THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



149 



antics of those sheep were certainly 

 amusing until the affair began to take on 

 a serious nature. The sheep didn't seem 

 to realize that their trouble came from 

 eating the salt in front of the entrances, 

 and it was with much difficulty that they 

 were finally driven away— sometimes 

 pushing and crowding a hive out of place, 

 which did not help matters very much. 

 The British Bee Journal tells of something 

 that does not have this objection, and 

 costs only a cent a gallon. It is made as 

 follows: — 



Mix two ounces of carbolic acid (98 per 

 C3nt.) with 1 'z gallons of water- perfer- 

 ably hot water. This will destroy even 

 thistles and nettles, and the seeds, too. 



«•-•• mf-^f-uP^f 



5elf-5pacing Frames, and n Question oi 

 Fairness. 



The chief editorial writer for the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal is a very fair-minded 

 man. but he disappointed me a bit in his 

 review of my editorial of last month on 

 self-spacing frames, versus the loose 

 hanging frames. 



He copied the article paragraph by 

 paragraph, or, rather point by point, and 

 replied, making what 1 consider the best 

 possible arguments in reply, and I read 

 them through with just the shade of a 

 twinkle in my eye, as I was wondering 

 what he would say when he came to the 

 last paragraph, which reads as follows: 



When it comes to the production of ex- 

 tracted honey, the frames with staples 

 and projections, "excrescences." I call 

 them, are simply not "in it." For several 

 reasons it is better to space the combs 

 wide apart in the supers, when the self- 

 spacing arrangements come to naught. 

 The same can't be said of them, however, 

 when it comes to using the honey knife." 



This paragraph was not copied, nor 

 noticed in any manner. 



«»^^«^«m<^«» 



Don't Lose Head, Heart Nor "Nerve" 

 When Things Go Wrong. 



We have been having a hard spring on 

 bees here in the North. Colonies that 

 have suffered from dysentery will go 



down like tender plants before a frost. 

 There will be no chance to gather natural 

 stores, and colonies will be getting short 

 of supplies. In times like these, when 

 colonies are dying, and everything is go- 

 ing wrong, many bee-keepers lose heart, 

 become discouraged, and neglect to do 

 what ought to be done. When everything 

 is going "dead wrong" is the time of all 

 times when a man should keep his head, 

 and do the very best that is possible. If 

 things are going backward, so to speak, 

 if he is forced in a certain sense to retreat- 

 let the retreat be made in good order. If 

 colonies die, take good care of the hives 

 and the combs. Don't let the moths de- 

 stroy the latter. Times will change in a 

 few days, or weeks, at the most, the sun 

 will shine and the flowers bloom, and the 

 colonies that are left will soon be boom- 

 ing, and the sad thoughts and discourage- 

 ments of the past will be forgotten in the 

 joy of the present. Don't let there be any 

 regrets for negligence during the trying 

 times. 



<r«jr^»»«« «<nt» 



The Cold, Late Spring. 



The last week of March was warm, 

 and the bees here at Flint, and one apiary 

 in Northern Michigan, were put out. 

 Brood rearing was only nicely started, 

 however, when it turned cold and stayed 

 cold and is not very warm at this writing 

 (April 27th.) There was one period of 

 tan or twelve days when scarcely a bee 

 left the hives. When it did warm up 

 enough so that the bees could fly they 

 spotted things up twice as badly as 

 when first set out of the cellar. I sup- 

 pose it was because they had been handl- 

 ing pollen and breeding, and their sys- 

 tems were soon over loaded when there 

 was no opportunity for flight. They did 

 not get enough brood started so that they 

 could not protect the whole of it. As a 

 result, it all hatched, and there is a pretty 

 fair sprinkling of young bees scattered 

 through the hive: but the rearing of brood 

 practically ceased. What they had started 

 they took care of, but they did not start 



