184 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



release the queen. By placing the cage under 

 the frames, and between two of them, there 

 will be less danger to the queen, for there will 

 not be so many angry bees to have to deal 

 with; and when the queen comes up she has 

 her escort of bees with her to look after and 

 take care of her. 



One of your customers speaks of the wavy 

 condition of the honey in the plain section, 

 and lays it to the fact of some of the slats 

 being more than the regulation width apart. 

 I find that it is very important that the hives 

 should be perfectly level, both sidewise and 

 endwise. The plain section is far ahead of 

 the old beeway section, and I would not return 

 to the plain separator for any money. Every 

 customer to whom I sell honey remarks, " How 

 fine the honey in the plain section does look!" 

 I have heard nothing but praise for my honey 

 wherever I have offered it for sale this winter. 



Cuba, Kan., Dec. 23. Wm. H. EagerTy. 



A COMMITTEE NOMINATED FOR APICULTURAL 

 TERMS. 



Dr. Miller wants a word ( see Straw on page 

 905) to signify that a colony has a good laying 

 queen. Would it not be well if the doctor 

 would coin or suggest a suitable term when- 

 ever such want occurs to him ? I doubt if any 

 one could do it better. I remember that, some 

 time ago, he told us that the bee-keepers of 

 France had a name for a hive that had cast a 

 swarm, and he wished that we had one in our 

 language. Almost every day in swarming 

 time I feel the want of such name. At my 

 home we use the term "parent ;" but I don't 

 altogether like it. Who will suggest a better ? 

 Would it not be well to name a committee of 

 three or more to whom the work of fixing 

 upon suitable n^mes or terms as occasion may 

 require could be referred ? If you think well 

 of the proposal, I will take the liberty of nam- 

 ing Thos. W. Cowan, editor of the British 

 Bee Journal, for one. I know all British bee- 

 keepers will support that nomination. What 

 do you think of the suggestion ? 



In another Straw, p. 905, Dr. M. tells us of 

 the cold, and the difficulty of getting his bees 

 into the cellar. Now, doctor, why don't you 

 come to Canada and enjoy a better climate ? 

 Nov. 16 it was at 45°, and the bees were fly- 

 ing, and I put in some. On the 18th, although 

 the bees were flying, we rushed them in ; the 

 time had come, and for a few days they had 

 been flying freely, and I have been glad ever 

 since. S. T. PETTiT. 



Belmont, Ont. 



[I support the names of Mr. Cowan and Dr. 

 Miller; but let them not wait for a formal 

 election, but go right ahead and coin the 

 needed terms. — Ed.] 



APICULTURAL NOMENCLATURE. 

 Dr. Miller sighs for a word like the German 

 word " weiselrichtig," to express the fact that 

 a colony has a " good laying queen." Now, if 

 the word expresses the meaning of the words 

 in quotations it contains as many syllables as 

 the three English words do, and as many let- 

 ters, less two, and is much more difficult to 



pronounce. How do you think it would do 

 to call her a "hustler," a "corker," or a 

 " daisy " ? But perhaps friend Taylor, of the 

 Review, would object to such expressions as 

 being contorted words. 



I'm with you in the matter of boiling foul- 

 broody honey. Mercy ! Boil two hours, and 

 yet frisky ! I could cook a crow in that time. 



Hospital, 111. W. M. Whitney. 



[We did not understand that Dr. Miller ad- 

 vised the use of the German word itself, but 

 another one as succinct in meaning as that. It 

 would be difficult, probably, to find an Eng- 

 lish word that would express so much in so 

 short a space without resorting to an arbitrary 

 expression or mark, such as O. K., meaning 

 that the O. K. (Old Kween) is Oil Korrect— 

 in other words, that the colony is properlv 

 mothered.— " W. P."] 



HANDY TOOL FOR THE APIARY. 



In Gleanings for May 15, page 400, you 

 write about a tool for separating supers, etc. 

 I send you a duplicate of a tool I have used 

 for years, and found to fill the bill entirely. 

 It is handy to scrape wax and propolis from 

 any part of a hive, using it like a shovel — 

 shoving from you. It is handy for separating 

 frames, and taking off the cover or a super. 

 For me it is strong enough to loosen and part- 



ly raise an eight-frame extracting-super with 

 40 pounds of honey. The blade being thin 

 and wide it can easily be pushed between the 

 super and hive, and it will not make a mark 

 on either of them. It will also serve as a pad- 

 dle to strike down an irritating bee when it 

 becomes necessary to do so. But the proof of 

 the tool's value will be found in trying it. 



J. F. EGGERS. 

 Grand Island, Neb., July 11. 



PLAIN SECTIONS AND OLD-STYLE IN THE 

 SAME SUPER. 



I tried a little experiment last fall. I took 

 one Ideal super, and put in half with Ideal 

 sections and fences ; in the other half I put the 

 1J4 sections and slotted separators. Both 

 kinds of sections were partly drawn comb that 

 had been extracted from. The case, when 

 taken off, contained 15 well-filled Ideal sec- 

 tions; 5 of the 12 1% sections were filled; the 

 other 7 were from two-thirds drawn to nothing. 

 So much in favor of the Ideal. I recommend 

 the Ideal to every new bee-keeper, and old 

 ones too, as the best looking, easiest-cleaned, 

 and best-packing section in use. 



Thad. H. KEELER. 



South Salem, N. Y., Jan. 14. 



