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 »MDHOA\E, 



•INTERESTS 



Vol. XXVI. 



JUNE 15, 1898. 



TuWishedyTHEA-ll^OoY Co. - 



;$jL£5P£RYtAR ^® "Medina- Ohio- 



No. 12. 



Beeswax from old combs will be much 

 lighter if you first soak the combs several 

 days, occasionally stirring and renewing the 

 water. — Le Rticher Beige. 



I CAN SING "God Save the Oueen " more 

 heartily than ever, after a visit from Mr. and 

 Mrs. T. W. Cowan. They are delightful peo- 

 ple, and, above all, they' re ^of^. 



Cough medicine. Take a good pinch of 

 sage, pour over it a pint of boiling water, let 

 steep a few minutes, Strain, add o tablespoon- 

 fuls honey, and drink hot throughout the day. 

 Le Rucher Beige. 



Conflicting accounts raise the question 

 whether it is not possible that some kinds of 

 honey may be as ripe at 1 1 pounds to the gal- 

 lon as other kinds at 12. [This is a very sen- 

 sible supposition. — Ed.] 



I USE bottom starters Y% deep of the same 

 kind as top starters, thin foundation. Possi- 

 bly it might be better to have the bottom 

 starters of a little heavier grade, but less than 

 y% would hardly be so well. 



Black clothing for bee-keepers is recom- 

 mended in a late bee-journal. I'm sure I get 

 fewer stings with white or light clothing. A 

 black ribbon on a hat is a distinct point of 

 attack if bees are at all cross. 



In Germany there are still some battles 

 over the question of watering bees in winter. 

 Herr Betz reports a colony wintering finely 

 on dry sugar — a heavy blow for the waterers. 

 I once tried watering in winter, but my bees 

 were too stupid; they wouldn't drink. 



Yellow sand and yellow bees in Cyprus, 

 black general appearance and black bees in 

 Africa, etc., p. 427. But how do you account 

 for yellow bees getting yellower in this coun- 

 try ? Yellow gold in Klondike and California, 

 eh? 



North-pole bees. Le Rncher Beige says 

 the explorer Ejrind Asrup found many bees 

 in latitude 83° north. He thinks they may be 

 at the north pole, as the remaining 7° would 



make no great change in flora. There's only 

 three months' summer; but as the sun doesn't 

 set in that time it's as good as six months 

 here, and plants develop with astonishing 

 rapidity and vigor, and the flora is of extreme 

 richness. 



This year is spoken of as remarkable for 

 fruit-bloom and swarming. Not in this region. 

 While Medina bees were swarming, our bees 

 were killing drones. Abundance of fruit- 

 bloom, but not one day in three bees could 

 work — so cold and wet we didn't let fire die 

 down in sitting-room till June 2. 



Extra combs of sealed honey are a bonanza 

 in spring. Every one says so, but not one in 

 ten has them. They don't have them, be- 

 cause they don't get ready for them noiv. 

 I'm setting aside a certain number of colonies 

 for that special work. [We laid by last fall, 

 as we always do, a large stock of sealed combs 

 of honey. It was very convenient to pull on 

 this stock this spring and early summer when 

 bees ran short of stores. — Ed.] 



Hasty is above the average when he eats 

 12 oz. honey daily ; but you're just as much 

 the other way, Mr. Editor, when you put the 

 maximum at 12 oz. weekly. A properly reared 

 child of 8 ought to beat it. [If Hasty has 

 gone to one extreme and I the ^other, I would 

 wager Hasty some of our best fence honey 

 that my dose would be more conducive to 

 longevity in general than his dose. Too much 

 sweet, for me at least, makes trouble. — Ed.] 



If your girls make such slow work filling 

 a T super, Mr. Editor, I'll venture the guess 

 they don't use a filling-board, but just set the 

 sections on a flat surface. If that's the case I 

 think I'll agree to fill two to your one if you'll 

 allow me the filling-board, neither of us to 

 put in separators. [If you will come out here 

 this summer we wall arrange for a contest 

 between you and the girls. It is presumed, 

 however, that you will come out ahead, for 

 you practice and work with nothing but T 

 supers, while our girls fill section-holders, T 

 supers. Ideal supers, wide frames, and every 

 thing of the sort. — Ed.] 



Lots of puzzles about that two-story busi- 

 ness. Only once have I succeeded in getting 

 as much comb honey when two stories were 

 left for the season. That one time, the only 



