Aiigust, 1I11G. 



American l^ee Jonrnal 



^^^( ^^j 



if you succeed you can easily get more. 

 If you fail, the loss is not heavy. 



So you see the only way to learn 

 whether you can be a successful bee- 

 keeper is to try it and see. But try it 



easy. 



♦-•-* 



Pollen from Dried Wood 



Thanks for your suggestion about 

 having the small frames made to order. 

 I have been trying to plan a way of 

 dividing a 10-frame hive into three parts 

 and using that if I cannot get the small 

 hives this year. I very successfully in- 

 troduced the great number of two 

 queens by what I called "Dr. Miller's 

 Smoke Method," though I must admit I 

 was rather generous in administering 

 the smoke. 



I consider myself a convert, though 

 it is possible I might later strike such a 

 slippery place that I would suffer a slide 

 backward. 



The other day I saw some of our 

 bees packing their pollen-pockets full 

 of the dust of rotten wood at our wood 

 pile. We use cottonwood, and usually 

 cut only dead trees or drift logs lodged 

 on the sand-bars of the river, so there 

 are often quite soft and rotten pieces. 

 I suppose the fine dust left by wood 

 borers would be particularly satisfac- 

 tory to the bees, but the one I was 

 watching was working on merely a 

 punk stick of wood. There were a 

 great many bees at the wood pile and 

 they rather annoyed a man who was 

 cutting there. The bees have also 

 been working on some freshly cut 

 green cottonwood trees that they are 

 sawing up to haul away from the river 

 bank where the river is cutting badly. 

 They seem to be very resourceful little 

 insects to make use of such unpromis- 

 ing materials for early supplies. 



[Mrs] R. L. Cheney. 



Hardingrove S. Dak. 



The smoke method of introducing 

 queens should not be credited to Dr. 

 Miller, but to Arthur C. Miller. 



You are right about bees using un- 

 promising material for pollen, and it 

 almost looks as if they sometimes use 

 unsuitable material, as when they use 

 coal-dust. 



Paste for Labels 



Mrs. C. A. Wurth, of Englewood, 

 Calif., writes: 



"Enclose find a recipe for paste that 

 will stick your labels on tin honey con- 

 tainers, as we have used it for a num- 

 ber of years and found it all right : 



" Two tablespoons of corn starch 

 mixed in a half teacup of water. One 

 half teaspoon of lye dissolved in a table- 

 spoon of water, then stir the lye into 

 the corn starch. This will make half a 

 teacup of paste. Be sure and use 

 enough lye so your paste will be clear 

 and not milky looking." 



John Kneser, of Hales Corners, Wis., 

 gives another recipe : 



"To make labels stick on tin use 

 muriate acid (poison) ; it can be had 

 from a drug store. A small size K- 

 pound bottle costs 25 cents. Apply 

 with a cloth and one minute later you 

 may apply the label. Try it and you 

 will want nothing better. The labels 

 will never come off unless they are 



scraped off. It may be well to use 

 gloves on account of the poison ; how- 

 ever, it is not necessary if one is care- 

 ful. 



"Gum tragacanth is also good, but 

 more expensive. The acid destroys the 

 grease on the tin. I have not seen this 

 in print before. It is certainly of great 

 value to me." 



A common complaint is the difficulty 

 of getting labels to stay on tin. We 

 tried using common flour paste in put- 

 ting labels on .5-pound pails. As soon 

 as thoroughly dry the labels dropped 

 off. The case was probably made worse 

 by the fact that pretty heavy paper was 

 used in the labels. We were in haste 

 to use the labels, and in the emergency 

 used light rubber bands to hold the 

 labels on, one band near the top, the 

 other near the bottom. They served 

 better than one would be inclined to 

 think. 



The next labels we got we had 

 printed on paper that reached clear 

 around the pail and lapped over an 

 inch or so. Of course, there was no 

 trouble about the paste holding on the 

 lap. The label was printed double, the 

 same label showing on two sides of the 

 pail. This is a little more expensive 

 than the single label, but it looks a little 

 better than to have the bare tin show- 

 ing on one side. 



Fred W. Muth says he has no trouble 

 getting paste to stay on tin if he first 

 scratches the surface of the tin; and 

 that there is no need of the scratching 

 if sugar is used in the paste. 



J. P. Brumfield, a Kansas druggist, 

 says: " I have never had any trouble, 

 using almost any kind of paste for tin. 

 Wet a rag with the paste, and rub sur- 

 face of tin where label is to go until 



the surface is dry or nearly so- 

 then paste label and .ipply, and it will 

 stay. It seems to clean the greasy sur- 

 face. Just common dextrine and hot 

 water makes a good, cheap paste, and 

 I know will stay when applied as above.' 



We have tried this, and found it a 

 success. 



Mr. Brumfield sends also the follow- 

 ing, clipped from a druggist's book: 



FLOUR PASTE. 



Flour (wheat) 4 oz. (troy) 



Water 16 fl. oz. 



Nitric acid 1 fl. dr. 



Oil of cloves 5 minims. 



Boric acid 10 grains. 



Thoroughly mix the flour, boric acid, 

 and water, and strain the mixture 

 through a sieve; add the nitric acid ; 

 apply heat, with constant stirring until 

 the mixture has thickened ; when nearly 

 cold add the oil; strain it through 

 coarse muslin if not perfectly smooth. 

 This paste keeps well, and is much su- 

 perior to tragacanth mucilage and or- 

 dinary paste. When it is required for 

 pasting labels on tinned surfaces, the 

 addition of 10 percent of glycerin will 

 prevent the labels from falling off after 

 drying. 



^ • »■ • 



123 Pounds from One Colony 



In Deutsche Imker, a German bee 

 journal, under the heading "Unusual 

 Honey Yield," it is reported that Miss 

 Emily Lustinetz took from one colony 

 12.3 pounds of extracted honey. Some of 

 the sisters in this country would hardly 

 consider that remarkable. But, then, 

 we can't get the prices they get in 

 Germany. 



Dr. Miller's <^ Answers^' 



Send Questions either to the cilice of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo. II-.. 



He does not answer bee-keepins questions by mail. 



Building Up Nucleus With a Frame of Brood 



1. About the middle of May I took from a 

 strong colony a frame of brood indifferent 

 stages witli iSees attached and put it on tlie 

 old stand, moving the old hive somewhat 

 aside, thinking that this nucleus would rear 

 a queen and develop into a good colony. 

 They worked for a few days, carried in 

 honey but no pollen, nor did they start any 

 Queen-cells. So I gavelhem a sealed queen- 

 cell. The next day 1 found this queen-cell 

 lying on the floor. I put it back on the 

 frame, but when I opened the hive again the 

 same day. the bees were gone. 



Now. what could have been the reason that 

 these bees did not rear a queen. as there 

 were eggs and plenty of brood and a good 

 honey flow ? 



2. Why did they tear down the queen-cell 

 I put in and finally leave their brood ? 



3. Is there any feasible way to build up a 

 new colony with a frame of brood and bees 

 without giving them a queen at the start ? 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers.— I I don't know for sure, but I 

 suspect that the trouble was in moving the 

 old hive "somewhat aside." leaving it so 

 near that the bees could too easily find their 

 old home. 



2. I suspect you didn't properly fasten 

 the queen-cell, for if it had been sufficiently 

 fastened the bees would not have toin it 



down, even if they tore it open. Like enoueh 

 they left the brood; as I have said, their old 

 home was so near that they found it. 



1. Yes. it may be done with a queen-cell, 

 or even with young brood. If you will try it 

 again, and move the old hive farther away 

 than the nearest neighboring hive, or a rod 

 away in case there is no neighboring hive, 

 you will likely succeed. 



Late Requeening — Wintering 



I When requeening is done as late as 

 may be in accordance for best all-around 

 results, what prospect is there that the col- 

 ony concerned will not swarm in the year 

 following ? 



2. Please state the latest time requeening 

 should be done ? 



3. On page 208 of the June American Bee 

 Journal last, in center column, you answer a 

 question about controlling swarms in an 

 apiary run for comb honey. At the end you 

 say " the foregoing to be the best for an out- 

 apiary." Now. which of these is the best 

 for a home-apiary, or please name them in 

 the order of preference for the latter ? 



4. Previous to this last winter, I seemed to 

 have good results in wintering single-walled 

 hive colonies, by just dumping a box over 

 them two to three inches all around, no 

 packing, overlapping back and sides of bot- 



