isy7. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



679 



2. It is hard to give a reason for all the things that bees 

 do, but there may have been uothinK iu the case you mention 

 except a very strong and prosperous colony with an unusually 

 ■good honey-flow. It is hardly to be wondered at that little 

 was done iu the sections, considering the amount of swarming. 

 The number of swarms was more than the average, but still 

 there was nothing very remariiable, for sometimes a colony 

 will send out a prime swarm and then five or six after-swarms, 

 while yours sent out only four after-swarms. It is unusual to 

 have the first after-swarm come out only three days after the 

 prime swarm, as was the case with your bees, but there may 

 have been delay in the Issuing of the prime swarm. The 

 swarm issuing Sept. 9 is not at ail unusual, the bees simply 

 becoming strong enough to swarm, and circumstances being 

 favorable. 



BEEDDM BDILED DOWN. 



Stingless Bees. — The Brasilianische Bienenpflege 

 reports that these little vixens, only about one-fourth as large 

 as common bees, sometimes attack the latter in their hives 

 and drive them out. Perhaps we ought to be thanl<ful that 

 the attempt to introduce them into this country has never 

 been a success. 



Spacing: of Combs.— M. Devauchelle says that 

 bees left to themselves space their combs at 86 millimeters 

 (l.-t2 inches) from center to center. Others say 1.5 inches, 

 and still others 1.375 or less. Now where does the truth lie ? 

 Do the bees have a different rule in different climates, or is it 

 true that they are by no means uniform in their work, spacing 

 sometimes at one distance and sometimes at another? We 

 wonder if some one won't rise and suggest that " locality " has 

 something to do with it ? 



Ringfbarking. — Australian bee-keepers have a 

 trouble that we don't have to contend with on this side of the 

 great mud-ball. It is ringbarking. As nearly as can be made 

 out by Yankee, from the Australian Bee-Bulletin, there are 

 public lands that are used for grazing, and in order to im- 

 prove the pasturage on these lands for cattle the grazers 

 deaden the trees by cutting out a ring of bark. But these 

 trees — white box, yellow box, iron bark, white gum, box, ap- 

 ple tree, striugybark, red gum and many others — are the prin- 

 cipal sources of Australian honey, hence the loud complaint 

 of the bee-keepers against the practice of "ringbarking." 



A Xraiisferringf Kink. — A little kink somewhat 

 out of the ordinary is given by the editor of Brasilianische 

 Bienenpflege. Let the operation begin at a time of the day 

 when bees are flying strongest. Set the new hive on the old 

 stand without frames, the entrance as nearly as possible 

 where the entrance of the old hive was. Cut out of the old 

 hive a piece of comb, preferably with brood in it, and lay it 

 temporarily on the bottom of the new hive. The field-bees 

 will return from foraging and enter the new hive, and when 

 the old hive has thus become well depopulated, cut out the 

 combs and brush off the bees without any driving. 



The Ne'w Dra'wn Foundation.— Very strong 

 ob.)ectious to drawn foundation were made in the Progessive 

 Bee-Keeper, Editor Leahy claiming that its use would ruin 

 the comb honey trade because of the vile character of bees- 

 wax used in its manufacture, altho others seemed to think if 

 the material were so objectionable in drawn foundation it 

 should not be used in the ordinary foundation, either. Now 

 that reports of trials have come in, the majority of them are 

 favorable, altho a few are unfavorable. Perhaps failures are 

 not as fully reported as successes. There Is a wide variation 

 in the reports. Some say the drawn foundation is a great 

 gain in rapid work, and the finisht product is as good, if not a 

 little better, than that built entirely by the bees. Others say 

 there is little or no gain by the use of drawn foundation, but 

 the product is all right. At least two who have tested it say 

 it gives a fishbone decidedly objectionable. One of these is G. 

 M. Doolittle, one of the editors of the Progressive. He had 

 been very hopeful as to the matter, but found his bees did not 

 view it in the same light. They made faster work with the 

 ordinary foundation, and the drawn foundation gave a tough 

 fishbone. He attributes the trouble to the flat bottoms of the 

 cells, together with being used at a time of poor honey-tlow. 

 While the flat bottom in ordinary foundation is changed to the 

 form of the natural base, it seems the bees cannot perform 

 the same work satisfactorily with the high_ wall, so when the 



flow is poor, and they have plenty of time, they make some 

 attempt to change the form of the base by filling in the cor- 

 ners with wax. Mr. Doolittle is still hopeful, however, as the 

 drawn foundation with natural base is promist, and he is "of 

 the opinion that something of value may come out of this 

 high-cell-wall foundation." The other editor, however, seems 

 to have lost all hope, or rather all fear, fur what he says upon 

 the subject has for its heading, " The Passing of the Deep- 

 Cell Foundation." In reply to his inquiries he has found no 

 one who has had better results than with ordinary foundation, 

 "and all admit that it is tough and leathery." 



In the same number of Propressive, that racy writer — 

 Somnambulist — throws upon the subject a sidelight that is 

 something startling, if not confusing. This year he made it a 

 point to use less foundation than any previous season, never 

 deeper at any point than one inch. He says, "A friend, and 

 a good friend, in sampling my fancy honey, said 'twas fine, 

 but he had one objection, thought there had been too mucli 



foundation used. But, really, my honey is 'much 



troubled ' with that thick septum, regardless of the fact that 

 there was less foundation used than ever before." So there 

 you are, and maybe there's a good bit yet to be learned about 

 the fishbone business. 



Dangfer from Smoke. — Herr Guenther, in Lpzg. 

 Bztg., reports a case in which the bees were smoked too 

 heavily, and in consequence balled their queen. The queen 

 was caged, and could only be releast two days later. It is 

 well to heed the warning not to use too much smoke, but 

 there may be some question whether caging the queen was an 

 actual necessity. A good many times a colony becomes ex- 

 cited and balls its queen, but if left to itself will the queen not 

 generally be freed in a short time without any caging? Dr. 

 Miller has many a time seen bees ball their own queen when 

 excited, bnt he always closes the hive up quickly and leaves 

 the bees to themselves, and the next day finds the queen lay- 

 ing all right. 



Honey as a Laxative.— In olden time the good 

 effects of honey as a remedial agent were well known, but of 

 late little use is made thereof. A great mistake, surely. 

 Notably is honey valuable in constipation. Not as an imme- 

 diate cure, like some medicines which momentarily give relief 

 only to leave the case worse than ever afterward, but by its 

 persistent use daily, bringing about a healthy condition of the 

 bowels, enabling them properly to perform their functions. 

 Many suffer daily from an irritable condition, calling them- 

 selves nervous, and all that sort of thing, not realizing that 

 constipation is at the root of the matter, and that a faithful 

 daily use of honey fairly persisted In would restore cheerful- 

 ness of mind and a healthy body. — Le Progres Apicole. 



Can Bees be made to S'warm ? — Vogel says 

 no, in Noerdlinger Bienen-zeitung. First he tried a strong 

 and disagreeable odor. The workers returning from the field 

 seemed surprised, but the colony soon became accustomed to 

 it. He put sealed queen-cells in a very strong colony. A few 

 hours later he saw the queen throw herself with fury on them, 

 tear them open and sting the occupants. Then he tried 

 crowding. During the swarming season he crowded a strong 

 colony into as small a space as possible. In the afternoon 

 they hung out, and continued so 15 days with no preparation 

 for swarming, ne'er a queen-cell. Finally he called the sun 

 to his aid. A strong colony was driven out of its hive and 

 lodged in a watering-pot. Next day it was put in the sunniest 

 place in the garden. Toward noon it came out, sailed high — 

 then returned. Same result at each attempt to swarm. So 

 he thinks the bee follows its instinct, and cannot be forced by 

 man. 



Interpreting: Honey-Grading: Rules.— Glean- 

 ings says it is really amusing to see the way different people 

 interpret the same grading rules. J. T. Calvert, their busi- 

 ness man, sent grading-ruies to a number who had shipments 

 to send, and he says the shipments represented to be graded 

 by those lules are a study. One man's A No 1 grade will show 

 up better than another's fancy, altho probably both attempted 

 to follow the rules honestly. Gleanings has faithfully tried to 

 have grading rules adopted and followed, but the outcome of 

 it all doesn't prove very satisfactory, for they have decided 

 they must have samples of all they buy. Mr. Calvert puts the 

 thing in a nutshell when he says: "It seems to be next to 

 impossible to make a set of grading-rules that shall be suffi- 

 ciently simple, and at the same time explicit enough to be so 

 correctly understood that a mixt lot of honey would be graded 

 practically the same by every bee-keeper who should under- 

 take it." 



