132 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



86 to 162 "out of every 10;" but the error 

 shows on the face of it, for any one with a 

 slight kuowledg-e of percentage knows that 

 so many per cent means so many out of ev- 

 erj' 100 and not "out of ever^' 10," so I 

 didn't think it worth while to say any thing 

 about it. But a correspondent writes in 

 rather severe terms, questioning either my 

 truthfulness or my knowledge of percent- 

 age. As I consider myself fairly at home 

 in percentage, and would like to build up 

 a reputation for veracity, I hasten to say to 

 my disturbed friend that I think when that 

 Straw was w-ritten there was a zero in it 

 that was either lost out in the mail some- 

 where between here and Medina, or else it 

 was carelessly dropped on the floor of the 

 printing-shop in that Buckeye town. Yes, 

 that "10" should be "100." 



In the experience I have had pressing 

 wax, it has appeared to me that time is 

 one of the most important factors — a factor 

 that has not been sufhciently emphasized. 

 If you double your pressure and cut your 

 time in two, I think you'll not get as much 

 wax. If you give half the pressure for 

 twice as long, I think you will get an in- 

 crease of wax. [Right you are, doctor. 

 We have learned by experience that it is 

 not tons of pressure, but a mild pressure 

 exerted often or continuouslj', that does the 

 work. The free wax must have tinie\.o dis- 

 engage itself from the mass of foreign mat- 

 ter; and a high pressure in a short time 

 will not accomplish as much as a low pres- 

 sure applied intermittently; but each inter- 

 mittent pressure should be a little harder 

 than the one preceding; that is to say, the 

 mass of slumgum should be reduced in size 

 a little at a time. One may say it takes 

 time to do all this. That is true; but at the 

 present price of wax it pays to take the 

 time, especially if taken in bad weather or 

 at night. — Ed.] 



Observations at Swiss experiment sta- 

 tions show that more honey is consumed by 

 the bees in mild than in severe winters. 

 This accords with the fact that in this 

 country bees consume more in the South 

 than in the North. [Exactly. And yet 

 there are some who do not seem to compre- 

 hend why this is so. When it is very cold 

 and the bees are properly housed or protect- 

 ed they go into a quiet sleep — not a state of 

 hibernation, but a state where activity is 

 practically suspended, where there is no 

 brood-rearing, where the waste of tissue is 

 as nothing comparatively, and they merely 

 exist. In such conditions the consumption 

 of stores to supply the waste will be very 

 light; but in a warmer clima,te, where the 

 bees can have flights every now and then, 

 when they can move around on the brood- 

 frames, rearing a little brood, there is a 

 large waste of tissue, and of course it has 

 to be made up by eating more stores. When 

 bees are poorly protected outdoors thej' 

 will eat more than if kept reasonably warm. 

 This is why cellared bees consume less 

 than those outdoors. — Ed.] 



Wax-presses in which the wax is press- 

 ed under continuous heat, for some strange 

 reason, seem to be less in vogue in this 

 country than in Europe. But they're forc- 

 ing their way to the front here. I have had 

 a strong leaning toward hot water rather 

 than steam, partly because of its advocacy 

 in foreign journals, partly because it seem- 

 ed to me that wax when kept continually 

 under hot water would be kept hotter than 

 when steam was merely allowed to force its 

 way through the wax. But I have been 

 obliged to change my mind when confronted 

 with a machine that would confine the steam 

 to such an extent that, as in the German 

 wax- press, the steam would escape from the 

 upper part at the boiling-point. If the same 

 heat can be maintained with the steam, 

 then it must have the preference, for conven- 

 ience in getting the wax out is all on the 

 side of the steam and against hot water. 

 [We went all over that ground very care- 

 fully here at Medina, and came to the con- 

 clusion that there was no advantage in the 

 use of hot water over steam. Pressing wax 

 under hot water is a messy job; and steam 

 under pressure can be, as you know, hotter 

 than 212.— Ed.] 



That experiment concerning fertiliza- 

 tion in confinement, p. 94. As I understand 

 it, the tent stood close beside a large api- 

 ary, represented 

 bj- the o's in the 

 illustration ; the 

 nuclei containing 

 the virgin queens 

 were in the tent, 

 or beside it at A, 

 and the drones at B. Let me suggest how 

 it might have been: At the time of day 

 when the virgins were inclined to flight, 

 there was a great roaring in the large api- 

 ary so close b}', and the virgins would try 

 to fly in the direction of that roaring. If 

 the drones were attracted by the same noise, 

 it would only attract them to fly into the 

 tent. Slightly corroboratory of this view, I 

 may mention that, for a good many years, 

 following the lead of Adam Grimm, I left 

 an opening for ventilation at the back of 

 each hive at the top. Although in some 

 cases this seemed a freer opening than the 

 regular entrance, the young bees never 

 used it for their play-spells, nor was it ever 

 used as an entrance. The only reason I 

 could see was that the young bees were 

 attracted by the noise at the regular en- 

 trance. Now suppose Mr. Holtermann had 

 set the nuclei with the virgins at B ; is it 

 not possible that they, following the direc- 

 tion of the noise, would have made their 

 waj^ freely into the tent ? [You have very 

 possibly solved the m\'ster3' as to why the 

 j'oung queens did not come out inside of the 

 incloiure. But Mr. Holtermann is going to 

 write another article on the subject, and 

 will doubtless cover this point in detail. I 

 want to saj' right here now that Mr. Hol- 

 termann's experiment convinces me that the 

 plan can be made to work. — Ed.] 



oooo oo 

 O O O' o o o 

 ooo o oo 

 oooooo 

 o ooooo 

 oooooo 



