Sept. 15, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



633 



ony happens to be near. Better leave in place of the re- 

 moved comb another containing a very little honey, or even 

 an empty comb, so the bees will tire themselves out on that 

 rather than to attack a neighboring colony. Better still to 

 be careful in the first place. 



Bee-Keeping- for Weak Patients. 



Nowadays the doctors are urging, as never before, that 

 sunshine and the open air is the thing for many of the sis- 

 ters who need toning up, and many a one is taking doses of 

 light and air as she would doses of any other medicine. 

 In many cases a doctor might do a worse thing than to 

 avoid mention of the curative power of those elements, but 

 quietly to manage to have his listless weak patients become 

 interested in keeping bees. 



Wives as Honey-Salesladies. 



Mr. A. Wakerell, speaking in the British Bee Journal 

 of selling honey, says : 



I may offer another little " tip " to bee-keepers who, 

 like myself, are married men, and which I have found to 

 answer admirably, viz.: giving my wife a little commission 

 on each pound of honey disposed of. In this way I sell a 

 great deal more honey than I otherwise should be able to do. 



Now, if Mr. Wakerell found profit in allowing his wife 

 a commission on sales, why not others ? It might be a good 

 thing for any of the sisters who are possessed of that some- 

 times very convenient piece of property — a husband — to 

 read to him gently, but persuasively, the foregoing item. 



Artificial Eggs, So-called. 



In connection with artificially-made comb hoifey is 

 mentioned in a recent copy of the American Bee Journal, 

 artificially made eggs. When this product was first placed 

 on the market we lived in Orange, N. J., and the so-called 

 egg-factory was, I think, in Newark, about five miles dis- 

 tant. Mother bought a package of the egg-powder and tried 

 it, and decided in her own mind that it was made of eggs, 

 pure and simple, dried and pulverized. She experimented 

 her our eggs, and with product could not be detected from 

 the other; it was identical in appearance and work. 



Clinton Co., N. Y. Frances EllEN Wheeler. 



Dried eggs, or eggs prepared in any way to preserve 

 their good qualities, are just as good and honest a product 

 as dried apples or canned peaches. There is nothing arti- 

 ficial in the case. 



I don't know exactly the place to which you refer in 

 this Journal, but if artificially-made eggs were mentioned, 

 it may have been suggested by a very bright article written 

 a good many years ago by Mr. S. F. Newman, of Ohio. It 

 was a burlesque — take-off — on the production of artificial 

 comb honey. 



Different materials were used to manufacture the dif- 

 ferent parts of the egg — carrots for example, for color- 

 ing the yolk — and the undertaking was so far successful 

 that the eggs were hatched out under the fostering care of 

 an old biddy ; but, alas, one of the ingredients was at fault, 

 and the poor little chicken came into this cold world utterly 

 devoid of feathers ! 



The idea was, probably, that this was as reasonable to 

 believe as the wild stories of artificially-made honey. 



Amerikanische Bienenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer, is 

 a bee-keeper's handbook of 138 pages, which is just what 

 our German friends will want. It is fully illustrated, and 

 neatly bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.00 ; or with the 

 American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.75. Address 

 all orders to this ofiice. 



[ Hasty's Afterthoughts } 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



HONEY-ADULTERATORS AS MEMBERS. 



Good plan not to take the adulterators of honey into 



membership — only a door should be left unlocked, that 



" While the lamp holds out to burn 

 The vilest sinner may return." 



Also, lots of serviceable people have a mean prejudice that 



can't be got out of them. Bad plan to make it possible for 



one or two such to keep out a desirable candidate. This 



anent the Constitution on page 536. 



LESS SWARMING THIS SEASON. 



Edwin Bevins seems to have found swarming bad this 

 season, but not so bad as last. Same here. Page 537. 



ORIGIN OF ALFALFA. 



If the word "alfalfa" is Arabic, and came to us 

 through the Spanish Americans, it would rather indicate 

 that the plant is a native of western Asia. Same plant is 

 not the same (Irish bull !) when it comes to us through 

 Europe under the name of Lucerne. In Europe it has had 

 long evolution under different influences. Page 541. 



BETTER-FLAVORED HONEY DEMANDED. 



And it is a fine, high flavor that we must be having in 

 honey, else a slump in the honey market. Mr. R. A. Bur- 

 nett strongly intimates that. Better then that we " read, 

 mark and.inwardly digest "—and let the perfectly willing 

 bee inwardly digest that extracted honey some more. Page 

 547. 



BEES OF NOW AND OF 40 YEARS AGO. 



J. E. Crane drops the hint that perhaps the Italian bee 

 is not as vigorous as it used to be 40 years ago. Worth 

 thinking of. But don't jump to that conclusion too nimbly. 

 Page 548. 



NUMBER OF FRAMES PREFERRED IN A HIVE. 



" Once more into the breach " the 8 frame hive and the 

 10-frame hive go against each other. Nine experts are for 

 the former and seven for the latter. Also seven contrive to 

 get themselves out of count one way or another (get killed), 

 while one wants 12, and one wants 9 frames. Page 549. 



METHODS OF QUEEN-REARING— CLIPPING QUEENS. 



At times perhaps we get into the condition of the people 

 at Athens, who lived on purpose to get hold of something 

 new. A new queen-rearing method then should certainly 

 make us prick up our ears— methods in print so few. How 

 about the Broderick method ? Wish I was more capable of 

 judging. The main points about it seem to be two in num- 

 ber. Whether it is original with Mr. B. to rear queens only 

 from the second occupants of the cells, I am not able to say. 

 That's not very important to the rest of us if the thing it- 

 self is of a high order of importance— as apparently it may 

 be. Reasonable that the first occupant may suffer more or 

 less neglect at first— and turn out something else than the 

 very best queen on account of it. But what /oizVn't' assur- 

 ance have we that the second occupant will never be con- 

 temptuously poked around in the cell at first introduction ? 



But the other fundamental point— my, what a lot of 

 kicking it's going to cause among the clippers to assume 

 that a strong colony in May always starts supersedure cells 

 when you clip their queen I That, if so, is a very sore 

 charge against clipping as a practice. And about two- 



