THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



1U7 



binutiou tools have a reputation tor heiny 

 soniothiug less than first class in each ele- 

 ment of the combination, the public are a 

 little inclined to draw a similar conclusion 

 in regard to combination magazines. The 

 prejudice can quickly be broken through, no 

 doubt, by the right kind of push — but push 

 is a nine qua non, if the perambulator with 

 two babies in it is to go up the sandy hill. 



Friend JoUey gives evidence, on page .">:> 

 of the Americayi Bee-Keeper, that the Cath- 

 olic church does not always refuse substi- 

 tutes for beeswax in its candle making ; con- 

 sequently the market for one of our products 

 is not so secure as we thought. Order for 

 10,0()0 barrels of paraiiine at one time. Not 

 knowing anything about the subject, I should 

 exercise my Yankee right to guess that great- 

 er strictness would be exercised as to candles 

 to be used around the altars and shrines, 

 and as to those carried in processions, than 

 would be exercised as to those used to be-star 

 lofty walls and domes. Why should they 

 neglect to save money in the latter class of 

 ornaments, if the cheaper ones are just as 

 good, and have the same general appear- 

 ance ? 



Same article says soak the corners of your 

 dove-tailed hives a minute or two in thin 

 paint before setting them up — more than save 

 the time back again \\ heu you come to paint 

 the out.-ide, besides the advantage of a white 

 lead joint. And a coat of castor oil on the 

 rabbet inside will make propolis let loose 

 just like hard soap. 



J. E. Pond reared a tive-bauded queen as 

 long ago as 1868. Apiculturist, 18. This is 

 offered as evidence that Cyprian blood (un- 

 wittingly introduced, or otherwise) is not 

 alivays the cause of tive-banded progeny. 

 At that date it is not likely that a drone with 

 Cyprian blood could have been abroad in 

 Massachusetts unbeknown to the breeders. 

 Perhaps some of the Italian breeders resem- 

 ble Ah Sin in their inclination to monkey 

 with "tricks which are vain ;" but it seems 

 doubtful if even they got at it as early as 

 18(>8. All the same the case will bear some 

 more evidence. 



C. W. Dayton has an eccentric nail box, 

 for the little nails bee-keepers need, which 

 is not devoid of good points. Two screw 

 caps (such as are used on honey cans and 

 various other ware ) with their screw covers. 

 Fasten the two together base to base, and 

 you have a neat little tight box with two ways 

 to get into it. Several of these can nestle 



together in the general tool box, or even in 

 the pocket, with no danger of spilling or 

 mixing their nails. December Progressive, 

 323. 



Dayton likes to move bees by night, and 

 succeeds without fastening them in. Drive 

 them in with smoke when you put them on 

 the wagon. When you are about to start I 

 suppose if any have boiled out meantime 

 they are to be driven in again. Proceed 

 twenty rods on your journey and stop. This 

 kind of a stop for five minutes or more is 

 the proper thing, even if your bees are fast- 

 ened in. If at liberty the smoker is used 

 again on those that seem to need it — and it 

 is not the r habit to make any more trouble 

 during the trip. 



Glad R. L. Taylor has the Conser device 

 for preventing swarming in tow. I think it 

 very desirable for us to know just the effect 

 of a steady removal of capped brood. I 

 have no very great hopes that it will be suf- 

 ficient to entirely prevent swarming during 

 a bad year : but it will be a step in advance 

 if it is proven to have a decided influence in 

 that direction. Its first year's record at the 

 station is not encouraging, as even a come- 

 out-and-go-back swarm in such an unfavor- 

 able season as the last is suspicious. 



Shoe blacking made with honey, eh ? How 

 can we allow men to tread such a celestial 

 product as honey under their feet. Ketchum 

 and Cheatam can arrange the matter for us 

 — catch 'em with honey and cheat 'em with 

 honey dew— good enough to grind up with 

 bone black. Review, 70. 



The Germans have got at the question of 

 the formic acid in honey, and how it came 

 there, whether by sting ejection or absorp- 

 tion of vapor ; and some addition to ■our 

 knowledge is quite likely to come of it. In- 

 teresting to see that sugar syrup in a cage 

 acquires fornic acid wh^n hung inside a 

 colony. 



Something or other badly at fault with 

 those prices of French honey on page 71 of 

 last Review. We are told that honey is only 

 80 per cent, above sugar, and yet 29, 89 and 

 49 cents are named as prices of sections, ap- 

 parently prices of single sections not very 

 different from ours. Quite likely we should 

 read centimes instead of cents. Yet this 

 would make the i)rices seem pretty low — (i, 

 S, and JO cents, and yet they are talking 

 about lowering them. 



Riohabds, Lucas Co., Ohio, March 21, '9i">. 



