Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Dr. C. C. Millek, Marengo. III. 



Louis Scholl's "Honey vs. Other 

 Sweets," page 747, would be a fine thing to 

 have copied in local papers. 



C. A. Neal, page 766, asks where he can 

 buy rock candy. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 

 Chicago, quote it at 65 cts. for 5 lbs. 



D. W. Millar, p. 718, talks about Euro- 

 pean foul brood, and then says, "We do 

 not consider this contagious." If it isn't 

 contagious, it isn't European foul brood. 



Thanks, Mr. Editor, for your invitation 

 to eat pie with you, p. 746. At a banquet 

 the talking comes usually after the feast. 

 Let's reverse the order, and talk before cut- 

 ting the pie. 



A. W. Yates, those "little drops falling 

 like rain," p. 717, were only water separated 

 by the bees from the syrup. Don't you for 

 a minute think bees will throw away good 

 stuff they have once started with. [Right 

 you are. — Ed.] 



Rev. Geo. W. Fuller, Bevietv, 339, re- 

 ports that in York State, last year, he found 

 lice on a number of bees, each bee having 

 from one to eight lice. Heretofore the bee- 

 louse has never flourished in this country 

 when brought across the sea. 



Devauchelle, IyApiculieu7', 412. fully 

 endorses the view expressed by you, Mr. Ed- 

 itor, page 712, about Abbe Pincot's enlarged 

 bees. Abbe Pincot says they are 13mm. in 

 length, while his unimproved bees are 12mra. 

 Devauchelle's bees, reared in ordinary cells, 

 are 14mm. long! 



J. G. Creighton wants to know Ihe ori- 

 gin of the first golden queen. I think i)oo- 

 little obtained his from Italians by constant 

 selection of the brightest-colored bees. I . 

 believe others have been obtained from Cyp- 

 rian or other stock — perhaps with some 

 crossing. [If we are not mistaken, friend 

 Doolittle was not the first to bring out the 

 golden Italians. We hope the man who 

 did it will speak up. — Ed.] 



Some have complained that foundation 

 has dropped out when wedges were used. 

 Stephen Anthony has overcome the difTicul- 

 ty by cutting each wedge in 3 pieces, using 

 two of these pieces to each frame, starting 

 al)out ,V inch from each end. — lien'riv, 345. 

 [One difficulty with many is that the pre- 

 caution to dri\e the wedge bfilow the surface 

 of the wood its ^ nfire length is not observ- 

 ed. The wedge should always go the full 

 depth of the groove. — Ed.] 



Dr. Phillips had barrels of slumgum at- 

 tacked by moths. .Just what 1 should ex- 

 pect ho re if the barrels were warm enough 

 and exp'SL-d enough. But we were not 

 talking about slumgum on p. 582. To be 

 sure, you asked a question on that page in 

 which I think you had reference to brood- 

 combs; and as that has not been answered, 



I'll be liberal enough to answer it here. 

 You asked, "Is it not true that, when these 

 combs have been frozen, after a long severe 

 winter, they will develop the mot!i-worm 

 without ever going back into the hives 

 again if left exposed in a building?" In 

 this locality a brood-comb that has been ex- 

 posed to a winter's freezing, if left standing 

 in the apiary in a hive without any bees 

 throughout the summer, will not be trou- 

 bled with moths one time in a hundred. 

 My assistant says she doesn't remember a 

 single case. I can't say how it would be in 

 a building. But neither slumgum nor 

 brood-combs are involved. Let's see just 

 what is the material for that pie. I said, 

 in effect, p. 582, "I venture the guess that 

 S. D. House never had an egg laid in sec- 

 tions after they were taken from the hive— 

 at least that, I think, is the case here." So 

 please bear in mind that neither slumgum 

 nor brood-combs are to go into that pie- 

 only sections. Now I'll tell you on what I 

 base that guess. For years I have had each 

 year hundreds if not thousands of sections, 

 with combs partly or fully drawn out, that 

 were stored in the shop. The moths could 

 easily get them if they so desired. They 

 were put there in the fall and stayed there 

 generally till .lune, sometimes through the 

 entire summer, and Ida not remember ever 

 to have seen a single one of those sections 

 troubled with moth-worms, and I have good 

 eyes too. If, now, my experience is entire- 

 ly exceptional, and every one else, especial- 

 ly S. D. House, says such sections are de- 

 stroyed by worms, you needn't mind cut- 

 ting the pie. I'll eat the whole of it and 

 look pleasant while eating it. [Are you not 

 making a distinction, doctor, without a dif- 

 ference? P^or example, what is the differ- 

 ence between a comb in a brood-frame and 

 a comb in a section? Both may or may not 

 have had brood in them. But let us assume 

 that there ?•< a difference. If you will turn 

 back to our original statement, page 547, 

 Sept. 15, you will see that we Mere talking 

 about the iwssibility of moth-millers laying 

 eggs "in his combs or in his nice comb hon- 

 ey after either has been taken from the 

 hive." In your comment on this, page 5<S2. 

 you said sections. The natural inference 

 would be you included in your guess coml)s 

 either in the sections or brood-frames. Now, 

 then, doctor, if the moth-miller will attack 

 or lay eggs in combs after thev have been 

 frozen or fumigated, why should she not 

 lay eggs in combs built in sections? 



i\s we look at it, your proposition or 

 "guess" will be an unsafe one to let go un- 

 challonired before tlie })ee-keeping public. 

 Don't vou believe tiiere is plenty of proof now 

 to show that it would lie wisse to err on the 

 safe side— at least so far as our instructions 

 to the public are concerned. The individual, 

 of course, can do as he pleases.— Ed.] 



