424 



AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



July 3, 1902. 



cease laying' will sometimes cause them to go to piping ; 

 and the cutting- of the queen-cells from the hive, as did our 

 correspondent, at a time when the queen had a great desire 

 to swarm, will cause this result. Years ago, when I was 

 told that the cutting off of the queen-cells would stop the 

 issuing of prime swarms, I often had instances of "singing 

 queens," and in every case where the old queen was in- 

 censed enough (over herself, and the colony not being able 

 to carry out their purpose of perfecting queen-cells) to go to 

 piping, the result would be the issuing of a swarm, sooner 

 or later, without the construction or completion of queen- 

 cells, providing the weather continued favorable for swarms. 



Another thing I found was that any queen which was 

 enough enraged so that she began piping, would not lay 

 any eggs while this piping continued, or during the time 

 of her enragement, which was shown by her continued 

 piping or singing. 



Again, I have had queens which would begin to sing 

 or pipe as soon as put on the combs, in any effort to intro- 

 duce them to a strange colony, and as soon as this was done 

 the whole colony would be set into a commotion, which re- 

 sulted in the bees balling this queen almost immediately on 

 her piping, while she had walked about unmolested until 

 she began to sing. And after releasing her from the ball 

 of bees with smoke, and putting her into a cage, the bees 

 would give the cage very little notice until the queen again 

 began to make angry demonstrations through her piping, 

 when a rush for the cage would be made, so that, where the 

 cage had been left on top of the frames, a cluster of angry 

 bees would form over it three or four inches deep. 



Of all the hard queens to introduce it is one of these 

 which persist in going to piping as soon as they come in 

 contact with strange bees. In one instance I was three 

 weeks in trying to introduce such a queen, which came 

 from the State of Kentucky, and, after the bees had appar- 

 ently accepted her, she began to pipe on my opening the 

 hive, and was stung and killed right before my eyes, before 

 I could release her from the ball of enraged bees, which 

 were treating her kindly when I first opened the hive, and 

 before she began to sing. In looking her over after she 

 was dead, I could not help remarking to myself, " You sung 

 just one too many times for your good, old lady." 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



4 ^ The Afterthought. ^ 



The' 



Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlasses. 

 By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



CYPRIANS AND FUNICS. 



If I didn't use those "unreliable glasses" once in 

 awhile I wouldn't be living up to contract. And when I 

 illustratively kick the emptiness of a hive of Cyprians, and 

 they comeout at me, am I not getting my full dues ? [B. E.] 

 Goodnough for me ! So Cyprians still have some keepers 

 and champions, it seems, and are not universally aban- 

 doned. Here's a kick for the Punic hive ; let us see if they 

 come out. Cheap way of getting information. Page 316. 



SUNFLOWERS AND ARTICHOKES. 



So in Atchinson Co., Kans., they combine against sun- 

 flowers as dangerous weeds, and " labor " with a neighbor 

 if he inclines to plant a few. Oueer. Mr. Wiltz's way of 

 checking the spread of an artichoke patch by clipping'the 

 tops below the bloom, is of interest and value. Page 317. 



THAT DENVER DINNER— OTHER COMMENTS. 



The hungry bee-men can have a dinner by going to 

 Denver after it. The idea 1 



The bottom lines of my column, on page 361, are criti- 

 cised from a literary point of view. Ashamed of them. 



Dr. Miller's reversible bottom-board seems to be the 

 bottom-board — now he has got it so it does not reverse. 

 Page 325. 



So alfalfa honey is splendid to dilute all honeys of too 

 decided flavor. Evidently correct, and a valuable idea, Mr. 

 Chantry. Page 328. 



GIANT CACTUS FRUIT AND THE INDIAN. 



And the fruit of the giant cactus, agreeable to the 

 palate, but too poisonous for white men to eat, is eaten by 

 the Indian. Our friend " Eo " also eats freely of wolf-meat 



poisoned by strychnine. A white man would hardly want 

 to try it. I wonder whether there is really any difference in 

 the races of men, as to their susceptibility to poison, or 

 whether a pack of white outcasts and tramps would hold 

 their own with the fattest — or say the leanest — of them. 

 Page 324. 



EXPERIMENTS IN RENDERING WAX. 



When we have a man with money to scatter around, 

 a la C. Davenport, page 327, let's pick up what we can of it. 

 Old style of rendering wax had the floor — voted not good 

 enough. New Ferris press obtained — voted in need of im- 

 provement. Massive improved Ferris built — voted not good 

 enough, and sold cheap. A wholly-under-boiling-water 

 press built at a cost of $29 — voted to sell it for S7.00 — sorry 

 afterward he didn't keep it. Root-German steam press also 

 — voted not good enough. Three or four machines built, at 

 odd times, and for good measure — voted not good enough. 

 Lastly (in this world there must always come a lastly) came 

 a two-stand, two-man, long lever, screw press and boiler — 

 and left the wax in, even when the amount of power applied 

 smashed the big screw. Bare hand could squeeze some wax 

 out of the warm refuse even then. Conclusion : Repeated 

 moderate pressure between stirrings better than immense 

 pressure once for all. The perfect method seems not to be 

 here yet. 



THE TRUST AND INDIVIDU.AL LIBERTY. 



We would fain be a trifle ashamed for the witlessness 

 of some of our fellow craftsmen — think they can have the 

 consolidated power of ' a trust and individual liberty, too — 

 ride without getting on. Page 327. 



SECOND-HAND OIL-CANS FOR HOLDING HONEY. 



Thunder wanted ! Sad that thunder, even when the 

 weather furnishes it most plentifully, can't be used second- 

 hand. Oil-cans can. The genuine thunder not being in 

 stock, give 'em the best fraudulent thunder in the ofRce, 

 Mr. York. Page 339. 



THE BEST RACE OR STRAIN OF BEES. 



There are so many things which affect the apparent 

 value of a colony of bees, and make it seem better than its 

 neighbor when it is not, that I would not set a beginner at 

 extinguishing one strain and booming another. Should he 

 flip a coin to decide which one to boom he would hit right 

 just about as often. Tough problem for old heads ; and they 

 can't solve it without more than one vear to do it in. Page 

 339. 



HONEY IN CUBA AND JAMAICA. 



Pounds of honey per square mile : Cuba, 113 ; Jamaica, 

 358. I think this is because Cuba just now is a great part 

 of it unoccupied with bees. Never fully occupied, and the 

 war destroyed nearly all. Page 340. 



HUNGER, NOT HUNGRY, SWARMS. 



On page 346 I am made to designate the little swarms 

 which come out in early spring — come out because their 

 honey is gone, or nearly so — as " hungry swarms." Doubt- 

 less they are hungry ; but the term as I have seen it used is 

 "hunger swarm;" and hungry in that connection is the 

 opposite of an improvement. 



Questions and Answers. \ 



CONDUCTED BY 



DK. O. O. MILLER, JMarengro, III. 



(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Jouraal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail.— Editor.) 



Runnlns for Comb and Extracted Honey. 



I have a question to ask you in regard to a plan I have 

 for running my apiary for comb and extracted honey, and 

 at the same time wish to keep down swarming. 



I put on top of the queen-excluder all frames of brood, 

 leaving the queen below on empty frames. Our main white 

 honey is from alsike clover and basswood, which I would 

 like to get in the sections. 



If I raise the upper hive and place a super of sections 

 on the excluder during the white honey-flow, removing the 



