1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



713 



here. Of course the full report of the proceedings will be 

 read by all as they appear from week to week in these col- 

 umns. We hope to complete them this month. . 



A Oood Cement is made of four parts of rosin, one 

 of beeswax, and one of brickdust, melted together. It will 

 fasten the handles of knives', forks, and similar tools which 

 may have become loosened. So says R. V. Murray, in Glean- 

 ings. 



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XIa i r^ueen's Arrival.— Mr. R. B. Ross, Jr., of 

 Moi.treal, Canada, sends us the following account of the way 

 iTi which a queen-bee was received in the land where there are 

 tw> kinds of queens : 



A loquacious telegraph operator grievously misled a crowd 

 of loyal Britishers the other day and made them ridiculous. 

 . It seems that the son of the Marquis of Salisbury keeps bees, 

 and being in need of a queen-bee, he sent to the nearest town 

 for one, receiving, at Hatfield house, in reply to his message, 

 a telegram to the effect that " the Queen will arrive by 3:40 

 this afternoon." The operator, supposing it to refer to her 

 Majesty, was unable to keep such important news to himself, 

 and an immense crowd had assembled at the station when the 

 bee arrived. The fate of the operator is unknown, but the 

 bee reached its destination in safety. 



Apicultural Patents.— The following paragraphs 

 are taken from the Official Gazette of the United Slates Patent 

 Office issued last May : 



Bee-Cultube. — In this class 1,001 patents have been 

 issued. The first movable-comb frame for bee-hives was 

 patented to Langstroth, No. 9,300, Oct. 5, 1852 ; and im- 

 provements thereon, disclosing simple and effective means for 

 holding removable-comb frames in the hive were patented to 

 Hedd-in, No. 327,268, Sept. 29, 1885 ; to Shuck, No. 329,- 

 341, Oct. 27, 1885, and to Danzenbaker, No. 547,164, Oct. 

 1, 1895. 



The first artificial comb foundation was made in Germany 

 about 1842. An effective improvement thereon is the em- 

 ployment of a wire support embedded in the foundation, and 

 patented to Hetherington, No. 208,595, Oct. 1, 1878 ; re- 

 issued Nov. 11, 1879, No. 8,962. An artificial honey-comb 

 was made prior to 1853 ; and on Jan. 29, 1889, No. 397,- 

 046, to Aspinwall was patented one of wood, from which the 

 honey may be separated in a centrifugal machine ; and on 

 Aug. 30, 1892, No. 481,578, to Mason and Moskovilz was 

 patented an improved process for maliing a honeycomb from 

 wax. 



It hardly seems possible that 1,<)01 patents have been 

 issued relating to improvements in apicultural interests. But 

 we presume the record is correct. When we think of the very 

 few inventions that have proven at all useful, it will readily 

 be seen that a good deal of hard-earned money has been wasted 

 in fruitless efforts. It is almost safe to say that it does not 

 pay to patent anything relating to bee-culture, so few of the 

 1,001 having amounted to enough to offset the cost of secur- 

 ing a patent. 



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Illinois State Coventiou :Nov. i8 and 19. 



— The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association will meet in 

 Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 18, and 19, 1896, 

 during the meeting of the Luther Leagues of America. Rail- 

 road rates will be one fare and a third, on the certificate plan. 

 Every one at the time he purchases his railroad ticket must 

 ask the agent for a certificate, which must afterward be pre- 

 sented at the Luther League headquarters, at the Sherman 

 House, in Chicago, corner of Clark and Randolph streets, on 

 the morning of Nov. 19. 



Next week we will announce the hall or room where the 

 bee-convention will be held. Let every bee-keeper who pos- 

 sibly can do so, arrange to be present. 



CONDUCTED BY 

 DK. C. O. HULLBR, MARENGO. ILL. 



LQuestlons may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.1 



Late Drone-Rearing — Spacing Frames. 



1. In the Bee Journal for July 11, 1895, in answer to 

 the question of C. R. R., of Harden Station, N. C, you say it is 

 very hard to get bees to rear drones in the fall. In my expe- 

 rience, which is very short, I will say that in July, 1896, I 

 introduced 15 Italian queens, and they have been continually 

 at it (drone-rearing) since, to such an extent that I had to 

 kill them out to keep them from eating all the stores. The 

 bees have never killed any drones ; they kept rearing them 

 until five days ago, when a cold spell stopped them. Now 

 they are bringing out young drones in all stages of develop- 

 ment. What is the cause of it '? I have had no swarms since 

 the introduction of the queens. 



2. I am using the Hoffman self-spacing frames, outside 

 dimensions about 9x19. I want the same size frame, but I 

 prefer a frame that has nails in the edges to hold them apart 

 to keep the bees from gluing. What frame do you think 

 preferable ? Where can I get them ? T. J. B. 



New Berne, N. C, Oct. 12. 



Answers. — 1. Without drone-comb no drones can be 

 reared. Without a fairly strong colony and plenty of stores 

 coming in, few are likely to be reared. Tlie probability is 

 that you had in your hives more droue-corab than you should 

 have, and with plenty of stores coming in the bees felt war- 

 ranted in rearing lots of drones, continuing at this so long as 

 nectar continued to come in freely, and tiien when forage be- 

 came scarce, the drones were driven out. Cut out from your 

 combs the drone-comb, replacing it with worker-comb or foun- 

 dation, and you will have comparatively few drones. Just 

 why it is I don't know, but some bees seem more inclined to 

 rear drones than others, although any colony with an old 

 queen is more likely to rear drones than one with a young 

 queen. 



2. I don't know of any particular make of frames such as 

 you describe, but you can have them made to order at any 

 hive factory. I have some now in use with end-bars 1 •„ inch 

 wide, spaced by means of common wire nails driven in until 

 the heads project out just a quarter of an inch. Four such 

 nails go to each frame, one at top and one at bottom on the 

 same side at one end, and at the other end on the opposite 

 side one at top and one at bottom. With such frames the 

 bees make very little trouble with propolis. 



Crofk-and-Platc Method of Feeding 



Xliat Fine BaSS'WOOd Honey, mentioned on 

 page 715, is going. If you want something nice to supply 

 your^private trade, you will do well to get some of it at once. 



In an issue of the American Bee Journal I read something 

 about Krnest Root feeding bees simply by inverting a crock 

 containing syrup over the frames. Isn't this a return to the 

 simple, old, old method ? Personally, I find it superior to any 

 of the more complicated feeders. This is how I arrange that 

 part of the business : 



Firstly, a glazed quilt (that cheap stuff Root supplies), 

 said quilt being H inch longer and wider than the outside 

 measurement of the hive, an empty super's sides resting right 

 on the quilt, and which slightly overlaps the brood-nest, hence 

 no bees can possibly come up into the super. Cut a hole 2 

 inches square in the middle of the quilt— only cut three sides, 

 and then turn over the piece, thus partly cut out. 



2iidly, over this hole place what I call a " feeding cage," 

 and which consists of a bit of plank 5 inches or so square, and 

 % thick, in the center of which is a 3-inch hole (cut out with 

 a key-hole saw). This hole is covered with wire gauze. Put 

 it on, wire side up. In this cage the bees do congregate. In 

 feeding, you look at them and they look at you, and that's the 

 closest acquaintance you'll malio during the operation. 



3rdly, take another piece of -'H-inch stuff, cut to about 4 

 inches square, saw a round hole in that, to take the mouth 

 freely of a 1-pound glass honey-jar. Tack cheese-cloth (two 



