94 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 



to cool, and then add 2 ounces of al- 

 cohol. 



A polish for floors is made as fol- 

 lows : 



Melt together 16 ounces of beeswax, 

 1 ounce Venetian turpentine and 16 

 ounces spirits of turpentine; allow 

 to cool and apply. After one-half 

 hour, polish with woolen cloth or 

 weighted floor brush. 



A polish for tool handles can be 

 made by melting together equal parts 

 of linseed oil, spirits turpentine and 

 beeswax. Apply this mixture hot 

 with a rag. The friction of the hand 

 in using the tool gives the handle a 

 smooth polish that is a great comfort 

 to the user. 



Wax stains are made from a mix- 

 ture of beeswax and turpentine, col- 

 ored with oil colors such as vandyke 

 brown, burnt and raw sienna, burnt 

 and raw umber, etc. The principal 

 requirement is that the color be semi- 

 transparent in order not to hide too 

 much the grain of the wood. 



Wax is thought by some to have 

 been an ingredient of the so-called 

 lost Cremona varnish mentioned 

 above, which was developed by the 

 violin makers of Italy, about the year 

 1550, and used by them until 1750, 

 when it mysteriously disappeared. Its 

 loss has been much lamented by the 

 musical world, for they are convinced 

 that with it was lost the Italian. tone 

 of the violin which is so much sought 

 for by virtuosi of that instrument. 



Occasionally a ray of light breaks 

 the gloom of the fiddle fans. One 

 Victor Grivel announced several 

 years ago, the title of his book as: 

 "Vernis des anciens luthiers d' Italie, 

 perdu depuis le milieu du XVIII sie- 

 cle, retrouve par V. Grivel." (Varnish 

 of the old violin makers of Italy, lost 

 since the middle of the 18th century, 

 rediscovered by V. Grivel). The only 

 comment that can now be made is 

 that the world was unconvinced. The 

 author has been gathered to his fath- 

 ers, leaving no record of his varnish 

 formula behind him. 



This is only one instance of a num- 

 ber of similar disappointments. The 

 gloom of the would-be Cremona var- 

 nisher has now become Stygian. The 

 outstanding fact is that "like the 

 snow upon the dese.t's dusty face." 

 Cremona varnish has gone where the 

 woodbine twineth. 



Some day her sad tale will be taken 

 up by a skillful movie scenario artist 

 and be played to crowded and humid 

 houses from one end of this broad 

 land to the other. In the meantime if 

 any reader of the Journal has her 

 concealed about his premises, he 

 should stand and deliver, that the 

 world may read without regret. 



"The instrument upon which he 



played 

 Was in Cremona's workshop made, 

 By a great master of the past, 

 Ere yet was lost the art divine. 

 Fashioned of maple and of pine, 

 That in Tyrolean forests vast 

 Had rocked and wrestled with the 



blast; 

 Exquisite was it in design, 

 Perfect in each minutest part, 

 A marvel of the lutist's art; 



And in the hollow chamber thus 

 The maker from whose hands it came 

 Had written his unrivalled name — 

 'Antonio Svradivarius.' " 



— Longfellow. 

 "Tales of a Wayside Inn." 

 Maryland. 



How to Convert L. Frames Occupied 

 by the Bees Into Deep Frames 



By Brother Alphonse Veith 



IT makes an unsatisfactory job to 

 transfer combs from a small 

 frame to a larger one. Neither 

 am I in favor of melting nice brood- 

 combs, as suggested in the December 

 number of the American Bee Journal 

 in "Criticisms." In these days of high 

 prices we cannot afford to destroy 

 valuable brood-combs and compel the 

 bees to build new ones with much la- 

 bor and the consumption of about 10 

 to IS pounds of honey for each pound 

 of wax they produce. Add to this the 

 price of new frames and foundation 

 comb, which is together, per 100, in 

 the neighborhood of $30. 



The writer has made a start with 

 the Jumbo hive, and in doing so the 

 frames with combs occupied by the 

 bees are used. The standard Lang- 

 stroth frames are changed into deep 

 frames simply by putting on a new 

 bottom-bar with short end-bars which 

 are fastened with crating staples to 

 the Langstroth frame. Afterwards 

 the bottom-bar of the Langstroth 

 frame is cut with the aid of a narrow 

 saw and removed. The empty space 

 is now filled either with drawn-out 

 comb or foundation. I have shown a 

 specimen of this to an expert bee- 

 keeper, and he expressed his approval. 

 Indiana. 



Two Queens in One Colony—Foul- 

 brood, Etc. 



By H. Brenner 



WE find mentioned in bee books 

 that in exceptional cases two 

 queens worked peacefully on 

 one frame, and that these queensare 

 mother and daughter. In the apiary 

 of Leonard Moss, Jr., in Seguin, 

 Guadalupe County, Texas, in demon- 

 strating to some beekeepers my latest 

 method of queen rearing, we found 

 two queens and supersedure cells in 

 a colony, and as I investigated this 

 matter in the tropics, I want to send 

 in the results of my investigation, as 

 it may interest the readers. In unit- 

 ing hundreds of colonies for the win- 

 ter flow last year in San Domingo, 

 I saw in January two colonies with 

 two queens each, and not related, the 

 more so as one colony had a black 

 and an Italian queen. One of these 

 colonies had two supersedure cells. I 

 examined the queens in these two 

 colonies and found three of the 

 queens crippled. In the Moss apiary 

 here one of the queens had a torn 

 wing and the other a crippled leg. In 

 all these three colonies I found eggs 

 and brood, but the colonies not up 

 to date like the others. After the 

 above investigation I came to the 

 conclusion that the queens will gen- 



erally try to kill each other, and 

 whenever we find two queens in one 

 brood nest they did fight but could 

 not inflict the death wound. Both of 

 these queens are in consequence of 

 this fight either crippled or worn out 

 and not fit for work, as the super- 

 sedure cells or inferior condition of 

 the colonies shows. 



In uniting colonies in the tropics 

 I marked for experiment about two 

 dozen queens and I always found the 

 old queen missing and the young one 

 remaining. 



A friend of mine asked me to look 

 at his apiary in southwest Texas, 

 which did not bring in honey as they 

 ought to have done. I found that the 

 colonies had loo many supers with 

 foundation for the light honey flow 

 and condition of the colonies. I took 

 the supers off and left only one per 

 colony. I found in one apiary two 

 colonies badly infected with foul- 

 brood, but fairly strong in bees and 

 apparently a good queen reigning. 

 These two colonies I left with only 

 one super like the others. Other 

 colonies that the apiary hands had 

 marked "foulbrood" I did not bother, 

 for fear of robbing. In about 12 days, 

 when I revisited the apiary to put the 

 second super on, I found in these two 

 colonies not a sign of foulbrood, the 

 brood nest in excellent condition and 

 nearly ready for another super. 



I have been asked several times 

 here in southwest Texas by good api- 

 arists if honey e.xtracted from foul- 

 brood colonies contained foulbrood 

 germs or bacteria. I always took it 

 for granted that it did, and for want 

 of opportunity have never experi- 

 mented with it. I suggest to isolate 

 about six sound colonies in good con- 

 dition, take all stores away and feed 

 in starvation time honey taken from 

 foulbrood colonies and watch the re- 

 sults. 



Texas. 



Soldering 



Will you allow me to add a word 

 or two to Doctor Bonney's article on 

 the above in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal for August? If after the raw 

 muriatic acid is killed with zinc a 

 tablespoonful is added to half a pint 

 of water it will be found a very ex- 

 cellent cleaning solution for the iron. 

 It is quicker and better to dip it into 

 this than wipe it with a cloth. I 

 have never tried plugging small leaks 

 with wax and fat, but will do so. 

 When the tin is full of honey these 

 leaks are very difficult to solder, as 

 the honey oozes out and prevents the 

 solder from taking. The best method 

 is to tip the tin in such a way that 

 the honey will fall away from the 

 hole. 



In mending small holes in enamel- 

 ware it is l)est to work around the 

 hole with the small l)Iade of a pocket- 

 knife until the edges arc bright. 

 Break the enamel away and get down 

 to the iron. Plug the hole with a 

 bright, flat-head nail which will just 

 fit the hole, having the head inside. 

 Solder from the outside with a good 

 hot iron and thoroughly "sweat" the 

 solder onto the nail head inside the 



