THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



345 



short pieces tlie wedges did not fall out, 

 so Mr. Anthony now cuts all his wedges 

 in three pieces, using but two for each 

 frame, starting about three-fourths of 

 an inch from each end, and the trouble 

 of falling foundation is done away with. 

 Let us extend a vote of thanks to the 

 puppy. 



A Visit to The A. I. Root Co, 



If the past poor season has been the 

 means of dampening your enthusiasm, 

 one of the best tonics that I can ad- 

 vise is to take a trip to the plant of the 

 A. I. Root Co. When you see, as I 

 did recently, one pile of 10,000,000 sec- 

 tions crated for shipment, about $40,000 

 worth of lumber piled up under sheds 

 where it has been curing, and which 

 will all be used up in a few months in 

 the manufacture of bee-supplies, you 

 will realize that there is something af- 

 ter all in the bee-business, and will go 

 home determined not to let one bad 

 season put you on the shelf. 



A walk through their offices, plant 

 and grounds is certainly an inspiration. 

 And, if you will keep your eyes open 

 you will get some pointers, too. For 

 instance, did you know of the "crack 

 test" for beeswax ? Take a cake of 

 pure beeswax, break it in two, and you 

 will notice that it is all flaky where the 

 break occurs. This is a good test of its 

 purity. Another thing I learned while 

 there was that wax must "cure" before 

 being made into foundation, in order 

 that the latter will not be cloudy. Great 

 piles of sheated wax was piled up 

 awaiting a sufficient "curing"' before be- 

 ing put through the Weed wax-machine. 

 This "curing" insures its clearness after 

 being made into foundation. 



I certainly enjoyed my visit, and went 

 away with added enthusiasm. I only 

 wish space would permit me to tell you 

 of all the things [ saw, but the best 

 plan is for you to go down and 'see for 

 vourself." 



Marking Queens. 



In the November Review, page 317, 

 was quoted a plea from a subscriber of 

 the British Bee Journal, for some way 

 of marking queens with some chemical 

 which would allow of her easy detec- 

 tion on the comb, and yet in no way 

 injure her. Already a Review sub- 

 scriber comes forward with the desired 

 information. 



The Johnston Milk Company, of Bat- 

 tle Creek, Mich., writes me that they 

 have been purchasing queens from Dr. 

 Bruennidis, of Switzerland, who breeds 

 the pure German or brown race in the 

 mountains of Sw-itzerland, and who is 

 considered an authority. All the queens 

 received from the doctor have been 

 marked. A careless glance at the frame 

 that has the queen on it finds her maj- 

 esty every time. In a letter to The 

 Johnston Milk Co., the doctor says: "As 

 to our marking-color, which for scien- 

 tific observations is a conditio sine qua 

 non, and which ofifers a number of ad- 

 vantages, especially if different colors 

 are used, it is an easy thing. You take 

 some clear spirit varnish (we suppose 

 he means white shellac. J. M. Co.) and 

 grind, successively adding to the varnish 

 some color in fine powder, till you have 

 a liquid of the consistency of syrup. 

 The best colors are yellow (chrome- 

 yellow), red, green (chrome-green), and 

 white. Prove it at first with some 

 drones." 



As these queens live regularly to be 

 four years old, certainly the marking 

 can not injure them, and in such a case 

 this marking should be very valuable. 

 For instance, one could mark all the 

 queens reared this year with one color. 

 Next year he could use another color 

 for next year's queens. By having four 

 or five difl:'erent colors, using one each 

 year, you would have a complete record 

 of the age of each queen by the color 

 she carried on her l^ack. No other rtc- 

 ord need be kept, and the system would 

 l;:e simplicity itself. 



