Chapter III: Part 3

MR. EDITOR:--I see in the July number of the Bee Journal, page 9, that Mr. C. Rogers is out on “the shallow Langstroth Hive.” Mr. R. and _my old friend_ Gallup are the only persons that I now recollect of, who complain of the shallow form of hive, when wintered in a house or cellar. Mr. Rogers says it is not a “good” hive “for the six or eight weeks between the winter and warm weather,” and leaves it thus, without telling us why it is not. For my part, I cannot see what the shape of the hive has to do with the loss of bees in early spring. All bee-keepers say that the bleak winds at that season destroy a great many bees, regardless of the kind of hive they may have been in. All the proof Mr. Rogers gives that this form of hive is bad in early spring is, that “he has sometimes _thought_ that his hives contained _less_ bees after being out a month or two, than when first put out.” Well, suppose it is so, is that the fault of the hive? Every experienced bee-keeper knows that when bees in any form of hive are taken from their winter quarters, there is a sudden decrease in numbers, from the simple fact that many of them are old and ready to die at any hour from sheer old age; but having been shut up all winter they live longer than they would in the working season. Then, when taken from their winter quarters and allowed to issue in the open air, many of them never return. But is this the fault of the hive? My experience is that any form of hive, when wintered in a cellar, will lose bees very rapidly when first set out; much more so than a colony that has been wintered on its summer stand. I can account for this in no other way, than that many of the bees have lived to a good old age, and are ready to die soon; and a sudden change in the weather being hard on them any how, weakens them in numbers very fast.

The Langstroth hive could be made deeper very easily without Mr. R.’s patchwork; but would it answer the purpose as well? I have found no other hive from which I can get the same results, in surplus honey, as from the “shallow” Langstroth. Last summer I tried the experiment with a hive with only six inches depth of comb, adding one more frame (_eleven_ instead of _ten_.) The result was that I got some six pounds more honey from that hive, than I did from the common Langstroth hive, sitting within four feet of it and the two colonies as near alike in numbers as I could get them. Without doubt the shallow form of hive is best for surplus honey.

Now a few words about wintering bees in the Langstroth hive. Everything considered, I think bees do somewhat better when wintered in a cellar, provided they be arranged just right. But I have wintered bees very successfully in the Langstroth hive, on their summer stands, in northern Illinois and eastern Indiana. But young colonies that have new comb, should be protected, if wintered on their summer stands.

I hope Mr. Rogers will explain the whys and wherefores, and tell us wherein the Langstroth hive is lacking.

B. PUCKETT.

_Winchester, Ind._, July 20, 1870.

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[For the American Bee Journal.]

Letter from Missouri.

MR. EDITOR:--I send you a sample of something that seems to be troubling my bees very much. It is in small scales resembling the wing of some insect.[3] The bees come in with from three to five sticking to their mouths. It seems to trouble them greatly. I think I could pick up or rather scrape up a pint of it, on the bottom board of some hives.

This section of country is too much subject to extremes for bees. Last year it rained all through May and June, so that the bees could not get out to work; and they did nothing but swarm after that until September. Pollen was plenty, but honey scarce. This spring commenced well, but most of May and up to the 15th of June the weather was too cold for bees to work. Nearly all the fruit blossoms were killed by cold. Wild plums and crab apples did not bloom. We have had no rain for several weeks, and very little since last fall. Everything is parched up, leaving nothing for the bees. I am feeding nearly fifty colonies, and will have to continue doing so until we have rain and flowers begin to bloom again.

I could exchange one little farm here for fifteen hundred acres of mountain land in Pocahontas county, Virginia. Is that a good bee section?[4]

Too much wind here, even if the pasturage were good. My Italians are doing much better than the native bees.

I sowed the strap-leaved turnip last fall for early pasturage, but none came up this spring. Cold killed them. What kind is best to sow, or what is better? Would it do to sow ten acres in turnips, and mix Alsike clover seed with it?

I have watched nearly every movement a bee can make for the last three years, and read all the bee books I could get.

J. K. METCALFE.

_Freedom, Mo._, July 5, 1870.

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[For the American Bee Journal.]

How we made a Honey Knife.

Some of our readers will perhaps remember the trouble which we had last season in uncapping cells preparatory to the use of the Honey Extractor. In justice to Mr. Baldridge we will say that the knife which we received from him was found, upon trial, to work very well--much better, in fact, than we expected. Our only trouble with it, was to keep it in cutting order. Still, we find that a knife for this business does not need to be kept so extremely sharp, if it be kept _hot_ while in use, by occasionally dipping it in hot water. In _shape_ we think this knife about what is wanted.

As _two_ knives are found very convenient, one to be heating in the water while the other is in use, we concluded to try our hand at making one and succeeded so admirably that we will give a description of it, and the manner in which it was made.

We first took an old _scythe_--an article which can usually be found on every farm--and, with a cold chisel, cut a piece out of the straightest part, of such length as we wished the knife to be. This was then laid upon a block and cut lengthwise about three-fourths of an inch from the cutting edge. It was now taken and ground down smooth upon the back and ends, and the edge ground off at the ends a little in order to straighten it. It is then fitted into a suitable handle. You thus have a knife of whatever length you choose to make it, which may be ground very thin and will yet hold an edge well. The whole time occupied in making it, need not exceed an hour, provided the assistance of a second person can be had in cutting out and grinding. It will present a much neater appearance than one would think possible when commencing the job, and will I think give perfect satisfaction.

Of course the style will be governed much by the ingenuity of the maker.

Since writing, the above, we have received the August number of the Bee Journal, and in it notice the advertisement of the National Bee Hive Company, of which Mr. Baldridge is Secretary. It says--“no _wrought iron_ knives for sale, in fact never _kept_ them, nor _sold_ them. _Liars_ will please to take the hint.” Indeed! I sincerely hope they will. Now, in justice to _myself_, I must say a few more words in regard to that knife, which we have already spoken about in this communication. When we received the knife last fall, it was shown to a person whom we thought a competent judge of metal, and was unhesitatingly pronounced--well, anything but _spring-steel_, as it could readily be bent into almost any shape, and would _so remain_. However as its quality was not mentioned before the purchase; and as it has been found, on trial, to work well enough for all practical purposes, when rightly used, I suppose we ought not to have said anything about that part of the transaction. The difference between the “best quality of wrought iron” and the lower classes of steel is so slight that, to separate them, would be like naming the hour that sweet cider becomes sour. Iron is used in three states; as crude or cast iron, as _steel_, and as wrought iron, the difference only depending on the relative amount of carbon with which the metal is combined--cast iron containing a larger proportion of carbon than steel, and steel more than wrought or malleable iron.

I have nothing whatever against Mr. Baldridge, this being my first dealing with him; and my only excuse for writing as I did (A. B. J., vol V., page 18,) is that, after waiting, and watching the post office, so long as I did, and finally receiving a knife--too late for use--which did not then come up to my expectations, I felt considerably out of humor, and told the whole story, when perhaps I should have kept _mum_ and “swallowed” it all, as he had not advertised knives for sale, his reason for not being more prompt, may be that he was obliged to invent and manufacture it, after it was ordered. I have no doubt that parties ordering of him now, will receive knives that will give perfect satisfaction.

I. F. TILLINGHAST.

_Factoryville, Pa._, Aug. 5, 1870.

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[For the American Bee Journal.]

More about the Looking-glass.

On pages 34-5, Vol. VI., of the American Bee Journal, H. Nesbit states that he has tried the looking-glass theory to his satisfaction in _one_ instance.

Now, Mr. Editor, I wish to say, in reply, that the glass has been tried three times, this year, to my knowledge, and three swarms of bees secured. The particulars of _one_ case will be sufficient to cause most of the Journal’s readers to try the experiment, when opportunity offers, whether one that has “_played_” the theory “_out_” will try any more, or not.

An old lady was in her garden, about four o’clock one afternoon, when her attention was arrested by the hum of a swarm of bees, leaving the top of an apple-tree that stood in the garden. The superstitious notion of stopping bees by the music of the cow-bell (peculiar to a certain class) was soon put in practice, but the bees moved on till _somebody_ flashed the sun’s rays among them, by the aid of a looking-glass. Then, almost instantly, from some cause or another, the bees scattered and some even fell to the ground; but in a few minutes more, all were snugly clustered on another apple-tree, in sight of the one on which a portion of them were first discovered.

Did the queen stop to rest in this case? Perhaps Mr. Nesbit will think she was defective; or would his reply to this be as ambiguous as his language, when he says in one place that there is “no use of your trying to go away, for I will stop you with the looking-glass;” and in another breath, after he had tried and failed, says--“I was rather a sceptic before.”

Mr. Editor, he makes me think of an old Dutch lady, with whom I used to be acquainted, that knew how to bake bread and fry meat. You might read her a recipe from some agricultural or other Journal, for making something new and rich, and she would at once go about trying it, “to see if it was good.” But, in place of following the directions to the letter, she would use the ingredients in quantities that seemed handiest; and the consequence was that she would make compounds to disagree with the gustatory organs of all hands. The fault was never with the old lady, and she could always tell that it was in the recipe; but in no instance could she be induced to try her hand a second time on the same thing. Perhaps, if Mr. Nesbit will take his looking-glass to the well and invert it, and instead of looking down the well, will look into the glass, he will see differently from the way he did on the other occasion. If he will take a glass large enough (a _piece_ will answer the purpose; but it will depend upon how bright the sun shines, and the distance of the bees from the ground, what must be the size of the glass required,) I think he can stop a swarm in every instance.

Before quitting, I will also say that if Mr. Nesbit, or any one else will obtain the “_blackest_” and “_knottiest_” piece of wood, near the size of a quart pot, and secure it by means of a pole or otherwise, surrounded by foliage, in front of the apiary, before natural swarms issue, that by the time the fifth natural swarm is hived, the experiment will have very well paid him for his trouble with the knot.

IGNORAMUS.

_Sawyersville, N. C._, Aug. 12, 1870.

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[For the American Bee Journal.]

Bee Humbugs.

Since the introduction of movable comb hives, numerous attempts have been made to palm off on bee-keepers worthless hives and sundry humbugs.

As with other branches of business, so with bee-culture; it has its proficients, amateurs, novices, and pretenders. Generally, it is with the two last-mentioned classes that worthless hives and various humbugs originate. The novice is often suddenly attacked with that disease known as “bee on the brain,” and ignorantly but innocently fancies he has mastered the whole science of bee-culture, and is therefore prepared to astonish the world by producing a bee hive that will supplant all its predecessors. Now, with many, to think is to act. Hence, yearly, there are introduced to the public several “best hives in the world,” which, however, prove to be either bungling attempts at an imitation of some good hive, or a worthless throwing together of timber, embracing in its construction not one scientific principle, but often many features directly opposed to the nature and wants of the bees. Their fanciful shape, novel construction, and the many advantages they are said to possess, often cause a number of them to be sold to unsuspecting bee-keepers, who are not educated in the science of bee-culture. The country is full of such worthless trash, and parties often pay more than they would require to do for really good hives, the reputation of which has been established for years--hives constructed by those well acquainted with bee-culture, and who are hence qualified to construct a hive adapted in every feature to the wants of the bee.

The other class, whom I have styled pretenders, are generally unscrupulous persons, who do not hesitate at anything by which they can bring the “dimes” to their pockets. It is with this class that “bee humbugs” generally originate. Having a slight smattering of knowledge, they make great pretensions, and tell wonderful stories about bees--what strange things they have known bees to do; how one swarm went away, because the owner quarrelled with his wife; another because a child was buried, and the owner failed to whisper it in the hive; while a third was so particular, that it would not stay in the hive, because there was a rusty nail in sight! In this way they arouse the curiosity of the uneducated bee-keeper, who is soon ready to swallow all they have to say. They then come forward with their pretensions to superior knowledge. They can do this or that with bees. They have some wonderful secrets, and for a “V” (five dollars) they can tell you how to take the bees out of a box-hive, take their honey, put them back again, and they shall be all right “in the spring.” They have also got a curious compound, a peculiar drug, with which they can charm the bees so that they will not sting, price “only fifty cents a bottle;” and the recipe to make it only another “V.” Thus the honest and unsuspecting bee-keeper is victimized, while the swindling pretender “feathers his nest.”

The following extract from a letter of inquiry, has called forth these remarks:

“During the past season, the management of bees has been taught in a secret school, and one of the things taught is the art of drawing bees from a tree a distance of two miles, even though it may not be known where they are located. As one of the students is preparing to sally out on the public, I thought I would write to you, for your opinion.”

A person possessed of such power as this would be likely to surround himself with a large number of swarms in a very short time, if he performed his operations in some neighborhoods where hundreds of swarms are kept within a circle of two miles. He would certainly be an exceedingly dangerous person to have about, unless strictly honest, as he might draw off and steal all the bees. Perhaps his secret incantations have no attractions for bees that live in a hive; and, I may say and, for bees that live in a tree! Allow me to say to my bee-keeping friends that all the bee drugs or bee charms are bee humbugs. If any person is pretending to teach or to do what is stated above, he is either a knave or a fool, perhaps both.

To say the least, all such persons should be arrested, for obtaining money under false pretences. If bee-keepers would be safe, let them take a reliable Bee Journal or agricultural paper, where they will find such impositions exposed; and in purchasing hives let them select such as the experience of years has proved to be good.

J. H. THOMAS.

_Brooklin, Ontario._

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I never use a hive, the main apartment of which holds less than a bushel.--_Langstroth._

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[For the American Bee Journal.]

Proper Requisites of Hives and Movable Frames.

MR. EDITOR:--There seems to be no subject connected with bee-culture so badly mixed up, as the above. One approves of a low and long form of hive and frames, and another of a short and deep form. Now I have seen and used nearly all styles in use, but never saw a frame hive but what was too deep for summer use, or too shallow for winter.

It seems to me we have been straining at a gnat and trying to swallow a camel. I think a frame in the clear, six or seven inches deep and eleven or twelve inches long is what the practical bee-keeper needs. But for the careless and indifferent, fixed top bars are too good.

Perhaps few if any have experimented with and used more different styles of hive than we have. Being a mechanic, and always having lumber and tools at hand, we have experimented too much for our own benefit. We have patented (like many others) one hive costing us $100; and have never realized a dime in return. But all right; I suppose the greenbacks are moving.

Now, Mr. Editor, I believe that the one thousand and one who are pocketing money for improvements in hives, would be just as honest and make more money, by picking up the farmer’s box-hive, putting the Langstroth frames in, and teaching people how to use them properly--selling the same on commission for Mr. Langstroth or his agents.

But we must return to the sectional hive. Has any one ever used such a hive? If so we have never heard of it. We use two sections deep in winter, and from one to four in summer. We make our case twelve inches wide, using eight frames in the brood sections, and seven in the third and fourth sections, in which we get the greatest possible amount stored, in good shape for the table or market. Mr. Thomas, or any one else who thinks he has a hive that will offer so many advantages, as the simple sectional box, with Langstroth’s frames in them, had best bring such hive out this way; and I will agree to sell them as fast as forty men can turn them out.

We have omitted to mention many little points, in the arrangement of the case and frames, such as beveling to prevent propolis, securing straight combs, &c., but will do so in a future article, if requested.

CHARLES HASTINGS.

_Dowagiac, Mich._

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All necessary arrangements and preparations for properly wintering bees, in any kind of hive, should be fully completed in the month of October.

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Let me strongly advise the incorrigibly careless to have nothing to do with bees, either on my plan of management, _or any other_; for they will find both time and money almost certainly thrown away.--_Langstroth._

THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.

Washington, Sept., 1870.

The remarks on queen raising, by the Rev. Mr. Briggs, in our last issue, appear to be considered by some as aimed personally at Mr. Alley, of Wenham, Mass. We did not so regard them. Mr. Briggs’ object seemed to us to be very different, and one in which queen breeders in general have quite as much interest as queen purchasers. Bee breeding, as a science, is yet in its infancy--not less so in Europe than here; but is evidently engaging the attention of the best and most experienced apiarians, and has already led to some highly interesting discussions in the German Journals and Conventions. Of these we shall, in due season, take proper notice--we give, in this number of the Journal, several communications referring to Mr. Briggs’ article, and shall probably have one from him in explanation.

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👉 The March number of the American Bee Journal contained a call for a meeting of the Michigan Bee-keepers’ Association, to be held at Lansing, on the 23d and 24th of that month.--Bee-keepers from other States and the British Provinces were invited to attend that meeting, as it was _proposed then to make arrangements for holding a_ NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS’ CONVENTION. The Association met accordingly, and it was resolved to hold a _National Convention_ at Indianapolis, (Ind.) on the 11th and 12th instant, but the time was subsequently changed to the 21st and 22d of December next, as better suiting the convenience of bee-keepers. The _place_ designated seems now, however, for some reason, to have become objectionable to certain parties who probably have “axes to grind.” They are now laboring hard to effect a change; but we presume the effort will fail, as we are assured from various quarters that the Convention will be held at Indianapolis.

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A patent has recently been granted for a method of excluding bee-moths from hives by means of a long lever operated by a hen-roost. The inventor claims “a combination of a vibrating roost or perch for fowls with the slides or doors of one or more bee hives, when so constructed and arranged that the weight of the fowls upon the roost shall close the hives, and their removal from the roost shall open the doors.” How this ingenious contrivance came to be patented at this late day, we do not know; but certainly it is neither, “new” nor “useful.” The same thing was tried and abandoned many years ago, as will be seen by reference to Langstroth’s “_Hive and Honey Bee_,” page 263, first edition. Possibly there is some new “modification” or some novel “combination” of material (chickens included), on which the claim to a patent is based; but unfortunately, no modification or combination can ever enable him who employs this contrivance to circumvent the moths thereby.

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When a colony in an apiary is found to be queenless, and has been so till all the brood has matured, it will generally be found difficult to get the bees to raise a queen from brood inserted, or even to accept and cherish a sealed queen cell. Repeated trials are usually necessary, and when successful the population has generally so dwindled, before the new generation attains the working age, that the colony is of little value, especially late in the season. The better mode is to introduce at once a fertile prolific queen from some populous colony, and let the latter do the queen raising; unless we have fertile queens in reserve in nuclei. With the transferred queen, several combs of brood taken from other strong colonies, should, if possible, be given to the one that has been queenless. The desired object will thus be more speedily attained, and frequently with benefit to the colonies drawn on.

The European Sparrow.

“A large number of German sparrows, have been imported and placed in the vineyards in the vicinity of Davenport, Iowa.” So the newspapers inform us--the object, we presume, being the destruction of caterpillars. We fear, however, that the grape growers there have made a capital mistake, and are likely to have an easy time annually hereafter, when gathering the vintage.

It has been customary to charge the bees with damaging the grape crop, but it appears that in Germany this sparrow is the real offender. The Rev. Mr. Stern, an aged and well known bee-keeper, residing at Wessenburg in Lower Austria, writing to the Bienenzeitung about this alleged malfeasance of the bees, says--“I have lived more than thirty years in a village of three thousand inhabitants, most of whom derive their support from grape culture. Besides their vineyards, they have numerous trellises of vines at their houses, and there are several apiaries in the village. I have myself an arbor of vines, 180 feet in length, within twenty-five feet of my apiary. Now it has happened for many years that I did not get a single bunch of grapes, undamaged, from any vine in this arbor, and the other grape-growers in my neighborhood fared no better. Berries torn open were annually to be seen, and I have seen bees on _such_ berries often--not indeed by ‘myriads’ nor yet by thousands, or hundreds, nor even by fifties, but only here and there a solitary one quietly sipping of the extruding juice. I have killed hundreds of _hornets_ in the act of tearing open the berries, and thousands of wasps busy at the same work; but _I have never seen a bee so engaged_. But, what flies and bees are wholly incapable of doing, and what wasps and hornets do only in part and occasionally, _is really the work of the_ SPARROW, which, because its habits have been little observed or studied, continues to be held in high estimation in some districts. Even a small number of these birds can, in a few days, do exceedingly great injury in a vineyard, at the time when the ripening grapes are becoming mellow. They then peck open berry after berry, as though in sport, sip a little of the juice occasionally, and flitting away to some other cluster incessantly repeat the damaging process. I have witnessed this hundreds of times; and seen them do the work so effectually that, year after year, I have not obtained one undamaged cluster from my arbor.--This cunning sparrow knows, too, how to avoid traps and springes, and soon familiarizes himself with the most elaborate fantastic scarecrow set up _in terrorem_, acting apparently in derision and contempt of the baffled and mortified grape-grower.”

Forty years ago, an American ornithologist, speaking of this species of sparrow and the injury done by it to grain fields in Europe, said--“_Fortunately we are free from this pest on this side of the Atlantic._” Now we import them, and boast of it!

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CORRESPONDENCE OF THE BEE JOURNAL.

TYRONE, ONTARIO, July 16.--Bees are doing very well here this year. I have got forty pounds surplus honey from some of my hives already.--J. MCLAUGHLIN.

WASHINGTON HARBOR, WIS., July 16.--This has been the best honey season, thus far, seen by me. A second swarm hived on Tuesday June 21st, on Wednesday night the 29th, weighed twenty-five pounds, besides having yielded thirty-eight pounds ten ounces taken by honey machine in eight days. I had given the swarm seven old combs and one empty frame, placed it on the old stand, and removed the old stock to a new place. On the 25th and 26th, it gained twenty-one pounds six ounces in two days, on raspberry and clover blossoms. This is the best day’s work and week’s work I have noticed. The queen began to lay on Monday the 27th, so they had no brood to nurse.

The next fourteen days they lost four pounds each. Basswood began to bloom July 13th. One hive gained fifteen pounds in four days; and in the next ten days I expect my five hives to gain thirty to forty pounds each, which closes the honey season here. The last two years the hives lost more in weight from the 1st of August to the 1st of November, than in five months in the cellar to 1st of April.--H. D. MINER.

BORODINO, N. Y., July 16.--I think that you publish by far the best Bee Journal.

GANSEVOORT, N. Y., July 20.--I think the American Bee Journal worthy of every bee-keeper’s attention, whether he keeps one stand or a hundred.

I would like to learn from some more experienced bee-keepers than myself, the best way to set bees for summer; whether exposed to the sun, in the shade of trees, or under a shelter made of boards.

It has been very dry here all summer, and flowers have nearly all dried up. Bees have swarmed but little and have not stored much cap honey. Box hives are mostly used here, though there are some others of different kinds.--THOMAS PIERCE.

RICH VALLEY, MINN., July 20.--The season for bees has been fair thus far; but I do not think this location so well adapted to the business as most of the States south.--L. M. LINDLEY.

RIDGEWAY, MICH., July 21.--I have one hundred and thirty colonies in box hives, somewhat like T. B. Miner’s equilateral hive. I shall have about twenty hundred pounds of honey for sale this season.

I cannot learn that it would be wise for me to adopt the movable comb hive, as I have five hundred dollars invested in box hives, and have been successful with them. So far as I can learn I have the largest apiary in Michigan, and have perhaps, in the last thirteen years sold more surplus honey than any apiarian using box hives, or perhaps any other kind of hive. Honey sells for twenty to twenty-five cents per pound.--J. F. TEMPLE.

AUGUSTA, ME., July 22.--This is a very dry season with us. Bees will not give much surplus honey; and in some cases old stocks will not get honey enough to winter.--H. B. CONEY.

GEBHARTSBURG, PA., July 22.--This has been a remarkable honey season, and also for swarming. I practice artificial swarming, yet in spite of all precautions I got two natural swarms, and that too without the least preparation by the bees, for no queen cells had been started. This is contrary to the books and my previous experience.--W. BAKER.

HAMILTON, ILL., July 24.--No Bee Journal either on the old continent or the new, can vie with the American Bee Journal.--C. DADANT.

NIAGARA, ONTARIO, July 30.--We have had a good honey season, through June and part of July, from white clover; but I do not think bees are doing much now. I lost some honey for want of shade. The combs melted, though in double boxes.--F. G. NASH.

EXCELSIOR, MINN., July 30.--Bees have done very well here, until the middle of this month, the season having been an unusually fine one, up to that time. Since then, we have had a change of weather and bees are doing nothing. The season has been a very dry and hot one, thus indicating--not for the first time--that dry warm seasons are the best for honey in this latitude.--J. W. MURRAY.

EAST FAIRFIELD, OHIO.--Bees are doing very nicely here this year. I should like to see your valuable Journal have a wide circulation, and if it were carefully read, I think bee-keepers would generally do well.--J. HEUSTIS.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL., August 4.--Our pets have done nothing since 20th of June, but eat up what they saved before. The “heated term” has been unusually severe and long. We look for better things, now that the weather has changed and vegetation begins to revive. This morning one of my early June swarms (Italian) threw off a very large swarm. On examining the hive, I was not a little interested and surprised to find five beautiful young queens, evidently stretching their legs (my queens have legs) for the first time. Three went “where the woodbine twineth.” I had use for the other two. Is not the simultaneous hatching of so great a number unusual?--W. L. GROSS.

NORTH TUNBRIDGE, VT., August 7.--We have had a very great season here for honey, but not as much swarming as usual. My bees have given me a profit of twenty-four dollars per swarm, in box honey.--D. C. HUNT.

CLEVELAND, OHIO, August 8.--I think we have a very poor locality for bees--the land being too flat, wet, and cold. No honey in the white clover blossoms this year.--R. HONEY.

VIRDEN, ILLS., August 8.--We never had so good a season of white clover, in my recollection, as the past has been; but it has been so dry since that the bees have done nothing since the 1st of July. Our fall pasturage too will be short, on account of the drouth. Last year I got all my surplus honey after this time, mostly from Spanish needles and red clover. There will be very little of either this fall, consequently I do not expect much more surplus honey. I have increased my bees from twenty-five colonies to sixty-five.--J. L. PEABODY.

PAW PAW, MICH., August 8.--The ever welcome American Bee Journal was received as usual. It contains a variety of reading matter from all sources, and it sounds like glad tidings unto all people. I have only one fault to find--it should come on the first and fifteenth of each month. How can that desirable end be accomplished? Will not our brother bee-keepers co-operate to bring it about? Bees have done finely here, this season.--A. F. MOON.

RIPON, WIS., August 8.--The Journal comes to hand promptly every mouth, accept my thanks for the effort you make to furnish us with a first class paper.--R. DART.

TOWANDA, ILLS., August 9.--The season for honey in this section of the country has not been the best or the poorest. Bees on the prairies did not swarm much, and there was great complaint of their leaving for the timber. One man here found fourteen (14) bee trees in one grove. But in the timbered portion of the country, the bees swarmed wide and gathered the usual amount of honey, namely fifteen to twenty-five pounds per stand.

Increased attention is being given to the culture of bees here, and I hope I shall be able to send you a much larger list of subscribers for your _excellent_ Journal.

An accident occurred in the apiary of Mr. Cyrus Jones, in this township, that would probably come under the head of “Anger of Bees.” While his hired man with the team, was hauling some old lumber from the yard, the horses became frightened and ran directly among the bees, knocking over seven stands and becoming fastened for a short time in a cherry tree. The bees swarmed out not only from those stands that were run over; but from most of the others (there being some twenty stands in all) stinging the horses terribly. The horses became frantic, rearing and plunging, broke loose from the tree, and ran into the next lot, breaking the wagon badly. One of them died in about three hours, and the other in the course of the day. While they were fastened in the tree, one of the men in throwing water on the horses, to _cool_ I suppose the anger of the bees, lost his hat. The bees lighting on him stung his head and face so badly that his life was in danger. The horses were stung in their ears, nostrils, and bodies so badly that by taking a corn knife and scraping their sides, you could draw out thousands of stings. Mr. Jones estimates his loss at about five hundred (500) dollars. This accident occurred last spring. What would have been the best to do, in such a case?--S. C. WARE.

WENHAM, MASS., August 11.--The weather has been very dry and hot all summer; but during the last few days we have had plenty of rain, though the air is not cooler.--H. ALLEY.

LEXINGTON, KY., August 12.--The July number of the Journal failed to come. I began to fear you had ceased to publish the Journal, as I did not receive one for so long. _That_ I hope will never happen, as long as it is doing the good to the bee-keeping public, that it now is. Long life to you and it.--DR. J. DILLARD.

LISLE, N. Y., August 12.--As your correspondents commenced boasting early, I should like to hear from them again, to learn whether the drouth affected them as much as it has us, in this part of the country. I think bees never did better than they did during raspberry time. It then became so dry that they have not got much since, till now that they are working on buckwheat freely. From one double Langstroth hive we have taken seventeen full six pound boxes, and the bees are working in six more. They filled both hives themselves, except six frames that were transferred. I think this is doing very well, as it will make eighty pounds in frames more than they need to winter on. We are sure of thirty-six pounds more. We have a good many young swarms that have already over one hundred pounds of box honey taken off. I will give you, this fall, the total result. I think it will convince people that bee-keeping pays.--H. S. WELLS.

CAMPBELL’S CROSS, ONTARIO, August 12.--I have the first four volumes of American Bee Journal bound in two, and would not take five times their cost if I could not get them again. I would freely pay double to get them twice a month. It would pay to get them, if a person has only one hive, or no bees at all.

Bees have done well, in this section, this season. They swarmed two weeks earlier than usual. We have plenty of swarms and surplus honey. Second and even some third swarms will gather honey enough to winter on. My bees are all in frame hives. The Thomas hive is all the go in Ontario. My bees are nearly all Italians, bred from the stocks of J. H. Thomas, Brooklin, Ontario, and Henry Alley, Wenham, Mass.,--both of whom I could recommend, their stock of Italians being very pure and well marked.--H. LIPSETT.

GNADENHUTTEN, OHIO, August 15.--We have had a prosperous season, this summer, both for honey and swarms. The weather was good from the time the fruit trees blossomed until the close of the white clover blossoms. It is refreshing to the drooping spirit to have a season of plenty after such poor seasons as the previous two were. Our success would be better if we had some reliable plants to supply honey, after the white clover is past. That is now our main dependance, and when it is a partial failure our late swarms cannot gather sufficient store to last them over winter; and buckwheat is at best an uncertain source for honey.

As there is considerable rivalry among inventors about patent hives, and divers contrivances are recommended to bee-keepers as the _ne plus ultra_ of perfection, I will state that some years ago I invented a side-opening leaf hive, with a sliding bottom board. Either front or rear side is a door, through which the bottom board slides. At the opposite end of the hive from the door, in the side of the hive, is a frame or yoke, fastened to the sides of the bottom-board and reaching half way up the side of the hive. On top of said yoke are clasps fastened loosely to the yoke with wire rivets. These clasps hold the frames by means of wire hooks driven into the frames and hooking over a shoulder on top of the clasps. The clasps move sideways, and allow the frames to be moved sideways, like the leaves of a book, and also to be taken off. The part of the hive with a hook in, has a piece of wire driven in at the bottom, to serve as a pivot, and works in a gimlet hole in the bottom board. In operating with the bees in, the door is opened and the fastenings made by the bees are to be cut loose; then the bottom board with the frames is drawn out of the hive. It is perhaps as good a side-opening hive as any, with the additional good quality that there is no patent on it. Any one is at liberty to use the invention. For myself, I prefer top opening hives, as more convenient.--S. LUETHI.

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[For the American Bee Journal.]

Death of James T. Langstroth.

MR. EDITOR:--I desire to offer, through the medium of the American Bee Journal, a slight tribute of respect to the memory of JAMES T. LANGSTROTH, the only son of Rev. L. L. Langstroth, whose death was announced in the July number of the Journal.

Mr. James T. Langstroth was well known to most of the leading bee-keepers of the country, either personally, or through business correspondence relating to bee-culture, during the last ten years; and certainly no young man could have more completely won the confidence of all with whom he came in contact, than he has done, by his intelligence, modesty, strict integrity, promptness, candor, and perfect manliness in all his transactions. Aside from bee-culture, he took an active interest in, and was generally at the head of, all patriotic, charitable, or social organizations in his immediate neighborhood. In fact, he was the leading young man in the town in which he lived. But above all his other excellent qualities, stands, in my estimation, his unselfish and untiring devotion to his aged, infirm, and dependent parents. Next to the care of his own little family, his father’s, mother’s, and sister’s comfort, wants, and wishes, were uppermost in his mind. Although suffering many months from the insidious approach of consumption, yet fraternal and filial devotion nerved his wearied spirits to active labor, almost to the last day of his life. I saw him on his return home from his office for the last time, with glazed eye and haggard cheek, yet full of hope and plans for the future, after a few days of rest and recreation.--But his earthly career is ended, and that father’s only support is taken away. Who will take that son’s place? Who _should_ take his place, unless it be the bee-keepers of America? Brother bee-keepers, laying aside all prejudice, and all minor points of difference, and detracting nothing from any man’s merits, are we not indebted to the Rev. Mr. Langstroth, more than to any other person for a part of our success in our noble pursuit or pastime?

There is one point, I believe on which the bee-keepers of the country, and even all patentees of bee hives, of _whatever kind_, agree--namely, that Mr. Langstroth _introduced_ movable frame hives into this country. Admitting for a moment, that that was all he ever did for the benefit of bee-keepers, does not even that act deserve some compensation from our hands? I think it does. Again, Mr. Langstroth was among the very first, and but for an accident would have been the first to introduce into this country the Italian bee. He has imported them every year since, and has every year furnished the leading queen breeders of this country with their choicest queens to breed from. Do we owe him nothing for this? Again, he was the first to introduce into this country the Egyptian bee, the merits of which are not yet fully developed, but the importance of which will in time come to be duly appreciated. And, lastly Mr. Langstroth, was among the first to introduce to the notice of the bee-keepers of America, the invaluable Honey Extractor. Does he deserve nothing at our hands for this? Gentlemen, talk as you will, Mr. Langstroth has been the pioneer bee-keeper of this country for the last quarter of a century; and there is a fearful account against us, and in his favor, that I fear we shall not be able fully to pay. But we can do something. We can make him comfortable for the balance of his days, and still be vastly enriched ourselves through his labors.

If we are so indebted can we not, in part, liquidate that indebtedness _now_? Can we not make up our minds to send him, _at once_, some substantial token of our appreciation of his labors of a lifetime for the advancement of bee-culture? He and his family, and his son’s family now dependent on him, need all that is rightfully due to them. If you feel that you owe him five, ten, twenty, or a hundred dollars, don’t wait for somebody else to begin or to join with you; but send a check or a post-office order for the amount directly to his address. If you have honestly paid him his price for the right to use his invention, don’t let that entirely satisfy you. Ask yourself whether you have not made too good a bargain, and whether you ought not to restore to him, to-day, a part of your profits? Don’t stop to inquire whether Mr. Langstroth owns territory where you live, send him a five dollar or a ten dollar bill at once, and pay the rightful or legal owner of the territory, as soon as you find him out. You could better afford to pay five dollars royalty on every movable frame hive you use, than use the old box hive. This deferred payment, let us call it, made _now_ will do much good, and will give you a clear conscience, no matter whose patent you are using, for they are all modifications of the Langstroth hive, although they are not all infringements. Brother bee-keepers, don’t wait for each other to respond, but send at once to this address--Rev. L. L. Langstroth, Oxford, Butler County, Ohio; and may heaven prosper you for so doing.

R. BICKFORD.

_Seneca Falls, N. Y._, Aug. 1, 1870.

P. S.--I have written this without the consent or knowledge of Mr. Langstroth, or his family, simply because, knowing the circumstances, I felt it a duty and a privilege to speak--R. B.

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The Egyptian beehives are made of coal dust and clay, which being well blended together, the mixture is formed into a hollow cylinder about a span in diameter and from four to six feet high. This is dried in the sun, and becomes so hard that it may be handled at pleasure.--_Domestic Encyclopædia._

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Whoever intends to erect an apiary should purchase colonies towards the close of the year, and only such as are full of combs and stocked with a sufficient number of bees should be chosen. To ascertain the age of the hives, it should be remarked that the combs of the last season are white, while those of former years are dark yellow. Where the combs are black, the hive should be rejected, as too old and liable to the attack of vermin.--DR. WILLICH.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] More probably _new_ ones.--A DEVONSHIRE BEE-KEEPER.

[2] No, let us _not_ all _go west_, but rather let us have NOVICE _come east_--retaining his time-honored name the while.

What was the average annual yield of honey, per hive, in Novice’s locality, when he began to keep bees? What were his surroundings _then_, as regards bee pasturage? and what are they now? If improved, are they so proportionately to the increased quantity of honey obtained? Would anybody _then_ have believed it possible, by any means that could be devised, to secure, in any apiary, 6,162 pounds of surplus in four weeks, or five times four, from the area of bee pasturage within the range of the bees’ flight, taking the town of his residence as the centre?

Now, if we mistake not greatly, the locality in Pennsylvania, as described by Mr. T., furnishes quite as ample pasturage, _naturally_, as that visited by Novice’s bees. Probably an unprepossessed observer, noting appearances or indications in each, would give the Pennsylvania locality the preference; and, very likely, Novice himself, at the outset, had he been called on to choose, and been free to select, would have so decided. Whence then the difference in the present results? Let Novice come east, and we shall see. We do not propose that he shall emigrate hither _in propria personæ_; no, but that his beekeeping _spirit_ shall be imported. Let his mode of management be investigated, adopted, applied, and carried out in its spirit and to the letter. Then, if the result be not equally good, it will be early enough to attribute the shortcoming to some natural or climatic inferiority.--ED.

[3] The substance enclosed to us was so crushed and pulverized in the mail that we could not make out what it was, even with the aid of a microscope. At first view it seemed as if minute scales of wax were mingled with it, but none of it melted when exposed to heat. We presume it is of vegetable origin.

[4] We do not know how bees thrive in the part of Virginia referred to by our correspondent. Probably some of our subscribers in that section could supply the desired information. A large part of Virginia is unquestionably a first-rate bee country, and hardly second-rate in anything else.

What sort of crop to cultivate for early bee pasturage, in a climate as variable and uncertain as that which the writer describes, could only be ascertained by trial and experience. Alsike clover is only suited to a somewhat damp soil, otherwise in good condition. How far south or south-west it can be cultivated with advantage, for bees and cattle, is not yet known. We have no seed for sale--not dealing in seeds, bees, queens, or hives; but contenting ourselves with publishing the American Bee Journal, and striving to make that unsurpassed and unsurpassable.

[Transcriber’s Note:

Obvious printer errors corrected silently.

Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]