254 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aprii, 1. 



We art- just planning to reverse the hang of 

 the cells on our rolls, because we know it will 

 be an improvement to have them the other 

 way. — Ed.] 



Is that soy bean, p. 239, worth any thing 

 for honey ? and is it the thing that is used to 

 make flour that diabetic patients can use? 

 [Yes, doctor, the soy bean does produce hon- 

 ey; but, as with many other plants of that 

 class, sometimes the bees work on it and 

 sometimes they do not. All of the legumin- 

 ous plants, as a rule, are honey-producing. 

 In the Old World the soy bean is much used 

 for food ; and just now attention is being 

 turned to it in this country. Cooked green, 

 like green peas, they are said to be delicious; 

 but, to tell the truth, I have never tried them 

 in that way. — A. I. R.] 



Foundation made on the Rietsche press 

 will not stretch at all when brood-frames are 

 filled without wiring, says M. Devauchelle in 

 & Apiculteur. R Pincot says the same thing 

 in Bulletin de VAube. The explanation is 

 that the wax, not being sheeted, has its parti- 

 cles lake their natural places on cooling, while 

 the stretching on the cylinder weakens the 

 foundation, and leads to stretching and break- 

 ing down. [Foundation made on the Rietsche 

 press, as it will be made by the average bee- 

 keeper, will be much heavier per square foot 

 than that ordinarily made on rolls. In pro- 

 portion as it is heavier, in that proportion it 

 will offer a greater resistance to stretch ; but 

 weight for weight, per square foot, I can not 

 believe it is any better than the ordinary rolled 

 foundation. — Ed.] 



So, Mr. Editor, you were surprised I did 

 not find out how much hotter boiling honey 

 was than boiling water, page 233. Now look 

 here. When you couldn't find out — you, at 

 the p'ace thermometers come from, you at the 

 fountainhead of temperature, the place whence 

 radiate light and heat, what could you expect 

 from a lone, defenseless, private bee-keeper, 

 away out in the wild West ? You oughtn't to 

 hint at such a thing from me, although you 

 might expect it from an ex-experimenter. 

 [In spite of the fact that we once had a big 

 stock of thermometers, we did not have on 

 hand any that were more serviceable than 

 those you have right in your own house. But 

 I found out more than you and Taylor, at all 

 events. — Ed.] 



On reading that bright way of straightening 

 tile, p. 239, and the nest-egg business, p. 241, 

 it made me feel sad to think A. I. Root rode 

 the bee-keeping hobby so fiercely that it threw 

 him off. If he had been content to ride more 

 slowly, he would now spend more of his time 

 thinking up bright things for bee-keepers, in- 

 stead of nosing around in tile-drains and hens' 

 nests. [Now, doctor, that is real mean of you 

 to talk about your old friend in that way. 

 Bee-keepers can not live on honey alone ; and 

 by the way the rest of you keep discussing 

 and arguing about this and that in bee culture 

 that has been discussed for forty years), I 

 should think you would be glad to have some- 

 body, who is able to think up bright things, 

 look after the interests of bee-men and their 



families outside of the regular bee-business. — 

 A. I. R.] 



That Michigan i,aw, p. 233, reads a little 

 loosely in two spots. Does section 1 mean 

 the governor shall appoint a man of his own 

 selection when the bee-keepers recommend 

 him to make such appointment (as it reads on 

 the face of it), or does it mean he shall ap- 

 point the man recommended by the bee- 

 keepers? In section 3 it isn't as clear as it 

 might be, of what the inspector is to be " sole 

 judge." [It does not seem to me that it 

 would make any practical difference whether 

 the governor appoint the man recommended 

 by bee-keepers or whether the}- appoint the 

 man themselves. While there is a slight dif- 

 ference, so long as the selection meets the 

 approval of both parties I would let the bill 

 stand as it is. There is hardly any law (and I 

 speak advisedly on this point ) that is perfect 

 in its wording. — Ed.] 



On reading that reply to H. K. J., p. 230, 

 I am moved to ask, merely as a question, with 

 my hat off and a most apologetic bow, wheth- 

 er one good time to Italianize might not be 

 about the time many new governments are 

 formed and new rulers inaugurated, say about 

 the middle of the honey season. [Yes, that 

 is a good time to Italianize ; but that time of 

 year is very limited — generally not more than 

 two weeks ; and if one wants a queen he is 

 quite liable to want her outside of that limit- 

 ed time. If a colony were working in the 

 sections, and doing nicely, I would not think 

 of disturbing their good work by attempting 

 to introduce a new queen-mother. And then, 

 is it not true that introducing young queens 

 before the honey-harvest will have a tendency 

 to keep down swarming, providing that queens 

 removed are two years and over in age? — Ed.] 



" If a SCIENTIST boils his foul-brood germs 

 in beef gelatine, or pure-culture fluid, the 

 specific gravity of the gelatine will be about 

 the same as that of honey," says the editor, 

 p. 234. I'm afraid that won't help us. If I 

 am correct, the spores were heated to 2/2°, or 

 else heated in culture-tubes which were kept 

 in boiling water. I'm off the fence, standing 

 straight up beside Bro. Taylor. Whenever I 

 see — and I doubt if I ever shall see — sufficient 

 reason for it, I'll take to the fence again, and 

 then Bro. Taylor will make unpleasant re- 

 marks about my hasty change of opinion. 

 Let's be thankful that the shorter boiling will 

 do, even if Bro. Taylor dees belabor us for 

 fence climbing. [I am not going to climb 

 any fences just yet. The fact is, Mr. Buchan- 

 an boiled some of his honey a good deal longer 

 than fifteen minutes, and did not kill the foul- 

 brood spores. Here was an actual case ; and 

 if a temperature of 212 did not kill those germs 

 after two hours' boiling on the part of the 

 scientists, I very much doubt whether fifteen 

 minutes' boiling at a temperature of 240 or 250, 

 say, in honey, would do any more. I still in- 

 sist that I am safe in sta)ing on the long- 

 boiling side of the fence ; but I am not safe 

 ( until I have better information than I now 

 have) on the other side. If the situation had 

 been reversed — that is, had the average bee- 



