THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



121 



getting it drawu out in the early 

 spring, and using old combs gave the 

 queen a chance to commence laying 

 at once, and forced the majority of 

 the bees to use their wax in comb- 

 building in the sections. This plan 

 may be old to most bee-keepers, but I 

 learned it by hard study and close 

 watching, and I shall do the same 

 thing this season. All the bees seem 

 to be wintering exceedingly well so 

 far, in this locality. 

 Shideler.o Ind. 



For tlie American Bee JoumaL 



The MMm of Honey. 



T. H. CAKTY. 



On page 70 it states that the pro- 

 ducer and consumer are both at the 

 mercy of the retail dealers, as they 

 usually pay in trade 10 cents per 

 pound for honey (which is equivalent 

 to about 8 cents), and retail it for 12 

 to 15 cents per pound. In this vicinity 

 some are selling splendid comb honey 

 for 7 cents per pound, and I do not 

 doubt but some has been sold as low 

 as 5 cents. 



This reminds me of some honey I 

 bought of a bee-man to retail at 15 

 cents per pound, and in a day or two 

 the bee-man was around selling to my 

 customers at 12 cents, so I was com- 

 pelled to come down to his price. If 

 bee-keepers want to keep up the price 

 of honey they will have to get the 

 retail dealers of their towns to help 

 them sell their honey. Make prices 

 with the dealers so they cannot afford 

 to send after honey, and do not under- 

 sell them, for if they hare any grit they 

 will make you regret your promise. 

 Sell all you can in home markets, and 

 do not glut the large markets that 

 make the prices on all produce. 



The commission men, as a rule, do 

 the best for their customers that they 

 can, for that is their bread and butter, 

 and on their name rests their busi- 

 ness, just like the producer; if the 

 latter's name becomes associated with 

 adulteration, and it is said that he 

 sells glucose for honey, his honey is 

 not sought for. 



Canty, 9 Dak. 



For tbe American Bee Joui-Dal. 



Can Bees Hear? 



D. BRIMMEK. 



I think the idea that bees cannot 

 hear is erroneous, for many reasons, 

 and a few of those reasons I will try 

 to state. One is, they do not emit the 

 same sound in the act of flying at all 

 times. For instance, an angry bee 

 can be distinctly distinguished from 

 one not angrv. Some will sav that is 

 caused by their wings. Then I would 

 ask, how do a few bees lead a large 

 colony in a straight line to some tree 

 previously selected a mile or more 

 awayV— a fact that T have known for a 

 long time ; also that a swarm can be 

 stopped by creating sounds above that 

 of the swarm and the leaders : but it 

 must be continuous to be effective. 



This I know, for I have stopped many 

 swarms after tliey had gotten well 

 under way for tlie woods. If they 

 cannot hear, how is it accounted for ? 



I have had swarms so intent on 

 going that they tried it two days in 

 succession, and were brought back 

 and the queen's wing clipped before 

 they would stay. Then, it is well 

 known that a swarm will not leave 

 unless the queen is with them. How 

 is the knowledge of her presence com- 

 municated through the swarm, if 

 they cannot hear V 



Who has not heard the young 

 queens piping as soon as the first one 

 is hatched, and answering each other 

 in quick succession, one a sharp, 

 shrill sound, and the other a muffled 

 sound— evidence that one is in con- 

 finement V After an experience of 

 over 47 years in handling bees, and 

 being a bee-hunter longer still, I am 

 convinced that the faculty of hearing 

 in bees is very acute— a thing, I think, 

 that can easily be demonstrated. 



Hoosick,o X. Y. 



For toe American Bee JoumaL, 



Bee-Keeping in Culia. 



H. E. HILL. 



Bee-culture, with the improve- 

 ments of modern times, is a thing en- 

 tirely unknown in this portion of 

 Cuba, and our method of handling 

 bees has created quite a sensation 

 among the natives. One native, after 

 watching the proceedings for a few 

 minutes, called a friend, saying, 

 " Come and see what strange people 

 these are— how they play with bees !" 

 Some of them say that " bees cannot 

 do well when they are disturbed and 

 handled in such a way." Another 

 says when he discovers our secrets he 

 will make " millions ;" then a more 

 enlightened brother informs him that 

 the secret lies in " that kind of 

 whistle (tbe smoker) that is worked 

 with the hands;" saying that "he 

 knows how to make them come or go 

 with that thing." 



I should like to give a description of 

 a Cuban apiary, but to convey any 

 idea of tbe appearance of those that I 

 have visited, I fear is beyond my 

 skill. I think of no better way, how- 

 every, than to ask the reader to im- 

 agine a pile of hollow palm and cedar 

 logs varying in length from 3 feet to 

 6, and in diameter from 5 inches to 2 

 feet, that have been laid around by a 

 cyclone. Without regard to " posi- 

 tion of the entrance," they lay to all 

 points of the compass ; but all occupy 

 a horizontal position, with an occa- 

 sional exception where one is seen 

 laying with one end upon another log, 

 and the other end resting on the 

 ground. I can assign no reason for 

 this position, unless it has been 

 thoughtfully placed in this way by the 

 apiarist to save his bees the annoy- 

 ance of carrying water for the brood 

 in rainy weather. In each of these 

 hollow logs is a colony of bees, or else 

 the remainder of one' that has been 

 destroyed by the moth or flown to 

 some place more in accordance with 

 its idea of a suitable home. 



A Cuban honey-extractor and wax- 

 extractor are vei-y much alike, both 

 being a piece of coarse linen. For ex- 

 tracting honey, the combs (that are 

 taken from the end of the hollow log, 

 or from under it) are placed in the 

 linen sack and squeezed until no more 

 honey (and dirt) can be obtained. 

 Then the sack is placed into boiling 

 water until the wax is as nearly all 

 extracted as can be under such a 

 process. 



In transferring nearly 100 of the 

 above-referredto colonies from the 

 logs to the Langstroth hives, I did not 

 find one that was not affected more or 

 less with the moth ; some of which 

 were completely destroyed by its 

 ravages. It is not uncommon to see a 

 colony of bees festooned outside of 

 the log where there is a tree near the 

 end, or anything else for them to 

 attach their combs to ; having moved 

 out for the convenience of the moth 

 and roaches which out-number the 

 bees. Where a colony has been long 

 in this condition and established busi- 

 ness outside, the combs get weather- 

 beaten, and have the color of a 

 hornet's-nest. 



My apiary is located at La Gloria, 

 about three miles from the city or 

 Cienfuegos, among the hills and fields 

 that are now " a perfect sea of 

 bloom ;" and the bees are working 

 from morning until night upon the 

 Companea, and another plant which I 

 should pronounce mother -wort. These 

 plants grow here in great profusion, 

 and yield large quantities of honey 

 and pollen. The palm, cocoanut and 

 banana also furnish some nectar now. 



La Gloria, Cuba. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



A Case for Onen-Side Sections. 



H. W. FUNK. 



I am in hopes that we will welcome 

 a better surplus case for pound sec- 

 tions than any of those now in use. 

 The fraternity is always on the alert 

 for improvements, hence it surprises 

 me that the new style of sections 

 with side-openings do not attract 

 more attention. I have just finished 

 a case adapted to their use, of which 

 I will try a number the following sea- 

 son. I think they will do. This case 

 consists of a rim just as high as the 

 section, and just long enough to ad- 

 mit 4 rows of sections easily ; cross- 

 wise it is about ^ of an inch wider 

 than the 8 sections. (This size is for 

 the lOframe Langstroth hive.) Into 

 this space a %-inch board is dropped 

 as large as the inside of the case ; 

 between it and the case wedges are 

 driven down tight with a hammer. 

 Perhaps thum-screws would be an 

 improvement on wedges. Care must 

 be taken to have the sections all of 

 the same width. 



Separators with little legs to stand 

 on till the case is wedged, could be 

 used very conveniently ; it would take 

 only three separators to put one in 

 every alternate space. If the bee- 

 space between the cases is desired, 

 the rim need only be made bee-space 

 wider. I think the sections could be 



