^JOUR 



• DEVOTE 



•To-BEE^ 



•and honey 



•AND HuMEL 



•INTERESTS 



'ublishedy THEA-pRooY Co. 



$i£°PER\tAR 'X® "Medina- Ohio- 



Vol. XXVII. 



OCT. i, 1899. 



No. 



J 9 



Albin Droux says, in Revue Int., that his 

 bees located near a pine forest averaged 33 

 pounds surplus, while those \% miles from 

 the pines stored nothing. Edkor Bertrand 

 thinks it may be that the bees did not nnd the 

 nectar, because of its lack of odor. 



If the convention at Philadelphia was a 

 failure, it wasn't the fault of W. A. Selser and 

 other Philadelphians. But it was very far 

 from a failure. [That is true. We never met 

 at a place where bee-keepers as a whole in the 

 vicinity did more to make us comfortable, 

 and to give us a general good time. Most of 

 the credit, however, should be given to Mr. 

 W. A. Selser and to Mr. Hahman- Ed.] 



B. W. Hayck reports in American Bee 

 Journal that a caged virgin queen was forgot- 

 ten, and liberated after a confinement of seven 

 weeks. Two days later she was seen with 

 marks of fecundation, and after three more 

 days was laying. [This is very unusual. We 

 generally set it down as a rule that, if a virgin 

 queen is not fertilized within two weeks, she 

 probably never will lay fertile eggs. She will 

 either commence laying drone eggs or else the 

 bees will get rid of her. — Ed.] 



Referring to p. 677, I may say that, as a 

 rule, my bees don't swarm before 9 a.m. nor 

 after 3 P.M. If they are foiled in their at- 

 tempts to swarm, by some device such as a 

 clipped queen, they become desperate and 

 defy some rules. But there are a good many 

 exceptions where there is no interference, and 

 I've had prime swarms at 6 or 7 in the morn- 

 ing, especially on a muggy morning. This 

 summer a prime swarm issued after 4 on a 

 cloudy afternoon, that being its first attempt 

 to swarm, so far as I know. 



"I DO know that a wired frame is an ex- 

 pensive nuisance," says T. K. Massie, p. 680. 

 That's the way Canadians and some others 

 talked years ago, friend Massie ; but they're 

 wirers now. Please keep things straight. You 

 say, practically, that wiring is a necessity with 

 deep frames ; and a thing that's a necessity 



can hardly be called a nuisance. If you want 

 to insist that shallow frames are better than 

 deep ones, that's another question. [A very 

 large number of bee-keepers have come to the 

 conclusion that it is an expensive nuisance not 

 to have frames wired. This is especially the 

 case for out yards where hives are hauled, or 

 where frames are extracted on the "slam- 

 bang" plan. — Ed.] 



For some time the American Bee Journal 

 has had a department called " The After- 

 thought," written by " Cogitator." Said 

 " Cogitator " has confined his " after- 

 thoughts " entirely to previous numbers of 

 the Journal, commenting upon them in an ex- 

 ceedingly interesting and sometimes instruct- 

 ive way. "Cogitator" seems now to have 

 given up the work, and one E. E. Hasty has 

 taken his place. Mr. Hasty's initial attempt 

 is so excellent that, if he can keep up the same 

 pace in future numbers, there need be no re- 

 gret at the early demise of " Cogitator." 

 [Took here, doctor ; it seems to me you are 

 trying to " give something away." Better 

 look out, or you will have Bro. York clawing 

 at your bald head. — Ed] 



Following the Grand Army with the U. S. 

 B. K. A. convention has its disadvantages, but 

 they are far outweighed by the one distinct 

 advantage of low railroad fares that can not be 

 so surely counted upon at any other time. By 

 all means, let the settled policy be to follow 

 the G. A. R. [The only objection that can be 

 urged against following the Grand Army is 

 the inconvenience at hotels, and the general 

 crowd. But we had none of those troubles at 

 Philadelphia ; and I think that, in spite of 

 that, Chicago, our next place of meeting, will 

 be big enough, not only to entertain the Grand 

 Army, but the members of the U. S. B. K. A., 

 or what may then be the National Association. 

 —Ed.] 



Pressing " barns" to the front is what T. 

 K. Massie says I seem to be doing, p. 680. 

 Hardly that. I recognize good points in them, 

 just as I recognize good points in the Danzy 

 hive. After a trial of two Danzy hives, I con- 

 clude that for my purpose the good points are 

 not sufficient to counterbalance their disadvan- 

 tages, although I have no quarrel with those 

 who prefer them. As yet I am not willing to 

 say I shall adopt "barns ; " and until I say so 



