April 23, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



265 



in the autumn the plant will no doubt be valuable as a 

 honey-producer :' 



" It has long been known that the flowers of this family 

 are rich in honey, but from the standpoint of the beekeeper 

 they have been considered of little importance because sel- 

 dom accessible in sufficient amount, though in the United 

 States fields are recognized as good bee-pastures. The 

 chayote seems to make up by numbers what the tlowers 

 lack in size, so that the yield of honey may be larger than 

 in related plants. In addition to this there is the fact that 

 Sechium is a perennial bloomer in the tropics, and in the 

 subtropical regions has a very long season." 



Wayne Co., Ind. Kate V. Austin. 



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

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



SELLING LIGHT-WEIGHT CASES AND SECTIONS OF HONEY. 



The Chicago Convention seemed to have quite a discus- 

 sion about the honesty of selling light-weight sections and 

 cases. All right. Let there be more such discussions. In 

 the long run daylight is apt to have a wholesome effect upon 

 naughty deeds. Here's a chunk of wisdom to help things 

 along : Some practices are essentially and incurably wrong. 

 Some practices not necessarily dishonest are objectionable 

 because they lend themselves to dishonesty so easily. The 

 good man may yield to the latter because he has to ; but at 

 the former kind the good man stops off. If he is found do- 

 ing them his title of " good man " gets a bad dent in it. 

 The paternal desire to make other people be honest as well 

 as ourselves is good within certain bounds, but has been 

 known to be carried too far. Page 164. 



KINKS IN FORMING NUCLEI. 



Two good items not universally known on forming 

 nuclei : Make them toward the close of several days of bad 

 weather, and the bees will not go home nearly so badly. 

 Mixed bees from several colonies do not go home so badly 

 as is the case when the bees are all from one colony. The 

 last item is something of a curiosity, and is worthy of 

 study to find out why. Doolittle, page 165. 



A POETICAL MlX-UP ABOUT HIVES. 



When Mr. Aikin gets into the thick of the fight defend- 

 ing his new hive he slumps into poetry and says — 



" Mr. Doolittle kicks 

 About a few sticks." 



Yes, and there's the Styx, across which our bees might 

 be landed by a few ill-fated kicks — the pranks of new in- 

 ventors — " if we don't watch out." I fear Mr. Aikin, in his 

 defense, ignored the weakest point — brood-nest pushed 

 across the sticks only a few days ago, and lo, here comes a 

 long, cold storm with winds. I rather fear the brood-nest 

 will recross the sticks, and the exposed young brood below 

 cross the Styx. Page 166. (Please don't allow yourself to 

 lose that concluding rhyme.) 



KINGS NOT ENCOIKAGED IN THIS "LOCALITY." 



Name of the king of Finland wanted, eh ? And Dr. 

 Miller hadn't even the grace to say, " I don't know." Knew 

 all about the king of Finland, of course, but couldn't let a 

 child in the apicultural kindergarten be wandering from the 

 subject so. Page 168. 



FORMALIN VAPOR FOR FOUL BROOD. 



It's not a thing to rush into in a headlong manner, but 

 up to date the power of formalin vapor to extinguish all 

 germs of foul-brood seems one of the most promising new 

 things. Promises to be better than destruction of thenombs 

 at any time, and immensely better on the numerous occa- 

 sions when bees are disinclined to build on account of poor 

 honey-flow. Page 180. 



FEF.DING SOUR HONEY TO BBES. 



As to the problem of working over soured honey, it 

 seems to be granted by all that it may be fed ii; warm 

 weather as a supply for hungry brood. Possible, of )urse, 

 but may we not have been too hasty in assumintr hat it 



was profitable ? If a man should stand up and call that a. 

 very unprofitable thing to do, how could we refute him ? 

 When damaged honey is fed to bees with the idea of mak- 

 ing them renovate it and store it as surplus, I //ihiH this is 

 the way they proceed : 



They take it into their stomachs, fly around with it, 

 eject the greater portion as urine, and finally store the lesser 

 portion as sound, or nearly sound honey. (Reason why so 

 few find " feeding back " profitable. ) Now is it not prob- 

 able that they do this same thing in breeding-time before 

 any of it actually gets to the brood? And may they not 

 wear themselves out in the process more than the amount 

 of food saved will pay for ? Put it, if you please, at the 

 rate of ten old bees worn out for nine young ones reared. 

 Bees in mid spring are precious things, and we want to fig- 

 ure close on them. 



When we heat damaged honey some of the badness is 

 evaporated out, or foamed out ; but the acids stay in — and 

 so I fear do most of those things of mean taste which the 

 chemist has not got around to name yet. Good honey has 

 a remarkable power to disguise bad flavors. So this is what 

 takes place — I guess — in the cooking down ; we get rid of 

 the alcohols and mucilages and part of the water. Then 

 the thickened honey — that part of it not damaged — disguises 

 to some extent the other bad things. Not very satisfactory. 

 Honey and virture and beautiful snow 

 Better not soil in the first place, you know. 



Page 181. 



CONDUCTED BY 



r>R. O. O. AlILLES.. M^areafgo, HI, 



[The Qttestlons may be mailed to the Bee Jonrnal office, or to Dr. Miller 



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



Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.1 



anestlons by a Beginner. 



1. How can I put a swarm of bees into a hive with all those frames 

 in its If I would move the frames over while dumping the bees in, 

 they would come out before I could put the frames back and cover the 

 hive. My hives are chaff hives. 



2. How does the queen-cell look when the bees are going to 

 swarm? Does it look any different from the other cells at an3' time? 



3. Will the scent of sulphur hurt the bees? Will they stay in the 

 hive? 



4. Where is the queen when the bees cluster in a bunch on a limb? 

 Where does the queen stay in a hive? 



5. How can I tell when other bees are robbing mine? How can I 

 stop them? 



I'l. Where do I clip the queen's wings? Will a pair of sharp shears 

 do it? 



7. When is the best time to put on sections, before the bees 

 swarm, or when they first start out in the spring? 



Pennsylvania. 



Answers.— 1. If a swarm is gently dumped right on top of the 

 frames the bees will go down of themselves without moving the 

 frames. But it may be better to put the swarm at the entrance of the 

 hive and let them run in. 



2. A sealed queen-cell looks like a peanut at all times. 



3. It will do no harm. 



4. The queen may be anywhere in the bunch on the limb, and in a 

 hive generally on or near the brood. 



5. Catch a bee as it is leaving the hive, crack it open, and if it has 

 honey in its sac it's a robber belonging to you or some one else. One 

 way to stop robbing, if you can stop it at all, is to pile a lot of hay or 

 straw at the entrance and sides clear to the top of the hive, and keep 

 it thoroughly wet. 



6. Yes, almost any scissors will do — sheep-shears would be too 

 large— and you may cutoff half or more of the wings on one side. 



7. Put on sections when the chief honey-How begins— in your 

 region about as soon as you see white clover in bloom. 



How to Detect Poul Brood. 



I have been reading the American Bee Journal tor about three 

 months carefully, and Prof. Cook's book, and have been noticing par- 

 ticularly what is said about foul brood. 1 have 9 colonies of bees; I 

 bought 4 colonies in the winter, and have been suspicious of one col- 

 ony for some time, for fear they have foul brood, on account of the 

 different odor in the hives. They tly out and work as strong as al- 

 most any of the rest. What is the best way to know whether they 

 have foul brood or not? How long will a colony live after it gets foul 



