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^^ublishedb/THEA I^OOY Co. 

 $l£°PtRYEAR. 'Nq^MEDINA-OHIO- 



VoL XXXIL 



FEB. J 5, J 904. 



No. 4 



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"Beginners had better clip the wings 

 on one side only," p. 134. Good advice for 

 beginners. Equally good for veterans. 



Ykars ago the Germans were trying to 

 find what would hasten granulation in hon- 

 ej', and they decided, just as we have, that 

 agitation is the thing. 



Nkw Jp:rsky bee-keepers would do well 

 to send 50 cents each to Geo. N. Wanser, 

 Cranford, N. J., to become members of N. 

 J. B K. Ass'n, and then that association 

 should join the National in a body. 



The usual space left by the bees be- 

 tween two surfaces of sealed honey, or be- 

 tweea honey and separator, is )i inch. 

 Sometimes, however, the bees make a great- 

 er space — I wonder why. Before me lies a 

 section showing that the bees left a space of 

 y%, making the comb \y% instead of l^g 

 thick, and it looks still thinner than that. 

 [While bees have an approximate rule about 

 spacing, yet there are a good many varia- 

 tions, as I have noticed. But is not the av- 

 erage space usually a trifle under % inch? 

 The space between the surfaces of sealed 

 brood will be wider than between surfaces 

 of honey, as a rule. — Ed.] 



That trip on the glass- bottom boat — the 

 one A. 1. Root tells about, p. 141! I was 

 seasick on the steamer going over; but the 

 minute I struck land 1 was over it, and en- 

 joyed to the full those wonderful sights at 

 the bottom of the ocean. Then we had that 

 delicious fish dinner Bro. Root tells about. 

 I don't remember what we paid for it, but I 

 remember that I thought it a very moderate 

 price; but before 1 was through with that 

 dinner, coming back on the steamer I 

 thought I paid dearly for it. I thought I 

 had been sick going over; but coming back 



— oh my ! We passed a whale in full view, 

 and there was a big rush to see it. Never 

 a rush did I make. What cared I for 

 whales? My mind was otherwise occupied. 



J. E. Johnson talks in Am. Bee-keeper 

 about applying formalin gas in a hive full 

 of bees, and killing foul brood without kill- 

 ing the bees. Sounds crazy-like; but know- 

 ing the man I ve some faith in what he 

 says. He makes the point that Bacillus al~ 

 vel being vegetable, and the bee animal,, 

 what is fatal to one is not necessarily fatal 

 to the other. [This is a matter on which it 

 would be interesting to have some bacteri- 

 ologist enlighten us; but is it not true that, 

 when the gas is used very strong, it kills 

 the bees? and has it not been stated that it 

 must be used strong in order to kill the 

 spores as well as the active bacilli? — Ed.], 



You "have secured uniformly good re- 

 sults with a %-inch space" under bottom- 

 bars, Mr. Editor, p. 135. Just so; but some 

 of us with conditions not perfect will be 

 safer with 2 inches. Even with two inches, 

 the cluster will sometimes be down on the 

 bottom-board, and then it's hard to clean 

 away the dead bees. A % entrance might 

 be clogged where 2 inches would be clear. 

 " Pretty bad wintering to clog a % en- 

 trance? " Sure; but then there is some bad 

 wintering. [If the entrances are kept rea- 

 sonably clear, is it not true that '/i depth 

 would be enough? Is it not a fact that any 

 bee keeper who winters indoors should look 

 to his bees occasionally? — Ed.] 



M. D. Andes makes number-tags by 

 means of an indestructible set of dies cost- 

 ing 50 cents. Pieces of sections thus punch- 

 ed will last well, if they could only be made 

 to be seen at several rods' distance. Could 

 rubber stamps or other type be made to 

 print on wood with weather proof ink? 

 How would printing-ink do, covered with 

 varnish or oil? [Rubber stamps can be 

 made, and regular printing-ink, or, better 

 still, indelible pad ink, could be used very 

 satisfactorily. The complete set with fig- 

 ures \]i inches high with an indelible pad 

 would cost 75 cts. : but a cheaper thing, and 

 perhaps as good, is a set of brass stencils. 



