1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



289 



scrupulous buyers and sometimes bee-keep- 

 ers have resorted to putting the glucose into 

 dark honey to improve its appearance and 

 flavor. But the skilled chemist is able to 

 detect unerringly such bogus mixtures. 



Certainly a one-gallon square can is as 

 good as a five-gallon if it can be bought at 

 the same price. As yet, that condition is 

 very unusual. — Ed.] 



the inside with wax or paraffine. Melt 2 

 lbs. of paraffine; pour it into the bunghole; 

 drive in the bung; roll the barrel around, 

 and end it up; then pour out the remainder, 

 but be careful or the bung will fly as soon 

 as you begin to loosen it. — Ed.] 



CONTROLLING SWARMING DURING THE AB- 

 SENCE OF THE APIARIST. 



Will you please tell me how to manage 

 my bees during swarming? I have about 

 ten stands, and have other employment that 

 compels me to be absent from 7 a. m. to 6 

 p. M. each day. 



Some say, clip your queens; then when 

 they swarm have some one of the family re- 

 move the old hive, and place a new one in 

 its place. This does not answer my case, 

 as no one in my family will go about the 

 bees. Others say, shake them. This will 

 not do for me, as I have tried it on three 

 colonies this year, and every one was a 

 failure, the bees leaving their hive a day or 

 two afterward G. J. Sturm. 



Flora, 111., Dec. 26. 



[I scarcely know what plan to recommend 

 to you if you are not so situated as to use 

 the shake-out or clipped-wing plan; but you 

 can hardly condemn the former method un- 

 til you have tried it on a little more extend- 

 ed scale. If you will be content to produce 

 some extracted and some comb honey, make 

 the colonies very strong, in large hives. 

 Such will not be apt to swarm. As a fur- 

 ther precaution I would advise having tne 

 queen's wings clipped. While, perhaps, 

 there will be no one at home to take care of 

 the bees in case they come out, some mem- 

 ber of your family could report that such 

 and such a hive had cast a swarm. This 

 would make it necessary for you either to 

 shake the bees into the new hive on the old 

 stand or divide them up; for a colony that 

 attempts once to swarm is pretty sure to 

 carry out its intent if thwarted. — Ed.] 



IS IT ADVISABLE TO STORE HONEY IN OIL- 

 BARRELS? 



Would it be safe to store extracted honey 

 in Wesson oil barrels? If so, how should 

 they be treated to prevent them from impart- 

 ing any flavor to the honey? Would ko nut 

 barrels be preferable to Wesson oil-barrels? 



W. H. LiTTLEJOHN. 



Battle Creek, Mich. 



[I would not advise you to store honey in 

 oil-tanks or oil- barrels of any kind. You 

 will be sure to ruin the honey. The other 

 barrels I do not know much about, but I do 

 not think it would be wise to try them. 

 Honey is very susceptible, and readily takes 

 on flavors already in wooden packages. 

 Your better way is to use new barrels or 

 square tin cans. You can use second-hand 

 alcohol or whisky barrels, but they should 

 be thoroughly washed out, then coated on 



ELECTRIC OR PHOSPHORESCENT SPARKS 

 FROM BEES. 



I wish to call attention to a phenomenon 

 I observed one evening last fall in connec- 

 tion with my bees — one that I have never 

 seen mentioned concerning them. One dark 

 evening I had occasion to disturb a colony. 

 The night being warm, quite a number 

 poured out on the board, and ran about ex- 

 citedly in great rage, and I distinctly no- 

 ticed several sparks of some form of elec- 

 tricity or phosphorescence. Whether this 

 was due to heat, friction, or excitement, or 

 some spontaneous action, I can not say; but 

 I am satisfied I observed the flashes or 

 glow of light. You may smile at this; but 

 if any one has ever noticed this phenomenon 

 before I should like to hear of it. 



Kan., Feb. 15. W. S. H. 



[The light that you saw ^nay have been 

 something of the nature of phosphorescence; 

 but if there has been any thing if this kind 

 that has ever before been observed in a hive 

 I have seen no reports of it. I shall be glad 

 to get reports from others. 



You will remember there was an old joke 

 that went the rounds of the press, and every 

 now and then bobs up as something nevy 

 under the sun, to the efi'ect that a certain 

 scientist had made the wonderful discovery 

 that bees and lightning bugs could be 

 crossed so that the bees could work by 

 night as well as by day. I do not suppose 

 your bees were this kind of hybrids. If 

 your letter did not bear the marks of evi- 

 dent sincerity, I should think you were try- 

 ing to get off another lightning-bug joke. — 

 Ed.] 



how to make zinc numbering-tags. 



Referring to tags (see Straws, Dec. 1), I 

 use zinc tags prepared as follows: Dip the 

 zinc in melted beeswax so as to secure a 

 thin covering of wax. After it has cooled, 

 with a metal stylus write your figures in 

 the wax, then fill the etching with muriatic 

 acid. Allow it to eat into the z'mc for two 

 minutes, then plunge in water; afterward 

 scrape off the wax, and you have a durable 

 inexpensive tag. H. I. Larcombe. 



Bettsville, Md. 



CAPTAIN HETHKRINGTON'S DEATH MOURN- 

 ED IN EUROPE. 



The death of Capt. Hetherington, that 

 prince of American bee-keepers, as you call 

 him, very much affected us. We always 

 have much esteem for all Americ ms, and 

 veterans more especially, and we feel as if 

 a friend in the great family of bee- keepers 

 were wanting. Now another one is gone 

 home. P. J. Baldenspergek. 



Nice, France. 



