1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



101 



Los Angeles, CaL; C. H. Dibbern, Milan, 111.; 

 M. M. Baldridge, vSt. Charles, 111.; Wm. L. 

 Ewing, Vincennes, Ind.; Z, T. Hawk, Audu- 

 bon, la ; H. Bandy, Clinton, Mich.; M. J. 

 Bundy, Angola, N. Y. 



F. Danzenbaker. 

 Washington, D. C. 



[The presence of pollen in Dr. Miller's case 

 may be more a matter of locality than of im- 

 proper management. However that may be, 

 we hear little of this kind of trouble in con- 

 nection with the 7-inch brood frames. — Ed.] 



CARRYING COMB HONEY ON WAGONS — HOW 

 SHOULD IT BE LOADED ? 



Friend Root: — In regard to loading honey, 

 page 883, /am of the opiaionjjo« are correct. 

 I have hauled a good many bees and consider- 

 able honey, both in sections and extracting- 

 frames, and have always loaded lengthwise of 

 the wagon, spring or no spring, and have 

 never broken a comb when crossing bridges, 

 culverts, or ditches. The jar is entirely length- 

 wise ; also in stopping and s arling tlie team ; 

 and even the ruts often let both wheels drop 

 at the same time. But the rule is with ruts, 

 there is not much of a drop, for the descent 

 and ascent are gradual ; and when there is a 

 drop of one wheel in a single rut, the bump is 

 more downw;ird than sidewise. 



Hillsboro, Wis., Nov 26. Ecias Fox. 



MAKING SALVE FROM PROPOLIS. 



On page 921, Dec. 1, Mr. Holtermann speaks 

 of making salve by heating propolis and sweet 

 oil. I tried to mix propolis and sweet oil by 

 heating I stirred it on the stove until I was 

 tired, then took it off the stove and stirred it 

 until it was cold. I then had a solid piece of 

 propolis lying in clear sweet oil The only 

 way that I have been aVjle to mix propolis and 

 sweet oil is by pulverizing the propolis and 

 then rubbing the oil and propolis together. 

 Maggie M. Johnston. 



Malvern, Iowa, Dec. 15. 



wintering under snow. 



The place I have selected for my apiary is 

 the most convenient in every respect. But 

 there is one thing that might prove to be a 

 drawback — that is, in severe winters the snow 

 drifts four and five feet deep, and packs so 

 hard it would nearly hold a horse. Would 

 bees (weak colonies as well as strong) live 

 under this snow until it melts ? 



Troutdale, Ore., Dec. 4. F. E. Bates. 



[I think your bees would winter all right. 

 —Ed.] 



pulse rate in colorado. 



3Ir. Editor: — In your issue for Nov. 15 you 

 say you wouldn't live in Colorado if you were 

 paid for it, because your pulse rate is so high 

 here. I venture the opinion that your health 

 would be greatly improved by a year's resi- 

 dence here. Your pulse rate becomes high 

 here because of deficient lung capacity, which 

 would certainly expand, and then the pulse 

 rate would return to iis normal state. 



S. W. Morrison, M. D. 



Ignacio, Col., Nov. 24. 



/. 7)/., f lah. — It is impossible for us to give 

 you proportionately the amount of sulphuric 

 acid to use in water for refining wax, as so 

 much depends on the condition of the wax, its 

 color, whether it is in the form of old combs 

 or wax cakes ; but I would use about a spoon- 

 ful of sulphuric acid to about a quarter of a 

 pail of water. Put the kettle on the stove ; 

 and when the water is hot, put in the wax.' 

 After it is thoroughly melted, set the kettle on 

 the back of the stove and allow it to stand 

 over a low fire for half an hour, but not long 

 enough to let the wax cool. Then drip off the 

 wax carefully into receptacles. If the wax 

 has not attained through the process the prop- 

 er color, the next time use a little more acid ; 

 and if the wax after refining smells a little of 

 the acid, use less. 



W. B. P., Cal.~li the combs that you 

 transferred into Hoffman frames are crooked, 

 you can still straighten them. Such combs 

 should be placed in a warm room or in the 

 sunshine, after which they should be laid on a 

 fiat board, and then forced back into position 

 again with the palms of the hands, or even 

 with another flit board placed on top Yes, 

 you could get the bees to draw out foundatioii 

 in the upper story in the manner you suggest. 

 To do thi?:, take out a frame of brood from be- 

 low with the queen and bees ; put this in the 

 upper story, and then place between the two 

 stories a perforated zinc honey-board. The 

 bees will gradually work upward. When the 

 brood is hatched out, if it is along in the fall 

 they will dest rt the lower combs for the up- 

 per ones. If it is during the honey-flow the 

 combs below will be filled with honey, which 

 can be taken out and extracted, after which 

 they may be straij/htened or put into the solar 

 wax extractor to be rendered up into wax. 



O. P. //., Ti\ras.—VJ& do not sell the appa- 

 ratus for measuring bees' tongues. It con- 

 sists simply of a machinist's steel rule that 

 you can get at any large hardware store, one, 

 two, or three inches long, having on one side 

 an inch marked off into hundredths. This, 

 together with an ordinary 15 cent or 20 cent 

 magnifying-glass, 10 cents' worth of chloro- 

 form, and two darning-needles, constitute all 

 the apparatus that is needtd Catch a few 

 bees whose tongues you desire to measure ; 

 put a few drops of chloroform on a common 

 handkerchief, and place it directly over the 

 wire cloth of the cage ; and when the bees are 

 stupefied, cut off the head of one bee, lay it 

 with the tongue stretched out on the rule 

 graduated to hundredths. Stretch the tongue 

 as far as it will go, by pressing upon the head 

 or face of the bee. Count off the hundredths 

 from the point where the tongue leaves the 

 mouth to its end. This is a very simple oper- 

 ation, and any one with a little skill and pa- 

 tience should be able to do the work as well 

 as an expert. 



