200 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 26, 1903. 



to the dear sisters something about a beginner's first year 

 (1902!) with 40 colonies of bees. But I shall have to en- 

 large my vocabulary before I could do it justice. Suffice it 

 to say for the present, that the aforesaid beginner survived 

 the ordeal, with a gain of a whole encyclopedia of experi- 

 ence, and a loss of a number of pounds of adipose tissue. 



I enjoy the American liee Journal much more now that 

 " we girls" have exclusive right to a corner. L. S. R. 



Ashtabula Co., Ohio. 



Shouldn't wonder if L. S. R.'s gentle zephyr would 

 create quite a breeze. It ought to, I am sure. Two such 

 bee-sheds out of green oak lumber was no small undertak- 

 ing' — but let me whisper in your ear that wh3n a woman 

 makes up her mind to do a thing she usually does it, tools 

 or no tools ; but the description of the same is good, and 

 will appeal to most of us, as we probably have had a similar 

 experience. 1 had a good, hearty laugh over it. 



Just ask the average man to use the same tools, and he 

 would say — but, there, lam not going to tell you what he 

 woidd say, you can imagine ; but let me tell you, the aver- 

 age woman will make a creditable job with just about such 

 an outfit. 



Now, really, L,. S. R., do you think it just right to tan- 

 talize us in this way ? You know very well that we are 

 just sighing to hear "about a beginner's first year, 1902." 

 Do you think it sisterly to keep that whole encyclopedia of 

 experience to yourself — now, do you ? 



I am very glad you enjoy our corner. 



For Lovers of Honey-Comb. 



The following was given in a daily paper : 



" Cut the honey-comb from the box and put it in the 

 dish in which you wish to serve it. Then stand it in a 

 warm (not hot) oven. The wax will come to the top and 

 can be easily taken off, leaving a nice, clear honey. In this 

 way one may enjoy a pure, delicious honey without the dis- 

 agreeable wax." 



It seems rather contradictory to be talking about dis- 

 ageeable wax to '■ lovers of honey-comb." Think of paying 

 the extra price for comb honey only to melt it and reduce it 

 to the form of the lower-priced extracted honey ! Better 

 tell that woman to buy a jar of " York's Honey !" 



Life's " Little Things." 



A German bee-journal gives the following : 



" Our life is made up of little things. The things that 

 count most in life are little things." 



That's right; the business-end of the bee isn't a quarter 

 of an inch long. 



A Honey Coug-li Medicine. 



An excellent cough medicine that maybe made at home 

 consists of olive oil, 2 ounces ; paregoric, 2 ounces ; honey, 

 2 ounces. Dose: One teaspoonful every two hours, if the 

 cough is severe. — The Delineator. 



The Afterthought. * 



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

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



BEKS CAN MANAGB THB POLIVBN SUPPLY. 



On the matter at the end of page 83, I find my mind pro- 

 testing that our bees are not fools. They know when they 

 need pollen— and it's exceedingly probable that they have 

 some sense of it when they are getting an over-large supply 

 on hand. Should hardly think so obvious a matter worth 

 experimenting on. Pollen sometimes spoils on their hands ; 

 and then the work of clearing it out is sometimes a serious 

 one — and as such put off in favor of the more pressing work 

 of the hive. When bees have been accused of too much 



pollen I guess it's usually a reasonable stock of fresh pollen 

 and a lot of damaged pollen, both on hand at once. 



WAX-EXTRACTORS AND WAX-RENDERING. 



Mr. H. H. Root, in an excellent article on wax-render- 

 ing, speaks of the sun-extractor as wasting wax. So it does 

 if you throw the remainders away. Don't throw "em away. 

 In my experience they keep for an indefinite period. Looks 

 to me like a good plan to keep the cake till a large amount 

 is on hand and then work it over. Possibly in somebody 

 else's method the worms would eat up the cake, but they 

 don't with me. Notwithstanding the shortcomings of the 

 solar wax-extractor, don't think of running an apiary with- 

 out one. 



Took him down a bit — that chap who sent a sample of 

 the perfect work his press did. His cake was not all dough 

 — three-quarters dough and one-quarter pure wax. Eighteen 

 ounces of wax from five pounds of old comb was a very 

 high order of success. Comb that has had much brood 

 reared in it is not to be put in the solar at all. It is a serious 

 matter to keep comb from being all eaten up while the 

 happy leisure time to render it arrives. Box in a dark, cool 

 cellar, and put there before any larva; get hatched, is per- 

 haps as promising a resource as any. Page 85. 



KEEPING QUEENS FOR MAILING. 



No doubt, Mr. Morgan, most queen -breeders keep young 

 queens where for weeks they can lay but little — waiting 

 orders — and scout the idea of it's doing them a particle of 

 harm. Sometimes, however, the provoking chap who chal- 

 lenges the universal opinion and practice is the very one we 

 ought to listen to a little. And so to have Mr. Stahmann 

 wiped out with one prompt wipe, and never thought of 

 more, is not just what I prefer to see. Page 86. 



BEES IN A SNOWDRIFT. 



I would say to J. M. Young, page 86, that the trouble 

 with bees in a vast snowdrift is not that it smothers them, 

 but that they are too comfortable, and start a ruinous 

 amount of brood at the wrong time in the year. 



HONEY TAKING UP WATER. 



We knew very well that honey exposed to damp air 

 gains water and gets thin — but we did not know exactly to 

 what extent by weight. Would hardly have guessed that it 

 adds IS percent in quite ordinary circumstances, and in very 

 favorable circumstances twice that. So thanks to the 

 Canadian Chemist Shutt. Page 86. 



RELIQUEFYING HONEY IN BOTTLES. 



On page 87 it is said concerning reliquefying honey in 

 glass bottles: "Loosen the corks." Is this absolutelj- 

 necessary? I'm rather afraid it is ; but still I cherish the 

 idea that a sufficiently gentle application of heat in a warm- 

 ing-box will do the job nicely, and save corks, labels, and 

 everything. But I'm thinking of high-class honey perfectly 

 kept. Of course, if the honey was poor to begin with, or if 

 it has grown poor with the lapse of time (as it sometimes 

 does), it may froth on being heated and demand vent. Per- 

 chance the whole contents will have to be turned out and 

 the bottle refilled. 



BOTTOM STARTERS OF COMB FOUNDATION. 



Interested to learn that bees build the bottom starter 

 and t'lie upper one together before enough honey is put in 

 the top one to swing it out of perpendicular. Should have 

 guessed there was a danger there, but have no experience 

 with bottom starters myself. Page 88. 



MELTING HONEY OUT OF WAX. 



The last phrase on page 90 — " taking off the cake of 

 wax when cooled " — intimates that, of course, the heat will 

 be high enough to melt the wax. As melting out honey 

 without damaging it is one of the most difficult things we 

 undertake, why not try more — much more — time, and a 

 temperature below the melting-point of wax. The unmelted 

 wax can be squeezed out. Am just now trying this on a 

 pan of cappings that got solid before it drained. This one 

 trial seems to be a success ; but I should expect honey can- 

 died in the comb to be a little more stubborn. 



Queenle Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. 



