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Mils % Replies, 



Proper Size of Mesli in Wire. 

 Clotli to Exclude Bees. 



WrUUn for the American Bee Journal 



QuEKY 737.— 1. How large a mesh of 

 wire-cloth can be used for queen-introduc- 

 ing cages, and be sure that no worker can 

 pass through to injure the queen > 3. Will 

 soldered wire-cloth of 'bx^u inch mesh, 

 made of wire one thirty-second of an inch 

 in diameter, be perfectly safe i — Conn. 



I use 14 meshes to the inch. — G. M. Doo- 



LITTLE. 



I think it would be perfectly safe.— C. H. 



DiBBERN. 



I prefer a mesh of 18 to the inch. — J. P. 

 H. Brown. 



About Jg of an inch mesh, I think. — Mrs. 

 L. Harrison. 



1. I think eight to an inch safe. 2. Yes. 

 — A. J. Cook. 



We use common window wire-cloth. — 

 Dad ANT & Son. 



I have used no other save the ordinary 

 screen-wire. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. One-eighth of an inch would be all 

 right. 3. Yes.— James Heddon. 



3. I think not. The bees will get hold of 

 the queen through so large a mesh. — A. B. 

 Mason. 



The mesh of the wire-cloth usually used 

 for queen-cages is 12 to the inch. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



With that size of mesh, ^sxig, your queen 

 is liable to damage from outside bees. — H. 

 D. Cutting. 



1. I cannot say precisely. 3. Yes, if 

 none of the meshes were enlarged by acci- 

 dent or otherwise. — R. L. T.aylok. 



1. I would use the ordinary black or 

 green screen-cloth. 2. The larger mesh, 

 the more the liability to lose the queen 

 from stinging.— J. M. Shuck. 



What would you gain by such heavy and 

 coarse wire ? I have never heard any ob- 

 jection to the common wire i;loth, such as 

 is used for screen-doors. — C. C. Miller. 



1 never experimented in that direction, 

 but I see no reason why a mesh 3sx3^ 

 would not be safe. But of what advantage 

 is the larger mesh ? We know the smaller 

 is safe. — Eugene Secor. 



1 . I have not experimented on that line, 

 and do not need to. 2. It may be that 

 ^jx's would be safe, but 1 would prefer a 

 little smaller. The wire-cloth used for 

 screen doors and windows is about right. — 

 M. Mahin. 



1. I do not know. 2. 1 should think it 

 would, unless it is meant that the mesh 

 should be full ^s ; then, and in such case, it 

 would be too large. If the mesh is formed 

 partly by the wire, so that the holes would 

 be some less than ^g, then it would be safe. 

 —J. E. Pond. 



1. Queens are caged to protect them from 

 the attacks of bees that are likely to be 

 hostile to her at the start. Nothing but 

 fine wire-cloth is entirely safe — not less 

 than 12 meshes to the inch, I should con- 

 sider entirely safe. If the openings are too 

 large, the bees may pull off the legs of the 

 queen before they become reconciled. 3. 

 No. — G. W. Demaree. 



1. The common size used for window- 

 screens will do very well. 3. Yes. — The 

 Editor. 



itiieMlions Answeretl. 



Charles W. Bolt, of Litchfield county, 

 Conn., sends us several questions relating 

 to matters of general interest to bee-keep- 

 ers. They are answered as follows by A. H. 

 Duff : 



Question — How long is a bee in going a 

 mile ; also, how long will it take one to go 

 a mile, get a load from an average honey- 

 plant, return and unload ready to start 

 again ? 



Answer — Bees have been known to fly at 

 the rate of 60 miles per hour, or a mile a 

 minute. But in quest of honey they do 

 not fly so rapidly. On an average they 

 may fly a mile and return with a load every 

 20 or 25 minutes. 



QuES. — Should the brood-frames or combs 

 in brood-frames be kept just % of an inch 

 apart for comb honey ? 



Ans. — Brood-frames, or frames of combs 

 in the brood-chamber, should be spaced 1}{ 

 inches from center to center. Cut the 

 frames from aboard % of an inch thick, and 

 leave ;?^ space between each frame. This 

 will give 1J.< inches for each brood-comb ; 

 for surplus honey, use 3 inches. 



QuES. — Is enameled or porous cloth the 

 best for all seasons, or is enameled-cloth 

 best for spring and summer ? 



Ans. — Either will answer. The enameled- 

 cloth will last longer. 



QuES. — How is it best to manage in pack- 

 ing for winter when the combs are full of 

 brood ? 1 use the Simplicity hive, and 

 have to take out combs and make room for 

 chaff cushions. 



Ans. — I do not consider chaff cushions in 

 the Simplicity hive as any protection in 

 winter. It is best to use large chaff hives 

 and leave all the combs in, except in very 

 weak colonies, when chaff cushions may be 

 used as division-boards to contract the 

 space. 



QuES. — What method is best, when no 

 extractor is used, to get the bees to take 

 honey from surplus combs which have but 

 half a pound to two or three pounds in each 

 frame ! 



Ans. — The extractor is indispensable un- 

 less we expose the combs to the apiary, 

 when the bees will clean them out. We 

 think it better to keep them over, and give 

 them next spring to colonies that need 

 provisions. 



QuE.s. — Why is it that Rev. L. L. Lang- 

 stroth is poor, if he has accomplished so 

 much in bee-culture ! 



Ans. — Because other bee-keepers " stole 

 his thunder." Father Langstroth's inven- 

 tions accomplished much for bee-keepers, 

 but not for himself. — American Agricul- 

 turist. 



Are you Ooing' to the Fair i If so, 

 will you kindly send to this office and get a 

 few samples of the Bee Journal, and give 

 them out to your friends there, and get up 

 a club * We will send them to you with 

 pleasure. 



A Hong of V.ong Ago. 



A song- of loni? ago ; 



Sing It lightly, sing it low. 



Sing it snfUy— like the lisping of the lips wc 



used to know — 

 When our litiby laughter spilled 

 From the heart forever filled 

 With a music sweet as robin ever trilled. 



Let the fragrant summer breeze. 



And the leaves of locust trees. 



And the apple buds and blossoms, and the 



wings of honey-bees. 

 All palpitate with glee, 

 Till the happy harmony 

 Brings back each childish joy to you and me. 



Let the eyes of fancy turn 



Where the tumbled pippins burn 



Like embers in the orchard's lap of touseled 



grass and fern ; 

 And let the wayward wind, 

 Still singing, plod behind 

 The eider-press— the good, old-fashioned kind! 



Blend in the song the moan 



Of the dove that grieves alone. 



And the wild whirr of the locust, and the 



bumble's drowsj' drone : 

 And the low of cows that call 

 Through the pasture-bars, when all 

 The landscape fades away at evenfall. 



Then, far away and clear, 



Through the dusky atmosphere, 



Let the wailing of the killdee be the only 



sound you hear. 

 0, sweet and sad and low. 

 As the memory may know. 

 Is the glad, pathetic song of long ago. 



—James Whitcomb Riley. 



FOUL BROOD. 



The Disease in Canada, and 

 Recent Legislation Tliereon. 



Written Sor the American Bee Journal 



■ BY ALLEN PRINGLE. 



I feel that I ought to say something 

 to the readers of the American Bee 

 Journal on the above subject. The 

 fact that foul brood is making steady 

 and certain, if not rapid, headway 

 both in Europe and America, is suffi- 

 cient justification. Within the past 

 few months my own ej-es have been 

 opened to the extent to which the dis- 

 ease prevails in this Province, and to 

 the impending danger, unless prompt 

 and proper action be taken for its sup- 

 pression. 



Those who hare looked into trans- 

 Atlantic bee-periodicals this season, 

 will have noticed the prominence of 

 the subject of foul brood, and the pre- 

 vailing alarm at its rapid spread, and 

 persistence against the remedial ef- 

 forts directed against it. In the United 

 States, as in Canada, the condition is 

 probably no better. 



Owing to the fact that many bee- 

 keepers who are sufleringfrom the dis- 

 ease in their yards, very wrongly and 

 foolishly attempt to conceal the fact ; 

 and in consequence of the additional 

 fact that many have the disease who 



