SEi'TEMBKii 1, l'J14 



c.c. 



iTMAY STMAW! 



In feeding as recommended, p. 570, you 

 will find eoi'k chips excellent in jilace of 

 straw or diy grass. 



In June I found five cases of European 

 foul brood. Tn one case the queen was caged 

 ten days, in another eight days, and six days 

 in each of the other cases. The treatment 

 was effectual, and I've seen no European 

 foul brood since. 



Bumble-bees are Avorking on my alfalfa, 

 but no hive-bees. Can it be that east of the 

 Mississippi the flower-tubes grow too deep 

 for the hive-bees? [Possibly; but, if we 

 remember correctly, the alfalfa-blossoms do 

 not have long corolla-tubes, either east or 

 west. — Ed.] 



"It is a fact Ihat the public prefers 

 honey with color to tlie whitest, for they ai'e 

 better acquainted with it," p. 575. " Local- 

 ity " again, friend Chadwick; here they're 

 acquainted Avith light honey, and none can 

 be too white for the market. [In some local- 

 ities in New York, some peoj^le consider no 

 honey quite (he equal of buckwheat; and as 

 buckAvheat honey is very dark in color, the 

 color itself cuts no figure Avith them. — Ed.] 



Ever think what a little thing makes the 

 difference betAveen a queen and a worker? 

 Just tAvo days' feeding. For the first three 

 days the young worker gets the same food 

 as its royal sister; then it is " Aveaned " and 

 sets coarser food for the remaining tAvo days, 

 wliile the better bill of fare is continued to 

 tlie royal youngster. And Avhat a difference 

 that two days' feeding does make! The 

 young queen develops in three-fourths of 

 the time taken by the worker, and, para- 

 doxically, its span of life is tAventy times as 

 long. 



The flow Avas as good this year as last, 

 but tired out sooner. If I get a third as 

 much as last year I'll not Avhine. [If you 

 had been further south you Avould have 

 secured less than one-third, and if you had 

 been located further north you might have 

 secured as good a crop as you did the year 

 before. The year 191.3 Avas a recoi'd-breaking 

 one, during which you produced 266 lbs. of 

 comb honey per colony from 73 colonies, or 

 a Avhole carload of comb honey. If you 

 secured one-third of that amount it would 

 be 89 lbs. per colony. That is good enough 

 almost any year. — Ed.] 



T. K. Massie, you ask, p. 627, Avhy not 

 adopt a section that holds a pound net 

 honey. Surely one of your experience nmst 

 knoAv that bees have not the greatest respect 

 for our desire for uniformity. One colony 



will put more honey in a section than an- 

 other; the same colony may fill it fuller one 

 year than another, or at one time of the 

 season than another in the same year; and 

 there may be a difference of two ounces or 

 more betAveen the heaviest and lightest sec- 

 tions, although all are Avell finished and 

 sealed. I'm afraid that the finding of a 

 section of such size that it Avill always hold 

 just a pound of honey Avhen finished Avill 

 alAvays remain a dream. 



According to p. 616, packing sections in 

 caiions will " avoid the labor of marking 

 each individual section." I suppose that 

 means to have different lots of cartons with 

 weight printed on them. Not knowing in 

 advance Avhat proportion of each kind Ave'd 

 want, that would involve having a good 

 many extra cartons on hand. In either case 

 the weighing must be done; and doesn't it 

 take less time to stamp a section than to 

 straighten the carton and put the section in 

 it. [If comb honey is graded into three 

 grades, as it should be, there Avill be only 

 three classes of cartons to be used. If the 

 exact Aveight of every section is marked, the 

 carton proposition Avill be impossible. — Ed.] 



It looks_, p. 618, as if Ave are given the 

 choice to have three rubber stamps to stamp 

 the Aveight on our sections or to write in the 

 exact Aveight. Why not have a set of stamps 

 varying by y2 ounce — 10, lO^/^, 11, 11^2? 

 etc. ? If Ave have 6 sections, Aveighing re- 

 spectively 10, lOi/o, 11, 111/2, 12, '121/2 

 ounces, we shall lose 2 ounces by having the 

 three stamps marking 10, 11, and I2I/2 

 ounces instead of the full set. Tn a ship- 

 ment of 5000 sections that Avould make a 

 loss of more than 100 pounds. Where can 

 Ave get stamps? and at Avhat price? [Doctor, 

 if you tried to mark the exact net weight on 

 every section you Avould have a job on j'our 

 liands. You Avill find that you Avill get the 

 rubber stamps mixed up, and make mis- 

 takes. The Colorado plan of marking the 

 minimum net Aveight, and dividing all the 

 sections into three classes, or gi'ades, nec^'s- 

 sitates the use of only three stamps, and, in 

 tlie judgment of the great majority of pro- 

 ducers so far as expressed, it is the only 

 l)ractical plan to pursue. To save the lo.ss 

 of all sections Aveighing more than the min- 

 imum specified, the whole easeful of sections 

 should be sold by Aveight less the tare of 

 sections and shipping-case. We do not know 

 a producer in the country Avho is thinking 

 of undertaking the endless job of marking 

 the individual net Aveight on every .section. 

 For rubber stampg, gee adv. section. — Ed.] 



