1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



555 



built in 1762, with six large rooms. I keep this house only 

 for my bee-supplies and shop. I have 6 colonies in a room 

 up-stairs. I bored a half dozen l}-^-iuch holes through a log 

 for an entrance. This room is pretty cold in winter. Which 

 will be the best — to set up boards on the back of the hives, 

 and pack all over with forest leaves, or leave them as they are 

 in winter ? 



4. Our latitude is 35^, and I always thought bees would 

 winter better on the summer stands by just putting an empty 

 case on top with some kind of cushion therein ; but the last 

 two winters had a good bit of zero weather, and below zero : 

 therefore, I thought to pack the bees on the summer stands. 

 How would it do to commence moving them together in a row, 

 each day a little, and put up a stand of boards and pack them 

 with leaves ? Or would it be better to make a wall for each 

 hive as they are, and pack them ? I have 30 colonies here 

 and there in a yard of 5,000 square feet. I use the B. Tay- 

 lor double sectional brood-chamber. E. B. K. 



Brickerville, Pa., Aug. 6. 



Answers. — 1. When I caged queens in hives I never put 

 any food in the cage, but allowed the bees to feed them. Dur- 

 ing the working season the workers always feed the queen 

 any way, whether she is caged or not. Even if you cage a 

 strange queen in a hive while they still have their own queen, 

 there will always be some bees good-natured enough to feed 

 the strange queen. 



2. I suppose it is honey-dew. 



3. I think the packing might do some good. Of course 

 that still leaves them a free entrance. 



4. There is a division of opinion as to the benefit of pack- 

 ing. Some think the advantage of warmth is overbalanced 

 by the lack of the sun's rays on warm days. It might be a 

 good plan to try part one way and part the other. I think no 

 one denies that plenty of packing on top may do good. Very 

 likely those that are packed will do better if a group are 

 packed together, being gradually moved close in the manner 

 you propose. 



J^otes ^ Con)n)ct)ts^ 



CONDUCTED BY 



Re\'. Emerson T. Abbott, St. J^osepb, Afo. 



Rheumatism and Bee-Stings. — " Mr. .John 

 Worthington, United States Consul at Malta, has sent us a 

 clipping from the Malta Standard, of April 11, which states 

 that the theory that the virus of the bee-sting is an infallible 

 remedy for acute rheumatism has received most unquestion- 

 able confirmation from the practices of the country people of 

 Malta. Bees are said to be plentiful in the island, and the 

 virtue of the sting as a cure for rheumatism has been long 

 established. It is, in fact, said to have been a common prac- 

 tice for generations past, to resort to this remedy in all severe 

 cases, the result being most favorable." — Insect Life. 



There is no ]Mlistake. — "Sweet clover is a sort of 

 weed." This was quoted verbatim et literatim, Dr. Miller. In 

 fact, I want to say to you just now that when I make a quota- 

 tion you can stake your reputation for " truth and veracity " 

 that it is there just as I quote it. No use to take space to ask 

 if there is not some mistake. I can read plain print, and 

 when I quote I never put words in any man's mouth. I saw 

 the sentence to which you refer, on page 486, but that is not 

 the one I quoted, by any means. In fact, my comment was 

 written before that was in print. If the editor of Gleanings 

 has met with a " change of heart " on this subject, all I have 

 to say is, I am glad of it. I have been advocating the great 

 utility of sweet clover these half-dozen years or more, and I 

 am glad to know some of the rest of you are finding out what 

 I have known for a long time. 



Emerson says somewhere, something like this: "A weed 

 Is a plant the use of which has not been found out." I was 

 reminded of this when I read Mr. Wing's letter, on page 434. 

 Why, sir, if his description of the way sweet clover grows in 

 Kansas is true, all that is needed Is for them to " find out its 

 value," and it will have a regular boom in that State. He 

 says it will grow where the soil is as "dry as ashes," but 



" nothing will eat it." Well, that depends. The cows eat it 

 off here in St. Joseph as readily as they would the best grass 

 you ever saw. Of course, stock must learn to eat it. So must 

 they learn to eat prairie hay. I have seen horses in the East, 

 which had been fed all their lives on good timothy hay, that 

 would not touch the prairie-grass hay which we get in Kansas. 

 They would think it a " pernicious weed." 



Ripened Honey. — "Honey should be allowed to 

 ripen thoroughly (in the hives, if practicable), and it should 

 never be put on the market unripe, untidy or unclean." — Mr. 

 Pringle, as quoted in Canadian Bee Journal. 



This would be a good motto for every bee-paper in the 

 country to place at the head of its editorial column, and keep 

 it standing there from week to week — in fact, the year round. 

 I am quite sure that it would go a long ways toward solving 

 the problem of a market for honey, if every man in the land 

 who produces honey would make up his mind to never put on 

 the market any honey that is " unripe, untidy or unclean." 

 There is nothing that so ruins a honey market as a lot of poor, 

 dirty honey. This is not only true of honey, but of any article 

 of human food. The people who live near a market and make 

 flrst-class, clean butter, never have any trouble to sell it. 

 They are not bothered very much about adulteration, nor laws 

 to protect their industry. The superior quality of their goods 

 is their protection. This is the kind of protection, too, which 

 needs no officer of the law to enforce it. Why do we ask for 

 certain brands of goods ? Simply because they have the 

 reputation of being first-class every time, and such a reputa- 

 tion is bound to tell in any line of business. "Always room at 

 the top, young man." This is just as true in the production 

 of honey as in anything else. " Never put any unripe, untidy 

 or unclean ho7iey on the market." 



Bee-Keeping: in China.— In L'Apiculteur, Rene 

 Madeline gives details on bee-keeping in China, which, on ac- 

 count of the occurrences in that Oriental country to-day, will 

 be read with much interest. Mr. J. Dennler sums up the 

 principal points for the British Bee Journal as follows : 



1. Style of hives used. The primitive hive, composed of 

 a hollow trunk of a tree. 



2. Apiculture in general. Apiculture is very little prac- 

 ticed in this country. It is often the priests of the temples in 

 the villages who cultivate bees. 



3. The harvesting of the honey and wax. This takes 

 place twice a year, in the spring and autumn. For this pur- 

 pose the lower part of the tree trunk is removed, and half the 

 combs are cut out, the bees having been previously smoked. 

 The smoking is done by burning the roots of a species of arte- 

 misia (wormwood). 



4. The use made of the honey. It is largely used in phar- 

 macy, and also for making preserves of fruit. 



5. The value of honey and wax. Honey sells for one tael 

 the 9i4 pounds. A Chinese pound is equal to about one and a 

 half English pounds. The tael is worth three shillings. In 

 Pekin honey sells for about Is. a pound retail (0.42 cents of 

 a piastre). 



Wax of first quality sells on the spot for one tael the 

 pound. Second quality wax only realizes one tael for two 

 pounds. 



These prices are for wholesale in the mountain villages to 

 the north of Pekin. 



Wax is used in China for the purpose of hardening tallow- 

 candles. It is also used by chemists as a covering to pills, and 

 in this manner the chemical matters contained therein are 

 preserved. 



6. Do the Chinese convert honey into drinks ? Not as a 

 rule. Sometimes in summer they put a little honey in hot 

 water and use this as a drink. Lastly, the people in this 

 country have no special appliances for bee-keeping. They 

 use just those that have been always used, and these are cer- 

 tainly most primitive. 



It^ See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 561. 



