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Iliinioroii!!!.— Mr. Eugene Spcob writes 

 from Lime Valley Apiary, Forest City, 

 Iowa, ou July 9, 1888, in this humorous 

 strain : 



Tiios. G. Newman— My Dear Sir and 

 Friend:— I enclose a dralt tor Sl.uO, and 

 my vote for officers of the NatioTial Bee- 

 Keepers' Union for the next year. As a 

 general ihina I am opposed to tlie principle 

 of holdiii« remunerative oftice for more 

 than three terms, but in your cases I have 

 such high regard aud warm personal feeling 

 for yon, that I am willing for you all to en- 

 joy the tat salaries another term. Alter you 

 all get rich from the official emoluments, I 

 expect you to form a Trust, and buy all the 

 honey otfered at less than 30 cents per 

 pound. 



So far as the Manager is concerned, lie 

 would be d«li(7?it<:d to pass over the duties 

 and "fat salaries" (often consisting of vig- 

 orous kicks aud abuse) to some person who 

 has more time to gratuitously devote to the 

 management of the Union's affairs. He has 

 given months of time to the Union, besides 

 paying yearly dues like any other member. 

 Why not put Brother Secor in that place for 

 one year at least ? He is a lawyer, a gen- 

 tleman, a scholar, and a poet ; and is emi- 

 nently fitted to fill the place honorably— 

 and when he gets rich on the emoluments 

 of the office, he can form the "Trust" him- 

 self, and buy all the honey in the world— 

 we shall certainly vote for Brotlier Secor. 



We know the other officers would like a 

 change—a chance to divide the honors and 

 "fat salaries" with some others. Let us 

 have a change all around. A change some- 

 times works wonders, and may give us 3,000 

 members during the coming year. Try it. 



Rii»iliing: Houey to Market.— The 

 National Stockman remarks as follows 

 concerning the above subject : 



Many make a mistake by rushing their 

 honey up'>n the market as soon as it is ob- 

 tained. Honey is not a perishable article, 

 and during the latter part of summer, while 

 fruits are plenty, is the dullest part of the 

 season for the sale of honey. Better be 

 putting in your time arranging and putting 

 your honey in the best possible shape ; just 

 as though it was your intention to keep it 

 for one year at least. There will be noth- 

 ing lost if you improve your time in this 

 manner. 



Wood Sj»g:«-.— Dana Twining, Green 

 Garden, His., ou .July 10, 1888, writes as 

 follows : 



I enclose a stalk of a plant that I would 

 be pleased to have you name. 1 see but 

 little of it ill this vicinity, but tlie bees are 

 making good use of that little. Bees are 

 gathering but a little surplus, and that 

 mostly from red clover. 



[It is wood sage, Tevxsrium Canadense, 

 sometimes called American germander, and 

 has purple flowrets. It is of the mint 

 family, grows along small streams, aud is a 

 favorite with the bees.— Ed.1 



.%. 'Voting Man residing near Ettrick, 

 Wis., while hunting early this month, saw a 

 swarm of passing bees, and fired his gun at 

 them. At once they settled on him, sting- 

 ing him so badly that he died within an 

 hour. Hunters should not attempt to in- 

 terfere with a passing swarm of bees. If 

 numbers count, especially when all are 

 armed, it is an unequal contest, especially 

 when the hunter was not posted as to the 

 means of defending himself by creating a 

 smoke. As hunters have no mercy on 

 harmless and innocent birds and animals, 

 they cannot complain when their merciless 

 attacks meet with a vigorous response. 



Sweet Clover.— T. F. Hawley, of 

 Eureka Springs, Ark., on June 37, 1888, 

 asks the following questions about this ex- 

 cellent honey plant : 



1. Is the bloom yellnw or white ? Is it a 

 fine bee-plant ? 3. Will it thrive on a steep 

 gravelly hillside that has an eastern slope ! 

 3. 1 enclose a sprig of a plant growing here 

 that 1 suppose to he sweet clover. The 

 bloom is small, and bright yellow. It comes 

 up vear after yfar on the same plot of 

 ground. Please give me as good an idea as 

 possible of melilot, that I may know it 

 when I see it, and also if bee-keepers value 

 it much. 



1. There are two kinds of sweet clover. 

 Melilotus alba has a white flower, while 

 Melilotus officinalis has little pendant yel- 

 low flowers ; in both, the flowers are dis- 

 posed in delicate elongated racemes, exhale 

 an agreeable odor, and both are very rich in 

 nectar. 



2. It will generally grow anywhere except 

 on a flat rock. 



3. The sprig sent with this query is from 

 the yellow variety. The plants are assidu- 

 lously frequented by the bees, come up year 

 after year on the same ground if sown twice 

 on the same place (it being a biennial), and 

 will last until long after frost and snow 

 comes in the fall. 



and healthy, upon closer inspection will re- 

 veal the disease which has not yet attained 

 the condition of sickening stench which is 

 found in brood thoroughly ropy and rotten. 

 When it has reached the latter condition, 

 the only remedy we could advise would be 

 fire to utterly consume bees, hives, combs, 

 and honey. 



In the milder forms of the disease, pure 

 phenol is no doubt the best remedy. But as 

 it is difficut to obtain the pure article except 

 at the large wholesale dealers, it can be ob- 

 tained at the office of the American Bee 

 JoiiRNAi,. One drop to 500 drops of the 

 syrup is the formula recommended by Mr. 

 Cheshire, as will be seen by the following 

 from his pamphlet : 



" I found that 1-200 (that is one part of 

 pure phenol to 200 parts of syrup) was re- 

 fused by the bees altogether ; that 1-400 

 might be given constantly to a sound colony 

 without appearing to limit the queen in 

 breeding, or touch her health ; that 1-500 

 dispatched foul brood quickly, even while 

 honey was coming in ; and that 1-750 ap- 

 peared enough when it was not. I have es- 

 tablished these quantities as the correct 

 ones." Moderate quantities are, therefore, 

 not injurious. 



We would refer Mr. Lord to the Report of 

 Mr. MoLain, found on pages 473 and 474 of 

 this issue, which gives another remedy for 

 this much-to-be-dreaded disease. 



ITour Full Address, plainly written, 

 is very essential in order to avoid mistakes. 



Foiil Brood.— A. D. Lord, Amiret, 

 Minn., on June 33, 1888, asks : 



How do you detect the first appearance 

 of foul brood. I have one colony among 9 

 that the brood is very scattering in the 

 comb, and aboutone half die and turn black 

 when nearly ready to cap. If not foul brood, 

 what is it ? 



What is erroneously called foul brood is 

 a disease which attacks not only the brood 

 (sealed and unsealed), but also the fall- 

 grown bees, and even the queen is some- 

 times affected by it. It is usually said that 

 " you will always find the cells sunken, and 

 a small hole the size of a pin-head in the 

 centre of the comb looking brown and 

 had ;" that the " foul stench arising from 

 the diseased colony" will indicate the dis- 

 ease, but there are so many different shades 

 and kinds of the disease that these are not 

 the only indications. Sometimes brood, 

 which to all outward appearance is sound 



Honey Irom Corn, etc.— James B. 

 Riggins, Swanton, Nebr., on July 11, 1888, 

 asks the following questions : 



I started last spring with 18 colonies of 

 bees. I had no increase, and obtained 

 1,300 pounds of comb honey. All but one 

 came through the winter of 1887 in good 

 condition. They are booming on Alsike 

 clover now. The outlook is very good for a 

 large honey crop. I received some of the 

 Chapman honey plant seed, and it is grow- 

 ing nicely now. 1 would like to ask whether 

 broom-corn ever yields much honey ? 



Corn, when in silk and tassel, ordinarily 

 yields both honey and pollen in good quan- 

 tities. The honey is of fair quality. In 

 some localities and seasons it has been the 

 sole honey-producer upon which bees could 

 work in the fall, and build up for winter.— 

 Will some one tell us about broom-corn ? 

 Does it yield honey or pollen ? 



Pleased.— Mr. W. F. Kanzler, of Fulda, 

 Ind., on July 6, 1888, writes as follows about 

 royal jelly, larval bees, etc. : 



A thousand thanks for the article on 

 " Larval Bees," on page 440. The valuable 

 American Bee Journ.vl steps on the 

 high platform of scientific research, and 

 thereby honors itself. Prof. A. J. Cook 

 showed himself the greatest reformer, for 

 he could reform himself. Mr.Stnchelhausen, 

 of Texas, gives a sample of his learning in 

 apiculture, and will probably enlighten us 

 hereafter. Ail nonsensical talk will now 

 stop about royal jelly, stating that it is 

 "young brood in the white state," "I saw 

 legs and breasts plainly in it," (see the Bee 

 Journal for 1881, page 133, third column, 

 Ifith line from the ton), and even the "bread- 

 and-hulter-men" will be pleased to learn 

 how young bees are fed and nourished, and 

 how old bees prepare their food. 



