192 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
of cow manure, manure from the hen house, sheep 
droppings, etc. The chief care to be taken is not 
to have the liquid too strong. It is better to err in 
the direction of weakness. Twice a week is often 
enough to apply it, and then only to plants that are 
growing. In the absence of other manures, Peru¬ 
vian guano, at the rate of an ounce to a gallon of 
water, is the best substitute. Nothing else will so 
increase the productiveness of asmall garden as the 
proper use of liquid fertilizers, as above stated. 
Bee Notes for May. 
hives are used, remove the bees and queen to the 
hive before the colony is built up to the full size. 
Why Clip the Queen’s Wings ? 
This saves losing colonies when the bees are per¬ 
mitted to swarm. Secure the queen at swarming 
time as she comes forth, which is easily done, as 
with the short wing she cannot fly, and put her 
into the new' hive. In lieu of a queen cage a tum¬ 
bler may be turned over her. Remove the old 
hive and set the new one in its place, and the bees 
will soon come back; when in the hive, remove it 
to a new stand and set the first hive in its old 
place. 
If the bees have wintered well, and the advice 
for April in respect to stimulative feeding has been 
heeded, the colonies are strong, and in the more 
southern parts of the country are preparing to 
swarm. Many colonies even as far north as Ohio 
and New York are rearing drone brood. 
Queeu Hearing. 
It is always best to rear Queens, even though in¬ 
tending to increase the colonies by permitting the 
bees tosw’arm naturally. This secures queens from 
selected stock, and give them as soon as swarms 
issue, thus saving valuable time. Skilled breeders 
believe that, to secure the best queens, the cells 
should be formed and the stock reared in strong 
colonies, at a time when the bees are active. To 
obt ain these queens, remove the eggs and all the un¬ 
capped brood from some strong colony, and supply 
its place with capped brood, and eggs from the 
best queen in the bee-yard. At the same time re¬ 
move the queen from the colony receiving the eggs. 
These bees are strong in numbers, and queenless, 
and will commence queen-cells at once, and as they 
have only eggs, or larvce just hatched, will of 
necessity rear their queens from the start. With 
the old removed queen, a new colony maybe made 
by placing her in a new 7 hive, with several frames 
of brood and adhering bees, brought, one or two 
each, from such colonies in the apiary as can well 
spare them. Great care must be taken not to 
carry any queen from the old hives, as this would 
render one colony queenless and kill one of the 
queens in the new hives. If there are enough 
spare frames to make a full sized colony, add two or 
three frames, and more as the colonies grow. In 
this case confine the space occupied by the bees by 
the use of a division board. This space.may be en¬ 
larged as we have more frames to add. 
Forming Nuclei or Young Colonies. 
Ten or twelve days after the queen is removed, 
the queen cells will be capped, and should be taken 
away; if a queen emerges, the other queen-cells 
will be destroyed, or else the colony will swarm. 
Each cell should be cut out and fastened into a 
comb, care being taken not to press the cell; with 
this and another comb of brood in all stages of 
development, and a quart of bees, a nucleus is 
formed. If bees are obtained from other hives, 
care must be taken not to remove a queen. Enough 
bees can be taken from the old hives where the 
queen-cells have started to stock five or six nuclei. 
In removing the queen-cells, do not cut nearer the 
cell than one inch, and make the piece wedge- 
shape, broadest above, for convenience iu fastening 
it in the new 7 comb. The “ Gallup ” or “ American ” 
frames, which are 111 and 12 inches square respec¬ 
tively, can be used for the nuclei, confining the 
bees by the use of division boards. If hives with 
large frames like the “ Langstroth,” or “Quinby” 
are employed, small hives must be made on pur¬ 
pose for the nuclei. These should be about six 
or eight inches in each of their three dimensions. 
Increasing the Colonies. 
After the queen has come from the cell iu each 
nucleus, and has met the drone, which fact is 
assured if eggs are being laid abundantly iu the 
small or worker cells, clip one of her wings, build 
up the nuclei into full colonies, by adding frames 
of hatching brood from other colonies as the latter 
can spare them. By moving back the division 
board, the size of the brood-chamber may be made 
to accommodate the growing colony. If special 
nucleus-hives of a smaller size than the ordinary 
_ 7 _ _ 
Very often in examining a budget 
of humbug documents, it seems sur¬ 
prising that any one can be deceived 
by many of them. For example, 
there are numerous standard articles 
that have a well-established value, 
fixed by actual cost of material and manufacture, 
and competition has placed the price quite as low 
as they can bo sold. Thus, if a person should offer 
to supply silver dollars at 60 cents each, all sensible 
persons would conclude at once, that the dollars 
were not genuine, or that they had been stolen, or 
that money sent to the advertiser would bring back 
no dollars in return. 
Good Cutlery and Silver Ware 
have a value nearly as well fixed as that of silver 
dollars, and when a concern offers these articles at 
half the usual price, it is safe to expect one of the 
above named results. Several of our readers write 
us about a New England concern that offers for $5 
English silver-plated cutlery, which they say is sold 
in America of American production for $8 and $12. 
They give as a reason for selling at “forty per cent 
less than such goods are usually sold, that there is 
no place where cutlery can be produced so cheap 
for its quality as in Great Britain.” (They say 
nothing of the custom duties which equalize the 
cost here)—but if these claims are so, why are the 
Sheffield manufacturers complaining at American 
competition ? But it is doubtful whether there is 
any place where cutlery “ can be produced so cheap 
for its quality ” as iu these United States, and the 
buyer has the name of the maker as a guarantee of 
its quality. As to there being anything like a differ¬ 
ence of 40 per cent in articles of the same grade, 
in favor of British manufactures, and especially 
under the present tariff—“ tell that to the marines.” 
These remarks apply to most if not all other stand¬ 
ard articles wherever made. 
Books—“A Literary Revolution ” 
was promised, and a supply of books at wonder¬ 
fully low prices. The concern went into the hands 
of a “receiver.” It re-appeared later with the 
title of the “ Useful Knowledge Publishing Com¬ 
pany.” To judge from our letters, several of our 
correspondents have already acquired some “ use¬ 
ful knowledge,” if they did have to pay for it. 
A “ Newspaper Revolution.” 
Cincinnati, never to be outdone in the way of re¬ 
markable enterprises, has her “ Newspaper Revo¬ 
lution,” which revolves in a remarkable manner. 
It shows the immense yearly profits made by pub¬ 
lishers of papers, and kindly offers to divide its 
profits with its subscribers—which is an excellent 
thing to do, when the great profits are reached. It 
asks at first only 30c. for a year’s subscription to a 
$1 paper—but if one will give $1 down, he can 
have an “ original ” oil painting. In all this very 
little is said about the paper, but much about the 
paintings. These are declared not to be ehromos— 
which is possibly so much the worse for those who 
get them. It is gratifying to know that the paint¬ 
ings are mounted on “keyed stretchers,” but the 
greatest “stretcher” is the circular itself. 
More About “((zone.” 
Letters still come iu quantity asking about this. 
We have in former articles shown what the stuff is, 
and the falsity of the claims of its makers. In 
brief—these Cincinnati parties pretend to sell 
Ozone, a gas which is not known in a separate state, 
and which can not be sold in packages. They do 
not even sell the materials for making Ozone, ot 
anything at all like it. The thing is an utter fraud, 
inasmuch as it sells under a false name. 
COLORED FLOWERS OF SULPHUR. 
which, on burning, according to directions, can not 
produce Ozone, but simply Sulphurous Acid (ac¬ 
cording to the new nomenclature, “Sulphurous 
Anhydride,” S. CL.) Whatever may be the pre¬ 
servative properties of these sulphur fumes, this is 
not the place to discuss them, but our inquiring 
correspondents may be sure that whatever may be 
possessed by sulphur colored with Lamp-black and 
called by the utterly false name of “Ozone,” and 
sold at an enormous price, may be produced by 
sulphur bought everywhere under its proper name, 
and at a few cents per pound. The makers of the 
stuff issue 
“THE OZONE BULLETIN,” 
which we are informed is “published monthly,” 
though the particular month is not given in the 
copy before us. This affords some curious reading. 
Thus we are informed that “The Preservative is 
perfectly harmless. A child might eat its fill of it 
and suffer no trouble”! Was the writer’s early 
education neglected, and did he never have his 
brimstone and molasses ? Shade of Mrs. Squeers— 
did the boys at Dotlieboys Hall “ suffer no trouble ” 
after “brimstun mornin’ ” ? It is a libel upon the 
well-known therapeutic powers of brimstone. But 
we read : “ Water treated with it, converting it into 
Ozone liquor, may be freely drank ”—but as Samuel 
Weller said of the Spa, what “a flavor of warm 
flat-irons” it must have. And again: “As a face 
or flesh-wash it is highly beneficial, rendering the 
skin soft and beautiful.”—As the stuff preserves 
everything, why shouldn't it preserve beauty ? 
Frauds upon Farmers. 
Last month we suggested that this was the season 
for special efforts to deceive cultivators, and our 
correspondence shows that the warning was needed. 
This time the “Patent Wagon Tongue man” is 
around. He is a well dressed chap, as these fellows 
always are, and has a glib tongue (not patented) of 
his own. He calls at a Missouri farnjer’s house, is 
very communicative, tells where he has been and 
how successful he was in selling his wagon tongue 
patent. But just now he is on his way home, cau 
not come to that county again, and will sell the 
l-ight for this county for $250. No hurry about it, 
but should farmer conclude to buy it, he has only 
to write sending his note for the amount, and he can 
have the right for the county. In a few days 
another well dressed, glib-tongued gentleman comes 
along. He has heard that farmer has bought the 
county right. He made a big thing out of selling 
the patent tongues in Nebraska, and would like to 
buy the right for that county in Missouri. He will 
give the farmer $400 for his right, and puts down 
$10 to bind the bargain. Missouri farmer does not 
“let on ” that he has not yet bought the right; 
will decide in a few days ; he shrewdly hurries off 
his note for $250 to the address given, to get the 
right and make a profitable trade. His purchaser 
never returns but the note does iu due time, at the 
bank in the next town, where it was left for col¬ 
lection. A correspondent iu La Salle Co., Ill., 
writes that the “ Patent Wagon Tongue man ” has 
been there and victimized a farmer in the vicinity 
to the amount of $240. This farmer could not 
afford to take the American Agriculturist when he 
applied to him and asked him to join a club ! 
A Windmill and Pump. 
Here is another swindle that lias been success¬ 
fully pushed in Illinois. The agent agrees to put 
up the windmill “with all the attachments” for 
$150. He makes out an order for the mill, and all 
the separate articles, amounting in all to $275. The 
farmer demurs, but the agent assures him that 
“ this is a mere matter of form ; these are the 
company’s prices, but he gives his promise that 
the whole shall not cost but $150.” The farmer 
signs the order; the company send the mill with. 
