1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



793 



to the leading- journals of the great cities, 

 it would prevent the insertion of stories so 

 inimical to bee-keepers. The cost would 

 be slight, and the novelty of such a bulletin 

 would immediately arrest attention. Mr. 

 Benton's letter to the Pittsburgh Gazette, 

 reproduced in this issue, would be indis- 

 pensable in this connection. The fact is, 

 no man of good judgment would believe the 

 story after having had the matter of comb 

 foundation fully explained to him, together 

 with the further fact that bees can produce 

 combs incomparably cheaper than man. No 

 editor would print a manifest absurdity of 

 this kind if he knew all the facts. On the 

 other hand, most of them dislike to make an 

 explanation after the fault has been com- 

 mitted. They would rather have it forgot- 

 ten. When a man is so nearsighted as to 

 put salt in his coffee, in place of sugar, he 

 is very apt to say, rather than have the 

 laugh on him, " I always take it so." Post 

 the editors. Prevention is better than cure. 



In the July number of the Reviezv, Mr. 

 Hutchinson has an excellent editorial on 

 how to treat those who have published the 

 senseless stuff about manufactured( ?) comb 

 honey. He says, "Above all things, don't 

 be abusive; don't bluster; don't threaten." 

 That's good advice; but it is rather hard 

 to follow it when the statements are so pal- 

 pably false, and especially, as in the case 

 of the Massachusetts professor, the writer 

 attempts to maintain his point As to the 

 origin of the story, Mr. Hutchinson says 

 Prof. Wiley "deeply regrets his indulgence 

 in this ' scientific pleasantry,' and is doing- 

 all he can for the good of bee-keepers; but 

 this does not undo the mischief he has done. ' ' 

 There are good reasons for thinking that 

 this canard has nearly run its course. With 

 two prominent journals retracting-, it will 

 be easy to get more, and then all will come 

 over on our side in a bunch like a flock of 

 sheep. 



The bee-keeper of England are eng-aged 

 in a warm controversy as to whether they 

 shall endeavor to have a foul-brood bill 

 passed by the British Parliament for their 

 benefit. The arguments against such a 

 measure seem ludicrous in view of the 

 marked benefits derived from such legisla- 

 tion in Canada and the United States. The 

 ravages of the diseas in England seem to 

 be rapid and severe according to the British 

 Bee Journal. One writer says it would 

 cost $2500 to get such a bill through the 

 House of Commons, and doubts the possibili- 

 ty of their getting for a long time, in the 

 shape of a law. 



\t/ 



While tendering our votes of thanks to 

 the poets, song- writers, etc., of beedom, 

 don't forget artist R. V. Murray, who has 

 done more than any other man living to de- 

 lineate every thing pertaining to bees and 

 hives. I am frequently surprised at the 

 rough sketches of hive- fixtures that are 



sent him, and the new dress in which he re- 

 turns them. 



lb 

 What W. K. Morrison says in this issue 

 about Haiti is worth remembering. It is a 

 pity that that beautiful island should be 

 given over to anarchy and scenes of blood- 

 shed that "stagger humanity." What a 

 place for honey if they had a stable govern- 

 ment like this I 



>s§!feini§ 



"^ 



mM'EM^ 



HOW TO FIND A QUEEN. 



"Good morning, Mr. Doolittle. I see by 

 the looks in your apiary that your bees, 

 like mine, are very strong in numbers." 



"Yes, Mr. Jones, there are lots of bees 

 in the hives now, as is usually the case 

 during and just after the basswood flow." 



"Well, what I want to know is this: 

 How do you find the queen of such a colony 

 as this one, where the hive is apparently as 

 full of bees as it can stick? In short, tell 

 me how to find a queen at any time of the 

 year." 



"To the accustomed eye of the practical 

 apiarist, prolific queens are quite easily 

 found, especially if the bees are of the 

 Italian race, or the time of the year is 

 about fruit- bloom; but a virgin queen of the 

 black or hybrid race often elludes the 

 watchful eye of an expert when he is look- 

 ing for her." 



"But I am not an expert. Have you no 

 rules you go by?" 



"I should hardly want to say that I had. 

 But to find a prolific queen the time to 

 look for her is on a nice day when the 

 bees are at work in the fields, or between 

 the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. If you 

 look at such times you will find her, more 

 often than otherwise, on one of the two out- 

 side combs which have brood in them." 



"Then you don't mean the outside combs 

 in the hive?" 



"No, not unless the outside combs in the 

 hive contain brood. If they do, then look 

 for her there. If there are only five frames 

 in the hive having brood in them, then she 

 will be liable to be found on one of the two 

 outside combs having brood in." 



"But how am I to tell about where these 

 outside frames of brood are without haul- 

 ing out a lot of combs that have no brood 

 in, and set the queen to running away?" 



"You do not need to handle the combs so 

 roughly that you set the queen to running, 

 even should you not take out the right frame 

 the first time. But if you will allow the 

 bees to come up between the frames after 

 you have blown a little smoke over them in 

 opening the hive you will soon be able to lo- 



