204 



THE AMERICA:^ BEE-KEEPER 



November 



German authorities- K. Toenges. how- 

 ever, says in Gravenh, 111. B. Z. that 

 the taking of liquids into the system 

 IS largely habit vi^hich could be over- 

 come. (This is true with man, why 

 not with bees? American bee-keepers 

 do not water their bees and still are 

 successful). 



A. Kiefer believes it within reach 

 of possibility to produce a constant red- 

 clover strain of bees, although this idea 

 is generally ridiculed by the Germans. 

 Kiefer thinks the Italian and Carniolan 

 bees are to furnish the material for 

 such a strain as both of these races are 

 known to work on red clover. The 

 breeding should be done in an isolated 

 yard where the flight of drones should 

 be controlled. The Carniolan race 

 should furnish the drones. 



Dumler proposes to open a depart- 

 ment in the Luxemb. B. Z. in which 

 bee-keepers may tell from month to 

 month of the new things they have 

 been humbugged with. He enumerates 

 among such, certain patent hives, en- 

 trance-slides, and a steam-wax press. 

 (I could enlarge upon the list, I am 

 sorry to say. Several hundred dollars 

 would be in my pocket if it was not for 

 that experience). 



Otto Schulze is probably the most 

 extensive comb foundation manufac- 

 turer in Germany. He produces half a 

 dozen dififerent styles, among which is 

 one-sided foundation with metal back. 

 This is used princpally for the produc- 

 tion of the thick heath-honey so diffi- 

 cult to extract. The high speed neces- 

 sary to throw it out of the comb would 

 cause ordinary combs to break out. His 

 regular wired foundation is becoming 

 more and more popular. How exten- 

 sive his other makes with veneering and 

 wire gauze partition is used I am not 

 informed. The Schleswig-Holstein B. 

 Z. speaks of Schulze's drawn comb as 

 a master piece of mechanical perfec- 

 tion. The depth of cell of these combs 

 is i8 millimeter. The bees, it is said, 

 use them readily for brood rearing or 

 storing honey. The drawback is, that the 

 comb has to be cast right in the frame. 

 This, it would seem, makes it expen- 

 sive. I believe the bees can draw our 

 comb from ordinary foundation cheaper 

 than man can do it. 



Wehl reports unfavorable results 

 (Schleswig-Holstein B. Z.) in trying to 

 unite after swarms with prime swarms; 

 the bees of the former being killed and 

 thrown out. d find that usually there 

 is trouble when prime, and after 

 swarms go together; but a great deal 

 depends upon locality, honey flow and 

 time of the year.) 



AUSTRALIA. 



Rumler writes, in Bienenvater of the 

 bees in one of his eight colonies carry- 

 ing into their hive small bundles of 

 stamens- The bees carried them in 

 their mouths. The same bundles were 

 cast out the next day but examination 

 showed their being minus the pollen 

 they contained when carried in. 

 Klossel has observed a case of like na- 

 ture. 



The month of July has been the hon- 

 ey month in Austria. May and June 

 have disappointed the bee-keepers gen- 

 erally, not only in Austria, but Germany 

 and America also. 



SWITZERLAND. 



According to Revue Internationale 

 Gubler had had a queen bee in one of 

 his hives which laid only sterile eggs. 

 They neither produced workers nor 

 drones. (The writer had such a queen 

 some years ago. She filled the combs 

 with eggs, but none ever hatched. 

 Finally the queen disappeared). 



F. Greiner. 



The Bee-Keeper learns wth regret of 

 a misfortune which recently befell Mr. 

 Thos. Chantry of Meckling, S. Dak. 

 The house in which the greater part of 

 his 1902 crop of honey was stored, 

 without insurance, was destroyed by 

 fire, entailing a loss of several thou- 

 sand dollars. Mr. Chantry is an ex- 

 tensive honey producer, and, fortunate- 

 ly, has taken some fall goods since the 

 fire. He gets from 12 1-2 to 16 cents 

 a pound for his honey wholesale. His 

 average per colony this year was about 

 60 pounds; and of this the greater part 

 was burned. 



We always may be what we might have been. 

 — Adelaide A. Proctor. 



