Nov. 27, 1902. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



763 



SCRAPING SKCTIONS OV HONEY. 



Twelve hundred .sections a pretty jfood day's work 

 scrapinp honey with a knife. We should say so, Miss Wil- 

 son. Somebody, some time, will want to define a standard 

 day's work at scrapinff honey. For the present we will 

 let this be it. Possibly some of the brethren will call it 

 nearer the "record" than the " standard," as it is one for 

 each half minute of the ten-hour day. 



And if your arrangements allow the bees to pet at the 

 section-bottoms, and if you are willinjf to sandpaper, then 

 Miss Wilson's tightening-up frame, to facilitate sandpaper- 

 ing a whole super at once, is evidently very valuable. 



As a matter of experience — with small crops — I scrape 

 my sections a few at a time, and find myself looking for- 

 ward to it as restful work instead of shuddering at it. I 

 must confess, however, that it is dirty. Perhaps the grand 

 key to this difference is the fact that bees can't get at my 

 sections anywhere except on the edges. Page 6+7. 



Nl'KSE-BKES AND ADOPTED BROOD. 



Not mentioned in print before — that's the kind of thing 

 readers cry for. This time it is the alleged fact that nurse- 

 bees will stay a little more faithfully with recently adopted 

 brood than with their own. This when making nuclei. Un- 

 expected. Both " Ohio " and Dr. Miller agree that it is so. 

 Here's my guess : Want-to-be nurses and the bees below 

 crowd them off and will not let them, because they are not 

 needed. Having just got a longed-for job they natur- 

 ally incline to stick to it. Page 650. 



BITCKEVE — ROBBER-BEKS— VIRGIN QUEENS— SVl'EET CLOVER — 

 HEARTSEASE. 



Buckeye is abundant here, and much visited in bloom- 

 time ; but I never saw or heard of any ill from it. Have 

 ray eyes been dull ? or has California a more poisonous 

 species than ours ? or is Mr. Brown mistaken ? Page 651. 



Spoil the welcome of quiet robbers by scenting them 

 ■with something sprayed on them. Shouldn't wonder if that 

 would work sometimes. Page 652. 



Interesting experience of Dr. W. A. Johnson. Very 

 young virgins will very often supersede old queens by 

 merely running them in as soon as they emerge. Page 

 653. 



Aha I Sweet clover has (in Mississippi) learned to grow 

 in competition with weeds and grasses, without requiring 

 the grinding of wheels or trampling of stock. And this 

 within the last two years. Page 655. 



Have often wondered why our abundant heartsease 

 should be of so little value to us when it is so often men- 

 tioned as important. Another case of longitude. Like 

 alfalfa it leaves its honey when it comes this side the Missis- 

 sippi. Page 659. 



Honey as a Health-Food is the name of a 16- 

 page leaflet (3'2x6 inches) which is designed to help in- 

 crease the demand and sale of honey. The first part is 

 devoted to a consideration of " Honey as Food," written 

 by Dr. C. C. Miller. The last part contains " Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be 

 widely circulated by every one who has honey for sale. It 

 is almost certain to make good customers for honey. We 

 know, for we art using it ourselves. 



Prices, prepaid — Sample for 2 cts.; 10 for 10 cts.; 25 

 for20cts.; SO for 35 cts.; 100 for 60 cts.; 250 for S1.25 ; 500 

 for $2.25; 1000 for $4.00. If you wish your business card 

 printed at the bottom of the front page, add 25 cts. to your 

 order. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



Please send us Names of Bee=Keepers who do not now 



get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get them 

 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on 

 other matters. 



Our Bee-Keeping Sisters \ 



Goiuliicieil l)u EMMft M. WILSON. Marenoo, III. 



Late Strawberries. 



November 12 I picked nearly two quarts of large, ripe 

 strawberries, and we had strawberry short-cake for dinner. 

 Isn't that doing pretty well for McHenry Co., 111.? 



When to Put Bees into tlie Cellar. 



When shall I put my bees into the cellar ? This is my 

 first year of bee-keeping, and I want to put them in at just 

 the right time, but I don't know what the right time is. 



Beginner. 



Answer. — Just as long as the weather is pleasant, and 

 there is a chance of your bees having a flight occasionally, 

 Ihey are better out-of-doors. 



In regions where it is cold enough to make cellar-win- 

 tering desirable, it is well to leave the bees out until settled 

 cold weather comes. It is very diflicult to tell just when 

 is the right time to put them in. The temperature may go 

 down to zero, and if it is early in the season, and there is a 

 reasonable chance for their having a good flight later, bet- 

 ter leave them out. On the other hand, if it is the middle 

 of November, and the bees have had a good flight within a 

 day or two, and it comes a cold snap, better not take many 

 chances. That last good flight just before they go in is 

 what we want to make sure of, and we may reasonably ex- 

 pect settled cold weather soon after the middle of Novem- 

 ber. If possible, it is best to put them in the very day after 

 they have had a good flight. 



Put it down as a fixed rule that it is always the right 

 time to put bees in just after they have had their last flight ; 

 but the trouble is to know which is going to be their last 

 flight. 



Sweetening- Up Soup Honey. 



Four kegs of last year's fine, white honey have soured. 

 Will heating up sweeten it ? If not, what will ? They are 

 a mild case of it ? A prescription for use will greatly 

 oblige. New York. 



Answer. — Being a mild case, heating up may do soma 

 good, but great care would be required in not heating too 

 much, as the flavor would be spoiled. Slow and long heat- 

 ing is best, setting on the reservoir of the cook-stove, or 

 some place where it would heat very slowly, during several 

 days. 



It might be a good thing to skim or pour off the top. as 

 that is probably the worst, and treat separately. 



Perhaps the best way would be to let it candy, then 

 drain, and the thin part will all drain off, and after heating 

 what is left you will no doubt have some very good honey. 

 The thin part which is drained off you can use for vinegar. 

 If too bad to candy and drain, the whole of it might be used 

 for vinegar. Or, as it is a mild case, the whole of it might 

 be used for cooking purposes, always supposing you can 

 dispose of it to some baker who uses a good deal. 



A Silver-Spoon Swarm. 



There has been no need for us to invoke Jupiter Pluvius. for 

 rain we had in plenty, and not only rain, but sometimes thunder 

 and lightnings too genuine to be mistaken for Salmoneus driving 

 his chariot over his brazen bridge and throwing down lighted 

 torches. During these manifestations of Jupiter, the bees necessarily 

 stayed at home, and as we learn from Indiana papers, the heavy rains, 

 and the limited supply of white clover caused by last summer's 

 drouth, have both combined to make the honey crop short this year 

 in Indiana. 



As regards my own bees, I have but one colony, for never having 

 kept bees until this year, I thought it best to confine my experiences 

 to a single hive, until profiting by what lessons I learn, I can perhaps 

 one day realize my vision of a long bee-bench occupied with colonies, 

 whose homes fairly overflowing with their luxurious sweetness, might 



