266 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 28 



Horseradish for Stings is recommended in Le Rucher 

 Belg?. Apply the crusht leaf to the wound, and soon pain 

 and swelling will disappear. 



Weak Colonies andPropolis — Editor Holtermann thinks 

 a weak colony, other things being equal, is worse at propo- 

 lizing than a strong one. If that be true, it is another argu- 

 ment in favor of strong colonies. 



Does Crowding Induce Swarming ? — It is generally be- 

 lieved that when bees are crowded for room in the brood- 

 chamber it is an inducement to swarming, but Editor Holter- 

 mann now thinks that crowding hives in an apiary has effect 

 in the same line, because of the " many bees humming, flying 

 and roaring about in a limited space." 



To Lessen Brood-Rearing after harvest in places where 

 there is no late flow, and where rearing a large amount of 

 brood is not desired, Le Rucher Beige advises contracting the 

 entrance to the hive, as brood-rearing cannot be carried on 

 without abundance of fresh air. Possibly there. is a hint here 

 for those Californians who desire to limit brood-rearing where 

 there is no harvest. 



How to Report Crooked Firms is considered by the editor 

 of the Review. He thinks there is no use in saying a word un- 

 less you give the name of the firm, and then give such informa- 

 tion as will allow reading between the lines that the firm needs 

 watching. But if the law will not allow a journal to say in 

 plain terms that a firm should not be trusted, would it not be 

 equally liable for hinting it? 



Carniolan Bees.— R. F. Holtermann, apicullurisl of the 

 Ontario Experimental Apiary, reports upon 12 colonies of 

 Carniolan bees. They were very gentle, built up well in the 

 spring, but the queens being dark were much harder to find 

 than Italians. Swarms hived on full sheets of foundation did 

 all right, but those hived on starters built very poor comb, 

 having a large proportion of drone-comb, and swarmed excess- 

 ively, without waiting to complete their combs. ._J ._j 



Pettit's Divider.— F. A. Gemmill has used and likes it, 

 and thinks a better name would be " perforated follower." 

 The only objection is, that it makes just so much additional 

 furniture, and a super will not hold so many sections, but the 

 outside row is filled about the same as the center. R. F. Hol- 

 termann thinks it would be better to use perforated metal for 

 dividers, as the perforations are exact, and they can easily be 

 cleaned by throwing them in a weak solution of lye. 



IRSJfe', Temperature of Bees in Winter.— The bee- is warrcJ- 

 blooded. According to some the temperature of a bee's body 

 under normal conditions is 81. 5-— according to others 95-. 

 Some bees that were torpid in a temperature of 48-' but 

 brought to life in a temperature of 59-', showed a body heat of 

 77-'. The cluster in winter is kept up to 50- to 53- at its 

 outer part. When the surrounding atmosphere goes down to 

 zero or lower, the bees in the center of the cluster run the heat 

 up to 86 or more by means of eating and exercising. This 

 increast heat in the center of the cluster is necessary so that 

 the outer part of the cluster may not go below 50-, and ex- 

 plains how it is that breeding is commenced in colonies out- 

 doors in winter, but not in cellared colonies. The center of 

 the cluster in cellar is too cold for breeding, for it doesn't need 

 to be heated up to keep the outer bees warm enough. — Dr. C. C. 

 Miller, in Gleanings. 



Coggshall's Way of Extracting.— According to the edi- 

 tor's report in Gleanings, VV. L. Coggshall has a reckless, 

 slap-dash way of working bees that would drive many a man 

 wild. He seems to take no precaution against robbers, but 

 pushes right ahead regardless. The robbers pounce onto the 

 combs and the hone)', and when a half-day's or a day's ex- 

 tracting is over there will be two to four inches of dead bees 

 in the honey. But the honey being drawn off from beneath, 

 there will be no bees in what leaves the extractor. The build- 

 ing in which the extracting is done being by no means fire- 



proof, when the extracting is ovar "the bees simply have a 

 glorious old spree cleaning things itp." Before condemning 

 this plan too severely, it may be well to ask whether the ex- 

 peditious way in which Mr. Coggshall rushes things through 

 may not partly account for the fact that he succeeds with 

 about 1,000 colonies of bees, and makes money at it. 



A peculiarity of his extractor is that a pair of combs are 

 put in each side, being separated by a sheet of tin. When one 

 side of the combs are emptied, instead of taking out a frame, 

 turning it around and putting it back in the same place, two 

 frames are graspt by one hand, two frames by the other, all 

 four lifted out, and without any turning the frames simply 

 change places. Sometimes, however, only one frame is lifted 

 by each hand. In either case, what a saving of time ! 



Doolittle and Root on Plain Sections. — Doolittle and 

 editor Root do not agree as to the advisability of adopting 

 plain sections, as anyone will conclude after seeing the 2X 

 pages of Gleanings they tramp over in their tussle. Doolittle 

 estimates that it would cost him .?L00 to make the change in 

 his apiary, and allowing that only a fourth of the bee-keepers 

 of the laud should change, and that the average cost would be 

 to them only a tenth as much, or $10 each, it would make a 

 total cost of $1,000,000 to make the change to plain sections. 

 He doesn't value the argument that the plain sections will be 

 filled fuller, for lighter sections sell best. The extra price ob- 

 tained for plain sections of honey he thinks is due to special 

 pushing, without which the plain section would sell for no 

 more than the other. Thiaks when you come to count neces- 

 sary cost of veneers for shipping-cases, there will be no saving. 

 Mr. Root thinks Mr. Doolittle overestimates the cost of the 

 change, as old supers need not be thrown away, and instead of 

 •SI. 00 per colony, he stipulates to make the necessary change 

 for Mr. Doolittle for -lO cents per colony, on the basis of 25 

 wide frames per colony. He says if it is better not to have the 

 outer row of cells sealed, a slight change in the fence will 

 effect that, but urges the importance of sealing next the wood 

 to secure safe shipping. Mr. Root meets the .31,000,000 out- 

 lay by saying the saving of expense for making bee-ways in 

 sections, counted at 25 cents a thousand, providing one-fourth 

 the bee-keepers use 5,000 sections a year, will amount to 

 .$1,200,000 every year. 



It's a neatly fought battle, and the reader will very likely 

 not have his opinion very much changed after witnessing it. 



Facing Comb Honey. — Editor Root and Doolittle have 

 been winking at the practice of putting the best sections next 

 the glass in a shipping-case. Oh, but doesn't Hasty go for 

 them In Review! What he says couldn't all be boiled down 

 for this department. It wouldn't be safe. It's so hot that if 

 it were boiled down any more it would set fire to the whole 

 batch. He refers to Gleanings, page 175, and quotes the fol- 

 lowing from Doolittle: 



" And I also claim that there is nothing out of the way, if 

 any one chooses to do so, in shipping cases of honey having 

 XXX faces and XX or X honey inside, on eommission. Yea, 

 more, I claim that there would be nothing dishonest in filling 

 the center of the ease with buckwheat honey, the same having 

 XXX white honey facers, providing it was sltipt on commis- 

 sion, every case alike, and the producer thought it to his in- 

 terest to do so." 



Hasty thinks when Doolittle said that, he was not laying 

 at the sleek and wonderful Devil with the sword of the Spirit 

 — not laying at him with the kick of an honest man — just 

 gently stroking him down the back. "One almost listens to 

 hear his majesty purr. Every trickster will feel bolder after 

 reading that quotation." Referring to the argument that 

 veneering is common and deceives no one. Hasty says : " 'AH 

 our people do so' is the Congo canuibal's argument — does it 

 prove anything ? The fact that schemes to deceive purchasers 

 are almost universal is only a peremptory call to arms for all 

 those who have been listening to the Man of Nazereth . . . .If 

 we believe in warfare against the world, the flesh and the 

 Devil, we must not be talking 'armistice' all the while." 



This Boiler is not supposed to have ooiuions of his own — 

 only a parrot to repeat what others say — but would like to lay 

 down his stirring-stick long enough to give Hasty a very hearty 

 grip with both hands. 



Bees-wax Wanted. — Until further notice we will 

 pay 27 cents cash for all the good yellow beeswax delivered 

 to us. We accept only that which is absoutely pure. If you 

 want cash, and want it at once, send us your beeswax now. 

 Be sure to put your own name and address on each package, 

 when shipping. Then mark it very plainly — George W. York 

 & Co., 118 Michigan St., Chicago, 111. 



