1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



551 



that of the queen, while the drone had no less than 13,090. 

 Remember that this means the number of facets in one of the 

 two compound eyes, and that the number must be doubled to 

 find the number of impressions made on the optic nerve. 

 Think of the drone looking 26,000 ways at once ! 



Keeping Empty Combs. — G. W. Demaree asks on page 

 503 for the best way. I'll tell you a good way. Put them in 

 a hive under a colony of bees. I've had one colony take care 

 of two or three stories of empty combs. If the bees are forced 

 to go down through them all to find an exit, I don't know how 

 many stories they would take care of, but for a single story 

 it isn't necessary to oblige the bees to pass down through — 

 just put the story under, with nothing between that and the 

 brood-nest. 



Poplar Sections.— In reply to a query on page 521, I 

 think poplar sections are always made four-piece, as the wood 

 has not the toughness required for bending in a one-piece 

 section. 



Naming the Chicken. — I've heard something about 

 counting chickens before they're hatched, but the editor goes 

 a step farther on page 525, by suggesting a name for the 

 " chicken " while it is still wiggling around in the shell. But 

 if any change is to be made, "Union" is better than "Asso- 

 ciation," just because it hasn't halt the syllables. 



Wax-Adultekation. — On page 525 is given a method of 

 detecting adulteration in beeswax, but I have since seen in 

 one of the trans-atlantic bee-journals a statement that the 

 plan is utterly unreliable. 



Bee-Diseases North and South.— On page 526, R. H. 

 Whitfield is quoted saying : 



"There seems to be a greater freedom from diseases in 

 the South than with the North, and we must attribute it to 

 the tonic and prophylaxis of the bitter element in the fall 

 honey." 



Is it true that there is a greater freedom from bee-diseases 

 in the South ? I had thought of it the other way. Are they 

 free from foul brood in the South ? And if that should be 

 held at bay by bitter honey, then it seems that a sufficient 

 amount of bitter could be mixed with their honey in the 

 North ; but I think no one has any faith in bitter honey as a 

 cure for foul brood. I don't know of any other disease that is 

 at all common in the North except bee-paralysis, and I don't 

 remember hearing of a case in the North that was very seri- 

 ous, whereas in the South it is sometimes almost as destruc- 

 tive as foul brood. 



Seeds from Grafts. — Have scientists made another dis- 

 covery that Bro. Abbott is springing upon us, on page 527 ? 

 He says seed from fruit raised on a graft will produce fruit 

 " like the fruit of the root on which the graft was made." If 

 I understand that correctly, it means that if a pear is grafted 

 on a quince, and seed from a pear grown on that is planted, 

 that seed will produce a quince tree. Do I understand it 

 aright, Bro. Abbott ? 



The Honey Failure. — Usually I'm not very viciously 

 inclined, but I can't stand everything. On page 519, ye edi- 

 tor wants me to give a report of my crop for 1895 as a model 

 for others; and then just as I was cooling off from that, Mrs. 

 Slease had to give me a dig, on page 527. The question is 

 whether I shall move to New Mexico, or adopt the supers Mrs. 

 Slease uses. 



Radish Honey'. — On page 530, Clay C. Cox inquires as 

 to the quality and quantity of honey from the radish. I doubt 

 if he'll ever find out. And if he did find out, I doubt the value 

 of the discovery. It must be remembered that to be of any 

 special value as a honey-plant, a small patch will amount to 



nothing. I think it likely that the radish is a good honey- 

 plant, being nearly related to mustard. But if each bee-ke&per 

 should raise an acre of it, there would be no market in all the 

 world for the seed. There is a large market for the radish 

 for table use, but that would be no benefit to the bees. For 

 new sources of honey I suspect we must look toward the intro- 

 duction of new forage-plants like alfalfa and crimson clover, 

 or to the growing use of sweet clover as a forage-plant. 

 Lately I was quite surprised to see a fine growth of alfalfa in 

 its third season in northern Illinois. It had been cut for the 

 third time this season, yielding a heavy crop, when hay in 

 general has been a very light crop on account of drouth. 



Marengo, III. 



The Buckwheat Honey-Flow — Other Notes. 



BY F. A. LOCKHABT. 



We have just finished moving our bees to the buckwheat 

 fields. White clover was a failure here on account of the dry, 

 hot weather during its full bloom. The bees filled their hives 

 and gathered a few pounds of surplus from basswood. Buck- 

 wheat and fall flowers promise to yield a good crop, as we are 

 having plenty of rain, and everything looks fresh and green. 

 There are several hundred acres of buckwheat within easy 

 reach of the bees, which are in splendid condition for the flow. 

 I will report later how much we harvest from it. 



CARNIOLAN BEES VS. ITALIANS. 



On page 449, Geo. I. Wolf says he has a superior strain 

 of Italian bees, or a worthless strain of Carniolans. I am sur- 

 prised to hear that there is a strain of Italians which "gath- 

 ered from 40 to 132 pounds of honey," while the Carniolans 

 in the same apiary were strong in bees, and did not gather 

 enough honey on which to winter. I will give Mr. ^\'., or any 

 other person, $25 for a queen of such a strain of Italian bees, 

 that will gather such an amount by the side of Carniolans 

 that will not gather enough to winter themselves ! The rea- 

 son why I make such an offer is, I have had Italian queens 

 from 15 different breeders, from all parts of this country, and 

 have failed so far in finding a strain of Italians that are 

 superior to our Carniolans as honey-gatherers. It must be the 

 lacation and management; if not, why is it that we get a third 

 more honey, on an average, each year from our Carniolans 

 than from our Italians? Even supposing the two races equal 

 in honey-gathering, are there not other qualities to be consid- 

 ered ? Carniolans winter well, cap their honey snowy white, 

 and gather very little propolis, using mosfly wax instead ; 

 whereas, the Italians winter poorly (here in the North), give 

 a water and hence not neat appearance to cappings, and stick 

 everything up with propolis. The race which gives us the 

 most dollars and cents is the one we prefer, and the above- 

 stated superiority of the Carniolans proves which race we 

 want. 



Y-ELLOW JACKETS, HORNETS, ETC. 



The yellow-jackets have never, as far as known, been so 

 thick up here as this year. They are simply numberless, and 

 eat every dead animal long before it has time to decompose. 

 The honey-dew is also disposed of by them, together with 

 numerous obnoxious caterpillars. There seems to be a run- 

 ning fight between them and the honey-bees, as to which, 

 with the exception of the young bees, hold their own well. 

 The hornets carry off the bees as they do the house-flies. 

 Phebes and kingbirds, too, have been somewhat troublesome 

 in our out-apiaries. Lake George, N. Y., Aug. 5. 



Xliat IVe>v Song — " Queenie Jeanette" — which is being 

 sung everywhere, we can send you (or 40 cents, postpaid, or club 

 it with the American Bee Journal for one year — both for only 

 $1.10. Or, send us one new subscriber for a year (with $1.00), and 

 we will mail you a copy of the song free. 



