Feb. 5, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



89 



spring-. Well, I don't want anythinjf like that. We have 

 the " A B C of Bee-Cultnre." " Cook's Manual," Doolittle's 

 " Scientific <_Jueen-Rearinjj," and other bee-books. Then I 

 take two other bee-papers besides the Bee Journal, and they 

 are all full of good instructions. I am afraid I'd miss some- 

 thing by letting the Bee Journal go by. I do not consider 

 myself so smart in intellect, but have sense enough to read 

 more than one book in the winter. 



Well, don't you think the Baron quite a smart fellow to 

 inject long life into his queens ? And he signs his name 

 right. His story reminds me of other long-winded stories 

 about catnip and large yields of honey. 



You will remember a beekeeper was telling us at the 

 Denver convention about a Texas honey-producer selling 

 adulterated honey, or trying to do so. Well, I wrote to the 

 one who reported it at Denver, and asked him to send me a 

 letter so I could send it to the Bee Journal, but no, he will 

 not do.it. He went all around with excuses, and so on, but 

 will not come out on the adulterated-honey question. I 

 want to be honest in all mj- dealings, and will be; so should 

 be the bee-keepers all over the land. 



My bees went into winter quarters in good shape in 

 November. 



I sowed horsemint, and it is up well ; in the spring I 

 will plant quite a lot of sunflowers, and they are something 

 the bees like so much. 



Well, Miss Snyder struck the keynote when she said 

 bees did not like a dirty smell. Bless the little bees, how I 

 love them ! First, because they are so industrious ; and 

 then they are so clean. I have no use for a dirty, lazy per- 

 son, and never blame the bees for " doing business " with 

 such people. Mrs. C. R. Wbst. 



Ellis Co., Tex., Jan. 14. 



The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses. 

 By e. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



FEEDING BY WHOLESALE. 



It's pretty lively business — 187 pounds per hour — for 

 bees to carry away feed in the open air. Divided among 

 the 97 colonies it is about 2 pounds per colony per hour. 

 Presumably some would get more, and some slow coaches 

 quite a bit less than that. Mr. Hall's simple arrangements 

 are worth remembering, in that they worked tolerably well. 

 Page 812. 



SPREADING PEAR-BLIGHT. 



Half inclined to say that Prof. Cook "gave us away " 

 badly, and reprehensibly, in admitting that bees spread 

 pear-blight on trees never in bloom, while their alibi was 

 entirely unbroken. We know very well they wouldn't 

 touch blight-juice in time of nectar-flow. Will they touch 

 it at all ? We demand that somebody should see them. 

 Surely, on rows of little nursery trees they would not be 

 hard to see. Page 813. 



A RAPID STYLE OF INCKEASE. 



Keeping the old colony mainly together, and taking out 

 one comb from time to time, thought to be the most rapid 

 style of increase. Looks reasonable. But in that style of 

 procedure watch out lest you chill or starve lots of unsealed 

 brood. Page 814. 



COMBS COLORING HONEY. 



Dr. Mason rather got the drop on the convention about 

 honey from black combs being normally white. Still, per- 

 haps we should discount his evidence a little. In actual use 

 I think bees polish the interior of a cell every time they use 

 it. Put honey into a comb yourself and there is a lack of 

 this polish. It's pretty plain that the rough, unpolished 

 surface would give out more coloring matter than the pol- 

 ished surface would. With all discounts made, however, 

 it's lawful to give the combs which are not black the pref- 

 erence. But it's not a pleasant question — the question. 

 Must I sacrifice most of my extracting-combs and get new 

 ones built ? Page 822. 



CROWING ALFALFA IN THE EAST. 



So the plains folk caught the alfalfa woodchuck be- 

 cause they had to catch him or starve. We see. Not being 



driven to it our luck has been less. J. E. Johnson says " no 

 doubt" the right bug can be developed here in time without 

 using inhabited soil. Hardly so strong as that. Common 

 clover has animalcuhL- which serve a similar purpose to 

 itself. If these differ only very slightly from the ones un- 

 der consideration, probably he is right. If otherwise, such 

 accommodation to live on a new plant might take too long. 

 Especially, we must remember, the accommodation can not 

 begin till they begin to live on the alfalfa to some extent. 

 Might be driven to begin in a very dry soil in which noth- 

 ing else was growing — and perhaps this is one reason for 

 the better success in dry regions. Page 823. 



CHAFF-HIVES IN COLORADO. 



Old and worn but not settled. What a lot of other 

 things in apiculture are just so, too, Mr. Aikin I And your 

 experience is chaff-hives in Colorado winter bees hardly as 

 well as singles do. Pin for that I Page 823. 



FILLING CASES WITH SECTIONS OF HONEY. 



All aroud first, and last in the center — is Mr. Holdener's 

 way to fill section-cases that have paper trays in them. 

 Perchance Mr. Doolittle was thinking about cases that 

 have only two tiers, and in which every section touches the 

 tray somewhere. A tin guide is manifestly needed for 

 these. Page 828. 



KEEPING BEES ON SHARES. 



L. E. Kerr seems to hold the belt as the champion 

 bees-on-shares man. Has 200 colonies out thus, scattered 

 300 miles. Also keeping some on shares himself. Never 

 any trouble. We are surprised to see past report and repute 

 so traversed. Having an itemized bargain fully written 

 down seems to be the secret. Must be a quite reasonable 

 man in addition. Page 828. 



ss,je,ja,Ms,js,jeM 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. O. MILLER, JUareago, 111. 



[The Qjestlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers bv mall. — Editor. 1 



Tartaric Acid to Prevent Honey-Granulation. 



Will you please inform me by return mail, what kind 

 of acid is used in syrup to keep it from granulating? And 

 how much of the acid is used to a gallon of syrup ? 



Tennessee. 



Answer. — An even teaspoonful of tartaric acid for 

 every 30 pounds of sugar is stirred into the syrup about the 

 time the sugar is dissolved. The acid is first dissolved in a 

 little water. 



Now it seems a tough thing that I am not allowed to 

 answer that by mail ; but then you can easily see that if I 

 answer your question by mail I must answer others, and 

 that would take a lot of time that I can't afford. You 

 wouldn't like it if I'd answer some one else by mail and 

 wouldn't answer your questions by mail, would you? 

 Neither would they like it for me to answer yours and not 

 theirs. So long as I can not answer all by mail don't you 

 think it the best plan for me to treat all alike, and answer 

 all in this department ? 



Rapidity of a Honey-Extractor. 



About how many revolutions in a minute should comb- 

 baskets in a honey-extractor go ? Minnesota. 



Answer. — I don't know, and I don't think any one 

 knows, for there is no fixed number of revolutions so long 

 as there is a difference in extractors and combs to be ex- 

 tracted. An extractor in which the comb is a great distance 

 from the center of the shaft will not need to revolve so 

 rapidly as one with the comb nearer the shaft. A new and 

 tender comb will not stand so rapid turning as an old, tough 

 one. But you will soon learn by experience, for so long as 

 the comb stands it without injury you may feel safe that 

 you are not turning too fast. 



