524 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



or no weather. Let's have things to fit cool 

 weather, and they'll be all right for hot weath- 

 er. [But the far greater part of that work can 

 be done in warm weather, just the same'e. — 

 Ed.] 



'•Raise none — not one,'' is W. K. Morrison's 

 dictum as to drones, p. 497. But do you realize 

 that one- third of your queens are superseded 

 each year, friend M.? and that means you must 

 have some drones in the apiary, and drones are 

 free commoners, going from one hive to anoth- 

 er. Even if you raise " not one " drone, they'll 

 enter your hives from your neighbors' bees. 

 [Hadn't thought of this point before. That 

 alone would make the no-drone theory of non- 

 swarming impracticable.— Ed.] 



Thickness of comb is given, p. 498, as y1^ 

 inch. But in measuring for spacing, the thick- 

 ness taken should be that of comb containing 

 capped worker brood, and Doollttle says the 

 capping adds a full eighth of an inch to the 

 thickness, and worker comb used for the first 

 time measures an inch when capped. Then 

 remember that comb thickens with use, old 

 comb measuring an inch without capping. So 

 old comb capped would measure 1}^. and a iding 

 ^% space would make just about 1}4- 



Prof. Cook relates in A. B. J. that he receiv- 

 ed from four different Slates honey reported to 

 be poisonous. He ate freely of it, and is still 

 living. [We have had a good many articles 

 from good bee-keepers, faking the ground that 

 some honey is poisonous. Among these writers 

 is no less a person than Dr. J. P. H. Brown. 

 Prof. Cook's article seems convincing, and yet 

 I'd like to hear from others, both for and 

 against the theory or fact of honey being poi- 

 sonous. This is a matter that should be decid- 

 ed right.— Ed.] 



"White clover seems to have run out for 

 the last four or five years,'' says the editor, p. 

 502. You may be pleasantly disappointed. 

 Last year there were scarcely any white- clover 

 plants to be se.^n in this region, while this year 

 the ocean of bloom beats the record for the 

 past 25 years. I don't know where the plants 

 came from, but they're there. [If white clover 

 will only run in again, no matter where it 

 comes from, I shall he )7ios( ngreenbly surprised. 

 I infer in your case you'll have white-clover 

 honey. — Ed.] 



Thick top-bars with proper spacing are a 

 success in preventing burr-combs. No mistake 

 about it. In some cases where honey was 

 daubed between the supers, all was left clean 

 over the top-bars. [Some bee-keepers strange- 

 ly seem disinclined to accept the fact of there 

 being few or no burr combs with the right kind 

 of top-bars. History repeats itself. When 

 Daguerre said he could and did make an image 

 permanent on a looking-glass, it was disbe- 

 lieved and even laughed at as an impossibility. 



X rays are another example of the same per- 

 versity in human nature.— Ed.] 



Cases are reported in which swarms have 

 issued with no sign of a queen-cell in the hive. 

 I'm inclined to be mildly skeptical about this; 

 at least, I have some doubt about such a case 

 occurring unless the bee-keeper had baffled the 

 intentions of the bees by previously removing 

 queen-cells. The more bees are thwarted as to 

 swarming, the more determined they sometimes 

 are; and I can imagine their getting mad 

 enough to swarm with no sign of a queen cell. 

 I've had many a case in which there was noth- 

 ing further than an egg in a queen-cell. 



H. E. Wilder is now foul-brood inspector for 

 Riverside Co., Cal. I have no doubt the disease 

 will have to seek other fields. 



Pres. W. T. Richardson has so far recovered' 

 as to return to his home in Simi country. His 

 accident detained him at Bro. Touchton's five 

 weeks. 



In a few instances, where the bee-keeper is 

 In the same condition that his bees are, the 

 man has to rustle for grub for himself, and the 

 bees die. 



It is currently reported that the X ray will 

 destroy diphtheria germs. If that proves to be 

 a fact, let us turn the rays upon foul brood. 

 There is a wide field for making it useful in this 

 State. 



We hear now and then of a bee-keeper who 

 feeds from one tank in the open air. That's a 

 short cut, perhaps; but the result is any quan- 

 tity of dead bees in the feeder. Near by bee- 

 keepers also are benefited. 



We can put down another disastrous honey 

 season for Southern California. From present 

 appearances there will be scarcely a carload 

 produced south of the Tehachapi. Bees are in 

 a starving condition on many ranches, and 

 feeding is the order of the hour. 



Mr. Brodbeck, of Los Angeles, is a firm be- 

 liever in the efficacy of bee poison in the cure 

 of rheumatism and boils. During the past 

 winter he has been greatly afflicted with both 

 maladies; but now, after a few weeks in the 

 apiary, and a free reception of stings, boils and 

 rheumatism are both banished. 



In a recent letter a noted bee-keeper in Oak- 

 land, Cal., thus discourses upon queen-rearing: 

 "That scheme of raising que* ns on the island 

 may be a good one. It may be that this State 

 can cut Italy out on the score of raising the 

 best Italian blood in the world. I know that 



