274 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CQLTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



storms, to place the ear at the side of the hive, 

 and rap, to see whether they need feeding. 

 Thinks he'd rather take frames out once than do 

 all that every day. [So would I. I believe in 

 outside diagnosis to determine certain condi- 

 tions. When I want to make a sure thing of it 

 I pull out a frame or two.— Ed.] 



WooDCHOPPF.R, what ails you? On p. 239 

 you've mixed up Danzenbaker with Doolittle, 

 and think I'm off to cite a crack so big that 

 bees could go through freely. No matter how 

 big, doesn't that prove my point that the bees 

 commenced storing before filling the crack? 

 But you're wrong in thinking " they never 

 stop up a crack that they can go through free- 

 ly." They'll not stop up a crack that they do 

 go through freely, but many a one that they can 

 go through freely, and in the very case in hand 

 they filled thatX-inch crack about half. 



The Colorado State Bee-keepers' Associ- 

 ation passed a resolution denouncing supply- 

 houses for changing " the present style of the 

 standard 4>|' section to^any other style."— Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal. [So far as I am aware, 

 only two sizes of sections are standard— the 

 4M square and the 4x5; and even the last 

 named costs 10 cts. per 1000 extra. Practically 

 there is only one standard section on the mar- 

 ket, and that is the 4:}4 square. The sales of 

 any other are as a drop in the bucket compared 

 with the 4>4 . Do not denounce the poor supply- 

 houses just yet.— Ed.] 



In reply, Mr. Editor, to your question how 

 bees can walk up a perpendicular surface with- 

 out a sucker, Cheshire says the pulvillus gives 

 out a clammy secretion by which the bees stick 

 on the glass, the pulvillus being thrown auto- 

 matically into action when the claws fail to 

 catch. After the bee has walked on the per- 

 pendicular glass for a time the adhesive ma- 

 terial gives out, and the foot slips. High pow- 

 ers of the microscope reveal traces of the se- 

 cretion left on the glass. [Yes, I remember 

 Cheshire did say something about a secretion 

 from the foot of the bee. Without taking time 

 to look it up now, I am of the opinion that he 

 also spoke of the little sucker that seems to be 

 partially developed. — Ed.] 



C. Davenport exposed to the fumes of bisul- 

 phide of carbon for 10 hours a piece of brood 

 comb advanced with foul brood, then put it in- 

 to a healthy hive, and it did not convey the dis- 

 ease. The fumes kill worms, moth, and eggs, 

 but spoil the flavor of comb honey, and make it 

 thinner. — American Bee Journal. [If bisul- 

 phide of carbon would always disinfect combs 

 it would be a great boon for those afflicted with 

 foul brood; but I question very much whether 

 it would kill the spores. 1 should rather ex- 

 pect to find, in Mr. Davenport's healthy hive, 

 foul brood in about three months' time, or about 

 the time when the spores should have hatched, 



and the active disease begun Its work again. 

 So far our own experience seems to show that 

 nothing but actual boiling heat will kill the 

 spores, although the bacilli themselves can very 

 often be killed out by doses of carbolic spray. — 

 Ed.] 



"Syrup made by boiling will granulate more 

 or les^s," says F. A. Salisbury, p. 239. Yes, but 

 only, I think, because it's thicker, not because 

 it's boiled. Make the unboiled the thicker, and 

 see if it doesn't granulate more. The bees op- 

 erate chemically on the thin more than on the 

 thick. [I suspect you are right; but heating 

 water has a tendency to make it take up more 

 sugar than it will hold when cold. If it is 

 never heated at all it will take up only what It 

 can hold. In making syrup, people are a little 

 careless, sometimes, and get in too much sugar 

 for the water; but they are not as liable to do 

 this when the water is cold, for the very reason 

 that they can not get in too much, because it 

 will not hold it. What it will hold at a co'd 

 temperature it will hold rightalong. What the 

 water will hold when hot, it will not hold when 

 cold.— Ed.] 



The vitality of the spores of Bacillus alvei 

 is destroyed when exposed to atmospheric air 

 for from 24 to 36 hours, according to Dr. How- 

 ard's book. Prof. Harrison, of Ontario Agricul- 

 tural College, finds them uninjured at the end 

 of six months, if kept in shade.— Canadian Bee 

 Journal. [It is well known that sunlight is a 

 strong germicide. If people would let the sun- 

 light stream more into their rooms there would 

 be fewer disease-germs in them. . What if It 

 does fade the carpet some? Faded carpets are 

 much more to be preferred than pale children 

 faded by disease. Perhaps the difference In the 

 opinions of the two authorities as above given 

 can be explained by saying that one contem- 

 plated sunshine when the other did not. In 

 that case, both may be right. One thing I am 

 sure of, however; if I knew positively that the 

 inside of the hive contained the spores of foul 

 brood I would not risk 24 or 36 hours of sunshine 

 to kill them. While it might do so, I should 

 greatly prefer immersing them for a few sec- 

 onds in boiling water.— Ed. 1 



honey in place of sugar, for cooking. 



I wonder if our bee-friends know that honey 

 can be used for every thing that sugar is used 

 for. I never buy sugar to preserve. I use 

 honey for jellies, jams, preserves, and butters. 

 Fix your fruit, and cover with honey; set it on 

 the stove to cook. You can put a cover on. I 

 make jelly as usual on the stove. I also sweeten 

 fruit to can, make gingerbread and snaps. I 

 do not like it in tea or coffee. It is nice in 

 fruit cake. Flavor highly to hide the twang. 

 A Woman Bee-keeper. 



