GLEA2JINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



during the past summer we tried light brood 

 foundation in several of our section su^Ders. 

 After the sections were filled and capped 

 over we asked Dr. Phillips, of the Bureau 

 of Entomology, Washington, D. C, who 

 took dinner with us, to try them. He, like 

 the rest of us, was frank to say that he 

 could detect no appreciable " gob " or mid- 

 rib. In fact,, if we had said nothing about 

 the brood foundation in the first place he 

 would have thought nothing about it except 

 that it was very fine honey, equal to the 

 very best in every respect. 



We are coming to believe that perhaps we 

 beekeepers have magnified the evil of using 

 brood foundation in sections. The fact is, 

 we doubt very much whether the average 

 connoisseur can detect the difference be- 



tween a nice section of comb lioney built 

 from brood foundation, and a comb built 

 from ordinary thin super. 



There is another factor to be considered 

 — namely, that brood foundation will cost 

 more per square foot than thin super; but 

 the relative difference is not great. If by 

 using the heavier grade swarming can be 

 reduced, and if the bees will enter the sec- 

 tion supers a day or two earlier, we may 

 well afford to pay more. 



Mr. Whitten's observation, that bees will 

 thin down foundation more when they have 

 time, is in line with experiments by the late 

 Mr. E. B. Weed some fifteen years ago. 



This is an interesting question, and we 

 shall be glad to hear from others who have 

 any thing to offer on the subject. — Ed.] 



PROVIDING WATER FOR BEES AND QUEENS SENT BY MAIL 



BY L. J. DUNN 



There is always a loss by shipping queens 

 and bees by mail without water, especially 

 export shipments. With a punctured water- 

 can, as in the one and two pound packages, 

 the cages are in all kinds of positions in the 

 mail-sacks, and the opening may be above 

 the water at times, leaving the bees without 



Avater. By inserting a piece of cloth for a 

 wick, as I have done, the water siphons out, 

 no matter what position the cage is in. The 

 plan has proven satisfactory with me on 

 long shipments. 

 San Jose, Cal. 



[We have had no opportunity of trying 



Mailing-cages with water-cans to provide moisture for the bees en route. 



