1898 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



205 



being used a year or so, had to be discarded." 

 With a friendly feeling to the new separator, I 

 don't want to see that slander on the old one 

 perpetuated. [Now look here, doctor, you 

 once told me that your wood separators used 

 to make the best kind of kindling, and that 

 you did not care to use them more than one 

 season ; that it was cheaper to buy new ones 

 than to clean the old ones or to take the 

 naughty kinl^s out of them. You must have 

 flopped over since the advent of that naughty 

 canard. — Ed.] 



One-fourth inch space between thick top- 

 bars allows more brace-combs than I like. I'd 

 give something to know whether it would be 

 any improvement to have more or less than }^. 

 [It may be that it would be much better to use 

 x'V inch rather than /,, ; that is to say, - : of a 

 bee-space -rather than a whole one. I know 

 bees can pass freely through a /g space, for I 

 have been trying it this warm balmy day, the 

 7th. We placed two cleats on the hive that 

 are ^^ inch thick. Between the cleats were 

 several bees crawling. On the cleats we laid 

 a plain sheet of glass. The bees passed very 

 readily back and forth under the glass, al- 

 though they did not stand up quite so high. 

 They had to " scrooch down " just a little. 

 The average bee, when walking full height, 

 stands about j^,. inch high. Now, the question 

 is, would bees put bits of propolis and wax be- 

 tween the top-bars if they were spaced just 

 wide enough for them to pass between ?— Ed.] 

 Well, Mr. Editor, vou are exasperating 

 for sure. When I ask 'for particulars about 

 "getting section honey from two-storv hives," 

 you refer me to p. 141, where you give just 

 seven lines, and say you don' t take away brood . 

 Talk about insult ! B-r-r-r ! How did the 

 amount of comb honey from the two-story 

 ones compare wth that from one-stories that 

 didn't swarm? How much per colony ? How 

 much brood was kept in the two-stories ? How 

 many of 'em swarmed? Did vou start in 

 spring with two-stories, or when did you give 

 the second ? Just before the queen commenc- 

 ed laying in the unoccupied story, was it above 

 or below ? Did you use any means to induce 

 the queen to make a start in the other story ? 

 I'd give a pile to be able to run two-stories 

 throughout the season ; and if you've got the 

 combination, squeal. [Well, doctor, you are 

 exasperating for sure. You have thrown at 

 me such a maze of questions that 1 shall have 

 to take time to go over the ground carefully a 

 little later on. Now, if I forget it before the 

 honey season next year, just point me to this 

 vStraw. I will say right now that I do not 

 know that I have got the "combination ;" and 

 perhaps before I can answer all of your ques- 

 tions I may have to go over the thing again in 

 practice to know exactly how I did do last 

 summer. — Ed.] 



"To VSE pas^ ior passed, andmust for niitss- 

 ed destroys many a fine shade of meaning," 

 quoth ye editor, p. 166. Try it on Leland. 

 Say to him, " From the way your hair is must, 

 you must have past a sleepless night the past 

 mght," and then see how much better he'll 

 get the fine shade of meaning if you say, 



" From the way your hair is mussed, you must 

 have passed a sleepless night, the past night." 

 If that doesn't illustrate it properly, try your 

 hand at an illustration. [I have not consulted 

 Leland ^ et. Indeed, he is hardly old enough 

 to perceive the difference in the two readings, 

 even if there were quite a difference. But to 

 my notion the first sentence reads rather 

 queerly. As I read over the words " is must," 

 the thought struck me instantly whether is 

 had got into the place of must, or niustKa. the 

 place of is. But if even half of the printers 

 and publishers would flop over, I guarantee 

 you I could adapt myself to the change.— 

 Ed.] [But the way of spelling a word has re- 

 ference only to the reader, who is supposed to 

 read to himself. If he reads, " vShe is an old 

 queen," or, " She is an old quean," the effect 

 is " allee samee " to the listener; but the legal 

 meaning can be determined only by the spell- 

 ing ; and these differences in spelling you pro- 

 pose to obliterate. A law that was past last 

 August had become obsolete as long ago as 

 that time ; but a law that was passed then 

 went into force at that date, and may still be 

 in force. These nice distinctions would be 

 mist (missed) if the new spelling were adopt- 

 ed. — Proof-reader.] 



MORE ABOUT YIELDS OF COMB VERSUS 

 EXTRACTED. 



Wax Secretion, etc. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



Some will gather from the previous article 

 that the slow flow, in which the colony will 

 be slow to build comb, is an argument proving 

 that ready-made combs would get a crop of 

 surplus when sections with starters would not. 

 Not so. The great majority of flows are of 

 short duration, I think usually not exceeding 

 three to six weeks. A ;^Odays' flow at 2 lbs. 

 per day would give a total of 60 lbs., which, 

 when ripened, would be only 35 to 40 lbs., 

 about what is necessary to fill a ten-frame 

 brood-chamber. Since, then, most flows are 

 of short duration, we more frequently have to 

 do with flows of limited time, though free 

 enough while it lasts, and, when it lasts long 

 enough to give a yield sufficient to give sur- 

 plus, there comes with it wax secretion suffi- 

 cient to build comb to hold it. 



Don't lose sight of the fact that weak colo- 

 nies can gather only in proportion to their 

 numbers. A colony that can barely spare 

 from the brood-nest enough bees to work but 

 10 to 20 sections at a time could not put up 



