FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE. Eggs are worth thirty-three cents per dozen here. The hens are not laying nearly as many as they were at this time last year. Can any one tell the reason? Farmers ought to pay more attention to the hens. They do pay, and pay big if properly cared for. Give them hot feed in the morning, consisting of bran, corn meal, beef scraps, a little salt and a little cayenne pepper. Don’t make them drink ice water these cold days. Give them wheat and oats at noon, and whole corn at night. The warmer your house is the more profit you will reap. I don’t care whether your fowls are pure bloods or not, if you take good care of them they will give you eggs. A good neighbor of mine says that his pure Plymouth Rocks do not lay as many eggs as his common “old fashioned” fowls. Shall I raise a tempest among the breeders? G. G. A. HUDSON, N. H. [Illustration] THE APIARY. CORN-SILK PROTECTION. A correspondent of “Gleanings” writes: I winter on the summer stands, and pack them a little differently from most persons. I spread the combs so that eight or nine will fill same space occupied in summer by ten. Then placing sticks crosswise of the frames, to allow a passway for the bees, I spread a cloth above them, and pack on the top of this two or three inches of corn-silks. For packing, these are superior to anything I have yet seen or heard of. They are clean, and excellent non-conductors, and will more readily absorb the moisture than either chaff or saw-dust, and yet remain perfectly dry. They are easily collected by a boy when men are husking in the fields; and when taken off in the spring can be stored away for another winter. Knowing the value of them by experience, I hope that many of our brother bee-keepers will give them a fair trial. FEEDING BACK. The question of “feeding back” honey to bees was discussed at the Michigan State Convention at Flint. W. Z. Hutchinson had had a poor season; but as he had mentioned incidentally that he had practiced “feeding back,” it brought down upon him a shower of questions. In feeding back 1,000 pounds of extracted honey, he had received 800 pounds of comb honey. Had tiered up the cases of sections until they were three or four cases high. Had fed the honey as fast as they would take it. Looked the sections over about once a week, and removed the full ones. Some colonies did much better work than others. After the first trial, selected the best. No honey was coming in at the time of the feeding; did not weigh the hives; weighed only the sections and the amount. He had a friend who had fed back upon exactly the same plan, but his friend had not found it profitable. He thought that to know just how to feed back, at a profit, was not yet positively known.