Oct. 15, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



665 



I want to hear from the sister about those asbestos 

 gloves, too. Mrs. C. D. Mkars. 



Princess Anne Co., Va. 



Answers. — 1. Those bees, no doubt, thoug-ht themselves 

 queenless. When brood is placed over an excluder it is not 

 an uncommon thing for bees to start cells. You should 

 have examined the frames and killed all cells at the time 

 you gave the brood from which you wished your queens 

 reared. 



2. Now about those small cells, they may, or may not, 

 have been worthless. When queen-cells are started, not on 

 the edge but in the center of the comb, they appear much 

 smaller, often being so flat to the comb as almost to escape 

 detection, and yet good queens may emerge from those same 

 cells. 



3. Not usually. 



4. In Virginia it does not make so much difference as 

 farther north, still it would be better to feed when the 

 weather was warmer than just warm enough for bees to fly. 



5. It is possible that a smaller opening might be better. 



6. They would not be as likely to store in them as if 

 they were placed over the brood-nest. But it would do no 

 harm to try, unless it might be to soil your sections. It 

 would not interfere with brood-rearing. 



7. The hive should be level from side to side, not neces- 

 sarily from front to rear. If not level from side to side the 

 combs will not be built in the center of the frames, and 

 there will be the same trouble in the sections. 



8. Either there is impure blood in the queen or she has 

 been impurely mated. 



9. It may, if care is not used. 



10. I got them at one of our stores in Marengo, but have 

 never been able to get another pair like them. I paid $1.00 

 for them. 



I, too, am anxious to hear more about those asbestos 

 gloves. 



I Hasty's Afterthoughts ) 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Llnreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Rural, Toledo. Ohio. 



QUEEN COMPELLED TO CEASE LAYING. 



In the case of a queen compelled to cease laying, and the 

 question whether there is any such compulsion — with its 

 presumptive harms — the probabilities rather look on your 

 side, dear Boss. Page 547. 



GLYCERINE CANDY FOR QUEENS. 



Had I turned my guessing machine betimes on J. P. 

 Moore's glycerine candy for queens, I should have guessed 

 that it would poison every mother's daughter of them. 

 Nevertheless, success is a very successful article ; and after 

 his experience I'll only demand a little verification. Don't 

 go it too strong till others also have found glycerine harm- 

 less. Page 547. 



CELL-CUTTING TO CONTROL SWARMING. 



My Afterthink on the plan of controlling swarming by 

 persistant cell-cutting, is that sometimes it would be quite 

 satisfactory, and sometimes quite unsatisfactory. But 

 hunting cells in overcrowded hives is not pleasant work ; 

 and the amount of time required at it will, I think, cause 

 the operator to quit it after a bit, wherever the number of 

 hives involved is more than a dozen. Meekly ready to be 

 informed and corrected by the man whc has run 50 colonies 

 through the season that way. Page 547. 



1000 POUNDS TO ONE COLONY — PROVE IT I 



And now, behold, so reputable a boy as E. S. Lovesy 

 throws his hat into the charmed record ring of 1000 pounds 

 to one colony ! I believe a running-at-large impression 

 afflicts a good many of us that 1000 pounds per colony has 

 never been properly proved up yet. Page 548. 



TWO DIFFERENT APIARIES. 



We will agree with Mr. Wilmon Newell, of the Texas 

 experimental apiary, that running a private apiary for 

 gain and running a public apiary for information are two 

 very different propositions. Page 548. 



SHOWER-KATHINO A Qi;EEN BEFORE INTRODUCING. 



So it is for the purpose of catching the queen that 

 Adrian Getax wets her down. Shower-bath. Is it not true 

 that man — bee-keeping man — has "sought out many in- 

 ventions ? " It makes two operations in place of one in 

 catching a queen, and some of us would manage to bungle 

 both of them — douse the water in such a way as to knock to 

 unforeseen regions a bunch of bees, queen and all. Espe- 

 cially the wide-awake queen dodging back and forth around 

 a bottom corner of the frame is likely to be a difficult sub- 

 ject for water-bath. Still, with all the rebates, the resource 

 looks like a simple and useful one for some hands to use. 

 Worth some trial from us all, perhaps. Page 550. 



CAPTURED BY A "SISTER." 



He didn't know enough to take to the tall timber when 

 the bees chased him home, and the " sister " came and cap- 

 tured him the second time for hiving purposes. For partic- 

 ulars, see page 551. 



BEES, UNLIKE DOCTORS, KILL THEIR PATIENTS SOONER. 



Tliat colony, page 553, which kills about a pint of its 

 own bees every once in a while, I'll guess it is to cure some 

 disease — paralysis, perhaps. The bee's infallible remedy for 

 diseafie is to kill the patient and lug him out. Often, I 

 think, they fail to live entirely up to their doctrine ; but 

 that is the ideal. Human doctors wouldn't like it- — makes 

 the case too short for an exemplary fee. 



INTRODUCING WETTED QUEENS IN FRANCE. 



So wetting the queen when introducing her is well be- 

 spoken by an apiarist over in France. Whatever of hostil- 

 ity the queen brings upon herself by impudent conduct, will 

 evidently be obviated (or, at least, postponed) by a good wet- 

 ting. I have oft suspected that the queen was to blame 

 herself in very many cases. Page 557. 



CARBOLIC ACID AS AN APIFUGE. 



" Powerful strong " an apifuge must be to drive the 

 bees out of a super in a few minutes merely by the vapor 

 from a wet rag, and no forced current of air. As it is no 

 more surprising than some other things that are told of car- 

 bolic acid, we must not assume that it will not work until 

 we have seen it tried. Page 557. 



TESTS FOR PREVENTION OF GRANULATION. 



I feel quite interested in the Texas experiment of bot- 

 tling honey at different temperatures. 150 degrees to 180 de- 

 grees, in comparison with a bottle neither heated nor sealed. 

 But it will take three years to gather all the fruits. Al- 

 ready some fruit — the unheated granulated in less than 

 three months while none of the other samples did so. The 

 first examination at six months is past, and the two judges 

 report the 150-degree sample much better than the high 

 temperatures, and perceptibly better than those next to it. 

 The 180 degrees was called quite objectionable. I should 

 not have expected so pronounced results. Wonder if " per- 

 sonal equation," as the astronomers say, didn't have some- 

 thing to do with it. I would suggest that next time they 

 capture some assistant judges who shall not be allowed to 

 know " tother from which " as to the samples. Page 564. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



3 



Wintering Bees— Moving Bees in Summer. 



1. I have 1 colony that I captured while swarming .July 10. They 

 are in a 10-frame box-hive, and are working early and late, having ij 

 frames full of something. What are my first and last duties to have 

 these bees in working order for the next spring* I have the super 

 with starters for the hive, hut they are not on the hive. 



2. Prof. Cook speaks about not allowing bees to breed after Sep- 

 tember. How do you prevent this * 



3. During the busy season are all the bees supposed to be in the 

 hive at night? If so, why would it not be safe to move a hive * 



Missouri. 

 Answers. — 1. Perhaps your first duty is to see that there is no 

 lack of stores for winter, for if only six frames have been filled there 



