Vol. XXXIV. 



MAY J, 1906. 



No 9 



"We have just taken our 240 odd colo- 

 nies out of our shop bee-cellar," p. 489. 

 What date, please? [April 1. — Ed. ] 



The chance in making hive-rabbets, 

 shown by R C. Aikin, p. 500, strengthens 

 "that thin § flange," but leaves it still a 

 weak spot. A cleat, reinforcing it the whole 

 length, is the right thing. 



J. A. Green says elm blossoms before 

 soft maple, p. 496. Here soft maple comes 

 first, sometimes two weeks before elm. But 

 I think I have known the usual order of 

 some honey-plants to be reversed in some 

 years. 



The plan given on page 497, of putting 

 frames of brood over sections, has the seri- 

 ous objection in this locality that the sec- 

 tions are more or less darkened. I wonder 

 if Bro. Doolittle has never had any trouble 

 of the kind. 



The picture of J. A. Green's storage- 

 crates, p. 494, doesn't help me to understand 

 what better ventilation they give than T 

 supers piled up. I can't see where then is 

 any chance for more air to get to the sec- 

 tions. Will he please explain? 



"The best way to get honey out of cap- 

 pings is to let them stand for several days 

 until they can drain dry," p. 517. Quite 

 right; and when the honey stops draining, 

 put them in a damp cellar, and they will 

 drain some more thin stuff to make good 

 vinegar. 



Quite right you are, Mr. Editor, p. 488, 

 in saying "The use of the wet rag depends 

 largely on the temperature of the atmos- 

 phere when the bees are carried out. ' ' Let 

 me tell you another thing. If doors and 

 windows have been wide open all night be- 

 fore carrying out, no wet rag will be needed. 



Is there so much danger after all, from 

 the introduction of Caucasians, even suppos- 

 ing they are poor gatherers? In the aver- 

 age locality will they do any more harm 

 than the blacks or hybrids already there? 

 In any locality, where all black blood has 

 been worked out, there is a bee-keeper that 

 knows his business; he is one, if any, likely 

 to try Caucasians, and he is not likely to let 

 them get beyond control. 



"This going over all colonies once every 

 week looking for queen-cells, as many ad- 

 vise, is an endless job," so Bro. Doolittle 

 advises treating all as if they were bent on 

 swarming. Lot of work saved by that. But 

 it has one drawback, at least for me; it gives 

 no chance to spot those colonies that go 

 through the season without any swarming. 

 But perhaps not many will think it worth 

 while to be working toward a non-swarming 

 strain. 



Mrs. Miller is asked to pass judgment 

 upon the kind of corpse that A. I. Root has 

 been for the past ten or twelve years, p. 

 523. It wasn't Mrs. Miller, Bro. A. I., but 

 another inquisitive female who asked that 

 saucy question about your fur cap. But you 

 have full permission from both of them to 

 wear a fur cap, two of 'em if you want to, 

 if you will only keep on being a "lively 

 corpse." 



One thing not brought out in the discus- 

 sion between you and Mr. Latham, Mr. Edi- 

 tor, is that location and protection from 

 winds may make an important difference as 

 to size of winter entrances. The entrance 

 to a hive in a location sheltered on all sides 



