Jan. 26, 1905. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNALm. 



55 



order for it to go up it must displace air already there. This 

 it can not do, for there is not a chance for that air to move 

 to get out of the way. 



I give my hives ample entrance in winter, for I know 

 that they have, as it were, a storm-door between them and 

 outside. The spaces between the bottom-bars become in- 

 side entrances through which a good circulation is going 

 on, but through which no cold, death-dealing winds will 

 mount. 



It is to be observed, further, that the free-hanging 

 frames furnish a hive which is the same size throughout 

 the winter, so that the weakened colony in early spring has 

 the same big, cold quarters which the strong colony occu- 

 pied in the fall. The closed-end, crosswise frame does not 

 work on this principle. It is only so large a hive as the 

 colony is large, for it is small for the small colony and 

 large for the large colony. Each comb is a wall shutting 

 off any space which the colony does not occupy. Extremely 

 weak colonies will build up rapidly in spring in these hives. 

 One season might easily pay for a change of hives in this 

 way alone. 



For cellar-wintering one style of frame is probably 

 about as good as another, but after the bees are put out in 

 spring the advantages would be with the crosswise frame. 

 I should therefore assume that in general in the North the 

 use of the frame which I advocate would be most advanta- 

 geous. 



It is only fair to acknowledge that my use of the frame 

 does not cover any great length of time, only three seasons, 

 and it is quite possible that a long use of the same may dis- 

 close objections which I do not now see. As the case now 

 stands I see no objections which come anywhere near off- 

 setting the manifest advantages ; and I am confident that 

 a fair trial will win many converts to this style of frame. 

 The satisfaction of strong and vigorous colonies in the 

 spring is worth the trial. New London Co., Conn. 



^ 



Clftcrtl^ougl^ts 



J' 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



ITALIANS VS. BLACKS AGAINST FOUL BROOD. 



I can readily imagine that energetic bees will make a 

 much better flight against foul brood than would a strain 

 of bees lacking in energy. I'm not quite so ready to set it 

 down that Italians resist better than blacks, if a good strain 

 of blacks is chosen. Still it may be so. The tactics of the 

 two races are radically different. The German race is 

 greatly inclined to make a panacea of simple waiting till 

 the conditions of Nature improve ; and therefore they do 

 not wear their lives out in vain as badly as Italians often 

 do. Italians incline to struggle under almost all circum- 

 stances. It happens, of course, that waiting for foul brood 

 to improve is a sort of tactics that won't work at all — might 

 as well wait for your house a-fire to go out. Maybe Italians 

 perceive this better than the blacks do, or, if not, their nat- 

 ural disposition to struggle comes in play better. Pages 

 819 and 829. 



INSUFFICIENT AND POOR STORKS CADSB OF WINTER BEE- 

 LOSSES. 



L. M. Gulder sized up last winter's great mortality just 

 right when he said, " First, insufficient stores, and second, 

 poor stores ". I need not go outside my own yard for ex- 

 amples in evidence. And perhaps this sentence deserves 

 more reflection than it is liable to get : " The basswood 

 honey is gathered only to a limited extent from' the blos- 

 soms, by far the greater quantity coming from the secretion 

 of the leaves, or, in other words, basswood honey-dew ". 

 Wonder if that isn't what is the matter with my basswood 

 honey this last season — too much flavor, and the flavor not 

 as good as it should be. The taste alone, unconfirmed by 

 observations, should not be accepted as proving this, how- 

 ever. I think a plant usually pours in about the same 

 amount of flavoring, whether the nectar-secretion is small 

 or great — that is, scant secretion pretty sure to be strongly 

 flavored, and profuse secretion pretty sure to be lightly 

 flavored. This law comes in splendidly for plants which 



have disagreeable flavors. When the secretion is profuse 

 enough their honey will be good. Same in regard to color- 

 ing matter ; scant honey sure to be dark honey, and vice 

 versa. Page 821. 



REMOVING BEE-STINGS WHEN STUNG. 



We have again, on page 822, directions for the proper 

 removal of a sting when we get one. I think I can add a 

 suggestion of considerable value, which is for the most part 

 strangely forgotten. It's all right to avoid taking hold of 

 a sting with thumb and finger ; it's all right to avoid press- 

 ing on it ; it's all right to lift it deftly out with the blade of 

 a sharp knife ; but not if extra time is consumed thereby. 

 Even one second gained in time is of more importance than 

 any variation of the manipulation. A sting is a self-acting 

 squirt-gun in action, and very soon pretty much the entire 

 charge of poison will be driven in ; after which all your 

 wise " chenanigan " in removal comes too late. Have it 

 out instantly — in the best way, if that's available, but in 

 the worst way if you must. A large share of the stings 

 which bee-keepers get come when one or both hands are 

 fast. Place the wounded part against the best thing avail- 

 able, and with a rub forcible enough to be sure to take it out 

 the first time, rub it out. 



COMB-HONEY STORY DENIAL ON SECTIONS. 



Nice question to decide about, that denial printed on 

 the section. Denial of a bad story about a lady should not 

 be printed on her cheek — else lots of folks will thereby get 

 it for the first time, and adhere to it — and some will view 

 such strenuosity of denial as evidence of guilt. If nearly 

 every one already has heard the manufactured-honey story, 

 and already has an opinion about it, a printed denial on 

 every section may perhaps be our best resource. On the 

 whole, I rather think it is, although it will make some people 

 believe the lie more firmly than ever. Page 822. 



YELLOW JACKET AND WASP STINGS VS. BEE-STINGS. 



Where Wm. M. Whitney says that the sting of the yel- 

 low jacket is more virulent than that of the bee, he is on 

 the track of the truth, but hasn't quite captured it yet, it 

 seems to me. I think that the exact facts are that the two 

 poisons are much more materially different than usually 

 supposed, so much so that immunization against either one 

 doesn't count much against the other. I have often noticed 

 this in my own person. I am now tolerably well immunized 

 against bee-stings. Before I was immunized I dreaded bee- 

 stings more than I dreaded wasp-stings. Now wasp-stings 

 affect me much the worse of the two — but perhaps not quite 

 so badly as they originally did. And I think a man cotild be 

 immunized against wasp-stings and not against bee-stings. 

 Then he would dread bee-stings and regard wasp-stings 

 with semi-indifference. Page 830. 



=__== = ^ 



l:)odox miller's 

 Question = Box 



==/ 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. (3. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Making Supers and Hives— Hlvlns Swarms on Ponndatlon 



1. I am going to make 600 or SCO supers for comb honey. What 

 style would you advise me to make ; I expect to buy the separators. 

 What size section and style of fence ? I am pretty well satisfied with 

 the T super with fences. Do you think I can do better j 



3. I am thinking of making oae or two hundred hives as follows : 

 The body the same as the dovetailed except that the sides will be of % 

 lumber. Will make a honey-board for over the frames, and make a 

 deep cover, or cover with rim as deep as the hive-body. "Top of cover 

 flat, covered with paper. By making this cover of 3i^-inoh material 

 the whole hive will not cost me i^uy more than a regular dovetailed 

 hive, and I figure that it would be very much superior in the way of 

 spring protection, warm supers, etc. Am I right' Do you think 

 such a hive with an additional rim and padded sticks around the l)ot- 

 tom, and 4 inches of chaff over the bees, would winter bees well out- 

 doors? You see, I want something that would winter l)ees outdoors 

 on a pinch, but wherever possible I would winter them in the cellar. 



3. Do you advise hiving swarms on starters for comb honey ' 



New York. 



AnswBRS. — 1. It Isn't the easiest thing in the world to advise 

 about such things. One's market .8 to be considered, etc. Other 

 things being equal, it Is well to get new supers of the same kind as 



