872 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLI<«AC. 



Dec. 29, 1904. 



reckoned upon as an average to be expected. Taking one 

 year with another there are good bee-keepers who probably 

 do not average more than 30 pounds of comb or 50 

 pounds of extracted honey. 



Of the "two small books" recommended to beginners, 

 the "A B C of Bee-Culture" contains some 500 pages — one 

 of the largest books on the subject. "The Blessed Bees" is 

 a work of fiction, and might well be replaced by one of the 

 standard works, as Langstroth, Cook, etc. 



Suabian Honigbrod. 



Good House-Keeping gives the following as a dish 

 from the fatherland. 



"Cream half a pound of butter with a heaping tablespoon 

 of lard, then add gradually in the order mentioned half a 

 cup of honey, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, two 

 teaspoons of Kirschwasser, one teaspoon of ground cinna- 

 mon, a heaping tablespoon of sugar, and the yolks of four 

 eggs ; blend these ingredients thoroughly together, beating 



Until very light, and then stir in sufficient sifted pastry flour 

 to form a stifY dough ; place this in a bowl covered with a 

 damp napkin in a very cold place for at least six hours be- 

 fore using. When ready to bake, place on the bread-board 

 that has been lightly floured, and roil out to the thickness 

 of a knife-blade ; cut with a fancy cutter into small stars,. 

 brush over with yolk of egg, sprinkle with chopped candied 

 orange peel and bake in quick oven. 



The great secret of success in these delicious little cakes- 

 is to have the dough verv cold and the oven hot. 



French Honey-Muffins. 



One and one-half pints ilour, one cup of honey, one- 

 half teaspoon salt, two teaspoons baking powder two table- 

 spoons butter, three eggs, and a little over one-half pint milk 

 or thin cream. Sift together flour, salt, and powder ; rub in 

 butter cold ; add beaten eggs, milk and honey. Mix smoothly 

 into batter as for pound cake ; about half fill sponge cake 

 tins, cold and fully greased, and bake bread in good, steady 

 oven for eight minutes. — Chicago Tribune. 



Send Questions either to ttie office of the American Bee Journal, or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Wintering Bees Outdoors. 



1. How will bees winter in chaff hives, outdoors, with 

 sticks over the combs, two or three thicknesses of cloth for 

 covering, over this a tray of five or six inches of chaff, with 

 coyer over all, and inch holes in the gables, the entrance 

 being ^xS inches? 



2. Would a high, tight board fenee on the north and west 

 bo a benefit if hives are in a bleak location ? New York. 



Answers : — 1. They ought to winter tiptop. 

 2. Most emphatically, yes. 



Wintering Bees in a Box. 



Last summer I purchased a swarm in a box something 

 like a cracker-box, and they are in it yet. It is chock-full 

 of comb, and I suppose honey, also, as I have not taken any 

 away from them. They are Italians. 



1. Will they need feeding this winter? 



2. Ought I to cover the box with anything? I have 

 them on a stand on the south side of an appletree. 



Kansas. 



Answers: — 1. If it was an early swarm there is not 

 much chance they will need feeding ; although it may be well 

 to be on the lookout next spring. 



2. Pile around the hive corn-stalks or sornething of the 

 kind so as to break the. force of the winds ; but leave the 

 entrance side well open so that the bees can fly out whenever 

 a warm day comes. If you want to take extra pains, before 

 placing the corn-stalks put old carpet or something of that 

 kind over the hive. 



*-•-• 



Honey Granulating In Bottles. 



1. I began the past season with two colonies, and they 

 did so well that I was advised to extract the honey from two 

 frames in each hive this fall, as there seemed to be more 

 honey in the hives than was necessary to carry the bees over 

 the winter. I did this, and the honey seemed to be of ex- 

 cellent quality, and I bottled and sealed it immediately, but I 

 find now that what I have in bottles that has not been dis- 

 turbed is one solid cake. What further should I have done 

 to it to put it in proper condition to keep? 



2. Is it well to hold on to this granulated honey until 

 another season, and then feed it to the bees? or is there any 

 way that it can be treated to put it in a condition to use? 



Massachusetts. 

 Answers : — 1. If you had heated the honey, before seal- 

 ing it, to something like 160 degrees, it might have remained 

 liquid ; yet 



2. It is perhaps about as well that j'ou did as you did, 

 for there is a possibility of spoiling the flavor by overheating, 

 and careful heating will now bring it back to the liquid state. 

 Put the bottles in a vessel of warm water, set on the back 

 of the stove, where it will not get very hot but will warm 

 slowly; all the better if it takes several days. You can alsO' 

 melt it without setting in water, but it takes more care. Of 

 course it will be all right for feeding next spring, thinning 

 it a little with water; but it will be all right for table use 

 any time it is melted. But are you sure you don't like it in 

 its present state? Try spreading it as it is on bread or biscuit. 



Drone-Coml) vs. Worker-Comb. 



1. If a hive of bees with one-tenth of the comb-drone, 

 produces 50 pounds of. comb honey, what would the same 

 colony produce if all the comb was worker-comb? 



California. 



Answer: — If the drone-comb is at the outside, and oc- 

 cupied all the time with honey, it would make little or no 

 difference. In the center of the brood-nest, occupied all the 

 time with brood, and the drones allowed to live till the close 

 of all gathering, instead of 50 pounds being stored there would 

 be — well, really, now, I don't know what there would be. 

 More than anything else for the sake of setting up a target 

 for sone one else to shoot at, I'll say there would be 70 pounds. 

 Now, some of you that know more about it, tell us what your 

 guess would be. 



Difference in Races of Bees— Hetnerington's Apiaries— 

 Milkweed. 



1. Is there any difference between the dift'erent races of 

 bees in their constitutional power to resist the ravages of 

 disease, such as foul brood, paralysis, etc. ? 



2. In what counties in 'V^irginia and in Nevv York State 

 were Capt. Hetherington's apiaries located? and which were 

 the more profitable, those in Virginia or those in New York? 



3. Do you consider an abundance of milkweed as being 

 of great value for honey, when growing near the bees? 



New Jersey. 

 Answers : — 1. Decide;d testimony comes from Australia, 

 from Germany, and from England, that Italians resist foul 

 brood much better than blacks. 



2. I don't know ; possibly some one else can tell us. 

 His home was in Otsego County, N. Y. 



3. It is hard to say anything very positively about it. 

 Either milkweed does not yield alike in different places, or 

 the different kinds differ in value, for all of the asclepias are 

 milkweeds. One of them, pleurisy-root, is highly praised by 

 James Heddon. 



