154 



AMERICAN BEE JCUSNAL, 



Mar. 9. 1899. 



Long Heating Darkens Wax, as also does frequent re- 

 heating-, altho slow cooling- allows the impurities to settle 

 to the bottom, saj's Editor Root. 



Smoking Bees When Taking from the Cellar is recom- 

 mended by C. Davenport, in the Bee-Keepers' Review. It 

 helps to keep the bees from mixing- up and going into the 

 wrong hives, and no harm comes from the smoking. An 

 acquaintance of his prefers a windy day for taking out, as 

 bees fly closer to their hives, thus mixing less. 



Moths will not Trouble Dry Combs, if such combs are 

 entirely free of honey, pollen, or cocoons. J. B. Hall told 

 the editor of the Bee-Keepers' Review that an excluder 

 keeps the queen out of extracting-combs, the bees lick them 

 clean at the close of the season, then there is no trouble 

 from worms, even if the combs are stackt up in hives out- 

 doors and the hives left open to the moths. 



Do Bees Freeze ? — Dr. Miller discusses the question in 

 the Progressive Bee-Keeper, and says that while it is true 

 that bees enough in a cluster, with air and food enough and 

 cleansiag flights enough, are in no danger of freezing, yet 

 with some of these conditions lacking they may freeze in a 

 temperature not so very low : and that when the unqualified 

 statement is made, " Bees never freeze ; they starve," the 

 answer should be, " Bees do freeze, millions of them." 



Does Black Anger Bees ?— J. H. Martin thinks color 

 does not make so much difference as texture and cleanness. 

 Fuzziness is more than color, a fuzzy hat, white or black, 

 attracting attention, and a hole in such a hat being a special 

 target. — Bee-Keepers' Review. Those who say -they have 

 seen bees make a distinction on account of color may be 

 hard to satisfy that there is no such thing bj- the testimony 

 of those who have never observed it. 



American Hives Larger than German. — In Germany, 

 bee-keepers in general don't know what a large hive is. 

 Only lately I was reading how a German bee-journal made 

 fun of the French for using the large Dadant hives, and 

 when a larg'e yield is reported from such hives they call it 

 pure humbug. .. .1 may further say that here in America 

 entrances are very much larger than in Germany, and the 

 bees seem to prosper with them. — L. v. Stachelhausen, in 

 Deutsche ill. Bztg. 



A Point in Favor of Small Hives, and a strong point in 

 his estimation, is given by the editor of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Review. If the bees get started with more honey in the 

 brood-nest than brood, or even half as much honey as brood, 

 the habit of storing in the brood-apartment has become so 

 strong that thej- will not give it up. He especially values 

 the practice .of giving at the opening of the harvest a super 

 of drawn combs, thereby inducing the bees to begin their 

 storing in the super. 



Nailed Sections Preferred.— Says G. M. Doolittle in the 

 Progressive Bee-Keeper : 



"I consider that nailed sections are enough better for 

 shipping honey, to more than pay for the extra time spent 

 in nailing them, for the loss by breakage with other than 

 nailed sections rules .so much greater than with the nailed 

 that the damage through breakage will more than hire the 

 sections nailed, or pay the bee-keeper for his time when 

 nailing them himself." 



A Ne-vv Separator is described by Jacob Alpaugh, in the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review. The separators are supported in the 

 super by a strip of tin at each end of the super, the same as 

 in a T super, but instead of a T tin the sections are sup- 

 ported by strips of tin fastened to the separators. These 

 pieces of tin are 1 '2 inches long and 'i inch wide, '4' inch at 

 the bottom being turned at right angles to support the cor- 

 ner of the section. Some one got up something of that kind 

 before. Was it L. A. Aspinwall ? 



Bees Needed :for Fruit — Press Bulletin No. 8, of the 

 Kansas Experiment Station, says: 



"If bees are kept from fruit-blossoms by netting or 

 other artificial means, the amount of fruit set is little or 

 none. It not infrequently happens that inclement weather 

 prevents or hinders the flying of bees during the period 

 when the flowers are receptive. A fruit-tree, half of which 

 was subjected to a continuous spray of water during the 

 flowering period, produced no fruit upon the sprayed por- 

 tion, but an abundance upon the other. A failure due to 

 the above-mentioned cause cannot well be prevented, but 

 may be modified by having bees near at hand to utilize the 

 short favorable periods -which do occur. 



" An insufficient supply ot\ bees will hinder the setting 

 of fruit. While other insects may take part in the carrying 

 of pollen, the fruit-raiser must rely chiefly upon honey-bees. 

 Experience shows that, tho hungry bees may fly two or 

 three miles, hives should be within half a mile of the 

 orchard or small-fruit patch." 



Boiling Foul-Broody Honey is discust by the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review without reaching any positive conclusion 

 as to how long boiling is required. If the work of the scien- 

 tists is to be counted. Editor Hutchinson thinks Dr. Miller 

 may be justified in demanding 2K hours. But he .seems to 

 think we can't count too much upon what the scientists find 

 out, and cites, among other things, that Cheshire reported 

 foul brood spores in the eggs of a queen, while a queen 

 from an infected colony has never carried the disease to an- 

 other colony. That leaves the possible inference that 

 Cheshire was mistaken as to finding spores in eggs. After 

 Mr. Hutchinson had written this, he made a visit to Guelph, 

 Ontario, had an interview with Prof. Harrison, the bacteri- 

 ologist, and saw some things through a microscope. In- 

 stead of knocking into pi what he had written, with admir- 

 able frankness he lets it stand, and adds that through that 

 microscope he saw with his oivn eyes spores in an egg. Per- 

 haps it is well for all to avoid being too positive, no matter 

 which side we are on. 



Baits in Supers Help to Prevent Swarming. — A Stray 

 Straw in Gleaning-s says : "If L. Stachelhausen is correct, 

 as I think he is, as to the eft'ect of baits in supers, page 85, 

 then they form quite a factor in prevention of s-warming. 

 Forcing bees to begin on raw foundation in the super by 

 the crowded condition of the brood-nest is forcing them just 

 so much toward swarming-. [This is a good point. It is 

 one of the golden nuggets that appear in the ordinary arti- 

 cles of some of our contributors, but which the editor had 

 not seen. I now desire to give it all the prominence I can, 

 as I believe there is a good deal ita it. — Ed.] 



Winter Protection. — D. W. Heise — the man that notes 

 and picks for the Cat adian Bee Journal — is getting ready 

 for himself a whole lot of trouble. He has so little respect 

 for generally accepted opinions that he says if the cluster 

 of bees is properly protected on top and sides, he would 

 rather have his hives out in the open plain than surrounded 

 by evergreen hedges or high board fences. When too much 

 protection is given by building-s, fences, etc., the bees ven- 

 ture out when too cool for their safety, while the bees in the 

 open mind their business and stay at home. 



Liquefying Extracted Honey Before Selling is a mis- 

 take in the opinion of D. W. Heise. Instead of taking that 

 trouble, he sells his honey in whatever condition it happens 

 to be, taking pains to instruct his customers what they must 

 do to liquefy it, and finds his advantage in doing so. — 

 Canadian Bee Journal. 



Heise's head is level. No matter what pains you take 

 in liquefying, the honey will granulate in your customers' 

 hands, and if they do not know how to liquefy it, your trade 

 will sufi'er. You may as well instruct them properly in the 

 first place. 



When Should Bees be Taken from Cellar? C. Daven- 

 port thinks if bees winter well and are nearly dormant they 

 should be left till settled weather ; but if restless and un- 

 eas}', many leaving their hives and dying, the sooner they 

 are set out the better. If in an intermediate condition, it 

 matters not whether they are taken out in March or April. 

 More stores are consumed if the bees come out early, but 

 they will be strong-er for the harvest if early weather is 

 good. If the weather is bad, then those left in the cellar 

 are better off. — Bee-Keepers' Review. 



