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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



points might not be any disparagement to 

 any journal, yet would aid bee-keepers m 

 their choice of journals. The idea that a 

 tiee-journal. or some feature of it, must 

 never be commended, criticised, or dis- 

 cussed in a convention is more a fashion 

 than one of good sense. 



Now here's a chance for an honest differ- 

 ence of opinion, and we dare say that Bro. 

 H. stands almost alone in his view of the 

 matter. Of course that's all right, we stand 

 nearly alone sometimes, but this time we 

 think the majority is with us. 



Judging from that Beview editorial, bee- 

 papers would be fit subjects for experiment 

 stations to test, the same as any other bee- 

 keeping utensil or necessity. Now, we'll 

 suppose all of them were sent to the Michi- 

 gan station to be tested. Bro. Taylor would 

 begin the work, and he"d find that the lie- 

 view is the only one that publishes his re- 

 ports of experiments, or those that do copy 

 them won't give what he considers proper 

 credit. Therefore, the Rndew is the best 

 bee-paper— for Bros. Taylor and Hutchin- 

 son. Certainly; no one would question that. 

 Brethren, we are ready at any time to 

 have the Bee Journal discussed with the 

 rest, but what good would come of it ? 

 You might as well discuss the character 

 and reputation of John Jones, or Mrs. 

 Grundy, but what would there be gained in 

 so doing ? 



We regret that we must again differ 

 from Bro. Hutchinson, but really we feel 

 too modest to care for notoriety or adver- 

 tising to be gained in that way. We prefer 

 to let each reader think and act for himself 

 in the choice of a bee-paper. If he doesn't 

 know enough to know what he wants, why 

 then he certainly wouldn't profit much by 

 reading any bee-paper. 



*' Xlie Hoiiey-Bee : Its Natural 

 History, Anatomy and Physiology," is the 

 title of the book written by Thos. Wm. 

 Cowan, editor of the British Bee Journal. It 

 is bound in cloth, beautifully illustrated, 

 and very interesting. Price, $1.00, post- 

 paid ; or we club it with the Bee Journal 

 one year for $1.6.5. We have only three of 

 these books left. 



answered by 

 Marengo, III. 



In this department will be answered those 

 questions needing lmmediate attention, and 

 such as are not of sufficient special interest to 

 require replies from the 20 or more apiarists 

 who help to make ''Queries and Keplies" so 

 interesting on another page. In the main, it 

 will contain questions and answers upon mat- 

 ters that particularly interest beginners.— Ed. 



Honey-Boards and Dummies. 



I have been reading " A Year Among the 

 Bees," and it seems to me the author is not 

 definite enough in his details. He says, in 

 putting on the T super, you put on the 

 Heddon skeleton honey-board. Now what 

 is the honey-board ? Tell how to make it, 

 and out of what material. If there is a 

 description in the book, I failed to see it. 

 How much space should there be between 

 the brood-combs and the honey-board ? 

 Should the super rest on the honey-board ? 

 Also, reference is often made to a dummy. 

 What is it, and how is it made ? N. F. ■ 



Portage, Ohio. 



Answers. — When my book was written, 

 slat honey-boards were a necessity. Now, 

 however, better plans for avoiding brace 

 and burr combs have been discovered, and 

 I am getting rid of honey-boards as fast as 

 I can. All that is necessary is to have the 

 top-bars at fixed distances, li*^ from center 

 to center, the depth of top-bars %, and the 

 width l>g , and I4 inch space above. 



A dummy is simply a board with a top- 

 bar, hung in the hive the same as a comb, 

 so as to fill up the space. It may be }£ or 

 % inch thick, and bung at one side of the 

 hive so as to lift out easily and leave room 

 to get out the first frame ; or two dummies, 

 each an inch thick, may hang in the place 

 of two combs, so as to make a 10-frame hive 

 contain only eight combs. 



, A Binder for holding a year's num- 

 bers of the Bee Journal we mall for 

 only 50 cents; or clubbed Nvritb the 

 JouKNAL for $1.40. 



Changing the Sex of Bee-Eggs. 



It has been argued by some writers on 

 that vexing question of sex of a fertile 

 queen's egg, that the worker-bees change 

 the sex by sweeping off the sperm from an 

 egg laid in a drone-cell, otherwise all the 

 eggs of a fertile queen would produce 

 workers, and therefore the queen has no 

 power to change the sex. 



If the queen was taken from a populous 

 hive in summer, and eggs from worker-cells 

 transferred to empty drone-cells, and said 



