Aug. 16, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



521 



lief that all the weight of wax g-iven in foundation will be 

 utilized to the best advantage and save the bees secreting 

 just that amount of wax. When foundation containing an 

 abundance of wax to build the entire comb is used, the bees 

 still add much more wax, sometimes nearly enough to build 

 the comb without the help of the wax in the foundation. It 

 is best economy to have the midrib of the foundation a.s 

 thin as that in natural comb, and only a moderate amount 

 of wax in the cell-walls. 



If natural comb an inch thick is filled with honey, the 

 weight of the honey will be 20 to 25 times as much as the 

 weight of the wax. The proportion of wax, as might be 

 expected, is greater in thin than in thick combs. 



Bottom^Board Feeding has been practiced more or less 

 for many years. A deep bottom-board, already water-tight, 

 or made so by filling the cracks with wax, is placed under 

 the hive, the whole being raised in front, the feed is poured 

 into the entrance at dusk, and by morning all is cleared up, 

 if the weather is suitable. It has been reported in some 

 cases that too many dead bees have been found carried out 

 the next day. W. O. Victor describes a plan in Gleanings 

 in Bee-Culture that seems to be an improvement. He uses 

 the shallow bottom-board under the dovetailed hive, not 

 more than half an inch deep, the hive is raised half an inch 

 in front, the feed is poured in thru a funnel flattened and 

 bent at the end, and the bees reach the food from the bot- 

 tom-bars without the danger of tumbling into it. 



Bees and Red Clover. — Some time ago Dr. Miller advo- 

 cated in Gleanings in Bee-Culture with some earnestness 

 the importance of breeding bees for length of tongue, but 

 the editor seemed inclined to throw cold water on the pro- 

 ject. Now Editor Root -seems to be taking the lead in the 

 matter, and has ofi^ered a prize for the longest-tongued bees. 

 In France something has been done in this line, and sev 

 eral instruments called glossommeters have been devised for 

 measuring the length of bees' tongues by getting them to 

 take feed thru some kind of a grating or opening, the depth 

 to which the feed is emptied showing the length of tongue. 

 Breeding persistently from bees showing the greatest length 

 of tongue might be expected to result in obtaining a strain 

 that would be able to do good service on red clover. 



Prof. E. C. Green, of the Ohio Experiment Station, ad- 

 vocates the advisability of beginning at the other end of 

 the line, and breeding a strain of red clover with tubes 

 short enough for common bees to work on. Editor Root 

 says : 



" I hope this matter may be taken up at the Ohio Ex- 

 periment Station, under Prof. Green's direction, and in the 

 meantime I hope our bee-keepers will be on the watch for 

 red-clover heads with short tubes. Mark these in some way 

 so that they can be distinguisht when they go to seed. Pre- 

 serve the seed carefully, and sow them in a small patch 

 next year. From this patch select again the shortest tubes, 

 and thus continue on until a short-tubed clover is de- 

 velopt. If this kind of clover could be secured, the bee- 

 keepers could well afford to furnish the farmers the seed 

 free, and the result would be that such seed would be dis- 

 seminated all over the country." 



The Koran on Bees. — If we are to judge from samples 

 given from the Koran in the British Bee Journal, it must 

 be rather difficult for a Mahommedan to remain faithful to 

 his religious guide after he becomes an up-to-date bee- 

 keeper. Ji. Here is a specimen that is rich : 



"In the hives there are males and females, but all alike 

 in appearance, so that man can not distinguish them. The 

 work is done by both sexes. The brood is hatcht when the 

 season arrives ; chiefly in spring the germ is spit out into 

 the cells, as is the case with other flies — the life of the bee 

 is not known. 



" Death takes place either once or twice a year from 

 fatigue or that the old bees over-eat them.selves, and re- 

 turning to the hives are suddenly killed and thrown out by 

 their comrades. European bee-keepers call them drones. 



" Swarms are groups of young bees which leave their 

 cells and rush out to hive alone and at their ease. 



" Bees spend their nights out-of-doors, except Thursday 

 evening, when all return home, l)ecause of Friday the holy- 

 day. 



"Honey is g-athered from all flowers and sweetened by 

 the bee, who swallows it as nourishment — it ripens in the 

 stomach and is deposited later on in the combs as excre- 

 ment ; the sap of flowers and juice of fruits being the only 

 nourishment taken by the bee, their excrements are very 

 clean for our consumption. 



" Wax is collected from flowers sticking to their feet, 

 carried into the hive, and kneaded to a dough for the con- 

 struction of comb." 



Mr, G. M. DooliTTlk, of Onondaga Co., N. Y., wrote 

 us Aug. 1, as follows : 



" No such bee-year ever known here since I began keep- 

 ing bees — 31 years ago. No honey — not a cell since fruit- 

 bloom. No swarms. Have had to feed. Queen-rearing is 

 up-hill business. Dry weather spoiled the clover, and forest 

 worms ate up the basswood. If buckwheat does not yield, 

 the sugar-barrel is our only salvation." 

 ♦ # * ♦ * 



BbE-Keeping in Uruguay. — It seems they are having 

 trouble with bees in Uruguay in the public scientific schools. 

 The following item in El Siglo, dated April 3, from Palmira, 

 Uruguay, is translated from the Spanish, and it certainly 

 constitutes good reading : 



"There is much comment anent the disposition of the 

 Auxiliary Commission, which has ordered the removal of 

 apiaries from agricultural stations, alleging that the bees 

 are prejudicial to agriculture, while the scientific stations 

 are of entirely the opposite opinion. There is now in vogue 

 in the Uruguay station the North American system of api- 

 culture, which is of much importance. It is the first one 

 installed in Uruguay." 



This is followed by a most vigorous and able defense of 

 the bee as the best friend of the farmer and orchardist. — 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture. 



* * » ♦ ♦ 



The Dukk of York, in England, is taking some in- 

 terest in bees and honey. " Stenog," in Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture, gives this paragraph in reference to the matter : 



" An interesting feature of the British Bee Journal is a 

 fine view every week of an English apiary. At the Royal 

 show of bees and honey at York, the Prince of Wales and 

 the Duke of York were interested spectators. Mr. Carr laid 

 a section-case containing the queen on the top of a frame 

 hive near at hand, while the driven bees were shown in the 

 hive, and their subjugation and disinclination to sting were 

 demonstrated by the bees being taken up in handfuls. The 

 Duke of York having inquired in what way the bees were 

 removed from the hands, and being shown the usual method 

 of jerking them off by' a downward shake, the Prince of 

 Wales jocosely observed, ' And a very good way, too.' It 

 would be a rare sight in the United States to see one so 

 high in rank as the Prince taking any interest in such 

 things." 



We are glad to learn that our English "cousin " shows 

 an interest in bee-keeping. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40- cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy 

 of this song. 



