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 •AND HOME, 



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BIJ^HED BY ^1 -rtP Or 



I^PERYEAf^ \©) rAEDINAOmO 



Vol. XIX. 



DECEMBER 1, 1891. 



No. 23. 



Stray Straws 



FROM DR. C. C. MILLER. 



On to Albany 1 



The Chicago convention was a grand one. 



The Missouri State Society has lOfi mem- 

 bers. Pietty good for Missouri. 



In tkansfekking, is it, really worth while to 

 have wires in the frames at all? 



" New beginners " are spoken of a great 

 deal. When do they get to be old beginners? 



Electricity, Henry K. Staley thinks (A. B. 

 ./.), should be used to turn extractors, and to 

 announce the issuing of swarms. 



Competition wiih California honey is spoken 

 of on page 878. Please, sir. Mr. Editor, why do 

 you speak of that any more than competition 

 with New York honey or Illinois honey? Why, 

 bless you. Califoi'nia is j)art of ».s. 



Emma is ti-ying an experiment. When I was 

 away from home she fed one colony bug-juice 

 only, to see how they would winter. I don't 

 know which colony it was, and I have my sus- 

 picions as to her knowing any thing more about 

 it than I do. 



After m\' bees were put in the cellar, it set 

 in immediately for a long rainy spell, turning 

 cold: and when. Nov. 17, the mercury stood 7° 

 above zero, with a steady wind, it was no little 

 comfort to think my bees had gone into the cel- 

 lar dry and warm. 



B. Taylor, in Review, pokes fun at me for 

 taking a rope to carry bees into the cellar. All 

 right, friend Taylor: you can take the hardest 

 way if you want to, but not I. "No, sir: I am 

 not going to plow my ground with a forked 

 stick when I can " — do better. 



Naphthaline has a new use for bee-keepers. 

 Dr. Rose, in Centrid Blatt. says it is a success 

 in introducing queens and uniting colonies. 

 Simply put a little naphthaline in each hive 

 over night, and the next day there will be no 

 trouble uniting. It smells horribly enough to 

 unite any thing. 



•■ I notice." says Doolittle in A. B. J.. " that 

 the advocates of natural swarming are increas- 

 ing, and others diminishing, as the years go by."' 

 I don't know, but I doubt. I doubt. At any rate, 

 I think he will agree with me that the number 

 is on the increase, of those who would like to 

 prevent all swarming. 



It's comical to read how Hutchinson took 

 such exceeding pains in hauling a load of bees 

 Nov. 1. He put two eiapty supers on top of 

 each hive so they wouldn't smother for want of 

 room. Why. bless your heart, W. Z., I haul 

 mine every fall earlier than tha.t, and never 

 think of giving them extra room or any venti- 

 lation except the regular entrance. 



"Brother" and "friend." G. W. Dema- 

 ree. in Missouri Bee-Keeper. says he has " wait- 

 ed and hoped long to see less of this thing in 

 our bee-periodicals. The terms are too sacred 

 to see them profaned to utter disgust." And 

 then the editor very innocently commences 

 his footnote. " Well, Brother D." Evidently, 

 Brother Quigley is incorrigible. 



"A DEEP CLOSED-END FRAME Is cold and bad," 

 says B. Taylor, in Revieiv. "just because it cuts 

 the brood-chamber into many small rooms hav- 

 ing no convenient connection with each other." 

 I suppose he keeps the inside doors of his house 

 all open so as to make the house warmer. Still, 

 he makes a good point in saying that outside 

 clusters caught away from the main cluster are 

 easily chilled. 



A colony of bees— what is it? The answer- 

 ing of this question raised some feeling at a 

 fair, where a premium to "best colony" ^as 

 awarded to a three-frame affair. The Missouri 

 Bee-keepers' Association decides that a "colo- 

 ny of bees" is "a regular-sized hive, full of 

 combs, bees, and a queen." But what is a 

 "regular-sized hive"? And is the hive a part 

 of the colony ? What is a colony of bees, any- 

 how? 



Naphthaline is so strongly urged by the B. 

 B. J. as a sure preventive (not a cure) of foul 

 brood that I wonder we have no report of any 

 one trying it in this country. In an apiary 

 where the disease prevails, put some naphtha- 

 line in a sound colony, and see whether it re- 

 mains healthy. If it pro^-es effectual, it will 

 prove a great help in eradicating the disease. 

 It has at least the merit of great cheapness and 

 simplicity of application. 



Salt has been recommended for some of the 

 ills that bee-flesh is heir to, and some are v^ery 

 earnest in the recommendation. Now, I don't 

 know that salt ever cured a single sick bee; 

 but I do know that bees seem quite eager for 

 it, and that's some proof they need it, and I 

 don't think any one has ever suggested that 

 harm came from its use. So it seems a good 

 plan to have a place specially prepared to salt 

 the bees, and thus save them the trouble of 

 frequenting tilthy places to obtain it. 



A correspondent wants me to tell my ex- 

 perience with Punic bees. I think I have told 

 all there is to tell. I got two virgin Punic 

 queens by mail from England. The workers 

 accompanying them were decidedly blacker 

 than any black bees I had ever seen. One of 

 them was fertilized, and her workers were 

 nearly all three-banded. It was .so late in the 

 season that I couldn't judge of their working 

 qualities: and, the queen being lost, they now 

 have a queen whose workers are only one-fourth 

 Punic, so I can't judge much next year. 



J. H. Larrabee is reported in Eevieir as 

 saying that " he shall experiment no more with 

 planting for honey, and he should be verv glad 



