Mar, 14, 1907 



213 



J^^S^^"' 



AnK»rican l^ee Journal 





1^ 



o 



The 



' Old Reliable " as seen throuph New and Unreliable Glasses, 

 By E. E. Hastt, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



SwBBT Clover 



I half believe that Wm. StoUey's 

 queer sweet clover was a gfenuine sweet 

 clover, after all. The total absence of 

 nectar may be a freak, not to be ex- 

 pected another year. Melilotus is a 

 new genus split out of Trifolium ; and 

 there are several Trifoliums that are 

 annual. Moreover, I think I have read 

 that there is an annual Melilotus — but 

 the color, if I remember right, was 

 blue. Developing a yellow kind out of 

 a blue one might not be impossible. 

 Mr. StoUey's testimony, that it looked 

 right, and especially that it smelled 

 right, ought to count for considerable. 

 Page 49. 



Hive-Lifting Devices. 



At least two needed points in an 

 ideal super-lifter Grant Stanley did not 

 talk about. It should hold the hive 

 proper down as well as lift the supers 

 up. Moreover (and there's the awful 

 rub), it should hold the brood-combs 

 down. In lifting supers by main force 

 it develops that 2 or 3 of the brood- 

 combs will hang on and lift also — a 

 state of things which is very highly to 

 be reprobated, especially the way they 

 change their minds and drop oflf after 

 a bit. And I think, for this one time, 

 that the wheels Mr. S. has in his head 

 (or, say mind) are also needful and 

 proper if the machine is to pay for its 

 storage-room. Page 49. 



Texas Barberry. 



The Texas barberry seems to differ 

 greatly from ours — the bush smaller 

 and the fruit much larger ; also sweet 

 enough that it can be eaten. Ours is 

 available only for preserves ; but pre- 

 served with sufficient sugar its reputa- 

 tion is very high. Page 51. 



Chemicals in Making Vinegar. 



Isn't it rather a novelty to put in 

 three kinds of chemicals into sweetened 

 water when you start to make vinegar? 

 Wonder what object the Arizona wise- 

 heads have in view in ordering them 

 in. Guessing while on the run, may- 

 be they precipitate some things from 

 the fluid which might otherwise stay 

 in the vinegar to its detriment. Page 

 65. 



Spiders as Bee-Enemies. 



It's rather a new revelation of our 

 enemy (and friend), the spider, that 

 Allen Latham gives. He figures out 

 SO slain bees to the square rod, and 



thousands of such square rods within 

 a range. Pretty serious. I have been 

 calling the spider my friend, on the 

 whole, and not much grudging the 

 occasional bee taken. I still think 

 that in my locality the loss is not very 

 great. Still, it may be more than I 

 have thought. Let's " watch out," and 

 so know a little more definitely about 

 it, each for his own corner. Certainly 

 we are well-wishers to ourspiders, hav- 

 ing a full diet of young cockroaches 

 and newly-hatched moth-larvs. That 

 Kilkenny cat fight between the leaping 

 spider and the warlike bee was worth 

 forming a ring around — Spider fatally 

 bit the bee, and bee fatally stung the 

 spider. Perhaps we can discriminate 

 between species — hire the boys to war 

 on our big and distant enemies, and at 

 the same time smile on those that are 

 mainly our friends. Page 68. 



to shout for joy. Worth remembering 

 that honey at bed time is highly recom- 

 mended for obstinate constipation, and 

 also for nervous insomnia. Multitudes 

 of sufferers from the former, and many 

 from the latter. Thanks to C. P. Da- 

 danl for his excellent anthology of 

 that French medical pamphlet. Page 

 69. 



Putting Bees Out and In, In March. 



A trifle surprised to hear Doolittle 

 advising to put bees out in March, and 

 back again. Guess it's all right, 

 though. Diiferent teachers likely to 

 differ some as to Aozt/ >»«c/; uneasiness 

 is required to justify setting out. Page 

 67. 



Making Bee-Candy. 



So beecandy should be stirred after 

 the time when it is done and taken 

 from the fire, and on until it gets so 

 cool that it has to be poured. Less 

 sticky and less liable to daub the bees 

 by so doing. Apparently here is a 

 valuable kink which half of us have 

 been losing. Page 73. 



Value of Honey as a Remedy. 



If butter and honey well whipped to- 

 gether will produce the same medical 

 effects as cod liver oil, patients ought 



Railroads and Lower Freight- 

 Rates. 



We rightly blame the railroads for 

 many things ; but we can not blame 

 them for studying their damage bills 

 with earnest attention and purpose. 

 No putting any article into cheaper 

 rates so long as there is a constant 

 hurrah of damage claims. In other 

 words, the money received for carrying 

 honey must pay the transportation and 

 the bills for damages, too — as no rail- 

 road proposes to do business except at 

 a profit. I hope we hear. Page 85. 



C^anadian 

 ISc^Qdom 



Conducted Ijy J. L. Btbr, Markham, Ont. 



Loss of Queens in Mating 



The substance for the following dia- 

 logue was sent me by a friend, with 

 the request that I " fix it up " for Cana- 

 dian Beedom. In so far as I have been 

 guilty of plagiarism in adopting the 

 conversational style, apologies are ten- 

 dered Mr. Doolittle : 



"Good morning, Mr. Smith. Pretty 

 cold day." 



" Yes, Mr. Jones, it is cold ; 17 below 

 at our place this morning, and a strong 

 wind blowing." 



" By the way, Mr. Smith, I don't be- 

 lieve I have met you since our county 

 convention last April. What was your 

 crop of honey like ?" 



" Very light, I am sorry to say ; and 



and to make matters worse, a great 

 many of my young queens were lost 

 while taking their mating flight." 



" No doubt you ascribe these losses 

 to the presence of king-birds ?" 



"No, I do not; and, personally, I 

 don't believe that the king-bird is re- 

 sponsible for half the damage he gets 

 credit for." 



" Pray, how do you account for the 

 loss of your queens, then ?" 



" Well, as you probably know, for a 

 mile and a half on all sides of my api- 

 ary the country is mostly pasture 

 land." 



" Yes, but what has that to do with 

 the loss of queens ?" 



"Just wait a moment and I will tell 

 you. Walking over a closely cropped 

 pasture field, one afternoon, I was at- 



