Vol. XXXIV. 



APRIL J5, 1906, 



No. 8 



Decidedly, S. E. Miller and Louis SchoU 

 are right, p. 417. Let it be "water-clear " 

 rather than "water- white." 



The pictures of Doolittle's hives, p. 443, 

 let it leak out that he uses cleats instead of 

 hand-holes. I wonder if a good many oth- 

 ers are not quietly doing the same thing. 

 [Yes, I think so.— Ed.] 



I congratulate you Buckeyes on your 

 foul-brood law— not entirely certain whether 

 that one-cent tax is the right thing, but I 

 should be glad to pay five cents on each col- 

 ony to have a compulsory law in Illinois. 



A fine picture, that of G. M. Doolittle 

 on April 1 cover. That man Doolittle makes 

 me lots of trouble. I am obliged to read 

 every word he writes, for fear of missing 

 some good thing I didn't know before; and 

 when I write any thing wrong I am always 

 afraid he'll catch me up on it. 



J. A. Phillips asks, " Will bees starve to 

 death in early spring before there is a hon- 

 ey-flow, but plenty of pollen?" I think so, but 

 I don't know, because I don't know whether 

 bees ever gather pollen without any nectar 

 at all. I do know that I have had bees 

 starve in winter with plenty of pollen in 

 good condition in the hive. [Same experi- 

 ence here. — Ed.] 



Quoth ye editor concerning foimdation 

 splmts. page 412, "They are too large, and 

 yet the diameter can not be reduced." Too 



large for what or whom? Not for the bees, 

 for they use every cell the same as if no 

 splint were there. Not for me, for I can 

 see no difference except a slightly elevated 

 line, and that only by very close looking. 

 Why are they too large for you? [I had the 

 impression that, when I visited you, the bees 

 did not build over these splints perfectly in 

 all cases; but "you are the doctor," and 

 ought to know, so I will not presume to con- 

 tradict your statement.— Ed.] 



H. F. HiLLEBRANT lives in a part of Kan- 

 sas where much alfalfa seed is raised. He 

 says in American Bee Journal: 



On one farm where no bees were kept the yield of 

 seed, in 1905, was two bushels to the acre. On another 

 farm, on the same bottom, one mile from the first, where 

 only three colonies of bees were kept, the yield of alfal- 

 fa seed was between four and five bushels to the acre. 

 On still another farm, where about twenty colonies of 

 bees are kept, the yield was between seven and eight 

 bushels per acre; and two miles below, without bees, 

 the yield again dropped to two bushels. 



And yet there are alfalfa-men who want 

 the bees condemned! 



I ALWAYS THOUGHT that Allen Latham 

 was a Yankee. That searching discussion, 

 p. 430, sounds like the work of a German. 

 You and he, Mr. Editor, are not as far 

 apart as you might be. Your winter en- 

 trance is 60 per cent of his minimum. But 

 there are some things to be said about win- 

 ter entrances that neither of you have said 

 yet. [Why didn't you tell us about those 

 other things? Yes, Mr. Latham's article is 

 full of the science that is backed by theory 

 and practice; but I believe he goes to the 

 other extreme in his plea for large entrances 

 for winter. — Ed. ] 



Concrete building-blocks are advertis- 

 ed, page 448. Why not a special block for a 

 hive-stand? [At the rate lumber is going up, 

 I am not sure but it would be cheaper to get 

 up a special block for a hive-stand. It would 



