1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



599 



may have been some little pollen present as floating pollen. 

 Honey is very eager for moisture, and although the kegs may 

 have been water-tight, that would not hinder moisture from 

 getting into the honey. Indeed, about the worst thing you 

 can do, is to have the wood of the keg soaked so the hoops are 

 very tight before putting in the honey. The honey will suck 

 all the moisture out of the staves, loosen the hoops, and get in 

 more moisture, then ferment, and perhaps burst the keg. 

 Before putting honey into kegs, keep the kegs in a very dry 

 place, driving up the hoops occasionally. Through tin and 

 glass no moisture can pass. The wood can be made a little 

 like glass by paraffining it. Have your kegs hot by standing in 

 the sun or otherwise, pour two or three pounds of hot paraffine 

 into the keg, bung tight, roll the keg over and over, tipping it 

 on each end, then knock out the bung and pour out the 

 paraffine. If you have been lively about it you'll get most of 

 your paraffine back, but a thin coating will be all over the 

 inside surface. 



2. A good deal of discussion took place in Gleanings some 

 lime ago with regard to this, and I don't know that the mat- 

 ter was very fully settled, but some, at least, reported that 

 there was no trouble. 



Hives Made of Juniper Wood. 



Will a natural swarm of bees stay in a hive made of 

 juniper boards ? T. J. B. 



Answer. — Bees will hardly object to any kind of wood 

 unless there be some very strong odor from it, especially if it 

 stands in the hot sun to make the odor more pronounced. 

 Unless there's something about juniper wood that I know 

 nothing about, no reasonable natural swarm would make any 

 protest about it, providing the wood be seasoned and the hive 

 set in the shade. No matter what the hive, not only should 

 the hive be set in the shade, but there should be very large 

 ventilation given for a few days by having the hive well raised 

 and some opening at the top. 



A Colony that Persists in Hanging Out. 



I have one large colony of Italian bees in a bos-hive quite 

 busy at work, but the whole face of the hive is black with bees 

 over one-half of the time, besides a large cluster underneath. 

 They have varnished the face of the hive and alighting-board 

 all over with wax. The super inside is black with bees, but 

 they won't store any honey in it. The colony is one year old, 

 and have never swarmed. Would they not begin to work like 

 a new colony if they were transferred to a new hive, with self- 

 spaced removable frames and starters fastened in them "? We 

 have a big patch of buckwheat that they are working in very 

 lively. Do you thitk there are moths in the hive ? No other 

 colony I have has daubed their hives at all on the outside. I 

 am anxious to transfer them, as I opened a hive the other day 

 to examine them, and didn't get a sting. I forgot to mention 

 that they have clustered out so for six or seven weeks. At 

 first we thought they were going to swarm. 



Last year was my first year with bees, and I am anxious 

 to get all the information I can. I love to work with them. 

 Success to the Bee Journal. Mrs. I. J. 



Garrison, Kan. 



Answer. — It isn't easy to say just what the trouble is, nor 

 whether there is any trouble. The bees are hanging out 

 either because there is too little room for them inside, or be- 

 cause there is too little ventilation, making it too hot in the 

 hive. The varnishing is practiced more by this colony on the 

 outside just because the bees are on the outside. The colonies 

 that stay in the inside do their varnishing with propolis there, 

 for if you will look closely you will find probably that propolis 

 and not wax is used for varnishing. 



Strong colonies and moths are not likely to go together, 

 and I don't suppose that moths are to blame. They generally 

 get in their work after some other trouble has made the colony 

 nou-reslstant. 



New swarms work with unusual vigor, and you probably 

 think if the bees were transferred it would give them the 

 vigor of a new swarm. In that you would probably be mis- 

 taken. It's' doubtful if they'd do any more in supers after 

 transferring, as the movable-comb hives are for the conven- 

 ience of the bee-keeper rather than for the better working of 

 the bees. Better let them stay where they are until next 

 year, as it is now so late in the season. Possibly the reason 

 they have done nothing in supers is because they have nothing 

 to do. But if other colonies are working in supers then that 

 cannot be the reason. Without knowing more about the case 

 than you mention, the most reasonable guess would be that 

 the pasturage has been too poor for them to store anything in 

 supers, but now that they are working busily on buckwheat 

 you may find them by this time making a good report from it. 

 But if others are working in supers, and this one doing noth- 

 ing in them, although strong in numbers and filling the super 

 with bees, you have a very unusual case, and will kindly 

 furnish further particulars. 



An English Bee and Honey Show.— We re- 

 ceived the following letter from Mr. R. A. Burnett, of 

 Chicago, dated Aug. 10: 



Friend York : — Enclosed is a clipping from an English 

 paper that has come to me, and it shows how they regard 

 bees. The exhibit is one of the great ones of that country — 

 of horses and cattle. Yours very truly, 



R. A. Burnett. 



The show referred to is that of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, of England, which was held recently at Leicester. 

 Referring to the apiarian part of the great show, the report 

 says : 



The grt)wing interest throughout the country of late 

 years, as the result of the action of the County Councils in 

 appointing competent lecturers, and of other ways in which 

 the industry has been boomed, was evident in the exhibits, 

 which, both in number and quality, exceeded those of previous 

 years. Each of the 15 classes in this department are well 

 filled, and the tent in which the exhibits are nicely arranged, 

 as well as the bee-driving and lectures on bee-keeping, will no 

 doubt prove a center of much attraction during the show. 

 Everything was arranged in capital style, and in a way best 

 calculated to display to advantage the various exhibits. Not 

 only was the honey and comb shown in varying degrees of 

 preparation for consumption, but at the back of the capacious 

 stand there was an observatory hive in which the bees could 

 be seen at work, the cells in which the honey is located being 

 easily distinguished from the part devoted to incubation. This 

 part of the exhibit was of considerable interest to visitors, 

 and was the source of great attraction. 



The different purposes for which honey may be utilized 

 was made perfectly clear, as not only were confectioneries, 

 cosmetics, and soaps rendered the richer by its inclusion as an 

 ingredient, but vinegar of the purest kind was shown to be 

 obtained from honey. Prizes were offered in such a way as to 

 bring out every aspect of the management and utilization of 

 bees and their produce, and a most successful result was 

 achieved. The entries were not only numerous, but were 

 throughout of a highly meritorious character. 



Perhaps one of the most encouraging classes as far as the 

 industry is concerned, was that in which special prizes were 

 offered for any practical, useful invention connected with bee- 

 keeping introduced since 1894. This brought eleven entries, 

 and four certificates of merit were awarded to competitors. 

 On the walls of the stand were hung diagrams for the assist- 

 ance of children in schools. 



A Ne^w Binder for holding a year's numbers of the 

 American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 

 subscriber who sends us 15 cents. It is called "The Wood 

 Binder," is patented, and is an entirely new and very simple 

 arrangement. Full printed directions accompany each Binder. 

 Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 

 Journal as fast as they are received. They are invaluable for 

 reference, and at the low price of the Binder you can afford to 

 get it yearly. 



