532 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JUI.Y 1, 



So far in our locality we have had of late a 

 predominance of north winds, with an occa- 

 sional shifting around to the south, followed 

 by copious showers. But north winds gener- 

 ally forebode no good to the honey-producer. 



In the American Bee-keeper, Mr. Harry S. 

 Howe, the young man who had "too much 

 bicyle ' ' in Cuba, and who is convalescing slow- 

 ly, says that black brood is found even in Cu- 

 ba. Mr. Howe made a special study of bac- 

 teriology while at Cornell, and while at the 

 hospital in Cuba he has been availing himself 

 of the privileges afforded by the laboratory of 

 that institution, and while there diagnosed 

 certain samples as black brood. It begins to 

 look now as if black and foul brood were very 

 near relatives — at least, where one is found the 

 other is likely to be. 



ANOTHER WAY OF FINDING A OUEEN IN 

 DIFFICULT CASES. 

 AnenT finding queens, a correspondent sug- 

 gests that in bad cases the colony be moved 

 temporarily to another stand, and an empty 

 hive be put in its place. In an hour or so the 

 flying bees will have left the colony, taking 

 the major part of the old bees. The decimated 

 condition of the colony, together with the fact 

 that the old bees are gone, makes it easy to 

 find her majesty, he says. It strikes me that, 

 to lift the old colony off its old stand, and 

 tote it off a rod or two, would involve consid- 

 erable labor. I would rather hunt for her, I 

 think, in the good old fashioned way, a second 

 time. I do not think I ever missed finding a 

 queen at the "second hunt," especially if I 

 call an assistant to help me scan the comb. 



CUTTING RED CLOVER AT THE PEAK OF THE 

 HONEY YIELD. 



I CAN imagine how the Coloradoans feel 

 when the ranchers begin to cut the alfalfa at 

 the peak of its best nectar secretion. Yester- 

 day while I was at our out-yard it was with 

 considerable dismay that I saw a seventeen- 

 acre red clover field, bordering the lot of the 

 bees, being cut by the farmer. The bees were 

 fairly swarming on the blossoms; and as we 

 had had no honey up to that time, and the col- 

 onies were almost on the verge of starvation, 

 you can imagine how I felt. In two days' 

 time the seventeen acres was cut, and there 

 are dozens of other similar fields within bee 

 range that are sharing the same fate. 



White clover having failed us entirely we 

 look to the basswoods, which will be out in a 

 few days. But these do not promise much. 



means of a wabbling saw- -makes the best kind 

 of smoker fuel — the most lasting and the 

 densest smoke ; but in order to get good re- 

 sults one must throw in but a very little of the 

 shavings, light a match, and work the bellows 

 until the fuel is reduced to live embers. 

 Throw in some more, and treat them in the 

 same way. It is then possible to cram in the 

 planer shavings, pushing them down hard. 

 Next fill the nozzle, in the same way, snap it 

 back into place, and we are ready for an hour 

 or two hours' work. If the smoker is kept 

 full there is no blowing of sparks into the 

 hive. 



This treatment is especially adapted to the 

 Crane smoker, for it has a powerful direct 

 blast. It may also be used for the Bingham 

 and Corneil ; but with either of these less 

 cramming of the fuel is advisable. 



THE BEST SMOKER FUEL, AND HOW TO USE. 

 All things considered, I have come to the 

 opinion that planer-shavings or handhole saw- 

 dust — a stringy kind of excelsior made by 



CANKER WORMS ON THE BASSWOODS ; 

 ANOTHER PEST. 



Referring to the canker worms men- 

 tioned editorially in our issue for June 15 I 

 learn that Prof. W. J. Green, of the Ohio Ex- 

 periment Station, Wooster, says that these 

 pests will undoubtedly come back next sum- 

 mer ; that, while the hard rains would dislodge 

 the worms and interrupt them for the time be- 

 ing, he thinks spraying or poisoning will have 

 to be resorted to in order to destroy them. 



We are now finding in our locality another 

 pest on the basswood trees. At the base of 

 the leaf -stalk on some trees there is a drop of 

 whitish-colored mucus about the size of a bean. 

 In this drop there will be enveloped one, two, 

 or three tiny bugs, the bodies of which are not 

 much larger than a common pinhead. The 

 bugs are white, having a verj' prominent anal 

 opening that seems to be almost telescopic, ex- 

 tending out like a miniature trunk. These 

 pests attack the leaves of the trees. Some 

 basswoods will have these "gobs" of mucus 

 scattered all over the tree. We have written 

 to Prof. Green for particulars as to what they 

 are. 



In addition to what Ernest has said above, I 

 will add that I have seen this mucus on bass- 

 wood-trees more or less ever since I have been 

 interested in bee culture. At first I thought it 

 might be honey-dew; but the bees and other 

 insects never touched it so far as I could dis- 

 cover. It seems to be most prevalent during 

 very dry weather. I did not know until Er- 

 nest called my attention to it that there was 

 an insect inside of every mass of this stalk 

 that looks like spittle scattered over the foliage. 

 —A. I. R.] 



THE GLOBE BEE-VEIL 



Some years ago, when I called on G. M. 

 Doolittle we had occasion to talk about veils. 

 We were in the shop, and I think he was pick- 

 ing out an extra veil for me, for we were about 

 to look over some five-banders. 



" Here," said Mr. Doolittle, picking up a 

 globe veil, "is something I got from Mr. 

 Newman. Of all the 'ornery' things, this is 

 one of the worst, and I am surprised that Mr. 

 Newman sells them ; for usually, what one 



