THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



239 



heir honey snowy white, and have, so 

 far, proved the equal of the Italians. 

 Mr. Wood expects to stock 100 colonies 

 with Caucasians this fall. I give 

 these items, as I am willing that both 

 sides of the story shall be told regard- 

 ing the Caucasians. 



Italian bees are, I believe, more 

 peaceably inclined to their fellows, as 

 well as to man, than is the case with 

 hybrids, so-called. There is no colony 

 more difficult to introduce a queen to 

 than is a hybrid colony, and Dr. C. C. 

 Miller tells in Gleanings of his expe- 

 rience in placing a weak colon}' over a 

 strong one last spring, and the weak 

 colony, queen and all, was slaughtered. 

 Then, very pertinently, he asks " was 

 it the hybrid blood?" Editor Root 

 says "yes," and I am inclined to 

 agree with him. As a rule, Italian 

 colonies can be united with very little 

 quarreling, which is not usually the 

 case with hybrids. I tried uniting two 

 hybrid colonies in an out-apiary this 

 spring, and the result was a loss by 

 fighting that equaled one of the col- 

 onies. In the home-3'ard, where all 

 are Italians, I exchanged places with 

 at least 50 colonies, putting weak col- 

 onies in the place of strong ones, to 

 even them up, and there was not a par- 

 ticle of fighting, and not a queen was 

 killed. 



Tin Rabbets are something for which 

 I could never see the slightest use, and 

 Mr. J. E. Crane says, in Gleanings, 

 that he finds the space back of them so 

 filled with propolis as to make of th.m 

 a nuisance. Dr. Miller agrees, but 

 says that with the right kind of a tool 

 it does not take long to clean out the 

 little troughs, and, until the)' ai*? filled, 

 the frames are much easier to handle 

 on account of the tin rests. 1 will 

 admit that, with tin rests the frames 

 are more easily pried loose, but here 

 is the point : After frames have been 

 in use a few months, they must be 



pried loose before they can be handled, 

 regardless of how they are supported, 

 but the antomit of strength needed to 

 loosen them is not very great. It re- 

 quires no more time, and no more appfe- 

 ci ad/e eflort, to loosen frames supported 

 upon plain wooden rabbets than it does 

 those on tin rabbets, hence, I see no 

 gain in using the latter. To me, tin 

 rabbets are in the samecatagory with, 

 dovetailed corners, Hoffman frames, 

 self-spaced frames, and all such use- 

 less paraphanalia that costs money and 

 brings nothing in return. 



*Hm«»»j^»^*«'» 



The Michigan State Association. 

 Join the Association now, and it will 

 help you sell your honey. The Asso- 

 ciation issues, annually, a booklet giv- 

 ing the names and addresses of the mem- 

 bers, and the amount and kind of honey 

 that they have for sale. This report is 

 mailed to honey dealers and consum- 

 ers all over the country. This booklet 

 is to be issued now very soon; join now, 

 and your name will appear in the com- 

 ing issue. The Association holds an 

 annual convention , usually in Febru- 

 ary, where you can meet bee-keepers 

 of State and National reputation. The 

 purpose of the Association is to for- 

 ward the interests of its members in 

 every possible manner. Send one dol- 

 lar to Elmore M. Hunt, Bell Branch, 

 Mich., and it will make you a member 

 for one year. 



«^«jC«.»^*'«.^H. X 



How Shall we Build a Cheap Cellar ? 



My brother and myself will have 

 ti. oe bee cellars to juild this fall in 

 NoiJv.rn Micn'^an, and any hints as 

 to their constru' 'ion will be mort than 

 welcome. 



At each apiar) there is a sandy hill- 

 side nearby, which wul allow the 

 building of a cellar in such a mam '^r 

 th'it no lairs will be necessary — so 

 t ia!- tiie bottom of the cellai will be 

 level with the outside g'-ojnd ".1 on 

 enc o' '' :j It 



