THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



1B& 



trOLDEN ITALIANS receive some hard knocks 

 through the bee journals, but the majority 

 of the orders that come to me ask for the 

 bright yellow queens. 



The Southland Quekn is the title of a 

 new monthly of 22 pajjes and cover, pub- 

 lished at $1.00 by the Jennie Atchley Co., of 

 Beeville, Texas. 



" More Honey Boom and less supply boom 

 is something that we must have soon, or 

 both will be dead together," is an express- 

 ion that I find in a letter written to me by 

 Mr. B. Taylor. 



Wood-Base Foundation, the base of wood 

 being only l-48th of an inch in thickness is 

 being made by Schmidt & Thiele, of New 

 London, Wis. Of course, this kind of foun- 

 dation can never break nor sag. Neither 

 will that built on wires for that matter. 



Don't Unqueen your colonies simply be- 

 cause you have ordered queens. Most 

 breeders can fill orders promptly now, but 

 your case may be an exception. Besides, 

 with the best methods of introduction, there 

 is no necessity, at this time of year, to re- 

 move the old queen until the new one is to 

 be put in. 



Supplies are something that I don't care 

 to deal in, but several times this season I 

 have made a "dicker" for foundation and 

 sections, and I have more than I can use, 

 and if any of my friends are in need of 

 either I would be glad to have them write 

 me what they want, and if I have it I will 

 tell them the price at which I will sell. 



Bees ahe Dying in some parts of this 

 county. I mistrust that it is of starvation. 

 The warm weather during fruit bloom 

 caused the rearing of large quantities of 

 brood, and now there is no honey to gather 

 and it looks at present as though there 

 would be none from white clover. Possibly 

 there will be some from alsike and bass- 

 wood. 



The Honey Flow of one locality is short, 

 lasting not more than a month or six weeks ; 

 that of another locality lasts for months. 

 This point has great bearing upon the right 

 methods of management, and Mr. A. M. 

 Southworth, of Illinois, suggests that corres- 

 pondents in giving their methods ought al- 

 ways to say whether the season is short or if 

 tlie flow is long and steady. 



Covers of different styles for hives are 

 now being fussed with, but I very much 

 doubt if a plain, simple l)oard, cleated at the 

 ends and well painted, will ever be improved 

 upon. I have used such covers a dozen 

 years, and the amount of warping and twist- 

 ing is so slight that it practically amounts to 

 nothing. 



•■IjrH »^»»lt»kJi 



Swakming may be prevented by inverting 

 the brood nest as often as once in nine days, 

 which will cause the destruction of all queen 

 cells. At least, this is the assertion made by 

 some bee-keepers. Mr. T. Bolton, of Aus- 

 tralia, writes Gleanings that it is a success 

 with him. Who has tried it and found it a 

 failure ? Seems to me some one has said 

 that failure resulted if a cell were built pret- 

 ty nearly horizontal. 



Weighing Colonies of bees is a proceed- 

 ing that does not meet with favor in the eyes 

 of ex-President E. T. Abbott. He says ' Do 

 not weigh the colonies with any kind of 

 scales, but examine them with your eyes and 

 heft them with your liands. There is not 

 money enough in bees to spend any time in 

 such useless work as weighing hives." While 

 I do not agree with all of the bright things 

 that Bro. Abbott says, this is one of the times 

 that I do. 



Moisture and temperature and their rela- 

 tion to the successful wintering of bees have 

 been made the subject of much discussion, 

 but I think that Mr. H. R. Board man in 

 Gleanings has put the whole matter in a nut 

 shell when he says : " Cold and moisture 

 are destructive to bees when they meet as 

 allies ; so long as they do not come together 

 they are comparatively safe. Bees will en- 

 dure severe cold if dry. They will also with- 

 stand much moisture in a high tempera- 

 ture." 



Swabms that are hived on some drawn 

 combs and allowed to build combs in the 

 rest of the frames are much more likely to 

 build drone comb than when no drawn comb 

 is given ; so writes Mr. Doolittle in Glean- 

 ings. This is a point upon which I have 

 made no observations. Second and third 

 swarms are not likely to give this trouble, 

 says Mr. Doolittle. I have often noticed 

 that after-swarms do not build drone comb. 

 I think that his advice to hive first swarms 

 on all drawn comb, or all foundation, or all 

 starters, is good. 



