THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



45 



see how there can be auything thievish 

 about selliuK light-weight sections, for the 

 average consumer, when he buys honey, 

 does not have in mind a pound but achunck 

 of honey which he sees before him. " 



Wax in the Patent Process Foandation 



not 80 Fully Utilized as in Some 



Other Brands. 



They have been experimenting with dif- 

 ferent brands of foundation over at the 

 Experiment Station in Canada, with a view 

 to determining the compMrative amounts of 

 wax that are utilized in the different kinds 

 of foundation. The kernel of the whole re- 

 port, tables and all, is given in the follow- 

 ing, taken from the published report. 



'• In considering the average weight of 

 foundation wax utilized, the largest amounts 

 were from A 1, A 2, and H 1, H 2 — the Choice 

 Wax of the Root Mill and Given Process, 

 respectively. The least amounts so utilized 

 were from. Patent Process ' 12 square feet 

 and l.'> square feet, per pound. 



In summing up the results of this year's 

 work, we may conclude that considering 

 the values of the comb foundations to be 

 dependent upon the extent to which they 

 are utilized by bees in cell formation, the 

 Choice Wax, Root Mill, temperature 99= F, 

 gave the best, and the ' Patent Process, ' 12 

 square feet and 1") square feet per pound, 

 the poorest results. Both the Choice and 

 Poor Wax of the ' Given Process ' give very 

 heavy ' fishbones. ' Coucerning the other 

 brands on these points, the differences are 

 not sufficiently well marked to allow of any 

 emphatic statement being made respecting 

 them. " 



It will be remambered that special stress 

 has been placed upon the tenacity of this 

 make of foundation, how it would not sag 

 when other makes stretched and broke down. 

 It is possible that this very quality is what 

 prevents the bees from utilizing to so great 

 an extent the wax that it contains. 



Some Editors' Ideas on Sugar Honey. 

 Sugar honey is something that I agreed 

 not to argue about any more ( for a while 

 at least ), but when I see the other journals 

 give it a touch once in awhile it seems pret- 

 ty tough for me to have to keep still. For 

 instance, my good friend E. R. Root, of 

 Gleanings, admits, in the Feb. 1 Gleanings, 

 that Prof. Cook is covrnt in saying that bees 

 do change over cane sugnr, but he does not 

 think that this admission should be con- 

 strued into an argument in favor of sugar 

 honey because — well, I will quote his exact 

 words. 



'•Raw nectar, as it is gathered from the 

 flowers, is taken very slowly, a Httle at a 

 time, and digested by the bees. Syrup, as or- 

 dinarily fed to bees, is taken so rapidly that 

 they have little lime to prepare it or digest 

 it, therefore sugar honey should not in any 

 sense be classed as honey. In talking with 

 Mr. R. F. Holterman, of the Canadian Bee 

 Journal, this week, I found that he was of 

 the same opinion. " 



From fifteen to twenty pounds in twenty- 

 four hours \s the greatest quantity of feed, 

 either of sugar syrup or honey, that I have 

 ever been able to induce a colony to take 

 from a feeder, and this will be only when it 

 is y(/s< given them. Later, a colony will 

 not take more than ten pounds, while five 

 or six is the rule. In the height of bass- 

 wood bloom a single colony has frequently 

 stored more than twenty pounds in one-half 

 of twenty-four hours, in some cases as high 

 as thirty pounds have been stored in one-half 

 of twenty-four hours. Where is your argu- 

 ment now, my brethren ? No, I am not 

 arguing for sugar honey, but I can't 

 stand it to see people set up straw men and 

 then kick them over. 



Drawn Combs— They may Prevent Swarming 

 — Their Value in a Poor Season. 



Gleanings for Feb. 1 was something of a 

 symposium on the value and use of drawn 

 combs in sections. From the three leading 

 articles 1 make the following extracts. The 

 first is from our old-time correspondent. 

 J. E. Crane, of Vermont. He says: — 



" 1 have used such comb more or less for 

 the past thirty years, and do not think the 

 estimates of its value are at all too high. 

 There are two or three advantages: The bees 

 will fill them quicker, commence working in 

 the sections sooner, and, if a row is placed 

 outside of the clamp in the first part of the 

 honey season, these will be filled and fini.ah- 

 ed nearly or quite as soon as those filled 

 with foundation in the center of the clamp. 



A little care is needed to produce the best 

 or fancy combs of honey with the^e drawn 

 combs. They should all be cut down if they 

 are more than one-half or three-fourths 

 inch thick. If not cut down, the bees hesi- 

 tate about sealing them; and when sealed 

 they are very apt to have a f^oiled or dirty 

 appearance. 



After the honey is extracted from such 

 combs in the fall I place them in clamps 

 and put them on top of some hive so that all 

 the honey may be taken out dry and clean 

 by the bees; for if any is left, the next crop 

 of honey when put into these cells is more 

 apt to granulate. " 



Next comes an article by F. A.. Snell of 

 Milledgeville, Ills. Mr. Snell brings up a 



