State Bee-Keepers' Associat^n. 65 



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C. P. Dadant — Bees cannot bite ■ They can take hold of any fibre, in a 

 fibrous material, and pull it out. They cannot bite the srhooth surface of a 

 grape any more than a man can bite a piece out of a plastered well. 



President Miller — Last year when there was nothing for the bees to 

 gather they did not eat the grapes. If they could why did they not do it. 



FINDING QUEENS. 



The question was asked : "How long will it take to find the queens in 

 fifty colonies early in June ?" 

 J. A. Green — Four hours. 



A. I. Root — If the frames were metal covered, and the colonies not too 

 strong, such as we use in queen rearing, I could find the queens at the rate 

 of one in two minutes — perhaps one in a minute. 



M. M. Baldridge— I have a way of finding queens without taking out a 

 comb. I rap on the hive, then raise the cover, and find the queen on top of 

 the frames. By using a hive with a raised cover, such as Mr. Root makes for 

 the Simplicity, I can drive the bees up into the cover, where they will 

 cluster. By waiting a little while most of the bees will go back, and only a 

 little cluster will remain, but the queen will be found in the cluster. The old 

 bees go back first . , 



WAX SECRETION. 



M. M. Baldridge said a certain man in Wisconsin told him that bees do 

 not build comb from the scales that are found between the abdominal rings. 

 He asserts that these little scales are simply waste material . If the wax was' 

 made from these little scales there would naturally be an occasional scale 

 left hanging, or partly detached. This is never seen. The combs are 

 always smooth and complete. This man thought that the combs might be 

 made frora a sort of oil . - 



Messrs. Abbott and Mason stated that they had often seen the bees 

 using these scales of wax in comb-building. One bee would stick to a scale, 

 another would come along and give it a pat or a pinch, then another, etc., 

 etc., and the wonder was that comb could be so accurately made as it is 

 with such helter-skelter work. 



President Miller — It looks to me as though this matter is not worth dis- 

 cussing. If such a communication as this should be sent to one of the bee 

 periodicals I think it would go into the wastebasket. How is it. Brother 

 Root? 



A. I. Root- -Unless it came from some scientist, or one in whom we 

 had confidence, I think that would be the fate of such an article. 



President Miller— The whole matter reminds me very much of a man by 

 the name of Cox — a Dr. Cox — who went about selling a hive in which he 



