106 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 11, 19C4. 



market is liable to get its back up and be hostile without 

 much reason except the selfish one. American pork in Ger- 

 many, and American beef in England, quickly found that 

 out. If prime basswood honey were exported to a country 

 having none, and traders combined to raise a hue and cry 

 against the taste of it, they would probably succeed in driv- 

 ing it out. 



If we will allow it to be, our sense of taste is easily 

 moved, and easily placated in its first protests. Most of the 

 multitude of highly-praised tropical fruits don't taste good 

 till one learns to like them. Australians have learned to 

 like eucalyptus honey — while certain other folks viciously 

 won't try to learn. As for the California sample, perchance 

 it was more or less mixed with something better. (Did we 

 not, years agone, have samples of orange honey similarly 

 too good ?) Certainly, different species are liable to vary 

 a good deal in flavor ; and different samples of the same 

 species will vary to a less degree. The prime probability 

 is, however, that all will have a family likeness of flavor, 

 just as fall flowers of the great order Compositje do. More 

 witnesses are desirable, and perhaps more careful discrimi- 

 nation. Page 808. 



QUEENS LAYING IN OUEBN CELLS— BEES MOVING EGGS. 



Thomas Chantry, page 811, is a desirable witness on 

 another subject still needing testimony. Has often seen 

 queens lay in cell-cups — and has owned three queens that 

 were excellent at the business of laying in cells put in on a 

 stick. 



Yes, and up bobs the question again whether bees ever 

 move eggs from one cell to another. Very hard job for bee 

 (or anybody else) to get an egg loose without breaking it, 

 and ditto to get it fast again as it should be in another cell. 

 L/ast time the matter was threshed over I believe the claim 

 was that bees wait till the egg hatches out and then move 

 the larva — a very much easier job. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 



) 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or lo Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Full Sheets of Foundation in Sections. 



1. Would jou advise using full sheets of foundation in sections, 

 and have it fastened at the top and bottom* 



2. Do you think it would stretch sufHciently to make it sag? 



Illinois. 

 Answers. — I. No. 



2. Yes. But you can succeed liy putting in a liottom starter ;V 

 deep with I4 inch space lietween it auj the top starter. 



Uniting Colonies— Cocklefierry— Dead Brood. 



1. Can I unite 2 or more colonies successfully by using a board 

 containing 3 or more Porter bue-escapes placed between the hives 

 whose colonies are to be united (after removing bottom-board and 

 cover of said hives), providing I remove one of the queens? Would 5 

 or ti p. m. be the bast lirae 10 test the same? 



2. Is the cockle, or cockleberry, bush recognized as a honey-plant? 

 Late in October, 1903, oneof my culonies. which was very strong, be- 

 gan to hang out on the sides aud frunt of the hive. At hist I thought 

 they were fixing to swarm, but 1 could tind nr> queen-cells, but the 

 brood-frames were filled wiih honey. I then decided they wanted 

 more room, but thought it was too late to put on a shallow super,. butj 

 put it on as an experiment, with full sheeis of foundation, aud to my 

 surprise they filled it with honey in about 10 daj6. I then became 



anxious to know where the honey came from, when I found thousands 

 of bees hard at work on the young cockleberry bushes. The honey is 

 light in color and of very nice flavor. 



3. My queens have been laying all winter, and I notice the bees 

 carrying out dead brood to a small extent in the morning, their bodies 

 seeming to have been crushed or gnawed. Can their death be caused 

 by occasional cold snaps? The thermometer has never been lower 

 than 21 degrees above zero, and only for about 2 hours at a time, the 

 average cold being about 3.5 of 40 degrees above, and I always contract 

 the hive-entrances when I expect a freeze. Louisiana. 



Answers. — 1. It would probably prove successful in most cases; 

 and in cases where troulile was likely to arise there would be some ad- 

 vantage in operating in the evening, as at that time robber-bees would 

 not be so likely to stir up strife. 



2. I know nothing about the plant, but you have given pretty 

 good testimony in favor of its being a good honey-plant. 



3. Doubtful about the trouble being caused by cold. May it not 

 be the work of the wax- worm i 



Fastening Full Sheets in Sections-Candied Comb 

 Honey. 



1. In putting in full foundation in sections and frames, should it 

 come clear out to the edge, or should there lie a space? 



2. What do you do with comb when it is full of candied honey ? 



SoDTH Dakota. 



Answers.— 1. It is impracticable to put it in without a small 

 space, say 1-16 inch at each side. 



2. Meltit carefully, and take off the cake of wax when cold. 



Queen-Rearing- Curing Foul Brood— Spring Feed- 

 ing, Etc. 



1. Which is the best method of queen-rearing, Alley, Doolittle, or 

 Swarthraore? 



2. Will George E. Hinckley's method of spraying the bottom- 

 board, cure foul and black brood? This was described on page 825 

 (1903). 



3. Can nuclei be formed by dequeening the colonies you want to 

 divide, dividing them aud inserting a sealed queen-cell in each 

 nucleus? If so, how long should the colony be queenlees before at- 

 tempting to divide? 



4. Do you recommend spring feeding, by the Boardman method, 

 described on page 147 of A B C of Bee-Culture? 



5. How do you introduce queens with water? 



6. How much Light Brood foundation will ittakeforSLangstroth 

 frames? 



7. Will eucalyptus grow here in southwest Texas. Texas. 



Answers. — 1. Alley's is best for Alley, Doolittle's for Doolittle, 

 and so on. I prefer something a little different from either, as I have 

 described in " Forty Years Among the Bees." 



2. The statement of a foul-brood inspector, that he has succeeded 

 with such treatment, gives some ground for hope that it may be suc- 

 cessful. 



3. Y'es, divide two or three days after the removal of queen, giv- 

 ing cells at the same time. 



4. Mr. Boardman is excellent authority, but it may not succeed 

 with all as it does with him. 



5. Simply hold the queen under water until she nearly or entirely 

 ceases to struggle, and then put her on a top-bar in the queenless 

 colony. 



6. About 14 ounces. 



7. I don't know; it's worth trying. 



"Thin" Foundation for Bottom Starters. 



What grade of super foundation do you use for bottom starters in 

 sections? Will the extra thin do? California. 



Answer. — I use thin super foundation for both upper and lower 

 starters. I'm afraid extra thin might toppleover. Even if it did not, 

 I prefer thin to the extra thin. The latter is too likely to be gnawed 

 by the bees at any time when honey is not coming in ; and at least in 

 my locality there may occur even in the best seasons one or more days 

 when bees gather nothing. 



j ^^^^ Weiss' Foundation ^^^^ I 



y Is truaranteed to stand at the head for quality and worlsmanship, as it is made by ttie latest K 



}» process sheeting, and purifying wax, and will defy competitors in its .[uality and purltv. », 



\ Send for Sample and Catalog, and be your own judge. WORKING WAX A SPECIALTY. AS 



J» 1' rieod Bee keeper, now IS .he time for von to send in your wa.x and have it worked into \^ 



\ Foundation. HIGHEST PRICES PAID FOR BEESWAX Cash, 32c; trade, 33c. Impure wa.'v B 



Jl not accepted. A full line of Bbb-SUHfLlB '. 1^ 



^ AtGUST HEISS, Greenville, Wis. ^ 



iPlepse mention Bee Journal wben wntiii%. 



A Cold Winter for Bees. 



I do not believe 25 percent of the bees will 

 winter and spring within 50 miles of here. 

 A few years ago they filled up with honey- 

 dew, and I lost 180 out of 185 colonies. That 

 year we put them in the cellar. This year we 



