178 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Carniolan Bees are often inquired 

 about in the correspondence that comes 

 to this office. A report that appears in 

 the last issue of the Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal, from an experience with two dozen 

 queens purchased in the fall of 1 896, 

 shows that the bees were found to be gen- 

 tle, and not more inclined to swarm ex- 

 cept when hived upon starters only. 

 Their building of combs, when not fur- 

 nished with foundation, was very irregu- 

 lar, and the proportion of drone-comb 

 was too large. Illustrations were given 

 showing the combs that were thus built. 



Painting Hives is objected to by Mr. 

 Doolittle, on the grounds that it costs 

 something and makes them no better. 

 He thinks the hive will last just about as 

 long and that the bees will winter better 

 in an unpainted hive. Mr. Leahy thinks 

 that Doolittle's views may be all right in 

 New York, but would not answer in every 

 climate. J. H. Martin of California agrees 

 with Mr. Leahy. He also calls attention 

 to the fact that a dark hive, like one that 

 is old with age, absorbs more heat and is 

 more likely to cause the combs to melt 

 down. This latter point is really an ad- 

 vantage in the spring and winter, and I 

 would shade my hives in hot weather — 

 at the same time I prefer them painted. 



ai^i^ey's oueen rearing, 

 Mr. Henry Alley, of Wenham, Mass., 

 ex-editor of the American Apiculturist, 

 has gotten out a new book on queen 

 rearing. It is not a large book, contains 

 only twenty pages, but it gives the main 

 points of his fonner book, and in addition 

 it tells how to rear queens in the brood 

 nest of a colony having a laying queen. 

 This is done by fencing off with perfora- 

 ted metal the lower part of a frame from 

 which the comb has been removed, and 

 putting in a strip of wood to which are 

 attached the cell- cups. It is not clear 

 from the way Mr. Alley tells it whether 

 the cells are are built in this place by the 

 colony in which it is placed, or that the 



cells are built elsewhere, then transferred 

 to this place for hatching; but I think 

 that he means the former. The price of 

 the book is twenty-five cents. 



That Queen Excu'ERS have a ten- 

 dency to cause swarming is the belief 

 of Mr. Fred S. Thorrington of Missouri. 

 He thinks that he gets more extracted 

 honey when he uses no queen excluders. 

 He says that he has a colony in which no 

 excluder is used; and that it has stored 

 about 100 pounds of honey each year for 

 two or three years; seldom swarming. 

 Other colonies with queen excluders 

 swarmed "like mad" even if not so 

 strong as this colony. Of course, this 

 idea is worth thinking about, but there 

 so many factors that may cause swarming, 

 or that may result in the storing of sur- 

 plus, that our friend's experience ought 

 not to be looked upon as conclusive. 



THE SAD DEATH OF CHAS. F. MUTH. 



Mr. Chas. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, one 

 one of the grandest, whole-souled men 

 in our ranks, has passed away; probably 

 by his own hand. He was found dead, 

 (shot) May i6th, at his farm near Mor- 

 ristown; Ind. Mr. Muth suffered from 

 sunstroke several years ago, and since 

 then his head has troubled him more or 

 less. Although he was possessed of con- 

 siderable property, it was scattered and he 

 was in debt, and these things probably 

 worried him. 



I remember so well my meeting with 

 him at the World's Fair in Chicago, and 

 noting how well and ruddy he looked, and 

 asking him how it w,as. He said "Well, 

 Brother Hutchinson, I'll tell you. I have 

 a farm out a few miles, and I spend a good 

 deal time there out in the open air. That 

 explains it." The last time I met him 

 was at the State fair, last fall, in Indiana- 

 polis. He came and talked with me as 

 much as two hours, and told me, among 

 other things, how he had suffered when 

 his son died. The world had never seem- 



