THE BEE-KEEPERS REVIEW, 



169 



carbolic acid. For four years neighbors all 

 around had it badly and he escaped. He 

 merely sprinkles heavily the tovs of the 

 frames three times each breeding season. 

 Formula : Carbolic acid 1, salt 3, water 296. 

 See Progressive, page 7G. Easy enough to 

 try — But don't put on fire-proof paint as a 

 preventative after your building is all in a 

 blaze at one end. That's about the v?ay 

 half the boys would do— if they did any- 

 thing. 



" Not even Benton has ever sent a Carniolan 

 queen to this country that produced all steel 

 gray bees." Alley in Apiculturist, 37. 



Possibly Alley may be a little rank here — 

 possibly the topic is getting threadbare — but 

 'pears like it is only with all sorts of racket 

 by all sorts of people that we can get hold of 

 final truth on the simplest matters. 



The AiJicidturist for April is got out as a lit- 

 tle handbook of bee-keeping for beginners — 

 not a bad idea. Among other progressed ideas 

 I see he advises trebling the force of field 

 bees when the harvest is bad, and the sec- 

 tions get ahead provokingly slow. Just re- 

 move to a distance two adjacent hives, and 

 thus concentrate in one hive the flying bees 

 and surplus of three. Api., 51. Doubtless 

 a good kink for sometimes ; but I should 

 fear that the other times would prove numer- 

 ous. 



"I have known drones to be reared on one 

 side of a comb, while worker brood was reared 

 on the side opposite, notwithstanding the fact 

 that some writers assert that such a thing never 

 happens." Alley in Api., .56. 



" Should any one whose eye this meets receive 

 a hive of beeS; say one that has been on the road 

 two or three days, the first thing to do is todash 

 a pint of water over bees and combs." Api , 60. 



Comrade Osburn, of Cuba, is bemoaning 

 a short crop of honey, as you may notice in 

 A. B. K., 70. By the way, how short do you 

 suppose it is ? Not very much over the trifle 

 of 27 tons. 



On page 231 of Gleanings friend Muth- 

 Rasmussen (fine of .f.W.OO for parting his 

 name in the middle) makes a strong denial 

 of the report that bees are more vindictive 

 in California than elsewhere. He says, and 

 seems to prove it, that the trouble is the 

 fierce blaze of the sunshine ; and that bees 

 sufficiently shaded are almost uniformly gen- 

 tle there. Ernest's counter suggestions do 

 not cover the ground, because here in Ohio 

 we never have such a teriffic downpour of 

 heat, I rather think Mr. M.-R. has hit it. 

 The melting of wax and propolis inside their 

 walls, with frequent and long struggles to 



keep their entire work from melting down, 

 is suflicient to account for iraspibility. It is 

 well known that bees frequently irritated 

 become cross for life. Propolis on a hot 

 board acts as fly-paper ; and I have seen, 

 even here in Ohio, multitudes of bees dead 

 in it. Who could expect bees to be serene in 

 temper while surrounded by dying comrades 

 stuck fast by their feet ? 



Comrade Elwood wants half the convicts 

 of a prison fed on pure syrup and half on 

 glucose until the glucose problem is settled 

 for sure. Gleanings, 313. Sounds a little 

 rough. But then at present not merely half 

 but pretty nearly all the children of honest 

 folks are fed with glucose ; and nobody 

 keeps the statistics as to whether it kills 'em 

 or not. 



Another one of those splendid little kinks 

 which cost nothing and help a heap comes 

 over clear from Gravenhorst in Germany. 

 Drive five minutes with a load of bees ; then 

 stand still five minutes. During the little 

 rest they will recover their wits, and be the 

 better for it all the rest of the journey. 

 Gleanings, 315. 



Friend Templin wants our hybrid bees (in- 

 correctly so - termed) called "mongrels." 

 Gleanings. No go. We'll never stand that' 

 never. The word mongrel conveys the un- 

 desirable meaning of disgrace and worth- 

 lessness, while some hybrid bees are among 

 the best bees existing. This is a plain case 

 of getting out of one fault by getting into a 

 worse one. " Hybrid " will have to stand 

 till some term is offered that does not insult 

 the bees and their breeders. 



What a good job R. L. Taylor does on wax 

 sheeting! Gleanings, 322. Soak the boards 

 three days — Quite important to have salted 

 water — Right temperature for dipping l.')5° 

 F. — Take care there ! Water may be many 

 degrees too hot when the wax above has got 

 only a few degrees too hot. Then it will 

 puzzle you by getting worse and worse quite 

 awhile after you have taken it off the stove. 

 '•If the sheet cracks irregularly, either the 

 board is too cold, the wax too warm, or there is 

 a cold draft in the room . " 



" If there is a straight horizontal crack in the 

 sheet there has been a sudden jar or short stop 

 page of the board in its descent into the wax. " 



Mathey urges jellow vaseline as an im- 

 proved grease to prevent propolizing. 

 Gleanings, 331. 



HOWARD'S FOUL Brood. 



This excellent little book is pretty hard to 

 review. Won't do to quote half a book ; and 



