1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



387 



been in Florida more than a month without deriving 

 any benefit from either climate or medicine. The 

 first day I had six bees applied to the leg along the 

 sciatic nerve, and felt instant relief. The second 

 day I applied seven bees; and two days after, I was 

 able to walk straight without a cane, and have felt 

 no pains since. 



In applying the bees, take them by the thorax and 

 put them on the desired spot. Leave the sting about 

 five minutes, or until all the poison is extracted. 



Chicago, Apr. 30. H. C. Hendricksen. 



[Your experience is almost identically ours on 

 the matter of curing foul brood. The McEvoy 

 method is good so far as it goes; but Mr. Mc- 

 Evoy does not think the disinfecting of the 

 hives is necessary; but we found that colonies 

 shaken on to frames of foundation back into 

 the old hives, without disinfection, were quite 

 likely to have the disease again; but when they 

 were treated in new hives, or hives that had 

 been boiled, the cure was permanent. 



With regard to rheumatism, in many cases 

 bee-stings seem to work quite a remarkable 

 cure, while in others no effect is experienced; 

 but we should not forget that there are differ- 

 ent kinds of rheumatism. Perhaps some of the 

 medical men in our ranks can enlighten us — 

 particularly as to what kinds of the disease are 

 more susceptible to the effects of the beesting 

 poison.— Ed.] 



M I ^ 



THE NEW WEED PROCESS FOUNDATION. 



FITRTHER TESTS CONFIRM PREVIOUS TESTS; FIVE 

 TIMES STRONGER THAN THE OLD DIP- 

 PED FOUNDATION. 



Bll O. O. PoppUton. 



Our honey season is a month later than usual, 

 so my last experiments with foundation are also 

 late, but are finished. The later ones all con- 

 firm the first ones. I gave all the light and me- 

 dium brood foundation I had left to a neighbor, 

 Mr. B. Parks, with proper instructions, and he 

 reports to me that the average stretch or sag of 

 the old -method samples aggregated just five 

 times as much as did the new-method ones, be- 

 ing almost exactly the same as in my tests with 

 the light weight previously reported. 



My own later tests were made with the heavy 

 makes, which were alternated in hives into 

 which heavy prime swarms were run. As the 

 weather was quite warm at the time, and a fair 

 flow of honey, this made a severe test of the 

 foundation. All the sheets made by the old 

 method were stretched some — not very serious- 

 ly so, but yet so as to be plainly noticed at a 

 glance, while it was absolutely impossible to 

 see a particle of stretch in a single one of the 

 new-method ones. The difference was so plain 

 that a novice could have picked out each kind 

 by itself at a single glance. 



I could see by the age of the brood in each 

 that the queen had first deposited eggs in one 

 of the new foundations, then skipped one of the 

 old ones and used another new one before using 

 the old one between them. This looks as if 

 the new was worked out somewhat the quick- 

 er; but, of course, one instance of this kind 



proves nothing. Aside from this I noticed no- 

 thing to show any preference of the bees for 

 either. So far as such experiments can prove 

 any thing they plainly show a decided superi- 

 ority of foundation made by the new method 

 compared with that made by the old, and that 

 your claims of such superiority were quite well 

 founded. 



Our tests of the thin foundation for surplus 

 have not shown any marked difference between 

 the two kinds. Even were we fitted with the 

 right appliances for such a test, I doubt the 

 practical value of such tests between these two 

 makes as were made by Mr. Taylor between the 

 different kinds of thin foundation. After using 

 all the different kinds of foundation made, from 

 the first made by the inventor, some 2,5 years 

 ago, including milled, pressed, and molded, I 

 had reached the same conclusion that Mr. Tay- 

 lor did from his experiments; viz., that founda- 

 tion made by the Given press would be worked 

 out by the bees a trifle quicker than any made 

 on mills. Molded foundation was fully equal 

 to Given— better, if any thing. 



I differ with many bee-keepers in thinking 

 that the points brought out by Mr. Taylor's ex- 

 periments are, while interesting, of very little 

 practical importance. The bees, having their 

 choice of different kinds of foundation in one 

 section-case, of course commenced first on the 

 kind they liked best; and when all were drawn 

 out, these were a trifle thicker — that is, longer 

 cells — and held the most honey. If all the sec- 

 tions had had foundation of one kind, all would 

 have been commenced more alike — been more 

 uniform in thickness, and been more even in 

 weight; and, in most cases, all would be finish- 

 ed in nearly the same time without reference to 

 what kind of foundation was used. Whenever 

 bees are very reluctant to commence work in 

 surplus-cases the quality of foundation used 

 may be an important factor; but I doubt wheth- 

 er it amounts to much in use in the brood-nest. 

 Whenever conditions are right for bees to draw 

 out foundation in brood-frames (and foundation 

 is seldom given to them for that purpose at any 

 other time) they will draw out foundation of 

 any kind with almost equal promptness. I have 

 used all kinds of foundation — that with high 

 side walls, with no walls at all ; that with 

 round cells, with natural-shaped cells — pressed, 

 milled, molded— that newly made, that fastened 

 in frames and hung in the light for months, 

 and, so far as readiness of being worked out is 

 concerned, I have ceased to think there is much 

 practical difference. What has been a serious 

 trouble with all kinds of foundation is the tend- 

 ency to sag or stretch, causing elongated cells, 

 and bulged, ill-shaped, and useless combs; and 

 any thing that will tend to obviate this trouble 

 is of much practical value. 



I use deep frames, 12x13 in., and, of course, 

 am troubled more with stretched foundation 



