' DE.VOTED. 



•AND Hon ELY 

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'■'-*'"■*- siaoptRYtAR 'N© "Medina-Ohio- 



Vol. XXXIII. 



NOV. J 5, J 905. 



No 22 



BnC.CMiLLER. 



Replying to a question, p. 1117, there is 

 scarcely any doubt that the little worm 

 that held the young bees prisoner was a wax- 

 worm of some kind. 



An advantage of the Alexander treatment 

 of black brood, p. 1125, is that it is so easily 

 tried. A great many will be likely to try it 

 next year, and before the season is over we 

 ought to know pretty well about it, A sim- 

 ple cure is all the better for being simple if 

 it is only successful. 



"It always pays to requeen at least 

 once in two years," p. 1126. That may be 

 true as a general statement, although some 

 do not agree to it; but if true, there are 

 surely notable exceptions. [The word al- 

 ways should have been replaced by the 

 word generally. My other statements on 

 the point will imply exceptions to the rule. 

 Thanks for the correction.— Ed.] 



"Don't store honey in a refrigerator" 

 is common advice. Now, does any one know 

 from actually trying it that well-ripened 

 honey will not keep well in a refrigerator? 

 [Why, doctor ! Don't we know that, be- 

 yond peradventure, certain conditions, such 

 as dampness and cold as found in the average 

 refrigerator, are detrimental? and that the 

 converse is true— that dryness and heat are 

 always favorable? And, further, I abso- 

 lutely know of a case where honey stored in 

 a refrigerator would candy twice as quick 

 as that left outside of it. — Ed.] 



Harry Lathrop, it may make better 

 honey to extract the uncapped portion before 

 uncapping, as you advise, p. 1128, but it 

 makes a lot more work. Then still more 

 work will be made by the increased amount 

 demanded by consumers when the honey is 

 all of such good character. Seriously, I'm 

 not sure that it would not pay in the long 



run to extract in advance all the unsealed 

 honey, even if it were thrown away. [This 

 is a question that hinges a good deal on lo- 

 cality. In Colorado and California I would 

 never think it necessary to extract the 

 combs before uncapping. In most local- 

 ities the unsealed cells contain honey that 

 is perfectly ripe. I should question whether 

 in most places the extra labor of extracting 

 twice would be necessary.— Ed.] 



"The further off toward the black we 

 get from the three bands, the poorer the 

 bees average for honey," says G. M. Doo- 

 little, p. 1138. That starts some questioning. 

 I have no doubt of its truth, with that word 

 " average " as applying to general results 

 all over the country. But there are excep- 

 tions to general rules; and when one finds 

 among his bees that have gone from the 

 three bands toward the black something 

 that brings in the honey away ahead of any 

 of the three-banders, should he breed from 

 such off- colored stock, or hustle back to the 

 three bands ? Again, if getting toward the 

 black from the three bands gives poorer 

 bees, is it not true that the further off 

 toward the yellow we get from the three 

 bands the poorer the bees average for 

 honey ? 



A super containing 45 1-lb. sections is 

 favored by W. K. Morrison, p. 1130, and he 

 asks, "If one super will do the work, why 

 use two?" With many the difference in 

 weight in handling is a sufficient answer to 

 that question. It is possible that the larger 

 super reduces the number of under-weight 

 sections, but is that not greatly overbalanced 

 by the fact that it largely increases the 

 number of unfinished sections ? [But a su- 

 per containing 45 one-pound sections is too 

 large to give to one colony all at once. 

 Small supers for many localities, containing 

 not more than 20 or 24 sections, are far bet- 

 ter than those that are larger. If bees are 

 to do much in comb honey they must have a 

 compartment small enough so that they can 

 warm it easily to the proper comb-building 

 point with their body heat. But Mr. Mor- 

 rison lives in a tropical locality, and hence 

 his 45-section super may not be too large.— 

 Ed,] 



