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661 



4)>oI«leu Uevs and Itiiiet <iirovos. 



Wrlttn^ifor the Phrenological Journal 



UY GEO. W. liUNIiAV. 



The sweet briar and the arum blush, 



The blossoms purple, gold, and red. 

 Are flames with voices iu the bush. 

 And holy seems the ground I tread. 

 The golden bees 

 Mock Memnon's softest melodies. 



In shadows of the wood I lie, 



And dream, unwaked by noisj- marts, 



Where smoke and dust veil not the sky. 



Nor hammers beat on human hearts, 



Nor shuttles fleet 



Weave life into a winding sheet. 



The summer leisure of the birds 



Is mine, and brings refreshing rest ; 

 The flowers are many-colored words 

 'That happy Nature writes, and blest 

 Is he who spells 

 Aright the sylvan syllables. 



Here I can rest my weary brain ; 



And win for health and life a lease. 

 And gather strength to fight again 

 The war that wins the spoils of peace ; 

 This rural calm 

 Soothes the tired heart like healing balm 



When the pale axe -man .strikes the stroke, 



And stills the quick life in my bosom, 

 Plant near my grave a sapling oak, 

 And violets of azure blossom. 

 The oaken staff 

 My shaft ! — the flowers my epitaph ! 



miES % Reflies, 



The Biiildins^ of Droiie-Coinb 

 l>}' Qiieciilcss Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 733. — Is this a fact, as I see it 

 stated ? Will a queenless colony, if given 

 a chance, by placing a frame of foundation 

 in the centre of the brood-nest, build drone- 

 comb only ? — New York. 



Yes, sir. — James Heddox. 



I have never tried it.— Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Not drone comb only, but drone comb 

 principally.— G. L. Tinker. 



My experience has been that queenless 

 colonies always build drone comb. — A. B. 

 Mason. 



If it is worker foundation, I should expect 

 to see worker comb ; except, perhaps, a 

 very few cells.— C. G. Miller. 



I never tried it with worker size founda- 

 tion ; but they will build drone-comb with- 

 out foundation. — Eugene Secor. 



Queenless colonies without foundation 

 build only drone combs. Whether they 

 will build drone-comb on worker founda- 

 tion I do not know.— M. Mahix. 



Queenless colonies will only build drone- 

 comb, except in case foundation is given 

 them. Then they will draw out the worker- 

 cells. — A. J. Cook. 



Whatever comb a queenless colony builds 

 is invariably drone-comli. I have never 

 given queenless colonies comb foundation, 

 but I think they would draw itout or finish 

 it into brood comb. — P L. Viallon. 



I do not understand the question. The 

 colony would generally build drone-comb 



in a vacant space, but would not often con- 

 vert worker foundation into drone-comb. — 

 R. L. Taylor. 



Bees will not change worker-cells into 

 drone-cells ; and, although we have not 

 tried comb foundation on a queenless 

 swarm, we are sure that they would build 

 it of the kind furnished.— Dadant & Son. 



If the foundation is worker-comb size, 

 the bees will complete the worker-cells ; 

 but they will take good care to make drono- 

 cells at every available point — at stretched 

 cells and around the edge. — J. P. H. Buow.n. 



Where did you see that stated ! Foun- 

 dation is used so that the bees will not 

 need to liuild comb. Worker foundation 

 will be drawn out all right by queenless 

 bees. When building comb, such bees build 

 only drone-comb. — G. M. Doolittle. 



It depends upon the foundation, but as a 

 rule queenless colonies build drone-comb 

 only. With worker foundation they will 

 draw it out as it is, except where the 

 stretch is found ; then they will probably 

 build up drone-cells.— J. E. Pond. 



They will invariably build only drone- 

 comb in an empty frame. I do not see how 

 they could build all drone-comb on worker 

 foundation ; but a trial ought to establish 

 the fact. — C. H. Dibbekn. 



While it is a fact that the " comb " built 

 by a queenless colony will be, mainly, 

 drone-comb — it is not a fact that when 

 worker-comb foundation is given to a 

 queenless colony, that it will be changed to 

 drone-comb, in the drawing out I Worker- 

 comb foundation is now the only kind 

 made, and has been " the only kind " for 

 ten years or more. When such is given to 

 a queenless colony, it will he drawn out 

 into worker-cells as a general thing — the 

 exceptions being in the outer edges, or 

 where the cells are "stretched" or out of 

 shape by "sagging," or something of that 

 kind. There, .some drone-cells may be 

 found in a queenless or any other colony, 

 if the bees find a necessity for such by the 

 condition of the colony. As worded, the 

 question is quite unintelligible. The pro- 

 pounder of the question should have cited 

 us to the place where the supposed fact 

 was stated, if such a statement was ever 

 made ! There is too much of an admixture 

 of " fact and fancy " in it for ordinary mor- 

 tals to comprehend ! Who would ever 

 imagine that " placing a frame of founda- 

 tion in the center of the brood-nest," would 

 be giving the bees "a chance" to "build 

 drone comb only '." The way to give them 

 the " chance " to " build drone-comb," is to 

 withhold the foundation entirely ! Just the 

 opposite of the idea in the question ; if, 

 indeed, it contains any " idea " at all. — The 

 Editor. 



Food tor Ilees — Bee-Stings. — Mr. 



B. F. Sword, of Lanark, Ills., on Sept. 32, 

 1890, wrote as follows concerning the feed- 

 of bees for stores : 



Please publish in the Bee Journal how 

 to prepare something to feed the bees. I 

 think that I will begin to feed mine early, 

 so that they will go into winter quarters in 

 good condition. This has been a poor sea- 

 son for honey. 1 sowed some Japanese 

 buckwheat, but there was no nectar in it. 

 For bee-stings, apply Dr. Price's triple ex- 

 tract (or essence) of peppermint, and you 

 will never use anything else. 



In reply to the above regarding the feed- 

 ing of bees for winter stores, we take the 

 following paragraphs from our book — 

 " Bees and Honey " — which will answer 

 others who have asked for information on 

 this subject just now : 



" For feeding in fall for winter stores, 

 three pounds of coffee A sugar and one 

 pint of boiling water, simmer five minutes. 

 Feed this inside the hive with a division- 

 board feeder, or in a tin can with a coarse 

 cloth tied over it, and inverted on the 

 frames. For fall feeding, estimate the 

 amount required, and give it as fast as the 

 bees can store it in the combs. 



"For winter feeding, use four parts of 

 coffee A sugar and one part water ; simmer 

 until it becomes quite hard on being cooled, 

 mould into frames of one inch thickness, 

 and lay it on top of the frames, using sticks 

 underneath •_; inch square ; or mould it in 

 brood frames, tie hemp twine around to 

 hold it in place, and put it in the center of 

 the brood chamber." 



Scrub Drones.- Mr. S. M. Parker, of 



Lohrville, Iowa, asks the following ques- 

 tions : 



1. Can we trap all of the drones from 

 our hybrid colonies of bees, and, by keep- 

 ing one colony of pure Italians in the same 

 yard, get the queens of the hybrid fertilized 

 by them ? 3. Would it be more satisfactory 

 to introduce pure blooded queens ; 



It is always possible, but not often prac- 

 tical, to prevent drones from flying from 

 certain hives bj' force. Our method has 

 been to keep drone-comb out of the hives 

 where we did not wish to propagate the 

 blood, and put the same combs in hives 

 where we did. Perhaps it would be better 

 to introduce good queens all around. — 

 James Heddon. 



An Aster.— Mr. H. A. Spencer, of Iowa 

 City, Iowa, on Sept. 34, 1890, writes as 

 follows : 



I enclose a blossom of some kind of a 

 weed that grows very rarely in Central 

 Iowa. Bees fairly swarm over it all 

 through the day. Will you please inform 

 us what it is, and what quality of honey it 

 produces ' 



It is one of the aster family. It is an 

 excellent honey-producer, both as to quan- 

 titj"" and quality. 



IJnitins; t^olonies. — Mr. J. Knowles, 

 of Edmanton, N. W. Territory, asks this 

 question : 



Would uniting a queenless colony with 

 an after-swarm be safe ; Will it pay to 

 do it ? 



Yes, it will be safe, and it will pay to do 

 it, provided you do it right. No stereotyped 

 rule can be given for succeeding, so much 

 depends upon surrounding conditions, time 

 of year, and all that. — James Heddon. 



How Often I>o Bees Eat ?— Geo. 

 W. Smith, of Van Meter, Iowa, asks : 



How often in 34 hours does the queen- 

 bee, the drone, and the worker feed » 



[When they get hungiy and food is ob- 

 tainable.— Ed.] 



