566 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Sept. 7, 1899. 



The "Old Reliable" seen thru New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. HASTY, Richards, Ohio. 



EDITOR root's "unconscious BEAUTY." 



When that unco.n.scious beauty's found and cauiriil, 

 Next catch a man who's wise and knows it not ; 

 Then let a saintl_v priest, that isn't proud. 

 Send them to nuptial heaven in a cloud. 



TIN-P.\N MUSIC FOR BEES PRETTY OI,D. 



That was a brig-ht idea (page 537) which explained tlie 

 orig-in of tin-pan music for bees by an act of the British 

 Parliament a thousand years ag-o. Alas, what a merciless 

 thing- truth is, and what a lot of pretty conceits it destroys I 

 It kills oflf our William Tells, and makes our Pocahontas-es 

 mere young squaws. The trouble here is that the custom 

 of making- a racket to settle a swarm is certainly many 

 hundreds of years older than that parliamentarj- act. Vir- 

 g-il, nearly a thousand years before, speaks of it as well 

 known, and seems to connect it with the events of Jupiter's 

 babyhood — which would be g-etting- back about as far as 

 Adam. This much is the best we can say — that the law 

 may have done something to prevent the custom from going 

 out of use. 



TWO YE.\KS TO GERMINATE BASSWOOI) SEED. 



As to basswood seeds alluded to in the editorial note, 

 page 536, a friend of mine with botany on the brain tells 

 me that basswood is only one of several genera of trees that 

 regularl}' require two years for the germination of their 

 seeds. Most bee-folks who have planted them gave them 

 up after one year. Two years gives that under-the-snow 

 rascal — the stump-tailed burrowing inouse — extra oppor- 

 tunities to gather them in as winter provender. It is desir- 

 able to find some waj' to get on Nature's blind side, and re- 

 duce the germinating- period to one year; but tnay-be we 

 won't succeed. I am trying the trick of picking the seed 

 from the tree a little before it is ripe and planting it then. 

 If I find out anything I'll report. 



HOW TO WATER BEES. 



If any one has anj' doubt that apiarists are a versatile 

 and inventive people let him read the answers to Query 99 

 (page 491) — how to water bees. Out of 30 respondents, 7 are 

 together in depending upon natural supply only, and 4 ad- 

 vise wooden floats of some sort ; all the rest are as well 

 scattered as the brood of chickens when lightning struck 

 the old hen. Ten of them present special watering devices 

 requiring considerable genius to invent. A. I. Root's 

 familiar old water-fountain is evidentlj' going on there- 

 tired list, as it has but two or three followers. What I had 

 previously supposed to be the best was the invention of Dr. 

 Miller — big crock, big coarse cloth over, and chunk of wood 

 not too rotten, but just rotten enough to soak well, and a 

 little smaller than the crock, laid on cloth and prest down 

 in. But I see the Doctor abandons this in favor of a crock 

 stuft with simple stovewood. Perhaps the rotten wood gets 

 corrupt too soon. Perchance all wood and cloth devices 

 may have to go eventually for that and other reasons ; and 

 Dr. Mason's crock, with half inch of cappings floating- in it, 

 may take the cake. All wooden floats are a weariness to 

 the flesh — they learn to sink so soon. 



SOLAR W.\X-EXTRACTORS. 



Too awfully small for a solar wax-extractor, is a wash- 

 basin (page 490), but the idea of a metal solar, of moderate 

 size, plunged in a box of dry sawdust, may be a very val- 

 uable idea. For one thing, a single cheap pane of glass 

 will answer. For another thing, the whole afl'air can be 

 set on a lamp-stove for a few minutes at the clo.se of the 

 day, to make the resultant cake of wax a good one — one of 

 the most difficult points. I am not satisfied with my own 

 solar — too btmgling- — will be more so if I improve it so a 

 lamp-stove can be put under the wax. I don't think a 

 double gla.ss pays its keep, except, perhaps, on days when 

 big clouds float in the sky ; then the air space holds heat 

 " till the clouds roll by, Jennie." The refuse cakes of a 

 solar can be kept for any length of time, if it is desired to 



get a little more wax out of them with heat and press. But 

 no one seeins to come forward with a sa/is/actorv way of re- 

 moving the refuse cake of propolis, dirt and waste. 



GETTING GRANULATED HONEY OUT OF COMBS. 



Mr. John Kedrick's liquid to draw granulated honey out 

 of the combs (page 488) — what is it ? Fermenting, half-made 

 honey-vinegar, is it not ? And isn't the granulated honey 

 wasted, except as more vinegar material ? And couldn't ' 

 patience raixt with pure water be made to do the job ? But 

 if the liquid will take out old pollen also, perhaps that may 

 be worth while, sometimes. 



EASIER RIPENING OF HONEY IN HEAVY-CROP YEARS. 



Honey ripens easier in years when the crop is heavy. 

 Dadant, page 482. Guess that's so— but isn't it about the 

 first time it has got into print ? 



MRS. barber's BARB.4.ROUS HIVE-COLLECTION. 



"All kinds of hives but good ones," eh? The condi- 

 tion of Mrs. Barber's apiary as a bee-feverish beginner. 

 Page 481. Yes, to 1 he callow judgment trifles seem as 

 mountains, and mountains seem as trifles, until we get just 

 such a preposterous collection. 



FRANCE'S " TABERNACLE " .A.ND COMB-RACK. 



Mr. France's tent (page 497) is a nice one — a regular 

 Tabernacle to go thru the Wilderness with. Reminds me 

 of mine, only mine was much smaller — rotted down with 

 age, having been used comparatively few times in its life. 

 Next I got a folding tent of the Roots — and the mice made 

 it up into nests. You see, when one g-ets along without a 

 tent as inucli as he can the remaining cases get fewer and 

 fewer, until when a time he really needs a tent comes he 

 hasn't one in working order. Curiously, bees are much 

 more civilized in their behavior under a tent than outside — 

 but ah, the swelter of it on a hot day ! 



On the picture of the comb-rack I would say, ]Vhen you 

 have room enough space the combs a little wider than those 

 are spaced. 



DADANT'S HONEY-BARREL — NO BACK TALK. 



As to Mr. Dadant's article (page 498), I guess I'll intro- 

 duce the habit of not talking back much to those who reply 

 to afterthinks — unless there is something that urgently 

 requires more words. Say, if I succeed in that, won't I be 

 a shining example to the brethren ? 



A CREDITABLE BEE-TREE-HUNTING SYMPOSIUM. 



That symposium on bee-tree hunting in summer, page 

 499, is quite a credit to the paper. Mr. Clark should be sat- 

 isfied, unless he is a spoilt child of the kind that cries for 

 the moon. To be out 20 times in one July, atid find bees 

 ready to meet you every time, is a remarkable experience. 

 Still to say that they will respond in June, July and August 

 " as well as any other months of the year," is going a bit 

 too far. Thanks to Mr. Record for the teaching that oil 

 anise must be kept outside of the box, and used only as a 

 scent. Most of us would have blundered there, if left to 

 ourselves. 



PROF. DICKEL VS. DR. DZIERZON. 



I guess we owe it to Prof. Dickel to try next season (a 

 good many of us) the two experiments he suggests, and the 

 one outlined by Comrade Theilmann, on page 500. One 

 success on such a line seems to indicate that notwithstand- 

 ing appearatices the queen did lay some drone-eggs in the 

 worker-corab, but many successes would rather prove the 

 contrarj', and send the Dzierzon theory to the shop for re- 

 pairs. 



SEX IN BEES AND BEE-WRITERS' CHILDREN. 



That lecture of Peter Bois on sex in bees, page 500, 

 almost silences me. Examine the families of bee editors 

 and writers, and see if their children are all females — they 

 receive so few checks, you know ! 



MISS anna's REPORT AND PICTURES. 



Compliments to Anna Sundberg, page 505. Her report 

 and series of bee-pictures are extraordinary for a girl of 15. 

 Still, her drone lacks his characteristic bluntness, and her 

 queen lacks the characteristic taper. Makers of advertis- 

 ing cuts oft fail on that difficult taper, and make a wooden 

 spile. 



THE KINGBIRD A BEE SQUEEZER AND SUCKER. 



The observation on the kingbird — that he usually 

 squeezes and sucks dry a -worker-bee while holding it in his 



