April S, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



217 



spanner slipt and his elbow struck the wheel, causitifj in- 

 jury to the bone. The man was under a medical man fur 

 two or three weeks, when, as the arm was still g-ettiiij; 

 worse, his doctor thought it best for him to g'o to the hos- 

 pital and undergo a surgical operation, which included 

 scraping the bone of the arm. The hospital being full, and 

 the man having to wait his turn in consequence, he was in- 

 duced, on my recommendation, to try honej'-poultices, 

 which, in about ten days, so far healed the arm that the 

 doctor does not now consider it necessary for him to go to 

 the hospital at all. 



"The other a very bad case of a gathered thumb caused 

 by a thorn. In this instance the sufferer received more 

 benefit from honey-poultices than from any other remedy. 

 I mention these facts as connected with usefulness of honey, 

 and if we could get the medical profession to advocate the 

 use of honey either as food or otherwise, we should soon 

 have the demand equal to the supply." 



A New Idea in Wax=Extractors. — When Editor Root 

 was in Colorado, among the things he saw at the home of 

 R. C. Aikin was a mammoth solar wax-extractor, in whicli 

 there was a new departure by way of applying bottom heat, 

 a principle that can equally be employed in the smallest 

 solar extractors. Mr. Root discourses as follows in Glean- 

 ings in Bee-Culture : 



Now, then, for the solar wax-extractor. As will be 

 seen, it looks very much like a small greenhouse. In fact, 

 it is built a good deal on the same plan. The floor or pan 

 of the extractor, so to speak, is built right over a brick 

 oven, so that not only solar but artificial heat may be 

 utilized. 



"Why," said I, "Mr. Aikin, what is the sense of hav- 

 ing artificial heat when you have so many days of bright, 

 strong sunshine, with an atmosphere so clear that there is 

 neither mist nor rain a greater portion of the year ?" 



" Well," said Mr. Aikin, " try it for yourself. You will 

 discover that you can not only do better work, but secure 

 much more wax out of the dirt and refuse by such an ar- 

 rangement than j'ou can by either source of heat inde- 

 pendently. The heat from the sun acts only on the top of 

 the mass. The melted wax runs down and lodges in the 

 refuse, collects, and stays there. By my plan I apply a 

 gentle heat beneath by means of the brick flue, or oven as 

 you see. The heat from above and the heat ixova. below 

 cause almost every particle of the wax to flow out of the 

 refuse, and run into the pans in front." 



Bees on Shares is considered by Editor Root in reply 

 to a question in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, and he asks for 

 an equitable plan, if there is one, whereby all disputes and 

 ill-feeling may be avoided, and for " a form of contract that 

 will be iron-clad, and afford full protection equally to both 

 parties." In the meantime, Mr. Root gives the following 

 as the general custom : 



" When bees are kept on shares it is. the rule for both 

 parties to share equally in the profits, and in the expenses 

 and losses. The time of the one who contributes the labor 

 is supposed to offset the capital of the other in the form of 

 bees, hives, implements, etc. Carrying this principle out, 

 each party pays for half of the new hives, sections, ship- 

 ping-cases, honey-barrels, honej'-cans, etc.; and each party 

 receives half the proceeds of honey and bees sold. At the 

 end of the season the increase is divided equally between 

 them. For instance, if there is an increase of SO colonies 

 from swarming, each would have 25 colonies, including 

 hives and a half-interest in the supplies left over. If at the 

 beginning of the season the owner has 25,000 sections, the 

 one who is supposed to work the bees is expected to pay half 

 their cost, including freight. 



" But if half the bees die during winter, notwithstand- 

 ing the fact that the operator puts them up the best he 

 knows how, carrying out the same rule, he should make 

 good half the loss of the bees. And right here is where 

 many troubles arise. The operator is apt to complain, and 

 with a fair show of justice, that he ought not to be expected 

 to pay for bees that were lost during winter that were not 

 his legally. But here comes the owner, and says that, if his 

 partner had taken care of the bees, no such loss would have 

 occurred, and then there is a row Soit is well to have this 

 particular point safely covered." 



To Clean Cappings of Honey put them in a vessel of 

 warm water, stir well, then squeeze the wax into balls with 

 the hands. In the evening feed the honey-water to the 

 bees. — Biene und ihre Zucht. 



Drone-Layers and Foul Brood. — ^Ludwig says in 

 Leipz. Bztg. that colonies with laving workers or a drone- 

 laying queen form good soil for the prompt introduction of 

 foul brood. Another reason, if true, for not fooling away 

 time trying to build up such colonies. 



Bees Biting Cappings. — F. Greiner said in the Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keeper he had trouble in this direction when using 

 bee-escapes at the close of the season. Editor Hutchinson 

 doesn't have the same trouble, and Mr. Greiner replies that 

 locality, weather, and strain of bees make the difference. 



The Value of Bees to the Horticulturist and fruit- 

 grower, or rather an evidence that their value is becoming 

 known, was shown at this convention by one of the horti- 

 culturists, a man who owns extensive orchards, coming into 

 the convention and offering a site for an apiary free, to any 

 bee-keeper who would establish an apiary upon it. — Report 

 of the Wisconsin convention in the Country Gentleman. 



To Stop Robbing, it is recommended to put sand and 

 sawdust in the entrance of the robbers. A writer in Prak- 

 tischer Wegweiser says the robbers become so intent upon 

 cleaning up their doorway that they forget all about rob- 

 bing. Would that succeed with Yankee bees ? One trouble 

 is, that it is not always easy to find where the robbers are, 

 and their home may be a mile from the scene of their dep- 

 redations. 



Different Colonies Gathering Different Honey.— Be- 

 ing askt why one colony in an apiary produced white honej' 

 of a delicate flavor, while another with the same chance 

 produced only amber honey of rather strong flavor, Editor 

 Root in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, doesn't pretend to know, 

 but says he found in New York that blacks and hybrids 

 showed partiality for buckwheat, and pure Italians for 

 clover or basswood. He suggests as a possibility that indi- 

 vidual colonies, like individual bee-keepers, have individual 

 tastes. 



" Natural Swarming has a fascination about it that no 

 mode of artificial increase can possibly have." — G. M. Doo- 

 LiTTi^E. I don't in the least doubt that's true from 3'our 

 standpoint, Bro. Doolittle. Years ago the issuing of a 

 swarm meant to you desired inc*reasey and a glamor was 

 thrown over the whole affair flfet wiil never fade away. 

 With me there's a fascination about artificial increase ; but 

 there never was any about natural swarming. The an- 

 nouncement of a swarm fascinates me just about as the 

 announcement that the cows have broken into the garden. 

 —Stray Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture. 



Greasy Sections (in this case meaning sections that 

 look greasy or watery for lack of an air-space between the 

 honey and capping) are having considerable discussion in 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture. It started from advice given in 

 this journal to pinch the head of the queen in a colony pro- 

 ducing such sections. W. M. Whitney and Dr. D. A. Mc- 

 Lean are confident that the trouble lies, not in the queen, 

 but in conditions and character of the honey-flow, urging 

 that such greasy sections contain the finest honey. On the 

 other hand, Mrs. A. J. Barber is just as positive in holding 

 " the queen responsible for almost everything that goes 

 wrong — greasy sections and all." 



" Advertise Your Honey," says R. C. Aikin in the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review. One of the ways is to put name and 

 address on the case. He does not agree with Mr. Mandel- 

 baum that the name should be there and not the address. 

 The middleman mav not want the address there, but it is 

 the right of the producer to have it there.. The retailer and 

 the consumer have a right to know where their goods come 



