1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



145 



as the bees begin capping, the conditions for 

 swarming would not be favorable with one 

 queen. So far as I know, all who have re- 



Eorted no swarms with a plurality of queens 

 ave had favorable conditions for non- 

 swarming. 



In the December number of the Bee-keep- 

 ers' Revieiv Mr. H. S. Philbrook, (Jxnard, 

 Cal., states, "In my experience two or more 

 queens in one hive will not always prevent 

 swarming. I had one last year, with two 

 queens, tnat produced nearly 800 pounds of 

 extracted honey; and then, just at the close 

 of the season, it swarmed." 



I am still of the opinion that it is more 

 practical to improve in every feasible man- 

 ner the conditions favorable for one queen 

 to do her best, and stop at that. 



LIQUEFYING HONEY. 



An ideal way to liquefy honey is to bring 

 the entire mass all at one time to the proper 

 temperature. While this is scarcely practi- 

 cal, yet present methods may be much im- 

 proved. With ordinary methods there is 

 danger of scorching the honey on the outside 

 of the mass while the center is still granu- 

 lated. 



You know, Mr. Editor, that the best way 

 to melt beeswax is to allow it to run away 

 from the solid part as fast as it melts. This 

 principle, I am sure, is the best for liquefy- 

 ing honey. There are many, however, who 

 can not do this; but there is a method that 

 almost any one can follow whereby a great 

 difference between the temperature of the 

 center of the granulated block and that on 

 the outside can be avoided. This method 

 will also reduce the amount of work neces- 

 sary, and the danger of scorching the honey 

 nearest the source of heat is lessened. Such 

 a method consists in keeping the honey in a 

 warm room (the warmer the better up to 

 100°), until the very center of it has the same 

 temperature as the room. A comb of gran- 

 ulated honey put into a hive with a strong 

 colony in some position where the bees will 

 have no desire to replace it with brood offers 

 us a fine object-lesson in liquefying honey. 

 Exposure to a temperature not higher than 

 that of the hive brings it back to the liquid 

 state, and does not impair the quality. 



[We regard this suggestion of our corre- 

 spondent as a valuable one. With the ordi- 

 nary method of liquefying, there is always 

 danger of overheating the honey and thus 

 spoiling the flavor. A large can or vat to 

 hold the hot water is necessary, and it re- 

 quires considerable hard work to liquefy in 

 that way. 



With the hot-air method, on the other 

 hand, there is little danger of overheating. 

 If a stove can be set up in a very small room 

 there would be no need of further apparatus. 

 Or it should not be difficult to confine the 

 heat about a stove, even in a large room, to 

 keep the temperature of the air surrounding 

 the honey somewhere near 100°. 



It may be that some kinds of honey could 

 not be liquefied at a temperature of 100° with- 



out wasting too much time and fuel. Alfal- 

 fa honev, which candies with a very coarse 

 "grain,'' and therefore liquefies easily, re- 

 quires about 24 hours' exposure to air heated 

 to a temperature of 100°. Candied white- 

 clover and bass wood honey, which are much 

 more solid than alfalfa, would probably re- 

 quire a much longer time, and possibly a 

 higher temperature. 



We should be glad to receive reports from 

 any who may have tried the hot-air plan of 

 liquefying. — Ed.] 



mmamimimm 



tneBee-- 



TOLDBYTHE^ii:ir« 



HOW BEES DISTINGUISH COLOE. 



I have been accused of being like the fellow 

 from Missouri, "You got to snow me." I do 

 not like to jump at conclusions, but enjoy 

 giving a good fair test before believing it. I 

 have sometimes been amused by a long ar- 

 gument as to just how certain things ought 

 to turn out; but when you try them they 

 just won't work. The trouble with too many 

 theories is that the theorist does not take 

 into consideration all the circumstances. I 

 had the pleasure of trying an experiment the 

 other day that gave, as I think, conclusive 

 results. It has been claimed that bees dis- 

 like black, and will sting any thing black 

 much quicker than any thing of a different 

 color. I have believed this also, as I thought 

 the bees were crosser with me when I had 

 on black clothes. The following experiment 

 removed all doubts in my mind. 



I was out among the bees when out came 

 a black dog belonging to one of the neigh- 

 bors. In a minute, out came a brown dog 

 from another neighbor. I was dressed in 

 gray. Now I thought I would see which dog 

 the bees would sting more. This seemed a 

 little cruel, but I thought that, as long as I 

 took my chances with the other dogs, and 

 we all had an even break, there would be no 

 kick coming. I called the dogs in front of a 

 hive and began to bark at them and play 

 with them. We all jumped and tore around 

 in front of the entrance at a great rate. I 

 kept a little nearer to the hive so as to see 

 that the dogs got a fair deal. In a moment 

 some of the bees began to lodge in the black 

 fur of the dog, and stick there like cockle 

 burrs. They went clear around me and the 

 brown dog. At last one got Rex (the black 

 dog) where the hair was short— i. e., on the 

 nose. He withdrew to the brush to sneeze a 

 little. I had determined to give three trials, 

 then count up all the stings, average it up, 

 and see just what per cent madder a bee got 

 at a black object than it did at brown or 

 gray. 



