1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



619 



trouble may be a peculiarity of that colony, in which case it 

 may be well to Con6iie tbeir work to extracted honey, and 

 avoid breeding from them. 



The section of honey sent was of course broken by the 

 express company, but they must have exercised a good deal of 

 ingenuity, for it was so carefully packed that it would hardly 

 seem possible to break it. It was left, however, sufficiently 

 whole to allow it to be seen that it was A 1 in appearance, 

 very light in color, of excellent flavor, only some might think 

 the flavor a little too mild. The comb seems remarkably ten- 

 der. I'm not an expert at judging honey, but I think the 

 sample is something new to me, and I shall be glad to have 

 you tell us what it is. 



Changing Frames^Perforated-Wood Separators. 



1. I am about to change the frames in all my hives 

 (Langstroth) to a larger size. What standard frame is there, 

 which is the same size as the Langstroth but deeper? 



2. I shall also modify my supers by laying aside section- 

 holders. I will continue to use wood separators, but have 

 them perforated with holes Jg of an inch in di.ameter, and U 

 inch apart. Has this sort of separator been used, or anything 

 on this order ? Now, I'm not after a patent, but if there is 

 any marked advantage to the bees, by the use of this kind of 

 separator, or anything like it, I desire to find it out. 



M. L. 



Answers. — 1. Some bee-keepers make frames 17 J^ inches 

 long, and deeper than 938, but I don't know of any standard 

 in the matter, each one having his own ideal. 



2. 1 don't wonder greatly at your laying aside section- 

 holders, but I wish you would tell us why, and what you have 

 found better. As to the separator you have in mind, there 

 seems good reason at the bottom. The idea is that a separa- 

 tor is in the way of the bees, hindering their work, only if no 

 separator is present they'll make crooked work. Now, it we 

 can give them something that will oblige them to make 

 straight work, and still allow free communication, we will 

 have the advantages without the disadvantagps. A good many 

 others have had this same thought, and it will be very hard 

 for you to get up a separator not previously conceived and 

 tried. A wire separator has been patented, I believe, and 

 different wood separators have been made with passage-ways. 

 I think none of them have been a great success, and you bet- 

 ter try it on a small scale. 



Black vs. the Yellow — What Made the Difference P 



I bought 18 5-banded Italian queens the past summer, 

 and I introduced all but two without loss. I bought two full 

 colonies last fall, and one of them gave two good swarms last 

 spring, and the other did not swarm at all ; and the worst of 

 all, I have 20 full colonies of the 5-banded bees, or the golden; 

 I have some yellow all over, and some black bees yet, and I 

 have been getting honey from the black ones, and none from 

 the Italians. What is the cause ? 1 think I have gone a step 

 too far with the yellow bees. I want some good honey-gath- 

 erers, too. 



I have 28 full colonies now, all in the 8 and 9 frame 

 dovetail hives, all in good condition for winter. I had to 

 transfer 17 of them last spring from the box-hive to the dove- 

 tail hive. I did it without loss. I put the best straight com bs 

 in the frames, and in the rest I put full sheets of foundation. 

 I have given my bees all the care a man could, and I want to 

 keep them for profit, if there is any in them. I run for comb 

 honey. My average crop was 20 pounds each from the lO 

 black colonies, and not a pound from the 20 Italians. They 

 fly stronger than some of the blacks, but don't bring in the 

 honey, and they are bad to rob, sure enough — worse than 

 blacks, I think. I have had about eijough of the so-called 5- 

 banded bees. I want the best honey-gatherers. Which are 

 the best ? C. R. R. 



Harden, N. C, Sept. 2. 



Answer. — If your bees all had the same care, it seems a 

 pretty clear thing that at least for you the black bees are bet- 

 ter than the yellow ones you have. There is great difference 

 of opinion as to the value of the very yellow bees, and I sus- 

 pect they are not all alike, some being much better than 

 others. I should advise a trial of the regular 3-banded Ital- 

 ians, and if you find they don't do any better for you than the 

 5-banders, then work back into the black blood. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. J. V. n. BROWlSr, AUaUSTA., CA. 



[Please send all questions relating- to bee-keeping In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department.— Ed.1 



Several Moles by tlie Way. 



Ripening Honey. — There is copied, on page 508, from 

 the Rural Californian, an item by Prof. Cook in regard to the 

 ripening of honey. Prof. Cook is quoted as saying that the 

 bees " wait until the evaporation is sufficient to make the 

 honey of such thickness or 'body' that it's in no danger of sour- 

 ing or fermenting after being sealed." Do they, always ? I 

 have just extracted from some combs which were sealed half 

 way or more from the top. The honey not yet capped was 

 thick and well ripened, while that which had been sealed was 

 thin, and in a state of fermentation. 



Keeping Grass Down. — Dr. Miller, on page 509, in 

 speaking of keeping the fronts of the hives free from grass, 

 says salt is good for that purpose, but that he prefers a board. 

 That is probably all right in the North, but here, where we 

 are afflicted with ants, the board would only furnish a handy 

 place of refuge for these pets. By the way, I find that gaso- 

 line will destroy ants and their eggs iiistanter, if sprinkled 

 upon them. This is of use where a nest is found in some place 

 in which it is not advisable" to burn it — and the gasoline is at 

 hand. 



Sweet Clover seems to thrive on our low hammock soils, 

 rich, dark looking land, but will not do on the light or higher 

 grounds. 



Basswood grows in this section, near the 28th degree 

 north latitude, but as it is said to yield well only after severe 

 winters, I would prefer to do without honey from that source. 



Puzzling Actions. — Bees are often a puzzle in their 

 actions. I have a nucleus in a 10-frame hive. They have 

 eight full combs, one frame of foundation, and one frame with 

 an inch starter. They have just begun to draw O'lt the foun- 

 dation. This colony has for some weeks been building queen- 

 cells. Several times the cells have been capped over, but each 

 time destroyed by being opened on the side. Still the cell- 

 building goes on. This colony has been increased from a 

 2-frame nucleus, as I found they needed room. Nothing ap- 

 pears to be wrong with the queen — she is but a few months 

 old, and there should be no reason for swarming, with a light 

 honey-flow and plenty of room. 



The Honey Crop here will be light, unless the fall 

 flow brings up the average. There has been a profuse bloom 

 in many cases, but the yield of honey was scanty. 



Holly Hill, Pla., Aug. 11. C. S. Harris. 



Bee-Tree Troubles. — As showing the value of a 

 bee-tree, in the opinion of a Michigan law court, the following 

 is given from the Muir (Mich.) Tribune: 



Ed. Crone's trial for the offense of cutting a bee-tree on 

 W. H. Kimball's farm resulted in his conviction. Justice 

 Bennett sentenced him to pay a fine of .f 1.50 and costs, 

 amounting to about $30 in all, or 30 days in jail. He couldn't 

 raise the money, and his only alternative was to go to jail. 



Honey as Food aiitl Medioiiie.— A new and revised 

 edition of this .S3-page pamphlet is now issued. It has 5 blank 

 pages on which to write or paste recipes taken from other sources. 

 It is just what its name indicates, and should be liberally dis- 

 tributed among the people everywhere to create a demand for 

 honey. It contains a number of recipes on the use of honey as 

 food and as medicine, besides much other interesting and valuable 

 information. Prices, postpaid, are: Single copy, 5 cts. ; 10 copies 

 35 cts. ; 50 for $1.25 ; 100 lor $3.00. Better give them a trial. Send 

 all orders to the Bee Journal office. 



No-w is the Time to work for new subscribers. 

 Why not take advantage of the liberal offers made on page 

 627? 



