THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 4, 1906 



I introduce virgins of all ages, from those just hatched 

 to those 2 weeks old, but prefer those 4 or S days old. I 

 think a colony is less apt to accept a virgin when 10 days to 

 2 weeks old. Once I run short of virgin queens of right age 

 and introduced some very old ones, I think 3 weeks old or 

 more. Several of these became fertile and were of some 

 value. 



Did you ask how I introduce these virgin queens ? Why, 

 I just let them run in at the entrance, and usually all goes 

 well. I have tried daubing them with honey, because some 

 one recommended it, but it worked no better than letting 

 them run in at the entrance. 



Now I will volunteer a few facts that may be of value 

 to you and others. The colony is kept a long time queen- 

 less, and there may be more pollen stored in the hive than 

 is desirable, and sometimes it may be carried up into the 

 sections, though I am not greatly troubled with it. The 

 greatest objection to this method is the loss of the young 

 virgin queens introduced. When I first adopted this way, 

 some 20 or more years ago. I lost a few queens when intro- 

 duced at the right age, but of late years the loss has been 

 greater. When I first began, the loss, as I remember it, 

 was not more than 2 or 3 to a yard, while this year in one 

 yard I lost one-third of the virgin queens that I introduced, 

 or 12 out of 36, while in my other yards the loss was light — 

 I think 3 or 4 to the yard. 



If the young queen is not laying at my second visit 

 after introducing, I give 2 or 3 combs of brood, and they 

 soon have a queen. Of course, such colonies are not so 

 strong the latter part of the summer, but as we have little 

 for bees to do after July 20, it does not matter. 



I would not advise this method as best for all colonies, 

 but for those having poor queens they do not wish to keep, 

 or for those that are weak in numbers. For very strong 

 colonies I prefer to shake on empty combs or foundation, 

 using the brood for helping weak colonies or nuclei into 

 profitable colonies. J. E Crane. 



Middlebury, Vt., Nov. 8. 



Some will undoubtedly question the desirability of hav- 

 ing a colony remain queenless 2 weeks or longer. But 

 it must not be forgotten that if bees are left to swarm nat- 

 urally they are left queenless for a time, and the real loss 

 of brood caused by natural swarming is greater than many 

 have reckoned. That loss must not be reckoned from the 

 date of the prime swarm, for the queen diminishes her lay- 

 ing no little before that time. Then there is no brood 

 emerging in the swarm for 3 full weeks, and in the old col- 

 ony there is no laying for 10 days or 2 weeks. Mr. Crane's 

 plan saves the expense of a watcher, and no doubt results 

 in a larger harvest. 



Detecting Glucose in Honey 



In the January number of the Ladies' Home Journal 

 appears an article on how the housekeeper may detect adul- 

 terants in various foods, by A. G. Woodman. Referring to 

 honey and some other sweets, he has this to say : 



A common adulterant of honey, table syrups, molasses, 

 jellies and jams is commercial glucose, made on a very 

 large scale by treating corn-starch with acid. . It may be 

 detected quite easily by the peculiar precipitate it gives 

 with alcohol. For this test it will be necessary to use strong 

 alcohol— 95 percent. Take a clear glass or tumbler about a 

 third full of the alcohol and slowly pour into it a table- 

 spoonful of the honey or syrup to be tested. In the pres- 

 ence of glucose a milky turbidity will be caused, and at the 

 bottom of the glass will be formed a thick, gummy mass, 

 which can be easily collected in a spoon. If glucose is not 

 present a slight flocculent precipitate will be formed instead 

 of the gummy mass, and there will be no turbidity after the 

 test has stood a few moments. It should be borne in mind 

 that the glucose is not to be considered necessarily harmful, 

 but that its presence always indicates a cheaper or low- 

 grade product. 



But, really, it isn't necessary in these days to buy honey 

 that is not guaranteed free from glucose or other adultera- 

 tion. There are many reliable dealers in honey, the purity 

 of which can be relied on. Consumers should insist on get- 

 ting only the pure article, as there is no excuse for grocers 

 or other retailers buying adulterated food-supplies of any 

 kind. 



XTIiscdloneous 

 Heirs * 3 terns 



^ 



j 



The National Convention of 1905 is now a matter 

 of history. It was a good convention. There were about 

 200 present. In the absence of Pres. Harris, Vice-Pres. 

 Dadant (the new President for 1906) presided, and he sur- 

 prised even his best friends in the able way in which he 

 handled the convention. 



A full report of the proceedings will appear in these 

 columns in due time. 



Southern Beedom is a new department begun in this 

 week's number of the American Bee Journal. It is in 

 charge of Mr. Louis H. Scholl, late of the Texas Agricul- 

 tural and Mechanical College. We trust that bee-keepers 

 of the South will aid Mr. Scholl in making their department 

 as helpful as possible to that splendid bee-keeping portion 

 of our country. We desire that it shall be exclusively de- 

 voted to the advancement of bee-keeping in the Sunny 

 Southland. 



The Government and Apiculture.— On the first page 

 this week is shown one of the apiaries of the Government 

 at Washington, D. C. It shows almost all of the hives. It 

 is located right in the park beside the main building of the 



DB. E. P. PHILLIPS. 



Department of Agriculture, which gives it the advantage 

 of having the hives out where everybody who comes near 

 the Department can see them, and also see that something 

 practical is being done with the bees. 



In addition to this apiary there is a Caucasian mating 

 yard at Arlington, where there are located 16 full colonies 

 of bees of that race and 75 mating boxes. It has never had 

 its picture taken as it is not a thing of beauty, but a place 

 where the experimenters really get down and dig out results. 



We are pleased to present herewith a picture of Dr. E. 

 F. Phillips, Acting in Charge of Apiculture during the 

 absence of Prof. Benton, who, as most of our readers know, 

 is spending a few months in the Orient, looking up new 

 races of bees and also new honey-plants. 



