170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



Probably quite a number will agree with 

 what the editor says in regard to stings, as fol- 

 lows : 



We can not entirely agree with the oft-repeated as- 

 sertion that " bees will never volunteer an attack," 

 nor sting "except in self-defense." Neither is it quite 

 correct to fay that " after a little practice and experi- 

 ence no protection is required ; " indeed, it will usually 

 be found that in apiaries of any extent, where the 

 bees are " natives," and possessing the grit and the 

 healthy vigor requisite to make good returns possible, 

 there is not that complete immunity from the risk of 

 an occasional sting which some would have us believe. 

 As a matter of fact, in all our acquaintance with suc- 

 cessful bee-men we never yet found one who hadn't a 

 veil somewhere in the house, and who did not wear it 

 at one time or another. Personally, we almost inva- 

 riably have our veil on when working among bees, 

 not pulled down over the face, but ready on the hat 

 for instant use on an emergency. It lessens the risk 

 to have it so, and a sting in the eye is at no time agree- 

 able. 



REVUE INTERNATIONALE. 



In speaking of the death of the oldest bee- 

 journal in the world, Nordlinger Bienenzeit- 

 U7ig, the advocate of the Dickel theory, and 

 edited by Mr. Dickel himself, Mr. U. Gubler, 

 an eminent French writer, says : ' ' This was 

 the journal that was rendered famous by the 

 publication of the Dzierzon theory ; and it is a 

 curious thing that the denial of this same the- 

 ory is what has cost its life." 



This journal is also printing a very interest- 

 ing series of articles on the anatomy of the bee. 

 The present article is a complete exposition of 

 the Dzierzon theory, written by Thos. W. 

 Cowan in English. 



\!u 



Mr. E. Bertrand, editor, gives over two pages 

 in his January issue to a description of the A 

 B C book and the Home of the Honey-bees. 

 As it is a translation of what appeared in our 

 Nov. 15 issue we will not reproduce it here. 

 But in winding up, Mr. Bertrand says : " We 

 have tried, in the preceding, to give an idea of 

 the importance of the Medina establishment, 

 which is, undoubtedly, in its particular line, 

 the largest in the world. It remains for us to 

 congratulate the members of the firm for the 

 notable part they have taken in the develop- 

 ment of apiculture, and especially for the ser- 

 vices they render by their beautiful and useful 

 publications." 



GREASY SECTIONS. 



Not Caused by the Queen or her Bees, but by a 

 Poor or Slackening Honey-flow. 



BY DR. D. A. M'l^EAN. 



An article in the Dec. 15th issue of Glean- 

 ings, entitled " Greas}' Sections," tallies so 

 closely with well-established convictions that 

 I have held for several years, that I wish to 

 lend my assistance to the writer in his laudable 

 endeaver to " sit on " Dr. Miller and other 

 writers who have been advising the killing of 



the queens of those colonies that give that 

 kind of honey. Had I followed their advice 

 I should before this have killed oflF, at various 

 times, all the queens in my apiary at least 

 once, and some of them probably several times. 



From a careful observation for a number of 

 years I have determined, to my own satisfac- 

 tion at least, the cause of the honey presenting 

 the watery or greasy appearance. I believe 

 the writer of the article spoken of has mistaken 

 an indirect or remote cause for the immediate 

 one. The immediate cause (in my opinion) is 

 a sudden partial failure of the honey -flow. 



Let there be a free honey-flow with good 

 weather, either hot or cool, the bees all busy, 

 and honey coming in fast, no sections with 

 the thin greasy-looking cappings will ever 

 be found, but all will be nice and white, be- 

 cause plenty of wax is secreted and used. But 

 let a spell of very hot dry weather begin and 

 continue for some time, or equally effective, 

 as I have many times observed, showery weath- 

 er for a week or ten days, and you may look 

 with confidence for the "greasy" cappings. 

 The effect of continued hot dry weather and 

 of showery weather on the honey supply is the 

 same; viz., to reduce the amount. Now, your 

 honey-bee is an extremely provident and con- 

 servative worker. When honey is coming in 

 freely it uses it freely to make wax for the 

 cappings ; but as soon as the supply begins to 

 diminish, it begins to use less for wax, and uses 

 only sufficient to hold the honey safely in the 

 cells ; and the thin cappings, resting down on 

 the honey, absorb some of it, expel any air that 

 may have been. inclosed, and look watersoaked 

 or greasy. I have watched this effect so many 

 times that I can tell almost to a certainty from 

 the character of the season and the honey -flow 

 where and how much of the thin cappings I 

 shall find in a super before taking it off. For 

 instance, if my super was, say, half filled, and 

 capped during the free flow, and the other half 

 during a scanty flow, I shall find the center 

 sections nice and white, because they are usual- 

 ly capped first, while those on the outside will 

 be more or less lacking in amount of wax over 

 the cells; while, on the other hand, if the su- 

 per has been placed on the hive a short time be- 

 fore the shortage begins, the middle sections 

 will be "greasy; " and if a good flow comes 

 afterward, the outside ones will be nice and 

 white. There will, of course, be all kinds of 

 variations in this matter according to the stage 

 of completion of each particular super; but my 

 proposition is that the honey that is capped 

 during a scanty flow will, much of it, be 

 " greasy." 



The editor says he does not remember seeing 

 watery and white honey come from the same 

 hive. I wish to say that I take it from the 

 same hive and from the same super every sea- 

 son, and I feel confident that, if I did not see 

 the inside of a single one of the supers until 

 the close of the season, 1 could guess very close- 

 ly the amount of greasy sections I should have 

 from the character of the flow throughout the 

 season. 



You will notice Mr. Whitney says in his 

 article that the first and third cases of sections 

 were stored during a rapid flow, and while the 



