)OUKHAl3 

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•To'Bele.^ 



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•INTERESTS 



,101- 



"Publishedby THEAl r Rool' Co. 



i°»p[RYtAR '\© "Medina-Ohio- 



Vol. XXVII. 



AUG. i, 1899. 



No. 15. 



You ask me, Mr. Editor, to make certain 

 experiments because you're too busy. Can't 

 do it. Not because I'm too busy, but because 

 the bees are not busy enough. 



July 17 I found two clipped queens quietly 

 holding joint possession in one colony. 

 Either they had lived there together since last 

 year, or one of them must have swarmed out 

 of a neighboring colony and peaceably ac- 

 cepted. The first supposition is perhaps the 

 more easily believed. 



C. Davenport's plan of waxing rubber 

 bands on fruit-cans to prevent leaking, as 

 mentioned in last number's Straws, has been 

 tried at our house, and it doesn't work "in 

 this locality." Wax cools and flakes off be- 

 fore it can be got in place. Some kink, per- 

 haps, we haven't got hold of. 



Replying to C. Davenport, p. 536, I don't 

 know that I ever said it was necessary to have 

 a section full of foundation to have the bees 

 accept the bottom starter, for bees will accept 

 — have accepted — a bottom starter when there 

 was no top starter ; but a bottom starter, I 

 think, is very much more secure against top- 

 pling over if the two starters are so near to- 

 gether that the bees promptly join them. 



Stenog says, p. 531, that Noah Webster 

 shortened our spelling very materially in 

 many ways, and then says, "I feel sure our 

 common spelling will not be modified during 

 the next century." Now, Stenog, how do 

 you know the death of Noah Webster ended 

 all hope of further mending? Or, do you 

 mean that in this century our spelling will be 

 so improved that it will not need to be mod- 

 ified in the next century ? 



If friend Gilstrap wants his veil three 

 inches longer, let him sew it to the outer edge 

 of the rim of his hat instead of having it puck- 

 ered around the crown. [Yes, that will fix 

 it, sure enough; but while you are about it, if 

 the hat is broad-brimmed, sew the veil inside 

 of the outer edge an inch or so. This greatly 



improves the seeing qualities of the material, 

 says W. L. Coggshall, for then the projecting 

 brim shades it, preventing that disagreeable 

 gloss or glistening that is sometimes so trjing 

 to the eyes. — Ed.] 



"To prevent swarming, queen - cells 

 should be destroyed in 9 days," says Question- 

 box, p. 543 In 9 days from what? [The 

 answer is a little incomplete, it is true. I 

 meant, however, nine days either from the 

 first swarm, or when cells are about nine days 

 old. Assuming that some queens might hatch 

 in twelve days, this would leave a leeway so 

 that all cells could be cut out before any 

 young queens could emerge. — Ed.] 



C. Davenport, you've got me mixed up 

 with some one else, p. 536, or else you've just 

 reversed my practice. Instead of putting on 

 supers as soon as colonies are strong enough, 

 without regard to the flow, I put them on just 

 when I think the flow is coming, without very 

 much regard to the strength of colonies. But 

 I don't believe bees spoil sections put on too 

 earl}' as much as they do those left on too late. 

 Propolis is more plentiful in the latter case. 



Mr. Editor, referring to the picture of 

 Draper's barn and the eight-frame hive, you 

 say, " It will be apparent from the illustra- 

 tion that the difference is not nearly so great 

 as one would imagine." I arise to remark 

 that the real difference in capacity is greater 

 than one who judges from the illustration 

 would imagine. Allowing that the comb 

 comes within % inch of the bottom bar, if I 

 figure rightly, the comb surface in a " barn " 

 is equal to 123/ of the ordinary frames. Two 

 barns hold more than three eight-frame hives. 



"The fact of insect origin " of honey-dew 

 " can not be doubted now. It's settled," say 

 you, Mr. Editor, p. 542. Certainly, it's set- 

 tled that honey-dew comes by means of in- 

 sects; but isn't it also settled that honey-dew 

 may likewise come without any insects ? 

 [Strictly speaking, there is no honey-dew ex- 

 cept of insect origin; and, strictly speaking, 

 we might say also there is no such thing as 

 real honey-dew; that is, there is no kind of 

 saccharine matter that falls in the form of a 

 spray from the heavens, as was formerly sup- 

 posed. But there is a sort of saccharine exu- 



