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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 25 19 6 



from certain clouds at certain times of the day, and the sug- 

 gestions we get from certain sunrises and sunsets," learn 

 to forecast the weather with a measure of certainty. This 

 is particularly profitable to any agricultural pursuit. 



Honey Around Edges of Flight-Holes 



" Sister" Wilson (page 12) failed to note how bees carry 

 honey away in small particles, some of which are liable to 

 get stuck around the edges of any hole through which they 



fly- 



= — . 



VTlv. £)asty's 

 Ctftertpougfyte 



j 



The " Old Reliable " as seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



For and Against Black Bees. 



Harry Lathrop against the black bees seems to be a 

 temperate and reasonable opposer. Perhaps he's right, that 

 those of us who keep a sort of lingering, half-way bias in 

 their favor would be cured if we were obliged for a season 

 to run a whole apiary of them. He is generous to say : "I 

 fully agree that by proper care the black race might be 

 made equal to any for honey-gathering qualities, and we all 

 like the way they cap their comb honey, but they are so dis- 

 agreeable to work with that I think very few having had ex- 

 perience with them would wish to increase the stock." Hope 

 the brother who scolded me so roundly in a recent number 

 will note how nearly Mr. Lathrop comes to saying the same 

 things as I. Page 860. 



Bees Spotting Hives in Early December. 



So Canadian bees were spotting things and showing 

 signs of engorgement before the middle of December. Not 

 as their owners would choose to have it. And the Canadian 

 weather unusual in the direction of being sudden and un- 

 expected. Apparently most climes can say, "Same here," 

 if those strict words are adhered to. Page 861. 



Baby Nuclei and Queen-Rearing. 



Mr. Pharr and the other Texans have certainly got the 

 mating of queens in baby nuclei down fine. Only one little 

 comb, which is only one-sixth standard size. No brood at 

 all. Only SO to 2i0 bees, according to weather. Say, I have 

 an invention whereby a virgin and a couple of small horse- 

 flies are baby-nucleied in a glass bottle. Cut the cork so 

 the queen can get out and in, but her companions not. 



Facts are facts ; and the baby nucleus may be all right— 

 afterthinkers to the contrary notwithstanding ; but I con- 

 fess to feeling toward the little device somewhat as a porcu- 

 pine feels when he sees a dog. To populate 300 mating- 

 boxes with the bees of one colony, and practically throw 

 them away when the queens are sold, is somewhat attractive, 

 I grant. Per contra, making the required number of old- 

 style, 3-frame nuclei must make ugly havoc with an apiary, 

 any one can see. No wonder breeders wish to avoid this. 

 Mr. Atchley's remark that orders for queens are mostly re- 

 ceived when none can be mated successfully in the baby boxes 

 is instructive in its way. One thing I didn't think of be- 

 fore in this connection is that good, strong nuclei are liable 

 to act like full colonies and resist the introduction of a vir- 

 gin for a week or more. This wastes time sadly, besides 

 sometimes killing a queen. Worse yet, they may leave her 

 a damaged but not quite unsalable article at the end of the 

 unpleasantness. The upshot is that the baby-farmers are 

 not quite cannibals, nor yet fools; but still, it seems 

 to me, that critics best serve the interests of apicul- 

 ture (outside the breeder's yard) if they growl a good plenty. 

 Pages 864, 865. 



Definitions and Standards of Honey. 



It rather seems to me that the official definition of honey 

 is better than Prof. Eaton's amendment of it. The figures 

 of the former are to be understood as outside figures, not 

 average ones. No objection to honey having less than 25 

 percent of water ; but if it has more it is simply sweetened 

 water. No objection to it having less .025 of ash ; but if it 



has more it is to be objected to as dirty. No objection to its 

 having less than 8 percent of sucrose ; but if it has more it 

 is a mixture of honey and sugar. 



States' Pure Food Laws. 



So when most States get pure- food laws — and well en- 

 forced — the laggard States have to serve as dumping ground. 

 Hope they'll reflect betimes. Page 867. 



What Destroys Basswood Bloom ? 



I think it was not the bug that Gustave Gross saw in 

 the basswood bloom that did most of the mischief, but a 

 widely spread fungous disease. Bug may have helped on 

 somewhat. At my location basswood bloom has been more 

 or less unhealthy for several years. Last year some of the 

 blossom-buds were transformed into monstrosities — grew 

 too large but never opened. Page 867. 



Additions to Nectar-Yielding Plants. 



A geranium with thorns like a blackberry ( were the 

 same either wild or tame) would be quite a curiosity to me. 

 Of course, all additions to the list of plants that produce 

 nectar is plainly visible quantities are of some interest. 

 Page 867. 



(Dur+Sister 

 BecKccpers 



J 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



A Sister's Report for 1905 



Dear Miss Wilson: — I had 10 colonies, spring count, 

 last season, and increased to 21. I took off 400 pounds of 

 white comb honey, 50 of dark, and about 6 pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey, as I extracted some unfinished sections. 



Three Rivers, Mich. Mrs. L. Mack. 



Two Sisters Continue the Bee-Business 



I will let you know of our great loss, that our father, 

 Mr. Peter Blunier, died in February, 1905. He was a bee- 

 keeper and a reader of the American Bee Journal for years. 

 So now my sister and I must take care of the bees and the 

 business. Dina Blunier. 



Roanoke, 111. 



The hearty sympathy of the sisters is extended to you 

 in your affliction. We are glad to welcome yourself acd 

 sister to our corner, and hope to hear from you frequently. 



Getting Unfinished Sections Cleaned Out 



Miss Wilson :— I see on page 810 of 1905, some sister 

 has a bad time getting the bees to take the honey out of un- 

 finished sections. I find it very easy if it is worked right. 



Take the sections all out of the super that are wanted 

 cleaned out, and set them promiscuously in the upper story 

 of a colony you wish to feed. If any are capped over take a 

 knife and uncap them, and then the bees will take it all out, 

 but not otherwise. 



By arranging the sections as above described, the bees 

 see that there is something radically wrong with the ar- 

 rangement of the hive that they do not understand, and the 

 best thing for them to do is to remove the honey, which 

 they always do. 



Before putting the honey in the hive turn one corner of 

 the glazed quilt back so the bees will have free access to 

 the upper story. W. J. Young. 



Scotch Ridge, Ohio. 



It is quite true that bees will nearly always remove un- 

 capped honey, although they are sometimes very, very slow 

 about it, and arranging the sections as described by Mr. 

 Young will hasten their doing so. But the uncapping is the 

 very thing we want to avoid. It involves not only the labor 

 of uncapping, but a whole lot of extra labor, taking the sec- 

 tions out of the supers and putting them in again. When 

 taken from the hives in the fall a good many supers may 



