IN 



BEE CULTUIIE 



Publlihed by The A. I. Root CompMiy, Medina, Ohio 



E. R. ROOT, Editor a. L. BOTDEN, Adtkstisino Mgr. 



H. H. ROOT, A88T. Ej>. J. T. OALVERT, BVSINKSg MOR. 



A. I. ROOT, Editor or Hon DKrABXMENT 



Vol. XXXVI. 



MARCH 1, 1908. 



No. 5 



Has not a frame-spacer (No. 8) got mix- 

 ed up with rabbet-spacers in A B C and the 

 X y Z of Bee Culture, p. 208, edition 1908?- 

 a good frame-spacer too. 



Most humble apologies, Mr. Editor, for 

 misunderstanding what you said, and hearti- 

 est thanks for the taboo, p. 300, upon the 

 word " section " when referring to a shallow 

 brood-chamber. 



BiENEN-VATER, p. 21, says American bee 

 culture takes the lead because of the frames 

 in use here, the three most important being 

 the Langstroth, the Dadant, and the Danzen- 

 baker. It prefers the Danzenbaker. 



Honey from combs not yet bred in can 

 generally be distinguished easily by the taste 

 from that extracted from dark brood-combs, 

 says F. Greiner, Bienen-Vater, p. 15. [We 

 should be glad to hear from our subscribers 

 on this subject. — Ed.] 



Rev. a. Straeuli says, Deutsche 111: Bztg ., 

 7, that Mr. Cowan, who has given Italians 

 high praise in the "Bee-keeper's Guide 

 Book," has written him that he endorses the 

 Swiss Kramer in believing that, with right 

 cultivation, blacks excel Italiana in that cli- 

 mate. Rev. Straeuli also says, apparently 

 on the authority of C. P. Dadant, that "there 

 are also in America very good black colo- 

 nies." 



"Formic acid (the acid of bee poison)," 

 p. 202. But — but, don't later authorities tell 

 us that the poison is something else than 

 formic acid, or is there formic acid along 

 with the poison? [You are correct. Later 

 authorities are raising the question whether 

 the poison of the bee-sting is formic acid . It 

 seems to us this ought to be easily settled by 



the chemists. If one sting will not be enough 

 for a test, a hundred or a thousand can be 

 secured. — Ed.] 



V. WuEST, Deutsche 111. Bztg., p. 8, thinks 

 there is no proof that the nectar of poisonous 

 plants is harmful to bees. He imprisoned a 

 queen and twenty workers, and for three 

 days fed them exclusively on nectar that he 

 took from "crown imperial," well known to 

 be very poisonous, but no harm followed. 

 Like experiments with tobacco and "herbst- 

 zeitlose "showed their nectar also harmless 

 to the bees. 



One secret of the success of W. L. Coo- 

 per's bee-cellar, p. 214, is the abundance of 

 good air with those four ventilators. A. I. 

 Root is just right as to the importance of 

 fresh air, and lots of it, for man or bee. [We 

 are glad you called attention to this question 

 of ventilation. In looking back over the 

 article we find that Mr. Cooper makes use 

 of a good deal of ventilation, and therein he 

 is very wise. — Ed.] 



Wonderful times, these. After weeks 

 of the most bitter contest in which there was 

 the remarkable spectacle of the Speaker of 

 the U. S. House of Representatives coming 

 in person to help the political bosses to de- 

 feat the will of the people plainly expressed 

 by their ballot, the people have finally tri- 

 umphed, and Illinois has a primary law send- 

 ing the bosses to the rear, and leaving to the 

 people to say who their candidates shall be. 



I AM SURPRISED at the difference between 

 Allen Latham's experience, p. 212, and mine 

 as to feeding thick syrup late. He found 5 

 to 3 about the right proportion, 5 to 2^ (2 to 

 1) being too thick for the bees to take well. 

 Years ago I fed much syrup late, and always 

 as thick as 5 to 2, and there was no trouble 

 about the bees taking it. I wonder if there 

 was a difference as to time, or was it the 

 acid I used, or what? [Years ago we fed a 

 2-to-l sugar syrup to our bees without any 

 difficulty. The thicker the syrup can be, 

 and yet have the bees take it, the less strain 

 there will be on the bees in evaporating 

 down to the requirements of the hive; for 

 we are beginning to believe that a thick ey - 



