189) 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



645 



In spite of the many colors my hWes had, they turned 

 queenless — queenless. I became sick of my bee-shed. I did 

 not know what to do. A single-wall hive for summer was 

 good enough, but for spring and winter It would not do. A 

 common chaff hive I could not handle aud ventilate as I wisbt. 

 Now I had seen the advertisement of the New Champion hive, 

 but I failed to see any good in it, and so said to Mr. Kreut- 

 ainger and the editor of the American Bee Journal a year ago. 

 That I was wrong did not take very long to find out, when I 

 was so happy as to see this new hive In reality before me. I 

 ordered two sample hives at once. They pleased me in every 

 way. I wrote Mr. H. Alley, the noted queen-rearer, as I had 

 found out that he was acquainted with the New Champion. 

 He wrote back : " By all means use the New Champion hive. 

 It is a good one. I have used one very much like it." To this 

 I say. Amen. To like this hive you must see it. You can 

 take it apart in half a minute, and put it up again in a min- 

 ute. Bees want shade and ventilation ; this hive gives both. 

 Bees waut protection and warmth during winter; this hive 

 affords it. Bees do not like it either too cold or too warm ; 

 this hive accommodates them. I will have no other hive than 

 this. I have ordered 50 for all my bees, as I have now 47 

 colonies. Rock Co., Wis. 



BEEDDM BOILED DOWN. 



GiTing- Due Credit.— The practice of copying an 

 item or article and then instead of giving proper credit, 

 merely saying " Exchange," seems to be working its way into 

 bee-periodicals. Bad. Stop it. If a thing is worth copying 

 it is worth crediting properly. 



Size of 'Queens. — Editor Hutchinson, in comment- 

 ing upon an article by G. M. Doolittle, which he copies from 

 the American Bee Journal, endorses the idea that large size 

 is not such a very desirable thing in queens, and says some of 

 the best results he ever obtained came from colonies with 

 medium-sized or small queens. For all that, it's " human 

 nater " to be pleased at the sight of a queen of unusual size. 



merging the Two Unions.— Amalgamation was 

 opposed by Prof. Cook, and ho thought there was no need of 

 the new Union. His views have changed, aud he now frankly 

 says (Gleanings, page 659) : "I do not believe both Unions 



will survive. I do not think there is room for both I am 



firmly of the opinion that the two Unions should be merged 

 into one; and it begins to be very clear to me which one will 

 survive." 



Honey on ttae Pfetr Drawn Fondation.— 



At the Texas convention, as reported in Southland Queen, O. 

 P. Hyde had a section of honey made on drawn foundation, 

 and said the bees were slow to accept it, and it had more fish- 

 bone than thin foundation of the ordinary kind gave. Nearly 

 all report differently, and it is evident that different circum- 

 stances may produce different results — a rule that holds good 

 pretty generally. 



A Xopsy-Turvy 'Weather-Man.— Reports indi- 

 cate some topsy-turvying of the weather, the weather-man 

 having some way gotten the pigeon-holes changed, giving us 

 cool weather in August and August weather in September. 

 Either the present weather-man will have to be straightened 

 out or a brand new one given the job — one who will "keep 

 things right side up." 



Breeding for Longer Tongues.- Prof. Cook, 

 in Gleanings, page 658, refers to the answers in the American 

 Bee Journal as to the possibility and desirability of increas- 

 ing the length of bees' tongues, and Is surprised to find that 

 seven of the repliers have doubt as to the success of efforts to 

 breed for longer tongues. He thinks it will take long years 

 and much patience with the right man back of it, using a 

 tongue-gauge to note small differences in tongue-length and 

 taking advantage of these small differences. But instead of 

 having the effort made by one man, or a few men, why would 



it not be a good plan for the whole fraternity to be engaged in 

 It ? There is a big difference now In the length of bees' ton- 

 gues, and with a whole lot at the work some one would strike 

 on a colony with extra length of tongue that would send the 

 business a long ways ahead at a single bound. Put as much 

 enthusiasm into the chase for long tongues as was put Into 

 the chase for stripes, and long tongues will hardly need long 

 years to be reacht. 



To Discourage Robbing.— H. E. Hill gives the 

 following plan to discourage robbers: Punch a small hole 

 near the bottom of a tin pail or can, put in a plug which will 

 allow a constant dropping of water. Set this on the hive, and 

 let the drops fall on a block an inch high at the entrance. 

 The spray from the drops discourages the robbers, while the 

 height of the block prevents the spray from troubling the 

 guards. — American Bee-Keeper, page 261. 



Prevention of S^-arming and Increase.— 



Doolittle prevents swarming and increase in his out-apiary by 

 caging the queen before swarming is thought of. In 10 days 

 he carefully cuts out every queen-cell, leaving the colony hope- 

 lessly queenless. Then the queen, or any other queeu that he 

 prefers, is put into a cage that has % inch hole, an inch long, 

 stuft full of the " Good " candy. It takes the bees five days 

 to eat through the candy, making 15 days in all that no 

 queen has been laying, and that stops all desire to swarm. — 

 Gleanings, page 666. 



Gro-wing Sweet Clover in Fields.— Perhaps 

 every one knows that sweet clover grows with no effort along 

 the roadside, and yet many find it difficult to get it to grow in 

 cultivated fields. W. H. Eagerty makes a roadside of his 

 field. First has ground well plowed and harrowed before 

 sowing, early in spring, if possible in March. Now conies the 

 trick. He hitches four or more horses abreast and drives 

 them back and forth till the ground is packt solid. By driving 

 In straight lines he has the clover come up in rows. — Glean- 

 ings, page 666. 



Best 'Wood tor Hives.— The lightest and most 

 porous wood is the best non-conductor of heat. Taking water 

 as a standard, the density of different woods is as follows : 

 Oak, 1.02; beech, 0.86; walnut, 0.85; pine, 0.59; maple, 

 0.54; poplar, 0.45 ; which makes poplar the warmest, and 

 so the best wood for hives. So says Muenchener Bienen- 

 zeitung. There must be a difference between their woods and 

 ours, to make maple lighter than pine, and, besides, there are 

 other things than warmth to be considered in hive-making, so 

 that In general pine is likely to hold its place in the making 

 of hives. 



Large vs. Small Hives.— It is well known that 

 the Dariauts have for a long time argued in favor of large 

 hives, taking no particular part in the discussion as to the 

 relative merits of the 8 and 10 frame hives, considering both 

 entirely too small. W. Z. Hutchinson has stood for small 

 hives, and wondered how the Dadants could have such differ- 

 ent views. He now thinks that both are right, the difference 

 resulting from differing conditions in different localities, espe- 

 cially time and length of honey harvests. So there you are, 

 and you must find out whether your locality is a Dadant or a 

 Hutchinson locality. 



Publishing Honey Crop Prospects.— Glean- 

 ings Is feeling a little uneasy in conscience because it was per- 

 haps a little optimistic in expressing its views as to the pros- 

 pect of the honey crop. It is a hard thing to forecast the 

 state of the market, and while it is a useful thing to get the 

 views of the different bee-papers, one should always use his 

 own judgment. Gleanings thinks it will be a little chary 

 about advising hereafter, but if it gives no advice at all, some 

 of its cllentelle will be mad. The American Bee Journal ad- 

 vised that bee-keepers should be satisfied with 12 cents — 

 which perhaps was a rash thing to specify a particular figure, 

 for while that might be excellent advice for some it would be 

 bad for others. Fix it as you like, the journals have a diffi- 

 cult duty to perform in the matter, and too much ought not 

 to be expected of them. 



The nicEvoy Foul Brood Treatment Is 



given in Dr. Howard's pamphlet on " Foul Brood ; Its Natural 

 History and Rational Treatment." It is the latest publication 

 on the subject, and should be in the hands of every ijee-keeper. 

 Price, 25 cents ; or clubbed with the Bee Journal for one year 

 —both for $1.10. 



