326 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 21, 



how much the markets required for consumption. Should the 

 supply equal the demand, then no honey would be shipped in 

 from other Exchanges, the home product, of course, taking 

 precedence. 



The Exchange depots should be self-supporting, by regu- 

 lar percentage charges for all honey sold throuRh the Ex- 

 change (made up of course by honey-producers) ; working 

 through its executive officers and depot managers, it could set 

 the price on whatever figure they wished, or thought fair and 

 right. It could make adulteration with glucose next to im- 

 possible, for if the business was principally done through the 

 Exchanges, suspicion would immediately attach to sales 

 through other channels, and should adulteration be found, the 

 Exchange should prosecute under the laws of the State ; the 

 members of the Exchange keeping a fund on hand for this 

 purpose, the same as the Bee-Keepers' Union does in defense 

 of its members. This would be co-operation as it is conducted 

 to-day in other lines of business, and it seems about the only 

 way of defense against the leeches. 



I might suggest, although I am not a member of the 

 North American Bee-Keepers' Association, that it would give 

 that organization something practical to do if it could be made 

 into a National Exchange, which might be simply advisory, 

 or have a central bureau located in a central city, with an or- 

 gan, perhaps, after the manner of other trades. Producers 

 must organize in some way as a matter of self-defense, and it 

 seems as if the " exchange" idea might be worked out with 

 practical results. Minneapolis, Minn. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. JUZLLER. AtARElfGO, ILL, 



LQuestions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.l 



Color of Brood-Combs. 



Why do bees build their combs a dark brown color in the 

 brood-chamber? I transferred a colony a few days ago from 

 an 8-frame hive to a lU-frame one. The frames being of dif- 

 ferent size, I had to cut the comb to make it fit. Do the bees 

 use the scraps of old comb to build combs from ? 



J. W. H. 



Answer.— The reason for the dark color is that bits of 

 the old wax are used. That Is one reason given for the use of 

 thick top-bars, the bees carrying old black wax to help seal 

 the sections if they are too near the brood-combs. 



Brimstoning Honey. 



Referring to the article by C. Davenport on fumigation, 

 on page 274, how much sulphur would be required for 100 

 pounds of honey in one-pound sections, sulphured after the 

 manner he describes ? One tea-spoonful level or heaping, or 

 one table-spoonful level or heaping, or how much exactly '? 

 and how long should the lamp be left burning, how high 

 should the flames rise of sulphur? Should the sulphur be 

 scattered, or should it be in a heap? Would the lamp used In 

 the Daisy foundation fastener be too large? 



I am obliged to ask all these questions, as I do not wish to 

 injure the small amount of honey I have to sulphur. 



M. C. P. 



Answer. — Referring to page 274, I confess it seems 

 rather tantalizing to be told "one has to be very careful not 

 to use too much sulphur, or to leave the supers on too long, 



for if they do the honey will be colored," and find not a word 



said about the amount of sulphur, whether the size of a pea 

 or a cocoanut, and not a word said as to whether it should be 

 left a minute or a day. If the instruction given to your " in- 

 experienced hand" was no more definite than that given on 

 page 275, no wonder your honey was spoiled, Mr. Davenport, 

 and served you right, too. 



No doubt it took some experimenting to get at the right 

 amount of sulphur and the right amount of time, and perhaps 

 Mr. Davenport will help out by giving his practice. In the 

 meantime, if the questioner desires to act promptly in the 

 matter, he might try for his 100 pounds of honey half a level 

 tea-spoonful of sulphur, letting it stay on 20 minutes after 

 the sulphur first takes fire. That's only a guess, and it's pos- 

 sible it may be too much sulphur or time. If no greenish tint 

 is seen on any part of the sections, then there's no danger of 

 any other harm. A day or two later look and see if any 

 worms are left alive. If any are found, give a little heavier 

 dose of sulphur, and a little more time, and continue to in- 

 crease the dose till a cure is effected. Continuing my guess- 

 ing, I should say that the sulphur should be put in a heap ; 

 any lamp of the right height to fit in the box being used, and 

 the flame kept turned up just enough to keep the sulphur 

 burning. I should think the lamp used in the Daisy fastener 

 would be all right. 



But what under the sun do you want to brimstone your 

 honey for ? If left over from last year it hardly ought to have 

 any worms in it. Still, no matter what it ought to do, if 

 worms are there brimstone away. 



What Ails My Bees? 



I have got it, and I am now like A. E. H., of Tacoma, 

 Wash., on page 587, of the Bee Journal for 1895. Sure 

 enough, what ails the bees? I have the same or similar 

 trouble with one colony of my bees. I thought at first that 

 likely it was poisoned from some sprayed orchard bloom. I 

 never saw anything like it in my long experience with bees. 

 In the morning, when bees commence to fly out, tbere is quite 

 a lot that can't fly, and by noon there are hundreds of them 

 in front of the hive crawling in every direction, and trying to 

 fly. It seems as if a great portion of them get use of their 

 wings in the afternoon, and fly away, and those that don't or 

 can't fly by night, are clustered on the alighting-board, or on 

 the front of the hive, and mostly die that night, and are drag- 

 ged off the next mornin'g by the other bees. It seems A. E. 

 H. says that they are bloated and full of that thick, yellow 

 fluid. It seems to me like a case of constipation, as one can 

 see many splotches where they have crawled on the grass, 

 after which it seems as if they take their flight, and are all 

 right. If there is any information on this line, I would like to 

 have it. A. C. 



Pollock, Mo. 



Answer. — If any one can ofter any helpful suggestion as 

 to the cause or cure of the trouble in this case, he will please 

 speak out. 



Closed-End Standing and Partly Closed.End 

 Hanging Frames. 



I wish you would at an early date thoroughly elucidate 

 the respective advantages and disadvantages of the closed-end 

 standing, and of the partly open end hanging frames — (as, for 

 instance, Quinby, Danzenbaker, Root and Langstroth)— es- 

 pecially as adapted to this far Southern climate, where we 

 have no cold in winters, and leave the hives intact out-doors 

 all the year. Florida. 



Answer. — It isn't an easy thing in a few words to give a, 

 full elucidation of the comparative merits of the two kinds of 

 hives. Very likely there is much in being used to a thing, 

 and in localities where a certain hive has been chiefly used, it 

 might be a hard thing to convince any one that a change 

 could be anything but a damage. One point of advantage in 

 the closed-end frames is that there is no open space for the 

 air to circulate around the frames as with the loose-hanging 



