1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



519 



appear in the index. I trust Editor York won't take this, or 

 any other suggestion, amiss. 



3. More information is greatly needed regarding the 

 Rietsche press. Can you help ? If I could only get the 

 maker's address, I would not trouble you. It is frequently 

 alluded to in praiseworthy terms in the American Bee Journal 

 — "7,000 in use in Germany," etc., but we can get no details 

 as to the price, modus operandi, maker's address, or anything 

 else. Is information withheld in the interests of the big foun- 

 dation manufacturers? Hardly. South Africa. 



Answers. — 1. B. Taylor's " Handy comb leveler" is what 

 its name implies, and is excellent for its purpose. It is made 

 of tin, placed over a lamp, and a sort of tin box is just large 

 enough to let a section slip down over it; the hot tin surface 

 rapidly melts away the comb until a stop stops the wood of 

 the section from going further down. The stop is adjustable, 

 so it can be made to level off a very small part of the surface. 







,'l*np FLUE '. 



Tlie Taylor "Handy Comb Leveler." 



or to melt it down to the septum. A receptacle catches the 

 melted wax, and when sufficient has accumulated it is poured 

 off. It's a fine implement. 



2. As to the size of the paper and its index, that's for the 

 editor and publishers. Having had quite a little experience, 

 however, myself in the matter of indexing, I may be allowed 

 to say that it's a very easy thing to find failures in indexes, 

 but an exceedingly difficult thing to avoid all failures. I know 

 it's very tantalizing to remember there's something you want 

 to look at again, and to find no hint of it in the index, but just 

 try making an index and see if you don't omit a good deal 

 more. Especially when things are as much mixed up as they 

 sometimes are, where " size of journal " and " indexing " may 

 be found under the head of "comb leveler." 



It is possible that all would not be agreed as to the best 

 size of the Bee Journal. And if it's of good size for reading 

 when unbound, why isn't it as good when bound ? The change 

 in size involves trouble and expense. The Ladies' Home 

 Journal — one of the most popular and largely circulated 

 papers in the world — clings to its old and objectionable size of 

 about 16x12 inches just because of the trouble and expense 

 of changing. And when less than two cents is charged for a 

 single number of such a paper as the American Bee Journal, 

 perhaps we ought to be slow about asking expensive changes. 

 — [We might say for " S. D.'s" information, that the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for 1895 consisted of only one volume of 52 

 numbers. It seems he did not notice that. Of course, the in- 

 dex would appear at the end of the volume, and not in the 

 middle. It is an exceedingly difficult matter to get up an 

 errorless index. "We have been at it for 12 years, but never 



expect to attain perfection in that line. We are always 

 thankful that it has not more mistakes. Oh, yes, it's just 

 lots of fun to make three indexes of over 800 pages of matter, 

 and gei everi/tliing straight ! We have been all through that 

 many times. There ought to be room enough in South Africa 

 for a paper the size of the Bee Journal. Which would you 

 prefer, 16 pages the present size of the Bee Journal, or 16 

 pages the size of Gleanings, for $1.00 ? To print 32 pages 

 the size of Gleanings, would cost double for presswork, bind- 

 ing, etc. Please remember that it doesn't pay to double up 

 much on expenses when it comes to a weekly paper — unless the 

 subscription price is also doubled. — Editor.] 



3. B. Rietsche, Biberach, Baden, Germany, is the manu- 

 facturer of the Rietsche press. Just now I don't know where 

 to turn for price, but I think it is less than $10. Did you 

 ever see waffles baked ? Well, the Rietsche press works some- 

 what like waffle-irons. The two parts of the press are hinged 

 together, melted wax is poured into the lower half, the upper 

 half is shut down upon it, and the wax is thus pressed into 

 foundation without any sheeting. I don't think information 

 has been withheld with any wrong motives, and indeed all the 

 information has been given that has been asked for, and 

 more, too. So far as I know, no one has ever tried the 

 Rietsche press in England, and only one press has ever been 

 tried in this country. The A. I. Root Co. got one, but it 

 seemed too slow work for them to think it worth while to at- 

 tempt its introduction. While I give them credit for good in- 

 tention in the matter, I think it possible that the small bee- 

 keeper, in some oases at least, might be pleased with the 

 Rietsche press. It may be well to mention, however, that one 

 condition in Germany makes quite a difference : Adulteration 

 affects foundation there, so that complaint is made of the 

 difficulty of getting foundation made of pure wax, and if a bee- 

 keeper wants to make sure of having the unadulterated article 

 he can do so by having a Rietsche press. On the other hand, 

 in this country, adulteration in foundation is practically un- 

 known, and foundation can be bought cheaper than the bee- 

 keeper can make it for himself, and of better quality. 



An Experience with a Swarm. 



I had a swarm come off July 10, I caught the queen 

 and clipped her, and found she was not mated. The third 

 day she came out and tried to fly, but could not ; what became 

 of her I can't tell, but in a couple of days I looked for her and 

 could not find any queen. So I sent for a queen, but they 

 would not accept her — they killed her. Then I sent for 

 another, with the same result as the first. Then in a few days 

 they commenced making queen-cells ; they made three, which 

 hatched, and they killed the queens ; now they have three 

 more capped. I want to know where they get the eggs to 

 rear the queens, for they have no eggs whatever. Also, what 

 is the cause of their killing the queens ? They are a strong 

 colony, but are dwindling away slowly now. J. D. L. 



Answer. — Quite likely the virgin queen that you clipped 

 was still in the hive when the bees killed the queens you gave 

 them. It's no proof there was no queen in the hive because 

 you could not find her. The most expert bee-keeper is often 

 baffled in searching for a virgin queen. The eggs found may 

 be the work of laying workers, or it is possible the virgin 

 queen may have laid a few eggs. In either case, the result 

 would be a failure, as nothing but drones could come of such 

 eggs. If you had given the colony a frame of unsealed brood, 

 or rather a frame of brood having in it some eggs or very 

 young larvae, they would then have reared a young queen 

 from the brood given. It's not a bad plan to give unsealed 

 brood in all cases to a colony whose queen is not yet laying. 

 If the queen is all right they needn't start any cells, and if 

 they are queenless it gives them a chance to supply the de- 

 ficiency. It is also thought that the presence of a frame of 

 brood helps to hurry up a young queen to lay. 



