THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



281 



be increased fast ehough. In the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, page 505, the editor takes 

 nie to task, and says, in part, "we could 

 name several large honey-adulterating 

 firms here that would simply laugh at the 

 presumption of an organization that num- 

 bers only a few hundred members with 

 an equal number of dollars, attempting to 

 fight their millions of dollars !" Let me 

 say in reply that it isn't necessary nor 

 desirable to attack the strongest organ- 

 izations first. The United States a^my in 

 Cuba first attacked Santiago, not Havana. 

 Then the editor forgets that in such cases 

 the action is criminal; and the people of 

 the vState prosecute and furnish the pros- 

 ecutor and all the machinery necessary 

 for a thorough trial. In this State, and I 

 presume the same is tlie case in Illinois, 

 the Union would not be permitted to se- 

 cure the services of an additional attorney 

 to assist at the trial. The work of the 

 Union in such a case would be principal- 

 ly to discover evidence, and set the ma- 

 chinery in motion by making a complaint. 

 If adulteration is carried on in Chicago in 

 so public a manner as the language of the 

 editor would imply, a very large sum of 

 money ought not to be necessary to do 

 the work required. 



A CRITICISM THAT LOOKS LIKK -A. BOOM- 

 KKANC. 



In Beedom Boiled Down, same reference, 

 is this item: "The Department of Criti- 

 cism in the Bee Keepei 's Review seems 

 to be given up almost entirely to con- 

 troversy between the critic and Dr. Mil- 

 ler. Both the men might be better em- 

 ployed." I wonder who is responsible 

 for Beedom Boiled Down. The style 

 seems strangely familiar. The writer 

 ought to stand out scjuarely and meet the 

 result of his statements. Anonymous 

 publications are never looked upon with 

 much favor. 



BOII^ING FOUL BROODY HONEV. 



Dr. Miller, to the question, could I 

 safely feed it [honey from a colony hav- 

 ing foul brood] by boiling? replies (A. B. 

 J., 278) "Put water with it, bring it to a 



boil (sic) then after it comes to a boil 

 (sic) keep it boilinp; for hvo hours and a 

 halfy The italics are his. Was the doc- 

 tor in a playful mood ? That would sure- 

 ly be hard on the bacilli unless plenty 

 of water were added. I consider fifteen 

 minutes boiling sufficient; having first 

 added an equal amount of water. 



THE LAYING OF FERTILE WORKERS. 



In the American Bee-Keeper, page 142, 

 is an item taken from the American Bee 

 Journal in which Mr. Devauchelle is 

 credited with saying that laying workers 

 deposit eggs only in drone cells. Dr. 

 Miller replies "In drone cells when they 

 are present, otherwise in worker cells, 

 one egg in a cell, regularly, so that the 

 work cannot be distinguished from that 

 of a fertile queen." The editor says "Of 

 all the cases we have seen, a worker has 

 rarely succeeded in depositing her egg 

 upon the base of a worker cell as a queen 

 invariably doe.s." In my experience a 

 worker generally lays in worker cells, 

 often more that one egg in a cell, and 

 while they are generally placed on the 

 bottom of the cells, their positions there 

 are irregular, so that I think I can always 

 distinguish them from those of a fertile 

 queen in good condition. 



HOW MUCH SURPLUS ROOM TO GIVE .\T 

 FIRST. 



The editor of Gleanings seems always 

 to insist, as in a note on page 621, that 

 when a "two-stor)' colony" is contracted, 

 preparatory to putting on supers for comb 

 honey, to one story, that "not one but 

 two' ' supers should be put on at once. 

 In practice I am sure one would be enough 

 in most cases. 



LARGE COLONIES SWARM MORE THAN 

 SMALL ONES. 



Mr. Averill ( Gleanings, 622 ) .says: 

 "Large colonies are much more inclined 

 to swarm than small ones provided with a 

 proportionate amount of room for storage 

 of surplus." Consequently, to prevent 

 swarming, he favors restricting brood 

 rearing to five frames. The editor is 



