43dYEAP. 



CHICAGO, ILL, MAY 14, 1903. 



No. 20. 



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^ Editorial Comments. i^ 



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Hastening the Granulation of Honey is a thing that has 

 hardly been desired in this country heretofore, the prevention of 

 granulation having been the thing eagerly sought for. In Europe, 

 however, the hastening of granulation has been more or less discussed 

 for years. It is possible that in some cases it may be a matter of in- 

 terest in this country. It is well understood that cold helps granula- 

 tion. Occasional or frequent stirring is also a help, and it is said that 

 frequent agitation gives a finer grain. Another thing that may be 

 done to hasten granulation is to stir into clear honey a small portion 

 of candied honey, the granules serving as so many centers from which 

 granulation starts. 



Phacelia in Germany. — A letter in Gleanings in Bee-Culture 

 gives a glowing account of phacelia as a forage-plant in Germany; 

 and many have praised it in the German bee-journals. It seems a 

 little strange that no California bee-keeper has anything to say about 

 it as a forage-plant, although it was introduced into Germany from 

 California. The letter referred to is as follows; 



Dr. C. C. Miller says, page s, speaking of phacelia: " But no one 

 has told us yet about its value as a forage-plant." A Mr. Karger, of 

 Schreibendorf, writes: Mr. L., a practical farmer, sowed about the 

 middle of May, phacelia on a piece of ground that had been in pota- 

 toes the previous year. Notwithstanding the cold and wet weather it 

 grew luxuriantly, and reached an average height of 32 inches. While 

 the phacelia was in bloom, although Mr. L. fed it to cattle that had 

 been getting grass and green clover, yet they ate it voraciously. He 

 also noted an increase of milk in quantity and quality. 



A Mr. Haunschild, of Klein-Sagewitz, says that a farmer of his 

 place had seven acres of phacelia; after the first cut of red clover had 

 been fed, the phacelia was cut while the second week in bloom. The 

 cows ate it with eagerness, and could hardly get enough. I think the 

 above testimony ought to be sufficient to encourage all those to a trial 

 who would like to have a bee-plant that might be grown in quantity 

 to fill out a gap in the honey-flow, while its value as feed (green or 

 hay) would pay the farmer for his trouble and expense, apart from its 

 value as a honey-yielding plant. Phacelia begins to bloom about six 

 weeks after sowing, and care should be taken not to sow it too thick. 



Giving Frames of Brood from one colony to another is a 

 matter that requires some judgment. If the object be to strengthen 

 the colony to which the brood is given, then the more mature the 

 brood the better, for giving a frame of brood about ready to emerge is 

 much the same as giving the same quantity of young bees a tew days 

 later. It must be remembered, however, that it is also the same as 

 taking bees from the colony that furnishes the comb, and it is gen- 

 erally very poor policy to strengthen a weak colony at the expense of 

 a stronger one early in the season. 



There are cases, however, in which, even early in the season, 

 there may be a decided gain by giving brood from one colony to 

 another. Sometimes a colony is found with a good force of lx;es, but 

 without a queen, or having a young queen not yet laying, perhaps 

 just emerged. Give to such a colony as many frames of brood as the 

 bees can cover, but let the brood be as yonn;/ ,ix poxxible. If you take 

 from a strong colony a comb of eggs or very young brood, and then 

 put in the middle of the brood-nest an empty comb, or one containing 

 honey, it will be promptly occuijied by the queen, and thus you will 

 have at the end of three weeks the bees produced from two combs in- 

 stead of the one. So long as you may think it desirable for any rea- 

 son to continue a colony that has not a laying queen, you will tind it 



policy to furnish it wilh brood from other colonies, always as young 

 as possible. If a young queen not yet laying is present, it is believed 

 that the presence of young brood will in many cases hasten her laying. 



Bees as Messengers. — Perhaps two or more years ago accounts 

 were given of experiments across the sea in which bees were used 

 somewhat as carrier pigeons, and now a clipping from the Toledo 

 Blade has been received which probably refers to the same experi- 

 ments. M. Tagnac fastened pieces of paper to bees at a distance from 

 their homes, and when they returned to their hives they could not 

 enter because the entrance was made too small for them to pull the 

 paper through. The success of the experiments was based on the 

 ascertained fact that bees would find their homes at a distance of 4 

 miles. 



The likelihood is that there has been nothing new in this line, and 

 that the old item has simply been furbished up for the sake of filling 

 up. A bee would hardly find its home at a distance of 3 miles, much 

 less 4, unless it had previously been over the same ground, and en- 

 cumbered with a weight the distance would be still shorter. It ie not 

 likely that bees will ever be regularly employed to carry messages. 



Hatching Eggs Over Bees.— We have received the following 

 on this subject, which was up several years ago; 



Editor York : — I enclose you a clipping to ascertain whether you 

 can substantiate the statements therein made. As I keep poultry in 

 connection with bees, it is quite a discovery, if true. 



Kitsap Co., Wash. W. F. Bragg. 



The clipping sent by Mr. Bragg reads as follows; 



HATCHING EGGS WITH BEES. 



John Norton, of Illinois, has, for several years, been interested in 

 bees, and has given them and their habits much study. It was this 

 study that led Mr. Norton to devise one of the most interesting, and at 

 the same time, most practical schemes of modern poultry culture. It 

 is nothing more nor less than the hatching of thrifty and strong chick- 

 ens in hives with the bees. 



In watching the daily life of the busy insects, Mr. Norton noted 

 that they laid and hatched eggs. It at once occurred to him that if 

 bees' eggs would hatch, that the eggs of hens might also be quickened 

 into life under the same conditions. He began experimenting, and 

 with the final result of a practical, perfect, and cheap incubator. It is 

 made as follows : A common hive is built with double walls, the dead 

 space being filled with chaff in order that changes of temperature 

 without may affect as little as possible the temperature within. Upon 

 this hive is placed the common box cap that usually forms the second 

 story of a hive, and which contains the honey of commerce. The 

 main hive is filled with small boxes so familiar to all, and these con- 

 tain the brood-comb and a supply of honey. Over these boxes is 

 placed first a piece of oil-cloth and second a cloth blanket. Upon this 

 blanket the eggs are placed, and above them two bags of chaff, filling 

 the top, and so arranged that there is a slight cone of vacant space 

 beneath the bags in the hive. The eggs, having been placed in the 

 hive, are left to the care of the bees. The heat from the bees below, 

 and from the brood-comb, keeps the eggs warm, and they hatch in ex- 

 actly the same time as beneath a hen. No matter what the tempera- 

 ture without, that within never varies halt a degree. If it grows cold 

 the bees begin to devour the honey and give off heat. If it becomes 

 warm without, the bees create a draft with their wings, and maintain 

 an even temperature. 



From .50 fertile eggs, at three dilferent times placed in the hive, 

 Mr. Norton has hatched .50 strong chicks, a record seldom equalled by 

 hen or incubator. The eggs require no moistening as in an incubator. 

 They need only to be placed there and allowed to remain till the period 

 of incubation is passed. The chicks, as they hatch, crawl into the lit- 

 tle cone-like space between and under the bags of chaff, and are found 

 hungry and happy when the hive is opened. Mr. Norton is to be con- 

 gratulated on the success of this experiment. 



We sent the foregoing to Dr. C. C. Miller, who has this to say 

 about it : 



I read that clipping to a friend who is somewhat familiar with 

 both bees and poultry, and after reading it, I said, "What do you 



