

 judged as being on a par with Wiley's 

 '•scientific pleasantry "—in plain English, 

 as a regular, old-fashioned lie. 



I have taken some trouble to ascertain 

 what the average yield of sugar is here in 

 Cuba, and I am told by those in a posi- 

 tion to be well posted, that new land will 

 yield from 6,000 to 6,300 pounds per acre ; 

 and old land from :i,600 to 4,000 pounds, in- 

 stead of only 400 pounds per 1)5 acres, as 

 the Criterion has it. 



Importers in Havana pay planters from 2 

 to 3 cents per pound for sugar delivered in 

 the city : so the reported yield of but little 

 over .500 pounds per acre, would not begin 

 to pay for seed and rent of land, saying 

 nothing about the immense expense for 

 labor and machinery. I wish there was 

 some way that Cuban sugar could be placed 

 on the American retail market, without its 

 passing through any process in getting 

 there. It would largely replace other grades 

 of sugar, on account of its great richness 

 and absolute purity. 



The selection was sent to us by Mr. Lewis 

 Proxmire, of Mount Union, Pa., and he cut 

 it out of the Orocers' Criterion. In reply 

 to his question, we repled that we knew 

 nothing more of the tree described than was 

 contained in the article, and our tlianks are 

 tendered to Mr. O. 0. Poppleton, who is 

 DOW in Cuba, for stating his opinion of the 

 article. It seems it is another of those dis- 

 gusting lies which are perpetrated as 

 "scientific pleasantries !" 



Clisipniiin lluitcy-PIiiitl !>i«c<1, 



«'«c.— Leniy Ilighharger, Leaf River, Ills., 

 on April 37, 1888, writes : 



In reply to Mr. A. Fiddes' request on page 

 37.5, I would say that 1 have received a 

 package of the Chapman honey-plant seed, 

 through oiu- Congressman. When I wrote 

 him to get it for me, he replied by return 

 mail, that he would attend to it, and so it 

 came right along. Whenever I want seeds 

 from the Agricultural Department at Wash- 

 ington, by writing to him I ^et tliem. I 

 shall not plant the seed, as it is not a hardy 

 plant, and will not stand the winters in 

 northern lUiuois. I raised about 400 plants 

 last year, and today 1 have between 40 and 

 .50 left. What I did save were mider a snow- 

 drift until April 1. Every plant that was 

 not protected is dead. If any others raised 

 plants from it last season, I should like to 

 hear from them, and how they have wintered. 



Wintering bees last winter in this (Ogle) 

 county was a failure. I have taken con- 

 siderable pains in investigating, and I find 

 a loss of at least .50 per cent., from that 

 great scourge — diarrhea. The colonies 

 to which I had led sugar syrup fared fully 

 as badly as those that had natural stores. 



John B. Lindle. of Muscatine, Iowa, on 

 April 28, 1888, answers the same question 

 thus : 



I have received some of the Chapman 

 honey-plant seed, and it was planted a 

 month .^go ; it is up, and has been culti- 

 vated iince. Therp would be less complaints 

 if orders were sent early, and not expecting 

 it sent by return mail. I do not know what 

 force of clerks are kept in the Comniis- 

 sioner"s office, but it would require thou- 

 sands to till all orders on such short notice. 



Among others who also report the receipt 

 of this seed are C. W. M. Burroughs, Hills- 

 borough, N. J., who got twice as much as he 

 needed, and liberally divided with a neigh- 

 boring apiarist. F. Wilcox, Mauston.Wis. ; 

 L. B. Gilmore, Blooming Valley, Pa. ; G. 

 H. Knickerbocker, Pine Plains, N.T., etc. 



Mr. Fiddes complained of not receiving 

 his seed, and intimated that none may have 

 been sent out. It is pleasing to know that 

 " our public servants " at Washington have 

 done their duty in this matter, and as Mr. 

 Fiddes did not receive his, it is pretty evi- 

 dent that his letter was lost, or the seed 

 miscarried. We are very glad that the ques- 

 tion was asked, and answered so satisfac- 

 torily and numerously. 



Removing: Beei^ from the Cellar. 



— B. T. Davenport, Auroraville, Wis., on 

 April 28, 1888, writes : 



I took the first of my bees from the cellar 

 on April 34, about two weeks later than 

 they have remained in the cellar for 1.3 

 years. It was too cold prior to that time to 

 take them out. The weather turned very 

 warm on April 35, and I noticed the first 

 pollen. The following day was fairly hot, 

 the mercury reaching 82° in the shade, 

 which brought willows out very rapidly ; 

 and on the two following day.s, bees gath- 

 ered honey as fast from that source as I 

 ever saw them gather it from clover. But 

 to-day their work is stopped by a cold, 

 northeastern rain-storm. 



My 112 colonies were put into the cellar 

 the last of November, 1887, making their 

 confinement five months. They have win- 

 tered quite poorly, and I think I shall lose 

 one-third or more, depending upon the 

 weather from now on. 



I have learned one of the best and most 

 practical lesions si net' I have been engaged 



In beekeeping. It reminds me of a pas- 

 sage of scripture, "Ever learning, and never 

 able to come to a knowledge of the truth." 

 I carried out a great many colonies during 

 the middle of the day, on two days, while 

 the mercury was 82° in the shade, and they 

 mixed up very badly, all pouring upon two 

 other hives until they were covered, and 

 strong colonies were almost entirely de- 

 populated ; while those that I carried out 

 after dark, and on the first two days while 

 it was cool, came out slowly, marked their 

 location, and returned to their respective 

 hives. This was my first experience in 

 putting out befs during such hot weather ; 

 and of late years I have neglected to num- 

 ber the hives, so that they are not placed 

 on the old stand, and I never had any 

 trouble of this kind before. 



Numbering the hives is a very important 

 item when cellar-wintering is practiced, so 

 that they may be placed on the same stands 

 occupied during the previous season. The 

 old bees cannot be spared thus early with- 

 out materially interfering with the season's 

 operations ; and there is danger of their 

 being lost by entering the wrong hives. 



eiiiiiiiTiiiiintixiiiiiiiiiimg 



W^ax Secretion— Moldy Combs. — 



J. B., of Ohio, asks the following questions: 



1. Is the secretion of wax voluntary, or an 

 involuntary act with bees ? 



2. I have a great many frames of empty 

 combs, and some of it is pretty moldy. 

 What would be the best way to use them ? 

 Would it be best to hive swarms on them, 

 make nuclei and use them, or render them 

 into beeswax, and have foundation made 

 from it ? 



1. We do not know whether it is always 

 voluntary or not ; but we think that it is, as 

 a rule. 



2. If the combs are otherwise good, put 

 them into or over strong colonies, which 

 will soon clean them. Do not hive swarms 

 on them, nor give them to nuclei. 



Sprinkling Strarms in Xrees. — 



Mrs. Jas. S. Stapler, of Tahlequah, In- 

 dian Territory, asks : 



Is there any arrangement by which a lady 

 could sprinkle bees that have settled in the 

 top of a tree, in case where one has to wait 

 for a man to hive them ? Or, are there any 

 other means of retaining the bees ? 



Yes, the Whitman fountain pump is the 

 best thing that we have used. With it you 

 can hold a swarm in cluster for an indefinite 

 length of time, by sprinkling them often— 

 every 10 or 15 minutes if the air is hot and 

 dry. Be careful not to administer so much 

 water at any one time as to break down the 

 cluster. Experience will teach you. 



WeTT Cataloffiies for 1888 are on our 



desk, from the following persons: 



Geo. H. Knickerbocker, Pine Plains, N. 

 Y.— 20 pages— Queens and Bees. 



M. E. JIason. Andover, C— 8 pages— Bee- 

 Keepers' Supplies. 



