698 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 13, 1904. 



Send Questions either to the olKce of the American Bee Journal, or to Dr. C. C. Millbb, Marengo, 111. 



Perhaps Laying Workers— Separators No Hindrance. 



1. Mr. C. H. Fry, an old veteran at the " stiaging^ sweet- 

 ness ", relates a peculiar circumstance : Oueen-excluder 

 under extracting ciiamber. Queen-cell found on extracting- 

 frame. Do bees transport tiie larvK ? Did tiie queen go 

 tiirough tiie excluder? No otiier larva? found. 



2. Anotlier circumstance or query : More iioney lie 

 claims will be stored where no fences are used in this sec- 

 tion of the country. He claims a wager that a vast amount 

 more honey can be stored without, as the warmth can be 

 concentrated by the bees and kept for their use when needed. 

 What do you say ? Ohio. 



Answers. — 1. It might be the work of a laying worker. 

 2. It is generally believed that separators of any kind 

 make no appreciable difference in the crop. 



When to Clip Queens. 



When is the proper time to clip queens ? 



Arkansas. 



Answer. — First time you happen to see them after they 

 begin to lay. Then each spring, after bees begin gather- 

 ing, look through all colonies for queens that need clipping. 



LonsToneued Leather Colored Bees. 



I have some bees called the long-tongued leather-colored 

 bees. Are they Italians? If so, where did they get that 

 name? Arkansas. 



Answer. — Very likely Italians ; so-called because 

 brought from Italy. 



Robber-Fly or Bee-Killer. 



I am sending you a little box containing a bee and a 

 bee-hawk. Please tell me through the American Bee Jour- 

 nal what it is. Kansas. 



Answer.— It is a two-winged robber-fly. I don't know 

 enough to say whether it is Asilus missouriensis or one of 

 its near relatives, but coming from Kansas it may be the 

 Nebraska bee-killer, Promachus bastardi. 



Prodttcinsr comb Honey— Tupelo-fium. 



How do you produce comb honey ? Take up the hi<re in 

 the spring, and describe operations till the season closes. 



1. Say whether or not you use more than one super, 

 and, if you do, and could take off the unfinished sections 

 every 10 days, would you use only one super ? 



2. When you use more than one super do you let all sec- 

 tions stay on till the season closes? 



3. Do you think as much honey would be produced with 

 one super to the hive, and take honey (the finished) every 10 

 days ? I want your plan, please. 



4. What is the value of " tupelo-gum " as a honey-tree ? 



5. What do you think of two extracting supers for a 

 brood-chamber ? and when you put supers for comb honey 

 on alternate the supers, placing the bottom one — which 

 would have the most brood in it — next to the sections ? 

 There would be freer communication because of no honey 

 at top of frames. Mississippi. 



Answers. — Your question reminds me a little of a let- 

 ter I once got from a woman in Wisconsin, saying, " Please 

 give me your system of bee-keeping". If I had asked her, 

 " Please give me your system of housekeeping ", she might 

 have realized what she was asking. Exactly what you ask 

 I have already tried to answer in the book, " Forty Years 



Among the Bees", and there would hardly be room for all 

 that in this department. To your specific questions I am 

 glad to make answer : 



1. I don't think any experienced bee-keeper would be 

 willing to confine himself to one super, although some 

 advocate not more than two at a time. 



2. No. 



3. No. I think I would be a heavy loser if I should 

 limit myself to two, and sometimes four or more are none 

 too many. 



4. That tree is not found here, and I don't recall seeing 

 its value given. 



5. It would work all right, but might be no gain. 



The "Bidsom" Bee-Peeder. 



What is the advantage of the feeder described on page 

 588 over the Miller feeder ? Ihinois. 



Answer. — I don't know ; but I think the special advan- 

 tage claimed is that which is mentioned in two places : 

 First, where Mr. Boughter says, " the entire arrangement 

 is made bee-tight all around, allowing examination or re- 

 filling without disturbing the bees at all "; second, where 

 he says, " and you have a sine qua non ' Bidsom feeder', in 

 which the bees can get at the feed, but not at you while 

 looking after their feeding ". From this I suspect that Mr. 

 Boughter has the mistaken impression that the Miller 

 feeder can not be opened and filled without exposing the 

 bees. Possibly, however, there may be something I do not 

 fully understand in the case, and will be glad to have Mr. 

 Boughter tell us wherein the improvement lies. 



St. Louis Convention Delays Answers. 



i^ttending that St. Louis convention and looking 

 around a little at the big show has delayed no little replies 

 to some questions, and I ask the indulgence of the ques- 

 tioners. I'll try to answer your next questions very 

 promptly, and I'll promise not to go to St. Louis for the 

 next five years. C. C. Miller. 



The Quality of Qlucose. 



Bee-keepers who object to having glucose sold as honey, 

 or as something better than honey, are sometimes silenced 

 by being told that chemists pronounce glucose entirely 

 wholesome. So it is ; but that's pure glucose that the 

 chemists are talking about, and pure glucose isn't sold for 

 10 cents a pound. W. K. Morrison says in Gleanings : 



Good glucose, free from all impurities, and fit for table 

 purposes, is quoted at SO cents per pound in the catalog of 

 the second largest dealer in the world. The glucose we 

 hear so much about is artificial glucose — quite a different 

 thing altogether. It is a disagreeable compound, which no 

 one who values his life would eat knowingly. I am not 

 exaggerating at all when I write thus. Five years ago, in 

 Manchester, England, a number of persons lost their lives 

 by drinking beer containing only minute quantities of this 

 same glucose. Now, what would be the result of using it 

 in large quantities, as would be the case in using it as a 

 substitute for honey ? In the case of the beer the glucose 

 was converted into caramel, and then used to give " body " 

 to the beer. In the particular case I refer to, at least 30 

 persons lost their lives in a few weeks by this insidious 

 poison. It was by the merest chance the discovery was 

 made that the poison came from the beer. And this is the 

 principal use to which artificial gluctse is put. So beer- 

 drinkers and would-be honey-mixers cau take fair warning. 



