“NOVICE'S” GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
HKAIKH OF OltAIN IKON OII Kl.lt- 
K.\T F1KI.UN. 
77.— The "setting of eggs” I roceivod 
i| | *|l from you has hatched ono <iucou, and 
1 1 slic is aheauty. You do not advertise 
uure and fertile queens for sale : but what of 
it. can't you send a fellow one? The honey 
we are extracting now (white clover) is so 
’hin that I fear it will sour. Do you use a 
Sacchnromcter to ascertain the degree of 
your honey? What degree will keep and 
what will not? Can you furnish me with 
one? I think Mrs* Tuppor was vory much 
mistaken when she said the extractor would 
injure the brood if properly used. Mine 
hatches all right. K. E* Prentice. 
Cnstalia, 0. 
11 
J hanks, Mr. P. We liave very few re- | 
ports of ‘'eggs for hatching” that are en- 
couraging unless it he where they have : 
only been sent short distances. 
Cool nights may have caused the trou- 
ble, and we not only regret the disappoint- 
ment it has caused but will ninhe good 
the amount sent us when it has been a to- 
tal failure if our friends will notify us of 
the fact. c 
Some have succeeded where comb has 
been sent considerable distances, and if 
we learn the secret of success invariably, 
will try again till around. 
No succharomcter is needed tit all. 
Don’t commence extracting until the 
honey is partially sealed, and no feat- 
ured be entertained of souring. 
We have at, this date (dune 20th), near- 
ly two barrels ol the thickest honey we 
ever saw, probably on account of the ex- 
treme dry weather. 
No. 78.— I have two queens left, ono hybrid, 
with about a pint of workers, the other black, 
with less workers. Isn’t this a glorious start 
for the first of Juno? Respectfully, 
It* J. McKee, Luingshurg, Mich. 
N. B.— You will think I write like an old 
acquaintance. Well, having taken tho Amrri- 
run JJrr Journal several years, may I not 
claim as much ? 
Bless your heart, Mr. McKee, and all of 
the other unknown friends among our 
readers, nothing gives Novice greater 
pleasure (no, not even tons nj' honey) than 
to hear from friends that have followed 
him through successes and reverses for 
years, and to hear that he has assisted and 
made brighter the lives ol others, is an 
additional stimulus toward further experi- 
ment, lie begs us to add that your let- 
ters are all read with the greatest of in- 
terest even if they do most of them go 
unanswered. In the attempt to have 
them all answered through this depart- 
ment, a pile has accumulated nearly sufti- 
eient for the rest of the year; yet we 
hope to get things in shape soon, that we 
may he able to give our opinion, at least, 
on all questions proposed, very shortly af- 
ter they are received. 
Bee Hive Cottage, Milton, I 
BRISBANE. QUKKN.SI.ASI>, AUSTRALIA, - 
No. 711. March 22d, 1878. J 
Deiir Novice :— You will no doubt ho a little 
surprised at hearing from the folks on this 
aids of the River, hot you see you are no i 
slrangor oven in this sunny clime. Your 
articles in tho good old Journal have often 
cheered me up when 1 have been in n very 
low kef. However 1 lost sight of you tor II 
83 
two years after leaving England, and I began 
to think I should never see your name more. 
This is a splendid country for bees. No 
wintering here, the bees aro on the wing all 
theyenr round. The bee is most certainly a 
native of the tropics. My observing hives 
are 2 and 3 feet square; containing only a 
singlo card of comb. I simply put a bar 
across tho large frame to support the comb. 
The hives open on oaclt side. I raiso hun- 
dreds in them of queens. The bees aro never 
taken out; the winter, if it can he called 
winter, is not sevore onough to kiil boes even 
in n one comb glass hive, in fact we have no 
winter. We can raise queens and have them 
fertilized at any time during the year. Do 
you want to know what I think of your new 
hive ? Well, I have had timber cut for 200 
of them, and intend to give it the following 
name ; “Novice’s” “Hive oe Hives.’. 
J, Carroll, Boo-Master to His Excellency 
Tho Marquis of Normandy. 
Will our distant friend, if he does re- 
reice this number, please accept our 
thanks for his kind letter? Does beget 
honey the year round, too, and is the 
quantity per colony per annum after all 
much more than in our own land of frost, 
snow, rain and sunshine alternating? 
Verity, if Novice is going to be copied 
thus far, it behooves him to tread careful- 
ly in new paths. 
No. 80. — Friend Novice :— In upper stories 
ol tho Simplicity hive, my bees fasten upper 
and lower frames together, I cut off all the 
comb between but it tnado no difference ; can 
you tell a preventive. Also to make nat 
oral swarms as early as possible. Should I 
put on surplus frames as soon as the lower 
story is tilled or does it make no difference. 
E. W. Poole. West Richfield, 0. 
Wc have more trouble in some cases than 
usual this season of comb being built be- 
tween upper and lower frames; we sup- 
pose because the honey has been procur- 
ed so slowly they have been averse to 
building in the frames, hut preferred to 
lengthen out cells near brood and to 
build between frames over the cluster. 
After they can be got to work strong in 
both stories they usually cease to trouble 
in this way. Putting surplus frames 
above generally delays swarming but not 
always. ( Ihliging bees to swarm for want 
of room is at the expense of a considera- 
ble loss of honey that they might other- 
wise gather. 
No. 81. — Don’t tho bottom board become 
waxed up so that they are unfit for tops? It 
so what is the use of making them just like 
the top? Would not a plain board with slats 
on the ends bo just as good? Hew much 
would you bevel tho hives? Your descrip- 
tions nro not plain enough for many people. 
As you move the hive forward on the bottom 
board, the back end of the sides raises some, 
which will give a place for worms, unless the 
boes wax it up, which they will be sure to do. 
Have you used your style of bottom boards 
long onough to know how they work? 1 hope 
your hive will work all right, for I like it- 
simplicity and its general plan. Yours, 
La Fayette Norris. 
Wc should seldom use one that had 
done service as bottom board for cover, 
yet wc would make them all alike to avoid 
having an extra different piece about the 
hives, for instance, we might hnve in our 
apiury more covers than bottoms, or the 
reverse, ami in making hives we should 
he obliged to get out an extra set of stuff 
for bottoms. We have aimed at "simplic- 
ity” and brevity. Jl bevels are made 
