812 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



danger of the cases blowing offV 

 What objection is there to beveled 

 edges or projections, or one or the 

 other, to keep hives and cases to- 

 gether, and to prevent rain from driv- 

 ing in y 



3. Will winter feeding disturb the 

 bees so as to induce breeding or cause 

 uneasiness or excitement resulting in 

 bee-diarrhoea V J. W. Gordon. 



Brighton, Ont., Dec. 5, 18S4. 



Answers. — 1. When I devised that 

 honey-board I knew that such a board 

 between the brood-chamber and the 

 surplus comb-honey department was 

 a thing of great convenience, and 

 that between the brood-chamber and 

 surplus extracting frames, almost a 

 necessity. I was not sure, however, 

 that the board would not sometimes 

 somewliat deter the bees from enter- 

 ing the sections, and this is one of 

 the reasons why I constructed it so 

 that the cases Ht the hive as perfectly 

 without the honey-board as with it. 

 Years of experiment on a large scale 

 have demonstrated to others and to 

 myself that the board has not the 

 least tendency to dissuade the bees 

 from entering the surplus department 

 as soon as the heat and nectar will 

 admit of their entering such depart- 

 ment with any other arrangement. 

 The advantages of the slat, sink 

 honey- board are these: 1. It keeps 

 all the brace-combs below it and away 

 from the sections, keeping tliem clear 

 of these dripping bits of comb. 2. It 

 thus greatly facilitates the easy and 

 speedy removal or adjusting of the 

 surplus arrangements. 3. When run- 

 ning for extracted honey no bits of 

 comb ever rest the frames at their 

 bottoms, thus destroying their rest at 

 their tops, which makes a host of 

 trouble. 4. It tends to keep the queen 

 in the lowerapartment. 5. If reversed 

 in the fall, and covered with cloth, it 

 gives a bee-passage over the combs, 

 prevents the cloth from being gummed, 

 and forms a bottom to the case or 

 super holding the absorbing material, 

 so the same may be put off or on 

 without any danger of scattering the 

 contents, il. It is a protection against 

 robber bees when removing surplus 

 departments. 



2. No, there is no danger whatever 

 of the cases blowing off, nor of the 

 rain beating in, where the hives and 

 cases are properly managed (I never 

 have any trouble "from either) ; and if 

 you allow of any such bevel or pro- 

 jections, it greatly increases the ditH- 

 culty of quickly adjusting them, as it 

 spoils a perfect "■ lateral movement" 

 —the best of all movements with 

 which to adjust one section or story 

 of a hive to another. It is not only a 

 damage but an extra expense, and 

 entirely uncalled for. 



3. Sometimes it will. If you are 

 feeding bees with pure, cane sugar 

 syrup, which are occupying combs 

 containing no bee-bread, "I will war- 

 rant that no breeding nor bee-diar- 

 rhcea will result. 



'0 UR i?£ P7t£^^S^^^ 



Boards in Front of Entrances. 



In referring to my proposed plan of 

 wintering, given on page 743, Mr. 

 Chas. Mitchell says that I should 

 " tack each board at the top edge 

 against each hive, or the snow will 

 freeze to them and keep melting on 

 the ground so that in two or three 

 days the boards will be leaning back 

 and form a complete ' shoot ' to catch 

 fresh snow and lill the entrances." 

 In reply I would say that these lean- 

 ing boards used to keep the snow and 

 wind from the entrances of the hives, 

 rest on the bottom-board of the hive 

 and not on the ground as he supposes ; 

 hence tliey are never drawn back as 

 he speaks of : or at least, after using 

 them for two years, I have never seen 

 one do so. G. M. Doolittle 40-80 



Borodino, © N. Y., Dec. 8, 1884. 



Is Honey-Dew Poisonous? 



Will Dr. Tinker please say whether 

 honey-dew is poisonous or not ? Will 

 it cause death or insanity ? G. 



[I have had no experience with the 

 so-called honey-dew, and know little 

 of it, except what has appeared in 

 the bee-papers. If reference is had 

 to any properties that the bees may 

 convey to it, I should say that it 

 would affect a person no different 

 than other sweets usually stored by 

 the bees.— Dr. Tinker.] 



Hives Packed in Sawdust. 



On May 1, 1884, I bought 7 colonies 

 of Vices in box-hives, transferred them 

 to Quinby's improved hive, and in- 

 creased them to 11 colonies. I have 

 taken from the same 420 pounds of 

 comb honey in one-pound sections, 

 264 pounds of it being white clover, 

 and the balance gathered from golden- 

 rod and buckwheat. My bees are on 

 the summer stands packed in saw- 

 dust, with 6 inches of the same on 

 top, with upper and lower ventilation, 

 and with 40 pounds of honey and bees 

 by weight of frames. I allowed 10 

 pounds for bees and frames. 



C. R, Hancock. 



Chatham, Out., Dec. 4, 1S84. 



i^" The Monthly Bee Journal 

 for a year and the pamphlet " Bees 

 and Honey," will both be sent for SI. 



Honey-Flora of Middle Tennessee- 



The following is a list of the honey- 

 producing plants, and the dates of 

 their blooming in succession, in Mid- 

 dle Tennessee, 36° north latitude : 

 During the latter part of February, 

 white elm, alder and maple ; March 1. 

 box-elder; April 10, peach, pear and 

 service ; April IT), beech and sugar- 

 tree ; April 18, red-bud or Judas-tree ; 

 May 5, wild-cherry, raspberry and 

 strawberry ; May 10. poplar (the best 

 of all); May 1.5, white clover and 

 black locust; June 1, persimmon, 

 black-gum and motherwort; June .5, 



orchard-grass (for pollen); June 12^ 

 yellow or shittim wood ; June 20, lin- 

 den or basswood ; June 2.5, chestnut 

 and sour- wood : July 1. melilot clover, 

 catnip and motherwort ; July 2o, spi- 

 der-plant; August 1, sumac and 

 prickly-ash; August 10, heart's-ease ; 

 Sept. 1, goldenrod, flea-mint, iron- 

 weed, boneset and asters. 



D. S. England. 

 Sparta,© Tenn., Dec. 6, 1884. 



Report of the Buckhorn Apiary. 



In the fall of 1883 I put 78 colonies- 

 into my bee-cellar, and all came out 

 alive last spiing. During the past 

 season they iiave increased to 137 col- 

 onies by natural swarming, and I have 

 them all in the cellar again in good 

 condition. I have obtained 2,000 lbs. 

 of comb honey and 2,000 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honev, and I have about half 

 of it left. " F. A. Gibson. 



Racine, o, AVis., Dec. 10, 1884. 



That Adulterated Honey. 



Concerning the article of Jlr. Hunt., 

 on page 787 of last week's Journal, 

 we have the following from Mr. Von 

 Dorn • 



Omaha, Neb., Dec. 6, 1884.— In re- 

 ply to Mr. Hunt's article • 1. I know 

 of no one who wishes him to go out 

 of the bee-business. It is the adul- 

 teration business we are after, and we 

 do not propose to let it up either. 



2. He may have all tlie legal proof 

 he needs as to the identity of the 

 honey ; I have it. 



3. It is presumable that the Chicago 

 Sugar Retining Company (one of the 

 largest glucose works in the United! 

 States) knows what glucose is, and 

 how to detect it. Prof. Nicholson, 

 the chemist at the Nebraska State 

 University, says : " I lind neither 

 starch nor paratline. and &eiif re (italics 

 mine) the article to be pure strained 

 honey." He believes; the Retining 

 Company hwwft. Paraffine in honey 

 is good ; no wonder he believes. I 

 proposed to have proof one way or the 

 other before I told the public what it 

 was. 



4. I neither know nor care now who 

 that queen-breeder was. It is of no 

 importance to this case. If it was I 

 wli ) flaade any remarks, I presume 

 I can furnish satisfactory proof in 

 support of them. 



.5. I have no personal ill-will in the 

 least, and if he can convince me that 

 I am in the wrong. I will do more to 

 right him than I liave to hiint him 

 down. T. L. Von Dorn. 



The readers of the Bee Journal 

 are not interested in a personal con- 

 troversy, and with the exception of 

 the result of the third analysis (if 

 offered for publication) this article 

 will close this subject in our columns. 

 All we desire is to get at the facts of 

 the case, and these, so far, are con- 

 tradictory, and, therefore, unsatis- 

 factory. What the next will be we 

 do not know. 



