TBE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



135 



Pbevention of Inokease is brought about 

 by Geo. F. Robbins, by giving the combs of 

 a colony that has cast a swarm to some weak 

 colony, the weak colony having first been 

 made still weaker by previously moving it to 

 a new location, the flying bees joining the 

 nearest colony. All right, George, but what 

 shall a man do who has no weak colonies ? 



*^*^^^^»»»^^ 



The Practical Bee-Keepek has received 

 support to such an extent that its owner feels 

 warranted in making of it a monthly at only 

 .50 cents a year. This is encouraging. By 

 the way, its editor, Mr. T. N. Leigh, must be 

 something of a linguist, as he copies freely 

 from the foreign bee journals. One issue 

 contains a translation from the French, of 

 an article written by Dr. Oscar Haenel, on 

 new methods of analyzing honey. He shows 

 that honey must first be subjected to dialy- 

 sis if definite results are to be secured in 

 using the polariscope. T-liose who pin their 

 faith upon polarization for detecting glucose 

 in honey ought to read this article. 



Another point in holding down a veil as 

 described in last Review is that the veil is 

 held out from the face and neck, thus no bees 

 are caught iu the folds touching the neck 

 and sting through, as is so often the case 

 when the veil is tucked inside the collar. As 

 I never taste of honey when working with 

 the bees, and don't wear glasses, it never oc- 

 curred to me until friend Hasty mentioned 

 it that it might be a convenience to some 

 folks to be able to handily get inside their 

 veil. Mr. Daggitt suggests that there be an 

 elastic in front to allow the veil to be raised. 

 This arrangement would result in numerous 

 folds in front of the face — something that 

 would greatly obstruct the vision. 



EXXRT^OTED. 



Oiven Foaudation Made on Rolls. 



It is possible that we may yet have founda- 

 tion made on rolls that will possess the soft- 

 ness of that made on a press. The Roots 

 have been experimenting in this direction 

 and report as follows : 



" After making some experiments with 

 the Given foundation-press we have finally 

 come to the conclusion that if this founda- 

 tion is softer, and more readily accepted by 

 the bees, than the ordinary roller founda- 

 tion, it is due to this fact : The side walls 



are made very thick and heavy, so that the 

 surplus of wax is crowded into the walls, 

 without any excess of pressure. With this 

 fact before us we constructed a mill having 

 extra heavy walls, and, to our great delight, 

 the foundation from it seems to be very 

 much softer because the excess of wax, in- 

 stead of running out into long sheets, went 

 into the walls. An ordinary sheet of wax, 

 after being passed through this mill, in- 

 creases in length only about 33 per cent, of 

 its original length, instead of, as heretofore, 

 from 200 to 300 per cent. Whether the foun- 

 dation is as soft as that from the press, can 

 not be definitely proven just yet ; but from 

 present indications it is fully so. From 

 some tests we have made, the bees seem to 

 accept it very readily. In our next issue we 

 hope to report further in regard to it ; but 

 at present we fear that this very soft foun- 

 dation would give trouble on horizontally 

 wired frames, because it has not strength 

 enough to prevent it from buckling, unless, 

 indeed, it is made excessively heavy." 



How Mr. Heddon Liked the Given Founda- 

 tion Years Ago. 



" Tree and truth keep their youth." 



When I asked Mr. Heddon for his views 

 upon the foundation question he replied that 

 "the best he knew, he knew years ago," and 

 referred me to his writings on the subject 

 some ten or twelve years ago in Gleanings 

 and the A rnerican Bee Journal. I quote two 

 short paragraphs. 



" The sample that you ' could not locate,' 

 that is almost ' artificial comb.' was a por- 

 tion of a sheet that we made upon ourl'J-inch 

 heavy Vandervort mill ; and though very 

 many good and experienced judges would 

 choose this in preference to the more homely 

 flatter-lined Given, our experiments proved 

 that the bees took to the Given first, drew it 

 out quicker, faster, further, and thinner, and 

 consequently made a much more delicate 

 and beautiful comb." 



" I have conducted careful and compre- 

 hensive tests with the three sorts (Root in- 

 cluded in the 4th), and that, too, in company 

 with employees, students and visitors. I 

 have also sent two and three sorts to parties 

 ordering, and asked for tests and reports. I 

 have also a part of the time employed an ex- 

 pert mechanic who is noted for his ability as 

 a machinist, to assist in the manufacture of 

 foundation. I found the press much the 

 easiest to operate, and its products much 

 the easiest for the bees to make into the best 

 combs. During my experiments of former 

 years, I had Dunham foundation made by 

 various parties, the best of which was 83 lbs. 

 made by Mrs. Dunham, and of this lot she 

 wrote me she earned wax and all in the 

 making. This, too, fell behind the Given of 

 first manufacture. The Vandervort, while 

 not equal to the Given, always showed a 

 superiority over the Dunham. Now, there 

 are quite a number of Vandervort mills in 



