9^ 



THE A3IERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



May 



^EE Brevities. 



M. F. Reeve, of Rutledge, Pa., wrote 

 to us that on March 19 and 20, the 

 thermometer indicated nearly summer 

 heat, and that the bees were then com- 

 ing in laden with pollen, red, white and 

 yellow, from maple larch and willow. 

 Rather early business for his latitude. 

 — o — 



Alsike clover continues to gain favor; 

 not alone for its merit as a honey-yield- 

 ing plant, but as a result of its excel- 

 lence as a pasture and hay crop. The 

 satisfactory experience that others are 

 having with alsike should induce a 

 trial by farmers that have not yet test- 

 ed it. Dairymen are loud in its praise. 

 — o — 



With reference to the practice of set- 

 ting a large number of colonies closely 

 together in the apiary, the editor of the 

 Canadian Bee Journal remarks: "I am 

 not sure, but I am inclined to think that 

 many bees humming, flying and roar- 

 ing about in a limited space, tends to 

 swarming." May be something in it, 

 too. 



— o — 



According to Editor Root, the opera- 

 tors employed in the apiaries of W. L. 

 Coggshall, one of New York's largest 

 producers of honey, are decidedly of the 

 "lightning" class, their methods of the 

 "hurricane" order and "hurry-up" the 

 watchword. Economy of time holds 

 precedence against all else, and every- 

 thing is done on the "get-there" prin- 

 ciple. Supers that are stuck too tight 

 to yank off are kicked off; and he esti- 

 mates that from a quart to a peck of 

 bees are crushed to death, drowned in 

 the honey, or otherwise killed at each 

 extracting. Of course the bees do not 

 shirk their plain duty to resent such 

 treatment by constant stinging, on 

 these slaughter days, and, judging from 

 Mr. Root's experience, visitors who de- 

 sire to witness the operation of extract- 

 ing in this extensive and successful 

 honey-producing plant, should provide 

 a coat of mail, or other impenetrable 



armour. Mr. Harry S. Howe, whose 

 likeness appears in another column of 

 this number of The Bee-Keeper, is one 

 of CoggshaU's "lightning" operators. 

 — o — 

 We regret to learn that Mr. Pop- 

 pleton has recently suffered quite a 

 a heavy loss as the result of one of his 

 apiaries being located in the wake of 

 one of those destructive fires, which, 

 during the spring months are constant- 

 ly raging through the woodlands of 

 South Florida. The bee-house with all 

 its contents, _ including a new Cowan 

 extractor, uncapping can, tank with 

 several hundred pounds of honey and 

 numerous other articles of value, was 

 destroyed. Many hives of bees were 

 damaged and eleven strong colonies 

 were consumed outright. 

 — o — 



Take a scap box, remove a three- 

 inch strip from one sjde of the bottom. 

 Over this opening tack a double thick- 

 ness of window scieen. Invert the box 

 and nail a tup bar along each side and 

 to these secure a piece of half-inch 

 stuff projecting five inches. Affix legs 

 high enough to admit a pail, of varying 

 lengths, to give the right angle; com- 

 plete conductor by strips at side, wax 

 well to prevent leakage, and you have 

 an uncapping can ( ?) as made and used 

 by Mrs. Effe Brown, and described in 

 American Bee Journal. 

 — o — 



At an X ray lecture in Los Angeles 

 the "professor" invited the audience to 

 place anything they might desire be- 

 fore the instrument. Having a sample 

 mailing block containing two bottles of 

 honey, J. H. Martin placed it between 

 the ray and the screen. "The block," he 

 says, "did not appear on the screen but 

 the bottles of honey stood out in bold 

 relief." This experiment was made 

 four months ago and the honey has not 

 yet granulated, and Mr. Martin sug- 

 gests that those having an X ray handy 

 make the test on various grades of 

 honey disposed to granulate. 



