376 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



June 14, 1900 



PUBLISHT WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE w. York & Company, 



118 Michigan Street, Chicago, III. 



[Entered at the Post-Office at Chicag-o as Secoud-Class Mail-Matter.] 



DEPARTMENT EDITORS: 



C. C. MILI,ER, E. E. HASTY, 



"Questions and Answers." ** " The Afterthought." 



LEADING CONTRIBUTORS: 



G. M. DOOLITTLE, C. P. DAD.ANT, ProF. A. J. COOK, 



F. A. Snell, R. C. Aikin, "Old Grimes." 



IMPORTANT NOTICES: 



The Subscription Price of this Journal is $t.00 a year, in the United States, 

 Canada, and Me.xico; all other countries in the Postal Union, SO cents 

 a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. 



The Wrapper- Label Date of this paper indicates the end of the month to 

 which your subscription is paid. For instance, "DecOO" on your 

 label shows that it is paid to the end of December, 1900. 



Subscription Receipts. — We do not send a receipt for money sent us to pay 

 subscription, but change the date on your wrapper-label, which shows 

 you that the money has been received and duly credited. 



Advertising Rates will be given upon application. 



VOL. 40. 



JUNE 14, 1900. 



NO. 24. 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthography of the follow- 

 ing Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philolog- 

 ical Association and the Philological Society of England: — Change 

 "d" or "ed" final to "t" when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding sound. Also some other changes are used. 



To Kill Grass and Weeds About Hives, salt is quite 

 commonly used. F. Greiner says in Gleanings in Bee-Cul- 

 ture that he has had some unpleasant experience with it, 

 that if stock finds it there there will be no end of trouble, 

 and much mischief may be done in a little time. Instead 

 of salt he has used a solution of carbolic acid, but seems to 

 prefer a solution of sulphate of copper, a pound to one or 

 two gallons of wa.ter. Editor Root replies : 



"The sulphate-of-copper solution, I have no doubt, will 

 do the work very thoroly ; but will it do it as cheaply as an 

 application of salt ? It is our practice to buy a barrel of 

 common rock salt, which is sufficient to take care of an api- 

 ary of 300 or 400 colonies for two or three years. Once or 

 twice a year we sprinkle a very little salt around each en- 

 trance. Very often one application each year will answer, 

 provided there are not too many rains, so as to start up the 

 grass again." 



The Variation in Money-Yield seems to be consider- 

 able in more than one direction. There is alfalfa — one of 

 the finest honey-plants in the world, according to a multi- 

 tude of witnesses in several of the States of the West. But 

 it is of no value whatever, according to the testimony of the 

 few who have observed it in places east of the Mississippi. 

 A difference in place or conditions makes all the difference 

 between a valuable and a worthless plant for nectar. So it 

 is with many other plants. Some, however, seem to do well 

 everywhere. Sweet clover is a fair example. 



The value of a plant also varies with the season. Some 



seasons white clover is an utter failure, altho blooming 

 bountifully. Some plants vary greatly with the season in 

 one locality, and almost not at all in another locality. In 

 some locations buckwheat may be counted a success nine 

 times otit of ten, but in others a failure nine times out of 

 ten. 



With all this in view, it is not strange that there is con- 

 flicting testimony as to honey-plants. Irately one of the 

 bee-editors exprest doubt whether bees got anything but 

 pollen from dandelion. Mr. Davenport's report of 2,000 

 pounds of dandelion honey in one season settles the matter 

 for at least one locality. A difference of testimony may 

 come from the fact that in one locality a plant may be 

 abundant, and scarce in another locality. If a man had a 

 single plant of white clover, he might find it little visited 

 by the bees, but would appreciate its value in the same 

 place when acres were in bloom. 



Another reason for variation lies in the fact that in one 

 locality a certain plant may be the only kind in bloom, 

 while in another locality it is entirely overshadowed by 

 another and a better honey-yielder. Prof. Lazenby rates 

 gooseberry rather low, but in another place it is highly 

 prized, perhaps because no other plants are yielding at the 

 same time. 



The study of this subject is an interesting one, the 

 limits of which are not easily reacht. 



Drone-Cells vs. Dipt Cups. — H. L. Jones says in 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture: " I have repeatedly tried dipt 

 cells and drone-comb cells in equal numbers on the same 

 stick, and almost invariably got better results from the 

 drone-comb." Editor Root stands up for the Doolittle cups, 

 saying that their queen-breeder, Mr. Wardell, objects to 

 new-fangled plans so long as he gets good results with 

 plans^that he knows/a.?/ how to work. In a postscript, how- 

 ever, he says he is surprised to find that Mr. Wardell has 

 been trying the drone-cells, and speaks favorably of them. 

 But Mr. Root insists that the Doolittle cups are larger, 

 stronger, and look more like peanuts. 



Queen-Rearing is the special topic of the May Bee- 

 Keepers' Review. Mr. H. E. Hill tells how he has cells 

 built so as to be easily separable. Eighteen little square 

 blocks are cut from a piece of section-box, and on each of 

 these a queen-cell cup is fastened, each block being slid in 

 a groove in a supporting slat, so the whole 18 are supported 

 on the one slat somewhat after the manner of movable- 

 block letters sometimes used in signs. 



Mr. H. D. Burrell emphasizes the importance of rearing 

 queens from a good mother, considering the working quali- 

 ties of her progeny the first requisite, and beauty the last. 

 All the workers should show three yellow bands, and hardi- 

 ness in wintering, gentleness, comb-building, and large, 

 uniform size of workers, should be considered in the order 

 named. Drone-rearing should be encouraged in a few 

 choice colonies, and supprest in others. He believes in 

 strong colonies for queen-rearing, and the Doolittle plans. 

 Not every one, however, would approve making cell-cups of 

 a r::ixture of beeswax and rosin. 



Mr. W. H. Laws, from a professional queen-breeder's 

 stand-point, prefers for queen-rearing a frame half the size 

 of the Langstroth frame, or about 9' s inches square. He 

 makes these from Langstroth frames already occupied, by 

 sawing off the projecting ends of the top-bar, then sawing 

 thru the middle of the frame, comb, brood, and all, and 

 nailing a top-bar on the raw edge. Thirteen of these small 

 frames occupy one story of a hive, and two such stories 

 make a full colony. Five of them are tised for a nucleus. 

 Whatever be the size of frame used, if queens are to be 



