THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



crease. Yet. as before staled, there are difficulties 

 in the way which would not be easy to suimouut. 

 We trust no one will attein|it to publi.'^h a new 

 liee )iaper. There are enough jrood ones at the 

 present day, and but little room for more." 



AVe think the parting words of tlie editor of the 

 C. H. P. should be about all tliat is required to 

 discouraare any one from starting anotlier bee- 

 paper. Tliough Brother Ilolterman does not ad- 

 vise any one not to do sucli a rasli act as to at- 

 tempt to start a bee publication, yet that is just 

 ■what is meant. 



One of the best authors upon bee culture, and 

 also one of tlie best linowii beekeepers writes 

 :thus : 



"I don't know why the Apr. which first started 

 ithe query department should discontinue it." 



If you look this issue of the API over you will 



rsee that the Query Department is all riglit again. 



,It will also be seen that those persons' names 



usually found at the end of the replies to queries 



in other bee publications are not found in our 



• department. We tliink tliat the parties who are 

 ■ now spending tlieir time replying to queries for 



other papers are lieing worked full h.ird enough, 

 and. though nearly every one of tliem would be 

 : glad to send replies for the API, we concluded it 

 was best to get a new set of writers, considering 

 ■the fact that competent persons can be found 

 willing to spend their time in our service. 



The API never did engage novices as teachers. 

 "We want only experienced beekeepers to reply to 

 queries, and to furnish the leading articles for 



• our columns. 



■Winter care of bees. 



Under the above head we find an article in the 

 American Agriculturist from which we take the 

 : following: 



"The only resort, therefore, for feeding in cold 

 weather, is to make candy and use it. This is a 

 very good and healthful "food if properly made 

 .and administered. It is made from granulated 

 sugar by melting it. adiling a little water — no 

 ■more than will thorou?jhly melt tlie sugar — when 

 it is boileil a few minutes and poured out into 

 cakes or slates of tliree or four pounds each. 

 When cool, this becomes very hard, almost like 

 rock candy." 



Yes, when cool the candy is more like a rock 

 tthan anything else, and what is worse still, it is 

 ino better for bees than a rock. The above is a 

 ifair sample of the .advice beekeepers get who 

 iread agricultural papers for information con- 

 • cerning bee culture. 



Why put water with sugar and then boil it out? 

 'Why not put the dry sugar in tlie hive in the first 

 tplace? Dry sugar is much the best if some way 

 be provided so that the bees have access to water 

 to aid in dissolving the hard grains of sugar. 



We told you in the December API how to feed 

 bees. Adopt that method and no rock-candy, dry 

 sugar or water will be needed. 



Comb foundations; patents on bee-fixtures. 



Someone wrote the editor of "Gleanings" and 

 asked this question : "Why not take close, smooth 

 print cloth, or good cheesecloth, or even the veil- 

 ing or .strong unsized paper, or else line wire 

 cloth, or any such material which upon trial may 

 be fouml suitable and pass it through the melted 

 wa.x the same as the wire cloth is passed through 

 the inelti'd metal to coat it . . and then run 

 through the machine as the dipped sheets are?" 

 Here is Editor Root's reply: — 



"Friend C, you are wasting your time and 

 brains in giving any further attention to cloth or 

 other material as foundation as a base for making 

 foundation. Everything you suggest has been 

 invented again and again. Cheese-cloth or any 

 other kind of clotli will eventually be torn out by 

 the bees. They seem to regard it as some indi- 

 cation that the motli worms are at work. Paper 

 has been use<l to somee.x'tent. but it is open to the 

 same oljjectlon. Very line light wire cloth will 

 do, but It spoils your rolls, and makes your foun- 

 dation unnecessarily heavy. You can not incor- 

 porate anything of die sort without using a great 

 deal more wax than you use with the ordinary 

 wired frames. Ni> doubt you could get a patent, 

 and verj' likely it would be worth fully as much 

 as the patents we have already on bee hives and 

 their fixtures— just nothing at all." 



Chestnuts, Brother Root. What would the bee- 

 keepern of the present day be doing about this 

 time had it not been for a patented bee-hive? If 

 my memory serves me correctly, the best founda- 

 tion mill in use was patented. Wasn't it, Brother 

 Root ? 



Charles Lake, an enterprising beekeeper of 

 Baltimore, Md., sent to us in 1888 several pounds 

 of foundation which had for a base some kind of 

 cloth or heavy paper. We cannot say just what 

 the material was. However, it came to hand 

 too late that year to be tested. In June last a set 

 of frames were filled with this foundation and a 

 colony of bees placed in the hive. At the proper 

 time the combs were examined and the bees had 

 worked out the foundation nicely and not a par- 

 ticle of it was removed. 



One swallow does not make a summer, and this 

 one case which we tested may not be a good test. 

 While Brother Root is generally correct in his 

 statements, I do not feel like accepting them 

 when my experience in the same direction is ex- 

 actly opposite to that of Mr. Root's. 



Speaking of Brother Root's opposition to pa- 

 tents; there is one thing to be said in his favor. 

 Brother Root does not, we think, object to using 

 and paying all that a patent having real merit is 

 worth. We believe he has done the fair thing in 

 all cases. But what is meant in these words, 

 '•Patents amount to nothing at all?" No doubt 

 Brother Root means that no one can get any, or 

 at least much money out of patents on bee sup- 

 plies. Ask Brother Heddon if he has not done 

 well on his patent hive. As a rule there is not 

 much money in patents. However, we have just 

 applied for a patent for one of the most valuable 

 articles yet introduced to the beekeeping public. 

 It is the long-sought-for article. Well, if we are 

 successful in obtaining a patent, we do not pro- 

 pose to bother the beekeeping public with patent 

 rights, any more than we did with the patent on 

 our droue-and-queen trap. 



