DECEMBER 1, 1912 



erally on my trees at blooming time, and have 

 noticed no bad results to either bees or brood. I 

 also analyzed the honey gathered from the trees 

 - ' for arsenic, and found no trace of it by the deli- 

 cate test made use of by our profession. I am 

 of the opinion the bees referred to died from other 

 causes. 



Anderson, Ind., Aug. 1. Benj. H. Cook, M.D. 



Tin Hive Numbers Held by Nail to Hive Body 



I noticed in Gleanings a desire for ideas on 

 hive numbers. I submit a sample of hive number 

 showing what we use and like. A triangular hole 

 enables the plate to be hung by a shingle nail 

 driven into the hive body so as to project V4, inch. 

 This size, 2%x4, is cut from a fair quality of tin 



146 



with the minimum waste. The size is also very con- 

 venient for the pocket. The sharp angle at the top 

 of the notch prevents the number from blowing off 

 the nail. I don't think much of your cardboard 

 idea. 



Palo Alto, Cal. H. Stillson. 



How to Avoid Foam on Top of Bottled Honey 



Kindly advise me how to avoid the foaming on 

 top of e.xtracted honey in jars. In some of the jars 

 it forms, and in others it does not. The honey is 

 from white clover, was strained through cheese- 

 cloth. It was two-thirds capped before it vcas ex- 

 tracted. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. A'. KiRSCH. 



[Unripe honey always gives more trouble in this 

 way than that which is thoroughly ripened; but if 

 yours was two-thirds capped before it was extracted 

 we hardly think that this was your trouble. 



It is well to strain the honey through as thick a 

 cloth as it will run through when hot, as this re- 

 moves a good deal of the air. Then allow it to 

 stand so that the air-bubbles may rise to the top as 

 much as possible. Draw it off at the bottom of the 

 tank, and be careful to avoid stirring or shaking 

 the honey in the bottles, so as not to get the air 

 mixed in with the honey. — Ed.] 



Chickens that Did Not Eat Bees 



To prove an alibi for those chickens, p. 637, Oct. 

 1, I will give an instance of my chickens, which 

 have had a good opportunity to eat bees but which 

 do not show evidence of such a depraved appetite. 



I live in a semi-arifl location, away from any 

 irrigated land except my law», about 30 feet square, 

 sown to white clover. I keep about 20 chickens, 

 and have 9 stands of bees. The lawn is the only 

 source of green food for the chickens, and there are 

 very few grasshoppers and such insects for the 

 chickens to catch, so one would suppose that, when 

 the bees and chickens were busy at the clover the 

 chickens would eat bees as well as clover. 



My bees were blacks, and I requeened them ■with 

 Italians, which caused me to watch them while 



779 



working on the clover to see how rapidly the change 

 from blacks to Italians was coming, and also what 

 the conduct of the chickens toward them was, and 

 I never found them guilty. Later in the season, 

 when watermelons were ripe, I cut the small ones 

 in two and set them where the hens could eat them. 

 The bees found them first, and got busy, and even 

 fought among themselves for room on those melons, 

 which were covered over with bees when "Brigham 

 Young" and his family would arrive on the scene 

 to look after the seeds and pick the melons up a 

 bit to make some juicy spots for the bees to work 

 on. There was a fine opportunity for bee-eating, 

 as the bees were too busy to make room for the 

 hens ; and you could imagine Brigham instructing 

 his wives to be careful not to touch dad's bees. 



Bishop, Cal. G. M. Huntington. 



[It is quite evident that chickens, unless they ac- 

 quire the habit, do not care to eat bees. They prob- 

 ably learn to eat them by picking up dead bees first, 

 and then later becoming so bold as to tackle the live 

 ones. — Ed.] 



Wintering in an Upstairs Room Not Advisable 



I wish to ask you how it would do to winter four 

 stands of bees in an empty house in one room or 

 one in each of four rooms, with the windows closed 

 tight or partly open to allow the bees to fly out and 

 in during nice days in fall and spring. 



Bremen, Ohio. J. C. Naginey. 



[As a general proposition, it is not advisable to 

 try to winter bees in a building above ground unless 

 the entrances are so arranged that the bees can fly 

 when the weather is suitable. If you remove the 

 window of the room in which you locate these four 

 colonies we do not know that there will be any ob- 

 jection to your wintering them in the manner you 

 suggest. But it will be best to place the hives as 

 close as possible to the window so that the bees, 

 when flying in, will be more apt to go into their own 

 hive. You will probably find, however, that there 

 will be some "drifting" — that is, one or two of the 

 colonies may attract the larger number of flying 

 bees on warm days, so that the others will be 

 weakened. 



If the temperature of the cellar under the house 

 could be kept nearly uniform — between 40 and 50 

 degi-ees — we think you would stand a better show 

 of bringing the colonies through in good shape if 

 you place them there rather than in the upper room ; 

 then they would not need any opening to the outside 

 for flight ; for where the temperature does not vary, 

 the bees may be confined until spring. — Ed.] 



Four Tons of Honey Sold at 12 Cts. a Pound 



My apiary is the most northern of any in Canada 

 — at least, I think, in the province of Quebec. I 

 have 140 colonies, and we have had an unusually- 

 good year for clear honey. I expect four tons. I 

 have sold at 12 cents per pound for the last three 

 years. I have no trouble in getting that price. 

 What I have left after my home trade I sell to 

 Ottawa customers. 



Yarm, Quebec. Rob't McJanet. 



Bees Swarm in October 



I noticed the statement by S. H. Fuller, Helena, 

 Ark., Oct. 15, p. 668, about the bees swarming the 

 8th of August. I can go him some better, for my 

 befs have swarmed twice since then — October 8 and 

 again on the 9th. My bees are still storing honey 

 in the supers. I had to put on six supers with 

 partly filled sections last week. This is the latest I 

 have ever known them to store any honey; but every- 

 thing is late on account of the overflow last spring. 



Mjkrked Tree. Ark., Oct. 21, R. C. Graham. 



