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DR. MILLER'S 
boiler off the stove and stirred in the sugar. I used two pounds 
of sugar to one of water. 
A. I must say there is something I don’t understand about this 
sugar-acid business. There are those who, as you say, insist that 
no acid is needed, and they are very emphatic about it. A very 
few say that the sugar hardens in spite of the acid, and you are 
one of the unfortunate few. The time and manner of feeding 
may have something to do with it. If you feed as early as August 
or the first of September, and use more water than sugar, I don’t 
believe acid is needed. Even if you feed heavier syrup, if you 
feed it slowly, there should be no trouble. But with late feeding 
of thick syrup, I should feel safer with the acid. I hardly see 
why you should fail; you used more acid than I ever used, and 
I never had any trouble, although I have had much experience. 
Still it is possible that the mode of proceeding may have some- 
thing to do with it, and I’ll tell you how I proceeded, when I fed 
late with heavy syrup: Water was put into a vessel on the stove, 
and when at or near the boiling point, sugar was slowly stirred in 
at the rate of 5 pounds of sugar to a quart of water. The stirring 
was continued until the sugar was dissolved, so that the sugar 
might not settle to the bottom and be burned. When the sugar 
was dissolved, an even teaspoonful of tartaric acid for every 20 
pounds of sugar, previously dissolved in water, was stirred into 
the syrup, and it was taken from the fire. I would hardly sup- 
pose that your reversing the order would make any difference, 
still it might. 
Toads. — Q. I have seen a frog or toad on the alighting-board 
of the hive, close to the entrance, late in the evening, just when 
the bees have clustered on the outside these warm, dry days and 
nights. I did not see the toad eat any bees at this time, but I 
wonder if he doesn’t. 
A. Yes, there has been a good deal of testimony that frogs 
and toads eat bees. Toads are such useful creatures in the gar- 
den that they may pay for eating a few bees by the number of 
injurious insects they destroy. 
Q. How do you keep toads from eating bees? 
A. Perhaps no better way than to raise hives so high that 
toads cannot reach the entrance. 
Tongue of Bees. — Q. Are there long-tongued bees? I can 
hardly swallow that. I think that is only a selling point for those 
who have queens for sale.’ I have a few colonies, and I intend to 
