AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



41 



direct secretion by the leaves, for we have 

 never seen it where its connection with 

 some insect could not be established. 



We find in the honey-dew on some leaves 

 a few threads and spores of some fungus. 

 The fungus usually follows a copious secre- 

 tion of honey-dew, on which it lives. Prob- 

 ably in a few days or weeks the leaves now 

 besmeared with' this substance will exhibit 

 a dirty, blackish appearance, as if soiled 

 with soot. This will be due to the develop- 

 ment of the blackish threads of the fungus. 

 The recently introduced pear-tree psylla 

 secretes a kind of honey-dew on which a 

 fungus develops. Accordingly, when we 

 find the spurs and small branches of the 

 pear tree presenting this sooty, blackish 

 appearance, we may conclude that this 

 pestilent insect is present. 



A woolly plant-louse, inhabiting the alder 

 and the beech, secretes such an abundance 

 of honey-dew that a black fungus develops 

 from it to such an extent as to form masses 

 two or three inches broad, and sometimes 

 almost as high. 



Comb Foitiidiitioii samples have 

 been received at this office from "W. J. 

 Finch, Jr., of Springfield, 111.— both thin 

 and brood foundation. The latter is ex- 

 ceptionally fine, besides the side-walls are 

 a trifle higher, we think, than any we have 

 seen lately. 



I*ractice ^Vliat Y^oii I*reacli. — 



An editorial found in the American Bee- 

 Keeper, reads thus : 



We wish our friends, and especially our 

 fellow editors, would refer to' us as the 

 ^^ Am. Bee- Keeper,^' not the A. B. K., as 

 there are the ^. iJ. /., B. B. J., U. B. J., 

 and X. B. K., and nine readers of every 

 ten will confound A. B. K. with one of 

 these if thus referred to. If the Am. Bee- 

 Keeper contains anything worthy of repeti- 

 tion, please give us full credit for it. 



That's good, Bro. American..' But why 

 can't you " take your own medicine," and 

 give full credit to the American Bee Jour- 

 nal when you take anything from its col- 

 umns. Instead of crediting it to " ^4. B. /.," 

 as in your June number ? We substitute 

 the name of our paper, and quote with em- 

 phasis your own words, as above, namely : 

 " If the American Bee Journal contains 

 anything worthy of repetition, please give 

 us full credit for it !'' 



In other words, please "practice what 

 you preach," and join the majority of edi- 

 tors who have long since ceased the mean- 

 ingless " initializing " of other bee-papers 

 when referring to them. 



answered by 

 Marengo, III. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing immediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require replies from the 'JO or more apiarists 

 who help to make "Queries and Replies" BO 

 interesting on another page. In the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly interest beginners.— Ed. 



t^A^A<^A<fcA<^i 



Drone-Traps — Queen Mating. 



Do you think a queen-trap will keep 

 ray bees from swarming ? Bees clustered 

 on the inside and on the outside cannot 

 get in or out. I have to take off and 

 clean bees out. I have killed all my 

 black drones out of hybrid colony. Will 

 the queen mate with an Italian drone ? 



Sandwich, Ont. J. L. 



Answer. — No ; bees will swarm just 

 as soon through a drone-trap, but the 

 queen cannot go, so you can have time 

 to attend to them. The queen may mate 

 with Italian drones, or with any others 

 that are present. I suppose she is more 

 likely to mate with drones from other 

 hives than her own. 



Moths in Frames — Queen-Cells. 



1. How can moths be gotten out of 

 frames of comb that are not in use? 

 What is the best way to keep frames 

 not in use, so as to avoid this trouble ? 



2. What would be the natural cause 

 of a good -sized colony not having any 

 queen-cells started at this time of the 

 season ? 



3. If a colony is made queenless, how 

 soon will they generally start queen- 

 cells ? and will they start queen-cells 

 after introducing queen in July? If so, 

 is it best to take them out ? E. H. H. 



St. Johnsbury Center, Vt., June 25. 



Answers. — 1. I suppose you mean the 

 larvae of the moth or wax worms. With 

 a penknife or wire-nail you can get out 

 the large worms, if there are any. Then 

 a good fumigating with sulphur will 

 finish up the little fellows. A second 

 fumigation in a couple of weeks may be 



