Oct, 12, 190S 



tHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



715 



so continued for weeks after it ceased to yield 

 nectar. It didn't seem too dry nor too wet ; 

 neither too hot nor too cold; nothing ap- 

 peared to be wrong with the clover bloom, 

 but it just stopped yielding. There were one 

 or two little spurts, but they didn't last. So 

 a good lot of the sections we had prepared 

 were never taken out of the shop. 



Too much faith in the great prospects made 

 us unusual trouble with unfinished sections, 

 and it would have been better if so many had 

 not been put on. But the prospect when they 

 were put on was just as great as it was at the 

 same time in 1903. and if the yield had con- 

 tinued as it did in that year, there would have 

 been loss with less sections on. So how is a 

 body to tell? 



One good thing about it was that there was 

 no tniuble from the harvest gradually shad- 

 ing of from white clover into darker honey. 

 The last was of the same quality as the first. 



A peculiarity this year was that until near 

 the last of September no bees were seen at 

 the watering places. Usually they visit these 

 places more or less throughout the season. 



Taking account of stock, here is the way 

 the matter stands for the season : 



1"S colonies, spring count, gave 11,500 

 pounds of comb honev and increased to 218 

 colonies. Part of that 11,50018 estimated, but 

 the estimate is under rather than over the 

 mark. 



After all, a yield of Giji pounds per colon.y 

 with 22 percent increase is by no means so 

 bad as it might be. Indeed, if we could be 

 sure of as much every year it would do very 

 well. But. then, we had counted on such 

 big things for 1905. 



Honey-and-AImond Paste 



Probably few of the sisters feel they have 

 time for a •■ beauty massage," but it maybe 

 well tor them to know that honey is an im- 

 portant ingredient of the paste used for that 

 purpose, in case some one else wants to know 

 about it. Here's a recipe taken from "The 

 Quest for Beauty," in the Chicago Daily News: 



"To make hone.r-and-almond paste to use 

 in massaging the arms, rub the yolks of two 



eggs with }{ pound of extracted honey and 2 

 ounces of ground bitter almonds. Then add 

 slowly 2 ounces of almond oil and •„ dram 

 each of attar of cloves and attar of berga- 

 mot." 



Our Latest Swarm 



Not long ago some one asked what was the 

 latest we had ever had a ewarm. This year 

 we had one Sept. 22. It seemed a very fool- 

 ish thing for a swarm to issue at that time, 

 when there was nothing yielding nectar, and 

 nothing but certain death to look forward to ; 

 hut bees sometimes do foolish things. No 

 one knew where the swarm came from, so it 

 could not be returned But it was a very 

 accommodating swarm, and settled on a fence- 

 post, 60 all that was needed was to hold a hive 

 on top of the post till the bees went up into it. 



Results of the Season 



My 10 colonies, spring count, gave me about 

 300 pounds of white honey. I think there 

 will not be half as much late honey. This is 

 a poor locality, as the farmers raise so many 

 grapes and potatoes. My golden Italians, 

 from a queen received last year, did not 

 swarm this year, but gave me 75 pounds of 

 honey, and are in tine condition for winter. 



Honey moves off slowly here. I sell mine 

 to customers in the country and surrounding 

 villages. Mrs. Nellie G. Pa.xson. 



Erie Co., N. Y., Oct. 2. 



Bees Did Fairly Well 



My bees did fairly well this season consid- 

 ering the weather, for we had a great deal of 

 rain through white clover, and also during 

 buckwheat. I secured 650 pounds of surplus 

 honey from !30 colonies, spring count, and had 

 only 9 swarms. My bees are in good condi- 

 tion for winter. 



I enjoy working with the bees. They are a 

 great study. Mks Martin Schlemmer. 



.I'llferson Co., Pa., Sept. 25. 



/= 



X)octor ITliUcr 5 Quc5tion=^ox 



=\ 



•^ 



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

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

 Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



J' 



Bee-Smokers and Smoker-Fuel 



1. What kind of a bee-smoker does Dr. 

 Miller use * 



2. What is the best smoker-fuel? Iowa. 



Answers. — 1. Cornell and Bingham. In 

 one thing I want a smoker different from 

 usual. I want a light spring. J don't think 

 there's any good reason in wasting strength 

 to use a smoker with a spring as heavy as 

 those usually sent out. 



2. A whole lot of them. We are using 

 chips from the chip-yard. Not because they 

 are the best in the world, although they are 

 excellent, but because they are for us a little 

 more convenient than anything else as good. 

 Cotton-waste, burlap, hard wood, etc., are as 

 good or better ; but we can get the chips more 

 easily. Something else may be better for you, 

 because more easily obtained. 



tiettine Bees to Adulterate Honey- 

 Kinds of Italian Bees 



I am a beginner, having started with T colo- 

 nies last spring in box-hives, and have in- 

 creased to 15. Some seem to be good and 

 some not so good, but they may all be the 

 same by spring — dead I 



1. If honey is pure nectar from the flowers, 



then would not liees fed sugar syrup till they 

 store it in the sections and cap it over pro- 

 duce adulterated honey? Or can the bees 

 separate the part of honey there might be in 

 the sweet and cast the rest away? It seems 

 to me that the arguments are that extracted 

 honey could be adulterated and could contain 

 some glucose. What is glucose composed of? 

 There is some kind of table molasses that bees 

 will not bother with at all. I have mixed it 

 with sugar and made syrup which they took 

 gladly. Now I believe that the sugar and 

 pancake syrup both were converted into honey. 

 If either or both contained glucose and it was 

 carried in, stored and capped, was it honey 

 afterward? If so, was it adulterated? 



2. If I should fwd bees adulterated honey 

 would I get in turn good, pure honey about 

 pound for pound' I fed bees thin syrup 

 one day, and the next morning found water 

 running outofihi; hive, but with no sweet 

 taste. It tasted, as nearly as I could tell, like 

 rainwater. It hml been extracted by the bees 

 from the syrup. 



3. How many strains of Italian bees are 

 tberei I see 3 banded, 5-banded, long-tongue, 

 red clover, yellow, etc. Do they all mean 3 

 and 5 banded Italians? 



4. Who is the largest bee-keeper in Amer- 

 ica, and where is he located? About what is 

 his average nuuiliei of colonies? Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. If you should get the bees 

 to store either snu'ir or glucose, it would not 



be honey, or if you chose to call it so, it 

 would be adulterated. Glucose, if ohemieally 

 pure, is composed of much the same material 

 as honey, but its cost is more than the price 

 of honey. The commercial article contains 

 impurities which make it unfit food for man 

 or bee. 



2. No, it would still be adulterated, and 

 there would be considerable loss in feeding. 

 The bees are always throwing off moisture 

 from the food they consume, whether you are 

 feeding them or not; and when the walls of 

 the hive are cold enough the moisture con- 

 denses on them, often trickling out of the en- 

 trance. 



3. I don't know how many kinds there are. 

 If you had all the kinds in the world, you 

 might start another kind by giving a different 

 name to yours. Pure Italians are supposed to 

 be those whose workers have 3 yellow bands. 



4. I don't know; there are several who have 

 a large number of colonies, and the number 

 is so constantly changing that the one who 

 had most last year may not have the most this 

 year. 



Referring to an omitted part of your letter, 

 you are quite right to use just as little smoke 

 as possible; and your plan of finding the 

 queen by running the bees through excluder 

 zinc, although well known, is good. 



Best Bees and Hlve-Flndlng a 

 Location 



Before long I contemplate purchasing a 

 farm " Out West," in the United States, and 

 should like to know which are the best parts 

 in which to purchase— where the land will 

 increase in value, and yet be good for general 

 farming, poultry keeping and beekeeping. 

 I have lived " Out West " before, but where I 

 lived the land has gone up to such a value 

 that I think there is nothing in it. My prop- 

 erty here is on sale now. I shall buy no land 

 or farm until 1 have seen it, 



1. Which bee among the following is con- 

 sidered the best all-purpose bee, and which 

 makes the best cross: Black, Carniolan, 3- 

 banded Italian, and Cyprian? 



2 Which hive do you consider the best all- 

 purpose hive, that is, for producing comb 

 honey, also extracted honey ? 



3 Wbitjh State among the following do you 

 consider the best for all-purpose farming (and 

 name a few places where good land can be 

 bought that would be likely to go up in 

 value) ; Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, 

 and Oklahoma Territory ? 



4. Could you name two or three reliable 

 land dealers? England. 



Answers.— 1. The lalian seems to be mostly 

 in favor as a general-purpose bee. There are 

 some bees of mixed Italian and black blood 

 that are good, and Prof. Benton speaks 

 highly of a cross between Italians and Car- 

 niolans. 



2. That seems to be more or less a matter 

 of taste, and perhaps there is nothing better 

 than the dovetailed, which is nothing more 

 nor less than a plain Langsiroth hive with 

 lock-joint corners. 



3 Probably there isn't very much difference. 

 In each of them you'll find the desired condi- 

 tions. Oklahoma being the newest, probably 

 has the best chance for going up in price. 



4. I don't know; that's outside the scope 

 of a bee-paper; but advertisements of them 



abound. 



-.• — ^^^^ — • 



The Hive auestlon and a Beginner 



A manufacturing business keeps me in the 

 city throughout the day, but at other times I 

 live in the country. In the mornings and 

 afternoons there is opportunity for divers out- 

 door work, or rather recreation. For many 

 years I have been interested in entomology, 

 yet it was only last spring that I was taken 

 with the fever to "grow bees. " 



May 19 a swarm of common brown bees 

 was obtained from a farmer about S miles dis- 

 tant from my home; these were installed in a 

 new lOframe Kangstroth {Root-Dovetail) 

 hive; the bees prospered, and on June 15a 

 super was put on, the sections having narrow 

 foundation starters. By Sept. 1, 4 sections 

 were partiall.v filled with honey, and some 10 



