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fubiishedy theA-I^ooY Co. 

 Si^peryUr. ^"Medina-Ohio- 



Vol. XXVII. 



JULY 15, 1899. 



No. 14. 



Pollen in queen-cells I had been taught to 

 believe a sure sign of hopeless queenlessness. 

 I think I've seen a number of exceptions. 

 June 26 I met a plain case. In one of my 

 " barns" I found on one comb three enlarged 

 cells containing pollen, with the queen laying, 

 and all going on prosperously. 



You don't SEEM entirely certain, Mr. Edi- 

 tor, whether I prefer trees to shade-boards for 

 hives. Well, there's no doubt in my mind as 

 to my preference — trees every time. I want 

 the shade more for the benefit of the operator 

 than for the benefit of the bees. [Yes, I was 

 satisfied in my own mind ; but I am glad you 

 have put more emphasis on it. — Ed.] 



C. Davenport gives a bright thing in 

 American Bee Journal. Ordinary Mason 

 fruit-jars are good for extracted honey, ex- 

 cept that the honey oozes by the rubber band, 

 making the outside surface of the can sticky. 

 Well, dip (not soak or cook) the rubber band- 

 in boiling beeswax, and never a drop will ooze 

 through. He is probably right in thinking 

 that many a can of fruit would be saved from 

 spoiling if the rubber rings were waxed. 



An unusual case was this : June 26 I found 

 in a nucleus a young queen with her wings 

 gnawed entirely away. Directly I found on 

 the same comb a young queen with perfect 

 wings. The two met and had a little confer- 

 ence, but did not seem very hostile. Next 

 day both were present ; the 28th I saw the 

 winged one ; 29th, the wingless one ; July 3, 

 the winged one. So both were there together 

 at least three days, and whether the wingless 

 one is still there I don't know. 



Editor Bertrand says foul-brood spores 

 may be floating in the air. Others dispute this, 

 I think, and I should be glad to believe that 

 the distinguished Frenchman is wrong. He 

 thinks that, in localities where the disease has 

 been for some time, the bees become some- 

 what immune, or else the scourge loses some 

 of its virulence. He believes in curing by 



naphthol beta or formic acid. [It is barely 

 possible that foul-brood spores might float in 

 the air, but I think it is very doubtful. — Ed.] 



Page 498 is a strong argument in favor of 

 Doolittle cells. What is now wanted is to 

 have added to the list of supplies a proper 

 division-board that may be used in the regu- 

 lar hive. I suspect that having the cells be- 

 tween two combs with young larvae is an im- 

 portant point. In hot weather wouldn't two 

 compartments be as good as three? Is an 

 8-frame hive large enough for three compart- 

 ments ? [Yes, in hot weather two compart- 

 ments would do, perhaps, as well as three ; 

 but having in any case the frame of cell-cups 

 between two combs of young larvae is quite 

 important. — Ed. ] 



Prof. S. J. Hunter, who will be pleasant- 

 ly remembered by bee keepers who attended 

 the Omaha convention, has written "Alfalfa, 

 Grasshoppers, Bees ; their Relationship," a 

 pamphlet published by the University of Kan- 

 sas, that is of much interest. A careful count- 

 ing of seeds showed that " the seed crop of al- 

 falfa upon which bees worked was 66.6 per 

 cent greater than the crops taken from alfalfa 

 dependent upon other insects for pollination." 

 Coming from a man who is plainly no bee- 

 keeper, that statement has weight. [This is 

 indeed a valuable point ; and yet there are 

 just a few, even among bee-keepers, who in- 

 sist that bees have very little to do with the 

 pollenization of plants. — Ed.] 



One FEELS a bit confused on reading, on 

 page 516, a heading, " Bees for Fertilizing Cu- 

 cumbers," and then the next item beginning, 

 " I alw T ays fertilize my Irish potatoes with cot- 

 ton seed, and have never seen a bug on them." 

 Now, if potatoes can be fertilized with cotton 

 seed without the intervention of bugs, could 

 not cucumbers be fertilized with cotton seed 

 without the intervention of bees? On the 

 other hand, might it not be cheaper to have 

 either fertilized by bugs or bees than to fertil- 

 ize them by hand by means of cotton seed ? 

 [Dr. Miller seems not only to have become 

 " rattled " himself, but he succeeds in rattling 

 everybody else who tries to read his Straw and 

 understand "what he is at." I suppose the 

 sum and substance of his criticism is that the 

 word fertilizer means one thing in speaking 



