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THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



Au(just 



nized authorities as Wtn. McEvoy, 

 N. E. Prance and Prof. F. C. Harri- 

 son in the compilation of this excel- 

 lent treatise. It is by Messrs. CD. 

 Smith and J. M Rankin, the latter 

 gentleman being the State Inspec- 

 tor of Apiaries, to whom we are 

 indebted for a copy. Michigan's 

 recently enacted law in regard to 

 foul- brood is also given. A copy 

 will be sent free upon request. 



To those whose selection of breed- 

 ing stock is governed by the honey 

 returns of the colony, Mr. W. W. 

 McNeal offers an important sug- 

 gestion in this number. It is a 

 well-known fact that robbing is a 

 marked characteristic in certain 

 strains of bees. We have found it 

 to prevail more especially in the 

 golden Italians; though the same 

 disposition is frequently observed 

 in other varieties of bees. Is it not 

 quite probable, then, that in cases 

 where a certain colony is reported 

 to have been storing surplus at a 

 time when feeding was necessary to 

 prevent starvation in the cases of 

 other colonies, that the exceptional 

 record might find its solution in a 

 robbing propensity rather than in 

 long tongues? As a matter of cau- 

 tion, we would suggest that in such 

 a case the "surplus" be compared 

 with a sample of the goods being 

 fed. It is not improbable that a 

 striking similarity would be shown. 

 Not many bee-lreepers would care to 

 pay fancy prices for stock which 

 habitually secured its surplus from 

 the hives being fed. 



From the viewpoint of the South- 

 ern bee-keejjer, one of the most 

 interesting articles that has ap- 

 peared in months is contributed to a 

 recent number of Gleanings by W. 

 W. Somerford, of Cuba. Like all 

 others, we believe, who have kept 

 bees in the South for a long time. 



Mr. Somerford has found that there 

 is but one kind of hive cover that 

 meets the requirements, and that 

 is the cleated flat lid. His regard 

 for the flimsy, ventilated contri- 

 vances which are found to-day upon 

 the market, and which may be satis- 

 factory for Northern countries, is 

 akin to that of Mr. Kerr, for the 

 Clark cold-blast smoker, as express- 

 ed in this number. He has solved 

 the bottom- board problem by hav- 

 ing them made at a brick-yard — one 

 solid flat-pressed brick, 16 x 21 

 inches. Thus his mind is relieved 

 from further anxiety in regard to 

 bottom-boards. These are set flat 

 on the ground, and the hive has a 

 foundation for life, which will neither 

 warp nor decay. Mr. Somerford 

 further shows his practical experi- 

 ence in handling bees by calling at- 

 tention to the error so commonly 

 practiced, of putting the end-spac- 

 ing staples at the top instead of at 

 the bottom of brood-frames. He 

 says: "Just try them, and you 

 will wonder why any one ever put 

 them at the top corners of frames." 

 We have advocated this placing of 

 the staples in the ends of the bot- 

 tom-bar for sixteen years; but evi- 

 dently, its advanlages have not 

 been appreciated. The chief object 

 of the end-staples is entirely defeat- 

 ed by placing it at the upper 

 part of the frame. The ordinary 

 window-blind staples, to be had of 

 almost any hardware dealer, are 

 just the thing for this purpose; and 

 any one can easily procure and 

 drive them in theendsof the frames, 

 leaving them extended from the 

 wood about 7-16ths of an inch. Cut 

 a saw-kerf in a 7-16ths strip of 

 wood; after starting the staple, 

 slip the strip over the staple, allow- 

 ing it to come up through the 

 saw-kerf, and tap it down even 

 with the wood. In this way all 

 staples are quickly driven, and uni- 



