586 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Septemier 15, 



Does His Full Share.— "The editor of the American Bee 

 Journal does his full share to help the honey market. I've 

 just had the pleasure of a two-days' visit from him, and I think 

 he ate honey at every meal." — Dr. Miller, in Gleanings. 



Tall Plain Sections are reported a success by C. E. Ham- 

 mond, in Gleanings. Wherever the bees workt on them at all, 

 they finisht the greater part of those they began on, instead 

 of beginning on all and finishing none as they had generally 

 done with the ordinary 4 '4 sections in T supers without sepa" 

 rators. 



Are Separators Needed ?— Dr. S. H. Hurst says in Glean- 

 ings, "He who produces honey without a separator of some 

 kind is just a little too slow to keep abreast of the times." 

 Per contra. Editor Hill says he had no idea that the majority 

 of bee-keepers used separators, never used them himself ex- 

 cept iOO or 500 as an experiment, and doubts their 

 advantage. 



Naphthalin in Place of Sulphur has been used for some 

 years by Ulr. Gubler, and he finds it just as effective [against 

 the bee-moth, and less objected to by the bees. Powder the 

 combs with naphthalin, or else put small pieces in the closets 

 where combs are kept, renewing when evaporated.— Revue 

 Internationale. 



Why are Hybrids in the Majority ?— Gleanings thinks 

 "the majority of progressive bee-keepers use hybrids, because 

 they secure as much honey as Italians, and more than blacks." 

 American Bee-Keeper thinks that is not the true reason why 

 hybrids are in the majority, but does not say what the true 

 reason is. Don't they have hybrids just because it is too much 

 trouble to keep pure Italians ? 



Width of Bottom Starters.— The editor of Gleanings says 

 he has had trouble with bottom starters toppling over when as 

 wide as half an inch. Dr. Miller says when too narrow the 

 bees seem inclined to gnaw them down. He uses them deeper 

 than half an inch, but has the top starter come within less 

 than >4 inch of the lower. Then the bees tack the two start- 

 ers together before they have time to topple over. 



Bees and Horses.— Edwin Wide reports in the British 

 Bee Journal that he had a meadow mowed without having a 

 horse stung, the nigh horse going within a yard of the en- 

 trances of 17 colonies. Prior to the horses being taken to 

 work, he made a solution of carbolic acid and water, and, with 

 a cloth dipt in the solution and ihen wrung out, carefully 

 wiped the horses all over their bodies and limbs. 



Swarms Deserting.— D. W. Helse complains in Canadian 

 Bee Journal that nearly 50 percent of his swarms, after 

 having been hived in new, well-made hives, with new frames 

 and full sheets of foundation, deserted, some the second, third, 

 and even the fourth day. Hives were well shaded. He wants 

 some one to tell him what was the trouble. The editor says 

 desertion has given much trouble to every one this season. 



Cutting- aueen-Cells to Prevent Swarming.— The prac- 

 tice of cutting queen-cells to prevent prime swarms, Doolittle 

 says In American Bee-Keeper he believes often results in loss 

 of honey, throwing the bees out of balance and making them 

 swarm right in the harvest. For after-swarms, the usual plan 



of cutting cells six days after the prime swarm may only make 

 matters worse. Makes after-swarms later, but that's all. 

 Wait till eight days after the prime swarm, then cut all cells 

 and give a choice cell, and you have a sure thing. His favorite 

 plan is to listen the evening of the 8th day for piping, and if 

 no piping is heard, to listen each night till the 16th, after 

 which there will be no swarming. When piping is heard, he 

 cuts out all cells the next morning, knowing for sure that 

 there is a free queen lu the hive. 



Size of Worker-Cells. — In France some attempt to rear 

 larger bees has been made, and partly at least through using 

 foundation with cells of larger size than natural. M. Sergent, 

 writing in L'Aplculteur, says if the size of cells controls the 

 size of bees, his bees should all be of the same size, as he has 

 used the same foundation for all. But he finds his Cyprians 

 and Carniolans perceptibly smaller to the eye than the blacks. 



Plain Sections Without Separators. — A conspiracy is 

 being hatcht in Canadian and American Bee Journals and 

 American Bee-Keeper, to make bee-keepers crazy guessing. 

 C. A. Bunch, supported by D. W. Heise, and Editor Hill, 

 darkly hints at a plan for having plain sections bee-space 

 apart with no separators. In the interest of common human- 

 ity, let Mr. Bunch tell us how he manages to keep plain sec- 

 tions spaced apart. 



Swarms Losing Weight in Transit — Trouble has been 

 reported n the British Bee Journal between sellers and buy- 

 ers, the buyer complaining that the colony sent by rail was 

 not up to the agreed weight. The trouble comes from the fact 

 that the journey by rail, with its accompauying jolting and 

 excitement, causes a loss in weight. Even without any jour- 

 ney there is a serious loss in weight. One man reports that a 

 swarm hived at noon lost 5 ounces in tOK hours, and 14 

 ounces in the first 24 hours. Another swarm sent by rail lost 

 27 ounces from one day to the next. 



Peanut ftueen-Cells. — Those big peanut queen-cells on a 

 stick, a la Doolittle, give larger and better queens, according 

 to our Mr. Wardell, than by the old method. I supposed this 

 was true, but there is some satisfaction in having it proved 

 before our eyes. I have just received a line from Mr. Alley, 

 Inquiring why we fuss with artificial Doolittle cups when the 

 natural ones can be reared more cheaply by the bees, as per 

 directions in his book. But there is one great advantage in 

 artificial cups ; viz., they stiffen the base of the cells so that 

 one can mash them right into the side of a comb, without 

 crushing the cell itself. The natural cell-cups are frail things, 

 and require to be handled like eggs. — Gleanings. 



Why Frame Hives are Better is a topic handled by 6. M. 

 Doolittle in the Canadian Bee Journal. With movable frames 

 we can lift out the frames and actually see how much honey 

 is present in spring, and If needed an extra frame of honey can 

 be given, whereas only a guess can be made at the honey in 

 a box-hive, and If too cold for the bees to work on a feeder 

 there is no help for them in case of scarcity. 



If a colony Is overstock! with houey, the queen being 

 thereby crowded, an empty frame can be given for a full one. 



Whether a queen is doing good work can be seen by actual 

 inspection with movable frames, and if the queen is poor the 

 matter can be remedied. 



Drone-comb can be removed and worker put in its place. 



The frames can be manipulated so as to hasten the de- 

 velopment of the colony, thus getting them ready sooner for 

 the harvest. 



If some colonies are extra strong and others weak, bees 

 and brood can be taken from the strong and given to the weak. 

 That's much easier than to drum bees out of a box-hive. 



