846 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Dec. 1 



the separator you describe, that no marked 

 defect in this hne has been observed. Of 

 course, if you were compelled to furnish them 

 with round perforations the cost would be a 

 serious obstacle to their use. 



But I must conclude ; for I fear that, if I 

 continue much longer, I shall have to apolo- 

 gize for writing so long, much in the same 

 manner that INIr. Abbott did for having talked 

 so much at the Buffalo convention; viz., that 

 I am almost begiiniing to hate to see myself 

 write, as much as he did to hear himself talk. 



Stratford, Ont., Canada, Nov. 12. 



[I have great confidence in Mr. McEvoy; 

 and if he says that dumping the diseased bees 

 on sealed combs of honey does not next sum- 

 mer, or some time, cause the reappearance of 

 the disease, then I am glad to acknowledge 

 that his way is far shorter than mine, and 

 that bees will stand a very much better chance 

 of wintering. 



With regard to the fence, or cleated sepa- 

 rator, our l.S'.iS super, with plain section and a 

 fence, will be so modified as to take in the 

 Pettit idea; that is to say, there will not only 

 be fences between each row of sections, but 

 one on the outside of each outside row. This 

 will in effect secure the same idea, only that 

 the slots will be oblong and parallel, instead 

 of round perforations, and I can not see why 

 there should be any practical difference. What 

 matters it to a bee whether the opening is 

 square or round, so long as it can get through 

 the same ? 



It is true, there will be " ridgy " comb hon- 

 ey if the slats are not pretty tolerably close 

 together. Mr. Danzenbaker has found by ex- 

 perience that they should not be further apart 

 than the width of ordinary perforated zinc, 

 which, in round numbers, is about ,-', of an 

 inch. If further apart, it has been found in 

 some instances that the surface of the combs 

 will show ridges just opposite the openings; 

 and it makes a difference, too, whether the 

 slats are narrow or wide, if I am correctly in- 

 formed. — Ed.] 



PIPING OF QUEENS; HOW IT IS DONE. 



BY E. S. ARWINE. 



Mr. Editor and Dr. Miller, are you about to 

 turn Turk ? I see you have trotted out your 

 horse-tails. You know the dignity of a Turk- 

 ish pasha depends upon the number of tails 

 the Sultan allows him to wear. In regard to 

 the problem of how a queen pipes, I may not 

 understand just what )-ou term piping. I 

 have heard only two sounds from queens. 

 One is the note of defiance of a young queen 

 just emerged from her cell, and is as definitely 

 answered by her sisters who are about read}^ 

 to emerge. These sounds always remind me 

 of the descriptions I have read of tournied 

 victor's bugle-note of challenge, and answered 

 by any would-be contestant for the glories of 

 the knightly ring. I have heard this note of 

 defiance from young queens in the cells which 

 I held in my hand, having removed them to 

 prevent their destruction. Surely the wings 



could not vibrate very freely in the cells. 

 But this is more to the point. I was in the 

 apiary, and heard this sound issuing from a 

 hive ; and on opening it I found a wingless 

 queen. She had two little knots where the 

 wings should have been. This little deformed 

 creature was scurrying over the comb, utter- 

 ing her war-cry vigorously. Certainly those 

 little stubby wings could do very little vibrat- 

 ing. She had already executed all of her 

 royal sisters but one on the outside comb, 

 which hatched four days later. I dispatched 

 her at once, but wished afterward I had let her 

 live as a freak. 



A balled queen utters another sound (a cry- 

 of distress), or a sound in a different key, 

 which always sounds to my ear like a wail of 

 agony; so I have no doubt that Cheshire is 

 right, and speaks from his own observation. 



GRANULATION OF HONEY. 



Below are tables showing the time of granu- 

 lation of honey from various sources, as ob- 

 served in three States : 



INDIANA. 



White clover granulated in o to 6 months. 

 Basswood, or linden, granulated in 1 to 4 months. 

 Fall honey from various sources granulated in 1 to 2 

 months. 



TEXAS. 



Persimmon (April) granulated in 2 to 10 days. 

 Honey-locust (May) granulated in 2% to 3 years. 

 Horsemint (June) granulated in 3 to 8 months. 

 Chittim (July) granulated in 3 to 10 months. 

 Cotton (JuU'' to October) granulated in 3 to 5 months. 



The words in parenthesis show time of 

 secreting. The secretion of honey by the 

 persimmon-tree lasts about 10 or 12 days, and 

 granulating always began before the honey 

 was capped over. All the persimmon honey 

 I ever took came from the wild persimmon- 

 trees in Texas. 



CALIFORNIA. 



Sage, black and white, hailed or ttuttoned, 3 to 12 m. 

 Sage, white (spicated or racemed) 3 to 12 m. 

 Barberry (pi\re) remains liquid indefinitely. 

 Barberry, mixed with sage or other honey, 1 to 2yrs. 

 Tarweed (a species of aster) 20 to 40 days. 



Tarweed honey granulates in the combs in 

 frotn 30 to GO days. 



There are various other early honeys, such 

 as manzanita and wild currant (January and 

 February) ; live-oak (February and March) ; 

 buckthorn and wild gooseberry (March and 

 April) ; poison oak, or ivy (March to Maj^). 

 The manzanita and poison oak sometimes 

 secrete honey ver}^ bountifully ; also honey- 

 dew (aphis hone}-) (August to November). 



I have never kept any of the ver}^ early and 

 late honeys to see how long they would be in 

 granulating. Any^ honey extracted green 

 ( persimmon and tarweed, and possibly alfalfa, 

 excepted ) will granulate much earlier than 

 well-ripened honey from the same source. 

 Persinnnon honey must be extracted green to 

 get it in the liquid state. Sage honey, if left 

 on the hive, will remain liquid indefinitely, 

 but will become so thick and tenacious that 

 but very little of it can be extracted without 

 destroying the combs. I have never kept 

 white-clover, honey-locust, horsemint, chit- 

 tim, sage, or barberry honey in the sections 

 until granulating occurred. I very much 

 doubt whether Texas honey-locust, California 



