1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



169 



Using language correctly is a hard job for 

 me. In a late Straw I said, " Some foundation 

 made of pure wax ten years old was very brit- 

 tle." The editor (quite excusably) under- 

 stood the foundation was made ten years ago. 

 Let me try again : "Some wax ten years old 

 was made into foundation, and the foundation 

 was brittle when first made." According to 

 the editor this could not be ; ard it is quite 

 possible that sOme one in Germany has my 

 trouble about using language. [1 can not un- 

 derstand why wax ten years old should give a 

 hard brittle foundation unless the wax during 

 melting was healed too hot or the sheets of 

 wax immediately after dipping were chilled 

 too soon. Of course, by the new process there 

 is no chilling of the wax ; and this, together 

 with the fact th it the product is subjected to 

 about 500 lbs. pressure to the square inch, 

 makes a homogeneous, tough, yet pliable prod- 

 uct.— Ed.] 



■r^/} 



^ICZKlJWGS 



\t^/lOM OU/f NEIGHBORS FIELDS. 

 _ I, By IStcisog-.'"' 



Winter still maintains his r^ign — 

 Ice and sltret ;incl snow again ; 

 Hires are fastened in their hives, 

 Waiting there till spring revives. 



»*/ 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 

 The issue for Feb. 22 starts out with a bio- 

 graphy of D. H Coggshall, of West Groton, 

 N. Y. A view of Mr. C.'s residence and one of 

 his apiary are given — the same that appeared 

 in this journal on pages ^92, 893 last year. As 

 Mr. Coggshall is so well known to our readers 

 through these columns, there remains nothing 

 more to be said except that he, like his broth- 

 er W Lamar, is a good example of what can 

 be done in one line by being always at it. 



\ii 



In regard to extracting too closely, " Old 

 Grimes " says : 



In order to get the most out of an extractor some bee - 

 keepers extract quite an amount of larvte with the 

 honey, but here is a case where the operator would 

 better be content with a little less. Old Grimes 

 learned a ksson many years ago that cured him of 

 this trick. There was quite an amount of said larvce 

 in all stages of development in the strainer, and we 

 all know that they never look very nice, and we pre 

 fer that our customeis should not see them ; but there 

 came a city lady who was being shown the my.-terie* 

 of the bee-business : everything was new and very in- 

 tere.sting to her until she came to the strainer with the 

 white larvifi in it, and the honey running over them. 

 Then and there, from the remark she made, she for- 

 got all the rest she had .sfeen, and only remembered 

 "those worms," as she termed them, and thereafter 

 she never would allow a drop of liquid honey to pass 

 her lips — she knew just how it was extracted. Al- 

 though but a very little of our honev had been in con- 

 tact with the larvic, it made no diiTerence, it was all 

 alike to her. 



If much larvx is thrown out with the honey it will 

 injure the flavor. A good way to ovcrconre the laivie 

 trouble is to return to the hive all combs having un- 

 sealed brood. It may he a little trouble and a delay 

 in the extracting of that comb, but it pays. Another 

 way out of the woods is to use the queen excluding 

 honey-board ; all honey stored above it is sure to be 



free from larvje, and for that reason it is used quite 

 extensively in our apiaries. 



This whole article on extracting ought to be 

 in pamphlet form, and read by all who own an 

 extractor. 



Mr. York deserves great praise for the ex- 

 cellence of the mechanical part of his journal. 

 Its freedom from typographical mistakes is 

 quite in keeping with the high moral tone of 

 the journal. 



\\t 



BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 

 Mr. A. H. Cowan, son of Thos. W. Cowan, 

 was married in Loomis, Cal., Jan. 9, to Miss 

 Mary Owen. Mr. Cowan is engaged in raising 

 oranges and peaches on a large scale in Cali- 

 fornia. 



\t/ 

 In speaking of some people who should not 

 keep bees, the editor says : 



Then there is a class of unpromising candidates for 

 success in the pursuit who possess no natural aptitude 

 at all for it and who should never attempt to engage 

 in it. One of these well accounted for his failure 

 when he remarked to us : "' My bees were awfully .sav- 

 age the other day ; but Jack was as good as his mas- 

 ter, and I gave it them hot!" And very hot indeed 

 had he given it them, for on lifting thf quilts the num- 

 ber of dead bees we saw lyint; with their crushed 

 bodies flattened on the top bars fully attested the 

 waimth of his "■ handling." 



Here is another good point : 



It is just as necessary' that the bee-keeper should 

 know when to leave the bees alone as it is to do the 

 right thing at the right time ; and he who persists in 

 carrying through operations at the wrong time, and 

 while the bees determinedly re.sent it, not only acts 

 unwisely, but lays the foundation of further trouble. 

 Gentle handling at all times, and judicious waiting for 

 another chance to carry out operations if the bees are 

 disposed to be vicious, will have a remarkable effect in 

 preserving the bee master's control of the apiary, and 

 in maintaining that order therein which is to necessa- 

 ry for comfort and success. 



\i/ 



Rev. George Raynor for more than twenty 

 years dispensed with smoke and smoker, using 

 instead a solution as follows : 1}4 oz Calvert's 

 No. 5 carbolic acid ; 1 }i oz. glycerine, 1 quart 

 of warm water. The acid and glycerine are to 

 be well mixed before adding the water, and 

 the bottle to be well shaken before using. But 

 the editor says he prefers a good smoker and a 

 bit of dry fustian. 



\u 



A correspondent at Durban, Natal, South 

 Africa, near the seat of war, says : 



There is a formidable black ant, about the size of 

 the common house-fly, that comes in an army, and 

 then a battle royal takes place, the slaughter on both 

 sides being tremendous, and the fight lasting for a 

 day or two ; but the ants have a great advantage at 

 night, and eventually win and carry off honey, brood, 

 and bees, entirely destroying the stock. 



An English weather report for January is 

 not without interest. Rainfall, 3.77 inches. 

 On the 6th, almost one inch fell. It rained 21 

 days. Lowest temperature, 23, on the 6th ; 

 highest, 60 on the 24th. Frosty nights, 17. 

 Sunshine, 53.7 hours. Sunless days, 11. 



The solar wax extractor does good work in 

 vSouth Africa these winter months, the maxi- 

 mum temperature being 120 degrees. 



