SEPTEMBEli 15, 1915 



777 



Mr. Ei'iTOR, you ask, p. ()")7, wliellicr 1 

 think it advisable to have " one large brood- 

 chamber or a nuiltii)le of two or more of 

 jiiediuni size, and tier up in order to get 

 the necessary capacity." Too many angles 

 to that question to handle it in a single 

 paragra])h. If Langstroth frames are used 

 in both cases, 34 or more being used, then 

 I'd lather tier up for comb honey, the other 

 way giving too large surface for sections; 

 but for extracted honey — I don't know. A 

 (juestion involved is: "Which would suit the 

 (jueen best?" I formerly thought she would 

 dislike to cross the wood of the top-bar and 

 bottom-bar, and especially the space of air 

 between; but having tried it many times 1 

 lind she keeps the work going in two 

 stories just as well as in one. 



On page (i-")") I say that the chief part of 

 cleaninir sections is done Avith No. 2 sand- 

 ))aper. I've just watched Miss Wilson at 

 work, and will now describe the work more 

 uiinntely. Tops and bottoms are cleaned as 

 J said, but No. 2^ •> sand))aper does as well 

 as No. 2. J'or the rest of the work No. 3 

 is used, making better work. The sandpaper 

 lies flat and on this she lays the section fiat, 

 and with a few motions cleans the edges, 

 tlien reverses the section and cleans the 

 other edges. Then she lays the section on 

 one of its side.s, gives it a few rubs, turns it 

 over on its top, rubs: turns it over on the 

 other side, rubs, and it's done. I said I 

 didii't see nuich use in rubbing the top, 

 which was already clean. She replied, 

 " Sometimes there's a little to clean on the 

 corners, but tlu.' chief reason for having the 

 toi> down is because it's easier to roil the 

 section over in that way than it is to pick 

 it up and lay it down on the other side." 

 jf there's much glue on the edges, and it's 

 l)retty warm, then the knife precedes the 

 sandjiajjer. By the way, since testing that 

 knife you sent, in actual work, she says it's 

 fine. [^Apparently there are times when the 

 knife is better than sandjiaper. It would 

 .seem to us that both methods sliould be 

 employed, acconling to the condition of the 

 almosphere, propolis, or the sections them- 

 selves. — Ed.] 



Yk F^niTOi! asLs, p. G57, what I mean by 

 "I)reeding from the best." My fii-sl tlionght 

 was, " What a fool question ! " But after 

 studying over it a bit, I conclude the fool- 

 ishness is elsewhere, and am strongly in- 

 clined to answer, " I don't know." The 

 best for one is not the best for another. If 

 I kept a few bees in town just for the fun 

 of it I'd breed for gentleness, even if I 

 didn't get ten pounds of honey |»er colony. 

 If I wanted to sell bees or queens, cfilor 

 would be an imj»oitant matter. P)ut if I 



bred bees for I lie honey I could get, then 

 the bees that stored tlie most pounds would 

 be the ones to breed from. Not altogether 

 that, either. For years I paid no attention 

 to anything else, and I had bees that would 

 get the honey; but I also had bees that dis- 

 ])uted my right to be on the same 37 acres 

 with them. So I'd rather have a little less 

 honey with less danger from stings. But 

 I'm not sure I'd take anything else into 

 account. Wintering, for instance, may be 

 ignored. The colonjf that gets the most 

 honey has wintered well enough. So the 

 ''best" would be those giving most honey, 

 provided not loo cross. For I'm afraid 

 Vernon Burt is right, that if you want big 

 yields you must take some temper with 

 them. [Thanks, you have given us just the 

 information we desire. — En.] 



You say, Mr. Editor, p. 613, "If you 

 were in an office where four or five dozen 



queens were Ij'ing on a desk you 



would hear a good deal of piping. We have 

 I'.eard tliera answer back and forth time and 

 time again." So have I heard them piping 

 many a time outside a hive, and, of course, 

 outside a cell. But in answering back and 

 forth Avere some of the queens quahking? 

 Were they not all piping? I never heard a 

 queen quahk, as I said, outside a cell; nor 

 did I evei' hear one pipe inside a cell. Did 

 you? [It all depends on what we mean by 

 piping and quahking. In your previous 

 Straw you mentioned the fact that there are 

 some who thinlc they are one and the same 

 thing. We are coming more and more to 

 that oj^inion ourself. If we were to shut 

 yon up in a cracker-barrel and have you call 

 loudly yon would quahk. Out of the barrel 

 you would pipe. If you were to be shut up 

 in that barrel for some time your holler 

 jnight be prolonged in order to attract at- 

 tention because the sound would be muflfied. 

 Of course, we realize the fact that barrels 

 and queen-cells are not quite analogous be- 

 cause they are made of different materials. 

 One migiit make a better sounding-board 

 than the other. 



After all, doctor, have you any proof that 

 tliere is any difference in the way the sounds 

 are made beyond the mere matter of envi- 

 ronment? Now, then, to answer your ques- 

 tion, if they are made in the same way, we 

 have heard queens pipe and quahk, both 

 inside and outside of a cell and inside and 

 outside of a hive. Inside of the cells the 

 sound might properly be called quahking 

 because it is muffled; and outside, piping; 

 but we strongly suspect the sounds are made 

 with, precisely the same organs and in pre- 

 ci'^ely the same way. If so, why draw a 

 useless distinction? — Ed.] 



