262 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 7, 1904. 



honey will gain moisture from the air, and below which 

 honey will yield water to the air. I think that this point 

 ranges near 60 percent of humidity. I have not proved it. 



It will be observed that the honey weighed the most on 

 the 30th day, when it weighed 7.045 grams, a gain of over 

 2-S, or about 41 percent. After it had reached this weight I 

 found difficulty in keeping the air sufficiently moist to per- 

 mit the honey to hold that weight. This suggests that 

 honey as it gains water becomes less deliquescent, and 

 should give up water though the humidity is over 60 percent, 

 say. 



Practically it makes no difference to the bee-keeper 

 whether the honey actually takes in water or not, but it does 

 mean much to the bee-keeper to keep well in mind that 

 honey and air should have a water-tight, and air-tight, par- 

 tition between them. 



Grams 



Weight at the etart 5.0000 



" " close of 1 day 4.9S 



" " " " 2 days 4.96 



" " " " 3 " 4.9465 



" " " 4 '■ .. 4.935 



" " " 5 " 4.943 



" " •' " T " 4.962 



" " " " 8 " 4.975 



'• " " 9 " 4.995 



" " " lU " 5.016 



" " " " 11 " 5.005 



' " 12 " 5.11 



" " " " 15 " 5.125 



" " " 16 " 5.262 



" " "17 " 5.457 



" 'i " 18 " 5.677 



" " " 19* " 6.042 



" " " 23 " 5.735 



" " " " 24 " 6.053 



" " " '• 25 " 6.32 



" " "26 " 6.545 



" " " " 29 " 6.795 



" " "30 " 7.045 



" " "31 " 6.86 



" " " 32 " 6.&37 



" " " 31 " 6.98 



Calcium chloride placed in bell-glass. 



Grams 



Weight at close of 4 days 5.253 



" " " " 5 " 5.137 



" " " " 6 " 5.035 



" " " " 9 " 4.99T3 



*Taken sick at this time. New London Co., Conn. 



Use of Separators in Section Honey, Etc. 



BY B. V. PAGAN. 



MR. Wm. M. Whitney, whose communications I always 

 read with interest, in his article on page 198 enter- 

 tains the idea that it is better not to use separators. 



He argues that because brood-combs straight as a board 

 are easily produced, the same results should follow with sec- 

 tions without separators. So they will, in every case, if sec- 

 tions, like brood-combs are filled with brood. That's not 

 what sections are for. 



Give him, he says, certain things, among them a full 

 force of good workers, a good flow of nectar, and some one 

 else can use the separator. If Mr. Whitney always has 

 these he is specially favored, and may dispense with separa- 

 tors. Management has much to do with the strength of 

 colonies, but the best we can do most of us do not always 

 have colonies of the same strength, and it sometimes hap- 

 pens that for some reason a colony working on sections no 

 longer has " a full force of good workers." Still, we might 

 get along without separators so far as that is concerned. 



But "a good flow of nectar" during the whole of the 

 time sections are on is a thing not within the control of the 

 bee-keeper, and probably few bee-keepers can rely on a 

 thing of that kind one year after another. Often a lull 

 comes right in the flush of a flow, and after a few days the 

 flow is on again, and at such times if there are no separators 

 there is likely to be some bulging of sections. 



However it may be with Mr. Whitney, the fact remains 

 that a large number of bee-keepers, men of much experi- 

 ence, who are in it for the dollars, and wouldn't use separa- 

 tors if it didn't pay, say they can not dispense with them. 

 They are probably quite willing to be the " some one else " 

 that Mr. Whitney says can use the separator. 



SIZB OF QUEKN-CELL OPENING BEFORE RECEIVING THE EGG, 



On page 199, Mr. Atwater suggests that "queen-cells, 

 just before being supplied with an egg, are always con- 

 tracted at the mouth to about the size of a worker-cell." I 

 think the bees will not support that view, Mr. Atwater, 

 about a third of an inch being probably the diameter 

 you'll find. But I suspect that if you ask a queen she'll tell 

 you that the shallowness of the cell makes up for the width, 

 and that she's just as much cramped to lay in a shallow 

 queen-cell as in a worker-cell. 



RBLIQUEFYING JARS OF HONEY — RENDERING BEESWAX. 



There must be a leaky spot in our good Afterthiuker's 

 memory. He speaks of " reliquefying jars by dry heat 

 without destroying labels," as if it were a new thing. Page 

 200. 



Mr. Hasty, in speaking of wax-pressing, on the same 

 page, has evidently in mind his experience with methods 

 other than the German wax press, when he speaks of the 

 value of the several diggings over, and the danger of leaving 

 wax boiling on the stove. I feel sure that a man of his 

 good judgment would not give several diggings to a batch 

 of stuff in such a wax-press, and I have serious doubts 

 whether he would give even one. Neither would he find 

 there was anything dangerous in going off and leaving the 

 machine to itself all day long, unless the water should all 

 boil out. 



FLY OR DRONE GATHERING POLLEN. 



A. Y. Baldwin, page 203, wishes he was a Mr. Hasty. 

 Was he not a bit hasty when saying what he did at that 

 very time? Because there is a fly that looks very like a 

 drone, does that warrant him in saying that the insect 

 Editor Freyhoff saw gathering pollen was one of those flies 7 

 Editor Freyhoff is not the ignoramus that Mr. Baldwin sup- 

 poses him to be. Would it better the case any if Mr. Frey- 

 hofl" had said it was a fly ? Did Mr. Baldwin ever see a fly 

 of that kind, or a fly of any kind, busy at work gathering 

 pollen ? 



[ Convention Proceedings ] 



Report of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Convention 

 Held in Trenton, Dec. 1, 2, and 3, 1903. 



BY MORLEY PKTTIT. 



(Continued from page 24b ) 

 Next on the program was the question-box, taken up by 

 Mr. Morley Pettit, as follows : 



KEEPING POLLEN OUT OF SECTIONS. 



" How can we keep pollen out of the sections ?" 



Mr. Pettit — In hiving swarms on starters, use starters 

 and one comb to catch the pollen, also a queen-excluder. 



Mr. Sibbald — Would you not have bees start more in 

 the lower story by using combs ? 



Mr. Pettit — I have not had that trouble to any great ex- 

 tent. Of course, this is a matter of locality. 



Mr. Sibbald — They build more drone-comb. 



Mr. Pettit — Yes, that is the objection which we have 

 been unable to overcome. 



Mr. Gemmill — Limit the number of starters. 



SEPARATING PROPOLIS FROM BEESWAX. 



" When melting up beeswax how do you separate the 

 propolis?" 



Mr. Pettit — The propolis should be kept separate. I 

 know of no other way. 



Mr. Hall — The propolis and pollen will settle out of the 

 beeswax when it is melted up. 



" Has any one experience in using paraffin in making 

 comb foundation ?" 



Mr. Pettit — I have had no experience. 



Mr. Brown — It was sent to me as a sample used in 

 Europe. 



Mr. Lowey — I had some adulterated with it, and I want 

 no more. I put it in sections, and it would not do. 



Mr. Newton — Two years ago I received a lot of wax 



