THE BEE- KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



359 



As to second swarming he makes this sur- 

 prising assertion : 



■' The fact is there is no queen in the hive ex- 

 cept those in the cells, till the moment the swarm 

 issues." Api., 153. 



This may be sometimes the case ; but it 

 would require considerable proving to con- 

 vince me that it is always, or even 

 usually the fact. In red hot swarm- 

 fever times it may be ; and that may he 

 the reason why, in such times, so many 

 second swarms go back once before mak- 

 ing a go of it— swarm all out bf fore any 

 queen is fairly on deck ; and when one gets 

 out she sees no procession to join, and just 

 stays till next day's effort. But this conces- 

 sion in its very nature rather presupposes 

 that ordinary seconds do have one queen out 

 to start with. 



Ernest Root's gentle robbing to stop ob- 

 jectionable robbing gets a counterblast {Apt. 

 155) by being put among the Absurdities. 

 My experience this fall, while taking off 

 honey very late, is against it — keeps them 

 forever on the "snoop," during weather so 

 cold that they would be all in their hives if 

 not baited out. 



A new chemical 200 times sweeter than 

 sugar is announced. Api.,\&d. Must be ex- 

 tract of honey-moon. Not much prospect of 

 benefit to our vocation, I think. Mere im- 

 pression on the nerves of taste is not nutri- 

 tion — fails to serve the purpose when the in- 

 ternal provision basket " is like a lamb that 

 bleats." May sweeten up the rogue's glu- 

 cosed honey, but will hardly winter bees. 

 But friend Alley is going to see all about it 

 and report. For this he should have our 

 thanks, — and here's a spank ready for the 

 first one who accuses him of tumbling into 

 that new department of his. 



" There is no such thing as a ' contented hum ' 

 in the cellar ; the very reverse is the matter of 

 fact. * * Something is wrong, _ * * 

 nearly every time foul air." S. T. Pettit in Cana- 

 dian, 60. 



I strongly suspect that this is the level 

 truth, and the very wide prevalence of the 

 opposite opinion makes the decision of the 

 thing a matter of great importance. 



The Canadian is the first to give an ex- 

 tended report of the Chicago convention. 



Whoever wishes to be posted on the vital 

 elements of the wintering problem should 

 dip deep into Elwood's articles in last Re- 

 view. Keep them, and read them more times 

 by and by. And perhaps friend Corneil's ar- 

 ticle had better be added. And those cam- 

 era views of the Chicago honey exhibits are 



very nice — and make the Review look like a 



19th century journal. 



Oft we keep a little fib 

 Painted on our (f )lying jib 



But it isn't moral to do so. The fib I am 

 thinking of is the well worn one that candy- 

 ing is proof of the genuineness of honey. 

 Ernest Root {Gleanings, 794) gives the re 

 suits of experiment in the matter which show 

 that it takes seventy-Jive per- cent, of glucose 

 to entirely prevent candying. An expert 

 could tell the difference between the gran- 

 ules from impure and those from pure hon- 

 ey ; but that goes for nothing, as retail 

 buyers (to whom the fib is told) are not ex- 

 perts. 



Listen to the story T. K. Duke tells about 

 the Florida pinkvine. {Gleanings, 785.) Per- 

 fect sea of pink blossoms more than six 

 months; and twenty-seven bees visited ojie 

 blossom in five minutes, the average of 

 several observations being over five bees a 

 minute. But, no, we won't go out nights to 

 sow it round to bother people. 



After introducing a laying queen to a fer- 

 tile worker colony H. 0. Qnirin, {Gleanings, 

 78B) found the following state of things — 



*' Drone brood was scattered miscellaneously 

 over the combs-, in the ratio of one-third drone 

 to two-thirds worker." 



Other facts also showed that ("in this case) 

 fertile workers were on deck all the while. 

 If we are ever to have an effective method of 

 dealing with the fertile worker nuisance we 

 need all the facts ; and this seems to be a 

 new one. 



For posts on which groups of hives are to 

 be set to keep down ants, paint a belt around 

 them — three coats tar topped with a coat in 

 which a little lead is rubbed into equal parts 

 tar, axle grease and lard. (Lovesy in -4. B. 

 J. ) Said to be better than legs in cans of 

 crude petroleum ; but needs renewing occa- 

 sionally. 



Several hundred acres of cucumbers in 

 reach of Dr. Miller failed to make him hon- 

 ey happy this fall. {Gleanings, 806.) Thip 

 shows that not only all signs but all plants 

 may fail in a dry time. 



Camera pictures are a ceaseless delight to 

 me. To look direct on English workmen in 

 their own native " stamping grounds," as we 

 may in Gleaniyigs, 809 and 810, is very inter- 

 esting ; and the general look of goodness 

 and honest worth on the faces is reassuring 

 in these timesof anarchy and labor troubles. 

 I would like it if the skep makers looked a 

 little less like slaves. 



