278 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 5, 



who wants to know as little as possible about bees? I think 

 the box-hive. I know several farmers who have a few box- 

 hives who take up the heaviest and the lightest in the fall. 

 They get some honey every year. The question of inspecting 

 for foul brood appears to be a greater difficulty than it is. 

 They have foul brood in England, and plenty of " skeps." It 

 Is an easy matter to invert and cut out a piece of comb with a 

 crooked knife. A frame hive improperly managed is worse 

 than a box-hive. 



Pres. AikiD — At the Farmers' Institutes I tell the farmers 

 to use boxes 16 or IS inches each way for hives, and to select 

 not to exceed five for a permanent stock. When these swarm 

 the swarms are apt to be put in boxes with starters. About 

 November, when all the brood is hatcht, the bees of the 

 swarms are to be sulphured and their combs cut out. All 

 pollen-cells should be cut out. These may be detected by 

 holding the combs up to the light. Then the combs are to be 

 masht up and strained in the old-fashioned way. If there is 

 any disease the inspector would prefer to inspect a plain box- 

 hive rather than a mismanaged frame-hive. I told them I 

 was selling supplies, but in the face of my financial interest I 

 would inform it was perfect foolishness to buy patent hives if 

 they were not used right. If one has scruples about killing 

 bees a large box may be put on for a super. But this honey 

 should not be produced for market. 



FOUL BROOD AND HONEY. 



Qdes. — In case a colony has foul brood is the section- 

 honey infected ? 



Pres. Aikin — There is danger. It is a doubtful question. 

 But when the colony is badly infected then the surplus honey 

 partakes more or less of the odor. But if there are only a few 

 cells of foul brood iu a hive I would not hesitate aoout eating 

 the honey. 



Mrs. Rhodes — The trouble is, that the wood of section- 

 honey is usually thrown away after cutting the honey out. 



MELTING COMB HONEY — HONEY IN TIN CANS. 



A discussion on melting comb honey followed. 



Mr. Elliott — I extracted a good deal by heat, using a can 

 like a coflee-uru with a water-jacket. Altho the honey was 

 left in a long time it did not change its flavor. 



F. Rauchfuss — We use a tank with a double wall, with 

 two faucets, an inner and an outer one. With this arrange- 

 ment honey may be spoiled by leaving in too long or heating 

 too high. 



Mr. Elliott — If the honey is drawn off as soon as melted 

 it is all right; If left a little longer it shows a very little color. 



Pres. Aikin — At the melting-point of wax heat has almost 

 no effect on honey. At 180^ It is colored. High heat is more 

 effective in coloring it than a long-continued low heat. 



QuES. — If honey is left in cans what is the effect on the 

 tin? 



F. Rauchfuss — Unripe honey corrodes the tin ; ripe honey 

 does not. 



[Continued next week.] 



Bee-Keepiiig: for Beginners is the title of a 

 110-page book just out, from the pen of that expert bee- 

 keeper of the South, Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Georgia. It 

 claims to be " a practical and condenst treatise on the honey- 

 bee, giving the best modes of management in order to secure 

 the most profit." Price of the book, postpaid, 50 cents. Or, 

 we will club it with the Bee Journal for one year — both to- 

 gether for $1.-10 ; or, we will mail it as a premium to any of 

 our present subscribers for sendiug us one new subscriber to 

 the Bee Journal for a year (at §1.00), and 10 cents extra. 



The Alsike Clover Leaflet consists of 2 pages, 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to hand 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office for a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 20 cents ; 100 for 35 cents ; or 200 

 for 60 cents. 



Langstrotti on the Honey-Bee, revised by 

 The Dadants, is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete 

 work on bee-culture. It contains 520 pages, and is bound 

 elegantly. Every reader of the American Bee journal should 

 have a copy of this book, as it answers hundreds of questions 

 that arise about bees. We mail it for .$1.25, or club it with 

 the Bee Journal for a year — both together for only $2.00. 

 ■*-»-* 



1W~ See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 284. 



CONDUCTED BT 

 DH. O. O. MILLER, OiAMENGO, ILL. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.] 



Boiling; and Feeding Foiil-Broodj- Honey. 



What can I do with about 60 pounds of honey in Hoffman 

 frames, from colonies that died of foul-brood last winter? 

 Could I safely feed it by boiling ? Michigan. 



AN.SWER.— Put water with it, bring it to a boil, then after 

 it comes to a boil keep it boiling for two hours mid a half, and 

 feed so as to have it used up in brood-rearing. 



Hiving Swarms on Frames of Oraniilated Honey. 



I have handled bees more or less for many years, but I am 

 yet not satisfied whether It pays to keep frames of granulated 

 honey to hive swarms on. Of course, they will remove the 

 honey from the combs, but does it not cost them as much as 

 the combs are worth ? Do the bees get any benefit from gran- 

 ulated honey ? Walton. 



Answer. — There is generally more or less of the honey 

 that is liquid, and very likely this pays the bees well for the 

 labor of getting it. It is also possible that they liquefy some 

 of the solid part. Certainly, however, they throw out some of 

 the solid grains. It might pay to have some arrangement like 

 setting the hive in a shallow box, so that the granules they 

 throw out might be saved and melted. 



Ilalianizina: Later. 



I have a large colony of black and hybrid bees iu a dove- 

 tail hive. There are two small apiaries each within a mile of 

 me, of the same kind of bees. Now, I would like to know 

 whether to introduce an Italian queen now, before the honey 

 harvest, or wait until afterwards? In the first case laying 

 would be stopt for a short time ; in the second case, if a swarm 

 came out I should have to buy two queens. Would it pay to 

 Italianize at all, being located so near black bees ? 



Minnesota. 



Answer. — Most surely I should Italianize. At the dis- 

 tance of a mile you may do very well, and even if you cannot 

 keep the stock pure — very likely you can't — you will gain by 

 the change of blood. Likely you will do well to Italianize at 

 or near the close of the harvest. Not so much harm will come 

 then from failure in introducing, and queens cost less at that 

 time than now. 



Bees Dying in One Colony. 



What is the cause of bees' wings turning a light-brown 

 color and withering, and in a short time they die ? Can any 

 thing be done for them ? Since about the middle of February 

 there has been about a foot of water in the root-house where I 

 wintered them. But I hardly think that can be the reason, as 

 of the 10 colonies only one of them is affected in this way, all 

 the rest being iu a strong, healthy condition. Wisconsin. 



Answer. — I don't know. " Wings turning a light-brown 

 color and withering up " beats me, and I'll be glad if any one 

 will help out. Wish 1 could see them. It is just possible it is 

 a case of diarrhea, for sometimes in a bad case the wings get 

 daubed. If that is the cause they will come out all right of 

 themselves with this warmer weather, unless already too much 

 depleted. 



Effect of Honey as a Food. 



I would like to propound this : In what way does honey 

 act on the system as food ? If it is to be considered as a food 

 it must be reckoned among, or one, of the carbonaceous foods. 

 I have also read that It is heat-giving. One author says that 

 honey undergoes no process of digestion in the animal system, 

 but enters the circulation at once, and enters the process of 

 disintegration and the formation of lactic acid, and at the 

 same time giving rise to beat, and so in this manner the heat 



