144 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KE^PEB 



June. 



up a small colony of hatching Italian 

 bees (brood combs) and the flying bees 

 of a German colony and watched it. 

 After two days many Italian bees had 

 emerged- He observed the queen lay- 

 ing eggs in the central portion of a 

 comb closely followed by a circle of 

 brown bees. The yellow bees were 

 loafing around upon the warm sealed 

 brood and paying no attention to the 

 unsealed brood and queen. Even on 

 'the fourth day no yellow bees seemed 

 to take any notice of the queen as yet, 

 but some could be seen occasionally 

 entering empty cells, seemingly pre- 

 paring them for the reception of eggs. 

 On the fifth day yellow bees began to 

 wait on the queen. Only brown bees 

 were seen near the periphery of the 

 cluster, and many yellow bees were still 

 inactively gathered on the sealed brood. 

 On the sixth day some yellow bees 

 came to the outer edge and had a play 

 spell after noon. 



The queen was removed on that day. 

 On the eighth day brown and yellow 

 bees could be seen busily engaged con- 

 structing queen cells and apparently 

 feeding the royal larvae- There were 

 more brown (old) than yellow bees 

 seen nursing 'the unsealed brood, and 

 yellow bees were hovering around and 

 at the entrance and some came in load- 

 ed for the first. 



is quoted as saying some years ago: 

 We have neither found it practical nor 

 paying, not even for the extensive bee- 

 keeper, to enter into queen-rearing be- 

 fore the regular swarming season., 

 Perhaps, adds Wurth, he was as satis- 

 fied as we are of the changing of queens 

 unbeknown 'to the bee-keeper. 



Roth says, in Inkerschule: "Swarm- 

 ing cells produce better queens than 

 emergency or post-constructed cells, 

 although he admits that good queens 

 may be reared from the latter." 



As to the necessity and advisability 

 of restricting the queen at times to less 

 breeding room there exists a diversity 

 of opinion among the Germans as well 

 as elsewhere. The Schleswig-Holstein 

 Bztg. advises: By all means to use the 

 excluder, preferably one made of paste- 

 board on account of cheapness- Sied- 

 lofif of the Seipz. Bztg- advises against 

 its use. 



GERMANY. 



From a honey leaflet sent out by P. 

 Waetzel, Freiburg, I take the follow- 

 ing recipes: 



"Honeywater flavored with fruit juice, 

 lemon or berry, make a good drink for 

 fever-patients." 



"Honey desolved in hot wat^r is good 

 for hoarseness and coughs, beneficial 

 in dip'theria, influenza and lagrippe." 



"Honey and unsalted butter made in- 

 to a salve is excellent^in case of scalds 

 and burns." 



"Apply a plaster or poultice of honey 

 and flour on severe burns, also on 

 boils." 



"Sleeplessness yields to internal hon- 

 ey treatment." 



Der Traktishe Wegweiser favors the 

 facing of hives to the nor'th, says: The 

 warm rays of the sun often mislead 

 the bees in March and April to fly 

 when they had better not do so, as 

 many never return, on the o'ther 

 hand, when colonies are faced north 

 they often show no signs of activity 

 till the end of April, and yet they de- 

 velop better than the others which are 

 active early. Then again, colonies with 

 entrance to the south or west s,ufifer 

 more from heat during the hot sum- 

 mer than the others. Shading the hives 

 has become very popular for this rea- 

 son. 



Is it advisable for the small bee- 

 keeper to rear his own queens, is an- 

 swered by Wurth in Die Biene with a 

 decided no! 



The great bee-master, Gravenhorst, 



Rundschauer (Gleaner) of the Scll- 

 Holst- Bztg. entertains the fear that 

 the Phacelia as a honeyplant may sink 

 into oblivion like some other plant 

 which enjoyed a reputation of being 

 honeysecreting plants for a time. 



A questioner says in the same paper 

 he would like some information as to 

 how to best arrange his hives for sec- 

 tion honey-production- He would like 

 to fit up hives and appliances during his 

 leisure hours on the Sundays to come. 



Goeken in Centralblatt cannot under- 

 stand how it is possible that America 

 can expor't honey and sell it at such 



