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A Journal Devoted to Bees, Honey, and Home Interests 

 Illustrated : Semi-monthly : One Dollar per Year 

 Published by The A. I. Root Company, Medina, Ohio 



Vol. XXXIV. 



NOV. 15. 1906. 



No 22 



E. W. Alexander's plan with very weak 

 colonies in early spring, page 1357, is new- 

 looks good. 



"Why does a swarm settle before going off? 

 R. Rhombei-g, in Biencn-Vater. says that, 

 when the swarm issi;es. some bees are over- 

 loaded with honey and some have too little. 

 Thev cluster to have time to equalize their 

 burdens before starting on their travels. 



Pakaffine-makeks suffer from a peculiar 

 eruption of the skin. A writer in 111. Mo- 

 natsblaetter raises the question whether bees 

 may not become diseased from the paraffine 

 in the large amount of adulterated founda- 

 tion. We don't lose sleep over such a ques- 

 tion in this country. 



So MoKLEY Pettit is going to be a Meth- 

 odist preacher, p. 13o8. I'd like to hear him 

 preach. I should expect to say "amen" 

 several times during the sermon, if I thought 

 they wouldn't put out a Presbyterian for 

 that sort of thing. [Mr. Pettit has the right 

 sort of stuff in him. Gleanings wishes him 

 success. — Ed.] 



It is stated in L' ApicuUeur, p. 364, that 

 wcnkers have never been known to be rear- 

 ed in drone-cells. In 1872 I saw workers 

 emerging fi'om drone-cells in a comb sent by 

 K. Pv.'^Murphy to the American Bee Journal. 

 I think other cases have been known. [I 

 think we have had other reports of the same 

 thing, and I am not sure but the fact has 

 beeiT reported once or twice by our own men 

 as occurring in our own yard. — Ed.] 



Sylviac says in. U Ajnculteur that the chief 

 objection to the covered apiary is the larger 

 number of queenless colonies. [I do not 

 know why this should be so, unless colonies 

 huddled under the shed are so close together 

 that the bees mix in flight, with the result 

 that some hostile bees begin the attack on 

 the (jueen. — Ed.] 



I don't think, Mr. Editor, your guess, p. 

 1347, is correct as to that brick-and-orange 

 pollen coming from asters. Asters and gold- 

 enrod are plentiful here, but are rarely vis- 

 ited hj bees. Besides, bees are bringing in 

 that same pollen to-day, Nov. 5, when these 

 flowers are all dead. I've done some look- 

 ing, and don't know where else to look. 



Bko. a. I. Root, referring to the Record- 

 Herald matter, page 1380, are you not just a 

 little bit hard to please? When I read that 

 very full contradiction, Aug. 8, it seemed to 

 me all that was necessary. How many of 

 the papers that published the false report 

 gave as full a contradiction? It's something 

 to be thankful for that some of the public 

 prints the truth at least part of the time now- 

 adays, in spite of the money of the liquor 

 power. 



In view of any possible danger of getting 

 into trouble as to labels under the pure- food 

 law, all that is necessary is to see that the 

 labels tell the exact truth — not a bad plan to 

 get into, the way of telling the truth, any- 

 how. [Yes. that is the gist of the pure-food 

 law. It will not in any way harm the man 

 who produces his own honey, and labels it 

 for exactly what it is. But an inexperi- 

 enced bee-keeper might purchase an alfalfa, 

 sell it for white clover, and get into trouble. 

 —Ed.] 



German bee-keepers have petitioned 

 their governments to allow the word "hon- 

 ey," either singly or in combination with 

 other words, to l)e used exclusively for the 

 sweet product that bees gather from plants, 

 change, and store in cells. — Bienen-Vater. 



