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 •INTE-FIEST^ 



'ubli5hedby-THE~A II^OOY Co. 



i°°ptRYEAK^'\s) Medina-Ohio- 



Vol. XXX 



APR. 15, 1902. 



No. 8. 



Soft maples bloomed March 24 — 12 days 

 earlier than last year. 



" A BEGINNER with a few brains, boards, 

 and a buzz-saw, is the man before all oth- 

 ers who feels called upon to invent a bee- 

 hive." — Editor Hidchinson. 



When a colony swarms, what per cent 

 of the bees go with the swarm, and what 

 per cent remain ? [This varies; and while 

 I will not attempt to answer the question, I 

 will put out a rouffh guess as an average. 

 I should say 75 per cent go with the swarm, 

 and 25 remain with the comb. — Ed.] 



H. "Melzer, in Centralblatt, declares from 

 abundant observation that bees get honey 

 from red clover, not when it is deficient in 

 growth, but when it is specially luxuriant, 

 so that the tube is so filled with nectar that 

 the bees can reach it. This occurs espe- 

 cially when hot dry days follow a thunder- 

 shower. [This agrees with our experi- 

 ence. — Ed.] 



You appear to think, Mr. Editor, p. 275, 

 that I do not have confidence enough in 

 Prof. Gillette's work. Just the opposite. 

 I had too much confidence, taking his fig- 

 ures as entirely reliable, and, like the hon- 

 est man that he is, he says that his reach 

 measurements are not reliable. Yes, in- 

 deed, I think he will subscribe to my last 

 statement, although he might prefer to say 

 that tongue-length is not settled by measure- 

 ment of tongue -reach. [You misunder- 

 stood me. I understood you to mean just 

 what j'ou now say in the foregoing. — Ed.] 



Bko. Doolittle, on page 277 that man 

 Brown gets you mixed up, or you get him 

 mixed up, or else you both get me so mixed 

 up that I can't understand English. You 

 first state my question as I gave it, why 

 is it erroneous to call a prime swarm a first 

 swarm? and then 3'ou say I wish to know 

 why it is erroneous to call a first swarm a 

 prime swarm. Then you go to work and 



answer the question that I never asked. 

 Now will j'ou kindly answer the question 

 that has been waiting for an answer seven 

 years? If 3'ouwill please answer it I have 

 another question to ask. 



The only hive badly spotted with diar- 

 rhea last winter was one of the painted 

 ones (I think there are three painted). I 

 don't know whether the paint had any thing 

 to do with it, but I remember another win- 

 ter the hive with most dampness was paint- 

 ed. (I suspect that the other Miller ^ Ar- 

 thur C. ) would tell you there could be no 

 possible difference between the painted and 

 unpainted hive, because either one is smear- 

 ed over on the inside with propolis, and 

 therefore would not let moisture pass 

 through. Is it not possible that what you 

 observed was an accidental coincidence? — 

 Ed.] 



Answering your question, p. 275, I never 

 put on more than one super at a time nowa- 

 days. Too much heat is needed to fill up 

 two. The fact remains that I had just as 

 fine work when I put on 56 sections at a 

 time. [Yes, probablj'; but the fact remains 

 that you do not consider it good practice to 

 give too much room at the start; and if not 

 good practice, you of course do not get as 

 good results. While the honey that was 

 secured was just as good and just as pretty, 

 is it not true that the bees would be longer 

 in getting into the supers when they had a 

 great big empty space to go into and kee 

 warm? — Ed.] 



For beginners who allow natural swarm- 

 ing, I want to suggest a plan for improve- 

 ment of stock that is more than 40 years old 

 (I mean the plan, not the stock, is vso old). 

 Strengthen with brood the colony with best 

 queen, so as to g'et it to swarm first. Call 

 it No. 1. When No. 1 swarms, put swarm 

 in place of No. 1, and set No. 1 in place of 

 No. 2, setting No. 2 on a new stand. When 

 No. 1 swarms again ( perhaps 8 days later), 

 set the swarrri in place of No. 1; set No. 1 

 in place of No. 3, and set No. 3 in a new 

 place. As often as No. 1 swarms (and it 

 may do so several days in succession), set 

 the swarm in place of No. 1, and set No. 1 

 in place of some other full colony. 



