798 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



character of the wounds returned. [Now 

 look here, Mr. M. D. Why didn't you tell us 

 what this p — ,p — , pro — propolisin is? I will 

 stop right here and look at the dictionary. — 

 There ! I have just consulted the Standard, 

 but I do not find the word. From what you 

 say I should judge it was a preparation made 

 from propolis. — Ed.] 



A QUEEN-CAGE as a glossometer may be all 

 right in your hands, Mr. Editor, but some- 

 thing else might be better in the hands of us 

 common bee-keepers. After the queen-cage 

 has done its work, if I understand the matter 

 rightly, the real measuring of the tongue has 

 yet to be done with a micrometer. What is 

 wanted is an instrument that will automatic- 

 ally register the length of tongue, with no 

 care on the part of the bee-keeper but to give 

 the bees the loaded feeder or glossometer. 

 But nowadays I .m more interested in mea- 

 suring a colony by the number of pounds it 

 stores. [But why, doctor, do you want the 

 glossometer to be automatic? And, again, I 

 do not see how you could possibly eliminate 

 the one item of "care" on the part of the 

 investigator, as you suggest. — Ed.] 



An item is going the rounds of foreign bee- 

 journals to the effect that when bees are stu- 

 pefied with ether their dispositions are so 

 changed that colonies with laying workers 

 immediately proceed to rear queen cells from 

 worker brood given them. But will not such 

 colonies often rear proper queen-cells when 

 they utterly refuse a queen ? [Yes ; but is it 

 not possible that the fumes of ether or chloro- 

 form might have the effect of compelling a 

 colony to accept a queen or some queen-cells 

 which they had formerly refused? Either 

 drug would leave a slight odor. In any case 

 it would take the bees some time to get over 

 their " drunk." While I do not believe it is 

 a good idea to encourage drunkenness among 

 human beings for the sake of rendering them 

 more docile (for it works the other way), yet 

 it flight have a beneficial effect with a stub- 

 born colony. — Ed.] 



Mr. Editor, I am indebted to you for 

 straightening me out when I was inclined to 

 consider bacilli as animals instead of plants, 

 and now you are misleading by speaking of 

 " the eggs of the microbes." Quit that, and 

 call the spores seeds and not eggs. [In speak- 

 ing of "eggs" I used the term somewhat 

 apologetically (as you will notice by referring 

 again to the sentence), in order that the aver- 

 age reader might understand a little better 

 the idea I was attempting to convey. One 

 can see how an egg - shell might be thick 

 enough to resist the effects of acids ; but he 

 would scarcely credit the notion that the cov- 

 ering of any seed would be equally acid-proof. 

 A bacillus is a genus of bacteria, a form of 

 microscopic vegetable growth that is exceed- 

 ingly common. In some cases the bacteria 

 cause fermentation, and in others decomposi- 

 tion. In most cases they are harmless ; but 

 in others they are exceedingly destructive and 

 dangerous, as in the case of those causing 

 consumption, diphtheria, and like diseases. 

 There now, I didn't mean to offer instruction 



to a physician, so I'll stop lest I put my foot 

 in it.— Ed.] 



Bees seem to have quite a habit of carrying 

 wax from one place to another. Experiments 

 reported in Le Rucher Beige used foundations 

 of different colors. In one hive a frame of 

 green foundation was put, and many cells of 

 the other combs were sealed green. That's 

 how dark sections come in this locality. They 

 are sealed white, and afterward black wax 

 from the brood-combs is plastered over them. 

 [Bees have a way of appropriating wax wher- 

 ever it sticks out in minute hunks, so that 

 they can easily carry it to some place where it 

 will be of some use in the general economy of 

 the hive. It is owing to this fact that side 

 storing was generally abandoned years ago. 

 That is to say, there was a time (you remem- 

 ber the time, doctor, when we were boys) 

 when wide frames containing sections were 

 put in the brood-nest ; but, if I remember 

 correctly, so many of those sections were dis- 

 colored by reason of their proximity to dark 

 or black old combs, that bee-keepers soon 

 found the necessity of having all sections fill- 

 ed in the upper story ; and now it has come to 

 pass that top storing is used almost exclusive- 

 ly all the world round. — Ed ] 



My TOP-BARS are 1)^ wide, and the space 

 between two top bars is % inch. I've been 

 leaving a space of % inch bttween the outside 

 top-bar and the side of the hive. But that 

 leaves only Y% inch space between the brood- 

 comb and the side of the hive, and the space 

 between two brood-combs (unless the combs 

 are very old) is ^ inch. If a half-inch space 

 is needed between combs to hold enough bees 

 to keep the brood warm, the same or greater 

 space is needed on the outside. So there 

 should be a space of at least ^ inch between 

 top-bar and wall of hive. But when honey is 

 sealed in brood combs, there's only % inch 

 space between them ; so if the outside comb 

 is to be used for honey, the top-bar should be 

 }i inch from wall. Shall I space to favor hon- 

 ey or brood in the outside comb ? [I'd cater 

 to convenience. If the hives are left outdoors 

 all the year round, they should be double- 

 walled ; and iu such hives I would have bee- 

 spaces approximate % inch. If the hives are 

 single-walled when carried into the cellar or 

 other repository, there will be not much more 

 need of the extra )-i space than there would 

 be if the hive were double-walled. Many 

 facts from continuous observation are forcing 

 us to believe for Medina, at least, that a dou- 

 ble-walled hive is not only a good thing dur- 

 ing winter, but a good thing all summer. It 

 is a protection against the great heat occasion- 

 ed by the direct rays of the sun ; and during 

 the spring, early summer, and late fall months 

 the double walls afford a most decidedly ben- 

 eficial protection. I am beginning to believe 

 that the time w:ll come when double hives will 

 be found to be more economical in the end 

 than those of single-thickness lumber. Our 

 Mr. Wardell has found it to be an advantage 

 to leave cushions on top of the supers or brood- 

 nests all summer. This is no new idea. It 

 has been advanced by man^ others. Now 



