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THE

American Apiculturist

(Esx^blish[h:d iss3.j

A JOURNAL

DEVOTED TO PRACTICAL

BEEKEEPING.

Vol. IV. March. No. 3.

I^TJBLISHED M:0NTHLY,

BY PHILtP H. MORANT & CO.

WENHAM, MASS.
1886.

^.

1886

A Good Report of the Alley Drone and Queen Trap,
Apiciiltiirist Bee Farm Notes, ....

A Bundle of Inquiries, .....

Bee Culture in the South, .....

Editorial Notes. ......

Foreign Notes, ......

Getting Bees out of Boxe.s, .....

How shall I commence? .....

How to Compel Bees to Work in and Enter Sections.
Introducing Queens, .....

Invertible Hives, ......

Letter Box, .......

Questions and Answers. .....

Races, Hybrids, Experiments, ....

Small Packages of Honey, .....

Sectional Brood-chambers, .....

Special Notices, ......

The Oneida Couuty Beekeepers' Association,

HONEY AND BEES^^^AX MARKET.

BOSTON.
Ht)NEY.— One pound, white clover, 13 to 15 cf,

Two-pouiul sections, 11 to i:! ct.

E.xtracted 6 to 8 ct.

BEESWAX 30 ct. per lb.

Market dull, prices weak.

NEW YORK.

HONEY.— Fancy wliite comb, iu one-poiuul

paper cartoons, 13 to 14 ct.

Same in sections 1-2 tol3 ct..

2-pound sections 9 tolO^ct

Buckwheat, lOct.

E.xtracted white (i| to 7^ ct.

BEESWAX, 27 to28ct.

Prices rule low.

CHICAGO.
HONEY.— One-pound section.-

Extra has sold for

Extracted

BEE.SWAX

DETROIT.
HONEY.— Best white one lb. sec-

tions

HEESWAX.-

1.5 ct.

IGct.

6 to 8 ct.

24 to 2(J ct.

14 ct.
23 to 25 ct.

If you are in want of full colonies of
Sees, Queens, IVuclei,
Hives, !S!ectloiis, Smolcei-s,

or, in fact, anything in the way of

BEEKEEPEKS' SUPPLIES,

you sliould read our price-list on the la.st
pages of this number of the ApicuUurist.
P. H. MORANT & Co.

^TH0R0UGHBKED~F0WLS7

Eggs lor Uatciiiiig:,urs ,;:;;'

Wyan-

"0 • itoices ijfi.yu per i3. i?ull"
Cochins and Brown Legliorns $1.00 per
13. I guarantee all eggs sent out, to be true
to name, fresh laid, and to arrive at their des-
tination in good order.

Send cash with order, to
G. W. SHEARER,
/Arer more, ireifmorelatid Co.. Pa.

.ST. LOUIS.

HONEY.— Clioice comb, 10 to 12 ct.

Extracted, in barrel?, 4^ to 5 ct.

Market dull, sales light.
BEESWAX 22J <f.

CIXCIXNATI.

HONEY.- Choice comb 12 to 13 ct.

Extracted, 4 to Set.

BEESWAX.— Choice yellow 25 ct.

SAN FRANCISCO.

HONEY.— White to ex. white comb, 10 to 12ict.

Extracted, white liquid, S^tor"

Amber Colored

BEESWA X

i5^ ct.
4ict.

KANSAS CITY.

HONEY.— Choice, one-lb. sections, 15 to 10 ct.

2-pouiid sections, 12 to 14 ct.

Extracted, 5 to 7 ct.

BEESWAX.— 22 to 25 ct.

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The American Apicul

g. lournal Dtfaohb to Stwuttfic mx\) ||ractua{ gceh

ENTEKED AT THE POST-OFFICE, SALEM, AS SECOXD-CLASS MATTER.

Published Monthly. S. M. Locke & Co., Publishers &

VOL. IV. WENHAM, MASS., JANUARY i, 1886. No. i,

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES.

$1.00 per year, payable in advance. Sent
on ti'ial three montlis lor .55 cts., six inonihs
for GO cts.

AuVEUTisiNG Rates :— 15 cents per line of
space each insertion.

A line of lliis type will admit about? words
One inch will contain twelve lines.

Transient Advertisements must be paid for
in advance.

Those wishing special rates will please
correspond with the Editor.

When sending money mai;c all postal notes
and money orders payable at the Salem,
Mass., Post Office.

All communications should l)e adtlressed
to S. M. Locke & Co., Wenham, Mass.

IN MEMORIAM:
WM. W. GARY.

Bv Rev. L. L. Langstroth.

Born in Coleraine, Mass., on Feb.
24, 1815, died on Dec. 9, 18S4.

It affords me a melancholy satis-
faction to review my long acquaint-
ance with the late Mr. Wm. W. Gary,
and to set out more fully than has yet
been attempted, some of the impor-
tant services which he rendered to
beekeeping. To do this seems to me
the more obligatory, as he so seldom
used his pen for the press that these
services might fail to be put on
record.

After testing quite largely my
movable-comb frames West Phila-
delphia, in the bee-season of 1852, in
1

the fall of that year I went to Green-
field, Mass., to introduce my hive
where I \vas best known as a bee-
keeper. Mr. Gary kept some bees in
the adjoining town of Goleraine, and
was among the first to take an interest
in my invention. He was very fond
of bees, and more than usually
familiar with their habits — and as soon
as he saw the working of the hive, he
believed that it would make a revolu-
tion in beekeeping. For the si.x

years that I remained in Greenfield,
we were in such frequent communi-
cation, tliat in furthering my experi-
ments his apiary was almost as much
at my service as my own.

In the spring of i860, 1 was invited
by Mr. S. B, Parsons, of Flushing,

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

L. I., to advise him how best to breed
and disseminate the Itahan (Ligurian)
bees which he had recently imported.
Finding that the person who came in
charge of most of these bees could
not do the work that was expected of
him, I advised Mr. Parsons to secure
the services of Mr. Gary. With great
energy of character and good business
habits, he united long experience in
the management of movable frame
hives with an enthusiastic desire to
see the introduction of these foreign
bees made a success. From my in-
timate acquaintance with him, I
could further assure Mr. Parsons that
with all these requisites for the posi-
tion, he possessed in as large a degree
as any one I had ever known, that
"highest fidelity" which Columella,
nearly 2,000 years ago, declared to be
an essential qualification for tlie
superintendence of an apiary — and
which he thought was very rarely to
be met with. Is it much easier to
find that now, than it was then ?

Mr. Gary's work in Mr. Parsons'
apiary fully justified his selection,
while the foreigner, in a separate
apiary established by Mr. Parsons,
and furnished with just the same fa-
cilities for breeding queens, failed to
rear enough even to pay for the black
bees and food that he used in his
operations. Mr. Gary supplied all
the queens needed in Mr. Parson's
apiary and filled all his numerous
orders.

No better proof could possibly be
given of the extent and thoroughness
of his work, than the fact that 113
queens bred by him that season were
so carefully prepared for shipment
under the joint supervision of himself

and Mr. A. G. Biglow, that all except
two of them were safely carried by
Mr. Biglow from New York to San
Francisco ! Mr. B. had stopped over
one steamer on the Isthmus of Pan-
ama to give his bees a cleansing
flight, and one queen entering the
nucleus of another, both were killed.
The colonies to which they belonged,
when examined on their arrival at
Galifornia, were each found to have
reared another queen.

To appreciate fully the extraordi-
nary success of Mr. Gary as a breeder
and shipper of Italian queens, it
needs but to be stated that during
this very year but few queens came
alive, out of the many sent from
Europe, and that for years after, a
large part of our imported queens
either died on the way, or arrived in
such poor condition as to be of little
or no value. It will be remembered
by some of the old readers of the
American Bee Journal, that Mr.
Gary was the first person to send a
queen across the ocean, in a single-
comb nucleus, with a few workers.
She was consigned to my lamented
friend, Mr. Woodbury, of Exeter,
England, and reached him in excel-
lent condition. Those who now
receive the queens which are sent by
mail from Europe, and even from
Syria, should bear in mind that only
after many and costly experiments
has such admirable success been
secured.

After his splendid achievements in
Mr. Parsons' service, Mr. Gary greatly
enlarged his own apiary, and placed
himself in the front rank of reliable
breeders of Italian queens.

When Dr. D. E. Parmly, of New

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

York, imported a number of Egyptian
queens, he intrusted tliem to Mr.
Gary, having, as I know, as strong
confidence as myself in his sagacity
and fidehty. Mr. Gary first called my
attention, in his own apiary, to the
inferior appearance of the comb honey
of those bees. It was capped in such
a way as to look like honey damaged
by "sweating" — so-called — after be-
ing kept in too damp a place. He
was also the first to notice that Egyp-
tian bees, in extending their combs,
built their lower edges almost per-
fectly square throughout their whole
length — in marked contrast to the
way in which black bees build them —
and improving in this respect even
upon the Italians. Although. I im-
ported the first Egyptian queen, Mr.
Gary had the largest experience with
this variety, and after a fair trial we
both discarded them as very much
inferior to the Itahans.

While Mr. Gary was a great enthu-
siast in bee-culture, and always ready
to accept every discovery and im-
provement, he was not carried away
by plausible novelties or conceits.
When near him, I always took pecu-
liar pleasure in communicating to him
all matters that from time to time
were engaging my attention, and our
occasional meetings in later years
were highly prized. He seldom
failed to detect any flaw in what was
submitted to his judgment, and his
deliberate "yes" or "no" had greater
weight with me in bee-matters than
that of almost any other person.

Mr. Gary's location was inferior in
honey-resources to those who in this
country have achieved the greatest
pecuniary success from the keeping of

bees ; he was also quite lame from an
accident in his youth, yet notwith-
standing these and other obstacles,
he built up gradually a large apiary.
He was not only a strictly honest
man, but a highly honorable one in
all his dealings ; and in cases of doubt
he made it his rule to give his cus-
tomers the benefit of that doubt,
instead of claiming it for himself.
Like myself he had the help of an
only son in the management of his
business, but happier in this respect
than myself, he was not called to
lament his premature death.

Mr. Gary's interest in bees ceased
only with his hfe. A few weeks be-
fore his death he was able to be
out in his apiary, where he witnessed
with much pleasure some novel ar-
rangements for the safe wintering of
a colony in the open air.

Samuel Wagner, Moses Quinby,
Richard Golvin, Adam Grimm, Ros-
wellG. Otis, Wm. W.Gary — they have
all passed away ! And probably no
one knows better or appreciates more
highly than their old friend who still
survives to honor their memories,
how much their various labors con-
tributed to the splendid success of
the movable-frame principle in
America.

Oxford, O., Nov. lO, iSSj.

BEE CULTURE IN THE
SOUTH.

By G. W. Demaree.

BEE HIVES, PATENTS, ETC.

I REPEAT what I have said on sev-
eral occasions heretofore, viz. : that
most persons who write on bee hives,

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

size, depth, etc., seem to forget that
this is a great country, not only as
to dimensions but it is greater on ac-
count of its variety of climate, flora,
etc. How is it possible that any man
could lay down rules and regulations
applicable to bee-culture from one
end of this great country to the other?

Still we have many writers who in-
sist on knowing just what is best for
us all, no matter what may be our
surroundings.

The pollen theorist knows that his
bees are liable to be afflicted with
diarrhoea, and hence concludes that
the whole country is in the same pre-
dicament. Some one else takes a
fancy to a " deep hive " and at once
beheves that the world would be bet-
ter off if it would come to him and
accept his views. The same may be
said of chaff hives, and other forms
of hives. I have often wondered if
those who have advertised " chaff
hives " all over the south, are really
ignorant of the fact that chaff hives
are unsuitable to a southern climate
both in summer and winter, or is it
a fact that they are utterly indifferent
on the question of right and wrong.
Thousands of chaff hives have been
sold to persons who have not been in
the business long enough to take care
of their own interests ; simply looking
at it, like the old toper who claims that
whiskey is good when it is cold, to
warm him, and good when it is hot
to cool him. The fact is the chaff
hive deprives the bees of the health-
ful influence of the sun's rays at
intervals in the winter months in all
southern localities, while they are so
oppressive to bees in the hot summer
months that they will roost on the

outside, rain or shine. I have seen
half of the colony in a drowned con-
dition after heavy rains.

The thinner the walls of the hives,
the better it is for the bees if they
are properly shaded in the heat of
the day. If the standard thickness
of lumber on the market was not in
the way, I would make all my hives
of half- inch boards. I only speak
for my own locality.

I have long been of the opinion
that the " combined implement " is
a great mistake. The combined im-
plement for the fann or for the api-
ary has nothing to commend it to the
intelligent farmer or apiarist unless
it is cheapness ; and in a majority of
cases, the cheap implement is the
dearest in the end. No implement
can possibly supply the place of sev-
eral implements to the best advan-
tage. These facts apply to the
implements of the apiary as well as
to other pursuits.

We have been taught from the
beginning of modern beekeeping that
all frames in the apiary must be of
the same size, etc. ; and, so reason-
able does this look to most people,
that the idea has been received with-
out any careful investigation. Let us
look at this old doctrine more care-
fully. When the movable frame was
first invented, no other idea seemed
to possess the mind than mere ma-
nipuiation. Bees had carried on
their labors and performed their han-
diwork away from the observation of
man in all past ages, and now the
movable frame was to lay open the
hidden wonders of the internal work-
ing of the bee hive. It was like a
new creation to the inquiring mind.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Is it any wonder that the idea of "ma-
nipulation " should prevail over every
other objective sentiment ?

Tiiis was well enough when all of
us were mere students and novices,
• but the time has come for practical
work. Thousands of families are to
be fed and clothed and educated
from the proceeds of the apiary,
There was a time when it took years
of labor and study to master the sci-
ence of bee-culture, and this because
it was more difficult to unlearn the
blind, conceited blunders of the past,
than it was to comprehend the new
light that promised better things to
beekeepers.

The common, narrow top-bar
frames are exceedingly handy to re-
move when looking up the queen,
or when learning to handle bees, etc.
But experience has demonstrated
that they are defective when it comes
to practical work in the apiary. If
you adjust boxes or frames, or section
cases over the ordinary narrow top
frames, the bees proceed at once to
fill the air space with brace combs,
and, when the surplus department is
removed it will be found so com-
pletely united to the tops of the brood
frames that some of the latter will be
lifted with the cases, and, when they
do break loose, the cases are left
fearfully daubed with wax and drip-
ping honey. Who is it that has not
wished for a better arrangement for
producing comb honey? Just the
other day while I was removing a
frame from the upper story of a hive,
it was studded so firmly to the top of
a brood-frame that the bottom bar of
the frame was torn off with a part
of the comb adhering, and the jar to

the hive sent the angry bees whirling
in the air about my ears. For sev-
eral years I have been in search of a
plan that will remedy this defect in
the practical working of the old stand-
ard brood frame and I now believe
that I have perfected a brood frame
that will make honey-producing so
simple and pleasant that the frame
will be adopted generally, at least
when comb-honey is the main crop.
Several parties have written me ask-
ing for a description of my invention
which I give below. I am aware that
some who have patent hives and im-
plements for sale will not look with
favor on a new rival for honors in
apiary work.

I am in favor of liberal patent laws,
but this does not blind me to the fact
that our loose patent laws have in-
jured the bee interests of the country.
Out of the eight hundred or more
patents on hives and implements of
the apiary, a very limited number of
them embrace valuable features, and
those that do, with a few exceptions,
are stolen ideas. Mr. Forncrook's
claim to the " one-piece section " is
just as good morally and legally as
nine-tenths of all the patents that
have been issued. While I take no
part in that controversy, I like to see
all beekeepers treated alike. But I
must beg pardon for digression.

My new brood-frame is made just
like the standard Langstroth frame
except that it has two top bars. The
top bar proper is made one and three-
eighths inches wide, and has a slot
cut in its centre extending the full
length of the inside measure of the
frame. This slot is made by letting
the bar down on a wabble saw and

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

should be about five-sixteenths of an
inch. The comb bar is adjusted in
the frame five-sixteenths of an inch
below the slotted top bar, and is of
the same width as the end and bot-
tom bars, viz., seven- eighths of an
inch. It will be seen that, when the
frames are filled with combs and ad-
justed in the hive, they close the
spaces between the frames at the top
of the brood department and leave
the passage-ways through the slots
right over the centres of the combs.
No arrangement ever devised is equal
to these frames to control the pas-
sage-ways between the brood and
surplus departments of the hive.
When section cases are worked over
my slotted top-bar frames they hft
clear and clean when removing them,
and in this respect they are a won-
derful labor-saving device.

There are other good features about
these frames. The double top-bars
furnish a passway for the bees from
one frame to another, which must be
a great advantage to the inmates of
the hive both in winter and summer
but especially in winter confinement.

In the business of honey-produc-
ing ease of manipulation of the brood
frames, however desirable, must give
way to more important work in the
apiary.i

Christiansburg, Ky.

FOREIGN NOTES.

By Akthur Todd.

While from England and Switzer-
land come reports of a fine honey

J I have not written the ahove because I
have flames for sale. I am not in the supply
business.

flow this year, in Austria, a country
bordering on Switzerland, there is a
very different tale to tell, at least from
one portion of that large dominion.
One writer says, " The apicultural
year that has just drawn to a close
has not been at all satisfactory to the
beekeepers of our country nor to the
bees, for our jars are empty of honey
and our hives are more or less de-
prived of sufficient provisions for the
winter. The beginning of the year
awoke in us (by reason of splendid
weather in the month of April and
the rapid increase in numbers of the
bees in the hives) the most enthu-
siastic hopes ; but shortly arrived the
month of May, ' the beautiful,' which
month has, however, for some time
past, lost its credit with us, and the
weather of that month spoiled all,
and utterly destroyed what April had
promised. The period of swarming
came on, but the bees, as if foreseeing
not much honey to gather, hesitated
to create new colonies, and many
small apiaries of five or six colonies
saw come forth not a single swarm.
The honey flow from the linden in
June was completely spoiled by rain
and high winds.

Then June came in, dry and hot,
burning up all the flowers and wiping
out our last hope, — the flow from
buckwheat, which ordinarily indem-
nifies us for a failure in the spring
and summer honey flow.

During the entire season there
were but three days of real good
honey-gathering which, as all know,
is not sufficient to fill honey jars and
assure provision for winter."

One of the most renowned bee-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

keepers of Austria was "Von Ehren-
fels " and his only living pupil is
" Karl Gatter," known in Germany
as editor of a bee journal. In his
boyhood, Gatter would walk uncon-
cernedly among the thousands of
flying bees in the apiary, early show-
ing that coolness in the presence of
danger so much needed in a bee
master.

Later on he planted an orchard
and busied himself in fruit-raising
and bee-raising at the same time.

In 1864 he went to Vienna spec-
ially to give the natural history of
bees closer study ; next he went to
Norway and Sweden, then south to
Italy, studying as he went the various
modes of manipulation, gathering
knowledge from practical sources as
he went along.

Arrived in Germany, he proceeded
to give instruction in beekeeping,
and later on became the editor of
two journals ; one for bee culture,
another for fruit-raising. Gradually
his worth became widely recognized
and the Emperor of Austria decorated
him with a golden cross. Sad to say,
his eyesight has failed him through
overwork upon his own favorite study.

The use of camphor for curing foul
brood has already been spoken of as
used abroad. Madame Adele Jarrie,
one of the earliest advocates of the
movable frame hive in France, and
whose acquaintance I have had the
pleasure of personally making in
Paris, gives her method of using cam-
phor, and quantity she employed. She
says she takes common powdered
camphor and throws four pinches
into a litre (rather more than a

quart) of syrup made hot, shaken up ;
the camphor dissolves and it is then
fed to the diseased colony. She also
sprinkles powdered camphor right
in the hive over the frames contain-
ing honey.

The death's head moth {Sphinx
atropos) — great numbers of this in-
sect have been observed in certain
sections of France this year. A
schoolmaster writes that daily in
September his pupils would bring him
several. The moth was generally
caught in the evening in the houses
where they entered attracted by the
light. The chrysalides were gener-
ally found in potato fields at several
centimeters beneath the soil and close
to the roots.

This moth is not, I believe, a na-
tive of America. It is called death's-
head moth, from the fact that the
markings on the back of the trunk
of the insect exactly resemble a skull
and cross-bones. A French author-
ity states that it has the power to
emit a sharp and plaintive sound
which, when uttered close to a hive
of bees, causes them to become fright-
ened and rush to the entrance, there
in a mass to try and prevent its en-
try ; and, in many districts where this
moth is plentiful, inside the entrances
of hives may be found regular walls
built up of propolis in such a manner
as to successfully exclude these in-
sects. In the south of France par-
ticularly, and Algeria, the moth is a
much dreaded enemy of the bees.
Once able to enter a hive of bees, it
gorges itself on the honey; they
have been taken with as much as fifty
grammes of honey in their stomach.

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

Its wings, when fully expanded,
measure four inches and three-quar-
ters across so that it is the largest of
all European lepidoptera.

When I was living in Algeria, I
purchased several hives of bees in
which were the remains of some large
insect firmly fastened to the floor
boards by propolis and in some in-
stances, completely arched over with
propolis. I found these remains to
be from this very moth ; and one very
interesting observation I made, never
seen by me in any book as yet, is :
that when one of these insects gets
into a bee hive where the combs come
nearly down to the floor board and
are filled with honey, thereby giving
the moth the chance to at once com-
mence eating honey while on the
floor with its wings extended out flat
and ends resting on the floor, the bees
will at once set about fastening the
ends of its wings securely with pro-
polis to the floor. By the time the
insect is ready to change his position
he is a prisoner and so firmly is the
fastening made that his struggles are
in vain. The bees in no case seem
able, nor did I ever see them try, to
sting the insect, but await death by
starvation.

This accomplished, they propolis
the entire body, thereby most prob-
ably confining the foul vapors of de-
composition and allowing them to
pass off only at such a rate as can be
manipulated successfully by the ven-
tilating bees of the hive. A row of
wire nails or perforated zinc in front
of the entrance I found was the best
safeguard.

I have caught these moths in the
very act of trying to get into hives.

Friends of mine in the old country
now have some of those very speci-
mens, both the perfect moth and the
mummies that I sent over to them
by mail. The walls of propolis
spoken of by the French writer are
actual facts. I have cut out dozens
of them one inch to one and a half
in height and with a doubling back
arrangement just like the openings
left in fences of cattle fields, that a
man can go through easily by sim-
ple turns, but impassable to the cow.

It is a very beautiful moth and any
beekeeper visiting a good museum
ought not to fail to seek it out and
make himself acquainted with its
features.

Huber speaks of bees stinging this
moth to death in his presence and
describes some experiments with
them. This will appear in extenso in
the reproduction of Ruber's work now
being pubHshed in the " Api."

Solar wax extractors have been
recently written about, reports from
California and also from Italy having
appeared. It is the old story over
again ; somebody invents anew a thing
used years back and fully described
in print. Turn to pages 308 and 309
of Hamet's Cours (T apiculture pub-
lished in Paris, 1874, and the inven-
tors can find " copy " for their
descriptive circulars and also a wood-
cut which will be cheaper to copy,
than to have an original made.

I, myself, have used one in Alge-
ria that belonged to a gentleman who
for years previously had kept bees
in his native town in France and al-
ways rendered his honey and wax
by means of this instrument.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

It was about four feet high, square
about two feet and supplied in upper
part with a double glass lid under
which was a large tin cone-shaped
receptacle provided with trays on
which were placed the broken-up
combs. The concentrated rays of
the sun, falling on the sloping tin
sides, soon made it pretty hot inside
and down ran the honey through a
series of strainers into the vessel un-
derneath. As the heat increased
the wax melted and also ran down
to form a cake on the surface of the
honey, being afterwards taken off
and remelted.

The great objection to this ma-
chine is the imparting to the honey
of a flavor due to the essential oil
contained in the wax.

This very solar wax extractor (just
invented ! !) was stolen from my yard
one night by Arabs and, strange to
say, on the only night when my dog
barked because any one was there
and I was too sleepy to get up and
see if any one was around. What
the unfortunate Arab who stole it
ever made out of it I never could
learn ; it certainly would have cooked
"des oeufs sur le plat" or thin chops
but the probability is they turned it
upside down or on its side and never
discovered its true use.

Philadelphia, Pa.

JOTTINGS FROM CANADA.

V>x Allen Prixgle.

Thanks for the apicultural litera-
ture received, and for your kind in-
vitation. That I have not written

words of greeting and congratulation
to the "Api" ere this has not been
owing to indifference or lack of ap-
preciation on my part, but to pressure
of work and want of time. I beg
now, however, to make my bow to
your excellent periodical Afith the
cosmopolitan name of "x\merican
Apiculturist."

Of the rapid development of api-
culture in Canada and the United
States no better evidence is required
than its periodical literature ; the
number of journals devoted to the
subject and the enthusiasm aiid abil-
ity with which they are conducted.
And of all papers devoted to speci-
alties the bee papers are undoubtedly
the most ardent as well as the most
interesting. This arises from the
intensely absorbing and interesting
character of the avocation of bee cul-
ture and the consequent inspiration
of the enthusiastic devotee, which
culminates in the quill and finds vent
in the bee journals. Another distin-
guishing trait of the apiarist — and
which also happily pervades the jour-
nals— is a genuine bonhomie which
fairly runs over at conventions and,
indeed, even wherever two or three
beekeepers are gathered together.
Of course opposite theories of diverse
minds are discussed and controverted
in the journals, but generally in a
pleasant, good-natured style quite free
from acerbity, or even discourtesy.
Sometimes, however, offences creep
into the management and matter even
of bee papers. To this the philosopher
can only say, were it otherwise editors
and contributors would be simply
more or less than human. And this
brings me to a little matter in which

10

THE AMERICAN APICULTVRIST.

I am directly concerned, and which
I must touch upon here, invoh'ing

THE AMENITIES OF APIARIAN
JOURNALISM.

In the October number of the
"Apiculturist " appeared an article
by our Canadian friend, Mr. S. Cor-
nell on " Improprieties in Journalism"
which I read with mingled feelings
of pain and surprise. In that article
the American Bee Joui-nal is ar-
raigned for mutilating an article on
" Apiculture," which it copied from
the Popular Science Monthly, and
also articles on " Foul Brood " which
were alleged to have been copied
from the British Bee Journal. I
noticed at the time that the American
Bee Journal had republished my ar-
ticle on " Apiculture " from the Pop-
ular Science Monthly, but was not
aware of the " alterations, elisions
and additions " made by the Journal
until I read Mr. Corneil's article, and
my thanks are due to him for directing
my attention thereto. Either from
over-confidence in the Journal, or
pressure of work, or both, I neglected
to go over the article at all. And
even now, my confidence in Mr.
Corneil's veracity and accuracy is
such that I have not taken the time
and trouble to hunt up the articles,
compare them and verify the state-
ments.

Assuming them to be correct, I
must here enter my protest against
the act of the American Bee Journal
in thus mutilating my article. There
are in all it seems about twenty
changes made and, as Mr. C. very
truly remarks, this is "unjust to the
writer of the article, unjust to the pub-

lisher and deception practised upon
readers." Of course we knowthat edi-
tors frequently take the liberty of
abbreviating articles in manuscript,
making elisions, and of altering words
and phrases by way of correction,
and this prerogative is freely conceded
to them under certain circumstances ;
in such cases, for instance, as where
the composition is defective in gram-
mar, in spelling, etc., or where slan-
der or personalities are indulged.
But this is a very different matter from
garbling an article from a standard
magazine to suit the editor's own
whims, caprices, or prejudices. The
article on " Apiculture " needed no
correction either in "manner, matter,
or form " at the hands of the A. B.
J. If it was good enough for a mag-
azine of the character and literary
status o f the Popular Science Monthly ,
it ought surely to pass for the columns
of the^. ^./.

Under these circumstances, I am
justified in stating here that not one
word of the original manuscript of
that article was changed by the edi-
tors of the Popular Scie7ice Monthly,
by way of correction or otherwise.

THE PAST SEASON

Has not been, on the whole, favor-
able in this country for honey se-
cretion and gathering, and, as a
consequence, the crop is short. The
early part of the season and the latter
part, too, were too cool and wet for
honey. INIy own crop was mostly
gathered in July and the last week
or ten days in June. As to buck-
wheat honey there is next to none
here this season, while in 1884 it
constituted one-third of the crops.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

11

THE PROSPECTS FOR WINTER

Are not overly assuring. As a con-
sequence of the dearth in the fall crop
of honey, brooding ceased unusually
early, and, in a great majority of
Canadian apiaries, stores were found
to be very short. \ great amount
of feeding for winter had, therefore,
to be resorted to. Now, feeding in
the fall for winter stores, to be suc-
cessful must be done right, and, un-
fortunately, only a comparatively few
beekeepers know how to do it just
right.

In the first place the food itself
must be right, then it must be fed
right and at the right time. If these
three points are observed the artifi-
cial stores will carry them through
just as well as the natural. The fall,
however, has been exceedingly favor-
able for feeding, as the weather has
been exceptionally warm since the
honey flow ceased. This is Nov. i8,
and we have had but two frosty nights
with any considerable freezing yet.
Yesterday was a fine, warm day, and
the bees had a fine flight, probably
the last till next spring.

WINTER QUARTERS.

I propose to winter the whole of
my bees inside this season. Last
winter I had thirty colonies packed
in chaff and sawdust and in the Jones
double-walled hives outside, and they
came through about as well as those
in the bee cellar. But outside win-
tering involves considerable work
and watchfulness, and not a little
anxious sohcitude, especially when
the thermometer persists in getting
away down below zero and remaining
there a week or two at a time. Now

is the time to get the bee cellars and
other repositories ready without fur-
ther delay. Renovate them, ventilate
them, make them warm ; make them
dry, if possible, and make them dark ;
and then if your bees are in good
order, with plenty of stores and you
put them in at the right time and fix
them right after they are in, they will
be pretty apt to show up well in the
spring. " But this is all much easier
said than done," you exclaim. Yes,
it is ; there is no royal road of idle-
ness leading to the goal of success
in beekeeping. On the other hand
"eternal vigilance" is the price of
success, and let no beekeeper forget it .

But, Messrs. Editors, the length
of the manuscript before me and the
exigencies of your space admonish
me that I have now stayed long
enough for a first visit. I, therefore,
bow myself out with best wishes for
yourselves, your readers, and your
journal.

Se/l>}', Lennox Co., Ontario,

HINTS FOR BEGINNERS.
No. III.

By J. E. Pond.Jk.

The science (for science it most
certainly is) of apiculture would pos-
sess far more votaries were it not for
the mistaken idea that prevails among
the uninitiated, that bees will sting
(this is true) and that it is very diffi-
cult to control them. When, how-
ever, the assurance can be given that
bees may, to a certain extent, be
tamed, and that their weapon of of-
fence and defence is terrible only in

12

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

name to those who understand its
nature, the business will become de-
sirable to many who are now deterred
only by reason of their dread of be-
ing stung.

Our Heavenly Father gave us con-
trol of all created things lower than
man, and in that power he included the
honey bee. It is true He did not lay
down any direct rules for the govern-
ment of the lower orders of creation,
but He gave us reason and common
sense and, by the aid of these, we are
enabled to rule and govern the lion
and the tiger, and the honey bee as
well. The world is full of compen-
sations ; every poison has its antidote,
and all that is required on the part
of man is to use the judgment and
discretion that forms a part of his
God-given nature, to enable him to
manage and control all creatures
lower in the scale than himself, and
render them subservient to his views,
wishes and desires. To this end,
certain fixed rules may be applied ;
and it has been learned that, in bee-
keeping, certain axioms exist, which
axioms are as positive as are any of
those laid down in our mathematical
works. I propose to give a few of
those that relate to the bee and its
management, viz. : The honey-bee,
when filled with sweets, whether
honey or a substitute therefor, never
volunteers an attack ; were this not
the case, it would be impossible to
control it and we should be deprived
of the most deUcious article that ever
tempted the palate, — honey.

When a colony prepares to swarm,
the bees fill themselves with honey
from the old hive in order that they
may have something with which to

set up housekeeping in their new
home. This renders them extremely
amiable and makes it easy to gather
them into the new hive prepared for
them.

Taking advantage of this hint, we
have learned to handle our bees with
impunity. We have learned, also,
that anything that gives our bees a
scare will cause them to at once fill
themselves with honey or any other
liquid sweets offered them. Now,
knowing, that when they are so filled,
they are rendered amiable, we have
only to ascertain what will give them
the desired scare and then we have
a solution of how we can handle them
without fear.

The smoke of burning rags, punk
or decayed wood that will burn
without blaze, is all-sufficient. In-
struments called " smokers " have
been invented, in which rags or wood
can be burned, and the veriest novice,
armed with one of these, can easily
subdue any colony of bees so that it
can be controlled and manipulated
as he may desire.

The whole secret of bee handling
lies in this : the smoker is duly charged
with dry rags or dead wood so set
on fire that it will yield a large quan-
tity of smoke without bursting into
flame ; a few puffs of smoke from this
simple instrument are blown into the
hive ; in a few minutes each bee has
filled itself with honey, and is so
amiable that so long as it is not in-
jured personally, it can be moved and
removed at the wish of the owner.

Care must be taken, however, that
no bee is pinched or hurt, else its
weapon will be ready to resent such
injury. So long as proper care is

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

13

taken, the bees can be removed from
one hive to another or can be shaken
from their frames with impunit}'. This
may be hard for the novice to be-
heve, but it is none the less true and
is the underlying principle by which
modern apiculture is governed, and,
by a knowledge of these simple facts,
any one, no matter how small his ex-
perience, can handle a colony of bees
as well as an expert.

Foxboro, Mass., Dec. g, i88j.

EDITORIAL.

True culture carries with it a dig-
nified simplicity of character, which,
when we are brought in our re-
searches and investigations face to
face with the grand possibilities of
the future, lead us to use the great-
est caution in measuring great events
by our own limited capacity or abil-
ity ; a feature which has characterized
the life-work of so many apiarists of
the past, and one on which our suc-
cess as apicultural teachers largely
depends.

In extending to our readers our
usual New Year's greeting, we can
justly say that the possibility of the
enslaving of apicultural interests by
avaricious men for mere mercenary
purposes lies buried in the past, and
the new year opens with richer prom-
ises of grand developments than have
ever before been deemed possible.

Apiculture, viewed in the broadest
and most comprehensive sense, has
a far deeper meaning than the mere
keeping of bees, and the more intel-
ligent and thoughtful apiarists are be-
ginning to deem it an honor to be
reckoned among tliose who are stu-
dents in this branch of agriculture.

The time has arrived in the his-
tory of apiculture in this country
when we have abundant reason to
expect important and lasting im-

provements in every department of
our pursuit, and as apiarists, we are
warranted in looking forward to a
prosperous future.

Beginning with the early teachings
of Moses Quinby, Samuel Wagner
and L. L. Langstroth, and following
down through the intervening years
to the present, the burden of the ef-
forts of our most prominent apiarists
has been to induce our government
to extend to apiculture proper recog-
nition and protection as one of the
important national industries ; hence,
it gives us unbounded pleasure to re-
cord at the beginning of the new
year the fact that through the efforts
of Professor C. V. Riley ot the Agri-
cultural Department at Washington
and others, government has estab-
lished an apicultural department, and
is conducting an Experimental Sta-
tion at Aurora, 111, under the charge
of Mr. Nelson W. McLain.

Only the future will fully reveal to
us a just conception of the honor
conferred upon us, and the value to
apiculture of the steps already taken.

We trust that those of our readers
who from time to time may be called
upon to render to Mr. McLain what-
ever assistance in his work he
may deem necessary will respond
with a cheerfulness and good will
that will prove more than words pos-
sibly can that we recognize our great
indebtedness to our government for
the recognition and support so kindly
granted us.

We have no hesitancy in pro-
nouncing the Detroit convention the
most important and eventful one ever
held in America.

Here were, to all appearance,
harmoniously buried what ever dif-
ferences may have existed between
the east and west, and to-day the
apicultural interests of the entire
country are cemented by one un-
broken band of union.

While at Detroit we became more
thoroughly convinced than e\er be-
fore of the importance of a better

14

THE AMERICAN APICULTVRIST.

knowledge of the honey bee, its char-
acteristics and habits, the extent to
which it is affected by chmatic in-
fluences and changes, the methods
to be adopted in breeding queens and
bees together with many other impor-
tant features in the same connec-
tion.

Again, the fact that our leading
chemists as yet know but imperfectly
the nature and constitution of the
sweets gathered from the various
honey-producing flora opens up an-
other and a rich field of investiga-
tion.

How imperfect is our knowledge
of the laws which govern the propa-
gation of bees and the methods for
uniting the desirable qualities of all
the races in the Aj>/s Americana of
the future !

We listen from year to year to the
various reports from prominent apia-
rists regarding their success or failure
in wintering their bees, and when we
ask them to explain to us the condi-
tions by which their bees were sur-
rounded, or the causes which brought
about the results, they, as a rule at
least, can only say "such were the
results," giving no cause.

The time will yet come wlien we
shall be able to give a scientific ex-
planation of the causes and condi-
tions which govern this and other
departments of apiculture so that we
can proceed with the same certainty
as to the results as characterize other
industries and vocations.

The time has come when those
whose efforts have been controlled
almost wholly by mere mercenary mo-
tives must give way to those with
nobler aims and greater ability who,
rising superior to such motives, will
devote their attention to the highest
branches of apicultural education
giving us the results of scientific re-
searches, for apiculture in its highest
sense is a grand and ennobling
science worthy of the attention of
the ablest students.

For nearly three years we have

toiled incessantly in order to aid in
bringing about these results and to
establish a journal which would fit-
tingly represent the interest of the
beekeepers and we are cheered and
encouraged with the results already
attained.

One by one the ablest apiarists are
coming to our support so that in the
APicuLTURiST Can be found the
richest tiioughts from the most tal-
ented and successful apiarists in the
world, a fact that should encourage
our friends to continue their confi-
dence in our enterprise and extend
their efforts on its behalf.

The cry has gone forth that the
honey market is glutted and many
apiarists are becoming discouraged
thereby.

In our opinion this will prove a
blessing to apiculture as it will weed
out all those who are unfitted for the
business and those who by overesti-
mated inducements have engaged
in beekeeping expecting to reap a
fortune with but litde trouble or ex-
pense. Also, as "necessity is the
mother of invention" it will force
the beekeepers to recognize the im-
portance of taking active measures
to develop a honey market and to
apply the same tact, push, and en-
ergy to their business as characterize
those engrossed in other vocations
and industries.

To those who wish to see apicul-
ture prosper we would say use every
endeavor to endorse, support and
encourage every unselfish effort put
forth to develop and foster apicul-
tural interests, and when you find a
bee journal fostering and protecting
your interests, encouraging freedom
of thought, keeping abreast with
every advance made in apiculture,
remember that every effort on your
part to increase its circulation and
enlarge its income will be returned
to you an hundred fold in the good
that will come to you from the im-
provements made in every branch of
apiculture.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

15

CANADIAN DEPARTMENT.

R. H. HOLTERMAX, EDIIOR.

It affords us no ordinary degree
of pleasure to be able, in a measure,
to speak for our Canadian brethren
through this department upon the
Experimental Station established by
the Department of Agriculture at
Aurora, 111. We no doubt all felt,
and all when hearing of the establish-
ment will feel, that, as members of
the North American Beekeepers' As-
sociation, all have equal rights and
privileges ; but when we learned that
your government had seen fit to es-
tablish such an experimental station,
there was a feeling among Canadians
of our indebtedness to them for such
a step. We felt that, while in no fi-
nancial way contributing to the sta-
tion, we should share the benefits of
the step ; but we are sure that, if our
pockets are not drawn from, we none
the less extend to those who have
had the wisdom to take such a step,
our warmest sympathies and our best
wishes. And while, as Canadians, we
may for a moment have regretted
that our country will not have the
honor, which yours doubtless will
have, of so materially assisting api-
culture, we feel that individuality,
nationality, all sink into insignifi-
cance, and the love for our chosen
pursuit should outweigh all other
feelings. As beekeepers we all real-
ize the important place apiculture
holds as a branch of agriculture ; but
we cannot expect every man to see
with the eye of a beekeeper. The
beekeepers of a land may well con-
gratulate themselves when they have
gained the ear of that department
which is able to give them assistance
to develop when it sees the just
claims their pursuit has upon the
public funds.

C ORRESFONDENCE.

Editor Am. Apiculturist :

Dear Sui :

On reading under "Questions and
Answers, Questions by Henry Alley,"
it appears that neither Mr. Alley nor
any one who answered the question,
" Which do you prefer, a dovetailed
or a nailed section?" thought of
using glue, or had ever seen a "light-
ning gluer " for driving and gluing
section boxes together. The "light-
ning gluer" is a machine for driving
section boxes together by foot-power
and also has a glue dish attached
with a wide flat brush so attached to
the machine that it goes down into
the glue and is raised by the same
spring that raises the hammer or
pounding attachment of the machine.
Place the ends of the section box
pieces against the brush, and a suf-
ficient quantity of glue adheres to
thoroughly stick the joints, then put
the box together with the hands,
place it in the machine and with four
or five strokes of the foot on the lever,
the box is driven together in a per-
fectly square form and when dry is
sti-onger than when put together any
other way. As Mr. D. D. Marsh says
in his answer, " a dovetailed, because
it looks more attractive and can be
made of thinner stock ;" a section
box put together in that way can be
made of thimier stock and at the
same time be much stronger and
more durable, I make that asser-
tion from having had experience with
all three kinds, dovetailed, with and
without gluing, nailed, and the all-
one-piece section boxes.

I cannot agree with Mr. L. C.
Root, for I think the " average per-
son " would make a much better box
with the " lightning gluer," and put
them together faster than they could
nail them. Neither can I coincide
with Mr. G. W. Demaree, for I can-
not understand why he should call
the dovetailed sections too "cranky"
for his use and patience. I consider

THE AMERICAN APJCULTURIST.

the dovetailed and g/ued sections by
far the best in use and, as Mr. G. H.
Martin says, " Dovetailed are more
quickly together ;" so they are, but
not as Mr. Will M. Kellogg says, for
the dovetailed and g/ued sections can
be "tumbled in a heap in the corner,
or dropped on the floor with much
more certainty of staying in shape
than can either nailed or all- one-piece
sections." Then as to "putting them
together beforehand," they can be
put up years before they are used
and be just as good as if put together
but yesterday. I am surprised at
Mr. K.'s answer. Mr. Manum of
Bristol, Vt., advertises dovetailed sec-
tions at the same price as those to
be nailed ; so you see, that answers
Mr. Pond's question as to the price
being greater for dovetailed than for
nailed.

If sections are put together with-
out gluing they are very liable to fall
apart, for the bees do not always at-
tach their combs so firmly to all sides
as to hold them securely together.
I beg your pardon, Mr. Editor, for
intruding my remarks upon the above
question at this late day, but as I
am such a strong advocate of the
dovetailed and glued sections, that I
could not refrain from giving my
views which are free and in good will
to all, and hope they will find a place
in the January number of " x\pi,"
1886. My answer to Mr. Alley's
question is "dovetailed and glued,
above all others."

A. P. Fletcher.

Ludlow, Vt.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

— On our return from Detroit we
visited a number of prominent hon-
ey commissioners and learned be-
yond doubt that the beekeepers of
this country must educate the public
regarding the value and uses of honey
together with the fact that honey pro-

ducers do not adulterate or sell any
adulterated honey, ere we are re-
lieved from the fear of a glutted
market.

As we have always stated, the bee-
keepers are responsible for the pres-
ent condition of the honey market
and one of the first and most im-
portant subjects for consideration is
how we can more speedily and suc-
cessfully educate the masses regard-
ing the habits of the bee, the methods
of obtaining honey, and the value
of the latter as compared witli com-
mercial sweets manufactured in our
own country and those imported from
foreign sources.

The thanks of American apiarists
are due to Mr. McLain for the able
and pointed statements regarding
this subject made by him at the De-
troit Convention.

In due time Mr. McLain will
speak through the "Apiculturist."

— Mr. Heddon's position regard-
ing the value of shallow frames (say
about six inches deep) in the pro-
duction of comb-honey is calHng
forth many interesting comments,
and our readers may expect ere long
to hear more from the "Apiculturist"
on this subject.

— One ofthe most pleasant and val-
uable experiences of our late visit to
Detroit was our association with Fa-
ther Langstroth ; and today, as
never before, we are impressed both
with his almost more than noble man-
hood and the value of his efforts and
researches in behalf of apiculture.
We look forward to the day when
American apiculture, reaching the
high and honored position that it is
destined to occupy, will accord not
only to Father Langstroth but to
Moses Quinby and other self-sacri-
ficing and able apiarists the credit
due them for their untiring efforts to
benefit their brother beekeepers.

— The British Bee Journal in re-
ferring to the intention of the Cana-

THE AMERICAN APICULTUEIST.

17

dian beekeepers to make a large
display of honey at the Indian Exhi-
bition at London next season, says,
"We can only hope that our Cana-
dian cousins will abstain from send-
ing us glucose with a 'spice' of comb
honey floating in its centre."

In our opinion this note will mis-
lead the public regarding the value
of American and Canadian honey
and the character of its producers.
Is it right or just to leave the public
to suppose that on this side of the
water beekeepers do place such a
mixture on the market?

The question of the adulteration
of honey is coming up on every
hand and as we yet have to learn of
the practice of adulteration by the
honey producers of America, we
must protest against any statement
that would seem to convey the idea
that they do practise adulteration,

— Have you told all your beekeep-
ing neighbors what they have to
gain in reading the "Apiculturist?"
or have you given them a sample
copy ?

Every effort that you make to in-
crease the circulation of the "Api-
culturist" will tend to improve the
honey market and assist you individ-
ually in making a success of apicul-
ture. We are hard at work gleaning
from every known source all the val-
uable information possible and you
cannot afford to lose one opportu-
nity to increase the circulation of
our Journal. Our offers are more
than liberal and we are only too
pleased to send you such sample
copies, circulars, etc., as may assist
you in obtaining subscriptions.

If you wish to help us, thus help-
ing yourselves, let us hear from you
at once.

— We have just received trom Mr.
Frank Cheshire, the first four parts
of his new work entitled Bees and
Beekeeping and we are so pleased
with it that we heartily endorse Prof.
Hasbrouck's review given in our Dec.
2

No. Mr. Arthur Todd, of German-
town, Phila., Pa., is Mr. Cheshire's
agent, and will answer all questions
regarding prices, etc.

No apiarist can possibly afford to
do without it. Next month we hope
to give our readers a review of it.

— As some of our old subscribers
have not renewed their subscriptions
we shall send them the January num-
ber, and we trust that if they do not
wish to continue, they will drop us a
postal card to that effect. We take
this course as so many of our readers
wish us to continue their subscrip-
tions until otherwise ordered.

CONVENTION NOTES}

THE NORTH AJIERICAN CONVENTION.

The sixteenth annual convention of
the American Beekeepers' Society met
at Detroit, Midi., on Tuesday, Dec. 8,
at 10 A. M., President L. C. Hoot in the
chair.

Quite a large number of beekeepers
were present, representing ten of the
States and Canada. As usual, general
enthusiasm i)revailed.

The Rev. L. L. Langstroth opened
the convention with an impressive in-
vocation, after which the membership
roll was called. Six ex-presidents
of the society were present.

The treasurer reported ^48.90 in the
treasury, and it was decided to omit
the reading of the secretary's report
of the last meeting.

Mr. A. F. Man'ura, Vice President
for Vermont, reported the honey crop
of that state, for the present season,
to be 100 tons.

Mr. W. E. Clark reported for New
Yoric, about a two-thirds crop.

Mr. Wm. G. Gibbons, Vice President
for Delaware, in his report, says :

The year 1885 has been an exceed-
ingly unpropitions one for beekeepers
iu this part of the country. The warm
weather which usually sets in Ijy April
10 was procrastinated until near the
beginning of May, and during both
April and May cold raiu storms were
frequent. The result was that the
bees got to work fifteen days later
than usual. The white clover, which

1 We have to thank Messrs. Thos. G. New-
man and R. F. Holterman for the reports from
which these have been taken.

18

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

is in tliis section the best and almost
tlie only bee pasturage, did notseemto
be well supplied with nectar, and the
season of its bloom was exceptionally
short; consequently the colonies gath-
ered a very small supply of surplus
honey, and few swarms issued. Gen-
erally, the colonies are in good condi-
tion for entering upon the coming win-
ter, and seem to be healthy.

Mr. Arthur Todd, Vice President for
Pennsylvania, made the following re-
port for the year 1885.

The winter of 1884-5 proved disas-
trous to many beekeepers in the state
of Pennsylvania, and as regards a
honey harvest — practically there was
none. The lall crop of honey luis like-
wise been a complete failure, and bees
go into winter quarters in bad condi-
tion, unless fed on sugar syrup. I
have taken pains during my business
journeys and in my correspondence, to
"learu the actual results of beekeeping
this year in this state for many a mile
distant from Philadelphia, and I think
that the word "disastrous" will best ex-
press the general feeling.

I regret that I am unable to meet the
brethren iu convention assembled; it
Is a great disappointment to me.

Mr. H. F. Hunt, Vice-President for
Quebec, Canada, reported as follows :

The knowledge of bee-culture, by
the improved methods of manipulation,
is still in its extreme infancy iu Quebec,
and has only within the past few years
begun to be disseminated among the
people, the southern and southwestern
parts having more beekeepers than the
other parts. There are numerous box-
hive beekeepers throughout the coun-
try, who still take their honey by the
old-fashioned method of " brimston-
ing" — a method which I hope is now on
its "hist legs." My report, therefore,
will not bear comparison with that of
our sister Province — Ontario — but I
hope that in the not far distant future,
we shall be able to make as good a
showing. The success attending the
labors of beekeepers in Ontario, will
act as a stimulus to those in Quebec.

In common with the rest of the North
American continent, the losses last
winter were heavy, but beekeepers, as
a rule, have not fjeen much discour-
aged, and are hoping for better success
this winter. Our losses were not so
heavy as those farther south, which I
attribute to our being compelled to pro-
tect the bees well, on account of the
severe cold which once or twice every
winter touches cO° below zero, the
average being 5° to 10° above.

I have not received as many responses
as I could wish, to my request for
reports, but I generalize from what I
did receive. The past season has l)eeu
a very poor one indeed, owing to the
extraordinary cold season, which seri-
ously curtailed brood-rearing and the
secretion of nectar, in some parts of
the Province, notably in the vicinity of
Lake Megantic, and in the county
of Beance. The spring was so dry that
certain crops had to be replanted, and
would, no doubt, have acted unfavor-
ably to the secretion of nectar in the
white clover. Some honey was gath-
ered from bassvvood, which yields
more freely to the south than to the
north of the St. Lawrence. Fall flow-
ers also have not given much, and many
colonies have had to be fed for winter.

Mr. S. T. Pettit, Vice-President
for Ontario, Canada, made the follow-
ing report:

Beekeeping in Ontario, for the last
year, has not been of the most flatter-
ing kind. During the last winter and
spring about 75 per cent, of our bees
perished. This great loss was brought
about by three principal factors, viz. :
poor stores, long-continued cold in
both winter and sijring, and inexperi-
ence.

Generally speaking, those of long
experience in apiculture, who have
given much time, study, painstaking
and exacting care — in a word, those
who make beekeeping a specialty, and
who are adapted to the business, sus-
tained comparatively little loss; hence
it is plain that this great loss fell prin-
cipally upon those who, as a-rule, neg-
lected some other business to enjoy
an immense amount of pleasure and
grow suddenly rich by " keeping bees."
The large amount of dead, filthy honey
thrown upon tlie market the past spring
has done no little harm to the pursuit.
Interested parties are constantly pro-
mulgating the idea that everybody
should keep bees, which results in no
inconsiderable loss to the country.

Beside the indirect loss by diverting
the minds of many from their legiti-
mate calling, I believe a fair calculation
would show the startling fact that ev-
ery pound of honey produced in Onta-
rio for the last six years has cost the
producers, on an average, not less tliau
twenty-live cents per pound.

The teaching that everyi)ody should
do everything for himself is a retro-
grade movement, undermining the best
manufacturing, producing, carrying
and commercial interests, and tends to
semi-barbarism ; no matter how per-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

19

sisteiitly or plausibly put, "the trail of
the serpent is over it all ;" "every man
to his trade" is a noble motto, and
brings " the greatest possible good to
the greatest possil)le number."

The season was a poor one; the
amount of honey taken being about
fifty per cent below the average. The
weather was too cold and wet with oc-
casional hot spells. The principal
honey-producing flowers were abun-
dant, but' the elements failed to get
into the proper humor to inspire them
with their natural love for the secretion
of the delicate, sparkling sweets, and
the friendly visits of the honey-bee.
In spite of all this, some of the short
crop of 1884 is yet on the markets ; but
we shall have a clean market for 1886.

There are several practices that mil-
itate against the true progress of api-
culture in Ontario, besides those
already referred to :

1. Extracting green or unripe honey.
It is impossible by human art or skill
to impart that exquisitely fine, finished
flavor that the bees give it when left
with them until it is capped.

2. The practice of feeding sugar ei-
ther for stimulating or wintering pur-
poses. It is very difticult to disabuse
the public mind. They know that we
feed sugar, and they seem determined
to cherish the belief that, in some way
or other, it gets into the honey. If we
all fed honey instead of sugar, a less
quantity would be thrown upon the
markets, and a correspondingly higher
price would be obtained, besides in-
spiring confldence iu the purity of our
honey.

3. Small beekeepers demoralize our
markets sadly, and give a good deal
of trouble by allowing their bees to be
robbed.

4. And last, but not least, I fear the
most of us will have to plead guilty to
the charge of painting the bright side
of beekeeping too bright, while we
keep the dark side obscurely in the
dark; in f.act it is much easier to show
up the bright side than the dark side —
it seems to loom up so easily.

In conclusion, I desire to say, that
the practice of exhibiting granulated
honey in glass, at our Expositions, is
doing good service by vvay of an edu-
cator; both dealers and consumers
begin now to regard granulation as a
proof of purity.

After the enrolling of new members
Mr. Langstroth made a few appropri-
ate remarks,

Fres. Root appointed the following
committees :

On Finance.— G. M. Doolittle, W.
r. Clarke and Prof. A. J. Cook.

On Statistics. — Thos. G. Newman,
D. A. Jones and Silas M. Locke.

On Resolutions.— Prof. A. J. Cook,
W. F. Clarke and R. L. Taylor.

On Exhibits.— Dr. A. B. Mason, J.
B. Hall and G. M. Doolittle.

Thereupon the meeting adjourned
until 2 p. m.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

Pres. Root called the meeting to or-
der at 2 p. m., and announced that the
first business would be the address of
welcome by Edwin Willetts, Esq.,
President of the Michigan Agricultural
College. President Willetts, on aris-
ing was greeted with enthusiastic ap-
plause. His address was as follows :

Mk. Presidicnt, Ladiks and Gex-
TLKMEx:— It becomes my duty, audit
is a pleasure, to welcome you to the
State of Michigan. I know of no rea-
son why I shoukl be asked to do so,
save, perhaps, because for fifty years
I have been a citizen of the Slate,
and at present represent the Michigan
Agricultural College, which institution
makes a specialty in bee culture and
instruction in the habits and propaga-
tion of bees.

We have those present who can
more fitly represent that feature of the
institution than myself, but neither
they nor any one else can welcome you
to our state with a more hearty greet-
ing than can I. We are glad to see
you in our midst. There is a growing
interest here in the industry that you
represent to-day. Michigan easily
ranks high iu the production of honey.
The breezes are tempered by our in-
land seas, and our soil is generous in
foliage and flowers. We are strangers
to extreme droughts and pestilential
moisture. We are not in the path of
the blizzard or the tornado. Nearly
every foot of land in our southern
peninsula takes kindly to the plough-
share, and rejoices in a fertility that
responds heartily to the demands of
husbandman. We are a busy people,
in busy homes, and we harmonize
easily with the "busy bee." We un-
derstand each other — we and the bees
— and each pursue our vocations with-
out antagonism. Hence there is room
for both, without hostility and nmtual
profit; and all we need is the dissemi-
nation of such information as you can
give, to lead us to a more general pur-
suit of your industry.

We shall expect an impulse in that

20

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

direction as the result of your deliber-
ations. You represent no mean voca-
tion. Ever since and before Jacob
sent as a present to propitiate the hard
master in Egypt, a little balm, and a
little honey, spices and myrrh; ever
since Columella wrote, and Viruil and
Horace sang, the sweet elixir has
tempted the palate of mankind. There
is uo substitute for it; the analysis of
the chemist is unable to produce it;
man cannot make it, or grow it, or
rectify it, and till Millenium's dawn,
it will be nectar to men and gods.

Yours is no insignificant industry.
You represent 3,000,000 colonies of
bees, with an annual product of sur-
plus honey of 100,000,000 pounds. Un-
der the impulse of this and kindred
associations the product is increasing
annually. The cheap sugar of to-day
has no perceptible influence upon the
demand or the price of the commodity.
As the country increases in wealth and
luxury, the demand grows with its
growth, and increases with the means
to gratify the appetite. The best
minds in the field of science have con-
tributed to the more successful promo-
tion of the industry. Aristotle, Virgil,
Columella, Pliny, Swanimerdam, Ray,
Latreille, and a host of others, ancient
and modern — not to forget Langstroth,
Cook, Quiuby, Hoot, and otiiers of our
day — have studied, observed, experi-
mented and written about bees and
their habits, till we know how best to
rear tiiem,andhow best to utilize their
harvest of sweetness ; so that to use
the words of a learned judge of one
of our Courts, who said, "In modern
days the bee has become almost as
completely domesticated as tlie ox or
the cow. Its habits and its instincts
have been studied, so that it can be
controlled with nearly as much cer-
tainty as any of the domestic ani-
mals."

You have almost taken it out of the
class /ercE naiurce. The propensity to
mischief has been so diminished, that
■serious injury is almost as rare from a
ibee as from the horse, and far less
(than from the dog. The Courts take
ikindly to the bee. They look with fa-
vor upon animals or Insects that are
<useful to man; with disfavor upon
such as are purely noxious or useless.
There is no question of the utility of
bees. I note this fact, as I observe a
little apprehension among apiarists,
about the attitude of Courts occasion-
ally, and tiie fear that there may grow
up some legal limitation or liability
that shall destroy your industry. Bees

were here befoi-e Courts or juries, and
they have the right of way, and will
keep it so long as their product is de-
sirable. The recent case that has
caused some apprehension will be
found, I hope, to be based upon an utter
misconception of the bee and its habits.
It will be found, I have no doubt, tliat
a sound grape is absolutely armor-
proof to the attack of the bee. It is
only when the armor is broken that
tlie attack is made. A grape with a
broken sliell is practically valueless —
worthless, except for the wine-press;
and for the one, I frankly say, gentle-
men, that as between the wine-press
and the bee — as between alcohol and
honey — I, am for the bee and for the
honey, and I believe the Courts will
give the bee the case.

But, gentlemen, I am not here to
keep you from your deliberations. I
again welcome you to Michigan, and
trust that your stay with us shall be so
pleasant that your recollections of it
shall be a life-long joy.

President Root said that he strongly
advocated the location of this meeting
at Detroit, and he was fully satisfied
that there was wisdom in the choice.
He had always been inuch interested
in Michigan beekeepers and was very
glad to meet with so many of them
here. The matter of defence of our
rights as beekeepers had been men-
tioned by President Willetts and he
was much in favor of unitedly
defending our rights. As Mr. T. G.
Newman was general manager of the
Beekeepers' Union, an organization
created for this purpose, he would call
upon Mr. Newman to make a statement
concerning what had been done and
what was expected to be done in the
future by the organization of which he
was manager.

Mr. T. G. Newman then delivered an
address on the National Beekeepers'
Union, from which we have taken the
following notes :

Last June, Mr. S. I. Freeborn, an
extensive apiarist of Wisconsin, was
sued by a neighbor, who kept a flock
of sheep, for alleged annoyance to his
sheep by trespassing bees.

It was understood that this was to
be a "test case," and if the plaintiff
succeeded in obtaining a vei'dict iu
his favor, either by the ignorance or
prejudice of a jury, other beekeepers
woiild be likely to be sued to recover
damages done to pastures, vineyards
and gardens by bees ; and anyone own-
ing a few square rods of land, devoted
to almost any purpose, may try to

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

21

recover damages from all the owners
of bees in the vicinity.

Mr. James Heddon suggested the
formation of a Beekeepers' Union in
defence of their rights and to protect
theii- interests. Such a union was
formed, and officers elected as follows :
President — James Heddon.
rive Vice Presidents— G. M. Doolittle,
G. W. Demaiee, A. I. Rooc.

Prof". A. J. Cook, Dr. C. C. Miller.

Manager, Secretary and Treasurer— T. G.
Newman.

The officers were made an Advisory
Board, with full power to act.

This Union had employed attorneys
and obtained such other assistance as
■was deemed necessary, and when the
case came up the Judge decided that
there were no laws nor rulings upon
which he could instruct a jury; hence
the case was dismissed.

Other cases were cited where the
Union had rendered valuable assist
ance ami still others where it would
probably be able to do good work in
behalf of the interests of the bee-
keepers. It was shown that California
apiarists were being persecuted and
and that unjustly.

Mr. Newman urged the beekeepers
to join hands with the Union and by
becoming members assist in deciding
these battles for the right.

This*vas followed by discussion, the
majority of beekeepers being in favor
of using pacific measures whenever
possible, resorting to law only as a last
resort; after which Mr. W. F. Clarke
offered the following resolution which
was adopted :

Resolved, That a committee of seven
be appointed to consider and report
upon the best methods of protecting
the interests of beekeeping from legal
attack prompted by ignorance.

The resolution passed and the com-
mittee was appointed as follows : W.
F. Clarke, T. G. Newman, W. E.
Clark, James Heddon, C. F. Muth, S.
T. Pettitt, and Prof. A. J. Cook.

The President then delivered his an-
nual address which we have not given
as Mr. L. C. Root wishes to make some
alterations when it will be given in the
" Apiculturist".

After reading of the address the fol-
lowing discussion took place.

Mr. C. F. Muth remarked that in
New York they principally demanded
honey in glassed sections or in paper
boxes. In the west, such are unsala-
ble. We, here, require it in unglassed
sections with the crates glassed.

j\Ir. C. 11. Isham said that our honey-
producei-s can sell all their honey in

glassed sections, and it is desirable to
do so in order to preserve its beauty
and purity.

Mr. Thompson said that he wa-ote to
New York asking for a bid for best
glassed honey, and he was offered only
10 cents per pound for it delivered in
New York.

Mr. Hall proposed a vote of thanks
to Pres. Root for his able address.

Mr. G. M. Doolittle then read an es-
say on

THE PRODUCTION OF COMB HONEY.

He said that there were four things
important in the production of comb
honey: First, a good queen; second,
the getting of the bees at the right time
to secure the harvest; third, a skilful
apiarist; and fourth, the right kind of
a hive. Remarks were made on each
of these points, tuid Mr. D. said that
we could divide and subdivide these
four heads, especially the last three,
yet the fundamental principles would
not be changed.

The discussion on comb foundation
took a general and rather desultory
course. Mr. J. B. Hall was asked to
state his method, and confined himself
to his experience with comb founda-
tion.

Rev, W. F. Clarke said that Mr.
Doolittle's essay was professedly on
the production of comb honey, but
what he said was just as applicable to
the production of extracted honey. A
good queen, plenty of bees to gather
in the honey harvest, a skilful apiarist,
and a good hive— were not these just
as needful for the production of ex-
tracted as comb honey? What we
want is the points of a skilful apiarist
required to get large crops of coml)
honey. We want to know how to do
it. Our most successful producers of
comb honey rather tell us "how not to
do it." They appear not to like to ex-
plain things. They take Burns' advice
to iiis frieml Andrew:

"Still keep a secret in your breast
Ye never tell lo any."

For several years at these conven-
tions he had tried to get Mr. Hall to
explain how he gets such large crops
of splendid comb honey, but he had
never done it.

Mr. Hall: "I should have to make
the man."

Mr. Clarke: "Well, here he is; take
the raw material and make the num."

''That's just what I want."

Much amusement and bantering of
Messrs. Doolittle and Hall to explain
the how, but the wily veterans did not
come to the scratch.

22

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Amid mucli laughter the subject was
hiid on the table, and the next order of
the day taken up ; viz. : an essay by Mr.
C. P. Dadant, ou

EXTUACTKD HOXKY.

Comb honey is nice, but it is a fancy
article, and is too costly for the gen-
eral public who want an article not
costing more than sugar, with which it
competes, and if honey can be supplied
as cheaply as sugar, it will, to a large
extent, supersede it. In their exper-
ience, their sales had largely increased,
and the home market now readily con-
sumes all their crop. Extracting honey
checks swarming, without a doubt. It
enables the apiarist to take care of a
larger number of colonies. A larger
quantity of honey can be obtained, and
much outlay for coml)s, crates and
boxes is saved. Mr. Dadant considered
it a mistake to suppose that there is an
over-production of honey. It is only
beginning to be considered a staple.
When honey is as common on the tables
of the farmer, and even laborer, as
sugar, and when it is found as common
by the keg and barrel in wholesale
stores as sugar, then only shall we pro-
duce as much honey as the country can
use. The revolution in beekeeping of
which Father LangstroUi speaks has
come into efl'ect, but beekeepers are
only beginning to find out all the ad-
vantages and all the growth which the
bee-business must derive from the in-
vention.

Dr. Mason described his method of
getting extracted honey, but com-
plained that he could nofget more than
()5 pounds per colony. He was asked
how many combs he used, and replied,
"eight."

Mr. C. F. Muth could not compre-
hend how the Doctor could manage
with so few frames. He wanted at
least ten frames for the brood-nest, and
then another story for extracting. Even
his bees, kept on the house-lop in the
city of Cincinnati, had given him aver-
ages double and even treble what Dr.
Mason had obtained, and from hives in
the country Avhere tliey had not so far
to fly, he got far more honey.

Mr. W. E. Clark said that the Presi-
dent had been the most successful pro-
ducer of extracted honey in the east,
and he would call on him to explain his
methods.

Pres. Root, in response, said that it
was perfectly true, as Mr. Clark had
said, that Mr. Doolittle's requisites for
producing comb honey were just as
applicable to the production of ex-

tracted honey. A good queen, for
example, was just as necessary for the
one as the other. In both cases wise
manipulation was needed, and it takes a
large amount of study to know what is
wise manipulation. Certainly we must
have large colonies of bees "to gather
the honey, then we must extract it at
the time when it can be done to the
best advantage and with the least hin-
drance to the bees. It was hard to lay
down specific rules— every beekeeper
must be a law to himself, and tind out
the methods best adapted to his own
locality. Pixperience must be bought
by practice, and at a considerable ex-
pense ; he only hoped that it would not
cost others as much as it had cost him.
Pres. Root gave the stereotyped direc-
tions for the production of extracted
honey, but said that these were subject
to modification in individual cases.

Mr. S. T. Pettit gave his experience
iu producing extracted honey. He
liad missed it by not leaving the honey
in the hive long enough to ripen. One
season his honey was all of an infer-
ior quality, owing to this cause. He
did not believe that we could ripen the
honey as well as the bees themselves
do it. He said that we should have at
least one-third of the honey capped
before extracting, and he believed it
was better if all was capped over.

Rev. L. L. Langstroth did nol know
that he could add much to the ocean
of intelligence that was tiding all
around, but he wished to say a word
or two. He believed there Avere
many things that the bees could do —
certain things belter than we can —
and ripening honey was one of them.
There was too much artificial work iu
beekeeping. One beekeeper had in-
vented nippers to pull dead bees out
of the cells, but live bees would do it
better.

Dr. Mason said that the " big-bugs"
of the Convention had been poking fun
at him for getting only sixty-five
pounds of honey per colony, but they
would find it impossible to get an av-
erage of three hundred pounds in his
locality — a city on one side and a wil-
derness on the other. Small as his
average yield was, it was larger than
that of any of his neighbors. He
wished that his critics would show
him how to produce three hundred
pounds per colony, but the trouble
was, as Mr. Clarke said, they did not
care to disclose their secrets.

Rev. W. F\ Clarke wished to ask if
formic acid in honey was not the ele-
ment which gave it its keeping quali-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

23

ities. He put the question to Prof.
Cook. For liis own part, he believed
that tlie formic acid was added by the
bees in the capping process, wliich
was carried on mainly by the use of
tlieir tails — the sting — being the hist
polishing tool. It was because the
formic acid was thus added that honey
must be one-tliird capped to be good,
and all capped to be first-rate.

Prof. Cook thought that no one knew
liow or when the formic acid was
added. He was also of the opinion
that too much stress was laid on the
matter of taste. Few could discrim-
inate as thoroughly as had been sug-
gested.

The Convention then adjourned.

EVENING SESSION.
The meeting was called to order at
8 p. m., by Pres. Hoot. An essay was
read as follows, by Mr. R. F. Holter-
man, of Brantford, Out., on the

CAKIC OF HONEY FOU MaRKKT.

I bring this subject before you, fully
aware tliat it is not of as great impor-
tance as many others, being indirectly
connected with the production of
lioney; but on that account it has per-
haps not received that public attention
which it merits. It is our duty, when
blessed with the means to procure a
crop of honey, that we should acquaint
not only ourselves but every beekeeper
with what will secure to us the article
in the highest state of perfection, and
place it thus in the consumers' hands.
Have we, as a body, endeavored to do
so? Looking at it from a business
standpoint, past experience has taught
us that in order to realize the best re-
sults financially, from any article ex-
tensively produced, it is necessary not
only to better our own but we must
better that of the entire land.

Let us imagine the land completely
destitute of vegetation. Here is a
heavy soil, in the distance is a sandy
one. and between, all grades of soil.
Here is a hill, there a swamp, and at
other distances, intermediate eleva-
tions. Now, could our eye stretch
from north to south within the honey-
producing area, and were this area to
be decked with our present vegetation,
Avhich of the aforenamed conditions
would influence the quality of honey?
The heavy soil would give us a richer
honey than the lighter; the more ex-
tremes of cold climate would give a
better quality than the more equable.
Would the high and the low land in-
fluence it? We know that honey from
every species of flower has its peculiar

flavor, no matter how indistinct, and
that the season, its winds, temperature,
and degrees of moisture influence not
only the quantity, but the quality of
our honey.

The progress beekeeping has made,
and so many making a specialty of it,
liave enabled us in a measure to conduct
ourselves accordingly; but to the or-
dinary beekeeper most of the previ-
ously named conditions cannot be
controlled. But how much lies within
our power!

One of the first questions would be,
when shall we extract? Shall we ex-
tract before or after the honey is sealed ?
What are the advantages and disad-
vantages of the two systems? If, en-
tirely sealed, we require to uncap a
large surface, the bees must, with the
ordinary appliances, be cramped for
store-room, the brood-nest becomes
contracted, not alone meaning loss of
time until extracted, but many think
they do not regain their old energy for
the remainder of the season. The ad-
vantages would be, honey called ripe,
subject to the before-named conditions.

When is honey ripe? With the sys-
tem of extracting when the honey is
unsealed, there is no uncapping and
bees have plenty of store-room, but
the quality is inferior; and right here
a friend would step in with his ripening
can. But we have made no light mis-
take; for, in the past, our honey has
been handled too much, as if it could
lose nothing by having it come in con-
tact with the air. What imparts that
peculiar aroma to honey, and gives
each kind of honey a distinct flavor?
Is it not largely a volatile oil? Do we
not know it is being distilled from ev-
ery flower as we pass through a clover
field in blossom? And, in evaporating
and otherwise coming in contact with
the air, we lose this.

Many find that to extract honey
when one-third capped answers well;
the honey to be put into deep tanks or
barrels holding about 600 pounds each,
and left for a week. This causes the
light, thin honey to rise to the top —
generally it is not ten per cent., and
this can be disposed of a little cheaper
— and the rich, ripe honey remains.
One week more of exposure is ample
for clover, and it becomes sweet with-
out the fiavor: basswood longer, ac-
cording to the taste. Thistle honey
has a very distinct odor and taste, but
it is very volatile, and requires but lit-
tle exposure. If we handled our ex-
tracted honey thus, would it not take
the place of comb honey more?

24

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

What is meant when consumers say
that they miss a peculiar richness in
extracted honey, which the comb will
give them? Is it all fancy? How
many beekeepers have greeted yoa
with the remark, after tasting your
basswood honey, "Ah, that is pure
honey." How many have thought, af-
ter tasting the long-exposed clover
honey, "That is sugar syrup." The
formi'r loses its flavor less readily;
the latter more readily.

Has our comb honey been handled
with proper care ? Should it not al-
Avays be kept not only dry, but at a
temperature that the delicate scales of
wax — cell caps — never crack from too
low a temperature? Does honey fer-
ment in the cells and crack the wax,
or does the cell break, permit access
to moisture and atmosphere, and that
cause tiie honey to ferment?

Indianapolis, Ind., was selected as
the next place of meeting, and it was
voted that St. Louis be in contempla-
tion for the following year, and the
following oflicers were duly elected :

Prince Edw. Island— Jas. Gourlie, Summer-
side.
Quebec— H. F. Hunt, Quebec.
Khode Island— Wm. J. Tiacy. Burrillville.
South Carolina— S. C. Boylston. Cliaileston.
Tennessee— W. P. Henderson, aiurfieesboro.
Texas— W. H. Audiewe. McKinney.
Utah— John I\[orsan. Salt Lake City.
Virginia— J. W. Porter, Charlottesville. ^

Vermont— A. E. Wanum, Bristol.
West Virginia— A. W. Cheney, Kanawha Falls.
AVisconsin— Christopher Grhiim, Jefferson.
VVj-oming— James Fields, Fort Laramie.
Washington— H. A. Marsh, Fidalgo.

\_To be condnued.'Y

A meeting of the beekeepers in Som-
erset County, Me., was held in the
month of August, 1885, and Mr. W. H.
Greeley of Clintou reports :

I began three years ago Avith one
nucleus colony and uow have forty
swarms and have not lost a swarm
during the three winters. He says, my
honey crop [this year is rising 2500
pounds in one-pound sections.

How is that for Maine?

W. H. Watsox.

Waterville, Maine.

President— H. D. Cutting. Clinton, Mich.
Kecording Secretary— Frank L. Dough-
erty, Indianapolis, Ind.

CORRKSPONUING SECRETARY — MrS. CaSS

Bobbins, Indianapolis. Ind.
TREASURER— C. F. Muth, Cincinnati, O.

vice-presidents:
Alabama— Nelson Perkins, Princeton.
Arkansas— George B. Peters, Peters.
Arizona— Jas. H. Brown, Prcscott.

British Columbia— U. Spears, New Westmin-
ster.

California— R.Wilkin, San Bnenaventura.

Colorado— Philip Reardon, Jamestown.

Connecticut- H. L. Jeffrey, Washington De-
pot.

District of Columbia— Rev. J. A. Buck, Wash-
ington.

Dakota— J. H. Townley, Asbton.

Delaware— Geo. Keniingtoii, Wilmingtou.

Florida— W. S. Hart. Hawk's Park.

Georgia— Dr. J. P. H. Brown, Augusta.

Illinois— Mrs. L. Harrison, Peoria.

Indiana— J. S(^boll. Indianapolis.

Iowa- J. M. Sliuck, Des Moines.

Kansas— Chas. Sniitli, Marysville.

Kentucky— J. M. Egbert, Salvisa.

Louisiana— P. L. Viallon, Bayou Goula.

Maine— J. B. Mason. Mechanic Falls.

Manitoba— Hon. J. H. Wallbridge, Winnipeg.

Massacbuseits— S. M. Locke, VVenham.

Michigan— Miss Lncv Wilkins, Farwell.

Missouri— E. M. Hayhurst, Kansas City.

Mississii)pi— Dr. O. M. Blanton, Greenville.

Minnesota—*;. F. Greening, Grand Meadow.

Maryland— Dr. W. G. Phelps, Galena.

Montana— Clias. I'ruce, Wickes,

Nebraska— T. L. Von Dorn, Omaha.

Nevada— A. A. Leeper, Carson City.

New Jersey— i;. Terryberry, Highbridge.

New York— Ira Barber, DeKalb Junction.

North Carolina— II. H. Watson, SladesviUe.

Nova Scotia— C. T. Jones, Waterville.

New Hampshire— M. Harie, Keno.

Oliio— A. I. Root, Medina.

Oiitario-J. B.Hall, Woodstock.

Pennsylvania— Arthur Todd, Germantown.

The next annual meetingof the Maine
Beekeepers' Association will be held
at Skowhegan, Maine, Jan. 19-20-21,
1886. The Maine Central R. \l. will
sell tickets at one fare for the round
trip. The Grank Trunk will sell tickets
at the same rate to Lewis ton.

Beekeepers everywhere are cordially
invited to be present.

J. B. Mason, President,
Wm. Hoyt, Secretary.

Jiipley, Me., Dec. 7, 1885.

The sixth annual meetingof the Cort-
land Union Beekeepers' Association
will be held Jan. 12, 1886, at Cortland,
in Union Hall, at ten o'clock, a. m.

It is hoped that all interested in api-
culture will make an extra effort to be
in attendance at this meeting, also to
be present promptly at tlie time ap-
pointed so that there need be no time
lost.

Those unable to attend the meeting
arc requested to send a report of their
apiary from May 1, 1885 to Dec. 1, 1885,
to the secretary.

M. H. Farbaxks, Pres.

W. H. Beach, Secy.
Cortland, N. Y.

1 We have been obliged to leave out a por-
•tion of the reports, but will give them heie-
after and the questions and answers for this
number will ai>pear next month.

The American Apiculturist

% lournal ^tboitti to ^dmii^t anb Ipradiral geeketphtg.

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, SALEM, AS SECOND-CLASS SLiTTER.

Published Monthly. S. M. Locke & Co., Publishers & Prop'rs.

WENHAM, MASS., FEBRUARY i, 1886.

VOL. IV.

No. 2.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES.

Advertising Rates :— 15 cents per line of
6p<*ice each insertion, or $1.00 per inch.

A line of this type will admit about? words
One inch will contain twelve lines.

Those wishing special rates will please
correspond with the Editor.

When sending money make all postal notes
and money oiders payable at the Salem,
Mass., Post Office.

All commnnications should be addressed
to S. M. Locke & Co., Wenhani, Mass.

spbciaIj notice.

The Apiculturist will be sent three months
to any aadresa for 25 ets.. six months for 50
ets. or one year for $1,

To each new subscriber and to those who
renew their subscriptions promptly, we will
send likenesses of Rev. L L. Langstroth and
the late Moses Quinby.

TEMPERATURE, A FACTOR
IN BEEKEEPING.

By S. Corneil.

"All animals, strictly speaking,
are warm-blooded." Even amphib-
ia and fishes have a temperature from
two to four degrees higher than that
of the element in which they live.
For convenience the higher animals,
where temperature is constant, and
consequently independent of the
temperature of the surrounding me-
dium, are called warm-blooded, while
those whose temperature is variable,
changing with that of the surround-
3

ing medium, are classed as cold-
blooded animals. " Like all insects,
bees are cold-blooded." They seem,
however, to occupy an intermediate
place between these two classes.
Their temperature, when they are
clustered, and in repose, changes
with that of the surrounding medium,
only to a limited extent. When the
temperature of the cluster falls to a
point, not definitely ascertained so
far as the writer is aware, the bees
are roused to activity, and by in-
creased respiration, generate heat to
prevent the temperature from falling
lower. On the other hand, when
brood rearing is actively carried on,
the heat of the brood nest is so nearly
constant, and so nearly independent
of that of the outside air, that, for
the time being, bees almost meet the
requirements, entitling them to be
classed as warm-blooded animals.

Since the normal temperature of
the bee varies, ranging from 54° to
100°, and since "warmth is the chief
necessity of bees and their brood,"
and since temperature is the meas-
ure of their strength," it is important
that the beekeeper should be famil-
iar with the temperatures most suit-
able to the varied conditions of his
stocks, at all seasons. On this mat-
ter some of the most recent works
on bee culture are almost silent, and
the information to be gathered from
r25)

26

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

our current bee literature is meagre
indeed. From the limited sources
within my reach, I have made the
following list, which it is to be hoped
will be supplemented from other
quarters till it covers the whole
ground.

32°. It is said frozen bees may
be resuscitated provided they have
not remained frozen for more than
forty-eight hours, but Dr. Dzierzon
says, even if they do recover their
vitality they do not regain their for-
mer strength.

50°. Dr. Dzierzon says in their
most quiescent state, 50° is about
the temperature of the air surround-
ing the cluster. This has quite re-
cently been verified by careful exper-
iment made by Dr. G. L. Tinker
of New Philadelphia, O.

54°. When out of the cluster,
bees become chilled in a tempera-
ture below 54°. This is the mini-
mum for locomotion.

59° to 66° is the range of temper-
ature in the interior of the cluster
when the bees are in their most
quiet state, according to Dr. Dzier-
zon. At this temperature he says,
brood will not thrive and the con-
sumption of honey, in a tolerably
populous colony, is about one pound
per month. Huber, Swammerdam
and others put the temperature of
the cluster at 86° to 88°. I had, on
one occasion, an opportunity of push-
ing the cylindrical bulb of a ther-
mometer into a large cluster, formed
beneath the frames of a hive in the
cellar, the temperature of the cellar
at the time being about 40°. I took
fifteen readings extending over eight

days, and I found the average was
69°.

61°. This is the minimum tem-
perature in the shade when it may
be said to be safe for bees to fly.

70°. This is about the best tem-
perature for transferring, because it
is neither cold enough to chill the
brood, nor warm enough to make
the combs too soft.

80.° This is the minimum tem-
perature in the brood nest where
brood can be successfully raised.
Huber says the usual temperature of
hives is from 95° to 97°, and John
Huber says from 90° to 100° is nec-
essary to hatch eggs and rear larvae.
I think it probable this range is too
high. Newport found the temper-
ature of a larva cell 7 7 J- ° in a nest
of humble bees, while that of a
nymph with nurse bees upon it, was
92°, the temperature of the outside
atmosphere being 72^-°.

I have not been able to find, as the
result of experiment, the temperature
at which comb building can be
carried on to the best advantage, but
I presume it is about the same as
that required for brood rearing. Last
spring some of my stocks built full
sheets of comb in upper stories be-
tween the 6th and 21st of May, the
mean temperature of the outside air
for that period being 54°. Populous
stocks, in single walled hives, cov-
ered with quilts of wool, and abun-
dant hard maple bloom, were the
principal attendant conditions.

90°. From some very accurate
experiments made by a writer in the
British Bee Journal, he inferred that
90° is the maximum temperature of

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

27

the brood nest which can be borne
without fanning at the entrance.
From the same experiments it was
inferred that when the temperature
of the brood nest exceeds 90°, with
an outside temperature below 60°,
and bees fanning at the entrance,
the brood nest may be expanded
with safety. This observer found
that blowing smoke into the entrance
of a hive, in which he had his ther-
mometer placed, had the effect of
lowering the temperature of the
brood nest, because the bees ex-
pelled the smoke by fanning and
with it the warm air which was re-
placed by colder air. He also states
that he usually found the tempera-
ture lower the second day after man-
ipulation and artificial excitement
than previous to being examined,
and that he has proved it possible
to find a hive 10° lower after manip-
ulation and that temperature not to
be regained in less than a week.
From these observations it will be
seen that to secure the best results
in building up before the honey har-
vest, the less the smoker is used, and
the less the hives are opened the
better.

100°. At this temperature in the
brood nest, the bees become un-
comfortable and prepare for swarm-
ing.

Lindsay, Dec. 14, 1885.

SECTION BOXES.

By Dr. G. L. Tinker.

Never feed bees by putting honey or
syrup in dishes and setting them out-
side the hives. The beekeeper who
does so will have reason to regret it.
Use a good feeder inside the hive.

Now is the time for beekeepers to
lay their plans and order supplies for
another year. What kind of section,
the dovetailed, the one-piece, the two-
piece or the section to nail, is pref-
erable ? what size and width and what
kind of timber are best ? are questions
that are now in order. One more
may be added : Is it best to order a
nice, smooth sawed, accurately dove-
tailed and accurately cut section at a
slight advance in cost on a thousand,
or shall we invest in the rough sawed,
inaccurately made, unsighdy section
at a lower figure ? We will try to an-
swer these questions remembering
that opinions based upon our expe-
rience and observation may not be
shared in by all.

Our preference is decidedly for the
dovetailed section. Even if we used
basswood instead of the white poplar,
we should want our sections dove-
tailed. We prefer them to the one-
or two-piece because they present a
nicer appearance, are stronger when
properly made, and have openings
the whole width of the section for the
bees to enter. A dovetailed section
to be strong should be cut a little
heavier than is usual. -^^ of an inch
for the thickness of each of the sides
is better than ^, or I of an inch scant •
The dovetailing is also done better
with saws ^\ of an inch thick than
with thinner saws unless the section
be very narrow.

The size and width beekeepers
have differed upon more than on any-
thing else. The market, however.

28

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

has settled upon a small section, one
holding a pound or a fraction less.
These sections also command a
higher price and are coming more
largely into use every year. The
width of sections is of less concern
. to the consumer than to the producer.
Beyond question more comlp-honey
can be secured in the narrow sections
than in the wide, and if we are to
dispense with separators, which every
beekeeper should learn to do, then
the narrow sections are indispensable.
I J- inches is the width most com-
monly agreed upon, but anything less
than if inches wide is undesirable.
In shape we prefer a square section
and, if only i^ inches wide it should
not be larger than 4 J- inches square.
The 4i X 4i X i^ is much used but
it holds only twelve ounces on the
average. Some seem to favor a sec-
tion holding exactly a pound on the
average but, as filled sections vary as
much as two or three ounces, it is
only fair to retail by the pound.
Hence, the matter of one to three
ounces less than a pound is of little
account. Dealers find it an objection
in retailing sections that average a
full pound in weight, since some of
them in that case will overrun a pound
by an ounce or two which the cus-
tomer is apt to think should be in-
cluded in the purchase at the rate
per pound.

Our choice of timber for sections
is the white poplar. Possibly if the
one and two-piece sections could be
made out of it they would be more
acceptable, but, as the poplar is too
brash to bend without breaking, it
cannot be used to make them. It
must be either dovetailed, which is

preferable, or cut to nail. The white
poplar is the whitest and the nicest
timber in the world for section boxes,
nothing, in fact, could be finer. When
properly sawed it has a most beau-
tiful finish ; far nicer than could be
imparted by the common plane or
a planer. Basswood is the timber
selected for making the one and two-
piece sections on account of the
toughness of its fibre. Young trees
of rapid growth make sections nearly
as white as the poplar ; but the greater
part of basswood lumber used for
making sections is inferior in color.

We have yet to consider quality of
workmanship. There are few people
who do not have an eye to the beau-
tiful. The exquisite finish and at-
tractive appearance of comb honey
are due to a workmanship that man,
with all his ingenuity, can never hope
to equal. To say that its appearance
is marred by placing it in an unsightly
package is only drawing it mild. We
would advise no one to do it. Let us
rather add in every way possible to
the " fancy " quality of comb honey
so often noted in the market quota-
tions, that an inferior package de-
tracts from this quality and hence the
market price, no one can doubt.

It is undeniable that nice and per-
fectly accurate sections cannot be
made as cheaply as rough and inac-
curate ones, but we do not consider
the narrow margin of difference in
cost sufficient to cover the loss in sales
on inferior packages, although it ap-
pears that many beekeepers act on
the presumption that money is saved
by investing in them ; they seem to
forget that a fine package helps to
make sales and aids very much in

THE AMERICAN APICULTUHIST.

29

giving to every beekeeper, who prop-
erly labels his honey, a reputation for
superior excellence of his product.

Of late years there seems to be a
demand for a better quaHty of bee-
keepers' suppHes generally. Espec-
ially have the complaints been
numerous on the cheaply made sec-
tions. This has been the result of
competition among the manufactu-
rers who, in order to furnish a low-
priced section, have been compelled
to turn out an inferior, and in many
cases, an almost worthless article. It
seems to me now that it would be
salutary if the competition is turned
toward superior workmanship, but
whether this shall be or not rests
wholly with beekeepers. If they de-
mand a poor article dirt cheap they
will, no doubt, be accommodated,
but if the demand is for the best kind
of workmanship on sections at rea-
sonable prices they will just as surely
get it.

New Philadelphia , Ohio.

BEE-CULTURE IN TEXAS.

Bv Mrs. Sallie K. Sherman.

In my last article for the " Apicul-
turist " I promised in my next to tell
you something of my success in
bee culture. Well, to begin with, in
the fall or winter of 1879, 1 purchased
one colony of bees in a common box
hive of Rev. Willis J. King. My
little son and myself went after them
at night and brought them home in
a wheelbarrow ; distance about one
mile. Had to cross the Salon on a
swinging bridge, but we got them

home safely and set the hive on a
flat rock and let them alone until
they swarmed the next spring. In
the meantime, however, I had
through a friend obtained the address
of A. J. King of New York and had
sent to him and got directions how
to make the American hive, and em-
ployed a good workman to make
two hives for me of that pattern, cost
of each hive, $5.00. I then thought
that they were perfect ; even had a
glass door in the rear so that we
could see the bees at work inside
the hive. But when they swarmed,
such a time as we did have. I -had
never even helped hive a swarm,
had never seen a bee book, didn't
even know that there was such a
thing as a smoker. You may well
imagine I was in a dilemma. Charlie,
my little son, was at school a mile away.
I was alone and the bees in the top of
a tall hve-oak. I studied but a mo-
ment, then ran to a near neighbor's
and sent to town for the best bee-
man, who, by the way, was a widower
and an expert as it was thought, at
the time, for he actually had seen
queens and knew them by sight.
He soon came and brought another
good neighbor along to help. The
first thing was to get a ladder, and
the next to carry out the dining table
and place it under the swarm, then
for a sheet and four long sticks to be
tied to each corner.

Next, friend A went up the ladder
with saw, ax and rope as his imple-
ments, so that if he failed to jar the
bees in the sheet, he could saw off
the limb. Friend C. and I were on
top of the table holding the sticks,
one in each hand at full arm's length

30

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

right over our heads. When the
bees were jarred off the Umb, friend
C let q,ll hold go and took to his
heels in double-quick time. So the
whole swarm was poured right on
top of my head, and became quite
angry at such rough treatment.
They, however, soon settled at the
same place again, so friend A sawed
off the limb and finally got them
down, not without getting a good
many stings, as they were the com-
mon native bee, and thoroughly
aroused by this time. We still did not
succeed in getting them in the hive.
The next time they settled on an old
stump, and some weeds growing near
it. This third trial succeeded, after
which friend A called for the
camphor and thoroughly washed his
hands in it, and also used it copiously
about his face and neck. I verily
believe that forty bees had stung
him but he never grunted. C said
that if the whole swarm had stung
him he would never have grunted.
In about two weeks, the second
swarm issued and was duly hived
with a little less trouble than the first,
not, however, without the assistance
of several neighbors. Tlie latter
part of July, 1880, 1 found that there
was honey in all the hives to be
taken. So I finally mustered courage
sufficient to rob them. With a
roll of rags burning, I went to the
hives and robbed them in a very
bungling way ; killed a great many
bees, and in return received a great
many stings, which were truly very
painful as I did not know anything
about scraping out the stings and
thus relieving the pain. Since that
first taking of honey, I have never

been out of that God-given, sweet,
pure honey.

Before swarming time in 1881, I
had sent to New York and bought
five ready made new American
hives. Had also bought the Bee-
keepers' Text Book from which I
learned that the Italian bees far sur-
passed the common native bee, and
as I was determined to make bee-
keeping a success, I thought of
course that I must get some Italians.
In the meantime, I had got hold of
a copy of " Gleanings in Bee Cul-
ture," by A. I. Root of Medina,
Ohio, so I sent to him and got one
frame of Italians, together with a
queen. These were the first Italians
I ever saw. I again had to send for
friend A to come and hunt out the
black queen for me, and, instead of
selecting one of the American hives
that had the oldest combs in them,
I took one of the new hives. All
the comb being young and tender,
it broke down, and drowned not only
the fine queen, but nearly all the
bees. Thus my experience was
dearly bought. Nothing daunted, I
sent and got another queen, and still
others. I found them so far supe-
rior to the native bee that I was de-
termined and still am determined
never to be satisfied until every bee
in my yard is pure Italian.

You cannot imagine how delighted
I was when I first succeeded in in-
troducing an Italian queen. When
the young Italians came out for their
first flight, how beautiful they did
look. I sent and got another lot of
fine ready-made hives, since which
time I have got them in the flat,
sometimes sending for as many as

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

3L

one hundred at a time. As my
neighbors and friends saw what suc-
cess was attending my untiring efforts
they ahiiost en masse took the bee
fever, and came to me to get hives
for them, for as a gentleman told me
last week they think that what I don't
know about bees isn't worth know-
ing. I often tell them that they
give me more credit than I deserve.
I have taken and read carefully the
Beekeepers' Magazine for about four
years, and the Weekly Bee Journal
for nearly the same length of time.
Have read "Alley's Handy Book, "
on queen-rearing and reared some
fine queens by his method for the
past two seasons.

The great trouble with me is in
getting my queens purely mated, as
there are so many native bees all
around me. I fear that I have al-
ready made this article too long, but
must tell you that I have taken two
thousand pounds of extracted and
four hundred pounds of comb honey
this season. Now have fifty-eight colo-
nies all in good condition for winter.
I would have taken double that
amount if the season this year had
been as good as it was last. For
the present, adieu.

Salado, Bell Co., Texas.

THA T NE W FRAME !

By Will M. Kellogg.

I READ friend Demaree's article
in the January number with much in-
terest. While I agree with him in
what he says as to various writers
dictating for all climates, I must dif-

fer with him a little and still stick to
the dogma of only one-sized frame
in an apiary, though I do but very
little manipulating, but when I. do
I want no bother of odd sizes.

But what interested me most of
all was that new frame, and I must
say that I like that from the very
start. Experience is the best teacher,
we know. I began with tight top
bar frame, and in a hive with tight
sides they were an intolerable nui-
sance, and I changed to the narrow
open-topped ones, and was very
much better suited. Having to use
lumber | in. thick, or be at greater
expense to use wider stuff, I naturally
made all my new frames of that
width top bar. But I have always
been troubled more or less with
combs projecting beyond the frame.
Having bought some extra stacks,
the frames of which were one, or one
and one- eighth inch wide, I was for-
cibly reminded how much finer, and
more easily handled were the combs
built on such width top bars. Also
that less bunches of comb were built
between and on top. I have thought,
if I ever made any new frames, I
would stand the extra expense and
use the wider stuff. But before that
time came I got to using side open-
ing hives, and some of them like
King's Electic,and Hill's Winter Bee-
hive, having wide top bars, I lost my
dislike of the latter, and for ease of
working I rather prefer them to the
narrow open top, since the movable
side gives plenty of room for side
movement at the few times a year
that I want to open the brood nest.
Then, too, I find the sections work so
much nicer on an even top, and are

32

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

so much less stuck with propoHs and
wax. I would like to ask friend
Demaree a question or two. Your
new frames having a top bar one and
three-eighths wide, the section side
pieces being one and three-fourths to
two inches, what system do you em-
ploy in placing the case of sections
on in order to have the slats in each
correspond ? How many frames have
you in use and how long have you
tried them ? You have formed a dead
air space between the brood cham-
ber and the surplus boxes, inveighed
against so strongly by wiseacres. Do
you find any difference in the bees
readily going into surplus boxes in
comparison to the old style frame ?
Oneida, III.

ADJUSTMENT OF SECTIONS
AND WIDTH OF HIVE.

By G. W. Demaree.

Dear Editor : Permit me to an-
swer the following questions through
the columns of the "Api."

"Why not put the sections cross-
wise of the brood frames — would it
have a tendency to keep the queen
from the sections ?

What width hive do you use, and
how many frames to it? Please an-
swer through the "Apiculturist" and
Oblige respectfully,

Sam. F. McClurg."

The main points in the above
questions have been put to me fre-
quently, and are worthy of discus-
sion.

For two seasons I used cases with
the sections adjusted at right angles

with the brood frames, and I saw no
difference as to the results. I tested
the matter on a large scale with cases
of both kinds. The one with the sec-
tions running parallel with the brood
frames, and the other with the sec-
tions at right angles with the frames,
and there was no perceivable differ-
ence as to the readiness of the bees
to enter the cases, or as to the amount
of honey obtained. As to the queen
entering the surplus cases, I saw no
difference in this respect. In fact I
have never been troubled with brood
in the sections. It is not always,
but it is generally bad management
that brings about such results. If
sections are placed on a hive at a
time when the queen is pressed for
room, and when but little honey is
being gathered, the queen is very
apt to take possession of the surplus
apartment. A simple statement of
the causes suggests the proper rem-
edy.

My preference for a system that
requires the sections to run parallel
with the brood frames is based on a
question of economy. I believe that
it is generally admitted that the prop-
er position for a hive is to level it
from side to side, and incHne it for-
ward somewhat so as to drain from
the entrance any water that may find
its way into the hive, and for other
reasons well understood by practical
apiarists. This position of the hive
does not interfere with the straight-
ness of the combs in the sections if
they run parallel with the frames,
while if the sections are adjusted a-
cross the frames the hives must set
level from front to rear, as the combs
will likely be built out of line. It re-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

33

quires time and labor to change the
position of hives, and "time is
money" in a large apiary. In other
words I prefer the sections to run
parallel with the frames because I
do not have to change the position
of the hives at any time on their ac-
count. And this saves time and la-
bor.

The price of honey is on the de-
cline and cheapness of production
alone can save the business from
collapse, and every little helps.

I have no doubts in my mind but
that "locality" will have to settle the
question of the size of the hive. In
our climate I prefer and use the
standard Langstroth hive, which I
have modernized so as to make it
answer all purposes with the least
possible labor. I have been using
them fourteen inches wide with ten
frames. The number of frames can
be diminished if necessary, by the
use of division boards.

My section case is made the same
size of the top of , the brood depart-
ment, and is simply a shallow upper
story just "bee space" deeper than
the depth of the section used. They
have been fully described in my ar-
ticles heretofore published. My sec-
tion cases, and shallow frame cases
for extracting are made to set with a
square joint on the brood depart-
ment, and on each other when "tier-
ing them up." I have used the
square joint plan for six or seven
years, and I could not be induced to
use the Simplicity, or any other
kind of lock joint, between the
departments of my hive.

There are several patents on section
cases, some of quite recent date. I
4

have examined most of them, and
not a single one of them is worth
the paper it is printed on.

No one need be afraid of "infring-
ing."

No man has the right to monopo-
lize, by patent, ideas and mechanical
devices common to the rest of man-
kind.

Christiansbur^, Kv.

BOW SHALL I COMMENCED

Bv Sereno Edwards Todd.

I LIKE honey, and am exceedingly
anxious to keep bees. But I do not
know how to commence ; and should
I begin, I am filled with grave ap-
prehensions, that every effort would
terminate in a magnificent failure.
I have every thing at my fingers' ends,
as it were, in the line of breed-
ing and rearing domestic animals,
raising grain and fruits of all kinds.
Indeed, I have had such a long
practical experience in the manage-
ment of agricultural, horticultural,
poniological and floricultural affairs,
that I would not hesitate, for a mo-
ment, as to what to do, and how to
do it, in any of the branches alluded
to. But when I contemplate the
honey bee industry, with a view of
procuring bees and taking care of
them, every faculty of my being
seems to recoil and something seems
to suggest to me : " Don't do it."
I feel as did a young friend of mine,
who came to me, and said that he
had read every treatise on grapes,
that he could find in the book-mar-

34

THE AMERICAN APICULTVEIST.

kets and in the libraries, and he had
accumulated a vast amount of grape
knowledge ; but did not know what
to do with it. He said, he did not
know how to prune a vine, and
wished me to go and show him.
Now, that is my position, exactly.
I have a good deal of bee knowledge.
But, I do not know how to use it,
and how noi to use it. I cannot take
the knowledge I possess about sheep,
horses, meat, cattle and poultry, and
apply it to the successful manage-
ment of honey-bees. Honey-bees
are very curious and peculiar animals
to manage, yet I have no supersti-
tious notions about the successes
and failures of bees. Some persons
can manage sheep profitably, and
very satisfactorily, while others will
utterly fail. Now, I can put my fin-
ger on the causes of failure, and on
the points of success, in rearing and
managing sheep. But, when one
man succeeds with bees and another
fails, I cannot determine what was
the cause of failure.

During the past twenty years, I
have purchased a hive of bees, and
attempted to go into the bee indus-
try, in a small way. I followed the
instructions of experts, in the suc-
cessful management of bees ; but,
in every instance, after the expiration
of two seasons, I had qnly a weak,
feeble and valueless colony, with not
honey sufficient to carry them through
the winter. So I fed them. But
they all died, in spite of every effort
to take the best kind of care of them.
I never have failed in any other
branch of business. But, I do not
know how to manage bees success-
fully ; and when I follow instructions.

to the letter I have always failed.
Who can tell how to succeed ?
Orange, N.J.

RED CLOVER QUEENS A
HUMBUG.

By John H. Martin.

Those who have for several years
been engaged in bee culture find that
many new things are brought before
the beekeeping fraternity that are lia-
ble to mislead and when examined
into are found to be a veritable hum-
bug. The well known adage, "old
men for counsel and young men for
action," holds good in bee culture as
well as in other pursuits. Our older
and more experienced beekeepers
tell us to go slow and weigh well the
statements and appliances of all who
have a laudable but selfish interest to
sell their goods.

For years it has been a well known
fact that red clover is rich in the se-
cretion of honey, and could we pro-
duce a bee that could reach the honey
in the largest red clover tube, who can
estimate the great yields of honey
that would make the beekeepers
happy.

Several queen breeders have now
taken advantage of this great want,
that has been talked and written about
for many years past, and have put
upon the market what purports to be
queens whose progeny will work
freely upon red clover.

Now let us go slow, as the old
men say, and closely examine the
merits of these queens. While red
clover is grown largely as a meadow

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

35

crop in all parts of our country,
there are but few localities where it
is grown especially for seed. And,
strange to say, it is in these few iso-
lated localities that we find red clo-
ver queens advertised for sale. Let
us further examine into this strange
coincidence. It is well known that
the seed clov^ is raised as a second
especial crop. This second crop is
not so full of honey as the first crop,
and the heads are much smaller.
Now, because my bees work some
upon this second crop of dwarfed
heads, is it honest for me to advertise
in such a manner as to convey the
idea that I have bees that will work
upon the largest heads of red clover
in all localities ?

Please also bear this in mind : those
who raise so-called red clover queens
do not report larger yields than those
who are not in possession of them.
Neither do we learn from those who
have purchased such queens, that
their yields have been materially in-
creased from that particular source,
when in fact the yield should have
been double the ordinary quantity.
While the queens so advertised may
be excellent in every other way, we
most decidedly call red clover queens
a humbug.

FOREIGN NOTES.

By Arthuk Todd.

The name of Luigi Von Sartori
is well known in connection with bee-
keeping in Italy. Early in hfe he
became interested in bees, and
studied the German language pur-

posely to enable him to read the
German bee journals. He adopted
movable frames and had them actu-
ally in use in Italy when Dzierzon
took out his patent in Germany in
1856.

In 1863 Sartori published a work
on beekeeping, and this was in
1880 revised and enlarged, and
practically rewritten by him and
the Cavalier Von Rauschenfels ; the
Count Barbo, president of the Italian
bee society, carefully scrutinizing the
text previous to publication to pre-
vent errors creeping in.

I have a copy of this volume, en-
titled Apiculture in Italy, and it is
of great service to me for reference
and embellished by many drawings.

Sartori's bee farm near Milan be-
came famous both for bar frame
hives, and bees. In 1880 he went
to Russia and established a large api-
ary near Moscow for the Earl of Pon-
tonschin. Previously he had estab-
lished an apiary in Egypt for the
Khedive. Sartori travelled Europe
and Africa extensively to study the
habits of bees and the different
races.

The King of Italy decorated him,
and so also did the Emperor of Aus-
tria, in recognition of his services in
the science and practice of that im-
portant branch of agriculture termed
apiculture. For many years Sartori
has been the proprietor of the lead-
ing bee journal in Italy entitled
L' Apicoltore .

Like all foreigners, he was careful
and slow in adopting new ideas, and
when wax foundation was being ex-
tensively used in America it was with
difficulty I got him to try some made

36

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

on the Root mill I had. I had to
send him the foundation on sale or
return ; and, although he very soon ap-
preciated the value of foundation, I
regret to say my efforts in the cause
of wax foundation were of the non-
paying order, for it proved to be a
case of all sale, but no returns.

In my travels in France years ago,
I met men who since their boyhood
had been in the habit of reversing
their hives, during the honey flow,
and my friend Monsieur Georges De
Layens explained to me its advan-
tages as applied to the special region
where it is mostly practised, namely,
"Gatenais." Mr. Layens, in a letter
written me last year, goes so far as to
say that the old system practised
there cannot, for the results in pounds
of honey, be surpassed by modern
movable frame hives, but the idea of
reversing each individual frame as
practised here did not seem to sug-
itself to Mr. Layens.

The British Bee Journal has re-
produced a translation of a French
article which so exactly describes the
system I think it well for my readers
to see it. "The masterpiece of bee-
keepers in 'Gatenais' is to have very
strong, and populous hives as early
as the honey glut takes place.

When the 'Esparcette' (Onobry-
chis sativa) or (Hydysarum onobry-
chis) blooms, they turn their hives
(straw skeps) upside down, so that
the crown stands upon the floor
board the open part uppermost.
Upon this open place the perforated
sheet iron (No. 35) and upon that a
second hive already partly built up
with empty comb.

The holes of the sheet iron allow

only worker bees to pass ; it is there-
fore evident that the bees soon fill,
with extra fine honey, the upper hive
which has already clean new comb
in it, so that they have not much
hard work to perform. To prevent
the queen leaving the lower hive, and
ascending into the upper one, the
sheet iron is left about three inches
projecting outside the entrance of
the two hives. All bees, returning
home from the fields laden with hon-
ey, ascend into the upper hive and
go into the entrance of this hive
while those that nurse the brood en-
ter the lower entrance, and the
queen feeling quite comfortable in
the midst of her young descendants,
does not attempt to escape.

As the lower" hive has been turned
bottom up, all of the cells have
now a downward inclination in it,
namely, reversed of course, and in
these downward turned cells the
queen does not deposit any eggs, so
that in the shortest time all the bees
are gathering which increases the
weight of honey stored materially.

When the top hive is filled with
honey, which in a goodseason is pos-
sible in a fortnight's time, it is taken
away and the lower one returned to
its original position ; the queen has
not deposited any eggs during the
time above referred to and this origi-
nal lower hive has now plenty of
empty cells vacant for storing the
honey still to be gathered.

It is also evident that, as the sea-
son for turning the hives upside
down falls during the best time of
breeding, the number of bees are
very materially reduced. The bee-
keepers in Le Gatenais therefore

THE AMERICAN A FIG UL TURIS T.

37

generally join up to five swarms to
get one good strong hive, and these
collect a rich harvest from the clover,
etc., etc., and the latter out of bloom
they are taken first to the buckwheat
field, and afterwards to the moors ;
but these people are always obliged
to buy from their neighbors those
bees intended for the sulphur pit, to
re- stock, and join to their own in
autumn, because their numbers
have dwindled down during the
months of hard work of collecting
when they have ceased to increase."
In England certain parties have
already been experimenting the Gat-
enais system, and one gentleman
describes how he inverted a straw
skep on the verge of swarming (so
overflowing was it with bees) placing
the queen excluder zinc over, as de-
scribed, with sections thereon. He
had the pleasure soon to see the bees
take possession thereof; rapidly
cease idling around, and go to work,
dropping the swarming idea appar-
ently, for here lates how he took off
forty-five pounds of honey in sec-
tions and does not speak of any
swarm issuing.

A GOOD REPORT FROM

THE FAR WEST

By Jno. L. Gregg.

I SEND you a short article on api-
culture in this part of God's moral
vineyard.

I commenced by buying one hive
of hybrid Italians, about the 20th
day of March, 1884, for which I
paid ^15. I immediately went to a
tin shop and had an extractor made
so as to be ready to save all the
honey they might make. But my

bees were in a one story Langstroth
hive, so I went to work and transferred
to my own hive, one I had gotten
up, some eighteen years since, a two
story hive constructed expressly for
the extractor. It carries ten frames
in each story.

In 1884 from the start of one hive
I got fourteen swarms and took fifty
gallons or 600 pounds honey. How-
ever, I sent to A. I. Root and pro-
cured four Syrians or Holyland
queens from which I raised a queen
for each hive, all of which produced
half breeds. I then sold three hives
leaving twelve with which I went in-
to winter quarters on their summer
stands.

In the spring of 1885, I had
twelve hives, three of which had
drone-laying queens which had to be
killed. I gave each of them a comb
of brood from my best hive of pure
bloods, from which they raised
queens that were purely fertilized
and at the same time I commenced
to raise queens to replace all those
that produced half breed bees.

I now have thirty-six hives pure
Holyland bees, and twenty-two one-
two- three- and four-framed nuclei
which when doubled up will make
two more full hives ; and I have
taken up to date 485 gallons or 5420
pounds of the finest honey I ever
saw in any country. How will that
do for high? I also have raised
during the season 104 queens, which
Isold for I1.25 for untested and
;^2.5o for tested.

We have quite a \-ariety of honey
producing plants, namely, the desert
currant commences to bloom Feb,
10, and continues till April i ;
March 20, a shrub or bu.^h which
grows in all our ditches and all
swampy grounds, commences to
bloom and continues till May the ist,
when the mesquite begins to show
its golden spikes or racemes of blos-
soms and sets the bee wild just like
the basswood in the eastern states.
It continues in bloom till about the

38

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

I St of July, and again about the ist
of August it comes forth the second
time in bloom so also the other two
plants first named, the former in
Oct. and the latter Sept. ist and con-
tinues till Christmas. But Oct. 20
comes what we have dubbed broom
sage, but it is not a sage at all, but a
shrub or bush, which is almost equal
to basswood for honey ; also a large
variety of wintergreen, and many
other minor honey plants too tedious
to mention, all of which are indepen-
dent of fruit blooms. Then we have
all varieties of the cactus, every
member of which family is a good
honey producer. From a single
flower of the mammoth cactus I
have poured a teaspoonful of nectar
or unripe honey.

Tempe, Maricopa Co., Arizona.

HINTS FOR BEGINNERS.
No. IV.

By J. E. Pond, Jr.

A FEW REQUISITES OF A PERFECT HIVE.

To ensure complete success,
either to expert or novice, the best
hive that can be found is the one
thing needful. So great a difference
of opinion exists, however, among
experts, as to what form of hive is
the best, that the novice " is all at
sea " in regard to this question of
vital importance, and can hardly
make a choice without more aid than
he can obtain from the books. I
need not say a frame hive of some
kind is absolutely necessary ; for this
fact is generally understood "the
world over." I do not propose at
this time either, to give all the points
in regard to the make-up of the best
hive, but will give my individual
opinion on the subject, and a few
reasons for that opinion.

A hive should be so constructed
as to allow the bees to travel into

every nook, crevice and corner there-
of, in order that they maybe able to
drive out the bee moth or drag out
its larvae. It should allow of being
contracted or expanded in size, in
order to accommodate a large or a
small colony ; and at the same time
should be large enough to hold the
largest colony the apiary contains.
It should allow ample room directly
over the colony for surplus comb,
and admit of being tiered up to any
desired height when working for ex-
tracted honey. It should also allow
use of the amplest means for winter
protection, and of perfect ventilation
both in winter and in summer.
There are many other points that
could be mentioned, but they are
all given in the text books, and
I need not enumerate them here.
I have experimented with all the so-
called "best hives, "and given them
each a careful test, and I have made
choice of the one / deem the best ;
and not only myself, but a majority
of our ablest beekeepers have made
the same selection. The fact that /
have made choice of a certain hive,
might not be considered weighty evi-
dence in its favor ; but the fact that
the majority of our most successful
honey gatherers have made the
same choice is evidence in its favor
of the strongest kind. I refer to the
regular " Langstroth hive," full size.
I make no criticisms on other hives ;
all frame hives are valuable, but the
" Langstroth" seems to " fill the bill"
more completely than any other.
I believe in a " standard " frame, but
at present it is impossible to make a
selection that will be adopted as such ;
the beginner, however, in selecting
the " Langstroth," will " wheel into
line " with the majority, and come
as near a standard as is possible at
present. The best results yet
attained (1000 lbs. from a single
colony in a single season) came from
a Langstroth ; and wherever it is
used it is found at least the equal of
any other, whether used for surplus

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

39

honey either comb or extracted, for
rearing bees or queens, for ease in
manipulation, and safety in wintering
on summer stands, or for giving
needed ventilation in our sultry August
afternoons. In fact, I do not know of
any desirable points contained in any
hive, that are not found in the
"Langstroth," and heartily commend
it to the prospective beekeeper as
the one for him to choose.

Foxboro, Mass.

BEEKEEPERS' REPORT
FROM QUEBEC.

By B. G. Jones.

As I promised to give you a report
of some of the doings of the bee-
keepers of this province, I will try and
do so now.

The season has not been as good
as was predicted early in the season.
Through the efforts of some of the
beemen of this county, the agricultu-
ral society offered nine prizes on
honey and implements. F. W. Jones
exhibited some six hundred pounds
of honey ; Jones Bros., about the
same ; E. E. Spencer, M. P. P., ex-
hibited some of the finest comb-honey
ever produced in the province. Jones
Bros, exhibited supplies on which
they received first prize. There were
about a dozen exhibitors, but this will
not interest your readers, hence I
will try to write something more in-
teresting to our American cousins.

There was an informal meeting of
beekeepers held at the time of the
fair, when it was decided to hold a
beekeepers' convention, which was
called by the following apiarists :
F. W. Jones, E. E. Sj^encer, M. P. P.,
D. F. Hawley, R. Small, J. Raymond
Ball and Jones Bros.

There was a good attendance at
the meeting held at Cowansville on
October 20, where it was decided to

organize an eastern township bee-
keepers' association similar to the
Ontario Association. The following
officers were elected : President, E.
E. Spencer, M. P. P., first Vice Pres-
ident— ,second Vice President, B. G.
Jones, Secretary and Treasurer, R.
Small, Executive committee, T. M.
Craig, T. W.Jones, J. M. Watt, T. A.
Johnson and — .

A very instructive meeting was
held by those attending ; valuable in-
formation was brought out on feeding,
wintering and managing bees in gen-
eral, which I will try to give the
readers of the " Apiculturist " if you
think best.

In your editorial on page 252, Vol.
Ill, you speak about a new disease.
While we have never had it in our
apiary, I think I have seen it in other
apiaries and I think that it is caused
by poor honey and I further think
that partially soured honey or cider
will also produce it.

'Will bees make comb of candy
made from granulated sugar? [Yes.
Ed.] I always thought they would
not until last spring. We had three
or four colonies out of food in March
and we had to feed candy ; when we
set them out in the spring the weather
was unfavorable for feeding and we
left tlie frames of candy in the hives
for ten or twelve days ; when we
opened the hives to remove the candy
we found the latter almost all gone
and a piece of comb about 3X5
inches in size attached to the top-bar.
The frame was almost full of comb
when we set the bees out and we are
pretty sure that there was no honey
in the hive nor any gathered when
they were building the comb.

Which pays the better, extracted
honey at 12 J- cents or comb honey
at 15 to 18 cents ?i

B. G. Jones.

Bedford, Quebec, Ca.

' If we could sell all our extrncted honey
readily at 12^ cents per pound we would much
rather run our apiaries for it tlian to run for
comb honev at 15 to IS cents.— Ed.

40

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

BOW WE MANAGE OUR
BEES.

Bv D. F. Lashiek.

I SAY "we" because my wife helps
me when I get more than my hands
full. She rears canary birds to sell
and I make her cages and buy the
seed, so she says that it is no more
than fair that she helps me with the
bees, especially during the swarming
time. When tlie weather is fair
every day then I can manage them
(loo colonies) alone very well; but
when it is stormy and cloudy for a
few days and then clears up and the
sun comes out again, we know what
to look for.

In the first place we have every-
thing in readiness which is one-half
of the victory ; hives all prepared
and sitting in the shade in the cen-
tre of the apiary. Then we have
some light swarming boxes that I
made in the winter. It makes no dif-
ference what the size is, so long as
they are about the capacity of a hive,
with large openings in each side cov-
ered with wire cloth as the bees need
considerable air after such violent
exercise. We have the covers well se-
cured with hinges and so arranged
that when we shut the cover down
it will stay there even if we should
let the box fall with the bees inside.

In order to avoid the vexation and
trouble of climbing for swarms I
gather some of last year's mullein just
before swarming time and after tying
them in bunches (say ten stocks in a
bunch) I fasten them on the trees
where the bees will hang in the
shade when clustered and where I
can reach them easily.

While this may be an ancient
practice yet, as I will show, it is a
more valuable one ; you see, these
little bunches of mullein resemT^le lit-
tle clusters of bees so much so that
two-thirds of our swarms alight on
these decoys. So you see we get

large returns for a small amount of
labor.

When a swarm issues we wait
quietly in the shade until the bees
have clustered and become quiet, all
the while keeping a sharp lookout
lest another swarm issue before we
can secure this one. If another
should chance to start we just sprin-
kle a little water on the bees to check
them for a while ; but mind, this
sprinkling must be done at the very
first start of the bees in order to
prove effectual.

The swarm, left to cluster, is now
ready to be hived. By waiting until
the bees are quiet we are sure that
they have a queen with them and
will not leave the new hive to return
to the old colony.

Our hives are side opening and if
the cluster is down near the ground
quite handy we just place the hive
so that the open side is just under
the cluster, give the limb a sudden
upward jar and usually hardly a doz-
en bees will be left to return to the
old colony.

When they chance to alight higher
up we use the swarming box and af-
ter the bees have been secured there-
in set them in the shade for a few
moments until they are quiet, when
we give the box a sudden jar which
settles all the bees on the bottom ;
then we raise the cover and pour the
bees into the hive and adjust the
movable side. If this is done rap-
idly and skilfully, very few bees will
escape or be crushed during the op-
eration.

We set the hive right side up with
the entrance closed and then let the
bees alone for a few moments until
they have had time to run up and
cluster at the top, then we open the
entrance and not one swarm in fifty
attempts to swarm out, this giving
them time to run up the sides and
cluster at the top is a matter of vital
importance.

Hooper, N. V.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

41

EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE WEATHKR.

If the reports regarding the weather
west and south are not exaggerated,
we may expect to hear of fearful loss of
bees wlieu spring opens. The careless
beekeeper who left ]iis hives unpro-
tected on the summer stands will be
most likely to make the first report of
henvii losses.

With the exception of one week of
severe weather, the season liere has
been mild and not at all bad for bees
wintering outside. We saw a few bees
flying, within a week, from hives left
out.

BEEKEEPKRS' CONVENTIONS.

This is the season for beekeepers*
conventions. Of late there seems to
be more interest taken in such mat-
ters. Judging by the reports we re-
ceive, the attendance is nnich larger
than usual; tiiis means, of course,
increased interest. Tliese meetings
should be attended by all who
can spare the time. The novice goes
expecting to hear tiie old veteran tell
all he knows about bees and their man-
aiiemeut; we siiepect that but few of
the latter class give themselves away
on such occasions. There is much
about bees and beekeeping that
can only be learned by long and
sometimes costly experience. The
novice must learn some of them the
same way. One would have to attend
many conventions in order to get from
any experienced beekeeper all he
knows about bee culture. It is best to
attend the conventions and meet some
of tiie men whose contributions in the
various journals are read with so much
interest and benefit to the beginner
and inexperienced.

CLEANSING FLIGHT IN WINTER.

Bees that are wintered on the sum-
mer stand will take a flight when the
temperature reaches 45° in the shade.
We have permitted them to enjoy a
frolic at such a temperature, provided
the wind is not blowing too hard. We
would not think of removing bees
from the cellar, or bee-house to give
them a flight unless the weather is
much warmer. A few of the bees may
be lost on the snow when the tempera-
ture is as low as 45°, but the loss in
this respect is more than compensated
for by a cleansing flight, which is of
immense advantage to any colony after
it has been conttned in the hive two
months or longer. We like to have
the bees fly about Feb. 20, and if the

weather is sufficiently warm at that
time, and the bees need a flight, they
are given an opportunity to do so. If
there is snow on the ground it will be
tliickly bespattered with the excrement
of the bees. The inexperienced sup-
pose this fact to indicate that the bees
are diseased with dysentery. Such is
not the case. When bees can fly and
discharge their faeces outside the hive,
it is a pretty sure and never-failing test
of perfect health. Bees sufl'ering from
dysentery cannot fly ; their bodies are
so distended that they cannot take
wing.

The fronts of hives left on the sum-
mer stand should be shaded from the
light and warm sunshine. This can be
done by standing a wide board against
the hive. Unless thus protected many
bees will venture out and be lost on
the snow. A few bees lost each day,
in this way., would sadly reduce the
colony before spring.

A REGULAR VISITOR.

Mr. H. D. Davis of Bradford, Vt.,
made his annual visit to us a few days
ago. Mr. Davis had several samples
of his new and neat device for one-
pound sections. These sections are
made from white poplar wood, and
the workmanship is a credit to any-
one. After the sections are tilled, the
honey is protected from injury by thin
wooden sides which tit in place nicely,
and having an inch and a half aperture
in them covered by transparent mica,
so that the contents of the box can be
seen. It is a neat and attractive way
for putting up honey. This device is
protected by letters patent, and it is
the intention of Mr. Davis to protect
the public from being swindled by un-
scrupulous dealers wiio persist in pur-
chasing a few pounds of some well
known'brand of pure honey by which
they can dispose of the vile stufl" they
know to be impure.

Mr. Davis will sell these sections
only to those who will comply with
his terms and conditions. Some of the
sections Mr. Davis had were filled with
beautiful honey, which we know to be
good, as we had the pleasure of "going
through" one of them.

A NEW IDEA.

Beginning with the April number of
the Apiculturist, "Old Beekeeper"
will propose such questions for an-
swers, as will elicit information appli-
cable to the current month. The
answers will give instructions how to
manage and care for bees each mouth.

42

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

These questions will be answered
by experienced and practical apiarists.
What they advise and suggest may be
safely adopted and followed by the
novice and inexperienced beekeeper.

As the winter does not eud till April,
we will give answers to questions in
the March number, concerning mouldy
combs and how to treat them; also,
best methods for preventing the rear-
ing of useless drones.

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS.

We have permitted one of our most
valued correspondents to express Ids
opinions quite freely concerning pa-
tents. His ideas do not agree with
our own. Many men have spent
the better parts of their lives in
perfecting some valuable advice, by
which mankind might be benefited.
We believe such untiring zeal should
be rewarded. How can this best be
done except by government protec-
tion, or, in other words, by a patent?

If any one has obtained a patent
through" fraud upon any article used by
beekeepers, we will, upon satisfactory
evidence publish the facts to the world.

While the columns of the "Apicul-
turist" are open to all Avho desire to
discuss questions pertaining to bee
culture, we do not intend for anyone
to use them to berate any publication,
or the character of any person. What
we want is solid facts, such as will ad-
vance the cause of apiculture.

DELIXQUENT SUBSCRIBERS.

A few of our subscribers have not
renewed their subscriptions. To such
we shall mail a few more copies of the
"Api," as we wish to give plenty of
time to all in which to send in the re-
quired amount for another year's sub-
scription.

APICULTURIST BEE FABM
NOTES.
Very little of interest to our readers
has transpired at the Apiculturist Ap-
iary the past three months. Our bees
were placed in the cellar some over
two months ago. A few days since,
we examined them by opening the door
to the bee-room and letting the light
in for only a moment. Although this
■was a hasty examination, yet to all
appearances the bees were in fine con-
dition. Very few dead bees (not a
quart in all) were on the floor, and
everything seemed to be as well as we

could expect or desire. Of course, the
worst part of the winter for the bees
is to come, but then, if bees are not •
now in good condition we could not
expect them to be so later on.

Nearly all our colonies had more or
less sugar syrup fed them in the fall,
and as the late gathered honey was of
a fine quality, we have every reason to
expect the bees to go through the win-
ter safely. The pollen theory never
disturbed us, and so far as our experi-
ence goes, not one colony has ever,
died from eating pollen.

We intend to open the cellar again
in March, and examine the bees. If
any are uneasy, and seem to be suffer-
ing for a cleansing flight, such will be
placed on the summer stands. If old
" Prob " says that "a cold wave is ap-
proaching from the northwest " the
bees will be placed in the cellar again,
and left there until it is sufllcientiy
warm and safe to put them out for the
season.

The business at the Apiculturist Bee
Farm the coming season will be the
production of the finest queens, and to
furnish apiarian supplies of the best,
latest and most approved kinds. All
the articles, such as hives, smokers
and in fact everything ofl'ered for sale
at the office of the " A|)iculturist" will
be only such apparatus as are the most
nseful and needful in the apiary in
order to make bee culture a success.
We believe in working good material
and doing good work. Cheap, sluimy
made articles are a nuisance in any
apiary. We have some liives in our
apiary that have been in use for twenty-
five years. One good coat of paint
would make them look as good as new.
These hives were made of the best
lumber, and if well cared for, will last
twenty-five years more. As a rule,
most goods used and sold by dealers
are constructed in an unworkmanlike
manner, and of the meanest material.
Such goods do the dealer no credit.
In our experience with bees we have
purchased more or less nucleus hives.
The frames were constructed of
coarse lumber and made up so poorly
that they were worthless, to us, at
least. We have re'ceived frames made
with but four nails, one at eacii cor-
ner, and without the use of a proper
nailing block, and very nearly one-
fourth of an inch out of " true."
Frames will not hang thus made so that
they will not touch the one next to it
at the bottom, and when removed from
a hive, many bees are killed and the

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

43

operator wonders " what makes the
bees so cross."

Each frame should be nailed on a
block, and two nails put iu at each
corner, or eiirht nails to a frame, then
each frame will be a duplicate of an-
other.

We are now making- every prepara-
tion for another season's trade. Amonj?
the new things to be used in the api-
ary is a new queen nursery. Our old
style had but eighteen cages, while
the new one will have twenty-four.
These same cages will answer for
shipping and introducing queens as
well as for hatching cells and preserv-
ing surplus queens. By our system of
queen-rearing a nursery of twenty-
four cages is equally as valuable as the
same number of nuclei. When a fer-
tile queen is removed from a nucleus,
an unfertile one at the proper age to
make the " mating flight" is ready to
be introduced; thus it will be seen by
such an arrangement, queens can be
reared very rapidly, and at half the
expense and trouble that most dealers
go to.

ITEMS FROM THE DETROIT CON-
VENTION.

Mr. McLain, echoing the state-
ments and opinions of many of the
more prominent apiarists of the past
and present, said that it was "abso-
lutely necessary that the bees have
easy access to salt, and that the
apiary should be abundantly sup-
plied with it at all seasons of the
year when the bees are at work in
the fields." He further stated tliat
the bees must have saline properties
when rearing brood and collecting
honey and that without these they
will become diseased and that when
the former cannot be obtained read-
ily about the apiary from the soil,
and other sources, the bees will
resort to the mullein which yields
the same abunda,ntly and in their en-
deavors to obtain these properties
from the mullein, the bees become
entangled with the glutinous fibres
of the mullein, so often referred to
and illustrated in the past.

Mr. McLain asks, "May this not
in a measure at least explain the
"new bee disease?"

The fact, as we stated in the
November number of the "Apicul-
turist," that salt had cured some bees
and to all appearances eradicated all
traces of the disease, seems to war-
rant this conclusion.

The British Bee Journal iox De-
cember. I St, alluding to this disease,
states that, in its opinion, support-
ed by actual experiment, the new
bee disease of America is none
other than the Baccillus delphilis
(auct. Gayfoni) of Mr. Cheshire and
it further states that "a colony treated
carefully with phenol has been en-
tirely freed from all traces of the
disease."

The Rev. L. L. Langstroth iu re-
sponse to the call for a speech said :

When he met a beekeeper he felt that
he had met a friend. When he first
connnenced the study of apiculture
with the intention of improving its
condition, he could not, with his lim-
ited resources, see just how his wishes
could be accomplished, but he thought
that he would be doing God's work by
helping to flow the land with "milk and
honey" and he would be glad to see
honey as cheap as butter.

Regarding his invention (the mova-
ble frame hive) much more credit had
been given him than he could appre-
ciate. His ideas had not developed
into something practical. Where
would he have been but for Moses
Quinby and Adam Grimm? His inven-
tion was practical and these were
practical men to take hold of it; but
for this his invention would be of but
little use.

He also stated that the Good candy
was given by a Rev. Mr. Schultz of
Germany many years ago. If men had
known and practically used this candy
(or bee food,) ere this many thousands
of colonies might have been saved from
starvation and much credit is due Mr.
Good for bringing it into practical
use.

Mr. Langstroth also stated that he
had made no money out of his inven-
tion ; he had not the knack of making
money. He never had any ill feelings
against anyone, for if he had not the
money he had what was worth more,
the confidence and affection of the bee-
keepers.

44

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

If he had ^100,000 and men pointed
to him and said he was a fraud or mis-
take that would not satisfy him.

At the Detroit Convention, several
members concurred in the importance
of attention being given to sowing and
planting for honej' production.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

QUKSTIONS BY A BEKKEEnCR.

1. What honey extractor do you use ?
How many frames does it take?

2. What do you think of feeding
sugar dry or moist, as given in the
article on page 256, Vol. II, ''Apicul-
turist."

3. Do you use wide frames or racks
for sections ; also what kind of separa-
tor and wliy?

Please describe your system and its
advantages.

Do you use tlie queen-excluding
honey board?

4. Do you consider packing beneath
the bottom-board benericiiil when win-
tering on summer stands, and what
are your reasons for or against it?

5. Do you ever discard or melt
nice straight combs in frames on ac-
count of age or long use in brood cliam-
ber? If so, how many years do you use
a comb in brood nest?

ANSWKKS BY L. C. KOOT.

1. The first honey extractor I used
was very hastily constructed. As soon
as we received the words "centrifugal
force" for throwing honey from the
combs, we removed the gearing from
an old fanning mill and for a reel we
used the arbor and pieces to which the
fans were attached ; these we arranged
in a square box. In some respects that
was the best machine I ever used.
The crank was long, the gearing firm
and strong. I could maintain an even,
steady, firm motion, which none of the
later machines will allow of.

I next used the Peabody machine.
This machine revolved, can and all.
This had its obvious objections, and
was soon dropped from the market.

For the past few years I have used
the Everett and Muth machines. Tiiey
are both good ones and for ordinary
work they answer every purpose.

I took, in one day with the Everett
machine over 4000 lbs. To do this I
made some changes in the machine, by

supplying a longer crank and changing
the gearing. The past season I pur-
chased a Stanley reversible machine.
The manner in which the combs are re-
versed is as perfect as could be de-
sired and will prove a great saving of
time and labor.

Their two- comb extractor seems to
work perfectly and is, I think, all that
they who extract honey in a lim-
ited way could ask in a machine.

Those who extract largely and need
to do it rapidly and with the greatest
possible speed, find all of the extract-
ors offered to the trade unsatisfactory.
They lack in length of crank, strength
of gearing, reel, and can, and none of
them are supplied with a needed brnke
to be operated with the foot. They are
also deficient as regards the construc-
tion of the reel which should admit of
the combs being readily placed in the
extractor or unmoved from the same,
and at the same time be held in place
against the wire cloth.

2. I am opposed to the use of sugar
in any way in connection with our bus-
iness.

3. I use a rack or case to inclose my
boxes when placing them upon the
hives.

I use wood separators and consider
them better than metal. If the wood
separator is | in. or more in tliicl^:ness
it enlarges the entrance to the boxes,
which I find beneficial. I use no honey
board. I consider ample room for the
bees to enter the boxes very desirable.

4. I have used packing under the
hives, but do not think it desirable.
Moisture seemed to accumulate and the
dead bees mould more than wlieu the
bottom is not packed.

The great need is to have the inclo-
sure about the hives very tight so as
to aflord ample protection from cold
winds.

5. With me, combs seem to improve
with age. I have those that have been
in constant use for over twenty years.

ANSWERS BY W. M. KEFXOGG.

1. My own make. Two frames.

2. Have not read the article. But I
do not think it pays to feed dry sugar,
or in fact any sugar, except to stimu-
late brood rearing.

3. I use a rack for sections hold-
ing three sections, with a tin separa-
tor nailed across one side. I use
tin because I have never used any other
material enough to convince me there
is anything better than tin. By us-
ing these three section racks, 1 can
put on more or less at a time, sections

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

45

can be liandled more quickly and stored
better, and with end followers of glass
frame they form a close box that can
be tiered up at will. I use a skelecou
honey board for these racks to rest on,
which gives a § space between bottom
of section holder and top of frame for
ready access of bees. I use a strong
cord to bind the racks and end follow-
ers together. This fastening allows
me to form a box of any number of
rowsof-sections up to the full capacity
of hive. It does away with blocks,
wedges, etc., and I have no close fit-
ting places to crowd a full section of
honey out of. I do not use, and have
no use for a queen excluder.

4. Yes. It keeps the bottom of the
hive dry and allows e"ough fresh air to
supply tne bees if the entrance becomes
clO;;ged. (I referinthis to chaff hives.)
I use no under packing on common
hives for I do not winter them out of
doors.

i). No, unless the edges of the cells
become thick and clumsy. I use them
as long as they keep clean and open,
regardless of age or color. Have some,
that I know are ovei twenty-two years
old. Frequent changing and extract-
ing has kept them as good as new.

Oneida, III.

ANSWKHS BY G. L. TINKER.

1. King's. Two.

-2. We should never feed sugar, dry.

3. There may be those who think
they can "get along" with wide
frames, but we have long since lost all
patience with them. We use section
cases to hold our sections, adjustable,
from four to twenty in a case. They
are operated upon what we term an
intermediate rack made queen-exclud-
ing with perforated zinc, the passage
ways from the brood combs to the
sections being continuous. The ad-
viintages of such a system are matii-
fest in the production of about
one-third more comb honey than can
be produced by any other system. We
do not use separators, because they
are an unnecessary expense, cause ex-
tra labor in manipulation,. and since
we can get all comb honey in equally
as good and marketable shape without
the m .

4. Yes; for the reason that packing
on the bottom of the hive in out-door
wintering is a measure of protection.

5. We might, if we live to be old
enough. We have had them in use ten
years aiul such combs are still very
good. Have known brood combs to

be in constant use for thirty years, and
they were still serviceable for brood.
If we have any crooked or uneven
combs, we melt them up, but no
straight ones.

AXSWKUS IJY 1>. D. MAUSH.

1. The Peabody, which takes two
frames. I only extract in a small way ;
but if largely engaged in it, I should use
an extractor which has a revolving bas-
ket, but does not itself revolve.

2. Do not think it a practicable way.
A tliin syrup is more efficient. Should
prefer candy to dry sugar wet up with
bee-breath.

3. Have used wide frames with 8
"novice sections;" but in our limited
pasturage hereabouts a story full of
them furnishes too much box room at
the outset; the upper set of boxes are
too far from the brood. If I used them,
should prefer shallow frames taking
only one tier of boxes. I use the
"(Jrane clamp" for two pound sections,
which holds (i sections, with wood sep-
arators. Putthreeof these clamps on,
side by side, and with a strong swarm
can tier them up. They are very sat-
isfactory, because I can put on one
clamp to begin with, then add others
as the bees get into the boxes, and
taper down as theseason closes. I use
the "Bristol clamp" for one pound sec-
tions: it is similar to the one just
described, only it has two rows of sec-
tions, twelve in all, with wood sepa-
rators, one set all are held in tight by
a following-board and screw in the end.
I put two of thes(! clamps on my eight
frame hives, and can tier them up.
Mr. Manum of Vermont uses these
clamps and thinks them the best. I
would not use any other. The advan-
tages are, you can put on, and take off,
a half, or a third, of your surplus ar-
rangement at a time. Have never used
the queen-excluding honey board, and
have very seldom found brood in sec-
tions.

4. I should consider some packing,
or double thickness, or dead air space,
beneath the honey board benelicial, if
the hives were well up from the ground,
so it would not gather and hold damp-
ness from the ground. My hives are
double-wall, but have oniy a single
thickness of inch board for bottom ;
yet I would prefer protection beneath
as well as on top and sides.

5. Combs can be used a groat many
years without any practical loss of use-
fulness as brood combs.

Georyeloicn, 3Iass.

46

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

ANSWERS BY JOHN H. MARIIX.

1. I use the Stanley Automatic honey
extractor; it takes four frames and as
far as our experience goes it does ail
the Messrs. Stanley claim for it.

2. I am in favor -of feeding sugar
moist.

3. I use racks ; wide frames get stuck
up with propolis and many times in re-
moving sections they become cramped
or broken. 1 use no separators. Honey
built upon full sheets of foundation
made on the Given press is uniform
in thickness and has no fishbone in
the centre. Separators are only neces-
sary, where you wish to glass the sec-
tions, and there are but few markets
that do not prefer them without glass.

My system for both comb and ex-
tracted honey is tiering up. Y m can
give the bees room as fast as they are
ready to occupy it.

I have never used the queen exclud-
ing honey board, but am favorably im-
pressed with it and shall give it a trial
during the coming season. When run-
ning for extracted honey, many times
the queen will till both lower aud upper
story with brood and finally locate all
of the brood up stairs for winter. I
have queens in my apiary that will fill
fifteen frames with brood ; this gives us
a host of bees, and the necessity of tier-
ing up. Still further I think as much
honey could be obtained in the long run
by confining the queen to the lower
story.

4. I think packing beneath the bot-
tom board beneficial. It helps to retain
heat; bottom boards are liable to check
or shrink and leave openings where
you do not want them. Packing keeps
all of these points snug.

5. I never discard nice straight
combs. I have combs from which I
have extracted honey for twelve years,
and I think they will not deteri-
orate in twelve years more. Many
claim that brood hatched in old combs
is smaller than when hatched in new
comb. I shall claim that young bees
are as small from new comb :is they are
from old. A bee develops to full size
after it is liatched. I shall further-
more claim that the bees use (or re-
move) the cocoons after combs get to
be of a certain age. Proof: the micro-
scope shows shreds and refuse that can
be accounted for in no other way.

ANSWICKS BY lUA B.VRBICR.

1. I use the G. W. Stanley Extractor
three frames at a time.

2. All the experience that I ever had
in feeding dry sugar was many years

ago, when I had a yard of bees several
miles from home, and some of the
stocks were not able to take care of
liquid food. To all such I gave a cake of
maple suuar weighing about four lbs.,
placing it on top of the frames, and
under the quilt. The robbers could
not carry it off any faster than they
could liquefy it, and it worked like a
charm, for so long as the lump remained
the colony was safe from starvation.
This was in the spring, and befare bees
could get a living.

3. I use a honey rack that takes 30
one lb. sections, tier up as the col-
ony requires, and prefer short separa-
tors, and I want them as rough on both
sides as the saw will leave tiiein ; then
there is little danger that the bees will
build braces from the comb to the sep-
arators; with smooth separators it is
quite common. I do not use any honey
board or queen excluders, but set the
honey rack top of the frames.

4. Winter bees in cellar, tiered one
top of the other, four deep, and the bot-
tom ones warm those on top.

5. Never see a brood comb too old
to be useful if kept bright and clean,
and I have those that have been in use
more than twenty years.

ANSWERS BY PROF. A. J. COOK.

1. I have used and now have Muth,
U. S. Standard, Excelsior, A. I. Root,
and Staidey's, all but the Muth take
four frames, and all are excellent.

2. I have never practised it, and see
no reason why I should, except that I
neglected my bees in fall and suffered
them to go into winter quarters with
too litle food, which I never propose
to do.

3. I use racks, and like them much
better than wide frames. I have used
wooden and tin separators, and am now
trying to learn to do without any, but
find I learn rather slowly. I have best
success with crates or racks and tin
separators as yet. I like best the Hed-
don rack and hive, and like the tiering
up plan with the intervening bee space
ver;/ much.

I use the honey board, with double
bfee space. As the queen has not trou-
bled me by entering section, I have not
used excluding honey board, except on
a few hives.

4. I should think it well, as it pro-
tects against cold. But Idouotfavor
out-door wintering in our state.

5. I have those which are fifteen
years old, and they are still good. I
have seen comb, however, with cells
too small for brood comb.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

47

LETTER BOX.

Eldora, la.

Dear Sir:

The season has been a poor one
with us. "We began the season with
ten colonies, seven good ones and
three weak ones. Increased them to
twenty-five, which are all in fair con-
dition for winter, and secured 250 lbs.,
comb honey in lb. sections, all from
white clover, basswood failing to se-
crete any nectar in our locality, al-
though a beekeeper living about eight
miles west of ns took forty pounds of
surplus honey from some of his best
colonies all gathered from basswood.
We shall winter twenty colonies in the
cellar, and live are packed in chalT, and
sawdust on the summer stands.

J. W. Buchanan & Bro.

Fisherville, Out., Oct. 13, 1885.

FniKND LOCKK :

The "Am. Api." vols. 1 and 2 to
hand some time. I was very much
pleased to find it so well bound. As to
its contents it is useless to tell you
that I consider it of value to beekeep-
ers in every istage, as it treats not only
upon matters of interest to every be-
ginner but dwells upon aud gives us
the very Litest information, foreign
aud home, upon the "unsettled" points
in apiculture.

I have asked many prominent bee-
keepers in Canada their opinion, and
their praise of it has been unanimous.
Mr. J. B. Hall of Woodstock and others
state "it contains the cream of bee lit-
erature."

Keep it up.

Yours sincerely,

K. F. HOLTERMAN.

Croshyville, S, C.
Dear Sirs :

I received the bound "Apicultu-
rist, " Vols. 1 & 2, and am well pleased
with it. I get more information from
it than from any book I have on api-
culture. The question and answer
department is a splendid thing.

W. W. Crosby.
Dear Sirs:

The Vols. 1 & 2 of the " Apicultu-
rist" came duly to hand, and I am
delighted with it, and shall do all in
my power to increase your list of sub-
scribers.

E. W. Panton.

Mankato, Kans.
Dear Sirs :

Noticing that you wished to hear re-
ports on the methods employed in intro-
ducing queens, I decided to send you
the following. The queen came all O.
K. on the 9tli of Sept. with but one dead
bee in the cage. I kept the queen in my
coat pocket until 10 o'clock a. m. the
ne.xt morning, when I went to the
hive, destroyed eight queen cells and
hung the caged queen in the centre
of the cluster after which I went to
tovvu.

On my return at 4.30 p. m. I went to
the hive to see how the queen and bees
were getting along. On opening the
cage the queen ran out among the" bees
as if she had lived there all her days
and she was received all right.

When I packed the bees ready for
winter she had four combs tilled with
brood, and here I would say that any
one can safely introduce queens with
such a queen cage. I have I'eceived
queens from Tennessee to Massachu-
setts and I never have lost one in in-
troducing. When I wrote you that
when I received a queen I always suc-
ceeded in safely introducing her, you
had your notions about it, but I want
to know who can beat the record that
I have given (six hours in introducing
your queen). Witli one queen it took
from Saturday till the following Thurs-
day, as I never release the queen until
I am confident that she will be per-
mitted by the bees to reii-ii as their
sovereign. lean judge by the action
of the bees when it is safe to do this.

I introduced my first queen in the
year 187(5 and to date I have never lost
one. All that I ask is that they are in
good condition when they reach my
post office.

David Ross.

Wilton, 3Ie., Oct. 20, 1885.
Dear Sins:

I received the queen all right,
Sept. 20. I hunted for the black one,
Sept. 28, did not find her; Oct 2 suc-
ceeded in securing the blackqueen aud
liberated the Italian queen on Oct. 4,
The bees received her kindly. Owing
to bad weather and robbers, I did not
look for her until the 17th inst.. when
I found her all right. She is a beauty.
I am much pleased with her. She "is
the first queen that I ever saw.

O. II. Sewall.

48

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Tustiii City, Cal.
Dkar Sihs :

Keccivedthe queens in eigiit clays
from date of shipment, and tliey were
in fine condition, as lively as crickets,
with but two dead bees in one of the
cases.

On the next day I toolt them to my
apiary, twenty-five miles from here,
and introduced them according to ac-
compauyiuii" directions, with perfect
sticcessi and they are laying nicely.

I am well pleased wiih them. The
$5.00 queen is the finest that I ever
saw.

I received the books and drone trap,
etc. ; they are all more than is claimed
for them. The bound volumes are an
ornament to any library.

I would not take many times what
the goods cost and be without them.

Jeff. Williams.

Fast Uandolpk, Vt.
Dear SipxS :

1 was much pleased with the "Api-
cultnrist " I think it the best bee
journal that I ever saw. It is plain
and right to the point. The June num-
ber was to the beginner all that you
ask for it for one year.

You can count on me as long as I
keep bees.

Geo. C. Bhigiiam.

shipment of bees to new zealand.

Dear Sirs :

By the mail steamer I duly re-
ceived the shipment of queens which
arrived in very good order. Six of
the ten queens were alive, five being
strong ; but one was slightly injured
by getting between the wire and the
side of the cage. The other four
were dead as well as their attendant
bees, but why they should be was
not by any means clear. I succeeded
in introducing five of the six success-
fully to strong colonies and they are
now laying all right. The other died
before I liberated her. They were
in confinement just forty days. I
think the way they were sent is very
good and likely to give good results.

I had paid the cost from San Fran-
cisco before the steamer left here,
but am much obliged for your having

done so thus avoiding any hitch. I
am much pleased with the result and
think you deserve great credit for the
care taken in preparing them for the
voyage. H- J. Bagnall.

Tunia, Thames, N. Z, Nov. g, i88s.

SPECIAL NOTICES.

Messrs. E. T. Lewis & Co. of Toledo,
Ohio, the well known dealers in apiar-
ian supplies, are now ready to mail
their new circular and price list to all
who desire it. They are ready to till
all orders, except for bees andtiueens,
the day they are received.

Haiokes Park, Fla. Jan. 18, 188G.

Gents :-P;ease to give notice through
your valuable paper, that the late cold
spell killed a good deal of our man-
grove. So if any of its readers are
thinking of coming here to keep bees,
they had better hold back until they
flnci out how badly the honey-produc-
ing plants are injured.

Yours truly,

W. S. Hart.

PRIZES FOR HONEY AND BEES
AT FAIRS.

HINTS TO VICK-PUESIDENTS.

During the first three months of the
year, the premium-lists for County,
State and District Fairs are usually
made up. The Vice-Presidents of the
National Society should therefore soon
commence their work.

I would respectfully suggest that
they communicate with the diflerent
Olticial Boards of the Agricultural So-
cieties in their respective States, and
endeavor to induce them to offer ap-
propriate prizes for BEES and HoxiiY
at the Fairs for the coming season.

The'foUowing, or something similar
to it, would be well to reconunend in
the line of prizes :

Best colony of bees in observatory
hive ; best display of comb honey ;
best display of extracted honey ; best
display of beeswax; best honey ex-
tractor; bee-hive for all purposes;
and largest and best display of apia-
rian implements.

Each vice-president and secretar}'-
of State and local societies will under-
stand the requirements of their local-
ity, and act and govern themselves
accordingly. H. D. Cuttinc;,

Chairman of Executive Committee.
Clinton, Jlich.

The American Apicultiirist.

% Journal b^botcb ia practrcnl Ji^^fliwping.

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFIC15, WENHAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.

Published Monthly. Philip H. Morant & Co., Publishers and Prop'rs.

WENHAM, MASS., MARCH i, 1886.

VOL. IV.

No. 2.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES.

Advektising Rates :— 15 cents per line of
space each insertion, or f 1.00 per inch.

A line of this type will admit about? words
One inch will contain twelve lines.

Those wisliing special rates will please
correspond with tlie Editor.

When sending money make all postal notes
and money orders payable at the Salem,
Mass., Post Office.

All communications should be addressed
to The Amekican Apiculturist, VVenham,

Mass.

SPECIAL NOTICE.
The Apiculturist will be sent three months
to any aadress for 25 cts., six ttionths for 50
ets. or one year for $1.

To each new subscriber and to those who
r;new their subscriptions promptly, we will
send likenesses of Rev. L L. Langstroth and
the late Moses Quinby.

SECTIONAL BROOD
CHAMBERS.

By Dr. G. L. Tinker.

The extensive discussion the past
year in tlie bee journals, on tlie
modes and tlie advantages of revers-
ing brood combs as well as the re-
sult of trial, has proved that there is
no profit in reversing combs singly
not that there is no advantage to
be gained from the practice, but
because of the labor required. Like
many other discussions in our journ-
als, the truth that we had sought —
the germ of wheat sifted from all the
chaff, — is quite unlike what we had
been seeking or had anticipated.

It is no new idea, by any means,
that the getting of the brood close
up to the sections in working for

comb honey is a measure of great
value. As the outcome of all inven-
tion and discussion, we have discov-
ered perhaps all of the plans by
which the brood can be brought near
the sections, so that we may now
point out the one plan most practi-
cable and valuable ; and right here I
wish to say that no one man is en-
titled to all the credit of the discov-
eries made, because all beekeepers,
or nearly all, have had a part in mak-
ing them, and have prepared the fra-
ternity at large for an innovation in
our methods that without this, prep-
aration of the apicultural mind
would have been impossible. The
credit, I assert boldly, is due rather
to the great fraternity of beekeepers
who have made discovery possible
through their united labors, but now
make the introduction of the new
appliances and methods certain.
As the matter now stands, one bee-
keeper is as much entitled to the
benefits, as another, and I trust and
believe that all will look upon it in
this light, and hesitate not Ijy virtue
of a just right to adopt the improved
methods as soon as convenience will
warrant, and the revolution in the
construction of brood chambers and
in our methods of management will
demand.

But I am strongly convinced that
nothing has yet been brought out
that will enable to the fullest extent,
the practical advantages that are to
be derived from our new discover-
ies. It is our object, however, in
writing this article, to throw some
light on this subject.

But first, what is the most practi-
cal and advantageous method of dis-
(49)

50

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

posing of the brbod near the sections
at will? Beyond question, it is the
proper management of the shallow,
sectional brood chamber ! Has it
any disadvantages ? We assert fear-
lessly that it has not, neither in win-
tering, the laying of the queen or in
the manipulation of hives or combs !
Until about five years ago, a hive,
the brood chamber of which was in
three shallow sections, each 5 1 inches
deep by 12 by 16 inside, has stood
here in this town and contained
bees uninterruptedly for thirty years.
The colony in its thin walls of wal-
nut, had resisted the cold and the
buffeting of the storms of thirty
winters, and it at last succumbed to
the depredations of robber bees who
gained entrance by its many rotten
corners. It had always done well,
was generally on hand with a rousing
swarm in season, and besides, made
a liberal surplus for its owner. When
Father Langstroth, a tew years since,
recommended a thin walled hive for
out-door wintering, I was quickly re-
minded of this old hive and colony.
(The panels in the sides of each of
the cases were not over ^ inch thick.)
That it had not been manipulated
on the modern plan of tiering up the
cases, and the placing of the brood
next to the super was no fault of the
hive. The combs were attached to
top bars in each case on the Dzier-
zon plan.

REVERSING HIVES.

In a shallow sectional brood
chamber we believe that there is no
advantage whatever to be derived
from reversing its sectional parts.
The placing of the brood next the
super, and any honey that may be
in the upper case below the brood
will accomplish all that can be done.
We shall, therefore, have no use for
a reversible hive. Again, as we shall
not have occasion to handle the
frames very much but instead the
sectional cases, it will not be greatly
to our advantage to have the frames
as steadily movable as are L. frames.

On this account a very simple case
is all that is necessary to hold the
frames — a case without ornamenta-
tion, clamps, screws or anything of
the kind. Neither do we want a
complicated bottom board, but all
the parts of a practical hive of this
nature should be, and zviilbe, made
only of a few parts and all very plain
and easy of' construction.
New Philadelphia, Ohio.

[ To be continued?^

GETTING BEES OUT OF
BOXES.

Bt p. K. Kussell.

I find that none of us are too
old to learn something, and this
seems to be especially true of bee-
keeping. Beekeeping is a remark-
ably progressive business. So much
is this the case, that the best of us,
if we would keep abreast of the
times, must continually be on the
alert for new and improved methods
of management.

Hardly are we settled down in the
use of a method or device, before it
must be changed or set aside for
something better.

All this is as it should be, no doubt,
as it tends to increase of production,
cheapening of products, increase of
consumption, and is a real blessing
to the masses, who could not other-
wise enjoy the good things of life in
so large a measure.

But there is one line of improve-
ment that I would like to see ad-
vanced at the present time, and that
is a bette?- method of getting bees
out of filled sections, in a sort of
wholesale style, if you please.

I am free to confess that I have
not as yet learned of any method
that is wholly satisfactory in all
cases. It is true that in a small
way we may get the bees out with-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

51*

out much trouble, especially during
a good yield of honey, by any of the
old methods. But after the flow has
suddenly ceased, or at the end of the
season, when bees are fierce for rob-
bing and we wish to remove cases of
honey by dozens and scores rapidly,
then trouble begins in earnest.

I want a plan whereby 1 can re-
move one or more cases in the morn-
ing, place them with the adhering
bees under protection, go about other
business for the day, and when I re-
turn at night, find that the bees have
all escaped and none have found the
way back again. I have tried wire
cloth cones with a small hole in the
apex, and much to my disgust have
seen the bees pass freely in and out.
Turning sheets or revolving windows
require too constant attention, and
are poor methods at best.

. The best method I have found, and
the one I am still using for want of
something better, is a small building
with one window. The whole out-
side of the window is covered with
wire cloth, which projects some ten
inches above the window-frame, with
sufficient space for the bees to crawl
in and out.

This is not my invention, and if it
were, I hardly think I should be very
proud of it, for after a time, the bees
find their way back again, and at
best, it is only a help. I would like
much to see this matter further dis-
cussed by those who may know of
better methods.

I think myself, that if anything is
found that proves to be a complete
success, it will be something that is
adjustable to a window.

Lynn, Mass.

SMALL PACKAGES OF
HONEY.

By J. H. Martin.

Small fancy packages seem to be
the tendency of the day for nearly

all of the hfe-sustaining articles we
use.

If we enter our grocer's we find all
kinds of eatables, relishes and condi-
ments put up in packages made to look
wonderfully inviting by bright-colored
labels and weighing from a few ounces
up to pounds.

If we enter our drug stores what
an array of all manner of bottles and
boxes of all shapes and sizes and so
pretty and at the same time so use-
less, are arranged with artistic effect
to attract the eye and purse.

Every beekeeper can remember
when honey was sold in five and ten
and perhaps fifteen-pound boxes, and
rough boxes at that, but now it is
hard to find anything larger than a
pound-section in the market, and an
occasional half-pound. While this
has been the progress, to small pack-
ages for comb-honey, extracted honey
has been put up in pails, cans, jars
and botdes of many sizes. These
pound packages have had a wonder-
ful influence in the^development of
our honey markets and the increased
consumption of honey has been the
result.

But it seems that, at present, a fur-
ther educating influence must be
brought to bear upon people to teach
them that the candied state is the
best way to purchase extracted honey.
Our pound packages are for table
use and for whole famiUes. Our cane
sugar is also purchased by the pound
for the family, but it is also done up
in small packages in the shape of
candy of many hues and of many
nameless ingredients, and sold to the
individual for his or her own private
consumption, and how many tons of
it are sold all over our country ! If
our honey could be sold as confec-
tionery, this source alone would take
our entire crop. The beekeeper looks
upon this fact and mentally reasons :
Why cannot I put up my honey in
a manner to please the candy-loving
world and thus sell tons of it ?

Honey cannot be worked like cane

52

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

sugar and, according to the light we
at present have, we must sell it in its
original shape depending upon the
novelty of the package. Our ideas
have reached out to a package that
would hold one-quarter of a pound
and which could be sold for five cents,
for if there is pleasure in an orange
at five cents, there would be more in
a package of honey at the same price.
In Canada they sell a five cent pack-
age of honey in a small tin box, but
in this yankee land they look too
much like pill boxes and we are dis-
gusted with the contents before we
open them. The idea of a package
in the shape of a canteen with a novel
arrangement to force out the candied
honey in the shape of a stick of can-
dy, where it could be handily eaten
off, has been suggested by the writer
of this essay, but the demand being
uncertain and the cost of special
machinery would be considerable,
perhaps something simpler may be
suggested. It is evident that there
is a tendency in'this direction and at
no distant day such a package will
be put upon the market, and it is the
object of this essay to call the atten-
tion of the ingenious beekeepers of
Vermont to the question. When our
finest comb-honey brings only ten or
twelve cents per pound and our best
extracted only four to six, it is time
we were looking into this matter. It
is of vital importance to the interest
of the apiarist. How shall we dissem-
inate our honey all over the country.
Here is a locality that has too much
honey and it goes begging at ex-
treme low prices ; here is another lo-
cality where honey is scarce and good
prices prevail, and thousands of coun-
try stores all over the country do not
handle honey, but they sell candy.
How can we get our honey into these
localities and these stores ? The ques-
tion may be too knotty for any of us
to answer, but if it cannot be an-
swered so as to make a better market
at more remunerative prices for our
products, thousands of beekeepers

would do better to turn their attention
to some other business.^
Hartford, N. Y.

HOW TO COMPEL BEES TO

ENTER AND WORK IN

SECTIONS.

Bv Hexky Alley.

This subject has not received as
much attention as most others di-
rectly connected with beekeeping.
It is supposed that bees will enter
the sections when crowded out the
brood-chamber by heat, and for want
of more room in which to store the
newly gathered honey. These con-
ditions have the effect to "enthuse"
and stimulate the bees to emigrate,
or to seek more room which they can
utihze for their increasing demands.
These favorable conditions do not, in
all cases, induce bees to swarm or to
accept of surplus room and, some-
times, when they do enter the sec-
tions and fill them with bees, they
will store no honey, nor build any
comb, even though the sections are
filled with nice foundation. A col-
ony that has made arrangements to
swarm will not usually enter the sec-
tions very readily and generally will
do no work in them. Such a col-
ony will "layout" on the front of
the hive until they are good and
ready to swarm.

The question is ; can bees be com-
pelled to enter and work in sections ?
I will give the experience of a bee-
keeper formerly the largest bee owner
in the state of Massachusetts. Some
twenty-five years ago, Mr. John J.
Gould kept a large number of bees
here in Wenham. He was troubled
to get some of his colonies to enter
and store honey in two-pound boxes
or sections, as they are now called,
so he adopted a method that rather

1 An essay read before the Cliamplain Val-
ley Beekeepers' Associatiou, Middlebuiy, Vt.,
January 21, ISSG.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

53

outwitted the little fellows. He would
remove a case of twenty-one two-
pound boxes that were about two-
thirds full from a strong colony, bees
and all, and place them upon the
colony too weak or too lazy to work
and store surplus honey. This ar-
rangement had the desired effect, as
the colony thus treated soon finished
the sections. Such an operation not
only stimulated the weak colony to
work, but it also strengthened them
greatly as to numbers. The colony
the sections were taken from were
plenty strong to enter and work in
a new set of sections. Now this was
not a discovery with Mr. Gould.
His practical knowledge of the honey
bee suggested to him that the idea
was a feasible one and he immedi-
ately put it into practice and the
verdict was just what he had reason
to expect.

My own method was not only to
do as Mr. Gould did but, having a
less number of bees, I would contract
the entrance to each hive at night as
this would prevent the bees from de-
serting the sections when the weather
was cool. All upward ventilation was
stopped, as it should be while the
bees are at work storing surplus honey.
The only ventilation should be at the
entrance, as the bees will make just
as much and as little air pass through
the hive as they need.

There is one bad feature to this
interchanging of bees and sections.
Unless the operation is conducted
with little disturbance, the queen, as
is perfectly natural, will run up into
the sections and of course be re-
moved to some other hiv'^e. When
the change is made it is well to blow
a small amount of smoke in at the
entrance and as quickly as possible,
raise the section rack and direct the
smoke under to drive the bees down.
If this precaution is taken there is
little or no danger of getting or de-
stroying any queens.

IVenham, Mass.

HOW SHALL I COMMENCE?

Br WiLi. M. Kellogg.

I don't know that I can help
friend Todd any (Feb. "Api") but I
feel like trying. I take the ground
that he has had too many irons in
the fire and that his bee knowledge
has been too much of theory, and his
bees have been neglected or handled
on theory. I think he is somewhat
on the same ground that I am with
bees and poultry ; with bees, fi-om
long experience, I "have everything
at my fingers' ends ;" with poultry,
though I have kept fowls of various
kinds for years, and have many vol-
umes of poultry reading, both books
and journals, still I have had too little
practical experience in a large way
to make me feel at home among
poultry keepers of years of practical
work.

Had I not learned a lesson from
knowing it all tlie first year I kept
bees, I could launch out and tell old
hands all about how to handle poul-
try and do it too from the practical
experience I have had— on paper, as
someone else has done it. Now,
friend Todd, there is not much so
very hard to do with successful man-
agement of bees. Beginners, lacking
thorough experience, invariably do
too much. Like a boy with his first
chickens, he must scare the hen off
every few minutes to see if she has
laid ; and the beekeeper acts the same
in opening hives. It took me years
to learn how to let my bees alone.

You speak of feeding bees because
they had not enougli honey to carry
them through the winter. That is
evidence to me of what I have said
above. Now for my advice. Get
some more bees in the spring, good,
strong stocks, in a plain, simple, mov-
able comb hive. Keep them snug
and warm by preventing all waste of
heat at the top, let them fill up the
hive below, having a hive large
enough for all brood rearing and am-

54

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

pie honey storage, ki this honey stay
there. Many losses occur from ex-
tracting closely all through the sea-
son, or cramping the stock in too
small a space to_ allow but little more
than the necessary brood, trusting to
fall forage or feeding for the winter's
supply. I never feed a stock of bees
anything for winter. If a stock lacks,
I give good sealed combs of honey ;
lacking that I break up the stock and
unite with another. Poor food, late
storage, or late feeding has caused
more loss to beekeepers than all else
combined. I have gone through the
same routine that you have, dividing
stocks too late to build up, not count-
ing on the season but doing the
increasing because I wanted to, ex-
tracting regardless of caution and all
this kind of work. Let a strong stock
alone, don't open it every time the
notion takes you ; let them have plenty
of good, early gathered, sealed honey
all through the season, and my word
for it you won't have a poor, weakly
stock in the fall. I am not writing
Iheory but what I had beaten into
me by hard, costly experience. Try
again, friend Todd.
Oneida, III.

A GOOD REPORT OF THE

AIIEY DRONE AND

QUEEN TRAP.

By MRS. S. .

I WANT to tell you of a little expe-
rience that I have had with Alley's
combined drone and queen trap, and
see if you will not agree with me that,
in point of convenience and labor-
saving, it should be ranked along with
the honey and wax extractors and
smokers. On March 14, 1884, my
son and only child came home from
college, sick. His disease was typho-
malarial fever, which lasted him sev-
enty-two days during which time my

bees increased from twenty to forty-
eight colonies by natural swarming.
Had it not been for two of the above
named traps that I had, it would have
been impossible for me to have se-
cured half the swarms, and at the
same time nursed and taken care of
my sick child. As it was, when a
a swarm would begin to come out I
would run and put a trap at the en-
trance, and by the time I could get
my empty hive in place with a few
frames of brood from the parent
stock in it, and the foundation all
right, the bees would miss their queen
and come back pell-mell in search
of her, and thus enter the new hive
at once. In about twenty minutes
the bees were hived and went to work
at once without further trouble or
ado, and I was back in the house with
my sick boy. In hiving them thus
I moved the old hive to a new loca-
tion and put the new one in its place,
and let the queen run in with the
bees. It was a beautiful sight to me
to see my golden Italians come pour-
ing in a stream, so to speak, from the
top of a tall elm tree into their new
hive, without any climbing of trees
or sawing off limbs, thus saving dis-
figuring the symmetry and beauty of
a favorite shade tree. I had no help
except a neighbor's litde boy. After
doing the chores at home he would
come over and stay a few hours in
the middle of the day to watch my
bees and tell me when they were
swarming. I do most truly and hear-
tily thank Mr. Alley for his invention,
and I would about as soon think of
going back to the old gum hive as
doing without the combined drone
and queen trap. We are having a
very mild winter so far here in Texas.
It has not been cold enough to form
ice worth speaking of but once, and
it all melted long before night. We
had a nice rain this evening, with a
litUe hail.

Salalo, Texas, Jan. i, 1886.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

55

THE ONEIDA COUNTY BEE-
KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION

Pursuant to a call by Mr. W. E.
Clark, a number of the most enter-
prising beekeepers of Oneida County
N. Y., met at Rome, November 21,
1885, and organized under the title
of "Oneida County Beekeepers'
Association." A constitution and by-
laws were adopted, and the follow-
ing officers elected for the ensuing
year : President, R. Bacon, Verona ;
Vice-President, W. E. Clark, Oris-
kany ; Secretary, O. J. Evans, Cam-
roden ; Treasurer, J. M. Reseguie,
Verona.

Seventeen beekeepers became
members of the association. Had
the weather been favorable, many
more, no doubt, would have been
present.

After a considerable amount of
routine work, which is indispensable
in setting a new society on a solid
footing, the subject of wintering bees
was taken up.

President Bacon said, "Much de-
pends on locality. Again, hives and
the winters have something to do
with it. You may treat bees in the
same way two winters ; one winter
they may do well, the next very
poorly. We should strike the mid-
dle line after getting all available in-
formation. Bees sliould be put up
for the winter, dry and carefully.
They must not be shaken up. Some
cellars will do for wintering bees,
while in other cellars they will not
do well. I cannot keep mine in my
cellar. I have a frost- proof bee-
house. It is made double, the studs
being about eight inches, boarded
outside and inside, and this space of
eight inches is filled with dry earth.
On the outside of this again, are
nailed studs two inches thick, to
which is nailed matched siding,
thus leaving a dead air space of two
inches between the siding and the
inner wall. The top of the house
is covered with dry sawdust. I pre-
fer to keep my house about 45°.

My colonies do not consume more
than from five to ten pounds of honey
per winter.' My bee-house more
that pays for itself every season. On
soft winter days, I give my bees a
flight, and I find that they come out
better than when they are not let out."

Mr. Clark said, "I copied my
house after Mr. Bacon's, but got it
so as to be a little too warm in the
spring. I do not wish to let my bees
out till the soft maple blossoms in
the spring. I therefore sunk my
house about four feet into the ground,
and I found that the bees would re-
main more quiet in the spring. I
had no ventilation at the bottom of
my bee-house last winter, and my
bees never did better. If the house
has a damp air, it should be venti-
lated. I elevate the lower tier of
hives about an inch from the bottom
board. This arrangement, by admit-
ting a free circulation of air through
the hive, prevents the accumulation
of mold in the hive, such as is often
found, especially on, and in proxim-
ity to, the bottom board. The next
tier is elevated about half an inch,
while the upper ones need no more
ventilation than the ordinary en-
trance. In regard to absorbent on
top of the hive, I use old quilts,
which I cut to the right size and lay
on top of the hive. Last winter I
put ten colonies in, with just the
honey board on top, and those did
as well as any. I have also packed
some with dry sawdust on the top,
after the manner of Mr. Bacon ; but
as far as packing on the top of the
hive is concerned, I find but very
little, or no difference. I have never
tested chaff hives, but they cannot
winter bees as well as a bee-house.
I would keep the thermometer in
my bee-house from 45° to 48°.
The great object is to keep the tem-
perature even."

The next meeting of the Associa-
tion will be held at the Stanwix Hall,
in Rome, N. Y., February 24, 1886,
at 10 o'clock A. M.

O. J. Evans, Sec'y.

56

THE AMERICAN APICULTURI8T.

FOREIGN NOTES.

By Akthuk Todd.

The consumption of honey in Eng-
land seems to be on tlie increase to
judge by the Custom House returns,
which shows that while in 1883
there was imported ^166,000.00
worth, in 1884 the imports nearly
doubled, and in 1885 almost reached
the same figures.

The British Bee Journal (now a
weekly) calculates that the imports
for 1885 represent £ 2,738,347 and
urges its readers to consider the
great efforts they as beekeepers
must put forth to checkmate these '
imports and reduce their amount.
The B. B. J. sensibly says "There
can be only one way by which this
can be done, and that is, that the
honey placed before the British
public should be of superior quality,
and not exceeding in price that im-
ported into this country."

A great deal (far more than the
average beekeeper has any idea of)
of foreign honey is brought into the
United States, and after paying a
duty of 20 cts. per gallon enters in-
to direct competition with the home
product.

The American beekeeper must
also place his honey of superior
quality, and not exceeding in price
that imported, before manufacturers
and buyers generally, if he wish it al-
ways preferred.

I know factories using hundreds
of barrels of honey per annum and
they won't use American honey, be-
cause the price has not been right
as compared with the equivalent
saccharine matter, and flavoring
powder obtained from the foreign ar-
ticle.

Christian Lichler, in the Deutsche
Illustrirte Bienenzeitung, gives his
experience of wintering three stocks
of bees by burying them in the
earth. A hole was dug in the

ground three spades deep, one
metre wide, and two metres long
and as the ground was level, another
and a deeper hole was dug close by
to receive the water draining from
the former.

The hole for the reception of the
hives had a layer of straw placed at
the bottom about a hand high, and
the sides were also lined with straw.
The hives were covered with cloths,
and the entrances were protected
against mice by means of perforated
zinc. On the 2nd of November,
1884, it being a fine day, the bees
thus prepared were weighed and
placed in the hole. Straw was
placed over the hives, and on these
a spade depth of earth was put,
then a layer of manure, just as pota-
toes are kept through the winter in
northern Germany. No air hole
was provided.

It being fine on the 2nd of Feb-
ruary, 1885, and bees in the apiary
flying freely and collecting hazel
pollen, the opportunity was taken to
examine the hives. On withdraw-
ing them from the hole, they were
found not only alive, but in a flovu--
ishing condition showing no signs of
damp or dysentery spots. The av-
erage loss in weight per stock was
two pounds during the three months.

As soon as the bees were placed
on their stands they commenced fly-
ing out, and they were at once ex-
amined.

The first one opened had seven
frames of which six were covered by
bees in the autumn. Now there
were enough bees to cover five
frames, the third and fourth frames
being filled with capped brood. The
other hives were in an equally satis-
factory state. The development of
the bees in these three stocks was
much more rapid than in any of his
other hives.

No. 16 of "Die Natur" contains
an article by Herr Gunnerig of Lassin-
gen on German bees as storm warn-
ers.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

57

From numerous observations the
writer advances tentatively the theo-
ry that, on the approach of thunder
storms, bees, otherwise gentle and
harmless, become excited, and ex-
ceedingly irritable, and will at once
attack any one, even their usual at-
tendant, approaching their hives.

A succession of instances are giv-
en in which the barometer and hy-
drometer foretold a sto«m, the bees
remaining quiet, and no storm oc-
curred ; or the instruments gave no
intimation of a storm, but the bees
for hours before were irritable, and
the storm came. He concluded
therefore that the conduct of the bees
is a trustworthy indication whether a
storm is impending over a certain
district, or not ; and that whatever
the appearances, if bees are still, one
need not fear a storm.

During the recent meeting of the
Italian beekeepers at Milan, a ma-
chine was exhibited which Monsieur
Bertrand (of the Swiss Bee Journal)
considers an absolute novelty.

This was an automatic uncapping
knife invented by Count Zorzi. It
is composed of a blade mounted on
a pivot and put in motion horizontal-
ly by a cog wheel arrangement
moved by a handle. To uncap the
combs, they are placed up against
the blade, so that as it moves it un-
caps.

The jury tested its merits in act-
ion, and awarded it a gold medal,
and stated that it worked well and
was capable of doing good service.
To large producers of honey who do
not hesitate to spend money to buy
time- and labor-saving machinery
this may be of importance.

Mr. Tartuferi the owner of looo
hives and the largest honey produ-
cer in Italy expressed himself as
greatly pleased at its workings.

While Mr. Bertrand and Mr. Co-
wan were in Italy they visited several
of the noted queen breeders es-

pecially those in the region of Bel-
linzona. Among others they visited
Mr. Pometta, a breeder known
to many in the U. S. A. Mr. Ber-
trand in his Journal makes certain
remarks upon the yellow band of
the Italian bees, their number etc.,
that I think are important for my
readers to see.

Mr. Bertrand writes :

"It is well known that all the bees
of the Italian race have not got the
three yellow bands of the abdomen
equally distinctly marked. This I
have substantiated on several differ-
ent journeys.

At Ornavasso, at Golasecca, and at
Milan there are colonies only show-
ing /7£/(? bands. In 1881 at Milan,
at the Sartori establishment, I saw
drones as destitute of any yellow
bands as any drones bred by our
black bees.- But abroad, three
bright yellow bands are considered an
indispensable sign of purity, hence
the reason why Italian breeders,
while attaching no real value in work
to the color of the rings, endeavor to
have no bees in their apiaries that
will not show three bright bands."

It may interest readers to know
the opinion held abroad upon the
value of the Cyprian Bee. I there-
fore give you what Monsieur Maur-
ice Bellot, one of the most careful
and obser\'ant bee men I know, in
France, says of that race.

For several years he kept Cyprian
bees obtained through Mr. Fiorini
in Italy, and of them he says, "I can
certify that they have always given
me a greater return than the Italians
and what is more than that they are
just as gentle."

Later on he got Mr. Benton to
send him queens direct from Cyprus
and having carefully worked with
them he writes :

'T believe myself authorized, by
my own experiences to say with Mr,
Benton that the Cyprian bee is cer-
tainly the most beautiful in the world

58

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

the most productive, and winters in
my locality the best. It is not ex-
cessively wicked, although at times
it requires a little more smoke to
master, than other bees, especially
when the weather is bad."

INVERTJBLE HIVES.

By S. Morrett.

I see in J. M. Shucks' article un-
der the above head that to invert a
hive five days after queen cells
are started, the bees will destroy
them. It seems to me this is an im-
portant discovery. To such as do
not want any increase this may be of
great benefit. It seems to me this is
not only good to prevent after
swarms, but to prevent any increase.
Why not when a swarm issues, reverse
the frames, and return the swarm, and
give plenty surplus room ; the queen
would soon have plenty of room in
the brood chamber, and I think
would be satisfied to stay at home.
Who will try it and report ? If all of
us beekeepers who have hard work to
sell our surplus bees at two or three
dollars, for first swarms, would stop
all increase after we have the num-
ber we want to take care of, beekeep-
ing would be more profitable to us ;
for many of those whom we persuade
to buy swarms of us, after they
get a few pounds of honey to spare,
will go to our market place, and sell
it from one to eight cents per pound
more than we have been getting.
This causes trouble ; I for one am
very anxious for a good simple plan
to prevent increase of colonies.

Silver Lake, Ind.

RACES: HYBRIDS:

EXPERIMENTS.

By a. Norton.

It is almost superfluous to say that
the question of the relative value of
the various races of bees and of their

crosses is a vexed one. Individual
experiences differ so widely, condi-
tions that modify experience are so
varied, and worst of all, superficial
judgment and hasty trial are so often
palmed off as experience, that we
can hear almost anything we want,
and as much more that we don't
want concerning it.

One writer, with several seasons'
trial of Italians and none other, con-
siders them better than other races
he has not tried. Another launches
out in the Syrian direction ; and,
without systematic comparison, pro-
claims them superior to all others.
I, with a single season's trial of the
Cyprians, am decidedly in their
favor ; but, were I immediately to
proclaim this superficial preference,
another season's experience might
force me to eat crow. Now, why
do pure bloods and hybrids of all
kinds find their respective enthusiasts
to admire and defend ?

It may be answered ist, because
results differ from season to season
without apparent cause ; and the colo-
ny that excelled all others in your yard
last year will next season fall behind
many of the stocks that before did
poorly; 2d, because external condi-
tions, those modifiers and complica-
tors of all circumstances, iiiay favor
one race here and another there; 3d,
because hasty observations inspire
more theories than do careful ones ;
and 4th, because selfish interests
often move us, and there are so many
of us. It is not my purpose to enter
into the discussion of respective
merits, nor to uphold the claims of
any race. While I have had experi-
ence with four races and four kinds of
hybrids, it has not been of a nature to
enable me to judge completely which
is the best one. Though favorably
disposed toward the Cyprians, and
inclined to think that they do not
receive the credit they deserve, I do
not propose to urge anyone to give
them credit nor even trial. But in
regard to crosses, I cannot help say-

THE AMEBIC AN APICULTURIST.

59

ing, theoretically, however, that we
should be careful in our assertions
of their superiority, for nature seems
almost to abhor hybrids.

This is the result of all scientific
study. Species are removed from
each other beyond the limits of pos-
sibility to intercross. To this rule it
is true there are some exceptions.

Botanical geography and system-
atic botany show us that where spe-
cies bratich off into those permanent
sports called varieties, there may be
intermediate forms in intermediate
localities ; but that these latter tend
to die out, while the species and its
variety, or the two varieties, as the
case may be, extend their limits
toward each other, crowding out the
connecting links and remaining dis-
tinct, though iinally growing side by
side or at least, in close proximity to
each other. In stock-breeding as
in poultry-raising for example, crosses
are not as a rule consiclered best.
In my limited experience, out of
the crossing of several varieties of
fowls, only one cross was superior to
the pure breeds, and this only par-
tially so. And it is an established
principle, that with hybrid breeding-
stock, the progeny deteriorate, gene-
ration by generation. Hence the
instances of successful permanent
crosses are more rare than are those
where the first crosses are superior
to pure stock.

Those who advocate the crossing
of races "to combine their desirable
qualities," do not seem to take into
consideration the combining of their
undesirable points.

The principle of selection applied
to existing and regular forms is Na-
ture's basis and the true basis, for
the establishment of varieties, races
or species, and for improving upon
the same.

I do not rise up to say that hybrid
races of bees are not superior ; but, in
the light of general facts, I do not see
how they should be. The trial which
I propose might go far toward estab-

lishing some reliable basis of belief.
It is as follows : Let all beekeepers
who will, and the more the better,
take queens and bees of as many
races and hybrids as they can pro-
cure. ■ Weigh the bees and be sure
that all stocks are of equal weight.
Place them all on the same day, in the
early part of the season, in hives con-
taining precisely equal amounts of
comb-foundation and empty space.
If it be necessary to add bees to any
stock to complete the weight, cage
the queen for a short time thereafter.
A few frames should be filled with
foundation, to give the bees a start,
and others should be left with only
starters, as tests of comb-building.
Whatever treatment is given should
be just the same for all. Now take
careful note of the progress of each
colony as follows : — Date of draw-
ing out foundation ; date of filling
empty frames with comb ; respective
weights at different dates : date and
number of swarms ; amount of sur-
plus ; peculiar conditions, natural or
accidental, internal or external, that
might influence the result. Such a
trial on the part of one person would
be of limited value ; but, if carried on
by many persons in many places,
their reports to the "Apiculturist"
would form an aggregate whose reli-
ability would be great indeed.
Gonzales, Cal.

INTRODUCING QUEENS.

Bv D. r. Savage.

In "Api" for Oct. you request "those
who have purchased queens from the
Apiculturist Bee Farm, and intro-
duced successfully" to ^ give their
method for publication.

June 25, I received queen as
above, all right, having been in the
mail bags three days and travelled
hundreds of miles.

At one o'clock I v/ent to a popu -

60

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

lous hive, found frame with their
queen, and set it aside in an empty
hive. Then taking three frames of
brood well covered with bees and
well filled with honey, I shook them
down into a box prepared with wire
bottom and top, movable, and a
three-fourth inch hole in the side
stopped with a cork, bees shaken
down and covered, before they had
time to run up to the top and very
few flew off. Box then set in a cool
dark place, the three frames with
some bees adhering either return to
hive or go to some nucleus, queen
on her frame replaced, and all soon
quiet there.

Great tumult among the impris-
oned bees.

About four o'clock. I take the
queen alojie in round wire cage with
cork in one end, let her in with the
imprisoned bees first dumping the
box hard on the ground and while
they are streaming wildly round and
round, the wire cage is applied to
the hole ; the queen row lonesome
hears the roar, skips in at once.
Through the wire top I have the sat-
isfaction of seeing how she sails into
the rapid current, not one of the
throng turning her head to say "Who
are you, where did you come from?"
Box, then covered with cloth over
the wire and left all night. Next
morning, 26th, I prepared a hive
with combs of brood, no bees, — and
put in new place. Bees in the box
are found clustered neatly in one
corner. I shake them down to the
prepared hive into which they run
far more promptly than any natural
swarm would do. Three days after
put in an empty comb, and the fol-
lowing day removed it with fine lot
of eggs for raising queens a la Alley.
From time to time added frames of
brood, the queen doing her duty
bountifully from the first to build up
the colony.

This method is not original with
me and doubtless many of your pat-
rons may have practised the same.

For myself, having seen it recom-
mended by a prominent beekeeper
I tried it without misgiving, and
found it successful first, and every
time. Those who have tried this
method, in the spirit of it, will agree
with me, I think, that it is a very
neat, sure and speedy plan of estab-
lishing a valuable queen, that may
have journeyed far, as mistress of a
happy and busy family, capable at
once of in-door and out-door indus-
try.

The essential points seem to be,
to secure bees well fed from one or
more frames, of a hive where there
is a laying queen, in the middle of
the day, and when they have been
secluded about three hours sny fer-
tile queen will be received, and soon
becoming quiet and remaining all
night, will in the morning promptly
occupy any hive with brood combs
and stay where they are put. Size
of box is not essential. Alley's
swarming box is just the thing. The
brood combs from which the bees
were shaken may be put away for
them to occupy on the morrow, in
which case every bee should be
brushed off, then if any bees hatched
during the night they will not make
any trouble with the entering swarm,
but form useful members of the com-
monwealth.

Few will have occasion to intro-
duce any queens now but doubtless
some will "make a note of it" and
try this plan next season.

Casky, Ky., Oct. 2/, 1885.

BEE CULTURE IN THE
SOUTH.

By G. W. Demaree.

The winter here was very favorable
up to Jan. 8 and previous to that
date our bees were flying in the open
air almost daily. Sometimes a dark,
cloudy spell would confine them to

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

the hives three or four days at a time
and then they would be out again.
The great snowstorm reached us on
the afternoon of Jan. S and it turned
wonderfully cold for this climate.
From Jan. 9 to Jan. 12 the mercury
ne\&x rose above zero, an experience
altogether new to me. The lowest
dip was 16° below zero. Well, on Jan.
14, or the sixth day of the cold snap,
the sun shone out brightly and
warmed up the south side of some
of the hives which are painted with
ochre, and the bees began to stir at
the entrances of the hive and some
of them took wing to meet a breeze
too sharp for bees to endure and live
a great while.

The fall before I had fed several
colonies with pure sugar syrup, put-
ting the bees on clean combs and
had treated several colonies the same
way, feeding them with extracted
honey diluted with warm water. One
colony was fed on sorghum syrup,
as much as I could induce them to
take as they were very reluctant to
store it. They seemed willing to fuss
with it, but they evidently cared little
about risking it for winter stores. Of
course I took a lively interest in see-
ing what would be the effect of such
continued low temperature on the
bees in their several differing condi-
tions as to their winter stores. To
my surprise, the bees which had fed
on natural stores and even the colony
that had been fed sorghum syrup,
looked all right as to color and size ;
but the bees that fed solely on pure
sugar syrup,a limited number of them,
were the worst bloated bees I have
ever had the pleasure to see. Some
of the bees dragged themselves out
of the hive so full that they were help-
less, so far as taking wing is con-
cerned. I gathered up some of these
bloated bees and took them to my
office and emptied the contents of
their bodies on a sheet of white pa-
per. The amount taken from an in-
dividual bee was perhaps twice as
much as the bee could carry in the

ordinary way. To all appearances,
as to color and consistency, and in
every respect, except as to sweetness,
the fluid taken from the bodies of
these bees was identical with the
sugar syrup as I fed it to the bees in
the fall. This fluid was put under a
glass of pretty considerable powers
without reveahng the presence of
anything more than might be seen
in ordinary syrup. Now here was
a plain case of bee diarrhoea so far
as the distension of the abdomen of
the bee was concerned. A short time
afterwards, there came a warm day
and a general flight of the bees left
them in good condition. These bees
were in single wall hives and without
any packing of any kind. A few col-
onies starved because of the scattered
condition of their stores in the hives,
being unable to move during the bit-
ter cold weather.

I am now' convinced that sugar
syrup is inferior to honey for winter
stores in this climate, and I want to
enter my protest here against the
wholesale sugar- feeding going on in
the apiaries of the country. This
sugar feeding is rapidly undermining
the honey trade. Beekeepers merely
indulging their own convenience
may shut their eyes to the facts, but
the trouble of the honey market is
lack of confidence in modern honey.
A man visited my apiary not long
since, who had taken a fancy to bees
but was utterly ignorant of modern
bee culture. He told me of a man
in Indiana who keeps his bees in a
winter repository or bee-house and
that, by furnishing them with sugar
he kept his bees "making honey"
all winter.

I knew this man was spreading this
false story, and ignorantly doing it,
so I took all the pains I could to
convince him that the Indiana bee-
keeper was only feeding his bees on
sugar syrup to keep them from starv-
ing till the spring bloom would give
them a living. But this was taking
the romance out of his story and for

62

THE AMERICAN APICULTVRIST.

that reason, or for the more potent
reason that a lie will travel a mile be-
fore truth can don its boots, he could
not be induced to give it up. What
does the world about us know about
"feeding bees?" If they hear of a
man feeding bees they take it at once
that he is " manufacturing honey."
Say what you will, the great mass of
consumers have no faith in modern
honey, and the fault is all our own.
We must stop the sugar business and
supply the wants of our bees with
pure honey. We have been told lately
that we must educate the people on
the subject of pure honey so that
feeding sugar to winter bees will not
excite their suspicions. Well, now I
say that it can't be done; you may
explain to the average consumer
once a week the year round what you
feed your bees for, and how you feed
them, and he will ask you every time
if you feed them to "make honey,"
or some like question that will con-
vince you that your labor has all been
in vain.

Now I am going to say what I
would rather not say, but truth de-
mands it. In my own locality, being
well known, I can sell honey largely
the year round ; but I could not sell
a pound of honey if my customers
knew that it was not produced in my
own apiary. This simple, hard fact
is the best possible illustration of the
lack of confidence in modern honey.
I, myself, would not buy honey from
a man who feeds largely on sugar
syrup because, no matter how honest
he might be, he could not warrant
his honey to be absolutely pure. To
say that a little sugar carried by the
bees into the surplus does not hurt
the honey, does not mend the matter.
To sell a mixed article for 2i pure ar-
ticle is a fraud, necessarily so. Let
us take out of the way all the hin-
drances. .

Christiansburg, Ky.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

DOES IT PAY 'TO KEEP BEES AS A
BUSINESS ?

This question has not received
proper attention. If called upon to
decide we should certainly say that,
as a rule, it does not pay to keep
bees as a business. The keeping
of bees should be connected with
some other vocation, as but few men
are adapted to handle a large apiary ;
and, again, there are but few locali-
ties where forage is sufficiently abun-
dant to keep bees in large numbers.
It is our opinion that farmers,
mechanics and most laboring men
can make beekeeping profitable by
keeping only such a number of colo-
nies as they can care for during the
few hours they could devote to such
work each day. Most any mechanic
would find time to manage from
twenty to thirty colonies, as the days
are the longest at the time the bees
would need tlie most attention, and
the hours the mechanic could spare
is the best part of the day for doing
work in the apiary.

The farmer could raise honey and
wax and take them to market with
the other products of the farm. The
mechanic could sell his honey to his
fellow-workman, friends and neigh-
bors, and he would find that even
though he raised but a few hundred
pounds of honey each season, the
money reahzed therefrom would be
of great help to himself and family.
The laboring man who has no in-
come except what he obtains by
hard work is indeed in " hard luck."
To those who can do so, we advise
the keeping of a few colonies of bees,
raise honey for your own table, and
also get the needed recreation and
pleasure so much desired by all.

During the long winter evenings
the sections could be nailed, the
hives " put up, " and every prepara-
tion made for taking the crop of
honey the coming season. Except
in swarming time bees need little or

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

63

no attention, and most any mechan-
ic would have no trouble in manag-
ing several colonies of bees. Consid-
ering the little capital that need be
invested, and the time required to
care for a small apiary, we should
say that the small beekeeper would
realize the largest profit.

"the drone bee."

We saw it stated in a recent num-
ber of the Am. Bee Journal that
more importance should be given by
queen breeders and honey producers
to rearing and selecting the drone
bee. We have often urged the
queen dealer as well as the honey
producer, to use more care in the
selection of drones, and have stated
that the qualities, good or bad, and
the peculiarities of any colony of
bees are more likely to be trans-
mitted to the offspring by the drone
than by the queen bee. Hence it
will be seen that if a particular col-
ony possesses any desirable quality
one wishes to preserve, he should
see that his queens are mated ' to
the drones of the colony possessing
such qualities. For instance : sup-
pose there is one colony in the apiary
possessing the three good points,
docility, good honey gatherers and
non-swarming, and another colony
whose bees are strong, hardy and
winter well. Now these are all de-
sirable points and it would be hard
to tell which colony possessed the
best. Well, instead of having the
young queens mated haphazard, that
is, by any drone in the apiary, why
not rear queens from the one colony
and mate them with drones from the
other? By using a proper drone
trap such things are easily managed.

Breed out all the bad qualities,
and the result will be better bees,
more honey and larger profits.

— The use of veils by beekeepers
should be avoided as much as possi-
ble, as the constant strain upon the
eyes in looking through the fine
meshes of either cloth or wire netting
is very injurious. Every beekeeper,

however, should have something of
the kind about the apiary to protect
his friends and visitors from stings.
With a good smoker no one need be
badly stung, even when handling the
most vicious colony of bees.

— There is no doubt that salt is
needed by bees. We have no idea
as to the quantity a colony would
consume, or exactly for what purpose
it is used. We have visited the
apiary of the old-fashioned bee-
keeper, and have often seen salt at
the entrance of the hives. Now,
this is an old custom but a very
good one. As salt cannot do any
harm, why not place it where they
can have easy access to it ?

— Mr. R. Wilkins of California
has reaped 100,000 lbs. of honey
from 1000 stands of bees. Mr. Wil-
kins formerly kept bees in Cadiz,
Ohio, but removed from that state to
California, about ten years ago, to
engage more largely in bee culture.
The above figures would seem to in-
dicate that he has made a success
ofit.

— A few days ago, we heard a
person say that counterfeit honey
was manufactured and sold for "pure
bees " honey. We inquired of the
party who made the statement, where
some of the manufactured article
could be obtained. He did not
know, but was sure it was being
made as he had seen some of the
honey. We offered ^10 for one
pound of it. Will any one send us
that amount for examination ?

— Some time in January, a party
was shipping several hundred colonies
of bees to some southern state, when
by an accident, about two hundred
of the hives were destroyed by fire.
We were thinking, when we read the
item, how much better off some one
hundred beekeepers throughout the
country would now be, had such a
mishap occurred to the same party
about four years ago. We always
believe and recommend cremation
as the best means for exterminating
foul brood.

64

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

— Our friends who write articles
for the " Apiculturist " will please
use but one side of the paper. Be
careful, also, not to mix business
matters with articles intended for
publication. We cannot use them
when thus written, as we file all busi-
ness letters for future reference.

— The reader's attention is called
to our price list of apiarian supplies
on the last pages of this number of
the " Apiculturist."

— We invite all who receive this num-
ber of the "Api " to read and examine
its contents carefully. We feel quite
sure that many will agree with us in
the opinion tliat no one copy of any
bee journal yet sent out contains a
greater variety or an equal amount of
valuable information concerning bee
culture.

APICULTURIST BEE FARM
NOTES.

PERFORATED ZINC AND SOME OF ITS
USES.

Of the new appliances for manag-
ing the apiary there is no one arti-
cle so handy and useful as perforated
zinc. The average beekeeper does
not seem to realize the many uses to
which this article can be apphed.

DRONE EXCLUDERS.

They were first used at the entrance
of hives to exclude drones, but did not
work satisfactorily, and instead of ex-
cluding them from the hive "de-
tained" them. The only way to ex-
clude drones by this arrangement,
is for the apiarist to watch his hives,
and when the drones are trying to
go out, remove the zinc, and almost
immediately replace it, so that none
can enter on their return, which they
will attempt to do after they have
had a good frolic and work equally
as hard to enter the hive as they
did to leave it. The next thing to
be done is to kill each particular
drone, as there is no other way to
destroy them. Under such circum-
stances such a drone excluder is
worthless. A good drone trap needs
no watching ; it not only excludes

all the drones from the hive but it
catches and destroys them at the
same time. Not only does it do
this, but it catches the queen in
swarming time. As to how it works
in such cases, the reader is referred
to the excellent article of Mrs. Sher-
man on page 54.

BE

L__

Fig. 1. Perforatetl zinc for drone exchiders.

Fig. I represents the proper per-
forations to be used for drone traps.
No drones can pass through this
zinc, but a queen can do so after she
has tried for five or six hours to work
her body through, as the hair on
the thorax is worn off by coming in
contact with the sharp edges of the
metal.

QUEEN EXCLUDING HONEYBOARDS.

Another purpose to which perfor-
ated zinc is applied is to prevent the
queen entering the sections and de-
positing drone eggs there. She is
sure to do so unless prevented ; es-
pecially is this the case when there
is not sufficient room in the brood-
chamber for rearing drones. In
many cases it will make no differ-
ence whether the sections are filled
with worker foundations or not, the
bees would remove it and construct
drone cells in place of it. No
arrangement has as yet been devised
for preventing the rearing of drone
bees (something interesting on this
point may be found in the "question
and answer" department), hence the
importance of some arrangement for
excluding the queen from the sec-
tions.

PERFORATED ZINC DIVISION BOARDS.

Although we have not practised it
to any great extent here, some bee-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

65

keepers make and use a zinc division
board and confine tlie queen on
three or four brood combs during
the honey harvest, thus preventing
brood- rearing. As there will be but
little brood in the hive to feed and
nurse, more bees can give their at-
tention to comb building and to
gathering honey. In our opinion
but little is gained by such an opera-
tion,

PERFORATED ZINC FOR MAILING CAGES.

A few years ago we received sev-
eral valuable queens in some large
mailing cages. Each cage had in it
twenty-five worker bees besides the
queen. We had no colonies prepared
for the reception of the queens when
they came, and as the bees seemed to
be suffering for a flight, owing to their
long confinement, we drew out the
tin slide to the cage, and put a
piece of perforated zinc over the
opening and placed the cage on the

y'

"'J

J

'v

(

J

J

!.,

c

^1

J

(

J _

/

J

Fig. 3. Perforated zinc for queen guards.

window Stool. In a few moments
all the bees had taken a flight and re-
turned to the cage again. By such
treatment we could have kept the
bees in the cages several weeks.

Those who purchase queens
reared at the "Apiculturist Bee
Farm" will, if they request it, receive
a small piece of zinc with each
queen. Perhaps we may arrange
our shipping cages so that the bees
accompanying the queen may take
a flight, unless the queen is to be im-
mediately introduced.

A ZINC QUEEN GUARD.

As we have stated, our queens used
as "breeders" are kept in small hives,
7

before described. When forage is
scarce, such miniature colonies will
"swarm out," that is, the bees will
desert the hive. To prevent this
we place at the entrance of each
hive a queen guard, similar to the
"Jones' bee guard. "^ We have seen
such small colonies swarm, but as
the queen could not leave, the bees
would soon return and settle down
to business again, as though nothing
unusual had happened.

The proper zinc to be used for
such a purpose is the same de-
scribed, in the "Beekeepers' Handy
Book," as Root's perforated zinc,
and is illustrated in Fig. 2.

THE LOCKE PERFECTION FEEDER.

We do not approve of feeding
bees in the winter, but when it is
necessary to do so, there is no bet-
ter feeder for the purpose than the
one devised by Mr. Locke. As we
have sold a large number of these
feeders mainly to the readers of the
"Apiculturist," directions are given
for using them in winter.

To feed bees after they have been
placed in winter quarters proceed
thus : have at hand some fresh syrup
made of granulated sugar and water,
say, two parts sugar, one part water ;
fill the feeder, and place it under
the chaff cushion, or cover it (as
well as the top of the frames) with
some woollen material to keep the
bees as warm as possible. The col-
ony being fed should be placed in
the cellar, bee house or in some
place where the temperature is about
45°. Bees being fed in winter
should be given an opportunity to
take a flight as often as the weather
is sufficiently warm for them to do
so.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

QUESTIONS BY "OLD BKKKEKPKR."

1. Suppose some colonies come
through the whiter strong in numbers,
but the combs are badly damaged by

66

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

mould. How would you treat such col-
onies, in order to save the bees, if the
weather was not warm enough for
them to take a flight?

2. How would you treat such conil)S
in case only the lower portion of each
one was damaged? If the mouldy
part is removed and the vacant place
not filled with other comb or founda-
tion, would not the bees utilize such
places for rearing drone brood?

3. Do you think that drone-rearing
can be wliolly prevented i)y removing
all the drone comb from a hive and
substituting foundation or worker
comb in its place? Have you ever
tested the matter?

4. Is it advisable to prevent the
rearing of all drones when not needed?

QUESTIONS BY U. D. AVEUY.

1. What is the best and quickest
way to Italianize twenty-five or thirty
colonies of native bees?

2. What advantage do the Carnio-
lans possess over the Italians, and their
drawbacks?

ANSWERS BY WILL. M. KELLOGG.

1. If a stock comes through strong
in bees, they will take care of them-
selves till a day does come warm enough
for them to fly. They will be better
off let alone, at any rate, till a warm
spell does come. Then take a clean
hive, change over such combs as have
brood in them with the adhering bees
carefully brushing dead bees and tilth
from the bottom part of comb as far up
as the bees will admit; shake the bees
off of the remaining combs and place
them where they will get dry, either
out in the sun or in a warm room.
When dry, use a whisk broom and brush
off all the mould, etc., that you can.
Take the chance to sort the combs, cut
out all the drone and poor comb. If
the stock is strong put the combs with
the others which the bees already have,
they will clean them up; a clean hive
seems to encourage them. If the stock
be light give them clean combs from
some other, giving the mouldy combs
among clean, strong stocks.

2. It depends on how badly damaged
they were, or how good, as combs.
Clean worker-comb (aside from the
mould) I would keep, and cut out drone
comb and take the chances of its being
replaced with worker-comb; even if
drone comb be bnilt it will be new and
clean, and the chances are greatly in
favor of its being worker comb.

3. No. I have many times seen
drones raised in worker cells, both by

queens and fertile workers. Of course
they were small but I suppose they were
drones ca[)able of fertilizing a queen,
though I never had a chance to know
for sure. Have tested it many times
and the result was almost total lack of
drones in those stocks; it was done in
trying to restrict drones to my pure
Italian stocks.

4. Never having it proven that drones
were of any use except for procreation,
I would most assuredly say yes.

ANSWEliS TO R. D. AVEKY.

1. For myself, I would buy twenty-
five or tiiirly tested, warranted, Itali;m
queens from a reliable breeder and re-
place the black queens with them. I
would buy in preference to raising, for
I consider that successful queen- rearing
can best be carried on l)y those well
fitted for it and the money saved by
raising at home, can be fulfy over-bal-
anced by the lionej' received from
stocks kept strong, to say nothing of
the vexation, loss, and time taken.
Of course I raise my own queens, but
I am talking now of pure Italians. I
would change queens when only a mod-
erate flow of honey was coming, say
August or September.

2. I have liad no experience except
with natives and Italians.

Oneida, III.

ANSWERS BY J. E. POND, JR.

1. I should let them alone till
weather was warm enough. It would
hardly be possible for such a state of
things to exist. On the first day when
Avarm enough to do so safely, I should
remove the combs, clear out the hives
and contract space so that the bees
would be crowded somewhat, giving
the best combs found; the others I
should wash clean, dry out, and use as
needed.

2. 1 should brush the mould off sim-
ply unless the combs were excessively
moist. Much depends in the matter
of bees building drone cells. Some-
times they will, and sometimes not.
If I cut out any comb I should replace
with Avorker foundation, or comb if I
had it.

3. It is impossible to prevent drone
rearing in its season. I always allow
a small amount of drone comb in all
my hives, if I do not find that nature
assLMts itself by rearing drones in
worker cells and such drones are
smaller than I like, although I have no
positive proof that they are any less
effective than those reared in regular

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

67

drone cells. I have tested the matter
time and time again of giving a colony
comb in which not even a single drone
cell could be found. Drones, tiowever,
would be reared, and I have found
thein many times in sections filled with
drone comb, wnen there was a large
quantity of empty worker cells in
brood chamber.

4-. I do not think it advisable to at-
tempt to prevent absolutely the rear-
ing of drones at any time. My plan is
to allow each colony a chance to rear
a few, and I find by so doing the desire
to rear a large number is greatly sup-
pressed ; a few drone cells seems to
satisfy the bees, while complete ab-
sence of them seems to cause a deter-
mination on their part to rear a big lot
anyhow.

ANSWERS TO K. D. AVERY.

1. Purchase queens in May or June
and introduce them at once.

Unless intending to rear queens for
sale, my advice would be to buy dollar
queens from some reliable breeder.
95 per cent will be found purely mated
and the balance can easily be replaced,
when it is found by their worker prog-
eny, that they are hybrids.

2. I don't "think Cariiiolans possess
any advantages over Italians. The
drawback is that they are excessively
inclined to swarm, and as yet it has
been found impossible to prevent it.
The great point claimed for them is
tiieir amiability, but pure Italians will
be found amiable enough for most bee-
keepers, and those who are terribly
afraid of being stung should not keep
bees, or else should wear a complete
coat of mail.

ANSWERS BY L. C. ROOT.

1. I would leave them undisturbed
until the weather was warm enough
for them to fly. They will then re-
move the mould.

2. If I removed the lower part of
the combs I would fill the place of that
taken with other worker comb, even if
to do so I had to reduce the number of
combs and supply frames of founda-
tion later.

3. Nearly, if not quite so. If a few
drone cells are constructed the drones
may be destroyed before they hatch.

I have had experience in preventing
drones from hatching in all hives, ex-
cept such as were selected for the pur-
pose. One will succeed if thorough in
the work.

4. I think it is always desirable to
have an abundance of choice drones in
every apiary during the season when
any queen may fly to meet them.

i am not certain that drones in ev-
ery stock are beneficial.

if I were, I should supply them by
taking brood from superior stocks se-
lected for the purpose.

If we are to improve our bees care
must be taken in selecting stock for-
the drones as well as on the side of the
motlier.

We must avoid in-breeding.

ANSWERS TO R.

AVERY.

1. If you have not liad experience,
order queens from some reliable
breeder. See Alley's Handy Book for
methods of rearing queens and Italian-
izing.

2. I do not know.

ANSWERS BY IRA BARBER.

1. If a colony comes out of winter
quarters strong with bees and combs
mouldy, I should let the bees clean
them up themselves, when there was
nothing else for them to do.

2. If corners of combs are cut out
for any cause and not replaced with
worker comb, they are quite certain
to fill in with drone comb,

3. I do not think any man can pre-
vent bees from rearing drones with
foundation, for they will have some if
they have to lengthen out worker cell,
to get them. This is my experiences.

4. I think not.

ANSWERS TO R. D. AVERY.

1. Purchase queens of some reliable
queen rearer and introduce when time
and condition of bees are most favor-
able.

2. Have had no experience with Car-
niolans and cannotspeak for or against
them.

ANSWERS BY G. I.. TINKER.

1. To remedy the difficulty here
named I would do two things before I
ever come to the matter of mouldy
cond)S. "Whether wintering out or in
doors I would give the colonies large
lower ventilation and in early winter
at least, or until about February 15,
shut ofl' every parti,cle of top ventila-
tion except what might be secured
through the pores of the wood, and
thereby prevent the cause of mouldy
combs. If I wintered in the cellar I
would keep the temperature under full

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

control at 40° to 43° and never let it
run below 35° and thus prevent the
condensation of moisture on tlie combs
■which is the lirst cause of mould. The
badly moulded comb had better be cut
out, and clean worker combs inserted.

2. The bees are most certain to
build drone comb in place of comb cut
out in the sprinjj^ of the year.

3. Iso; and 1 have tested the mat-
ter.

4. No; we thinlv from one to two
hundred drones in proper season are
au advantage to a colony.

ANSWERS TO K. D. A VERY.

1. Buy twenty-five or thirty pure
Italian queens of some reputable dealer
and introduce them.

2. We have had no experiences
with the Carniolans but crosses with
Syrians and Italians have proved to
be very promising.

ANSWERS RY HENRY ALLEY.

1. As soon as the bees have hail one
good flight, they should be taken into
a warm room, and all the mouldy combs,
except those having brood in them, re-
moved. If possible, place two combs
of honey in the brood-nest. Cover up
warm with a quilt, and all will be O. K.
in a few days.

2. Replace the comb removed by
worker-comb. It is quite a fussy job

■ to do it with foundation. Unless re-
placed, the vacant place will be filled
with drone-comb.

3. No. There is no way to prevent
the rearing of drones, unless the hives
are opened as often as once in three
weeks, and the cap to every drone cell
shaved otf. Who would undertake to
do such a thing? We have not tested
the matter of preventing "drone rear-
ing," but how to prevent drones from
flying or leaving the hive at all, we
have thoroughly tested and can catch
and destroy every drone that attempts
to leave the hive.

4. We ihitdc every colony should
have a few drones at the time when the
bees seem to need them.

ANSWERS TO R- !>• AVERY.

1. Purchase queens of the best
known dealers.

2. The Carniolans possess no ad-
vantage over the Italians. Their
"drawbacks" are just what every bee-
keeper does not desire. They swarm
themselves to death.

A BUNDLE OF INQUIRIES.

QUESTION BY J. C. STEWART.

I am a long-backed fellow and stoop-
ing over fifty colonies last summer
nearly ruined my back. I would like
some plan of putting my hives up IVorn
tlie ground sol can stand. Shall Hose
honey and bees by it? Use chafi" hives.
I like the " Apiculturist" very much.
Am going to use Alley on Queens next
season. Season good. Lost ten per
cent last winter. With no chatt" fifty
per cent loss.

Hopkins, Mo.

We advise placing the bees about
three feet above the ground, or at such
a height that but, little stooping will
be necessary. No bees of any account
would be lost. Rev. Mr. Marsh, of
Georgetown, Mass., places Jiis hives
about five feet above the ground. This
we consider toohigli for easy manage-
ment. A good plan for a stand would
be to drive two stakes into the ground
and place the hive between them, let-
ting it rest on cleats nailed to the sides
of the hive. Another plan is this:
set a post in the ground ; nail a board
firmly to the top and place the hive
thereon. Hives placed at such a dis-
tance from the ground should be firmly
secured, or one of those western cy-
clones would nnike sad havoc in a few
moments in the apiary.

QUESTIONS BY F. F. GRAVES.

I am making 2,000 standard L.
frames. Is it advisable to make all or
only a part of them reversible? What
is tiie most practical appliance yet in-
vented for reversing frames?

Waterville, 3Ie.

ANSWERS.

1. This is a question we cannot de-
cide. If one is intending to ship bees
the frames should be made reversible.
We think there is some better way for
reversing combs than by the single
frame principle. Mr. John M. Price,
James Heddon and J. M. Schuck have
devised hives by which all the combs
can be reversed at one motion. As to
the practical)ility of such an arrange-
ment time and experience must decide.

There is no doubt that by frequently
reversing the combs (say once eacii
three days) swarming can be pre-
vented. Mr. Schuck advanced a bril-
liant idea when he mentioned the fact
in his circular that the iuvertibie hive

THE AMERICAS APICULTURIST.

69

possessed this particular advantage
over other hives in use.

QUESTION BY W. M. MATTA.

Will bees smother if the entrance to
the hive is blocked with snow?
Dedham, Mass.

ANSWER.

Bees would certainly smother or die,
unless fresh air is admitted to the hive.
The snow would have to he packed ver}'
liard about the hive to exclude all the air.
Bees require but little air in winter,
but if all ventilation is shut out the
combs would mould badly. Not only
should the entrance to the hive be
kept clear, but no snow should be
packed ajiainst the hives at all. espec-
ially against single walled-hives, as
during zero weather the frost would
penetrate nearly to the centre of the
brood-nest and destroy the bees. This
fact we learned from experience a
good many years ago.

qukstions by adam bakkr.
Mr. Editor:

I want to ask through the "Api-
culturisl" what the bees do witli the
polleil they carry with them when they
swarm?

Bee men say that hives should be set
rear the ground. If this is true, why
do bees go high up in trees ? I helped
to cut three last fall, the lowest about
60 feet, the highest 150 feet. Why did
they not go in near the ground? there
are more hollow trees near the ground
than high up. I want bee men to answer
this question as some may doubt about
the height of the trees. We live in
Washington Territory where trees
grow high.

Old Tacoma, W. T.

ANSWERS.

1. The pollen which the bees have on
their legs at the time of swarming is
used for no particular purpose, and is
lost unless the bees are put in a hive
having some empty combs. When
a colony swarms, there are new bees in
the parent hive that have just returned
from the field, and befoi'e they have
a chance to unload the pollen they are
forced to join the new swarm. Then
again the bees returning from the field
join the new swarm and take their
loads of honey and pollen with tliem.
The old-fashion beekeeper used to say
" the bees are making comb, I saw

them carrying in wax on their legs."
They were people who did not read
bee books or a good bee journal.

2. Hives should not be set so near
the ground that the "long back fellow"
will liurt his spine in handling the bees.
Eighteen or twenty inches is suffi-
ciently high above the ground to set
the hives as a rule.

Bees are pretty apt to be high-
minded when in search of a new
home; we have found them located
very near the ground and others very
high up. A " runaway" swarm is not
particular about the height; it will
generjilly select a clean, dry place for
the new location.

QUKSTIONS BY SERENO EDWARDS TODD.

I have seen it stated, several
times recently, that honey bees, on
Long Island, gather poisonous honey
from a plant called " kill calf," and
store it up with honey that is not
poisonous. It was stated also, that
the honey industry, on Long Island,
has been nearly ruined by the poison-
ous honey thus gathered and stored.
Since seeing the above statements,
I have conferred with several of my
friends who keep bees, some of whom
do not think that bees ever gather
poisonous honey, while otliers have
an " opinion " that they di>. My
own opinion is that the honey found
by bees in poisonous plants, is not
poisonous ; and consequently, could
not poison good honey. Now, I
desire to present a few inquiries to
be answered by any one who can
reply from positive knowledge. We
all have a superabundance of knowl-
edge predicated simply on opinions.
We want un-get-roundable facts.

1. Do honey-bees ever store up
poisonous honey?

Ans. We do not believe the bees
gather poisonous honey. To many
people the best and purest honey is
a rank poison.

2. What plants furnish poisonous
honey ?

3. How may a novice determine
for a certainty, that honey bees do

■0

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

gather honey from any poisonous
plants ?

4. How may any one determine
Avhether honey is at all poisonous,
without first eating some of it, thus
jeopardizing his life ?

Ans. To the 2nd, 3rd and 4th
questions we can make no reply, and
do not think any one can be found
who can give the desired information
to such questions.

5. Admitting that certain plants
do yield poisonous honey, would it
not poison the bees when they col-
lect it, or whenever they might eat
any of it ?

Ans. If bees gathered poisonous
honey, it would without doubt kill
them, more especially the immature
brood ; therefore, this fact alone is
sufficient proof that bees do 'not
gather poisonous honey.

Orange, N.J.

QUESTIONS BY R. F. HOLTERMAN.

Speaking from actual experience
is it injurious or beneficial to stimu-
late by feeding two or three ounces
of sugar syrup per day to a colony
before they are able to fly regularly.
What is the opinion ?

How long before the bees take
their last fly in the fall should all
stimulative feeding cease? Why?
Is the decision from discussion or
is it the result of experience ?

Ans. Bees should not be fed nor
disturbed at all until the season is
so far advanced that they can take
a flight two or three times a week.

The proper time to feed to pro-
mote brood-rearing is wlien the bees
begin to gather pollen. The fact
that the bees are gathering pollen in-
dicates their readiness to commence
the season's work. A few ounces
of syrup fed to a colony each day
will be beneficial.

Feeding late in the fall would
certainly be very injurious. It never
should be attempted to promote

brood-rearing later than Sept. 20.
If any of the syrup fed in the fall is
left unsealed, it would certainly sour
before spring, and the result would
be disastrous to the colony. These
answers are not guesses, but actual
facts gained from experience.

LETTER BOX.
Mk. EDnou :

Wliat causes our bees to die in the
winter? I liave kept bees some thirty-
five years most of the time. Now,
years ago we kept them iu a thin sin-
gle hive or in a half barrel. I have
known thein to winter in a nail cask,
and in cold bleak places out of doors
and lost but a few bees. It was sup-
posed that bees would not freeze.
Now we have double hives, and down
here in Maine we sometimes pack out-
side of that, but still we lose in the
winter at least two colonies where we
lost one fifty years ago ; and when
they have a plenty of honey. There
must be a cause, and if there is a
cause what is it, and what is the rem-
edy? Now we have lots of science
given us in regard to beekeeping. A.
J. Cook gives us lots of it and he has
a good chance to apply it to beekeep-
ing; but still the bees die in the win-
ter. I think we want more of the
practical witli the scientific. Again is
the houey gathered by bees now the
same that it was when the country was
new? They tell me that bees do not
winter-kill in new territory, as far
noi-th as Maine.

Will some one give us the facts?
Will some of the scientific ones, Mr.
Cook for instance, tell us if the honey
lias changed, chemically? Science
tells us that when honey candies it
forms grape sugar, and science says
it contains sulphuric acid. Is there
more of it in honey gathered in old
territory than there is in new territory
and will the acid kill bees ?

Bkkkeepkr.

KespectfuUy referred to Prof. Cook.

Mk. Editou :
lias Mr. G. W. Demaree stole my
fi-ame or have I stole his? I made iu
the winter of 1885, a frame just like
the one he describes with this differ-
ence ; my slotted bar is one and one-
half inch wide, the other parts of
frame are one inch wide; my comb bar
is split in the middle. In setting up I

THE AMERICAN APKJULTUKIST.

71

put in one-half of the comb bar and
when I put in foundation I put in the
other half and tack one to the other;
this holds the foundation well, and is
done quickly.

lam wintering one swnrmonthat
frame this winter and I will <iive you
the result in April if you desire it.
W. H. Watson, Waierinlle., Jle.

Welleslcy Hills, 3Iass.
Editor of the Am. Apiculturist :

I sliould like to ask of the bee fra-
ternity to .siive throuiih this journal
their idea of the method to pursue to
realize the most comb honey from a
colony — said colony not to be allowed
to swarm naturally, and their method
to prevent them swarming naturally.
I am away from home all day except
Sundays and I must prevent natural
swarming — I would also ask if there
is not some way to prevent the bees
from sticking the brood frames, honey
board, and section cases so solidly to-
gether— it is such a job to open my
hives that it maddens the bees so that
smoke has little effect upon them.

Did any one ever try covering the
top side, of the top bars, of the brood
frames, and top edges of hive, and top
and bottom edges of section case
where they join together in tiering up
—with strips of enamel cloth, fuUled
ic such a way as to prevent the bees
getting at the cut edges of the cloth —
presenting to the bees inside the hive
a folded edge of enamel cloth to which
to glue tlie wood joints. If so, please
report, if not I shall try next season and
I'll report. Calvix \V. Smith.

Loyal, Wis.
Mi:. Editor:

I am well pleased with the appear-
ance of the "Apiculturist" and its
tone, and can but wish you success.
Bees did very poorly in tiiis section of
country. Not a pound of surplus
honby was taken this year. Bees went
into winter quarters strong in stoi'es
and I think in numbers. The season on
the whole was very poor; the first
part was too cool, and the hitter part too
dry. My bees are mostly hybrids;
have some very nice stands Italians;
my mixed and natives have done the
best by me in gathering honey. Ital-
ians are too venturesome; get too far
fi'om home in early spring and many
of them never get back.

Will let you know iu the spring how
our bees come out.

Very respectfully yours, L. Allex.

Holhrook, W. Va.
Mr Editor:
Many thanks to you for a copy of
the "Am. Apiculturist." I send you a
few lines of interest. Bee business is
slow here in W. Va. The last two
seasons were too dry for a good crop of
honey. Our bees got a start in the
spring on the apple blooms, after that
was gone, they had a slim chance for
a while. The Italians worked on red
clover when it came out. We had a
pretty fair linden bloom, so the most of
our old stands gathered enough honey
to winter on, and a little to spare for
some late swarms. I had twenty-one
stands last May and increased to thir-
ty-nine colonies. Sold four swarms
and four nucleus colonies; that
left me thirty-five stands this fall. I
commenced in October to fix up for
winter, and found my new swarms and
nuclei with no honey, so I doubled
back to twenty-five stands. I have
them all in chafi" hives, and a cushion
on each hive. They are all in nice
trim. I winter my bees on the sum-
mer stand. Some lost their bees last
winter, got discouraged and gave up
beekeeping. W. B. Zinn.

Croton, iV. J.
Editor Apiculturist :
Winter has commenced in earnest,
and the very sudden cold snap just ex-
perienced was very trying to our bees.
They are packed on the summer stands
and will winter there. I did not lose
any last winter, and I liad four new
swarms before any one else around me.
I now have twenty-one good strong
colonies and expect to winter them all.
The indications are for a mild winter.
I do not expect to have bees in Jersey
many years longer. I am going to see
about, a suitable place in Florida.

Wm. E. Housel.

East Middlebury, Vt.
Mr. Editor :
'in the fall of 1884 1 had forty-six
swarms of bees. In the spring of 1885
I had thirty-six : loss ten swarms, have
increased to sixty-one b^^ natural
swarming. Sold two good swarms,
let two go off, gave away three swarms
and put back some, and got over 1800
pounds of honey, in two pound sec-
tions, and about 200 pounds extracted.
My bees are brown Germans or natives,
Holyland and Italians hybrids. Three
years ago last summer I got four
queens : two Italians and two Holyland

72

THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST.

queens, which I introduced success-
fully. Should have got queens and
Italianized my entire apiary, but for
two reasons : first, two of my neighbois
have native bees in box hives, which I
cannot buy and tiiey won't change
them into movable comb hives, so
they could l)e Italianized.

Second, I am not much in favor of
the Italians or Holyland bees with the
little experience I have had; perhaps
if I had some of the best strains of
those bees, I should think differently.
R. A. Dunham.

SPECIAL NOTICES.

TO THE PvlCADERS OF THE AriCULTUKIST.

Owing to extreme nervous prostra-
tion, caused by overwork and a burden
of cares, it has become absolutely ne-
cessary lor me to dispose of my entire
interest in the "American Apicultu-
rist" and all business heretofore con-
ducted under the 11 rm name of S. M.
Locke & Co., in oixler that I might re-
tire Irom and relinquish all business
cares. [

My former partner, Mr. Philip IT.
Morant, will hereafter conduct tlie
business assuming all responsibilities
and liabilities and I trust that in his
hands the "Apiculturist" and the busi-
ness will merit the continued support
and patronage with which I have been
so generously favored in the past.
A^'ery respectfully,
Silas M. Locke.

Now is the best time to subscribe, and
have your name registered, so as to
avoid delay in receiving them.

bkkkkepkhs' SUPPI-IES.

Attention is called to our price list
of beekeepers' supplies, which we have
appended to this number of the "Api-
culturist." We are prepared to furnish
anything mentioned in the list at the
lowest cash price, and guarantee all
our goods to be flrst-class in every
respect.

In connection with the "Apicultu-
rist" Supply Department, we have
also a large queen rearing apiary under
the direction of Mr. Henry Alley, and
claim to have some of 'the tinest
queens and full colonies of bees of the
new races to be found in the world.

We shall rear Italians and Syrians
and their crosses the coming season,
as we find that these two races give
the best satisfaction, and are in the
greatest demand. We especially rec-
ommend the crosses of these races as a
superior strain, and one that will give
satisfaction in any case.

QUEEN REAHING.

We know of nothing connected with
beekeeping that will furnish more real
pleasure and amusement than can be
obtained by rearing queens. If you
really desire to know the best and sim-
plest methods for rearing queens, and,
in fact, everything about queens, you
should purchase a copy of the third
edition of ihe "Beekeepers' Handy
Book." This woik contains nearly
300 pages and 100 fine illustrations.
Sent by mail, bound in cloth, on re-
ceipt of $1.50. "Handy Book" and
"Am. Apiculturist" sent one year for
$2.25. If the purchaser desires a
queen at any time between June 1 and
Oct. 1, we will send one of the best of
any race we rear on receipt of $1.0(1.

EXTKA COPIES OF THE "API.

Any one receiving more than one
copy of the same number of the "Api-
culturist" will do us a favor by hand-
ing the extra copy to some beekeei)ing
friend.

THE MUTH SMOKERS.

We have received from Chas. Muth
& Son, of Cincinnati, Ohio, three styles
of their all-metal cold-blast smokers.
One is called "Perfection." We find
them all perfect, and consider them the
cheapest smoker in use. There is no
wood-work about them, and they are
made in a substantial manner. We
have them for sale. See our price list.

THE DETROIT CONVENTION.

A brief history of the North Ameri-
can Beekeepers' Society, with a digest
of its fifteen Annual Conventions, and
a full Keport of the Proceedings of the
IGth Annual Convention held at De-
troit, Mich., on Dec. 8 to Dec. 10,
1885. This is the title of a new pam-
phlet of 64 pages just issued by Thos.
G. Newman & Son, Chicago, III. Price
25 cents.

We can supply tliem at the above
price.

The American Apiculturist.

% Journal b^troltb ia pndud '^nhti^iriQ,

ENTKRED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENIIAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.
Published Monthly. Philip H. Moeant & Co., Publishers and Prop'is.

VOL. IV.

WENHAM, MASS., APRIL i, iJ

No. 4.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES.

Advertising Rates :— 15 cents per Hue of
space each insertion, or $1.00 per inch.

A line of this type will admit about? words.
One inch will contain twelve lines.

Those wishing special rates will please
correspond with the Editor.

When sending money make all postal notes
and money orders payable at the Salem,
Mass., Post Office.

All communications should be addresse<l
to The American Apiculturist, Wenham,
Mass.

SPECIAL NOTICE.
The Apiculturist will be sent tliree moutlis
to any aadress for 25 ets., six montlis for 50
cts. or one year for $1.

To each new subscriber and to those who
renew their subscriptions promptly, we will
send likenesses of Rev. L. L. Langstroth and
the late Moses Quinby.

SECTIONAL BROOD
CHAMBERS.

By Dr. G. L. Tinker.

{Continued from March Number.']

The frames can be supported in
the sectional case on strips of sheet
iron cut -^^ wide and as long as
the case is wide inside, the strips
to be inserted in thin saw cuts
made y^g of an inch from the in-
side lower edges of the ends to
enter the wood only -f^ of an inch.
This construction will give a proper
bee space under the frames which
should extend to the top of the case.
The width of the end pieces of the
frames should be If inches and the
thickness ^ of an inch making a
closed end frame to rest on the
sheet iron strips. The width of

the top and bottom bars should be
the same and may be J by \ inch
in thickness. Here let me call the
attention of beekeepers to tlie com-
parative cheapness of these frames,
if dovetailed at the corners, to those
in common use. They need no
nails and a set of fourteen for one
hive can be put together in a few
minutes and, as they can easily be
made very accurate, they will al-
ways fit nicely in the cases. The
length of the frame might well cor-
respond with the 4^ X 4|- section
now so popular. The outside would
tlierefore be seventeen inches long
and, if made just five inclies deep,
it will take one-half of a sheet of
foundation cut the regular size for
the L. frame. The frames can be
taken out of the cases very readily
since, being very shallow, the cases
can be set on end and the fi-ames
pushed through, one or more at a
time. Hence the worthlessness of
all clamps to hold the frames will
be apparent.

Again, if we are to handle hives
rather than frames, we can see no
advantage in having so many frames
in each case. I think we shall find
seven enough, though many may
prefer eight or even nine frames to
the case. It will be then very light
to handle, but to further lighten it
we would make the sides only f of
an inch thick and the ends f of an
inch and make the usual hand holes
in the ends or nail cleats across the
ends a little above the middle line
to handle them by.

The bottom board we would
make out of one-half inch stuff with
a cleat across each end of one-inch
(73)

74

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

stuff, the rear piece to be two inch-
es wide and the front piece five
inches wide ; the bottom board to
be cut one and one-eighth inches
shorter than the hive is long, and
the wide cleat nailed across two
inches from the end. This would
give an entrance across the front
of one-half inch. If blocks are
nailed on each side to go under the
front corners of the hive, ordinary
entrance blocks can then be used.

Sectional hives containing only
seven or eight frames in each sec-
tion will be so light that we shall
find it an easy task to carry them
back and forth from cellars in win-
tering, where they can be placed
under our full control and wintered
in a scientific manner, which we
shall never be able to do in out-
door wintering where we cannot
regulate the temperature at will.
Only one of the sectional cases,
well filled, will be necessary for
each colony for the winter.

To operate a sectional hive of
shallow frames successfully we
shall need a honey board with strips
of perforated zinc set in thin saw
cuts made in the edges of the slats
composing the board. This con-
struction, and use of perforated
zinc is my invention, but it is free
to all to use. As any kind of a
section case or super can be ad-
justed to this hive every beekeeper
will be expected to use his favorite.

The capacity of two of the sec-
tional brood chambers will about
equal the eight frame L. hive but
many would prefer to use three of
the parts in building up for the
honey harvest. The frames alone
are made to reverse but we shall
need to reverse them but once and
that simply to get the frames filled
out with comb plump to the sides
all around. Ordinary six-inch
boards can be split and dressed to
three-eighths for the sides of the
cases and we shall have no trouble
to get whole boards wide enough

for the bottoms and covers. For
avery cheap hive we shall never get
a cheaper and a better hive, for
large results may not be possible.
It will hardly be necessary to add,
in conclusion, that this hive is not
patented or patentable, except in
one or two features which are my
inventions and are hereby freely
given to the public.
New Philadelphia^ 0.

TEMPERATURE, A FACTOR
IN BEEKEEPING.

(Coutiuued from p. 27, Vol. IV.)

In ascertaining the exact tem-
perature of bees much depends
upon the sensibility of the instru-
ments used and upon the ingenuity
and skill of the operator in using
such methods as will guard against
error. In my own experiment the
thermometer indicated 76° 24 hours
after it was pushed into the clus-
ter. Next day it stood at 70° and
the following day at 54.° On ex-
amination I found the cluster had
drawn away from the instrument
and left the bulb partly bare. Had
the thermometer been inserted from
above between the combs instead
of being pushed into a large cluster
formed beneath, the cause of
this sudden change could not have
been so readily seen. The writer,
in the B. B. J., to whose ex-
periments I referred, used long
wire cloth cages inserted between
the combs. His thermometers
were placed in these cages and
withdrawn from them without dis-
turbing the bees.

On one occasion, a thermometer
in one of Newport's hives stood at
30° while the outside temperature
was 1 7^.° The bees were roused by
a few taps on the hive and in sixteen
minutes the mercury rose to 70°
but the bulb was now covered by

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

^y.

/>

YS

excited bees while previously it had
not been in contact with the cluster.

The late Dr. Carpenter in his
Comparative Ph^'siology quoted
freely from Newport's paper on the
heat of insects. In order to avail
myself of all the " knowledge gath-
ered in" relating to the heat of
bees, I took the opportunity of
asking Dr. Carpenter, on the oc-
casion of his late visit to Montreal,
what had been done since New-
port's paper appeared in 1837. In
reply, he sent me the following
letter.

Montreal, August 31, 1882.

Dear Sir:
As I have not, for many yeai'S past,
attempted to keep up with the progress
of comparative pliysiology, I am unable
to saj' whether any oljservations on
the heat of insects have been made
subsequently to those of my friend,
George Newport. I can only tell you
where you are most likely to learn
anything that has been since done on
the suijject.

Prof. Milne-Edwards of Paris com-
pleted, about two years ago, his great
work on " Comparative Physiology" in
ten or eleven volumes. This is sure
to contain references to anything that
has been published on the subject up to
that date. The work will doubtless be
found in the principal public libraries
of the U. S.

The most likely man to have pub-
lished original observations on the
subject is Prof. Plateau of Liege,
(Belgium). References to his papers
in journals and transactions, will be
found in the society's catalogue of
scientific papers (with successive sup-
plements) which I know to be in sev-
eral of the public libraries of the U. S.

I hope that through these channels
you may get the information you wish.
Yours truly,
William B. Carpenter.

The works mentioned are not in
any public library within ray reach
and I now publish Dr. Carpenter's
letter hoping that it may fall un-
der the eye of some one who can
conveniently examine those woi'ks
and who will give the readers of
the "Api" the benefit of what
they may contain on the heat of

bees. Possibly, Mr. Arljhur Todd,
who has given us so many good
things, may be able to f\nd those
works in some of the pubt^ ^ra-c
ries of Philadelphia. \ " '-

It is sad to recollect thar'^r
Carpenter, as well as the ot
scientists whom he mentions have
died since the above letter was
written.

Lindsay, Can.

THE CAUSE OF BEE
DIARRHOEA. '

By C. W. Dayton.

On Nov. 23, 1884, I placed in a
cellar (which was built for the pur-
pose of wintering bees) sixty col-
onies of bees, which were suspended
in mid-air, and forty colonies that
were in hives having tight covers
to the brood-chambers.

Prepared in this way, the sixt}'
colonies had as much upward ven-
tilation as it was possible to give
them, and the forty colonies had
no upward hive ventilation at all.

As the colonies were set in the
cellar they were alternated with
each other, facing an aisle three and
one-half feet wide. During all the
winter the temperature of the cel-
lar did not vary outside of 47° at
the top, and 44° at the bottom.

For the first six weeks, the bees
seemed to be enjoying so called
" hibernation," at the end of which
time the colonies in tightly covered
hives showed uneasiness and signs
of diarrhffia, which increased so that
March 16, found seventeen of tiiem
dead.

On May 1, only eleven weak and
diseased colonies remained of the
forty having tigiit covers to the^
brood-chambers, while of the sixty,
suspended in mid-air all were
healthy and strong, save one, and
that died undiseased.

On Nov. 13, 1885, 112 colonies
were placed in the same cellar, and

76

THE AMEBIC AN APICULTURIST.

the temperature was maintained as
in the winter before. One of these
colonies had a tiglit cover to the
brood-chamber, while the 111 did
not. At this date (Feb. 25, 1886)
that solitary, unventilated colony
is diseased, while all of the others
are healthy.

From these experiments it would
be supposed that the most destruc-
tive of all bee diseases was pretty
nearly cornered. As a result of
numerous experiments which I have
made during the last several years,
I find that I am able to kill bees or
preserve them alive, as I choose,
but what the exact cause of bee-
diarrhoea is, I am as yet unable to
tell.

In a large number of cases where
colonies were affected with diar-
rhoea, I have found condensed mois-
ture so located as to run into the
cluster of bees, and instinct would
prompt them to sip it up, in order
to maintain a fit place for the rear-
ingof brood. At other times there
was no visible moisture present,
but where the covering of the brood-
chamber was removed, there was
emitted a very sour odor, which
would indicate sour honey and
could not have been without the
aid of moisture.

In a moderately dry and warm
cellar, with upward ventilation and
pure stores, I have never known
of a case of diarrhoea. We may
experiment in such a manner as to
find out which are the desirable
conditions for successful wintering
of bees, and which are not, but to
give the disorder a name is all the-
oretical conjecture. The name that
I consider as the most applicable
to the disorder is indigestion, and
may be produced by the effects of
cfverloading the intestine with cold
water, partaking of sour honey, un-
easiness, excitement, and exposure
to temperatures so low as to inter-
fere with the digestion,
Bradford^ Canada.

SPRING MANAGEMENT.

By Allen Pringle.

This is a hackne3-ed subject,
though I suppose it will bear hand-
ling until such time as we may be
able to bring our bees through the
spring without loss, when " spring
dwindling " will be counted among
the past misfortunes of beekeep-
ers.

First, then, when shall we set our
bees out of their winter quarters ?
That will, of course, depend on the
latitude and the weather ; and the
suggestions given here can as a mat-
ter of course only specially apply
to Canada and the northern states.
For myself, I am getting more con-
servative on this setting-out ques-
tion, and am leaving my bees
longer in the cellar every spring,
especiall}^ if the weather is at all
unfavorable. If they show signs
of disease or undue restlessness, it
is of course better to put them out
for a flight when they can be re-
turned if necessary. Last spring,
I commenced setting my bees out
April 16, and finished up May 13.
Nor had the last ones set out been
out before and returned. They
had been in winter quarters since
Nov. 25, making a confinement of
over five months and a half. Yet
they were mostly in good health
and condition, and were in as good
order for the honey flow, if not
better, than those first put out.
But why put out some so much
earlier than others, the reader
asks? Well, for more than one
reason. Those which show any
sj^mptoms of diarrhoea and those
becoming restless ought, of course,
to be put out fii'st. Then if any
are sliort of iiollen (and this must
be noted in the Call) such ought to
be carried out and supplied so
that the brooding can go on. Tliose
with plenty of honey and pollen,
if fairly quiet, are better in than

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

77

out in the latitudes mentioned
above, until the weather gets fine
and warm, even if that takes to
the middle of May or later. In
addition to these reasons for no
hurry in setting out bees in spring,
I always make it a point to over-
haul them and fix them up the
same day they are set out, and
this could not be done in a day or
two.

So much for tlie time and order
of setting out. What next? After
the colony is placed on its own old
stand, first see tliat the exit is well
cleared so that the bees can pass
out and in freely. By the time
you get all for : that day set out,
the first will be about ready for
manipulation. Have your dupli-
cate empty hive prepared — clean
and nice — and then proceed to lift
the frames out, bees and all, clean
them by brushing ofi' adhering
dead bees, etc., and put tliem in
the clean hive, that is the frames
containing most stores, and those
containing brood, simply leav-
ing them the number of frames
they can fully cover and removing
all the others to a proper place to
be kept until wanted. Care must
be taken not to chill any brood
that may be present. Crowd the
frames up together pretty closely,
put your division-board in, one on
each side of tlie frames ; fill in with
sawdust or chaff quilts ; put lots of
warm, non-conducting quilts on
top to keep in the heat, contract
the entrance and the job is done.
But while making this spring over-
haul of the colony certain facts
and conditions must be noted so
that the colony need not be again
disturbed till necessary. If there
is no brood present, hunt up the
queen to satisfy yourself the col-
ony is not queenless. Then note
the presence or absence of pollen,
the quantity of honey, when they
will need more comb and room,
etc., etc. This can all be noted

in your memorandum book if your
hives are numbered (which they
ought to be) or can be simply noted
on a piece of paper and left under
the cover on top of the quilts. Fix
your hives all up in this way snug
and comfortable — and then you can
always tell what hives require j'our
attention by referring to your
memorandum. The habit of open-
ing hives in spring unnecessarily
is a bad one and ought to be dis-
couraged. Indeed it is bad at all
seasons, but especially so during
the chilly, changeable weather of
spring, when the heat of the colony
ought to be carefully conserved.

The main advantage in leaving
bees with plenty of stores in the
cellar till late in the spring is
this : the old workers live much
longer in than out, not being ex-
posed to the weather vicissitudes
of the spring season. Many a
colony that now dwindles and dies
outside would, if left inside in
proper quarters, come through all
right. If they are fairly quiet,
and have plenty of both pollen
and honey, and the repository is
comfortable, they are nuich better
in until the weather gets warm
and settled. If the Lives are on
bottom-boards in the cellar there
will of course be more or less of
an accumulation of dead bees be-
low, and this is one of the main
objections to leaving them in late.
In the case of movable bottoms
this diflflculty can, however, be
easily overcome by quietly lifting
each hive oflT its bottom board and
placing it on another clean one.
This, if done carefully, will disturb
the bees very little. Fast bottoms
can be pretty well cleaned oflf
through the eiftrance by means of
a wire with a crook on one end.

The colonies outside short of
pollen can 1)e fed substitutes before
the natural pollen appears.' Spread
oilcake meal, rye meal, or wheat
meal on old sheets near the bees

78

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

on warm da^^s and they will help
themselves.

As to the disputed utility of
spring stimulative feeding I do not
hesitate to again declare myself in
its favor. If, however, the queen
is young and prolific and the colo-
ny well supplied with stores stim-
ulation is quite unnecessary. All
spring feeding for whatever pur-
pose ought always to be done in-
side the'hive intead of in the open
air. In the case of tight bottoms
the hive can be tipped hack a little
and the food poured in from the
top on the bottom board. "Where
the bottom is not. tight the food
must be given on top of the frames
through "Feeders" or otherwise.
As tlie colony is nearly always
contracted in the spring the food
may often be put in behind or out-
side of the division-board w^hence
the bees will carry it up.

The essentials of spring man-
agement may be summed up thus :
set out the bees at times as above
directed. Clean them out thor-
oughly the same day they are put
out if possible, for if left they not
infrequently get disgusted with
their unclean domicile and "swarm
out" for nicer quarters. Be sure
and make them comfortable — keep
the heat in the hive by some means

this is important, and contract

the entrance. If they have not
plenty of stores supply them, for
they will not brood freely on a
scant larder. Give them pollen in
the open air before the natural pol-
len appears. Give them more
room and more frames from time
to time as they may require. Do
not, however, go too fast in this
matter of "spreadino- out," for if
you do yon will be \^ry apt to pay
for the whistle. In adding room
and frames always keep in view
the rapid diminution of the old
stock ofkbees in the spring. In
adding a frame of comb containing
copped honey, uncap only one side

to be safe and and do not put it
right in the middle of the brood
nest as generally recommended
(unless indeed the colou}^ is very
strong and the weather settled), but
put it at one side of the nest with
the uncapped side next the brood.
Finally time your manipulation and
management so that you will have
a splendid force of young workers
when the honey-flow begins, and
when that time arrives if there is
any old honey or inferior spring
feed in the hives extract it without
delay, and your spring manage-
ment is over.

Selby, Lennox Co., Ontario,
Feb. 12, 1886.

QUE BEE LIBRARY.

By Will m. Kellogg.

It was with considerable sur-
prise, mixed with delight, that I re-
moved the wrapper from the bound
copy of the "Apiculturist." I have
Vol. 1 of the American Bee Journal,
bound in paper, in a strong, durable
manner, and it was a similar book
I expected to see, so no wonder I
was pleased when I saw this ele-
gant book, fit for any centre table,
or the shelves of any bookcase.
I have eleven bound volumes on
beekeeping by individual authors,
besides nearly complete files of
almost all the bee journals that
have been published in America,
quite a library by themselves. I
have thought many times that
I would like to get all my journals
bound so that I could have them
out in a bookcase by themselves,
instead of being packed away out
of sight ; but the expense has al-
ways deterred nie from doing it,
for our local binders charge more
than the subscription price for a
medium, fair binding. Then, too,
books of any kind on our book-
shelves are much more apt to be

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

79

read and appreciated than maga-
zines laid away. Friend Newman
once wrote me he could bind my
files of the A. B. J., in same style
as Vol. 1, for thirty cents per vol-
ume. What could we get our
various bee journals bound for, per
volume, in similar style to Vols. 1
and 2 of the " Apiculturist?" It
might be that the manj^ beekeep-
ers of the land, who have kept their
journals in good order, could give
a binder so much work as to get
very low rates. I must not forget
to add that the contents of this
new book, do not, in any way, fall
short of its fine covering.
Oneida, III.

PATENTS ON BEE
FIXTURES.

By J. M. Shuck.

I regret that Bro. Demaree
chose to append to his otherwise
useful article in your last issue, tlie
threadbare general charge against
patents in apiculture. I hope he
worded his expression on the mat-
ter unfortunately. If he is correct
some of us are offering to sell what
we don't own. If he is incorrect, he
is encouraging beekeepers to use
what they don't own.

Kentucky has a reputation as a
square trotter. I hope Mr. D.
will either modify his statement,
or prove his assertion, and tell us
what patents he means.

Des Moines, Feb. 17, 1886.

CANADIAN DEPARTMENT.

Bl- R. F. HOLTERMAN.

The most important topic for
Canadian beekeepers appears to
be the displa}- of honey at the com-
ing Colonial and Indian Exhibition.

Last fall at the annual meeting:

of the Ont. Beekeepers' Associa-
tion, it was generally understood
that the crop of 1886 would be se-
cured in time for the exhibition.
Many who might otherwise have
retained honey sold theirs, and in
consequence, when the news came
that the honey must leave for Ken-
sington by the last week in Febru-
ary, those best able in many respects
to make a display otherwise, and
most willing to make it, found they
had an insufficient quantity to
make it with. The matter was rep-
resented to the government, and
after some time we found to our
joy the crop of 1886 would do to
make a display.

A meeting has been held at To-
ronto, and the five commissioners
were appointed by the Ontario
Beekeepers' Association, consist-
ing of Messrs. Rettit, Hall, Mc-
Hughs, Jones and Cornell, to visit
England and see to the display
there, as well as finding an outlet
for our honey there.

It is anticipated that the mon-
ster Canadian display made will
attract the notice of all classes ;
that attention will be drawn to
honey for an economic food and
a luxury, and the article will be in
largely increased demand, benefit-
ing the English beekeeper as well
as the Canadian. I may well go
so far as to say we shall have a
grant from the Ontario government
to help the display. We (the On-
tario Beekeepers' Association) ex-
pect to be incorporated and also
get an annual grant of this latter.
A comment was made by the "Brit-
ish Bee Journal" upon the proposed
shipment of honey, which, unless
carefully read, might mislead. We
consider the editor above a spirit
which would injure, in however in-
direct a manner, any one, and in
writing the article he could liave
had no intention to injure. Con-
sumers and beekeepers may rest
assured, however, that we Cana-

80

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

dians) will never take to Europe
an article, etc., unworthy of our
country, ourselves, and beekeepers.
We are not shortsighted enough for
that, and it is to be hoped could
we gain even, we are not dishonor-
able enough to place upon the mar-
ket an article not as represented.

FLUX AS A BEE DISEASE.

By a. J. Goodwin, M.D.

HISTORY.

So far as known in temperate
climates, it has been coexistent
with the domesticated life of the
insects ; occurring usually at the
periods of winter and spring.

SYMPTOMS AND COUHSE.

They present a distended and
elongated abdomen, so that in walk-
ing the tip drags ; their movements
are somewhat sluggish with fre-
quent and uneasy stopping and
turning about on the front of the
hive, alighting board, frames or
combs, where they may happen to
be, according to the weather, the
heaviest finally discharging their
faeces as they stop, turn, or drag
along ; if mild weather occurs oth-
ers essay to fly and, finding their
load too heavy, soon reach the
earth, crawl about and discharge
their burden ; some die at once from
the exertion and collapse, others
rise a moment and sink again be-
ing overcome ; still others fly and
discharge their loads and return to
the hive and recover, if suitable
weather continue. The evacua-
tions present a fluid to a semi-solid
consistency^, often retaining their
cylindrical shape and, in color,
vary from a pale yellow to orange
or brown.

CAUSES.

These maybe divided or classed
as the predisposing and exciting.
Of the former, first in rank stands
age (1). Now, as is well known

in all life, the very young and the
aged are much less able to with
stand the conditions and forces that
constantly surround them, than at
the intervening period of existence.
Thus it so occurs that, when the
winter is over or about so, or even
spring opens, the majority of the
colony are old and feeble in a de-
scending scale, rendering them an
easy prey to natural and the ex-
citing causes of disease.

Second, insufficient protection
from atmospheric conditions : as
sudden changes of temperature, dry
or moist locations, or domiciled in
hives not duly proportioned to their
numbers.

Third, stores. These are regard-
ed as to qualit}^ and quantity ;
the location thereof^ being the prin-
cipal one of these.

Fourth, early cessation of brood-
rearing which is but a plain infer-
ence from age (1). The last three
are or ought to be under the control
of all apiarists (and surel}' they may
be), which would mitigate greatly
the first and do away with many
that are classed as the exciting
causes.

First, and embracing all others
of this class will be found undue
excitement which arises principally
through temperature (A), meddle-
some liandliyig (B), fear (C) and
loss of queen (D). Temj^erature,
A. Too long a continuance of cold,
as is well known, tends to impair
the vital powers of life. In most
cases, the greatest liability to dis-
ease, however, arises, not from its
intensity in regard to insect life,
as is well known in the winter life
of ants and bees in the forests of
the north, where they are frozen
solid as are the trees that contain
them ; but rather to the too sudden
rising of temperature after expo-
sure in walls either too thin or
composed of good conductors of
heat which tends to induce undue
excitement, when the cluster be-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

81

comes broken by their sudden ac-
tivity. Now, if tlie air is still and
clear, many may venture forth ; but,
soon chilling, return to the hive
(if able) and load their sacs too
heavily with cold food, reducing
yet their animal heat and over-
whelming their digestive ability,
so that the mass is but partially
digested. Now, its presence in
that condition soon amounts to a
chemical and mechanical irritant,
inducing congestion and a pouring
forth of the bodily fluids inio the
sac and intestines which, by the
combined distension, produces vio-
lent contractions or spasms (as in
colic of the higher animals) the
outcome of which is to rid the sys-
tem of a poison which, if successful,
constitutes the flux. If, hovvever,
nature fails in her efforts at the
riddance it kills, through the re-
peated torturing cramps, by ex-
hausting the already lessened vital
powers, and death ends all. In
case it is passed off, as is mostly
noticed, such an exhaustive evac-
uation is generally followed by
collapse or sinking of the vital
energies, proportionate to the du-
ration and intensity of the attack
which, if notbelowthe recuperative
powers, tends to recovery ; other-
wise death or permanent injury
(which are the same thing in the
hive) I'esults sooner or later.

Meddlesomeness, B. This acts
by producing fear which, with the
bees, induces self-preseivation
prompting them to overload the sac
with a mass of cold food greater
than they can either warm or digest,
which if not soon regurgitated,
produces all the effects enumerated
under (A). Fear (C) is commonly
a result of (B) ; its sudden seizure,
however, of most animals, often
produces panics or stampede, which
will often act more promptly than
a purgative can ; among which man
is not even excepted.

Queenless7iess, D. This tends to
9

induce over excitation through
alarm, consternation and fear, re-
sulting in the same abnormal
condition and injurious result to
the colony. This is the disease" as
it has presented itself to me in the
north and west as seen at the cellar,
clamp and summer stand and may
exist both inside and outside the
hive, but way down south where it
never occurs and (bees gather stores
all the year around according to
some) the beekeepers' Utopia is, it
has presented itselfto me in the same
old sjnuptoms, but in a much mild-
er form and with disaster in trifling
proportions, but it is only by gath-
ering data in differing localities
that we arrive at the most certain
conclusions ; hence the value of a
description of it from here in lat-
itude 29° and the circumstances
under which it occurs with us. And
first, it takes place outside the hive
generally (the exception I have seen
but once, and in a queenless colo-
ny that was worried by robbers
and had a fertile worker), and oc-
curs between the foraging grounds
and the apiary which some observ-
ers might think was a cleansing
flight such as is often seen on fine
days during winter at the north.
This, hovvever, is induced almost
invariably by cold winds laden with
moisture, the latter augmenting
and rendering more depressing the
effect of the former. It should be
known that a reduced temperature,
to act most injuriously, must be
applied not when the body is hot
(as is commonly supposed) but
when the body is coo//nf/ after being
heated from whatever cause (as in
labor or undue excitement). The
way in which it acts appears to be
in this wise to me. Supplies being
desired and within their range,
they sally out as they did, say
yesterday ; their flight is rapid un-
til su[)plies are reached, then they
are actively engaged near the earth
in securing their treasures ; the ex-

82

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

ertion renders them somewhat
weaker ; when secured, they rise
to go home, but the nearer they
approach the apiary the slower
theTr flight becomes which, with
their loads and the chilling wind,
acts promptly upon them and they
bespatter everything so long as
the wind keeps between N.W. and
N.E. "With the loindfrom any oth-
er quarter and even a lower temper-
ature, I have never seen it here.
I have also seen this form of flux
produced here, when bees were fed
a weak solution of sugar with the
wind as above and a clear sky,
during a temperature between 50°
and 60° F. My heaviest deposit
occurred March 8, 1885, with the
glass ranging between 52° and 55°
F. and wind N.N.E. My location
(to me seems to make it plain
enough) is so situated that the
wind from points indicated blows
directly from the Atlantic Ocean,
distant but one mile hence ; when
the bees forage between the apiary
and the beach, they are exposed
to a wind, cold and laden with
moisture and brings about the same
results here as it does elsewhere,
according to my observations.

DEDUCTIONS.

All the conditions seem to cor-
roborate each other as regards their
causes; their prophylactics and
treatment will be at once inferred
from the pathology given by any
intelligent beekeeper and so appears
not to demand amplification.

Live Oak Apiary, New Smyrna,
Florida.

UNITING BEES.

BY D. F. SAVAGE.

For uniting nuclei or weak colo-
nies, smoke them well, remove all
queens but one and be sure of that
one, in an empty hive ; put first a
frame from one nucleus, then one

from another and so on alternately
till there are enough, then shake
down or brush off all other bees,
works best just at night, contract the
entrance and put some obstacle be-
fore the door. Colonies to be uni-
ted are moved a little daily toward
each other till they are side by side
as Langstroth and other authorities
direct. If either colony has been
for some time queenless, other bees
having a queen will usually murder
the new comers, but not if just un-
queened. Sometimes queens and
all are united and the queens settle
the matter of succession, and I have
known two to survive where four
were thus united in the fall.

Though these things have been
known and practised for years by
some of us, there are always those
who are new to the business and we
may benefit them by giving our old
methods when tested and found
good.

Casky, Ky.

BEES MARKING THEIR LO-
CATION; OTHER MAT-
TERS ON BEE CULTURE.

BT J. M. HICKS.

It is a well-known fact this is
done through the sense of sight.
A large number of the bees that
fly out in the early spring are
those that have been matured and
hatched during the latter part of
winter and early spring; conse-
quently, they do not leave the hive
in a straight or direct line, but
only venture a few inches and then
turn their heads toward the hive
and oscillate back and forth in
front of the hive, with their heads
towards the entrance, occasionally
advancing a little farther out, as if
to note more particularly the place
and surroundings ;also the entrance
of their hive. They then increase
the distance, taking a more thor-
ough survey of trees, buildings.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

fences and other permanent objects
near by after which they return to
their hive, and start out on a direct
line from it. This they do, from and
after they are fourteen days old, as
the regular workers of the swarm ;
gathering pollen, honey and water
for the use of their young ; for
be it remembered that it requires
twenty-one days to hatch the work-
er bee from the egg, after which,
they still remain in the hive four-
teen days before they venture out
as above described. It is also true,
that the same eggs would have
hatched a queen in five days less
time, if it had become necessary ;
of which the young bees, under
fourteen days old, are the proper
judges of the conditions, and always
proceed to accomplish and mature
a new queen, as soon as it is dis-
covered they are destitute of one,
which too frequently occurs in
early spring. Herein lies one of
the greatest mysteries of practi-
cal and scientific beekeeping, by
reason of which, being too little
understood, many failures have
been the result. We suggest that
it would be well that all who con-
template trying to keep bees, either
on a small or large scale, should at
least procure some good book or
books, giving full instructions on
the subject ; also take some good
bee journal, giving lessons each
month in the care and manage-
ment of bees. We have noticed
of late in some of the agricultural
papers, articles defamatory, as to
the profits on bees and the business
of keeping bees, of which, all we
have to say is, we do not wonder
they write such articles, when they
are engaged in so many other pur-
suits, either of which would afford
ample labor for any one who is
disposed to try to make a success
at any occupation. For instance,
we saw an article written by a m.'in
who, not long since, wrote us two
o ng letters telling us how much

labor he had to perform, which
embraced four different occupa-
tions, viz., hardware clerk, garden-
ing, beekeeping, and poultry rais-
ing, all of which, if taken together,
are well calculated to burn at least
some of the many irons placed in
the fire at the same time, and yQl
we feel quite sure that if the gen-
tleman's location is worth anything
for either of the vocations men-
tioned and properly attended to,
there need not be a failure in either
one, if taken singly and alone.
Do not try to do too much, but ivhat
you do, try to do it right. We know
for ourselves, that bees do and can
be made to pay eight to ten hun-
dred per cent ; but there are some
"drawbacks" even in keeping bees.
Please tell me what business has
not its reverses and ours is not an
exception, and as before stated,
whoever enters upon beekeeping ex-
pecting to get rich in two or three
years, from a half dozen hives of
bees, will surely meet with disap-
pointment. The writer of this
article has managed and kept bees
over forty-five years, and with all
its reverses, I do not know of any
other occupation or business, I
could be induced to take hold of,
to the exclusion of bees and the
management of the same.
Battleground, Ind.

CLETHRA ALNIFOLIA.

By Jacob W. Manning.

This hardy native shrub has within
twelve years been more fully brought
before the public as a most desirable
ornamental shrub for private and pub-
lic grounds, either planted separately
or in large groups, or as a thick belt.
It blooms late in July and August
when other flowers are not very abun-
dant. The flower is white in a
branched spike four to eight inches
long, possessing a richness of fragrance

84

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

that is seldom equalled by any native
or exotic. It is strange that it had not
long ago been esteemed one of Na-
ture's silent unobtrusive blessings. In
1874 we procured an engraving of the
flower and it has since been more
prominently brought before the pub-
lic.

About 1878 it was fully understood
by a few to be one of the best flow-
ers the honey bee could feast upon
for its store of honey. It appears that
it is so well satisfied with it as a forage
plant that during the season of its
bloom few other flowers are visited.
After the flower was engraved by us
in 1874, it was seen by Miss Aman-
da Parsons of East Gloucester,
Mass., and pronounced by her as
a very exact representation of the
flower as it grew in her father's pasture
where her bees revelled in its sweet-
ness. Miss Parsons sent us a tumbler
of the honey made at the season when
her bees gave their whole time to
gathering honey from its flowers and
truly it was no longer a question of its
sweetness, whiteness, or purity ; nor a
doubt of choice in flowers distin-
guished by the honey bee. Doubt-
less a traffic could be built up for the
sale of plants by the thousand or ten
thousand, for it is practicable to grow
it by the acre, on a great variety of
soil.

Downing of Newberg, N. Y., who
was known as the highest authority
as a judge of fruit who was not lacking
in his correct judgn^ent of flowers,
wrote us from Newberg, N. Y., Feb.
24, 1878: "the Clethra has always
been a favorite shrub with me, flower-
ing at a time when there are but few
shrubs in bloom. Its fragance is de-
lightful. It is not planted so much
as it should be."

The cultivation of the Clethra is
very simple, growing generally on cool
or moist soils often in shady locations ;
it is also found in strange contrast
growing in dry ledgy pastures in
patches of small and quite large di-
mensions to the exclusion of all other

shrubs, flowering in the most glaring
sun and remaining in bloom several
weeks. This exposed situation was
on the extreme point of Cape Ann,
Mass., in open pasture land.

To grow it by the acre, for bees,
well ploughed land, planted in one
to two feet apart, three feet be-
tween the rows or four thousand to ten
thousand to the acre, cultivated by
horse and cultivator as long as the
plants will admit, as the plants extend
on all sides after the fashion of the
old purple lilac or the sweet scented
syringa, in a few years a complete
mass of the Clethra will occupy the
ground affording pasture for the
countless numbers of the honey bee.
Reading, Mass.

NO TES FR OM ENTERPRISE
APIARY.

By C. M. Goodspeed.
STARTING AN APIARY.

It is considered good advice to
give a beginner, to tell him to buy
only a few swarms to start with
and let his experience grow with
them. To this nearly every bee-
keeper will assent.

Next comes the perplexing
question of hive and management.
We all have ourpeihive and theo-
ries of management, and we are
apt to crowd our ideas on people
pretty strongly whether we are
right or not. We now have a mul-
titude of hives to choose from,
many of them good and more of
them too complicated and theoreti-
cal to be of any pi'actical utility.

It is a strange though well es-
tablished fact that nearly all apia-
rists, somewhere in their "Bee
Fever" experience, have had an
atrtaek of hive-inventing which has
lasted them until after promulgat-
ing two or three worthless boxes

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

85

they call hives. A year or so has
found most of this class of hives
in use as "hens' nests ;" and the
originators, settling down on some
old standard hive, watch the
next generation of beginners do
exactly the same thing only to be
repeated ad infinitum. Why waste
time and money ?~ It is the experi-
enced who are competent to give
us good ideas in this direction.
Large crops may be secured from
almost any of the hives in gen-
eral use. I use the L. hive and
frame because it is best adapted to
my wants. I would not use a
shallower hive on account of win-
tering and I get more surface on
top for boxes than I would if I
used a deep frame, and if I wish
to buy or sell I have the hive and
frame that is more widely used than
any other. It costs too much to
change a whole apiar3^ for every new
scheme that comes up. Experi-
ment with a few at a time. The
market price of honey has declined,
the cost of producing must keep
pace. In choosing a hive, avoid as
much as possible all loose blocks,
wedges or anything easily lost.

The brood chamber should be
variable in size, ranging from the
wants of a one-frame nucleus to
the full working force of two strong
colonies united in one, and in
either case everything must be
snug and warm.

I use a single-walled hive and
winter in the cellar. If I wintered
out-of-doors I should use a chaff
hive by all means, and I am not
sure but I should build a hive cal-
culated to winter two stocks in
and be packed with chaff besides.
I want a hive that is equally well
adapted to the production of comb
and extracted honey. At present
our market demands comb honey,
but occasionally a colony will be
obstinate ; then we take ofl' all box-
es and arrange for extracting.

Thorn HilL N. Y.

FOREIGN NOTES.
By Arthur Todd.

L'Apiculteiir for February con-
tains a description illustrated by
wood cuts, of a comb foundation
machine, which was exhibited at
the late conference at Milan, Italy,
and which obtained a medal. It
is extremely simple in construct-
tion, and suitable for the manu-
facture at home of the foundation
one would require for an ordinary
apiary. There are two metallic
plates, one side of each being en-
graved, the same as the present
comb foundation machines.

These engraved surfaces are set
opposite each other, and the two
plates hinged together so as to
close up ; the one against the other,
more or less, as thick or thin foun-
dation is required. To each plate,
at the side farthest from the hinge,
is attached a handle by means of
which the plates can be readily
moved on the hinges. They then
remind one forcibly of a set of
waffle irons. A bath of melted
wax is prepared large and deep
enough to permit of these hinged
plates being plunged therein while
kept apart by the handles. The
plates, previous to plunging in the
wax bath, are plunged in starchy
water while in the wax bath, the
two handles are brought together,
which action, by closing together
the plates, encloses between them
a film of melted wax. While kept
closed the plates are lifted from
the wax bath and plunged into a
bath of ice-cold starchy water.
When sufficiently cold the plates
are separated, and the sheet of
comb foundation is found between.

The present cost of such a ma-
chine seems to be not much over
$4.00.

The use of the plates is not new,
nor is even the hinging of them,
but the addition of the handles,

86

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

and the idea of enclosing between
the plates a film of hot wax, and
cooling the same in situ seem
to me to be an "original idea" and
sufficient to warrant the appella-
tion of "Inventor" to Monsieur
Guazzoni.

The season for "Introduction of
Queens" is now gaining upon us
fast, and as among our English
brethren the "Senimius" system
has proved very successful, it may
not be out of place to give some
particulars of Mr. Senimius'
methods.

First Method. Upon receipt of
a queen, go to the hive, and remove
that one to be superseded (or
otherwise). At dusk take the new
queen quite alone (after having
kept her so for not less than
thirty minutes previously, but
quite warm, and moreover, with-
out food meanwhile) ; lift quilt at
one corner, drive bees back with
very little smoke, and then permit
the queen to run down. Close the
hive and make no examination un-
til after forty-eight hours. Leave
the operation until so late that a
lamp is necessary.

Second Method. When queen
is received, at ouce make up a nu-
cleus to receive her, thus : from a
strong colon}'- take one frame of
hatching brood, with adhering
bees, and place in a nucleus hive,
then shake off most of tlie bees
from another comb into such small
hive, and on either side of the
one containing brood place one
comb of honey ; close entrance
with perforated zinc, and place on
top a sheet of straining cloth,
tacked to a simple frame. Thus
securely confined, and having am-
ple ventilation, they are to be
talten into a warm dark room. In
a few minutes finding themselves
confined, and queenless, a great
u[)roar will be heard ; now slide

frame of strainer cloth off one cor-
ner, and let queen run in, keeping
bees back with little smoke if nec-
essary. Close again, and let them
remain in-doors until the third day,
when stand out where desired.
After a day or two give another
frame of hatching brood which re-
peat at intervals of seven days, or
as often as they appear able to
cover more combs, until well estab-
lished.

Philadelphia^ Pa.

NEW OBSERVATIONS OF

THE NATURAI HISTORY

OR BEES.

Br Francis Huber.

(Continued from p. 253, Vol. III.)

If you have satisfactory evidence
that the matter seen on the last rings
of the female is truly masculine, it is
more than mere presumption in favor
of the truth.

Perhaps it may be necessary that
the male should seize the female
under the belly, which cannot be
easily done but in the air. The
large opening at the extremity, which
you have observed in so particular a
condition, seems to correspond with
the singular size of the organs of the
male.

You wish that I should suggest
some new experiments on these in-
dustrious republicans. In doing so,
I shall take the greatest pleasure and
interest, as I know to what extent you
possess the valuable art of combining
ideas, and of deducing from this com-
bination, results adapted to the dis-
covery of new facts. A few at this
moment occur to me.

It may be proper to attempt the
artificial fecundation of a virgin
queen with a pencil, at the same time
observing every precaution to pre-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

87

vent error. This experiment, you are
aware, has already succeeded with
more than one animal.

To ascertain that the queen, which
has left the hive for impregnation, is
the same that returns to deposit her
eggs, you will find it necessary to
colour the thorax with some varnish
resisting humidity. It will be proper
also to paint the thorax of a consid-
erable number of workers in order
to discover the duration of their life,
which is a more secure method than
slight mutilations.

That the worm may be hatched,
the egg must be fixed almost verti-
cally by one end near the bottom of
the cell. Is it true that it is unpro-
ductive unless when in this position ?
Unable to determine the fact I leave
it to the decision of experiment.

I formerly mentioned to you that
I had long doubted the real nature
of the small ovular substances depos-
ited by the queens in the cells, and
my inchnation to suppose them min-
ute worms not yet begun to expand.

Their elongated figure seems to
favor my conjecture. It would be
expedient therefore to watch them
with the utmost assiduity from the
instant of production until the period
of exclusion. If the integument
bursts there can be no doubt that
these (minute) substances are real
eggs.

I return to the mode of union
taking place. The height that the
queen and the males rise to in the
air prevents us from seeing what
passes between them ; on which ac-
count the hive should be put in an
apartment with a very lofty ceiling.

M. de Reaumur's experiment con-
fining a queen with several males in
a glass vessel, merits repetition ; and
if, instead of a vessel, a glass tube
some inches in diameter and several
feet long were used perhaps some-
thing satisfactory could be dis-
covered.

\_To be continued.']

EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

This number completes the third
3'ear's existence of the American
Apiculturist. One who has not ex-
perienced the difficulties and dis-
couragements attendant upon the
starting a publication of any kind,
has but little idea of what must be
endured in order to make such an
enterprise a success. The friends
of the Apiculturist promptly ral-
lied to its support, but we found
from experience that the success
of our journal needed something
more than enthusiastic friends.
However, the "struggle " long ago
ended and we can assure our read-
ers and friends that the " Api"
has come to stay. We believe the
Apiculturist will maintain its well-
earned reputation " as the best bee-
journal. " At any rate, every etfort
will be made to make it so.

Our correspondents are among
the best in the world, and its pres-
ent manager has had thirty years'
practical experience in bee culture.
We have combined in the Apicul-
turist every element to make it
what our friends claim for it,
namely : " the best bee journal pub-
lished in the English language."

It is pleasant to note here that
every mail bring us encouraging
words from every state in the"Un°
ion, and our subscription list is
increasing at a very satisfactory
rate.

The reader will notice that we
have set the type nearly solid in
our reading columns, thus practi-
cally adding nearly four pages to
the "Api." When our subscrip-
tion list reaches a certain point,
four pages more of solid reading
matter will be added. Now, friends',
if you wish to aid us in publishing
the best bee journal and one strictly
devoted to your interests, you can
do so by sending us your subscrip-
tions and getting your neighbor

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

beekeeper to do the same. If tlie
Apiculturist lacks in anything to
make it interesting and worthy of
your support, we would be glad to
have you make any suggestions
which would in your opinion, be of
advantage to all concerned.

AN EXPLANATION.

— Editors, like other people, are
sometimes imposed upon. We
have in mind a case of this kind
and where great injustice was done
an innocent party. In July, 1885,
the former editor of the Api-
culturist admitted to its columns
a communication of a personal na-
ture reflecting severely and most
unjustly upon the editor of one of
our esteemed contemporaries. The
writer of this was familiar with the
circumstances and strongly pro-
tested against the publication of
said article. As we had no voice
in the management of the Apicul-
turist at that time our opinions
and suggestions were not re-
spected ; consequentlj' the commu-
nication duly appeared as above
stated. After the journal had
gone to press and it was too late
to remedy the matter, the author
of the unjust article wrote the edi-
tor of the Apiculturist that the
trouble (if any existed) had been
satisfactorily settled, and expressed
his regrets that he had made the
matter public.

Mr. Root has shown a disposi-
tion to deal fairly with all people.
We make the above explanation In
justice to the editor of "Glean-

— The season of 1886 is close at
hand and the thoughtful apiarist
will have his hives, sections and
other apparatus in readiness in or-
der to take every advantage of the
coming honey harvest. In the
course of a few weeks the experi-

enced bee-master can readily se-
lect the colonies most likely to
produce the largest amounts of
hone}^ As is generally the case,
some of the most prosperous stocks
the past season will be likel}' to
fall behind the coming season.
The causes of this are generally bad
wintering, or the queen has "played
out." Such colonies should be at-
tended to early, and by a little extra
care and nursing they will come
out all right. All the plans for the
season should now be made so that
there will be no confusion during
the busy days.

— So far as reports have reached
us, bees are wintering better than
for many 3'ears. This is especially
true of those left on the summer
stands. We have often stated the
fact that, if bees could have a good
cleansing flight in February there
was no doubt about their coming
through in good condition. Very
few colonies after they have been
confined in the hives three irionths,
can survive such a "blizzard" as
struck New England Feb. 26, and
continued without abatement for
five days. As bees had a good
flight but two weeks previous they
came out all right.

— Several correspondents have
asked for our opinion regarding the
latest new book and beehive. We
knovv but little about either of
them, but we venture the opinion
that both have some real merit,
though we cannot say that these
things will "revolutionize" the
world so far as bee culture is con-
cerned. Experience has shown
that the largest amounts of honey
have been taken from the Lang-
stroth hive, but not by the author
of the new bee book. Mr. Heddon
has never shown to the public that
he has made beekeeping so much
of a success as many other apia-
rists. There is, in a remote town
in Vermont, a very quiet man who

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

89

is making a success in keeping
bees. He sends his lioney to mar-
ket by tons. This season he has,
so it is said, cleared $12,000 from
his apiaries.

Mr. Heddon's hive is nothing new,
as is shown in a recent number of
"Gleanings," and is also shown by
Mr. J, M. Shuck, and many 3'^ears
farther back by Mr. John M. Price.

If the title of the new book was
"Success in Advertising" it would
be in our opinion more appropri-
ate. As an advertiser Mr. Hed-
don has been a success, not that
he has expended the largest amount
of money in such business but he
has done more of it and at less ex-
pense than any other person in the
bee business.

TOPICS
OF GENERAL INTEREST.

KEEP THE HEALTH OF THE APIARY
GOOD.

No apiary can be kept up to the
standard in points of hardiness,
vigor and general health, unless
new blood is frequently infused.
It is good policy to purchase a few
queens each season for such a pur-
pose, if for no other. So far as
we have observed, all the animal
kingdom shows marked and un-
mistakable evidence of degenera-
tion when in-breeding is practised
to any great extent.

First-class queens can now be
purchased at such low figures, no
one need let his apiaries deterio-
rate for want of new blood to im-
prove tliem.

WHEN TO PUT THE SECTIONS ON.

The proper time to put the sec-
tions on is when the hive seems
crowded with bees, the honey pro-
ducing flowers abundant, and the
weather favorable for a flow of
honey. It is hardly advisable to
put them on under other conditions.
10

Very little is gained by putting a
few sections on a hive containing
a weak colony. By so doing, the
temperature of the brood-chamber
is lessened by the increased venti-
lation given through the sections.
If a colony is not sufficiently strong
in numbers to work in a full set of
sections, the method given in the
March number, page 52, should
be adopted. That plan will be
found to work well in any case.

CAN SWARMING BE PREVENTED?

There are several methods for
controlling swarming, but none as
yet have been devised to prevent
it, unless it is by the " reversible"
hive system. Even in that case,
it would be a vast deal of trouble
if the apiary contained several hun-
dred or even but 100 colonies.

If such a practice is adopted, the
hives must be reversed, at least,
once, every three days, as all queen
cells are sealed on the fourth day
from the time they are commenced.
And if a larva one day old is se-
lected for a queen, the cell vvill be
capped on the third day, though
usually no queen cell is sealed un-
til the fourth day, when, if tiie
weather is pleasant, a swarm will
issue. Hence the importance of
reversing the hive often, to pre-
vent swarming. When the cells
are reversed at such an early stage
in the development of a queen,
the larva is destroyed and other
cells must be made before the col-
ony will cast a swarm. In our opin-
ion, a colony treated in such a way
several times would soon become
discouraged and give up the swarm-
ing fever.

FASTENING FOUNDATION IN SECTIONS.

The following will be found a
good method for fastening founda-
tion in sections : cut the foundation
in V-shaped pieces, and have at
hand an iron pan containing a mix-
ture (equal parts) of hot beeswax
and rosin. If many sections are to

90

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

be prepared, a lamp should be ar-
ranged to keep the mixture at a
proper temperature. When all is
ready, dip the edge of the founda-
tion lightly in the wax and quickly
place it inthe section. If properly
done, the comb will adhere firmly
to the section, and the heat gene-
rated by the bees will not loosen
it, and not one piece in one hun-
dred will break down. The most
important part of this operation is
in keeping the wax at the proper
temperature. If too warm, it will
melt the foundation, and if too cold
it will not adhere properly. The
right temperature will soon be
learned by a little practice. This
arrangement will not do to fasten
heavy foundation in frames. For
such a purpose, I prefer a thin
piece of wood which should be
placed on the foundation, and nails
driven through it, and the founda-
tion into the top bar, then the
comb can be bent into the frame.
— The new side passage sec-
tions obviate nearly all the objec-
tions that can be urged against
the use of separators. As the
bees can go each side of the sep-
arators from one row of sections to
another, all but about ^ of an
inch at the top and bottom edges
of the separators, it will be seen
at once that there is no place for
the lodgment of propolis and
hence no sticking in handling sec-
tions in cases or wide frames.

— The hibernation of bees is a
settled fact when wintering in the
best conditions. It is the key that
will solve to a great extent the
wintering problem.

— Bees usually begin to breed
after the first free flight in late win-
ter. If it happens about the 1st
of February they begin then a
small circle of brood in one comb.
If the flight does not take place till
about the first of March they will
then begin to breed more exten-
sively and soon have a circle six

inches in diameter in one or more
combs.

— Bees in warm cellars begin
breeding earlier than is usually
thought, — from the 1st and the
10th of February but commence
only a small circle. From this
time on they cease to hibernate
perfectly.

APICULTURIST BEE F4RM

NOTES.

IMPLEMENTS FOR THE APIARY.

A few tools and appliances are
needed in every apiary. Below
will be found descriptions and illus-
trations of some of the most useful.

The little corn or whisk broom
(Fig. 1) is a most convenient ar-
ticle and one used at the bee-farm,
more than any other, except perhaps
the smoker. When a frame of
brood or honey is taken from a
hive from which the bees are to be
removed, we find the little article
better than anything else for brush-
ing off the bees. A brush made of
bristles or feathers will irritate the
bees, while this little whisk will
not.

THE HONEY KNIFE.

The honey knife will be found
a most useful tool during the en-
tire season. Not only is it used
for uncapping the cells when ex-
tracting is to be done, but it is
just the thing for shaving the
combs in the brood-chamber when
they are bulgy, as they are apt to
be, dovvn to the proper thickness.
Another use to which such a knife
can be applied is for shaving off
the cappings from drone-brood ;
and, by the way, this operation
should be done when the brood
has been capped about ten days.
Have the knife sharp and after the
cappings have been removed, sus-
pend the frame with the hand, b}'-
one corner, and with the handle of
the knife strike the lower corner

THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST.

91

gently and the headless drone-
brood will drop out. We usually
remove the bees from the combs to
be thus treated. Fig. 2 represents
the "Peabody Hone\' Knife," which
we have found as good as an^^ for
use in the apiary. There are none
of them for sale now ; but pre-
sume there are other knives equally
as good.

AN ORIGINAL SMOKER.

When we first began to keep
bees, such a thing as a "Bellows "
smoker was unknown. In those
days, the oi^Jy thing known to us
(now old fellows) was a tin pipe,
illustrated in Fig. 3. The barrel
of this pipe is about six inches long,
seven-eighths inch in diameter, and
has wooden pieces at each end.

The end through which the smoke
is blown has a tin tube passing
through it so that the smoke can be
directed to any point. The pipe is
held in the mouth, while the hands
are at liberty. Although the Bel-
lows smoker is far superior for
handling bees, yet the old pipe has
not lost its usefulness, as we find
plenty of business for it every day
rom May to Oct. The most im-

portant use for it is in introducing
queens. For nearly thirty years
we have introduced both fertile
and virgin queens by fumigating
the bees with tobacco smoke, and
venture to say that no one has had
better success by any plan known
to beekeepers. Our method requires
but a few moments for the opera-
tion, and not one queen in one
hundred is lost. This plan is the
only one b}^ which a fertile queen
can be removed from the largest
colony and a strange queen intro-
duced immediately. A full de-
scription of this method will be
given in a later number.

The Bellows smoker need not be
described here ; nearly eveiy bee-
keeper has one of some good pat-
tern. A new one has just been put
upon the market by Clias. Muth
& Son. It is made of all metal,
and as far as we can judge is a
perfect smoker.

THE FOUNTAIN PUMP.

Where large numbers of colonies
are kept, a small " force pump" of
some sort is needed for sprinkling
bees when they swarm. Not only
can the bees be more easily han-
dled, but they are less inclined to
sting or to fly when wet. There
are several kinds of such pumps in
the market, but none of them are
so good for sprinkling bees, as the
"Whitman Fountain Pump. " It
is very substantially and nicely
made. It is also very handy for
washing windows, or for putting
out fire on the roof of a building ;
instead of running for a ladder take
the Whitman pump and a bucket
of water, and the roof of any house
of ordinary heiglit can be reached.

The price of these pumps is a
drawback to their general use.
We would not take $50 for ours
although it cost but $7.

OUR BEES.

By the time this number of the
"Apiculturist" reaches our readers

92

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

we shall have removed our bees
from the cellar. They will be
treated as advised in the question
and answer department. Early in
May, twenty-five of the strongest
colonies will be selected and used
for queen-rearing. We hope to be
able to ship queens by May 25.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

QUESTIONS BY OLD BEEKEEPEK.

1. We will now suppose it is warm
enough to place the bees upon the sum-
mer stands, and that they have had a
good flight. What is the next step to be
taken to protect the bees against injury?
from cold and to induce brood-rearing?

2. Do you contract the brood-cham-
ber by removing some of the combs and
closing in with a division-board?

3. Do you contract the entrance?
How much?

4. If you feed to stimulate, when do
you begin? Do you use syrup or can-
dy for food?

5. Do you let the bees have flour to
work in when first placeli on the stands ?

[The object of the above questions
is to learn just how to treat bees
during the month of April, in order to
get them in the best possible condition
for the coming season.]

ANSWERS BY A. E. MANUM.

1. Remove all dead bees and surplus
combs that the hive may be clean and the
brood space contracted in proportion to
the size of the colony, as warmth and
cleanliness are both essential in early
spring; also see that the bees have plenty
of stores and a good queen, then leave
thnn undisturbed for a while.

2. Yes, most certainly.

3. Yes, according to the strength of the
colony, from gXi to 1X2 in. (in summer
my entrance is i^X 14 inches).

4. I do not feed for stimulating further
than to uncap the honey nearest to the
brood. But were I to feed for that pur-
pose, I would most assuredly feed honey
if I had it, because bees can rear brood
so much faster on it than with sugar, and
besides the brood is more healthy and
hardy.

5. No; it is not necessary here nor
would I advise feeding flour in any local-
ity. Keep the hcps quiet in spring.
Nature will provide pollen when needed.

[In a private note Mr. Manum says :
" At the present writing my 726 colonies
are all alive. I winter in chaff hives."
We think the record is a hard one to beat.
—Ed.]

ANSWERS BY G. H. MARTIN.

1 . If the bees are wintered in a cellar
or special beehouse, keep them in until
settled weather, or until soft maple and
willows bloom. If the bees have wintered
well, there is a good force to start business
with. There is but little necessity to over-
haul the frames only to see that they have
plenty of honey and are tucked up warm.

2. If the swarm has lost a considerable
amount of bees, contract the brood cham-
ber.

3. Leave room for only a few bees.
Depends upon the size of the swarm. A
weak swarm needs but space for one or
two bees to pass.

4. Feed only where the bees are short
of stores. I use candy made of pulverized
sugar and honey.

5. If bees are set from a cellar at the
proper time, they will get pollen from nat-
ural sources. Bees wintered in chaff hives
could profitably be fed flour to advantage,
if the weather allowed it. Water can also
be given to bees in early spring to keep
them in the hive contentedly during in-
clement weather.

ANSWERS BY DR. G. L. TINKER.

1. The next step is to see that they
have plenty of stores for brood rearing.
If the stock of food on hand is small, in-
stinct teaches them, when no honey is com-
ing in, that the danger of starvation is
too great to warrant the rearing of much
brood.

2. If the colony has been well, win-
tered, and there is a fair colony of healthy
bees, it is not at all necessary to contract
the brood chamber. If the bees are few
in number or diseased, then contract, pre-
vent all upward escape of heat, and be
sure to carry the colony every cool night
into a warm, dark room, and keep them
there when the weather is too windy or
too cool for safe flight.

3. It is best to contract the entrance of
all colonies to three or five inches accord-
ing to strength.

4. Bees having plenty of stores do not
need stimulating. We prefer to feed, when
necessary, sealed honey. If we have noth-
ing else we would feed candy when it is
too cool for the bees to fly, and warm sy-
rup at other times.

5. If no natural pollen is to be had,
and the weather is suitable for bees to
work, then flour should be placed in tin

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

93

pans with a piece of old comb near, for the
bees to work upon. We place the pans
on old newspapers, else the bees will scat-
ter the flour over the ground and gather
up much dirt with it.

ANSWERS BY J. E. POND, JR.

1 . Contract to the size of colony, that
is, leave only as many frames of comb as
the bees can cover fairly. Close top of
hive tightly so as to get rid of all upward
ventilation. Pack tops with quilts or
blankets, so as to retain all heat generated.
The moisture thus caused will save the
trouble of leaving the hive for the water
needed for brood. If there is an ample
amount of stores, uncap a few cells daily;
if not, feed just enough to support bees
and brood. Handle the frames just as
much as is actually necessary and no more.

2. Yes, sometimes. I am in doubt,
however, whether anything is gained by
so doing unless the spring is severely cold.
I have had good results from leaving the
full complement of frames in a ten frame
L. hive.

3. I do not contract the entrance ex-
cept to prevent robbing, except with a very
small colony. The entrance should be
proportioned to the size of the colony
always. The full width for ten well cov-
ered frames; a smaller number in propor-
tion.

4. I don't take much stock of late in
so-called stimulative feeding, as I find but
little is gained by so doing. If the hives
contain stores in plenty, brood rearing
progresses as rapidly as is economical. If
there is lack of stores, feed enough to sup-
ply the wants and needs of the colony.

5. I have done so; if I had frames of
comb containing pollen I should give them
in preference. I have found at times that
bees will take flour — rye preferably — and
that freely; at other times they will not.
No harm is done by feeding it, and good
may result, so as a rule I should advise it
till natural pollen is being gathered.

My April treatment of my bees will de-
pend largely upon the season, and their
condition. I can give no rigid rule, as I
use none. The general principles shown
in above answers, if followed, will give
good results ; at least they do so with my-
self.

ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE.

I. Your question, or rather compound
question, is one of practical import, and
hence of deep interest to all of us.

I winter my bees pretty much in the
same manner each season. They are left
in at the close of the honey harvest. If
they have plenty of stores they are not in-
terrupted at all. Early in March, if the

weather will admit of handling bees, I ex-
amine every colony, being very careful
not to irritate the bees more than can be
helped. The hives are cleaned out if
they need cleansing, and the colony is lo-
cated in the south side of the hive. Cover
all with a dry, warm quilt and newspaper
over that, and weight down wilii some
boards or shingles to confine the warm air.
I regard this as being of much consequence.

2. No. I have discontinued that prac-
tice. A good, straight comb is as good a
division board as I can get.

3. If the colony is under size, I do to
one or two inches.

4. I do not feed unless the bees are short
of stores. Extracted granulated honey
rolled in coarse flour and laid on the frames
under the quilt. Oil cake meal is the most
powerful substitute for pollen that I have
tried.

5. Yes, if there is warm weather before
natural pollen is to be had.

ANSWERS BY IRA BARBER.

1. I do not protect them from cold to
induce brood rearing, and have never
had any fears but what they would rear all
the brood necessary to keep them in a
flourishing condition.

2. I never contract the brood chamber,
or used division boards.

3. I have two fly holes in all hives, and
close the upper one in all hives that do not
occupy all the combs from side to side, and
top to bottom.

4. I do not feed to stimulate brood rear-
ing, until about ten or fifteen days before
clover bloom. At that time, there is always
a dearth of flowers in this section, and a
large portion of the colonies will by this
time have all the honey consumed, that
was left after wintering, and if not fed,
brood rearing would soon cease. I would
use the lump feeders, and keep the bees
feeding as well as possible until there is
something for them to do. If the feed is
given as thin as they will take it, no robbing
will follow, nor will they store more than
is required for immediate use. I prefer
maple sugar for this purpose.

5. I do not give flour, as we have plenty
of pollen whenever our bees can fly to
gather it. My bees are in the cellar as a
rule, until the last of April or first of May.

ANSWERS BY HENRY ALLEY.

I. After having a good flight, I would,
as soon as the weather is warm enough to
do so without injury to the bees, thoroughly
cleanse the hives of all dead bees and
mouldy combs, or whatever might be det-
rimental to the health of the colony.
Would stop all upward ventilation and pro-

94

THE AMERICAN APICULTVRIST.

tect the bees and combs by placing some
warm material over the frames, then cover
all with a close fitting cap.

2. If the colony is small, would confine
the bees on a few frames, say about five.

3. Contract the entrance to one-half
inch if the colony is a weak one, and leave
it open 'about two inches where a colony
is strong.

4 I advise feeding a small amount of
pure honey to stimulate brood rearing.

5. If the weather is pleasant and the
bees flying freely and seem to be searching
for pollen, I think something should be
given them as a substitute, until natural
pollen can be had. I have found wheat
flour an excellent thing for the purpose.
There is an advantage in giving wheat
flour. When placed in some warm corner
of the apiary, the bees will, if the sun shines
only for an hour, take enough into the
hive to last them several days. Cotton
seed meal is also said to be a very good
substitute for pollen.

A BUNDLE OF INQUIRIES.

London Bridge., Va.
Editor Am. Apiculturist.

I am not a candidate for literary
honors, but I am anxious to know
which race of bees is generally
considered by the majority of
beekeepers to be the best and most
profitable. This question is very
important to beekeepers who have
a number of hives of native bees
as I have, which they wish to im-
prove by introducing other bees of
the best race ; and now, to arrive
at a conclusion on the question, I
would like to ask the following
questions to be answered by an
authority, such as Mr. H. Alley
or one who has had the opportunity
of judging.

1. Which race has the most
prolific queens? that is, which
queen will occupy the greatest
number of brood frames, and how
many?

2. Which is the most gentle
race ?

3. What bees have the longest
tongue ?

4. What bee can carry the most
honey ?

5. If a strong colony of each
race are all placed side and side
in the same apiary, everything
being equal, which will gather the
most honey ?

6. Wliat hive is most used?
and what one do you use in the
experimental bee farm ?

R. D. A.

ANSWERS BY OLD BEEKEEPER.

1. We have found the Syrian
queens the most prolific of any
race we have tested. They will
use every available cell for brood.
While queens of this race are very
prolific, many do not consider them
the best bees for profit. Syrians
and Italians crossed are far supe-
rior to the pure Syrian in every
respect. We would select the Ital-
ians for their mild disposition,
and the Syrians for vigor and hardi-
ness. These two qualities com-
bined produce a most desirable
strain. Syrian drones should be
used to mate the Italians, though
it would make but little difference
which way they were crossed. We
have known this strain of bees
to occupy fifteen L. frames with
brood.

2. The Italians and Carniolans
are the most gentle races.

3. Mr. S. M. Locke has a
very ingenious instrument for
measuring the tongue of the bee.
We believe it has not been tested,
and so far as we know no one can
answer this question correctly. It
has been said that the Italians have
the longest tongues, as they work
and gather honey from the seed or
second crop of red clover. This
does not demonstrate that the
tongue of the Italian, bee is longer
than thatof otlier bees, as we have
found bees of nearly every race
and strain working upon red clover,
equally as freely as the Italians.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURISl.

95

4. The only reply we can make
to this question is to say in our
opinion the largest and strongest
bees will carry the most hone}'.
The Syrians and Italians crossed
combine these two desirable qual-
ities.

5. The strain of bees just men-
tioned.

6. The standard Langstroth
hiA-e is preferred to any we have
tested. Last year we sent out
circulars for information regarding
bees and honey. One of the ques-
tions was this : "What style of hive
do you use?" Ninety per cent of
those who replied said they used
the standard L. hive, and also
stated that most of their beekeep-
ing friends used the same. There
are other good hives in use, but
none possess so maay valuable and
desirable features as the Lang-
stroth. In order to make a success
of any style of hive, one must learn
from experience how to use them.

BEES ROBBING FROM EACH OTHER.

Oneonta, N.Y.
I am troubled some with bees
stealing from each other, please tell
us in the "Api" the best remedy
for it and oblige,

R. E. Mervin.

ANSWER BY OLD BEEKEEPER.

Contract the entrance to the
hives to about t^-o inches, provid-
ed the Aveather is not too hot, and
no honey is being gathered. In
our opinion but little robbing is
going on in this apiary or there
would be more trouble than his
question seems to imply.

Burnhavi, Maine.

1. Would it do to sow oats or
other grain with Bokhara clover
the first year?

2. Would Bokhara clover or
borage do well on burnt land that
would be somewhat weedy?

3. How much borage seed to
an acre?

4. Does borage hold the ground
by seed itself?

5. Is it a bad weed?

O. A. Dodge.
[We will deem it a favor if any
one who has had experience in
such matters will reply to the above
question for the May'^No. — Ed.]

— Send us questions for answers,
and we will get the right person to
answer them.

LETTER BOX.

A GOOD REPORT FROM A BEGINNER.

Mosiertown, Pa.
The following is my report for 1885.
Packed in fall of 1884, five colonies. Lost
one, which was packed in leaves, in win-
tering. One came through strong; three
weak, one very weak— not a quart of bees,
would not cover one space between frames.
Put in between division boards in the
spring and thought if it would build up by
fall it would do well. Yet from that (the
parent) colony took 47^ pounds comb
honey, and had a good swarm, which gave
but 15 pounds surplus. Took in all, 277
pounds surplus, and have ten good colonies
packed out doors in chatf. 1 am but a
beginner in the business, but will do my
best to succeed. Success to the " Apicultu-
rist." Geo. Spitler.

NO LOSS OF bees UP TO FEB. 8.

Wardstown, W. Va.

The weather has been very cold here.
Thermometer registered 20° below zero
the fourth of this month.

My bees are wintering well. I have
not heard of any losses of bees in this
neighborhood yet. C. L. Eakin.

St. Andrews, Out.
editor american aptculturist :
Dear Sir:

The queen you sent me as a premium
came to hand last May in splendid condi-
tion. I at once placed her upon a frame
of sealed brood that was rapidly hatching,
and the whole was then placed in a large
wire case and inserted with the colony to
which I wished to introduce her. In three
days she was busy at work laying, and by
the end of the week she had quite a nu-
cleus. I then removed the frame with the
queen and bees, from the cap, and jilaced
them in the hive and all was well. In all

96

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

the plans for introducing queens, I have not
noticed the use of this large wire cap that
holds a whole frame for that purpose. Its
use involves a little trouble, but it is a very
safe plan. E. W. Panton.

WELL APPRECLA.TED.

Pawtticket, B. I.
Gents: — I congratulate you on the Feb.
No. ofthe"Api." It is full of interest,
and the answers to my questions are worth
the subscription price for one year to me.
Bees are all alive at present and doing well.
Samuel Cushman.

encouraging words.

Paris, Out.
Editor Am. Apiculturist :

I should indeed prove myself un-
grateful if I did not in some way ac-
knowledge the great value that I
received for my two dollars, that I sent
yoa about one year ago. Not only did
I receive Vols. 1 and 2 of the " Ameri-
can Apiculturist," handsomely bound,
also the journal for 1885, together in
due time, the beautiful queen, which
I unfortunately lost while introducing ;
but that was no fault of yours, for she
arrived all right, and through my in-
experience I lost her, which I very
much regretted for she was a fine Ital-
ian. Your journal I consider one of
the best, and it should be in the hands
of every beekeeper, especially the
amateur whom it leads along from one
subject to another, until he is a budding
professional before he knows it. I had
good success with my bees last season
after a cold and backward spring.
F. D. Mitchell.

a good report from a beginner.
Waterville, Me.
February No. of the " Api" at hand,
and I hasten to renew my subscription
as I could not get along without it.

I started in the spring with two col-
onies of bees and now have nine good,
strong ones (or they were so when I
put them in the cellar) and I had taken
away from them nearly 400 lbs. of
honey, which I thought was pretty
good for a second year in the business.
I received a queen from you about the
middle of June, and I put her in a hive
with two frames of bees and a little
brood. When fall came, they had
built up a very strong and beautiful
colony. I took off twenty-eight one
II). boxes and left cnougli for them to
winter on. I think that was doing
well. Addison Dollky.

SAMPLE COPIES.

We live sending out a few sam-
ple copies each month, lioping those
who receive them will appreciate
our efforts to pul)lish a good bee-
journal and at once send us their
subscription by return mail for one
year. If not prepared to remit
the amount for a whole j^ear, we
will accept twenty-five cents in
postage stamps, and mail the Api-
culturist three months to any ad-
dress. Send at once.

If 3'ou are well pleased with our
journal, speak to your beekeeping
neighbors about it, and also send
us their address, and a sample
copy will be sent them.

THE BEST OFFER YET.

Last season we offered one of
our best queens to any one who
would send us a club of five (5)
subscribers and five dollars. This
oflTer brought us a large number of
subscriptions. The same offer will
be continued for 1886. Four hun-
dred nuclei will be used in our
queen-rearing apiaries, and to the
person who will send us the above
number of subscribers we will give
one of the finest goldenyellow Ital-
ian queens that can be selected
from our 400 nuclei, or a queen of
any other race reared at the "Api-
culturist Bee Farm." We liave no
doubt that the person who receives
one of the above queens would re-
fuse ten dollars for her.

To the person sending the larg-
est club will be given an extra
queen, also a queen for each five
subscribers, and to the person send-
ing in the first club will be given a
copy of the third edition of the
"beekeepers' handy book."

price reduced.

Mr. Alley has reduced the price
of his " Hand}^ Book or 22 3'^ears'
experience in queen-rearing," from
$1.50 to $1.10 by mail, or the

AMERICAN APICULTURIST ADVERTISER.

book and drone and queen trap are
sent by mail for $1.50. This is a
line chance to get these two arti-
cles at a ver}' low price.

HOW IS THIS?

To each new subscriber and those
who renew at once for one year, we
will send one of Alley's New Re-
versible Section Cases, each con-
taining enough i-lb. sections, made
up for a standard Langstroth hive, or
any other hive that does not take
more than 28 sections in one case.

In ordering, please give the exact
<limensions of the inside of the cap
of the hive you desire to use the sec-
tions on.

As the entire case, complete
weighs less than ten lbs., the charges
will not exceed 50 cts. to any place
the Am. Express reaches.

This case is new, and its novelty
and simplicity is admired by all.

Any one who will send ten new
subscribers and ^10 will receive one
of the "Bay State Reversible Hives"
complete (except winter case).

GOOD WORDS FOR THE QUEEN TRAP.

The " drone and queen trap" at
hand, and certainly promises all
that is claimed for it, besides being
a marvel of neat workmanship.
Think I will order a quantity, and
thus do away with the intolerable
trouble of climbing for swarms.
Mrs. H. Hills.
lan Falls, Wis.

Please Eead the
Advertisement at the
bottom of this Page. ^^10

Trap received. Am delighted
with it and consider it the " ne
plus ultra" in the bee line. Send
me one dozen. W. M. Heilig.

Lntherville, JId.

CONVENTION NOTE.

The next annual meeting of the
Western N. Y. and JNorthern Pa.
Beekeepers' Association will beheld
at Randolph, N. Y., May 4, 1886.
A. J. Jacobs, Sec.

Jamestown, N. Y.

— Varieties of bees — How nu-
merous are the varieties of bees may
be conceived when it is stated that
of bees found in Great Britain alone,
Kirby, in his monograph, has enu-
merated 2 20 species, and other more
recent observers have increased the
number to 250. The species, how-
ever, which by its commercial im-
portance, as well as by its remarkable
habits and social organization, pre-
sents the greatest interest in the hive-
bee. — Dr. Lardner in the British
Bee Jo If ni a/.

SPECIAL NOTICE,

The Alley drone and queen trap was
patented Nov. 11, 1884. I hear that mam-
beekeepers are making and using them
without the proper right to do so. Rather
than have any of our friends lay themselves
liable, I will sell farm rights at a low figure,
to any who desire to make and use the
traps. Terms given on application.
Address,

Henry Alley,

Wenho.m, Mass.

The American Apiciilturist

sent; FOUR YEARS

to any addie-ss, on receipt of $2. 50. The above
offer includes all the volumes of the Api-
cnlturist IVoni 18S3 to Jan. 1, 1S87. Tlie lirst
three volumes ai-e

Handsomely Bound in Clotli,

and make splendid books for the library or
centre table. It" you want woiks that give the
largetit amount of valuable information on
bee culture you should certainly order the
above. The four volume.'^ contain

Ten Hundred and Sixty Pages,

of valuable reading matter, comprising arti-
cles from the pens of the most prominent
writers and best apiarists in the world. All
for the small sum of $3..'J0.

ADDRESS AMERICAN APICULTURIST,

I » EXSA SI, MA S S .

AMERICAN APICULTURIST ADVERTISER.

nD:E:j^ij:KiS,S' list.

The following: parties deal in siiiii)lies, as bees, f|iieens, etc., and will fuinish price lists upoi:
application. Cards (two lines) inserted in this list for one year, $2. 00. 7.5 ets. for each addi
tional line.

NEW YORK.

"W. E. CLARK, Oriskany, sue. to L. C.
Root, sui)plies, bees, queens, etc.

J. C. Wewmaa & Son, Peoria, supplies,
wood separators and section boxes a spe-
cialty.

L. C. Root, Mohawk, Quinby's New Bee-
keepinjr.

Frank C. Benedict, Perry Centre, prime
com!) foundation, supplies, etc.

G. W. Stanley & Bro., Wyoming, sup-
plies, liees. queens, etc.

"W. T. Falconer, Jamestown, supplies,
etc.

C. M. Goodspeed, Tliorn Hill, Onon.Co.,
bees and queens.

J. Van Deusen & Sons, Sprout Brook,
Mon. Co., flat bottom comb foundation, whole-
sale and retail.

F. J. Crowley, Batavia, supplies, founda-
tion, bees and pure queens of any race.

J.H. Wellis&Co., Canajoharie. flat-bottom
Vandervort and Dunham foundation, whole-
sale and retail, also bees and supplies.

J. Lingenfelter, Akin, Montgomery Co..
Italian and Cyprian bees and queens.

ILLINOIS.

F. A. Snell, Milledgeville, Carroll Co.,
•general ^ui)plies, bee feed seed, etc.

Rev. A. Salisbury, Camargo, Douglas
Co.. bees, queens, etc.

J. V. Cadwell, Cambridge, Henry Co.. sup-
plies and comb foundation.

Wm. Taylor, Sinclair. Morgan Co., Dun-
ham comb foundation.

F. A. Snell, Milledgeville, Carroll Co.,
Italian bees, beehives, sections, extractors,
veils, smokers, comb foundation, etc.

WISCONSIN.

Chas. Olm, Fond du Lac. comb foundation.

J. C. Sayles, Hartford, bees, queens, sup-
plies, etc.

Jas. Forncrook & Co., Watertown, Jeffer-
son Co., supplies.

E. S. Hildeman, Ashippun, Dodge Co.,
Alsyke clover, wliolesale .-ind retail, comb
foundation. Italian bees, and seed potatoes.

H. F.Shadbolt, VVinooski, Sliebovgan Co.,
supplies.

MICHIGAN.

F. ISr. Holmes, Coopersville, Dunham
■comb foundation.

B. Walker & Co., Capac, St. Clair Co.,
supplies. One piece sec'ions a specialty.

J. H. Robertson, Pewamo, Ionia Co.,
bees, queens, etc.

A. J. Cook, Lansing, Pub. Cook's Manual,
or Bee-keeper's Guide.

H. D. Cutting, Clinton, bees, queens and
suuplies.

D. S. Buell, Union City, Branch Co.,
manufacturer of beekeepers' supplies; sec-
tion bo.ves. at wliolesale price to dealer.s.
Send for |>riccs. v^i c^.-^ ^, ,j

"Wm. O. Burk', Crystal, Mont. Co., sup-
plies and Dunham foundation.

OHIO.

C. F. Muth, 97G-97S Central Ave., Cincin-
nati, supplies.

E. D. Gillett, Briglilon, Lorain Co., Ital-
ian bees, queens, etc.

"Wm. Ballantine, Sago, Musk. Co., bees,
queens ami supplies.

D. A. McCord, Oxford, Butler Co., bees,
.and queens.

E. T. Lewiii & Co., Toledo, apiarian sup-
plies. ]««(;.

J. H. "Woodworth & Co., West Williams-
field, Ashtaijula Co., supplies.
IOWA.

Dr I. P. Wilson, Burlington, golden Ital-
ian queens, etc.

D. B. Brown, Des ISIoines, Italian bees,
and queens, best winter hive and comb foua
dation. Seiul for circular.

E. Kretehmer, Coburg, Montgomery Co.,
general bee-supplies, queens, and books.

L. E. Mercer, Lenox, supplies, bees,
queens, etc.

B. Y. Perkins, Jeflerson. Greene Co.,
comb foundation, bees, queens, etc.

E. Ij.Briggs,NVilton Junction, Italian bees,
queens, etc.

J. M. Shuck, Des Moines, Patentee, and
Manufacturer of the invertible fhive and
surplus case.

INDIANA.

P. F. Rhodes, New Castle, Henry Co.,
bees, queens, etc.

I. R. Good, Nappanee, Elkhart Co., bees,
queens, comb foundation, etc.

A. B. Miller & Son, Wakarusa, Elkhart
Co., supplies.

S. Valentine, Hagerstown, Wash. Co.,
headquarters for the Albino bees.
PENN.

Arthur Todd, Germantown, Phil., sup-
plies, bees, queens, poultry, etc.

J. T. Fletcher, West "Monterey, Clarion
Co.. supplies, bees, thorough class poultry
and swine. Circulars free.

H. H. Brown, Lightstreet, Columbia Co.,
supplies, hees. queens, etc.

J. Vandervort, Lacyville, Vandervort
comb foundation mills.

TENX.

C. C. Vaughn, Columbia, bees, queens,
etc.

S. D. McLean, Columbia, bees, queens,
etc.

VERMONT.
Hilas D. Davis, Bradford, supplies, bees,
queens.

LOUISIANA.
Paul Viallon, Bayou Goula, supplies,
bees, queens, etc.

MARYLAND.
Chas. H. Lake, Baltimore, queens, sec-
tions, foundation. (Specialties).
TEXAS.

B. F. Carroll, Dresden, Navarro Co.,
Cyprian bees and queens a specialty.

MAINE.
J. B. Mason, Mechanic's Falls, supplies,
bees, queens, etc.

W. H. Norton, North Madison, supplies,
bees, queens, etc.

GEORGIA.
Chas. R. Mitchell, Hawkinsville, Italian
bees, queens, silkworm eggs, etc.

Dr. J. P. H. Brown, Augusta, bees,
queens, full colonies or nuclei.
MASS.
Wm. W. Cary, Colerain, successor
to Wm. W. Cary & Son, breeders, bees,
queens, and dealer in apiarian supplies.
Price list free.

A. O. Crawford & Co., S. Weymoi4>;h, pure
Italian queens, bees and supplies.
iMISSlSSIPPl.
Oscar F. Bledsoe, Union Apiary, Grena-
da, Bees, (.iueens and .sniiplies.
WKST VIRGINIA.

C. L. Eakin, Wadestown, Monongalia Co.,
W. Va. Italian Bees and Queens.

The American Apiculturist.

% Sauxml tr^bolfb ia p-rartkal '§uhti^mQ.

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENHAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.

Published Monthly. Philip H. Morant & Co., Publishers and Prop'rs.

WENHAM, MASS., MAY i, 1886.

VOL. IV.

No. 5.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES.

Advertising Rates :— 15 cents per line of
space each iusei-tion, or $1.00 per inch.

A line of this type will admit about 7 words.
One inch will contain twelve lines.

Those wishing special rates will please
correspond with the Editor.

When sending money malce all postal notes
and money orders payable at tlie Salem,
Mass., Post Office.

All communications should be addressed
to The American Apiculturist, Wenham,
Mass.

SPECIAL notice.
The Apiculturist will be sent three months
to any aadress for 25 cts,, six months for 50
cts. or one year for $1.

To each new subscriber and to those who
renew their subscriptions promptly, we will
send likenesses of Rev. L. L. Langstroth and
the late Moses Quinby.

JFor the American Apiculturist.

THE BROOD-CHAMBER
FROM APRIL TO AUGUST

By A. E. Manum.

Usually in this latitude bees have
their first spring flight about April i,
and it is at this time that I make
the first examination of each colony
to ascertain its immediate wants.
This work should be done very rap-
idly to avoid any long exposure of
the brood-nest.

My object in opening the hives at
this time is as follows : first, to see if
the bees have honey enough to last
them two or three weeks ; if not, a
comb of honey is given them.

I find in my experience that bees,
like other living creatures, are un-
equal consumers of food, as some
11

colonies require more food than oth-
ers of equal strength, hence, the ne-
cessity of this first examination.

Second, to see that no dead bees
are lodged between the combs.

This done and being satisfied that
all is well within the hive, I replace
the cotton sheet over the frames and
over this I spread a covering of en-
amelled cloth, then return the pack-
ing over all, tucking the bees up as
nicely as possible. My object in ^
putting the enamelled cloth over the '
bees, at this time, is to prevent, as
much as possible, the escape of heat
and moisture, as both are essential
in order to carry on brood-rearing
successfully.

Having done everything for the
bees that seems needful, they are left
to themselves for a time, and I do
not open the hives in eariy spring
any more than is absolutely neces-
sary.

Sometimes during the last half of
April I select a warm day and look
the bees over again, and reduce the
size of the brood-chamber by the
removal of such combs as the bees
cannot well cover. I consider it of
great importance, that the colony
should have no more room at this
season than the bees, can occupy.

About the first of May, if the
weather permits, I find it advanta-
geous to look the bees over again,
as pollen is coming in freely ; breed-
ing should be going on quite rap-
idly, and as our honey crop depends
largely upon the amount of brood
reared during May, it is to our ad-
vantage that we put forth every effort
possible to secure a large amount of
brood.

(97)

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THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

We find at this season that our
hives have become greatly depopu-
lated, the old bees having nearly
all died off and nothing but young
bees are left to care for the brood.

Now, then, if we have not given
our bees proper care during April,
and but little brood is hatched, some
of them will be in a very weak con-
dition and unless assisted they will
be liable to dwindle.

I have practised several methods
of management with weak stocks,
but I will here give the one I prefer,
all things considered, as it is the most
simple ; it is as follows. Go to a
strong stock and take from it a comb
of hatchingbrood with adhering bees ;
give it a few thumps with the thumb
in order to cause the older bees to
take wing and return to their hive,
.while the young bees will adhere
to the comb ; then place this comb
of hatching brood and bees in the
centre of the cluster of the weak
colony ; at the same time uncap
some honey and place it near the
cluster, removing all extra combs
that the bees cannot cover. Re-
place the frame of brood with an
empty comb which the queen will
very soon fill with eggs.

It sometimes occurs that such light
stocks are too weak to care for a
whole card of brood ; in such a case
I simply give it a few young bees
that have never had a flight. This
operation can be repeated every few
days until the colony is sufficiently
strong to be out of danger of dwind-
ling.

During May we usually go over
our bees once a week, the work of
the second week being nearly the
same as the first ; hence I pass it.
By the third week our work usually
increases, as we now find very many
colonies that will require more
combs.

In giving bees more combs it is
sometimes (thougli not always) advis-
able to spread the brood-nest and
place the empty comb in the centre.

My advice is to be very cautious
in spreading combs too early, as at
this season of the year we are lia-
ble to have sudden changes in the
weather which should be guarded
against.

I often, during the month of May,
when giving more combs, place them
outside the cluster, because by so
doing I am sure that if a sudden cold
snap should follow, the bees will not
be obliged to leave their brood
which they might do had the spread-
ing method been earned too far. It
is well enough, however, later in
the season, and sometimes advisable,
when the hive is not already filled
with brood to spread it, thereby com-
pelling the queen to fill every comb
with eggs.

It not unfrequently occurs in my
locality that bees have to be fed at
this season of the year, because I
have previously compelled them to
consume their honey in brood-rear-
ing.

Feeding may seem expensive to
some, but it is like "casting our
bread upon the water;" but with me
it pays.

Now, if we have given our bees
proper care and the weather has been
favorable up to the tenth of June,
the combs will be filled with brood
and well covered with bees. A glance
at the brood-nest will show us that
the swarming season is at hand. At
this point my method of manage-
ment changes very materially ; now,
instead of trying to induce brood-
rearing I try to discourage it, be-
cause as our honey flow ends about
the twentieth of July and as it takes
twenty-one days from the egg to
hatch a worker bee, and then ten or
fifteen more before it will gather
honey, it will be seen that bees
hatched from eggs lain after June 15
or 20 will be of no profit to the api-
arist. The amount of honey con-
sumed in rearing brood, together
with what they will eat after the
honey flow is over, will cvti balance

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

99

what little honey they may per-
chance gather at the close of the
basswood bloom. Therefore, it is
very unprofitable for me to rear an
over abundance of bees after the
above date. Now, to prevent this,
gradually contract the brood-chamber
by reducing the combs and inserting
a division-board at each side of the
brood-chamber,

I have given dates here, but it
must not be expected that they will
apply to every season or locality.
The apiarist must use discretion,
basing his operations upon the ear-
liness or lateness of the season.

Some argue that bees work for
nothing and board themselves ; yea,
more ! they expect them to take care
of themselves. But my experience
teaches me very differently. Though
I would not advise too much hand-
ling during unfavorable weather, we
must use judgment in all things, in
the apiary as well as. on the farm.
The farmer would not think of plant-
ing corn out of season, nor of mak-
ing hay during unfavorable weather.
And so with the beekeeper : he must
use judgment and do his work prop-
erly and at the proper time. I al-
ways try to get my bees to swarm
in June and prevent it as much as
possible after the first of July.

At the close of the basswood
bloom preparation for winter com-
mences. All old queens are super-
seded with young, vigorous ones.

The combs that have previously
been removed are now replaced by
changing places with the division-
boards, in order to give the bees
more room to cluster and the queens
more room to lay.

In giving my methods and expe-
rience I do not claim infallibility ;
these are simply the conclusions I
have arrived at up to the present
time and I am better satisfied than
ever before that I have not learned it
all. I am trying, however, to pro-
gress and in this attempt I am not
so selfish as to wish to journey alone.

But I am willing to shed what little
light I have that others with less ex-
perience may be benefited thereby
and join me in the attempt to con-
quer ignorance and acquire more
knowledge in the mysteries of bee-
keeping, that we may be able in the
future to secure more of that rich
nectar so bountifully provided by
nature.

Bristol, Vt.

For the Aniericaii ApicuUurist.

USE OF THE SMOKER.

By a. Norton.

Commonplace things we often
pass by in our search for the unu-
sual. Yet commonplace things are
most practical, and even humdrum
affairs may be dwelt upon to ad-
vantage. The use of the smoker
is one of those everyday features
of beekeeping that approach closely
the character of humdrum, and to
write an article about it may strike
one with much the same impres-
sion that the writer once felt when
a lecturer at a teacher's institute
was talking on " how to use chalk."
Yet, even the smoker is wrongly
used ; and no wrong, however small,
but needs correction.

Often have I seen an operator
while manipulating a colony of
bees, deluging the poor creatures
with volumes of smoke, regardless
of the disposition whicli they show.
f. have seen one man stand by with
a smoker while another examined
a hive, and he would seem to amuse
himself by puffing away with the
bellows and ever and anon sending
a stream of smoke down among
the already stampeded and thor-
oughly conquered bees throwing
them into confusion and fright, per-
haps even driving them out of the
hive through the entrance below.

The smoker is thus often indis-
criminately used. Nowthe oneidea
of this article is to show tliat, as with

100

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

even more dignified subjects, there
is science and reason in handling
the smoker. Different bees have
different tempers ; the same bees
have different tempers at different
times. Moreover, there are differ-
ent objects in view at different
times while using a smoker. I
have seen hybrid Syrians and hy-
brid Cyprians at times when smok-
ing only goaded them to greater
desperation, like the use of little
arrows on a mad bull. No matter
how much one smoked them they
would spring fiercely in air at
every puff and settle in little clouds
over both smoker and operator.
I have handled such colonies again
under the same conditions and of-
ten at nearly the same time with-
out the smoker, patiently receiving-
such stings as must come, and re-
ceived far less annoyance than had
the smoker been used. Blacks
under the same smoking would
have stampeded like sheep, after a
puff or two, and each additional
smoking would have driven them
more and more on the outside of
the hive. If you are intending to
examine the condition of a hive, find
the queen, etc., you cannot go too
quietly about it. It is well to open
the hive without smoke, receiving a
few stings even, and see if the bees
are then likely to subside. Should
they crowd up in force, a few very
faint puffs causing the smoke to
just breathe by them will usually
cause them to back off in an un-
concerned way and retreat between
the frames without exhibiting
alarm. A degree worse of irrita-
bility, if shown, may generally be
quelled with vigorous puffs that
send the stream of smoke horizon-
tally clear across the frames with-
out any of it going between theui
into the hive.

Then handle your bees carefully
and use smoke gently wherever
they again come to the attack. If
you are extracting hone}^ where

you want to do hurried work and
dislodge the bees rapidly from the
combs, or making artificial swarms,
or doing aught else where you
want them to fill themselves with
honey, then it is well to use smoke
abundantly, and as soon as the
cover is removed from the hive.
A copious application of smoke ren-
ders the bees less tenacious to the
combs ; and a smart jar then dis-
lodges them sothoroughl}^ that but
few are left to be brushed away.

In extracting, it is better to jar
the bees into the super with comb
scarcely elevated from it. To sum
up, then, use smoke as much as is
needed, and no moi*e.

Study your bees, and learn to
know just as quickly as the hive is
opened how they are likely to act.
And then you will be able to use
none, little or much, in that most
essential way, appropriately.

Gonzales^ CaL, Mar. 24.

For the American ApicTiUurist.

SUCCESS IN BEE CULTURE.

By G. W. Demaeee.

Every few 3'ears the whole bee
camp is stirred b}^ the cry of the
'' coming hive" and the " coming
bee," and beginners are led to be-
lieve that " success in bee culture"
depends on some peculiarity about
the bee-hive, or some peculiar
" dash" about the bees. I could
not tell how often I have seen this
delusion practically illustrated in
my own apiary. Persons visiting
my own apiaiy to "■ learn some-
thing " about the modern methods
of bee culture, are unable to see any-
thing but my "new section cases,"
my '^^ slotted top-bar" frames, etc.
The fact is the new convenieyices
used in the apiary captivate them
to such extent that the essential
cause of success, viz., proper man-
agement^ is entirely lost sight of.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

101

Do the facts show that those
persons who go on proclaiming
from 3'ear to year that they liave
Invented the best hive, and that
their last hive is always the best
one, are the persons who succeed
as practical honey producers? 1
think not ; I am sure that there is
no convincing evidence that they
excel as honey producers. Some
of them have made money ; but
if they had been dependent on
the honey crop produced in their
own apiaries they would look no
sleeker nor fatter than some others
do.

The purpose of this article is to
inquire into these matters a little
and see if we cannot help the be-
ginners in bee culture to avoid the
snares and delusions so temptingly
laid betbre them. Facts are stub-
born things and will stand lirmly in
the face of any amount of delusion
if they can be seen plainly.

Who are the successful beekeep-
ers known through the bee peri-
odicals ? I can call to mind a few
of them. Dadant & Son, Plether-
ington, Oatman, Doolittie, L. C.
Root, Manum, Poppleton, Hall,
Bingham, Forncrook, John T.
Connley and a host of others which
I do not name, having selected the
above because they use hives- dif-
fering from each other as much as
modern frame hives can well differ
in nearly every respect. And the
bees employed by them diff"er as
much as our bees mixed and pure
can well differ, and yet all these
men have made bee culture a suc-
cess. Do not these facts show
that the hive alone does not bring
success?

The same rule will apply to
winter management of bees. The
facts show tliat those beekeepers
who try to write learnedly about
the "causes of winter losses" and
blow about pollen and sugar syrup
have been the greatest failures
heretofore.

I conclude then, that those bee-
keepers who always have the "best
hive," though they make radical
changes every year or two, who
are continually " solving the win-
ter problem," but changing the
"problem" every year or two, who
must have bees with a " slight
dash" of something, though they
stick to that only as long as it
will win, who throw away old bee
implements with weary disgust and
anon resurrect them from the rub-
bish heap and claim them as a
" new invention," these are not
the men who get the big honey
crops. The facts show that they
are not the men who succeed in
bee culture.

I would like to impress the mind
of the inexperienced beekeeper
with the fact that " tools" do not
make the mechanic. Knowing what
I now know from long experience,
I have no hesitation in saying that
the plain, uncomplicated standard
hives now in use will never be ex-
celled by any new invention, so
far as simplicity and handiness
are concerned when learning the
first lessons in beekeeping.

Better, "all purpose" hives may
be invented in the future, but such a
hive will not be so simple and eas-
ily understood as are the standard
hives of the present day. Some
persons have remonstrated with
me for writing what they call
"sweeping charges" against patent
hives. I am not opposed to patents
if they cover new and valuable
features in hives and apiarian im-
plements. Let the inventors of
the patent hives show us by prac-
tical tests that the new patent hives
give a larger yield of honey than
do the old standard hives, that
they are nanipulated with less cost
of time and labor, that they are
cheaper as to first cost ; in short,
that they are enough. better in ev-
ery respect to give fair returns for
royalty demanded for the right to

102

THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST.

use theln. If they can do all this
I will be among the first to recog-
nize them as worthy of support.

We want clear-cut experiments.
There is not a single beekeeper of
ten years' experience in all the
land who will tell you that patent
hives in the past have contributed
to the success of bee culture, sav-
ing the one invention of Mr.
Langstroth, which was patented.

Christiansburg, Ky.

For the American Apiculturist ,

THE APIS INDICA.

By a. Bunker.

The Apis hidica has been now
pretty fairly tested as to its economic
value, by several gentlemen in India
as well as by myself in Burmah, and
it may be pronounced worthless as
a honey gatherer, though as a study
in natural history it will always be
interesting. This bee is so good-
natured that it will tolerate all sorts
of insects in the hive with itself.
Wasps, cockroaches, ants, lizards,
etc., are frequently found domiciled
with this bee. Hence, it makes a
feeble resistance to moths, and its
combs are almost sure to be riddled
by the moth during the rainy season.
The natives can always secure a few
pounds of honey by preparing a re-
ceptacle for these bees, in any conve-
nient place. Again, as these bees are
very numerous, breeding all the year
round, when once they have be-
come accustomed to a good place
for their nests, they return to it sea-
son after season. Hence the natives
have " bee trees " to which they
attach some value, as these bees reg-
ularly return to them each season,
when a little honey is stored for the
owner.

Mr. J. C. Douglas of Calcutta, has
discovered, recently, a race of bees
in the Punjab, in the Hazara district,
of identically the same size as the

European bee. It is not yet known
how valuable this bee is ; whether
it is a good honey gatherer, or will
resist moth like the European bee or
not. But it must prove most valua-
ble as a means of introducing the
European bee into India, since care-
ful experiments have shown that Mr.
Frank Benton's method of shipping
queens is available for India also.
With stocks of this Punjab race of
bees, and imported queens, one
should be able to build up an api-
ary of European bees rapidly in this
land where flowers are in bloom the
whole year round.

I am not yet satisfied with my ex-
periments with the Apis dorsata. I
have been comparing the honey of
the Apis dorsata with that of Scot-
land and France, specimens of which
I have been able to secure, and the
little folks of the household prefer
the former. The flavor of the Apis
dorsata honey is slightly different
from the two specimens of European
honey and color lighter. There is
one native village near here called
the "wild honey village " where at
least forty barrels of honey are gath-
ered from the Apis dorsata each year.
The honey when properly gathered
keeps well the year round, and though
I am not certain on this point, does
not crystallize like European honey.
I am promised another swarm of
Apis dorsata for further experiment.

Tongho, \Bunnah, Feb. i8, 1886.

For the American Apiculturist.

NOTES FROM ENTER-
PRISE APIARY.

By C. M. Goodspeed.

I got a little anxious to see how
my bees were, so I set out a few
colonies to-day for a flight. I cov-
ered the ground with straw and
set the liives down on the ground.
The wind could not hit us, the
straw was clean and dry and mucii

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

103

better than the wet ground. I
found all I set out in fine condition
except colonies that were made
late in the fall, by uniting nuclei.
These were used for queen-rearing
and I know contained a large pro-
portion of old bees. They show a
large amount of dead bees, but no
signs of dysentery or disease of
any kind.

i " called the roll" of the remain-
der to which every colony respond-
ed, and as those I carried out for a
flight were my poorest stocks last
fall, I can safely say my bees have
wintered well and without loss.
Now, can I spring them without
loss? I will try. I shall not set
any more out even for a fly until
soft maple opens, unless they get
restless. My trial swarm I find
has consumed eight pounds of
hone}- since being put into winter
quarters in November last. I dis-
like to handle a colony for a few
days after being set out of the cel-
lar ; they are quite apt to ball their
queen or sting her in their excite-
ment. But I wanted to know what
the consumption of honey was,
with an average stock entirely
undisturbed, as I knew a fly
would increase the consumption.
The weight was taken in this man-
ner : the frames were taken out,
bees all shaken off"and then frames
with honey and pollen weighed ;
so. the eight pounds includes all
they ate of both honey and pollen,
and my bees had plenty of the lat-
ter this year. I wintered this year
on basswood honey mainly. I se-
lected a few stocks, tier^ed them up
and instead of extracting, set the
frames when filled and capped, one
side, to build up with last fall.

Friends, if honey is as good as
sugar to winter on, let's use it.
Would not that be a good way lo
keep up prices?

1 believe good clover or bass-
wood honey equal to any thing for
bees to winter on, but I do not

reall}^ fancy fall or late gathered
and poorh^ ripened honey for my-
self or my bees either.
Thorn HilL N. T.

For the American ApicuUurist.

POISON HONEY.

By a. M. W^illiams.

Some kind friend has just sent me
a copy of the "American Apicultu-
rist" for which I am very thankful.
It contains a large amount of useful
information and appears to be very
reliable. I was especially interested
in the questions by Sereno Edwards
Todd, and for the very good reason
that I was the first to bring the sub-
ject of poison honey to the attention
of the public. Although Mr. Todd
has an opinion on this subject, he ap-
pears as a seeker after the exact truth,
and for that reason he calls for "pos-
itive knowledge and not for opinions."

I propose to make a few comments
on his questions. "Do bees ever
store up poisonous honey?" Yes.
This fact has been known from the
days of Xenophon the historian to the
present. But we need not go back
to ancient times, nor travel a long dis-
tance for evidence. I have the
honey on hand to show, also the
plants that yield it and a multitude of
people to testify to it. I can tell
how to test this honey without dan-
ger and this will answer question 4.
This honey has a peculiar taste as if
it contained some pepper and makes
an irritation of the throat with a ten-
dency to cough after swallowing.
This is followed by a sickness to the
stomach and headache, and, if much
is swallowed, by vomiting. Now a
very little of this will not do any per-
manent injury, and enough can be
taken to prove its properties, and one
can afford a little unpleasantness for
the sake of proving an important fact.

Question 5 is answered positively
in the negative, and I am ready to

104

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

prove it. What plants furnish pois-
onous honey ? The British Encyclo-
pedia gives a list of such plants. If
honey will poison a man, will it poi-
son a bee ? I should be glad to see
an answer to this question from a man
who knows, but would care nothing
for guess-work. I have some evi-
dence but it does not yet amount to
a demonstration. I have sold poison
honey to neighbors to feed bees ; they
claim to know that it will not hurt the
bees. They know positively by
years of experience and observation
that it will poison every man, woman
and child that eats it and still feed it
to the bees. That a thing will poison
insects which is not hurtful to man is
a well known fact and there is noth-
ing absurd in supposing the converse
to be true. As to the idea that a
person may get sick on good honey
and think it poisoned, this in individ-
ual cases may be true. Here in our
neighborhood is a plant I have seen
nowhere else ; its existence seems
to be limited to a few square miles.
I suppose as good honey is raised on
Long Island as anywhere, but in our
section we can only expect to eat the
honey that is gathered after the kill-
calf is out of blossom. I still have
hopes of raising my own honey, al-
though last fall in disgust I sold every
bee. It is more than forty years
since I commenced beekeeping.
Kill-calf honey will make any person
sick that eats it. It is said that it is
not poison because it don't kill. It
is in only a small portion of cases a
person dies by poison, too much or
too litde is not liable to be fatal.
Syracuse, N. Y.

AN INTERESTING RECORD.

By R. M. Stkvhnson.

I HAVE been keeping a record of
floral bloom for the last five years,
and I find that the blooms mentioned
below appear about the dates named.

Those producing pollen and no
honey are :

Water rushes, Feb. i8; Kilmo-
nock willows, Feb. 20 ; maples,
March 17.

Pollen and honey :

Peaches, April i ; pears, April 14 ;
plums, April 20; apples, April 22;
quinces. May i ; white clover, May
18.

I winter on summer stands, and
never have lost a colony. Some win-
ters are mild compared with others
of the same latitude. The past was
the coldest known since 1857, which
was 12° or 15° above zero. I see by
the papers that at times it has been
colder in Georgia and Florida than
it has here.

One word for the "Api." It
grows and improves all the time.
Notwithstanding its age, it ranks as
the best practical bee-paper.

PocomoJze City, Md.

INTERESTING FACTS RE-
GARDING THE WINTER
PROBLEM.

By O. F. Winter.

I PRESENT a few facts concerning
the amount of hone}'' good strong
colonies of bees will use during
the first four months of winter. I
weighed ray hives the first of Oc-
tober and marked the weight of
each on the hive. In February I
weighed several of them again and
they had lost from eight to thir-
teen pounds, an average of ten
pounds each. These were strong
stocks on Langstroth frames, in
single-walled hives, six brood-
frames and a frame of sections on
each side.

How much will an average col-
ony in a chafT-hivc or one in the
cellar consume in the same time?
Wliat time in winter does a good
colony begin to rear brood ? I had
a colony robbed of their stores

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

105

the first of January. 1 found
brood from the egg to that nearly
ready to hatch ; the brood must
have been started by Dec. 15. The
bees were in a single-walled hive,
the same as described, and set in
the shade in the woods. I think
there must be some little secret
about wintering bees we do not all
understand.

One year ago I wintered seventy
colonies in the manner above de-
scribed, and all came out strong in
the spring, except four or five
which lost their queens.

How cold would it have to be to
freeze a good, health}' colony of
bees in a single-walled hive ? I have
about twenty-five colonies that are
in two- and three-story hives, all
open from bottom to top ; they are
in fine condition, notwithstanding
the fact that the temperature has
been as low as ten degrees below
zero.

I had in the fall sixty-four
stocks ; all alive to date except
one ; wintered on summer stands,
in single-walled hives.

Feb. 16, 1886, Winterton, N. Y-

For the American Apiculturist.

COMB vs EXTRACTED
HONEY.

By Johx T. Beech.

I HAVE noticed in a good season
for honey (all other conditions
about equal) that with the "L"
hive and old combs for the extractor
and 4^ X 4;^ sections used for
comb hone_y, that the hives for ex-
tracting will give from two to three
pounds more honey than the hives
run for comb honey in a poor season.
I found the difference to be still
greater last year. In this vicinity
the season was veiy poor for honey,
no surplus stored from any source
but basswood and that not the best.

M}' experience is about as follows :
fifteen hives for the extracted most-
ly old combs (four did not work in
the upper story) leaving eleven to
extract from. I took about 900 lbs.
at three extractings from basswood,
twenty-five for comb honey ; 1400
1-lb. sections, about 400 had worked
out starters from last season ; the
balance had a small piece of foun-
dation for a starter in each. Re-
sult : about one hundred salable
sections mostl}^ all very light in
weight, from which about 200 lbs,
could i)e extracted although I prefer
to let the bees clean them out early
in the spring as the extractor muti-
lates the starter.

1 have always considered myself
satisfied when I received double
the price of extracted for comb
honey, but hereafter the diflfei"ence
will have to be greater or the comb
honey will be scarce and extracted
hone_y more plentiful at the '"Burnt
River Apiary."

Burnt River, Ont.

For the American Apiculturist.

THE BAY STATE
REVERSIBLE HIVE.

By FTenky Alley.

Last fall I promised the readers
of the " Apiculturist " a description of
a reversible hive then in process
of construction, and which I in-
tended to have completed in time
for the season of i886. The hive is
completed, and a brief description
of it may not be out of place at this
time.

The hive as now made has but
eight frames, same size as the stand-
ard Langstroth, but the frames are
"closed ends" and are so wide that
when the frame is in position they
are self-supporting. On either side
the frames are J- inch boards, as wide
as the depth of the frames and three
inches lonc;er. These boards serve

106

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

as sides to the hive, and hold the
frames in place, and the entire brood-
chamber is made solid by two bolts,
which pass through the ends of the
side-boards and by the ends of the
frames both front and rear, and by a
few turns of the thumb-nut the
brood-nest is made solid as a block,
so that it can be easily and quickly
reversed at one motion, and in less
than ten seconds. A slatted honey-
board, such as I have used the past
eight years is placed over the frames
for the sections to rest on, and to
keep the bees from fastening the top
of the frames and sections together.

The section-case is a new device
and unlike any other in use so far as
we know. There is no bottom or
top to it. It is similar in principle
and construction to the brood-cham-
ber, as it has sides through which a
bolt passes and which holds the sec-
tions firmly in place, and they are as
easily and quickly reversed as the
brood-chamber. The whole arrange-
ment is exceedingly simple, and all
hard or difficult work to remove sec-
tions from the case is done away with.

By using this section-case "tiering
up" may be practised to an unlimited
extent. The sections are protected
from the weather by a topboard.
The above is merely a description of
the inside of the hive. If a colony
is to be wintered on the summer
stand in one of these hives, an outer
case must be made two inches
larger all around than the brood-
chamber, so that chaff may be used.

I will give some of the advantages
this hive has over those in use.

1. It has closed end frames, which
some of our prominent apiarists claim
as one of the best features in any
hive. Any particular frame can be
removed from the brood-chamber
without disturbing those adjoining.

2. Its whole weight complete, sec-
tion case and brood-chamber, is less
than 15 lbs.

3. It requires less lumber and la-
bor to construct one than it does for

any hive in use, and consequently
costs less than any hive extant.

4. There is none in use so well
adapted for a two-story hive as this
one, as two sets of brood frames
could be used on one bottom-board
or the frames may be "tiered up"
several stories.

5. Anywhere from four to an un-
limited number of sections can be
placed on the hive at one time.

This hive and no other will revo-
lutionize beekeeping, and we only
claim that it is better than the stand-
ard Langstroth in that it costs less,
and the brood-chamber and combs
are easily and quickly reversed.

The Bay State hive is in all re-
spects strictly a simplicity hive, as
there are no clap-trap arrangements
about it, and it is not possible to
construct one more simple and cheap-
ly, and still retain so many essential
features.

PVen/iam, Afass.

For the American Apiculturist .

SIX YEARS OF BEEKEEP-
ING IN SOUTHERN CAL-
IFORNIA.

By T. F. Arundell.

The past diastrpus season in south-
ern California leads one to doubt
the correctness of the prevailing im-
pression that it is the " Eldorado"
of American beekeepers ; and it is
undoubtedly true that a larger pro-
portion of our population have tried
and abandoned beekeeping than
in any other country on the globe.

The results of a honey season de-
pend ahnost solely upon the amount
of rainfall during the previous win-
ter and spring, the quantity varying
from two to fifty inches annually.

The average rainfall each winter is
about ten inches (usually no rain
falls between April and November),
and as it takes at least over fourteen

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

107

inches to insure a good honey crop,
it is evident that it is not obtained
every year. Other influences mod-
ify the general result of a honey sea-
son, such as altitude, distance from
the coast, or nearness to mountain
ranges. The desiccating east winds
from the deserts also lessen the
honey flow, should they blow too
frequently during the spring and
summer months.

In years of unusual drought, bees
would become as extinct as the
dodo, unless fed sufficiently to last
until the following winter's rains have
produced a new growth of honey
plants.

We have fed about 3,000 pounds
of honey to our bees since July
last, but we are now out of the
woods, as we have had over twenty
inches of rain already this season
and strong colonies are preparing to
swarm.

A few neighboring beekeepers
who did not feed have lost from one-
half to two-thirds of all their colo-
nies.

The table below shows the amount
of our honey crop and nurnber of
bees, spring count, for each year
since we have been keeping bees.

Year. Colonies. Pounds.

18S0 65 i3'300

1 88 1 140 none

1882 140 3,500

1883 214 7,200
i884 235 33,000
1885 435 none
The above speaks for itself. In

fact, there have been but three good
honey years since 1876 ; those three
were 1878, '80 and '84 respec-
tively.

A great number of eastern bee-
keepers have been drawn here by
the delusive reports of the great
honey crops which are obtained here
every three or four years. Our sweet
song has a sad refrain, however,
which many have learned to their
sorrow.

Santa Paula, Cal.

For the American JpicuUurist.

FOREIGN NOTES.

By Akthuk Todd.

Parts five and six of Frank
Cheshire's new book are at hand,
and with me evoke new admiration
of his painstaking, and careful in-
vestigation of the anatomy and
physiology of the bee.

Mr. Cheshire, in writing about
the sense of hearing in bees, says
that he has for long regarded as
conclusive the experiments carried
on by Sir John Lubbock, since
tuning forks, whistles and violins
emit no sounds to which any in-
stinct of these creatures could re-
spond. To quote : "Should some
alien being watch humanity du-
ring a thunderstorm he might quite
similarly decide that thunder was
to us inaudible. Clap might
follow clap without securing any
external sign of recognition ; yet
let a little child with tiny voice
but shriek for help, and all would
at once be awakened to activity.
So with the bee ; sounds appealing
to its instincts meet with imme-
diate response, while others evoke
no wasted emotion."

In Mr. Cheshire's observations
on the sense of smell in bees he
remarks "The antennae of male
moths are exceedingly large, and
extended in surface, and the evi-
dence that these are marvellously
sensitive to some emanation from
the female is universally accepted."

Having shown that the ratio of
sensory surface in bees is, queen
one, worker two, drone three, Mr.
Cheshire goes on to say that even
he was greatly astonished at the
result of his researches for he
found by actunl count that the
drone bee has the astounding num-
ber of 37,800 distinct smell organs
or in plain English that number of
"noses."

Passing on to Mr, Cheshire's
comparison of the visual powers

108

THE AMEBIC AN APICULTUBIST.

of. worker, queen and drone we
find liim crediting tlie worker with
6,300 facets in each compound
eye, or 12,600 in all. The queen
having only necessity to go out
visiting two or three times in her
life was expected to have less fac-
ets, and examination proved it so ;
for she only showed 4,920 facets on
each side of head, or 9,840 in all.

Mr. Lazy Bones, the drone, with
no nectar to seek actually showed
the immense number of 13,090 fa-
cets in each compound eye,oronl3^
26,180 eyes in all. The answer to
the question ''Why should the vis-
nal apparatus of the drone be so
extraordinarily developed beyond
that of the worker, whose need of
the e3^e seems at first to be so
much more pressing than his ?" is
left by Mr, Cheshire to a later
period in his work.

Mr. Cheshire writes "Can we
then leave these same organs with-
out being moved b^^ their wonder?
Our conception is unequal to
the task they give us, although our
knowledge of them is, at the best,
only superficial. I feel unable tQ
close this chapter as I would.
Swammerdam shall do it for me
for he says "I cannot refrain from
confessing, to the glory of the im-
mense, incomprehensible architect
that I have but imperfectly de-
scribed, and represented this small
organ ; for to rei)resent it to the
life in its full perfection far exceeds
the utmost eiforts of human
knowledge."

I am very pleased to see by the
remarks of our friend S. Cornell,
of Canada that my efforts to ren-
der Foreign Notes acceptable to
the readers of the "Api" are ap-
preciated.

1 note with interest his references
to the researches of Dr. Carpenter,
Milne Edwards, and Prof Pla-
teau and have already searched
two libraries in this city without

finding an}^ of the works alluded to
in Dr. Carpenter's letter.

Having occasion to-day to visit
the superintendent of our Zoologi-
cal Gardens I mentioned my diffi-
culty to him, and he has told me
where 1 am almost certain to find
the work ; but I regret to say I am
so busy just now that a subject so
large as "Insect Temperatures" de-
mands more time than I can give
to it, though I will endeavor to have
a look into it if at all possible and
give 3'our readers the benefit,

Philadelphia, Pa.

CANADIAN DEPARTAIENT.
By R. F. Holterman.

Since the last issue of the "xA-pi,"
the Ontario government have granted
the Ontario Beekeepers' Association
$i,ooo to assist in the prospective
display of honey at the colonial and
Indian Exhibition, The association
have also been promised incorpora-
tion and an annual grant of $500,
Apiarian supplies have already been
shipped and a very fine display ex-
pected. Among the exhibitors are E.
L. Goold & Co., Brantford, and D.
A. Jones & Co., Beeton. The dis-
play of honey, if the season will at all
permit, is expected to be not less than
100,000 and may exceed 200,000 lbs.
The honey is expected to leave Can-
ada the first week in August or ear-
Uer.

Reports from a number of leading
apiarists tend to show that so far
bees have wintered well ; in fact, out of
fully 1,000 colonies heard from, the
percentage of loss is not so high as
one.

True, the time for the heaviest loss
is yet to come, but tlie present indi-
cations are we shall reach the honey
season with but little loss. The past
season opened with comparatively
few surviving colonies, the season it-
self was rather unfiivorable to a plen-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

109

tiful storage of honey. In spite of
this we have no hesitancy in saying
honey has never sold at as low a fig-
ure as this winter. Extracted honey
has been sold and can be had in
large quantities at 8c. per lb.

If the coming season gives us a
plentiful yield of honey there are but
two courses open to us : quit the bus-
iness or brace up, display the energy
required to succeed in other business,
and open out our home and foreign
market. It will be a case of the sur-
vival of the most energetic, those
most favorably located, in short those
able to produce it at lowest price and
Moaking the greatest effort to open
out the markets.

Brantfoni, Canada.

For the American Apiculturist.

IS YRIO-ITALIAN
CROSSES.

By Dr. G. L. Tinkek.

In crossing the races of bees,
what proves to be the general re-
sult finds many exceptions in in-
dividual cases. The exceptions are
probably due to prepotency in the
male or female as the case may be,
which variation from the rule is
noted in all species of animals.

First crosses between any of the
distinct races of bees produces
vigorous stock and in none is there
shown greater vigor than in those
between Syrians and Italians.
Proverbially, the Italio-German
hybrid is good working stock but
spirited and ugl}^ to handle without
the use of tobacco smoke. The
same may be said of Syrian queens
crossed with Italian drones, or the
Syrio-Italians : but Italian queens
crossed with Syrian drones, or the
Italio Syrians, are not only ex-
cellent workers but usually gentle
bees. Where only a first cross is
desired, I recommend the latter if

the quality of gentleness is an ob-
ject. The Syrio-Italians are vin-
dictive, but the Syrio-Germans,
with bad handling, can kick up a
bigger row in a neighborhood than
any other bees I know of. Their
sting is very deep and painful,
usually causing an ecchjunosis of
blood. Dangerous as they are they
can be handled nicelj'^ by the use
tobacco smoke. (For this purpose,
I use in the smoker Scotch snuff
rolled up in cotton cloth.

The Italio-Syrians are fine
comb builders and the queens more
prolific than pure Italians. The
capping of the combs is about like
that of the latter. The Syrio-
Italians cap their combs like the
pure Syrians, showing that the
comb building and comb capping
faculty is transmitted by the queen,
although there will be found varia-
tions from the rule. My Syrio-
Albinos are bred up from one of
these latter queens whose worker
bees capped their honey even more
beautifully than do the black bees.
The white markings are of impor-
ted Italian origin, so that this
strain of bees is really Syrio-Ita-
lian. By careful breeding the
white markings were perpetuated
and the bees so marked were found
to be very gentle, but almost inva-
riably the occasional queens with
yellow markings would pi-oduce the
vindictive beescharacteristic of the
Syrio-Italians.

Our numerous experiments in
breeding up a new strain of bees by
selective breeding has developed
the fact that the honey bee can be
greatly improved and now that we
have the promise of the sure con-
trol of the fecundating process
through the late discoveries of
Prof.N. W. McLain of the U. S.
Apicultural Station, we have be-
fore us the delightful assurance
that intelligent queen ]>reeders can
improve their bees ad injinitum.

The highly prolific qualities of

110

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

the Sja'ian queens it is now certain
can be transmitted in a new strain
having eveiy desirable quality, and
from these bees I confidently pre-
dict will be reared the great honey-
producing bee of the future.
New Phila., Ain. 15, 1886.

For the American Apiculturist,

SOMETHING ABOUT
SECTIONS.

By Samuel Cusiiman.

My first experience was with
nailed sections having thin sides,
and thick top and bottom, but I
was satisfied vvith them until I saw
a few cases of honey in nice white
poplar sections with dovetailed cor-
ners. They took the shine oflT mine
so thoroughly, that I would have no
others, but 1 soon found that they
were far from satisfactory, and
troublesome to put together and
stay in place, as they were not
dovetailed accurately, and would
not go together as they ought.

After one corner was put to-
gether, there were three more to do
and by the time they were joined
the first corner needed attention,
and often the work would have to
be done twice, and when put to-
gether they would get out of square.
So while I had a thin section
beautifidly white, still it was un-
satisfactory and I thought of going
back to the nailed section, but their
thick wood and inferior appearance
caused me to look for something
better. I soon heard of and tried
the all-one-piece section, and was
ai)leto fold tliem without breaking
and witli little ti-oul)le. They were
quite stiff, thin and smooth, but not
so white as the i)oplar, liable to
stain if wet, or with age, and it was
almost impossible to fold them so
they woukl be quite square, and if

to be glassed this was another ob-
jection.

The white poplar made the best
appearance, and I must have my
honey in the most attractive pack-
age, and as I found some that were
almost perfectly made, I had less
trouble than formerly.

I then heard of gluing dove-
tailed sections ; but to have glue as-
sociated with nice comb honey
seemed out of the question. How-
ever,! sent for a sample glued sec-
tion, and they were so true, square
and stiff, that I was ready to toler-
ate glue. They showed a slight
dark glue stain at corners, but f<M'
that I had what I had been looking
for.

By using white glue, and but
little of it, I now am able to i)ut
them up so the glue will not show
and shall glue all sections this
season. There is a machine made
for gluing and putting together
sections which I have not seen, but
shall try if I require many thou-
sand. I have a wa^^ to do it, but
do not know that any one has
tested it, by which I am able to put
together and glue sections as easily
as I can without glue, and would
as soon do it as to fold one piece
sections. I hope some of the read-
ers of the"Api" will receive as
much benefit as I have received
from this method.

I use in place of a mallet a strip
of wood one-half inch thick, a foot
long and two or three inches wide,
(one end is whittled for a handle),
white glue, hot and quite thick, a
suitable brush and an ordinary car-
penter's square.

With the glue on one side and a
pile of tops and sides near by, I
take up a piece, lift the brush out
of the glue, touch one of the dove-
tailed ends on inside to it, stand
another piece on the bench and rest
the glued end on it, then with the
fiat of the strip, press the end to
make it flush with the u[)right piece,

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Ill

then one sharp, square blow with
the edge of strip will bring them
together, where they will stay and
the work will not have to be twice
done.

The other corners are done the
same ; of course, the last piece will
need glue on both ends.

The glue lubricates the joint, so
that it goes in easily, and also
keeps it in place. If the glue is
hot, very little will stick, and if
thick, the section will be stiff
almost before out of your hands.
As soon as it is in shape it is
crowded into the angle of the
square which is leaning against a
box, on the bench within easy reach.
This squares the section, and
it is so stiff that tossing it on the
pile near by will not rack it, and in
a few minutes it is as strong as
could be desired. Should you
carelessly drop an armful down
stairs, you can gather them up in
good condition, and it is said that
they may be put together six
months before use, and be strong
and stiff when needed. It seems
that we now have all that could be
desired in construction and ma-
terial, but in these progressive days
we may soon see something better ;
and right here, I must say a word
in regard to the new side " slot
section, "

Why are beekeepers so slow to ac-
cept an improvement that is " prac-
tically self-evident?" Is it because
they are quietly testing.it, or have
they not received the idea clearly ?
1 can see but one objection : trouble
and expense of changing fixtures.
They can be used with or without
separators. I shall use them this
season, and feel so confident that
they are desirable, that my neio fix-
tures are all adapted to them.

One of the principal reasons why
Mr. L. L. Langstroth had his
bee-space above the frames was
that the bees were able to go from
section to section, without going

into the brood-nest, and that they
were generally shut off in small sep-
arate clusters.

This would doubly apply to the
new section, which allows the bees
to pass from box to box, side or top,
giving them a chance to cluster as
on full combs, and allowing heat to
pass freely to all of the sections.
If there are any real objections, I
would like to know them.

Paivtucket, M. I.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

SPRING MANAGEMENT.

The principal object in spring
management is to rear all the brood
the bees can care for. The old
maxim " Keep your stock strong" is
as much a truism as ever, although
to a certain extent misunderstood.
We want bees as producers and not
consumers ; and our plan of work
will decide what means shall be
adopted to obtain them. If a crop
of honey only is desired, and no in-
crease of bees, it is only required to
rear so much brood as will either
become foragers, or allow foragers
to issue from the hive at those times
when honey is secreted rapidly. All
brood reared more than this will
cause loss. If, however, we want a
maximum of increase, either of col-
onies or bees by the pound, then the
queen should be forced to her full
capacity during the whole season. It
is of course important to have all
colonies well filled with young bees
at the close of the season, but in our
experience those monster colonies
we sometimes read about will winter
no better or give better results the
following season tlian those of mod-
erate size. In wintering on summer
stands we have found that bees
enough to cover well five L-frames
in October will prove fully as profi-
table as a larger number.

112

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

— t

been taught something unknown to
to them before the "Handy Book"
was pubhshed. The only fault we
have to find is the fact that Pometta
deceived his visitor regarding his
method of queen-rearing.

A building and some part of Po-
metta's apiary are also shown. If
the latter is arranged in such an in-
convenient way as the illustration
shows, Mr. Pometta should visit
America and learn something beside
the best methods of queen-rearing
from our beekeepers. It may be
a convenient way in Italy to place
hives a dozen or more feet above
the ground, and in such a way that
only the front of the hives can be
seen, but no American beekeeper
will adopt such a practice.

— We do not know that there is
any need of so doing, but we do feel
it our duty to warn beginners not to
run too much after new things. Those
methods and appliances that have
stood the test of years, and the hives
that for years have proved a success in
the hands of the best and most ex-
pert of our apiarists should not be
thrown aside for those whose only
claim to being of value is as yet their
being new. Let those who have time
to devote to the matter give their at-
tention to testing new devices ; the
great majority will be better off by
letting them severely alone. The
great bane of apiculture has been un-
proved theories. It requires several
seasons' experience to fully test any
new thing, and the beginner can
hardly afford either the time, or ex-
pense necessary for this purpose. It
is safe to follow in the footsteps of
those who have proved successful in
the past, and a new thing may
be more valuable than any that is
old, then again it may not. A good
rule to follow is the old one of Horace
Greeley to the friend who asked
his advice in regard to dal)bling in
stocks, viz. : "Go slow young man, go
slow."

— The question is often asked us,
Why is it that many immature bees
are found in front of the hive at
times during the honey season ?

This conundrum is an easy one,
and is the result of one of three
causes, as a rule. If this state of
things is found in early spring on the
morning following a severely cold
night, it is caused by successive stim-
ulation of a prolific queen in a weak
colony, or one in which the comb is
disproportioned to the number of
bees. The severe cold causes the
bees to cluster to save their own
lives, and the brood is left to perish.
If found in warm weather it may be
caused by the larvae of the bee moth,
or as is more apt to be the case, by
lack of stores in the hive. The latter
will prove the case as a rule, if no
honey is being gathered when the
dead brood is found. A careful ex-
amination will always determine
which of the above is the cause, and
the remedy is so obvious that we
need not occupy valuable space to
give it. The amateur only is puzzled
by such a state of affairs. All bee-
keepers have learned tlie cause and
cure by sad ( sometimes ) experi-
ence.

—Mr. Thomas B. Blow, F.L.S., an
English gentleman, has been on a
visit "among the queen-raisers in the
north of Italy." A full description of
what he saw and heard is given in
the "British Bee Journal" of March
4, 1886. The most prominent
queen-raiser was Jean Pometta, of
Gudo, Bellinzona. The article is il-
lustrated with cuts showing the differ-
ent way of preparing the combs for
cell building. It is safe to say that
Pometta has been reading a copy of
the "Beekeepers' Handy Book," as
seven of the nine illustrations shown
were most certainly from those in
the "Handy Book." We are glad to
note here that our friends, who have
claimed to be so far ahead of the
rest of the world in bee culture, have

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

113

— Success in bee culture is only
attainable by continuous and una-
bated effort to succeed. The man
who succeeds by catching a shower of
wealth, which desc;ends on not one in
a thousand, is not a success any more
than is the man who draws a prize
"in a lottery scheme."

— Several of our correspondents are
sending us articles and at the same
time duplicate copies to some of the
other bee papers. This is not a good
idea. A large number of those who
read the bee journals take all of them.
As the " Api "is a monthly, an ar-
ticle might appear in one of the
weeklies at the first of the month,
but would not reach us in season for
the "Api " till the following month ;
at that time it would seem rather
stale. Do not duplicate your arti-
cles, and then the readers of the
bee papers will get much more for
their money. Unless this practice
is discontinued subscriptions will
grow beautifully less. No bee jour-
nal has any subscribers to spare.

— Four-piece sections, like the old
box hive, have had their day, and
soon will be superseded by the all-
one-piece. This fact is more appar-
ent each succeeding season.

— Bees commenced here to carry
in pollen March 31. Have known
them to do so as early in the season
but once, that was in the year 1863.
They then carried in pollen on
March 16, and continued for three
days in succession. Sometimes, an
" early " spring means an unfavora-
ble season for bees, and a good honey
crop. A cold backward spring is
usually followed by a fruitful season.

— A dealer in honey remarked to
us that the market for honey was
very dull. This was not owing to
an over-stock, but people he said
had no money these unusually dull
times to put out for luxuries of any
sort. The labor troubles, now exist-
ing in all parts of the country, have
upset business generally.

If you will read our advertisement
13

on another page it will be seen that
ten hundred and sixty solid pages of
the most valuable bee literature may
be purchased for the above named
sum. Every page of reading matter
of the Apiculturist is stereotyped and
we can furnish any of the back num-
bers at any time : hence the reasons
why we can do so for so small a sum.
The offer includes the "Apiculturist
from 1S83 to January i, 1887. This
is an unparalleled offer and every
beekeeper in the land should take ad-
vantage of it. Volumes one, two
and three of the above are hand-
somely bound in cloth.

— The "Apiculturist" will be mailed
on the first day of each month.

TOPICS
OF GENERAL INTEREST.

PROLIFIC QUEENS.

Is it possible for a queen to be too
prolific ? A distinguished beekeeper
says he does not want a queen that
has such a fault. Since it is an easy
matter to control the increase of a
colony by the use of perforated zinc,
division-boards, or by dummies, no
queen should be rejected for such a
fault. A queen that will deposit
3000 eggs each twenty-four hours, is
worth twenty or in fact 100 that will
lay only about that number of eggs
in the same time. An unprolific
queen is about as profitable a piece
of property as an old hen that will
lay a few eggs and then "set" for
the next two months.

A good queen of any race or
strain should not be superseded.
Keep her in the apiary as long as
her colony is prosperous, and is giv-
ing good returns in honey and natu-
ral increase of colonies.

HOW MANY FRAMES TO A HIVE.

A FEW years ago we sold two col-
onies of bees in L. hives to a friend.
It was in the fall and the bees had

114

THE AMERICAN APICULTVRIST.

been prepared for winter by reducing
the number of frames from nine to
seven, and contracting the brood-
chamber by using dummies, which
have not been removed. The two
colonies have been wintered success-
fully on the summer stand for five
successive winters. Two more pros-
perous hives of bees cannot be found.
Does not this demonstrate that seven
combs are a sufficient number for all
practical purposes? Perhaps I
should state that the seven frames
occupy the space that eight frames
should. Notwithstanding the above
facts, it is the general opinion that
the standard L. hives should have
not less than eight frames.

OPENING HIVES OFTEN.

We believe that some beekeepers
meddle with their bees too much.
An enthusiast will often open a hive
for examination and to see how the
colony is getting along, or to admire
a beautiful queen he has just pur-
chased and introduced, thereby im-
perilling the life of the new queen. A
young queen in a strange colony is very
timid, and when the hive is disturbed
will run over the combs rapidly ; the
bees then notice that she is a stranger
in the " wrong pew " and at once
"ball" her. In most such cases the
queen is destroyed or ruined, and in
the course of a few days is ejected
from the hive.

The beginner and novice should
take the hint, and avoid opening a
hive for at least ten days after intro-
ducing a queen, and then he will
have no cause for accusing the deal-
er of selling him an old or an infer-
ior queen. In nearly every case
when young queens are superseded
it is owing to the cause stated above.

HOW TO OPEN A HIVE.

When you have occasion to handle
bees in the early spring, separate the
frames with a slow, easy motion lat-
erally, then lift them out of the hives
without shifting the bees. If they
are handled roughly in the early
spring, they will become cross, and

demoralized, and will sometimes
" ball " and kill their queen. Never
handle bees when it is so cool that
the bees chill when they fall from the
combs.

suggestions.
No matter how snugly the bees
have been prepared for the winter
months, it pays to make them a lit-
tle more comfortable when spring
begins to call them to the labors of
the season. Sometimes a dry, warm
blanket in the place of a damp one ;
the removing of the cover to let the
sun shine in at the top of the hives
for a few hours encourages the bees
wonderfully. No domestic creatures
give better returns for the labor be-
stowed on them.

"CLETHRA ALNIFOLIA."

This plant was described in the
"Api" for April by Jacob Manning
of Reading, Mass. The bush (as it
is a bush growing from three to six
feet high) will grow upon most any
soil, but seems to thrive the best when
the land is not too dry or too wet,
say right at the edge of the meadow
or swamp. It blooms late in July
and continues to do so till near Oc-
tober. It yields honey abundantly,
very heavy and of fine flavor. We
advise all who have a suitable place
for planting them to procure some
cuttings and set them this year. We
can supply them to all who desire to
purchase.

DRY F^CES.

The specimens of bee fseces,
which Mr. S. Cornell has so kindly
sent out to a number of prominent
beekeepers for examination, have
been received. In my opinion, the
specimens show that the bees may
accumulate considerable fasces in the
intestines in winter confinement, and
still remain in a healthy state.
That they void in confinement to
any great extent is not well estab-
lished. That they do under certain
circumstances is certain, but they
arc not such as would prove a pre-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

115

ventive of bee diarrhoea, if accumu-
lations alone were the cause of that
disorder. The specimens show that
in healthy accumulations, the injesta
of pollen or bee bread is the princi-
cipal source ; but as bee diarrhcea
is something more than a simple ac-
cumulation of the refuse products of
digestion, the relation of pollen to
" the cause " is about as visionary as
the man in the moon.

WATER FOR BEES.

The apiarist should not fail to
place water in suitable vessels near
the apiary during a season of drought.
Bees must have water, and it is better
to furnish them with it nice and clean
than to have them sipping it from
some slough hole or cesspool.

RED CLOVER QUEENS.

Some one claims to have a strain
of Italian bees that will gather
honey from red clover. It is no
doubt true, as bees of every strain
and race will work upon the second
or seed-crop of red clover. None of
them will do a heavy business at it,
as red clover (second crop) is in
bloom at a season when the weather
is not favorable to the secretion of
honey.

AMERICAN APICULTURIST
BEE FARM NOTES.

SEVERAL METHODS FOR INTRODUC-
ING FERTILE AND UNFERTILE
QUEENS.

Br Henry Alley.

There are many methods for in-
troducing queens and about every
dealer has a favorite way of his
own. In the "Apiculturist" for April
we hinted at a method for intro-
ducing unfertile queens and prom-
ised to say more about it in some
future number. As the season for
doing such work is close at hand,
we give below methods that have
been practised with success for
twenty-seven years.

methods for INTRODUCING FERTILE

QUEENS.

For many years we introduced
laying or fertile queens immedi-
ately after unqueening a hive. On
one occasion I removed the queens
from eight full colonies and intro-
duced a new queen to each one suc-
cessfully in less than two hours.
Tobacco smoke was used for subdu-
ing the bees while the queens were
being removed, and as soon as the
bees were quiet more smoke was
given them and the new queens let
in the hives at once. More or less
smoke was blown in among the
bees during a period of fifteen
minutes, but not enough was given
any colony to make the bees fall
from the combs. This operation
should not be performed in the mid-
dle of the day unless bees are
gathering honey, otherwise robbing
would be induced. The secret of
this "immediate" introduction of
queens is in deceiving the bees, by
fumigating them and making all
"smell" alike, and nothing is so
effective as tobacco smoke. The
etfects of the tobacco will pass in
a few hours and the bees will be at
work as though nothing had hap-
pened.

ANOTHER METHOD FOR INTRODUCING
FERTILE QUEENS.

Some ten years ago I was called
to go fifty miles from home to in-
troduce Italian queens for a lady.
I did so by the following method :
I prepared some small cages by
making an inch-and-a-quarter hole
through a block of Avood two and
one-half inches long, one and seven-
eighths inches wide and one-half
inch thick. Both sides of the block
were covered with wire cloth. The
aperture was about three-fourths
inch from one end. A piece was cut
from the long end, three-fourtlis
inch wide, but not quite through
the wood (see a in illustration).
After the queen was placed in the
cage this aperture was filled with

116

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

food the same as used in shipping
cages for mailing queens. The
queens were then removed from the
six colonies ; when the bees were
back in the hive and had quieted
down, these cages were placed on

Introducing Cage.

une frames, under the cushion in
such a wa}'^ tliat the bees would have
access to the food, then a small
amount of tobacco smoke was
blown into the hive, thus scenting
bees and queens all alike. In the
course of two hours the queen was
released and as the colony had not
had time to miss their own queen,
the new one was successfully in-
troduced. This method is entirely
new and is now in print for the
first time. I think it will be found
the safest, quickest and easiest
way to introduce queens yet given
to the public.

SEVERAL METHODS FOR INTRODUC-
ING UNFERTILE QUEENS.

Unfertile queens cannot be intro-
duced immediately after removing
a fertile queen from a colony, uuless
perhaps, it is a queen just emerged
from a cell, and even in that case
tAie chances are that she would be
destroyed when twenty-four hours
old. I notice by the bee journals
that some of our most prominent
queen breeders cannot at all times
make a success of introducing
virgin queens. If the plan given
below is followed, success will sure-
ly be the result.

In the first place the colony,
whether it be a large or small one,

must be queenless seventy -two
hours before the virgin queen is in-
troduced. I have introduced some
queens in thirty-six hours after re-
moving a laying queen, but it is
much better to use the seventy-two
hour method, I do not lose on an
average one queen in 100 by the
following method, though nearly
all the unfertile queens I intro-
duce are from four to eight days
old. Leave the colony queenless
three days, then just before night
fumigate the bees pretty thoroughly
with tobacco smoke, by using the
pipe described on page 91, and let
the queen run in at the top of the
hive if possible ; then throw grass
against the entrance of the hive to
keep the bees in, as the smoke will
slightly intoxicate them and some
would roll out on the ground. The
bees will fully recover from the
effects of the smoke before the next
morning, and not even an expert
could select the colony to which
the queen was introduced the night
previous.

ANOTHER WAY TO INTRODUCE UN-
FERTILE QUEENS.

This plan is similar to the second
one given for introducing fertile
queens. Last season we introduced
a large number of queens by plac-
ing them in cages above described,
and then inserting the cage in one
corner of one of the brood- frames,
andsmokingthe beesslightly. (The
colonies had been queenless three
days). When the food is removed
from the cage the queen leisurely
walks out and is successfully intro-
duced ; if the weather is pleasant
she is fertilized the next day.

It will be noticed that this
method is successful for the reason
that the hive is very quiet when the
queen is released. Excitement at
the time of introducing a queen is
about sure death to her.

If the person receiving a queen

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

117

by mail will immediately unqueen
the hive to which the new queen is
to be introduced, and smoke the
bees as above described, we will
guarantee to replace every queen
lost. The cages used to slip queens
in from the "Api" Bee Farm will
be arranged so that the above
methods may be adopted for intro-
ducing them. All that will be
needed is to remove the covering
to the food, place the cage in the
hive, fumigate the bees and the
work is done.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

QUESTIONS BY " OLD BEEKEEPER. "

1. How large a piece of foundation
do you use for starters in sections?
Will not a piece tliat will about half-
lill the section, cut V-shape do as well
as a piece that will quite till it? How
do you fasteu the foundation in the
sections?

2. If you use a reversible section
case, how lona; do you let the bees
work in first lot before they are re-
versed?

3. What are the advantages gained
by reversing the sections?

4. If you "tier up " how long do
you allow the bees to work in the sec-
tions before giving them a new set?

5. Are not two sets of 28 1-pouud
sections to a set, about the extent to
which the "tiering up" practice should
be carried?

6. About what time should the sec-
tion be placed on the hive and how
many at one time?

ANSWERS BY G.

DOOLITTLE.

1. If the foundation is thin, say ten
to twelve feet to the pound, I prefer
to fill the sections.

I use melted wax.

2. I do not reverse my sections. If
I did, should want them two-thirds
lull before reversing.

3. Getting the combs more securely
fastened to the sections. I hardly think
there is enough gained to pay for the
extra ti'ouble.

4. I do not " tier up. " If I did I
should do so when the first set was
two-thirds full.

5. Yes, except in powerful colo-
nies.

6. As soon as I find that honey is
coming in, I place sections on the hives
to the capacity of from fifteen to
twenty pounds. In a week give ten
to fifteen pounds more room and so on
till the full capacity of the hive is
reached. When bits of new comb are
being built at, or near the top of the
hive, then is the time to put on the
sections.

ANSWERS BY E. E. HASTY.

1. In sections I prefer a piece of
foundation about two inches long and
less than half an inch wide. I fasten
foundation with the Parker machine.
I do not use the large V-shaped
starter, but would prefer it to the full-
sized square.

2 and 3. I am so utterly incredu-
lous about the profitableness of revers-
ing sections, that I have never even
tried the method.

4. I have two distinct styles of sur-
plus arrangement, but neither of them
tier up. The tiering method is for
those whose honey mostly comes in
one brief deluge, not for localities
like mine where the honey flow is
spread thinly over the whole summer.
, 5. I judge that two 28-lb. cases
would usually be enough.

6. Put the sections on just before
the honey is expected, if the bees are
strong enough. June 10 is somewhere
near the time in this locality. I usu-
ally put on four or five 8-section broad
frames at first, and give more as they
need them.

•' ANSWERS BY OLD BEKKEEPER. "

1. A small piece will do as well as
a large one, but there is one advantage
in using a large piece. As a rule, if
the sections are filled with foundation,
little or no-drone comb will be built in
them. Fasten it in with a mixture of
beeswax and rosin, using it quite
warm. It can be put in the sections as
rapidly as one can pick them up. If
properly done it will not come ofi" un-
less special pains are taken to remove
it.

2. The sections should be reversed
when all are nearly capped. The sec-
tions in the centre will be capped
sometime before those on the outside.
I think it best to reverse when the
capping is being done to the outside
sections.

3. The advantages in reversing are
that the bees will fill the sections
nearly solid. They look much nicer,

118

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

and the honey is less likely to be dam-
aged while being handled and trans-
ported.

4. "Tier up "when the bees seem
to demand more room. If the sections
on the hive seem to be full of bees and
honey, add another set by raising the
first one and placing the new ones
under.

0. Ordinarily, fifty-six sections are
as many as one colony can work in
to advantage. When more are needed,
it would be the best plan to remove
those filled with honey, and replace
with new ones. Then, again, the fin-
ished sections should be removed as
soon as filled, to preserve the white-
ness and beauty of the honey.

6. One of the best indications that
a colony is ready to work in sections,
is when the bees begin to cluster out
at the entrance. I do not mean by
this that the bees must be outside by
the peck, but when a few are seen
there. When there is plenty of room
in the hive, the bees will not cluster
any on the outside. Sometimes, at
the beginning of the honey harvest
small knots maybe seen justabove the
entrance or on the alighting board :
then is the time to put the sections
on. Put on enough at that time to
cover the top of the frames, or one set ,
of sections. Cover up warm, and at
night contract the entrance, as if the
weather is cool, the bees will desert
the sections at night, and the best
time for building comb is lost. Bees
make comb more rapidly during the
night than during the day.

ANSWERS BY D. D*. MARSH.

1. One that will fill about two-
thirds of the section. I prefer a V-
shape piece, so the bees can cluster
naturally all arouud it. Would not
have it too sharp-pointed, but about
an inch across the point, so it would
not curl out sidewise. Put them in
with Parker's machine.

2. Have never yet used a " rever-
sible " section case ; but have no donbt
that is the "coming case. "

3. Filling the section even full of
comb, looking better, weighing more,
and bearing handling better.

4. Until they have so far tilled tlie
first set witli comb and honey that tlie
bees begin to be crowded for room;
tlven put on a second case under it,
and the bees will have fresh room, and
the first case will have ample time to
ripen and be capped.

5. It depends altogether on the

pasturage and the strength of the col-
ony. I think two tiers of cases ordin-
arily exhaust the advantages of
tiering up, because the top case would
be finished and ready to come off by
the time the bottom case was nearly
full. Ordinarily two such cases are
all any colony will fill in tliis locality.
6. When the first indication of new
white combs appears on the tops of the
frames. If the colony is vei-y strong
put them on a little earlier if you do
not wish the bees to get ahead of you
and cast a swarm before they go to
work in the sections. I prefer small
cases, so I can put on about fourteen
sections at first, and then after they
get to work, put on the other fourteen.
You can taper down better at the close
of the harvest, and get all the sections
finished up.

ANSWERS BY J. H. MARTIN.

1 I use a square piece, filling the
section to within a quarter of an inch
of the sides and bottom. This gives
me better results than a V-sliape. 1
fasten with rosin and beeswax.

2. Have never used the reversible
section case.

3. I think it would be an advantage
to reverse, to get the corners of all
sections uniformly filled.

4. I allow the bees to nearly fill up
the sections before tiering up.

5. It is about as far as it can be
carried to advantage if the colony is
allowed to swarm, but if the whole
force can be kept at home, another set
can be added to advantage, and if the
honey yield continues, another set.

6. I find there is little gained in put-
ting sections on until the brood cham-
ber is crowded with bees, about June
1, in my locality, or if the season is
eai-ly, latter part of May. At that
time, a full set can be put on, and soon
be occupied by bees.

ANSWERS BY A. E. MANUM.

1. I use full sheets of foundation,
prefering it to small pieces of any
shape. I have experimented with
small pieces of various shapes, but
have now settled on pieces full size of
the section, and consider it of great
advantage to the bees. By the use of
full sheets of foundation, drone comb
is avoided in tlie sections, thus giving
the honey a much better apjjearance
than wlieu part drone and worker comb
is made. I fasten it in with melted
wax by using a machine of my own
invention.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

119

2. I do not use a reversible section
case, but sometimes reverse sucli sec-
tions as are not capped at the bottom,
when nearly all the others are in the
same case. Reversing is sometimes
advisable, and the first tier of sections
put on would be finished sooner if re-
versed. When finished, they should
be removed from the hive before the
bees soil the beautilul white combs.

3. The advantages of reversing
sections are in getting the whole sur-
face capped which the bees ai'e loath to
do at the close of the season.

4. I begin to "tier up " if the col-
ony is strong and honey coming in fast,
as soon as the foundation in the first
set of sections is drawn out and nearly
full length. " Tier up " by raising the
first set of sections and placing an-
other under them. For four or five
days after, I have sometimes found it
necessary to place the third set of sec-
tions on the hive to accommodate the
bees.

5. Yes and no. That depends on
the method of management aud sea-
son. In a poor season one set of sec-
tions will do; in a good season from
three to six cases of sections will be
needed. I have used six tiers of thirty-
two sections each (one pound sections)
and had them filled, but more often I
use but three such cases at onetime,
becaut^e if properly managed, the first,
or top set of sections will be completed
by the time the fourth should be put on.

6. When the hive is full of bees and
brood, and honey coming in faster than
the bees consume it. This can be de-
tected by the appearance of new comb
between the frames at the top bar
where the cells have been lengthened
out. This indicates that the bees need
more room. I place one whole set of
thirty-two one-pound sections on at
one time, but wait, of course, till each
colony needs the room. Some seasons
the bees need the sections much earlier
than at others. We must be governed
by conditions.

ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE.

1. If the season is a poor one for sur-
plus honey, I use full sheets of founda-
tion on the sections ; but in a good sea-
son I see but little difference between
the full sheets and the V-shaped start-
ers and hence use the latter as a mat-
ter of economy.

To fasten the foundation in the sec-
tions I use a little implement which is
an improvement on the Parker foun-
dation fastener.

2. I can do no better than to rely on
my best judgment as to the proper
stage of advancement toward comple-
tion of the sections to do the most
good by inverting the case. By look-
ing down between the sections I can
tell when the tops are well finished.
I then invert the case to have the bot-
toms of the sections " plumped out."

3. It is a well known fact that bees
aie inclined to finish the tops of their
combs more perfectly than they do the
bottoms, and if the inverting is done
at the proper time the sections will be
finished alike at top aud bottom. It
seems to me that this is a decided ad-
vantage.

4. I could not produce honey to any
advantage in my locality without the
" tiering up" system. I keep a watch
over the section cases, and when the
combs are drawn out and mostly filled
with new honey they are lifted aud
empty cases put under them.

5. My iuvertible section case holds
thirty-two 4;J x 4^ x 1^ sections. I use
from two to three cases to each hive.
If we have the time to watch over
them a little more closely, two cases
to each hive will give good results ;
but the tendency to swarm is encour-
aged by using the minimum number of
cases.

6. I put on the section cases as soon
as the tops of the combs begin to turn
white by reason of the bees adding
new wax to the cells. Nothing is
gained by adjusting the cases sooner
than this, because bees refuse to build
comb or draw out foundation when
no honey is being gathered.

Christiansburg, Ey.

A BUNDLE OF INQUIBIES
AND ANSWERS.

BY L. THULEMEYER.

If I put one-half sheet of foundation
in wired frames will the bees work out
the other half?

Columbus, Texas.

Ans. Yes, but they would most likely
finish out with drone comb. We have
found this the case many times. Last
year we purchased twenty colonies of
bees ; all the combs were built on foun-
dation, but in some of the frames the
foundation did not more than one-half
fill the frame when it was put in and
all such were finished down with drone
comb.

120

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

BY S. V. VEEDER.

What is the best material to fasten
comb foundation in sections so that it
will hold the best?

Please have this answered in "Qnes-
tions and Answers" of "American Api-
culturist" by your correspondents.

Pattersonville, iV. Y.

Ans. See " Apiculturist" for April,
page 89.

BY CAUPENTER AND NELSON.

We reserved some three pounds of
honey from our last year's crop which
has been in the warehouse since last
summer with only a piece of cloth over
the bung. We find on examination
that it has candied but still continues
to ferment and run out of the barrel.
Can you assign any cause for it and
suggest any remedy ?

.Eldorado, Florida.

ANSWER BY L. C. ROOT.

If honey is extracted when first
Stored in the comb before being at least
partially cured, and phiced in a wooden
cask or vat which has not been first
coated with wax it will often ferment.
Another cause of fermentation is when
honey is placed in casks that have been
used for the same purpose previously
and have not been thoroughly cleansed
and recoated with was. If held in tin
cans until well cured, I have never
beeu troubled with fermentation.

BY A BEGINNER.

1. What is the best way to take off
surplus honey?

2. Can swarming be prevented and
how?

3. Would you advise the use of Al-
ley's queen-trap on all hives or would
it be as well on each alternate hive or
not at all?

4. Is the reversible hive going to
revolutionize beekeeping?

By answering the above you will
oblige.

ANSWERS BY "OLD BKEKKEPER."

1. If the honey is stored in sections
and a section-rack used, we would ad-
vise one to blow a little smoke in at
the entrance and then over the top of
the sections to drive the bees out of
them as much as possible ; then raise
the section-case and direct the smoke
under and immediately remove the hon-
ey to some dark room or cellar, leaving
a small place for th(^ liglit to enter and
for the bees to pass out, which they
will readily do.

2. Yes, swarming can be prevented
but it is avast deal of trouble to do it.
It requires more room to reply to this
question than we can devote to it here.
Read the back numbers of the "Api,"
also the latest bee books. Swarming
can be much better controlled than
prevented.

3. Of course we advise the use of
Alley's drone and queen trap, what
other is worth the mention? Why we
so advise :

First. If it is swarming time and one
desires to save all swarms with the
least trouble, we advise the use of the
trap. Second. If desirable to destroy
the useless drones in the apiary use
the trap, and, third, if pure queens of
any race are to be reared in an apiary
where there are several races or where
there are impure bees, the trap should
be used on all hives but the one whose
drones you wish to mate to the queens.

4. No, sir; no hive will revolution-
ize beekeeping. The Langstroth hive
did that thing twenty-five years ago
and it never will be repeated by any
man. We have as near perfection in
the L. hive as it is possible to attain.
Old father Langstroth will never be
bereft of the credit of inventing the
hive that revolutionized beekeeping
by any one to come hereafter. It is an
easy matter to arrange the Langstroth
hive so the combs can be reversed and
we have done that but it is the Langs-
troth hive all the same. The one to
revolutionize beekeeping will be the
person who can control the weather
and make it favorable at all times for
all beekeepers. We are willing to pay
a fair sum for even a patent right to
any man who can tell us how to do it.

QUESTIONS BY A SUBSCUIBER.

1. How often do you open a hive
during the building-up period, in spring
and during the honey flow?

2. How many brood frames do you
leave in a ten-frame " Simplicity" after
putting one honey box on, or do you
take any out?

3. In contracting brood chambers
to drive bees into sections, wiiat pro-
vision do you use to prevent the bees
building comb in the empty space?

4. In a district where forage is pre-
sumably scarce, where beekeeping
farmers of many years' experience say
there is no honey stored after the ap-
ple blossom (though we get twenty-
flve pounds after that date) how many
boxes (one-pound) would you give a

THE A3IERICAN APICULTURIST.

121

colony, the top story of whose hive is
as deep as the bottom ?

5. After sections have been j^iven,
can one brood-chaml)er be worked to
advantage in the way of increase of
bees?

ANSWERS BY J. E. POND, JR.

1. It will depend entirely upon cir-
cumstances ; no rule can be given. In
early spring I examine each colony
and put things into shape. Ordinarily,
two more examinations will be ample
for a weak colony, but one is, a-* a rule,
needed for a strong stock. During the
honey flow I examine often enough to
assure myself that no queens can be
reared "on the sly."

2. For years I used but nine and
spaced them wide apart. Last season
I found that all the advantages claimed
for reversing frames could be gained
by using ten frames spaced a little less
than three-eighths of an inch apart,
the comb being shaved down to exactly
seven-eighths of an inch in width and
a dummy being inserted in the outside
of the hive to take the space left by
the small distance used between frames.
The queen, I found, would deposit
eggs close up to top bars and the honey
would all go up stairs. The principle
is that the queens will not lay in store
combs but will iu regular brood and
do.

3. I fill in the space completely with
division-boards and thus no place is
left to build in.

4. In such a locality I should run
for extracted honey entirely. No one
can tell how many boxes would be filled.
If I were bound to run for comb honey
I should put on a full set and see what
would be done. This answer must
necessarily be "all guess work."

5. I do not understand this ques-
tion; it is impossible to work for both
increase of bees and a large crop of
honey at the same time and in the same
hive. The better plan is to devote a
part to honey-gathering and a part to
brood-rearing. In this way only can
the best results be produced.

ARE BEES TAXABLE?

Editor Am. Apiculturist : What
are the laws, if any, regarding the tax-
ation of bees in this state?

It is claimed in this town that my
bees can be taxed the same as any live
stock.

C. H. Smith.
14

ANSWER BY J. E. POND, JR.

I do not see any reason why bees
should not be taxed at their fair value.
The only question that can arise will
be as to what that value is.

Bees are property; that is when in
hives, although when wild they are
considered fercc naturce.

It is not customary to tax bees, but
that is owing to custom, and not to
law. There are no spc^cial statutes iu
regard to taxing bees, but the question
will fall under the general taxation
laws.

As for myself, I don't wish to avoid
payment of taxes on any property
whatever, as by taxes only can our
government be supported ; therefore,
I can give no consolation to any one
who does desire to evade taxation
even on bees.

Foxboro, 31ass.

HEIGHT TO SET HIVES; SHADE FOR
THEM.

I am much pleased with the " Api-
culturist, " and don't see how a bee-
keeper could do without it and be
successful. I am a beginner and run-
ning fifty-four colonies for extracted
honey. Would you be so kind as to
tell me in the "Api " liow high the
hives should be set above the ground
and whether they should be shaded or
not. I have the Langstroth hive.

ANSWER BY OLD BE15KEEPER.

1. One foot from the ground
will do.

2. If the hives have an entrance
one-half an inch high and the full
length of the width of the hive, they
will need no shade unless they stand in
some place unprotected from the wind.
We never shade our hives at all and
the bees "lay out" very little.

WHO CAN ANSWER?

I have nine colonies packed on the
summer stands. I found something
whicli I would like to have some light
upon. I was examining two of my col-
onies and saw some little mites crawl-
ing on the frames. There were a few
of them in the hives last summer.
Will some one tell me how to get rid
of these pests before they destroy my
bees? Bees are dying ofl'considerably.
Suppose this is natural for winter.
The honey flow stopped about the 8th
of September. Honey crop was good
last season.

Mrs. Isaac Foster.

Barry, 111.

122

TEE AMEBICAN APICULTTJUIST.

LETTER BOX.

LETTKRS FROM OUR READERS WHO
APPRECIATE A GOOD BEE JOURNAL.

Worcester, Pa.
I must say I have received more
practical informatiou from the "Api"
than from any thing I have read. Got
several bee journals and have three
manuals. If the cloth bound (two
first vols.) volume had an index like
the one in volume three, I would rec-
commend it to beginners in preference
to any manual.

Very truly,

Geo. Spitler.

Gonzales, Cal.
The tone of the American Apicultu-
rist is dignified, its management able,
its articles and editorials are alike
pithy and sound ; and take it, number
after number, there is a large per cent
of its articles the general reader would
preserve. A Norton.

Amjirior, Ont.

P. H. MORANT & Co.

We find your journal to give a
great deal of valuable information on
bee culture. We would not do with-
out it. James Edwards & Son.

Oak Bower, Ga.
T have been reading the sample copy
of the Am. "Api." you kindly sent me
and like it splendidly. I enclose 50 cts.
for sis months. Thos. Phillips.

Atlanthus, Mo.
I have been a subscriber to the Am.
Apiculturist since it was issued and to
say that I esteem and appreciate tlie
same is not telling half. I have been
taking all the bee journals published
in the English language and like the
"Api." best of all, and for the follow-
ing reason. I have found and cut from
its columns and pasted in my reference
book more than double the number of
articles for future reference than any
other journal has afforded me.

Jno. p. Needles.

BEES on shallow COMBS IN WINTER.

Bees are wintering finely in cellar
and out with me. It would please and
astonish you to see them cluster below
five inch combs in spaces designed for
them so to cluster. They seem to pre-
fer to hang in a large clump below
?heir honey to being separated by
cold combs. Respectfully,

T. F. Bingham.

HOW TO HIVE A SWARM OF BEES.

East Middlehoro, Vt.
Having read in the back numbers of
the " American Apiculturist" of the
difi'erent ways of hiving swarms,
I thought I would give my mode. I
have a few hives in readiness, placed
where I want to have them stand.
When the sAvarm comes out and clus-
ters, I take a common ten quart pan
and a thin board or shingle about seven
inches wide and sixteen inches long,
lay it over one edge of the pan and
clinch one side of the pan with the
thumb on the board to keep it in place.
Hold it up under the cluster; if on a
limb give it a gentle shake; they will
clustei- under the board in the pan;
then shake again and again till the
bees that are flying all centre for the
pan; then fan them; move a little and
keep still a few minutes and they will
all settle on'lhe pan ; then you can carry
tliem where you have a mind, and
pour them down in front of the hive
when they will run up into it without
difficulty ; but keep them going in by
stirring them up often, with a stick.
If the swarm is large, go twice or
more, but keep them going into the •
hive. If they light in a diflScult place
to get at, such as on the body of a tree
or down among weeds on the ground,
take a long handle milk dipper and
gather them up easily, and put them in
the pan, a dipper full at a time, and
smoke them a little and they will all
come. R. A. Dunham.

Biverside, N. J.
Gents:

Enclosed please find 50 cts. in
stamps for which please send me the
American Apiculturist for six months.
I find lean not do without the Api-
culturist under any circumstances,
much less without my bees.

Very respectfully,

J. H. Weidman.

Battle Ground, Ind.
I had a splendid honey season last
year. The yield averaging over 300
pounds to the colony, spring count,
and made 700 percent of stock besides,
all having plenty of honey to go nicely
through the winter. J. M. Hicks.

Chillicothe, Ohio.
Editor American Apiculturist :
In renewing my subscription for
1886, I beg to return thanks for the
great pleasure and information I have
received through the three volumes I
now have of your valuable paper.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

123

The past season in our section has
been a very disastrous one to apia-
rians. In fact we have had two con-
secutive fixilures in tlie honey crop.
The drought of 1884 cut short the white
clover yield, in fact lost to us en-
tirely; the very severe winter of 1884
and 1885 dealt a terrible blow to the
colonies scarce in stores, and the first of
May 1885 found us with few and weak
colonies. Decoration day brought us
a tremendous wind and hail storm,
cutting short the flow of honey from
locust; and the white clover, having
been entirely killed, yielded ns nothing,
so that the season of 1885 gave us but
about two or perhaps three weeks only
of nectar and that from fall flowers.

Some very careful apiarists among
us have come through so far in good
shape, but have had to feed heavily,
but the majority have lost heavily. I
know of one man who has lost thirty
stands.

Our prospect for this season is good.
White clover during the past summer
has grown well and is now out of dan-
ger and we look to do well with what
bees remain. Hoping for prosperity
to the "Api." under its change of
owners,

I am yours truly,

Fkancis W. Blackford.

Masqueton, loioa.

Enclosed find $1.00 for American
Apiculturist.

Bees wintered well, no loss, all fly-
ing to-day and cleaning house. No
dead bees in hives, comb bright and
clean. Wintered in cellar on natural
stores.

Long live "Api. "

A. M. Firman.

Sterling, 111.

I consider the " Apiculturist " the
most impartial paper on the subject

extant.

W. A. E. Murphy.

Pawtuckct, li. I.

The twenty-seven colonies packed
on summer stands are all alive and
very strong, with the exception of one
which is queenless; several of the
combs are partly flUed with brood.

You can count on ray hearty support
so long as you give us as good a

monthly as you have the last three
months.

Samuel Cushman.

Bxa'nt Eiver, Ont., Can.

P. H. MORANT & Co.,

Gents: — I have received the Febru-
ary number of the "Am. Apiculturist."
Thanks for the same. I find in it an arti-
cle written by Mr. Corneil of Lindsay,
Canada. I have no hesitation in saying it
is the best article I ever read touching the
same subject. It is hke the Dutchman's
horse, " a big one done up in a small com-
pass."

The paper should be in the hands of
every beekeeper and kept for future ref-
erence.

John T. Beech.

BRIEF REPORT OF THE NO. WEST-
ERN Pa. Beekeepers' Asso-
ciation.

At the late interesting and prof-
itable convention of the North-
eastern Ohio and Northwestern
Pennsylvania Beekeepeis' Associa-
tion, held at Meadville, Pa., much
information of practical value was
given out.

The following is the amount of
colonies represented and the yield
of honey.

No. of col., fall of 1884, 3,771.
" " "spring" 1885, 1,838.
" " " fall " 1885, 2,958.
" lbs. comb honey, 1885, 48,890.
" " extracted, 1885, 12,240.
" " beeswax, 1885, 488.

PRICE REDUCED.

Mr. Alley has reduced the price
of his "Handy Book or 22 years'
experience in queen-rearing," from
$1.50 to Si. 10 by mail, or the
book and drone and queen trap are
sent by mail for $1.50. This is a
fine chance to get these two arti-
cles at a very low price.

12i

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

HOW IS THIS?

To each new subscriber and those
who renew at once for one year, we
will send one of Alley's New Re-
versible Section Cases, each con-
taining enough i-lb. sections, made
up for a standard Langstroth hive, or
any other hive that does not take
more than 28 sections in one case.

In ordering, please give the exact
dimensions of the inside of the cap
of the hive you desire to use the sec-
tions on.

As the entire case, complete
weighs less than ten lbs., the charges
will not exceed 50 cts. to any place
the Am. Express reaches.

This case is new, and its novelty
and simplicity is admired by all.

Any one who will send ten new
subscribers and $10 will receive one
of the "Bay State Reversible Hives"
complete (except winter case).

New Testimonials.

I want to say a good word for
the Alley " Drone and queen trap."
I purchased ten, and have had
them almost in constant use the
last three weeks, and I must say
that as a drone, queen and svvarm
catcher, they cannot be excelled.
M. Borers.

Gonzales, Ttxas, April 6, 1886.

GOOD WORDS FOR THE QUEEN TRAP.

The " drone and queen trap" at
hand, and certainly promises all
that is claimed for it, besides being
a marvel of neat workmanship.
Think I will order a quantity, and
thus do away with the intolerable
trouble of climbing for swarms.
Mrs. H. Hills.

Sheboygan Falls, Wis.

Trap received. Am delighted
with it and consider it the " 7ie
plus ultra" in the bee line. Send
me one dozen. W. M. Heihg.

Lutherville, Md.

What Cheer, Iowa.

I have heard a good deal about
the Alley " drone and queen trap"
and think it is the very thing I need,
for the reason I cannot be at home
at all hours of the day to attend to
them.

G. R. Pratt.

SPECIAL NOTICES.

The Alley drone and queen trap was
patented Nov. 11, 1884. I hear that many
beekeepers are making and using them
without the proper right to do so. Rather
than have any of our friends lay themselves
liable, I will sell farm rights at a low figure,
to any who desire to make and use the
traps. Terms given on application.
Address,

Henry Alley,

Wenham, Mass.

We have in onr office one of Mr. J. M.
Shuck's inverlible hives, section case,
entrance feeders and large feeder to
use at the bottom of the hive, and a
lifter for inverting the hive, a very in-
genious device. All the above will be
shown our friends when they visit the
"Apiculturist" office.

Mr. Shuck sends out aneatthirty-two
page circular giving a full description
of his hive and other supplies. His
address is Des Moines, Iowa.

The American Apicniturist

will be

SENT FOUR, YEAHS

to any address, on i-eceiptor$2.50. The above
offer" includes all the volumes ol" the Api-
culturist from 1883 to Jau. 1, 1887. The first
three volumes are

Handsomely Bound in Cloth,

nnrl make splendid books for the library or
centre tiible. If vou want works that give the
largest amount < 1 valuable information on
bee culture you should certainly order the
above. The four volumes contain

Ten Hundred and Sixty Pages,

of valuable reading matter, comprising arti-
cles from the pens of the most prominent
writers and best apiarists, iu the world. All
for the small sum of $2..^0.

ADDRESS AMERICAN APICULTURIST,

WENHAJa, MASS.

The American Apiculturist.

% ^oxxxnnl b^faot^b ia gradual '^nhu^^iuQ.

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENHAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.

Published Monthly. Philip H. Moeant & Co., Publishers and Prop'rs.

WENHAM, MASS., JUNE i, 1886.

VOL. IV.

No. 6.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES.

Advertising Rates :— 15 cents pei- line of
space each insertion, or $1.00 per inch.

A line of this type will admit about 7 words.
One inch will contain twelve lines.

Those wishing special rates will please
correspond witli the Editor.

When sending money malte all postal notes
and money orders payable at the Salem,
Mass., Post Ofllce.

All communications should l)e addressed
to The American Apiculturist, Weuham,

special notice.

The Apiculturist will be sent three months
to any address for 25 cts,, six months for 50
ets. or one year for $1.

To each new subseriher and to those who
renew their subscriptions promptly, we will
send likenesses of Rev. L. L. Langstroth and
the late Moses Quinby.

For the American Apiculturist.

AN EXPERIMENT.

By S. Corneil.

One reason why some beekeep-
ers prefer having their hives closely
sealed above in winter is because
they believe that a solid board
cover confines the heat of the clus-
ter better than a quilt of wool, or
any other porous substance. The}'
say that the warm air rises to the
top and escapes through the po-
rous cover, and of necessity there
must be a loss of heat which with
a solid board cover would be re-
tained.

According to Sir Wm. Thomp-
son's Table of Thermal Conduc-
tivities in the Encyc. Brit. 9th ed.,
wood conducts heat nearl}' five
times as fast as does carded wool.
To test the matter practically I
15

took two eight frame Langstroth
hives without either bottom or top
and removed the frames. One of
these I covered with a pine board
of seven-eighths stuff, but before
screwing the cover down I inserted
rubber packing in the joints to
make them air tight. I covered
the other hive with a quilt of wool
18x20 inches and weighing a pound
and a half. Strips were fastened
above and below the quilt to press
the wool together. In each of
these covers I inserted the stem of
a thermometer so that the bulb
just came through on the lower side.
I next spread about two inches of
granulated cork in the bottoms
of two of the outside cases of
my Quinby hives. These cases
were six inches longer and eight
inches wider than the Langstroth
hives. In each of the Quinby
hives I placed two covered honey
pails, filled with hot water, and as
quickly as possible I placed the
bottomless Langstroth hives over
the pails and packed between the
walls with granulated cork. Each
pail contained seven and one-half
pounds of hot water. My object
was to place in each hive the same
amount of heat and as far as pos-
sible to prevent its escape in every
direction except through the covers,
in order to observe whether the air
would cool faster in the hive cov-
ered with a quilt of wool or in the"
hive covered with a board. The
thermometers used were a pair be-
longing to a Mason hygrometer
made by Nigretti and Zambra,
London, and were not marked for
any higher degree than 112. On ac-
(125)

126

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

count of the water being too hot
for the range of the instruments,
five hours ehipsed before the tem-
perature in the hive covered with
wool fell to 111°. The following
readings were subsequently taken.

Time of making

OBSERVATION.

hi

I fi %

° t z
1 8 B

Mar. 25th, 4 p.m.
" 5""

" 6'"'
u <i 9«w

" 10-'"
" " 11 " "
" 26th, 8 A.M.

" 9"-

" 4 P.M.

" 7<'"
« « 10""
•' 27th, 7 A.M.
" *• 12 noon.

111"

107
104
its
90
87
6(i
t).5
b9
.56
53
46
47

104°
100
96
8.5
81
77
57
56
.52
49
46
40
45

33°
33
33
31
30
28
30
33
46
33
31
31
53

ble for clothing for ourselves. I
should expect to find that with the
same amount of heat, the same
amount of moisture, and the same
lower ventilation, the air in the
hive covered with wool would be
dryer than the air in the hive hav-
ing the board cover. I think by a
little ingenuity a Mason hygrome-
ter could be placed in the covers
so as to give correct readings for
humidity. If any of the readers of
the "Api" will take the trouble to
try such experiments next winter,
I shall be pleased to correspond
with them as to details. We can
then compare results and we shall
probably arrive at something relia-
ble and useful.

Lindsay, Ont., May 16, 1886.

It will be noticed that while the
temperature of the outside air was
lower than it was in the hives the
temperature of the hive having the
board cover remained lower, but
when the outside air became
warmer the board cover allowed
the air in the hive to rise 5° while
in the hive covered with wool it
only rose 1°.

I shall probably repeat the ex-
periment next winter when the
-weather is colder, and I shall use
instruments having the scale
marked on the stem, and having a
range as high as 212°. The read-
ings should have been taken every
hour as long as the temperature
in either hive continued to fall. If
the pails were left uncovered so
that the air in the hives might be-
come damp, and if the entrances
were left open so that the hives
. would have lower ventilation, I
would like to test the air in each
for moisture, because besides be-
ing a bad conductor of heat, wool
has the property of passing off
moisture without causing a chill,
which makes it so eminently suita-

For the American Apiculturist.

BREEDING BEES— THE
COLOR LINE, ETC.

By a. Norton.

Perhaps it is a good thing for con-
servatism that the extreme views set
forth by those who have hobbies
tend to neutralize each other and to
produce more moderate opinions in
the minds of unprejudiced readers.

Judging by the arguments we of-
ten read, beekeepers hold very un-
like beliefs about many matters in
their calling ; and, among others,
see the color line drawn with con-
siderable sharpness.

The greater portion of the articles
in the bee papers will be found on
the side of disregarding color, al-
though sometimes they almost seem
to be particular about it in a nega-
tive way.

Therefore, we find many who ad-
vocate, especially with Italians, the
breeding of darker bees ; and many
others who advise such a system of
breeding as would tend to produce
motley and irregular markings among
our yellow races. These ideas

THE AMERICAN A PIC UL TURIS T.

127

probably spring from a belief that
light color and bright bands are
prejudicial to hardiness and indus-
try. Let us see if the other side to
this question has not likewise firm
foundation. In taking the various
races as nature gives them to us we
find some races black and some yel-
low. Be the two circumstances con-
nected or disconnected, we find that
yellow races are in most respects the
better. Now we avail ourselves of
good opportunities and breed the
better varieties ; what standards shall
we set up and what features shall we
strive to retain? Unquestionably,
the one object among practical bee
men is profit ; therefore, those char-
acteristics of bees that affect the
amount of honey stored are the ones
that should be kept and cultivated
by select breeding and at all hazards.
But this may be done without sacri-
ficing color, and beauty in bees adds
to the pleasure of beekeeping which
is an item at least. Bright color
does not necessarily impair industry.

The Italians have grown steadily
in favor since the time of their in-
troduction ; and one of the chief
traits to recommend them is their
superior industry as compared with
the blacks. Yet the three bright
golden bands that help to render
them so beautiful have been recog-
nized from the first, and the talk
about dark, leather-colored ones is
a matter of later date.

The Cyprians and the Syrians
have proven themselves wonderfully
brave, hardy and energetic ; yet their
color is of surpassing brightness and
beauty. The effect of their yellow
bands is heightened by the profu-
sion of yellow hairs distributed on
other parts of their bodies, and yet,
after nature has given us the yellow
races superior to black ones, we are
told that we may make them still
better by breeding them darker.

Again, color in bees does not
necessarily influence their disposi-
tion either way.

The Italians in their purity are as
gentle as any manipulator could wish.
The still brighter Albinos — a varia-
tion from the Italians — are consid-
ered even more peaceable. Bur the
black bees, as long as their courage
holds out, viciously resent intrusion.
On the other hand, the Cyprians
and the Palestines, as beautiful as
the Albinos, are fierce and warlike,
while the gray Carniolans are as harm-
less in disposition as any bees known.
Color, therefore, is not of itself a
controUing factor in either of these
useful traits, neither is it in prolific-
ness. How, then, may color be
developed prejudicially to other
points ?

I will say by way of acknowledg-
ment that it may be done by breed-
ing for appearance solely, regardless
of other points. To illustrate :

Of several queens that I raised
last year from a somewhat dark
Cyprian mother, the majority were
like the mother in appearance, but
a few were light colored and very
handsome. The colonies produced
from the latter were this spring
among the most prosperous I had ;
so I used these light queens for
drone mothers and I expect none
but good results. But had these
queens been the mothers of less ac-
tive bees instead, and had I in my
anxiety to get beautiful stock bred
from them just the same, I would
ha\e committed act no. i toward
deteriorating my stock. This might
have given a start down hill, the re-
sult of which would depend on my
committing act no. 2 and so on.
Geo. E. Waring, an authority on
Jersey cattle, deprecated breeding
those animals for " black points,"
not because black markings on nose,
tip of tail, horns, etc., were prejudi-
cial to dairy qualities of necessity,
but because they might be so by
accident after the same manner.
Poorer animals for butter might fre-
quently be bred from, just because
they happen to have these fancy

128

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

points, and this would cause a ret-
rograde in more practical merits.
But time has shown that Jerseys with
black points have not frequently
enough been inferior dairy cows to
very much lessen the value of that
particular strain of the breed.

I might mention many other ex-
amples, but I will content myself
with a few. No fowls have been
bred more particularly for markings
than the various breeds of Games ;
yet their pugnacity of spirit remains
unimpaired.

The Dark Brahmas have also been
bred with an eye to the most rigid
accuracy of color, and yet they are
still as large, as hardy and as profi-
table as they ever were. Bantams
have suffered the breeding down of
size and hkewise the establishment
of rigid standards of markings with-
out losing that comical, self-suffi-
cient bravery that has always char-
acterized them. And so it is with
the yellow races of bees. It does
not follow that any connection ex-
ists between their color on the one
hand and their valuable qualities on
the other. But nature, in some mys-
terious way that shows forth in its
effects upon all animals and plants,
has in Italians and Cyprians, Syri-
ans and Palestines, bred their yel-
low color conjointly with traits that
render them most valuable to man-
kind.

Why cannot we in applying the
aid of science to nature continue
hkewise and, instead of separating
points that we find joined together,
strive to blend beauty and profit still
more harmoniously by breeding for
both at once? In my opinion, a
practical and beneficial result of the
discussion of this question would be
realized in the establishment of a
queen breeders' association with
membership wherever queens are
raised in America. The object of
this association would be to secure
uniformity of purpose and action
among dealers and producers.

Some standard as a test of purity
and of distinction between races be-
ing much needed, such an association
of breeders could establish a correct
and generally recognized one. Im-
provements in certain directions up-
on races as we find them can result
from proper breeding.

Such a body, by securing concert,
would insure system and enhance
success ; and the time would more
surely come when bees, the progeny
of American reared mothers purely
mated, would be better than those
from imported queens.

The matter of breeding for prac-
tical qualities and looks conjointly
could be regulated, and also the
much mooted question of rearing
cheap queens could be settled ; for
such a body of breeders would have
a dignity attaching that would give
its discussions weight. It is need-
less now to enter into details of
constitution and of means of secur-
ing authority among its membership.
I will only say in conclusion that,
such associations already exist, not
only in the breeding of animals and
fowls, but also in the improvement
of special breeds of the same. I
believe, that a geneial association
of queen breeders, or separate or-
ganizations for the different races
would be productive of good re-
sults to both dealers and patrons.

Gonzales, Cal.

For the American Apiculturist.

HAVE WE LEARNED AS

YET ALL THERE IS TO BE

KNOWN IN REGARD TO

APICULTURE?

By J. E. Pond, Jr.

Mr. James Heddon in his new
work on apiculture (which by the
way I do not now propose to criti-
cise) has given the public what he
claims to be a new system of bee-
keeping ; and also describes what he

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

129

claims to be a new hive that will rev-
olutionize the science of apiculture
in practice. The claims made both
in the theoretical part of the book,
and the description of the manipu-
lation of the hive, point us directly
to the assumption that this revolution
is to be caused largely though not
wholly, by reversing frames either
singly, or by reversing the whole hive.

The tenability of the above posi-
tion is the matter I now propose to
examine.

In the first place then, I ask, will
the reversible principle accomplish
the desired end in a simple, practi-
cal and economical manner? To
this question I admit the process of
reversing frames either singly or by
overturning a whole hive is simply
enough in all conscience ; whether
practical and practicable is a matter
of opinion ; and as to its economy
to those who will have to make great
changes in hives and apparatus, all
will admit that it is not so. But
aside from all this, there arises another
question, and one that is of great
importance to us all, and that is
contained in the question that forms
my text ; or, in other words, is the
method described by Mr. Heddon
taken as a whole, and in connection
with his hive, a step in advance ? on
the contrary, has he not in his book
lost view entirely of one of the great
principles that govern apiculture,
and in the adoption of which we can
only accomplish our ends economi-
cally, and most successfully ?

There is a principle in comb build-
ing and cell use by the queen and
her bees, that is as old as apiculture,
and which the late Mr. Quinby found
was always carried out when he at-
tempted to force his bees to adopt
comb built on tin foundation. It is
this. Bees will not seal up their
brood in cells more than regulation
depth, that is, deeper than are built
in comb seven-eighths inches thick ;
and further that they also prefer to
store their honey in cells much deeper

than those above described. This
being the case, have we not, in prac-
tice, a plain simple and easy way by
which we can induce our bees to
occupy sections, which seems to be
the main object of reversing? I
have fully considered this matter,
and have made thorough tests in re-
gard to it, during the last five years,
with the result that I know positively
that it will work every time, and that
the results are alway,s the same.

My method is not new in one
sense, yet I have never seen it advo-
cated. Perhaps it may have been in
the minds of others, still it does not
seem to have assumed sufficient
prominence to cause it to be con-
sidered of importance. It is based
on the habits of the bees in regard
to storing honey and rearing brood.
It is as follows : in early spring
when I make my first examination,
1 remove the frames, and shave the
comb carefully to just seven-eighths
of an inch in width. I use the L
hive, and frames with seven-eighths
of an inch wide top-bars. After the
combs are thus shaved down, I re-
place them just bee space apart.
When the honey season opens, sec-
tions are at once placed on the
frames, and the bees at once occupy
them. The theory of this is seen at
once, and I defy any one to contro-
vert it; In practice I have fully
proved it during the last five years,
and I find the results are always the
same. And why should they not be ?
Bees will always store their honey
above their brood : the advocates of
reversible frames admit this as the ba-
sis of their theory. They don't store
honey readily in shallow or brood
cells ; this I presume will be readily
admitted. Now by keeping comb
just seven-eighths of an inch thick,
and just bee space apart, we get the
brood chamber filled with brood, and
find practically no honey stored
there, but on the contrary it is stored
at once where there is plenty of
room, viz., in sections. The position

130

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

I take I deem of importance to the
fraternity, in several particulars. It
is simple and requires no extra labor.
It is economical for it requires no ex-
tra expenditure from frames or appli-
ances. It can be applied to any frame
hive, and by any person, no matter
how small his experience. In order to
get ready for winter again it is re-
quired to be sure to remove a frame
or two, space the balance a little wi-
der apart, and feed the bees enough
to carry them through. This how-
ever requires very little labor. It is
ordinarily done with any hive, no
matter what method is used ; and it
is far less labor than is required in
manipulating reversing frames. There
is one claim made by the advocates
of reversing, that I have mentioned.
It is the idea that by reversing we
get our frames fully filled out. As a
matter of fact, however, when foun-
dation is used, very few frames are
not so filled with comb, and the few
that are not can be easily fixed, with-
out trouble or expense. I have test-
ed this matter as I have said, care-
fully, and I think so well of it, that
I desire it to be generally known,
and to be fully tested. I hope and
trust that full tests will be made, and
full reports given in regard to it.

Foxboro, Mass., April, 1886.

For tlie American Apicultiirist.

COMB OR EXTRACTED
HONE Y— WHICH?

Uy Allen Pringle.

The question is often asked, espe-
cially by beginners in beekeeping,
"Which kind of honey shall we pro-
duce, comb or extracted?" Which
is more profitable? After upwards
of twenty years' experience my de-
cided conviction is and has been for
some time that if only one kind is
produced the extracted is the more

profitable, but that it is more profita-
ble to produce both conjointly than
either one exclusively, except under
very special and exceptional circum-
stances. I hold this to be true for
several reasons. The first is that if
the apiarist does a local trade (and
every beekeeper ought to have more
or less of a home market for his
product) his customers will impera-
tively call for both kinds of honey.
Some will have none but comb honey,
and if you cannot supply them they
will purchase elsewhere and a good
future customer is lost. I say a good
future customer because he may not
be a good customer at present or so
long as he sticks to the comb honey,
for that is really less profitable to the
producer, unless he get ajDrice higher
than that usually obtained for comb
honey. But these sticklers for comb
honey and comb honey only, can
almost always be converted to the
extracted honey if you manage them
right, and then they become profita-
ble customers. I just now have in
mind a customer of mine whom I
suppHed for two or three years with
the choicest section comb honey — he
would have nothing else. He was
one of your stubborn Englishmen —
was a dry-goods merchant, and had
a large family. He didn't care so
much about the difference in the
prices of comb and extracted honey,
but was prejudiced against the lat-
ter (the "strained" honey) and was
biassed in favor of the comb and
would have it anyway." I finally
laughed the prejudice out of him
and argued the extracted honey into
him — /. <?., metaphorically speaking.
I chaffed him about eating beeswax.
I said, "if you want to eat beeswax
go to the apothecary and buy it at
fifty cents a pound after first getting
a medical prescription, and then eat
it secundum artem; but don't make
me a party to turning your stomach
into an apothecary shop !" I showed
him that the comb was merely wax
and sediment and that the extracted

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

131

honey would be much more whole-
some for his family who ate freely of
honey, — that it was his duty to fur-
nish them with tlie more wholesome
article, etc., etc. Next time I sent
him both kinds ; and still the next
time both kinds, but this time he said
"Nay, you have argued extracted
honey into us and now we want ex-
tracted honey." Again there will be
a few customers who must have the
best comb honey and are willing to
pay a high price for it, and of course
comb honey is just as profitable to
the producer as extracted if he can
get enough for it.

The next reason why we should
not confine ourselves exclusively to
one kind is that the weather is often
unfavorable for the production of one
kind and favorable for the other, and
sometimes this is characteristic of the
whole season through. We all know
that a cool season is unfavorable for
the production of comb honey, and
the comb honey specialist who will
have nothing to do with extracted
honey often learns this to his sorrow
and cost.

Another reason for the joint pro-
duction is that some colonies in an
apiary take so readily to the comb
honey and turn out so superb an ar-
ticle that it is really a pity to wasie
them on extracted honey. Others
can neither be cajoled nor coerced
into the sections but will gather and
store below like beavers, and by all
means let them do so. Of course
the old, professional, comb honey
codgers are joined to their idols, and
with their idols let them stay ; but
let beginners strike off in both di-
rections, produce both kinds. That
it is easier to produce extracted honey
goes without saying, and hence the
novice generally makes his debut diX\6.
his first grand achievement in that
direction. But he need not fear to
take a hand in on the other side. If
he but remember two or three funda-
mental principles he can produce
comb honey, and choice comb

honey, and this is best secured by
putting the sections (only a few) im-
mediately over the brood-nest. Sec-
ond, contraction of brood chamber.
When your colony gets populous and
the honey is flowing crowd them up
and place your sections on and your
chance will be good for some nice
comb honey. If they take a notion
to swarm and leave your sections not
half full, never mind but follow them
up and beat them up and beat them
on their own game. If you have the
old queen clipped (and you ought)
cage her as she comes out, set
the old hive aside, place your new
hive with empty comb and a couple
of frames of brood on the old stand,
contract the brood chamber with di-
vision boards to rather small size, put
your caged queen inside, open the
parent colony and shake off nearly
all the bees left on the frames in front
of the new hive, put the case of half-
filled sections from the parent colony
on to the new colony and your work
is done, for by this time the swarm
may be returning to the new hive on
the old stand. At any rate they are
sure to return be the time more or less.
The parent colony you will of course
carry off to a new stand, make it
warm because of the scarcity of bees,
contract the entrance and they will
take care of themselves. You will thus
have the upper hand of those old
bees and half filled sections which
will now in all probability be soon full.

Another and final reason for the
joint production is that no apiarist
can make a finished and effective
exhibit of his product either to cus-
tomers or at public expositions with-
out both kinds of honey. The sur-
passing beauty of white comb honey
nicely finished up in beautiful white
sections and tastefully exhibited,
never fails to attract the attention of
even the least aesthetic.

Selby, Lentwx Co., Ont.

132

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

For the American Apiculturist .

THE DRONE AND QUEEN
TRAP.

By Mrs. Sherman.

Having received quite a number
of letters, making inquiry about the
use of Alley's Combined Drone and
Queen Trap, I will try as best I can
to answer them through the "Api, "
as I have not time to answer each
one separately. I prefer putting the
trap at the entrance just as the bees
begin to swarm, to keeping it there
all the time, as I find when it is kept
there all the time, that the bees
lose a great deal of pollen. I have
never failed to get the queen when
it was put there in time. On one
occasion, however, I remember hav-
ing caught the queen, and as I
wished to return the bees to the same
hive, as I was then wanting surplus
honey instead of bees, I waited pa-
tiently for them to return, which they
did not seem inclined to do ; I fi-
nally got a long stick and jarred
them off the limb to which they im-
mediately returned. I again jarred
them off and they again clustered in
the same place. I then got a dar-
key living near by to come and saw
off the limb. I returned them and
saw the queen run. I had returned
the queen that I had secured in the
trap, so I now had two queens in
one hive. I put the trap at the en-
trance and let them settle the matter
on the " survival of the fittest " plan.
Next morning I had a dead queen
in the trap. They gave up swarm-
ing and went to work with appar-
ently redoubled energy and gave me
a fine amount of surplus honey.
Just here let me say that I raised the
hive nearly an inch from the bottom
board, so as to thoroughly ventilate
the hive, which is of the utmost im-
portance in our hot climate. I
would not think of using a hive with
a permanent bottom board. I have
never, except on one occasion, known

the queen to come out when the
bees first begin to swarm. I have
never to my knowledge had a " virgin
queen " come out with a " prime
swarm. " In 1884 I had one colony
that cast four swarms ; as I was want-
ing bees then that was all right ; now,
I have enough and want honey in-
stead of bees and do not allow them
to swarm so much. Swarming can
be controlled to a great extent by
the use of the extractor, thorough
ventilation and the use of the trap.
Another great advantage of the trap
is in destroying worthless or useless
drones which are constant consum-
ers and non-producers. Still an-
other use : in case of robbing it is
the best thing that I have ever tried.
The robbers seem to think that there
is something wrong. They do not
like to go through the perforated
zinc into the trap and then in the
hive. If this does not answer all the
queries, I will refer you to Mr. Alley
of Wenham, Mass., the inventor of
the trap.

Salado, Bell Co., Texas.

For the American Apiculturist.

NEWS FROM WYOMING

By Cordelia Mead.
(One or our youngest readers).

Mr. Editor : — As I have never
seen any communication in your ex-
cellent bee journal from the far west,
especially none from your young
readers, I venture to send you a
few lines for the first time. I am
quite young, only twelve, but can
send you many interesting items
from this new country if you can
spare the space ; but I will make
this letter as brief as possible. We
have the first honey bees ever brought
to Wyoming Territory, and they
store up lots of white and fine fla-
vored honey from the wild mountain
flowers, and stand the winters as well
as in the eastern states.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

133

Our ranch is seven thousand feet
above the level of the sea, but it
seems to be very healthy here for
bees and poultry. Cattle, horses
and sheep grow fat on the all-the-
year-round grazing lands.

We live beside a clear cool moun-
tain stream in a pleasant valley sur-
rounded on all sides by grand
scenery. In the mountains are found
all kinds of minerals, gold, silver,
copper, lead and iron ores. My pa
has a large collection of minerals,
precious stones, relics, fossils, petri-
fications and other curiosities found
in this great Rocky Mountain region.
Wyoming is about the best place for
large game in the United States. It
is visited every year by wealthy tour-
ists and hunters from the eastern
cities.

Oh, I forgot to inform you that
we have a live elk and antelope, very
tame and interesting pets, will eat
grain, vegetables or bread out of our
hands, and never leave the premises.
They were caught while young and
raised on cows' milk. We have be-
come so fond of them that we have
refused good offers for them.

Tcrris, IVyoming^ 1886.

FOREIGN NOTES.

Bv Arthur Todd.

The use of the vapor of carbolic
acid as a substitute for smoke, in
controlling bees, making them vacate
any particular part of a hive, etc.,
seems to be gaining ground in the
old country. A writer in the British
Bee Journal depicts a form of blower
containing a sponge dipped in di-
luted acid. I; is no more nor less
than a modification of Mr. Jones'
(Canada), and my own practice, in
using a sponge dampened Avith chlo-
roform inserted in the tube of any
ordinary smoker. The great advan-
16

tage I have found in using chloro-
form is the getting rid of tlie lighting
up and occasional burning of one's
fingers.

A new race of bees, viz., " South
Africans " is likely some day to be
put on this market. Dr. Stroud of
Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony, writes,
"As to the race itself I regard it as
the outcome mainly of the old Egyp-
tian bee crossed by some grayer
variety, probably the Cyprian, and
finally by the black bee. The spe-
cial features and characteristics of all
these, the "Africans " in a more or
less degree retain.

In this their native country, they
undoubtedly exhibit all the fine
traits and reputed excellences of
the much lauded " Ligurian " and
" Carniolan " with none, or traces
only, of their recorded drawbacks.
After fifteen years' experience of
" Africans " against ten years of
closest intimacy with ordinary Euro-
pean bees, I can safely say that
under existing conditions their ex-
cellence is of a very much higher
order, and this without disparage-
ment of my old friends. Dr. Stroud
reports this race as very healthy and
very prolific, the weight of bees in
an ordinary stock averaging ten to
twelve pounds. Working capabili-
ties high, early and late at work if
any honey to be had, even working
by moonlight.

From the description I should say
the bee is practically the same as
that in the north of Africa, and
worked by me in Algeria. The same
bee in fact, that has been dubbed by
Frank Benton as the " Tunisian
Bee."

" Coffee " as an antiseptic medi-
cine to cure foul brood is recom-
mended by Dr. Dennler the editor
of the Alsace Bee Journal. The
remedy is certainly very simple, and
found in most households. Dr. Denn-
ler recommends dusting all the in-

134

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

fected cells with very finely pow-
dered coffee. An excess of coffee
powder would do no harm, bees
would simply clean it out. Being
employed dry it would absorb any
moisture,_,and so assist the bees in
work of cleaning. As a preventive,
Dr. D. advises mixing coffee with
the water put out for bees to drink.
Monsieur Bertrand (of Swiss Bee
Journal), in criticising this coffee-
cure, says he heard a commercial
drummer one day say " Roast duck
is a good dish, but to appreciate it,
one must eat it himself" and so rec-
ommends Dr. Dennler (who it ap-
pears personally never tried the
remedy) to get a diseased colony,
dust it all over with coffee, give it
a good strong cup every morning,
etc., etc., and then report results
from actual experience. — Very sen-
sible, Mr. Bertrand !

I lately drew attention to an un-
capping machine perfected in Italy,
and exhibited there. In England,
Mr. Simmins has brought one for-
ward for sale, and gives a drawing
of it in the British Bee Journal. He
states that the first principle of this
machine consists in its having two
oscillating knives, which, driven by
foot power, have a reverse motion,
while the comb is passed down be-
tween them by the operator, and the
cappings are removed from both
sides at once, in the quickest manner
possible. These drop into the upper
case which has a strainer at bottom,
through which the honey drains into
the lower vessel, where it can be
drawn off. The edges of the knives
are serrated, making them perfect
for this particular purpose. Between
the knives, at either end, are guides
arranged to take the end rails of the
frame, keeping such in position while
passed through by the operator.

The upper and lower cases are
readily parted for the purpose of
cleaning ; and all the parts can be
renewed if necessary.

For use in this machine, all the
frames run for extracted honey
should be finished between dividers,
and then they can be rapidly passed
through the uncapper, before being
placed in the extractor.

Mr. Simmins states that the rapid-
ity of manipulation pays for putting
in dividers to secure level building
of combs.

Phila., Pa.

For the American Apiculturist.

CANADIAN DEBAR TMENT.

By R. F. HOLTERMAN.

Bees doing well at this date. May
12. A number report their bees hang-
ing out full complement of combs in
the hive. Prospects well, perhaps
never better. Apple bloom is just
coming in with us ; the earlier varie-
ties are in bloom. Clover promises
well. Although winter-killed in low
undrained land generally, there is an
abundance. Farmers are sowing al-
syke in larger quantities, for seed and
meadow. With us alsyke clover has
proved itself a sure honey crop for
the last five years and the quality
is generally considered superior to
honey from white.

Brantford, Canada.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

What is called the "contract-
ing system " has great excellence
for a class of small beekeepers who
wish no increase of colonies, but
to get all the honey out of their
new swarms they can. Hive the
new swarms on four or five frames
of comb, filling the rest of the hive
with dummies, and put the sec-
tions right on at once. All the
honey will be put into the sections,
and at the close of the harvest
these small swarms in the brood

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

135

chambers can be united, or broken
up, and enough saved to keep tlie
number of hives desired, good.
Old cost aside, wide frames make
good dummies. Rip off the tin
separators, tack thin one-eighth
inch boards into the sides, and
hang them in the liive justas tliough
tliey were the outside combs. Ac-
cess to regular sided section cases
covering the whole top of the hive
is thus preserved.

Many apiarists think brood
combs should be spaced one and
one-half inches from centre to cen-
tre even when brooding is going on
actively. In our experience one
and three-eighths is the proper dis-
tance, but we have worked them
successfully as close as one and
one-fourth inches. This latter
spacing gives three-eighths of an
inch between the surfaces of the
capped brood, but five-eighths of an
inch in cases where the combs are
spaced one and one-half inches, is
too much, and will greatly hinder
the extension of the brood. Wide
spacing is also objectionable in
working for comb honey, as it
affords room for too many bees in
the brood chamber. Evidently,
no greater mistake can be made
than to space brood combs too far
at part.

No bee-paper, as far as we can
judge, receives as hearty asu()port
from beekeepers as it should. Wh}''
is this so, friends? How many of
the readers of the various bee-
journals would like to see them
wiped out of existence? Not one
who reads them would. Now,
friends, the amount that is required
to subscribe for all the bee-jour-
uals, one year, is not as much as
the income from one good hive of
bees. Even the circulation of
Gleanings^ whose proprietor claims
o have 10,000 customers for bee-
upplies, has never quite reached

a circulation of 8,000 copies and
last winter it ran below 5,000.

Although every mail brings us
from one to a dozen subscribers, we
feel bound to acknowledge the fact
that our list is not what.it should
be. We know why it is, in most
cases, that people do not forward
their subscription. They' will get
a bee-paper to-day, look it over and
say : "well, I guess I will send a
dollar and get this paper ; I can't
send to-day but will in a day or so."
Then it goes on and no more is
thought of the matter until they re-
ceive another paper. Now, friends,
when you read this sit right down
before you forget it and enclose us
one dollar, at our risk, and we will
send you the " Apiculturist" for one
year. We will leave it for you to
say at the end of the year whether
you have received 3'our money's
worth or not. If you think you
have not call for the amount and
we will return it.

Our readers will notice that in
this number there is a change in
the question and answer de[)art-
raent. The short answers to ques-
tions were so much like the
published reports of the proceed-
ings at bee-conventions that the}''
were of little or no account, and
did not give the desired amount of
information. In future we hope
to have all questions answered in
full. If our readers will please
propound questions we will get the
best and most experienced apiarists
in the country to answer them.
You know the question and answer
department originated with the
"Apiculturist." A bee-journal with-
out such a department is like a
strong colony of bees that has no
queen.

— In the July number of the Api-
culturist, Mr. Alley will show the
difterence between rearing queens
by the old methods and the new,

136

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

also, the improvements made witliin
a few j^ears in this important branch
of bee-cultnre. The old way and
the new wa}' of having cells bnilt
will be so illustrated that even the
novice will not fail to see the ad-
vancement made in the modes of
rearing queens.

— If any of our readers would
like to try our method for introduc-
ing virgin queens, as given in the
May number of the "Api," we will
ship such queens by mail and war-
rant safe arrival for fifty cents each.
This will be a good way to intro-
duce fresh blood into the apiary by
crossing the queens with drones of
some colony having desirable
points. We will also receive vir-
gin queens of any race, have them
fertilized and return them to the
shipper at the above price. This
will accommodate those who can-
not get their queens purely mated.
Last season we did much of this
business with good success. By
adopting this latter method one will
be sure to avoid in-and-in breed-
ing.

— During the past ten days we
have had one of Muth's cold blast
all-metal smokers in use most of
the time, and find that it works per-
fectly in every respect. We had
no rotten wood at hand and so
made a wad of heavy paper, which,
by the way, is excellent for smok-
ing bees. We can furnish tliese
pipes by mail for seventy- five cents
or by express for fifty cents.

— If all the sections sent out by
Dr. Tinker are like the sample sent
to this oflflce, we must say that no
dealer in the world can excel them.
Tills is not intended as a "slop-
over" puff, but is our candid opin-
ion. Send for a sample and see if
we are not correct.

— It is said that some of the new
style hives are made of such poor
material and show such poor work-

manship that they are practically
worthless. We have often con-
demned the producer and manufac-
turer of worthless goods. Don't
tlirow your money away by pur-
chasing cheap, trashy supplies.
Several parties sent to this office
for estimates of certain apiarian
fixtures ; we put the price down so
that we could not make any profit
on any of the goods, but did not
get the orders. We beat the bush,
and, in so doing, were the menus
of " grinding" down prices for some
other dealer who "caught the bird,"
Probably our friends got their
goods at a lower price than we
offered, but there is no doubt that
they also got cheaper supplies.

When anything goes from this
office we are ready to guarantee its
quality in every case.

— Customers who order queens
will please state the time they are
willing for us to hold the money in
case we cannot fill the order by re-
turn mail. Occasionally there is a
great rush for queens, or the weather
has been unfavorable for queen-
rearing, and thus there is delay in
filling orders promptly. However,
we shall run a large number of nu-
clei and will try to be prepared for
any emergency. Consult our price
list for queens before ordering.

— The Ma}' number of the Api-
culturist contains several of tlie
best and simplest methods for in-
troducing queens.

— From time to time we shall
venture to advise our readers con-
cerning anything relating to bee
culture. Our opinions may be re-
garded by some of our readers
when we state the fact that our ex-
perience in bee-culture covers a
period of thirty years.

— Those who publish a monthly
bee-journal may take courage from
the fact that the best agricultural
papers, and those having the lar-

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

187

gest circulation and are most suc-
cessful generally, are tliose pub-
lished but once a montli.

— Customers who order the queen
and drone-traps will please state
whether they have at hand suita-
ble nails and tacks for putting
them together. If not, we will
send for ten cents, all the nails
needed, making $3.60 per dozen
for the traps in the flat.

— If you want to know the best
methods for introducing queens,
see the "Apiculturist" for May,
1886.

— A good method for forming
nuclei may be found in the '■'Api-
culturist" for June, 1886.

— There is no better work on bee-
culture than tlie bound volumes of
the "Apiculturist" commencing
with the May number, 1883, and
running to January 1, 1885. These
books are handsomely bound in
cloth and are sold at a very low
price.

APICULTURIST BEE FARM
NOTES.

By Henky Alley.

THE QUEEN NUR6ERY AND HOW TO
USE IT.

The more beekeepers learn about
the queen nurserj', the more they
seem to appreciate the advantages
of such a valuable implement of
the apiary. We do not expect
that the queen nursery will come
into general use, but nearly all
beekeepers need more or less such
cages (if not a full nursery) as are
here described.

As but few understand the dif-

ferent uses to which the nursery
can be applied, we will give a brief
description of one tliat has been
in use for a long time in the Bay
State Apiary.

A queen nursery is a set of cages
so made that it requires only
about eighteen of them to till a
Standard Langstroth frame. Such
a cnge, illustrated by Fig. 1, is
merel}^ a block of wood 2^ inches
square by | of an inch tliick, with
a hole 1^ inches in diameter made
through it ; both sides are covered
with wire cloth. Two other small

Nursery Cage.

holes are made in one edge of the
cage. One of them is used for in-
serting a queen cell and also as a
door for putting bees into the cage
when necessary ; the other for a re-
ceptacle for food, — which consists
of honey in a sponge, or of sugar
and honey, either of which works
satisfactorily. Fig. 2 represents
the full nursery of eighteen cages.

As we have devised a new nur-
sery which is a great improvement
on the above, I will now describe
that.

The new nursery cage is 2^ jn.
long, 2 inches wide and"^ of an inch
thick. Like the old style it is
simply a block of wood with a hole
made directly througli it. It also
has a cavity in one ed^Q for insert-
ing the food. It takes twenty-four
such cages to fill one Langsti'oth
frame. Only one side of tills cage
is covered with wire cloth, whfle

138

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

on the other side a tin door or
slide runs in grooves, the same as
in a mailing cage we devised sev-
eral years ago, and is now des-
cribed on page 6, of A. I. Root's
circular. We do not exactly like
the metal door, but such an ar-
rangement is so convenient and
handy withal, that it was adopted.
This is used as a nursery cage, for
introducing or for shipping queens.
Now, while all beekeepers will not
need a full nursery, there is no
apiarist but what will have use for
a few such cages sometime during
the year.

in the apiary ; remove a frame of
brood and adhering bees from a
strong colony (without the queen)
and place it in the box. Confine
the bees in the hive two days un-
less they are carried one mile from
their former location when one
day's confinement will do. While
confined in the box, keep the bees
in a cool place and see that they
have plenty of food and water
as well as air. At the end of three
days, insert at the bottom of the
frame a cage containing one of the
young queens, placing it so that
the bees can remove the susfar

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Fig. 2. Queen Nursery.

Suppose the apiarist desires to
cage a queen for some purpose, — as
is quite often the case — how nicely
it can be done, and the queen pre-
served for weeks if the right kind
of a cage is used. What bee-
keeper does not sometimes have
some fine queen cells he would like
to preserve had he at hand the
conveniences for so doing? How
nicely and quickly the cells could
be transferred to the nursery cages
and then the cages inserted in one
of the brood combs where the
queens would hatch out. Now, all
this work could be done in a few
moments. The novice says :
"What shall we do with the queens
when they have hatched ?" Why,
simply make a few small boxes,
say one for each queen to take
any frame the size of those used

food and thus release the queen.
Now, you have made a nucleus and
successfully introduced the new
(lueen. Any one, however inex-
perienced he may be in beekeeping,
can successfully introduce a virgin
or any other queen by the above
method which is the same as given
in the May number. Now we will
suppose that some one has twenty-
four queen cells and desires to pre-
serve them all. It can be done as
easily and as quickly with twenty-
four cells as with one. But with
that number of cells, I would ad-
vise one to remove the queen
from some full colony of bees and
insert the nursery between two
combs of brood. Take a small
instrument and make an aperture
through the wire cloth just large
enough for a bee to pass through

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

139

(but not large enough for the queen)
something about the shape of the
sharpened end of a lead pencil
will do, only a shoulder should be
made on the instrument so that
each aperture will be the same
size. We can supply these small
tools if desired.

The bees will enter the cages
through these little doors and clus-
ter upon the cells and the queens
will emerge nice and strong and
the same attention paid them as if
they were on the combs instead of
in cages. Then, again, the young
queens are much better contented
by having the bees in the cages with
them. Another advantage of this
method is that no food is needed
in the cages, while each cage must
be supplied and no bees permitted
to enter it if in a hive having a lay-
ing queen ;then again if the nursery
is inserted in a queenless colony the
queens may remain there without
detriment for ten days or two
weeks, or until needed, but bear in
mind we do not advise anything
of the kind. If possible, have all
the young queens introduced to
nuclei by the fourth day after they
emerge from the cells. By the vvay,
who can say that ten or more days
of confinement will imperil the ferti-
lization of a queen, since we all
know that the weather -is such
sometimes that no queen will
leave the hive for two weeks at
a time to become fertilized? The
danger is not in keeping a queen
confined, but in passing too many
days without a flight to meet the
drone.

If the nursery is inserted in a
hive having a laying queen, the
bees may l)e allowed to enter the
cages the first two days, but unless
the nursery is removed when the
queens are forty-eight hours old all
will be destroyed. This matter we
tested a few years ago ; the young
queens were allowed to live until
the third day when they were in-

variably destroyed by being
"balled" in the cages.

If I have not made this suffi-
ciently plain for the reader to un-
derstand, I would be pleased to
answer any questions on this or
any other subject relating to bee-
keeping.

THE LAMP-NURSERY.

To A. I. Root belongs the credit
for inventing the lamp-nursery.
This arrangement for hatching
queen-cells consists of a tin tank
filled with water which is kept at
the proper temperature by the heat
of a lamp. It is so arranged that
the queen-cells are placed in a sort
of oven. So far as we have no-
ticed no one has ever used queen
cages in connection with the lamp-
nursery and allowed the queens to
hatch in them, but have merely
placed the cells in the oven and
opened it often to see if any queens
have emerged. I suggested in a
recent article to the American Bee
Jcmrnnl that cages, well supplied
with food, be used for the cells, as
then no particular attention would
be necessary until the queens were
old enough to be introduced. The
lamp-nursery is, no doubt, in the
hands of an experienced apiarist,
a good thing for one who rears a
large number of queens, but the
small beekeeper needs nothing of
the kind unless his ambition leads
him to experiment and investigate
"•beeology."

QUESTIONS-AND ANSWERS.

QUESTIONS BY OLD "BEEKEEPER."

REMOVING SECTIONS AND CAIJE OF
HONEY.

1. Do you remove the sections from
the liive as soon as filled? What rlo
you do with the honey previous to dis-
posing of it, oriu other words, how do

140

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

you keep honej^ in good condition thi'ee
months after it is removed from the
hive?

2. What is your method for getting
bees out of sections?

ANSWKKS BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.

1. Honey in appearance is much better
when removed from tlie liive as soon
as finished, but as this causes so much
work, no large apiarist can do so;
strictly speaking. If all hives having
surplus on them are all gone over, and
aU finished honey removed, once every
ten days, it is as often as the most of
us can get to it, and quite often
enough for all practical purposes.
Where no separators are used a whole
case must be left on until all are fin-
ished, so that more or less of the white
comb is soiled by the travel of the bees,
and the being obliged to thus leave the
whole case after a part of the sections
are completed, is one gi'eat objection to
to the non-separator system.

Honey to keep in perfect condition
needs a warm dr'y air, such as is found
inside a bee hive. What would you
think of a temperature of 50° with the
air so saturated with moisture that the
roof and sides would be dripping with
water, for the inside of a bee hive dur-
ing August, September and October?
yet such is the place much of our nice
white honey is consigned to after leav-
ing the hive. A careful testing of the
temperature of the inside of the hive
gives from 90° to 95° during August
and the first half of September, when it
gradually lowers to about 70° as the
bees become inactive and go into their
winter quiescent state ; while 63° is the
lowest temperature I have ever found
inside a cluster of bees when they were
in a normal condition. By keeping
honey at the temperature given above,
duriiig August, September and October
and holding it at 70° until May, when
it should be increased to 90° to 95°
again for the summer, honey can be
kept for years in a perfect state, as I
have twice proved.

2. In taking ofl" honey I go to the
hive and carefully remove the cover so
as not to disturb the bees when I blow
smoke in at one side of the surplus ar-
rangement. The Ijoard clamping the
sections together is now taken off. and
the nozzle to the smoker is pointed in
at tlie little holes or passage-ways the
bees always leave at the upper corner
of the sections; when the smoker is
worked A'igorously so as to force a
stream of smoke as far as possible

through the case of sections. If done
as it should be, in less time than it
takes to tell it, every bee will have left
their sections as far as the smoke has
reached and gone below, when the sec-
tions are quickly removed without a
bee on them. As soon as I came to
sections with a few bees on them, I
proceed to l)low smoke as before when
every section is taken from the hive
free from bees and are ready to be car-
ried where you wish. This is a great
improvement over any of the old plans,
and especially so in a time of scarcity
of honey in the fields, where by any of
the old plans the bees are apt to gnaw
holes in our nice white cappiugs
(so that each bee may get a load of
honey) as so many of us know from
past experience. By using the plan
given above the bees run down into
the hive below so our combs are left
perfect, and clear of bees.

ANSWKKS BY A. E. MANUM.

1. Sections should be removed from
tlie hive as soou as filled and the honey
well capped, in order to prevent the
soiling of the combs by the bees travel-
ing over it,, as they are apt to do in
their constant watch over their stores;
and, to my mind, the early removal of
tlie honey is a preventive of the moth
worm making havoc with comb honey,
either because the honey is removed
before the moth eggs are deposited or
because the honey is placed in a lower
temperature than that of the hive.
I have found that when honey has been
left on the hive for a long time, by
neglect or otherwise, such honey is
most apt to be infested with worms.
As sooif as the honey is removed I
place it in a well-ventilated room
built expressly for the purpose. Here
it is assorted, and all sections that
have any pollen in them, if not more
than one cell, they are placed by them-
selves and sold at once for home con-
sumption, because wherever there is
a ceil of pollen, a brood of moth worms
may be expected. In this room my
honey remains until sold, without fur-
ther precautions against worms. I
have never been obliged to burn sul-
phur in order to preserve my honey,
and I have kept coml)-honey the year
round in perfect condition and I have
it in that condition to-day.

2. I use a clamp for holding my
sections, and when desirable to remove
one from the hive during a flow of
honey, it is set edgewise on the ground
near the entrance of the same hive

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

141

and gently rapped or jarred with my
closed hand or with my foot, and left
there until the bees leave it, when it is
taken to tlie honey room.

At the close of the honey liarvest a
different method is necessai'y because,
if then left exposed, the bees will soon
find it and appropriate it to their own
use. Therefore to avoid this, I place
the clamps edgewise on the brood-
chamber cover and close down the
hive cap and allow the bees as they
leave the honey to return to their hive
through escapes made of wire cloth
and tacked over a hole made in each
gable end of the cap. (My hive is a
double walled or chaff hive and the
caps admit of a plenty of room over
the brood-chamber to set 100 4i X 4:^
sections.) By the use of these escapes
the bees can pass out but cannot re-
turn. Therefore I can leave my lioney
there until convenient to remove it.
When taken off in the afternoon the
bees will be all opt by evening or at
the farthest by the next noon. It will
thus be seen that I do not take each
section from the clamp and brush the
bees off, as some do, but simply let the
bees leave the sections when they
please. By this method I can take the
honey off of one liundred colonies in a
few hours. It usually takes longer to
carry the honey to the honey house than
it does to remove it from over the bees.

ANSWERS BY DK. G. L. TINKER.

1. Sections should be removed from
the hives as soon as fully capped over.
When comb building ceases, then it is
imperative that tiiey be removed or
else the bees will soil the cappings
with propolis and begin to empty a
cell here and there and injure the ap-
pearance of the lioney.

It has been held that honey has a
better flavor by allowing it to remain
on the hives till time to prepare for
winter, but I liave not been able to
detect any difierence. After removal
from the hives the flavor of comb honey
depends much upon the care taken of
it. If placed in a damp, cool cellar,
its fine flavor will soon be lost and the
honey become thin and run through
the cappings and at last get sour. It
should always be kept in a warm, dry
room. Ours has kept the best in a
room over the sitting-room where it is
very warm in summer and in winter
time warmed by the Are in the room
below. In this room it seldom be-
comes candied if left the year around
and the flavor is fully preserved. The

17

combs, if any, containing a speck of
pollen should be placed by themselves,
where they can be olten examined for
the moth larvte. As soon as all danger
from this source is past, the honey
should be cratefl ready for sale.

2. If we had but few sections to re-
move we would go to the hives and
take them off one by one and shake
the bees down in front of the hives,
but where there is a large amount to
be taken, this process is too slow, and
unless one is spry about it, the bees
will bite into the cappings. The best
plan in my experience has been to
open the hive over the sections and
blow in a large quantity of smoke and
drive the bees down, then quickly re-
move the sections, when nine-tenths
of the bees will be driven out before
stopping to bite the cappings, and the
■few left may, with shallow section
cases, be nearly all slndven out. The
cases of sections should then be car-
ried into a honey room with one win-
dow that may be opened outward, as
often as many bees gather upon it,
until all have gone back to the hives.
If one has no honey room, then the
cases of sections may be placed in a
large box and covered with a sheet
which may be lifted and shaken every
little while till sill the bees are out.

ANSWERS BY IRA BARBKR.

1. In answering your first question
as to taking ott' honey as fast as the
sections are filled, andhowit iskeptin
line condition for three or four months,
cannot be answered so that it will be
any benefit to your readers, without
taking more space than perhaps you
may think is needed. I take off the
sections as soon as I can after they
are filled, and give empty ones, as long
as there is any prospect of gaining
anything by it. The honey is placed
in the honey room the same day it is
taken off, and is kept in a pile, until
ready to case, and send to market.

A room to keep honey in should be
light (the lighter the better) and
should be so constructed that it may
be thoroughly aired any time ; in fact,
every warm, dry day, and closed every
damp day, no matter how warm the
day may be. All cool days, a fire
should be kept going and the room
kept closed.

My honey room is 14 by 22 feet, and
I pile the sections in tiers across the
room, and leave a pass about two
feet wide, next the wall, all around,
so you see that none of the honey is

142

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

placed against the wall. In placing
the sections, where they are piled from
four to six feet high, care must be
taken that they stand square upon
eacli other so that the weight will not
crusli the sections.

To keep the sections bright and
clean, in case any should drip, I use a
strip of paper between every tier, as
they are piled on. For one pound sec-
tions, cut the paper six inches wide,
as that will give a projection of one
inch over the sections on both sides.
Newspapers are good enough for this
purpose, and will pay for the trouble
of using them, for every section is kept
dry and clean. I place the tiers about
three inches apart, so there will be a
free circulation of air, and place the
sections in the tier close together.
Keep all sections where the capping
is stained from old comb, and all that
may contain bee-bread, out of the gen-
eral pile, for such sections are the ones
that the worms will thrive in, and may
need looking after. As the pile in-
creases in size carry in a few dozen
spiders, and drop them in between the
tiers of sections, and they will get a
living there, and do no harm to the
honey, as all their webs will be be-
tween the sections and attached to the
papers, and if a worm gets large
enough to move, it will be sure to be
picked up by the first spider that sees
it, and tliey are always on the lookout
for a square meal. This way of keep-
ing honey has kept mine for many
years bright and clean, and quite often
I commence taking olf honey the first
of July, and keeping it until late in
November. The room should be used
for no other purpose, and of course it
should be free from flies and dust.
Use screens at all windows, so that
the bees cannot trouble in fine weather.
The sections should be cleaned from
bee-glue, and all ready for glassing be-
fore carrying in, but the glass should
not be put on until ready to case and
ship.

•1. To get the bees from sections, I
used swarm-catchers, for the bees to
come out into.

I place an empty honey-rack on the
ground, about four feet in front of the
hive, then take off the honey, all there
is, one, two or three sets of sections,
and place it on the empty honey-rack,
then set a catcher over it, and in a
short time all the bees will be in the
catcher, and can be dumped down in
front of the hive, and the honey taken
care of. By using eight or ten catch-
ers, one can make short work in tak-

ing off the honey at the close of the
season. In the honey season, when
taking: off tilled sections to make room
for more, there is no need of protect-
ing the honey from the bees; all I do
is to take off the sections and shake
the bees in front of the hive, clean the
sections of all bee glue and carry it to
the honey room at once.

There may be better ways for tak-
ing off honey, and caring for it, for sev-
eral months, but I have never seen
any in the market that looks brighter
than mine, and I have told you how I
have kept it.

EXTRACTING, CURING AND CARE OF
EXTRACTED HONEY.

1. Do you commence to extract be-
fore the new honey is capped? If so,
how do you cure the honey and prevent
it from fermenting?

2. What will you do in case the
honey does begin to-ferment?

3. Does not heating honey to a high
temperature (say, the boiling point)
destroy its flavor?

4. How do you liquefy candied honey
and at same time preserve its original
flavor?

ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMARKE.

1. I do not extract until the honey
is all sealed, and properly evaporated
in the hive, although such leading
apiarists as L. C. Koot succeed well
by artiticial evaporation. In my opin-
ion, the safest way is to let the bees
prepare it for keeping. I believe the
defects of the old system, viz. : em-
ploying a full, upper story for full
sized standard frames, and the mis-
taken plan of extracting from the brood
chamber, suggested the necessity of
artificial evaporation. I saw this diflS-
culty besetting the old system years
ago, and to counteract its disadvan-
tages, 1 resorted to artificial evapora-
tion. I found that during settled, dry
weather artiticial evaporation suc-
ceeded well, but if the weather was
damp and showery, it did not succeed
so well, in fact, artificial heat was nec-
essary at times. After a fair trial, on
a small scale, however, I found it to
be cheaper and safer to employ bee
labor throughout the whole process of
curing the honey. This led to my
shallow-case system, on the tiering-up
plan. My extracting cases are so
made that the frames are stationary
when handling them, and I manipulate
them without ever moving a fiame,

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

143

except when extracting the honey.
And if I have a full supply of cases for
all the hives in the apiary, one general
extracting answers for the season.
When the cases are to be removed, the
bees are smoked down, the cases
lifted oft' and set in a " bee-escape '
for the bees to have them and return
home. For six years past, I have used
these shallow extracting cases side by
side with the full upper story plan,
and the former has uniformly given
the best results in surplus honey, and
in time, patience aud labor. While
speaking of the shallow extracting
case, I wish to say that it is father to
the boasted "sectional brood-chamber
hive." I used the shallow cases fi'ej'ed-
up for brood-rearing before I ever
heard of the great "revolutionizing
Invention " which consists of nothing-
more than the new words and phrases
descriptive of my shallow extracting
cases, and applied to the " new hive."
I do not fear that future historians will
fail to place the matter in a true light.
Some of the leading bee journals are
going it headlong, just now, and
perhiips they will never get their eyes
open until "something drops."

2. If honey once begins to ferment,
it can be saved by boiling and skim-
ming, but it will be only tit for feeding
bees. It can never be made fit for
table use.

3. Heating honey changes its flavor,
but it does not injure it in our estima-
tion. We use it during the winter and
spring months, in this shape, all the
time, and I have never met a person
who does not pronounce it delicious
after partaking of it.

4. We reduce the candied, extracted
article just as you would make syrup
from sugar. A little water is added,
the honey is melted and skimmed.
Now as to the flavor of honey. Bee
men do not like to own it, but it is a
iact, and always has been and will be
a fact, that tlie virgin flavor of honey
is peculiar to the internal heat of the
hive, and is never exactly the same in
flavor and smell after it once becomes
cold. Honey in all its glory is found
nowhere else than fresh from the bees.
Nevertheless, as a regular diet, I would
prefer the melted extracted honey in
the shape of a most delicious syrup.

ANSWERS BY G. H. MARTIN.

1 I use a frame eleven inches deep,
a'ndhave always extracted honey from
them when the honey is capped over
one-half or two-thirds of the surf;ice.

I have never had honey ferment. I
have had a little thin honey collect
upon the surface of a barrel, but it
would soon evaporate. My only
method of curing is to run the honey
directly into half barrels, leaving the
bung out for several weeks. The bar-
rels stand on end and the bung is in
the end. This gives quite a surface
for evaporating any thin honey that
may rise on top. But it seldom rises.
The beekeeper should watch the condi-
tions of the weather. If it is wet and
the honey is thin, more care is required
in selecting combs for extracting, and
they should be nearly, if not quite
capped; while in a moderately dry
time, honey can be extracted when
capped but very little. Gauge your
extracting by experience and you will
have no fermented or sour honey.

2. Not having experience I don't
know. I think if there were signs of
fermenting, heat would stop it." The
fermentation, however, should not go
too far.

3 The flavor would certainly be
destroyed and the color changed to a
dark hue.

4. Candied honey should be lique-
fied gradually. Put the vessel of honey
in a vessel of warm water and set back
upon the reservoir, as over an oil stove,
where the temperature can be kept
uniform and just warm enough to m<^lt
gradually and the flavor will not be in-
jured. The flavor, however, will not
in a majority of cases be injured if
warmed up rapidly, if it does not reach
the boiling poiut. Frequent warming
of the same honey will perceptibly de-
stroy the flavor.

Beekeepers should educate the peo-
ple to purchase extracted honey in the
candied form; then there would be but
little necessity of so much warming up.
When I first sold extracted honey
every pound had to be liquefied, but
now I sell in the candied form, ihe
purchasers, in many cases/preferring
to eat it in that condition.

ANSWERS BY C. W. DAYTON.

1. Commence where the honey is
one-half capped and leave oft' where it
is all capped. There is a great difl"er-
ence in honev, though it be partly
capped; some is so thin as to run from
the comi)s easily, while for other honey
we have to turn the extractor long
and vigorously.

2. Often in my locality we get some
honey from black locust and honey
dew just before our regular white hon-
ey harvest; in which case, every

144

THE AMERICAN APICUUTURIST.

comb needs to go through the extrac-
tor, and back into the hives again.
The honey is always thin and unripe,
and is stored iu tin cans 28 inches deep
and 17 inches in diameter. In such
open-top cans and in an airy place it
always becomes cured. If it should
begin to ferment, I would dip the fer-
menting portion from the top and
place it iu a broad and shallow pan iu
a dry and airy place. If this failed, it
is only lit for vinegar, though it might
be thickened by boiling. Aftertesting
artificial plan of evaporation, I have
concluded that the bees can cure honey
cheaper than any one else.

3. Heating honey to a temperature,
even if it is not very high, destroys
that exquisite flavor that makes it de-
lightful above other sweets. Extract-
ing before it is ripe has the same
efl"ect. There seems to be a flavor im-
parted to honey at about the time it is
sealed, that actually appears to be
made by the bees. Heating honey
darkens the color also.

4. To liquefy candied honey that it
may have the flavor it had iu the hive
and sealed, is a pretty hard task to
perform, as we cannot get the real
flavor of honey to perfection outside
of comb honey. However, I would
prefer to liquefy candied honey by
the heat of the sun; next, I would sur-
round the honey with hot water.
"While the last method would be sure
to detract some of its flavor, the first
would not be enough to be very notice-
able. While we may notbe able to pro-
duce extracted honey having as delicate
and fine a flavor as comb honey,
we may rely on producing extracted
at eight cents, when comb sells at
twelve and one-half, as something else
besides flavor is required.

each nucleus a young queen or a ripe
queen cell. These nuclei can be built
up easily to strong colonies by giving
them more frames of brood when
needed. A full strong colony can and
does rear far more brood, or gather a
much larger amount of honey than a
weak one, and by this method the
strong colonies keep the weak ones iu
force, and by so doing after-swarming
is prevented, and the largest amount
of stoi'es and new colonies (when de-
sired) are obtained; to get the best
yield of honey however, the smallest
possible increase of colonies should
only be allowed.

2. I do not allow any after-swarms,
and by using the method mentioned in
answer to question number one, I find
no difllculty in preventing them. In
case, however, any should come out, I
should remove all queen cells from tlie
parent hive and return the swarm at
once, and give plenty of room.

3. There is no practical method
that is worthy of the name. "Circum-
stances alter cases" most decidedly iu
bee-matters, and the rule for one lo-
cality would probably fail in some
other. The nucleus plan of making
increase mentioned in answer one will
probably be the easiest and most sim-
ple plan for the novice to follow.
Experts fail, however, in their nttempts
iu this direction, and the novice must
not expect to do better than they.

It would require along article to
give a practical answer to this ques-
tion, as it demands a full knowledge of
apiculture in all its ramifications to
produce the best results. The novice
had better go slow and be guided by
the experience of the best writers both
of textbooks, and articles in our jour-
nals, more particularly iu the -'Apicul-
turist."

ARTIFICIAL INCRKASE.

1. When desirable to increase the
colonies in the apiary, what method do
you practise?

2. How do you manage with after-
swarms?

3. Is there any practical method for
preventing swarming? What is the
best plan for the novice to adopt?

ANSWERS BY J. E, POND.

1. I allow no natural swarms, and
have for years practised the so-called
"artificial swarming" method. I form
nuclei early in the season, by taking a
frame of brood from each of such colo-
nies as can spare them, and give to

ANSWERS BY A. E. MANUM.

1 and 2. I usually allow the bees to
swarm naturally once and prevent all
second swarms by removing all but
one queen cell the fourth day after the
swarm has issued, and then again iu
four or five days, though perhaps one
per cent will follow the young queen
when she goes to mate. In such a case
they are returned, when they seldom
attempt to swarm again if a card of
eggs and larva is given them.

3. I think there is a practical method
to prevent swarming, though it cannot
be successfully practised except by a'
practical apiarist, a detailed descrip-
tion of which would be too loii":

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

145

for this article. I would by all means
advise the novice to allow natural
swarming;.

ANSWERS BY REV. D. D. MARSH.

My bees are in the midst of pear and
apple trees, and when a new swarm
comes and it generally clusters up some
distance from the ground, I have a
twenty-foot ladder, and a hiving-box
on the end of a fifteen foot pole, and
they always fetch them.

My hiving-box is eighteen inches
long, and eight inches square on the
end, made of thin one-eighth inch
stock, and the end of the pole goes
through the centre of the side of the
box, coming through the centre of the
opposite side.

One end of the box is open and the
other end covered, and three-fourths
inch holes are bored in all the
sides to let in the air, and to permit
the bees shaken on to the outside of
the box to crawl inside. After the
cluster has nearly formed. I hold the
open end of the box under it, and
shake the limb on which the cluster
hangs, with another pole having a hook
on its end. In a few minutes I have
all the bees in the box, or on the out-
side of it, and can then bring them
down.

The box being long, and rather small
in end measurement, makes it easy to
work it among close branches. I keep
my hives in a cool cellar kitchen, so
that when the heated cluster is shaken
down before the new hive just brought
out for their use, they find a refreshing-
home. I have never had a swarm for-
sake its hive, and I put in no brood to
tempt them to stay. Of course, if a
swarm clusters on the trunk of a tree, it
has to be brushed ofl" by the panful
with a wing or feather. But with this
hiving-box no limb need be cutoff; they
can be set aside in the shade, if the
hive is not I'eady ; you can usually see
the queen among the bees spread over
the large surface of the inside of the box.
I like this method of hiving new swarms
very much.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

DIFFERENT STRAINS OF ITALIANS.

Many of our customers call for
large yellow queens and those that
will produce beautiful light-colored
worker progeny. Now, friends, we

can furnish such queens and they
will produce the beautiful bees, but
they are not the bees having real
business qualities, though, no
doubt, in most cases they will give
satisfaction. Our dark strains will
do much better, and are the bees
we would advise our friends to or-
der. They are as pure as the
lighter strains and superior in ev-
ery point. The light yellow bees
are not as hardy and do not winter
as well as the darker varieties.

ALBINO BEES.

This race, or rather strain of
bees, has been thoroughly tested
in the "Apiculturist" apiaries. The
bees are worthless as honey-gath-
erers or for any use whatever in
the apiary. Their good points are
beauty and gentleness. If any one
wants bees to look at or to play
with, purchase Albinos.

The beauty of these bees is pro-
duced by in-breeding, and is a
process condemned by every practi-
cal beekeeper.

HIVING BEES.

When a swarm has issued, hiving
should not be attempted until the
bees have clustered and become
quiet. Then, unless they have set-
tled in a convenient place, easy of
access, sprinkling with cold water
is advisable. Have at hand a bas-
ket with a wide open top, hold it
directly under the bees and give
the limb a sudden jar so as to dis-
lodge the bees and make them fall
into the basket. Set the hive the
bees are to occupy on the ground,
and empty the contents of the bas-
ket directly in front of it. In a few-
moments they will all run in ; then
place the hive on the stand it is to
occupy.

HOW TO USE THE DRONE AND
QUEEN TRAP.

If you have an idea that Alley's
drone and queen trap is not a time-

146

THE AMERIOAN APICULTURIST.

and labor-saving device, send
sixty-five cents and get one by re-
turn mail and try it. Place it at
the entrance of a liive that will
soon swarm, and when the bees
■come ont you will be well pleased
with the result. While the bees are
in the air, in search of their queen,
just move the parent-stock aside
and put the new hive in its place,
and you will soon have the pleasure
of witnessing a swarm of bees hive
themselves. When they enter the
new hive, release the queen from
the trap and the worl?: is done. If
the trap does not work as described,
send and get the money paid for
it,

— Hives should be placed from six
to ten inclies above the ground in
summer, and not less than two feet
above in winter.

— A large colony of bees removed
and transported a long distance
should be placed on the ground
when first opened. The bees will
rush out pell-mell and many of them
cannot fly as they are weakened or
slightly injured while confined, but
if the hive is on the ground they
will all return after a while.

A correct record should be kept
of the age of every queen. When
a queen has done two years' ser-
vice she should be superseded by a
young and vigorous one.

periment with bees. It has twen-
ty-four cages which may be used
for introducing or for shipping
queens, as well as for nursing
cages. Sent by mail for $2.00.

THE BAY STATE REVERSIBLE HIVE
AND SECTION CASE.

We were surprised at the num-
ber of orders received for this hive,
as we were not prepared for quite
so much business in this line.

However, all orders for them
were promptly filled. Having
made arrangements with W. T.
Falconer of Jamestown, N. Y., to
manufacture these hives we shall in
future be ready to fill orders for
them promptly.

The fact that this hive has every
good feature claimed for any hive,
as well as being invert! ble, makes
it the most popular new hive offered
for sale.

QUEENS, BEES AND NUCLEI.

Attention is called to the price
list of bees and queens for sale at
the office of the " Apiculturist."
We are now ready to fill orders for
Italian and Syrian queens and their
crosses.

Our select queens will give satis-
faction in every case, and every
queen of any grade, that does not
we guarantee to replace. When fall
comes, it will not be our fault if
there is a dissatisfied customer on
our list.

SPECIAL NOTICES.

Our price list may be found on
the last advertising pages of this
number of the "Api. "

All of our sup|)lies are made
from the best material and by com-
petent workmen.

Our new queen-nursery should
l)e in the hands of every beekeeptu-
who has a desire to study and ex-

" A YEAR AMONG THE BEES " Is

the title of a new book on bee cul-
ture just issued from the office of
Thos. G. Newman & Son, 925 West
Madison St., Chicago, 111. The au-
thor is C. C. Miller, M.D. We have
no time now to read the work, con-
sequently can give no opinion re-
garding its value. By and by we
will look it over, and if anything
new about bees is found we will
so report later on.

THE AMERICAN APICULTUEIST.

147

For sale. — A few bushels of
Silver Hull buckwheat for isale at
80 cents per bushel, delivered at ex-
press or freight office at Wenham.

— There is a growing demand
for unfertile queens. We can sup-
ply them and guarantee safe arri-
val by mail for 50 cents each.
This is one of the best methods for
infusing new blood into the apiary.
No one will have the least trouble
in introducing such queens safely
if the directions given in the Ma}--
number are followed.

— We have a fine lot of Bing-
ham and Hetherington uncapping
knives. See price list,

— Any one in need of a few
cases of the "Falcon" combined
section and shipping crates can ob-
tain them at this ofiice. We also
have two of Stanley's honey ex-
tractors for sale at prices much
less than the first cost. They are
adapted to four combs at one time.

If you have not seen and exam-
ined the Bay State reversible hive
and reversible section case, you
will be surprised at its simplicity
and neatness. See advertisement
on another page.

1. When should it be placed on the
hive ?

2. Would it be advisable to kill all
the droues caught?

I want the trap move especially to
keep my bees from going ofl'.

Linna Bell.

ANSWERS BY OLD BEEKEEPEU.

1. Place the trap on the hive about
the time a swarm is expecteil, or, per-
haps it would be better to do so three
or four days before the colony swarms
as it would avoid confusion a"t swarm-
ing time. lu case a colony swarms it
is an easy matter to hive them. As
soon as the bees have left the parent
hive, just remove it one side or back
several feet and place the new hive on
the old stand. As soon as the bees
miss their queen, they will return to
the old location and enter the new
hive, when the queen may be allowed
to run in with the bees.

While you use the trap no swarm
can decamp to the woods, and no
climbing will have to be done to save
the bees at swarming time. We think
you will find keeping bees much lighter
and easier work by using the trap.

2. It is not advisable to kill all the
drones in the apiary, tlioughyou would
have to make no special efibrt to kill
any when the trap is used, as all the
drones entrapped die soon after enter-
ing it. The trap should be used to de-
stroy suri)lus and useless drones.

LETTER BOX.

Neiohurg, N. Y.
I must congratulate you on the in-
creasing value of the "Api", espec-
ially the March number. It is the
experience of honest, practical bee-
men that is of use to the general bee-
keeper.

F. A. MoNES.

Leitersburg, Md.

Please answer the following ques-
tions in regard to the use of the drone
and queen trap.

NEW OBSERVATIONS OF

THE NATURAL HISTORY

OF BEES.

Bv Francis Huber.

(Continued from p. 87, Vol. IV.)

You have had the fortune to ob-
serve the small queens mentioned by
the Abbe Needham, but which he
next saw. It will be of great impor-
tance to dissect them for the pur-
pose of finding their ovaries. When
Mr. Riem informed me that he had

148

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

confined three hundred workers
along with a comb containing no
eggs, and afterward found hundreds
in it, I strongly recommended that he
should dissect the workers. He did
so ; and informed me that eggs were
discovered in three.

Probably without being aware of
it he has dissected small queens. As
small drones exist, it is not surpris-
ing if small queens are produced
also and undoubtedly by the same
external causes.

It is of much consequence to be
intimately acquainted with this spe-
cies of queens, for they may have
great influence on different experi-
ments, and may embarrass the ob-
server ; we should ascertain whether
they inhabit pyramidal cells smaller
than the common or hexagonal ones.

Mr. Schirach's famous experiment
on the supposed conversion of a
common worm into a royal one can-
not be too often repeated, though the
Lusatian observers already have done
so frequently. I am anxious to learn
whether, as the discoverer maintains,
the experiment will succeed only
with worms three or four days old,
and never with simple eggs.

The Lusatian observers, and the
naturalists of the Palatinate affirm,
that where common bees are con-
fined with combs absolutely void of
eggs, they then lay none but those
of drones. Thus there may be small
queens producing the eggs of males
only, for it is evident they must have
produced those supposed to come
from workers.

But how is it possible to conceive
that their ovaries contain male eggs
alone ?

According to Mr. DeReaumur the
life of chrysalides may be prolonged
by keeping them in a low tempera-
ture, such as that of an ice-house.

The same experiment should be
made on the eggs of a queen ; and
on the nymphs of drones and work-
ers.

Another interesting experiment

would be removing all the combs
composed by the common cells, and
leaving none but those destined for
the larvae of males.

By this means we should learn
whetlier the eggs of common worms,
laid by the queen in the large cells,
will produce large workers. It is very
probable, however, that deprivation
of the common cells might discour-
age the bees, because they require
them for their honey and wax.

Nevertheless, it is likely, that by
taking away only a part of them the'
workers may be forced to lay com-
mon eggs, in the cells of drones.

I should also wish to have the
young larva gently removed from the
royal cell, and deposited at the bot-
tom of a common one, along with
some of the royal food.

As the figure of hives has much
influence on the respective disposi-
tion of the combs, it would be a
satisfactory experiment greatly to
diversity their shape and internal
dimensions.

Nothing could be better adapted
to instruct us how bees can regulate
and apply their labors to existing
circumstances. This may enable us
to discover particular facts which we
cannot foresee.

The royal eggs, and those produc-
ing drones, have not yet been care-
fully compared with the eggs from
which workers proceed. But it
ought to be done, that we may as-
certain whether these different eggs
have secret distinctive characteris-
tics.

The food supplied by the workers
to the royal worm is not the same
with that given to the common worm.

Could we not endeavor with the
point of a pencil to remove a little
of the royal food, and give it to a
common worm deposited in a cell of
the largest dimensions? I have
seen common cells hanging almost
vertically, where the queen has laid ;
and these I should prefer for such
an experiment.

The American Apicultiirist.

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENHAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTEIt.

Published Jlonthly. Henry Alley, Manager,

VOL. V.

WENHAM, MASS., JULY i, 1887.

No. 7.

We deal in flrst-class npiaii- 1 Established in 1883. Terms: I
an supplies of all kinds, lowest | $1.00 per year, oO cents per six | titled" to one of
prices. Prompt delivery. I months, 2.5 cents per three I queens anytime li

Send for price list. | months. Cash in advance. | and Oct. l", by rei

Address all communications, AMERICAN" APICULTURIST, Wenham, Mass

Fiu- the American Apiculturht.

COMB HONEY

METHOD NUMBER SIX.

K. L. Taylor.

PLENTY OF STORES, VIGOROUS QUEENS,
SPREADING BROOD, ETC., ETC.

It is to be presumed that every
one who enters upon beekeeping
in any of its branches is possessed
of bees and of a range that will
supply proper pasturage.

The next thing and the most im-
portant of all, in order to success
ill the production of. comb honey,
is to secure a crowded population
in each colony at the opening of
the surplus honey season, with
colonies populous enough at the
right time. Only the grossest neg-
lect can ordinarily prevent the
securing of an abundant crop. To
attain thiscondition, attention must
be carefully given to the following-
particulars. First : the bees must
have been wintered well. In win-
tering, let every one pursue the
course in which he has had the
greatestsuccess ; butlet him be sure
that each colony has not only suf-
ficient good stores, but enough and
more than enough. I believe more
colonies are destroyed or rendered
worthless by starvation or semi-
13

starvation during winter and spring
than from any other cause. Sec-
ond : each colony must have a vig-
orous queen. A queen is at her
best in her second year and there
are only exceptional ones tiiat can
be profitably kept beyon<l that age ;
and I have no doubt it would pay
well to remove a large proportion
of them at the age of one and a
half years. I find in my own ex-
perience that the bees themselves
supersede queens declining in vigor
promptly in exceptional cases only ;
the apiarist must do the work, or
else be content with having a con-
siderable percentage of his colo-
nies worthless, so far as surplus
comb honey is concerned.

Third : we must consider spring
management. Spring protection is
valuable and I have no doubt that
"■' spreading the brood" may some-
times be indulged in profitably ; but
I do not wish to emphasize these
points here, for I would put all the
stress possible under this head
upon the absolute necessity of hav-
ing continually an abundance of
stores convenient to the brood
nest. To secure this is better than
to furnish protection : it is protec-
tion and much more. It is prefer-
able to the " spreading of brood :"
it is a substitute for that and bet-
ter. President Wilder, when asked
to state the three most important
things necessary to be done to se-
(1G5)

166

THE AJSiERICAN APICULTURIST.

cure a good crop of strawberries,
■replied : First, give tliem plenty
of water ; secondly, give them
more water ; thirdly, give them still
■more water, A bountiful sui)ply
■ of proper stores in the spring has
due effect on a colony of bees cor-
responding to that of an abundance
of water on strawberries. Give
such a supply of stores and a vig-
orous queen to a good colony well
wintered and there need be no fur-
ther concern about its getting
ready to take advantage of the
white clover as soon as it appears.
Now have the surplus receptacles
in place on the hives as soon as
the bees begin to work on the
flowers which furnish the surplus,
and your reward is sure unless the
flowers fail to yield nectar.

The next point that claims atten-
tion is the best management dur-
ing the surplus season. I would
advise every one to use the sur-
plus case that pleases him best, for
then my advice will be pretty gen-
erally followed. 1 use both those
with and those without separators
and like both kinds. At present
1 am inclined to favor the case
holding single tier wide frames
with separators. A case should
never hold but a single tier of sec-
tions, and should set square upon
the top of the hive with no outside
shell or hive to interfere with the
rapid handling of the cases. Give
the bees additional room as fast as
required by tiering up. To a very
strong colony give a second case
as soon as it gets well started in
the first one ; let a colonj' of mod-
erate strength have a second when
the first is about half full and al-
low a weak colony nearly to finish
the first before giving another.
Always raise the first case and put
the second under it (except it may
be near the end of the season),
and in like manner give a third
and fourth case as needed ; but,
toward the close of the season for

surplus, be cautious that you do
not give so much room as to have
too large a proportion of unfin-
ished sections. Do not be in great
haste to remove the hone}', though
the sections are finished. Never
try to take sections one by one
from the case on the hive ; always
wait till 3'ou can remove the entire
case at once. It will improve the
quality of the honey more than it
will injure its color to leave it on
the hive as long as convenient. I
Avould aim, however, to remove most
of the honey just before the close
of the season so as to avoid
troulile from robber bees. The color
of the honey will be but very little
affected if the tiering-up plan be
pursued.

I clip my queens, and when
swarming begins I hive the swarm,
(after Heddon,) on the old stand,
remove the cases from the old hive
to the new and from the old hives
whence swarms issue earliest, I
would select those containing bees
having the most desirable qualities
and divide them into nuclei to util-
ize their cells for the production
and fertilization of queens to be
used in replacing old and undesir-
able queens that issue later.

I advocate and i)ractise con-
tracting the brood-chamber to the
capacity of about five L frames,
and either fill the frames with
foundation or use frames with only
starters of foundation. For con-
traction I esteem a hive divided
horizontally very much preferable.
Such a hive is much handier in
every way and is especially desir-
able because the bees, occupying
the whole of the space beneath the
section case, work in all parts of
it more equally and satisfactorily.
I use foundation of full size in
the sections. I fasten the founda-
tion, into the sections vvith a ma-
chine invented by my assistant,
Mr. Milieu. In working it, one
foot gives the proper amount of

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

ic:

pressure and on the instant the
other foot pushes the section ont
rubbing in the wax. It is superior
to anything I Ivuovv of.

If these directions have been
properly followed, at the end of
the season of clover and basswood,
if there has been a good flow of
nectar, our hives will be found
loaded with a heavy crop of comb
honey, the choicest possible at that
time of the year ; but we are now
only in the position of the farmer
when he enters his meadows with
the mowing machine : our crop is
still to be cured, only we have this
advantage ; that we may, if we will,
cure our product with certainty
and under* cover. Our honey is
produced to sell, and to sell well it
inust be palatable. Hone}' not
cured or cured improperly is a
poor thing with which to tempt the
appetite. Purchasers cannot dis-
tinguish the good from the poor at
sight, so one purchase of the poor
prevents a dozen sales of the
good. Poor honey is the bane of
our markets. When all honey is
thorougldy cured it will all be
taken witii avidity. It would then
be a real luxury and would be irre-
sistible. Purchasers would not be
able to get enough. How should
honey be cured? IStack it up in the
cases as they come from the hive
in such a manner that the air' can
cfrculate through it freely, in a
well built, thoroughly dry, room
with a stove in it ; do not rel}' on
the heat of the sun to do the
work. A fire will be needed only
occasionally during the warm
weather ; but as cold weathei- ap-
proaches, keep the room dr^^ and
warm by more frequent fires and
in November you will have honey
that can be shipped anywhere with-
out breakage or leakage. It will
be hfird to tear it out of the sec-
tions and yet consumers will work
eagerly to get it out.

I consider this matter at present

the weak point in comb-honey bus-
iness. However it ma}' be in some
other things, in this we help our-
selves in helping others. Let there
be a move forward in this direc-
tion.

Lapeer, Midi.

[The above was not received in
time for tlie June number, so
space is made for it in this issue.]

For the Amei-ican ApicuUurist.

WORKING FOR EX-
TRACTED HONEY.

WiUimnntlc. Conn., Jan. 2, 1887.
Editor A:\iekican Apicultuuist:

In your last issue of the "Api" I saw a letter
fr(jm Mr. G. M. Doolittle who says "when
swaimiiii; time arrives J simplv exchange tlio
brood in the liive from whicli the swarm is-
sue.-i lor empty frames or frames of founda-
tion (generally the lormer; the plan is known
as the llutc.liiuson plan alUiongh it oi-iijinated
with me) wliile the swarm is m tlie a"ir and
hive tliem on tlie retuining plan." Wliat I
would ]\ke to know is, what does Mr. Doolittle
do with tlie parent stock; also what is done
MiUi the new swarm ?

1 am not at all acquainted with what is
called the "Hutchinson plan." I have olteu
read of it.

Yours truly,

A. T. Trowbridge.
Reply ev G. m. Doolittle.

Just at the present time there
seems to be a " craze" among bee-
keepers on the subject of comb-
honey production, many wlio have
heretofore worked almost exclu-
sively for extracted honej^ chang-
ing their tactics and are now ad-
vocating and talking comb honey
to the exclusion of that which
they formerly endorsed. I fear
this is not a wise policy, for it can
only result in soon lowering the
price of comb honey and advanc-
ing the price of extracted, this
causing an expensive changing of
fixtures the second time. It seems
to me that the well-balanced apia-
rist should produce both comb and

168

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

extracted lioney, and as he sees
the tide swaying toward the side
of the one he shoukl go a little
heavier in the opposite direction,
but not enough as to throw aside
all his iixtures along the line the
tide is moving. We have many
farmers in this locality- -who when
mutton and wool aie low sell out
their sheep for a song and go into
the so-seeming, more profitable
business of beef and butter, pay-
ing a high price for cows in high
tide, for everything in the cattle
line. In a few years times change,
and cattle are at low tide ; beef
and butter are sold for a song,
Avhile mutton and wool are now
bringing a good price again.
These farmers now for a second
time become discontented and
change their cows for sheep, only at
a great loss again. So they keep
on doing in a sort of will-o'-the-
wisp chase losing mone}' at every
change. Others keep both sheep
and cows, never running out of
either, but in time of good prices
with the flock raise .a little more
from the sheep, and these again
increase the herd when high prices
are paid for the production along
that line. In this way a steady
growth is maintained, while by the
other plan a downward tendency is
a sure result.

As I have worked for years for
both comb and extracted honey
and believing that the present
time is favorable to the produc-
tion of more extracted honej^ and
best comb, perhaps I cannot do
better than to tell the readers of
the American Apicdltukist how I
proceed to accomplish what seems
to me to be the best results. The
first thing necessar}' in the suc-
cessful production of extracted
honey is a good queen to produce
hosts of workers to gather the
harvest. In fact, whether all real-
ize it or not, the whole of bee-
keeping centres in the queen.

Without the queen it would be im-
possible to produce a pound of
extracted honey, hence it be-
comes apparent that the better
the queen is the more honey we
obtain. When all come to realize
the great value of really good
queens we shall have taken a long
stride toward successful honey pro-
duction. But good queens are
only of value when we surround
tliem with favorable circumstances,
thus getting large numbers of
eggs laid at the right time and
causing each egg to be nourished
to a perfect bee, so that we can
have the bees in our colonies by
the tens of thousands at the right
time. Failing in this, 'the Howers
will bloom in vain as far as filling
our surplus combs with honey
ready for the extractor, is con-
cerned.

But " what are favorable cir-
cumstandes" is asked, to which I
repl}', an abundance of food and
warmth. The abundance of food
is quite easily secured in this day
of bee feeders, and especially so,
if the apiarist has set aside the
previous season, as he should,
combs solid with honey which are
ready to be set in the liive at any
tiuie. But the warmth is not so
easily secured, especially when our
honey harvest comes early from
white clover which requires the
getting of a large quantity of eggs
laid early in the season in order to
have the bees in time. Several
years ago I tried artificial heat to
help forward things, but after
numerous experiments which re-
sulted only in harm I gave it np.

About this time (1878, I think
it was) J. II. Townley, a then
noted beekeeper of Michigan,
came out with his chatt" packing,
claiming that there was heat
enough generated by an ordinary
colony of bees to promote safe,
early breeding if said heat was
not lost by radiation. He claimed,

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

ISO

if I remember rightly, that this
chaff packing answered the same
purpose to the bees which bed
qnilts and coverlids do to a man, in
wliicli case if a man is "covered np
warm enough," as the expression
goes, he would be as warm in a
zero temperature as in June.
Tliis looked reasonable to me and
after that I set my bees when
taken from tike cellar into chaff
hives or rough boxes filled in with
chaff, sawdust or cut straw, al-
ways contracting the hives with
chaff division-boards, quilts, etc.,
to suit the size of the colony. In
this way colonies of bees would
go right on breeding through cold
days and nigiits, keeping warm
and nice till the combs would be
full of brood down at the bottom
corners, while those not protected
would be clustered closely to keep
warm with very little brood. I
here give credit to Mr. Townley
for this plan and think all using
it should be willing to do the
same.

As soon as all the combs are
filled with brood which were first
given them more are added till the
hive is full of comb and brood.
In adding these combs, I prefer to
add two at a time, using one
which is empty and one filled with
honey such as spoken of above.
The empty one is placed at the
outside and the full one in the
centre. Before putting in the full
one I break the cap pings of the
cells by passing a knife over it
flatwise, for by this means the
bees are obliged to remove the
hone}'', and in doing so are stimu-
lated to apparentl}' greater activ-
ity than by an}'' plan of feeding
with which I am acquainted. As
the honey is removed over to the
outside empty comb, the queen
fills the emptied comb with eggs
which when hatched into larva re-
quire the honey brought back by
the nurse bees to feed said larva,
and as the honey is now being

carried again, activity is still ke[)t
up and the queen now goes over
and fills this comb with eggs also.
In this way one hive is soon filled
with eggs, brood and bees just in
time for the harvest.

Having the hive filled as spoken
of, and the honey harvest at hand
or just commenced, if we wish no
increase from our bees, no time is
to be lost in putting on the surplus
arrangement, otherwise the bees
becoming crowded may get the
swarming fever. For extracting, I
prefer another hive of the size of
the first, but some prefer one of
only one-half the depth. As to
results there is probably no great
difference, but I consider it quite
an object to have all hives and
frames alike in the apiary. In
putting on this surplus arrange-
ment I prefer to use empty combs,
if possible, instead of comb foun-
dation. I also prefer to use two
large or wide dummies, one at each
side, for a few days, so that one-
half of the room is taken up which
leads the ])ees along gradually in-
stead of thrusting a large amount
of surplus room upon them at
once. From experience I believe
them less liable to swarm where
this course is taken, for they seem
to bend every energy to fill this
small, additional room, Avliile,
where a large amount is given at
once, they are injured should it
become cool ; or, if warm, they
swarm from being loath to enter it.
As soon as the half of the hive
given them is partly filled with
honey, the dummies ai-e taken out,
the combs spread apart and frames
filled with foundation put between
them. At this stage I would just
as soon have foun(lation as empty
comb, for the bees are now ready
to work upon it, while before they
were not. The time for taking
out the dummies is when you see
the cells being lengthened out
with new comb along the tops of
the combs.

170

THE AMEBIC AN APICULTURIST.

How you Avill proceed in the fu-
ture depends upon whether you
wish your honey all ripened in tlie
hive till the harvest is over, or
ripened in a warm room by evapo-
ration. Sometimes I think that
honey left on the hive through the
season is of a better quality than
that extracted every week or so ;
then again lam not so sure about it.
Of one thing I am certain, more
honey can be secured with less
hives and fixtures where it is ex-
tracted when the bees first begin
to seal it, than can be gotten by the
other method.

As to the labor there is little
difference, except that when we
extract often the labor comes at a
time of year when we are the most
crowded. To be sure the opera-
tion is gone through with oftener,
but to offset this there is little or
no uncapping to be done, while the
honey leaves the comb more clean
with less than one-half the labor
in turning the extractor. If the
season is warm and dry, I would
just as soon have hone}'^ extracted
as above as that left on the hive
the season through, but if cool
and damp I prefer it ripened all
that is possible by the bees, and
even then it is not as good as the
other. In my opinion the season
has more to do with the quality of
the honey than the process of ri-
pening. If we decide to extract
oftener, the hive we have already
added (if both contain two thou-
sand or more cubic inches) is
probably all the room the bees
Avill need, but if left on during the
season, one more and probably
two will be needed. In putting on
the third story I do not use the dum-
mies, for by this time the weather
has got so warm and the bees so
numerous that thc}'^ will spread
out so as to occupy the whole of
the extra hive. This hive should
be put on when the bees have the
combs in the second story sealed

along the tops of the frames, or
soon after you would commence
extracting if working the other way.
Many say raise up the second sto-
ry and place this third hive be-
tween the two ; but after repeated
trials of both I prefer placing it
on top, for I think the bees will
occupy it just as quickly if the
honey flow continues, while if it
from any cause should be cutoff" at
this time or soon after, we are in
much better shape in not having
the honey scattered through the
three hives with few if any combs
full. If a. fourth story is needed,
put on the same as the third, when
after the season is over j'ou will
begin to carry the honey to the
honey house and extract.

To get the honey off I find it is
the best way to go to a hive and
blow a perfect deluge of smoke
down on the bees from the top of
the combs, and as soon as the bees
have run below take off that story
and set it on your wheelbariow or
honey cart, not attempting to get
more than one story from one hive
at the same time ; for, if We do, the
bees will return to the next story
before you can get it off, wlien
smoke is of little use to drive
them. Before extracting save
plenty of good, full combs for
wintering and spring feeding. If
the weather is cool, when you wish
to extract, place the combs of
honey in a small room for three or
lour hours previous, in which the
temperature is kept as warm as
100°, when you can take them out
as you wish to uncap and extract
them, doing this work as easil}'^ as
on a hot (biy in July or August.

Ill the above I have given a brief
outline of how I work for ex-
tracted honey, and as a proof that
it is an average plan at least, will
say that I have taken as high as
566 pounds of honey from a single
colony in one season.

In conclusion I will say that

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

171

the getting of multitudes of bees,
just at the right time, has more to
do wilh tlie successful working for
honey tlian any tiling else, and when
all realize this and work for the
same to the fullest extent, one-
half of the colonies will gather as
much surplus as the whole do under
one present management.
Borodino, N. Y.

For the American ApicuUurist.

NUMBER SIX OF THIS
YEAR.

J. JM. Shuck.

The June, 1887, " Apicultu-
rist" is worth a great deal to the
practical producer of honey. If
60,000 intelligent beekeepers
would read this number tiie honey
crop of the United States, the sea-
son being favorable, would be
twenty-five per cent larger b}^ the
reading and consequent practice
than it would without it.

The series of articles starts out
with Doolittle (what a misnomer!
it ought to be Do(o)much) at the
head. Some men are born to lead.
If you would put Doolittle with
his burly form, his accurate, never
failing mental vision far in the
background, the natural sweet fer-
mentation and agitation of hinnan
thought would work and push him
to the fore. The writings of Doo-
little are simply monumental as to
the vastness of their truths and the
lilliputs of their errors. What a
volume they would make and how
well they could be relied upon by
those who desire to learn and
never unlearn.

Tiien follows Doctor Tinker who
makes the nicest sections in the
world and who prides himself on his

nice, accurate-working machinery,
" if he don't make a cent." If
rightly informed, the doctor is not
such a noted producer of honey as
some, but if his experiments in
the production of honey are con-
ducted upon the same careful,
painstaking basis, as are those lie
employs in the manufacture of
hives, sections, etc., his conclu-
sions must be valuable. One item
of interest in the doctor's article
will attract attention and that is,
that "inverting the brood-nest has
come to stay." The doctor has
not always believed this. We are
thankful to the doctor for this ; it is
alwa3-s a pleasure to see a good man
also right, and aside from the doc-
tor's article in question he is right
in anotlier thing : he hates " cheap
Joh.u" goods in our line as the
devil hates iioly water. He doesn't
make anything merely to sell, he
makes things to be used, so that
he who buys gets the worth of his
money.

Next in the list comes A. E.
Manum. It is a nine days' won-
der how this beekeeper was got-
ten into the public view. He
has been so busy for years taking
honey, " dead loads of it," that
no one supposed he could be in-
duced to tell aliout it. He still
sticks to separators, clips his
queens' wings and jumps his I'ows
of sections to insure even work in
the cases and uniform color as to
the combs. Mr. Manum gives
much of the detail of his practice,
but the article is so cut ofi' here
and there and elsewhere, that it
shows iu the plainest manner pos-
sible that he has not begun to tell
what he knows about getting comb
honey. Everybody siiould read
Mr. Manam's article.

Next comes Dr. Miller who
apparently looks over the field,
takes in a long breath and says,
'• I have just told all about this
thinsr in a book and what more

172

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

shall I suy now?" so lie goes on in
a pleasant way and works a large
number of ver}' useful hints into a
short article. The doctor's chatty
style is agreeable and works in-
struction iu a charming way. He
has probably been a teacher iu his
younger days ; he is, to say the
least, one novv.

Next comes Brother Demaree
from Kentucky, the only represen-
tative in this series from the
" Sunny South." It is noticed
that he makes a poiut on locality^
as affecting different opei'ations in
the production of hoiiey. This
word is more and more used in our
literature from day to day, and it
may be remarked that we can
never have a manual of general
instruction in beekeeping and
honey-getting until we get the re-
sults from experiments conducted
at two or three apicultural stations
in each state and territory in our
Union. Many of the disappoint-
ments in beekeeping arise from
the attempt to make a plan which
succeeds in Maine apply in Cali-
fornia or somewhere else, when
the conditions surrounding the two
cases may not at all be similar.
Mr. Demaree is a veteran of about
forty years in beekeeping, and his
work has probably been largely
devoted to investigation and ex-
periment, and his suggestions are
entitled to great respect.

Taken all in all, these five articles
are a remarkable collection to find
iu one single number of any bee
paper, and they ought to go far to
the establishment of the ''Apicul-
tukist" upon a permanent basis, if
it has not already attained the de-
sired goal.

Des Moines, la., May 31, 1887.

For the American ApiriiUurist.

MANIPULATION OF BEES,
ETC.

G. W. Demaree.

The beginner must loarn to han-
dle his bees, so as to learn practi-
cally the natural history and hab-
its of bees and to learn to knovv
just what goes on inside of the
hive, after which a i)ractised eye
will tell at a glance when anything
is wrong with a colony from ex-
ternal " signs." After the deep
snovv we had the latter part of
March (which b}^ reason of its
depth lay for several days), when
the weather cleared up and the
bees were able to stir, I discovered
by walking through the apiary
about ten colonies, one of the best
in the apiary among them that had
"■balled" and killed their queens
during the bad spell of weather.

They do not often go so far
in their desperation as this, but
they did it for me this time.
Part of these colonies were saved
by making them rear queens and
helping them with some capped
brood. They will not be in time
to do much this season. 1 have
found that it pays to give bees
plenty of stores in the fall, so that
they need not be disturbed in the
early spring till fruit bloom comes,
after which there is no danger in
handling bees. Last season
(1886) in March, after going
through my bees to give them a
" looking over" and providing for
those colonies that might need as-
sistance, I had occasion to return
to one colony that had been exam-
ined, and when I opened the hive I
found the queen " balled." 1 per-
formed whatever I had reopened
the hive for, smoked the bees off"
of the queen, closed the hive and
went my way, but that hive turned
up queenless afterwards. I now
make it a rule that when 1 find a

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

173

" laying queen balled" I cage her
till the bees give up their evil in-
tentions on her life. By these
proceedings I have found to n\y
satisfaction that the fault of "ball-
ing" is most generally "pure curs-
edness" on the part of the worker
bees.

By close observation in con-
nection with this curious and seri-
ous freak of bees destroying their
queens in the early spring, I find
the main cause to be discourage-
iTient. I rarely ever see it occur if
the colonies are fairl}' populous and
have plenty of stores, hence the
remedy is to provide the bees with
an abundance of stores if you must
keep less of them.

I have found that the advice of
the standard books on bee culture
are misleading when they advise
building up weak colonies by
drawing brood from the stronger
ones. It pays me best to depend
on the strong colonies for surplus,
and leave the weak colonies to
build up .themselves if they get no
surplus at all.

AVell, what I wanted to say
most in this connection is, after
one has learned the internal work-
ing of the bee hive and gained
sufficient knowledge of external
appearances, it is a waste of time
and labor to open hives often.
The hives should be so ari'anged
as to be susceptible of manipula-
tion without going into the
brood department except when ab-
solutely necessary. In an apiary
located in a public place like my
own, where many persons visit it
as sight-seers, it pays me to keep
a hive or two, in proper condition
for rapid and easy manipulation,
that the queen can be exhibited
readily, the brood and drones, woi'k-
ers pointed out, etc. One or two
hives can be made to pa}- in this
way in a large apiary, 1 use them
to draw brood from, using the
purest stock in the apiary for the

purpose, as we like to "show" ou^'
best stock, and such bees make the
best of nuclei and work well any-
where.

The swarming season is late here
this spring ; I had but one sw^arm
in May. The weather has been
too fitful for swarming up to this
date (June 4). I have found a
shorter way to prevent after
swarms than the plans I have here-
tofore practised. Instead of de-
laying as heretofore, I now succeed
by moving the hive from which the
swarm issues immediately to anew
location, and this saves time and
"fuss." When a swarm issues, an
empty hive is set by the side of
the " old hive," and the combs are
all lifted out and the few bees that
are left are shaken off into the
" old hive" and are placed in the
new hive. If I have young queens
one is run into the new hive, after
destroying all queen cells ; if not,
one good cell is left and the bal-
ance destroyed. The now empty
"old hive" is filled with empty
combs or frames filled with foun-
dation. A queen excluder is put
on, and on this is placed plenty of
surplus room including the case or
cases that were on the hive when
the swarm issued. The new hive,
with its contents, is novv moved to
a new location in the apiary, and
the swarm is hived in the " old
hive" on the 'old stand. Not one
time in a dozen will a second
swarm issue under this manage-
ment, and' " never a one" if a
young queen is given immediatel}^

Hiving swarms in hives that
have just cast prime swarms, as
suggested by brother Alley, " is
not new." Several persons have
spoken of the plan heretofore, and
I have tried it without satisfactory
result. In our great swarming
season (1883) I tried it on a large
scale, and it did not work satisfac-
torily. It seems to place the bees
in too much the same conditions

174

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

from which they had swarmed to
escape. .Some swarms, if the
queens were okl, would start (jueen
cells and swarm again in five or
six days. Others would "sulk"
and do but little good, while a few
would light out for the woods in
high disgust ; others would do very
well. I hope the plan will be
tested, thoroughly tested under the
experienced eye of brother Alley,
and we shall be favored with a re-
port.

Chrlstianshurg, K>j.

For the American ApicuUurist.

BLACK BEES FROM PURE
ITALIANS.

A. L. SWINSON.

In the Api, page 115, Mr. Pond,
(J. E.) takes Dr. Tinker to task
for asserting that black bees may
be produced of pure Italians by
selective breeding for that particu-
lar object, aud calls on the Editor
of the "Api" to sustain the fact
that they have reason to believe
that no such demonstration can be
made, as they both had directly the
contrary experience. Mr. Alley
did not sustain Mr. Pond's asser-
tion, at least did not do so in con-
nection with the aforesaid article.

In reply to Mr. Pond, I desire to
say I think Dr. Tinker is perfectly
correct, and my opinion is based
on practical experiments all made
since 1884. I think this is so with
any race of bees and I have im-
ported direct, and bred m^^self, the
Cyprian and Syrian. I find the
same rule applicable to them. On
the other hand, I can take any
strain of black bees and breed them
up to three-banded workers. I
have had two Carniolans, imported,
from Benton ; then I have had
plenty of Germans to observe.

Tiie queen of any race of yellow

banded bees, that will produce any
dark-colored QUEE^f progeny, can
be run into black bees, by se-
lective breeding, and I have never
found a single queen of any race
clear of that fault. I advanced
these deductions to Dr. Tinker in
the fall of 1886, and also another,
that I could breed workers that
were clear of all dark rings around
their abdomens; leaving the color
of the abdomen yellow, of various
shades ; and the usual rings of fuzz
alone, to make up the marking of
the abdomen of the workers.

Dr. Tinker replied that so far
as running the yellow races into
blacks, he could, or had had the
same experience as myself. That
in the breeding out of the black
rings of bees around the abdomen
of the workers, he had never
thought of and could not say. Since
advancing the said theory, I have
practicaliy demonstrated that it is
a certain fact that it can be done.
And I have done it. Now, if Mr.
Pond wants to pa}' for. workers
that show no black rings around
their abdomens, I will send him
some and go over and select
every one I can find in my apiaries.
I say my, for I don't think any
one else has such workers in Amer-
ica. All that is needed in this
case is to show the bees. In the
other case, when black bees vvould
be produced, Mr. Pond could easily
say they were not kept out of reach
of black bees, and it could not be
proved in hardly a single instance
or case that they were.

Goldsboro, N C.

For the American ApicuUurist.

CARE NEEDED.

PitoF. Geo. G. Gkoff.

In the June number of the Amer-
ican Apicultukist, Mr. Cornell

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

175

complains of losses which he has
sustained from following unreliable
advice. Beekeepers, it would seem,
are often so enthusiastic of the
success of new ideas, that they
publisii for facts, what are onl^-^ ■un-
tested theories. We see tliis in the
hundreds of inventions about hives
and in the management of bees. The
bee papers are full of untested
theories, all laid down, as though
proven. The losses resulting from
attempts to carry out these theories
must, in the aggregate, be very
great. But those prone to ex-
periment with every new idea,
should remember the injunction :
"Prove all things, hold fast to that
whicii is good." Let the experi-
ments be Hrst tried on a small scale
and later we ma}^ embark our all in
them.

In a recent number of the "New
York Tribune," a noted beekeeper
and college professor tells how to
destroy moths which ma}^ be in
empty combs. If followed out, his
directions are very excellent for
burning down the liouse, if per-
formed in- doors. The}- are, in
short: put the combs in a box in
which are live coals, on which
sprinkle some sulphur. The fumes
will do the work, also the flame
melt and set fire to the wax and
the house. A friend of mine had
just such an experience this spring.
I told her to dig a hole in the
ground, put some coals in it, sprin-
kle sulphur on them, and set the
hive over the hole. But to improve
on my plan, she put the coals and
sulphur on a flat vessel on a brick
floor in the wash kitchen, and set
the hive over them. The result
was a narrow escape of the house.

Leivisburg, Pa.

For the Amen

Apiciilturist.

A DULL DAY IN MAY.
WEEDS.

Mrs. H. Hills.

I HAVE often wondered how one
would get through with the dull,
dark da3's which sometimes come
in this month, were it not for the
weeds. One, Hnally, becomes tired
of remaining in doors and putting
up sections, even the white, deli-
cate, pearl-like things, sent by
Doctor Tinker.

We wander out and take a look
at the bees, but they seem to par-
take of the universal dullness.
Now and then one, more alert
than the rest, starts out on a lone-
some journey, and another comes
quietly home, looking, as though
after all, it were hardly worth the
trouble. A few are dozing at the
entrances, while now and then
one comes slowly out and takes a
view of the prospect, then deliber-
ately turns back and disappears
again from sight.

We ramble off, under the dull,
gray sky, to where the lettuce,
young onions and cabbages are
congregated. We have not been
here for several days, but the weeds
have. Are weeds matter out of
place? Some of them must feel
that they soinehow placed them-
selves in a wrong position, if they
judge from the manner in which
they ai'C immediately and effectu-
ally rooted out. We are well ac-
qiiainted with them all ; and as we
saunter on, by the palings and
hedge-rows, many, which were for-
merly doomed to early death, are
now spared. Dandelion, catnip,
motherwort, mustard, jill-over-the-
ground and others, so long as they
do not intrude on the garden beds,
are not molested. Now and then,
we see a solitar}'' bee taking his
lonel}' dinner. On other days,

176

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

many bees visit liere, and tlie air
will be filled with their drowsy
droning.

Each weed possesses its own in-
dividuality, and all soon become
sentient objects to ns. When we
first made their acquaintance, they
had become, through long and un-
disturbed occupation of the land,
quite lords of the domain. The
docks and the horseradish were ri-
val feudal lords, occupying by
right of conquest and granting
what seemed meet of the common
territory to lesser vassal weeds.
If one of these two powerful ri-
vals occupied more ground than
the other, it was made up for by
the remarkable tenacity with
which the other held possession
when once it had gained foothold
and on account of its very unnat-
ural and illegal methods of propa-
gating itself.

These mouarchs of the field
hardly condescended to notice the
insignificant eflTorts of one small
pair of hands, attempting to dis-
turb the foundation of their an-
cient rights. As hopefully might
the mouse attempt to reuiove the
mountain ; but monopolies shall
not always prosper. The bur-
docks waxed high for many sea-
sons and annually presented their
wonderful crop of bright burrs.
Sometimes it seemed wicked to
farther attempt their demolition.
The thought of other and long
past dull days in childhood which
had been made tolerable by these
and kindred blossoms, together
with a feeling of utter incapacity
to cope with tlieir remarkable
growth, often discouraged from
further effort. Yet, as time passed,
they gradually took on a less
haughty demeanor, until, finally,
one began to feel a sort of pity for
the bab_y plants which were ruth-
lessly cut off, and the parent
plants, doomed by their nature to
an early death, seemed to foresee.

in the loss of these little ones, the
decay of their ancient grandeur.

Tlie day at last came when no
one individual of the species could
be found in all our borders. All
their strength and pride had not
been sufficient to withstand the in-
roads which were so constantly
kept up by the one small pair of
hands. They have taken refuge
in a neighboring, unoccupied lot,
from which they attempt, by all
manner of devices, known only to
themselves, to regain a foothold in
their ancient realm. But the war-
fare is now insignificant and af-
fords a pretext, on these dull days,
for many a lazy, dreamy saunter,
among the tangles of fences and
hedge-rows.

Sheboygan Falls, Wis.

TILE HONEY MARKET IN
THE WEST.

G. C. Stewart.

I have sold comb honey in a town
in northwestern Missouri for four
years from 20 cents at first to 15
cents last year. The last sale I
made there was at 13 cents, because
honey had been shipped in and
sold at 13 cents as California
honey ; but I know by the style of
package it was from towa or Mis-
souri but it was sold by a commis-
sion man. I knovv I could have ob-
tained 15 cents for the same, and
not call it by a wrong name either.
Bee men, you are to blame for the
low price of honey. The commis-
sion man will sell quickly if he sells
for § the value. Why not sell to the
I'etailer direct? My plan is to go to
the bank and get the name of the
reliable dealers in good towns, from
Bradstreet, then write a postal and
state the quantity, quality, and
price delivered in good order, guar-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

177

aiitee safe arrival by freight, and
trust the party for a short time for
pay. 1 have sold to parties 1 have
never heard of any other vvay. A
safer way would be to have the
cash, but do not think much would
be sold so, for a busy dealer would
not take time to llnd out your stand-
ing. Extracted honey I sell at
home if possible. I will peddle all
my honey before sending to com-
mission men. They may do the
best way they can but we are the
losers. The season is discourag-
ing ; bees are light and clover dy-
ing from drought. Have hopes of
a good linden flow for the trees
are full of buds. The Api is a tine
paper. The June number is worth
So to a practical bee owner.

Mr.W. F. Clark.— -The hive you
want " would be a chaff-hive, vvith
movable upper stor}-, and movable
bottom, I think.

Hopldns^ JSio.

For the American Apiculturist.

LETTER FROM TEXAS.

Mks. Sallie E. Sherman.

GLOOMY BUT BETTER PROSPECTS
FOR BEEKEEPERS IN TEXAS.

The prospect for a good yield of
honey in this part of Texas is in-
deed gloomy ; though 1 am happy
to say thatour terribledrought has
come to an end. We had on the
2nd inst. a glorious rain and I am
in hopes that our bees will be able
to gather a living. Hoarhound is
in bloom now. Our only hope of
surplus, if we get any, will be from
fall flowers. I am just in receipt
of a letter from a beekeeping friend
in an adjoining county asking me
if I think it would pay him to move
his bees (about thirty colonies)
twenty-five miles to good pastur-

age. I think it would, but would
l)refer Mr. Alley's answer to my
own judgment. The drought has
cut off all prospect for any surplus
with him as well as myself. He has
quite a lot of little ones dependent
upon him for sustenance. Quite a
number of i)ersons in and about
town that owned only a few colonies
of bees have lost all and would now
be glad to sell their empty hives for
a mere pittance, and let beekeeping
severely alone hereafter. Those
who have never passed through
such a severe drought as we have
just had cannot imagine how bad,
how terribly distressing, it was.
Water hauling was about all that
could be done. It looked like star-
vation staring us in the face, look
which way we would. Merchants
refused to credit, turned oft' their
clerks, reshipped their goods that
had been ordered and in many cases
closed their doors. Stock was in
danger of starvation. Horses that
were worth $100.00 could not be
sold for $25.00. There was no
demand for cattle that had hereto-
fore been cash in the spring. Every-
thing in the provision line went up.
Negro women were trying to hire
themselves out for their food and in
many instances failed. With all
these discouraging things to con-
tend with and witness, how could
I write for the dear " Api?" But
all is changed now. We have had
a good rain which made more glad
hearts in Bell Co., I dai'e sa}', than
ever was at one time belbre. Every-
body you see now wears a broad
smile and looks happy and all are
as busy as bees.

Snlado, Texas, Nay 5, 1887.

[I arivise moving bees if by so doing, a
good pasturage can be had. It is not an un-
usual tliiag lor beekeepers at the nortli to
move bees. Mr. L. C. Root, a few years ago,
moved several hundred colonies a few miles,
and In about two weeks lie was well paid for
the trouble, as by moving tlie bees to a new
location, several tons of suridus honey were
secured.

We are glad to learn that the teriible drouglit
wliich lias prevailed so long in Texas has
been broken at last.]

17.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

For the American Apiculturist.

THE WINTER PROBLEM.

An article upon the above sub-
ject may not be considered exactly
seasonable, still it is one of the
greatest importance, and one to
which too much thought cannot be
given, and of which none too much
can be written. In this article I
propose to deal solely with tlie
question as it relates to New Eng-
land and its climate, but believe
that whatever is ai)plicable to a
New England winter will apply
equally well to any changeable cli-
mate ; and I "say as a matter of fact
that 1 have solved the problem to
my own satisfaction at least, and
that satisfaction is owing to the
fact, that during the last sixteen
years, wintering on summer stands
with the temperature showing from
40° F. above, to 20° F. below"o,and
with from ]30 to 175 days when
bees could hardly iiy, I have not
lost a single colon_y that had stores
enough on which to live, dui-ing the
period above stated. And, further,
that during that time, only two
colonies were lost, and those could
have been saved had not illness
confined me to the house from
Februar3' to June, preventing me
from caring for my a[)iary as I
should. Duiing the whole time I
have kept bees, 1 have experi-
mented largely in this matter, and
in the course of those experiments
have used hives of ail kinds, shapes,
and sizes, and have found that
■while there is a great difference in
hives in the matter of economy,
there is but little in the mere mat-
ter of safe wintering. For reasons
that I need not explain here, I will
say incidentally, that the ten frame
" L " hive is the one 1 i)refer to all
others, and is the one I recommend
for that reason. I have experi-

mented with single and double-
walled hives, with chaff filling, and
dead air spaces, with sides l.| inch
to ^ inch thick, and I find no trou-
ble in wintering in any of them. I
do find, however, that a double-
walled hive, with walls from ^ to
f inch thick, and with a dead air
space of 1 to 1^ inch, gives the
best results, in the matter of econ-
omy in use of winter stores ; but,
even in this matter, I have not
found that degree of regularity,
that one would suppose should
exist. The smallest amount of
stores consumed in my own a[)iary
was in the winter of 1885-86, and in
a single walled f inch ten frame "L
hive," the bees having free access
to all the frames ; the amount con-
sumed from October 15, 1885, to
Feb. 20, 1886, being 11 1 lbs. and
tiie colony came through in the best
of condition, and gathered 72 lbs.
of honey from apple blossoms in
four days in the following May.
I don't consider that there is any
l)aiticular quality either in myself
or in my bees, that should produce
the results stated above ; but 1 do
believe that these results were
brought about by the careful meth-
od of management I have adopted,
and which is the same that I
have made public many times dur-
ing the last few years, and will be
lound in the " Api," with those of
several others. I am forced to the
conclusion that, vvliile perhaps a lit-
tle honey can be saved by " cellar
wintering," take it all in all,
the safest place is the suunner
stands ; that is to s;iy, bees will
'•spring" better wdien kept on
suunner stands, than when win-
tered inside, and as a rule will live
till spring no matter liovv packed
for winter, if they have stores
where they can reach them. I am
convinced, too, that chaff-hives af-
ford no better real protection than
do single walls, and that in spring
they are far less safe ; and then

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

179

again I am of tlie opinion that in
many oases,chaff' liives have i)roved
an injury, for the reason that de-
pendence has been phiced on tliem
alone, and such care as is an actual
necessity has not been given for
that reason. AVe can all remem-
ber the warm discussions that have
been held in regard to the winter-
ing qualities of deep and shallow
frames, and I suppose some of tiie
readers of the "Api" can remember
the assaults that have been made
ui)on myself because I insisted that
the '^L" frame was ami)ly deep
enough. Now I presume that many
will differ from me in the matter of
chaff [)rotection ; to all sucii I can
only sa}', '■ I speak whereof I
know." It is not guess-work nor
theory; it is a matter of careful
experiments and thorough tests,
and I claim and make the claim
boldly that, with proper prepara-
tion in the fall, better results will
come in the way of early brood,
and early honey-gathering, b}' the
use of double- wall dead air space
hives with sides | to f inch thick,
than with the most approved chaff-
hives ever made. The first double-
walled hive I ever used was made
by our Editor, and of f inch stock,
with an inch dead air S[)ace. This
hive I have used some sixteen
3'ears ; a colon}'' has been wintered
in it every winter during that time,
and not only safely, but so well,
that I have always found from
three to five frames well filled with
brood by the first of March each
year.

I have not written the above in
the interest of an}' dealer, or of
any hive ; but have stated these
facts for the information of such
readers of the '• Api" as may pos-
sibly be desirous of learning the
truth, and are in doubt from what
they have read, whether to use sin-
gle walls, or to go to the expense
of pi-ocuring chaff-hives as a mat-
ter of precaution.

1 could theorize upon the mat-
ter of natural law as applied to bee
life, and show argumentatively why
the results stated above will always
follow if the same general plan is
adopted ; and also show in the
same way, why single-walls .even
are better than chaff-hives. But the
facts are what is wantetl by the
practical man ; and he can theorize
to suit himself. It may be asktd
what experience 1 have had. To
that I will say, I have kei)t bees
and carefull}' studied Iheir habits,
etc., since 1864, and during that
time have kept from five to fifty
colonies ; that, in the course of
my study and exi)eriment, I have
never hesitated to sacrilice one or
a dozen colonies, if necessary, to
disprove or prove and establish a
a given point. Many hive deal-
ers make the claim that only with
their hive can successful wintering
be fully assured. My claim is
that except in an extraordinary
winter bees can be kept as safely as
can horses and cattle, and that too
on their summer stands and in sin-
gle-walled hives. I claim also, that
there is no safer winter stores for
bees than their own natural food,
if the same be pure ; that cold does
not of itself kill our bees ; that the}'
will safely resist exposure of great
severity and of long continuation,
that the main point of protection
is to prevent exposure to sudden
changes in temperature, and tliat
this can be belter and more cheaply
done by other means than by in-
creasing the thickness of the walls
of their habitations.

I shall be pleased to have my
views discussed, and if any one
can make a better practical show-
ing than I have been able to do, I
shall be pleased to learn how it is
done. My position needs no argu-
ment in its support. I give the facts
for what they are worth. This
biidge has carried me safely all
these years, and will prove equally

180

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

as safe for an}' and all who travel
over it in the same way as I do
myself. If any wish to know my
plans and methods tliey will find
them generally stated in the " Api,"
and I shall be happy to give fur-
ther information to all who apply
personally or by letter.

Foxboro, 3Iass., June, 1887.

tUlEIli,

Answers by Practical Apiarists.

BEST TIME TO INTIIODUCE QUEENS.

Query No. 26. When is the best time to
clKiiige vr supeibede old queens?

KoviCE.

ANSWER BY G. AV. DE^IAREE.

I prefer to change queens just at
the close of the white clover har-
vest.

ANSWER BY DR. TINKER.

I let the bees supersede all old
queens. All good queens usually
remain prolific and valuable to the
last.

ANSWER BY DR. C. C. MILLER.

Perhaps at or near the close of
the honey harvest. Possibly, it is
best to leave such mattei's in charge
of the bees.

ANSWER BY R. L. TAYLOR.

During the swarming season and
not much earlier than four weeks
before the close of the white clover
and bassvvood seasons.

ANSWER BY JAMES HEDDON.

As soon as you feel the need
of such re-queening, during the
months of May, June, July and
August, when good queens can be
produced in this latitude.

ANSWER BY H. ALLEY.

At any time when queens can be
procured. 1 would not disturb a

colony at work in the sections for
the purpose of changing queens.
Introduce queens at an}- other time
when desirable.

ANSWER BY WILL. M. KKLLOGG.

When there is a good honey
flow, when you can leave dripping
hone}'^ exposed in the apiar}^ and
bees will not take it up, queens
then can be introduced by almost
any method, so the}' know they
arc queenless.

ANSAVER BY P. R. RUSSELL.

Well, that -depends. Generally
speaking, the best time is as soon
as we can get ready (when the
season is suitable) and young
queens are to be had. Queens are
more safely introduced during the
honey harvest and at night fall. I
am seldom obliged to supersede
oM queens, especially Italians, as
the bees attend to that matter them-
selves and too often supersede
them when it seems uncalled for.
I have changed queens frequently
while a natural swarm was being
hived and always with success.

ANSWER BY J. E. POND.

I do not consider it advisable or
necessary to re-queen a colony or
supersede a queen, so long as the
old queen is doing her duty sat-
isfactorily, unless it be desirable
to do so for the purpose of chang-
ing from one race to another ; in
such case it may be done at any
time under proper precautions,
but the novice will find it safer to
make the exchange when honey is
being gathered freely.

I hnd a queen last year in her
fifth year, procured from our edi-
tor, that was to all appearances as
good as ever last fall, both in
strength and prolificness. She was
a very light yellow Italian, not Al-
bino.

THE AMERICAN APTCULTURIST.

181

QUEENS MATING.

Query No. 27. At what age do young
queens u.'^ually become fertile? miuI after
liaving met the drone, when do they cum-
meuce to lay ? Querist.

ANSWERS BY JAMES HEDDON.

1, From five to fifteen da^^s,

2. From two to three daj's,

ANSWER BY WILL. M. KELLOGG.

Usually from five days to two
weeks old, and they begha to lay
within three or four days.

ANSWER BY R. L. TAYLOR.

Young queens usually become
fertile when about a week old and
begin to lay in about two days
thereafter.

ANSWER BY DR. G. L. TINKER.

At from eight to twelve days old
usually, but if the weather is too
cold, as in early spring or in the
fall, they often do not mate for
twenty tlays. After meeting the
drone they mostly begin to lay on
the third da^^ .

ANSWER BY DR. C. C. MILLER.

M}'^ observation does not cover
the whole of this question, as I have
only noticed that I find young
queens la3dng at ten or twelve days
old. The other part of the ques-
tion is answered in "Alley's Handy
Book" and other text books.

ANSWER BY P. R. RUSSELL.

Naturally, queens become fertile
when six to eight days old and
about four days thereafter will be-
gin to lay. This is a season of
peculiar peril to the young queen
and colony from extraneous causes,
and I have often discovered the
loss of a queen by the agitated
manner of the bees about the en-
trance at night.

ANSWERS BY J. E. POND.

1. Queens emerge from their
cells about the sixteenth day from
14

the .egg, depending upon the
strength of the colony and state of
the weather, as to heat and cold.
They usually take their wedding
fiight from five to ten days there-
after, though in one instance, com-
ing under iny own observation, the
queen did not meet a drone till the
twenty-eighth day after slie left
her cell.

2. They usually begin laying in
a day or two (but sometimes long-
er) after they have successfully
mated.

ANSWER BY G. W. DEMAREE.

In my localit}'' young queens us-
ually mate at seven or eight days
old and begin to lay at ten days
old. There is reall}' no fixed rule,
however. The ordinary limit of
time for them to begin to lay eggs
is from nine to fourteen days old.
They generally lay eggs in three
days after they mate, but not al-
ways. I have had young queens to
la}' eggs in two days after mating,
and I have had them to mate late
in the fall and lay no eggs till
the February following, over three
months after mating.

ANSWERS BY H. ALLEY.

1. Young queens will certainly
take a flight for the purpose of mating
during the honey-gathering season,
when they are five days old, provided
the weather is suitable. After the
honey harvest, they will be from
ten to fifteen days about it, unless
the bees are treated according to
directions given in my work on
"Queen-rearing." Although I have
reared over 60,000 queens during
the past twenty-eight years, I never
knew a queen to make the mating
flight until she was five days old,
and I think I have watched the
process as closely as any one.

2. If she is a good queen, eggs
will usually be found in the cells
on the second morning after fertil-
ization.

182

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

The American Apiculturist.

Published Monthly.

MANAGER,

TEBMS: $1.00 PER YEAR.

SEE INDUCEMENTS TO SUBSOEIBEES.
Wenham, Mass, July 1, 1S87.

THE MANAGER'S CORNER.

W. Z. Hutchinson's Book has lain
on oui- table some time, but owing to
pressure of spring work in our apiary,
to which we liave to attend, we have
not been able lo review it sooner. We
have read the very flattering reviews
of this work, and are sorry to say we
cannot quite agree with them. We in-
tend to express our views fully and
freely on bee matters and sliall en-
deavor at all times to do exact justice,
and in the present instance shall live
up to that rule.

The mechanical and typographical
part of the book is good, the cover
quite unique, and the style excellent.
The price, twenty-five cents, seems to
us rather high fur the small amount of
matter it contains ; and when we rec-
ognize the fact that it is largely a
compilation, or in other words, an ex-
pression merely of the best thoughts
of our best writers, it strikes us that
the general public will be inclined to
tliink they are paying dear for what
they have already read in the bee
journals. From the reviews we have
read we supposed we should find some-
thing original at least; but when on
reading w-e found the ground travelled
over was the same that Townley,
Doolittle and others had worked over
and over again during past years, we
could only say to ourselves, how easy
it is to write a book if one has an en-
cyclopoedia to fall back upon ; and
then again, we must say we don't like
to see any book, not intended as an
advertisement, start out as does this,
with a clean-cut certilicate in favor of
some hive. Advertisements are all
right in their proper places, but Mr.
H. has in our judgment overstepped

the bounds of propriety in this respect.
We wish it distinctly understood
that we consider the ideas contained
in the book to i)e valuable ; and were
they original with Mr. H. we should
have no fault to find, other than with
the price. Mr. H. as a writer gener-
ally is terse and vigorous, and many
of his articles are of value to beekeep-
ers. We hope all our readers will read
the book, as it will prove to them when
they find nothing that has not already
been told in our journal, that the "Api"
still leads, as we shall always endeavor
to make it.

Close Attention sliould now be
given the bees. Do not relax in the
least till you have secured every ounce
of comb honey it is i)ossible to secure.
When one set of sections is a little
over half filled raise them up and
place another set under these. When
the first set is nearly capped over re-
move it to a colony too weak to work
in the sections and let them finish it
and at the same time place another
new set of sections on the hive from
which the full set were taken. If
dull weather sets in for a few days, feed
the bees with thin syrup made of su-
gar and honey; this will have a ten-
dency to keep the bees from desert-
ing the sections.

A Curious Fact.— One of the
queer things about wintering bees
last winter is the fact that colonies
that were weak in the fall came
through in splendid condition, while
the strongest colonies in many apia-
ries died. Now, here is a chance for
Mr. Heddon, Professor Cook, J. E.
Pond and some others to give us their
ideas as to this very singular condi-
tion of things. It looks to me as
though these eminent apiarists have a
problem that will for a long time puz-
zle them. Take right hold of it, broth-
ers.

Preserving Empty Combs.—

Empty combs may be kept in good
condition by placing them in a dry, cool
cellar. If possible, arrange It so that
there will be a free draught of air
through the cellar at all times. The
temperature will be kept so low that
the moth eggs will not hatch, and the
ventilation, as above advised, will pre-
vent tlie combs from moulding.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

183

More Ventilation is certainly
needed when bees " lay out." This
nuiy be supplied by placinsr more sec-
tions on the hive, enlarging; the en-
trance; or by raising tlie body of the
hive an inch at the front from the bot-
tom board.

Many beelceepers suppose their bees
are intending to swarm when they
cluster outside the hive. Well, that
is an indication, but it is a stronger
indication that the bees need more air
or more storage room for honey.

Queens when they have had a
chance to lay to their full capacity for
two seasons will be worthless for a
third year. There are exceptions to
this rule, but not one queen in fifty is
of much value at three years of age.
Therefore, all queens should be con-
sidered old whi-u they have been in
the hive two years.

Combs Melting Down.— One of

the results of improper ventilation is
the melting down of the combs in the
brood-nest; when this occurs the bees
should be attended to at once.

Remove all the bees from the combs
and hive, to a new hive and fix up
things as quickly as possible. By so
doing, the damage may soon be re-
paired; but left alone the colony will
be ruined.

When the combs break down, the
bees will rnsh out and cover the out-
side of the hive; many of them will be
daubed with honey. If the hive con-
tained much honey it will run out at
the entrance.

Encouraging.— We are in daily
receipt of most encouraging letters
from the friends of the An. Words
of praise of the fine and timely arti-
cles in the June number come in from
all quarters. Subscriptions, too, are
coming in rapidly, as about every bee-
keeper who sees a specimen copy of the
API at once sends for our journal and
one of the drone and queen-traps or
flue queens, all of which we oti'er at
such low prices.

Bear in mind we give each sub-
scriber one of our improved drone and
queen-traps, free by mail, or send
tliem a select queen for 50 cents in ad-
dition to the §1.00 for a yearly sub-
scription to the Apicultubist.

Returning Swarms.— Do not fail
to test the method for returning swarms
as given in the June issue of the Api,
and do not forget to send us a report of
your success or failure whichever it
may be. I am pretty sure it will be
successful iu most cases.

If Queen-rearing is going on
while forage is scarce, the bees should
be fed liberally each day until the cells
are capped with syrup' made of three
parts sugar and honey and two parts
water. Rear your queens according
to directions given in the "Beekeep-
ers' Handy Book" and you will cer-
tainly succeed. I defy any person in
the world to rear queens by any
other method that will insure a certain
number of cells to each colony or to
rear such fine queens as can be reared
by the methods given in the " Handy
Book." I also challenge any bee-
keeper in the world to advance a more
perfect system of queen-rearing, or
practising one by which as perfect and
hardy queens can be reared.

By practising the methods given in
the "Handy Book" better queens can
be reared provided the bees are- sup-
plied with not over fifteen eggs, not
larva, to each larjije colony. I can
give this number of egijs to a colony
and am just as sure of fifteen fine
queens as I am of one; and every time,
too.

Send ($1.10 and get a copy of the
book, and if our instructions are fol-
lowed and you do not succeed the
$1.10 will be returned to you. We
also promise to return the money if
the book does not give perfect satis-
faction iu all respects.

Introducing Queens.— Much is
now being said in all the bee journals
about introducing queens. I know no
way so sure and one that requires so
little time and trouble as the three-day
method given in the back numbers of
the Apicultubist.

The Season here thus far has been
unusually poor for bees. The warm
weather in early May brought forward
the fruit blossoms early, but the trees
were in bloom but a few days when
dull weather set in, and nearly all the
early honey harvest was lost.

184

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

White clover conimenced to bloom
by the tenth of June, but the weather
was so cold that the bees did but little
on that. Therefore, the prospect for
a good crop of honey here in New
England is far from encouraging.

Hard Luck.— It is not often that
Ave have to cry "hard luck," but we
have had quite a set-back this spring
in the queen-rearing business.

Out of two hundred fine queen cells
less than flfty per cent hatclied, and a
set-back like this, so early in the sea-
son, compels me to ask our customers
to be patient for a few days or till
about the time this issue of the Api
reaches them.

By July 1 we shall have plenty of
queens, so that we can ship by return
mail. The cause of the non-hatching
of the early queen cells was soon dis-
covered, and the remedy at once ap-
plied. It was my opinion that the
trouble was caused by feeding the bees
with honey-dew honey which was
taken from some hives of bees I had
bought over fifty miles from my apiary.
I use no such honey now without tirst
scalding.

While bees all about me, say within
a dozen miles, gathered honey-dew
freely last year, none of it was taken
by my bees.

A BIG BATCH OF QUES-
TIONS AND ANS WEES
THERETO.

Hamilton^ 0.
Mr. Henry Alley : —

1. Would it hurt a queen to
handle her by the thorax 'i Some
say take her by the wings, but if
we get hold of the wings on one
side she would flutter and the wings
might be torn.

2. Could you tell us how to
transfer the queen from the ship-
ping to the introducing cage?

[1, No. Handle queens by the wings
taking hold of both wings at same
time.

2. Let the queen out of shipping
cage on the window, handle as above.]

Hamilton^ Minn.

1 . What is the best distance from
centre to centre to space combs for
extracting in upper-stor}' ?

2. Whicli is preferable for ex-
tracting, Victor frames 5| inches
deep or those 8|- inches deep ?

3. What are the advantages
and disadvantages of drone foun-
dation for extracting?

[1. From an inch and three-eighths
to an inch and a half. It would, in
my opinion make but little diflereuce
whether it is more or less.

2. I know nothing about "Victor"
frames, but will say that there would
be less danger of the combs breaking
if a shallow frame is used. Old combs
would not break in extracting even
were they twelve inches deep.

3 No advantage that I know of,
but the more drone comb the more
drones unless the queen is excluded
from them. Very little foundation is
made or used having drone cells.]

Hope Valley, R. I,

Mr. Alley :

1. Should I use enamel cloth
or other cloth over frames in con-
nection with a honey-board?

2. In putting queen cells in the
nursery, do you lay them down or
fasten them up in their natural po-
sition ?

o. To remove a queen from the
combs and not hurt her do 3^ou take
her up with tiie fingers or use a
"catciier ?"

War. M. Chapman.

[1. No.

2. Fasten the cell in, small end
down, in one of the small holes in the
cage. One of the apertures is for the
sponge, the other for the cell.

3. We use no queen catcher. Al-
ways handle an old or fertilized queen
by the wings. When removing a queen
from the comb, take her by the wings
and pull ahead and no injury will re-
sult; if pulled backwards the legs
would be injured. A person who is
not nervous can handle a queen most
any way without injuring her, but
a timid, nervous person should use a
catcher, or handle a queen by the
wings.]

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

,85

Mr. Allet:

I wish you would tell me if
there are any good reasons for not
i-eturning a swarm that has issued
back whence it came and setting
them to work in old hives, thus
preventing increase. Am willing
to pay for having my questions
answered if you will set your price.
W. W. F.

[The objection is this : if a swarm
is returned without first destroying the
queen cells, the bees would come off
again the next day, or would kill the
queen and swarm again when the first
young queen emerges from a cell. Try
our method given in the .June "Api."
It is a part of our business to answer
questions, consequently no charge is
made for so doing.]

Telford, Pa.

Mr. Henry Alley :

If I am not asking too much will
you please tell me how wood sep-
arators are made that are used to
keep the comb separate in the sec-
tion boxes ? My object is to get
as nmch surplus as possible in one-
pound sections. Would it be de-
sirable to give the bees twenty
brood-frames or only ten ?

A. Paul Gerhart.

[Wood separators are tiiin pieces
sawed from thick lumber. They can
be made for one section or for more.
These separators are placed between
each two rows of sections to make the
bees build the comb witliin each sec-
tion. The separators are made nar-'
rower at the middle than at the ends,
so that the bees can get into the sec-
tion.

If you want to get all the section
honey possible, don't use over eight
frames (seven will do much better), in
the brood-chamber. The larger the
brood-chamber the less bees will enter
the sections. Keep the brood nest con-
tracted by using few frames and that
will compel tlie bees to enter the sec-
tions and while they are in them, if
forage is plenty, they will build comb;
and the field bees, or honey gatherers,
will fill the new comb with honey. J

Yardly, Pa., 1887.

Friend Alley :

Received your Oct. Apicultu-
RisT ; in it saw advertisement of
Alley's Nursery for Queen-rearing.
You say virgin queens can remain
in it for weeks. Now, friend A., I
have some questions to be an-
swered by you.

1. How long may a virgin queen
remain unmated and after being
mated become a fair queen ? 2. Do
those cells in your nursery cages
answer for the second brood of
queens or do new cells have to be
put in every time? Will the old
queen deposit eggs in the cells in
the nurserj' cages or not ; or do you
have to let her lay eggs in brood
frames and then cut them out?
How many queens can be hatched
at once in one nurser}'?

PALMER E. Grey.
[1. A virgin queen may remain in
the cage from twelve to twenty-five
days, and as soon as given a chance
to 'fly after being introduced to a nu-
cleus colony, will become fertile.

2. Certainly not; you do not seem
to understand the workings of the
Queen-nursery. A Queen-nursery is
merely a set, more or less, of small cages
in which are placed queen cells to
hatch. The cells must be built by the
l)ees, in full colonies, and when they
have been capped seven days trans-
ferred from the combs to tlie Queen
nursery. The cages are provided with
food for the baljy queen. When all is
ready, a frame of brood is taken from a
full colony of bees and the frame, in
which the cages containing the queen
cells have been placed, is inserted in its
place. The honey-board or cushion is
then placed over the frames or brood-
nest, and in a few days the queens will
have emerged from the cells ; but as
the cages are well supplied with food,
the queens need no attention until the
nuclei are ready for the reception of
the queens, which will be when ihe bees
have been queenless three or more
days. Old queens will not deposit eggs
in cells from which a young queen has
just emerged.

Our nursery contains 21 cages, and
21 queens may be " hatched" at one
time. We removed several nurseries
to-day from full colonies, and found 21

186

THE AMEBIC AN APICULTURIST.

fine young queens in each. Pretty
good luck to commence with. You
should i-pad the Beelieepers' Handy
Book. Think you would get more in-
formation from it in one hour than you
will be likely to learn otherwise in sev-
eral years.]

Wahoorth, Wis.

Am. Apiculturist :

Can bees be wintered in a cave
or root house near their summer
stands? J, L. Hall.

[Yes, just as well as in a cellar, pro-
vided the cave is not too damp. No
roots nor other vegetables should be
in the cellar at the same time the bees
are.]

Morgantoivn, Pa.
Mr. Alley :

Do you consider the brown
bees a better strain than the Ital-
ians? E. R. Styer.

[No, there is no strain of bees as
good as the best strains of Italians.
But there is a great difference in the
Italians.]

jSfeivj)ort, B.I.

Mr. Alley :

What is the best way to prevent
moth worms, more especially in
sale honey after it has been re-
moved from the bees and is stored
away, or is out being offered for
sale? Also in spai'e either empty
or full combs? 1 had trouble last
season and would likeadvice before
the trouble begins anew.

Walter Sherman.

[Read the back numbers of the Api-
CUJ.TruKisT and you will find replies to
your questions. The worms do not
trouble full colonies of bees. When a
hive becomes ([ueenless in the spring
or at any time previous to Sept. 1,
worms are pretty sure to devour the
combs].

Gonzales, Cal.
Am. Api.

Query : — Do you find that Cy-
prians and Syrians have the same

characteristic with the Italians, of
being slower than blacks to go up
into the sections, when working for
comb honey ? Is that a feature
of the yellow races in general, or
of the Italians in particular?

Would specially like an answer
from Henry Alley.

A. Norton.

[I find the Cyprians and the Syrians
are very much alike so far as entering
the sections, and very much unlike the
Italians. While the latter are very
quick to enter the surplus boxes, the
former are very slow to do so. I have
not one word to say in favor of the
Cyprians and Syrians, or any other
iniported race of bees but the Ital-
ians.]

Plamjield, Mich.

1. Is there any w.ay to tell
within a day or two when a new
swarm is going to come out, so as
to put on the queen-trap in time,
provided you don't want to keep
it on all the time?

2. Is there any particular time
to catch and kill otf the drones,
or a part of them when there are
a good many of them?

3. Is there not some way to
extract honey from the comb with-
out any kind of machine extract-
ors.

4. Would like to know how to
tell the right time to divide a swarm
or hive instead of having them
come out.

A. T. W.
. [1. The pnly thing to judge by is to
open a hive, and if there are queen
cells capped or nearly capped, a swarm
is very likely to issue within a day or
so if the weather continues favorable.
A colony that is intending to swarm
is not generally at work as smart as
the others on the day of swarming.
There will be considerable many bees
about the entrance ; many will be slow-
ly working into the hive and while not
doing much work seem to be some-
what uneasy. A swarm may be expect-
ed from a hive that is full of bees,
and at any time when honey is plenty
and the bees doing well, as it is called.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

187

2. Would place the trap on the hive
at any time when there appears to be
a large number of drones in any par-
ticular colony. Place the trap on the
hive from 11a.m. to 3 p.m. Let the
drones remain in the trap till next
morning, then dig a liole in tlie ground,
dump the drones in and cover tliem
over.

3. None that I know of without
mashing the combs as beekeepers used
to do thirty years ago, or before the
advent of the extractor.

4. Divide at swarming time, or
later if you want to feed.]

Asliton^ R. I.
Editor Api :

1. I would like to ask you about
two hives of bees that I lost last
winter. There is quite a lot of
honey in tlie combs soaievirhat soiled
Now will the old combs do to use
for new swarms?

2. If bees are [nit on such combs
will not some of the old honey be
worked over and stored for winter
and injure the bees?

[1. Wash the combs thoroughly in
warm water and place them where they
will dry quickly. All the thin, sour
honey will be removed by the opera-
tion and the combs will be sweet and
clean and will not injure the bees if
used again.

2. Some of the old honey might get
stored and capped and not used next
winter, but not much of it if the
combs are treated to a good cleansing
as advised.

Barton^ Vt.

HUNTING BEES ; INTKODUCING

QUEEiS'S.

Please give directions and de-
scription of apparatus necessary to
hunt bees.

What is the best way for a nov-
ice to introduce a laying queen,
having but one swarm and no other
bees within two or three miles.

[Read the back numbers of the
"Api", also the methods given in this
issue for introducing queens by Dr.
Miller and G. W. Demaree.

Some one of our readers made this
inquiry :
" Will a queenless colony carry in pollen ?"
[Yes, during the early stages of the
queenless condition of a colony the
bees will carry considerable pollen;
but, as the bees grow old, less pollen
will be seen going into the hive, and
what is being carried in will be in very
small pellets, so small, in fact, that it
can hardly be seen.]

GLEANINGS
FBOM COBBESPONDENCE.
Cedar Springs, Mich.
Mpv. Alley :

I like your strain of Italian bees, and
all who have seen them admire them.
Please give price for \ dozen queens.
I packed my bees in the following
manner : Half-iuch bee space over the
brood frames, wire screen on top,
woollen blankets on screens and chaff
cushion over all.

Wm. McL.

Angelica, N. Y.

rRiKNO Alley : —

Have never wintered bees so suc-
cessfully, as during the past winter.
Hav'n't lost a colony! Each one
stronger, if anything, than it was last
fall ! Who can beat that?

I wintered my bees on their summer
stands, and have come to the conclusion
tliat is the way to winter them. The
air around the apiary is fairly "yel-
low," to-day with the "little fellows,"
and I think the prospects are yood for
a heavy flow of honey this season.
Now, if some aspiring b(!e writer
would only tell us how to get rid of
our honey at a remunerative price,
what a blessing it would be for that
"aspiring bee-writer"! But, as it is,
" it might be Avorse," and certainly both
bees and beekeeper ought to be happy.
Header.

Arcjyle, New York.
Please send your 32 page catalogue.
Am sorry you have left your Price-
List out of" the Api. It has been a
destructive winter to bees in this sec-
tion ; no matter whether wintered in
cellars or on summer stands. The
loss has been from | to |. There was
a heavy honey dew last fall. Some at-
tribute the loss to that.

O. L. Whitcomb.

188

THE AMERICAN A PIC UL TURIS T.

Gonzales, Cal.
Friend Alley :

I have a liabit that, in spite of my
ettorts to suppress it, sometimes crops
out; in writing rapidly. I niisform
letters, malie omissions of words and
punctuation marlis tliat count much for
the worse. I see that I did so in mj'
last. By leaving- out a period after
Eucalyptis which ends in a sentence
aud making ray capital " F" look like
a " C," I made myself seem to say that
the blue gum tree is a plant of the ge-
ranium family, etc.

Blue gum is E-itcah/ptis globidvs. a
tree from Australia; Filaria ov'alfilaria
(the accent on syllable " ri" which
sounds like " re") is the Spanish name
for a plant of the geranium family
without the English uiime, except the
corruption " fliaree," etc. The mis-
take is mine, but if you will please to
correct it you will oblige me.

The season is still dry, only about
one-half crop of general products.

Accept congratulations on June is-
sue and its articles on comb honey.
Truly yours,
A. Norton.

Ai, Ohio.

Mr. Alley :

Please send me I dozen Drone and
Queeu-traps. I bought some last year
aud would not do without tluMu.

S. S. MUNSON.

JIamiUon,0.
The AncuLTr'RisT is far ahead of any
bee journal I have seoi for practical
information.

J. K.

Stratford, Out.
Mr. Alley :

The queen I got from you
last season has brought tiirough "the
winter the strongest colony of bees I
have in my apiary.

E. W. Panton.

Benison, lotva.
Accept my congratulation on pub-
lishing that most excellent array of
articles on comb-honey In the June
Apiculturist. You have struck the
key note of " helpfulness " in your
journal.

Z. T. H.

East Templeton, Mass.

Mr. H. Alley :

I see you advertise to send essays
"How to Winter Bees." I can give
you something better. Use the Bay
State Hive. I have the one now that
I bought of you I don't know how
many years ago. It has wintered bees
every time as no colony ever has died
in it yet, and it stands in the same
place now that it has stood for years.
RuEus Stickney.

OJdo, III.
Dkar Sir :

I received the drone and queen-traps
and all were sold within one hour.
Send me 25 more.

R. M. Knight.

Lawndale, III.
Mr. Alley :

Please continue the Api. There is
not a more thoroughly instructive bee
journal published, and the articles are
timely and to the point.

The queens I procured of you last
season are uncommonly fine.

F. C. Blout.

Upper Jay, Essex Co., N. Y.
June 7, 1887.
Henry Alley.

I 'received your Queen and Drone-
Trap and like it very much, for yester-
day the first queen that you sent me
led out a large swarm and I did not
have to climb trees after them.

A. D. Knapen.

HIS WIFE LIKED IT.

Mr, Alley:

We bought one of your
drone and queen traps last season
and my wife likes it so well that
she would like about one dozen
more of your improved traps.
Please ship them. $3.50 inclosed.
J. G. Hill.

[We have sold several thousand
traps the present season, and of the
50,000 in use not three customers have
found any fault or made any complaint
of them. We guarantee the traps to
work and do all we claim for them.]

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

189

Sjmngville, N. Ca.
I take four bee journals, but like the
'Api" best of all.

Jonx Baptis.

I consider the AMKiaCAN Apicultu-
RiST invaluable to apiarists.

A. G. W.

Christinnshurg, JCif., June 4, 1887.

FRtKND Alley, — Though eA'er so
busy and half sick, I have prepared a
hasty MS. for your July issue. The
June issue of the "Api" is decidedly a
success. It would be hard to beat the
general make-up of your paper. I am
glad to see it prosper.

Our bees have got on slowly and
badlV till a week past ; weather unfav-
orable, wet, cloudy, cool in turns.
Bees are right now gathering honey
rapidly, "kind of pouring it in."
G. W. D.

NOTES FROM THE BAY
STATE API ART.

Henry Alley.

SHIPPING BEES.

I have received several lots of
bees from parties residing a long
distance from Wenham, and from
men who ought to be considered ex-
pert beekee[)ers ; yet not one lot
out of all sent me were properly
packed, as all the combs in some of
the hives were broken off at the top
of the frame and more or less of
the combs were broken in all of
the hives but one. In one case a
very large colony was shipped to
me from a place which required a
week's time in coming ; yet, this
colony was not given half as much
room as the quantity of bees it
contained should have had. The
consequence was that two-thirds of
the colony and all tiie brood were
dead.

A large colony, even though it is
to be transported but a short dis-

tance, should have a space of
not less than two inches under the
frames, and certainly four inches
aV)ove them. Unless plenty of
room is given the bees to cluster
off from the combs, the heat created
b\^ the bees and brood combined,
will certainly destroy tlie entire
colony. The hive in question was
covered with wire-cloth, both top
and bottom, which was just right ;
and, had sufficient space been given
for the bees to cluster away from
the comb, there would not have
been one half a pint of dead bees
in the hive, notwithstanding the
fact the bees were on the road five
days. Another full colon}' was
shipped from Vermont ; the condi-
tion was A'ery fair, but had the
weather been warm as it was a few
days previous the colony would
have been ruined, as the (iombs
were new, and there was nothing
between the bottom of the comb,
and bottom of the frame, nor be-
tween the bottom-bar and bot-
tom of hive to keep tlie combs
from breaking. As it was, onl}'-
two combs Avere broken and all in
a heap in the bottom of the hive.
One 3-frame nucleus came by ex-
press, and as the packing was
about the same as with the full
colon}' all the combs were broken,
the brood dead, and all ruined but
a pint of bees and the queen.

If this reaches the eye of any
of those parties, who shipped those
bees, I hope they will not forget
when they pack and ship more
bees to give plenty of ventilation,
and by all means, place some pieces
of wood between the bottom of the
combs and bottom-bar of the frame
as well as under the frame. Bees
thus packed will go safely hun-
dreds of miles.

When I have a colony packed
and all ready to deliver to the ex-
pressman, I then dash about a pint
of cold water in among the bees
and combs. This will supplj' the

190

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

colony with water, for twent^'-four
hours at least and it also has a ten-
dency to keep the bees cool and
quiet.

I once received a colony of bees
from the west which were packed
splendidly. Above the combs was
a space of about three inches, and
water was supplied the bees by
rolling up some burlap and tho-
roughly saturating it with water.
This bundle of old bagging was
fastened in the space over the
combs. It was the best method
I ever saw for supplying water to
bees while being transported.

MARKING HIVES.

The beekeeper who has a large
apiary, or who is rearing a large
number of queens cannot stop to
make a written record of everything
going on in the apiary. Mr. Doo-
little has given his phin for keep-
ing a convenient record of eacli
colony of bees in his yard, but such
a method would not do for me. I
must have something more conve-
nient and easy to handle. Mr. D.
uses small stones placed on each
hi\e to indicate the condition of
each particular colony ; that is very
good, and I sometimes use stones
myself for certain marks. I carry in
my pocket some large flat-headed
tacks, or nails. Should the reader
visit my apiary he will notice that
each nucleus hive has one such nail
sticking in some part of the cover
of each hive but not all are placed
in the same position. When a nu-
cleus is known to be queenless the
nail is invariably placed in the
front edge of the cover of the hive.
A nail has been thus used in my
apiary for nearly twenty-seven
years. When the nail is placed
on W\Q front of the hive it indicates
that a queen-cell was recently put
in the hive. Now if a lot of cells
are introduced, say to-day, the nail
is placed in the centre of the front
of the hive. If another Jot of cells

is given other hives the next day
the nail is placed at one side of
the center of the front, and so on.
The different positions of the nail
when placed in the cover of tlie hive
indicate the different lots of queens
or cells that have been introduced
from day to day. When I want a
lot of queens to ship I am not com-
pelled to open every hive in the
yard to find those laying. I keep
the run of all the queens that are
likely to be laying by the position
of the nail. For instance, vvlien
the nail is sticking in the centre of
the cover I know that that queen
has been in the hive long enough
to become fertile. I open the hive
and find that the queen is laying.
Well, now if those hives that have
the nail in the centre of the cover
are opened, twenty-four out of
twenty-five queens will usually be
found laying. The advantage of
the nail sj'stem will readily be
seen by anyone, as it saves much
time and labor, when one has 300
nucleus hives in his apiary to at-
tend to. Some one will say, "won-
der how one can know what hives
contain tested queens or a very fine
queen?" Well 'tis easy enough.
When a hive contains a very choice
queen two nails are placed side
by side in the cover of that hive or
three nails as the case may be. It
is no trouble to keep a lot of nails
in one's vest pocket for use at any
and all times. One nail is gener-
ally all that is needed for a hive
during the season.

QUEEN-REARING.

Although we had a set-back
early in the season by the cells not
hatching, we are now doing well,
and can forward queens by return
mail.

This spring we have purchased
several quite large lots of bees of
various strains. Some pure hlacTx,
hybrids and some fine and very
pure colonies of Italian bees. The

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

191

latter were purchased of Mrs.
Mary E. Pray of Greenland, N. H.
The husband of Mrs. Pray was one
of the most enthusiastic beekeepers
in New England but by the merest
scratcli to his foot from a rusty nail
in August last, while he was re-
pairing his house, he lost his life
by lock-jaw in just nine days after
the wound was made. Mrs. Pray
could not care for the bees and so
we bought the lot, and moved them
to Wenham.

We found among the bee fixtures
of Mr. Pray all sorts of modern ap-
pliances used in the apiary. He
■was a beekeeper who kept up with
the times as all beekeepers do who
take an interest in apiculture.

BLACK BEES IN SHIPPING CAGES.

As we have stated in our manual
of queen-rearing, black bees are
far better for nurse bees than the
Italians, and so when we can find
such bees for sale at prices to suit
us, we purchase them. Nearly all
our nuclei are made up of black
bees, and when we ship queens
more or less dark bees will be put
in the cage with the queen. This
fact is mentioned to save some of
our customers from writing thus :
"If the bees in the cage with the
queen 'you sent me are some of her
progeny she must have met a black
drone." Oh dear ! how many times
we have had to write and explain
this same thing during the past
thirty years.

Don't forget that we have per-
fect control of the drones in our
apiary by the use of the drone-trap.
No black drones ever fly during
the queen-rearing season about
here.

SMALL QUEENS.

Sometimes a patron for a queen
will write and say "the queen was
received in good condition but
looks small." Of course the queen
is small ; why shouldn't she be after

being confined in a small cage for
nearly a week and 'having in the
meantime travelled nearly 2,000
miles in some cases? When the
queen has been introduced to the
colony a week, then your opinion
concerning her will be in order.
Wenham, 3fass.

All who Subscribe for the Apicul-
TUHiST, at any liine, will receive one
of our combined Drone and Queen-
traps free by mail. This is onr method
of introducini;- the Apicultuuist and
our Drone and Qneen-traps into every
apiary in the United States.

Those who receive the trap as a pre-
mium must not expect to get the Handy
Book or a queen for fifty cents, as the
protits are so small that only one pre-
mium can be given each subscriber.

NOTICE.

We do not advertise to give premi-
ums to those who subscribe through
other parties. We pay news' agents a
percentage on all subscriptions sent
us, and if you choose to give the agent
a profit instead of sending direct to us,
it is no fault of ours.

Our Club Rates.

Am. Apiculturist and Am. Weekly Bee

Journal, $1.80

Am. "Api" and Gleanings (semi-monthly) 1.90
" " " Bee Hive (bi-monthly) 1.00

" " " Beekeepers' Handy Book 1.50

" " '• Cook's Manual 1.70

" " " A Year among the Bees 1.50
" " " Alley's drone and queen

trap 1,00

TO ADVERTISERS.

We will accept of bees, sections or
foundation in exchange for advertising
space in the Apicultuiust.

H. ALLEY.

192

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Bees by the pound.— If one has

some nice combs, agood colony of bees
may be reared in a iaw weeks by pur-
chasiu<>- a pound of bees and a line
queen. Sugar can now be purchased
in most phices at the rate of 15 lbs. for

We can fill a few orders for bees,
and queens with them, at the rate of
$1.50 for bees and $1.00 for the queen.
They will be packed in good shape and
safe delivery guaranteed.

The June number of Api should
be read by all who take an interest in
apiculture. Our readers will find
METHOD NUMBER SIX in thls issuc by
R. L. Taylor. All the essays will be
stereotyped so that they can be sup-
plied to all who desire them, by and

by.

FACTS ABOUT HONE Y.

Honey is the only purely natural
sweet in a commercial form. It is the
nectar of flowers gathered and stored
by the bees, and changed by thein to
the smooth, mellow sweet known as
honey. It furnishes the same element
of nutrition as sugar and starch— gives
warmth and energy. Starch and sugar
when eaten undergo a digestive change
before they are assimilated. In honey
this change has been made to a con-
siderable extent by the bees. It is
partly digested, easy of assimilation,
and concentrated. The longer honey
is on the hive the more complete is
this change. It derives its flavor from
the blossoms from which it was gath-
ered. There is as much difl'erence in
honey as in milk or butter, and the
same liability of adulteration. Owing
to low prices, caused by improved
methods and increased production, it
is less adulterated than formerly, prob-
ably no more than other food products.
Now every producer's name is on each
package, and he thinks as much of his
reputation for producing a good arti-
cle as does the producer of choice fruit
or butter.

Almost all pure liquid honey will
candy or become hard at the approach
of cold weather, unless sealed while
hot. This is one of the best tests of
its purity. Candied honey can be lique-
fied by placing the jar in water or an
oven and heating until melted. Over-

heating injures the flavor. Adultera-
ted honey will not completely candy.
Comb honey can be adulterateil only
by the producer. Its wax furnishes an
agreeable non-irritating bulk so desir-
able with concentrated food, and as
chewing is necessary proper digestion
is promoted.

As a table ornament which appeals
to both eye and palate a plate of deli-
cate comb honey is unexcelled.
Extracted honey is the liquid honey
thrown from the combs, pure and
bright, by a machine called an ex-
tractor. Strained honey is obtained
by mashing combs of honey, which of-
ten contain immature and dead bees,
aiud bee bread and straining : this is in-
ferior in flavor and appearance. Ex-
tracted honey can be sold for less than
comb honey, as the combs which are
more valuable than honey are saved,
and used time after time.

As a medicine, honey has great value
and many uses. It is excellent in most
throat and lung afl'ections, and is often
used in place of Cod Liver Oil with
great benefit. Occasionally there are
found people with whom it does not
agree, as is the case with other arti-
cles of food, but the majority can learn
to use it with beneficial results. Chil-
dren, who have more natural appetites,
generally prefer it to butter with their
bread. Honey is laxative and sedative,
and in diseases of bladder and kidneys
is an excellent remedy. It also par-
takes of the medicinal properties of
the plant from which it was gathered.
It has much the same efi"eet as wine or
stimulants without their injurious ef-
fects, and is unequalled in mepd and
harvest drinks. As an external appli-
cation it is irritating when clear, and
soothing if diluted. In most country
places the qualities of honey are appre-
ciated, and it is much used for croup
and colds.

In preserving fruit in a natural state
the formic acid it contains makes it a
better preservative than sugar syrup.
In cooking and confections it is also
used.

[The above was taten from a circular pub-
lished by Mr. Samuel Cushman of PawtiickeC,
R. I. These circulars are given to each pur-
cliaser of his honey ami is one of tlie best
methods for increasing the sale of honey.]

Mr. Arthur Todd has been unwell
for several weeks. As soon as he re-
covers his usual good health he will
furnish the i-eaders of the Api with
some fine articles under the head of
Foreign Notes.

The American Apiculturist.

% Jfournal b^troitb ia pracfual ^ci^h^ping,

ENTERED AT TIIK POST-OFFICE, WENHAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.

Publisheil MonUily. Henry Alley, Manager.

VOL. IV.

WENHAM, MASS., AUG. i, 1886.

No.

For the American Apiculturist.

EXTRACTING HONEY
QUEENS, ETC.

Bv C. W. Dayton.

Of my 116 colonies of bees
(tlie same nuinber there was last
fall), 90 were ready for the har-
vest wlien it came, the other 26
having been made weak by sparing
brood to help the 90. In one day
I prepared, and placed upon tlie
hives, 60 stories of empty combs
for extracting. On another day
of ten hours, I transferred from
the hives into barrels 706 pounds
of extracted honey, not counting
that contained in the cappings ;
and I also hived three swarms of
bees during tiie time.

Figuring 80 pounds to the col-
ony, for 60 colonies would equal
4,800 pounds and would require
about seven days for one man to
extract it ; one day to adjust sur-
l)lns stories and one day to take
tliem off, making nine days in all,
to run 60 colonies through tlie
honey harvest for extracted honey.

Now, if 60 colonies can be man-
aged from the adjustment of the
sections to the hives until they are
neatly stored in the honey house
with less time and labor than that
I cannot imagine how it is done.

To do a "■ big" day's work in
extracting, the combs should be
well filled with honey and about
one half capped to insure its ripe-
ness. It is a very good plan to
place the combs in the hives rather
21

far apart to make them thick so as
to contain more honey.

I have had combs 11|- inches
square that weighed 13 J- lbs. In
uncapping honey, the shavings
should be as thin as possible, and
a person who would not shave thinly
would waste many times his wages.
Just tiiink of it; 45 pounds of
honey it costs to produce a pound
of wax which only sells for 20 or
30 cents, and yet there are many
who allow the cappings to be one-
half of an inch or more in thick-
ness.

One of the nicest features in
producing combs of honey for ex-
traction is to have them filled en-
tirely with honey and the brood
all remain in the brood-nest. There
seems to be a difference in queens
in this. While some will stay
closely in the brood-chamber, oth-
ers will run all over placing a little
patch of brood here and another
there and still others will imme-
diately move into the upper story
to stay. Of all the queens, the
first one mentioned is greatly pre-
ferred, and the difference is almost
enough to lietray happiness or dis-
gust in the beekeeper's counte-
nance. When the queen moves
about in more than one story, the
bees usually build queen cells in
the story that is the most neg-
lected. In this way I have known
several colonies to swarm taking
with them a virgin queen and the
old one also.

Some will recommend queen-ex-
cluding honey-boards. This works
nicely until we come to a queen

(173)

174

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

that requires more space for egg-
laying than is aftbrded in the
brood-chamber in which case she
becomes crowded for room, puts
eggs in queen cells and a swarm
is the result.

Since trying both methods, I
have concluded that it is the more
profitable to leave off the excluder
and spend my time extracting
from combs filled partly with honey
and partly with brood (and some
larvse in the honey) than to have
the bees spending their time with
swarming and its effects during the
honey flow. If I could have my
wishes, I would have my most pro-
lific queen in the poorest colony
and the less prolific queen in the
best colony, at the beginning of
the honey harvest, as I attribute
the reason for a queen remaining in
the brood-chamber, to her being
less prolific and from the hives con-
taining such queens we get the best
filled combs to extract.

Bradford^ loiua.

For the American Apiculturist.

VENTILATION.

By Dr. G. L. Tinkek.

During hot weather hives should
be well ventilated. I am as well
satisfied as on any other question
of apiculture, that bees require more
ventilation than it is usual to give.
Our summer entrance we now
make 1^ inches deep, and 8| inches
long, and give space enough under
the frames so that the full benefit
of so large an entrance is secured.
With our new-bottom board the
bees enter from below the brood
frames. We have had no swarm
desert any of the hives with this
large entrance, and no precaution
has been taken to keep them from
swarming out. We have hived
twenty-four prime swarms and re-
turned the second swarms.

The weather has been very hot
for a week or two, so that with
large colonies we feel sure that
some of the swarms would have
deserted the- small brood-chamber
we use, if it had not been for the
large entrances. With very large
swarms we lift the hive cover and
place a block under one end so
that the bees can come out on the
top, if they choose, but find that
all go out and in at the entrance.
On very hot days with the ther-
mometer at 90° in the shade, the
bees will nearly all come out of
the hives, clustering outside and
practically cease work, if the hive
is not freely ventilated at the top
and as the flow of honey may be at
its height at such times, we must
keep the greater part of the bees
inside the hive or the time will be
lost as well as much honey.

In ventilating at the top we find
a great deal of trouble with double-
walled hives, so much so, that we
feel like discarding them altogether.
The bees will go above the section
cases and cluster in the cap and
build comb, seemingly in prefer-
ence to working in the sections.
With our single-walled hives we
have no trouble of this nature, and
consider them infinitel}' preferable
in many respects aside from venti-
lation. As we make our hives very
thin-walled (only | thick on the
sides) we find them when shaded,
much the coolest and requiring
much less ventilation than double-
walled hives. As our colonies in-
crease in size and the store of
hone}', we tier up with section
cases, or brood cases (using a
wood and zinc honej^-board between
them) according to the necessity,
so that our small hives can be
made as large as any one could
wish, and whether small or large
we can always give all the ventila-
tion needed and keep the force or
wax workers all in the hive.

New Philadelphia, Ohio.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

175

For the American Jpiculturist,

BEE CULTURE.
By J. E. I'oND, Jr.

No one can doubt for a moment
that bee-culture is not only a pro-
gressive but a progressing business,
I might well say science. Bright
and active minds are constantly at
work in the endeavor to simplify
matters, and inventive genius never
ceases in its attempts to originate
simpler, cheaper and better sup-
plies. The low price of sugar has
had its expected effect in reducing
the price of honey, and as a matter
of course something must be done
to meet the necessities of the case.
''The race is not always to the
swift," however, and he is not al-
ways the greatest benefactor who
rushes a theoretical hive or section-
case upon the market, without hav-
ing first given it a thorough trial.
There is still just enough of the
mysterious connected with the
honey bee to- induce many to be
taken in by prettily written articles
in favor of this, that or the other
hive or frame, and new styles when
well advertised and explained by a
specious writer, and purchased
largely, and of course condemned
when found wanting in the points
claimed. If no one was injured
thereby except the buyer and sell-
er, but little injury would be done ;
but the trouble goes far deeper than
this. The purchaser, who has once
been deceived, will look out in the
future, and condemn not only the
particular person by whom he
was deceived but also every one
else who is engaged in offering a
new article of trade. The honest
must and does suffer, by reason of
being placed in the category of the
dishonest, and when he offers a
really valuable article, he finds no
sale for it, simply because the
swindler has put in his work pre-
viously, and destroyed confidence

in all. It is not usually my province
to praise any article in the line of
beekeepers' supplies ; in fact so
many humbugs of that kind have
been offered for sale, that I have
found about all I could find time to
give in that direction taken up in
criticising unfavorably.

I have no interest whatever in
any article in the way of supplies,
or the business of any manufacturer
and for this reason my criticisms
are wholly disinterested. My sole
object in writing on bee-culture is
to aid some one over a rough road,
and I am well paid if one only is
benefited thereby. The swarming
season is not fairly over yet, and
there are still many who are desi-
rous of learning some way by which
they can go off from home in the
morning, with full confidence,- that
a swarm will not or cannot issue
during the day, and a valuable
queen lost by its decamping. To
all such I will say you can do this
with perfect safety and with the
full assurance that not a single
swarm can be lost by "absquatulat-
ing." All that is required is to
purchase one of "Alley's queen
and drone traps," attach it to the
hive, and then go about your bus-
iness ; not a queen can then escape,
and no trouble or annoyance is
caused to the workers. In fact,
this little article works like a
charm, and is really one of the most
meritorious little inventions in the
way of beekeepers' supplies that
has ever been offered for sale. The
price is low, so low, that the satis-
faction found in being able to go
away from home with full confi-
dence for but a single day, 'will be
ample remuneration to the pur-
chaser. I speak of this trap as I
have found it. When it was first
offered, I did not believe it would
work well ; however, I tested it,
and have found that it is just as
near perfection as we can get in
these da3's. 1 am away from home

176

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

every day "from early morn till
eve," and have been obliged, till I
got "the trap," to divide when I did
not wish to do so, in order that a
swarm might not run away in my
absence.

Now all this is changed. I go
away in the morning, knowing I
shall find my bees at night on my
return, just where they were left.
My better half is enthusiastic over
the "trap," as she does not now
have the care and trouble of con-
stant watching, that she once did
have, and all is serene and pleasant
where once were bother and confu-
sion. As the name indicates, this
trap is useful in more ways than
one. It is a great aid in controll-
ing fertilization, as any particular
drones may be kept from flying at
any time, and can be captured
without trouble if desired. My
advice to every beekeeper, even of
only two or three colonies, is to
procure at once one or more traps
and be happy.

Foxboro, Mass., June 21, 1886.

FOUL BROOD: COFFEE AS

A DESTROYER OF

PUTREFACTION.

From Britisli Bee Journal^ June 24.

The opinions of the treatment of
this plague are very various. Some
recommend salicylic acid, camphor,
etc., and claim to have attained
certain cures with them ; whilst
a large number of beekeepers deny
to these remedies any influence
whatever on the course and the dis-
appearance of tlie disease, and con-
sider the destroying of the infected
hives as the only proved means of
saving the other hives.

If it were permitted to make an
assertion here, wc should allow our-
selves the following one : The for-
mer have succeeded in good hoyiey

years, the latter inhad years. [This
is opposed to our experience. —
Ed.]

On this occasion we again refer
to our article : — " In good honey
years Foul Brood disappears of its
own accord." [See page 268, B.
B. ./.—Ed.]

The opinion, which is therein re-
presented, that up till now Nature
herself is the most eff'ectual comba-
tant against foul brood, has been
shared already by many exper-
ienced beekeepers. The notices
which have reached us on this sub-
ject prove this. "We shall refer to
tliera shortly. Lehzen wrote sev-
eral years ago in the Centralhlatt
that foul brood appears from time
to time in certain neighbourhoods
of North Germany, but disappears
also of itself again. Were tliis not
the case, as Lehzen aflirms, were
Nature not able to combat this de-
vastating plague, yes, even to ex-
tinguish it, the busy bee would
alrea.ly long ago have disappeared
from the face of the earth. [Like
all epidemics which run their course ;
but that is no reason why we should
apply no remedies. — Ed.]

After all this, therefore, we stand
independent of Dame Nature, some-
what helpless in regard to foul
brood ; all the more welcome, there-
fore, should the following com-
munication from Herr Wi'ist of St.
Amarin, Upper Alsatia, on " Coff"ee
as a Destroyer of Putrefaction."

When on"September21, 1885, at
the general meeting in Colniar, all
the means hitherto used for the
cure of foul brood were roundly re-
jected on all sides as too trouble-
some, too expensive, too uncertain,
and flre and flame recommended
to the expert as the only radical
cure. I consoled myself with the
hope that our indefatigable scien-
tific men would yet succeed in
finding a more suitable means.

As it seems to me now, it has al-
ready been found on Alsatian

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Ill

ground by Dr. Oppler (upper staff
pli3-sician) in Stiiisburg — a means
to be found in every liouse — in tlie
form of cofiee, roasted and pounded
to the finest dust.

In the Deceml)er number of the
Deutschen MiUldr Arzlichen Zeit-
schrift, many observations have
been communicated about the ap-
plication and effect of coffee as " a
destroyer of putrefaction, " whicli
were made on objects easily subject
to putrefaction, such as blood, size,
and meat.

In a small glass ten grammes of
blood were well shaken together
with one gramme of powdered
coffee, at a temperature of 60°
Fahr. ; after two days there was no
trace of putrid smell.

Blood which had already become
putrid was shaken up with one
gramme of povvdered coffee in a
test-tube, lost its smell after half a
minute, and remained without smell
for one and a half days.

Ten grammesof a solution of size,
which had already begun to smell
bad, with half a gramme of coffee,
well shaken together, lost its smell
in half a minute, and remained so
after twenty days, although the so-
lution was exposed in an open
glass to the oppi'essive heat of July .

Twenty-five grammes of meat,
finely chopped, impregnated with
eleven grammesof povvdered coffee,
left uncovered, showed the same
result.

Fifty grammes of meat kneaded
together with nine grammes of
powdered coffee, after three daj's
became perfectly dry, without any
trace of smell, so that it could be
rubbed to a powder, with a loss in
weight of 64 per cent.

After it had been indisputably
proved that powdered cofiee pos-
sessed the power of preventing
putrefaction, and interiupting the
process where it had already set in,
the next thing was to try this pow-
der in the treatment of wounds.

Two soldiers had got gaping
wounds from four to five centime-
tres long, penetrating even to the
periosteum of the bone of the skull,
from a fall from a flight of steps ;
one had begun to fester. In each
case after the finest powdered coffee
had been strewn over it, the wound
was dry and scabbed over on the
following day, and on the third day
the man was fit for duty.

Similar splendid results have to
be recorded in the treatment of an-
imals with respect to the subduing of
bacteria. But bacteria, as is well
known, are the bearers of the germ
in the bee i)lague — foul brood. A
doubt that the beekeepers' terror
cannot be conquered by powdered
cofiee seems no longer admissible.
The advantages are apparent. The
means can be had everywhere,
cheap, easy to use, and in lai'ger
doses even it is harmless. In what
way the application of it will have
to follow, tlie experience of unfor-
tunate beekeepers will soon s^ow.
I, for my part, would strew or fill
suspected cells with powdered
coffee, in badly infected hives would
break down all brood-cells, which,
as they in any case would be com-
l)Ielely dried, would be easily
cleaned. Too large a dose could
scarcely hurt. A very important
advantage consists in the fact that
as the remedy is to be used dry, it
sucks up all dampness, and facili-
tates greatly the purification of the
hive by the bees themselves. Also,
as a preventive, an addition of
cofiee to the water for the bees to
drink must be well suited. I beg
you will take these words in the
way they are intended — as an in-
citement to attempt cures. The
remedy is so cheap, so simple, that
it would be inexcusable to subject
the poor little darlings to a fiery
deatli without having first tried it.

Beekeepers ! Coffee as a des-
troyei' of putrefaction has attracted
the attention of the scientific

17!

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

world. Let us follow the advice
of Plerr Wiist, und let us devote
our attention also to this simple an-
tiseptic. Let us not lose the op-
portunity, as soon as foul brood
appears, of making the attempt of
a cure with powdered cottee. It
can do no harm in any case. Do
not let us let the foul-brood ques-
tion disappear from the order of
the day, until at length the remedy
has been found to keep the brood
phague in a simple and sure manner
far from our apiaries, and when
they are infected to free them
from it.

[In our opinion there never was
a case of genuine fonl brood cured
without the application of some
active remedy. The idea that
" Nature" will work a cure during
a good hone}' season is simply non-
sense. Every colony that has been
diseased by foul brood has been
destroyed, and as we have often
suggfssted and recommended, fire is
the quickest and most effective
remedy, unless coffee will do all
that is claimed of it. If any of
our readers has foul brood in his
apiary, will he tiy the coffee cure
and report to the " Api" the re-
sult?—Ed.]

For the American Apiculturist.

TEE ALBINO BEE.

By Charles II. Smith.

In the June number of the
" American Apiculturist," under
" Items of Interest," I see that
the Albino bee is greatly con-
demned, and that by the editors.
Quite a number of our apiarists
were much surprised when their
attention was called totliese items,
as the Albino bee is becoming a

great favorite, not only in this but
in other states. For myself I can-
not imagine to what tests the
Albino bee was subjected in the
yards of the " American Apicul-
turist," or just how they were
managed in order for them to win
such a poor reputation.

I have between thirty and forty
colonies of pure Albino bees and
they have always given me the
best of results, and have been the
most profitable bees in my yard ;
but as soon as I read the article
above referred to, I wa'ote to sev-
eral whom I knew had tested the
Albino bee extensivel}', hoping to
hear from them the correct pedi-
gree and history of the Albino
bee, and in tliis way to gain more
information as regards this i-ace
of bees, and also to see whether
or no the Albino deserved the de-
scription given by the "Api," or
whether their bees compared as
favorably with other races as mine
have done. Having heard from
most of those with whom I have
corresponded in regard to this
matter, I think I am safe in say-
ing that they all with one accord
sustain me in stating that they
stand ahead of any bee that we
have in our apiaries.

You" claim that the Albinos are
very handsome and very gentle ;
thus far you agree perfectly with
all the others; but when you say
tliey are practically good for noth-
ing, except one desires these qual-
ities alone, then I consider that
you are condemning the bee un-
justly.

Mr. Valentine, who first brought
this bee in a pure state before the
public, says, that they are not the
result of inbreeding as you claim,
but are procured by breeding from
queens which first showed a pecul-
iarity in their markings and whose
progeny invariably produced the
same white bands and white down.

I believe that Mr. Pike first

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

179

discovered bees having white
bands, bnt he did not at that time
succeed in producing bees all of
which showed tliese ^marlcings.
The honor of producing the first
pure Albinos, I think, belongs to
Mr. Valentine.

In a letter received from him a
short time since, he writes : '^Tlie
Albino bees have bred up from the
Italians. You know that all lead-
ing beekeepers agree that the Ital-
ians are not a pure race. In the
Italians we have some verj^j-ellow
and rather small, others very
bright but larger ; also we have
the dark and leather-colored ones.
We find in the larger and better
marked ones, some of the peculi-
arities of the Albino, and I never
saw these traits in a low grade of
Italian. I first produced the Al-
bino by a series of cross-breed-
ing."

Now will not the readers of the
" Api" give us the benefit of their
experience with the Albino and
let us hear all that we can about
them before we condemn them to
" utter oblivion."

Fittsjield, Mass.

[We have nothing to retract regarding
what was said concerning Albino bees. Tliis
spring we parcliase<l eighteen colonies of
bees, and among the lot were ten col6nies of
the Albino The person of whom we pur-
cliased the bees sold them because he could
get no suri)lus honey. They were used by
us for nuclei colonies and all have now nearly
died out bnt two or three colonies which we
kept to further test the working qualities of
this peculiar strain of the Italian. Not one
of these colonies have made an ounce of sec-
tion honey, nor did they fill the comb in the
brood-chamber as full of stores as did other
colonies in the same apiary that were very
much less populous. Some of the Albino
•■olonies had a peck of Ix'es in them, as the
queens were very prolific, but stored no
lioney. The nucleus colonies formed of tlie
Albino bees did not gather honey enough to
keep them from day to day, and were the
first colonies we had to I'eed iu order to keep
them from "swarming out."

We would like to have our correspondent
answer this question : " How did Mr. Valen-
tine keep these Albino bees pure except by
inbreeding?" There wasnothing in the "bee-
line" to cross them with. Unless inbreeding
is practised, the purity and beauty of the
Albino strain will soon deteriorate. How
otherwise can these two unimportant qualities
be preserved ?

We wish to remind our friend that Mr. D.

A. Pike, of Smithburg, Maryland, was the
first iierson to develop the Albino bee in all
its puiity and beauty, and to him belongs the
credit for the same.

Wc are raising no Albino queens at the
" Api" bee farm, and shall not again do so. —
Eu.l

For the American ApicuUurist.

HOW TO MAKE A CHEAP
SMOKER.

By Ciias. a. Houghton.

I keep only a few colonies of
bees and have used a smoker of
my own invention which may be
of service to some. For twenty
cents, I bought an " insect powder
gun" (sold commonly at the stores
for blowing insect powder around a
room), which is simply a round tin
box, one side of which is a spring
bellows and in the opposite side a
hole for introducing the powder.
I then took a round tin box 1;^
inches diameter, 1^- inches high,
removed the cover, cut a hole in
the bottom and placing this hole
over the hole in the " insect gun "
soldered the bottom of the box
firmly to the side of the gun. I
then stopped the little tube pro-
jecting from the gun with cotton
and my bellows was ready.

To make a smoker, I take cotton
rags and wind them around a stick
one-fourth inch diameter, winding
it large enough so that one end of
smoker will just fit snugly in the
tin-box on the side of gun. I then
wind a small wire around it, fit it
in the box and withdraw the stick
which leaves a small aperture
through the smoker through which
air and smoke are drawn in to the
gun and blown out again by means
of the bellows. Make the smoker
three or four inches long. The
same wire can be used many times.

Instead of rags I have of late
used green moss which j^ou find
plentifully in wet woods. I wind

180

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

the moss in the same way and,
xohile damp one can wind it very
hard and tiiin. I make a quantity
of these smokers at one time and
dry them in the sun several days
and lliey burn freely as rags and
make a good smoke.

Such a smoker as 1 have de-
scribed is often handy even if you
use a hirger one. It can be lighted
with a match in half a minute and,
as the soap-makers say "■ it just
fits the hand."

West Medimy, Mass.

Q UE EN-RE A RING.

By IIenky Alley.

(Continued from pa^e ICO.)

OuK friend over the bordei' gives
notice that he is experimenting
with a view to perfect a method
for rearing queens, so that they
can be sold for a small sum, f-ay
one cent each. I name the price,
as when a lai-ge number of queens
are reared by one colony of bees
the above price is all Ihey are
worth. This reminds usithat Pro-
fessor Hasbrouck once advertised
queens for about twenty-five cents
eacli, as he had some way for
rearing them, so that he could af-
ford to sell at the rate of f6ur for
one dollar. However, people did
not want such queens, or else,
after experimenting for awhile,
the Professor found there was no
money in rearing queens for
twenty-five cents each. Such is
the fact, and evei-y queen dealer
in the country knows that good
queens cannot be reared and sold
at a i)rofit for less than one dollar.

The fact is beekeepers do not
want cheap queens, and the man
who advei'tises them generally
loses his reputation and ruins his
business. We advertise queens
at$i0.00 per dozen, but our orders

are largely for queens we sell at
^2.00 and $3.00 each.

If our friend really desires to
know som% method for rearing
queens in large numbers and by
an}' one colon}' of bees, we suggest
that he read the " Beekeepers'
Handy Book," as that work teaches
tiie most approved methods for
rearing queens either a few or
many to a colony. It will instruct
any one how to compel a colony
of bees to build 1,000 cells, and
it also tells the reader that queens
reared in such large numbers by
any one colony are worthless.

Fig. 1.

"We hope the person who is
making such an effort to rear
queens so cheaply and to outdo
the " Yankee beekeeper" will be
fi-ank enough to tell his readers
that not over twelve queens should
be reared by any colony of bees.
Let the beekeeper direct his efforts
so as to rear better queens than
arc reared under tlie swarming im-
piUse. It can be and is done thougii
some unexperienced people laugh
at tiie idea.

One of the experiments we tried
for rearing queens was to see if a
colony of bees whose hive should
be full of comb and brood in all
stages could be made to build
queen cells just where \ve chose
and from the eggs given them.
The first trial proved a success.
A queen was removed just before
sunset, from a very lai-ge colony

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

181

and the next night comb contain-
ing eggs, ^jrepared the same as de-
scribed in the tliird edition of the
" Handy Book," was given the
bees. One or two cells were built
from the eggs in the comb tlie
queen had laid before being re-
moved ; but most of the cells were
built on the little strips of pre-
pared comb given them. Well, a
beekeeper who has but few bees
can rear quite a number of queens
in his full colonies and no colony
need be queenless over five days.
It can be done thus : remove the
queen, as above stated, and the
next night prepare the eggs by
destroying those in every alternate
cell, and then place the strip of comb
in small frames, both sides of which
are covered with perforated metal
as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 illustrates the frame with
the zinc removed from one side.
This shows the top piece of wood,
which is convex. The strip con-
taining eggs for queen cells are
fastened to the curved or convex
piece by hot beeswax and rosin,
all of which is done in less than

half a minute. The bees will
build the cells just where the eggs
are put. When the cells are
sealed or nearly so, the perforated
zinc door may be placed in posi-
tion on the frame and a laying
queen immediately introduced. It
will not matter whether the cells
built on the brood-combs outside

the small frame are destroyed or
not, as the queen introduced will
do so. The queen can not destroy
the cells enclosed in the small
cages as they are protected by the
metal doors, through which the
queen cannot pass and the bees
will not destroy the cells. When
the cells have been sealed seven
days, transfer to nuclei or to the
queen nursery. By this method
one can rear a line lot of cells
and not in the least damage the
colonies used for such a purpose,
and there is not the least danger
in introducing a queen to a colony
that has just completed a lot of
queen-cells.

We can give several other meth-
ods for rearing queens or rather
for arranging the comb containing
eggs for cells, but the above will
suggest different ways fordoing so
and any intelligent beekeeper can
put them into practical use.

One word of advice to the nov-
ice : do not practise any method
for rearing a large number of
queens per colony, but try to rear
the best and largest queens. Let
your motto be : better, not cheaper
queens.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

QUESTIONS BY S. CUSHMAN.

CONTRACTING BROOD-CHAMBER AND

USING DUMMIES DUraNG SWARMING

TIME.

1. If a number of colonies hi ten-
frame hives have six combs full of
brood with honey in the rest and are
gaining in stores- and will soon be at
work on white clover, which is the
better plan after removing tlie fonr
combs of honey from each? To fill up
space with dummies and put on sec-
tions, or to double up brood, leaving
each hive Avith ten frames of brood
and immediately give enough boxes to
take all the bees when they hatch?

Do you consider either plan a good
one, or is there a better way?'

182

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

ANSWERS BY G.

DOOLITTLE.

I should much prefer using the dum-
mies, for if the L size of frame is used,
six solid frames of brood will give as
many bees as can work to advantage
in one hive. If ten frames of brood
are given, the sections must of neces-
sity be carried quite a distance from
the brood by tiering up, or otherwise,
in order to accommodate all of the
bees, and bees will not work to as
good advantage when compelled to go
great distances from their brood. Be-
sides, when the brood hatches from the
outside combs, the queen would fail to
fill them with eggs again, so that stor-
ing in the brood chamber would com-
mence and in so large a comb space
below, the bees would now soon crowd
the queen in preference to extending
their operations in the sections. There
is a limit regarding size of brood
chamber beyond which we must not
go if we would reap the best results in
honey. My plan of working is as fol-
lows, and this plan I have adopted
after an experience of seventeen years
of trying all plans and ways devised.
I work the brood up to the fullest ca-
pacity of the queen, previous to ten
days before the honey harvest, which
capacity I hnd to be about eight Lang-
stroth frames as an average. A few
will do better, many not as well. Un-
derstand, these frames are to he full of
brood, not part full. When all hives in
the apiary are thus tilled, the sections
are put on, into which the bees will go
to store the first pound of honey, for
they have no other place to store it.
This storing will continue till the bees
swarm, at which time, while the bees
are out in the air, I go to the hive, re-
move the sections, take out the frames
of brood and the few adhering bees and
place them in a light box I have for
carrying combs about the apiary. I
now place in the hive five empty combs
and three dummies, placing the sec-
tions back in place again as they were
before I took out the eight frames of
brood. The swarm is now returned or
allowed to return, as I keep all queens'
wings clipped, so -that they return
about as soon as I can get the exchange
spoken of above accomplished. 1 next
take the eight comi)s of brood and
place them in an empty hive where I
wish the colony to stand, and the next
day give a just-hatching queen cell or
a very young, virgin queen to them.
They feel so poor both as to honey and
: bees at this time, that they are glad to
destroy their own queen cells for the

young queen, so that all after swarm-
ing is done away with, and in ten to
twelve days we have a laying queen in
this hive together with a strong force
of bees of an active age.

The sections are now put upon this
hive, and if the honey flow holds out a
few days longer, look out for sections
full of the nicest kind of honey. lu
twenty-four days, young bees will be
hatching plentifully in the hive where
the swarm was returned, at which
time I go and take out the dummies
and fill in the centre of the hive, three
eippty combs to take their place. This
is done for a three-fold purpose, first,
and foremost, to keep the bees from
swarming again as these five combs of
brood give a large increase at once ;
second, to give the queen room of a
fresh nature sp she will place her brood
in the centre of the hive; and third,
that sufiicient room be given for a win-
ter's supxily of honey from the fall
flowers, so that feeding need not be
resorted to. It will be seen that my
aim has been to get all the honey pos-
sible in the sections in the height of
the honey season and, later on, both
honev and bees in the hive for winter.

FINDING A QUEEN.
QUESTIONS BY NOVICE.

1. What is the best and quickest
method for finding a queen in a full
colony of bees?

2. Is it not more difficult to find a
virgin-queen in a full colony than a
fertile queen? Please give the best
methods for finding either a fertile or
an unfertile queen in full or nucleus
colonies.

ANSWERS BY DR. G. L. TINKER.

1. To find a queen directly, open the
hive very quietly and without smoke.
The queen will be found, as a rule, on
the comb or combs, in which are
seen the fresh laid eggs, and they will
be the guide to her presence. But if
ajar be given to the hive, or the light
be admitted too suddenly, the bees and
queen will be excited, when the latter
will run from comb to comb and per-
haps be found on the outside of the
last comb. Smoke, especially with
black bees, generally causes the queen
to run off" from the combs on to the
side or bottom of the hive, where she
is found with difficulty. In searching
for laying queens, it is only necessary
to scan the portions of the comb con-
taining the brood, and the lower por-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

183

tions of the frame. We almost never
find them above on the sealed honey,
unless they have been frightened.

2. Yes, it is most difficult to find a
virgin queen in a full colony, and it is
not infrequent to overlook one in a
nucleus. Where we are at all uncer-
tain, wre examine them again in two or
three days; especially if the examina-
tion is made in the afternoon when the
queen may be out. Virgin queens are
very sensitive to the light, and some-
times skip from comb to comb so rap-
idly that we may be easily deceived as
to their presence in a hive. Fortu-
nately, it is not always necessary to
look for them. If we find an open queen
cell with a circular cut at the end and
there has been no recent swarming, we
may be sure of a queen being present,
and may proceed to cut out other cells.
If two or three queens have hatched,
and we simply wish to prevent after-
swarming, it is only necessary to cut
out the cells containing queens or
queen larvse. It is the presence of one
or more queens piping in the cells that
causes all second swarms. If a half
dozen queens hatch out at once, and
the remaining cells are cut out there
will be no swarming.

A search for the hatched queens will
likely result in a failure to find more
than one, unless we happen upon them
very soon after they are hatched. The
bees will soon select the queen of their
choice, and the others be either killed
by the most active queen, or be driven
out of the hive by the bees, or go out
from cowardice. But if yet in the hive
and alive, they are often found hidden
in the cells, when we may see their long
bodies projecting out of them. If a
queen has crawled into a cell to hide,
she is a coward, and it is difficult to
save her. She must be put into a nu-
cleus hive with comb and bees and
perforated zinc placed over the en-
trance for a few days, until she is re-
assured that she is in no danger, else
she is certain to leave the nucleus in
frisrht.

With Mr. Heddon's shallow brood -
cases, we may easily shake out a lay-
ing queen upon the ground in front of
the hive. Probably this is the quick-
est way to find u queen, but it should
be remembered that if there are queen
cells in the hive unless nearly mature,
tliat the shaking process will kill the
queens.

QUESTIONS BY OLD BEEKEEPER.
CHANGING QUEENS.

1. At what age sHould a queen be

superseded? If a queen is very pro-
litic the second year, would you ad-
vise changing at the end of the season
say early in September, or would it be
best to change ten days later?

2. Considering the low price at
which queens can be purchased, would
it not be an advantage to change all
queens at the end of the season?

ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE.

The longevity and usefulness of the
queen honey bee depends largely on
how well she has been developed by
her nurses in the process of bringing
her up. A queen may be hatclied in
nine days from the time the nursing
bees commence their work with the
view of deveh)ping a queen from larvas
chosen by them, or the time may be
extended to thirteen days ; all depend-
ing on the age of the larvae when the
process of queen-rearing begins. All
this variation may take place and does
take place in every condition except
when the apiarist directs the bees by
giving them larvae of his own selec-
tion to rear queens from.

With all this variation in the devel-
opment of queens it is impossible that
they can all be good alike, or that
all can be good at all. Hence, in my
judgment, in the light of my experi-
ence, no uniform rule as to the proper
time to supersede queens can safely be
adopted. In my apiary each queen
must stand upon her own individual
merit, and she " stays" or " goes" in
accordance with her worth or worth-
lessness. Pedigree, all things else
being equal, has much to do with the
toleration of old queens in my apiary.

But when we come down to the gist
of the question, i.e., would it be to the
best interest of the apiary in a general
way to supersede all queens after doing
two years' service we are brought face
to face with a subject of very deep in-
terest to all beekeepers? One of the
fruitful sources of loss in the spring of
the year is old and worn-oiit queens.
Every observant apiarist must admit
that he sustains loss every spring to a
greater or less extent on this account.
From long and watchful observation I
am of the opinion that my losses — not
of colonies of bees, but losses in actual
surplus honey which truty represents
cash — has been not less than ten per
cent on my profits annually, on account
of failing queens at the very time when
no remedy can be applied. This loss
could be "obviated to a greater extent
by superseding all queens at the end

184

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

of the second season. What an apiary
we should have if every colony were
headed by a young and vigorous mother
in the early spring of the year.

It would require courage, the courage
of a firm business man to remove all
two-year-old queens, for some of these
look* at their best at that age and I
would hesitate to lay violent hands on
some of my superb two year old queens,
they always look at their very best when
I go to supersede them.

In my locality I have found it best to
supersede queens a while before the
close of the summer honey harvest, or
late in September after breeding has
well nigh ceased for the season.

The locality must govern this matter
to some extent.

2. To change all queens at the end of
the season would well nigh prevent all
loss from failing queens. Aside from
accident, all loss on this account would
be obviated. At the prices that queens
can be purchased, it would pay in hard
cash to head every colony with a strong
young queen.

But we hve in an age of sickly senti-
mentality which stands in the way of
enlightened progression.

We have hundreds of bee men who
would not hesitate to cheat their cus-
tomers a little, who become full of
pious horror when they hear of bees
being used to the profit of the owner
though it causes their destruction.
Such people will see their fowls and
other domestic animals slaughtered
and eaten, while they themselves go
about full of chicken, hog, and beef,
proclaiming against the barbarity of the
apiarist who lias the consistency and
firmness to destroy his bees and queens
at times when he "finds it profitable to
do so. Consistency is said to be a
precious jewel, and there is nothing
truer.

QUESTIONS BY W. M. MATTA.

Will you please answer the following
questions in the next issue of your
journal.

1. If a virgin Italian queen is intro-
duced into a colony of black bees and
not allowed to meet any Italian drones
will it gradually change the whole col-
ony into Italians?

2. If an Italian queen is introduced
into a colony of blacks, how long will
it take to change them into pure Ital-
ians.

ANSWERS I5Y TIENllY ALLEY.

1. If a virgin queen is introduced to

any bees, and not permitted to be fer-
tilized she will not change the colony
any except as to drones, as after she
has been in the hive several weeks she
will commence to lay drone eggs, or
rather she will deposit eggs in worker
cells that will produce drones only. I
think tlie person who makes the in-
quiry desires to know whether a col-
ony having an Italian queen which has
mated with a black drone will gradually
work back to pure Italian bees again.
No, they will not, until the young
queens for several generations meet a
pure Italian drone.

It would take but a little while to
work all the Italian blood out, or to
work all the blacli blood out and back
to pure Italians again.

QUESTIONS BY A NOVICE.

1. What is to be done with a super-
abundance of pollen? My bees persist
in filling their brood combs with pol-
len from top to bottom ; in some cases,
leaving little or no room for brood,
even though the queens be young Ital-
ians.

2. Is it useful for a beekeeper to
have a few surplus queens on hand at
all times to supply a hive whenever
needed? What do you consider the
best method for keeping such queens?

3. Is there any practical method for
keepina: surplus queens through the
winter ?

ANSWERS BY J. E. rOND, JR.

1. I do not fairly understand this
question. I have never found in my
experience a superabundance of pollen ;
in fact, I have never found that more
pollen was gathered than was worked
up into brood. I should say on first
thought that the fault was with the
queen, as I cannot conceive it possible
that a fairly prolific queen, in a hive
having cell room enough for her laying
powers could be crowded out by ex-
cess of pollen. If, however, the queen
is all right, the trouble may be recti-
fied by removing the frames filled with
pollen, substituting empty fi-ames, with
starters of foundation. This would
induce the bees to make comb, and the
cells would be filled with eggs before
they are drawn out sufficiently to be
used for pollen. The comb filled with
pollen can be emptied thereof, or can
be laid by for future use. I must think,
however, that a change of queens will
remedy the ditlfculty. Queens, al-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

185

though young Italians, are not always
fairly prolific. If honey is l)eiug gath-
ered rapidly as well as pollen, the in-
terior of the hive may be enlarged,
and more cell room for brood given.
If I found the queen was prolific, I
should work the comljs in the brood-
chamber, just bee-space apart, as bees
won't seai up brood in deep cells, and
don't like to store honey or pollen in
shallow cells. At the same time, room
should be given in the surplus depart-
ment for stores, both of honey and
pollen. If this will not rectify the
matter, then break the colony up into
nuclei and run for a new strain of bees.

2. It is useful to have a few surplus
queens on hand at all times, whenever
needed. The first part of this question
does not need an extended answer, as
It presumes a much desired state of
aft'airs. Queens may be kept easily
and safely in one of two ways, and the
conditions of the case will determine
which should be chosen.

They may be kept in nuclei, and
when desired to use for increasing the
numl)er of swarms, it perhaps will be
the proper way to keep them. When
kept to supply losses, to supersede
failing queens, or for purpose of chang-
ing from one race to another, they can
best be kept in one of Alley's nursery
frames. This frame is so constructed
that it can be filled with queen cages,
and when desired a number of surplus
queens can be kept in a colony by in-
serting the frame of cages therein. I
have had but little experience in this
direction, but have found it to work
well in the two or three instances I
have tested.

3. I do not know of any practical
method for keeping surplus queens
through the winter, and cannot see
that anything can be gained by so do-
ing. If all old queens and those wliose
powers are suspected of failing, are
superseded with young and vigorous
substitutes, before winter preparation
is made, there should be no necessity
for attempting to keep any surplus
queens over. The reasons for this are
many and various ; and if given in de-
tail would call for a complete exposi-
tion of the wintering problem, and
the matter also of spring dwindling.
I have wintered three-frame nuclei
safely on tlieir summer stands for the
purpose of preserving surplus queens,
and know of no better way of doing
the same. I do not, however, consider
it a "practical method," if by that
term is meant a safe and economical
plan.

QUESTIONS BY E. M.

1. Why do many persons, even in
New York, and especially why do some
in New England, engage in the busi-
ness — if it is a business — of producing
honey? In this country, and I suppose
that in most countries, there is one,
and only one, inspiring influence to
exertion. It is the dollar and a half
supposed to be just ahead, but the ev-
idence on both sides of us shows, or
seems to show, that honey, when it
sells at all, sells slowly, at low prices.
Why, then, does any one produce it?

Good talkers seem al)le to sell bees
and queens at large profits, and I sup-
pose that beekeeping supplies sell at a
reasonable profit, at least.

2. Do the multitude produce honey
because they are persuaded to do so,
and simply to furnish a market for
these things?

3. Are not all thebee journalsin this
country published by dealers in bees,
queens and supplies? I do not know
that they are. but why should they not
be?

I am ignorant, of course, or I would
not ask such questions, and in fact, I
do not know a queen bee from a male
wasp. But, if there is a little money
in it, I can sit up o'nights to learn.

I have seen a number or two of your
journal. Yours is the best bee journal
in this country, is it not?

]S!ew Haven, Ct., July 7, 1S8G.

ANSWERS BY THE KDITOU.

1 & 2. A majority of people who en-
gage in beekeeping are induced to do
so simply for the dollars and cents de-
rived from a well conducted apiary.
There are, however, but few people in
any state who devote their whole time
to bee culture; in fact, but few people
can make the keeping of bees, as a
business, a success. Even were more
disposed to engage in such business,
the locations are not numerous wiiere
beekeeping could be made profitable.
A large majority of those who are in-
terested in beekeeping are farmers
and mechanics. An apiary run with
care will give a good return for the
money invested. Not only does such
business furnish some income, but the
mechanic finds pleasure and recreation
as well. Tiie keeping of a few bees is
a most interesting and fascinating
study, and few who once engage in it,
even in a small way, ever give it up.
If you are a mechanic or a merchant,
by all means keep a few bees.

186

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

3. Yes, all the bee journals are pub-
lished by supply dealers. If Ihey were
not, there would be no bee journals
published, as no bee journal could live
one year unless it received other sup-
port than the subscriptions sent in.
We have been through the mill and
know all about it. When the " Api-
culturist" started it had no supply
business attached to it and the bee-
keepers who did so much howling
about the bee journals on account of
the supply connection, were never
heard from so far as rendering the
" Apiculturist" any assistance. I
would like to ask our friend why it is
that beekeepers will not subscribe for
and better support the bee journals?

Now that the '• Apiculturist " has a
supply business connected with it, it
is on a good footing. We had either
to go into the supply business or shut
up shop.

Of course the " Apiculturist" is the
best bee journal printed in this or any
other country. Just say so to your
friends and get them to subscribe for
it.

BEEKEEPING FOR MECHANICS.
QUESTION BY MECHANIC.

Mr. P. R. EussELL :

As you are a mechanic, and a most
successful beekeeper, will you favor
the readersof the " Apiculturist " with
your opinion as to whether it is advis-
able for the average mechanic to en-
gage in a small way in bee culture for
the purpose of furnishing his own
table with honey, and also a little
ready cash by the sales of the products
of his apiary?

ANSWER BY P. R. RUSSELL.

I see no reason why a mechanic
should not keep a few colonies of bees
with pleasure and profit, provided he
is properly situated. If he is obliged
to be away from home all day, it is
certainly very desirable to have some
member of the household who is (]ual-
ified to look after them a bit in his ab-
sence; such as taking care of swarms
that may issue, etc.

If a mechanic can get no assistance
from his family, he may still keep bees
in a small way with success, by the
aid of the-AUey drone and queen tr;ip
combined and artilicial swarming.
Many mechanics have to pay rent, or

interest on a small mortgage, and hav-
ing but a small area of land, still would
like to keep some sort of stock that
would be a source of income. To such,
I would say, if you have room enough
to keep fifty hens or a cow and pig,
you have room enough to keep fifteen
or twenty hives of bees, and the bees
when rightly managed will pay better
than the cow or hens, and with less
care and attention, and the income
from them will go a long way towards
paying the rent or interest money.

i know what I am writing about be-
cause I am a mechanic myself, and
work every. day in tiie shoe factory, a
mile and a half from home. I live just
on the eastern boundary of the city
near the woodlands, and have only
about 7000 feet of land on which is a
cottage and a small bee house, IG X 20
feet. Near neighbors all about, and
yet I manage to keep fi'om twent}' to
forty colonies of bees with profit, and
have done so a good part of the time
since 1867.

I admit that I am not located just
as I would like to be. I am too near
the ocean, have a poor bee range, and
the honey gathered is not first quality.
I am too near the neighbors, and I
ought to have more land. But with
all these drawbacks, I have no idea of
giving up my bees. I have sacrificed
my hens and strawberry beds to my
bee interests, because they pay me
better on a given amount of capital
and labor.

I have tiius far been able to sell all
my honey and beeswax at retail in the
home market, without making any
special efl'ort. I have sold none to
grocers for several years past.

I am indebted to Mrs. Russell for val-
uable assistance in the apiary. She
can hive the swarms in boxes as they
come out and help in many ways, al-
though she never attempts the exami-
nation of hives.

I think there are few persons, if any,
about here who could get a good liv-
ing these times by making a specialty
of beekeeping. That time seems to
have gone by I fear. But that they
may be made to pay a reasonable profit
in connection with other business, I
have not a shadow of doubt, for I have
tried it and know by experience.

Your correspondent, L. E. Burnham,
writes that he had a swarm of bees.
May 20, which he claims to be the
first in this part of the state. I think
there are others who can " cut under"
hiin, and I would like to hear from a
few of them. Your humble servant

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

187

h.ad a fine swarm come out May 16 and
sold them the next day.

Lynn, Mass., July 12.

[We know of several swarms that
were hived as early as May 9. — Ed.]

SELLING HONEY IN SMALL PACKAGES.
QUESTIONS BY SMALL BEEIvEEl'EIt.

1. What size package of honey sells
the most readily?

2. Which is the lietter receptacle for
packing honey, wood or tin?

3. What is the best method to dis-
pose of honey? Do you peddle from
house to house, or sell to grocery
men?

4. What are the average prices ob-
tained for honey in small packages?

ANSWERS BY J. H. MARTIN.

In answer to the al)ove questions,
let me say that I have had l^ut little ex-
perience in packages smaller than 1-lb.
If honey is put up in pails from 1 to 5
lbs. in a pail, the small pails will gen-
erally be sold tirst, but we prefer a pail
not smaller than three lbs. For a very
small package, a five cent package
would be most popular.

2. Tin.

3. It is better to supply some good,
reliable live dealer. Keep a supply in
his store at all times. In peddling
from house to house you have much
travel and few sales generally.

4. The 1 lb. pails sell for twelve
cents net ; the five cent package would
make the honey net about eighteen
cents, but the cost of the package and
time in putting up, labelling and put-
ting in cases of a dozen each, will not
pay, unless put up by cheap help and
thousands at a time.

QUESTIONS BY W. B. BAKER.

If an Italian queen mates with a
black drone will her drones be black?

Please give a chapter on increasing
bees.

Ans. No, the drones will not be
black, nor will their color be changed
from what it would have been had the
queen mated with a yellow drone.
However, it is an unsettled question
whether the drones from an Italian
queen that has mated with a black
drone will produce pure Italian bees,

while I w^ould not use the drones from
a hybrid queen in queen-rearing, how-
ever handsome and well marked they
might be, I am of the opinion that
they would produce pure bees. This
statement is based upon the fact that
a queen can lay drone eggs whether
she is fertilized or not.

Mr. P. K. Russell, of Lynn, Mass.,
will, by and by, favor our readers with
the best and most practical method for
increasing bees by dividing up. Last
season we purchased nearly his entire
apiary and supposed we had about
cleaned him out. This season we
wrote him for bees, and to our surprise
he replied that he could spare twenty
colonies. He sold us twenty-six of as
line colonies of bees as could be found
in the country. "How to increase from
live to tifty" will be the subject of an
article from Mr. Russell by and by.
Mr. Russell is one of the most scien-
tific and successful beekeepers in the
country, and when he sends an article
to the " Api" you should read it care-
fully, as he is no " green-un" or novice
at the business.

Canton, W. Va.

MORE LIGHT WANTED.
QUESTION BY A. M. V.'ILLIAMS.

Professor Cook says that what will
poison the higher will poison the lower
animals. Is this a rule that we can
depend upon? Is it true that what will
poison a man will poison all other
creatures, as man is evidently the
highest of created beings? The pro-
fessor reasons that a bee could not
carry poison into a hive without being
itself poisoned. We learn then that a
bee cannot take poison into its system
and live. There is no poison then in
' the bee. I once thought when I was
stung by a bee and it made a swelling
that there was a poison injected in the
wound. This must be a mistake, and
the trouble all made by the mechanical
eflectof the little dart. The bee can-
not extract poison from a plant and it
is not probable it has a poison-factory
within itself If the rattlesnake car-
ried poison in its system it would get
poisoned, for what will poison a man
will poison anything else. That ser-
pents carry poison is an old whim. It
is said by hunters that quails and par-
tridges eat berries that are deadly poi-
son to human beings, but this must be
a mistake. Mr. Editor, can you give
us some light on the subject:

Central Park, N. Y.

188

THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST.

keply by pkofessou cook.
Editor Apiculturist :

Dear Sir :— I am very glad to ac-
cede to your request, although I had
thought I should never reply to Mr.
Williams again. I have thought it a
very questionable policy to talk or
•write about poisonous honey, when we
all know that it is at least of very rare
occurrence, and so not a practical ques-
tion, and it seems to me that we may
say, at least, that there is some reason
to doubt its existence. We are all apt
to make mistakes, and in such a matter
it would not be strange if even careful
people were misled, and so formed a
wrong judgment. It certainly must
injure the sale of honey if papers are
constantly calling attention to it as
often poisonous. I know of ladies who
will eat no fruit or vegetables canned in
tin vessels, as they have read that such
were sometimes poisonous. I wrote
to this effect in some of the papers,
surely in a courteous way, when this
Mr. Williams felt aggrieved and has
seen fit to write as I would certainly
never write of anyone. Kind and fair
criticism is always in order, vitupera-
tion never. So tar as I know, it is
true that any substance that poisons
the higher animals, or man the high-
est of all, will also poison animals of
a lower order. It is possible that a
bee could carry poison to the hive
and not be poisoned, though I think
there would be danger. If the poison
should be absorbed it would certainly
poison the bee; this would be done if
the poison were digested and absorbed
by the bee. We know that bees do
partially digest nectar while en route
to the hive," so we have reason to be-
lieve that any such poison as arsenic,
strychnine, etc., if mixed with the nec-
tar, would be absorbed and kill the
bees. There is certainly poison in the
venom which we receive with the sting
of the bee, yet this is not taken with
the food, there are glands at the side
of the poison sack which take elements
from the blood and form this poison.
We say the poison is secreted. There
is a ctirious fact about animal venom.
While very poisonous when injected
into the blood, it is perfectly harmless
when taken into the stomach. All
know how cruelly the bee venom hurts,
yet when eaten it does no harm. Of
course, a bee could take poisonous
nectar from plants if it exist. The
fact that they do so, so very rarely, if
ever, may make us doubt if they ever
do it. That they have a "poison fac-

tory" inside their bodies we all know
positively.

Surely if a rattlesnake should re-
ceive its own venom into its blood
it would be poisoned. We can eat
such venom safely, but once in our
blood, and we are seriously if not fa-
tally injured. I have no doubt butthe
same would be true of a rattlesnake or
a bee. The venom of serpents is kept
carefully in a safe, close sac till needed
for use. It is not in the snake's blood
but like the venom of the bee is se-
creted by special glands. As the bee's
venom would kill the bee if injected
into its own blood, so too would the
snake's poison.

The story about quails and partridges
needs investigation. Yet it may be
true. It is possible that these birds
would not absorb the poisonous ele-
ment which other animals would, or
in digesting the berries, they might
modify the poisonous element, which
other animals would fail to do. Now,
Mr. Editor, the point I make is, that
because some one has colic after eat-
ing honey, we should not say to the
public that honey is poisonous.

[When the above question was sent
to Professor Cook for reply, we did
not know that there had been any con-
troversy on the subject between the
two gentlemen whose names are con-
nected. However, as our correspond-
ent has called for more light, we are
pleased to have him get all he desires.
In our opinion, he has it in the reply of
Professor Cook. Here the matter must
end, as we need our space for some-
thing more important. — Ed.]

QUKSTIONS BY ESAU RUSSKLL.

1. When does a queen stop laying
drone eggs naturally, that is, if let
alone?

I have a young queen that laid two
frames of eggs in foundation nearly
two weeks ago and they fail to hatch.
They are thefirst eggs she laid. The
queen is a Syrian. Why do they not
hatch?

ANSWER BY HKNRY ALLEY.

Queens usually cease laying drone
eggs just before the honey flow stops.
They will commence to lay drone egg.s
again in August. Occasionally a queen
may be found whose eggs will not
"hatch." The cause, of course, must,
be in the queen. While such a queen
may in all appearances be perfect, so

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

189

far as health is concerned, lier powers
for reproduction certainly are imper-
fect.

We once reared queens from a fine
" breeder, " or wliat we supposed
would be a fine queen to breed from,
but none of the eyns from one of her
dano-hters would 'hatcl!," though the
mother was a very active queen and
her colony one of the best.

We shall have to refer our friend to
some one of our readers who can bet-
ter explain and answer this question.

Editor Am. Apicultuiust :

1. Will you set Mr. Manum or some
one who raises honey largely for the
market to advise thq small beekeeper
as to the best method for packing,
shipping and disposing of his honey.
You know the small beekeeper does
not have a carload to send to market,
consequently it does not pay him to
make a trip of 500 miles to sell the
products of his apiary.

2. Is it not better to sell for cash,
even at two cents less on a pound,
than to leave the honey with a com-
mission merchant?

3. What month of the year is best
to market section honey?

Small Beekeeper.

ANSWERS BY A. E. MANUM.

1 and 2. The above questions are
rather difficult ones for me to answer,
as it calls for my views and advice for
small beekeepers to follow in disposing
of their crop of honey.

Inasmuch as what might be advis-
able for one to do, it might not be ad-
visable or perhaps possible for another.
There are some beekeepers so favor-
ably located that they can dispose of
their honey in their home market at
much better prices than they could
realize in our large markets, while
others have no home market and they
must ship a long distance to find a
market and some of this class are also
a long distance from any railroad sta-
tion, hence necessitating the hauling
of their honey on wagons over rough
roads and at great risk and expense.
To such I would say if the quantity is
small to seM at some price to those
who have enough to pay for the trouble
of marketing, after, however, selling
what they can to their neighbors. In
fact, my advice to all beekeepers
whether large or small producers, is to
sell all they can at home and to keep

23

enough on hand to supply the demand
throughout the year, because our large
markets have of late years become so
glutted and overstocked with honey
shipped to them from all over the
country, even in large quantities from
California, that it is sometimes very
dithcult for small producers to get the
highest price for their product, unless
their honey is first-class and put up in
the most attractive style; and even
then large producers will usually be
favored, because commission mer-
chants will make a greater eflbrt to
please large producers in order to hold
their trade. This is quite natural and
it is business (so termed).

I say it "sometimes" happens so,
though not always, as I have seen some
small lots bring as high a price as that
from large producers. Tiiis was ow-
ing to the fact that buyers took a fancy
to the particular package of these
small lots and there being about the
quantity they wanted they would buy
it in preference to any from large lots.
These preferences happened some
years ago when there was a great dif-
ference in the size and style of pack-
ages; then they varied from the 1-lb.
section to the 4-lb. box. But now the
greater part of the honey is in 1-lbo
sections and as nearly all beekeepers
take great pains to put up their honey
in attractive shape, there is not so
much difierence in the appearance of
the dilFerent lots as there used to be.
Hence my advice, as above stated, that
the small producers should either sell
at home or let the large producers
handle their honey for them as their
own; then the dealer can hold the
honey and take advantage of the mar-
•ket. Having liati experience, the large
dealers ought to know best how and
when to dispose of their product,
while on the other hand, the small
producers will ship to commission
men and being afraid and suspicious
that they may get cheated out of their
pay, they will not allow the mer-
chant to hold the honey for a good
price, but will urge him to sell at some,
price, which he will do, perhaps for
two or three cents less than the real
market price ; then it is soon circu-
lated around that honey has dropped
and down goes the market for the en-
tire season. It will, therefore, be seen
that if the entire crop of each county
was handled by one man, it would be
better for all concerned. I know this
by experience, as I have handled honey
for some of my neighbors ; sometimes
I have bought it and at other times I

190

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

have simply handled it for them, and I
believe in either case it has been to
their entire satisfaction. I find it not
only safer (against breakage") to ship
in large lots, but, by having our crop
handled by as few commission men as
lK).ssil)le, tends, I believe, to keep the
price up. I have always shipped my
honey to commission men and I have
no fault to find with any of them, as I
believe they all try to do the very best
they can— if let alone by the produc-
ers.

3. As to the best month in the year
to ship I will say that my experience
teaches me that the last of September
to the middle of October is about the
best time to ship comb-honey, because
at this season the markets are nearly
clear of small fruits, and honey seems
to take their place better than anything
else, and besides, the weather at this
time of the year seems to be more
suitable for the shipping of comb-
honey than waimer or colder weather.

The time has arrived when, in order
to find a ready sale and realize a good
price for our honey, we must have it
put up in attractive shape.

My method is to use none but pound
section-boxes, and, before shipping,
the sections are nicely cleaned of all
propolis, after which either wood or
glass sides are put on to protect tlie
honey. The honey is all assorted and
I usually have three grades, first, sec-
ond and third, each grade packed by
itself and sold under difi*erent trade
marks. This I find advantageous, be-
cause if there is one section of the
third grade put into a crate where the
others are all first grade and marked
as first grade, this one section will
lower the price of all the first grade*
in that particular crate down to the
price of the third grade; therefore we
should all grade our honey very closely.
To illustrate : last year I allowed some
of my help to assist me in grading my
honey, and as they were not as partic-
ular as they ought to have been I lost
money by it, besides receiving during
the winter some letters that were not
altogether pleasing to me.

I find that to suit the market best
our honey should be crated in nice,
clean, well-made crates, holding twenty
1-lb. sections and should not weigh
over twenty pounds net and even a
little less than twenty pounds seems
to suit better. On one end of each
crate should be marked with a stencil
plate ilie number of boxes it contains,
also the net weight and the initials of
the shipper.

Therefore, to sum up my answer to
the above questions is : to sell at home,
if possible, even at one or two cents
per pound less than it would sell for
in large markets, as it costs from one
to two cents per pound to ship and
pay commission.

2. Get your honey in as attractive
shape as possible, and if to be sent to
market ship it during September or
October.

DOUBLE-WALLKD HIVKS.

1. What advantages has the double-
wall hive over the single wall, taking
into consideration the entire j^ear?

'I. Do you not find in the end, the
former much the cheaper and better if
bees are to be wintered upon the sum-
mer stands.

Beekkepek.

ANSWERS BY D. D. MAKSII.

1. A single- wall hive is very good
during the summer months, but it must
be shaded from the hot sun, and it
must be packed for winter. A double-
wall hive is complete at the outset,
having protection from exti'eme heat
and cold in itself. If bees are wintered
out of doors, it requires no extra
packing in the fall ; and not being so
easily warmed by the sun, the bees are
not tempted out on unsuitable winter
days. 1 prefer a brood chamber set
loosely within an outer case; then it
may be filled in between with chaff", or
in this climate left without any pack-
ing between the outer and inner case.
The outer case may be set aside in the
summer if one wants a single-wall hive,
though I prefer a double-wall hive all
the year. I am convinced it helps
honey capping and comb-making dur-
ing cool nights in summer.

My hives are all double- wall, and I
like them better and better. Mr. Alley
has invented a double-wall hive which
is reversible and which exactly fills the
bill.

While Heddon puts a set of closed-
end frames inside of a brood-chamber
without any bee-space between, Alle}^
lets the ends of the frames serve as the
ends of the brood-chamber, and closes
the sides with boards clamped on with
thumb-screws. Thus Alley's is simpler
and attains the same objects.

2. A double-wall hive may be a little
more costly at first, but if one expects
to winter his bees out-doors, it is the
cheapest in the end.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

191

NOTES FROM THE BAY
STATE APIARY.

OUR BREEDING QUEENS.

Mat 1st we selected the queen
mother from which we intended to
rear queens the present season, and
transferred her to a small hive hav-
ing five-frame, 5x5 inches square.
This queen was selected because
her colony had wintered the best
out of the fifty-nine placed in the
cellar. This particular hive was
full of bees, the combs nice and
bright, and the bees were the first
to caiTy in pollen ; in fact, it was
the most active colony in the yard.
The bees are large and beautifully
marked, and the queen one of the
best we could select for breeding
purposes. About the 20th of May,
the hive from which the queen was
taken was opened to see if all was
going on well. We then saw that
a good choice had been made in
selecting such a queen for a
"breeder." Although the weather
had been unfavorable for bees dur-
ing the month of May previous to
the 20th, this hive was nearly solid
full of new honey, and to-day there
is not a hive in the apiary so heavy
in stores.

In selecting a queen to breed
from, we have always made it a
point to select the largest, most
prolific, and one whose bees were
fine honey-gatherers, provided the
worker progeny of such a queen
are purely marked.

In this particular queen we have
combined every good and desir-
able quality. Up to date not less
than seven hundred daughters have
been reared from hor, and a finer
lot of queens have never been
shipped from any apiary, as our
customers testify. I value such a
queen at no less than $100.

On Thursday, July 1 , just before
dark, I went to the hive containing
my ^100 queen to get some eggs

for cell-building. When the hive
was opened not a bee could be seen,
all had decamped. The day the
bees left I was away from home,
but when I returned, my wife said
a swarm of bees was seen going
across the garden and orchard,
but before she could get around
the trees they had disappeared
from sight. I next heard that a
man had chased them about a mile
towards a large swamp thickly
covered with trees. Of course I
did not expect to see them again,
although I offered the man who
chased the absconding bees $10,
if he would find them, which he
tried to do, but without success.
On Sunday, July 4, a neighbor
across the road said he saw some
bees trying to light on a grape-vine
in front of his door, but did not
know where they had gone. Our
"better half " who is always on
hand on such occasions, began a
search for them, and soon reported
" here they are, " and sure enough,
there they were only a few rods
from my house. As soon as I saw
the bees I said, " here is my $100
dollar queen," and so it proved to
be. That is what I call " good
luck."

The bees had merely been on a
lark, and lyhen they had had all
the vacation they desired, they re-
turned. You can bet that partic-
ular queen will not get another
vacation this year. Although I
have plenty of fine queens in my
apiary, I have none equal to this
one for a " breeder," and had she
not returned, my queen-rearing
business would have received a
serious set-back.

WAX EXTRACTORS.

RENDERING WAX FROM OLD COMBS.

There are a dozen or more dif-
ferent style wax extractors in use.

192

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

We have used three different kinds,
none of which have worked satis-
factorily, as they will not extract
over fifty per cent of the wax.
Then the process is so slow that
one gets out of patience before the
work is half done.

For nearly twentj^ years our
better half has had a job to " try
out," or boil out wax from old
comb, and the pieces tliat usually
collect where bees are kept in large
numbers.

Of all the methods yet tried,
none has worked equal to the fol-
lowing : we take a boiler, such as
is used by the women for boiling
clothes on washing day, and place
therein several gallons of water
and heat until it boils. The next
thing is to have a bag at hand
made of strong, coarse cotton or
linen material, called here "strain-
er" cloth, large enough to hold
nearly two bushels and long and
narrow in shape. This is tilled
with old comb and as much of it
as can be put in at one time. The
bag is then thrust into the boiling
water. And a large pine-wood stick
is used to " punch" the bag while
the water boils and softens the dry
comb, at the same time twisting
the top end of the bag to force
its contents into the smallest com-
pass. Then the bag is refilled
with dry comb and so on until
quite a quantity has been melted.
At this point some cold water is
put into the boiler to reduce the
temperature of the water below the
boiling point, and then the wax is
dipped off into a vessel of cold
water. When the water has. boiled
some fifteen minutes or longer, the
soft comb is forced into the bottom
of the bag by twisting the cloth.
The bag "is then removed and
while some one holds it directly
over a vessel of cold water, an-
other person uses a large pair of
wooden squeezers until all the wax
that can be is pressed out. The

dregs are then removed from the
bag when the same process of boil-
ing is gone over again as at first.

The next move is to get the new
wax into cakes, which is done by
melting again. Put at least two
gallons of water into a boiler and
place the crude wax in it, and
when it is all melted, let it cool.
All the coarse dirt will be found
on the bottom of the cake of wax
and may be easily remove'i by us-
ing a large, sharp knife. The wax
may then be melted again and run
into small cakes in sizes to suit
the fancy.

Bear in mind that the more the
wax is heated the darker the color ;
use only sufficient heat to melt it.

We do not claim that this is the
neatest way to remove the wax
from old comb ; in fact, it is a
sticky, dirty mess. It is about
all the stuff is worth to get it into
salable shape. We have no trouble
in getting the work done, hovvever,
as our better half is rewarded with
the money realized from the sale
of the wax to use as "pin" money.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

"the APICULTURIST."

The reader will notice that the
name of P. H. Morant & Co. no
longer appears on the cover of the
"Api." I wish to inform our
readers that the journal is under
the same management that it has
been since Mr. Locke retired.
While Mr. Morant was the owner
of the Apiculturist, he has never
written one word for its columns,
or had anything to do with its
management. Mr. Morant never
had any experience with bees, and
as he cared nothing for the busi-
ness, he thought it best to retire.

While this enterpi'ise is not a
mone^'-making business, the re-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

193

ceipts by way of subscriptions and
advertisements are sufficient to pay
all bills and future liabilities of the
concern, and the Apiculturist will
continue to appear from month to
month as it has for nearly four
years past.

We invite all to send in articles
for publication, or questions for an-
swers, and thus help to make the
" Api" one of the best bee-papers
published.

The "Api" will be conducted in
the interest of the beekeepers, and
the editor will from time to time
express his opinions without fear
or favor.

Henry Alley,

Manager.

THE REVERSIBLE HIVE.

One season's experience with the
reversible hives has satisfied us
that there is no advantage in such
an arrangement over the common
frame except to prevent swarming.
The idea that by reversing the
combs the bees will remove the
honey from the brood-chamber to
the sections is mere theory. We
reversed several hives to test the
matter. After several weeks, some
of the capped honey at the bottom
of the frames was removed, but we
had no idea that it was stored in the
sections, as at the time of revers-
ing, the bees were at work on white
clover, and the honey in the brood-
chamber was gathered from apple
and other fruit blossoms. Any ex-
perienced beekeeper knows that
bees will not mix different kinds
of honey. In all probability the
capped honey was used in brood-
rearing or to mai<e room for brood.

Notwithstanding the above ex-
perience, we really believe the
reversible hive is the hive for all
purposes. The fact that such an
arrangement gives the apiarist full
control of swarming is all the in-

ducement the live beekeeper needs
to adopt the reversible method.
No one should think of using a re-
versible frame, as such an arrange-
ment is as far behind the times as
the box hive is behind the movable
frame.

There is no style hive in use that
can be made so easily and cheaply
as a reversible hive, and this one
fnct alone should induce all who
intend to purchase new hives to
adopt the reversible arrangement.

Of course the hive need not be
reversed except when necessary or
desirable, therefore one need not
be afraid to use it.

Then, we now have a reversible
section-case, which is as useful,
as cheaply and easily made, as is
the reversible hive. The section-
clamp we devised is merely two
pieces of boards for sides in which
any number of sections are placed
and all clamped togetiier by a bolt
which runs through the middle rows
of the sections.

This style hive has other advan-
tages over the common frame hive
which we will speak of at some
future time.

THE HONEY CROP OF 1886.

The present season has been a
very peculiar one. Bees never
came tiirough the winter in better
condition, and never was the
weather more favorable for bees
than it has been the past four
months. Nor was there ever more
forage for the bees to work and
gather honey from in any year
during our experience in bee cul-
ture. Notwithstanding all this,
bees have not done as well as us-
ual. The outlook for a large crop
of honey never was more promising
than at the beginning of the pres-
ent season.

Unfavorable weather has pre-
vented the bees from gatherino-

194

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

honej' ; in fact, when the weather
is not warm and pleasant there is
no honey to gather as the tiowers
secrete none. VV"e have known
seasons when very little or no
white clover could be seen, but the
bees did well and stored a large
amount of surplus honey. This
year white clover was very abund-
ant, but very little surplus honey
has been stored.

On another page we present re-
ports from many sections of the
country regarding the honey crop
the present year. They are not
encouraging, but we must not ex-
pect a large crop of honey every
season.

ORDERS FOR QUEENS.

All of our orders for queens are
filled. We now have 200 as fine
select tested queens as we ever
reared. All orders will be filled
by return mail, and safe arrival
guaranteed. These queens are
large, very prolific and handsome.
If not just as represented, we will
return the money in every case.

One queen $1.50, or three for
64.00.

Address

Am. Apicultukist.

Now IS THE TIME TO JOIN THE

Union. — Let every beekeeper send
for a copy of the annual report and
a voting blank, fill it up and be-
come a member. It is to the in-
terest of every one to do so. The
dues are only twenty-five cents a
year ; and it is intended only to
call for one assessment (of Si. 00)
each year. Apply to Thos. (Jr.
Newman, 925 West Madison St.,
Chicago, 111., for reports and
blanks.

CLIPPINGS FROM ONE OF
OUR EXCHANGES.

To Prevent Robbing. — Mr. J.

Halter, in the Bienen Zeiticng. gives
his method. By the use of glass
over the entrance he deceives the
robbers. He says :

After trying the usual methods
to stop it, when, owing to extract-
ing, robbing had been going on
rather extensively, and tliese rem-
edies failed, he succeeded in put-
ting an end to it in a very simple
manner. He placed a piece of
window-glass, about 8x5 inches, in
front of the flight-hole, the top
resting against the hive, and the
lower end about 1^ inches from the
entrance, so as to enable the bees
of the hive to go in and out at the
sides. The next morning the rob-
bers made an attack on the hive in
great numbers, but going straight
at the entrance were stopped by
the glass. They swarmed in front
of the glass, but could not find the
entrance at the sides, and very
soon returned in disgust. To ef-
fectually put a stop to further rob-
bing, the glass should be allowed
to remain for several days, until
the robbers forget the spot.

[The same device has been used
in Bay JState Apiary twenty-five
years. We seldom found it neces-
sary to protect full colonies against
robbing, but nuclei kept in the
same yard with full colonies need
more or less protection against
robbery from their populous neigh-
bors ; therefore, we used a piece of
glass four or more inches long, and
one inch wide, placed against the
entrance in such a way that the
bees were obliged to pass out at
the ends,' or one end was closed
by a wad of paper, if the robbers
were determined to enter. See
Beekeepers' Handy Book, first edi-
tion, page 60.]

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

195

HONEY PROSPECTS FOR 1886.

KEPOUTS FROM VARIOUS SECTIONS.

Henderson, Ky., July 12, 1886.
Editor Am. Apicui/rumsT.

In answer to your postal, will say
that tlie yield of honey in this imme-
diate section has been poor. The
white clover— our chief reliance — has
not been plentiful, and what we had
did not secrete well. Added to this,
there was a majority of colonies which
did not breed up well in the early sea-
son.

I have been so closely engaged with
other matters that I had not the time
to give the trouble my attention.

Our honey season is now about
over, but we usually have another in
the autumn from golden rod and other
tlura.

G. M. Ai.VES.

DeKalh Junction, N. Y.,July 12, 1886.
Editor American Apiculturist.

The honey season in northern New
York up to date is a failure. Therehas
been quite a fair amount of clover, but
the nights have been too cool for honey.
Basswood is in full bloom at this date,
but up to date there is no more honey
in it then there would be in so much
wheat chaft'. There will be little or
no honey for the city markets from
this section this year. Swarming has
been the lightest that I ever knew. In
my yard of 140 colonies, only eight
have cast swarms, and yet a large part
of them have been strong enough to
send out swarms ever since the first of
May.

Ira Barber.

Hartford, N. Y., July 8, 1886.

The ontlook is not flattering for a
large yield. It has been especially un-
fav(n-a))le for comb honey; cool nights
have had a tendency to keep bees in the
brood-chamber. The clover yield has
been moderate, basswood is just in
blossom, ))ut not one tree in ten is full
of blossoms. This means a short yield.
JouN H. Martin.

Rising

Maryland, July 8, 1886.

The prospect for a good honey crop
in this section of the country is fair.
The white clover is very plentiful and
the weather is fine. If a long drought

does not overtake us, there will be a
good white clover crop, but not an im-
mense one.

E. E. EwiNG.

Hamilton, III., July 9, 1886.
Clover crop, 15,000 \hs. Very little
hope of a fall crop owing to drought.
Lucky if we don't have to feed back in
October.

Chas. Dadant & Son.

Bristol, Vt., July 8, 188G.
En. Am. Apiculturist:

Replying to your postal of the Cth, I
have to say that the outlook for a crop
of honey is very discouraging, as I
shall probably not get over one-eighth
crop this season. Raspberries, clover
and sumach have passed, and basswood
is in full bloom but secreting no honey.
As this is the last source Irom which
we get any surplus, I shall have to be
content with but very little honey. I
hear, however, that in other parts of
the state a fair crop is being secured.
Yours,

A. E. Maxum.

Forest City, loica.
Honey crop good so far. July and
August are usually good honey months
here. I look for the largest yield I
ever had. Eugene Skcor.

lyons Station, Ind.
Editor American Apiculturist :
I will give you a few facts in regard
to the results of this season's operations
with the bees, which have again disap-
pointed our beekeeping friends in this
part of Indiana— the eastern central.
Our season for surplus lasts about six
weeks, usually fromMay 20 to July 1.
EuU two weeks of that'time was rainy
or cool — unfavorable for the secretion
of honey. Consequently the sections
on the hives are mostly unfinished.
Our own crop is most all extracted and
will not exceed 4,000 pounds from 70
colonies, or an average of 60 pounds.
This is less than ^ crop compared with
1883— our last good honey season —
when the average was 203 pounds. The
honey this season is of extra good
quality. Our principal sources are
white and red clover.

To those who doubt in regard to Ital-
ians getting honey from tTrst crop of
red clover, I will say that from close

196

THE AMERICAN A PIC UL T URIS T.

observation this year I often saw as
•many bees at work on the red as on the
wliite clover. Of bassvvood we liave
but little, and that yielded no honey
this season althouiih full of Isloom.

I would be pleased to see more of Ihs
Eastern beekeepers attend the Conven-
tion of the North A. Society, to mejt
at Indianapolis in October next. Suc-
cess to the Apiculturist.

Kespectfully yours,

JOXAS SCHOI.L.

Christiansburg, Ktj.
Editor Apicui.tuhist :

The surplus honey crop in Kentucky,
and doubtless in most of the middle
states will be light this season. In
this state the season opened with fav-
orable prospects, though our bees were
weak in the spring. Favorable vveatiier
brought them rapidiy forward, and
swarming commenced as early as
usual. Cloudy, cool weather with pre-
vailing east winds cut off the white
clover yield when at its best stage.
G. AV. Demarek.

Pine Plains, N. Y., July 13, 1886.
Ed. Am. Apicultuuist :

I think I am safe in saying that
Dutchess Co. will produce twice the
amount of honey this year that it has
ever before produced in a single year.
There are but few bassvvood blossoms,
yet at this date bees are storing honey
very fast, chiefly from white and al-
syke clover. There has been a contin-
ual flow of honey since June 2d, und
it has been almost impossible to con-
trol swarming.

Yours in haste,
G. H. Knickerbockek.

of honey of any of the wild or fall
flowers. This hone}', when the
weatlier is dry, is of • a very-
fair quality, but during wet
weather, it is thin and watery, and
when gathered late in the fall is
usually left uncapped in the combs,
for the reason that the water could
not be properly C'-aporated before
cool weatlier sets in. Result : it
sours before spring, runs out the
conibs and is pretty sure to destroy
the colony.

The onl}' remedy is to extract
it, but it is hardly advisable so late
in the season to disturb the bees.

August is a good month to
watch the colonies, when they are
at work, and if any have failing
queens the fact may be easily de-
tected, and the remedy applied at
once.

This is a good time to prepare
for winter. Colonies that need much
feeding should now be supplied
witli a limited quantity of syrup.
This will encourage breeding, so
that when the fall flowers begin to
yield nectar the bees will be ready
to gather it.

Give plenty of ventilation and
shade the hive when so situated
that the hot sun strikes them all
day long.

'HAT OUIi PATRONS SAY.

CA RE OF BEES IN A UG US T.

The apiary needs but little at-
tention tiiis month. In most lo-
calities little or no honey is
gathered until towards the last of
the month, and unless the flow is
larger than usual, no section-honey
will be stored. Golden-rod will
probably yield the largest amount

Perry Centre, N. Y.
I am a beginner in Apiculture. I
bouglit twenty colonies of bees in box-
hives and have transferred them, and I
found your book ahead of others;
cleaier. and more plain than anything
I ever read.

J. W. Sage.

San Antonio, Texas.
The traps arc doing wonders, and I
am pleased with them ; will soon require
more.

ElCHARD GeBLART.

The American Apiculturist.

% ^oxxxvicd bj^bot^b I0 gradual "^tthti^mQ,

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENIIAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER,

rublished Monthly. Henry Alley, Manager

VOL. IV.

WENHAM, MASS., SEPT. i, 1886.

No. 9.

For the American Amculturist.

THE SECRETION OF
NECTAR, ETC.

G. W. Demaree.

I DOUBT if any branch of modern
apiculture is as poorly understood
as are the laws that govern the se-
cretion of nectar in flowers. Yester-
day my bees were swarming on the
l)Iooniof a second crop of red clover,
in a field adjoining my apiary. To-
day not a bee can be seen in the field.
But then the wind has changed to the
north since yesterday? Yes, that
is true, but in the early part of the
season my bees succeeded in find-
ing nectar in the flowers no matter
wiiich way the wind was blowing.
In the year 1882, although the crop
of flowers surpassed anything I
ever witnessed in that line, there
was no sealed honey in my apiary
till the month of August, when we
had a flow of hone^^ contrary to all
general rules in this locality. But
that was an exceedingly rainy
season? Yes, but in the season of
1883 our bees gathered honey rain
or shine, and gave the heaviest
yield of honey ever stored by bees
in one season. It rained often that
season, and yet as soon as the
showers ceased the bees would rush
out to the fields and return loaded
with nectar.

As a general rule north and east
winds are unfavorable to secretion
of nectar, but the difficulty in my
way is that the same conditions, so
far as I can see and judge, do not
always work oat the same results ;
24

hence I conclude that there is some-
thing about this matter that we do
not fully understand. While speak-
ing of nectar, I am reminded of
some things I have seen in print
which surprised me very much.
Among the apicultural writers of
this country we have a few who
are able to tlive into intricate ques-
tions of science. In my candid
opinion Prof. Cook stands at the
head of these.

He says that honey is nectar
mixed with gastric juice ; that
nectar undergoes partial digestion
in the honey sac. I do not intend
to quote verbatim. Mr. Cheshire,
who claims to be more accurate
than an}' otlier author, makes a like
assertion. It is not my intention
to controvert the position taken by
high authorities, as I have been
unable to demonstrate the truth or
falsity of their position. But to
my plainh' tutored mind the whole
thing is a physical impossibility.
I believe that all lawyers and jurists
agree that a "physical fact" is the
most powerful evidence known to
the science of jurisprudence. Well,
a pound, live weight, of field
woi"ker bees may and sometimes do
gather from five to twenty-five
pounds of crude nectar in ten hours.
That a single pound live weight of
bees could secrete gastric juice in
sufficient quantity to change in any
material sense so great a quantity
of crude nectar in so short a time is
simply a physical impossibility.
We hope our scientific brethren will
reconsider their startling position
in this matter, and give us a posi-
(197)

198

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

tive decision as to whether bees
"make honey" or only gather and
evaporate it.

There is something interesting
and mysterious about the secretion
of nectar in flowers which if we
could fully understand we could
not remedy, because these things
are beyond the control of man.

THE HONEY MARKET.

High prices for honey is at an
end ; the question as to whether or
not bee culture as a business will
pay must now be decided in the
light of present prices for honey.
I tried to hold up the price of honey
this season to twelve and a half and
fifteen cents, but have had slow
sales and shall have to come down
to twelve and a half and ten, or
hold my stock in the honey house.
We have been spoiled with good
prices. All groceries rule low now,
and we cannot reasonably expect
honey to be an exception. A friend
of mine, who is a poor man, and who
has been a failure financially ex-
cept in the bee business, vows that
he will quit the apiary when honey
goes below twelve and a half cents
per pound. I think a great many
who demand that honey must bring
a good price whether times are dull
or brisk will have a chance to tr}^
their hand at something else. As
for myself, I expect nothing else
but reverses in any business, and
if I have succeeded in business, it
is because I have stood firm and
■worked the harder when reverses
came. Those who contemplate en-
tering the bee business may as well
understand that they will have to
work for every dollar they receive,
and if prices run low they will have
to curtail expenses and meet dull
times and dull sales bravely. Such
persons will live happily though
fortune may pass them on the other
side. "Whatever may be said to
the contrary the hope of the bee
business is bound up in the home
trade for honey. In building up a

home market the apiarist not only
finds new customers for his honey
but benefits the trade in honey,
and thus helps his brethren.
Christianshurg^ Ky.

For the American Apiculturist.

DES TB DYING ANTS IN THE

AFIABT: THE HONEY

SEASON IN TEXAS.

Mks. S. E. Shekman.

Let me give you my plan for des-
troying ants, which at times you
all know are very troublesome
about the apiary and also in the
honey-room. 1 put London purple
in the hills : three applications, a
week or ten days apart, will effect-
ually destroy them. 1 have in this
way killed twenty-five hills of
large red ants in the last two years ;
also quite a number of smaller
kinds. I find that these small, or
what I call the regular honey-ants
are more numerous around the
roots of trees, and are easily killed
by sprinkling the London purple
upon them around the trees. If
they get inside the hives, 1 sprin-
kle salt quite freely on them which
does the bees no haim and drives
the ants away. In fact, 1 think
that bees should be salted fre-
quently through the spring and
summer season. When ants trou-
ble me in my honey-room, or about
my safe, 1 simply tie a cotton-
twine string that has been satu-
rated in alcohol in which corrosive
sublimate has been dissolved
around my safe-legs, cans, kegs
or whatever 1 have my honey ui.
This, however, should be usea very
cautiously, especially if there are
small or meddlesome children
around, as it is a deadly poison.
I have never known an ant to cross
such a string.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

199

THE HONET SEASON IN TEXAS.

I am sorry to have to report that
bees have yielded no surplus honey
in this part of Texas up to date —
July 26, 1886. There are sevei-al
reasons for this. In the first place
last fall and winter were so dry
that the seeds of various honey-
pi'oducing plants failed to come
up. Prominent among these are
horse-mint and broom-weed, both
of which are a complete failure,
together with many others of less
importance. It is a subject of re-
mark that there are fewer flowers
than was ever known before. Last
winter was unusually severe, in
consequence of which a great
many native or black bees in box
and log-hives died. My bees are
all Italian and hybrid, and win-
tered safely with the loss of two
queens onl3^

When spring opened and fruit
bloomed, bees that survived the
winter built up rapidly ; and had
there been flowers sufficient and
weather suitable for the secretion
of honey. I should have had a num-
ber of swarms in March. As it
was, the weather turned out unfav-
orable. The bees had consumed
most of their stores in rearing
brood, which in some instances
they tore down and dragged out
of their hives ; killed all their
drones and gave up swarming. I
had to watch them closely and take
from the stronger and give to the
weaker ; thus by constant care and
watching, I have kept them all
alive.

A gentleman from the north-
western portion of this county was
here to-day. He told me that fully
one-third of his bees were dead.
He had about forty box-hives of
native bees. They have died of
starvation this spring and summer.

/Salado, Bell Co., Texas.

For the American Apiculturist.

WHAT SHALL THE HAR-
VEST BE IN DOLLARS

AND CENTS?

G. H. Martin,

Now that the harvest of honey
is practically ended, beekeepers
are looking for another harvest in
the shape of dollars and cents.

It seems probable that the yield
will be above the average, but not
so bountiful as many predicted in
June.

Certain localities in the west
have given large yields, while New
York and the eastern states will
have less than an average yield.
Basswood is an entire failure east
and I tliink generally.

Now let us see what beekeepers
have been doing to keep the tone
of the honey market souud. In
this county, and in many other
portions of the country, certain
producers have seemed to take
alarm from early reports in the
journals of great yields, and a sud-
den desire to get rid of their honey
has taken possession of them. To
be the first in the market, cases
of honey have been snatched from
the hives before the astonished
bees have had time to cap it prop-
erly. In June, parties were mar-
keting hone}' around a neighboring
town for ten and twelve cents per
pound, telling every person they
met what a wonderful yield of
honey there was all over the coun-
try, thus educating the public to the
idea that honey was soon going
begging for a purchaser.

While prices will probably be
low and sales dull there is no
earthly cause for such a "panicky"
feeling if each producer would
use a little common sense.

Even in this year of so-called
bounteous yield there will be
thousands of localities where honey
will be sold for twenty-five and
thirty cents per pound.

200

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Let me give you a few instances
in my own correspondence. A
friend in Brunswick, Georgia,
writes tliat honey is very scarce
in that place ; what is sold comes
from the north and retails for
twenty-five and thirty cents per
pound. Another correspondent
in Millington, Conn., writes me
that it is impossible to buy good
or bad honey without paying an
exorbitant price. A lawyer in a
considerable town in Minnesota, to
whom a nice crate of comb-honey
in one-pound sections was sent in
April (and it was the first pound
sections he ever saw), concludes
his letter by wishing he had such
hone}^ on his table every day.

There is not a state but has just
such localities, and there are thou-
sands of people who never tasted
honey.

This condition of things should
not prevail ; there should be a
more even distribution of our'
honey and more salesmen educated
for the purpose. We are all the
while educating producers while
those to distribute are an excep-
tion. Let us look at a few in-
stances, where business principles
have been applied to the sale of
honey.

Charles F. Muth, of Cincinnati,
by energy and enterprise, has built
up from a small beginning a trade
that absorbs tons of honey. His
trade not only supplies a large con-
stituency for table use, but a wide
field is opening for mechanical
purposes.

Jerome Twitchell started in a
small way in selling honey in Kan-
sas City. His enterprise built up
a large trade which is now carried
on under the firm name of demons,
Cloon & Co. Tlieir sales during
the last year were 325,000 pounds.
Formerly honey was shipped from
Kansas City. Now to supply that
and surrounding towns, eleven
different states are drawn upon.

There are several lesser lights in
the sale of honey, but such results
as the above show push and en-
terprise, and if such results can be
accomplished in Kansas Cit}'^, why
can not the application of the same
business principles build up a
healthy trade in any large city ?

The uses to which honey is being
put are also becoming more varied,
and it is to the interest of every
beekeeper to aid in the sale of all
articles in which honey is an ingre-
dient.

It lias been claimed that if candy
could be made of honey that this
source would take a large amount
of our extracted honey.

The good time seems to have
arrived when we can feed the candy-
loving public with the health-giv-
ing product from the bee-hive. Mr.
Arthur Todd sends out a full line
of candies made of honey and ev-
eryone who tastes them wants more.
Now we feel like booming Bro.
Todd's candies and selling all we
can. Let every beekeeper open a
candy and honey stand at his
County Fair and he will enable
Mr. Todd to use up tons of honej^
In like manner give the honey
jumbles and cakes as wide a cir-
culation as possible to the public.

It is not good policy to sit down
and lament when you see some one
else making something. If you
can't make it, then help him sell
it. Your profits will come in per-
haps in more ways tlian those of
the manufacturer. My plan is for
common sense methods of dispos-
ing of our products. The harvest
in dollars and cents will be such
as to cause every beekeeper to re-
joice.

Hartford, N. Y.

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

201

For the American Apiculturist.

A WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE
WITH BEES.

BEES AFFLICTED WITH SHAKING
PALSY.

I have had a little experience
with the "nameless disease," which
I call "shaking palsy." Last sea-
son, probably in August, I had a
colony thus afflicted. Examining
it, I found a little bubbling, un-
sealed honey, in the centre of the
hive ; outside of that, good seale(?l
honey. Determined to make sure
work, I gave them fall combs of best
sealed spring-stores, in an entirel}''
new hive. The cure appeared to be
almost instantaneous, taking away,
as I did, of course, what little
brood they had. They built up
wonderfully, and this season, the
colony promised to be one of my
best ; and being fine Italians, I
recklessly, when a swarm issued,
gave two of the queen cells to other
colonies. Before long, I was much
chagrined to find the disease fully
developed at the old stand ; of
course, among the brood of the
old queen. I at once destroyed
all the young queens, but deter-
mined to keep the old queen, and
note results. The disease soon
disappeared, and I have seen noth-
ing of it since, in the apiary.

Marketing honey has been an
absorbing topic here for a few
weeks past. But in close connec-
tion with this, and far more impor-
tant, is the question of winter stores
for bees. My best market, like
charitj^, begins at home. Deter-
mining to try the experiment of
wintering on natural stores, an
abundant supply of the best combs
of sealed, white clover honey, is
reserved for the bees. This first :
next comes a supply'- of extracted
honej' for all household purposes,
for cooking, fruit-preserving, even

for table use. No sugar is half as
fine, for fresh fruit, for coffee, even,
as our beautiful, pure, extracted
honey. The very sight of its pure
beauty is an appetizer. Well, so
much hone}' has found an excellent
market. But there is plenty lel't ;
and our honey, having been all
tiered up on the hives, until every
cell was capped, is all of one qual-
ity, except, as it is gathered from
different sources.

Prejmriiig the honey for market
is the next absorbing topic. To
vary the monotony of a retired life,
one may have dabbled with un-
speakable pleasure, in many studies
and employments. Attempting,
just for the pleasure of it, to ex-
press one's thoughts in strange
sounding words : creating, from
the flowers, the insects, the stones,
that meet one at every step, a new
world, replete with marvellous life
and beauty. The words "prepar-
ing honey for market," sound pro-
saic enough. But the employment
may possess a charm, which, for a
time, at least, may exclude every-
thing else. Let us see. First, be
sure that the honey, both comb
and extracted, is perfection itself;
then, a beautiful, plate-glass show-
case, with name, etc., in bronze ;
then the pearly combs, beautiful
as in the olden days, in far-off
lands ; then the liquid gold and
silver, in glasses pure as crystal, —
and the marketing is alread}' done.

Sheboygan Falls, Wis.

For the American Apiculturist.

HOW TO GET WAX OUT OF
OLD COMBS.

Ira Barber.

The best way to get wax out of
old combs that I have ever found,
and one that gets it out the clean-
est and with the least labor, is to

202

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

take a large kettle (a90-gallonone
is what I use) and put in four pails
of water and heat it to the boiling
point ; then put in the comb as fast
as it will melt, until all is in or until
the kettle is filled to within about
four inches of the top. Stir the
mass all the time to reduce it to a
pulp as much as possible ; keep
the fire just hot enough to melt all
the wax, but not hot enough to
boil, or it would be quite certain
to rise and go over. When all is
melted so that the comb is well re-
duced to a pulp, take the fire away
and dip off the wax. To do this,
I use a basket made of wire cloth,
the same wire as we use for queen-
cages. It should be about six
inches deep, and eight or ten
inches across, large enough to dip
from with a common dipper. Sink
the basket into the mass with one
hand, and dip off the wax as long
as yon can without getting water ;
then give the mass another stirring
when more can be dipped off. 1
proceed in this way until I get
nearly all, when I leave it to get
cold. All the wax that I fail to
get while hot I find in a thin scale
on the mass when cold, and this
can be easily taken off and run
through the extractor, or, if one
has more than one kettle full to
make it can be put in with the
second lot. The wax should be
strained when dipped off so there
will be no more bother with it.
Cover the dish as soon as you get
it full, so that it will keep hot long
enough to settle all impurities there
may be in it, and also to prevent
it from cracking. There is no
trouble in getting all the wax in
this way if one is thorough in
stirring the mass, so that all the
wax can float out. I seldom have
to renew the fire to get it all. If
I have comb enough for one hun-
dred pounds it is an easy job to
start a fire and heat water and do
all the work after five o'clock at

night in May and get the wax out
before dark.

All the wax there is in bee-
glue can be got out in the same
way, except I do not dip the wax
off', but let the glue settle and ev-
ery particle of the wax will sepa-
rate and can be taken off when
cold. To separate wax from bee-
glue, I put five or six pails of wa-
ter in the kettle, and when hot
put in the glue and bring to a boil-
ing point, so that all will be melted,
and let it simmer for a few min-
utes, stirring all the time so long
a's it is boiling, the wax and glue
will all float on top and appear to
keep together. When you are sat-
isfied that the glue is all melted,
put out the fire and let it stand for
a short time, then give it a good
stirring ; if the glue settles to the
bottom let it alone, but if it does
not, then wait awhile longer before
you repeat the stirring. I have
sometimes had to wait for an hour
after the fire was put out before
the vrater got cool enough to cause
the glue to settle. There is more
wax about bee-glue than most peo-
ple are aware. This season I
got twenty pounds of nice wax
from the glue saved in two seasons
from the sections and cleaning up
of old frames, hives, and honey
racks, and it all appeared to be clear
bee-glue and nothing else. Young
swarms in June and the early part
of July, when bee-glue is scarce, use
wax freely in place of glue, then
later on when glue is plentiful they
coat it over with bee-glue, so that
all appears to be glue. It is well
worth saving when we have use
for all the pure wax we can pro-
duce.

De Kalh Janctlon, N. Y.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

203

For the American Apiculturiat,

SYRIAN BEES.

W. M. WOODWAED.

After working the Syrian queens
through the clover harvest, I feel
prepared to pass an opinion upon
them. I like them. They have
proved very docile indeed, so much
so that 1 have been able to handle
them at all times without smoke.
I have held that queen up on a
frame before my face for my whole
family to see her lay eggs in the
bright sunshine.

I do not find them able to work
on red clover. The Albinos have
done so to some extent, but have
proved unprofitable fromtheirgreat
swarming propensities. Tiie Syr-
ians were often seen on red clover,
but close observation showed that
they only worked down between
the bloom and not in it. This is
also confirmed by the fact that
they were never seen with red clo-
ver pollen which is very dark in
color, while the white clover is
creamy white and sweet clover
bright yellow. They are, how-
ever, splendid workers on sweet
and white clover.

I have but one fault to find with
them and that is the way they seal
their honey. It is so thin and
transparent that light shows
through the combs. I have stud-
ied the matter some and have con-
cluded that it is owing to their be-
ing poor wax producers.

I wish to ask if you observe
much difference in them on this
point, and to suggest that breeders
note this matter and encourage the
wax-producing power in them.
I am satisfied ray blacks will build
two combs to their one, though I
cannot afford to test that now.

I have reared one young queen
to be crossed with the blacks to
test whether they are desirable or
not.

My Syrians were a mere nucleus
in the spring and short of bee-
bread which I was unable to sup-
ply ; but they have outdone any
other colony, their equal on May 1,
by one-fourth or more. They have
not swarmed, though all ray other
colonies have but one. They were
fifty pounds behind that one in the
start, but have gained on it since
they began to store surplus. These
blacks have stored about one hun-
dred and twenty pounds, the Syri-
ans as much as one hundred, but
the latter is not all finished off
yet.

Custer, III.

For the American Apiculturist.

NOTES FROM CANADA.

R. F. HOLTEKMAN.

If the organizing of beekeepers'
associations is an indication of the
spread of apiculture, we in Can-
ada have ample indications of the
rapid spread of this industry.

On Wednesday, August 4, a
number of beekeeper of the county
of Wellington and vicinity met for
the purpose of organizing an asso-
ciation. It was called the "Guelph
Central Beekeepers' Association,"
Kev. W. F. Clarke of Guelph, Pres-
ident, J. Ramsay, Eden Mills, Vice
President, and A. Gilchrist of
Guelph, as Secretary.

A number testified as to the de-
velopment of the home honey mar-
ket. It had been very rapid during
the last eight or ten years and no
doubt could and would be very
much increased.

The advisability of advocating
the use of honey for preserving and
other sweetening purposes was dis-
puted. The plea to the contrary be-
ing it had not the same sweetening
power as the best of cane-sugar and
the price could not be i)r»portion-
ate ; that honey was in itself a

204

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST

delicacy, which was perfect in it-
self and reciuired no preserving. Al-
though some valuable ideas were
advanced, in my estimation the
question in its entirety has not
been considered ; although we
should always hold out prominently
the fact that honey requires no ad-
ditions to make it a wholesome and
delicious food, I can see no injury
arise from advocating its use as
al)Ove stated. The man who eats
to live still has all the benefit that
can be derived from eating honey,
although mixed with other food,
and the man who more largely
takes into consideration his taste
still has an appetizing food.

The most interesting part of the
meeting was the visit the associa-
tion paid to Mr. Goldie's grounds
to view Mr. Clarke's ''Chapman
honey plants." There were fifty in
bloom,\and although late in the
afternoon and a cool day, the visits
of the bees were continuous and
numerous. This and Mr. Goldie's
apiary and grounds decorated with
shrubs and evergreens were a treat
to all.

It was resolved :
That members present find that
the '-Chapman honey plant " is
evidently much frequented by hon-
ey bees, whether yielding honey
profusely or not ; or, if desirable to
introduce as a honey plant, we are
not in a position to judge.

After the close of the meeting I
paid a visit to the apiary of Mr.
A. Gilchrist. The apiary consists
of some seventy colonies. Tiie
increase has been considerably over
100 per cent and thus far the yield,
if I remember correctly, 60 lbs. to
the colony. The summer in that
locality had been too dry.

Mr. Gilchrist besides keeping
bees has a nursery and fruit busi-
ness ; he uses a chaff-hive and win-
ters outside and thus far has been
very successful. I may say I here
saw some Heddon hives in opera-

tion and also heard reports from
others who were much taken with
the hive. Mr. Gilchrist stated he
liked the idea very much at first
and intended getting a large num-
ber of the Heddon hives, but his
experience had convinced him it
was not what he had expected. He
wanted a frame that would make a
shallow frame in summer and a
deep one in winter. There was also
at the meeting a gentleman who
had given the Heddon hive a very
warm and public reception when
it first came out, but who felt by
experience bound to say the inven-
tion had not come up to his expec-
tations. Our honey crop throughout
Canada has been probably two-
tliirds or less. Linden was almost
a complete failure.
Bnmtfo7'd, Ontario.

For the American Apiculturist.

THE CHAPMAN HONEY
PLANT.

N. AV. MCLAIN.

KEPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINT-
ED TO INVESTIGATE ITS MERITS.

The Committee appointed by the
North American Beekeepers' Asso-
tion to investigate the merits of a
honey-producing plant now being
cultivated by Mr. Hiram Chapman
of Versailles, New York, met at
that place the 28th ult. One mem-
ber of the committee, Mr. Manum
of Vermont, was unavoidably de-
tained at home.

Mr. Chapman exhibited a speci-
men of this plant and made repre-
sentations concerning its value to
beekeepers, at the Detroit Conven-
tion in Dec. last, which led to the
appointment of a committee which
was instructed to investigate and
report at the next annual meeting
of the Association.

This plant, which Dr. Beal, of

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

205

the Michigan State Agricultural
College, tells us \sEchmo2')S Sphae-
rocephalus^ and a native of Central
France, is, by common consent,
beginning to be known as the
Cliapman honey plant, thus desig-
nated on account of Mr. Chapman
being first to cultivate the plant in
this country, and first to call the
attention of those engaged in bee-
keeping to its value as a honey-
bearing plant.

The appearance of the plant has
been very well described by Mr.
T. F. Bingliam on page 487 current
volume of the American Bee Jour-
nal, where he says : " It grows from
three to four and half feet high,
each root or crown bearing from
six to sixteen round buds or lieads,
from one to one and tln-ee-quarters
inches in diameter. Tliese heads
all stand upright, and the entire
surface is covered with small white
flowers having bluish stamens."
Tlie stalks and leaves so nearly re-
semble those of the thistle that
were it not for the head, this plant
might easily be mistaken for the
tiiistle. There is, however, in this
particular a very marked difference,
the appearance of the head lieing
aptly described by its botanical
name, round-headed, and in ap-
pearance like a hedge-hog.

The flowerets on the top of the
head open first, then they open
later along the sides, continuing in
the order of nature around the en-
tire surface of the sphere. Near
to the stem the last flowerets open,
long after the blossoms on the top
of the heads have disappeared, and
the seed capsules of the first blos-
soms have hardened. Unlike the
thistle the seeds are provided with
no balloon by wliich they may be
borne by the wind. The seed is in
weight and appearance very like a
small grain of rye, is enclosed in a
capsule, and falls directly to the
ground if not seasonably gathered,
not spreading more than oats if left
25

to fall without harvesting. The
length of time from the first appear-
ance of bloom upon the tops of indi-
vidual heads, until the fading of the
last blossoms on the lower half of
the head near to the stem, is about
eight days, the continuance of
bloom depending upon the nature
of the soil and the season ; but the
heads or buds, sent out from each
individual shoot and forming each
individual cluster, vary in age and
size, so that the natural term of
blooming and honey-bearing may
safely be reckoned at from twenty
to thirty days. The term of bloom-
ing may, however, be prolonged to
a considerable extent by cutting
back a portion of the plants, and
the facility with which the honey
harvest may thus be prolonged,
constitutes an important feature
when estimating the value of this
plant.

The plant is hardy, easily prop-
agated and i)erennial, and aj)pears
to flourish in all kinds of soil, and
there is no danger of its becoming
a noxious weed. It does not bloom
until the second season and as it
does not spread, its extirpation
could be easily accomplished. It
may be planted in waste places or
it may be sown in drills or hills,
like onion seed. It seems to be
characteristic of the plant to root
out all other vegetation and take
possession of the soil. No weeds
and but very little grass was seen
growing in tlie three-acre plot ob-
served.

As to the value of the plant as a
honey producer, there appears to
be no room for doubt, whether
quality or quantity, or both, be
considered. Within reach of Mr.
Chapman's apiary no other resour-
ces were accessible for honey gath-
ering, the severe and prolonged
drought having destroyed all other
honey-yielding blossoms ; and yet,
in some instances, the bees were
making an excellent showing in the

206

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

hives. The number of colonies
(about 200), foraging upon the
three acres in bloom, was however
so great that no definite conclusion
could be reached as to the probable
returns in pounds of honey from a
given area. That the returns would
be highly satisfactory is evidenced
by the fact that the entire area was
'\ilive with bees," and the}^ visited
the flowers from daylight until
dark, and sometimes eight or ten
bees were upon a single head at
one time. Mr. Hubbard, who is
cultivating some of these plants
obtained from Mr. Chapman re-
l)orted that he had counted the
number of visits made by bees to
a single head from 5 a. m. to 7 p. m.
He reported the number as being
2,135 actual count.

In order that the committee
might have some idea of the quan-
tity of nectar secreted in the flow-
erets of a single head, the day
before our arrival Mr. Chapman
had wrapped a thin paper about a
head, the half of which was in full
bloom, and tied the paper around
the stem with tape, thus preventing
the bees from appropriating tlie
nectar for twenty-four hours. I cut
off the tape, and removing the pa-
per held up the ball before A. I.
lioot, L. C. Root and others ;
the flowerets were dripping nectar
and the drops sparkled in the morn-
ing sun, and their eyes sparkled
with delight and astonishment. I
have made similar tests with like
results using the plants which I
have here at this station. Mr.
Chapman has distributed this plant
over a wide extent of country from
Vermont to Nebraska and each
member of the Committee has been
furnished with two-year-old plants
for cultivation and observation dur-
ing the present summer.

All the facts obtainable will be
given to those interested when the
Committee make their formal re-

port to the Association at the next
annual meeting.

U. S. Axticxdtural Station,

Aurora, III., Ang. 5, 1886.

For the American ApicuUurist.

MAKING SECTION-BOXES.
C. W. Dayton.

For a long time I was troubled
to get a section box that just suited
me. The principal objection I
found with the dovetailed-section
was its lack of strength. In one
instance I remember of dropping
about a hundred and there was
scarcely a dozen that remained
whole, while they were all very
much out of true.

The one-piece section was a lit-
tle better, though many of the cor-
ners broke or the dovetails loosened
and the thin material made it a
hard job to nail them.

On the whole, the one-piece or
dovetailed section-box as it is us-
ually made is truly a very frail piece
of workmanship.

With the handling of section
boxes begins a season of anxiety,
which in some instances has been
considerably lessened by applying
glue at the corners.

What is wanted and what will
be a pleasure to handle is a real
solid section, one that may be
thrown and knocked about without
starting at the joints. One thing
that is against us when we get a
solid section is we are apt to have
a heavy and cumbersome section
also. In making sections I would
have the top and bottom bars nar-
row and one-fourth inch in thick-
ness and the side bars not more
than one-twentieth of an inch in
thickness and nail the side bars to
the ends of the top bars with three-
fourth-inch wire nails two at each
corner. This kind of a section is

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

207

no heavier than the usual kind but
is several times as strong.

When a form is used in nailing
them four can be nailed, while five
can be put together by dovetails.
Hundreds of one-pound sections of
honey of this kind I have hauled
in a lumber wagon for fifty miles
over the roughest of roads and
never knew one to get broken.

Another thing in their favor is
that they can be made with a sin-
gle saw and by foot power as it is
simply sawing thin pieces from
blocks of the right length and thick-
ness. After the saw is filed and
set if an oil stone is properly held
against the side of the teeth while
they are in motion the projecting
points will be taken off and then
the saw will leave its work as
smooth as a planer. If dovetailed
or one-piece sections were set
down at my door free of cost I
should continue to use the ones
described so long as I had the time
and machinery to make them.

Bradford^ loioa.

NOTES FROM THE BAY
STATE APIARY.

HENRY ALLEY.
•

For four months queen-rearing
has been going on as rapidly as
we could push it. All of our or-
ders were filled as early as the
first week in July, with the excep-
tion of a few that were mislaid.
August 4, we received orders for
125 queens. We had the queens
to fill such orders, but as one of
them was a large one and the
price offered below what we could
rear queens for, it was declined.
The next day orders for forty-one
queens came to hand and every
cue was filled by return mail.

Some one will say, "Well, Alley
did not always fill his orders with
such promptness." No, we did not.
When we had orders for 500
queens and were having " hard
luck" in rearing them, we could not
fill orders bj^ return mail. Now,
while we are having unusually
good success in our apiary, one very
prominent queen dealer is having
a hard time of it. He writes us
thus: "It has been a hard year
for breeding queens here ; in fact,
one of the worst I ever knew. I
have been having an experience
in raising cells I nev^er saw or
heard of before, and I am using
the same method (which is practi-
cally the same as yours) that I
have for years and never failed to
get good cells until now. There
was a quite a flow of honey
through June and all worked well
until the flow ceased, and since
then about half the queens die in
the cells. The larvae look all right
before the cells are sealed, and
apparently well fed, and the cells
are well developed ; but on exam-
ination a day or two before the
time for the queens to emerge,
many of the queens are found
dead, some still in the larvje state,
and others nearly matured. Some
queens that do hatch are no larger
than a worker bee and are, of
course, worthless. I am at a loss
to know the cause of it."

We advised our friend to go back
into the country and get some col-
onies of bees from the old box-
hive men, and also to change the
mother bees. If new breeding
queens are obtained from some
distant apiary, it will be an easy
matter to discover the cause of
the trouble. In our opinion it is
in the queens. There seems to be
some peculiar disease that has de-
veloped in the ovaries of the
mother bee. Some twelve years
ago we bad a similar experience to
a small extent, but the trouble was

208

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

in the queen, as we readily discov-
ered as soon as we changed the
queen-mother. We know how to
sympathize with any one when in
such trouble as our friend seems to
be.

SYRIAN BEES.

We have reared only about fifty
S3'rian queens this year, and those
Avere reared late in the season to
fill some orders received last fall
by S. M. Locke & Co. We do
not intend to rear another Syrian,
Cyprian or Albino queen, for we
find the greater demand is for Ital-
ians as they give the best satis-
faction. Then again, we do not
have the time to run half a dozen
queen-rearing apiaries. In a few
years all of the new races of bees,
except the Italians, will be counted
as things of the past. It was all
well enough to pass resolutions
thanking the man who introduced
the new races to this country, but
who is ready now to offer a vote of
thanks to him " who did so much
(?) for us?"

INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS.

We have 250 nuclei or fertil-
izing hives in working order. One
would suppose that we would have
no queens to introduce, but plenty
queen cells nearly matured to trans-
fer. There are of course hun-
dreds of cells we might insert, but
few are inserted as we choose to
introduce the virgin queens, for
we then know what a hive con-
tains that has a queen, while if a
cell is inserted it might not hatch ;
or, if a queen does emerge she
might be inferior or worthless from
some cause or other. The time
thus lost is of some account to us
as a hive j'ou know must remain
queenless three days before an-
other virgin queen can be safely
introduced. Although some 900
virgin queens have been intro-

duced, not two per cent have been
lost, and not half a minute's time
was spent in introducing any
queen. Our method is to keep
about 150 queens in the nurseries
at all times. If fifty fertile queens
are sent off, fifty virgin queens
are introduced in just seventy-two
hours later. Thus you see every-
thing goes like clock-work here
and we are able to fill orders
promptly.

PRICES OF QUEENS.

By consulting our price list you
will notice that we advertise queens
by the dozen for $10.00. We have
not sold over seventy-five queens
at these rates. Nearly every cus-
tomer wants the queens we adver-
tise for $1.50 each.

We have a few dark queens
reared from some we were testing
that have been offered for 75 cents
each or $6.00 per dozen. These
were such large and prolific queens
ttiat it seemed to us a pity to kill
them, and so they were offered for
sale at a low figure.

By looking over the columns of
some of the bee journals it will
be seen that parties are offering
queens at $6.00 per dozen. This
one fact indicates that business is
quite dull with some dealers. By
and by, we expect these same peo-
ple will give queens away for the
sake of doing business. We ad-
vise such parties to rear better
queens, sell for a better price and
to rear and sell fewer queens any
way. There ought not to be a
beekeeper in the country who is
not willing to pay one dollar for a
good queen ; we know that a large
majority are willing and ready to
pay a good price when they need
queens.

THE AMEBIC AI^ APICULTURIST.

209

For the American Apiculturist.

NICE WHITE COMBS : HOW
PRODUCED.

Chester F. Savory.

The way 1 keep combs white in
the hives is this : I take and lay
thin pieces of sponge over the
brood-sections of the hive and
cover the sponge with wire cloth
on a frame, and as my bees are
right in the centre of the hive, I
put a thick bed-quilt over the brood-
chamber and shut down the cap
which is hung on hinges. The
bees live all winter splendidly.
The sponge absorbs the moisture,
so the comb is kept clean and
white. The combs in my hives are
one year old, and as clean and
white as if they had been made
this year.

Taunton, Mass.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWEBS.

Roxhorough, PMla., Aug. 2, 1SS6.

G. M. DOOLITTLE, Esq.
My Dear sir: Of all the answers to ques-
tions that have appeared in the "'Api" since I
readers, nothing has have been one oiits given
me more information and pleasure than your
answer toAlr. Cushman in this mouth's (Aug.)
number.

Would it be presuming in me— a beginner—
to ask two questions ?

QUESTIOXS BY J. H. JONES.

1. What plan could I adopt to make
the change ef frames in brood-chamber
if I were away when the bees swarmed ?

I use Alley's trap and clip wing-.

2. What style section- cases are to be
preferred, and do you practise ''tiering
up"?

I am prompted to ask the latter ques-
tion troni the lact that I am using a lull
story (56 sections) on my hive and the
bees work only in lower row of sec-
tions. If at any time you will kindly
favor me with a few lines, I will sin-
cerely thauk you, and remain

Very truly,
John II. Jones.

ANSVyERS BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.

1. No plan of course could be
quite equal to being oh hand when
the colony swarmed, but I have
often proceeded like this. When
I am absent from home at any time,
when swarms are expected, I re-
quest Mrs. D. to watch the bees,
or if both of us go, I ask a neigh-
bor's boy or girl to look after them,
giving them so much an hour, for
as yet I have not bought a drone
and queen-trap for every hive, as I
am so seldom away from home that
it would hardly pay me. Were I
away a great deal it might, for of
course the trap would catch the
queen as well as Mrs. D. or the
boy. Well, whoever watches is in-
structed to go to the hive which
swarms and catch the clipped queen
b}^ letting her run into a wire cloth
cage, after which the cage is placed
near the entrance to the hive and
the hive marked so I can at once
go to it on my return. Sometimes
I find half a dozen waiting for me.
I now go through the same opera-
tion described on page 182, Aug.
No., except that as I took out each
from the hive, I shake oti' the bees
in front of the hive till about the
same number is left on each frame
as there would have been when
the swarm was in the air, leaving
rather more if any difference, when
all will work the same as described
on page 182 with this exception :
more bees are apt to return to
the old stand, and if care is not
used to have rather more bees on
than would be while the swarm is
in the air so manj^ will return that
should it be cool or suddenly turn
so, some of the brood would sutler
or die of exposure. All know that
a swarm of bees when first hived
mark their location so that more
return to the parent hive, while
bees otherwise taken to a new loca-
tion do not so mark, but return to
the old stand. Well, for years I
have noticed that a pecidiar trait

210

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

of all of the yellow races of bees is
that the bees from the parent col-
ony having cast a swarm when they
first fly from the combs or hive,
after it is set in a new location,
mark the spot from which they left,
the same as does a bee from a
swarm, and this is just the reason
that more bees should be taken
when the change cannot be made
while the swarm is in the air.

2. After trying nearly all the
section-cases advertised in our bee
paper, and many not so advertised,
I have come to the conclusion that
inch-frames holding but one tier of
sections give the best results with
the least work, trouble and annoy-
ance. Wide frames, two or more
tiers of sections high to be used in
the upper story of a two story hive
do not work at all satisfactorily with
me, so I have discarded them en-
tirely. However, I find them very
handy when hiving very large
swarms, where one-inch frames of
sections are placed at each side of
the hive to take the place of dum-
mies in contracting the hive from
an eight-frame hive down to five
frames. Those wide frames are
hung in the hive with the separa-
tors toward the comes, and it is a
rare instance that I get either
brood or pollen in them. By tak-
ing this in connection with what I
say on page 182, it will be seen that
three-inch frames are only left at
the side for twenty-four days, when
they are taken out, generally tilled
with nice honey. If all are not so
filled, that portion of them is
placed on top in the one-tier wide
frames, when they are finished.
This makes some work but as such
are only used on very large swarms
but little of this changing of sec-
tions is required, as they are gen-
erally complete at the end of
twenty-four days, so that it is no
more work to handle wide frames
of sections than it would be dum-
mies. You ask about tiering up.

I do not like tiering up, nor never
did, for by this plan I am liable to
have too many partly finished sec-
tions at the end of the season, es-
pecially should the season be a
little poorer than we expected.
However, the wide frames I use
can very easily be made so as to
tier up. A brief description of
what 1 prefer is as follows : make
wide frames to accommodate the
number of sections you desire,
consistent with top of your hive
and size of section. I use four
sections in a frame. Next make
two boards the same length and
height of the wide frames. Drive
a nail into each end of one of these
boards, letting it project one- fourth
inch and a large headed tack into
each end of the other, driving it
in so that by winding a string
around once or twice it will hold
the string as in a vice. Now pro-
cure some one-half inch wide rub-
ber bands (little coil wire springs
answer a full better purpose) at a
rubber store and cut them into
pieces two and one-half inches
long. Tie a short string by mak-
ing a slip-knot to one end of the
rubber and to the nail driven in
the first little board, and then tie
a longer string to the other end of
the rubber. I use one eighteen
inches long. Put your wide frames
on the hive two, three, five, seven
or ten as you wish, set one of the
little boards up on each side, draw
the rubber till a strong tension is
made, and wind around between
head of tack and board to fasten
when you have an arrangement
that you can enlarge or contract,
invert or tier up as you please, and
one which I consider superior to
anytliing yet brought before the
public in shape of a surplus ar-
rangement for comb honey. For
practical work I use it as follows :
when the honey reason opens I put
from two to five inch frames, on
cacli colony according to size, be-

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

211

ing careful not to give too much
room so as to discourage the bees
at the start. In a week or more,
add two more wide frames, one at
each side and so on till the full
capacity of the top of the hive is
used, putting the empty sections on
the outside always. As 1 use cliaff-
hives largely, this gives me room
for twelve wide frames should
occasion require, but as a rule from
six to eight are all that are used.
As soon as the first are completed
they are taken off, the other wide
frames crowded to the centre and
the empty sections put at the out-
side as before. As the season
draws toward a close, calculations
are made so as to get all as nearly
completed as possible.

Now no empty sections are put
on so that at the end of the season
the number on each hive is about
the same as it was at the begin-
ning of the season all of which are
generally finished.

FEEDING BEES.

QUKSTIOXS BY A IMIIAPER.

Owing to drought and unfavorable
■weather generally during the greater
part of the past honey season, much
feeding will be necessary this fall in
order to save thousands of colonies of
bees. In view of the above fact, will
you kindly answer the following ques-
tions?

1. When would you begin feeding?

2. How fast would you advise to
feed, that is, would you take two weeks
time to feed a colony 12 or more
pounds, or do you think it better to
get the above amount in the combs as
soon as possible, say in two days?

3. What is the best food for bees to
winter upon?

4. Would you advise mixing a small
amount of honey with sugar-syrup, say
one part of honey to three parts sugar?

Do you think such a mixture would
De detrimental to the bees?

5. What feeder have you found
most convenient and practical?

Do you ft'ed at the entrance, over
the frames or inside the hive?

6. How much food does a colony
require whether wintered in or out of
doors?

ANSWERS BY A. E. MANDM,

1. I usually begin feeding the
last week in September or the 1st
of October, as then the brood is
generally all hatched when there is
a plenty of room for the bees to
store the feed, and then again, at
that time the breeding season is
over ; hence the feed given them
does not seem to stimulate brood-
ing. Were bees fed earlier in the
season it might stimulate breeding
and cause the bees to consume
much of the honey they have stored,
which I prefer to save until spring
for early breeding.

2. I prefer to feed very rapidly ;
as fast as the bees will take it.
If they need 12 lbs. I would feed
it all at once, if I had feeders suf-
ficient to do 'SO. The faster they
are fed the better, that they may
have time to evaporate and cap it
over ready for winter.

3. I prefer granulated sugar
syrup, though I do not worr\' when
my bees have a plenty of well-ri-
pened clover or basswood honey,
and it \(i\y rarelj^ happens that
they do not have, as I prefer to have
such stored in the sections, which
is not a difficult matter with my
method of management.

4. No, I would not advise the
mixing of honey with the syrup ;
not that I think it would be detri-
mental to the welfare of the colony
if fed fast enough so as not to
stimulate breeding, but that it
might induce robbing. The scent of
honey when fed in the fall is quite
apt to greatly excite the bees, —
much more so than sugar. If I had
honey that I wished to feed back, I
would prefer to save it until spring
and then feed a little at a time, or
if I wished to winter on honey, I
would feed at sundown and feed no
more than the bees would store
during the night.

4. I prefer the Simplicity feeder
holding one pound of syrup. Then

212

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

I place as many of these on the
brood chamber as I wish to feed
number of pounds. I feed inside
the cap over the frames (my hive
is a chaff hive).

6. I always winter my bees on
the summer-stand and 1 aim to
feed them up to 30 lbs. each but
35 lbs. is safer for those who do
not look after tlieir bees very close-
ly. Tills amount will last them
until the 1st of June. For indoor
wintering, I presume 20 to 25
lbs. will answer.

ANSWERS BY DR. G. L. TINKER.

1. In this locality I would begin
feeding not later than October.

2. 1 would advise feeding not
more than one pint of extracted
honey or syrup per da}'. It will
not stimulate brood-rearing very
much, if at all. Bees show the
first signs of hibernation early in
October, after which there is no
disposition to breed except with
very young queens. One-half pint
is enough to feed at once. Feed
at noon and again in the early
evening, a little while before the
bees cease flying.

3. Good natural stores.

4. I would mix honey with syrup
if I had not enough honey to feed,
and I would feed syrup alone if I
could not procure honey. But if
I bought extracted honey, I should
make sure that it came from an
apiary free from foul brood ; if I
was not sure, I would boil every
bit of it for ten minutes before
feeding to the bees, and take the
greatest care that the bees got not
a taste until I did. In preparing
extracted honey to feed bees, it
should always be first diluted with
about one-fourth water, otherwise
it may candy and become veiy hard
in the combs. I believe that
sugar syrup alone is detrimental
to bees in winter, but when mixed
with honey and there is a quantity

of bee bread in the combs ft is less
so.

5. I have tried many kinds of
feeders, but have found none better
than a tin funnel placed in a hole
in the top or back end of the hive
which is to be slightly tipped back.
Do not like to feed at the entrance
or over the frames, unless it is
comb honey, but prefer the inside
of the hive on the bottom-board,
which has a shallow rim.

I use a double cover to my
single-walled hives, the one next to
the bees being a board one-fourth
inch thick, with cleated ends, hav-
ing a rim nailed to the under side
with brads to make a bee space.
It is not painted and is left on all
winter. I select my poorest lum-
ber to make them of, often using a
number of narrow pieces. A small
anger hole is l)ored in the back end,
and a cork put in which is taken
out, and the funnel put in when
feeding.

6. An ordinar}' colony, with
protection, requires only ten pints
of honey or syrup to winter it.
If the colony is very po]udous, I
give twelve pints ; but if the bees
are left in single-walled hives
without protection, more than
double the above amount is often
consumed. If a colon}'' of bees is
properly cared for it will not con-
sume over three pounds of honey,
from the fifteenth of October till
the first of February, when breed-
ing usually begins in a small way.
If well wintered, but very little
honey is consumed till extensive
breeding begins in April.

ANSWERS BY P. R. RUSSETX.

[In many localities the present sea-
son has been unfavorable for the pro-
duction of honey, and many colonies
will require to be fed in order to sur-
vive the coming winter. How and
when to feed in the best manner is
what we want to ivnow, and I will con-
tribute my mite towards the general
fund of information on the subject.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

213

My methods may not be adapted to all
localities aud conditions, but as they
seem to fit my environments I will give
them for what they are worth.]

1. Ill my locality I get usually
quite a flow of fall honey from
golden rod and wild asters, and it
is apt to come all in a bunch about
the last ten days of September.
Therefore I do not begin to feed
for winter stores before the first of
October. If the honey harvest
closed in August or before, I would
then feed in September, which would
be early enough in any case.

2. I think it best to feed as fast
as possible and have it all over
with by the middle of October. I
begin by selecting sa^'' a dozen of
the most need}^ ones and fill them
up first ; then transfer my feeders
to the next batch and so on, and
the last to be fed will be those that
need the least. Four days' time
ought to be long enough for a col-
ony to take down six or eight
quarts of food.

3. I know of nothing better than
honey for bees to winter upon, but
sugar syrup answers very well in-
deed, and is a perfectly safe food ;
while hone}^, if fed in the raw state,
may communicate tiie much dread-
ed "-foul brood. " Sugar food is
usually much cheaper than honey
and I should buy it by all means
before I would buy honey to feed.
However, if one is overstocked
with hone}^ it may be best to feed it.

4. Honey (known to be free
from the germs of foul brood) is
nature's own food and may be
mixed with sugar syrup in any
quantity without any harm to the
latter, and I shoukl not hesitate to
use it thus mixed. Honey from
fall flowers is said to be poor stufl'
for bees to winter upon, but my
bees never get anything else but
this to winter on (except the sugar
syrup when needed to supplement
the honey) and they generally bob
up serenely in spring.

26

5. For a feeder I use the one and
two-quart Mason jars inverted over
a hole in tlie honey board and fully
described in a former article. Care
must be used to prevent food from
flowing too rapidly, which it will
sometimes do if the jar is imperfect
or canted a little too much on the
hive from the vertical. One great
advantage in this style of feeder
is the fact that the bees will suck
the food down in quite cool weather
when they would not leave their
warm nest to enter a feeder from
the top. There are other styles of
feeders that work well. But I
think a good feeder should hold at
least a quart and admit of being
used at the top of the brood frames.

6. I have tried feeders to be
used at the entrance but don't like
them. They are not adapted to
fall feeding, when we are apt to
have cool nights. At sucli times
the bees like to feed in tlie most
comfortable spot, which is at the
top of the frames.

7. Like all animals bees require
more food to keep up the animal
heat necessary to sustain life, if
left with little protection from the
frosts of winter. Therefore it paj's
to give them a warm shelter. A
colony in a single wall jiive, out of
doors, ought to have thirt3q^ounds
of food in the hive, in October, to
insure them against starvation ;
but if properly packed in a good
double wall hive 20 lbs. would
probably answer. It will empha-
size the importance of winter pro-
tection when I state that a colony
protected from cold will winter on
twenty pounds of food, that would
otherwise starve to death.

Bees wintered in a suitable cel-
lar would consume a minimum
quantity of food, but the condi-
tions otherwise are more complex,
and the tendency at present among
leading apiarists seems to favor
the plan of packing bees on their
summer stands.

214

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

[The illustration below repre-
sents the Mason fruit-jar feeder.
The jar has a glass-toj) which is
held in place by a metal band.
We remove the glass-top and make
one of tin exactly the same size in
which are from ten to twenty small
holes made with a brad awl. The

feeders are filled with syrup and
inverted over a two and one-half
inch hole in the honey-board.
The bees sip the syrup rapidly and
a good colony will take about one
gallon each twenty-four hours.
We can furnish the tins by mail,
at five cents each.]

QUESTIONS BY J. N. SHEDY.

1. Are the queens of the Albino
race large or small?

2. Are they yellower thau Italian
queens or darker?

3. Are they a pure race bred-up
from the Italians by selection and in-
and-in breeding or are they the out-
come from a cross of two or more
races ?

ANSWERS BY W. W. CARY.

1. Queens from Albino mothers
are medium in size.

2. Color is usually good as from
other strains and much better than
from imported mothers.

3. I do not consider the Albino
bee a distinct race, merely a dis-
tinct strain ; whether produced by
crossing or otherwise do not know,
but consider them a valuable strain
as they possess beauty, gentleness
and have proved good hooey gath-
erers with me.

HIVING SWAKMS ON FULL SET OF
FR.«IES, FOUNDATION, ETC.

Do you hive new swarms on full set
of frames, or half that number with
division-board crowded up? Do you
give full sheets of foundation in brood
frames or starters, or use empty
frames?

ANSWERS BY G. H. MARTIN.

It depends altogether upon the
swarm. The beekeepers should hold
to the rule, l^eep your colonies strong
not only through the spring and fall,
but also during the swarming season.
If I hive a swarm that is not large
enough to cover all of the frames, I
double another swarm in with thera
or else give them frames of brood. I
have never used a division board at
this time of the year.

I use full sheets of foundation. I am
sure of all worker comb by so doing.
If bees are hived upon empty frames
the amount of drone comb built will
average two full frames. That's the
way my bees do it. Now I have de-
scribed the way I hive natural swarms,
when I have them, but as I extract my
honey I am but seldom troubled with
swarming, and for two or three years
past I have had so many empty combs
at command, that I usually hive a
swarm upon a full set of them, and
put on the surplus at once and if
there is honey you are sure to get
it. With 150 or 200 colonies any
amount of good combs can be readily
procured. One frame of foundation at
a time inserted in each hive will be
worked . out and the combs become
multiplied so fast you hardly know
where they come from.

MARKINGS OF PURE ITALIAN DRONES.

Will you please be kind enough to
answer the following questions :

Are the markings of pure Italian
di'ones all alike, or similar to the drone
progeny of a mismated queen?

Please give an infallible test for pure
drones.

Aus. Pure Italians drones differ very
much in their marking. The most
beautiful Italian drones will not in all
cases produce what are called three-
banded worker bees even when mated
to a golden colored queen-bee. On the
other hand, drones almost as dark as
black bees prove to be pure, and whose
worker progeny showed pure mark-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

215

in»s. There is, so far as color is con-
cerned, no real test for pure Italian
drones.

Speaking of 3-banded worker bees,
reminds me of an opinion I have often
expressed, namely, that no Italian bees,
however handsome and pure they may
be, have over two bands. Sometimes a
customer has complained that queens
sent him were not pure, as the bees
had but two bands. I find that even at
this late day some well-posted apia-
rists agree with me in this same
opinion. Whether any one agrees with
me or not I still claim that pure Italian
bees have but two yellow-bands.

Pure Syrian drones are nearly black,
or perhaps nearly the color of Carniolan
drones; the white hairs covering the
thorax gives them a color nearly a
steel-gray. The worker-pi'ogeny of
Syrian bees is very handsome, though
not even the purest Syrian queens
will produce all 2-baQded worker-bees.

CARE OF BEES FOR
SEPTEMBER.

G. H. Martin.

The more we bandle bees the
more we are impressed with the
importance of getting our bees
ready for winter quarters at an
early date. We make it a point,
therefore, to get our bees ready
for winter, if possible, in Septem-
ber. We run our apiaries for ex-
tracted honey during the clover
and basswood flow ; two frames of
sealed honey are placed at one
side of the extracting super and
reserved for use in September.

If we have not ah-eady super-
seded all old queens, we now re-
place them with young and vig-
orous ones. It pays to supersede
after a queen has given us three
years' service. A queen would
perhaps do well a portion of the
fourth year ; but, when queens are
induced to lay by inserting empty
combs every few days, the high
2:)ressure plan shortens their use-
fulness several months.

From the middle to the last of
September our business is to ar-
range the brood-nest. Every comb
having a superabundance of bee
brood is removed. We are not
particular about removing all pol-
len, but place the combs having a
small amount to the sides of "the
hive. If there is not enough
honey in the brood-chamber, the
combs, one or more, that were
saved while extracting, are inserted
in the centre of the brood-cham-
ber. This is the most delightful
and rapid method of feeding any
one can possibly practise. The
food is beautiful, well ripened,
well-sealed clover or basswood
honey, upon which bees will winter
if they will winter upon anything.
We would resort to sugar feeding
only when there was no honey to
feed. At present prices of ex-
tracted honey and granulated sugar,
we would let the bees starve if they
cannot be wintered upon their own
best stores. We do not mean to
say we would let them starve be-
fore we would resort to sugar. If
bees could not gather enough nat-
ural stores it is then time to talk
about sugar feeding.

At this time one comb is re-
moved from the brood-chamber
and the others spread a little. A
passage from comb to comb is
provided by either cutting a hole
in the centre of the comb or by
laying on sticks or a Hill device
across the tops of the frames. We
think a hole is a safe plan.

All weak swarms should be
united. The beekeeper should,
however, make it a point to have
no weak swarms in his apiary ;
they are an unprofitable species of
stock to have around.

We have successfully wintered
three-frame nuclei, but better suc-
cess attends the wintering if three
or four are united.

There is much written about
late brood-rearing and that safe

216

THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST.

wintering is only attained by that
method. In this locality we should
think feeding for that purpose was
utterly useless. We have fre-
quentl}^ marked hives that were
broodless in August that have
wintered as well as if not better
than those in which brood-rearing
was continued until October.

After preparing our bees in the
above manner they are left quietly
upon their stands until we put
them in the cellar or pack with
chaff and this is done as quietly
as possible. By this plan you
have the month of October and
perhaps a part of September for
other work.

HUNTING WILD BEES.

One of our readers who lives
way down in Texas desired us to
give information for hunting bees
in the woods. Below will be found
an article taken from the Amer-
ican Bee Journal of Aug. 11.

You require a small box, which
can be made of any kind of wood.
The box is of a slanting shape, and
should be made according to the
following dimensions : bottom, 4x6
inches ; sides, 4 inches at one end,
bevelled down to IJ- inches at the
other ; end pieces, one, 4x4 inches,
the other l^deep by 4 inches long.
The top should be a separate piece,
and made as follows : width, 4
inches, whole length, 12 inches;
cutting down 4 inches on end for
handle, and inserting a glass 3x1
inches, flush with the under side
at the other end, as near the end
as convenient.

The box should contain a piece
of honey comb about 1| inches in
thickness, which should be scented
with bee- bait covering the bottom
of the box. Tlie directions for
making this are as follows:

Half an ounce of tincture of

annis mixed with a half dozen
drops of oil of organum, to be kept
in an air-tight bottle.

Taking the box in the left hand,
and the cover in the right, and ap-
proaching the bee while at work on
the flower or shrub, j'ou insert the
box under the bee, and quickly put-
ting the cover on the top (in such
a manner that the light can shine
in) you have the bee secure in the
box ; then put the box on a stake
three or four feet high, taking care
not to jar the box more than is
necessary. Then shove the cover
down so as to shut out the light
from the glass, when the bee will
go to work on the honey, which
can be ascertained by holding the
ear to the box, as it will cease its
"humming" as soon as it com-
mences on the comb. Then the cover
can be taken off" and the bee will
remain on the honey. Then take
a position where you can have an
unobstructed view of the box and
its surroundings, and wait for the
bee to come out, which it will do
in from one to three miiuites, and
commence circling in the air, grad-
ually enlarging the circles until it
finds its latitude, at which it will
immediately start in a direct line
for its home, and here care must be
taken to acciirately mark the direc-
tion it goes. You must now wait
for a short time when the bee^ will
return and re-enter the box, which
it will repeat as long as the box re-
mains. If the tree should be near
by, the other bees will accompany
it on its second or third return ; if
at a great distance it will take a
longer period for the bees to "dou-
ble up."

If you have gotten fifteen or
twenty bees at work on the line,
you can safely take the box to a
point as far distant, in the course
the bee has taken, as 3'on choose,
being careful not to pass where
the bee is likely to tree, as they
will not follow the other way.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

217

Now, open the box again, and if
you are on the line the bees will
lincl it in a veiy few minutes. If
they do not you will know that
they are off the line, or have
passed the tree, and should move
your box to a point that 3'ou know
is on the line. This is to be re-
peated until you run the bee to its
tree

If you have but a few bees it
will be necessary to shut them in
the box and move them in this
manner fi'om 30 to 60 rods at a
time, then open your box and wait
for them to go and return. This
is to be repeated until you have
found the tree.

Cross lining is important. If
anything should prevent you from
following the bee in a direct line
from where you first start it, you
can move the box a distance to
the right or left and start it again,
by which means you can centre
the bee on some prominent object,
whereby yqu can invariably locate
the tree within a radius of five or
six rods.

Instead of iising honey in your
box, put a quantit}' of granulated
sugar in a bottle and dissolve it
with cold water until it becomes a
thick sjuiip, and fill the comb in
the box with this liquid, which is
better than the real honey.

[We have had some experience
in hunting wild bees. When we
went into the woods for the pur-
pose, and no bees could be seen,
it was our custom to burn a small
piece of beeswax or old honey
comb. If there were any bees
located near enough for the scent
of the burning beeswax to reach,
we soon had them about us, as
nothing will so quickly excite bees
and set them to investigating mat-
ters as the fumes from bui'ning
beeswax. When the bees came,
they would soon enter the box for
the honey, and then it was an easy
matter to hive them. It should

be understood that hunting wild
bees cannot be made a success ex-
cept at a time when the flowers
are yielding no nectar. — Ed.]

EDITORIAL.

ANOTHER LAWSUIT ON ACCOUNT OF
KKEPING BEES.

Now comes Mr. S. W. Kich, of Ho-
bart, N. Y., who has heeii sued by his
rich neighbor for ,11,500 chimages, and
also to compel him to move liis apiary.

It seems that his neighbor is more
troubled iu mind over the alleged niii-
sance than in reality. He boasts that
he will do all that money can get done
to compel the removal of the bees.
The apiary is iu a small village, but
there never has been a case reported
of either a man or beast being stung;
neither has there been an}' trouble
caused by them. It seems to be a real
case of disagreeable fault-finding.

Am, Bee Journal, Aug. 4.

The above case is similar to one
which happened in Wenham some
seventeen or eigliteen years aoo.
Mr. John J. Gould had kept bees
many years in old box-hives with
little success. About the time
named, or a few years after he had
adopted the Langstroth hive, Mr.
Gould began to have considerable
success with his bees. One year
we had here an unusual flow of
honey and Mr. Gould did so well
with his bees that his neighbors
began to feel rather envious and
shovv a disposition to growl. As
Mr. Gould had but one acre of
land the neighbors and some few
townspeople thought that Mr.
Gould's bees obtained their honey
from flowers grown outside the
owner's land. No lawsuit was the
result, but more ugliness and spite
were never exhibited than on the
occasion of this most foolish at-
tempt to injure Mr. Gould and his
apiary. The people complained

218

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

that their fruit crop was injured by
the bees sucking hone}'' from the
blossoms. The result was that
Mr. Gould moved his apiary some
seA^en miles away. Since that
time, we have kept nearly double
the number of colonies that Mr.
Gould did, and the people who
made such a fuss feel rather cheap
from the fact that fruit has been so
plentiful and cheap in this vicinity
tliat it does not pay to market it.
When fine large Bartlett pears will
not bring over thirty cents a bushel
in the market it seems like non-
sense to say that bees injure the
fruit blossoms. We have sold fruit
off the same trees for $4 per bu-
shel.

An envious neighbor will kick
up quite a racket in any neighbor-
hood or small township. Most of
the lawsuits resulting from keeping
bees are caused by the envious
and, in most cases, meddlesome
neighbor. We all have enemies,
and the best way to protect our-
selves is to join the Beekeepers'
Union. Then if obliged to de-
fend a case in court on account
of keeping bees, the expense Avill
not all have to be borne by the
person attacked. It is the duty
of every beekeeper to join the
union as, "In union there is
strength."

We will furnish membership
blanks to all who wish to- unite.

— The October number of the
" Apiculturist" will contain essays
on " Wintering Bees" by James
Heddon, G. M. Doolittle, A. E.
Manum, Dr. G. L. Tinker, J. E.
Pond, P. R. Russell, Ira Barber,
J. H. Martin, Prof. Cook and other
noted apiarists of large experi-
ence and well known to all who
read the bee journals.

We shall print a large edition of
the above number and every page
will be electrotyped, as the call
for it will be very large.

This will be a splendid chance
for advertisers, as a paper that
contains so much valuable matter
will not be thrown away or placed
where it cannot be found when de-
sired. This number, in order that
all may take advantage of the
methods given in preparing their
bees for winter, will be mailed
September 25.

— Every beekeeper sliould take
an interest in his state or county
fair. Take your honey and bee
fixtures and exhibit them. This
is a good way to advertise your
honey and goods. Go prepared to
sliovv bees, queens, etc., and, above
all, take an observatory hive with
you and, our word for it, it will
attract a larger crowd and more
attention than anything else ex-
hibited.

— During ahoney dearth, any col-
ony that is to be used for queen-
rearing should be fed liberally for
twodays previous, with syrup made
of sugar and pure honey. A colony
thus treated will then be in good
condition for cell-building. Then
feed liberally, say one quart syrup
each day until tlic cells are capped,
which will be on the fourth day after
the eggs are given them, and our
word for it, you will have queens
equal to any ever reared under the
swarming impulse.

— Many of our subscribers have
written us that the July Apicultu-
rist did not reach them, and want
to know whether or not it was pub-
lished. The July number was
mailed to all, and why every sub-
scriber did not receive his copy is
a mystery to us. We have no back
numbers of that issue and cannot
supply those who failed to receive
them. If any reader will mail us
No. 7 of Vol. IV, we will send any
other number or will extend their
subscription one month.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

219

— We had some experience with
two pound sections this year that
shows the advantage of tilling the
boxes full of foundation.

We put on some sections wliich
were but half full, and got the most
tantalizing lot of drone-brood in
the bottom of the sections. A
queen-excluding honey board would
have prevented all this, but filling
the boxes full of foundation would
have been better.

Care should be taken to take off
the clover honey from the hive be-
fore the darker buckwheat begins
to yield. A box of fine white
clover honey may be spoiled to sell
as first-class by a few cells of dark
honey put in around the edges, or
through the centre.

— There may be such a thing as
bringing out the bees too strong in
the spring. A friend of ours win-
tered his bees in a veiy warm place
out of doors, having packed them
very warm with dry leaves. They
came out very strong, and swarmed
before fruit-blossoms fairly opened
and they have kept up swarming
all summer, but have made hardly
any honey. Our bees were not as
strong so early as his, but got
ready as soon as there was honey
to gather, and have brought in a
fine lot of honey, casting but few
swarms.

— We have Italian bees that are
gathering honey from red clover,
(second crop)while no other race
we have in our apiary is doing
anything.

— Don't fail to read our adver-
tisement, on another page, of the
Bay Statk Reversible Bee-hive,
and the inducements offered those
who desire to manufacture the
Drone and Queen-trap.

— In order to meet the large call
by dealers and others for terms for
manufacturing the drone and queen

trap, we have had some brass-
stamps made to be attached to
each trap. Those who purchase
the stamps and attach them to the
traps can manufacture and sell all
the traps they desire in any part
of the United States.

The call for the trap the past
year has been immense, and an-
other year it will be much larger.
All who can manufacture them
should do so, as the beekeeper will
be most likely to purchase them at
the nearest place they can be ob-
tained.

We will establish a sort of direc-
tory giving the names and address
of all of whom the traps can be
obtained. Those who manufacture
them and have not the facilities for
making the tubes can obtain them
of us, by mail.

See prices on another page.

— The regidar number of readino-
columns in the "Apieulturist " is
forty-eight. The other pages are
for advertisements. To accommo-
date advertisers and to make room
for correspondents, other pages
will be added as occasion requires.

RENEWALS.

Remember that all who renew
their subscription, and all new sub-
scribers can get a select Italian
queen by return mail, by sending
fifty cents in addition to the one
dollar for a year's subscription to
the Apiculturist.

THE HONEY CROP OF 1886.

[The following reports were
crowded out the August number.]

Bradford, Iowa.
Counting for the past twelve
years the honey crop in my locality
is hardly up to the average ; but
for the last five years it is some-
what above the average. As to

220

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

my crop it is about 100 pounds
per colon}^ part comb and part
extracted, and ninety per cent in-
crease. One colony gathered 462
pounds, besides winter stores, and
was closely followed by two more.
Twenty other colonies only stored
enough lor winter after l)uilding
up. The harvest lasted thirty-five
days, Avithout intermission, begin-
ning June 7 and ending June 12,
but it was so dry that the daily
yield was light. Farm crops are
not half crops on that account, and
the honey crop would have been
the same had it not been for bass-
wood (which roots deeply) follow-
ing tlie white clover, as the clover
was soon burned brown and dead.
We are not likely to get much, if
any more, honey of any kind this
year. I left the hives full of bass-
wood honey for winter. I have
experimented this season, so that
I have concluded that one colony
of bees of equal strength and in a
like condition as another will gather
about the same amount of honey ;
and it is not owing so much to the
difference in industry as is gener-
erally supposed.

The colony that gathered 462
pounds surplus did not have in its
hive at any time more than eight
combs of brood, while some hav-
ing from twelve to twenty fell be-
hind in the yield. And I attribute
the propagation of the brood to
the difference in results.

C. W. Dayton.

Borodino, N. T., July 15, 188G.
The outlook here for a crop of
honey for 1886 is quite poor. My
estimate is about i crop in this sec-
tion. White clover yielded well
for eighteen days and the yield from
basswood has been moderate for
the past five days up to yesterday.
It is now cloudy and rainy and the
basswood bloom begins to look old,
so 1 think little more will be gath-

ered. Teasel also don't seem to
give much honey. After basswood
w^e get little or no honey.
Yours,

G. M. DOOLITTLE.

Sussex, Wis.
The outlook for a good crop of
honey in this part of Wisconsin Is
very good. It has been pretty dry,
yet white clover has yielded abun-
dantly in nectar, and the basswood
bloom has been very profuse, and
continued longer than usual, being
still in bloom at this writing, and
the bees are improving the golden
opportunity of gathering abundant
stores. Thanks for sample copy of
"Api " received.

T. E. Turner.

Taunton, Wis.

WHY IS IT?

I have one hive crowded full of
bees, boxes and all. Every morn-
ing there are quite a number of dead
bees on the alighting-board. Some
of the bees are not quite dead, but
soon die. I cannot see the cause
of it, but would like to have it ex-
plained.

Chester F. Savory.

[If the bees ai-e young ones, it
indicates that there are a few worms
in the comb ; but if the colony .is
a strong one, no damage will be
done. If the bees are matured,
the colony may be afflicted with the
new bee disease spoken of b}^ Mrs.
Hills on anothei' page. — Ed.]

The North American Beekeepers'
Society will hold its next (seven-
teenth) annual convention at Indi-
anapolis, Ind., Oct. 12, 13, 14,

1886.

The American Apicultiirist.

% JfiDiirnal b^boti^ij ia pradital ^c^kctping.

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICK, WENIIAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.

Published Monthly. Henry Aixey, Manager.

VOL. IV.

WENHAM, MASS., OCT. i, i8S6.

No. lo.

TJ¥£: WINTER PROBLEM :

OR
HOW TO WINTER BEES.

METHODS PRACTISED BY SOME OF THE

LEADING AND 1\I0ST SUCCESSFUL

APIARISTS.

No. I.

Dr. G. L. Tinker.

With the knowledge on this sub-
ject gained within the last five years,
there should be no difihculty in win-
tering bees. It is true there is still
difference of opinion on minor points
but the principal requirements on
which success depends I believe are
now quite generally agreed upon. The
first of these is protection which in-
volves the question of temperature.
The writer is known to most ' bee-
keepers as the champion of the doc-
trine that cold is the primary cause
of most of our wnnter losses as
against that most fallacious of all the
theories that have been set forth of
first cause, viz., the pollen theory.
But I am pleased to-day to record
that my position on this question has
been almost unanimously conceded.
Protection from cold is now regarded
one of the greatest safeguards against
bee diarrhoea and not the removal
of bee-bread from the combs.

Next after protection stands the
question of food. I have maintained
and still hold that good natural
stores are first in value and reliability.
Sugar syrup has been tried with suc-
cess in many instances, but the fact
remains that few bees comparatively
27

have been wintered upon sugar
stores. And in these few cases when
put to the test of severe cold there
have been many heavy losses. Hence
I can but think that bees winter best
on the food that nature has provided
for them.

However, I believe sugar syrup in-
finitely preferable as a winter food
to the sweet excretions of aphides
which bees sometimes gather and
store in the combs. It is also no
doubt preferable to any inferior qual-
ity of honey that may be stored in
the fall ; as thin fall honey is especi-
ally deleterious and should be either
extracted and good food substituted,
as thick honey or syrup fed over it.
Thin honey may be known by its
running out of the combs when held
horizontally.

VENTILATION.

Bees require free ventilation in
winter. They throw off a large
amount of moisture in their breath
that must have a ready means of exit
from the hive or the bees will be-
come restless, — a never-failing indi-
cation of something wrong. All undue
loss of heat must be prevented and
it can be easily retained by giving
free bottom ventilation and allowing
no upward movement of air except
through wood or other very close po-
rous covering. The best and most
economical covering in my experience
is solid unpainted wood. Simply
place a thin board over the brood-
chamber so as to leave a bee-space
over the frames in time to have it
well propolised and I will guarantee it
to hold the heat to the comfort of the
bees and at the same time give an
(221)

222

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

almost unobstructed exit to all moist-
ure, and that too, directly through
the board and the propolis.

I am prepared to say from ample
experience that every kind of upward
ventilation through free openings or
loose porous coverings is pernicious
and liable to disaster ; for the life of
a colony of bees subjected to cold
goes out with the loss of heat which
is forced strongly upward through
free outlets by the pressure of cold
air coming in at the entrance. We
can now see why bees instinctively
stop up all crevices with propolis.
It is to prevent the loss of heat which
nature has taught them is life ; and
had beekeepers been as wise as the
physiologist who said "heat is life,"
we should have saved thousands upon
thousands of colonies lost in winter-
ing, largely through the follies of up-
ward ventilation. It has been a dear
lesson indeed that has taught us that
our theories of absorbents have been
all wrong. Wt now know, if we can
retain the heat, there is no difficulty
about getting out the moisture. The
heat expels it as heat expels moisture
from a kiln of lumber even when
sealed up as tight as it can be made,
and it is heat that causes evaporation
of moisture and dryness everywhere.
Where the temperature about the
hives never goes below 45° or 50°, as
in cellar wintering, we have a different
state of things than exists in out-door
wintering. Even with very free bot-
tom ventilation if the hive is tight on
top the bees may get too warm and
become restless. Hence it will be
seen that bees must be ventilated to
suit their surroundings, the leading
object being always to keep them in
winter confinement in as torpid a
state as possible ; for we have learned
that activity means waste of tissue,
excessive consumption of food, loss
of vitality and premature death.
Spring dwindling can be traced to no
other source. The bees are worn out
with activity, with constant struggles,
with adverse conditions of their life.

Successful wintering means conserva-
tion of vitality which is best accom-
plished through what is known as

HIBERNATION.

This state which bees begin to en-
ter, upon the approach of frosty nights
in the fall, is one which cannot elicit
too close attention by beekeepers ;
for upon it hinge the greatest suc-
cesses of the future. It is simply a
conservative state that the bee enters,
enabling us to bring the bee of the
fall to the bee of the spring with all
of its vitality and working capacity
intact, and unchanged by the inter-
vening time. A bee's life is only too
short but its length is measured by
its activity ; hence, to span the long
winter months, it must have rest from
its labors. Nature has provided this
rest in what we shall henceforth call
hibernation. It is not of course the
profound hibernation of many other
insects, nor does any one claim that.
The bee becomes torpid, lethargic
and respires imperceptibly. There is a
considerable reduction of the tem-
perature of the cluster from that ex-
isting in a state of activity to the
lowest point consistent with vital ac-
tion,— asHght respiration and imper-
ceptible movement. The reduction
of temperature is about 20°, enough
to justify those who are claiming true
hibernation for bees that they are in-
dulging in no gibberish. It is a state,
however, requiring food at intervals
of from three to five days. I only
know that they have regular feeding
times when the whole colony becomes
active and each bee seems to help
itself to honey. When all have feasted
they settle into the torpid state again.
A colony of bees properly hiber-
nating will consume not more than
one pound of honey per month and
this state continues if all goes right,
from the first of November to the
first of February, when breeding com-
mences. More heat is then required
and the bees are no longer in a per-
fectly listless state. The patch of

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

223

brood started will be, however, quite
small, usually not over four inches
in diameter, so that no great increase
of temperature is required. They
start no more unless they have fre-
quent flights, until in March when
extensive breeding begins and hiber-
nation ceases altogether.

Hibernation is secured only at a
low temperature. It commences at
a point below 50° and becomes more
profound until we reach 41°. Go-
ing below that it gradually becomes
less until below 32°. Going below
this point the bees become active
and the labors, destructive to their
vitality and life, begin. Severe cold
and currents of air interrupt hiberna-
tion and should be provided against
in order to the most successful win-
tering. Before bees are placed in
cellars, the cellars should be cooled
to 41° by opening hatchways or ven-
tilators at night, and the temperature
should be kept down by the same
means if inclined to rise. If the tem-
perature goes below 41°, I would
advise to raise it by the use of an an-
thracite oval stove and keep it as near
41° as possible till the first of Febru-
ary. Then raise the temperature to
48" and keep it there until the bees
are set out. Two very serious mis-
takes are often made in placing bees
in cellars : the first is in having the
cellar too warm ; and the second is
in allowing currents of fresh air to en-
ter through sub-earth pipes. Both of
these conditions prevent hiberna-
tion and tend to restlessness.

In hives protected with chaff, saw-
dust, etc., we get a near approach
to the condition secured in a single-
walled hive in a repository ; and, if
the protection is sufficient, bees will
winter out-of-doors as well as in. But
it is plain, if we are to secure uniform
temperature, we must winter in spe-
cial depositories. My objection to
chaff-hives is the cost and the labor
of preparation for winter.

New Phila., Ohio.

p. R. Russell.

SIX YEARS EXPERIENCE WINTERING

ON SUMMER STANDS WITH

GOOD RESULTS.

To solve the problem of wintering
bees successfully requires the appli-
cation of a little common sense in
connection with practical experience.
In the early days of my beekeeping,
I had very poor success in wmtering,
not having a proper knowledge of the
matter. I then used the single-wall
Langstroth hive holding ten frames,
and sometimes I attempted to win-
ter them on their summer stands, and
at other times in the cellar. In the
former case, I did not contract the
brood-nest at all, or give much of
any protection, supposing the hive
was all the protection needed, but I
found out my mistake after a while.
Wintering in the cellar proved a fail-
ure also, as my cellar was damp and
unsuitable.

Now for six winters past I have
left my bees on their summer stands
packed in planer shavings, mostly,
and with very satisfactory results.

In September, I contract my hives
to their winter status by removing all
surplus boxes and extra brood-frames,
never leaving in more than eight
combs, and from that down to six
according to size of colony. By
Oct. ist if any are found having less
than twenty-five pounds of stores for
winter they are at once fed up to
that figure ; then I let them set until
I get ready to pack them, meantime
throwing over the brood-chamber
a plenty of old woollen mats and
other things (by the way, I am a great
hand to keep the bees covered up
warm at all times, summer or winter^.
Early in November, I pack for win-
ter by filling the vacant space be-
tween brood-combs and outside case
with shavings. There is no particu-
lar merit in shavings, over other ma-

224

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

terial, only they happen to come
handy to me. I now remove the
honey-board, and cover the combs
with a wire-cloth screen, allowing a
■bee space between. This screen an-
:swers also as the best passable winter
feeder for feeding the sugar and
;honey mixture. If this screen is put
on too early in the fall, or left on too
late in spring, the bees will propolize
it badly. Oyer the screen 1 apply
plenty of comfortables or sacks filled
with leaves or shavings at least six
inches thick. In the cover, ample
ventilation is provided by a two-inch
hole on opposite sides and as near
the roof as possible. I never pack
the cover solid full, because I want
space for the wind to blow freely
through and through, in at one hole
and out at the other, I count this
ventilation over the packing as very
important, and not at all inconsistent
with keeping the brood-nest warm.
Everybody knows that dry clothing
is much warmer than damp, and this
ample circulation of air is just what
keeps them dry, and consequently
warm and comfortable, if they have
plenty of packing. It is surprising
how much dampness a colony can
develop in cold weather, and I attrib-
ute my success largely to the fact of
knowing how to get it out of the hive
without chilling the bees too much.
Keep them warm and dry is a good
motto. Sunshine never harmed my
bees in winter, but bleak and windy
locations are bad. Snow and ice
are harmless, indeed, I rather like to
see my hives well buried in snow ;
however, I try to keep ice away from
the entrance somewhat, and cant the
hive forward a little to prevent any
water from running in, also raise the
hive from the ground just enough to
avoid snow water. I never cut any
holes in the combs for winter pas-
sages (useless). I never pay any
attention to pollen. It is true my bees
will spatter their hives quite a lot in
spring when taking their first flights,
but it is seldom I lose a colony from

this cause. But, says one, don't the
rain and snow beat in those great
holes in the cap ? I answer, yes, a
very little at times, but it soon dries
out again, and withal, much more
dampness passes out than ever comes
in. I have tried holes of one inch
in diameter, also an inch and a half,
but I find one and three-fourths
about the correct size, and they
should always be covered with wire
cloth. I begin to unpack my hives
about tlie first of May, or when they
begin to call for more room. The
standing or closed end frame seems
best adapted to my system of win-
tering. The new Bay State hive is
of this description and must at least
be a good one for out door winter-
ing. I don't think I should care to
use "chaff hives" or those in which
the packing is permanent, as they are
too expensive and heavy to handle,
also liable to get water-logged. If
packing becomes wet and frozen it
is worse than none at all.

In my opinion packing is much
better than a mere dead-air space.
Did you ever see an ice house built
on the " dead-air" plan without be-
ing packed with speni tan or saw-
dust ? The same principle applies to
the bee hive. We pack our bees to
keep the animal heat in, and we pack
our ice to keep the solar heat out.
The best packing material is that
which is the poorest conductor of
heat and cold. Water is a good
conductor, therefore, dampness de-
stroys the value of the packing.

When I go to bed on a cold win-
ter night I don't cover myself up in
enamel cloth or a rubber blanket ex-
pecting to keep warm by preventing
a circulation of air. Did I do so, I
should find myself damp and cold,
and sickness would soon follow.
But I cover myself with ])orous
woollen blankets, that pass off damp-
ness and keep me dry and warm.
Why not give the bees the benefit
of the same logic ? I am well aware
that bees winter at times under al-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

225

most any kind of treatment, and
again die out with tlie best of care.
But these exceptions should not im-
pinge against the rule of appUed
common sense.

Lynn, Mass., Se/^L 7, 1886.

Prof. A. J. Cook.

This is a very intricate problem,
and it is no wonder we are long in
solving it. The bee is a native of a
warm climate, where it is not subject
to severe or long continued cold. It
has the habit of retaining its fecal
matter, and not of voiding it in the
hive. In its native condition fre-
quent flights make it possible for it to
void often outside the hive ; hence
the artificial condition of long cold,
and the equally long restraint within
the hive, are most trying. More than
this, the bee is ever active even in
severe weather, and so under the
artificial condition in which we place
them, must eat, often quite liberally.
If the weather is very severe, this
eating is even more liberal, as the
animal heat can only be maintained
by greater functional activity. This
is not mere theory, for I have found
repeatedly that severe cold raised
the temperature of the hive as shown
by the thermometer, and we all know
that such long cold winters require
more food for the bees.

We have also a further compli-
cation. Bees eat heartily. They
are long confined. They must per-
force retain their fecal excretions for
long periods. It seems then that the
kind of food may be a most impor-
tant item in the safe wintering of our
bees. Nor is this mere theory.
Long experience, while it shows that
cold is a most important factor in
the production of disastrous winter-
ing, shows quite as conclusively that

some other factor is also a partner
with cold. At present no second
flictor seems as important as the
matter of food.

WHAT WE KNOW.

It seems to me that we know that
if bees have abundance of almost
any kind of food, that is reasonably
wholesome, and can fly out from their
hives every few days, they are prac-
tically safe in winter.

Again, it seems nearly as well
demonstrated, I think, that if sup-
plied with good honey, that gathered
from the flowers, whether fall or early
honey, and maintained in an even
temperature at about 45° F. about
the hive, they will pass long confine-
ment in safety.

Once more, while it may not be
so thoroughly proved, yet we have
very good reason to feel that in case
the temperature is not maintained at
the desired point, the bees are safer
if confined to a purely carbonaceous
diet, or if wintered on honey alo-ne
with no pollen. As honey often con-
tains much floating pollen — the
amount varies greatly even in the
same kind of honey — we may con-
clude that where the temperature is
not under our control, it is a safer
thing to winter on a syrup made of
the best cane sugar, than even on the
best honey.

WHAT IS DESIRABLE.

It is desirable to have the bees fly
out often in winter. This is beyond
our control in our severe northern
climates. It is also desirable to have
the equable temperature about the
hives of 45° F. This can be secured
by packing well about several hives
placed close together, which gives
the chance of flight if the weather
permits. Packing single hives, and
chaff" hives permit this except in very
severe winters. The cellar is the
surest means to secure this desidera-
tum. By water in the cellar, or by
sub- earth ventilation, any cellar can
be made suitable, and many can be
made all right without either.

226

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

Lastly, let us look after food ; see
that we never have unwholesome
food. Never give our bees honey
that we would not eat ourselves.
Unless we are sure of our tempera-
ture, we better, in my judgment, ex-
clude pollen, and will even find good
cane syrup safer than honey. This
last opinion is not mere guesswork
but the result of many years' careful
experiment and observation.
Lansing, Mich.

THE WINTERING

PROBLEM.

No. 4.

J. E. Pond, jr.

The wintering problem is to-day
the most important question with
which our northern beekeepers have
to contend. A large majority of
losses are caused by lack of proper
preparation, and he who gives us a
rule, by following which the mini-
mum of loss will follow, will benefit
the fraternity to an incalculable ex-
tent. There is one pecuhar thing
shown by the reports of past years,
and that is that no matter what
method of general preparation is
used, losses still follow ; from this
we judge that no inflexible rule can
be given, the following of which will
cause absolute immunity from loss.
The best that can be done is to
adopt that method the following of
which has shown it to be the near-
est to safety of any which has been
adopted. For myself, I have always
wintered on summer stands, and am
not qualified to speak of any other
method ; the fact, however, tliat dur-
ing the last fifteen years I have lost
but four colonies (all of which
starved) is proof that the plan of prep-
aration for winter, made use of by
myself, is as safe as any at least in my
own locaUty ; viz., eastern Massachu-
setts.

In this article I do not propose to
discuss the various methods made
use of by others, but simply to give
a brief and comprehensive statement
of the method adopted by myself
and used for over fifteen years, with
the result as heretofore stated, dur-
ing which time I have wintered from
ten to twenty-five colonies each sea-
son. I use nothing but the Lang-
stroth hive \ I have used such con-
structed with double and single walls ;
chaff-filled, filled with cut straw and
sawdust, and with no filling at all ;
my preference now being for a dou-
ble-walled hive with dead-air space,
the inner wall being not over one-
half an inch thick.

I begin my preparations for winter
as early as the first of September, by
leaving in the hive at that time only
as many frames of comb as the bees
can cover. My intention is to have
no less than five frames and no more
than seven at that time. I cause the
upper two-thirds of these frames to
be filled with sealed stores, taking no
pains to remove any pollen, but ex-
tract any honey in early October that
may be stored in the lower-third of
the frames. Brood-rearing I keep
up by stimulative feeding as late as
the bees can care for the brood ; de-
siring they should go into winter
quarters with a full quota of young
bees.

On the advent of settled cold
weather and as soon as the cluster is
beginning to form, I force such clus-
ters to the west side of the hive (my
hives face to the south). I have used
division-boards of various kinds, but
consider a one-half inch board as
good as any, especially when used in
a double- walled hive. In using a
single-walled hive, I should use a di-
vision-board one and one-half inches
thick made of one-half inch stuff,
with dead air space between.

After forcing the cluster to the
west side of the hive up, place a
"Hill's device" or its equivalent on
the frames, so as to allow for the tops

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

227

of the frames and the covering blan-
ket ; then I cover in the bees closely
with a piece of burlap or other po-
rous material, placing on top thereof a
blanket composed of three or four
thicknesses of old ingrain carpet,
giving six inches of space at least in
the upper story above the blanket.
In each end of the cover I bore a
one and one-half inch auger hole for
ventilation. To a full colony, viz.,
one on seven frames, I give the full
entrance, contracting it for smaller
colonies ; having made the above
preparation, I give no fmther thought
or care to my bees till the advent of
warm weather in the following spring.
My theory is this: cold of itself
does not kill our bees ; excess of
moisture will do so. If the bees
can get at their stores at all times
during the winter they cannot starve.
Prof. Cook to the contrary, I believe
they require pure air. Taking these
statements as axioms, I conclude
that from five to seven L frames two-
thirds filled with honey are stores
enough for any colony ; by allowing
one inch of space above the frames
they have the chance to get at all
their stores without breaking up their
cluster ; by giving a full entrance
they have plenty of air, the porous
packing on top the frames retaining
all the heat, while allowing the moist-
ure to pass off imperceptibly and
thus without detriment. Whether
my ideas are accepted or not, or my
method of winter preparation adopt-
ed, I have the satisfaction of know-
ing that my bees have wintered safely
in the past, and of believing they
will do so in the future ; and, until
I meet with losses, I shall "stick to
the bridge that so far has carried me
safely over."

Foxboro, Mass.

G. M. DOOLITTLE.

HOW I PREPARE MY BEES FOR WINTER.

I SEE by the September number of
the " Apiculturist" that I am expect-
ed to give an article on wintering
bees in the October number. I
hardly know why I should be chosen
to write on this subject ; for, candidly,
I do not know how to winter bees.
All doubtless are aware that I have
lost bees to a greater or less extent
for the past fourteen years, losing as
high as 75 per cent of them during
one winter and never less than 3
per cent. However, as my losses
are growing less each year, and as I
have made many careful experiments
to see what plans were best for me
to adopt, I will give the reader the
benefit of these experiments, by tell-
ing them how I am preparing and
shall prepare my bees for the winter
of 1886-7. To reap the best re-
sults, I find August and September
are the months in which bees must
be prepared for winter. This gives
the bees a choice to get their stores
for winter placed just where they wish
them, so that by the middle of Oc-
tober they are ready to go into that
quiescent state which is conducive
to the best results. Therefore I am
now working as follows : I go to each
hive, open it and carefully remove
each comb, noting the amount of
bees, age of queen, square inches of
brood and pounds of honey. The
amount of bees is told by observing
their appearance on the combs ; the
age of the queen is told by looking
at the last year's record, if her wings
are clipped ; if not clipped, I know
she is of the present year's rearing
as the wings to all my queens are
clipped in fruit bloom. The square
inches of brood is gotten by meas-
uring a few different-sized patches
when it is easy to estimate it after-
w^ards ; and the pounds of honey are
found by weighing a few combs of

228

THE AMERICAN APTCULTURIST.

varying fulness, till the eye gets so
trained that every comb can be
counted off as to weight of honey
with an accuracy approaching per-
fection. As I write this out it looks
like a tedious job, and the reader will
doubtless say that rather than go
through all this operation he will
simply " heft" his hives as hereto-
fore and "guess" that all have enough
to carry them through. But to han-
dle three or four hives is to become
an expert, and if the reader will
only try it he will soon find that af-
ter a little while he can count off
bees, brood and honey as fast as he
can handle the frames, which to-
gether with the satisfaction of know-
ing just what each hive contains
will never allow him to go back to
the " hefting, guessing" plan again.
When I go over the hives in this way
I have a stool I carry along with me
to sit upon (tell Dr. Miller I never
will chide him again for sitting down
while he works at bees) in which is a
little box for holding a few tools,
etc., that I may need for immediate
use. In this box I have some pieces
of sections, so that as soon as a hive
is closed I can write down all about
the condition of the inside. This
piece of section may read something
like this : g-smo., 1886. Bees plen-
ty ; choice Italian queen reared in
'?>6 ; 400 sq. in. brood ; 30 lbs.
honey. The piece is now laid on
top the honey-board or qiiilt to the
hive and the cover put on, when two
little flat stones are put on the cap
to tell me that inside said hive are
both brood and honey to spare. For
instance, if the stone is placed at
the right said back corner, it says
honey to spare ; if at the left back cor-
ner, it says brood to spare ; if at the
front right hand corner it says short
of honey and if at the left front cor-
ner it says short of bees and brood
while if all is as I wish it for winter
a stone is placed in the centre of
the cover.

In this way I make these little
stones tell me at a glance over the ap-
iary just what each hive contains, so
that it is now but a few minutes'
work to go over the yard and equal-
ize all so that each is in a similar
condition for winter, when the little
stones are taken off and slipped un-
der the bottom-board to the hive,
where they belong when not in use.
If any are still short of stores
(twenty-five pounds to the hive is
what I desire to allow for each col-
ony) after the equalizing, I feed
honey to make up the deficiency ; for
from past experience I find (al-
though some tell us differently) that
bees winter much better on honey
than on sugar syrup. If sugar is to
be fed, I prefer to do it in the spring
if any colonies are short of honey
at that time, as was the case last
spring. A year ago my colonies
only averaged seventeen pounds per
colony, of stores, so I had to feed in
the spring. However, I would feed
sugar for winter rather than buy
honey promiscuously, as such pur-
chasing is'quite liable to result in foul
brood in the apiary, which disease is
far worse than a loss in winter.
After having all fixed as to stores,
bees, etc., the next thing to do is to
put on the cushion and snugly tuck
them up for winter. Those to be
left on summer stands are in chaff
hives which chaff is left in the hives
both winter and summer. Over
these I prefer a cushion three to
four inches thick, made of common
factory cloth, filled with dry, fine,
basswood sawdust which I saved
when sawing sections in the winter.
Such cushions seem to keep the
bees in better condition than any-
thing previously tried. When win-
ter sets in, a board about eight to ten
inches wide is set up slanting from
the aligliting-board to the hive, in
front of the entrance, to keep out
snow and cold winds as well as to
shade the front of the hive, so the

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

229

bright rays of the sun shall not entice
the bees out when it is too cool for
them to fly.

I also prefer to winter a part of the
bees in the cellar, for I like the idea of
'•'mixed wintering," as by this plan no
extreme loss is likely to occur ; for a
winter which is severe on the bees
out-of-doors is generally good for cel-
lar wintering. The bees are set in the
cellar about the middle of November
and the hives are piled one on top of
the other, the caps being left on the
summer stand. In this way the cel-
lar is filled full, except a passage way
through the centre to the back end,
through which I pass once every two
weeks to see if all is right, as far as tem-
perature, mice, etc., are concerned.
Otherwise they are left undisturbed,
unless a whim seizes me to peep in
to one or two colonies for the curi-
osity of the thing. The temperature
of the cellar is kept at 43° to 45°.
Once every month I carry in a two-
bushel bag of the same sawdust re-
ferred to above, and scatter it in the
passage way and between the hives
as far as I can, to take up dampness
and keep the dead bees from mould-
ing ; in this way all is kept sweet
and nice.

Borodino, N. Y.

No. 6.

CHAS. JNIUTH.

SAFE WINTERING OF BEES.

Wintering of bees remains still
an unexhausted subject because dif-
ferent men at different times and un-
der different circumstances don't do
things alike in spite of their preten-
sions. We have heard it stated that
parties never lost a colony for years
w4ien, another winter, they would
lose the best part of their apiary,
although the bees had been prepared
in the same manner every time. Very

few men acknowledge their mistakes,
either from ignorance of the same
or a misplaced pride.

Since modern bee culture taught
us to increase our product five or
ten fold, it is obvious that we had to
encroach somewhat on the natural
instinct of the bee for which we must
make up when winter begins or suf-
fer the consequences.

A swarm in good normal condition,
hived in an old-fashioned box-hive,
with pebbles or small blocks under its
corners will build combs fifteen to
twenty inches long. Brood will be
raised in the lower-half or lower-
third of these combs while the upper
parts will be filled with honey which
remains there for a safe deposit be-
cause the keeper can't get at it. The
hive open below, and with eight to
twelve inches of honey above the
cluster, is the talisman against hard
winters. The bees need never leave
their cluster but keep gradually mov-
ing upward as the honey within their
reach gets consumed. The winter
may last a month longer than usual
and there are still a few inches of
honey above the cluster. The hive
open below admits of no accumu-
lation of moisture ; consequently of
no mouldy combs and no sour honey.
It has (or may have) lots of bee-
bread, but the bees never die of dys-
entery. Such were the colonies of
my grandfather. He had colonies
twenty-five years old with the ends
of combs as thick as a finger resting
on the plank below. There was no
end to them. He did not get much
honey but any number of swarms,
and he could go at any time and
bring in a nice piece of comb honey,
at the advent of the visit of a friend.
He never lost bees in wintering, unless
they were cases of starvation, when,
for instance, late swarms were unable
to obtain their winter stores ; or when, #
after the superseding of a queen, the
young queen had been lost and moth
took possession of the combs. This
would happen at any time of the

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THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

year. He knew nothing of spring
dwindling nor of bee diarrhoea.
'Whenever, at the approach of winter,
his hives were heavy enough, they
were good for the next season, and
there was no doubt about it. Why
does not this same rule hold good
with us modern beekeepers ?

Since the introduction of the mov-
able-comb system we have learned
that the most honey can be pro-
duced above a shallow brood-cham-
ber. We have adopted, therefore, the
Langstroth hive, which has frames
just deep enough for safe wintering,
with a brood-chamber large enough
to accommodate a good prolific
queen and with a large surface for
supers immediately above it.

Those shallow brood-frames are
an encroachment on the natural in-
stinct of the bee, but they answer
our purpose. We deprive the bees
of those stores which mother nature
teaches them to place above their
brood and we must arrange in some
manner to give them a plenty within
easy reach of their cluster during
winter. Every comb in their brood-
chamber should be well filled with
honey, with the heaviest combs near-
est the cluster. The best covering
of the brood-chamber is straw or its
equivalent as an absorbent and a good
non-conductor of cold. And if the
brood-chamber is covered with
boards, /. <?., the boards being next
to the cluster, they should have an
extra covering to guard against the
cold. The entrance should remain
open to its full width and the hive
should have a slant of at least two
inches so that all the water created
during cold spells has to run out.

Oil-cloth over the brood-chamber
is as unnatural a covering as a rubber
blanket would be on our bed. There
would be no end to the moisture. ■
The one would gi\'e us rhevmiatism
while the other would bring mouldy
combs, sour honey and dysentery to
a colony of bees.

When preparing bees for winter,

the presence of pollen, honey dew
and even sweets from cider mills is of
no moment. The only essentials
are a good strong colony within easy
reach of the cluster and a dry abode.

Cincinnati^ Ohio, Sept. 2, 1886.

[. F. Bingham.

The first requisite to successful
wintering is 30 lbs. net early stored
honey, which has remained capped
all summer in the hive in which the
bees are to winter. The next is a
loose or movable bottom-board on
which between the combs and said
bottom-board can be placed a rim,
the shape of the hive and two inches
high, on which said hive shall stand.

This will give an open space of two
inches between the bottom of the
combs and the bottom-board or bot-
tom of the hive — for the bees to clus-
ter in and to drop should a few die —
and for the free circulation of air to
expel such dampness as may occur.
In this rim, on one side should be a
long and high entrance. Thus fixed,
nothing more can be done, but to
take them into a deep, warm cellar
where there will be no frost or light
on the approach of the first snow
storm or cold weather. Don't wait to
let them have a fly after snow goes
off; for a colony will rarely fly, even
in a mild day, after snow falls or win-
ter sets in, until January or February.
They do not care to fly ; so will not.

If not put in a cellar of the kind
described, leave them in the yard and
enclose in a small house which will
hold two or three colonies and pack
with fine hay or chaff seven inches
deep all round and beneath, and
from twelve to fifteen inches over the
top of the frames. No hive cover
nor ventilation need be given except
a spout eight or nine inches long

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

231

leading through the packing for a fly
hole and air. The spout should slope
down from the hive out and leave a
hole or passage one inch at the outer
end and five or six inches wide when
it enters the hive.

The above plan has been a success
with me for ten years and I know of
no plan so good.

It will be observed that fall honey
is not the food to winter bees on
safely; that thirty pounds will keep a
good colony from October till June ;
that the bees and hives are free from
the rain and dampness of winter with
abundance of air below them and no
danger of a closed entrance.

Abronia, Mich.

G. W. Demaree.

I do not presume to write on this
subject for the benefit of all beekeep-
ers in every condition and climate.
The writer who presumes to do so
deceives himself, and what is worse,
he deceives many others. When pre-
paring bees for the winter months,
locality and climate must be taken
into consideration. Anywhere in
Kentucky bees will survive the sever-
est winters if they have dry quarters
and an abundance of winter stores.
I know this to be true from long ob-
servation. But merely to bring bees
through the winter is not necessarily
wintering them well. Thousands of
colonies are wintered in Kentucky,
just as the bees and the hive chance
to be in at the close of the honey
season. No matter how many boxes,
or how many frames the bees may
have access to, it is very common
to leave them to pass the winter un-
disturbed. Last winter, as cold as it
was, I wintered a number of colonies
in two story L hives, containing
nineteen L frames, ten below and
nine above. These colonies win-

tered better than some I had con-
fined to the lower stories of chaff-
hives.

For this climate, chaff-hives are a
failure. I have had a dozen or more
in use in my ajMary for seven or eight
years and tliey have not done as well
as the single-wall hives. I think the
reason for this is, the bees in chaff-
hives are deprived of the intervals of
sunshine on the south sides of the
hives, which in single-wall hives ena-
bles the bees to rouse themselves suf-
ficiently to change their position and
take food to sustain them through the
cold nights and cloudy days.

In my opinion, for this climate,
the best preparation for bees in win-
ter is "protection" on the north sides
and west ends of the hives, causing
the single walls on the south sides to
be warmed by the sun when its life-
giving rays pour through the rifted
clouds to cheer mother earth and
give the bees new hope and new
courage.

THE EFFECTS OF BAD WINTERING.

The effects of bad wintering in this
climate are weak colonies ; weakened
in numbers so that they build up
slowly at the start in the spring, which
results in few field workers and a
great deal of brood and young bees
to feed during the early part of the
honey harvest which materially cuts
down the surplus yield. Nothing can
be more discouraging to the apia-
rist than to see a large portion of his
colonies wasting the best of the honey
season rearing brood that can be of
no service after the honey season has
passed.

THE CAUSE OF WEAK COLONIES.

I do not care to notice or contro-
vert all the theories which have been
persistently advanced to explain and
account for our winter losses. In
this climate the chief cause of mor-
tality in wintering our bees is scat-
tered stores in the brood nest or in
the hives as the case may be. Under

232

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

these conditions the bees are some-
times cut off from their stores by sud-
den changes in the weather, or the
ckisters become broken and the bees
scattered about in the hives and are
liable to lose their lives by being
chilled when sudden changes in tem-
perature take place.

DIARRHCEA IN BEES.

The trouble known as diarrhoea or
dysentery, to which bees are subject
under certain conditions, is one of
the most difficult conditions to deal
with in many localities. It is caused
by those conditions which are unfav-
orable to healthful exhalation from
the bodies of the bees while confined
in the cluster ; and since tlie trouble
is climatic, and no more a "disease"
than a "bad cold" is, it is exceed-
ingly difficult to deal with. Control-
ling the temperature surrounding the
bees is the only known remedy. Some
years ago when I announced my con-
victions in an article published in the
Kansas Beekeeper, that bee diarrhcea
was a climatic trouble, and that the
true cause was continued low tem-
perature, the suggestion was met witli
scoffs and jeers on the one hand,
and with incredulity on the other.
It was asserted that pollen was the
prime cause and all other causes
were secondary; and when Prof.
Cook decided that the "pollen the-
ory" was "scientific," it looked as
if all opposition must give way to the
"pollen theory." Some of us knew
better, however. For one, I do not
suffer myself to be driven from the
anchorage of common sense by fine-
ly-spun arguments and assertions of
unsupported facts. Napoleon's wave
of the hand to the starlit skies and his
prompt "very well, gentlemen, but
who made these?" is a very good
lesson. I have seen diarrhoea only
when the winters were excessively
severe, and no signs of it when the
winters were moderate. These are
facts that outweigh all the arguments
and assertions that ever passed the

lips of man. But then, new light has
been shed on the subject since then,
and it is now admitted that bees are
comparatively safe from diarrhoea
if the temperature is kept up to 45°
(or more) degrees. No one denies
this now, and to this extent the win-
tering problem is settled.

My advice to the practical bee-
keeper is to turn over to the moles
and bats all "theories" and "scien-
ces," and proceed to prepare the
bees for winter in such a common
sense way, as will meet the require-
ments of his locality and climate.

Christiansbitrg, Ky.

LET us REASON TOGETHER.

How widely people differ in their
opinions in the discussion of this very
important question. Like the vari-
ous religious creeds all aim to the one
important point, viz., truth. Yes,
truth when once discovered and
adopted by the beekeepers, the great
problem of wintering bees which is
now agitating the minds of our lead-
ing apiarists, will be as clear as the
noon-day sun ; and when looking
back to the days of our ignorance
we shall wonder that we allowed ig-
norance and darkness to prevail so
long. But it seems to be the des-
tiny of man that he shall pass through
a course of ignorance and darkness
in order that he may be prepared to
receive and enjoy the glories of truth.
It is amusing sometimes to notice
the different opinions and theories
advanced by certain apicultural writ-
ers upon the winter problem ; yes,
and while their theories and methods
seem absurd to me, they, on the
other hand, are doubtless disgusted
with what seems to them my foolish
and impracticable notions : but, Mr.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

233

Editor, who are the most success-
ful in bringing their bees through the
winter ? AVhen these successful men
are found, they are the ones we
should look up to for advice, just as
we would go to a successful physi-
cian for advice and treatment in case
of sickness. Yet it is impossible for
one person to know it all: therefore
nearly all have some good ideas and
if we will but gather up the best fruit
from the various ones we shall in
time reap a harvest of ideas that will
make us rich in knowledge, and the
winter problem will be solved. Hence,
let us reason together and each give
his best thoughts and methods that
we may all be benefited thereby.

While I am always willing to give
the public my methods in any and
every department of apiculture, I do
so with some hesitancy owing to the
fact that there are so many beautiful
writers in our ranks that I always feel
that my articles are so imperfect that
I sometimes fear they are a detri-
ment to the brotherhood. Yet I
have such an interest in the success
of every beekeeper that I feel like
giving my opinion upon this impor-
tant subject until it is rejected, al-
though if this article had not been
solicited, I would have kept quiet
for the present.

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY WINTER BEES

is a subject to which I have given
much thought and time by experi-
menting, and for the past eight years
I have been quite successful, as my
greatest loss in any one season in the
eight years was less than four per
cent, while last winter my loss was
less than two per cent, and the aver-
age for the eight years being less
than three per cent.

There are beekeepers who claim
to have wintered their bees year after
year without loss ; this I have not
yet succeeded in doing, although I
think I have solved the problem of
wintering bees successfully ; and,
were I able to handle my 800 colo-

nies and prepare them for winter
myself, and with a view of accomplish-
ing the one object of wintering every
colony, I think I could do it (baring
accidents) ; but as it would require
more work on my part than I care
to undertake, I prefer to employ
help and relieve myself of so much
hard work and consequently run
more risk in having the bees come
through safely.

Now we see a great deal of theo-
rizing going the rounds of the differ-
ent periodicals, regarding this vexed
question : such as the " pollen theo-
ry," "warm, damp cellars," "cool,
dry cellars," " air tight cellars,"
" caves," ''clamps," out- and in-door
methods, upward or no ventilation,
etc., etc., all of which have some
good features.- But it is often the
case that beekeepers put too much
stress on some one good point, and
losing sight of other necessary require-
ments to make the one point a suc-
cess. For instance, the "pollen the-
ory" is all right in the locality wliere it
originated ; there the bees gather an
excess of pollen late in the fall, and
where bees are not properly cared
for, the pollen will ferment, and the
bees wishing to get rid of it will un-
dertake to remove it, making a bad
matter worse ; and I daresay in very
cold weather they may consume some
of it, which will cause them to have
the diarrhoea, when if this excess of
pollen was removed and good clean
combs put in the place of those re-
moved, I believe it would be bene-
ficial to tlie bees. But all things
considered, I venture to assert that
pollen is not altogether the cause of
the so-called bee-diarrhoea. I be-
lieve that when bees have good whole-
some honey or sugar syrup, in a
good double-walled hive well packed,
with the brood-chamber contracted
in proportion to the size of the colo-
ny, and then left undisturbed until
spring, there will be less cause for
complaint than there is now.

My method of wintering is very

234

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

simple, and here let me say that
a great many men fuss with their
bees too much, working contrary to
the natural requirements of the honey
bee, while others pay too little atten-
tion to them.

I aim to have all my colonies sup-
plied with good vigorous queens by
the first of August, and to have all
brood hatched by October ist, that
all the young bees may have one or
more flights before winter sets in, in
order that they may become matured
and strong. I do not want babies for
the hardship of our cold northern
winters ; in fact, I prefer bees for
successful wintering that hatched in
August to those hatched in Octo-
ber. Could I have my own way,
I would not attempt to winter a
single bee hatched after September
I St. As I have told you before,
I see to it that my bees are all
supplied with stores by October 15,
after which they are not disturbed
until winter sets in, when the hives
are packed with dry planer shavings
on the four sides and top, and left
on the summer stands, where they
are left undisturbed during the en-
tire winter, except during a thaw,
when the entrances are examined to
see if they are clear so that the bees
can have a flight if they wish.

In conclusion, allow me to say
that it is my opinion that the so-
called bee diarrhoea is caused :

1st, by the young baby bees that
are too young and weak to withstand
our long cold winter.

2nd, by allowing the bees to have
too much unripe and unwholesome
fall honey and honey-dew, both of
which are detrimental to the welfare
of the bees. Not only is the late
gathered honey itself injurious, but
the gathering of it uses up the vitality
of our August bees to such an extent
that they are not strong enough phy-
sically to withstand our long winters,
unless the very best ■ of food is fur-
nished them ; and here comes in the
truth as to the "pollen theory."

These old bees being so nearly ex-
hausted at the commencement of
winter, they are forced to consume
a large amount of pollen in order to
keep up their physical force which
is necessary to generate heat suffi-
cient to keep the cluster warm, which
cluster (in this particular case) is
composed largely of very young bees
(baby bees I call them) hatched just
as winter sets in, when, if no late
honey had been gathered, there would
have been no rearing of brood after
September, and our August bees
would not be worn out in gathering
said honey, so they would have been
in full vigor and strength for winter,
and no baby bees for them to over
exert themselves in protecting.

P. S. Judging from the present
outlook, I venture to say that bees in
this section will not winter well the
coming winter, owing .to the fact that
they are gathering too much late
honey and rearing too much brood
late in the season. There will be
too few August bees in our hives at
the commencement of winter.

Bristol, Vt.

Jajies Heddon.

Urgent request is my only ex-
cuse for again coming forward with
a subject upon which I have already
said so much. I dislike to write
upon it again, the more because I
have had no reason to change my
former opinions regarding our win-
ter losses — opinions which I have
as clearly set forth in other papers
and in my book as I can do here at
this time. However, I will repeat
much of what I have before stated,
trusting my opinions may be new to
some of your late subscribers.

As many of you know, my obser-
vations have compelled me to be-
lieve in what is known as

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

235

THE POLLEN THEORY,

which I beheve we may now cease
to call a " theory," as it is a well-
established fact that the excreta re-
sulting from bee diarrhoea, which is
the one great cause of mortality in
winter, is composed almost wholly
of pollen.

I will now proceed to tell you,
first, what I know, second, what I
believe, and third, what I am in
doubt about connected with this
subject.

First, as above stated, I know
that all diarrhoetic excreta is replete
with pollen ; that bees will not suffer
with the disease if their winter diet
is confined to properly prepared,
pure, cane sugar syrup ; that a nor-
mal colony of bees thus supplied
and placed in a dry, well ventilated
repository in which the temperature
never falls below 50° nor above 55°,
with the hive properly covered, is
surer to come out in spring in a
more perfect condition than do our
horses and cows ; that bees will some-
times winter perfectly in a very damp
atmosphere ; likewise, in a high tem-
perature, or one as low as 30° or 35°,
providing the food is as above cle-
scribed ; that in the line of possibility
we have mastered the problem and
can winter any or all of our colonies
with certainty.

Second, I believe that a low tem-
perature is the most common and po-
tent indirect cause of the disease, be-
cause it compels the bees to exercise
in addition to their other means of
keeping up their temperatures, and
this exercise begems a waste of tissue
which the bees endeavor to replace
by consumption of nitrogen-pollen ;
and that whenever this pollen is
taken into the intestines, an oppor-
tunit}' to discharge it must soon oc-
cur, or diarrhoea will result ; that
humidity is not detrimental to suc-
cessful wintering provided the tem-
perature be kept proportionately
higher; that bees do not normally

discharge their foeces in a dry state ;
that some honeys contain much
floating pollen that the bees inad-
vertently consume when consuming
the honey ; that while floating pol-
len is more or less in nearly all nec-
tar, the most common manner of
mixing is soaking up with it, where
the honey is placed in cells that are
first partly filled with bee-bread.

I believe that if we knew the exact
influence of each condition bearing
upon the problem, we should find it
true that, although we cannot winter
our bees perfectly, /. <?., without any
fecal accumulation whatever, we can
winter them practically successfully
upon natural stores, if we secure just
the right combination of conditions
surrounding them. I should have said
that we all know such is the case,
but it seems that the fraternity is not
yet satisfied that any person knows
that combination. In fact there are
but few who believe that any combi-
nation of conditions will secure uni-
versal success, where natural stores
are used. I believe that there is no
locality in which bees cannot be win-
tered successfully upon the natural
stores of that locality, if the right
combination of condition? for that
locality be maintained. Now as
honey is quite cheap, and, with
many, difficult to dispose of, I favor
extended experiment in the direction
of success with natural stores, for all
of us who are not already able thus to
succeed.

Third : under this head I may group
many things together, without men-
tioning any of them specially by re-
peating that [ do not know, nor have
I any specific or settled belief re-
garding just the right combination of
conditions with which to winter my
colonies successfully upon natural
stores.

Last winter I devoted most of my
colonies to experimenting in this line
and shall repeat it the coming win-
ter in high hopes of reaching the de-
sired result, which I shall be glad to

236

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

present to your readers in due time.
Although I have been a constant
reader of nearly all of our journals,
and have experimented for eighteen
years, I have failed of success, when
adopting as nearly as possible, the
exact conditions reported as success-
ful with others. I had begun to be-
lieve that nothing short of artificial
stores could secure practical success
for me, but more recent developments
have encouraged me to inaugurate
another series of experiments, which
as above stated are already begun.
In my book, in the chapter on win-
tering, I have detailed the chemical
analysis and other experiments
which compel the opinions herein
set forth, and so have deemed it
economy of time and space to ex-
clude them from this article.

Dowadac, Mich.

No. 11.
C. W. Daytok.

As my time for the preparation of
an essay on this subject is limited,
and as it would require a volume to
properly examine the points bearing
relation thereto, I will not take pains
to construct and sort so much lan-
guage but will give in a plain and
brief way some of the methods I have
practised and by which I have suc-
ceeded. I might say that though I
have always found the road to suc-
cess to be very plain and straight, I
varied it so far and so often that it
would be hard to tell whether I win-
tered as many bees as I lost.

Perhaps it is correct that the dif-
ference between success and fail-
ure in apiculture is bee diarrhoea and
99 per cent of the cases of diar-
rhoea are caused directly or indi-
rectly by the condensation and
accumulation of moisture. This
being so, the prime consideration is

the prevention of moisture, and how
I prepare the colonies to accomplish
this, is what I propose to tell. To
tell how I might winter them or how
I might not winter these would be
too much to put in one article.

The first of importance in prepar-
ing a colony for winter, is to see that
the stores are pure and wholesome,
and after this it is simply a matter of
ventilation.

In providing the ventilation of the
hives in cellar wintering, it will be the
most easily done to suit different sized
colonies with the temperature at
about 45°, and while very strong colo-
nies would winter well with the whole
top of the hive open, a small colony
would be almost sure to die, and
therefore should not be ventilated so
much, or. else the temperature should
be higher than 45°.

As the temperature of a cellar can-
not be adjusted to suit different sized
colonies at once, I find it best to vary
the thickness of the coverings to the
brood- chambers which sometimes
was from a burlap to a cushion of
chaff. I have read of wintering with
naturally sealed brood- chamber, but
as a hive, as sealed by the bees, is a
long way from being water-tight and
as where it is placed in the cellar, it
becomes more and more so, in ac-
cordance with the dampness of the
cellar, it is reasonable to suppose that
the reports of wintering without some
kind of upward hive ventilation were
mistakes. Out of a hundred or
more colonies prepared without up-
ward hive ventilation, I have been
unable to get one decently through
the winter, while whole apiaries hav-
ing upward ventilation wintered per-
fectly without any loss.

Of the many ways of wintering on
the summer stands the one I prefer
is to bank around and extending over
the brood-chamber six or eight inch-
es of forest leaves and then cover
with a foot or more of dirt. Of course,
there should be a passage from the
entrance to the outside air so the

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

237

bees can fly on warm days, and an-
other very important point is to leave
a small space of the leaves directly
above the bees uncovered with earth
so as to produce a slow circulation
through the hive. A thin cloth may
be spread over the hive to support
the leaves, but I have had good suc-
cess when they were spread directly
on the brood-frames. Forest leaves
I consider the best of all materials for
packing bees as they allow the circu-
lation to penetrate fartlier away from
the cluster of bees before condensing
and consequently will take up or dis-
pose of a greater amount of moisture.
Of the different kinds of forest leaves,
I prefer hard maple. Forest leaves
do not harbor or entice mice as do
the other materials. While I have
practised out-door wintering for sev-
eral winters by this method I have
yet to lose the first colony. The
coming winter I shall try loo colo-
nies in that way. Preparing bees for
winter is a plain, simple and easy un-
dertaking. One who understands
wintering can easily tell how to do it
in a few plain and simple statements ;
but for one, who has not years of
experience, to follow the same easy
directions and apply them as cor-
rectly is entirely a different matter.
Bradford, loiva.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

The Winter Problem.— The pat-
rons of the Apicultiirist will be more
than pleased with the contents of the
present number. The authors of the
essays on " Wintering Bees" are men
well known to all our readers. What
they say is not mere theorj', and any
novice or old beekeeper can safely
adopt and put in practise any of the
methods herein given for wintering
bees.

All the writers do not agree as to the
best food for wintering bees, still there
is no serious clashing of ideas and
suggestions.

Professor Cook thinks if bees can
take a flight often in the winter they

will winter successfully, no matter
what the food is. Yes, we have
often so stated, and our experience,
year after year, has demonstrated the
fact. We have always noticed that
when bees had a good cleansing flight
in February they were pretty sure to
go through the winter in fine condi-
tion. This suggests one of the advan-
tages of wintering bees on the summer
stands. Colonies well packed early
in October, and left on the summer
stand, will usually winter well in most
sections.

Mr. Doolittle's idea of standing a
board against the front of the hive is
a good one and one we have practised
for twenty-five years. The board not
only keeps the snow from closing the
entrance to the hive, but keeps out the
light and shades the hive from the sun
late in the winter and thus prevents
the bees from coming out for a flight
when the temperature ig not warm
enough for them to do so with safety.

We are personally acquainted with
Mr. P. R. Russell and know that no
beekeeper has better success in win-
tering bees. Early in May, the last two
years we have purchased bees (about
flfty colonies in all) of Mr. Russell.
We found his hives full of bees and
the combs solid with brood, — a fact
attesting to his method for wintering
bees.

]f any reader of the " Api" loses his
bees in wintering after this, it must be
from carelessness or because he did
not carefully read this number of the
Apiailturist.

The National Convention, which
meets at Indianapolis this mouth,
should take some action regarding the
matter of disposing of surplus honey.
AVe suggest for the consideration of
the meeting that the sum of $5,000 be
collected from the beekeepers through-
out the United States and paid to the
person who will devise some method
for converting honey into sugar simi-
lar to granulated sugar. We believe
it can and will be done, provided a
proper inducement is held out and
a sum suflicient is offered to compen-
sate for the time, trouble and expense
of conducting experiments.

The above sum can be easily raised
from the beekeepers of this country.
Small producers might pay .%1 and
larger ones as high as $5 each. We
respectfully submit the above sugges-
tions to the convention for its consider-
ation.

238

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

The Honey Market.— Detailed re-
ports of the honey market — from all
sections except San Francisco — will be
found oil another page. We intend to
give our readers such reports with
each issue of the ApiculUirist. The re-
ports in most of the papers do not sat-
isfy the producer. They are too brief,
and do not seem to particuhirize suffi-
ciently to make them interesting and
satisfactory, or of any great value to
those who have honey and wax for sale.

We requested dealers to make any
suggestions regarding large or small
packages of honey, and to state the
demands and what is desired in order
to make honey sell more readily and at
better prices. Those who read ihese
reports Avill be posted and ready to
take advantage of the market at any
time.

A New Bee Paper.— Some enter-
prising person has started a new bee
paper, somewhere in Maine. We pity
the poor fellow, as we well know
what a bitter experience he must pass
through before such an enterprise can
even look like success. All that is
needed to keep the paper running sev-
eral years is a fat pocket-book. We
can assure our friend that he 'never
will succeed ; that is, the money invest-
ed and expended in the publication of
a "bee journal" will never return. As
we stated a few months since, the bee-
keeping public will not liberally support
any bee publication; no matter how
ably edited and conducted. When A.
I. Root cannot get and hold 6,000 sub-
scribers out of his 100,000 customers,
other bee journals must take and keep
a back seat so far as success is con-
cerned. Go ahead, put out your money,
some one will be benefited thereby at
your expense ! We hope you will suc-
ceed, but we well know you will not.
Mark the prediction !

"What's in a Name?"— Mr.
Thomas G. Newman, editor of the A.
B. J., complains, and justly too, be-
cause some of the newpapeis devoted
to bee culture use the words or name
"Bee Journal." There may be some
advantage in adopting the name of an
older publication, yet we did not so
view the matter when the " ApicuUu-
rist" was first thought of as we con-
sider ^'Apiciiltitrist" the most appro-
priate name applied to any publication
devoted to beekeeping, and it was one
of Mr. S. M. Locke's most brilliant
thoughts and ideas when he named

his paper " American Apknlturist."

While some of these new papers
have tried to "steal a march" on Mr.
Newman by using the name of his
journal, others (two of them) have
borrowed the word "friend," so grace-
fully and much used by Mr. A. I. Hoot.
As Mr. Root was the first person or
first editor, we migiit say, to use the
word " friend" when writing to his
correspondents and customers, also in
his editorials, we do not see anything '
out of the way, in fact we rather like
it; but when other editors use it so
much and so often in such a "soft-
soapy" way, it is altogether out of
place.

The October Number.— We are

receiving a large nunibei- of calls for
copies of this number. To those who
send us ten cents for a ccpy we will
continue to mail the " Api" one year
on receipt of ninety cents more, Ihus
making it the regular subscription
price lor one year. The present num-
ber is a specimen of what all may ex-
pect to receive during the coming
year.

Every copy of the " Api" will con-
tain information worth more than the
price of one year's subscription to any
beekeeper; when they do not, then we
will discontinue publishing the jour-
nal. Send in your subscription and
renewals and thus invest in an enter-
prise that Will pay you 500 per cent
every year.

Linen Foundation.— We have re-
ceived from Lake Bros., Catonsville,
Maryland, several samples of founda-
tion made on linen cloth. If such a
device will obviate the stretching and
sagging of foundation, the manufactur-
ers of such goods will have all the bus-
iness they can well attend to. We re-
gret that the foundation did not come
to hand several weeks earlier so that
we might have tested it and reported
through the "Api," the result. The
samples were very nice and equal to
any sent to the Ajnculturist oftice this
year.

A Physician says: " When a tea-
spoonful of warm honey is taken every
fifteen, twenty or thirty minutes, it
has a surprising efl'ect on catarrh. Ev-
ery family should have a glass of pure
honey in the house in order after
catching cold, to be able to use some
at once.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

239

Subscriptions and Renewals.—

Every mail brings us more ov less uevv
subscriptions and renewals. To all
such we will send one tested queen
for 50 cents in addition to the one dol-
lar for one year's subscription. If you
do not need a queen, we will send a
copy of the third edition of the Bee-
keepers' Handy Book by mail for 50
cents to any subscriber or on receipt
of 40 cents (.$1.40 in all) the Apicultu-
risi will be sent one year and a sample
of the improved Drone and Queen-trap.
We desire to retain on our list the
names of every subscriber and as an
inducement for all to renew and to
new subscribers a discount of from
twenty-tive to fifty per cent will be
made on any one article found in our list
of supplies. Our price-list of apiarian
supplies will be found in the last pages
of any number of the "Api."

Book of the Dog.— We have re-
ceived from the As.-ociated Fancier's,
237 South Eighth Street, Philadelphia,
a copy of their Dog Buyers' Guide.
It contains a finely executed colored
frontispiece; well-drawn engravings
of nearly every breed of dog, and all
kinds of dog-furnishing goods. We
should judge that the book cost to pro-
duce a great deal more than the price
asked — 15 cents — and would advise all
our readers who are interested in dogs
to send for the book.

and this applies much better to printed
matter than to anything else we know of.

Our Orders— Every order we have

received for queens and other supplies
has been tilled. If any one has ordered
queens or other goods .•aid have not re-
ceived them, they will oblige by notify-
ing us at once, before the supply of
queens gives out. We still have about
150 choice queens on hand, and can fill
a few more onlers if sent in soon.

Discount on Prices of Sup-
plies.—We are prepared to HU orders
for any kind of goods found in our
price list, and a liberal discount will
be made to all customers who will pur-
chase this fall or at any time before
Jan. 1.

Discount 1887 as follows : one dozen
Drone and Queen-traps, one made up
(thirteen in all) $2.75; regular price,
$3.50. Sample, latest improved, by
mail, 50 cents; regular price, G5 ; or
Trap and Apiculturist, one year, .$1.35.

Queen-nursery, 18 cages, which Mr.
Doolittle says is the be^st he has seen,
by mail, .$1.25; regular price, $1.G0.

We intend to sell goods very cheap
from now until Jan. 1, 1887, and a most
liberal discount will be made on all
goods except the Bay State Reversible
Hive; the price for that is as low as
we can place it.

Questions and Answers, Letter
Box and Notes from the Bay State
Apiary are crowded out this number
in order to make room for all the es-
says on "Wintering Bees." We
have a large number of Questions and
mutter for the Letter Box all of which
will ri^ceive due attention in later num-
bers.

The Apiculturist will be discon-
tinued at the expiration of the time it
is jKiid for, unless we are requested to
continue it. If any subscriber is not
prepared to renew at once, we will
send the "Api," provided you notify
us tliatyou desire the papercontinued.
Subscriptions may commence with any
number.

A Correction : Mr. Doolittle says
our "typo" made him say one- inch wide
frames, when he said or meant to have
said two-inoh wide frames. We find
that the "typo" made a blunder in Mr.
Jones' letter to Mr. D. by transposing
the words in the third line thus destroy-
ing the sense. There is nothing perfect

late-CtAthered honey.

QUKSTIONS BY THE EDITOR.

1. Sometimes during a wet fall the
bees gather honey that is very thin and
Avatery and unlit for winter stores.
Where this is the case, what should be
done ?

2. We will suppose it is as late as
September 10 and the combs are full of
unripe honey. Now, knowing that this
honey will not properly ripen or be
capped owing to the lateness of the
season, would you advise removing it
with the extractor and immediately
feeding the bees with wholesome
sugar-syrnp or pure honey?

3. Have you ever fed bees late in the
fall? What Avas the result? Do colo-
nies fed late, say as late as October,
winter well?

4. Have you not found that uncapped
honey sours and rims out of the cells
long before the bees can fly in the
spring? and is not a colony pretty cer-
tain to be ruined under such circum-
stances?

240

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

ANSWERS BY G. W. DAYTON.

I. When I prepare the colonies
for winter it is an extreme case where
I leave more than six combs in the
hive ; four and one-half is near the
average. When there is much thni
and uncapped honey contained in
the combs I take out the side ones
. and put full combs of capped honey
in their places, leaving two or three
-of the combs of thin honey in the
■ centre which will usually be consumed
.before winter sets in ; or, being in the
centre of the cluster, will be evapora-
ted and ripened. If I had no combs
. of capped honey (reserved from white
clover or basswood) I would crowd
.the colony upon as few combs (per-
haps two or three) as possible, and
cause the bees to carry the honey
■from the extra combs by placing them
behind division- boards, until the two
or three were solidly filled. Managed
in this way and in season, honey is
scarce that will not become whole-
some for winter stores ; and being
covered and protected by bees, it
. cannot gather moisture to cause it to
so;ur and run out of the cells.

2. The above will usually hold
good as late as Oct. 15. Last year
the bees could have ripened honey
as late as Nov. 10, but the year be-
fore not later than Oct. 10, so a great
deal will depend upon the season and
weather and must be left to the judg-
ment of the apiarist.

I deem capped honey as but a
step better than uncapped honey.
With pure stores and the right and
sensible protection for a normal colo-
ny, success is certain. When their
stores are unwholesome, they should
be furnished with something that is
wholesome. In the case of a strong
colony, I should feed honey and to
a small colony thick sugar syrup with
few combs in the hive.

'd. Have fed bees within five or
ten days of cellaring, or the setting
in of winter, almost by the himdred
colonies, and where the other con-

ditions were favorable the bees win-
tered well, and where the other
conditions were unfavorable the re-
sults were of disaster.

I have known 7fia?iy very late-fed
colonies having uncapped honey to
winter "tip-top."

4. When uncapped honey is scat-
tered about in many combs it is ex-
posed to moisture and generally
sours ; capped honey sometimes does
the same, but neither kind of honey
will do so if it is in a dry place or
near enough to a chister of bees.
For this reason a cellar should be dry
to prevent the accumulation of moist-
ure, and the hive should be con-
tracted and ventilated to avoid the
presence of moisture.

If I had no wholesome honey then
I would feed sugar.

5. Yes, but such circumstances
may be avoided by proper prepara-
tion for winter as given above. The
harvesting and marketing of the early
honey with the expectation of a fall
flow for winter stores is comparable
to "counting chickens before they
hatch ;" and the one who leaves his
colonies until it is too late for the
bees to move and ripen honey before
preparing them for winter was not
cut out for an apiarist and can get
honey cheaper by sawing wood and
digging potatoes than he can by dab-
bling with bees.

To feed and prepare a colony for
successful wintering under the condi-
tions mentioned requires much expe-
rience.

For the American Apiculturist.

BEEKEEPING FOR WOMEN.

Mus. Sally E. Sherman.

There are several reasons why
more women should engage in bee-
keeping than are now following that
vocation. In the first place they
could by this means furnish their
own tables with that purest of all
sweets, honey, which is undoubtedly

THE AMERICA]^ APICULTURIST.

241

one of the most healthful articles of
diet that man can eat, as well as one of
the most palatable. It should no
longer be considered a luxury but a
necessary article or food daily upon
everyone's table in this broad land
of ours. While out in the open air
and bright sunshine attending to the
bees, you would almost without
knowing it grow stronger and really
enjoy life better than being in-doors
so much, stooping over the sewing
machine, doing so much unneces-
sary work. You can learn a great
deal by watching the ever-busy little
workers who so soon wear their lives
out by incessant toil and give place
to others whose lives are spent in the
same way. To be successful we
should familiarize ourselves with the
flowers of our locality : the time
they begin to bloom and their dura-
tion. We should make a note of
this for several years and keep it for
future reference. There is great dif-
ference in the time the same plant
blooms in different locations. I no-
tice reports in the Bee Journal from
different parties who state that su-
mach bloomed in June and July.
With us here in middle Texas, it is
the first of August before it blooms.
Methinks I hear some sister say, "Oh !
I should tan so if I were to work with
bees, I should have to be out of the
house so much that I should hardly
be fit to go out into company." I'll
tell you that you would feel so much
stronger and more independent too,
that you would not think that a valid
excuse after a few years in the busi-
ness, and I don't believe that you
would willingly give it up. Mind, I
don't say for every woman to under-
take it, for all are not adapted to it
and would not succeed. You must
have pluck and perseverance and de-
termine to make a success of it at all
hazards. If you fail once or twice
try again. Don't wait until your bees
get to swarming before you study
your text book or have a hive made,
but always try to be prepared for

any emergency that may arise. Do
not be discouraged if an occasional
poor season comes, for come it will
in almost every line of business in
which we can engage at some time.
By all means have an observatory
hive and watch it closely. It is a
thermometer to your apiary. Mine
has been worth many times what it
cost, to say nothing of the great
pleasure it has afforded me. I know
exactly how everything is managed
inside the large hive. This I have
learned by watching the bees in my
observatory. I don't know anything
that will pay better for the outlay
that a woman can engage in, that is
dependent upon her own resources
for a living than beekeeping. If you
cannot always sell your honey for the
cash, you can, -or at least I can, bar-
ter it off for bacon, lard, corn, wood,
cotton-seed for feed for cows, or for
work for which I would have to pay
the cash : so it really answers my
purpose just the same as cash. By
this exchange many persons eat hon-
ey who would not if they had to pay
the cash for it. I reaHzed from my
fifty-eight colonies of bees last year
$300. This yearsofar.Aug. 18, 1886,
only ^52.50. We have not had a
good rain since Easter Sunday,
April 25. I have now sixty colonies
and hope to get them all pure Italian
this season. If I succeed I shall try
and be satisfied. I explained in my
last article in the "Api" the cause of
failure in the honey crop in this por-
tion of Texas. I have no idea of
giving up the bee business on account
of this year's failure, for it has cer-
tainly been a very remarkable season,
and I hope that it will not be re-
peated in many years. I have learned
a good deal this year and hope to
learn still more before the season
closes that will be of use to me in
after years. I would recommend
the Italian bees. They are far supe-
rior to the common native or black
bee. I think that I am safe in saying
that fully one-third of the native iDees

242

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

in this part of Texas have died this
year from sheer starvation, while what
few Italians that are here have yield-
ed some little surplus with enough
still in their hives to winter on while
the blacks are still starving. A few
such seasons as this and there would
be no native bees left in this country.
Sahido, Bell Co., Texas.

THE NORTH AMEBIC AN BEE-
KEEPERS' SOCIETY.

The society will hold its seventeenth
annual convention October 12, 13 and
14, 1886, at Indiiinapolis, Ind The
meeting will be held in Pl'afflin's Music
Hall, 82 and 84 Norih Pennsylvania
street; one of the most pleasantly sit-
uated halls in the city, with good
ventilation and plenty of light. The
society's headquarters will be at the
Occidental Hotel, corner of Washing-
ton and Illinois streets, in the heart of
the city and but a short distance from
the hall. The regular rates of this
hotel are $3.00 per day. Special rates
for those in attendance at the conven-
tion will be $1.50 per day.

The Northwestern Beekeepers' So-
ciety, the Indiana State, the Eastern
Indiana, with various county and joint
societies will meet in union with the
North American Society, making it
one of the most favorable meetings of
beekeepers ever held in the country.
Everything possible will be done to
make" the meeting pleasant and enter-
taining. An earnest, cordial invitation
is extended to all.

IflRST DAY — TUESDAY.

Forenoon session, 10 o'clock. — Con-
vention called to order. Address of
Welcome by Gov. I. P. Gray. Response
by the president, H. D. Cutting. Wel-
come to the city, mayor Caleb S. Den-
ny. Thanks, Dr. C. C. Miller, presi-
dent of the N. W. Society. Calling
the roll of members of last ye^r.
Payment of annual dues. Reception
of new members and distribution of
badges, reports of secretary and treas-
urer. Announcements.

Afternoon session, 2 o'clock. — Spe-
cial business. — Annual address of the
president; "Bee Studies," Prof. A. J.
Cook, Agricultural College, Michigan;

" Apicultural Journalism," John As-
pinwall, Barrytown, N. Y, ; "Bee Lit-
erature," Thomas G. Newman, Chica-
go, III; "The ("oming Bee: What
Encouragement have we to Work lor
her Advent?" R. L. Taylor, Lapeer,
Mich. Subject for discussion, "Has
Apis Americana been reached?"

Evening session, 7.80 o'clock. — An-
nouncements. Miscellaneous business.
Discussion of questions that may have
accumulated during the day.

SECOND DAY — WEDNESDAY.

Morning session, 9 o'clock. — An-
nouncements. Communications. Call
of N. W. Society to elect officers.
Election of officers of Indiana State
Society. Call to order. "Rendering
Comb into Beeswax," C. P. Dadant,
Hamilton, 111.; "Foul Brood," A. J.
King, NewYork. Selection of place for
hohiing meeting in 1887. Election of
officers.

Afternoon session, 2 o'clock. — An-
nouncements. Miscellaneous business.
"Beekeeping and Apiculture," Prof.
N. W. McLain, U. S. Apicultural Sta-
tion, Aurora; "Feeding Bees for Win-
ter," Jos. McNeill, Hudson, N. Y. ;
"Wintering," Dr. B. Mason, AVagon
Work, Ohio. Subjects for discussion,
"Is tlie Use of Foundation necessary
in Modem Bee Culture?" " Are Per-
forated Honey Boards a Success?"
Unassigned papers.

Evening session, 7.30 o'clock. — An-
nouncements. Miscellaneous business.
Discussion of questions in question
box. Social comumnications.

THIRD DAY — THURSDAY.

Morning session, 9 o'clock.— An-
nouncements. Miscellaneous business.
Communications. "A Talk on Hives,"
James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. ; "Re-
versible Hives and Frames," J. E.
Pond, jr., North Attieboro, Mass.;
" Drones and Drone Comb," W. Z.
Hutchinson, Rogersville, Mich.; Re-
ports of vice-presidents ; "Progress
of Beekeeping in Indiana," Jonas
SchoU, Lyons Station, Ind.

Afternoon session, 2 o'clock. — An-
nouncements. Miscellaneous business.
Explanation of various articles on ex-
hibition. Many good things are yet to
be added to the program not suffi-
ciently developed to give.

Frank L. Dougherty, Sec'y.

THE AMERICAN AFICULTURIST.

243

THE HONEY MARKET.

LATEST QUOTATIONS, SUGGESTIONS, ETC.

NEW YORK.

The honey market has fairly opened
up, and the supply seems at present
sllirhtly in excess of the demand, as
lar.ice buyers have not yet placed their
orders. We have many inquiries for
round lots, and are confidently looking
forward to a good fall trade.

Strictly fancy comb honey will com-
mand good prices, as we tind a large
proportion of New York state goods
are badly colored yellow, which will
make a great deal of second grade
honey. The feeling and tone of the
market seems much improved in the
past two weeks. One-pound sections
sell more readily than two and com-
mand from two to three cents per lb.
more.

Extracted, in kegs and h bbls. seem
most desirable packages for state
goods.

Califoruia Ex. is nearly all packed
in five gallon cans, two cans in a case,
and is growing more in favor every
year.

The following are our present quota-
tions :
Fancy White 1-lb. sections, clean and

neat packages 15 and 16 cts.

Fancy White 2-lb. sections, clean and

neat packages 12 and 13 cts.

Fair to good 1-lb. sections, clean and

neat packages 12 and 14 cts.

Fair to good 2-Ib." sections, clean and

neat packages 10 and 11 cts.
Fancy Buckwheat 1-lb. section, clean

and neat packages 11 and 12 cts.
Fancy Buckwheat 2-lb. sections, clean

and neat packages 9 and 10 cts.
White Clover Ex. in kegs

and !^-bbls. 6^ and 7 cts.

California Ex. in 60 lb.

Tin Cans 5 and 6 cts.

California Comb Honey 10 to 12 cts.
Prime Yellow and Beeswax 22 to2-tcts.

McCaul, Hildrkth Bros.,
34 Hudson St.

CINCINNATI.

The market for honey is very tame.
Demand from manufacturers is slow,
and there is only a fair trade in new
comb honey and extracted honey in
square glass jars. Extracted honey
brings 3^ to 7 cts. a lb. on arrival.
Comb honey 12 to 14 cts., for good to
choice in the jobbing way. Prices

are low for all produce and no spec-
ulative feeling is noticed anywhere.
Unless better prices are realized for
other produce, prices of honey are not
likely to advance.

Beeswax is in aood demand and ar-
rivals are fair. We pay 20 cts. a lb.
for good yellow.

CiiAS. F. Muth & Son.

Cincinnati, Sept. 2, 1886.

CHICAGO.

Honey market is a little more active
than it has been; best one-pound sec-
tions bringing 12 to 13 cts. per pound.
Two-pound sections or al)out, 10 to 11
cts. the supply fully equal to the de-
mand. Extracted, six to seven cents
in kegs and barrels ; and seven cents in
cans 5 to 20 and 60 lbs. The small
sized frame of comb-honey has the
preference over large to tiie amount of
eighty per cent in demand. With ex-
tracted, the trade is al)Out equally di-
vided, some will pay more for it in
barrels than in small packages. Bees-
wax, choice grades 25 cts. per pound.
R. A. Burnett.

BOSTON.
We liave received quite a supply of
one and two-pound sections of Ver-
mont honey and we are selling the
one-pound at 14 and 15 cts., and the
two-pound at 13 and 14 cts. Extracted,
CaliToruia, 7 to 8 cts. With proper
handling we feel sure that the market
will improve, as there is not over one-
half a crop in Vermont and not over
one-third a crop in New York. In ref-
erence to one or two-pound sections
selling tlie best, we would say that
one-pound combs sell the best, but
some trade demands the two-pound
combs. Extracted honey sells as well
in live gallon cans as in any package
we have had.

Blake & Ripley.

CLEVELAND.

Honey. — The market for honey has
been quite dull of late, owing no doubt
to the great quantity of choice fruit
and its low prices. There is no mate-
rial change in prices and soon as the
demand springs up it will probably
start as follows :

Choice Wliite Comb in Mb. un-
glassed sections 14 cts., very fancy in
same style 15 cts.; second quality 12
to 13 cts. Old, of which there is a
small amount, 9 to 10 cts.

2-lb. sections are vei'y slow indeed,

244

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

in fact will not sell in this market if
1-lb. can be obtained ; the same is true
of glazed 1-lb. sections however good,
and the prices for these classes are
noniiiuilly 10 to 12 cts.

It seems strange, but it is true tliat
extracted honey can hardly be sold in
our mari^et in any shape or at any
price. We usually quote it, but there is
neither supply nor demand except a
little for medicinal use at 5 to 7 cts.
per lb.

Beeswax scarce at 25 cts.

A. C. Kendel.

ST. LOUIS.

In reply to yours of the 9th inst. we
quote : choice cotnb honey 12 cts. ; lat-
ter, for choice white clover in 1-lb.
sections. Extracted in bbls. 3 & 4 cts.
Extra choice of bright color in 1-lb.
packages, 3^ to 4^ cts.
Extracted in bbls. 4i and 5^ cts.
" ," cans, 6 and 7 cts.

The market is very dull at present,
the supply being in excess of the de-
mand.

We look for higher prices, as all our
correspondents report short crops this
year.

One-pound sections of comb honey
sell more readily here than any other
size. Extracted and strained honey in
bbls. are tlie the most desirable pack-
ages for sale in this section.

D. G. TuTT & Co.

MILWAUKEE.

Eeplying to your favor will say that

at this time White Comb one-pound

sections is 12 at 13 cents. White Comb

two-pound sections 11 and 12 cents.

Ex. honey, wh., kegs & ibbls. 6 to 6^.

" " " tin cans Qh to 7.

" dk. kegs & h bbls. 5^ to 6.

" " " bbls. 5 to 5i.

The supply seems ample in this coun-
try for all demands. The proiluction
this season large and of very pure qual-
ity. Dealers prefer one-pound packages
or sections above any other size. Unless
honey was worth 25 cents per pound,
think it will sell best, because at a mod-
erate value any one can afl'ord to pay
for one pound of anything so siceet.

Think prices will not change very
much here, from present quotations.
A. V. Bishop.

KANSAS CITY.
Honey of all grades and kinds are
plenty ; or enough for the demand.
The demand with us Is good. We get

all the California 2-pound comb we want
selling from 9 to 12 cents a pound. 1
pound frame white clover 13 to 14 cents,
dark 10 to 12. One half pound frame
hard to sell at 14 cents. One pound
frames sell tlie best of any honey al-
though 2-pound California at the low
price sell well, one-half pound frames
go slow. Extracted sells best in fifty
and sixty pound tin cans. We are sel-
ling extracted white clover 6i to 7i
cents. Dark 5 to 5^. White sage 5^
cents.

This crop is large in this part of the
country but will all be sold. We have
already sold about seven cans of houey,
and trade is not fairly started.
Yours truly,
Clemons, Cloon & Co.

BELL BRANCH, MICH.

The honey market has been very
good for this season of the year, and
until quite recently the demand has
been in excess of the supply, but comb
honey has come in more freely of late
and quite a supply is held by commis-
sion men ; and in looking over the mar-
ket yesterday find prices somewhat
lower. Extracted honey has never been
sold very extensively in this market,
small packages selling the best, barrel
lots almost unsalable. What I handle
I prefer in five gallon tin cans.

Best white comb honey in lib. sec-
tions, 13 cts. ; larger sections slower
sale and less price. I get 10 cents for
white extracted in small packages ; lar-
ger kegs and bbls. sell much cheaper
and can be bought for 7 cts., packages
thrown in.

W. H. IIuxT.

New Pliiladelpliia, 0. July 15, 1886.
Ed. Amer. Apiculturist.

The lioiie}' crop of this section
will be the hirgest that we have
ever had, although many let their
bees swarm from two to five times
for increase and of course got lit-
tle surplus, except from the prime
swarm. But first swarms, coming
before the tenth of June, have made
an average of 50 pounds suri)lus
and some as high as 100 pounds.
Honey sells in our market now at
16 cents for best comb in 1 pound
sections.

Yours truly,

Dr. G. L. Tinker.

The American Apicultiirist.

% Journal bebottb ia jjradiral ^wlutping.

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WICNHAM, AS SECOND-CLASS IMATTEIl.

Published Monthly. Henry Alley, Manager.

VOL. IV.

WENHAM, MASS., NOV. i, 1886.

No. II.

For the American Apiculturist.

WINTERING AND DIAR-
RHCEA.

C. H. Dayton.

Having received a dozen letters
asking questions concerning my meth-
od of out-door wintering, as given in
the October number of the "x\m.
Api," I will again try to make my-
self understood \ and as this method
is applied just before the setting in of
winter, perhaps it would not be out
of season in the November number.
Some of the questions are like these :
Is the method cheap and safe ? Do
the leaves not become wet and
mouldy and then freeze solidly clear
through ? How large is the aperture
in the earth above the hive ? How
thick should the leaves be ? How early
do I remove the dirt and leaves in the
spring? Does it render the bee yard
uneven and untidy ?

As I have said before, all there is
of this method of wintering is to
first cover the hives with leaves and
then with earth. Provide them with
a tube of some kind leading from
the entrance to the outside air, then
leave the aperture at the top and the
job is done, [t does not require one
cent of money. I know of no meth-
od as safe, and I am sure nothing
could be cheaper. Some ask where
I get so many leaves? The place
where every apiary should be located
is on the south and east side of heavy
timber ; this alone I believe will often
bring success in the place of failure.

If we are to continue in apicul-

ture, the aim should be the highest
success, and that cannot be attained
without taking every possible advan-
tage, and a heavily timbered wind
break I consider second to no other.
The reader will imagine where I get
the leaves.

That the leaves may not get wet,
etc., I choose a dry time, just at the
approach of cold weather, for doing
this work ; at a time when the leaves
and earth both are dry. As the
aperture, at the top, exposing the
leaves, is about eight inches in di-
ameter, it will be well protected by
inverting a hive cap over it. Earth
thrown up in the shape of a mound
always sheds water.

Other suggestions might be given
as setting the hive on a rim of wood
to raise the combs up from the bot-
tom-board to prevent the clogging of
the combs with dead bees. Division
boards at the sides of the combs
may be used ; and a small board or
sticks, leaned against the front and
back sides of the hive opposite the
cluster before the leaves are placed
around, would make the certainty a
little more absolute.

This method comprises all the
good points there are in both cellar
and out- door wintering, and some-
thing fit to cling to not possessed
by either. The packing should re-
main until settled warm weather.

Prepared for winter in this way, I
have known colonies to remain in an
unbroken cluster from Nov. 11 to
May 2, and then show the best of
health. I have experimented by
covering the leaves entirely with
earth, so as to make it air tight and

(245)

246

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

it killed the bees for me in nearly
every instance. When I provide
ventilation I always have healthy
•colonies.

This difference in the conditions of
the brood-chambers was that one
-came out dry and clean, while the
other was damp and mouldy. In
one case the bees had the diarrhcea
and died, while the other remained
an example of industry and neat-
ness. Both had honey and pollen.

In the consideration of the above
conditions, the promulgators of the
" pollen theory" insist that when the
bees have diarrhcea it is because they
consume pollen, and when they do
not have diarrhoea they do not con-
sume pollen. That is their whole
argument in a "nut shell." We find
by experiment, that while pollen ac-
companies all of the colonies, only
those that have proper ventilation
remain healthy.

Our authority says the bees con-
sume pollen (nitrogen) to maintain
temperature, temperature that is be-
ing taken away by the ventilation.
Yet the fact stares us in the face that
ventilation (which means a dry
brood-chamber) is life, and no ven-
tilation is death to the bees.

This shows that ventilation and
the pollen theory cannot live to-
gether, nor the bees live upon natu-
ral stores without ventilation, so I
have concluded to save the bees and
let the pollen theory do the dying.

I think it is quite admissible that a
colony without pollen and having
sugar syrup for stores is more apt to
winter well, and the reason for it
comes about in this wise :

Every thorough apiarist knows
that the warm air, that is continually
escaping from a cluster of bees,
sooner or later meets air of a lower
temperature and immediately con-
denses to vapor which rests upon
the hive or combs below, at the side,
or directly above the cluster of bees.
If the condensation takes place
above the cluster, it will soon run

down among the bees, or, if it is at
the side, it may be close enough for
their displeasure.

Now, where the colonies have nat-
ural stores, their expectation is to
maintain a clean and dry brood-nest
in order that it may be a fit place for
the rearing of brood ; and when this
water comes into close proximity to
it they remove it by taking it into
their stomachs, where it is retained
with the expectations of a flight. As
time wears away and the chance for
a flight does not occur, the water
with what else the stomach may con-
tain passes on as a watery, souring,
and half-digested mess into the intes-
tines. When they have no pollen
and exclusive sugar stores, they have
no cares, and if they were deluged
with water none of it would be
sipped from the combs.

This is the extent to which pollen
is the cause of diarrhoea. It is
claimed that the excreta of the di-
arrhoetic bees is replete with pollen
and solid matter, and that the dis-
ease is due to the accumulation of
fcecal matter.

A thorough understanding of the
disease verifies that it is due to the
nature of the accumulations, as the
bees that soil their hives the most
contain the least solid matter and are
seldom the most distended. Bees
that consume food containing much
refuse substance may accumulate
much fascal matter in a compara-
tively dry state of a solid nature, and
the disorder bear the description of
constipation. But bees of this kind
with abdomens ever so distended do
not evacuate until they fly in the
open air. If the distention is more
than they are able to bear they die
outright. When the bees are badly
afflicted with diarrhoea they do not
even wait until there is an accumu-
lation, but begin early to befoul the
hive and combs. I believe the re-
pletion of the excreta with pollen
and other matter was not held up as
a constituent for the defence of the

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

247

" pollen theory" until " force of
arms" compelled its acceptance and
occupancy.

Bradford, Iowa.

For the American Apiculturist.

HOW I HAVE BEEN THE

MOST SUCCESSEUL IN

WINTERING BEES.

G. H. MARTIN.

My bees are wintered, about half
of them, out doors upon the summer
stands, and the other half in a> cellar
built especially for the purpose.

I commence preparations for win-
tering in June. When extracting, I
usually leave two or three frames of
sealed clover or basswood honey in
the upper story until needed in the
fall. If I was sure of a yield of
honey in August, this precaution
would perhaps be unnecessary, but
my locality yields but little dark
honey, and even when I get a yield
I prefer to use the early gathered
honey for wintering, for I never get
a poor quality of honey in June and
July, but it does come in August and
September.

Our bees wintered upon the summer
stands are packed with chaff perma-
nently around the brood-nest. In
October^ I take off all surplus ar-
rangements and substitute a case
that will hold a bushel of chaff over
the cluster. The brood chamber
contains nine frames. In September
I reduce these to eight, weeding out
empty combs and combs filled with
pollen ; and the three frames of early
honey, previously mentioned, are
placed below ; an arrangement sim-
ilar to the Hill device is placed over
the frames, then burlap and chaff or
forest leaves, and over all a good
layer of sawdust. The entrance is
contracted ; and, as many times an

ordinary entrance gets clogged with
dead bees or ice, I provide a safety
entrance about two-thirds of the way
up the front of the hive, by boring a
five-eighth inch hole. I think this
hole a great institution. I have win-
tered with and without it, and found
where this entrance was used, the
bees invariably came out better than
those not provided. Of one hun-
dred and twelve colonies wintered
in that way last winter, one hundred
and eight came to flowers in good
order.

The only difference I shall make
during the coming winter is to u,se
for packing upon a portion of the
hives, waste from a woolen factory.
The cellar in which I winter is
built partly underground and is a
part of our bee and honey house ;
the room is 12 X 18, and I winter
over one hundred swarms in it. It
is thoroughly ventilated, and has a
sub-earth ventilator of seventy feet
in length and four feet deep. Ow-
ing, perhaps, to insufficient draft out
of the cellar, the sub-earth ventila-
tion has not amounted to much. To
have effect, I think, it must be deep
and long, and then a good draft up-
wards to make it work. I have come
to the conclusion that it is cheaper
to keep a coal fire in an ante-room
during the most severe weather. The
temperature must not get below 45°,
it is better to run it up than to let it
get low. I would say that 40° is a
danger point in cellar wintering. I
prepare my bees for the cellar in the
same way I do for wintering out
doors, with the exception of leaving
off the Hill device. The hives are
placed upon shelves. I am not par-
ticular about removing pollen, but
prefer not to have a great amount.
I disturb the bees as little as possible
after the honey flow and get theiT\
ready for winter as early as possible,
After setting in the cellar, I throw
over them old carpets, etc. The
cellar is dry, and I have good success
when food and temperature are made

248

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

the main point in the preparation
and practice. I also want plenty of
b-^es; though I have wintered three
frame nuclei, it does not pay to nurse
them. I attribute my success in win-
tering to good food ; plenty of bees,
which signifies a good queen ; a good
hive, and an even temperature.

Feeding to breed young bees in
the fall is not necessary. I have
had swarms winter well that did not
raise a young bee after August ist.
I look with disfavor upon sugar feed-
ing. I shall stick to natural stores
until I cannot winter bees upon it ;
then, and not till then, I shall try
sugar.

Hartford, N. K, Sept 23, 1886.

For the American Apiculturist.

THE PRODUCTION OF
FANCY COMB HONEY.

W. M. WOODWARD.

In all my work in the apiary, it is
my aim to produce a first-class arti-
cle, at the least cost of time, labor
and money. All my fixtures are made
with the above in view, and of
course hives and everything so con-
structed as to be interchangeable as
far as consistent with the use they
are to be put to in general. As to
surplus arrangement for comb hon-
ey, after many trials I have found no
surplus case in all respects equal to
Heddon's (as used on his L. hives)
but with the divisions flush with the
sections, leaving a :|-inch bee-space
on the top. I believe this case is by
far the strongest and most durable
case in use, and is the cheapest in
the end.

Nothing need be said of sections,
except the thinner, stronger and
nicer, the better. As to foundation,
I make my own, and dip but once as

light as possible for surplus honey,
and run the rnill pretty close, so that
usually the bees add some wax to
the septum. I aim not so much to
furnish wax as to furnish a " founda-
tion" for their comb.

I have experimented much to find
a method of operation mvolving the
least amount of time and labor on
my part and also for the bees, con-
sistent with the largest and best re-
sults. As a result, I have found
that full sheets of foundations, in
both frames and sections, have
doubled my crop of honey from year
to year. In the brood-chamber I
use full sheets on wired frames, and
with a narrow bottom-bar attached
at on% side of the centre and wired
through a corner diagonally to the
bar, and foundation attached at the
bottom to the side of the bar. This
gives the best result. You see I
want to do my work at once for all
and know that all is always right
without continual watching.

So, when I put a case on a hive
for comb honey, I want to know that
the bees are going to do their work
right, if they work at all. For this
purpose I use a full sheet of founda-
tion cut as large, horizontally, as will
fit in, and the other way, two rows of
cells longer than the inside of the
section and attached at both top atid
bottom. This is the only plan by
which I have been able to "attain
unto perfection" even when using
separators as I should alwajs do. I
have tried "reversing," but usually
I find some sections past and others
not yet up to the point of advance-
ment at which it is safe and profita-
ble to reverse. Another objection
is that at best the bees seldom fill
the section out perfectly at the cor-
ners, and unsightly holes are left as
bee passage ways. In fact, the
cheapest, best and only perfect way
to reverse sections is to reverse
them on the foundation fastener and
place them between separators and
give the bees "their own sweet will."

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

249

To do a good job, the foundation
must be set in a very warm room and
warmed to that point in which it
loses all sense of hardness to the
touch, but has not yet become ten-
der. It can be best and most com-
fortably done in the bright sunshine,
and with a little experience is evenly
and quickly done with a Parker fast-
ener made to just fit the inside of
the section, so as to fasten a whole
end at one stroke. This must be
done, as any after-tinkering with it
will spoil the work, even if done
with the greatest care. This method
has, the past season, with me, pro-
duced ninety per cent of my honey,
well-filled down and well-filled out
at the corners of the sections, so that
where separators were used it would
be hard to tell by the comb which was
top or bottom.

Custer, III., Oct. g, 1886.

MY REPORT.

The honey crop here has been a
prolonged and tedious one, and the
honey seemingly gathered with a
great amount of labor to both bees and
keeper. All in all, I have obtained
a very fair crop for this locality, the
best I have ever heard of here : 190
pounds of comb honey in i-lb. sec-
tions, 1,400 pounds of comb and
about 300 pounds of extracted, from
partially filled sections, etc. Have
increased my bees from 17 to 54,
and all are in fair to good condition
for winter.

Custer, III.

For the American ApicuUurist.

SHIPPING BEES A LONG
DISTANCE.

E. R. Hakuy.

The information which you de-
sire relative to the result of the
shipment of my bees, I will endeavor
to give in as few words as possible,

as I much prefer the work of the
apiary to that of a contributor. That
your readers may know the facts of
the case I will say on the start that
they were shipped from New Smyrna,
Fla., to Jacksonville, via schooner ;
thence to Charleston by steamer and
there transferred to New York by
steamer ; arriving in New York, they
were transferred again on board a
Lake Champlain canal boat to Lan-
singburgh, N. Y., the whole distance
being some 1,275 iiiiles and occupy-
ing thirteen and one-half days en
route. Of the 49 colonies shipped,
48 arrived in safety with their queens
a:nd an average of 65 per cent of the
bees shipped; the losses being as
follows : out of 22, lost 50 per cent ;
of 8, lost 40 per cent; and of 18,
lost 25 per cent. My greatest losses
were with the strongest colonies,
having no room allowed them to ex-
ercise ; while others equally strong,
with room to fly, lost comparatively
few bees.

My smallest losses were among the
black bees and those which showed
but little trace of Italian blood;
other conditions were the same. It
will be noted that in my averages I
do not consider the one whose bees
are all gone ; the reason for this is
tliat they starved and therefore have
no bearing on the matter of ship-
ment. At the time of shipment
(May 15) they were of course con-
siderably stronger than ours here, and
even after arrival were stronger in
numbers than any in this section ;
but as there was not a vestige of
brood in any hive they were behind
at the end of twenty-one days.

My method of preparation was
this : to first see that they had the
necessary amount of honey stores ;
then to place in each hive a comb
filled with water, after which the
cover was removed and the whole
top of the hive covered with wire
cloth ; over this cloth was nailed
strips of |-board, and the cover in-
verted and nailed to these strips to

250

THE A3fEBICAN APICULTURIST.

prevent injury to the cloth ; then to
simply cover the entrances with the
cloth. These as I then thought
were all that were needed, viz.,
honey, water and plenty of air ; but
you note that my experience in this
proved another equally important
preparation, — room for exercise, —
and this was given in the cases that
proved this fact by their having room
between the frames and the wire
covering to fly at will.

It has been often asked me if I
thought it advisable to ship bees
from southern Florida to the north
early in the spring, in order that one
may get an early start here, and
while I think we might profit by
adopting a method of strengthening
our winter stock with young bees, if
it be done at the proper time and
under the best condition, yet as they
begin their brood-rearing very ac-
tively in February and keep the same
up until the time when, if shipped
here it would be necessary to have
them sent, it is evident that it is only
the most prolific queen that can keep
up this necessary work through the
season that we should require them
to be doing their best.

I think, however, that queen-
rearers might through the proper
means be able to furnish queens
considerably earlier than they are
doing at a very little expense, iDut of
this I must ask your readers to either
try it themselves or wait upon the
result of my own experiments in this
direction.

Laiisingbitrgh, N. V.

For the American Apiculturist.

ADULTERATED BONEY.

C. M. GOODSPEED.

PROF. Wiley's report criticised.
In the report of the Commission
of Agriculture for the year 1885, in
the chemists' report (pages no and

in), will be found a classified anal-
ysis of forty-three samples of honey
from different parts of the union.
Out of the forty-three samples, twenty-
eight are classed as adulterations,
viz. : seven samples " adulterated
with starch sirup ;" four "apparently
adulterated with sucrose," and sev-
enteen samples " apparently adulter-
ated with inverted sucrose." This
is what our government chemist,
H. W. Wiley, says, in his report to
the Committee of Agriculture, which
report has been printed and scattered
among the most influential classes,
to the enormous extent of 310,000
copies. Can you wonder that people
suspect adulteration, especially when
it can so easily be accomplished as
in extracted honey. But nine of
these twenty-eight adulterated sam-
ples are denominated comb honey
in the report. Friends, this is a bad
showing ; if it be true, it cannot do
otherwise than hurt our industry.
Coming from the source it does, it
will be held by many as being true
beyond a shadow of a doubt. But
to my mind there are chances for
mistakes. May not different flora
produce honey with its constituent
parts varying largely? In other
words let me ask. Will an analysis al-
ways tell when honey is adulterated ?
It doesn't seem possible that twenty-
eight out of forty-three of our bee-
keepers would adulterate their honey
and I don't believe they do either.
There must be a mistake somewhere.
I think if friend Wiley's attention
were called to the matter, he could
give us some light on the subject.
In a note apart from the tables, he
allows us to think he has a doubt
about the adulteration of some sam-
ples he has classed in the tables as
" apparently adulterated," etc. Now
if those twenty-eight samples were
adulterated (beyond a doubt), it is
time for beekeepers to take the mat-
ter in hand in dead earnest. Or
even the seven samples which he says
without "ifs or ands," were "adulter-

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

251

ated with starch sirup" demands
our attention and investigation.

Nearly one-sixth of all the samples
declared adulterated by the Govern-
ment Chemist, and of all the remain-
ing samples not classed positively as
adulteration, §| are classed as " ap-
parently adulterated."

This ought to be followed up and
every person adulterating honey (or
anything else) smartly dealt with.

Thorn Hill, N. ¥., Sept. 6, 1886.

NOTES FROM THE BAY
STATE APIARY.

The Quinby Bellows Smoker has
been for years the most popular
smoker used and offered for sale, yet
although it has given general satisfac-
tion, it was not perfect. Lately, one
has been in use (though not as orig-
inally made), at the Bay State apiary.
We saw and pointed out certain de-
fects to the manufacturer, and also
wherein this smoker could be made
the best one in the market. The
improvements suggested have been
adopted and now this smoker is as
near perfect as it is possible to make
one. Not only does the improved
smoker work better than the old style,
but it is much less work to manu-
facture it, and the price to beekeep-
ers will be considerably less.

When we used the old style of
smoker, it was necessary in order to
start a smoke to go into the house
for a coal of fire. This was some-
times very inconvenient. All that is
now needed with the improved smoker
is to light a match and apply the
blaze to a small hole at the base of
the barrel and pump away at the bel-
lows, and in less than a quarter of a
minute smoke enough will be made
to break up a town meeting.

I have used other smokers made
somewhat similar to the one in ques-
tion, but they all have more or less

serious defects. One bad fault is the
filling up of the air tube which con-
nects the bellows and the barrel, and
again, the valve which admits the air
to the bellows soon becomes gummy
from smoke which works back and
condenses on the edges of the valve,
thus preventing it from shutting suf-
ficiently tight to prevent the air from
escaping.

FUEL FOR SMOKER ; HOW TO
PREPARE IT.

Whatever is used for fuel in smokers
should be very dry ; in fact, it cannot
be too dry in order to work quickly
and make a good flow of smoke.

We cut up rotten elm-wood spunk
in small pieces, and fill a large baking
pan, and place it in the stove oven
to dry. Rotten-wood thus prepared
will cause less trouble and vexation
than any other material we have
tested. Try it.

GOLDEN-RODS.

August 25, our bees commenced
to gather honey from the golden-rods,
of which there were nearly fifty acres
near our apiaries. We had just sent
an order to a beekeeper in New York
State for a lot of extracted honey,
but before its arrival the bees had
filled their hives, and now we have a
barrel of fine white clover honey as
was ever made in the state of New
York.

We found a few colonies that did
not seem to have sufficient stores for
winter, so some of the honey was
melted and heated sufficiently to de-
stroy any germs of foul brood that
might exist and then given to the
bees. This precaution is one that all
should take before feeding extracted
honey, unless it is positively known
that it came from a locality where
no foul brood has ever existed. We
wrote the party who shipped us this
honey to know if there was any foul
brood in his section. He answered
there was not, and that I need not
scald it. But to be on the safe side

252

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

every particle of this honey will be
scalded.

ITALIAN BEES ; DIFFERENXE IN
THEIR WORKING QUALITIES.

While the bees were working
smartly on the golden-rods and other
wild flowers, we took a notion to watch
them and make a note on the hives of
those that appeared to be doing best.
The colonies that worked the smart-
est were the pure golden Italians.
Such of these colonies as contained
queens that had purely marked bees,
both drones and workers, were the
ones selected for queen or _ drone
mothers the coming year. Some
Italian colonies that seemed rather
weak in numbers were the ones that
filled their hives first. Those were
marked extra workers. There is as
much difference in the working qual-
ities of pure Italians as there is be-
tween black bees and Italians. Pure
bred Itahans of the best working
strains will be a specialty at the Old
Bay State Apiary in the future. We
want no more Syrians, Cyprians, Car-
niolans nor hybrids of any kind in
our apiary.

some peculiarities IN bees.

One who takes an interest in his
apiary will notice some of the pecu-
liarities of the different colonies. On
some of our hives there are wire- cloth
honey-boards, or screens , which have
been on nearly all the season. While
some colonies stopped up every mesh
in the wire- cloth with propolis, there
are other colonies equally as large
that m.erely worked around the edges
where the wire is nailed to the wood.
Then I noticed that the colonies
that did not fill the wire-cloth
with propolis were the ones that
gathered the most honey. A good
deal of work must be done by the
bees in stopping solid a square foot
of wire-cloth with propolis. While
bees are spending their time doing
such v\^ork they cannot gather honey.

other peculiarities we notice.

Some colonies, especially the black
ones, were determined to stop up the
spaces between the top-bars of the
frames and between the honey-board
and top -bars, while other colonies,
even where the top-bars were one-
eighth of an inch narrower, would do
nothing of the kind. From some hives
the honey-boards may be removed
and not a bee will fly or attempt to
sting, and in other cases if it is re-
moved with great care a hundred
bees will be in your face in an instant.
We have one or two fine Italian col-
onies from which the combs can be
removed without smoke and the bees
will not sting. Right here, let me say
that, as a general rule, we do not con-
sider such colonies very valuable ; as
they are usually great swarmers and
the queens very prolific, yet will store
no section honey. This has always
been our experience with bees that
possess a gentle disposition.

re-queening.

During the last days of September
a large number of our colonies were
re-queened with some of the best
young queens we had reared the past
season. We are merely getting ready
to do an immense business in the sale
of queens in 18S7.

There has been reared at the Bay
State apiary about 1500 queens the
past season. But four (4) queens
out of all that have been shipped
were reported impure. Less than
twenty-five queens died in the mails.

Some of those w'ho received dead
queens gave their opinion and sug-
gested reasons why they died. Prob-
ably some of our friends do not know
that we have been shipping queens,
by mail, for twenty-five years and
would be likely to know as much
about it as any one who receives two
or three queens a year. Yet sugges-
tions and good advice are always wel-
come and kindly received by us.

When two queens are put up the

THE AMEBIC AI^ APICULTURIST.

253

same day, in the same kind of cages,
and liave the same food, in fact,
every way aUke and both shipped to
one address and the cages bound to-
gether, sometimes one will reach its
destination in perfect condition while
the other queen and every accompa-
nying bee will be dead.

This has been known to happen in
a few instances the past season. Who
can tell what caused their death ? We
must confess our inability to solve
the mystery.

PREPARING BEES FOR WINTER.

Most of our bees are all " fixed
up " for winter. We have fifty colo-
nies in eight L. frame hives; having
sides one-half an inch thick. These
hives, or rather brood-chambers, are
placed inside of an outer-case. The
first thing done was to nail strips
three-fourths of an inch thick to the
bottom board, thus bringing the bot-
tom of the frames an inch and a
quarter above the bottom-board and
leaving plenty of room under the
combs for a free circulation of air,
and for dead bees and the dirt that
usually collects in winter. The outer
cases of our hives are in three sec-
tions. The bottom one is ten inches
deep, the middle one six inches, and
the top one or the cap, is also
six inches deep. The two bottom
sections are placed over the brood-
chamber, the cushion or mat placed
on, and then the sawdust or other
packing applied until it is at least
four inches deep over the top of the
frames. Ventilating holes one inch
in diameter were made in the caps
under the roof-boards and over the
packing.

This method is similar to those
given in the October number by
Messrs. Pond, Russell, and Bingham
for^WiNTERiNG Bees.

We would not pay any one twenty-
five cents per hive to guarantee our
bees to come out all right in the spring.
All of our colonies have a good
quality of food, plenty of young bees,

and are well packed, so we have no
fear about their wintering.

Bees packed as above described
will not only winter well but will
spring well also, as when properly
prepared for winter they are also
prepared for spring. We regard the
packing more important for spring
than for winter. More bees die after
the twentieth of March than from
December to March ; such has been
our experience, at least.

Mr. Doolittle's suggestion to win-
ter a part of the bees in the cellar
and a part on the summer stands is
good advice. About forty of our
colonies will be placed in the cellar,
the temperature of which will be kept
at nearly 45° until about February 20,
when we shall try to raise it and keep
it up to 55°.

We shall watch the reports of " Old
Prob.," and when he says " a cold
wave is coming down from Alaska,"
say about Nov. 20 or 25, then the
bees will be placed in the cellar post-
haste. By the way, " Old Prob. " is
not always reliable in his predictions.
Two years ago about the 23rd of No-
vember, he predicted that a big snow
storm was raging in the far west mov-
ing east and was being followed by a
cold wave and zero weather. We
were somewhat frightened and placed
all of our bees in a bee-house pre-
pared for them, but the cold wave
did not come, and from that time,
November 25 to January 15, the
weather was so warm that the bees
took a flight nearly every day and we
felt like thrashing old Prob. for mak-
ing a false report.

Then winter set in and the bees did
not fly again until March 29. Those
in the bee-house wintered splendidly,
although the thermometer registered
60° nearly all of the time the first six
weeks they were in.

Teasel is the best cultivated plant
for producing honey. It yields a
honey that is quite liquid, very sweet
and almost white.

254

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

QUKSTIOXS BY SAMUKL CUSHMAN.
IXTIIODUCING QUEESS.

After removing queen from strong
colony, do you immediately put in the
caged queen and attendants with cage
arranged so bees can release her by
eating away the candy, or do you leave
her in the hive two days, before allow-
ing theui to release her?

Do you in either case allow atten-
dant bees to remain with queen or re-
move them before placing cage iu hive?

I have failed lately by the following
methods.

1st. I removed queen from hybrid
stock, immediately put in a queen caged
alone with candy stopper. Queen was
released and was killed.

2nd. Full stock had queen removed.
A queen caged alone was given them,
left two days, then bees were allowed
to release her. This colony was fed
while queen was caged. Several days
later found her on combs crawling
about rather forlornly, with no eggs in
cells and several queen cells some of
them capped.

Another queen, managed the same,
was found dead in cage when hive was
opened to allow bees to release her.

At the same time I was successful
by giving sealed brood and young bees
to a valuable queen.

Also by giving queen and attendants
to a gentle but weak colony, who had
their queen removed and had started
queen cells. They were allowed to re-
lease her as soon as they could remove
the candy.

The above attempts were made dur-
ing a scarcity of houey flow.

What was the trouble?

ANSWERS BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.

All who have read Mr. Alley's plan
of introducing virgin queens, know
that he recommends waiting seventy-
two hours after the stock or nucleus
has a queen removed from it, before
introducing the virgin, and I wish to
say that the same thing vvhich ap-
plies to a virgin queen holds good
with a laying queen with this differ-
ence ; a laying queen will often be
accepted where a virgin will not, so
that when there is a prospect of suc-
cess with a virgin queen, there is
almost an absolute certainty when

the same plan is used with a laying
queen.

To avoid labor I made up a lot of
cages fixed in such a way that when
they were once filled with candy it
took the bees from three to four days
to eat through it to the queen ;
in this way I had the Alley plan so
modified that I need not open a hive
but once, for the new queen could
be put in the hive at the same time
the other was taken out, and be get-
ting acquainted with the bees all
those three or four days that they
were liberating her. Another thing :
I find that often when a queen is
balled or killed there are at first not
more than one or two bees hostile to
her while the rest of the colony would
treat her kindly, did not these few
bees "raise a row" by hanging to the
queen and trying to sting her, thus
causing the scent of poison in the
hive which arouses the whole colony.
We often see a few bees tightly fas-
tened to the cage containing a queen
when all the rest about it are quiet
and well disposed. Well, this plan
of mine lets the queen out at quite a
distance from these few hostile bees
and the cage should then be such, so
that there is no danger from them
and as the bees first entering the
cage, and out through which she
must pass are well filled with the
candy they have no inclination to
molest her so she passes out quietly
and is safely introduced. I com-
menced using this plan in June, 1885,
using it very largely ever since, not
losing a single laying' queen and very
few virgins. I do not in any case
allow any attendant bees with the
queen, for on all occasions where I
have tried I find that as a rule these
attendant bees are killed, and from
the killing of them a hostility is start-
ed toward the queen. In all of
this work I find that the "Good "candy
at first described by him is prefera-
ble. To work it, get some honey
in a dish and stir into it all the gran-
ulated sugar necessary to keep the

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

255

honey from running when it is ready
for use. Pack it in soUd in the hole
leading to th^ wire-cloth cage so that
the bees must remove it slowly. I
find that about six inches in length
is about the right distance, so as to
t ike them three days for removal, while
the sized hole I used is five-eighths
of an inch in diameter. In all the
methods Mr. Cushman says he has
used, he does not tell whether the
queens to be introduced come from
a distant apiary or were from his own.
I find a queen coming from a dis-
tance harder to introduce than one
taken from a nucleus in my own
yard. I also find, as does Mr. C,
that a small colony will accept a
queen more readily than a large col-
ony. The queen spoken of in case
second might have been sound in
my opinion if the queen cells had
been destroyed every other day till
there was no larva from which they
could build cells. The queen which
was found dead in the cage might
have starved, as they frequently do
when alone in a cage having only
candy in it made of powdered sugar
and honey. Just what the trouble
was in all these cases I could not tell,
from the small amount of informa-
tion given. Losses of queens fre-
quently occur which are hard to be
accounted for especially when full
stocks of hybrid bees are the ones to
which we have to give queens. There
is only one absolutely safe way that
I know of to introduce a queen and
that is by the plan of caging bees,
I have given in the bee papers. All
the bees from a colony are shaken
into a wire cloth box minus the
queen, and kept in a shady place
with a cloth thrown over them for
four hours at which time they are
ready to accept of anything in the
hne of a queen, which is now given
to them through a hole in the box,
after which they are left until all are
quietly clustered, when they are put
in a hive on a new stand and given
one frame of hatching brood from

their old hive, the rest of the hive
being filled with empty combs. In
a few days after the qneen gets to
laying, give a part or all of their brood
and honey back to them, still keep-
ing them on the new stand. This is
some trouble I know, but is much
better than to run any risk on a val-
uable queen coming to you unexpect-
edly from abroad.

ANSWERS BY JAMES HEDDON.

I never introduce any of the at-
tendant bees with the queen. My
plan is to firmly stop up the cage,
and leave it with the bees twenty-four
to forty- eight hours, according to the
honey-flow, and then examine, and
if peace and good nature seem to
prevail about the cage, I either dip
the queen in honey, and drop her
into the hive, or I place some comb-
capping over the mouth of the cage,
and let the bees release her a few
hours later. This is when the cag-
ing plan is used.

I have successfully introduced
many queens in the way you men-
tion under heads ist and 2nd. I am
aware these are not infallible rules,
however.

I think your '' scarcity of honey-
flow " accounts, in part at least, for
your failures. The most common
cause of loss in introducing, is the
practice of opening the colony a day
or so after introducing the queen
when although you find her well re-
ceived and laying, the disturbance of
opening the hive causes the bees to
re-suspect the queen and attack and
kill her after you close the hive. I
have treated this subject in my book
much more to my own satisfaction,
than space in this department will
admit of.

ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE.

At the time the queen is removed,
the cage with the stranger queen and
attendant bees is placed on the tops

256

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

of the frames with some strips of
wood or bits of wax under its ends,
so as to give the bees free access to
the wire cloth between it and the
tops of the frames. The whole is
now covered with a bee quilt. The
food apartment is left closed. Once
or twice a day the quilt is gently
lifted at one end to see how the bees
disport themselves about the cage.
As long as the bees -'ball" the cage, or
gather in knots or clusters about it,
I leave them to themselves to work
off their discontent. As soon as I
find the cage nearly deserted of con-
gregated bees, which may be in one,
two or three days, the stopper to the
food department of the cage is re-
moved, and the bees allowed to
release the queen at their leisure.

I have tried both ways thoroughly
and I now prefer to have the attend-
ant bees in the cage with the queen.

In the first experiment given by
Mr. Cushman, the queen was re-
leased before the bees were recon-
ciled to her. I have tried this plan
too often to mistake I think.

The second experiment is a case
in which there is room for doubt.
I have had this state of things under
my observation several times, and I
concluded that either the queen was
sick and the bees had no faith in her,
or the colony was not in unison of
purpose. Most probably she was re-
leased too soon.

I have had two or three cases
where the queens were found dead in
the cage. Of course, in such cases,
the queen either sickens and dies or
is stung through the wire cloth.

I remember years ago of trying to
introduce a queen in the unnatural
way recommended and widely pub-
lished by one of the older bee papers,
to wit : Cage the queen forty-eight
hours, then release her in broad day-
light, keeping a watch over her to
see how the bees received her. On
the occasion referred to, I caused the
queen to run out of the cage on top
of the frames among an excited lot

of bees, and of course she was
"balled," as might naturally be ex-
pected. I smoked the bees off of
her and lifted her by the wings with
the intention of recaging her, when
a vengeful worker made a fierce
dash at her and stung her fatally be-
fore I could move a muscle. After
years of careful experimenting in
this direction, I am more and more
convinced that no systematized plan
will meet all the conditions when in-
troducing queens. Close observa-
tion and good judgment on the part
of the apiarist are the nearest approx-
imation to certainty in results, that I
know anything about.

To introduce queens when there
is a steady flow of honey, is a very
different thing from introducing them
at a time of dearth when the bees
are ill tempered and discontented.
This fact alone is sufficient to throw
discredit on all "infallible plans."

In introducing queens, I am gov-
erned by the following rules, and
they may be the means of helping
some who have not had the oppor-
tunity to go over the whole grounds
of experiment.

1. The cage used for introducing
should be so arranged that the bees
can release the queen by eating out
the provision stored in the cage.

2. The cage should be placed in
such a position that the apiarist can
see the behavior of the bees about
the cage without stirring up, or excit-
ing the bees, hence the top of the
frames I think is the best place.

3. The bees should not be per-
mitted to release the queen till they
give evidence that they are recon-
ciled to her.

4. The colony should be left
quietly to themselves till the queen
begins to feel at home, and begins
to lay eggs, after which she is as safe
as if she had been reared in the hive.

ANSWERS BY OLD BEEKEEPER.

I. Our plan for introducing

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

257

queens is to leave the colony queen-
less three days and no queen is
placed in or near the hive till the
expiration of seventy-two hours, and
then a few pufTs of tobacco smoke
are blown in among the combs and
the queen allowed to enter at once.

If queens are introduced by the
cage method, that is by allowing the
bees to release the queen by eating
out the sugar, she should not be
placed in the hive until the colony
has been queenless three days ;
otherwise she would be destroyed.

2. It would make no difference as to
the success of the operation if one
hundred attendants were in the cage
at the time the queen is introduced.

I'he loss of the queen by the first
method was owing to placing the
caged queen in the hive at the time
the colony was made queenless.
Had you examined the cage at any
time before the bees released the
queen, you would have found the
bees trying to ball her by hugging
the wire netting with which the cage
is covered. It is never safe to release
a queen under such circumstances,
as sure death will be the result.

The queen which was caged alone
and released by the bees was stung
as soon as she emerged from the
cage. The bees realizing the situa-
tion had commenced to make prep-
aration to rear another queen. This
case is exactly similar to No. i, only
there were no attendant bees with the
queen.

B)' the three-day method for in-
troducing queens, it would make no
difference whether the bees were
gathering honey or not, it is sure to
succeed every time, nothing is lost by
allowing a colony to remain queen-
less three or more days during the
breeding season, as when a young
and vigorous queen is introduced she
will soon fill all the combs with brood.

Another point in introducing
queens by the seventy-two hour
method is this : If the new queens
are introduced as directed, it is not

necessary to open the hive to destroy
the queen-cells that may have been
commenced, as the bees will cease
work upon them as soon as they real-
ize that they have a queen.

If, for any reason, the colony is al-
lowed to remain queenless four or
more days, the combs should be ex-
amined and all the queen-cells de-
stroyed, as the fertile queen will not,
in all cases, be allowed to meddle
with them, and some of the cells
would mature and the first queen
that emerges would soon dispatch
the laying (}ueen, though she has had
possession of the combs for twelve
days.

Another season the Simmons'
method for immediate introduction
will be thoroughly tested in the Bay
State Apiary and the result given to
the readers of the "Api."

QUESTION BY H. E. HARRINGTON.

What is tlie cause of queens bein^
lost after they have been iiitroducecl
and laying seven or eight days? Will
robbing in a mild form do it?

ANSWER BY G. M. DOOLHTLE.

I never had any such loss as Mr.
Harrington speaks of when the queen
was one taken from my own yard,
but I have frequently had such when
the queen came from a distance.
There is something about the caging
and shipping of a prolific queen that
injures th-^ majority of such, when so
shipped. What it is I do not know,
but of one thing I am certain : I have
sent from my yard some of the best
queens I ever owned, which I knew
were all right in every respect and
had them reported as dead, in from
ten days to a month, or else that they
laid very sparingly and were of no
value. I also know that I have re-
ceived queens from other parties
(who I believe would sooner lose a
right arm than misrepresent), which
proved in my yard the same as others

258

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

(or as above) of mine, so that the first
thing I generally do, after receiving
a queen, is to raise some queens
from her brood, so that if she dies I
shall have some of the stock. I find
queens so reared prove as good as
those reared from the same queen
before shipment.

ANSWER BY G. W. DEMAREE.

The question by Mr. H. E. Har-
tington is one that I would like to
know more about myself. Happily it
is not of frequent occurrence, but it
is very annoying when it does occur.

Doubdess queens meet with acci-
dents, are subject to sickness, etc.,
like other animals ; while any form
of abnormality, such as an over pro-
portion of indifferent old bees, lay-
ing workers, etc., may endanger the
life of the queen. Robbing is al-
ways dangerous to the safety of a
queen. Beekeepers can never hope
to be free from the usual casualties
which beset all alike.

ANSWER BY JAMES HEDDON.

While a mild form of robbing
might have a tendency to irritate the
bees to the destruction of the new
queen, still I am of the opinion that
the most common cause of these
losses is opening the hive " to see
how she is coming on " as mentioned
above.

ANSWER BY H. ALLEY.

There are several reasons why
queens die soon after being intro-
duced. A person who has intro-
duced a fine queen is pretty apt to
open the hive often to see how nicely
his queen looks and to satisfy him-
self that he has been successful in
introducing. In opening a hive
often there is danger of killing a
queen in removing and replacing the
combs, then again bees will some-
times kill their own queen should a
few robber bees gain an entrance to
the hive. The best and safest time

to open a hive after the honey har-
vest is over is just before sunset. If
the bees are disposed to rob they are
soon checked by darkness.

Queens that are shipped by mail
are sometimes injured, so that they
die soon after being introduced. It
is strange that all queens sent by
mail are not killed long before they
reach their destination, and no one
would wonder at it could they once
see those fellows pitch the mail bags
from the cars while the train is going
at the rate of sixty miles an hour.

WHEN TO PLACE BEES IN THE
CELLAR OR BEE HOUSE.

QUESTIONS BY THE EDITOR.

What thtie do you put bees in the
cellar or bee house for winter? Would
you disturb theui to do so, if the tem-
perature is below freezing point?

ANSWER BY DR. TINKER.

If the temperature of the cellar
or bee house is right, bees may be
carried in any time after the twen-
tieth of November in this locahty.
I have taken them in as late as the
seventh of December with good re-
sults after they had experienced
some very cold nights. There was,
however, no frost in the hives.

It is perfectly safe to carry bees in
at a freezing temperature. I have
carried mine in at all times, accord-
ing to the state of the weather. If
cold winds set in have taken them
in at once, and if severe cold was
threatened have taken them in after
night. I shall again this year leave
them out until the approach of
threatening weather, being more con-
cerned about cold winds than a few
nights of severe cold when the air
is still.

Nearly all colonies are aware of
being handled, no matter how care-
fully they are moved ; but no harm
results from awakening them if no

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

259

direct jar is given to the hive. The
disturbance is manifested, usually, by
an increased niurniur from the hive,
and with some colonies bees will ap-
pear at the entrance.

ANSWER BY JAMES HEDDON.

When I think there is no more
chance for tliorough flight I put them
in in any temperature we happen to
have that is too cool to fly, and take
them out when they can have a safe
fly at once.

ANSWER BY PROF. COOK.

We never put our bees in cellar
till November. Usually about the
15th or 20th. I like to have them
in before it becomes very cold. One
year I put them in November 3rd
and it was none too early. Usually
November 20 is early enough.

ANSWER BY R. R. M. STEVENSON.

I winter on summer stands. The
temperature seldom goes lower than
about 25° or 28°. The coldest
weather ever experienced hereabouts
since 185 7 was last winter, which was
17° or thereabouts above zero. I
never disturb them unless they are
flying, and they are seldom confined
more than ten or twenty days through
the entire winter. Last winter the
first drone eggs were laid March 1 2
or 13th. My bees are now bringing
in honey from the asters. The tem-
perature to-day is 80° in the shade.
The honey flow ceases in about
three weeks.

Pocomoke, Md., Oct. 10, 1886.

ANSWER BY C. C. MILLER.

I put my bees in cellar some time
in November, sometimes by the tenth,
oftener two weeks later.

I would not object to the temper-
ature being 32° at the time of taking
in, if it had not been continuously
cold before. In fact I thiuk should
like it as cold as that if the bees had
had a fly the day before.

ANSWER BY W. M. WOODWARD.

I place my bees in the cellar as soon
as I see that winter is surely coming;
but not until the ground begins to
freeze or a cold snap has set in. I
never placed them in the cellar when
it was not below freezing and see no
sign of any harm to them on that score.
I prefer the air to be pretty cold in the
cellar, as it quiets them down better to
work among. Put them in at night as
quietly as possible and shut them up
to stay. I give no top ventilation and
only a very little at the side near the
bottom. This is done through a stuffed
pipe opening out doors. No current is
ever allowed in the cellar and no bees
have ever been lost in it yet. Cellar
very dry. Temperature unknown.

C'uater, 111.

WIND-BREAK.

QUKSTIONS I? Y A PRACTICAL BKEKKEPER.

1. Do you think a "wind-break" of
boards, say a fence eight or ten feet
higli on the norih side of the apiary,
of any advantage as a winter protec-
tion?

2. If a heavy snow comes and covers
the hives, or enough merely to block
the entrances, would you remove it iu
either case?

8. Suppose the bees are iu single-
walled hives, is there not more danger
of tiie colony smothering and the
coml)S moulding than there would be if
they wei'e in double-wall hives?

4. How often during the winter
should the hives be visited and the
dead bees removed that seem to clog
the entrances?

5. Should you visit your bee house
or cellar in winter (say two months
after the bees were put in) and tind a
few uneasy colonies, as indicated by
the bees moving about the entrances,
or by the front of the hives being
daubed by their discharges, would you
advise removing these colonies on the
first warm day lor a flight, or would
the other colonies be damaged by the
disturbance more than would be gained
even should the few uneasy colonies
be saved ?

6. Do you shade the entrances to
your hives iu winter?

7. As you winter bees mostly on the
summer stand, and allow ventilators
through several inches of packing,
how large an entrance do you leave

260

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

open? Are you troubled with the
combs moulding by your method of
wintering?

ANSWERS BY A. E. MANUM.

1. A wind-break on the north
side of an apiary is very advantageous
in early spring ; but not as necessary
in winter where bees are wintered in
chaff hives.

2. Yes, if the hives are of the or-
dinary make or style ; but with my
hive the entrance never can get
blocked with snow, though they are
often covered for weeks with snow
and I am always glad to see them so
covered.

3. Yes, provided the entrance is
not protected by a portico.

4. Every time there comes a thaw
so that the bees may fly if they wish.

5. I would remove them by all
means and give them a fly. Hives
should always be so packed that any
one hive can be removed without
disturbing the others.

6. Yes.

7. My winter entrances are | X
2 inches ; in summer 1 J X 14 inches.

I am never troubled with combs
moulding ; how can they mould when
there is so perfect a ventilation
through the hive ? All moisture from
the bees or honey rises and passes
through the packing over the bees ;
in very cold weather the top of the
packing is always frosty but by forc-
ing the hand through the packing we
find it dry and warm except on the
very top.

BEST RACES OF BEES.

Falinetto, Florida, Anrj. 7, 1886.

American Ai'icultuuist :

I would like to ask a few ques-
tions to be answered through the Api-
culturist. —

1. What race or strain of bees do
yon consider bestfor general purposes,
(taking into Qonsideration, gentleness
jn handling, honey gathering and win-
tering) pure Italian, or a cross be-

tween Italians and Cyprians, or between
Italians and Holy Lands?

2. In using a two-story hive for
extracting honey do you use a honey-
board? If so should it be queen-ex-
cluding?

EespectfuUy,

T. G. Gloveu.

ANSWERS BY H. ALLEY.

1, All races and their crosses,
and all strains of bees have been
tested in the Bay State Apiaries, but
none so far as our experience goes
are equal to the best strains of Amer-
ican Italians. By American Italians
I mean bees of this race that, have
been propagated here for nearly
twenty-five years. No imported
Italian queens ever reared colonies
that gave as good results as home-
bred queens.

Let alone all other new races and
accept the Italians.

2. A honey-board is not neces-
sary if your hives are properly con-
structed. If you are using frames
with narrow top-bars say seven-
eighths of an inch wide, a honey-
board should be used between. We
do not, however, consider the use of
a honey-board any disadvantage. If
one is used it should certainly be
queen- excluding, or the queen will
desert the lower story and make her
home in the hive above. I have
found this to be the case in nine
cases out of ten.

Bees kept in two-story hives in such
a hot climate as Florida should cer-
tainly be allowed to pass out direct
from the upper hive, and not be
compelled to go down through the
brood-chamber, as so much time
would be lost, and then again an en-
trance in the upper hive would af-
ford free ventilation. Try it and see
if the results are not satisfactory.

QUESTION BY lUA WITMORE.

1. Would you be so kind as to let me
know which race of bees is the most
profitable taking all things into consid-
eration?

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

261

ANSWER BV HENRY ALLEY.

I. All the new races of bees have
been thoroughly tested in the Bay
State apiaries, and none were found
to equal the pure Italians in any re-
spect. None of the new races or
their crosses combine so many de-
sirable qualities as the best strains of
Italians.

Seven years ago we imported some
Carniolan queens. They were per-
fect so far as purity was desired, but
their swarming habits were such that
they were soon allowed to run out.
With us any race of bees will swarm
too much, though none can compete
with the Hungarian or Carniolans.
There is an American, some where
in Germany, who is shipping queens
of this latter race to this country,
and many people are led to believe
that they are superior to any other
race. Our statements regarding the
race of bees this same person has
been sending here rather hurt his
business, and we hope that what is
said in this connection will convince
any reader of the Apiculturist that
the Carniolans are as worthless as
some other imported bees that are
being sent here.

Bear in mind that our best strains
of pure Italians were not reared in
Italy, but here in America. I never
saw a pure Italian queen, nor yet
heard any person say that they ever
received one from abroad. The
American Italians are superior to any
bees of this strain in the world, and
to the American beekeeper belongs
the credit for this great improvement
in the Italian. Don't purchase im-
ported queen bees ; they are not so
valuable as home-bred queens, and
they do not cost one-quarter as much.

THE DB ONE A ND Q UEEN- TEA P.

QUESTIOXS BY C. C. M.

1. Would it be practicable and profit-
able to use queeu traps on one buudred

30

Jiives in an out apiary which is visited
only once or twice a weel^, no one iu
the meantime being present to watch
for swarms?

2. Are there any large honey produc-
ers who have made a practice of us-
ing queen traps to catch queens of
issuing swarms?

ANSWERS BY HENRY ALLEY.

I. Yes, we think it would. Yet
all should understand that the drone-
trap does not prevent swarming, but
it does gives the apiarist full control
of his swarms when they issue.

Suppose one has a hundred colo-
nies of bees in one or more places.
Now, is it not perfectly natural for
from one to ten swarms to issue at
the same time when the weather is
favorable ? What is to be done un-
der the circumstances providing the
apiarist is present and several colo-
nies, more or less, swarm and settle in
one immense cluster? To separate
and'divide into the proper size colo-
nies and provide each swarm with a
queen would be a big job, at least it
it would be to me, and I think it
would be to most people. Several
of tlie queens would be lost, in any
event. Now, suppose all this took
place when the apiarist was not pres-
ent and perhaps would not be there
for two or three days, what would be
the result ? All who have any acquain-
tance with bees know about what it
would be, and I need not state here.

Well, suppose the hives were all
supplied with the drone and queen-
traps and from two to ten swarms is-
sued and all settled in one cluster
(if they do setUe ; generally they do
not when the trap is used) ; there-
suit would be, queens all trapped
and the bees returned to the hives
from which they issued, when in some
cases, and perhaps in a majority of
cases, the bees would come off again
the next day, provided the queen is
released from the trap. Now, right
here some one will say ; " then we
must be present and release the queen
every time a swarm issues?" Not so,

262

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

my friend, the traps as we now make
them are provided with a small out-
let sufficiently large for the queen to
pass out and into the hive again. All
this is done by merely drawing out or
pushing in a small nail at one end of
the trap.

2. I cannot say how many large
honey producers are using the traps,
as the term large is quite indefinite in
this connection. People who have
eighty and one hundred or more colo-
nies are using them. One beekeeper
wrote me last week that he had eighty
colonies and was using many of the
traps, and stated that he wanted
enough for each hive as he could not
do without them. Large beekeep-
ers who do not use them know little
of the comforts derived from such an
important labor-saving appliance for
use in the apiary.

Out of the 25,000 traps in use,
only one man ever found fault with
them. This will not surprise any one
when I state that the purchaser did
not possess sufficient ingenuity to re-
move the packing that was attached
to the trap to prevent damage in the
mail. When he had been taught
that part of it, he placed the trap
to the entrance of the hive wrong
end foremost and then wrote to us
that it would not work. Well, we
guess it would not.

WINTEBING BEES IN AN
OPEN SHED,

QUESTIONS BY A KOVICE.

Will you please answer the follow-
ing questions tlirough tlie Apiculiu-
KIST ?

1. I want to put my bees into a shed
for winter ; my hives are double- walled,
hold twelve frames of four pounds each
■wliich are all full of honey at present.
Had 1 better leave all the frames in the
hive over winter or not? If not, how
many and what is the best to put in
their places?

2. Had I better flx up the hives as I
want them for winter on their summer
stands, and then leave until cold

weather entirely prevents their flying,
before moving them into the shed? If
moved before, what is there to prevent
them fi-oin going back to the old stand
to perish?

ANSWERS BY HENRY ALLEY.

1. If your bees are in double-wall
hives, I would advise, after packing
properly, leaving them on the sum-
mer stands, as they will winter just
as well, and perhaps better, than they
would in a shed, unless the tempera-
ture of the shed is kept up to 40° or
45°. I think it would be advisable
to reduce the number of combs from
twelve to eight, and use a dummy,
such as has been described in some
of the back numbers of the " Api-
culturist."

2. Yes, by all means leave the
bees upon the summer stands until
steady cold weather sets in. If
moved into the shed, the hives should
be covered up to keep out the light,
in case the weather becomes warm
enough for the bees to fly, or many
of the bees would leave the hive and
go to the old location and perish.

EDITORIAL.

Mr. G. M. Doolittle said in a
recent number of the "Api " that
he had used about all the section
cases advertised, but likes the two-
inch-wide frames holding but one
tier of section better than any other.
As we are advertising a section case
which is new and novel, we wish to
say that Mr. Doolittle has ne\-er used
nor yet seen one of them. They
are composed of six two-inch-wide
frames, four one- pound sections to a
frame. The whole are then clamped
together and held firmly in place,
and so arranged that the bees cannot
stick them up with bee- glue or wax.
These cases are invertible, and may be
tiered up as much as desired. Dur-
ing the past season we had four of
them on a hive at one time, ninety-

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

263

six one-pound boxes in all — and
the colony filled them. When one
case was about two-thirds filled, or
as soon as the outside sections were
capped at the top, the section- case
was reversed, and at the same time a
case of new sections placed under,
and next to the brood. I believe no
better system for getting section
honey has ever been devised. No
arrangement that we have seen is so
simple and convenient or costs less to
manufacture. These cases were
exhibited at the Bay State Fair held
in Boston, the first week in October,
and were said to be by many, the best
arrangement they had seen.

The December number will con-
tain a better description of these
cases, illustrated by engravings, and
one also of the Bay State Reversible
Hive.

What is it? Several readers of
the " Api" have written to this office
regarding a kind of dark honey their
bees have gathered during the sum-
mer. While at the apiary of Rev.
D. D. Marsh of Georgetown, some
twelve miles from Wenham, a sample
of this honey was shown that Mr.
Marsh had recently extracted ; this
was about the fifteenth of July. We
expressed an opinion that it might-
be honey dew. Some twenty years
ago our bees stored considerable
honey of this kind, but if our mem-
ory serves us rightly, it was gathered
each day before ten o'clock in the
morning. This was not the case
this year, as the bees worked all day
on which this honey in question
could be obtained ; this being the
case it cannot be honey dew. No
doubt some one or more of our
readers can throw some light upon
the subject. We know of no one
who can do so better than Professor
Cook. If there are others who have
looked into the matter we should be
pleased to publish their correspond-
ence.

One of the readers of the "Api,"

whose communications can be found
in the Leti-er Box, has expressed
his opinion that this dark honey is
honey dew, and predicts that mor-
tality among the bees will be quite
heavy the coming winter.

If it is honey dew, we can agree
with L. M. T. in all he predicts, as
in our opinion about every colony
that has stored in its combs a quan-
tity of this honey will die before
spring, unless the weather is most
favorable for frequent flights during
the winter.

The proper remedy to apply was
to use the extractor and remove all
such honey by Sept. lo, and then
feed good honey or sugar syrup.

We purchased two new colonies of
Mr. Marsh, and their combs are well
filled with this dark honey. These
colonies will be removed to Wen-
ham soon, and a report as to how
they winter will be made through
the " Api" at the proper time.

Several customers have stated to
us that, in their opinion, queens that
they have received from this oflice
were not . fertilized. Here is what
one kind friend says : "You
^eem to be considerably exercised
over the fact that I thought one
(dead one) of the queens you sent
me was not fertile. I founded my
belief on its size, taking for granted
what you have repeatedly said 'that
a virgin queen would easily pass
through the trap.' The queen was
small compared with any black
queens and it readily passed through
the trap I had just received from
you — this I can swear to, for I put
it through with my own hands. ''^

[Comment is really unnecessary.
However, I will try and explain mat-
ters, so perhaps our friend will not
again falsely accuse any one of send-
ing him an unfertile queen for a fer-
tile one.

In the first place the queen did
not pass through the zinc, for how
could a dead queen do so? You

264

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

say that you put her through with
your own hands ; and as you easily
did so, you think it sufficient evidence
that she was not fertile. ^Vell, now
my friend, just take one of those
"large" black queens, dead or alive
and see if you cannot force her
through the same perforation in the
metal that you did the dead queen.
You also say that you commenced
to keep bees only this year. When
you have had more experience in
bee matters, you will know that
queens of any race when sent by
mail are considerably smaller after
being in the cages twelve hours, and
a queen that has been dead one clay
is quite small, and dried up.

A good many customers on receipt
of queens have said : "the queen
came to hand all right, but is smaller
than I expected." These same par-
ties would write again after the queen
had commenced to lay and say :
"the queen is a beauty and very
large." Now, friends, when you get
a queen that seems small, please do
not get in a passion and blow us up.
Wait and see what the queen is, and
give her a chance to develop ; then
if not satisfactory, no fault will be
found if you express yourself in a
gentlemanly and business-hke man-
ner.

If any person receives a queen
from this office that he has any rea-
son to think has not been fertilized
let them forward all such to Prof.
Cook, and if he says they are unfer-
tile we will pay $25 for each queen.
If they are fertile all that is asked of
you is that you will say nothing more
about it.

There were 285 nucleus hives in
full operation in our queen apiary,
and 200 nursery cages. We have
sent out no unfertile queens by
mistake or otherwise. I wish all our
customers could visit our apiaries
and select queens for themselves.]

Mr. E. R. Hai'dy has given on an-
other page his experience in shipping

bees a long distance. It is evident
that his colonies suffered heavy losses
for several reasons. The fact that he
nailed wire cloth over the entrance
is one reason why so many bees
died, and was not the proper thing
to do. The entrance ought not to
have been covered at all, and then
two or three one-inch holes should
have been made several inclies above
the regular entrance for ventilation
and for the bees to pass out in case
the usual entrance became closed by
dead bees. The entrance should
have been covered with a screen, the
same as described in the Beekeepers'
Handy Book, as this would have
given plenty of room for the bees to
come out for air, and at the same
time this arrangement furnishes abun-
dant ventilation. Another cause of
loss is the fact that more room was
not given over the combs. An ex-
tra chamber, not less than four
inches high, should have been placed
over the combs, as this would have
allowed plenty of room for the bees
to have clustered as when the combs
are full of sealed brood, it is very
hot in the hive, and the bees must
have room to flee to and cluster.

If a large number of colonies of
bees are to be shipped a long dis-
tance when the combs are full of
brood in all stages, some one should
attend them and furnish each hive
with one pint of water each day.

The proper way to prepare a hive
of bees to go a long distance is this :
Make a box that will be two inches
deeper under the frame and four
inches of space over the frames. Se-
cure the frames at the bottom by a
piece of wood having notches in it
for the frames to rest on, and if any
of the combs do not quite reach the
bottom-bar, place strips of wood
about one-half inch thick ' between
the bottom of the comb and bottom-
bar, and they will stand pretty
rough handling before the combs
will break. Cover the entire top of
the hive with wire-cloth, and protect

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

265

the wire with pieces of wood.
Just before they are delivered to ex-
press, dash a pint of cold water m
among the bees and combs, and if
the tees will reach destination in
three days, they will be in fine con-
dition even though the temperature
is 90° in the shade.

The whole secret in shipping full
colonies of bees is in giving plenty
of room above and below the frames.
When the weather is hot all the bees
will be found above the combs, if
there is room for them to cluster
there.

How to winter bees. — The Oc-
tober number of the "Api " has been
in great demand ; in fact, the call for
it has been such that we were obliged
to print a second edition as early as
Oct. 15 in order to meet the de-
mand. This number of the Api-
culturist was stereotyped and we are
prepared to print as many editions
as will be called for.

The Apiculturist for July and
August were nearly all sent out, and
we are short of those particular num-
bers. Will those who do not care to
preserve them mail them to this
oftice ? Please write your address on
wrapper and all who return them will
be compensated for their trouble.

The x^merican Bee Journal is the
best weekly bee paper published in
the English language. Price $1.00
per year.

If any new subscriber to the " Api-
culturist," or those who renew, desire
to take a weekly Bee Journal we will
send both papers for $1.70.

SELECTIONS FROM COR-
RESPONDENCE.

A HINT FOR MR. HEDDON.

Wonetuoc, Wis.
I hope Mr. Heddon will put his
bees into winter quarters with noth-

ing but granulated sugar syrup to
winter on. I believe it will go far
towards solving the pollen theory.

I look for a large mortality the
coming winter, caused by what is
called honey-dew, there is such an
abundance in a large majority of the
states. In my opinion many will
drop the bee business in the near
future.

L. N. T.

Longley Station, Wood Co., O.,
Oct. 5, 1886.
Friend Alley :

With the queens I bought of you
I have greatly improved my bees. I
have bought queens of various men,
but they fail to compete with yours.

The I3 queen I bought of you in
Aug., 1886, is a prize. I would not
take $25 for her if I could not buy
any more of you. Every one who
sees them says they are the finest
bees they ever saw. She is perfect
in all points.

Ira Witmore.

Downs' Chapel, Del.
Scarcely any surplus honey in this
vicinity, except from Italians. I have
Italians, that have not cast more than
one swarm, will yield one hundred
pounds surplus comb honey.

E. B. Slaughter.

Bradford, loiva.
Mr. xAlley,

Please accept thanks for two fine
queens. They came to hand as
bright and lively as though they had
not been out of the hive a minute,
not a dead bee in the cage. One
of them is the largest queen of any I
ever took from the mail.

The time for the fall crop in this
section is past. I think the amount
of honey in the hives has decreased
daily since July 15. Those who took
the early honey and sold it will stand
a chance to jDrofit by experience.
C. W. Dayton.

266

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

COLOR OF POLLEN.

Is not Mr. W. M. Woodward in
error in regard to tlie color of wliite
clover pollen ? I always supposed it
was dark, in fact, the darkest of any-
thing north, unless it is pollen from
poppy ; at least it is the case here.
M, L. Spencer.

C. H. Drummond, of Winslow,
Maine, says : those three queens
you sent me are just beauties and
have filled their hives with as hand-
some frames of brood as one needs
to see.

Cedar Springs, Mich.
I received the queen all right, and
got her introduced successfully. She
is laying nicely at present. I am
very much pleased with her. I in-
troduced her in the following man-
ner. I took one card of brood and
what bees were on it and put in a
hive, and put an empty comb on
each side of it, then I let the queen
in from the entrance and smoked
them for about fifteen minutes, and
the next day I put two more cards
of brood in and smoked as before,
The following day I took the old
queen away and put in the balance
of the cards. My idea for doing it
this way was that, if they killed the
new queen, I could put the cards
back with the old queen. I do not
know whether this is anything new
or not. I never have heard of in-
troducing this way nor have I seen
it in print. If it is anything new you
can give it to the readers of the
" Api." I have since introduced the
old queen successfully in the same
manner.

Wm. L. Laugh LIN.

[The above is exactly our method
for immediate introduction of queens,
with this difference : instead of re-
moving a part of the bees and intro-
ducing the queen, we remove the "old
queen " and introduce to the whole

colony at the same time. Try it, as
we do, friend L, and you will be well
pleased with the result. Let me give
one word of caution. Do not un-
dertake to introduce by this method
except after sunset, as the smoking
would put the colony in such a condi-
tion that robbing would be induced.]

Gilhertsville, Otsego Co., N. V.
Mr. Alley :

I enclose you one dollar to renevv
my subscription to the " Api," which
is the best bee paper published. I
dont want my subscription to run out
as I consider the " Api " a necessity.

The October number is well worth
$i.oo to any beekeeper who wants
to winter his bees successfully. I
take two other bee papers, but they
take a back seat when the "Api"
arrives. I am well pleased with the
queens I got of you ; shall want more
another season. If you like, you may
publish my testimonial concerning
the Api, just say that it is the Boss.

1 am using the new Heddon hives
and consider them the best hive yet.
I shall try some of your drone-traps
another season, as I think they are
all you claim for them. Wishing you
success, I remain

Yours,
Frank Bushnell.

USEFUL HIXTS.

The hives in which bees are to be
wintered in on summer stands should
be nearly or quite two feet above the
firound ; when so phiced the entrance
will not be cloaged with snow, and
what is far better, the snow will not
"bank up" against the sides of the
hive ; while this would not damage bees
in a double wall-hive, it is very damag-
ing to those in single wall-hives.

Honey that is thoroughly candied
should have added when it is liquefied
about half a pint of water to each
twelve pounds. This will keep it in
the liquid state several weeks longer
than it would remain so if the water
was not used.

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

267

Elevate the back ends of all liives
that are left on the summer stands.
This will aid the bees to remove the
dead bees and other dirt when the
weather is warm enough for the colony
to take a flight, and ■will also prevent
the water from ruiniing in at the en-
trance.

If any hive has a small entrance, it
is a good plan to enlarge it. If not
convenient to do so, make one or two
holes with an inch bit, abont two
inches above the regular entrance.
Then in case the bottom one gets
closed with dead bees, the hive will
have plenty of ventilation and the bees
a chance to fly.

It is true, and experience has dem-
onstrated the fact, that 8-frames are
much better than 10-frames at any time
of the year. Bees in such hives store
more honev and winter better.

CARE OF THE APIARY FOR
NOVEMBER.

The thoughtful beekeeper at this
time has his apiary in order for the
coming winter. The colonies that
are to be left on the summer stands,
are packed, and those that are to be
placed in the cellar or bee house are
prepared and ready for immediate
removal.

We would not advise placing bees
m the cellar or bee house as long as
the weather continues pleasant and
mild. Watch the weather reports.
When sohd cold weather sets in at
the far west, then it will be time to
put the bees in warm quarters. "One
swallow does not make a summer "
neither does one cold day make a
winter. Nevertheless, between Nov.
20 and Dec. ist is usually the proper
time for placing the bees in the cel-
lar.

Sometimes during the latter part
of winter many colonies suffer badly
for a good flight. If such colonies
could have had a flight two weeks
later in the fall, it would have been of
great advantage to them.

Give the bees every chance to fly
when the weather will permit, and
before the snow covers the ground.
If a colony of bees can have good
flight about Christmas time they will
be pretty sure to go through the win-
ter in good condition.

SPECIAL NOTICES.

TO OUR READERS.

Bear in mind that any yearly sub-
scriber for the Apiculturist can get
one fine queen at any time between
June I and October i, by remitting
50 cents in addition to the $1.00 for
one year's subscription. The 50
cents to be remitted when the queen
is needed.

If a queen is not needed and you
would like to examine our queen and
drone-trap, we will mail one to your
address on receipt of 35 cents. If
neither of the above is wanted, a
copy of the Third Edition of the
Beekeepers' Handy Book will be
mailed to you for 50 cents. The
book contains 300 pages and 100
fine illustrations, giving our method
in full for rearing queens by the sim-
plest methods yet devised. Regular
price of the book is^i.io by mail.

The above offer will continue good
till January i, 1887. Now is a favor-
able time to subscribe for the " Api."
Subscribe at once and have your
subscriptions commence with the Oc-
tober number as that number is full
of interest to every beekeeper. How-
to winter bees is given in eleven
essays from the pens of the leading
apiarists of the country. No one
should fail to read these essays as it
might be the means of saving thou-
sands of colonies of bees. Single
copies of the above number will be
mailed on receipt of 10 cents. If
any old subscriber would like to make
some beekeeping friend a present of
the October number, we will mail
them free on receipt of the proper ad-

268

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

dress. Like Mr. Newman we are in-
lending to increase our subscription
list 5000 or more inside of the next
year. We can easily do it, provided
each reader will send us one new
subscriber. Are not the inducements
offered sufficient to " enthuse " every
reader to make an effort to send us
one new subscriber?

If any subscriber is in want of
another publication we will obtain it
for him at a reduced price, say at
20 per cent discount.

Discount on Prices of Sup-
plies.—We are prepared to lill ordeis
for any kind of goods found in our
price list, and a liberal discount will
be made to all customers who will pur-
chase this fall or at any time before
Jan. 1, 1887.

Discount as follows: one dozen
Drone and Queen-traps, one made up
(thirteen in all) $2.75 ; regular price,
$3.50. Sample, latest improved, Ijy
mail, 50 cents: regular price, G5 ; or
Trap and Apiculturist, one year, $1.35.

Queen-nursery, 18 cages, which Mr.
Doolittie says is the 1-est he has seen,
by mail, $1.25; regular price, $1.G0.

We intend to sell goods very cheap
from now untiljan. 1, 1887, and a most
liberal discount will be made on all
goods except the Bay State Reversible
Hive; the price for that is as low as
we can place it.

We desire to retain on our list the
name of every subscriber and as an
inducement for all to renew and to new
subscribers a discount oCfrom twenty-
flve to fllty per cent will be made on
anyone article found-in our list of sup-
plies. Our price list of apiarian sup-
plies will be found on the last pages of
any number of the " Api."

To Correspondents-: — We receive
much interesting correspondence that
certainly would be inserted in the
Apiculturist, but it is so mixed up
with business matters, and written
on both sides of the sheet, that we
cannot use it ; we have not time to
copy it all. Please write on one side
of the paper only and not mix matters
so confusingly. Send us any items
of interest; they are always welcome.

HIVES IN THE FLAT.

No one should purchase one of
our new hives in the flat, thinking
he can " put it up" without a model
to work by. The Bay State Revers-
ible Hive is far from being a com-
plicated one in construction, yet it
is unlike any other in use.

The condition of the honey mar-
ket is about the same as in October,
therefore market reports are omitted
this month.

WASHING HIVES INSIDE WITH
WHISKEY.

Westfield, Vt.
Mr. Editor : Last season I had
two swarms go off to the woods af-
ter being hived. Some old people
told me to wash my hives with water
mixed with whiskey. I did so and
lost no more bees. Perhaps I would
not have lost them anyway had no
whiskey been used. Is this an old
idea ?

S. B. H.

Ans. We cannot say how old tlie
idea is, but it must be quite ancient,
and a most foohsh one, too. In
washing the hives with whiskey and
water they were cleansed of the cob-
webs or other foreign matter, and
thus made habitable for the bees.
The old box-hive apiarist washes his
new hives with molasses and water,
but the beekeeper of the present day
uses nothing of the kind to cleanse
his hives, to prevent the bees from
deserting them. Tell your old bee-
keeping friends to read the bee pub-
lications of the present day, and they
may give up such old ideas.

to PREVENT TWO SWARMS FROM
UNITING.

When several new swarms issue
at about the same time they may be
prevented from uniting provided one

The American Apiciiltnrist

ENTERED AT THE POST-OFFICE, WENHAM, AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER.
Published Monthly. Henry Aixet, Manager

VOL. IV„

WENHAM, MASS., DEC. i, i.

No. 12.

Fo?- the American Apiculturixt.

ITALIANS vs. HYBRIDS.

11. L. Tavlor.
A STRONG PLEA FOR HYBRIDS.

The question has occurred to me
whether apiarists have not laid too
much stress on the supposed superior
excellence of the Italian bees. I
shall make no comparison of them
here with the German bee nor shall
I now question their superiority, for
the purposes of the student or of any
who keep bees for pleasure or for
the sake of open-air exercise ; but for
the speciahst in the production of
comb honey I contend that the so-
called hybrid, the cross between the
German and the Italian bee, is im-
measurably superior. After several
years' experience with hundreds of
colonies, I take the ground with sur-
prise that any should be found to dif-
fer, that he who makes the production
of comb honey his principal business,
cannot afford to spend his time in
the busiest part of the season con-
tending with the idiosyncrasies of
the Italians.

My readers will bear in mind that
I am looking solely from the stand-
ing point of the producer of comb
honey ; for the producers of extracted
honey, the objections to the Italians
are of somewhat less force. My chief
reasons for the position above indi-
cated are as follows :

First, the disposition which the
Italian possesses to keep on hand a
large store of honey as near to the
brood as possible.

The evil of this appears as soon as
31

the spring opens. The Italian is slow
to attack capped honey especially
that in the outer combs. She wants
enough always in store to provide for
some possible season of dearth. She
chooses to rely on her own prudence
and economy, rather than to exercise
faith in the bounty of the opening
season. The consequence is that the
spread of brood is not increased as
rapidly as is desirable, and it requires
considerable manipulation to over-
come the disadvantages resulting from
this tendency.

Again, at the opening of the sea-
son for surplus honey, and from that
time till the close of the season in
the autumn, there is an ever increas-
ing inclination to clog the brood
combs with lioney, so that the force
of the colony is greatly reduced be-
fore the close of the clover and linden
season, and rendered almost worth-
less so far as surplus from fall flowers
is concerned. You may say extract
from the brood-chamber ; but, grant-
ing that that would in any degree
remedy the evil, undertake to extract
from two or three hundred coml -
bridged brood chambers filled with
clinging Italians in the height of the
season, with swarms issuing and all
the seasonable work crowding, and
you will readily agree that it is im-
practicable. But suppose you should
succeed in the work of extracting
what would be your chagrin to hear
your yellow-banded economists
chuckling with delight that you had
given them a place to bestow their
burdens without the necessity of pro-
longing their journey to the sections.

Some one may say, you have nc t
tried "my" strain of Italians. I may
(269)

270

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

not have tried the best strains of Ital-
ians, but suffer me to say that I have
no faith in the purity of any strain
that does not possess the above trait.
There could not be a more fickle
standard of purity than that of color.
Many years ago I obtained two Ital-
ian queens the first I had ever seen.
From their first eggs I reared a lot
of queens, which were mated before
there were any Italian drones in my
apiary, and I believe there were none
in my neighborhood, as there never
had been any indications of Italian
blood among my bees until I had in-
troduced it as above, yet one-half
of this lot of queens produced bees
as yellow as any I ever saw, the prog-
eny of one of them being very plainly
and uniformly marked with four yel-
low bands. Let him who is incredu-
lous cross a white leghorn cock with
dark brahraa hens, and if color be
the sole standard, the chicks from
this cross will usually be the finest
sort of white leghorns.

Second : my second objection to
the Italian is the tenacity of her foot-
hold.

This is some advantage in search-
ing for queens and in other manipula-
tions when it is not desired to divest
the combs of bees, but in all other
cases a vexatious, time-consuming
drawback.

Smoke has little effect on your
pure bur-footed Italians so far as
driving them from the comb is con-
cerned. In removing comb honey
during the height of the honey flow
this can be overcome without much
difficulty. But the difficulty increases
as the season progresses till at last it
becomes almost unendurable. I
think I am quite within bounds when
I say that (except when the honey
flow is not so great that the bees will
not cease their work on the flowers
to notice honey standing uncovered
in the apiary,) the work of removing
honey from the hives will progress
twice as rapidly with hybrids as with
Italians. This is no small item when

there are several tons to be removed.

Third : comb honey produced by
Italians is never so regular in shape
nor otherwise so fine in appearance.
They never fail to bulge it or bridge
it or fasten it to the separators on
the slightest provocation, and such
defects not only cause much leak-
ing and injure its sale, but cause
much more time to be consumed in
crating.

Fourth : Italians gather much larger
quantities of propolis and dispose of
it so as both to injure the appear-
ance of the sections, and to inter-
fere with the rapid manipulations of
the different parts of the hive.

Fifth, and finally : in my some-
what extensive experience I find that
the hybrids can be relied on to pro-
duce from twenty-five to forty per
cent more comb honey than Italians.
The hybrids are always the ones
from which I get my largest yields
and all through the season they ex-
hibit the more push, courage and en-
terprise.

And in iny opinion, there is but
one point in which the hybrids suf-
fer in comparison with the Italians
and that is the irascibility of their
temper. By the amateur and the be-
ginner, this trait is greatly magnified
and for such no doubt the Italian is
the preferable bee. But for the ex-
perienced apiarist who has lost all
concern about stings, I am forced to
the conclusion, thougli formerly
greatly prejudiced in favor of the Ital-
ians, that the hybrid is very much to
be preferred.

Lapeer, Mich.

For the American Apiculturist.

INVERTING vs. CROWDING
BROOD COMBS.

Jajies Heddox.

Mr. Editor :

It seems that Mr. J. E. Pond, jr.,
of your state, has now decided

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

271

against reversing brood-combs, and
proposes to substitute for the advan-
tages gained by inversion, tine method
of crowding the brood-combs closely-
together.

About twelve years ago, when I
had in use nearly loo colonies, I ex-
perimented largely with this same
comb-crowding method, and like Mr.
J. T. Hav/k, of Denison, Iowa, as
found on page 858 of Gleanings
for 1886, I abandoned that method
of attempting to gain the desired re-
sults.

Once in conversation with Mr. T.
F. Bingham of Smoker fame, a bee-
keeper of a quarter of a century's ex-
perience m. producing comb honey
on quite an extensive scale, upon
this same subject of the best distance
apart from centre to centre, for the
spacing of brood-combs, Mr. B.
warmly advocated one and a half
inches, making many good argu-
ments in its favor both for its use i\\
summer and winter.

We are all well aware that Mr. D.
A. Jones, and very many other
skilful apiarists much prefer to wide-
space their frames for winter. Now
I am not only willing, but glad
to be placed on record as saying that
no system of comb spacing which re-
quires two respacings per annum,
will ever become popular. I am
firmly of the opinion that real prog-
ress '\\\ mechanical construction and
manipulation, connected with honey
producing, must tend toward de-
spatch and away from complication.
We must learn to accomplish all the
desirable results as understood in
modern apiculture, at the same time
approaching, as nearly as possible,
the little amount of labor that was
connected with the old box-hive sys-
tem. He who does not do this, it
seems to me, must be left behind in
the race \ so I repeat that semi-annual
changes in the spacing of the combs
of our brood- chambers will never be-
come popular.

Besides my experiments in that di-

rection, I have practised and tested
inversion of brood-combs, on an ex-
tensive scale, during the past four
years, having now in use about 6,000
Langstroth, suspended, reversible
frames and a considerable number of
reversible hives containing reversible
frames of another pattern.

Mr. Hawk, above referred to, also
states his failure, or partial failure, to
make reversing unload his brood-
chambers of honey ; but as it is a fact
that very many others have reported
success, and as I have stated in a for-
mer article that reversing might, if
improperly applied, tend to increase
the amount of honey stored in the
brood- chamber, is it not likely that
Mr. Hawk hasn't quite mastered the
science of inversion ? I believe with
Mr. A. I. Root, that he who once
uses invertible-frames scientifically
will never abandon their use.

We would no more think of con-
structing another frame, non-inverti-
ble, than of going back to the use of
6-pound, glass honey boxes.

That careful experimenter and still
more careful advocate of untried in-
plements, Professor Cook, says in the
last edition of his invaluable' " Man-
ual of the x\piary," page 133, " For
the past two years I have used the
reversible frame which I find so
valuable that I shall use it largely in
future. . . .

By inverting we secure the firm at-
tachment of the comb to the frame
along all its edges, and can force our
bees into the sections at the very
dawn of the honey harvest." A little
farther on, he says, '' These frames
reverse very easily, and I do not
know a single person who has thor-
oughly tried them, who does not value
them highly." The result of my ex-
periments with frame-spacing, has
been to adopt a uniform distance of
1 1 inches from centre to centre.

I am aware that the inversion of
combs is not natural, but artificial ;
that bees have never been known to
invert or show any desire to have

272

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

their combs inverted. The same is
true of changing the spaces between
them, and very many other manip-
ulations that science has proven are
very advantageous. I am aware that
I J- inches is the average distance
chosen by the bees when in nowise
guided by human intelligence ; but
as it is a fact that in many respects,
we cannot afford to work against, or
other than encourage the natural in-
stincts of the bee, it is also true that in
many ways we must do just that, if we
expect to attain the highest success.

Professor McLain has written me
that he is not yet sure that long prac-
tised inversion of brood, will not de-
generate the quality of our work-
ers. Although I can see no tendency
in that direction, after four years' con-
tinuance of the practice, yet I am
aware that in an evolutionary sense
the length of my experience is much
too short to warrant a wise decision ;
yet if such should prove to be the
case, I shall not be the loser for I find
after a third season's use of my new
hive that the judicious use of a hor-
izontally divisible, alternating brood-
chamber, accomplishes nearly if not
quite all we gain by inversion, besides
its very many other useful functions.

But I am willing to go to record
as favoring the inversion of brood- .
combs, and stating that it is my be-
lief that divisible, alternating brood-
chamber mentioned above, is the
only practical substitute for it.

Dowagiac, Mich.

For the American ApiculUirist.

APICULTURE IN CAL-
IFORNIA.

A. Norton.

HOME OF THE CALIFORNIA HONEY
BEE.

Ed. Apiculturist : — This is the
season when articles for bee papers
cannot be expected to be suited to

all sections and readers. The topic
of wintering bees, so important in
the east to-day, has very little inter-
est attaching in California where bees
can fly with impunity nearly every
week throughout the winter, and,
rainy weather excepted, I might say
almost every day from lo a. m. till
sundown at least.

Therefore with the certainty that
nothing can be appropriate to all,
but that beekeepers have more leis-
ure to read general matter, I may
venture to dwell upon some of the
characteristics of apiculture in this
state.

The typical California "bee-ranch"
must be sought in the southern por-
tion of the state.

In the central counties, it is true,
are, here and there, localities where
beekeepers and their stocks are
many ; and where wild bees are a-
bundant in trees and rocks. Even
the northern counties produce bee-
pasturage of their kind ; and now
and then, as well as in Oregon, an
enterprising and progressive man
keeps bees after modern methods,
and becomes the pioneer of an in-
dustry which he may have the pleas-
ure at some time to see established
in his region.

But it was the product of the
southern coast counties that made
CaUfornia honey famous ; and it is
in those counties to-day that the
apiary is managed in true California
style with those distinctive features
that render a California bee-farm and
its surroundings different from other
apiaries and interesting to beekeepers
in other states. In the central coun-
ties not nearly so many colonies are
generally kept in each apiary ; the
localities are not so far out of the
world ; and the industry is by no
means such a recognized /actor in the
prosperity of the community. The
description of the real bee-farm there-
fore may not fit these other apiaries
in all particulars and it may even
seem a little unreal to beekeepers in

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

273

more distant portions of the state.
We will betake ourselves in imagina-
tion, therefore, to a section where,
even in towns of a thousand or more
inhabitants, we may frequently find
conversation turning upon weather
and markets, experience and meth-
ods, with particular reference to the
honey crop. Rough, frowning moun-
tains fill such a region. At intervals
their huge masses have been torn
asunder almost to their foundations.

The chasms thus formed are can-
yons, whose narrow floors make tor-
tuous passage-ways in from the valleys
between the ranges. Their side
walls are high and steep, sometimes
almost vertical for hundreds of feet.
The mountains, looming high above,
are dark with sage and chaparral and
dotted here and there with taller
growth of shrubs and trees.

It is in such places that Nature has
scattered her choicest floral treas-
ures ; and at every turn, in obscure
nooks and rocky clefts on mountain
side, and canyon bottom, grow ex-
quisite garlands of varied blossoms.

And it is in such a place, where
the grand is commingled with the
beautiful, remote from centres of
habitation, that the beekeeper erects
his humble hermitage and provides
homes for his teeming swarms. The
lot he has chosen is by no means
free from difficulties ; his life and la-
bor have their brighter and darker
side, — nay, like the canyon walls that
depend on the shifting sun, the
same side is alternately light and
dark. It is tinted with romance yet
shaded with loneliness and hardened
with reality. And if his be a prosaic
mind, it will be blind to romantic
colors and will see only the outlines
of the practical and appreciate
mainly its advantages and disadvan-
tages. Still he labors with a will and
makes the most of what he finds
around him and proves again that
happy homes may be made in lonely
places. An unpretentious cottage
by the mountain stream, a yard, a

garden, and small building according
to his needs, and he has done with
side issues.

A bee-yard in some level situation
thickly populated with bees whose
homes are arranged in streets and
blocks, an extracting house, — these
provided and he has attended to the
main necessities of his enterprise.

Here he may pass the days amid
the glories of our California climate
stimulated in his labor by the hopes
of moderate return. x\nd, as night
comes on, his narrow surroundings
seem still more contracted, when all
are veiled in shadows and the soli-
tude is relieved only by the scream-
ing of the night bird and the singing
of waters near his door.

Having seen the habitation of the
beekeeper and his swarm, it remains
to observe him in his practical oper-
ations.

Gonzales, Cal.

For the American ApicuUnrist.

HISTORICAL EVENTS.

C. VV. Daytox.

How tumultuous was the advent
of the reversible frame and sectional
hive ! What a strife for the most
practical reversing device ! When
the device was found it was applied ;
but, lo ! where are the reports of
its successes?

Those who were loudest in its
praise may be observed to fall and
quiedy steal away. There is a time
for everything and it is quite certain
the reversible frame that came on
time will soon depart. The only
trouble was that there was too much
labor for the money. Probably there
were no less than loo different con-
trivances used to accomplish rever-
sion of brood-combs ; "but the one
which seemed the most practical to

274

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

me was of my own invention, but I
have seen fit to follow in the tracks
of others so that I am quietly steal-
ing away.

To speak the truth I never could
see much, if any, advantage in rever-
sion except to cause honey to be
carried from the brood-chamber into
the surplus receptacles ; but again I
remember that honey did not accu-
mulate in the brood-chamber when
the brood-chamber was not too large
for the capacity of the queen, or
when there was a lack of surplus
room. When the Langstroth frames
were given to beekeepers, there began
a grand season of prosperity ; but as
nature and custom must have it, the
prosperity is getting monotonous and
a change is desired.

This change or revolution, as some
have seen fit to call it, was expected
in the reversible frame. Where the
most forward ones had worked the
matter up to the highest pitch the
swaying indicated that they were
mistaken and must retire.

Then came a short lull or rest as
of boatmen resting on their oars.
Then the leaders, or those who at-
tempted to say and do the most, be-
gan to feel the chagrin ; and being
courageous, and bound not to be out-
done, launched out for something to
maintain an appearance and settled
upon sectional hives. Had they
stopped a moment to view the situa-
tion it is probable that they would
not have taken so great a stride as
lies between the reversible-frame and
sectional hive. It is quite apparent
that the two extremes were adopted
while the happy mean remained to
await the grasp of other hands.

It has always seemed reasonable
that a revolution should come to api-
culture. Its history needs such rev-
olutions that it may be complete.
There have been several already and
I feel safe in saying that the end re-
mains unsurpassed.

The Langstroth frame brought a
^1-eat revolution and I believe that

when we contrive to prevent swarm-
ing and drone production, and
succeed in securing our honey just
where the bees wish to store it, in-
stead of building up the colonies to
the swarming condition and a little
beyond before the bees enter the sec-
tions, another revolution will be the
result.

As one is not supposed to talk of
something he knows nothing about, I
will say that I have invented and tested
a contrivance of this very description
and that it meets every advantageous
requirement with one exception.
With its help an apiary was worked
through this season without the issue
of a swarm, and the sections were
placed where the bees wished to put
the honey.

When it was first invented, I sup-
posed it combined ideas outside of
which a meritorious contrivance to
meet similar requirements could not
exist ; but, as I have since been told
that there are those of greater excel-
lence under way of perfection, I am
waiting for future developments.

When I contrived the fixture, of
which I have spoken, it was supposed
that one reversal of the combs was
death to all embryo queens ; but I
have since learned that it is a mistake.

In order to have the queen cells
destroyed, because of inversion of
the combs, it becomes necessary to
employ inversion of the combs once
in every five days. In using my con-
trivance, the inversion of queen cells
with the combs in single-story hives is
quite practical ; but, if there are sev-
eral stories or cases to be removed,
before the lower story containing the
brood is reached, it renders its use for
this purpose practically out of the
question. When we have our comb
honey built in that part of the hive
where the bees wish to store the
honey, and when we are enabled to
take complete advantage and control
of the swarming impulse, then will
our methods be a step in advance of
the methods practised to-day.

TEE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

275

In the methods practised hereto-
fore the queen has been allowed to
travel and inspect at will ; and the
idea that the liberties of the queen
might be restricted without detrac-
tion from profits seems to have hiber-
nated.

These ideas are not given to fore-
tell or predict any certain revolution
in apiculture. Indeed it might require
a long time, and much contrivance
of many minds, to effect a revolution.
The haste and impetuosity accom-
panying the introduction of the re-
versible frame and sectional hives
were the most active agents connect-
ed with their downfall, and well illus-
trate that a few cannot maintain an
enthusiasm for a large company.

If the ideas are worthy, let us briiig
them on the stage quietly, like the
lamb rather than like the lion.

Bradford, Iowa.

For the American Ajnculturist.

BEE CULTURE IN TEXAS.

Mrs. S. E. Sherman.

IGNORANCE OF THE HONEY BEE IN
THE LONE STAR STATE.

My neighbors and friends appear
much surprised when, in answer to
their inquiries if the moth or web-
worm does not kill a good many of
my bees, I tell them that I have
never, so far, lost a colony from that
cause. That seems to be the great
dread among box- or gum-hive bee-
keepers generally.

I am often astonished at the igno-
rance that exists among otherwise
well informed persons in I'egard to
bee culture. They don't know that
if a colony from any cause becomes
queenless it will soon dwindle down
and die out ; or, as they say, the worms
killed my bees. Neither do they
know how to re- queen a colony. I

have been asked how many kings
there were in a hive ; what was the
use of drones any way? and was
once requested to show the queen's
throne. Often, in showing persons
my observatory hive, I have had the
drones pointed out as the queen. In
speaking of my extractor, I was once
asked if I put it inside the hive and
ground the honey out. Another
party upon my shovvingitto him was
very much astonished and said that
he had studied a great deal about
how one was made and had decided
that it was a little squeezing machine.
I believe that I have never shown it
to any one that had formed anything
like a correct idea of it. One lady
told me that her family had had bees
for twenty- five years, and that so far
as she knew the bees that they now
had were the same ones that they had
bought twenty-five years ago. Not-
withstanding they have owned bees
so long, when she wants honey she
sends to me for it.

There have quite a number of
swarms of bees come to me when
they are starved out at home. The
neighbors now, the first time they see
me after losing a swarm ask if, on a
certain day, a swarm of bees didn't
come to me. I always tell them to
come and get them if they want
them ; sometimes they come and
sometimes they don't. I was told a
few weeks ago that it was thought
that my getting the Italians and in-
troducing them here had caused the
native bees to starve. The gentle-
men said that it was upon the same
principle that a German could live
where a common American would
starve.

Since my last article was written
we have had fine rains and my bees
have done better than I thought they
would. I have extracted 1036 lbs,
and have a small amount of comb
honey still on a few hives. My bees
are very strong in number with lots
of brood in their hives and the
queens still laying. They are still

276

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

gathering some honey. My best
hive gave me 140 pounds extra honey.
I had it tiered up four stories high.
The two lower stories I never dis-
turbed at all. It is three stories now
for winter. This colony has never
swarmed and I have never seen a
drone in or about it.

Salad 0, Bell Co., Texas,
Oct. 14, 1S86.

WINTERING BEES, AND
OTHER MATTERS.

L. E. BURNHAM.

The season for preparing bees for
winter is at hand ; and the question
with beekeepers now is : What is the
best method of packing bees and
how shall we winter successfully?

I shall prepare my bees in the
same manner as heretofore advocated
by Mr. J. E. Pond, jr., Foxboro, Mass.,
in the back numbers of the " Api "
which I have practised successfully
for the last five winters ; and never
having lost a colony by this method,
I do not see how one could improve
on it by adopting any other system.
It is very simple, inexpensive, and
is as follows : Place a burlap-sheet
over the frames and fill the upper
story with dry forest leaves (I prefer
maple leaves) . If the colony should
be weak, remove the four outer frames
andsubstitute for these chaffdivision-
boards. This is for single-walled
Simplicity hives. I have never used
a chaff-hive as I have had good suc-
cess without them. When packed as
above, my bees withstood our severe
winters and came [through in good
condition.

COMB HONEY WrmOUT SEPARATORS.

After trying another season to pro-
duce comb honey vvithout separators.
I am constrained to think that it is
almost impossible to do so, and have
good straight combs, that will admit

of glassing and crating, in case we
wish to ship our honey to distant
markets. While I admit that we can
obtain a larger surplus without their
use I think that it is more than
counterbalanced, by having every
comb straight, true and merchantable.

PERFORATED METAL IN HONEY- BOARDS :
CROSSWISE VS. LENGTHWISE.

I wish to call attention to a fact
which I have observed this season,
and which I have never seen men-
tioned in any of the bee journals. It
is this. I find by actual experiment
(no theory) that my bees work better
and store honey faster where the
hives are furnished with honey- boards
in which the perforations run cross-
wise of the brood-chamber instead
of lengthwise. I have tried both
ways under ecjual conditions and
with very unequal results.

Can you give any reason for this
Mr. Ediior, and have you ever heard
it remarked by any one else ?

Essex, Mass., Oct, 2j, 1886.

For the American ApiculturUt.

NOTES FROM CANADA.

K. F. HOLTERMAX.

The most important step in the way
of opening out a honey market for
Canada, viz., the shipment of comb
and extracted honey to the colonial
exhibition is meeting thus far with
success.

The honey has been safely placed
upon exhibition at Kensington in a
building especially erected for the
purpose. About twenty per cent is
first-class comb-honey, the balance
extracted. The bulk was secured
from clover, the balance from linden.

Messrs. S. T. Pettit, the president
of the Ont. beekeepers' association,
McKnight, Cornell and Jones are
with the exhibit. They and several
other Canadian beekeepers have

THE AMERICAN APIGULTUBJST.

277

worked hard to make the undertak-
ing a success and their efforts bid
fair to gain that point.

The British beekeepers make
some extraordinary remarks upon the
display : the honey has not the rich
amber color theirs has ; the sections
lack that solidity their comb honey
has. In Canada, and I believe in
America, we find beyond a certain
point there is nothing to be gained
by that solidity in appearance, and
as to two- pound sections in Canada
at least, their day has passed. As to
the amber color, it is a matter of
education and the natural taste of
the eye as to which pleases the more :
the beautiful clear light colored or
the beautiful amber-colored. Also as
to flavor — here the buckwheat, which
has a distinct enough flavor and is
dark enough is rarely preferred to
the clover. Time will tell how per-
manently— for temporarily at least the
British public are pleased, yes, more,
delighted with the flavor of Cana-
dian honey — the undertaking will
succeed. We find in Canada that
much is to be gained by pushing
sales and attracting the attention by
displays of honey ; it increases the de-
mand and consumption permanently
and no doubt the British beekeepers
will yet see that they owe the Cana-
dian beekeepers a debt of gratitude
for this display and sale of honey.
Brantford, Canada.

HONEY AS FOOD AND
MEDICINE.
Before the use of sugar became
general, honey was the sweetening
medium in regular use all over the
world ; and, so far as health is con-
cerned, it would have been better
had it so remained. The cultivation
of the sugar-cane, however, drove in-
to the shade the production of honey.
Sugar itself in time was destined to
be partially supplanted by a com-

moner substitute — beet sugar; and
this again in turn (for brewing, and
many commercial food processes,
whole fruit-preserving, cheap sweets,
and so on) has, to a considerable
degree, had to yield to a still cheaper,
commoner substance named glucose,
an unwholesome sweet compound
made out of a score of things, from
potatoes to sawdust and rags, by boil-
ing them in a mixture of water and
certain acids. Had the science of
beekeeping been in its present stage
when the sugar-cane industry began
its rapid growth, the use of sugar
would have been considerably retard-
ed by the contemporaneous march
of its more wholesome competitor
honey which held the field. In those
dark ages, bees were suffocated by
sulphur fumes in order to obtain a far
more impure honey than is in the mar-
ket at this day, when the lives of the
bees are preserved by scientific meth-
ods : which also guarantee to us the
absolute purity and cleanliness of the
honey, besides telling us, indeed, the
actual source when gathered, whether
from fruit-blossoms, clover, or heather.
Had the rational culture of bees
marched along with scientific sugar-
making, we should, I repeat, have
heard less of cheap and nasty substi-
tutes for the honey of the ancients.
The number of bee-hives, instead
of being kept about the same by the
natural increase by swarming, and
the cruel decrease of the sulphur-pit,
would have multiplied at a similar
compound rate to that of cost of nails
in the proverbial horse- shoes. Honey
would have been produced at so low
a rate that it would have held its own
as the most delicious food, sweet-
meat, and saccharine diet, either rich
or poor could possess. Mead and
metheglin, honey wine, honey vine-
gar, aud honest honey drinks, would
be now used by all instead of so many
that are nasty and unwholesome.

But for cane sugar there would
probably not be so many millions of
artificial teeth in daily use as there

27!

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

are, the grape sugar of honey being
at once fit for assimilation, .whereas
cane-sugar (one has noticed how the
eating of sweets increases thirst !)
calls on a laggard saliva to convert
it into grape-sugar, and rests in nooks
and corners among the teeth, fit
food and breeding-ground for caries,
schizom3'cetes, sphseromycetes, and
what not, which turn it into acid, the
said acid acting upon the lime of the
teeth and dissolving them. Because
cheap cane-sugars have been taken
into the stomach in unreasonable
quantity, the liver has been unable to
transform them, the result being the
disordering of both organs. Dyspepsia
and biliousness are probably caused
more by the use of cane-sugar than
most of us think, indeed, an author-
ity (Mr. F. Cheshire) tells us that if
cane-sugar be injected into the blood,
it is at once excreted, which is not
the case with grape sugar. Let us
then remember that it is only grape-
sugar which the system can at once
use as heat-giving, fattening food, and
this it is which honey supplies ready
prepared for us by the bee in Nature's
laboratory. Honey will carry along
with itself into the stomach for diges-
tion more bread (starch, etc.) than
butter will, each helping the other ;
and a pound of honey at 8d. or gd,
per lb. will consequently go as far as
2 lbs. of butter, costing 3s. Here
there is decided economy. It can
be used for almost every purpose we
now use sugar for : and by the prin-
ciples of modern beekeeping, it is
becoming more plentiful and cheaper
year by year. A great objection to
its free use in past years was its com-
parative high price, owing to the re-
stricted supply caused by the annual
destruction of bees. This is now re-
moved. Another serious objection
vfa.% the fact that honey disagreed
with many people. The wonder is
that it agreed with any one, for a
common way of obtaining it (after
smothering the bees) was to cut out
the combs containing young bees

and pollen, besides honey, and
squeeze the whole in a cloth, strain-
ing the result for use. It will thus
be easily seen, without entering into
details, how much objectionable mat-
ter was thus imported into the honey
which would tend to disorder delicate
stomachs. All this is now changed.
No brood (young bees) is now al-
lowed by the beekeeper to be
hatched in the clean, snow-white
sections of white basswood we see
in the shop-windows of fruiterers and
grocers who sell the honey, the whole
of which honey and comb may be
spread on bread and eaten, the cells
being so thin that it takes six cell-walls
to equal the thickness of a sheet of
ordinary note paper. — Exchange.

Q UES TIOXS A XD A NS WEBS. .

QUKSrrON BY ONE OF THE UEADKUS

OF THE "API."

SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE BKOOD-

CH AMBER.

Will you set Mr. Doolittle or some
oue who has had as much experience
in bee culture to answer the following
question :

1. What shape and size should the
brood-chamber be in order to obtain tlie
best results in points of wintering,
honey-storing and liandling tlie combs
when extracting?

ANSWER BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.

To best give my views on this
question, I wiUtell the "readers of the
Api" how I have been led along until
I have adopted what I now use, and
have been using steadily for the past
ten years, in the way of brood-cham-
bers. When I first began beekeep-
ing some seventeen or eighteen
years ago, I used the regular Lang-
stroth hive, holding ten frames. Soon
after I got acquainted (by letter) with
E. Gallup of Iowa, and from what he
taught me by letter and through his
article published in the Ain.BeeJotir-
nal I was led to try some of his hives
by the side of the Langstroth hive,
which I was using. During the first

THE AMEBIC AJ<1 APICULTURIST.

279

season of this trial, I became satis-
fied that the Gallup or square frame
gave me decided advantages over the
long or Langstroth frame ; but being
naturally conservative I tried both
hives for two 3'ears more, at which
time I was thoroughly convinced that
I obtained one-fourth more honey
by the use of the Gallup frame tlian
by the Langstroth, the main reason
for which lay in the securing of more
brood in the square frame, at the right
time, than with the other. Right
here I wish to say that this getting of
brood at just the right time so as to
give lots of bees of the right age to
go into the field at the commence-
ment of the main honey harvest, has
more to do with successful honey
■production than any other one thing
connected with beekeeping. Fail-
ing in this point we fail in all, and
my reason for adopting the Gallup
frame was, because that by its use
together with a division board, I could
get more nearly the amount of brood
in one week from the time I tried for
it, than I could in two or three weeks
witli any other sized frame. So far,
I had paid little attention to anything
else save the size of the frame, for all
apiarists of that day claimed that the
size of the brood- chamber should be
2,000 cubic inches or above, the ten
Langstroth frames and the twelve
Gallup frames containing about 2,100
cubic inches. After using the Gal-
lup hive for four or five years, I be-
came satisfied that the brood-chamber
was decidedly too large as the bees
kept three of the twelve frames filled
with honey nearly all the while. This
extra amount of room was required,
Gallup said, to insure honey for safe
wintering, but as I expected to know
each fall just the contents of each
hive, I could not see the propriety of
keeping these three frames full of
honey for the purpose mentioned, so
reduced the size of my brood-cham-
ber to nine frames instead of twelve.
The result was more than satisfactory,
for I found on the first trial that I had

increased my crop of surplus honey
at least twenty-five per cent, while as
a rule, the bees had abundance of
stores for winter. This gave me a
brood-chamberi2 X 12 X i3;i- inch-
es holding nine frames io| X lof
inches square inside measure. To
test the matter further I reduced a
few to eight frames, thus getting a
brood-chamber of exactly one cubic
foot, but a year or two of trial con-
vinced me that this was just one frame
too small as the average of my queens
would keep eight frames full of brood,
where nine were used, while if only
eight were used, I got only about
seven of brood. The reason for this
seemed to be that it required room to
the amount of one frame for the pol-
len and little honey, they always
would keep around the brood and
in the upper corners of the frames,
so that when I contracted the hive to
less than the layUig capacity of the
queen, plus this frame, I diminished
the working force of the bees, which
thing was actually taking the dollars
and cents right out of my own
pocket.

Without dwelling further on the
subject I will say that from years of
experience I have seen no reason to
change my mind and still consider
1,000 square inches of comb surface
or 1,500 cubic inches as the right
size for the brood-chamber of a hive,
regardless of what size of frame is
used. That I consider the Gallup
or square form of frame the best,
may be only one of my preferences,
still I think for this locality I am right ;
but right or wrong on the frame ques-
tion, I believe that all who will care-
fully test a brood-chamber of 1,500
cubic inches beside one of 2,000 or
over, will agree that they want noth-
ing larger than the i ,500 hereafter.

I might go into a long detailed line
of reasoning regarding the safe win-
tering of bees in the square form of
hive ; tell of the ease and rapiehty
with which these frames can be han-
dled for extracting, etc. ; but I con-

280

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

sider that all these points are of mi-
nor importance beside the one of
getting lots of bees in the right time
for the honey harvest. Of course no
one will think that I recommend only
1,500 cubic inches as the right size
of a hive for extracted honey. This
size is for the brood-chamber dur-
ing May and June, and whatever
else is needed by way of surplus for
honey is added to this. For ex-
tracted honey, I add from 2,000 to
3,000 cubic inches, while for winter-
ing I prefer using only from five to
seven combs well filled with honey.
Then again, I use only five frames
when hiving new swarms as I have
before stated in the American Apicul-
TURiST and with me no sei size of
brood-chamber could be adopted,
only I never wish it larger than 1,500
cubic inches. The contracting to a
smaller size is easily done for win-
tering or new swarms by means of
dummies or division-boards.

ANSWER P.Y A. E. MANUIM.

I don't know ; that depends up-
on circumstances and locality, not
knowing the locality of the questioner
it would be very difficult for me to
inteUigently answer his question. In
a warm climate a large frame like the
L. or Quinby might give better re-
sults than smaller ones, and by using
ten or twelve of these frames in each
story perhaps better results would be
obtained. Were I in a warm climate
I would try a brood-chamber con-
taining about 3,000 inches and use
as many stories as the flow of honey
would require. Of course one must
study his location and the season of
year when the honey flow is expected
and govern his methods accordingly.

In the south I presume there is
ample time to rear a large brood of
bees early, long before any very abun-
dant flow of honey, hence a much
larger brood-chamber may be used
to advantage in order to rear a large
force to gather the honey in its sea-
son. While here at the north we

have but little time to rear our bees
before the first honey flow which usu-
ally commences about June loth,
and as April is a very unfavorable
month in which to rear brood, we
have to depend upon May ; and
sometimes the first half of May is
cold and wet so that bees will not
breed very fast, hence leaving us but a
very short time in which to crowd
our brood-chambers with working
bees. It will therefore be seen that
we here at the north are obliged to
use a smaller brood-chamber than
what might be used in a warmer
climate.

After much experimenting I hav^e
adopted a brood-chamber containing
about 2200 inches or 1,368 inches
of surface of comb, inside the frames.
My frames are 9^ X 1 2 inside meas-
ure and 12 in number. I find that
this size suits my locality and climate
better than any other I have ever
tried, both for summer and winter.

The thorough-going apiarist will
contract the brood-chamber to suit
the season. With me, if April and
May are favorable for brood-rearing,
I have no trouble in getting my
twelve frames filled with brood from
top to bottom by the first of June.
In such a case I have plenty of work-
ers to gather the first flow of honey
as well as the last ; but last spring was
very unfavorable, especially the latter
part of May. I was unable to get over
eight to nine frames filled with brood
by June loth, at which time I ceased
giving more combs, but used divi-
sion-boards instead, as I always want
the brood-chamber crowded with
bees, let it be large or small.

ANSWER BY G. W. DEMAREE.

The frame hive is a compromise
with nature, as pertains to the hab-
its and instincts of the bees. The
best hive for wintering bees is not
necessarily the best hive for all pur-
poses. It would be expensive, and
for that reason impracticable, to fur-
nish hives for wintering bees alone,

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

281

these hives for producing comb honey,
and then again a different hive for
taking extracted honey. For these
reasons I find it profitable to use a
a hive that can be made to answer
all purposes in the apiary. Let us
look at the matter in this light. The
heavy two-story chaff hives will an-
swer some purposes, but they are
heavy and unmanageable. The light
single-wall hives are cheap and handy
to handle and can be made as good
as chaff hives for wintering bees in,
if they are properly packed before
winter sets in.

A deep hive has some advantages
for brood-rearing early in the sea-
son, but such a hive is inferior for
storing surplus honey above the brood
nest. Hence, as a compromise, I
accept a shallow frame hive and I
have found nothing better for all
purposes than the ten-frame standard
Langsti-oth hive which takes frames
17I X 98- With this form of hive,
the brood-chamber or queen's depart-
ment is always the same except that it
is capable of contraction by the use of
division boards. When we wish to
take extracted honey, we simply put
on an upper story or super with its
set of combs, or we may use half
depth combs in cases and pursue
the tiering-up plan. Or, if comb
honey is wanted, section cases are
used on the "tiering-up" plan. When
extracting honey, I have taken the
honey from fiames of difi"erent size
and shape all on the same day, and
"use" is all there is in it. A man
.who had been used to setting combs
on "end" in the extractor would not
want to "hang" them in, and vice
versa. The day of deep cases and
and deep frames is over, the recent
dive down to the half depth L. frames
and their use for brood-rearing on
the tiering plan, and the desperate
struggle now being made to elevate
this idea into a "standard hive," is
sure to result in a compromise be-
tween the deep and shallow frame
ideas, and the standard L. is not far

from the happy resting place. I feel
sure of this, for I believe that I went
over the shallow- frame grounds as
long ago as any one else, as may be
seen in my articles in the "Api" and
other bee periodicals, written several
years ago, and my tendency is now
back to the standard L. frames.

QUE.STIOXS BY IIENKY ALLEY.

FASTEXING FOUNDATION IN THAMES

AND SECTIONS, WJUKD FOUNDATION,

ETC., K'lC.

1. What is the best and most practi-
cal method for fastening fouudation in
frames ?

2. Have you ever tested any of the
d(;vices for fastening foundation in
sections? Do they work satisfactorily
and are they practical?

3. Is it a good plan to purchase foun-
dation at this season (wliile it can be
purchased at a price much less than
during the honey harvest) and place it
in frames and sections?

4. Would the cold weather have a
tendency to loosen the foundation from
its fastening wiiere it comes in contact
with the wood?

5. if good and heavy foundation
made of best (luality of wax is used, is
there any need of using wire to support
it in frames? Do you not consider
wii-ea detriment instead of advantage?

0. Is not heavy unwired foundation
much the better for brood-combs tiian
t hin-wired foundation ?

ANSWERS BY HILAS D. DAVIS.

1. I cut a board one-half inch
smaller than inside measurement of
Irame putting in two wire-nails at
each end of board one- half inch from
corners setting back five-eighths from
face of board ; when the frame is laid
on the wire-nails it brings the foun-
dation into centre of frame. I melt
equal parts of rosni and beeswax.
Cut the foundation to fit frame on
three sides, and place it up to top-
bar, then with a large iron spoon run
the melted rosin and wax around the
edges of three sides. I'his method
is the best I have found.

2. I use a section foundation
fastener. It is operated by a treadle
and so arranged that one can handle^
the box and foundation with both

282

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

hands. Place the foundation y\ of
an inch more than centre of box,
so when the pressure bar is operated
it rests on three-sixteenths of edge of
foundation, which is sufficient to
firmly press the foundation into the
grain of wood, and by same operation
the presser is drawn off from foun-
dation. This smooths it on to sur-
face of box. If foundation is not
too cold will make it firmly secured
to box. I consider this method the
most practical of any thing I have
ever tested.

3. It is advisable to order foun-
dation early having it delivered two
or three weeks before you need to
use it. I do not deem it advisable
to put foundation into frames or sec-
tions until just before the honey flow
comes on.

4. I think it has a tendency to
loosen it. Heat expands the foun-
dation while cold contracts it.

5. I have never been able to find
any foundation that would not sag
without wire when given to a large col-
ony of bees during the honey flow,
and quite often they will break down.

I use nothing but heavy wired, flat
bottomed foundation for the brood
nest. I think wire an improvement
taking everything into consideration.

6. I find medium wired founda-
tion better than heavy unwired and
never use thin wired foundation for
brood-nest.

ANSWERS EY A. E. MANUiM.

I. I think the best way to fasten
foundation in brood-frames is to
use melted wax. I use a camel's
hair brush for the purpose, inserting
a short stick in the quill end to han-
dle it by. The brush is not to be
over one-half inch long. The wax is
used quite hot but not so hot as to
smoke or to scorch the brush. The
heat is regulated by placing the lamp
inside of a small box,' on the top of
which is tacked two strips of tin to
, hold the cup of wax over the lamp.
No rosin is used with the wax.

For neat, rapid and accurate work
the melted wax plan is also the best
for fastening foundation in sections.
The wax is applied on one side only,
but on both sides in attaching brood
foundation. For sections I use the
smallest size of brushes, such as phy-
sicians use in applying medicine to
the eyes. The foundation is placed
on a bevelled block so as to hold it
exactly in the centre of the section,
the bevel being made so that when
tlie wax cools, it will draw the foun-
dation to a perpendicular line. The
bevelled block is nailed to another
piece so as to support the section in
one hand easily. One quick stroke
of the brush fixes the foundation and
I have never had it fall down. I can
easily put the foundation in 150 sec-
tions per hour.

2. I have never fastened foun-
dation except by the above plan, but
believe I can do it more rapidly than
can be done by any machine. Be-
sides, no machine can do the work
half so well, and fiirthermore no over-
heated room is required in which to
do the work.

3. Yes.

4. Not when fastened with melt-
ed wax, especially in sections. Heavy
foundation will stand well in cool
weather if the wax is put on heavily
at each end of the strip or sheet.

5. No, not in my experience. I
consider wire to be a detriment in
brood-frames. It is a puttering, dis-
agreeable job to put it in and when
done is a needless and useless piece
of work. I have tested it thoroughly
and get fully as straight combs with-
out it as with, and whether built from
a foundation starter two inches wide
or a whole sheet. It is well known
that the best makes of foundation
do not sag when properly used, so
that there is no need of wire to sup-
port the comb. I should not think of
using wire except I wanted to hive
swarms upon full sheets of founda-
tion, and that I would not want to
do as as there is more money and less

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

283

work in hiving swarms on frames
having simply starters of foundations
two inches wide. The building of
much drone-comb has not given me
any trouble. In fact, I have had
many colonies that did not build as
much drone-comb as I think they
ought to have built.

6. Yes, I prefer the heavy foun-
dation without wire. It should run
from four to five square feet to the
pound.

ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE.

1. I know of no better method of
fastening foundation in brood-frames
than the use of the putty knife,
and melted wax.

A friend of mine used a machine
which he purchased from some one,
that was intended to press the edge
of the foundation fast to the top bar,
by one stroke of a lever, but it did
not prove a success under my in-
spection. The length of the top
bar of any brood- frame is too great to
make such a plan a success.

2. I have tried a Parker fastener ;
but as it is usually made, the lever
wriggles about too much to suit me.
If a man had three hands, one to
work the lever, one to hold the sec-
tion in place, and one to hold the
foundation in place, the Parker fas-
tener would be a success. But in
the absence of the third hand, I found
it necessary to improve the little ma-
chine, by putting guides at the sides
of the lever, so that the latter cannot
wriggle out of line, and punch the
section out of place, when it is
thrust forward to press the founda-
tion into the wood of the section.
After improving Parker's little ma-
chine in several ways, it is not only
practical, but a "joy forever." It is
really a labor-saving little implement.

3. It is beyond question good
economy to lay in a stock of founda-
tion when it can be had at the low-
est figures. If it is kept closely
packed in a tight box it will not de-
teriorate in quality. I have tested this

matter pretty thoroughly. I do not
recommend the plan of adjusting the
foundation in the frames, etc., a great
while before they are ready for use ;
but if they are kept where they are
undisturbed, and free from jars dur-
ing cold, or cool weather, no harm is
done so far as I have been able to
see.

4. Alternate freezing and thawing,
especially when dampness is present,
has had a tendency to loosen the
foundation where it was simply
pressed to the wood, but wliere melted
wax was used in addition to the press-
ing process, no trouble has been ex-
perienced in this direction.

5. My experience has been that
only thin, and otherwise inferior foun-
dation needs wires in the frames.
A good heavy article of foundation
made of a good quality of wax not
more than five square feet to the
pound needs no support under proper
management.

Wire in honey combs is unnatural,
and has proved a greater nuisance in
my apiary.

6. I would answer yes, all the time.

ANSWERS BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.

1. Melted wax.

2. Have tested nearly all, but
prefer the wax.

3. I think so, but many say no.

4. If fastened on all winter, it
would ; otherwise, not.

5. Fine, tinned wire works well
with me what little I have tried it.

6. Would prefer the latter as it
is less expensive and answers just as
good a purpose. On the whole I pre-
fer to let the bees build their own
comb in its frame, except a founda-
tion starter, one or two inches wide.
In sections I use full sheets of foun-
dation.

.ANSWERS BY J. H. MARTIN.

1. Most permanent, one part
rosin to two parts beeswax.

2. I have tested Parker's fastener
and use it to a certain extent. I find

284

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

it does not hold the foundation for
rough handhng. When using sec-
tions in my home yard, I use the
Parker. If the wax is kept at tne
proper temperature and care is used
in pressing down every part, a starter
seldom drops ; the larger the pieces
used the more liable they are to be-
come detached. I have one apiary
six miles from the home yard, and
manage another nine miles off. I
prepare my crates at the home yard
and put them on a spring wagon and
drive off at a good round trot. Some-
times we go over stony roads and
things jingle ; for such usage, the
press is not over half as rehable as
resin and beeswax. The latter
method holds nearly, and generally,
all, where they belong. 'J'he press
is therefore practical if the sections
are to be handled with care.

3. We have used foundation made
the season previous with good suc-
cess, and can see no difference in the
time required to work it out. If the
wax has lain in a pile of fifty or a
hundred sheets, the interior sheets
will keep fresh, while the outside
ones and the edges will have a ten-
dency to harden ; but the softness of
the wax can be restored by dipping
the sheet in warm water before plac-
ing in the hive. We therefore advo-
cate getting foundation in frames
early.

4. Cold weather has no effect
upon foundation fastened with res-
in and beeswax. We had some
large size sections which were dis-
carded and placed in a loft where
they remained three or four years,
and had scores of freezings. We
recently overhauled them and found
foundation bleached out nearly white,
but still in position, and since see-
ing your question, regret we did not
save and test the annealing or warm
water process upon it.

5. That depends upon the frame.
We use a frame eleven inches deep,
and would wire either heavy or light
to prevent sagging, and also to

strengthen the virgin comb. We
have also several hundred Heddon
frames in use. These, we would not
wire, either with light or heavy foun-
dation. It is not a detriment in any
case.

6. We prefer six or seven square
feet to the pound.

EDITORIAL.

From what we see in print from
time to time, we judge that many
persons are losing faith in bee cul-
ture as a business. We are told that
the foolish and suicidal practice of
inducing everybody to "keep bees,"
has had the tendency to flood
the markets with the products of the
apiary, and has brought down the
price of" honey below the cost of
producUon, etc.

Suppose all this was true, how is
the matter to be remedied now?
Who has the riglit arbitrarily to rule
from the apicultural field a part of the
honey producers ? All have equal
rights, or according to our way
of thinking ought to have equal
rights, to the "pursuit of happiness,"
and if bee culture is our chosen pur-
suit, who has the right to ostracize
us?

In our opinion the chronic grum-
blers who wish to keep the science
of modern beekeeping in the dark
for the one selfish purpose of keep-
ing up the price of honey so that
none but the rich can enjoy the "lux-
ury," having failed in their conspir-
acy to monopolize the honey business,
are the ones to retire. They are the
dissatisfied parties, and as such, are
the ones to give way to those who
are willing to work for moderate wa-
ges.

The maxim which teaches that the
"most good to the greatest number"
works out the best results, will apply
in this case, as in all others. Every
man of ordinary forethought ought
to have known that bee culture, like

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

285

every growing industry, would lose its
novelty and settle down into real
diisiiiess.

When we speak of honey being
low in price, we have on our minds
the high prices of the past. We are
satisfied that this is not the proper
way to look at the matter. Let the
honey producer settle the question
in his own mind as to whether he can
produce honey in his locality, at a
fair profit, at such prices as he is able
to obtain for his goods. If he finds
that he cannot do that, he can look
out for something else that will pay
better. But we warn him that in all
established industries he may as well
make up his mind* to meet bravely
the sharpest competition.

We wish it understood that we be-
lieve that bee culture as a business
will increase m magnitude in spite of
the depressing influence of low prices
for honey ; and that improvements, in
the future, of bee implements, in the
hands of skilled apiarists, will make
it possible to achieve greater things
than many now dream of.

The Convention beld at Indian-
apolis, Ind., must have been quite
a tame affair. It really looks as if
bee-conventions would soon be num-
bered with things of the past. So
far as we have read the reports of
the proceedings of this convention
they lack the interest and enthusi-
asm that has characterized such
meetings in the past.

Perhaps if there is any difference
between the convention of iS86 and
those held in previous years it was
in the fact that the " crank " did not
make his appearance with his usual
cranky notions to occupy the atten-
tion and time of the meetings. Every
circus has its clown, and unless the
present year has been an exception
to the general rule, every convention
has had its crank.

The convention "crank" is the man
32

who ordered a low price queen of
some dealer and because his order
was not filled by return mail to the ex-
clusion of other customers he gets his
"back up" and shows a strong desire
to ruin the dealer by sending his side
of the story to all of the bee-journals.
Failing in this to get a full ventilation
to his feelings and spleen, he next at-
tends the convention even though
he has to travel hundreds of miles to
reach it. When the meeting opens
he is ready for business. He rises
and moves that such a man be pro-
nounced a " dead beat " and fraud,
and gives his reasons therefor. For-
tunately those who attend such meet-
ings are, in most cases, men of sense
and all such cranky ideas are quickly
voted down.

It is but a few years since the rep-
utation of one of the largest supply
dealers in this country was shame-
fully assailed at a convention held in
the state of New York. A "cranky"
beekeeper pronounced the person
referred to a fraud. Before night,
the newspapers of the city in which
the convention was held had pub-
lished the statement, and the news-
boys were making a great handle of
this piece of news in order to make
rapid sales for their papers. Vote
down the crank.

The Colonial Honey Exhibi-
tion bas thus far been a grand suc-
cess. About forty tons of Canadian
honey is on exhibition at the fair, and
a committee from the Dominion of
Canada is in charge. Among the
number is one of our well-known
correspondents, Mr. S. Cornell of
Lindsay, Ca. The committee will
start for home about Nov. i6.

Mr. Corneil will favor the readers
of the Apiculturist with a full report
of the exhibition, probably in season
for the January number.

The following extract concerning
the Fair is taken from a private let-
ter dated London, Oct. i6, 1886.

286

THE AMERICAN APIOULTURIST.

"I never worked harder or longer
hours ill my life. We have sold tons'of
honey in 2 oz. tins at 2d. each. 'J'he
best till packages we have ever seen
are made here. I propose sending you
samples. We have also sold a large
quantity of honey in 14 oz. glass jars,
the prettiest seen. They are manu-
factured in France. They cost us 20 f.
per gross, and sell them rilled with
honey for lOd., but we have to work
for it."

American beekeepers should take a
hint from the above, and follow the
advice given in a late number of the
Apiculturist regarding this very
point. Attend the fairs, take your
honey with you, and find a ready sale
for it. We expect to have some of the
small tins above referred to, and will
furnish samples when desired.

The Maine Bee Journal comes
to hand bright and clean. We wish
it success. Brother Hodgdon says,
he has received many letters of en-
couragement. They are all right,
and lots of them are received by all
publications, but unless they contain
a small amount of "filthy lucre" with
which to pay for paper and printing,
they cannot be considered of any
special value. We should be pleased
to receive about io,ooo such letters,
provided they contain the name of
some person who desires the Apicul-
turist for one year and encloses $ i .oo
for the same. Don't be backward,
friends ; send the ^i.oo and get in re-
turn at least ^25 worth of valuable
information.

Prepare for 1887. Now is a good
time to think over last season's oper-
ation,the losses, mistakes and success-
es in the management of the apiary.
Make your calculations as to what
you intend to do and how to do it
in time to carry into execution before
the busy season opens. If you have
discovered any new points, or have

anything new that is worth printing,
just send to us and we will gladly
publish it for the benefit of the read-
ers of the Apiculturist.

J. D. Goodrich, our old friend of
East Hardwick,Vt., made us a call the
other day, Mr. Goodrich is a well
known dealer in supplies, principally
in fine comb foundation and white-
poplar sections.

Wenham is but twenty-two miles, or
just one hour's ride, from Boston. Our
friends are invited to visit the Bay
State Apiary, and we will entertain
all to the best of our ability.

Pacts about Honey is the title of
a four-page circular issued by J. H.
Martin of Hartford, N. Y. We
presume that Mr. Martin gives each
one of his customers for honey one of
these circulars, as they contain some
solid information concerning health-
fulness and the curative properties
of this natural sweet. We com-
mend this idea and practice to all
who have honey for sale. Such a
method for acquainting the public with
this most wholesome and delicious
luxury must result beneficially to
those who take this way of advertis-
ing their goods.

"Subscription expired" will be
stamped on the wrappers of all
whose subscriptions expire with any
number of the "Apiculturist." If the
reader desires the paper continued
we shall be glad to do so, provided
you make known your wishes by drop-
ping us a postal card. Otherwise the
"Apiculturist" will be discontinued
when the subscription expires. W^e
invite all to renew and send us with
their own subscription at least one
new subscriber. All who will do so
may deduct twenty per cent for the
trouble they take in the matter.

THE AMERICAN APICULTXjRIST.

287

ITEMS OF I^' IE RE ST.

In an article on preparing bees-
wax for the market an English writer
says the great secret of having a
nice-looking product lies in the melt-
ing of it. He states that direct heat
must not be applied, but that a
water-bath furnishes all that is de-
sired. To clear the melted wax and
throw down any little particles of
dross that may be present, he added
one drop of sulphuric acid to every
fifteen pounds. It will be well for
our readers to remember the impor-
tance of the water-bath in making
cerates that contain beeswax. The
writer states that glucose, flavored
with oil of rose, is sold for honey,
and a mixture of earth, wax and par-
affin, perfumed with oil of citronelle,
is labelled "pure beeswax" and
placed upon the market. — Exchange.

Mr. Charles Faust, Harvard, 111.,
says, that melilot or sweet clover grows
along the highway in his vicinity, and
farmers, fearing that it will spread and
make them trouble, are cutting it down
before it blossoms. Mr. F. says that
where sweet clover does not grow, rag
or mayweed, which he thinks causes
hay fever, will be found. While I
have no knowledge on this last point,
I do know, having grown sweet
clover for several years, that it is beau-
tiful, both in foliage and blossom. It
is much superior as an adornment of
the roadside to either rag or may-
weed. It is a most excellent honey
plant, comparable to Avhite and alsike
clover, or to basswood in value. It
is slow to expand and in meadow and
pasture is soon choked out by our
cultivated grasses. When once in
possession of a spot, it is easy to ex-
tirpate it if it is desired to do so. As
is well known, sweet clover is a bi-
ennial and so must come from the
seed once every two years. The
plants grow from seed one year, and
the next year blossom and die. Thus
we have only to cut the plants while

in bloom before the seed matures to
extirpate the plants in toto. Two
such cuttings in adjacent years will
do the work most thoroughly. In
view of all these facts we can hardly
find a more safe and valuable plant
for waste places, and for roadside
planting. Farmers should encourage
its growth both for its beauty and
worth.

The North American Beekeepers'
Society has a nie.i bership of one liun-
di-ed and twenty-i.ve, and it repre-
sents a territory in which more than
300,000 people Iveep bees, the annual
honey production of wliich amounts
to more than 100,000,000 pounds with
a value of §5,000,000.

If you want tlie best bee-book ex-
taut send one dollar and ten cents
and get a copy of the Third Editiox

OF THE BeKKKKPERS' HaNDY BoOK,

ou Twenty-two Years' Experience
IX Queen-rearing. Tl'e autlior of
this work has had nearly thirty years'
experience in queen-rearinir, and has
probably reared more queens than any
person living.

It is a fact, though perhaps it should
not be staled under the above headmg,
as it is not at all interesting, that
honey never sold at such low prices as
it does the present season.

Hemedy. Do not ship lioney to com-
mission houses to be sold at any price
a buyer sees fit to ofl'er.

November second was a fine, warm
day, the first clear one after about eight
days of rainy weather. While in the
bee yard, we saw an Italian bee trying
to sip honey from a lieadof red clover,
a remarkable circumstance for the
season. Since then, a friend who lives
in another part of Wenluun lias in-
formed me that, on Nov. 4, while pass-
ing through one of his fields, he heard
considerable humming of bees and
found a large number of them at work
on wliat we call here " wild mustard"
or cliarlock {Eaphanus raphanistrum),
a very pernicious weed among grain.
The bees seemed to be gathering pol-
len mostly.

288

THE 'AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

We have in the Bay State Apiar}'
a nucleus containing about two qnarts
of bees and three L-fraines. One of
the frames was moved about four
inches from the other iwo. Altnoiigh
the bees are gathering no honey nor
yet are being fed, they are building
two combs down in the empty space.
■Of course they cannot winter in that
condition, so the queen will be removed
and, at the proper time, the bees will
be united to another cohjny. Bees
building comb and gathering honey
in the month of November certainly
are curious facts.

Joseph M. Hamburgh, Spring, 111.,
makes the following report :

The bee business has not been the
most prosperous this season through-
out this slate, but in my direct locality
1 have no reason to complain. In one
of my apiaries of forty-nine colonies,
spring count, I obtained 5,500 pounds
honey (extracted); and, increased to
lifty-five, my total product will be near
95U0.

Almost all bites and stings are de-
structive from their acid nature; con-
sequently the cure is an alkali. Spir-
its of hartshorn is one of the strongest
and is kept in almost every household,
and yon have only to pour some of it
out in a teacup aiid d;ibble it on with a
rag. Relief is inimediiite.

if you have not hartshorn, then sal-
eratus is a suitable alkali. Every cook
in the land has saleralus, and we are
daily eating ourselves into the grave
by its extravagant use; the use of half
a thimbleful a week is extravagant.

Moisten it with water, and use as in
the case of hartshorn. Or, pour a tea-
cup of boiling water on as much wood
ashes, stir it, and in a few minutes
you will have an alkali. The lye of
ashes will answer a good purpose,
while the physician is coming.

Remember the principle— bite is an
acid, the cure is an alkali. — [Hall's
Journal of Health].

Kingston, Somerset Co., Mil.,
Oct. 18, 1880.
Prof. A. J. Cook,
Dkar Sir:

I take thelibertj'^ as a beekeeper
and student of your manual to send by
mail this day in a small box a sometliiny
that makes excellent bee pasture as
well as tine honey. It came in bloom
in August and lasted until about one
week ago and would still have been
yielding honey but for a frost a few
nights ago. The sample I send is a little
old, but perhaps you can givethename
nevertheless. I rind it on low ground
where the salt water tide and the fresh
water meet, and do not hud it any
where else. It grows from one to two
and one-half fet-t high, and the bees
are perfectly crazy over it late and
early when it is in bloom. Please send
me Hie name or send it to the Amkiu-
CAN ApxcuLTUHiST as you choose and
oblige many beekeepers in this vicin-
ity.

James W. Marshall.

LETTER BOX.

Brief report by A. Wortman, Sea-
field, Ind.

My bees did well this season. I
started in the spring with twenty-four
colonies and increased to sixty-one full
colonies and two nuclei. I got 1,750
pounds of comb honey and 350 pounds
of extracted. The latter I extracted
mostly from the lower parts of one and
two frames in centre of brood-cham-
ber to give room for them to cluster in
winter, as I never saw frames so com-
pletely rilled with honey before. My
crop is mostly from buckwheat, golden
rod, smartweed, etc.

ANOTHER COMPOSITE HONEY PLANT.

The plant sent by James W. Mar-
shall, Kingston, Md., is the salt marsh
flea bane, Pluchea camphorata. Like
golden-rod, aster, boneset, etc., this
belongs to the composite order of
plants. We may not be surprised if
at some tinie we secure some very
valuable plant from this family, some
plant that we may well afford to cul-
tivate.

A. J. Cook.

THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST.

289

THE BAY STATE BEE- HIVE.

WITH REVERSIBLE BROOD-CHAMBER
AND SECl'ION CASES.

(Non-patented).

This hive was briefly noticed in
the May number of the Apiculturist,
and only enough space will now be
taken to describe it as here illustrated.

Fig. 1.

Fig. I represents the bottom-
board, the brood-chamber and sec-
tion-cases. Strips of wood, MAI
and L, are nailed to the under side
of the bottom-board and not only
serve as clamps but also as a stand
for the hive. The latter, of course,
should not rest on the ground as the
wood would soon decay, but a brick
or stone several inches in thickness
should be placed under each corner.

The reader will observe that the
brood-chamber rests on strips, NN,
which are also nailed to the bottom-
board. These strips are three-fourths
of an inch thick thus bringing the
bottom of the combs nearly one
inch above the bottom-board, and af-
fording abundant ventilation to the
hive both summer and winter. A hive
thus arranged will not "roast the bees
out" during the hottest days, even
though the sun shines directly upon
it all day. The frames are closed
ends, eight in number, and with the
side boards, E, compose the brood -
chamber which, if desired, may be

reversed bodily, comb, bees and all
at one motion. Two bolts (one at
each end of the brood-chamber) hav-
ing thumb-nuts hold the frames and
side-boards firmly in place. All that
is necessary in order to remove a
frame is to loosen the nut at one end
when the frame may be easily slipped
out. The bees cannot stick the
frames together, neither is there dan-
ger of crushing them in removing a
frame. Two cases of sections hold-
ing twenty-four one-pound sections
each are shown in the illustration.
There are six broad frames, having
four sections in each with two side-
boards, and an iron bolt having thumb
nuts on each end running directly
through the centre of the case and
clamping all firmly together so that
the sections cannot sag at the centre.
There is a bee- space between the top-
bar of the frames and the sections,
also passage-ways direcdy up through
all the sections so that tiering-up may
be practised to any reasonable ex-
tent. No slatted honey-board is need-
ed as the broad- frames serve the same
purpose, thus doing away with one
useless piece that is usually attached
to most bee-hives.

iU^

Fig. 1.

The hive may be used during the
warm months just as presented in
Fig. I . If used in this way, that is,
with the outer case removed, the
frames and parts exposed to the

290

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

weather should be painted to pre-
serve the wood.

Fig. 2 represents the outer case in
four sections, bottom-board A, lower
section B, middle section C, top
section or cap D. These parts all
rest upon the bottom-board and are
held in place by the strips of wood
iWV, and K, on which the brood-
chamber stands, as seen in Fig. i.

There is a space, for packing in
winter, of about two inches between
the walls of the outer and inner
hives; and at least four inches of
packing may be placed over the
brood-nest, sufficient to resist the
cold or prevent the heat from escap-
ing too rapidly.

There are fifty colonies in the Bay
State Apiary packed for winter in
these hives. Instead of using Hill's
device over the frames for a winter
passage, a canvas honey-board is
used. A frame is made of strips of
wood three- fourths of an inch square
and to it a piece of canvas is nailed.
This allows a space of about one-half
an inch between the frame and canvas
for the bees to cluster, or for a winter
passage and proper ventilation. The
packing over the bees is placed di-
rectly on the canvas honey-board.

More good practical points may
be claimed for this hive than is com-
bined in any other in use.

We can supply about five hun-
dred of the Bay State Reversible hives
during the winter ; most of them will
be sent from the factory in New York
state. Those kept in stock here will
be shipped to orders nearer Wenham
than the factory.

If any one receives one of these
hives made of poor lumber or in an
unworkman-like manner, just return
it to the shipper. We use no cheap
lumber nor do any cheap work at this
establishment. Uo not wait until you
want to use the hives or other goods
before ordering.

SPECIAL NOTICES.

Premium worth having. — The
Neto York World (Weekly) ami the
Amkrican ApicuLTUitiST Will be sent
for one year to any address in North
America for SI. 90; and in addition pre-
sent to every such club subscriber a
"History of' the United States," con-
taining o20 pages and 22 fine engrav-
iniis, bound m ieatlier and gilt.

This " History " will be sent free by
express at the subscriber's expense ; or
will be mailed for 10 cents extra to any
place within the United States or Can-
ada.

It is arranged chronologically by
years, from 1492 to 1885. Every event
is narrated in the order of its date.
These are not confined, as in other
works, to political matters, but em-
brace every branch of human action.

This premium is worth the whole of
the money sent for both periodicals,
and should induce thousands to sub-
scribe.

Those who renew as well as new
subscribers can take advantage of the
above liberal offer.

Each copy of Thk Weekly Wokld
contains 50 closely printed columns,
19^ inches long of solid reading matter,
the History of the United States which
is given to each subscriber 350 pages,
The Beekeeper's Handy Book, 300
pagas and the American Apiculturist
(each month) 32 pages, all the reading
one needs for an entire week.

All the above will be sent by mail for
$2 50. Is not this the best ofl'er yet
made by any publication?

THE HOMES OF OUR FARMER PRESI-
DENTS.

The American AgriciiUurist issues
another in the series of engravings il-
lustrating the " Homes of our Farmer
Tresidents," sixteen by eighteen inches
in size, and presented to all subscrib-
ers for 1887. All new names for 1887
which are immediately received are
entitled to all of the engravings for
next year and those issued this year,
also American ^.r/ncjtZfwn'sf for balance
of this year. The Nov. No., with 170
illustraiicms and articles by fifty well-
known writers, together with a proof
of one of these engravings, showing
what they are, sent to any address on
receipt of six cents for mailing. Ad-
dress American AgricuUuriift, 7 51 Broad-
way, New York. Price, $1.50 per
year; single numbers, fifteen cents.

We will club the American Agricid-
turist with the "Apiculturist" for f2.80

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

291

per year, every person who immedi-
ately subscribes to receive the engrav-
ing free for next year and this year
also.

The Proceedings of the Seventeenth
Annual Convention of the North Amer-
ican Beekeepers' Society, held at In-
dianapolis, Ind., Oct. 12, 18 and 14,
1886, will be issued, in pamphlet form,
by Thos. G. Newman & Son, ;i2.5 West
Madison St., Chicago, 111. Price, 25
cents per copj'.

The book contains 300 pages, 100
fine illustrations, is handsomely bound
in cloth and sent to each subscriber,
by mail, for fifty cents in addition to
one year's subscription to the ''Api."
Regular price of book, $1.10 by
mail.

This work treats of the best meth-
ods for rearing queens, and is pro-
nounced by Rev. L. L. Langstroth to
be the best authority on this impor-
tant branch of beekeeping.

Mr. M. E. Hastings has kindly sent
to this office one of his "Perfection
Bee Feeders." It is something new, and
we see no reason wiiy it will not work
perfectly. See his "ad" in another
column.

Discount on Prices of Sup-
plies.— We are prepared to All orders
for any kind of goods found in our
price list, and a liberal discount will
be made to all customers who will pur-
chase this fall or at any time before
Jan. 1, 1887.

Discount as follows: one dozen
Drone and Queen-traps, one made up
(thirteen in all) $2.75 ; regular price,
$3.50. Sample, latest improved, by
mail, 50 cents; regular price, (i5 ; or
Ti'iipand Apiculturist, one year, $1.35.

Queen-nursery, 18 cages, which Mr.
Doolittle says is the best he has seen,
by mail, $1.25; regular price, $1.60.

We intend to sell goods very cheap
fr»m now until Jan. 1, 1887, and a most
liberal discount will be made on all
goods except the Bay State Reversible
Hive; the price for that is as low as
we can place it.

We desire to retain on our list the
name of every subscriber and as an in-
ducement for all to renew and to new
subscribers a discount of from twenty-
five to tifty per cent will be made on
any one article found in our list of sup-
plies. Our price list of apiarian sup-
plies will be found on the last pages of
any number of the " Api."

NOW IS THE TIME.

Send $1.50 and get the Am. Api-
culturist one year, and a copy of
the Beekeepers' Handy Bqok.

CONVENTION NOTICES.

The New York State, the Eastern
New York and the New Jersey and
Eastern Beekeepers' Associations will
hold their sreat united convention at
Albany, N. Y., on Jan. IS, 19 and 20,
1887. This convention will be one of
the largest, if not the largest, ever held
anywhere in this country and it be-
hooves every beekeeper in the country
te attend. A grand exhibit of apiarian
fixtures is promised. An unusually
brilliant programme will be prepared
and announced later.

The next annual meeting of the Ne-
braska State Beekeepers' Association
will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska, on
Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1887. Location
of Hall to be used and Hotel accommo-
dations will be given after further ar-
rangements have been made.

H. N. PATTEnsox, Sec.

The next annual meeting of the
Michigan State Beekeepers' Associa-
tion will be held in Ypsilanti, Mich.,
on Dec. 1 and 2, 1886.

H. D. Cutting, Sec.

The American Bee Journal is the
best weekly bee paper published in
the English language. Price $1.00
per year.

If any new subscriber to the " Api-
culturist," or those who renew, desire
to take a weekly Bee Journal we will
send both papers for ^1.70.

292

THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST.

THE DRONE AND QUEEN
TRAP.

For the benefit of Mr. Ernest
Root, son of A. I. Root, Editor of
Gleanings in Bee Culture, and all
others who have a wrong impression
of some of the uses of the drone
and queen-trap, we publish the fol-
lowing conversation taken from
Gleanings Oct. 15. It seems that
our friend. Dr. C. C. Miller, while on
his way to the North American bee-
keepers' convention at Indianapolis,
"stopped over" to visit Mr. Root,
While there the Dr. desired to see
one of "Alley's drone and queen-
traps," he never having seen one. A
trap was shown him, when the follow-
ing conversation took place between
the two persons above named.

"Just at this time the apiarist came
into the apiary to commence work.
When he came up where we were talk-
ing I handed him the smoker I had just
filled.

"By the way," said the doctor, when
the apiarist had left us, "I should like
to see one of the Alley drone-traps."

"Oh? yes, sir," said I. "Here is one
on the shelf, and also one of the Batch-
elder."

The doctor -then explained that he
had apiaries located out from his home,
and tliat it sometimes happened, dur-
ing the swarming season, that it was
three or four days before he and liis
assistants could get to them.

'•Now," said he, "do you think tlie
Alley trap, from your experience,
would catcli a queen when the swarm
issued, and keep heralivethree or four
days?"

"I think not, as the trap is now con-
structed. Four or five hours, possibly
a day, would be as long as she would
live," I replied.

I then explained that there was a
little device for letting the queen go
back into the hive, when the bees, dis-
covering her absence, had returned.

"But that is not what I want," said
my friend. "The queen for me must
be kept alive in the cage for three or
four days." After discussing it for
awhile, and referring the matter to
"A. I.," it seemed at least feasible that
the queen might be thus kept after the
swarm l;[ad issued.

I then attached one of the Alley
traps to a chaff hive, that the doctor
might see how the bees behaved. As
I have, in a former issue, explained,
the bees on returning seemed a little
confused. While we were watching,
a number of said bees pa.ssed the trap
without any apparent difficulty, and
with pollen adl.eiing to their hgs too."

Is it not strange that a man with
Dr. Miller's experience in bee cul-
ture should not know that a queen
during the warm weather will live in
almost any place twelve hours with-
out food? I am equally surprised
that our young friend Root should
make such a statement. The idea that
a queen will not live but four or five
hours in one of the drone-traps is,
indeed, queer.

Dr. Miller has an apiary some dis-
tance from home and would like to
use the traps if assured and convinced
that; it is practical and what he needs.
Well, now. Dr., I will send you as
many traps as you need, and if they
do not do the work as well as you
desire, that is, catch the queens when
a swarm issues, and keep them alive,
at least, a week, I will make you a
present of all the traps you call for.

I have repeatedly had swarms is-
sue and removed the trap, queen and
all, a few feet from the hive the bees
came from and there it has remained
in some cases, nearly two weeks.
The bees, about a pint in all, would
stick to the queen, and take a no-
tion to swarm out the trap about ev-
ery day, but as the queen could not
leave they would quickly return. I
should be willing to pay $10 for each
queen that dies in the trap in less
than eight days. The best evidence
that a colony has swarmed in the ab-
sence of the apiarist is the fact that
the queen is in the trap, and one may
know that a queen is in the trap by
the quantity of bees that will remain
in it when a queen is there. Hence,
any one may know at a glance, where
the trap is used, that a swarm has is-
sued.