^ERICi^^ 



43d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE 25, 1903, 



No. 26. 



( 



Editorial Comments 



] 



Soap to Remove Propolis. — Editor Hutchinson is enthusi- 

 astic over the discovery of a soap called Lava soap, that is very effec- 

 tive in removing propolis from the fingers. 



Formalin, frequently spoken of nowadays as a disinfectant of 

 combs affected with foal brood, is the name of a particular prepara- 

 tion of formaldehyde. The name furmalhi is the property of the 

 Schering Chemical Works, of Berlin, Germany, protected by United 

 States and foreign patents, and is applied to a guaranteed 40 percent 

 solution of formaldehyde: so that when " formalin " is bought, one 

 may feel sure of a reliable article of a given strength. 



Start Queen-Cells in Full Colonies. — Although by proper 

 management the experienced queen-breeder may be able to have good 

 queen-cells started in miniature colonies, the average beginner will do 

 well to make it a rule to have all queen-cells started in full colonies. 

 A single frame of brood with enough bees to cover, or partially cover 

 It, may succeed in rearing a queen, but such queens would not gen- 

 erally be accepted as a gift by the experienced bee-keeper. Cells 

 started in a full colony are none too good for him. 



Young Queens and Swarming. — It was formerly held that 

 if a colony had a queen of the current year's rearing, there would be 

 no danger of swarming that season. After the introduction of Italian 

 bees, whether it was the difference in bees or difference initreatment, 

 it was found that the rule was not reliable. It is true, however, that 

 there is less tendency to swarming with young queens, and it has been 

 held by many that a colony with a queen of the current year would 

 not swarm if the young queen had been reared in that hive. Even to 

 this, however, exceptions have been reported. 



A Case of Long Caging. — M. A. Gill reports in the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review a case in which a queen was caged in a nucleus from 

 about the middle of July till the 10th of October. She was then re- 

 leased, found laying on the third day, and proved to be a prolific 

 queen. A confinement of I'J weeks in which the <iueen did not la\' is a 

 pretty strong argument in opposition to those who say that a queen is 

 seriously injured by ceasing to lay for a few days. It also militates 

 against the view that it is important that a queen should be allowed 

 to lay to the fullest possible extent during the first year of her life. 



for the 



Untwisting that Twist.— A friend who is solicitous 

 harmony of the force upon the Bee .lournal, writes: 



'■ There seems danger of the editors of the ' Old Reliable ' getting 

 twisted up into a snarl over that twisting of the hive-cover, as appears 

 in the closing words of our sprightly Afterthinker, page '-M)::. Why 

 not submit the matter to arbitration, and let me be chairman I'f the 

 arbitration committee? I should rule that both are right. 



" On page 276 the supposition is that a cleat is on the end of the 

 board, that cleat so rigid that it does not in the least swerve from a 

 straight line. Now, suppose that 2.S-inch board twists so th;it while 

 one end of the cleat rests on the hive the other end is raised. luaking 



at the middle a crack of a iiuarterof an inch. It is clear that the 

 crack at the end of the cleat will be just twice as much, or ,'j inch. 

 But on page 'Sii'i no such rigid cleat is supposed. The end of the 

 board is cleated so feebly that the end of the board is allowed to twist- 

 at its will, and instead of remaining in a straight line it will form a 

 curve, and the quarter of an inch at the middle may become more 

 than an inch at the end. See?" 



There is no need of anxiety lest there be strained relations among 

 the workers on this periodical. Rather than any hard feelings, either 

 side would be willing to concede any kind of a cleat, or no cleat at all. 

 But it appears quite clear that we may look from different standpoints. 



Don't Start Queen-Cells in a Time of Dearth. — To get 



the best kind of queen-cells conditions should be as encouraging as 

 possible. The fact of queenlessness is all the discouragement the bees 

 ought to be called on to endure. When bees start preparations for 

 swarming, if the weather turns bad so that no nectar can be gathered, 

 the probability is that preparations for swarming will cease, and the 

 incipient cells be torn down. Don't try to have cells reared at a time 

 when bees would be discouraged from swarming. If, however, there 

 be no nectar coming in, while the weather is at the same time favor- 

 able, the lack of forage may be helped by feeding thin syrup every 

 night or every other night. 



Non-Swarming Chamber. — The Simmins plan of preventing 

 swarming by allowing constant opportunity for building comb below 

 the brood-nest has been considerably in vogue in England, although 

 for some reason no great success has been reported with it in this 

 country. A non-swarming chamber is thus referred to by the British 

 Bee Journal: 



The non-swarming chamber is placed below the body-box primarily 

 to give the bees room and occupation in comb-building, but when they 

 have got started well at work the extra chamber, bees and all, is re- 

 moved and placed above the brood-nest, when it becomes the surplus 

 chamber for honey-storing ; and by providing plenty of storage-room 

 overhead in this way swarming is prevented. 



One Way of Starting Queen-Cells. — The novice is likely 

 to feel that the matter of rearing queens is so difficult that he dare not 

 undertake it. Although other ways may be better for the profes 

 sional queen-rearer, here is a way by which the veriest tyro may rear 

 a few queens of particular stock and of good quality : 



Look through your choice colony till you find the queen. Take 

 the frame of brood on which you find her with its adhering bees, and 

 put it, queen and all, in an empty hive, and add to it from the same 

 colony another frame of brood and bees. That's all ; the bees will do 

 the rest. You have simply made the colony queenless, and the bees 

 will proceed to rear a number of queen-cells that under proper condi- 

 tions will be as good as the best. In nine days from the removal of 

 the queen the cells may be cut out and used wherever desired. 



A Busy Bee-Keeper ! — The other day we received the follow 

 ing from one of our subscribers : 



" Please stop the American Bee Journal, as I can not get time to 

 open them, let alone to read them." 



We may be wrong about it, but we think that any bee-keeper who 

 is too busy to read his bee-paper is altogether too busy to fool with 

 bees any at all. We can not sec how a bee-keeper can put an hour or 

 two each week to any better advantage than reading a tjee-paper — 

 that is, if he cares anything about inaliing a success with bees. Some- 



