Vol. XXXIV. 



JUNE U 1906, 



No U 



G. M. DoOLiTTLE, in shaking a swarm, is 

 careful to avoid deluging the bees with nec- 

 tar, p 652. Some others, perhaps especial- 

 ly Colorado bee-keepers, think this deluging 

 an important part of the process. I wonder 

 which is right. 



Professor Cook says, page *^i6, that all 

 wasps are our good friends. Across the wa- 

 ter bee-keepers make a special effort to com- 

 bat them, the books of Cowan and Cheshire 

 giving directions to destroy their nests. But 

 I suspect that on this side we don't have 

 their wasp, Vespa vulgaris. 



L'Apiculteur thinks American sections 

 should be replaced by a French article, and 

 advises a trial of pasteboard sections 

 strengthened by removable tin corners. 

 [At present prices, even with basswood 

 timber constantly advancing, that material 

 will be cheaper than pasteboard, especially 

 if we would include the tin corners, which, 

 we will say, can be used over and over 

 again.— Ed.] 



The German Central Union of bee- 

 keepers numbers 39,809 memhers.—Muench- 

 ener Bztg. [Nearly 40,000 members! Of 

 the half- million bee-keepers in the United 

 States, we ought to have at least one or- 

 ganization that would equal the strength of 

 the one mentioned, at least, if not consider- 

 ably surpass it. When the National Asso- 

 ciation reached a membership of 2500 it 

 seemed big.— Ed. 1 



Speaking of close division-boards, p. 643, 

 the editor says, ' ' I would go further, and 



nail the strip on the top edge also." I nev- 

 er saw that before, but I feel sure that up- 

 per closing is more important than any 

 thing lower down. [Our Mr. Pritchard, who 

 has charge of our north yard, says he does 

 not want any strips on the bottom but be- 

 lieves that some on the ends and tops are 

 very important— the top especially.— Ed.] 



M. Duval-Trepied, as reported in L'Api- 

 culteur, by neglect put away one extracting- 

 super in the fall without .having it cleaned 

 out by^the bees. After the following har- 

 vest, upon uncapping the combs an odor of 

 fermented honey was at once noted. An 

 examination showed bubbles of air or gas in 

 the sealed honey, and the taste of the honey 

 left no doubt as to fermentation. The fer- 

 mentation was attributed to the atoms of 

 honey left in the cells by the extractor. 



E. W. Alexander, p. 649, says to replace 

 finished sections as fast as five or six can be 

 found in a super, so as to help against 

 swarming. But he limits the number of su- 

 pers to two. Now, I don't understand that 

 it is the presence of finished sections that in- 

 clines to swarming, but the absence of work- 

 ing room; so if I leave a super on until most 

 of the sections are finished, and yet add 

 enough more supers so that my bees have 

 more working room than his, will that not 

 be better? In this locality, in a good flow, 

 the bees will finish all but the corner sec- 

 tions of the super without darkening them, 

 and I think the honey is better. 



Wm. M. Whitney writes that, in using 

 the groove-and- wedge plan of fastening 

 foundation, in some instances the wedge did 

 not hold the foundation, and says : ' ' The 

 trouble in every instance coming under my 

 observation was caused from the groove not 

 being cut deep enough to let the wedge down 

 the full depth, which was remedied by dress- 

 ing off the thin edge, or bottom of the 

 wedge. I think the groove should be cut 

 deeper than is the present practice. ' ' [ When 

 we first put out the groove- and- wedge plan 



