Sept. 19, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



60i 



away and then shake oflf the bees. I think a better way is to 

 put the hive on top of another colony which is not strong 

 enough for the super. In a few days the bees will kill off the 

 laying workers. Yon can then return the hive to its stand 

 and introduce a queen. 



II. Kauchfuss — That plan is a good one, but one thing was 

 omitted. A sheet of paper with a hole in it should be placed 

 between the two hives, to keep them from fighting. Then the 

 two hives might be left together. Some will say that makes 

 one less colony. 15ut if you want increase, you can raise up 

 some brood into it from below, move it, and introduce a queen. 



Mr. Dudley — I forgot to say that 1 use the paper in unit- 

 ing. As to having one less colony, I consider that as soon as 

 laying workers are found, that is a lost colony. 



Mr. Lytic — It is wise to supersede every queen that will 

 not give as much proflt as the average. It is not wise to 

 supersede any queen that has given good satisfaction. Two 

 ((ueens that I received by mail I introduced with tobacco 

 smoke. The way to do is to smoke thoroughly until every 

 bee in the hive has been reached, then open the hive and let 

 them run in. The theory is that the inside bees are stupefied, 

 including the old queen, while the new queen is vigorous, and 

 hence overcomes her rival when they meet. In one instance I 

 found the old queen lying outside of the entrance a few min- 

 utes after the new one was introduced. 



Mr. Kauchfuss — Is there not danger of robbing when this 

 is done outside of the flow ? 



Mr. Lytic — There is, and in three cases in which I did so 

 after the flow, I reduced the entrance to a one-bee space. 



Mr. Harris — I tried introducing six queens with tobacco 

 smoke, and lost five. I used tobacco stems, and gave it to the 

 bees vigorously, and let the queens run in. Two or three 

 days afterwards they were not there. 



Mr. Kruger — I use a cloth dipped in peppermint and 

 water, and laid over the frames. 1 have never lost one queen. 



Mr. Rhodes — Has any one tried smoking with cloths 

 soaked in saltpeter water, and dried? 



H. Kauchfuss — Yes, that practice is common in Germany, 

 and has long been known. It stupefies the bees so they drop 

 ofl' the combs. There is another use of those salt-peter rags 

 that I will call attention to, though it is not connected with 

 the subject. They are ,just the thing to light asinoker with, 

 since they do not go out after being once lighted. A small 

 piece is sufficient to start a fire. 



VALUE OF FREliUENT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN BEE-KEEPERS. 



Mr. Foster — I find that I secure my best points in bee- 

 keeping by button. holing my bee-keeping acquaintances. It 

 also is of value in one's own neighborhood, especially when 

 foul brood is about. In this way I discovered and got rid of 

 a bad case that otherwise would have been a menace to my 

 bees. Free communication with reference to foul brood has 

 such a value that it almost pays one to carry it on as mission- 

 ary work. 



Mr. Martin — I moved 100 or more colonies into a new 

 locality, where I had no time to look around. I noticed they 

 were gathering honey very early, investigated, and found a 

 neighbor's colony being robbed that had foul brood. In 

 another case I found a hive s<^t out in which bees had died 

 from foul brood, and bees working on it, though mine had not 

 yet found it. I have had several such experiences, and have, 

 therefore, made it a point to have freciuent communication 

 with my neighbors, whether it is very welcome or not. 



Mr. Collins — I found a foul-broody (colony once in a school- 

 house, where the bees had been for five years. 



Mr. Honnelt then gave two instances, mentioning the 

 names, of foul brood being moved into his neighborhood in 

 former years, and added : 



Mr. Honnett — This convention also proves the value of 

 free communication, for many of us have ideas that we luc 

 not able to express until they are brought out by discussion. 



Mr. Foster — A friend of mine, who is slow to accept i;iw 

 ideas, came to me once and said he had lost 40 or 50 swarms 

 by absconding. On investigating I found that he had hived 

 his swarms in hives with little ventilation, and set most of 

 them in the hot sun without shade-boards. Those set in the 

 shade stayed. I gave him the needed instruction, which com- 

 munication was probably of value to him in tlu^ futures — 

 Annual Report of the Colorodo Hoard of Horticulture, lt(O0. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song' in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. 



i ^ The Afterthought. ^ \ 



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

 By e. B. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



THE GOLDEN BEES. 



It's a very singular state of things, to say the very least, 

 which Mr. Dooliltle narrates on page 601. A leading breeder 

 of golden bees, he has never, he claims, pushed them in any 

 way, and never even advertised them ! One can hardly avoid 

 saying that if they are desirable bees better say so — "in sea- 

 son and out of season," as the phrase runs — in advertisements 

 and out of the same. On the other hand, if they are unde- 

 sirable bees, sphynx-like silence while selling them by hun- 

 dreds looks too much like the spider-and-fly sort of ethics. 



KXTRACTING IN HOT WEATHER. 



When it gets to 110 degrees in the shade you must not 

 extract unless combs are wired in for keeps. Arizona con- 

 tributes this slice of wisdom ; and we can believe it very easily. 

 Most of us would prefer the hammock to the extractor at 

 those figures. Page 5oT. 



REL.\TION BETWEEN SWARMING AND HONEY-rt.OW. 



I take considerable interest in the experience of Wm. W. 

 Case, page 507, that a heavy run of honey coming on sud- 

 denly stops swarming. At my yard this year swarming was 

 violent, and stopped very suddenly : but my mind did not con- 

 jiect this with any change in the honey-flow. Perhaps if I 

 had watched the honey-flow more minutely some relation 

 between flow and swarming would have appeared. 



A NEW BEE-SOCIETr SUGGESTED. 



Mr. Bechly, we shall need a society for preventing cruelty 

 to bees if you do not extemporize some sort of shade whet 

 the thermometer goes up to lOy degrees. The " Light Brig- 

 ade" were hardly more worthy of fame than those bees that 

 hung out during the cooler portions of the torrid days, and 

 marched "into the gates of hell," when it got its hottest, to 

 save their brood by watering and fanning — if that's the way 

 they did it. Page 508. 



HIVING SWARMS WITH WEAK COLONIKS. 



As to hiving in swarms with weak colonies, I am still 

 undecided as to whether it is worth while or not. Tends 

 towards having " all colonies strong;" but don't believe I'd 

 practice it very much if I was sure of an abundant supply of 

 hives ahead. Saving the queen of the weak colony, and giv- 

 ing her immediately to the colony that gave the swarm, is a 

 kink which will bear thinking of. If she was to blame for 

 her colony's being weak, the other colony would better rear 

 their own. In the much more common cases of bad food or 

 bad keeper, it looks good practice— provided experience does 

 not find it originating a second series of swarms. Page 507. 



SPLINTS vs. WIRE FOR FOUNDATION. 



Splints standing in saw-kerfs at top and bottom, eh? 

 Little by little a method gets the additional touches it needs to 

 make it complete. Who knows but what wire for staying 

 foundation will eventually take a back seat and let splints see 

 the play from the front row? Page oOiJ. 



PAPER .SACKS FOR HOLDING HONEY. 



I doubt if Mr. Davenport's tombstone will say anything 

 about his adopting the paper sactk to the carriage of honey. 

 The little packages " will come to grief" at the hands of the 

 hired girl, and the big ones at the hands of the freight 

 handler, methinks. If everybody read and obeyed directions 

 it might he different. Page 5 17. 



UKNiiKitixG WAX wrrii niiiNV watku. 



For rendering wax, the inside fitting sieve of .\driau 

 Getaz, to boil the wax up into, looks a good thing. And to 

 increase fivefold the rising force of wax is (|uite a brilliant 

 thought. Good boy— but! Even a good boy sometimes has 

 to be sent back to his seat to finisli a problem. Will brine 

 take hold of dirty refuse and break it up as well as soft 

 water? The two are quite different fluids, chemically. Pos- 

 sible that brine may be the better of the two, but the proba- 

 bility looks strongly the other way. Perhaps the salt must be 

 added after the soft water has done its work. Boiling brine 



