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Vol. XXVII. 



JAN. 15, 1899. 



No. 2. 



" Is IT TRUE that bees are less likely to sting 

 one with white clothing than with black ? " is 

 a question in American Bee Journal. In 

 answer, 19 say yes, and 7 think not or have 

 not observed. 



In reply to F. L. Thompson, p. 14, I've 

 used illusion for the face of bee-veils, and it's 

 the best thing I ever used if it would last. But 

 it's so unsubstantial that it's practically too 

 expensive. 



Separators of wire cloth are spoken of on 

 p. 15. They were used by N. Betsinger a good 

 many years ago, were greatly pnised by him, 

 and I think they were patented, but somehow 

 no one else seemed to use them. 



The editor gets the start of me on p. 6 by 

 means of a " perhaps " which leaves the mat- 

 ter in suspense, and then his head is si turned 

 that he says, " But wide frames are section- 

 holders without top-bars." O Ernest! [So 

 they are, doctor. If not, what are they ? — Ed.] 



A pure-food conference for Illinois is 

 called by the presidents of ten different asso- 

 c'ations, agriculture, horticulture, apiculture, 

 etc., led by the president of the State Board 

 of Health. May be Illinois will climb up to 

 where Ohio stands, so you Ohio fellows won't 

 look down any more on us Suckers. 



C. T. Bonnev, p. 14, seems to think large 

 queens a great desideratum ; but don't Doo- 

 little and others say that medium-sized queens 

 are best ? [There, now, I always supposed 

 Doolittle was an advocate of large queens, as 

 his method certainly produces them. I have 

 always found that the large ones were the 

 most prolific. — Ed.] 



For canning fruit, honey is better than 

 sugar, according to E. D Howell, in Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. Cook fruit till tender in a 

 tight-covered kettle in the oven, then add the 

 honey, bring to a boil on top of the stove, and 

 seal up ; % pound honey for each pound of 

 peaches or other fruit not very sour. No 

 water need be added except for such dry fruits 

 as quinces and apples. Use best honey. 



A SERIOUS objection to C. P. Dadant's 

 plan of adapting the number of combs to the 

 size of the colony is not mentioned by him, p. 

 8. If the hive is not filled with brood-combs, 

 the part of the super that comes over the va- 

 cancy will be poorly worked by the bees. 

 For extracted honey, of course that makes 

 little difference. 



" We are told in the bee-journals that 

 the poison of the bee is formic acid," says 

 Geo. L. Vinal, page 15. No, not nowadays. 

 The poison is something separate from the 

 formic acid. See Straw, p. 42, Jan. 15, 1898. 

 To the question why that strong horse died 

 from the stings, I'll venture the answer that 

 he got more poison into him than he could 

 dispose of. 



BEE Chat, the British quarterly published 

 by S. Simmins, gives promise of continued 

 life, and has now become a monthly. The 

 tone of Bee Chat is such that one can not help 

 wishing it long life. Somehow good-natured 

 people seem to live longer than crabbed ones, 

 and that's pre-eminently true of bee-journals. 

 [Yes, it is a very sprightly journal. It has 

 one quality that makes it readable ; namely, 

 its editor is full of enthusiasm. — Ed.] 



F. Greiner doesn't paint with any too 

 high colors, p 10, the advantages of the great 

 German bee conventions, and certainly doesn't 

 give a just idea of the large attendance, and 

 especially of the immense membership of the 

 association. Some things, as the drinking 

 and smoking, and the time occupied with 

 other than bee matters, would not be relished 

 by Americans; but on the whole the Germans 

 are far ahead of us in the matter of organization. 



Doolittle is a hard man to do any thing 

 with. Between him and Dadant I have a hard 

 time of it. In that Straw, p. 869, I chuckled 

 to myself that I had Doolittle in a corner; but 

 he slides out of it as easily as you please by 

 saying, p. 11, that extracting makes bees feed 

 the queen so she doubles her laying. That 

 dazes me, for I've no means to dispute it. 

 I've only breath enough left for a question or 

 two. Bro. Doolittle, when I find a queen 

 occupying 12 to 14 combs with brood without 

 any extracting, would that same queen occupy 

 24 to 28 Lrmgstroth frames if I should extract? 

 And if I find a queen keeping 8, 9, or more 



