1898. 



THE AMEHICAN BEE JOURNAl.. 



87 



Finding Queens in Bee-Houses is made easier, accord- 

 ing to a writer in Magyar Meh, by having a looking-glass 

 arranged on a pivot so as to throw the light of the sun where 

 desired. 



Dark and Light Honey for Winter. — The dark, strong 

 honey of inferior quality that his bees gather in the fall, says 

 Ed JoUey in American Bee-Keeper, is bad for wintering bees 

 in the cellar, but excellent for wintering out-doors, while 

 clover or light honey is excellent for cellar but poor for out- 

 doors. The reasou he gives is that the fall houey is strong 

 and aromatic, " and very conducive of heat." 



Foxil Brood. — In November, shake one or more colonies 

 of diseased bees on about five combs of solid sealed honey. 

 That's all. Even if some diseased honey is carried away with 

 the bees, if there are no empty cells in which to store it, it 

 will be used up long before any brood is present. But be sure 

 there is no infection in the sealed honey or in the hive. So 

 says F. Alexis Gimmelario, in Canadian Bee Journal. 



Do Bees Injure Grapes ? — Prof. Troop, of the Indiana 

 Experiment Station, has been investigating this question 

 afresh. From a Worden grapevine with ripe grapes, all de- 

 fective berries were removed and a colony of bees enclosed 

 with the vine under mosquito netting, allowing the bees 300 

 cubic feet of room. The bees soon got used to the confine- 

 ment, and after three weeks not a single grape had been 

 injured. 



A Good Plan. — D. W. Heise, the man who does some 

 browsing around among other journals for the Canadian Bee 

 Journal, while speaking a kind word for the "Question and 

 Answer " department of this journal, mentions a practice of 

 his that might be followed with profit by those of less experi- 

 ence than Mr. Heise. He reads the question, then settles an 

 answer in his own mind before reading Dr. Miller's answer. 

 In this way a more lasting impression Is made. 



Density of Honey. — From the unfinisht report of the 

 convention of the Ontario bee-keepers, in Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal, it appears there is more or less unripe honey put on the 

 market in that country, samples analyzed at Ottawa showing 

 a range of from 12 to 33 per cent, of water. Agitation for a 

 law is suggested, making the honey fall under adulterated if 

 more than 25 per cent, of water be found present. Prof. 

 Shutt thought is to 20 per cent, of water was not far from 

 the average. 



The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Convention. — D. W. Heise 

 says in Canadian Bee Journal that the convention at Hamil- 

 ton past off with a harmony that must have been bewildering 

 to those accustomed to the stormy scenes of previous years. 

 The editor, however, says that at the last end, when a large 

 proportion had left (probably D. W. among them), they had a 

 repetition of the worst scenes of former years. Which goes 

 to show what an unwise thing it was for Mr. Heise to leave 

 " before meetin' was out." 



Temporary Asphyxiation of Bees. — This is recom- 

 mended by Le Rucher Beige when for any reason drumming 

 cannot be used to dislodge bees, as in the fall when it is so 

 cool that bees remain stubbornly on their combs in spite of 

 the drumming. Take a wet cloth the size of the hand, sprinkle 

 over it a quarter^of an ounce of powdered saltpeter, then roll 

 it up into a cigar shape. It must be prepared in advance, so 

 as to be thoroughly dried. Dig in the ground a hole 6 inches 

 deep, and a little smaller than the mouth of the hive. Cover 

 a good-sized cloth over the hole. Give the bees a little smoke, 

 just to keep them in the hive, and set the hive over the cloth. 

 Pile earth around it so as to make all tight, then light the 

 saltpeter cigar, put it in a smoker, and with the nozzle of the 

 smoker in the flight-hole blow in the sharp smoke. In a few 

 seconds the rag will be burnt up, when the flight hole is to be 

 plugged up. Then comes an intense roaring, a cry of agony 

 that gradually becomes feebler, then the silence of death. 

 With watch in hand wait exactly four minutes, in the mean- 



time giving the hive some sharp blows to dislodge any bees 

 that have not fallen. Raise the hive and give the bees fresh 

 air. When the bees begin to stir let them enter the desired 

 hive. In half an hour they will be ready to take flight. 

 Operate toward evening. Two or more colonies thus treated 

 may be united without any precaution. 



Honey for Winter Stores, — The quality of the honey 

 which the bees consume has also a great influence over their 

 health. A good grade of honey, light in color and free from 

 ferment, or of floating grains of pollen, which are often found 

 in dark honey, furnishes au article of diet which leaves but 

 little residue after digestion, and their bowels are therefore 

 not overloaded by their dejections, as is the case if their pro- 

 visions are composed of dark or unripe honey ; or worse yet, 

 of honey-dew, of the juice of fruits such as apples, grapes or 

 peaches, which is sure to work and ferment, and sours in the 

 cells long before the cold weather compels the bees to remain 

 in the hive. — C. P. Dadant, in Busy Bee. 



Experiences in Bee-Keeping'. — Bee-keepers' autobiog- 

 raphies seem to be somewhat the order of the day. Gallufi in 

 American Bee Journal, Aikin in Progressive Bee-Keeper, and 

 now A. E. Manum starts in to give his 27 years' experience in 

 Gleanings, giving a sort of promise that at the close one will 

 be able to answer the question whether it is " safe for a man 

 with a family to depend upon bee-keeping alone for the sup- 

 port of his family." His bee-fever was contracted through 

 the reading of Quinby's book, which a neighbor forced upon 

 him, and he was soon the possessor of two colonies in box- 

 hives. The first number of his story is mainly taken up with 

 telling what his neighbors' didn't know about bees, and closes 

 like most continued stories with the reader's interest all alert, 

 for he promises to tell in the next about his first crop of honey, 

 which netted him 33>.5 cents a pound in Boston. 



Bees as Weather Prophets. — An article on this topic 

 publisht in Cosmos was thought worthy to be translated for 

 The Literary Digest, and has been copied by the British Bee 

 Journal. The writer says he noticed 40 years ago in old 

 straw hives with two entrances, that about the beginning of 

 October the bees stopt up these two entrances with wax, so as 

 to leave passage for only one bee at a time. He also says that 

 bee-keepers of all countries agree in saying that evpry time 

 the bees have taken care to seal hermetically the entrances to 

 the hive, so as to leave but a minute passage for air, the win- 

 ter has been of extreme rigor, while in years when the bees 

 have done nothing to preserve themselves from the cold, the 

 winters have been relatively mild, with no heavy frosts. Just 

 how the bees can tell so surely beforehand the severity of the 

 coming winter, he considers too hard a problem to solve. If 

 this Boiler were not afraid of getting into hot water, he would 

 tentatively suggest that one solution of the problem might be 

 given by saying that the whole affair has no foundation in 

 fact, and that intelligent bee-keepers don't believe the amount 

 of propolis at the entrance has any direct relation to the 

 severity of the coming winter. 



Cross-Breeding of Bees. — In Progressive Bee-Keeper 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, taking a hint from a German writer, figures 

 out what the stock will be if one starts with a black drone 

 and an Italian virgin queen, breeding continuously from the 

 same stock. One might guess that the result would be half- 

 bloods, but a little figuring shows differently. As is well 

 known, the first generation after making this cross a drone 

 will have 100 per cent, of Italian blood and a young queen 

 50 per cent. Putting the matter in tabulated form, and fol- 

 lowing it for ten generations, gives the following : 



Drone. 

 1st Generation 1.00 

 2nd " .50 



3rd " .T5 



4th " .625 



5th " .6875 



6th " .65625 



7th " .671875 



8th " .6640625 



9th " .66796875 



10th 



QUEBN. 

 .50 



.75 

 .625 



.6875 



.65625 



.671875 



.6640625 



.66796875 



.666015625 



.666015625 .6669921875 



The figures are followed up to the 18th generation with 

 no material difference, only that the numbers in the two col- 

 umns constantly approximate. That is, if you start with a 

 pure sire and a pure dam, by the time you reach the sixth 

 generation you will have settled that your stock will be two- 

 thirds the blood possest by the dam. 



