May 31, 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



467 



not only is honey manufactured, but the comb is also imi- 

 tated, so that if you buy comb honey you are likely to get 

 glucose. A Missouri washer-woman complains that her 

 neighbor's bees " walk on the clean clothes on each wash- 

 day with dirty feet, and asks the court to restrain the bees 

 from wandering on her wash-days." 



The sympathies of the sisters are likely to be with the 

 washer-woman. To look at a line full of clothes so white as 

 to awaken feelings of pride in the heart of any lover of 

 cleanliness, and then to see the bees spot them so that they 

 must go back into the tub again — well, there are times when 

 lauguage fails. Of course, the woman was wrong in think- 

 ing that the bees spotted her clothes each wash-day, the 

 probability being that the offense was committed only on 

 the day of their cleansing flight, and a little diplomacy on 

 the part of the bee-keeper might have saved the wash being 

 put out on that particular day, and so avoided all trouble. 



An interesting case is reported, in which for a year a 

 widow would not speak to a bee-keeper's family, the bees 

 being within 50 feet of her back door, with an 8 foot fence 

 between. Query : Was it the bees or the high fence that 

 prevented a free exchange of thought ? 



Spiders in Folded Sections — Smartweed and Goldenrod 



Dear Miss Wilson : — I have worked with bees a num- 

 ber of years, and enjoy it. I wintered 42 colonies on the 

 summer stands well packed in dry leaves, and plenty of 

 sugar candy over the frames. I have 31 now in good shape, 

 losing 11. Some bee-keepers around here have lost half. 

 March was a very bad month on the bees — most of mine 

 died then. The last few weeks have been very good. We 

 are having a cold spell now, just at fruit-blooming time, 

 which is quite a drawback to the bees. I don't think it will 

 be very long before white clover will be in bloom ; then 

 putting on sections will be the order of the day. I have 

 over 1000 that did not get filled, as last year was not a good 

 honey year here. Some have starters, and most have comb 

 built in them. The spider has built webs in them, and if I 

 don't get them out the bees get hung and die. I have taken 

 a feather and cleaned them out, but it takes so long. I 

 wonder if any one knows of a quicker way. I would be 

 glad to hear through the American Bee Journal. 



I see on page 390, something about smartweed honey. 

 Smartweed and goldenrod grow here, but do not furnish 

 any honey. I never saw a bee on them. Heartsease, or 

 "heartweed," as it is called by many, grows here, and the 

 bees work on it. The honey is not peppery. 



(Mrs.) Inez J. Henry. 



Braddyville, Iowa, March 7. 



We have never had any trouble with spiders in sections, 

 but spiders are very scarce in our shop where they are 

 stored. We have had thousands of sections stored and 

 never yet had to clean any spider-webs out of them. I won- 

 der if putting a cover over your supers would not help to 

 keep out the spiders. 



Goldenrod is also plentiful here, but the bees do not 

 seem to care for it. 



A Queen-Bee Free as a Premium. — We are now book- 

 ing orders for Untested Italian Queens to be delivered in 

 May or June. This is the premium offer: To a subscriber 

 whose own subscription to the American Bee Journal is 

 paid at least to the end of 1906, we will mail an Untested 

 Italian Queen for sending us one new subscription with 

 $1.00 for the Bee Journal a year. Or, we will renew your 

 subscription to the American Bee Journal for a year, and 

 send a fine Untested Italian Queen — both for $1.50. Now 

 is a good time to get new subscribers. If you wish extra 

 copies of the Bee Journal for use as samples, let us know 

 how many you want and we will mail them to you. Address 

 all orders to the office of the American Bee Journal. 



Appendix to Dp. Miller's "Forty Years."— All who 

 have the first edition of " Forty Years Among the Bees " 

 should also have the Appendix which appears in the new 

 edition, issued in April. The complete new 344-page book, 

 bound in cloth, is sent postpaid for $1.00 ; the Appendix 

 one for 10 cents. Or, the book and the American Bee 

 ournal a year — both for SI. 80; the Appendix and the 

 American Bee Journal a year in advance, SI. 00. Send all 

 orders to the American Bee Journal office. 



^ 



211 r. pasty's 

 Ctftcrtfyougfyts 



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

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



Extracting Combs Taken Right from the Hive 



Honey right from the hive extracts much better than it 

 does left over till next day — and that's rather a deadener to 

 the plan of hauling combs home to extract. Page 303. 



Plain Sections Gaining in "Circulation" 



Certainly the maufacturer is just the one to know what 

 kind of sections are called for. And he says that the plain 

 section is still gaining currency, but not as fast as it did 

 when it was a new broom, threatening to sweep all before 

 it. Page 304. 



The Mountain and Rambler's Apiary 



That's a grand mountain on the front of No. 16, up to 

 which an apiary nestles, or staggers in an inebriated sort 

 of way. We look at the apiary the second time for the 

 mountain's sake — and then the third time for Rambler's 

 sake. Gone I Never to return — never until the end of these 

 present things shall be. 



Roller Machine for Uncapping 



The rapid rotation of the rollers of the uncapping ma- 

 chine is needful, I suppose, to throw the wax and honey 

 clear. The agitation of this subject is a cheerful sign that 

 combs in the future are going to need some uncapping. So 

 long as honey is taken with only a little strip sealed along 

 the top there is not much room for a machine. Presumably 

 the rotating-roller machines will get into practical success 

 if there is demand enough for them. And I kind o' imagine 

 that the hot plate could be made a success, also — with some 

 possibility for the jet of hot steam. Page 304. 



Experiments on Preventing Swarming, Etc. 



I think the Rowsome experiments are somewhat val- 

 uable in their way — the way of showing us how not to do it. 

 Not to expect much of mere empty space for discouraging 

 the swarming impulse. Not to expect smooth, level work if 

 we offer the chance and temptation to bulge things. And 

 painting discolored sections with melted wax — 'pears^like 

 we should have known better than that, anyhow. (_ — D 



That the fear of not being able to defend premises 

 against enemies at some future time is a factor in the 

 swarming impulse — I guess that theory will hardly hold 

 water. Requires too long a train of reasoning on the part 

 of the bees. Bees and ants, and elephants and dogs, reason, 

 but not in the " fourthly " and " fifthly " and "Therefore " 

 style of reasoning. Page 341. 



Aspinwall Non-Swarming Hive 



The discussion about the Aspinwall hive seemed to me 

 to run too much on the expense and practicability of adopt- 

 ing it, and too little on the problem whether it is worth 

 adopting— whether it is likely that in all seasons and con- 

 ditions and locations it will prevent swarming. Perhaps 

 those on the ground were told, but we are not, how exten- 

 sive and how long a success it has had in its inventor's 

 hands. That a few hives for a year or two did not swarm 

 should not be allowed to weigh very much. We can afford 

 considerable in the line of increased size of hive, and in- 

 creased expense for new inside fixtures, if we can be sure 

 of the desired result. Until we are somewhere near sure of 

 that result much discussion of labor and cost looks a little 

 premature. We read, " Strong colonies held together the 

 whole year without swarming " — desirable certainly, awfully 

 certainly. And that they will " go into winter quarters iu 

 a more uniformly good condition, and come out in the same 



" Can other people learn to fly it ?" One man walks a rope ; 



