186 



AMERICAN BEE JCukNAL, 



Mar. 23, 1899. 



Plain Sections and Fences, says Editor Root, were 

 bought by several thousand of their customers last year, 

 only two calling them a failure, while some others who were 

 not entirely satisfied with them were found to have fences 

 of faulty construction. 



Don't Experiment on too Large a Scale, is the advice 

 of G. M. Doolittle. It is needless to sacrifice a whole apiary 

 to an experiment, as some seem to think. On the other 

 hand, don't be too much afraid of experimenting on your 

 own hook. — Gleanings. 



To Get a Special Breeding-Queen, Gleanings advises 

 to buy four or five queens at S5.00 or $10.00 each, breed from 

 all and get a composite stock, getting the queens from dif- 

 ferent breeders so as to avoid in-breeding. Which may be 

 very good advice for those who don't know how to get rid of 

 their money otherwise. 



Japanese Bees, according to K. Aoyanagi, in the Amer- 

 ican Bee-Keeper, are grayish-yellow, becoming darker with 

 age, smaller, gentler, and hardier than Italians. They 

 build white comb with thin walls that does not bear trans- 

 portation as well as that made by Italians. They work in 

 rainy weather when Italians stay at home. 



Threading Instead of Wiring Foundation.— A writer in 

 the British Bee Journal saj-s he uses cotton-thread instead 

 of wire for fastening foundation, letting the thread be op- 

 posite on each side and slightly cutting: into the foundation. 

 The foundation is drawn out enough to hold it firm before 

 the bees gnaw away the thread. This "needs confirma- 

 tion." 



Importing Queens.— W. A. Gilstrap, of California, re- 

 ports in Gleanings that last year he imported six queens 

 from Italj'. Four died on the way, one was lost in intro- 

 ducing, and the other one absconded with most of the bees 

 several weeks after being introduced. He thinks a trip of 

 20 days is too trying, and that it is better to buy of import- 

 ers in the Eastern States. 



Large or Small Hives.— In the American Bee-Keeper, 



A. E. Manum favors both kinds — the large hive for a loca- 

 tion with a short honey season, if no increase is wanted and 

 no feeding desired ; the small hive for a location with a 

 honey-flow of long duration and the bees run for comb 

 honey by one who gives close attention at all seasons, and 

 also where increase is desired. 



The New York Spraying Law, which went into effect 

 July 1, 1898, is given in American Bee-Keeper as follows : 



Section 1. — Any person who shall spray with, or apply 

 in any way, poison or anj' poisonous substances to fruit- 

 trees while the same are in blos.som, is guilty of a misde- 

 meanor, punishable by a fine of not less than $10.00 nor 

 more than S50.00. 



Section 2.— This act shall take efl'ect Julv 1, 1898. 



How Long After Infection Before Foul Brood is Bad ? 



is a question answered b_v Wm. McEvoy, in Gleanings. 

 Sometimes in a week, sometimes a year ; generally less 

 than three months. Depends upon amount of diseased honey. 

 To become diseased, the honey must be stored in cells where 

 foul brood matter had dried down, then other cells partly 

 filled with sound honey may become infected by honey from 

 the diseased cells. 



Bees as Fertilizers — A bee-keeper gets less fruit from 

 apple and pear trees three miles from any bees than from the 

 home orchard near bees, and G. M. Doolittle advises plant- 

 ing bees nearer than three miles from the dilatory trees. 

 He relates that Gregory, the squash man, tied gauze over 

 the'squash-blooms with little squashes at their bases, and 

 invariably the little squashes turned yellow and died. A 

 Kansas Station Bulletin s;iys : "An insufficient supply of 

 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 Ay two or three miles, hives should be 

 within half a mile of the orchard or small-fruit patch." — 

 American Bee-Keeper. 



Wide Frames, which have been discarded by many, are 

 strongly advocated by G. M. Doolittle in Gleanings. He 

 sees no reason for changing, so long- as he gets highest 

 market price and more, having gotten 20 cents last fall in 

 Boston for some of his fancy honey, when it was quoted 14 

 and IS cents. Properly constructed wide frames keep sec- 

 tions so clean there is no need of a machine to clean them, 

 and the tin separators he has had in use 20 to 25 years have 

 been cteaned only once. 



Strong Colonies for large results, has almost past into 

 an axiom, yet that there are limits must be conceded. In 

 Centralblatt is mentioned a case in which a giant swarm 

 was formed by the uniting of several swarms, until a weight 

 of 13 or 14 pounds was reacht. The season was favorable, 

 all colonies being very heavy in the fall. This giant colony 

 yielded a harvest of 73 pounds of comb honey, but in com- 

 parison with others it oug^ht to have j'ielded 120 pounds. A 

 larger result would in all probabilitj' have been attained if 

 the big- swarm had been separated in two. 



Making Haste Slowly — In the American Bee Journal 

 for Feb. 2. the editor of the Canadian Bee Journal has his- 

 attention called to the fact that he had copied half a page 

 in his journal for January from the British Bee Journal 

 without giving credit. In the Canadiaa Bee Journal for 

 March the editor says : " We therefore hasten to make the 

 correction," adding- that his paper has never been accused 

 of systematic pilfering. The latter statement is true, for 

 his pilfering doesn't seem to be particularly " sj'stematic," 

 but it's a little difficult to understand how he has "hastened 

 to make the correction," when it occurs two months after 

 the omission of credit. 



Examining Bees in Spring. — A discussion reported in 

 the Canadian Bee Journal makes it appear desirable not to 

 open too early hives for examination, as the breaking of 

 the sealing leaves the hives cooler afterward. Mark the 

 hives that appear light, so as to supply their wants, then it 

 may not be necessary to disturb the others. But weight 

 alone cannot be depended upon, as was brought out by Mr. 

 Alpaugh. Two colonies may weigh the same — one may be 

 light in bees and have more honey than it needs, while the 

 other, strong in bees, may starve unless fed. The usual 

 difference of opinion prevailed as to the advisability of 

 stimulative feeding- in the spring. 



"What's the flatter with Holtermann ?" is the anxious 

 inquiry of the editor of Gleaning-s. tJn page 106 of this 

 journal, in an item giving a statement of the views exprest 

 by Editor Holtermann, of the Canadian Bee Journal, with 

 respect to no-bee-way sections, the following passage 

 occurs : 



" At the Toronto exhibition plain sections took no 

 prizes. Sections of the ordinary kind shown there beat the 

 sections shown by Danzenbaker at Buffalo." 



The statement in that passage is a very severe infrac- 

 tion of the ninth commandment, if there is no mistake in 

 what is said in Gleanings for March 1. That this 

 Boiler may not be held responsible for misrepresentation, 

 the following quotation gives verbatim the words of the 

 Canadian Bee Journal; "....how is it that at Toronto, 

 London, and Ottawa exhibitions the plain sections did not 

 distinguish themselves by capturing the prizes on comb 

 honey ? The comb honey in the plain section was shown 

 at Toronto, but secured nothing." 



It appears, however, according to Gleanings, that plain 

 sections were nof exhibited at Toronto. C. E. Taylor sent 

 some plain sections of honey that he found unopened the 

 last week of the fair in Manager Hill's office, where he 

 opened the lot and showed it to Mr. Holtermann. This be- 

 ing brought to the attention of Mr. Holtermann, he said in 

 his paper: 



"Again at Toronto plain sections were entered and 

 sent to the exhibition. I saw them there, but thru an over- 

 sight they were not judged." 



This does not satisfy the editor of Gleanings, who 

 wants evidently to have Mr. Holtermann say in plain words 

 that plain sections were not on exhibition at Toronto, and 

 had no possible chance to take any prizes. Of course that 

 will be the easiest wav out. if it is the truth. 



