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Vol. XXL 



FEB. 1, 1893. 



No. 3. 



Stray Straws 



FROM DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Whew! what a winter! 



What's the best date for the next N. A. B. 

 K. A. convention? 



Fai-conek has gotten up a calendar in beau- 

 tiful style, with a/> wreath of wild roses in colors 

 around it. 



A printer's life was saved by the distance 

 of Medina from Marengo, when I read on page 

 47 that it takes 26 full days for a queen to ma- 

 ture. It should have been 16. 



Bees are insured against fire or lightning 

 while in cellar or within 200 ft. of dwelling, in 

 the PhoMiix. of Brooklyn, N. Y., says x\. C. 

 Waldron. 



Prof. Wiley's address, on page 57, with'its 

 right and left handed polarization, invert sugar, 

 levulose, etc.. mixed me all up so that I wished 

 there had never been any adulteration. 



Hens eat bees, says C. B. J., and should not 

 be allowed near an apiary. I have never seen 

 hens eat workers, but negative proof is not very 

 satisfactory. Have others found them guilty? 



When was Heddon converted to the belief 

 that adulteration is a benefit? Not long ago 

 he was one of the strongest advocates for some, 

 kind of a stamp to protect us from adulteration. 



I don't know any thing for sure very often, 

 and when I do happen to think I know some- 

 thing. Doolittle kicks it all over. Doolittle, 1 

 don't want you ever to speak to me agaiji — till 

 next October. 



"Do Southern queens stand the winter as 

 well as queens reared in the North? " is asked. 

 I think it is generally agreed that there is no 

 difference, but it seems there ought to be at 

 least a little difference. 



The editor of B. B. J. is having a very sweet 

 time. Packages of honey for the World's Pair 

 are sent in to him, and he says, "Honey for 

 Chicago has carried all before it, and it is hon- 

 ey all over the place as we write." 



The Progressive Bee-keeper was burned out, 

 and suspended. Nothing strange about its sus- 

 pending — lots of new bee-journals suspend. 

 The strange part of the story is that it has come 

 to life again, bright and smiling as ever. 



The Scottish Bee-keepers' Association had 

 on exhibition a collection of articles showing 

 the utility of honey and wax, including con- 

 fectionery, foods, beverages, ointments, plasters, 

 toilet preparations, furniture creams, and med- 

 icines. Better bring 'em to Chicago, Sandy. 



Canadians have been enjoying a little dis- 

 cussion as to the effect of a duty on Ihe price of 

 honey. I don't know much about such things, 

 but it seems to me it would look a little more 

 neighborly if there were no duty on either side. 



An arrangement to prevent swarming is 

 reported in the ^?nerica?i i^rrrmer as patented 

 by H. P. Langdon. The intimation is given 

 that it prevents the desire to swarm, and that's 

 what so many are looking for. '• The proof of 

 the pudding," etc. 



Two DIFFERENT MEN have lately written of my 

 living in Nebraska, and of my hive and honey- 

 board. That's all right, except that I never 

 got up a hive or honey-board, and never lived 

 farther west than Marengo, 111. It must be 

 some other Dutchman. 



Foul brood in wax requires at least 194° F. 

 for at least three hours, Prof. Mackenzie thinks, 

 and that "the simple process of mixing the in- 

 fected material with the melted wax is not suf- 

 ficient to prevent germination.'" He seems to 

 have little fear of t'oul brood in foundation. 



British bee-keepeks, some of them, are 

 severely condemned by their brethren for ad- 

 vertising extracted honey as low as 14 to 16 

 cents per pound, one man saying he fed honey 

 to his bees rather than to sell it for less than 25 

 cents per pound. I wonder how it would feel to 

 get 2.") cents, even for comb honey. 



Prof. Mackenzie, the Canadian bacteriolo- 

 gist, does not believe that chilled brood will 

 produce foul bi'ood, after making an experi- 

 ment that he thinks "conclusively shows that 

 there is a distinct difference between foul brood 

 and ordinary putrefaction." That a bacillus 

 has been found in an egg, he thinks requires 

 confirmation. 



The editor says (p. 66) that I have been 

 president of the North American two or three 

 terms. 1 know of but once. Did I make it 

 so dull that the one term seemed long enough 

 for two or three, or did Ernest write that with 

 a pair of spectacles that made him see double, 

 or was it A. I. with too much of that beer-plant 

 inside of him? 



A bright idea comes from W. \j. Coggshall. 

 You know a smoker sometimes slips out of your 

 hand and falls, especially when your hand is 

 tired. Well, take a piece of section, cut into 

 strips I4 inch wide or more, and with small 

 tacks fasten them on the outer edge of each 

 side of the bellows, and "see how much easier 

 you can work it and not drop it." 



Very unkind is the British Bee Journal to 

 class Rev. W. F. Clarke's discovery as a second 

 "scientific pleasantry." It says, "The trowel 

 theory was started a few years ago by the Rev. 

 W. F. Clarke, in Canada, as a pleasantry, no 



