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1893 


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Jan.    10,  1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


ADVEI^TISING  t^ATES. 

All  advertisements  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  linch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  follows :  — 

On  10  lines  and  upwards,  S  times,  5  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

_  On  20  lines  and  upwards,  8  times.  10 percent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  HO  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  80  per  cent ;  S  times,  40  per  cent :  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Iiist. 

1  will  send  the  Review  with — 

(ileaninge, ($1.00) 

American  Bee  Journal (  l.O(i) 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) 

American  B«»  Keeper    . . .  (    .50) 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper...  (    .50) 

Bee  Keepers' Guide (    .50) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Magazine . . .  (    .iiO) 


.$1.7.5. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.65. 

.  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules. 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  well  filled ;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  foar  sides  ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise  ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed ;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel  stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.    That  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 

No.  1  dark,"  etc. 


CHICAGO,  Ill.-The  market  is  not  brisk. 
Dealers  that  laid  in  a  holiday  stock,  still  have  the 
same  on  hand.  There  is  but  little  fancy  white 
comb ;  such  brings  18  cts.  Most  of  the  white, 
grades  No  1,  and  sells  at  16  to  17  cts.  Amber  and 
dark  comb  brings  from  10  to  15  cts.  Extracted 
brings  irom  6  to  9  cts.,  according  to  quality. 
Beeswax,  20  to  25  cts. 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 

Jan.  11 .  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


CINCINNATI,  Ohio.-There  is  no  fancy  white 
on  the  market.  No.  1  white  brings  14  to  16  cts. 
in  a  jobbing  way.  For  extracted  honey,  ttie  de- 
mand from  manufacturers  was  slow  for  the  last 
few  weeks.  The  demand  from  consumers  is  fair. 
There  is  a  fair  demand  for  beeswax  at  23  to  25 
cts.  for  got)d  to  choice  yellow. 

CHAS.  F.  MUTH&SON., 

Jan.  12.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


CHICAGO,  111.— Fancy  white  is  scarce  and 
the  demand  is  good  at  17  cts.  No.  1,  white.  15  to 
16  cts.  Dark  comb  sells  very  slowly  at  13  to  14 
cts  Light  Extracted,  S'/s  ;  dark,  6  to  7  cts.  Wax. 
23  to  25  cts.  J .  A .  LA  M  O  N , 

Jan.  10.        44  &  4fS  So.  Water  St.,  Cliicago,  111. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y— Market  is  quiet  except  for 
strictly  fancy  s  ock  which  brings  16  to  17  cts. 
Dark  and  No.  1  white  are  moving  very  slowly  at 
prices  ranging  from  12  cte  downward.  Wax.  25 
to  28  for  best  quality.    Supply  light. 

BATTKKSON  &  CO . 


[Jan.  11. 


167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  V. 


NEW  YORK,  N  Y.-The  demand  for  comb 
honey  of  all  kinds  is  very  limited.  While  fancy 
white  is  oretty  well  cleaned  up.  tlio  market  is 
well  stocked  with  amber,  mixed  and  buckwheat, 
and  prices  on  tiiese  grades  is  declining.  We 
quote,  fancy  white  [I  lbs.)  i5ct8.,  No.  1  wliite,  13 
to  14  cts.;  amber,  (1  lbs.)  12  cts.  Mixed  and 
buckwheat,  1 1  lbs.  I  8  to  10  cts.  Extracted  honey 
is  in  good  demand  and  stocks  are  light.  It  finds 
immediate  sale  at  8  to  8V4  for  ba8swt)od  and 
white  clover;  7  to  7'/i  for  amber;  6  to  6'/i  for 
dark  and  buckwheat.  Southern,  70  to  75  cts.  a 
gallon.  Wax  is  dnll  at  from  25  to  27,  according 
to  color. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN, 

Jan.  11.       28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.-  The  demand  for  fancy 
white  honey  is  very  good,  ani  better  prices  are 
expected.  The  supply  is  not  one-half  what  it  has 
been  in  previous  years.  We  quote  fancy  white, 
1  lb.  sections,  19  to  20.  No.  1  white,  16  to  17. 
Dark,  12  to  14.  Extracted  in  kegs,  10  to  11.  In 
barrels,  7  to  8. 

J.  SHEA  &  CO  , 
14  Hennepin  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 


ALBANY,  N.  Y. — Honey  market  is  slow  on  ac- 
count of  cold  weather,  but  stocks  are  also  light. 
We  have  less  than  50  cases  of  honey  on  hand,  and 
only  one  barrel  of  extracted.  We  usually  have 
1,000  cases  of  honey  in  stock.  For  honey  not 
granulated  in  the  comb,  we  quote,  fancy  white 
(small  combs)  15  to  18.  Mixed,  13  to  14.  Dark, 
10  to  11.  Large  combs  and  double  glass  sell  at 
from  1  to  2  cts  less.  White  extracted,  8'/i  to  9. 
Amber,  7^  to  8.  Buckwheat,  7  to  7»4. 
H.  R. 'WRIGHT. 
nJan.  13.  326  Broadway,  Albany,  N.  Y. 


ESTABLISHED      1876. 

S.    T.    FISH    &    CO., 

COMMISSION     MERCHANTS. 

Dried  Fruit,  Honey  and  Farm  Products. 

189   South   Water    St.,  Chicago. 

We  make  a  specialty  of  our  honey  department 
and  ask  for  your  consignments  and  correspon- 
dence.   Reference,  any  bee-paper.  9-92-6t 

WHITE    POPLAR 

SECTIONS. 

We  have  New  Steam  Power,  and  New  Build- 
ings, and  are  now  ready  to  furnish  White  Pop- 
lar Sections,  Clamps,  Crates  and  Wood  Sides  at 
short  notice.  Workmanship,  Quality  and  Price 
unsurpassed.    Send  for  sample  and  price  list. 

PRIME  &  OOV£, 
l-90-tf  Bristol,  Vermont. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


VO\JH      PROFITS 


Next  season  will  depend  larg-ely  upon  how  your  bees 
come  throug-h  the  winter.  Man}-  bee  -  keepers  believe 
that  after  l^ees  are  put  into  winter  quarters  nothing- 
more  can  be  done  for  their  welfare  until  spring-  has 
come.  All  who  believe  thus,  and  all  who  believe  that 
care  is  needed,  but  are  a  little  uncertain  as  to  what 
that  care  should  be,  ought  to  buy  the  book  "Advanced 
Bee  Culture"  and  read  the  chapter  entitled  "Care  of 
Bees  in  Winter."  Remember,  too,  that  the  book  con- 
tains   31    other  chapters. 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts. ;  the  Review  one  ye.ar  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 

W.  Z.  HUTCHINSOISI,   Flint,  ]V[iGh. 


:© 


New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE- HIVES.   SMOKERS, 

FOUXDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWEY  JOHNSON, 

1  9:-!-tf.  Masocituwn,   I'a. 

Western  BEE-KEEPERS'  Supply  Factory. 

Liirgrcst  Business  of  tlie  kliiil  in  tbe  West. 

We  uiauutacture  Bee  Keeper^'  sup- 
plies ot  all  kiuds,  beat  qualitij  at 
lowest  prices.  Dovetailed  Hives, 
Siiotions,  Foundation,  Extractors, 
Smokers,    Crates,    Veils.    Feeders, 

Clover  Seeds,  Buckwheat,  etc. 

Imported   Italian  Queens. 

Queens   and    Bees.      Sample 

Cnpv  of  our  Bee  Joum.-il, 
"The  Western  Bee-Kecpcr," 
auil  latest  CntBiogue  nuiiled 
Free  to  B.e-K.'ppers.  AMdress 
JOSEPH  NYSEWAXDEK, 
DG8  JttUIMES,  IOWA. 

+  92  tf        Please  mention  the  Review. 


^^ow,  I've  Got  Voii 

Just  read  our  won- 
derful otter— nothiuB 
like  it  heard  of  lietore 
in  tieepublisbinji.  We 
Give  FREE  to  every  in\v  siib- 
scriher  lo  ilie  VVe;ElvLY 

AMERICAN 

BEE  JOURNAL 

wlio  sends  $!.■  0  for  a 
year's  subscri  PL  on.  a 
cop\  of  '•  Newman's  " 

Bees  and  Honey 

—a -61. 00  tjooli  t'RKE. 
Has  -Z'Zr,  pages.  '.'OO  11 
lustr.itinns.  bound  in 
heavy,  tinted  paper. 
Just,  the  book  for  the 
he^iiniier  or  expert. 
Y<  lU  ought  to  iiave  it 
Send  us  'i  new  names 
at*l  00  eich  for  the 
Rre  .[niiriiKl  one  year  & 
giir  tlie  book  as  a  pre- 
liiiiim  ;we  also  send  it 
lo  each  of  the  2  subs. 
Simple  Journal   free 

GEO,  "W,  YORK  &  CO. 

I9!(  E.  ftHr.dnlnh  St.. 
CHICAGO,    -    ILL. 


Please  mention   the   Review, 


THE  BKE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


EXTRACTORS  !       EXTRACTORS  !  ! 

yAORE  THAN  EVER,  BETTER  THAN  EVER. 


We  arf  inakinf;  a 
spocialty  of  HONEY 
EXTRACTORS.  W  e 
make  Novice's  2  and  4 
frame ;  Cowan's  Rever- 
sible 2,  4,  and  ti  frame, 
and  Stanley  Reversi. 
Iiles,  2  and  4  frames. 
Nearly  all  the  dealers 
landle  these  goods. 
Write  for  discounts  to 
the  trade. 

^  Sawed  WoodSeparalors 

Instead  of  slicingthem 
I'hey  are  dry,   won't   shrink. 


we  are  now  sawing  them, 
and  won't  roll  up. 

R()()T\S  FOUNDATION    FOI118D8.  — .. 

Made  from  BRIGHT    YELLOW  WAX,  and  the  workmanship   unexcelled.     For  priees  and  i)ar- 
ticulars  of  all  goods,  send  for  our  ISvKi  Catalogue  of  52  pages,  free. 

A.  I.  ROOT,   Medina,  Ohio. 


?p1iii^rAiBfe.  of  ^C  Keepers  Supplies. 


TO  EEDUCE  STOCK. 


From  now  until  March  Ist  only,  we  will  sell  No. 
1.  One-Piece  Sections  at  |2  7.i,  and  Nc  2  at  $2.00 
perl.OOi).  Other  supplies  in  proportion  On  all 
••ash  orders  of  ?.5.{XI  or  more,  from  within  1(H) 
miles  of  us  we  will  pay  the  freight. 

J.J.  BRADNER, 

1-iW  2t.  Marion.  Grant  Co.,  Ind. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


ON    HAND    NOW. 

THE     MOST     COMPLETE     STOCK 

OF  BEE    HIVES.    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE   NORTHWEST. 

W.   H.  PUTNAM. 

1  i):U2t.  RIVER  PALLS.   WIS. 

Please  mention  the  Review 


Porter's    spring  Bee-Ejczipe 


Saves  temper,  time  and  bees. 

PROF.  COOK  says :  ''  No  beekeeper  can 
.ifldrd  to  be  without  them." 

WM.  M'EVOY,  foul  brood  inspector  of  Ont., 
Can.,  says  :  "'They  should  be  used  in  every  bee 
yard  in  tiie  whole  wide  world." 

THOS.  PIERCE,  Pres.  Eastern  N.  Y  B.  K.  A. 
s.iys  :    'The  time  will  soon  come  when  all  bee- 
keo Iters  will  use  tliem. 
Send     fc  I     cirinlai    and    testimoniaN     and    read  what    others    say    of    them. 
PRICES  :  Each,  by  mail,  with  full  instructions,  20  cts.    Per  doz..  $2.2.').    If.  after  three  months' 
trial,  they  are  not  found  superior  to  all  other  escapes,  and  satisfactory  in  every  way,  return  them  and 
we  will  refund  your  money.    For  sale  by  dealers. 

4-b2-tf  Mention    Reuieui.  H-   &   E.   C-  POf^TEl^,   lieuj  iStOUl  H,  III. 


ee- 


\eepeps  /AeViecu. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e   Interests  of   Hoqey   Producers. 

$L00   A   YEAR, 

W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,  EdltOP  8l  PPOp. 

VOL,  VI,  FLINT,     MICHIGAN,    JAN,     10.    1893,  NO. 


Kotes  from  the   Pacific   Coast.— Some  of  the 

Needs  and  Necessities  of  California 

Bee-Kesping. 

.TNO.  H.  MABTIN. 


( )UR   leader  in 


what  be  -  keepers 
most  Ueed  attract- 
ed Tn>  Httention, 
and,  :ilthough  I 
shall  not  agree  to 
write  a  hest  arti- 
cle, I  wi:l  write  a 
short  one,  and  per- 
hap.s  in  that  re- 
spect it  will  be  the 
best.  Without  yo- 
intj  into  preliminaries  and  reviewing  the 
past,  I  will  apply  my  observatif)ns  to  things 
of  the  present.  You  are  aware  that  I  have 
had  quite  a  long  field  if  not  a  wide  one  for 
cultivation,  and  the  most  striking  feature  in 
relation  to  the  permanancy  and  success  of 
bee-keeping  is  the  intermittent  nature  of  the 
work,  and  the  further  west  we  go  the  longer 
the  intermission.  Here  in  California,  after 
an  apiary  has  been  established  and  our  hon- 
ey yield  secured  and  disposed  of,  then,  from 
August  to  the  next  March,  the  bees  need  but 
little  attention.  The  apiarist  usually  has 
some  other  business  i^  which  he  gets  so 
much  interested  that  the  bees  are  neglected, 
and  if  the  season  is  a  poor  one  the  neglect 
amounts  to  the  shameful. 


The  only  remedy  at  present,  perhaps,  is 
the  practice  of  migratory  bee-keeping  wher- 
ever it  can  be  practiced,  and  California  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  best  fields  for  the  prac- 
tice of  this  method.  Commencing  at  the 
sea  coast  and  gradually  moving  back  into 
the  mountains  the  season  would  be  drawn 
out  several  months,  but  at  present  the  ener- 
gies of  the  beekeepers  and  the  appliances 
are  not  equal  to  the  occasion  and  it  is  not 
practiced.  There  are  several  points  however 
to  be  considered  should  any  desire  to  put 
this  plan  into  practice.  If  we  inigrate  we 
are  liable  to  interfere  with  another  man's 
field  and  that  would  not  be  just.  Then  every 
move  adds  to  the  cost  of  production  and 
with  extracted  honey  at  five  cents  and  comb 
at  ten  cents  per  pound,  such  additions  would 
be  ruinous.  It  would  seem  almost  impossi- 
l)le  to  reduce  the  cost  of  production,  but  I 
think  it  could  be  done  with  the  perfection  of 
pre'^ent  appliances. 

The  a  ueen  excluding  honey  board  and  bee- 
escape  are  helps  but  they  do  not  work  with 
the  perfection  we  wish,  for  queens  will  get 
through  not  only  once  in  a  while,  but  twice 
in  a  while,  and  the  bee  escape  works  the 
same  way  in  clearing  extracting  supers.  The 
perfection  of  the  swarm  catchers,  and  the 
fact  of  having  at  last  a  non-swarming  apiary 
would  be  another  step  in  the  reduction  plan. 
Another  very  important  point  especially  ap- 
plicable in  this  climate  and  not  thoroughly 
considered,  is  a  better  plan  for  rearing  and 
having  on  hand  at  all  times  an  unfail- 
ing supply   of    extra  -  good   queens.     That 


V. 


er 


V.6 
1893 


THE  BEEKEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


yioini  alone  would  make  a  great  difference  iu 
the  honey  yield  of  hundreus  of  apiaries  ou 
this  coast  as  well  as  farther  east. 

Another  object  to  be  attained  is  to  make  a 
certainty  from  our  uncertainty  for  there  is 
nothing  more  discouraging  than  to  patiently 
and  laboriously  hold  your  dish  right-side  up 
all  through  the  season  and  at  tlie  end  find  it 
empty.  As  long  as  this  condition  of  things 
lasts  honey  will  never  become  a  staple  arti- 
cle like  butter  or  Hour  which  can  be  depend- 
ed upon  year  after  year.  Speaking  from  a 
California  stand  point  we  have  more  difficul- 
ties to  contend  with  than  our  Eastern  breth- 
ren :  but  I  am  not  sure,  if  sugar  honey  is  to 
be  the  honey  of  the  future,  but  we  stand  iu 
a  good  position  to  supply  tlie  world  with 
that,  as  we  could  call  it  beet  honey.  The 
feeding  of  the  beet  sugar  would  occupy  a 
good  share  of  the  year,  and  tliat  would  over- 
come the  intermissions  of  the  present  meth- 
od, and  put  bee-keeping  upon  a  sure  footing. 

These  great  subjects  are,  however,  all  for 
the  future  to  answer  and  in  these  articles  we 
can  only  speculate  upon  the  probable  results. 
I  would,  however,  advise  no  one  to  abandon 
bee-keeping  but  try  to  improve  and  keep 
pace  with  the  progress  and  if  the  sugar  cloud 
seems  dangerous  to  some  of  us,  and  fraught 
with  dire  consequences,  there  may  be  a 
silver  lining  to  it.  Let  us  hope  and  wait  and 
see. 

Redlands,  Calif.,  Dec.  'A,  1S!»2. 


l.i^-i 


Writers   Ought    to    be    More  Sure  of  Their 

Premises,  and  go  More  Into  Details. — Bee 

Keeping  is  Drifting  into    Specialty. 

W.  (;.  l-UAZIEU. 

>ITHI>J  the  last  forty  years  apicul- 
ture has  made  a  vast  stride  for- 
ward. Forty  years  since,  mova- 
ble frame  hives  were  unknown  or  nearly  so. 
The  habits  of  the  bee  were  a  mystery,  even 
to  those  who  were  the  foremost  in  the  bee 
world  and  the  improvement  of  bees  by  the 
introduction  of  new  blood,  through  queens, 
was  hardly  begun,  iu  fact  the  idea  was  pretty 
generally  prevalent  that  the  drones  layed  the 
eggs. 

Such  ideas  are  now  seldom  met  with  and 
when  they  are  found,  serve  only  to  cause  a 
smile  upon  the  face  of  the  apiarist,  such  as 
is  found  upon  that  of  the  relic  hunter  when 


he  finds  some  very  rare  and  "ancient  relic 
of  the  past." 

That  we  have  now  a  new  system  of  keeping 
bees  and  that  this  new  system  hih.s^  be  fol- 
lowed if  the  apiarist  would  continue  in  the 
business,  experience  and  observation  will 
affirm. 

That  in  time  to  come  other  improvements 
and  advances  iu  the  art  (for  art  it  is),  will  be 
made,  there  remains  not  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt. 

To  mark  out  the  course  wliich  inventive 
genius  will  take  would  possibly  be  consider- 
ed presumption  in  any  one  man  :  but  if  each 
one  would  show  in  what  direction  he  thinks 
improvement  and  advancement  would  be 
necessary  great  good  might  follow. 

It  would  be  desirable,  if  the  writer  on  api- 
cutural  subjects  would  enter  more  into  de- 
tail in  describing  their  methods  ;  while  no 
one  can  imitate  the  methods  of  another,  in 
all  respects,  with  success,  yet  many  describe 
practices  and  inventions  in  which  it  is  hard- 
ly possible  to  follow  them  or  in  any  manner 
to  imitate. 

If  the  leaders  would  take  pains  to  advocate 
nothing  which  they  had  not  tried  and  found 
superior,  their  followers  would  be  spared  a 
world  of  pains  and  worry  iu  trying  to  imi- 
tate them  only  to  find  that  the  plan  or  inven- 
tion had  been  gi/en  out  prematiirely,  and 
while  in  all  reason  and  by  all  theories  it 
should  have  been  perfection,  yet  for  some 
reason  unforseen  the  thing  would  not  work 
as  it  was  designed.  While  examples  may 
not  be  in  order,  yet  the  Hoffman  brood 
frame  as  used  in  the  dovetailed  hive  and 
the  self-hiver  are  fair  samples  of  this.  While 
they  both  will  no  doubt  l)e  so  improved  in 
time  so  as  to  till  the  places  perfectly  for 
which  they  were  intended:  jet  at  present 
there  cannot  be  said  to  be  ou  the  market  a 
self-hiver  that  can  be  depended  upon  to  hive 
a  swarm,  at  least  none  that  is  backed  by 
practical  exf)erience,  although  there  are 
many,  that  l)y  all  theories  and  in  all  reason 
should  accomplisli  this,  the  end  for  which  it 
was  designed. 

The  Hoffman  frame  was  intended  to  be  a 
frame  on  which  the  bees  would  not  build 
brace  or  burr  combs.  But  somehow  the  bees 
could  not  see  it  in  this  light ;  they  build  burr 
combs  from  the  frames  to  the  patern  slats, 
and  from  the  frames  to  the  covers  so  as  to 
inake  it  almost  impossible  to  separate  them, 
and  the  frames  are  as  badly  joined  together 
by  brace  combs  between  the  top  bars,  as  the 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


ends  of  the  frames  are  securely  fastened  to- 
gether by  propolis. 

The  drift  of  apiculture  seems  to  be,  as  in 
almost  all  other  things,  to  specialty. 

If  he  is  a  queen  breeder,  he  will  not  find  it 
convenient  to  take  or  attend  to  a  large  crop 
of  honey  ;  and  if  he  is  a  supply  dealer  it  will 
very  much  interfere  with  either  honey  or 
queens.  But  the  production  of,  and  caring 
for,  the  houey  the  bees  produce  should  be  the 
object  of  all  apiarists,  that  is  the  fundamen- 
tal principle  on  which  apiculture  rests. 

This  country  could  easily  spare  some  of  its 
Bee-Keepers.    It  needs  more  Apiarists. 

To  increase  the  production  of  honey  should 
be  the  aim  of  every  true  apiarist. 

To  do  this  requires  his  utmost  skill  and 
constant  vigilance,  and  he  must  provide  for 
the  honey  harvest  months  ahead,  if  he  would 
have  his  dish  right  side  up  when  the  honey 
flow  comes.  He  must  have  a  strong  colony 
of  young  bees,  well  provided  with  wholesome 
stores  at  the  beginning  of  winter  ;  they  must 
also  have  a  queen  that  is  (jood,  young  and 
vigorous.  By  good  we  mean  a  queen  that  is 
from  a  pure  mother,  let  her  be  mated  as  she 
may.  Queens  should  always  be  reared  from 
a  mother  that  is  pure,  be  it  Italian,  Carnio- 
lian  or  Cyprian,  and  the  mother  should  be 
selected  for  her  honey  qualities,  without  ref- 
erence to  her  propensitiy  to  produce  highly 
colored  bees,  only  seeing  that  her  bees  are 
all  similarly  marked  and  have  the  character- 
istic marks  of  her  race.  In  fact,  to  see  that 
she  is  purely  mated.  While  the  daughters  of 
such  a  queen  will  give  the  highest  satisfac- 
tion as  honey  gatherers  without  reference  to 
how  they  are  mated,  yet  the  mis-mated 
queens  should  never  be  allowed  to  produce 
queens.  If  they  do  the  apiary  is  sure  to  have 
a  downward  tendency.  A  mis-mated  or 
hybrid  queen  is  no  more  tit  to  breed  from 
than  a  mule  would  be,  were  such  a  thing  pos- 
sible. 

There  are  a  great  mass  of  bee-keepers  in 
this  country  that  need  to  be  reached ;  how 
to  reach  them  is  the  problem  ?  While  they 
are  following  to  some  extent  the  practices  of 
modern  apiculture,  yet  many  of  them  are 
following  far  in  the  wake.  They  have  only 
adopted  such  things  as  supers  and  sections, 
because  they  find  it  is  to  their  advantage  to 
do  so,  as  it  makes  their  honey  bring  them 
more  money ;  and  many  there  are,  very 
many,  that  still  produce  "  chunk "  honey 
and  strange  as  it  may  seem  they  find  a  sale 
for  their  product.     The  best  thing  the  apiar- 


ist can  do  with  one  of  this  class  is  to  induce 
him  to  purchase  one  of  the  standard  works 
on  bee-keeping  or  to  subscribe  for  one  of 
our  numerous  and  excellent  journals  on  bee- 
culture.  This  will  have  the  effect  of  elevat- 
ing him  or  breeding  him  up,  if  you  please, 
as  much  as  using  a  pure  bred  male  does  on 
the  flock  or  herd.  This  will  have  the  effect 
on  him,  in  time,  if  he  has  the  mental  ability 
to  back  him,  of  making  him  a  better  bee- 
keeper, if  not  indeed  a  thoroughbred. 
Atlantic,  Iowa.  Dec.  14,  1892. 

The  New   "  K.  D."    Hive   and  Super. — How 
They  are  Made   and   Their  Advantages. 

B.    0.    AIKIN. 

/^H  with  what  in- 
W  terest  did  I  look 
for  and  peruse  the 
December  Re- 
view !  It  was  too 
short  by  far.  Had 
it  contained  one 
hundred  articles 
from  as  many  api- 
arists and  parts  of 
the  country,  liow  it 
would  have  reveal- 
ed the  condition, 
wants  and  necessities  of  the  pursuit.  Amen, 
Bro's  Doolittle  and  Miller ;  there  are  mil- 
lions in  apiculture,  hut  not  to  those  who  seek 
filthii  h(crc  alone. 

Friend  Doolittle,  you  can  make  a  success 
by  taking  at  least  half  the  crop  of  your  out- 
apiaries  in  comb  houey.  This  article  will 
not  tell  you  how  in  specific  terms,  but  I 
think  it  will  throw  a  ray  of  light  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

But  R.  L.  Taylor,  y-e-s  and  B.  Taylor  too, 
V)ut  especially  the  former,  almost  deters  me 
from  telling  how. 

Bro.  Taylor,  there  are  some  things  apiar- 
ists "want,"  and  must  have,  and  there  are 
both  "  necessity,"  and  "  possibility."  Fur- 
thermore, I  want  to  say  to  you,  that  "  inven- 
tions "  in  the  way  of  apicultural  appliances 
have  not  yet  reached  the  top.  That  "  con- 
trivance "  I  "  have  been  planning  so  long," 
I  am  going  to  "  dro2:>  "  rightinto  the  "camp" 
by  means  of  this  article. 

Before  entering  into  details  I  want  to  say 
that  we  expect  opposition  and  charges  of 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


stealing  other  inventions  ;  no  good  thing 
ever  met  with  no  opposition.  'Tis  true,  too, 
that  but  for  the  thoughts  and  inventions  of 
otliers,  we  would  not  have  developed  what 
we  now  have,  but,  by  much  thought,  and  by 
combining  many  old  features  with  some  new 
ones,  we  have  "  brought  forth  "  what  we 
call  our 

"K"ay  "D"eeHive, 

Now,  what  is  it  ?  First,  a  combined  bot- 
tom board  and  feeder.  This  is  reversible, 
and  has  a  1)2  inch  rim,  deep  side  up,  for 
feeding  and  wintering,  the  other  side  up 
during  honey  flow. 

The  brood  chamber  is  lO-frame,  reversible, 
9  X  15  X  17  inches  in  size.  The  frame  is  a 
wide-end  bar,  close  fitting,  standing  frame, 
9  X  17.  The  capacity  is  about  that  of  9  L. 
frames.  The  outer  case  is  not  nailed  at  the 
corners,  but  is  supplied  with  metal  corner 
pieces,  screwed  or  nailed  to  the  sides. 
Through  these  corner  irons  are  passed  two 
rods  (one  at  either  end  of  the  hive)  having  a 
thumb  nut  at  one  end.  These  are  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  tightning  of  the  thumb  nut 
gives  compression  upon  both  ends  and  sides. 
The  frames  are  reversible  singly,  or  en  masse 
by  reversing  the  chamber. 

The  super  is  4)^  x  1.5  x  17,  and  in  construc- 
tion is  identical  with  the  brood  chamber  case, 
save  that  the  ends  have  a  recess  or  inset  to 
received  the  ends  of  the  seperator.  The  only 
inside  pieces,  are  three  tin  seperators.  The 
super  sides  and  separators,  are  provided  with 
"  spurs,  edgers,  or  points,"  so  that  when  the 
sections  are  in,  and  the  compression  brought 
to  bear,  the  "spurs"  imbed  themselves  in 
the  section  edges.  The  compression  and 
spurs,  are  the  means  of  supporting  the  sec- 
tions. The  super  holds  32,  1'h  x  4I4  X4I4 
sections.  The  super  sides  support  the  sec- 
tions adjoining  them,  while  the  separators 
are  placed  between  each  alternate  row  of 
sections,  so  that  all  are  supported,  and  each 
section  will  have  one  straight  side  because 
adjoined  by  either  the  super  side  or  a  sepa- 
rator. There  are  neither  T  tins,  section 
holders,  patern  slats,  followers  nor  wedges, 
in  either  super  or  brood  chamber,  and  in 
both  brood  chamber  and  super,  we  have 
compression  from  both  side  and  end. 

The  hive  has  two  covers  :  a  thin,  plain 
cleated-corner  cover  ;  and  a  flat,  rimmed 
cover,  about  13^2  inches  deep.  The  rim  is 
rabbetted  •)«,  and  telescopes  that  much. 

With  the  hive  is  a  wood  zinc  slatted  queen 
excluding  honey  board,  and  a  queen  trap. 


There  is  no  provision  for  an  entrance  in  the 
hive  proper.  The  honey  board  has  a  bee 
space  in  each  side,  and  has  the  hive  entrance 
in  its  edge,  and  carries  the  alighting  board. 
This  board  remains  on  the  hive  the  whole 
year.  The  entrance  is  double,  1.  e.,  one 
opening  directly  beneath  the  excluder,  and 
one  immediately  above  it  :  a  piece  of  sheet 
iron  separates  the  entrances.  Thus  we  have 
a  free  passage  for  the  bees  to  either  brood 
chamber  or  super,  without  passing  through 
the  hive. 

The  trap  is  adjustable  to  either  entrance. 
When  placed  on  the  lower  one  its  top  side  is 
level  with  the  bottom  of  the  upper  entrance, 
and  practically  serves  as  one  alighting  board. 
This  arrangement  permits  the  bees  to  work 
diiect  to  the  super  without  passing  through 
excluding  metal,  but  will  trap  the  queen 
should  she  attempt  to  leave  the  hive.  At 
mating  time  the  trap  is  placed  at  the  upper 
entrance,  leaving  the  brood  chamber  en- 
trance free ;  but  it  blocks  the  queen  from 
going  into  the  super. 

Now,  briefly,  some  of  the  advantages  we 
claim. 

The  entrance  being  at  the  top  of  the  brood 
chamber  will  facilitate  packing  for  winter  ; 
it  is  out  of  the  grass,  weeds  and  snow,  and 
above  toads.  (  Here,  toads  are  as  "  thick  as 
hops.")  The  entrance  being  so  near  the  su- 
per, in  fact  directly  into  it,  causes  work  to 
begin  there  earlier,  and  progress  more  rap- 
idly. 

The  arrangement  of  the  trap  and  entrance, 
permits  us  to  keep  swarms  from  absconding. 

The  means  of  compression  is  simple  but 
firm,  and  permits  of  reversing  the  brood  nest 
at  will  and  leaves  no  place  to  propolize  in 
either  brood  chamber  or  super,  and  reduces 
to  a  minimum  the  opportunity  for  burr 
combs.  No  sections  can  "  kick  up  "  or  get 
out  of  place. 

In  wintering  we  have  "  top  ventilation," 
which  we  are  prepared  to  prove  is  necessary 
to  safe  wintering. 

The  hive  will  be  nailed  and  painted  at 
the  factory  and  shipped  "  K.  D."  You  have 
only  to  put  the  brood  frames  together,  put 
the  starters  in  them,  and  your  hive  is  ready 
for  use. 

No  hive  ever  ofifered  to  the  public  com- 
bines  so  many  valuable  features  with  so  few 
pieces  and  parts.  It  is  simple,  easily  han- 
dled, and  durable  ;  and  to  obtain  equal  re- 
sults with  any  other  known  hive,  will  cost 
double  what  this  hive  will  cost. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Now,  Mr.  Editor,  I  have  very  briefly  de- 
scribed oar  hive,  and  some  of  its  advanta- 
ges ;  to  fully  explain  its  good  features  and 
make  plain  its  construction,  would  take 
many  pages  and  numerous  illustrations,  but 
we  hope  ere  long  to  have  it  fully  described 
and  illustrated. 

Associated  with  myself,  as  a  joint  inventor, 
is  Mr.  Harvey  Knight  of  Littleton,  this  State. 
Mr.  Knight  has  been  for  years  one  of  our 
leading  honey  producers  in  this  State  and  has 
for  two  years  been  manufacturing  supplies, 
although  now  out  of  the  manufacturing  bus- 
iness. He  has  also  been  Secretary  of  our 
State  Association  for  several  years. 

We  have  applied  for  a  patent  on  some  of 
the  new  features.  We  do  not  expect  to  be- 
come wealthy  on  royalties,  but  by  thus  pro- 
tecting ourselves  we  hope  to  receive  partial 
remuneration  for  our  labors.  We  honestly 
believe  that  our  invention  is  worthy,  and  will 
be  a  grand  help  to  the  pursuit. 


LOVELAND,  Colo. 


Dec.  28,  1892. 


That  Air  Blast  Article  [Page  269. J— Where 

the  Extra   Energy  Comes  From  to 

Make  a  Stronger  Blast. 

S.  COBNEIL. 

REPLYING  to  Mr. 
Hasty '8  letter, 
page  300,  I  have  to 
say  that  I  understand 
the  blast  of  a  smoker 
to  be  the  air  in  mo- 
tion as  it  passes  out 
of  the  nozzle,  and 
the  more  rapid  the 
motion  of  this  air 
the  stronger  is  the 
blast;  also,  the  great- 
er the  quantity  of  air 
driven  through  the  nozzle  in  a  given  time 
the  more  rapid  the  motion,  and  consequently 
the  stronger  the  blast.  In  all  the  smokers  I 
have  seen  in  which  the  "  cut  off  "  was  ap- 
plied, more  or  less  of  the  current  is  dissipa- 
ted between  the  bellows  and  fire  barrel,  ow- 
ing partly  to  bad  construction,  and  partly 
to  want  of  information  on  the  part  of  the 
maker.  By  the  improvements  I  have  sug- 
gested all  the  air  contained  in  the  bellows 
and  fire  barrel  is  driven  through  the  nozzle, 
and  in  addition  thereto  there  is  the  large 


quantity  induced  to  join  the  current,  and 
enter  the  fire  barrel,  without  passing  through 
the  bellows.  To  drive  this  increased  volume 
of  air  through  the  bellows,  without  loss  of 
time,  it  is  not  necessary  to  either  '"attack"  or 
•'contradict  "  the  doctrine  of  the  conserva- 
tion of  the  energy,  as  Mr.  Hasty  seems  to 
suppose,  because  there  is  abundant  energy, 
and  to  spare,  stored  up  in  the  muscles  of  the 
operator's  hand  to  do  the  additional  work 
required.  As  there  is  a  very  much  larger 
quantity  of  air  driven  through  the  nozzle,  in 
the  same  space  of  time,  a  little  considera- 
tion should  make  it  plain  to  every  one  that 
the  blast  must  be  stronger.  By  having  two 
new  smokers,  one  having  my  suggested  im- 
provements, and  the  other  of  the  ordinary 
Bingham  type,  but  of  exactly  the  same  ca- 
pacity in  every  respect,  and  discharging  the 
air  of  each  one,  say  2.5  or  40  times  against 
the  windwheel  of  an  anemometer,  the  regis- 
ter of  the  instrument  will  show  exactly  the 
relative  strength  of  the  two  blasts.  Before 
long  I  hope  to  have  an  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing such  a  test.  I  have  no  doubt  as  to  the 
general  result,  but  I  want  to  know  how  much 
per  cent,  one  blast  is  stronger  than  the  other. 
Lindsay,  Out.  Dec.  10,  1892. 

Something  About  the  Markines  and  Color  of 
the  Golden  or  Five-Banded  Italians. 

S.  F.  TBEGO. 

iRIEND  H. : — I  noticed  your  editorial  on 
five-banded  bees  in  last  Oct.  Review 
and  will  say  I  have  had  much  the  same 
experience  in  getting  five-banded  bees  ;  but 
I  have  one  queen  that  gets  bees  with  the 
first  four  segments  a// yellow  andaboutone- 
half  of  them  have  the  fifth  segment  about 
one-fourth  yellow,  and  once  in  a  while  I  see 
a  bee  with  a  very  narrow  stripe  on  the  sixth 
segment.  They  are  really  not  banded  bees 
at  all,  but  are  all  yellow  on  the  first  three 
segments  of  the  abdomen  and  the  rest 
black.  It  would  be  nearer  right  to  call  them 
two-handed,  one  yellow  and  one  black  band. 
The  great  trouble  with  the  queens  sent 
out  by  some  is  that  they  do  not  produce  even 
good  three-banded  bees.  1  received  some 
queens  from  the  South  some  months  ago 
that  were  sent  to  one  of  our  customers  for 
us  and  they  were  actually  not  good  leather 
colored  Italians.  The  party  who  sent  them 
booms  his  cheap  queens. 


10 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


I  do  not  think  there  is  a  breeder  who 
warrants  the  untested  queens  he  sends  out  to 
get  more  than  three-bauded  bees. 

For  the  coming  season  my  bees  will  be  di- 
vided into  five  grades,  viz. :  Warranted,  Test- 
ed, Selected  Tested,  Breeders  and  Best. 

The  warranted  will  be  untested,  but  war- 
ranted to  get  bees  with  no  less  than  three 
bands.  Tested,  get  three-band  bees  and 
some  of  them  may  show  a  few  four  and  five- 
banded  bees.  Selected  tested,  will  show 
probably  one-half  of  her  bees  four  and  five- 
banded,  the  rest  three-bauded.  Breeders, 
will  show  mostly  four  and  five-banded.  Best, 
will  show  all  four  and  five-banded  bees.  All 
queens  to  be  reared  from  one  of  the  best 
grade. 

I  am  not  writing  this  to  boom  the  yellow 
bees  for  they  seem  pretty  well  boomed  al- 
ready ;  but  will  say  that  I  was  at  the  Illinois 
State  Fair  this  fall  and  noticed  that  the  Gol- 
den Italians  were  always  qaiet  while  the 
other  races  :  Syrian,  Cyprian,  Black,  Punic, 
etc..  were  everlastiugly  tearing  around  try- 
ing to  get  out. 

The  colony  that  got  the  first  premium  was 
about  like  the  fifth  grade  above  (Breeders), 
and  beloQged  to  a  Mr.  Short,  of  Peoria,  111. 

SwEDONA,  111.  Nov.  1, 181)2. 


The  Diversity  of  Southern  Bee-Keeping,  as 
Compared   with    that   of  the    North,   is 
Very  Great,  aud  That  is  why  a  South- 
ern Bee  Journal  Cannot  Succeed. 

O.  O.  POPPLETON. 

[Every  little  while  somebody  at  the  South  com- 
plains that  the  bee  journals  are  of  little  value 
to  Southf>rn  bee  Keepers,  and  it  was  with  a  view 
to  remedying  this  deficiency  that  I  asked  our 
old  friend,  O.  O,  Poppleton.  to  write  a  series  of 
articles  on  Southern  bee-keeping,  making  them 
seasonable  for  the  Soutli.  He  did  not  think  it 
would  be  possible  for  him  to  doso,  but  the  letter 
that  he  sent  in  explanation  is  of  so  much  inter- 
est that  I  have  obtaine<l  his  permission  to  pub- 
lish it.    Among  other  tilings  hesaye  :  — ] 

^jB  WILL  try  and  take  time  to  explain  to 
G|)  you  some  of  the  peculiar  conditions  of 
«^  Southern  bee-keeping,  but  I  doubt 
whether  I  can  be  full  or  clear  enough  to  give 
you  a  good  understanding  of  it. 

In  the  North  the  difference  between  the 
seasons,  so  far  as  bees  are  concerned,  is 
sharply  defined  ;  that  is,  they  pass  quickly 
from  the  working  season  to  the  one  of  entire 
quiet  and  cessasion  from  all  work,  even  that 


of  brood  rearing,  and  from  that  condition 
during  the  winter  almost  at  one  bound  into 
the  full  activity  of  spring  work.  Very  little 
surplus  honey  is  obtained  outside  the  four 
months  of  June  to  September.  As  we  go 
Southward  the  seasons  more  aud  more  in- 
sensibly shade  into  each  other,  and  the  pos- 
sible honey  season  commences  earlier  and 
lasts  later.  Thus,  at  my  old  location  in 
northern  Iowa,  my  bees  rarely  ever  com- 
menced gathering  surplus  honey  before  June 
loth,  and  seldom  any  after  Sept.  1st,  while  in 
extreme  south  Florida,  where  my  bees  are 
now,  the  conditions  are  exactly  rever.sed,  the 
bees  getting  more  or  less  honey  every  month 
in  the  year  except  June  and  July,  and  during 
those  two  months  I  move  the  bees  to  this 
place  (Hawk's  Park)  in  middle  Florida 
where  we  get  quite  a  large  surplus  during 
June  and  July  only.  The  bee-line  distance 
between  my  two  locations  is  about  125  miles, 
and  yet  the  flora  of  the  two  localities  is  en- 
tirely different. 

North  of  the  Ohio  conditions  of  bee-keep- 
ing vary  but  little  in  different  localities. 
Time  of  surplus  honey  flow  :  kinds  of  flow- 
ers yielding  same,  etc.,  are  much  alike. 
The  main  reliance  for  surplus  honey  is  on 
few  if  any  more  than  half  a  dozen  different 
kinds  of  flowers.  In  the  South,  conditions 
in  different  localities  vary  much  more  than 
in  the  North,  and  the  number  of  kinds  of 
flowers  yielding  surplus  honey  is  many  times 
more.  Even  the  one  State  of  Florida  hasjat 
least  four  widely  differing  conditions  in  her 
limits,  viz. ,  the  swamp  region  of  north 
Florida,  which  Mrs.  Harrison  visited  last 
winter,  the  orange  region  of  the  State,  the 
few  small  and  isolated  black  mangrove  lo- 
cations, and  the  extreme  Southern  part  of 
the  State  where  the  wild  pennyroyal  and 
other  plants  flourish. 

Bee-keeping  in  the  Cumberland  Mountains 
and  north  Georgia  is  very  different  from 
what  it  is  in  the  hills  of  middle  Georgia,  and 
there  again  it  differs  from  that  of  the  piney 
woods  of  south  Georgia.  All  again  differ 
from  the  conditions  in  which  friend  Blanton 
keeps  bees  in  Mississippi  or  Mrs.  Atchley  in 
Texas. 

The  central  idea  which  I  wish  to  convey  is 
that  owing  to  the  different  flora,  and  differ- 
ent surplus  honey  seasons  in  so  /(lonj/ differ- 
ing localities  in  what  is  known  as  "the 
South,"  makes  it  impossible  to  formulate 
any  "  Monthly  Needs"  for  Southern  bee- 
keepers that  would  be  of  value  in  any  large 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


11 


part  of  the  South.  This  is,  I  think,  the  real 
reason  why  a  distinctively  Soutliern  bee- 
paper  never  has,  and  probably  never  will, 
succeed. 

Another  thing :  I  have  always  aimed  to 
write  only  what  I  have  actually  done,  or  opin- 
ions formed  from  actual  experience.  If  I 
were  to  attempt  to  write  anything  on  South- 
ern bee-keeping  in  general,  I  would  have  to 
do  so  largely  from  hearsay  and  theory.  Only 
two  other  bee-keepers  in  the  world,  so  far  as 
I  know,  are  working  bees  under  the  same 
conditions  as  I  am.  You  will  appreciate 
this  if  I  give  you  a  brief  account  of  my  sea- 
son by  months. 

August.  A  light  flow  of  honey  the  first 
few  days  of  the  month,  after  which  we  move 
the  bees  from  this  to  the  lower  location,  150 
miles  south. 

Sept.  Bees  gather  just  about  what  honey 
they  use.  More  brood  is  raised  this  mouth 
than  last. 

Oct.  Similar  to  Sept.  except  brood-rear- 
ing begins  to  lessen. 

Nov.  Same  as  Sept.  and  Oct.  except 
brood-rearing  almost  ceases. 
.  Dec.  Surplus  honey  commences  the  first 
of  the  mouth  from  wild  pennyroyal  and  soft 
maple.  Gain  during  mouth  from  10  to  25 
lbs.  per  colony,  accordiug  to  weather.  Brood 
rearing  commences  strongly  about  Christ- 
mas. 

Jan.  Same  as  Dec.  except  an  increased 
amount  of  brood. 

Feb.  Same  as  Jan.  Swarming  commen- 
ces last  of  the  month. 

March.  Wild  pennyroyal  goes  out  of 
bloom  early  in  the  month,  but  yield  from 
other  sources  is  euough  to  keep  bees  going 
and  thriving.  All  artificial  increase  should 
be  completed  this  month. 

April.  Saw  palmetto  flow  commences 
early  in  the  month  and  contiuues  until  last 
of  May.  Our  apiary  work  these  two  mouths 
is  extracting,  building  up  all  colonies  and 
replacing  poor  queens. 

June.  We  move  our  bees  up  to  this  loca- 
tion (Hawk's  Park)  in  time  for  commence- 
ment of  black  mangrove  honey  flow,  which 
commences  about  15th  of  the  mouth. 

July.  Black  mangrove  usually  yields  dur- 
ing this  entire  month. 

It  will  not  pay  for  any  of  our  papers  to 
take  up  the  matter  of  doing  work  as  I  am 
doing  it,  because  the  locations  where  such 
work  can  be  done  in  exceediugly  liuiited  and 
already  occupied.     Neither  is  it  best  for  me 


to  attempt  to  write  about  such  work  as  I 
have  never  done,  either  here  or  in  Cuba,  and 
that  is  just  what  I  would  have  to  do  if  I  were 
to  attempt  to  write  about  Southern  bee- 
keeping. 

Now,  friend  H.,  I  hope  I  have  given  you  a 
slight  idea  of  the  situation  in  our  South-land. 
If  so,  all  right. 

Hawk's  Paek,  Fla.  Dec.  1,  1892. 


A  Review   of  the   Dec.  Review.— Out- Apia- 
ries.— Implements.  — Experimental  Sta- 
tions. —  ''Digested  Nectar." — Hand- 
ling  Bees   in  Winter.  —  House- 
Apiaries. — Cellars. 

.T.  A.  GREEN. 

"^^THEN  I  came 
A  A  to  read  the 
Review  for  Dec. 
lOlli,  I  felt  almost 
glad  that  I  had 
not  written  any- 
thing for  it,  be- 
cause I  could  ex- 
press my  apprecia- 
tion of  it  and  the 
character  of  its 
writers,  to  others, 
so  much  more 
comfortably  than  if  I  had  had  a  part  in  the 
making  of  it.  What  helpful  advice  for  hu- 
manity there  is  in  the  articles  of  friends 
Doolittle  and  Miller.  What  sound,  practical 
advice  for  bee-keepers  in  others. 

Now  I  want  to  review  this  Review  a  little, 
as  there  are  some  points  I  would  like  to 
touch  upon,  without  writing  an  article  on 
each  or  attempting  to  cover  the  ground  as  a 
whole. 

Doolittle  believes  in  out-apiaries  run  for 
extracted  honey.  I  am  glad  to  see  it.  I  had 
begun  to  believe  him  wedded  to  comb  honey 
and  in  favor  of  almost  incessant  manipula- 
tion. If  we  once  get  him  out  on  the  wide 
sea  of  extracted  honey  and  out-apiaries, 
there  is  no  telling  what  reports  we  may  hear 
from  him  one  of  these  days.  I  would  not 
like  to  have  every  bee-keeper  go  to  raising 
extracted  honey,  because  the  market  for  that 
article  is  so  much  more  easily  overstocked 
than  that  for  comb  honey  that  a  large  crop 
would  briug  but  low  prices  to  many,  unless 
they  could  have  a  new  dispensation  granted 


12 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


them  in  the  matter  of  selling  honey.  More- 
over, in  the  light  of  recent  developments  I 
am  afraid  that  it  is  going  to  be  still  harder 
to  sell  extracted  honey  in  the  future  than  it 
has  been  in  the  past.  Still,  looking  at  the 
question  from  the  standpoint  of  immediate 
economy,  I  know  of  no  better  advice  to  give 
the  apiarist  desirous  of  increasing  his  profits 
and  rendering  them  surer,  than  to  establish 
out-apiaries  of  moderate  size  in  the  unoccu- 
pied fields  near  him  and  run  them  for  ex- 
tracted honey. 

There  is  much  in  hives  and  implements. 
There  is  more  in  methods.  Don't  be  satis- 
tied  with  poor  ones  in  either.  The  man  who 
attempts  to  meet  modern  conditions  with 
the  implements  and  methods  of  long  ago 
will  surely  fail.  Throughout  the  seasons, 
good  and  liad,  remember  that  the  specialist, 
the  man  who  keeps  his  business  well  in  hand, 
has  the  advantage.  He  can  make  money  if 
anyone  can  and  when  the  distance  between 
profit  and  expense  is  but  short,  he  will  be 
found  on  the  right  side. 

Dr.  Miller's  plea  for  government  experi- 
naent  stations  should  receive  the  earnest  at- 
tention of  every  bee-keeper.  I  know  that  I 
have  spent  hundreds  of  dollars  in  experi- 
ments. I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  many 
others  who  can  say  the  same.  Many  of  us 
have  been  going  over  just  the  same  ground 
in  these  experiments  and  yet  I  fear  the  re- 
sults we  have  attained  have  not  been  as  ac- 
curate and  valuable  as  might  have  been  at- 
tainea  by  a  single  experimenter  working 
under  circumstances  that  permitted  a  closer 
attention  to  details  and  a  wider  range  of 
conditions.  I  believe,  at  the  same  time,  the 
greater  part  of  the  expense  would  be  done 
away  with.  I  believe  that  if  we  would  ask 
loud  enough  and  long  enough,  we  could  se- 
cure the  help  we  need  in  this  direction. 

The  difference  between  W.  F.  Clarke  and 
Prof.  Cook  is  only  one  of  terms.  Prof.  Cook 
does  not  claim  that  nectar,  in  the  process  of 
transformation  into  honey,  passes  through 
all  the  stages  of  digestion,  nor  does  friend 
Clarke  deny  that  in  this  process  it  passes 
through  some  of  these  changes.  Why  should 
they  quarrel  about  this  difference  in  de- 
grees ?  If  the  word  "  digested  "  offends  the 
nice  taste  of  our  Canadian  friend,  or  others, 
let  them  invent  some  more  appropriate 
term.  Really  though,  I  cannot  see  why  the 
thought  of  eating  nectar  that  has  been 
changed  by  the  action  or  addition  of  the 
glandular  secretions  of  the  bee,  should  be 
any  more  offensive  than  the  thought  of  using 


milk,  which  is  entirely  a  glandular  secretion 
of  the  cow.  The  bee  is  the  cleaner  animal,  by 
far.  The  general  public,  for  the  most  part, 
believe  that  honey  is  a  secretion  and  a  large 
proportion  of  them  are  so  confirmed  in  this 
belief  that  they  believe  that  honey  is  being 
produced  in  the  hive  at  all  times,  regardless 
of  the  state  of  the  weather  or  the  time  of 
year. 

Frieutl  Hasty's  observation,  on  page  821, 
accords  with  my  experience.  I  have  lately 
had  occasion  to  handle  a  number  of  colonies 
of  bees  in  cold  weather,  part  of  the  time 
with  the  mercury  below  zero.  The  prompt- 
ness and  thoroughness  with  which  those  col- 
onies would  rouse  up  from  their  quiescent 
state  would  be  a  revelation  to  those  that  be- 
lieve that  bees  hibernate,  and  the  amount  of 
heat  that  they  developed  when  thoroughly 
aroused  was  astonishing  even  to  me.  Al- 
though I  believe  it  better  to  do  all  work  with 
bees  at  a  time  when  they  can  fly,  I  should 
not  hesitate,  with  my  present  light  on  the 
subject,  to  handle  them  whenever  they 
really  needed  it.  Although  if  it  were  very 
cold  I  would  take  .ihem  into  a  moderately 
warm  room  for  the  purpose,  allowing  them 
to  cool  off  gradually  after  I  was  through. 
In  this  way  I  have  hunted  up  queens  and 
done  other  work  of  that  character  in  the 
coldest  weather  and  with  the  loss  of  very  few 
bees. 

H.  R.  Boardman  gives  expression  to  a  very 
common  experience  when  he  says  that  two 
cellars  that  seem  exactly  equal  in  all  the  re- 
quisites of  a  cellar,  may  be  very  unequal  for 
wintering  bees.  This  is  a  matter  that  might 
stand  considerable  investigation.  At  pres- 
ent no  one  can  he  sure  it  will  pay  him  to 
winter  bees  in  his  cellar  until  he  has  given  it 
a  thorough  trial  for  himself.  Friend  Board- 
man's  experience  with  a  repository  above 
ground  seems  a  little  remarkable  when  we 
consider  how  often  failure  has  been  report- 
ed with  this  method. 

R.  L.  Taylor's  advice  is  all  so  good  that  it 
would  take  an  entire  article  to  comment 
satisfactorily  on  its  many  good  points.  In 
one  respect  only  can  I  take  issue  with  him. 
Great  inventions  are  not  always  made  to 
order.  It  very  often  happens  that  they  do 
not  even  "  fill  long  felt  wants."  Many  times 
a  really  meritorious  invention  must  struggle 
long  before  it  finds  appreciation.  If  inven- 
tors always  waited  for  a  clamorous  need,  I 
fear  much  of  the  world's  richness  would  be 
yet  undreamed  of.  While  it  does  seem  that 
nothing   further  in  the  way  of  great  inven- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


13 


tions  is  to  be  the  lot  of  apiculture,  the  very 
next  thing  to  appear  may  be  something  so 
valuable  and  yet  so  startling  in  its  simplicity 
that  we  will  all  wonder  that  we  did  not  see 
the  want  and  supply  the  need. 

I  think  very  favorably  of  the  house  apiary 
idea  and  I  believe  another  season  will  Hud 
me  with  one  in  operation. 

I  am  not  going  to  say  anything  about  the 
rest  of  the  number,  not  even  of  that  charm- 
ing picture  of  the  life  of  the  editor,  because 
it  would  prolong  this  article  beyond  reason- 
able limits,  but  I  just  want  to  express  my 
appreciation  of  the  way  it  is  made  up  and 
the  changes  of  management  suggested. 

Ottawa,  111.  Jan.  44, 1893. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED    MONTHLY. 

W.    Z.  HOTCHINSOJM,   Ed.  &  PPop. 

Terms  :  —  $1.00  a  year  in  advance  Two  copies, 
S1.90  ;  three  for  $2.70 ;  five  for  $4.00  ;  ten,  or  more, 
70  cents  each.  If  it  is  desired  to  have  the  Review 
stopped  at  the  expiratiou  of  the  time  paid  for, 
please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
will  be  continued. 


FLINT,     MICHIGAN.    JAN.      10,      1893. 

"The  West"  is  a  great  country  and  its 
bee-keepiug  partakes  of  this  greatness,  but 
it  is  said  that  the  bee-keeping  of  the  West  is 
somewhat  different  from  that  of  the  East, 
and  to  make  the  Review  more  helpful  to 
the  Western  brethren.  Jno.  H.  Martin,  bet- 
ter known  as  the  "Rambler,"  will  write  a 
series  of  articles  for  the  Review  for  1893,  in 
which  the  needs  and  necessities  of  Western 
bee-keepers  will  be  given  particular  atten- 
tion.    His  first  article  appears  in  this  issue. 

This  issue  of  the  Review  is  late  on  ac- 
count of  my  being  away  to  conventions. 
Bee  conventions  usually  come  at  the  wrong 
time  of  the  year  for  the  publisher — just  when 
he  has  the  most  work  to  do — but  to  keep  up 
with  the  times  and  out  of  the  ruts,  a  pub- 
lisher must  mingle  as  much  as  possible  with 
his  fellows,  I  presume  that  nothing  will 
again  take  me  from  my  post  for  several 
months,  and  I  am  going  to  work  hard  to 
"  catch  up  "  and  have  the  Review  out  earlier 
in  the  month.  Correspondents  can  help  me 
much  in  this  matter  by  sending  in  their  ar- 
ticles as  soon  as  possible. 


The  Review  for  January  1889,  is  all  sold 
and  a  customer  wishes  this  No.  to  complete 
his  set  of  back  Nos.  Any  one  having  a  copy 
of  this  issue  to  sell  will  please  write  to  this 
oliice,  stating  price. 

\i 

"The  MOST  honeit  with  the  least  labor  " 
is  what  I  believe  R.  L.  Taylor  secures  in  as 
successful  a  manner  as  any  man  I  know.  In 
the  face  of  this  he  has  had  foul  brood  to  con- 
tend with.  During  the  coming  year  he  will 
tell  the  readers  of  the  Review  how  he  man- 
ages. His  first  article  will  be  in  the  next  Re- 
view. 

© 

G.  T.  SoMEBS  is  the  name  of  a  pleasant, 
nice  looking  young  man  who  has  been  editor 
of  the  Canadian  Bee  Journal  for  the  last 
year.  I  met  him  last  week  at  the  Ontario 
Bee-Keepers'  Convention.  Practically,  Mr. 
D.  A.  -Jones  has  nothing  more  to  do  with  the 
C.  B.  J. 

The  American  Bee  Journal  is  bound  not  to 
fall  behind.  Each  issue  is  to  contain  a  por- 
trait ana  biographical  sketch  of  some  api- 
cultural  celebrity.  There  is  nothing  like  a 
face  to  face  meeting  and  the  hearty  hand 
clasp,  but  even  these  are  rendered  still  more 
pleasant  by  having  first  seen  the  portrait 
and  read  the  sketch. 


The  Progi'essive  Bee-Keeper  is  again  on 
deck,  its  pages  a  little  reduced  in  size  but 
with  just  as  much  reading  matter,  as  it  has 
some  new  type  that  is  not  quite  so  large  as 
the  old.  I  think  it  is  Brevier,  and,  to  my 
way  of  thinking,  that  is  about  the  neatest 
size  type  for  a  magazine. 


E.  E.  Hasty  is  a  well-educated  man,  a 
practical  bee-keeper,  and,  as  a  writer  he  is 
the  most  bright,  piquant,  and  original  in  ex- 
pression of  any  in  our  ranks.  These  gifts 
are  to  be  employed  the  coming  year  in  help- 
ing make  the  "  Extracted  Department  "  of 
the  Review.  He  is  to  have  all  of  the  jour- 
nals, read  them  carefully,  and  then  criticise, 
commend  and  condemn  their  contents  in 
that  inimitable  style  of  his.  The  Review  is 
to  come  in  for  its  share  of  criticism. 
"  Hasty 's  Review  "  will  probably  be  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  valuable  features  of 
the  Review  for  1893.  His  first  batch  of 
criticisms  will  appear  in  the  next  issue. 


14 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


THE  8UGAB  HONEY  DISCUSSION  HAS  GONE  EAR 
ENOUGH    AT   PRESENT. 

I  said  I  had  more  articles  on  sugar  honey 
that  would  be  published  in  due  time.  Per- 
haps their  authors  are  wondering  why  they 
are  not.  The  reason  is  that  the  bee-keeping 
public  is  opposed  to  the  discussion.  An  ed- 
itor has  an  opportunity  that  is  accorded  to 
no  other,  to  v)lace  his  finger  upon  the  public 
pulse.  In  the  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  let- 
ters that  have  come  to  me  in  the  past  month, 
and  from  the  bee  -  keepers  that  I  have  met 
at  three  conventions  of  a  National  charac- 
ter, I  have  learned  that  there  is  a  strong  op- 
position against  even  the  discussion  of  the 
raising  of  honey  by  feeding  sugar  to  bees. 
In  some  instance  this  opposition  amounts  to 
a  bitter  rage.  Some  of  you  may  remember 
the  pains  that  I  have  taken  in  the  past  to 
learn  what  course  in  the  getting  up  of  the 
Review  would  be  the  most  acceptable.  Well, 
when  it  has  been  shown  to  me  so  clearly  that 
this  discussion  is  distasteful  to  the  majority, 
what  folly  to  force  it  upon  these  unwilling 
readers.  I  have  several  most  excellent  arti- 
cle upon  this  subject.  One  from  Mr.Dag- 
gitt,  in  which  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  floral  flavor  of  honey  that  gives  it 
its  chief  value.  Illustrations  and  evidence 
are  given  at  length.  Again,  this  very  morn- 
ing,Ihave  received  from  Frank  S.  Aby, Direc- 
tor of  the  Histological  Labratory  of  the  Iowa 
State  University  a  most  able  paper  discuss- 
ing the  question  most  throughly  from  sci- 
entific ethical  and  economic  standpoints. 
He  supports  Prof.  Cook  and  says  that  theop- 
psition  comes  from  the  ignorance  of  bee- 
keepers on  chemical  and  physiological  points. 
It  seems  a  pity  that  this  subject  cannot  be 
throughly  and  calmly  discussed  in  all  of  its 
bearings,  but  with  the  present  feeling,  its 
continuance  would  only  stir  up  bitterness, 
and  I  think  that  the  best  thing  that  can  be 
done  is  to  drop  it  right  where  it  is,  at  least, 
for  the  present. 


THE  OEANE  AND  BINGHAM  SMOKERS. 

At  the  Mich.  State  Bee-Keepers'  Conven- 
tion, held  in  Lansing,  a  little  more  than  a 
month  ago,  Mr.  Bingham  showed  a  smoker 
of  exactly  the  same  siz°  as  the  one  Mr.  Crane 
sent  me.  It  also  had  a  bellows  the  same  size 
as  the  Crane.  His  object  was  to  show  me 
that  his  smoker  had  a  stronger  blast  than 
the  Crane.  The  Bingham  smoker  certainly 
had  the  stronger  blast.  Mr.  Bingham's  idea 
is  that  the  friction  of  the  air  in  the  tube,  and 


the  two  turns  that  it  is  compelled  to  make, 
robs  the  air  of  its  force.  It  seemed  to  me 
that  if  all  of  the  air  in  the  bellows  were  forced 
into  the  fire  barrel,  the  blast  would  be  just 
as  strong,  although  there  might  be  more  ex- 
penditure of  force  by  the  operator  in  over- 
coming the  friction.  The  fact  remained, 
however,  that  the  blast  of  the  Bingham  was 
the  stronger.  It  seemed  to  me  that  this  was 
scarcely  a  fair  test,  as  a  smoker  is  used  filled 
with  af  hes,  coals  and  fuel.  When  the  air  is 
called  upon  to  overcome  this  obstruction,  I 
felt  sure  there  would  be  a  re-action  from  the 
Bingham,  through  the  "cutoff,"  and  that 
the  blast  from  the  nozzle  would  be  weaker. 
We  stuffed  the  barrels  of  each  smoker  with 
wads  of  paper,  and  yet  the  blast  of  the  Bing- 
ham was  the  stronger.  Of  course  these 
tests  were  not  exact.  There  was  no  instru- 
ment with  which  to  test  the  strength  of  the 
blasts,  and  the  Bingham  smoker  was  new, 
while  the  Crane  was  old  and  composed  of 
parts  of  several  smokers  i)ut  together,  the 
obstruction  caused  by  filling  the  smokers 
with  paper  could  not  have  been  exactly  the 
same,  the  barrel  of  the  Crane  was  rough 
from  being  covered  with  soot,  while  that  of 
the  Bingham  was  new  and  smooth.  Allow- 
ances ought  to  be  made  for  all  of  these 
things,  yet  the  fact  that  the  Bingham  gave 
the  stronger  blast  in  all  the  conditions  ought 
not  to  be  overlooked.  Mr.  Bingham  attrib- 
utes the  stronger  blast  to  the  lack  of  friction 
caused  by  the  tube  and  turns  of  the  Crane 
and  to  the  air  that  is  drawn  in  by  the  cur- 
rent in  its  passage  from  the  bellows  to  the 
fire  barrel. 

I  took  the  Crane  and  Bingham  smokers 
with  me  last  week  over  to  the  Ontario  Bee- 
Keepers'  convention  and  let  Mr.  Cornell 
take  them.  He  is  going  to  try  and  secure 
the  use  of  an  instrument  for  testing  the  force 
of  blasts  of  air  and  test  them  together  with 
a  smoker  of  his  own  that  is  arranged  with 
tubes  between  the  bellows  and  the  fire  bar- 
rel after  the  manner  illustrated  in  the  Octo- 
ber Review,  page  259.  He  will  make  a  new 
barrel  for  the  Crane,  so  that  the  soot  will  not 
have  any  effect  in  the  trial. 

I  suggested  that  the  smokers  ought  to  be 
filled  with  planer  shavings  the  same  as  when 
in  use.  Mr.  Cornell  admitted  that  that 
would  be  the  fairer  way  were  it  not  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  fill  the  smokers  ex- 
actly the  same,  that  is,  so  that  the  obstruc- 
tion would  be  exactly  the  same  in  each.  I 
will  admit  that  this  is  true,  but  the  obstruc- 
tion would  be  so  nearly  the  same,  that  in 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


15 


aetual  practice  there  would  be  so  little  dif- 
ference, and  considering  that  this  is  the 
manner  in  which  smokers  are  used,  I  wish 
that  Mr.  Corneil  would  try  them  in  this  way 
as  well  as  empty. 

After  all,  the  best  test  for  a  smoker  is 
actual  use  in  the  apiary.  I  have  believed 
that  the  principle  of  the  Crane  is  ahead  of 
the  cut-off,  or  Bingham  principle,  but  if  it 
isn't,  I  know  that  no  one  is  more  anxious 
than  Mr.  Crane  to  know  it. 

I  expected  to  illustrate  in  this  issue  a  smo- 
ker with  a  double  bellows,  one  that  would 
throw  a  continuous  stream  of  smoke,  but 
the  cut  did  not  come  in  time. 

THE     TBIP     TO    WASHINGTON    AND    SOMETHING 
ABOUT   THE   CONVENTION. 

Christmas  evening  I  took  the  train  for  the 
journey  to  attend  the  convention  at  Wash- 
ingboa.  Between  here  and  Toledo  I  fell  in 
with  a  commercial  traveller.  What  good 
company  these  knights  of  the  grip  usually 
prove  to  be.  They  have  been  everywhere 
and  seen  everything,  and  know  how  to  tell  of 
it.  And  what  stories  they  can  tell.  They 
know  which  are  the  best  hotels.  Not  neces- 
sarily the  highest  priced  ones,  but  those 
where  a  man  can  get  the  most  com  tort  for 
his  money.  I  would  reach  Toledo  about 
midnight,  and  could  not  go  on  until  morn- 
ing. When  I  mentioned  the  fact,  my  com- 
panion told  me  without  a  moment's  hesita- 
tion at  which  hotel  to  pass  the  remainder  of 
the  night.  I  found  that  I  lost  nothing  by 
following  his  advice.  When  passing  through 
Auburndale  (a  suburb  of  Toledo)  ths  temp- 
tation was  very  strong  to  leave  the  train  and 
route  out  Dr.  Mason  and  ask  him  how  it 
would  be  about  furnishing  me  with  good 
company  while  on  my  journey.  I  knew  the 
Doctor's  good  nature,  but  I  disliked  to  get 
him  up  at  midnight  to  ask  a  favor  that  might 
be  answered  in  the  negative. 

7:30  the  next  morning  found  me  in  the  last 
car  of  a  train  bound  for  Mansfield,  Otiio. 
The  steam  pipes  were  frozen  up  and  it  seem- 
ed as  though  the  brakeraan  would  never  get 
the  coal  fires  to  burn.  After  about  two  hours 
fruitless  endeavor  to  get  heat,  the  conductor 
decided  to  take  the  cold  car  for  a  smoking 
car.  He  said  to  the  ladies  :  "  Come  into  this 
car  where  it  is  warm."  To  the  gentlemen  he 
said  :  "  If  you  wish  to  smoke,  please  go  in 
the  rear  car."  Nobody  complained  and 
everything  was  lovely. 


Reached  Mansfield  about  noon.  The  re- 
gular train  to  Pittsburg  was  four  hours  be- 
hind. A  special  train  was  put  on,  but  there 
was  no  time  to  get  any  dinner.  Half  a  doz- 
en bananas  of  the  train  boy  stayed  my  stom- 
ach until  I  reached  Pittsburg  in  the  evening, 
but  I  would  not  give  much  for  the  profit  that 
was  made  off  my  supper. 

The  time  of  this  trip  was  during  the  holi- 
day rates  on  the  railroads,  and  the  cars  were 
terribly  crowded  during  the  middle  of  the 
day.  In  such  crowds  it  is  interesting  to  one 
of  a  philosophical  mind  to  see  the  exhibi- 
tions of  human  nature.  It  seems  as  though 
those  who  are  travelling  but  a  short  distance 
make  the  most  fuss  over  any  little  incon- 
venience, while  those  going  long  distances, 
or  who  are  experienced  travellers,  seem  wil- 
ling to  put  up  with  a  little  inconvenience  for 
the  sake  of  keeping  peace  in  the  family. 

Eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  found  me  on 
board  a  Pallman  sleeper  at  Pittsburg  witn  no 
more  changes  to  be  made  until  I  should  step 
out  in  Washington  the  next  morning.  There 
is  no  way  in  which  I  so  delight  to  travel  as 
in  a  Pullman  sleeper.  The  car  is  so  nicely 
furnished  and  upholstered,  has  double  glass 
in  the  windows  to  make  it  warmer  and  to 
keep  out  the  noise.  Then  the  ventilation  and 
heat  seem  to  be  so  excellent,  and  the  car 
rolls  along  so  smoothly.  The  gentle  motion 
and  the  low  monotonous  noise  has  a  soporific 
effect — something  like  a  mother  rocking  her 
baby  to  sleep.  The  Pullman  sleeper  practi- 
cally annihilates  time  and  space.  One  goes 
to  sleep  in  one  city  and  wakes  up  in  another 
300  miles  distant.  The  expense  is  not  so 
very  great.  A  room  at  a  good  hotel  costs  at 
least  §1.00,  and  a  berth  in  a  sleeper  only 
f  2.00,  and  it  must  be  a  pretty  poor  business 
man  whose  time  is  not  worth  at  least  $1.00 
a  day.  There  is  one  little  thing  that  I  don't 
like,  and  that  is  the  fee  that  you  are  expect- 
ed to  give  the  porter.  I  don't  mind  the 
"quarter  "  so  very  much,  but  I  object  to  the 
principle.  If  a  man  wishes  his  shoes  black- 
ed, and  clothes  brushed,  and  his  grip  car- 
ried, etc.,  it  is  all  right  to  pay  the  porter  for 
these  services,  but  suppose  that  he  does  not 
care  for  these  services,  a  custom  that  com- 
pels him  to  accept  and  pay  for  them  is  wrong, 
and  I  "kick;"  I  hide  my  shoes  so  that  the 
porter  can't  find  them,  and  when  he  comes 
around  in  the  morning  and  asks  to  "  brush 
me  down,"  I  say  :  "  No,  thank  you,  I  can 
brush  my  own  clothes." 


16 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


"  Why  do  I  mention  all  these  little 
things  ?"  Because  I  am  a  little  peculiar  in 
this  respect.  When  I  am  with  a  great  crowd 
going  to  see  some  "  show  "  I  am  always  on 
the  lookout  for,  and  tlelight  in  finding,  some 
little  bypath  or  object  that  the  crowd  misses. 
For  instance  when  in  the  great  capitol 
building  I  happened  to  look  down  an  open 
door  into  a  basement  room,  and  there  I  saw 
a  workman  with  his  dinner  spread  out  before 
him,  and  I  at  once  fell  into  a  train  of  thought 
as  to  what  kind  of  a  home  he  had,  and  the 
loving  hands  that  probably  put  up  that  lunch, 
etc.  When  Frank  Benton  was  reading  his 
paper  he  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to  his  wife, 
told  how  she  stood  by  him  through  thick  and 
thin,  I  could  see  the  veias  stand  out  on  his 
forehead  like  whipcords,  and  there  was  a 
huskiness  in  his  voice.  It  was  a  little  thing, 
but  it  spoke  volumes  and  put  the  man  still 
higher  in  my  estimation.  It  was  the  same 
when  Mrs.  Eugene  Secor,  who  had  stopped 
over  one  day  at  Baltimore  to  visit  friends, 
came  into  the  convention  room,  and  a  hearty 
hand  shake  a  sort  of  confidential  smile  that 
passed  between  her  and  her  husband  showed 
how  happily  they  must  live. 

But  I  must  hasten  on.  What  about  Wash- 
ington ?  Well,  it  is'nt  Chicago  with  its  tall 
buildings,  and  the  hustle  and  bustle  of  its 
commerce  and  manufactories,  but  it  is  a 
beautiful,  clean,  residence  city.  Its  streets 
are  wide  and  most  of  them  covered  with 
asphalt  pavements,  and  oh,  how  clean  they 
are  kept !  Men  with  great,  wide,  iron  shov- 
els, shovels  that  remind  one  of  a  huge  dust- 
pan with  a  long  handle,  are  constantly  busy 
on  the  streets.  The  moment  that  a  bit  of 
filth  is  seen  upon  the  pavement  it  is  at  once 
scooped  up  and  carried  away.  I  even  saw 
men  busy  with  brooms  sweeping  the  pave- 
ments. Washington  is'  the  paradise  of  bi- 
cyclers. Thousands  and  thousands  of  these 
silent  travellers  glide  hither  and  thither  over 
the  smooth  pavements.  Nowhere  have  I  seen 
more  elegant  "  turnouts ;"  that  is,  fine 
horses,  with  silver  mounted  harnesses,  glit- 
tering coaches,  and  colored  drivers  dressed 
in  broadcloth  and  heads  covered  with  "tall" 
hats.  A  view  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue  re- 
minded me  very  much  of  scenes  that  I  had 
seen  in  pictures. 

The  next  morning  after  the  convention  was 
over  a  party  of  fifteen  or  twenty  started  out 
to  "  do "  the  sights.  Of  course  the  first 
thing  was  the  capitol  building.  It  is  upon  a 
rise  of  ground,  and  surrounded  by  stone  ter- 


races and  everything  is  so  well  proportioned 
that  its  great  size  is  not  so  apparent.  The 
building,  as  is  the  case  with  most  if  not  all 
of  the  government  buildings,  is  wholly  of 
stone,  marble  and  metal.  Some  of  the 
rooms  are  simply  elegant,  with  their  pillars 
of  variegated  marble,  floors  of  grey  and 
white  marble,  walls  of  white  marble  inter- 
spersed with  mirrors.  Upon  the  walls  in 
many  places  are  historical  paintings,  show- 
ing the  figures  life-size.  It  is  also  interest- 
ing to  visit  the  senate  chamber  and  the  house 
of  representatives  and  see  the  spot  where  the 
laws  of  this  great  nation  are  passed.  Many 
sought  out  the  desk  of  the  congressman  from 
their  district  and  had  the  pleasure  of  occu- 
pying his  seat  for  a  moment.  I  am  so  little  of 
a  politician  that  I  actually  did  not  know  who 
was  the  representative  from  my  district. 
From  the  steps  of  the  capitol  one  gets  a  fair 
view  of  the  city,  while  the  clatter  of  the  thou- 
sands of  hoofs  on  the  pavements  comes  up  in 
a  subdued  roar  that  reminds  a  bee-keeper  of 
the  roar  heard  in  an  apiary  at  the  close  of  a 
prosperous  day's  work  at  honey  gathering. 

From  the  capitol  we  went  through  the 
greenhouses  with  their  various  plants  and 
trees  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  next  place  visited  was  the  U.  S.  fish 
commission.  Here  is  carried  on  the  hatch- 
ing of  fish  and  sending  them  away  to  stock 
distant  waters.  To  most  visitors  the  most 
interesting  feature  is  the  "Deep  Sea  Grotto." 
This  is  a  long  room  in  which  most  of  the 
light  comes  in  through  the  aquariums  ranged 
along  its  sides.  The  bottom  of  each  aqua- 
rium is  covered  with  pure  white  sand  and 
gravel,  then  pebbles,  pieces  of  rocks,  shells, 
etc.,  are  put  in,  and  among  them  are  marine 
plants  and  leaves  of  a  long,  thread-like  na- 
ture. The  plants  are  mostly  of  bright  colors, 
such  as  green  or  crimson.  In  each  aquarium 
are  placed  one  or  two  varieties  of  fish.  Some 
are  quite  peculiar.  For  instance  the  "floun- 
der," that  lies  flat  upon  the  bottom,  and  it 
requires  sharp  eyes  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  gravel  and  sand  at  the  bottom.  Then 
there  are  shell-fish,  toad-fish  that  resemble  a 
toad  without  legs  but  furnished  with  a  fish- 
tail.    Here,  I  for  the  first  saw  some  eels. 

We  next  went  to  the  National  Museum  and 
the  Smithsonian  Institute.  Here  are  gather- 
ed together  the  most  interesting  things  that 
it  has  been  my  lot  to  see.  A  dress  suit  of 
Washington,  his  writing  desk  and  chair,  etc., 
seemed  to  bring  the  past  so  near  to  the  pres- 
ent.   All  the  commissions  received  by  Gen- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


17 


eral  Grant  may  be  seen.  One  of  these  was 
signed  by  Jefferson  Davis.  Different  kinds 
of  stones  and  their  uses  are  shown,  then  the 
crystals  are  in  another  group,  the  metals  in 
another,  etc.,  etc.  The  different  races  of 
the  world  and  their  dress  are  illustrated  by 
wax  figures.  Then  there  are  groups  of  in- 
sects, of  birds,  of  animals,  etc.  I  was  pleas- 
ed to  notice  that  the  growth  of  a  bee  from 
the  egg  to  the  full  grown  bee  was  shown  by 
specimens  preserved  in  alcohol.  A  virgin 
queen  and  one  just  mated  were  shown.  I 
must  mention  one  specimen  among  the 
birds,  that  of  the  Rhinoceros  Hornbill.  It 
is  a  black  bird  as  large  as  a  good  sized  roos- 
ter. It  has  a  red  topnot  and  a  long  crooked 
bill  that  probably  gives  it  its  name  of  horn- 
bill.  It  builds  its  nest  in  an  opening  in  the 
side  of  a  tree,  the  same  as  does  our  American 
wood-pecker.  And  now  comes  the  peculiar 
part.  When  the  female  begins  sitting,  the 
male  stops  up  the  opening  with  mud,  leav- 
ing a  hole  large  enough  for  the  prisoner  to 
thrust  out  her  bill.  She,  of  course,  must  be 
fed  by  the  male.  The  supposition  is  that 
the  opening  is  closed  to  protect  the  nest  and 
its  contents  from  enemies.  All  this  is  illus- 
trated by  a  model  in  wax,  except  that  I  think 
the  bird  on  the  outside,  that  was  in  the  act 
of  feeding  his  mate,  was  probably  a  stuffed 
specimen.  Just  as  we  were  about  to  leave 
the  building,  one  of  the  Washington  friends 
who  very  kindly  volunteered  to  show  us 
about,  said  :  "  Mr.  Root,  wouldn't  you  like 
to  see  something  from  the  other  world  ?" 
'•  Certainly."  He  then  led  the  way  to  where 
lay  a  specimen  of  an  aerolite.  It  looked  like 
a  cross  between  a  piece  of  cast  iron  and  a 
lump  of  anthracite  coal.  It  was  marked: 
"  1400  lbs."  If  this  is  its  true  weight,  it  is 
the  heaviest  substance  I  ever  saw. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Treasury  De- 
partment. It  reminded  me  of  a  prison. 
There  were  the  massive  walls  of  stone,  the 
low  arched  passageways,  the  grated  iron 
doors,  etc.  The  money  is  counted  so  many 
times,  and  passes  through  so  many  hands, 
each  one  doing  only  a  small  part  in  its  man- 
ufacture, that  theft  is  impossible.  The  re- 
demption and  destruction  of  mutilated  or 
worn  out  currency  is  interesting.  It  is  count- 
ed and  re-counted,  then  large  holes  are 
punched  through  it,  then  it  is  counted  again, 
then  the  bills  are  cut  in  halves,  then  each 
half  counted  separately  by  difierent  persons, 
and  at  last  it  is  put  into  a  vat  for  maceration, 
and  new  bills  issued  in  place  of  the  old  ones. 


We  went  down  into  the  vault  where  in  one 
pile  lay  193.000,000  in  silver  dollars.  They 
were  in  rough  pine  boxes,  each  holding  a 
little  more  than  half  a  bushel  I  should  judge. 
These  boxes  were  stacked  up  in  a  pile  per- 
haps forty  or  fifty  feet  square  and  eight  feet 
high.  Around  the  pile  was  a  grating  of  iron 
or  steel.  A  narrow  alley  around  the  outside 
allowed  one  to  walk  around  the  pile.  Through 
the  courtesy  of  one  of  the  officials,  we  were 
shown  the  room  where  the  U.  S.  bonds  are 
kept,  and  for  the  space  of  perhaps  half  a 
minute,  the  fingers  that  are  now  manipula- 
ting the  keys  of  the  type  writer,  held  in  their 
grasp  U.  S.  bonds  worth  $l,()<i(),(toO  ! 

The  next  visit  was  to  the  Art  Gallery.  The 
paintings  and  statuary  were  exceptionally 
fine.  Among  the  latter  I  stood  the  longest 
before  two  little  twin  girls  perhaps  a  year 
and  a  half  old  lying  asleep,  their  curls  inter- 
mingling, the  head  of  one  upon  the  shoulder 
of  the  other  and  her  chubby  arm  throw  over 
her  sister.  Two  little  feet  peeped  from  un- 
der the  covering  that  lay  in  folds  so  natural 
that  I  could  almost  imagine  that  it  rose  and 
fell  from  an  imaginary  breathing  beneath 
it.  The  faces  were  alike  but  the  crowning 
beauty  was  the  expression  of  sweetness  and 
innocence  seen  only  in  a  sleeping  child. 
The  man  who  can  put  such  expression  into 
cold,  white  marble,  is  worthy  of  the  name, 
artist.  The  painting  from  which  I  derived 
most  satisfaction  was  the  "Forester's 
Home."  A  room  in  a  house  built  of  logs. 
Guns,  axes,  and  rude  implements  upon  the 
wall.  The  forester,  a  man  with  a  flowing 
grey  beard,  sits  at  the  head  of  the  table,  a 
long  pipe  in  his  mouth,  his  head  partly  sup- 
ported by  a  brawny  hand,  the  elbow  of  that 
arm  leaning  upon  the  table.  Upon  the  face 
an  expression  of  extreme  weariness  enjoying 
a  well-earned  repose.  Before  a  blazing  fire 
in  a  fire-place  knelt  the  wife  attending  to  the 
roasting  of  some  game,  or  something  of  that 
sort.  At  her  side  lay  a  dog,  and  the  inter- 
ested, earnest,  "doggish"  expression  upon 
the  dog's  face  was  brought  out  so  strongly 
by  the  bright  firelight  that  it  was  hard  to  re- 
alize that  it  was  only  a  picture.  The  effect 
of  the  ruddy  glow  upon  the  woman's  face 
and  on  the  folds  of  her  dress  was  simply  per- 
fect. 

The  last  place  visited  was  the  Washington 
Monument.  I  believe  this  is  the  tallest 
structure  in  this  country — 520  feet  in  height. 
I  should  judge  it  was  fifty  feet  square  at  the 
base.     Inside  there  is  a  winding  stair  way, 


18 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


also  an  elevator  that  will  take  up  thirty  per- 
song  at  once.  It  nearly  always  goes  up  full 
and  leaves  more  waiting.  It  requires  half 
an  hour  to  make  the  round  trip.  I  went  up 
in  the  elevator  and  came  down  the  stairs. 
The  noise  of  the  city  does  not  reach  the  ob- 
server at  the  top.  I  never  before  realized 
the  immense  amount  of  "nerve"  that  it 
must  require  for  an  aeronaut  to  make  a 
"  drop  "  from  a  balloon.  The  people  skat- 
ing out  on  the  Potomac  looked  like  ants 
standing  on  their  hind  legs.  Some  lish  ponds 
that  seemed  to  come  almost  up  to  the  foot 
of  the  monument,  were  found  to  be  at  least 
forty  rods  away.  Railway  trains  going  out 
of  the  city  seemed  to  move  at  a  snail's  pace  , 
but  the  motion  of  the  side-rods  to  the  engine 
showed  that  they  were  making  fair  speed.  I 
suppose  there  was  no  danger  in  this  aerial 
trip,  yet  I  experienced  a  feeling  of  relief 
when    I    again    placed    foot    upon    mother 

Mr.  A.  I.  Root  and  wife  and  Ernest  Root 
and  myself  all  started  for  home  the  same 
evening  by  the  Pennsylvania  route.  When 
in  the  station  I  happened  to  think  that  that 
was  the  place  where  Garfield  was  shot.  I 
asked  the  policeman  about  it  and  he  pointed 
out  the  spot.  Inlaid  in  the  floor  is  a  silver 
star  about  five  inches  in  diameter. 

Unfortunately,  I  passed  through  the  beau- 
tiful mountain  scenery  of  Pennsylvania, 
both  in  going  and  returning,  in  the  night. 
We  arrived  at  Pittsburg  about  nine  in  the 
morning.  I  had  often  heard  this  city  called 
the  "  smoky  city,"  but  I  was  not  prepared  to 
find  the  smoke  quite  so  thick.  Switch  lan- 
terns are  kept  lighted  all  of  the  time  as  the 
gloom  is  so  great  that  the  signals  cannot 
otherwise  be  sean.  We  passed  near  a  church 
and  I  noticed  that  the  top  of  the  spire  was 
scarcely  visible.  I  suppose  people  living 
here  are  happy,  but  it  does  not  seem  as 
though  I  could  be. 

At  Alliance,  Ohio,  Mr.  Root's  car  branched 
off  for  Cleveland.  I  reached  Mansfield  at 
about  four  P.  M.  I  found  that  my  train 
would  not  be  along  until  nearly  midniglit, 
and,  as  I  was  so  tired,  I  stopped  all  ni^htaud 
went  on  the  next  day,  reaching  home  with- 
out incident,  at  about  nine  in  the  evening. 

As  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  my  own  humble 
home  nestled  in  behind  the  evergreens,  and 
saw  my  wife  watching  at  the  window,  it 
seemed  as  though  my  trip  away  had  been  a 
dream  from  which  I  was  just  awakening. 
The  baby  stared  at  me  in  a  surprised  way  for 
a  moment,  then  broke  out  with  a  smile  of 


recognition.     I  was  now  enjoying  the  pleas- 
antest  part  of  the  trip — that  of  getting  home. 

What  of  the  convention  ?  As  I  expected, 
it  was  not  largely  attended.  It  was  too  far 
to  one  side.of  the  country.  It  was  like  locat- 
ing an  apiary  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan— the  supply  of  nectar  is  cut  off  from  one 
side.  The  attendance  was  mostly  of  prom- 
inent bee-keepers  and  the  meeting  was  very 
interesting  and  profitable. 

That  old,  knotty  question  of  "grading  of 
honey  "  was  brought  out  and  discussed  with 
old-time  vigor.  When  there  seemed  to  be  no 
chance  for  an  agreement  it  was  laid  aside 
and  then  taken  up  at  some  future  session. 

There  seems  to  be  no  use  in  having  a  su- 
perfine grade — one  that  is  perfection.  The 
dealers  say  they  don't  want,  don't  need  it, 
and  that  it  will  work  against  the  sale  of  the 
ordinary  No.  1  honey.  Two  grades  are  a 
plenty,  say  the  df-alers,  and  after  an  almost 
endless  discussion  in  which  the  matter  was 
carefully  gone  over  in  detail,  a  modification 
of  the  Chicago  grading  was  adopted.  It 
reads  as  follows  , — 

Fancy.— All  surtiousto  be  well  filled  :  combs 
straight,  of  even  tliickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides  :  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel  stain,  or  otherwise  ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1. — All  sections  well-filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed ;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  ainber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "fancy  white;" 
"No,  I  dark,"  etc, 

I  do  not  consider  the  above  perfect,  but  I 
do  think  that  it  is  the  best  system  that  has 
had  the  endorsement  of  the  North  American. 

Self-hivers  were  discussed  and  it  was 
brought  out  most  clearly  that  any  hiver  to  be 
a  success  must  allow  the  bees  to  return  to 
the  old  entrance.  E.  R.  Root  had  tried  about ' 
a  dozen  last  season.  Tliey  were  of  the  Pratt 
style  in  which  the  bees  are  hived  in  a  hive 
below  the  old  hive,  the  bees  passing  through 
this  lower  hive  when  at  work,  before  they 
swarm.  These  hivers  can  he  furnished  for 
fifty  cents.  They  will  hive  the  bees  all  right, 
but  what  can  be  done  and  what  can  be 
pmfifdhhj  done  are  two  things.  Mr.  Root 
was  not  yet  ready  to  encourage  bee-keepers 
to  invest  largely  in  them  un  il  they  had  given 
them  an  extended  trial. 

"  .\dulleration  of  honey  "  was  brought  to 
the  surface  by  a  paper  from  Prof,  Cook,  in 
which  he  showed  how  the  adnlleration  of 
honey  by  glucose  or  by  cane  sugar  could  be 
detected,  but  that  the  feeding  of  sugar  to 
bees,  or  rather  the  bees,  when  sugar  is  fed  to 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


Id 


them,  change  it  to  honey,  and  hence,  he 
claimed,  that  this  was  not  adulteration — that 
the  product  was  truly  honey — that  the  chem- 
ist could  not  detect  it  from  floral  honey. 
Prof.  Wiley  was  present  and  took  issue  with 
the  views  of  Prof.  Cook.  He  admitted  that 
he  had  not  yet  been  able  to  detect  "sugar 
honey,"  but  asserted  that  he  could  do  so.  It 
would  be  done  with  the  polariscope.  Sugar 
syrup,  at  a  certain  temperature  (just  below 
the  boiling  point,  I  believe  the  Prof,  said), 
is  inactive  in  the  polariscope.  That  is,  it 
does  not  turn  the  polarized  ray  of  light  to 
either  the  right  or  the  left.  He  was  positive 
that  the  feeding  of  honey  to  bees  would  not 
change  this  characteristic.  1  cannot  help 
wondering  why  the  Prof,  did  not  put  to  use 
this  method.  He  was  not  prepared  to  ac- 
cept Prof.  Cook's  definition  of  honey.  He 
(Wiley)  was  not  prepared  to  give  a  defini- 
tion, but  he  felt  sure  that  one  characteristic 
should  be  that  it  came  from  the  flowers.  He 
admitted  that  the  bees  did  change  the  cane 
sugar  of  nectar  to  the  invert  sugar  of  honey, 
but  asserted  that  nectar  was  often  composed 
partly  of  invert  sugar.  He  agreed  with  the 
views  put  forth  by  Mr.  Heddon  at  the  late 
Michigan  State  convention,  that  commercial 
glucose  is  healthful.  The  objection  to  its 
use  in  adulteration  is  that  it  increases  the 
amount  of  honey  on  the  market  and  thus 
tends  to  lower  the  prices.  He  said  that  an 
ordinary  person  could  not  by  the  use  of 
litmus  paper  or  any  ordinary  process  deter- 
mine if  honey  is  adulterated.  It  iv.  a  most 
delicate  operation — one  requiring  high  train- 
ing, skill  and  proper  apparatus.  Prof.  Riley 
said  that  considering  the  varied  sources  from 
which  bees  gather  substances,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  always  knowing  exactly  what  are 
these  sources,  he  doubted  if  it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  decisevely  settle  some  of  these  tine 
points. 

Frank  Benton  very  carefully  and  fully 
went  over  the  ground  of  the  introduction  of 
Italian  bees  into  this  country.  According  to 
his  statements,  the  U.  S.  government  should 
have  the  credit  for  their  importation.  He 
gave  an  account  of  his  journeyings  in  the 
East  and  his  experience  with  the  different 
races  of  Ijees.  Then  he  gave  the  character- 
istics of  the  different  varieties.  These  are  so 
well  known  that  I  believe  I  will  not  take 
space  to  enumerate  them.  I  will  say,  how- 
ever, that  Mr.  Benton  went  into  details  more 
fully  than  I  have  known  him  to  do  on  other 
occasions. 


Last  year,  at  Albany,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  see  what  could  be  done  in  the  way 
of  securing  government  aid  to  apiculture. 
This  committee  reported  asking  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

1st.  That  the  section  of  apiculture  in  the 
Division  of  entomology,  in  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  be  raised  to  an  independent 
Division, 

2nd.  That  in  connection  therewith  there 
be  an  experimental  apiary  established  at 
Washington,  having  all  the  appointments 
necessary  to  a  first-class,  experimental  sta- 
tion. 

3kd.  That  the  appropriation  for  this  Di- 
vision be  sufficiently  large  so  that  work  may 
not  be  embarrassed  by  the  lack  of  funds. 

C.  V.  Riley,  government  entomologist, 
read  a  lengthy  paper  showing  what  the  gov- 
ernment had  done  and  what  it  could  do  for 
apiculture.  He  reviewed  what  had  been  done 
and  said  that  much  more  might  have  been 
done  if  bee-keepers  had  put  forth  a  united 
effort  in  bringing  home  to  the  head  of  the  De- 
partnient,  and  to  those  in  charge  of  the  gen- 
eral appropriations,  the  needs  and  just  de- 
mands of  the  industry.  He  said,  in  sub- 
stance, that  what  the  government  can  do 
will  depend  greatly  upon  what  sums  Congress 
may  see  fit  to  appropriate  for  such  investi- 
gations, and  this  will  depend  in  turn,  to 
some  degree,  upon  what  representations  as 
to  the  needs  of  the  industry  and  the  possible 
benefits  to  the  material  interests  of  the 
country,  are  made  to  the  head  of  the  Depart- 
ment, to  the  committee  on  Agriculture,  and 
to  other  members  of  Congress  by  their  con- 
stituents. This  is  the  matter  in  a  nut  shell, 
and  in  my  opinion  it  is  a  matter  for  the  Bee- 
Keepers'  Union  to  take  hold  of.  Prof.  Riley's 
advice  was  that  we  make  friends  of  the  in- 
coming Secretary  of  Agriculture  and  show 
him  the  importance  and  needs  of  Apicul- 
ture. 

The  scope  of  the  Bee-Keepers'  Union  has 
been  too  narrow.  Most  of  the  men  who  put 
in  their  dollars  never  expected  a  cent  of  ben- 
efit in  return.  Last  summer  it  was  proposed 
to  change  its  constitution  so  that  its  money 
and  influence  could  be  used  in  fighting  adul- 
teration. Soon  it  was  seen  that  money  might 
be  needed  to  secure  legislation  favorable  to 
bee-keeping.  As  new  needs  would  be  con- 
tinually springing  up,  it  was  proposed  to  so 
change  the  constitution  that  the  money  and 
influence  of  the  Union  could  be  used  for  any 
purpose  thought  advisable  by  the  advisory 


20 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


board.  The  convention  approved  this 
change.    There  was  not  one  dissenting  voice. 

Win.  F.  Clarke  sent  a  letter  protesting 
against  the  incorporation  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican. The  grounds  of  his  protest  have  been 
gone  over  so  frequently  in  the  journals  that 
I  will  not  repeat  tliem.  E.  R.  Root  said 
that  as  the  proposed  change  in  the  Bee- 
Keepers'  Union,  if  adopted,  would  enable 
the  Union  to  do  the  work  that  had  been  in 
view  when  the  North  American  was  incorpo- 
rated, it  might  be  well,  inasmuch  as  incor- 
poration had  alienated  us  from  our  Canadi- 
an brethren,  to  have  the  incorporation  aban- 
doned. But  this  was  an  important  subject 
and  ought  not  to  be  decided  hastily,  hence 
he  moved  that  the  matter  be  laid  on  the  table 
until  the  next  meeting  with  a  view  of  giving 
it  favorable  consideration  at  that  time. 
Carried. 

Dr.  C.  C.  Miller  was  elected  President ; 
J.  E.  Crane  Vice  President ;  Frank  Benton 
Secretary ;  and  Geo.  W,  York  Treasurer. 
The  next  meeting  is  to  be  in  Chicago.  Most 
excellent  men  have  been  elected  as  officers  ; 
the  place  of  meeting  could  not  well  have 
been  elsewhere,  and  in  all  probability  the 
next  convention  will  surpass  all  previous 
ones.  It  is  proposed  to  hold  it  early  in  Oc- 
tober. 


How  to  Use  the  Solar  Wax  Extractor,  and 

How   to   Get   the    Wax   Out  of  the 

Residue,  or  "Slumgum." 

To  be  able  to  get  all  of  the  wax  out  of  all 
kinds  of  combs  is  quite  a  trade,  and  all  such 
articles  as  the  following  written  by  R.  C. 
Aikin,  and  published  in  Gleanings,  ought  to 
be  read  and  studied  by  all  who  have  much 
wax  to  render : 

•'I  read  with  interest  H.  R.  Boardman's 
article  on  p.  771,  also  the  offer  you  make  in 
your  foot-note.  I  want  you  to  make  your 
test  thorough.  Surely  much  wax  remains  in 
the  refuse  when  it  makes  so  good  a  fire. 
Sometimes,  however,  its  burning  quality 
might  come  from  propolis,  which  is  almost 
equal  to  wax  for  fuel. 

Last  spring  we  had  a  lot  of  stocks  to  trans- 
fer, both  with  and  without  frames ;  also  a 
like  lot  of  hives  in  which  the  bees  winter- 
killed. In  all  these  the  honey  was  from  one- 
fourth  to  three-fourths  candied.  Nearly  all 
of  them  were  old  combs,  some  very  old,  and 
many  with  pollen.  Then  the  que  ry  was,  how 
to  get  this  separated   into  feed  honey,  wax, 


and  slumgum.  We  could  not  feed  the  honey 
by  letting  the  bees  carry  it  out  of  the  combs, 
for  they  would  waste  the  bulk  of  the  candied 
honey  by  'kicking  it  out  of  doors.'  The 
honey  thus  wasted  would  be  worth  more  than 
the  combs  or  wax.  To  render  by  steam  or 
water  applied  directly  would  waste  much 
honey  ;  so  dry  heat,  by  means  of  solar  wax- 
extractor,  seemed  the  best  way  to  do  it. 

Mv  heart  was  set  on  having  a  jumbo  solar 
(it's  set  yot,  only  more  so  than  before)  ;  so, 
early  in  April  I  bought  some  double-strength 
glass,  cut  from  broken  store-windows,  show- 
cases, and  such.  It  cost  me  !|2..50  at  the 
price  of  single-strength  glass,  and  made  a 
sash  about  2  ft.  10  in.  x  (i  ft.  G  in.,  and  I  very 
soon  had  a  solar  wax-extractor  at  work  in 
the  yard.  The  thing  is  built  on  wheels,  two 
at  one  end  and  one  at  the  other,  oae  of  them 
being  pivoted  like  a  bed-castor.  This  makes 
it  convenient  to  pull  about,  and  to  wheel  in- 
to the  honey-house  to  unload  and  reload 
when  robbers  are  bad.  From  April  to  Octo- 
ber that  extractor  has  been  at  work,  and  has 
turned  out  over  300  lbs.  of  wax  and  over  1000 
lbs.  of  feed  honey  that  was  mostly  candied 
in  the  combs.     The  wax  is  No.  1  in  quality. 

After  accumulating  two  or  three  barrels  of 
the  refuse  I  experimented  on  it.  Some  was 
soaked  four  weeks  in  water,  and  cooked  by 
steam  applied  direct.  Some  was  soaked  sev- 
eral days  in  a  mixture  ox  water  and  concen- 
trated lye,  so  strong  it  was  a  slick,  soapy 
mass,  and  it  was  cooked  by  steam  applied 
direct,  with  the  mass  in  a  bran- sack.  I  used 
steam  under  pressure,  and  turned  a  jet  of 
steam  into  the  center  of  the  mass.  I  tried 
first  by  having  a  false  bottom  made  of  slats 
about  six  inches  from  the  bottom  of  the  bar- 
rel, and  the  sack  in  this,  so  the  wax  would 
drip  below  and  run  out  at  the  bottom.  This 
brought  out  some  wax,  but  left  plenty  to 
make  a  good  fire.  I  then  plugged  the  hole 
at  the  bottom  of  the  barrel,  and  filled  the 
barrel  with  water,  so  that  the  whole  mass 
was  submerged.  I  then  applied  the  steam- 
jet  as  before — that  is,  to  the  center  of  the 
mass  in  the  sack.  The  jet  was  applied  for 
nearly  half  a  day,  with  stirring,  turning,  and 
prodding  the  sack.  As  fast  as  wax  would 
accumulate  on  the  water  it  was  skimmed  off, 
until  it  seemed  that  scarcely  a  bit  could  re- 
main in  that  sack.  I  then  took  the  sack  out. 
At  first  it  contained  about  four  bushels  of 
the  slumgum  ;  but  now  it  was  reduced  by 
washing  out  pollen,  etc.,  until  it  was  about  a 
bushel.  I  then  put  it  under  moderate  pres- 
sure. This  caused  the  wax  to  flow  "  from 
every  pore,"  resulting  in  one  or  two  pounds 
more  of  wax.  I  then  again  put  the  whole 
mass  into  cold  water,  when  the  wax  appear- 
ed in  small  grains  throughout  the  whole 
mass,  about  as  butter  does  just  as  it  begins 
to  gather  when  being  churned.  I  now  have 
a  barrel  of  this  refuse  soaking  in  lye-water, 
and  will  experiment  to  see  what  wax  can  be 
gotten  from  it. 

The  refuse  used  in  these  experiments  was 
the  result  of  rendering  over  200  lbs.  of  wax. 
using  mostly  those  old  comV>s  and  hive- 
scrapings,  etc.  The  result  was  something 
over  20  lbs.  of  wax  that  was  much  darker 
than  the  first,  as  gotten  by  solar  heat.  Both 
because  we  had  to  keep  the  solar  extractor 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


21 


going  in  order  to  get  our  comb  all  rendered, 
and  because  we  expected  to  subject  the  re- 
fuse to  the  second  process,  it  was  not  as 
thoroughly  drained  in  the  solar  as  it  might 
have  been.  However,  the  wax  received  from 
it  paid  about  §2.00  a  day  for  the  time  en- 
gaged in  putting  it  through  the  process. 

I  am  confident  that  neither  the  solar  nor 
steam  process  comes  near  getting  the  wax 
all  out.  Old  combs,  pollen-fillea,  together 
with  dead  bees  and  such,  make  such  a  mass 
of  refuse  that  a  great  amount  of  wax  is  re- 
tained in  it,  in  spite  of  all  my  efforts  so  far 
to  remove  it.  I  find,  however,  that  we  need 
a  laige  solar  extractor,  and  then  not  load  it 
too  heavy.  If  the  refuse  be  drawn  back  to 
the  upper  end,  and  spread  out  thinly  on  a 
rather  steep  incline,  and  left  there  a  few 
days  in  the  hottest  weather,  and  for  about 
four  weeks  when  not  so  warm,  very  much 
wax  will  eventually  be  drained  out  that  can- 
not be  gotten  out  in  two  or  three  days'  time. 
If  the  solar  extractor  be  large  enough,  and 
the  stuff  left  in  it  long  enough,  I  think  more 
wax  will  be  extracted  than  by  steam  or  water. 
The  feed  honey  alone  that  can  be  obtained 
by  using  a  solar  extractor  abundantly  pays 
for  the  instrument,  besides  the  other  points 
of  advantage.  But  what  I  want  to  know  is 
an  equally  cheap  method  of  getting  the  rest 
of  that  wax  out  of  the  slumgum. 

R.  C.  AiKiN. 

Loveland,  Col..  Nov.  7,  1892. 

The  editor  of  Gleaninrjs  comments  as  fol- 
lows : 

[Your  experiments  are  interesting  and 
valuable,  and  we  believe  the  results  at  which 
you  arrived  are  correct,  as  they  confirm  to  a 
very  great  extent  our  own.  From  old  tough 
and  black  combs  it  is  exceedingly  harti  to 
get  the  wax  all  out.  The  Dadants  recom- 
mend first  pulverizing  them  during  cold 
freezing  weather.  At  that  time,  being  very 
brittle,  they  will  work  up  very  fine.  Now, 
then,  the  best  way  to  render  this,  so  far  as  we 
know,  is  to  spread  this  pulverized  comb  thin- 
ly over  the  bottom  of  a  large  solar  wax-ex- 
tractor. Allow  it  to  stand  that  way  for  sev- 
eral days  in  the  hot  sun,  stirring  it  occasion- 
ally in  the  mean  time,  so  as  to  present  new 
surfaces  to  the  sun.  After  it  seems  to  have 
drained  out  all  the  wax  there  is  in  the  slum- 
gum,  clean  out  the  extractor,  put  the  con- 
tents into  the  slumgum  box  or  barrel,  and 
be  sure  to  cover  it  tightly,  because  the  moth- 
worms  will  very  soon  begin  to  work  on  it. 
After  a  barrel  or  so  has  accumulated,  put  it 
into  a  cheese-cloth  (or,  preferably,  burlap) 
bag,  as  large  as  can  conveniently  he  put  into 
a  receptacle  in  which  it  is  to  be  further  treat- 
ed with  hot  water  slightly  acidulated  with 
sulphuric  acid.  Get  the  water  to  boiling, 
and  with  a  stick  punch  the  sack  under  water: 
and  as  the  wax  rises,  skim  it  off  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  water.  Last  of  all,  remove  the 
sack  with  its  contents  from  the  boiling  wa- 
ter :  quickly  place  it  in  a  press  ;  squeeze  it, 
putting  on  all  the  pressure  possible,  and  con- 
siderably more  wax  will  ooze  out  in  small 
pellets. 

The  solar  wax-extractor  will  take  out  per- 
haps nine-tenths  of  the  wax  ;  but  there  is  yet 


that  tenth,  which  must  be  removed,  as  far  as 
possible,  by  the  agency  of  hot  water,  sul- 
phuric acid,  and  the  wax-press.  Even  then 
there  is  a  little  left  that  may  be  removed  by 
continually  working  at  it,  but  it  is  a  question 
whether  it  is  worth  the  time  consumed  in  do- 
ing it. 

THE    EESULT    OF    THE    EXPEBIMENT    ON    THE 
BOABDMAN   SLXIMGUM. 

Referring  to  the  slumgum  of  H.  R.  Board- 
man,  and  our  challenge  to  him  to  send  on  a 
couple  of  bushels  and  we  would  prove  there 
was  wax  m  it,  we  have  this  to  say  :  He  sent 
on  the  slumgum,  and  by  the  scales  it  weighed 
about  25  lbs.  We  put  it  through  the  "  mill  " 
— that  is,  sulphuric-acid  treatment — in  con- 
nection with  the  wax-press.  Well,  how  much 
wax  do  you  think  we  secured  ?  Jxist  one 
pound !  We  searcely  know  whether  Mr. 
Boardman  or  ourselves  have  the  better  of 
the  argument.  He  may  be  surprised  that  we 
got  so  much,  and  on  the  other  hand  we  are 
surely  disappointed  in  getting  no  more.  On 
this  basis  we  should  get  about  3  lbs.  of  vir- 
gin wax  from  perhaps  a  barrel  of  Mr.  Board- 
man's  slumgum.  If  there  is  one  thing  that 
we  have  proven,  it  is  that  Mr.  Boardman's 
large  solar  wax-extractors  do  the  work  very 
much  more  thoroughly  than  we  had  sup- 
posed :  and  we  can  account  for  the  stuff 
making  such  good  fuel,  only  on  the  ground 
that  it  must  have  contained  a  large  amount 
of  propolis,  as  Mr.  Aikin  suggests  above.  It 
is  well  known  that  propolis  melts  at  a  much 
higher  temperature  than  wax,  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  the  heat  of  the  solar  wax-extractor 
is  not  sufficient  to  have  any  perceptible  ef- 
fect on  it.  It  is,  therefore,  left  nicely  dis- 
tributed through  the  refuse.]  " 


Civilization  Versus  Apicaltare. 
Oh,  that  inimitable  Hasty  I  What  a  bright, 
fresh,  original,  unique  way  he  has  of  putting 
things.  A  great  many  times  we  have  been 
told  in  the  straight-forward,  indicative  mood 
that  after  civilization  had  reached  a  certain 
stage,  its  onward  progress  was  in  opposi- 
tion to  that  of  bee-keeping,  but  how  much 
clearer  is  the  truth  when  brought  out  in  that 
figurative,  picturesque,  Hasfj/-ianguage 
found  in  the  following  clipped  from  the 
C.  B.  J.  : 

"The  axe  of  civilization  cuts  down  the 
trees,  and  presto,  the  basswood  honey  is  gone, 
the  tulip  honey  is  gone,  and  the  game  is 
gone  :  and  the  Indian  and  the  bee-keeper 
have  a  polite  hint  to  go  elsewhere.  The  In- 
dian goes  ;  the  bee-keeper  looks  ruefully  af- 
ter him,  but  thinks  that,  as  for  himself,  he 
will  hantr  on  a  little  longer.  Civilization 
puts  the  pasture  lands  under  the  plow  ;  the 
flocks  and  herds  'go  west'  like  the  poor  In- 
dian ;  likewise  the  helianthus  and  the  fire- 
weed,  the  thistle  and  the  golden-rod,  prepare 
to  fold  up  their  tents  like  the  Arabs  and  si- 
lently steal  away  !  Civilization  brings  in  fer- 
tilizers and  improved  methods,  '  makes  two 


22 


TBE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


blades  of  grass  grow  where  only  one  grew  be- 
fore ' — all  very  fine;  but,  alas,  those  two 
blades  of  rank  grass  pinch  out  the  white  clo- 
ver so  that  it  has  no  place  to  spread  its  crys- 
tal banquet  for  the  l)ee.  Then,  indeed,  the 
bee-keeper  begins  to  wonder  how  his  good 
prototype,  '  Lo,  the  poor  Indian  '  is  getting 
aloug  out  west,  auyhow.  But  civilization  is 
not  done  with  her  incursions.  The  relent- 
less jade  whispers  to  the  farmers  that  so 
niany  fences  are  expensive  and  useless,  and 
directly  three-quarters  of  them  disappear. 
No  more  the  face  of  nature  is  mapped  off 
with  latitude  lines  and  longitude  lines  of 
nodding  wild  flowers.  Tb.e  fence-rows  were 
the  Indian  reservations  of  our  bees,  and  the 
cruel  white  woman  takes  them  away.  To 
make  a  clean  sweep  she  whispers  again  to 
the  farmer,  and  says,  '  No  \-  the  fences  are 
out  of  the  way,  why  not  slick  up  the  road- 
sides, and  exterminate  the  weeds  that  grow 
there?'  'Sure  enough,'  says  the  submis- 
sive farmer,  and  proceeds  to  run  his  mowing 
machine  up  and  down  the  roads  two  or  three 
times  each  summer,  while  the  bee-keeper 
looks  on  with  impotent  wrath. 

What  are  we  going  to  do  about  it,  brethren? 
go  on  the  warpath  with  knives  and  toma- 
kawks  ?  pull  out  the  axle  pins  of  the  car  of 
progress,  and  break  the  axle  ?  What  shall 
we  do  ?  Shall  we  think  to  restore  matters 
by  scattering  seeds,  and  introducing  new 
honey  plants  ?  Where  shall  our  new  honey 
plants  find  a  place  to  grow,  pray  tell,  when 
the  commons  and  pastures  are  all  under 
plow  ?  Shall  we  find  a  honey  plant  with  vim 
enough  to  grow  in  the  farmer's  cultivated 
fields  in  spite  of  him  ?  If  we  find  it,  will  we 
be  wicked  enough  to  introduce  it  ?  If  we 
are  wicked  enough  to  introduce  it,  will  not 
the  dogs  of  the  law  be  after  us  ?  In  regard  to 
botanical  efforts  of  all  sorts.  I  think  the  faith 
of  intelligent  apiarists  is  getting  weak.  We 
have  accomplished  but  little,  and  that  little 
is  spoken  against  ;  and  in  the  immediate 
future  we  are  likely  to  accomplish  still  less. 

Is  it  giving  away  seed  of  alsike  and  buck- 
wheat that  we  will  place  our  hopes  upon  ? 
Too  costly :  and  our  profits,  either  present 
or  prospective,  are  not  equal  to  the  require- 
ments. Moreover,  while  one  bee-keeper  can 
largely  increase  the  amount  of  buckwheat 
raised  in  a  particular  neighborhood,  bee- 
keepers as  a  whole  cannot  very  largely  in- 
crease the  buckwheat  average  as  a  whole. 
The  laws  of  demand  and  supply  are  going  to 
regulate  that  in  spite  of  us.  And  immense 
areas  of  country  find  buckwheat  a  plant 
which  yields  very  little  honey,  save  in  ex- 
ceptional years  and  at  long  intervals.  In  re- 
gard to  alsike,  matters  are  on  a  somewhat 
different  basis.  Alsike  reciprocates  with 
common  clover — the  more  alsike  the  less 
clover — and  it  could  be  very  largely  increas- 
ed if  an  advantage  could  be  proved.  Where 
farmers  find  alsike  much  the  more  advanta- 
geous of  the  two  they  will  raise  it — but 
Where's  that,  pray  ?  The  clovers  are  wanted 
mostly  as  manure  plants — nitrogen  traps — 
and  alsike  can  hardly  compete  with  red  clo- 
ver in  the  amount  of  roots  which  it  furnishes 
to  rot  in  the  soil  ? 

Shall  we  look  to  the  red  clover  as  our  help, 
and  hope  to  modify  its  tubes,  and  so  secure 


its  treasures  of  nectar  ?  That  scheme  is  in- 
deed alluriug,  and  my  name  lias  been  asso- 
ciated with  it  more  or  less.  But  I  for  one  am 
not  getting  on  very  fast ;  and  I  hear  of  no 
one  doing  any  better.  I  have  a  clover  that 
bees  can  probe  to  the  bottom,  but  it  almost 
totally  refuses  to  bear  seeds ;  and  the  seed- 
lings, when  I  get  them,  most  of  them  back- 
slide and  become  mere  ordinary  clovers. 
Furthermore,  we  don't  know  whether  the  clo- 
ver insects  are  going  to  hold  the  fort  like  the 
potato  bug,  or  whether  they  will  let  up  after 
a  while.  They  seem  capable  of  preventing 
any  honey,  or  any  bloom  either,  on  the  clo- 
ver. At  best  our  hope  from  this  source  is 
slender  and  distant. 

Then  how  about  alfalfa  ?  No  go,  is  to  be 
feared,  for  moist  climates — grows  poorly, 
and  the  blossoms  have  no  honey  in  them. 
Shall  we  look  forward  to  the  time  when  pub- 
lic and  private  plantations  of  trees  will  have 
to  be  made,  and  try  to  have  honey  trees  pre- 
ferred ?  Long  while  to  wait.  When  the 
time  comes  it  looks  as  though  the  pine  would 
be  planted  rather  than  the  basswood  and  tu- 
lip, the  oaks  rather  than  the  maples  and  gum 
trees,  and  the  black  walnut  rather  than  the 
wild  cherry.  Agitation  at  the  right  time,  by 
the  right  persons,  might  avail  somethiiig  to- 
ward having  the  right  kind  of  trees  planted  ; 
but  how  often  is  the  proper  time  and  proper 
influence  let  slip  I  This  anchor  is  rather  too 
much  like  an  anchor  in  Amsterdam,  when 
the  good  ship  is  drifting  on  the  rocks  near 
by. 

What  else  have  we  to  look  to  ?  There  are 
the  roadsides.  We  might  get  some  bass- 
woods  planted  aloug  the  roads  if  we  tried 
hard  ;  but  not  many,  I  fear,  now  the  new 
methods  have  come  in  ;  be  in  the  way  of  the 
farmer's  mowing-machine,  and  shade  his 
border.  'The  blues.'  did  I  hear  the  editor 
say  ?  Yes.  this  is  a  blue  article  ;  but  when  a 
fellow  looks  for  a  few  moments  through  blue 
spectacles  why  not  have  them  as  blue  as  ever 
he  can.  You,  Canadians,  up  there  are  one 
tribe,  and  we  down  here  in  ( )hio  are  another 
tribe.  Y'our  tribe  has  not  as  yet  suffered  as 
much  from  the  incursions  of  the  'white  wo- 
man '  as  ours  has  ;  but  your  turn  is  right  at 
hand.  She'll  never  be  'asy'  till  she  has  the 
last  hon-ey  weed  exterminated  and  the  last 
white  clover  supplanted  bv  some  better  for- 
age plant.  And  she'll  hardly  make  haste  to 
plant  a  basswood  tree  till  she  has  the  last  old 
one  down.  There's  no  peace  for  us  unless 
we  flee  to  the  mountains,  where  she  cannot 
run  her  plow,  else  go  to  the  alfalfa  regions, 
else  do — something  desperate.  Shall  we  do 
something  desperate  then  ?  The  '  to  bee ' 
and  '  not  to  bee  '  seems  a  trifle  inclined  to 
hover  around  that  iiuestion. 

E.  E.  Hasty. 

RiCHABDS,  Ohio.  Nov.  7th,  1892." 

There  is  truth  as  well  as  poetry  in  the  fore- 
going. It  may  be  an  unpleasant  truth,  and 
that  is  why  it  is  so  ignored.  We  never  ad- 
mit an  unpleasant  truth  until  forced  to  do  so. 
Men  who  have  made  a  grand  success  of  bee- 
keeping in  years  past  and  gone,  still  cling  to 
it  in  the  same  loved  spot  long  after  the  bass- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


woods  have  been  cut  away  and  white  clover 
pastures  have  given  way  to  the  corn  field  or 
potato  hill.  No  wonder  their  nopes  are 
blasted.  The  few  poor  years  that  we  have 
been  having  of  late  cannot  be  wholly  attrib- 
uted to  civilization,  as  the  supply  was  cat  off 
too  squarely.  The  results  of  civilization 
come  about  gradually.  The  man  who  has  had 
good  crops  for  many  years  in  succession, 
with  perhaps  an  occasional  failure,  up  to 
five  ye  rs  ago,  and  has  not  had  a  good  one 
since,  cannot  ascribe  his  failure  to  civiliza- 
tion, unless  some  radical  changes  have  been 
made  in  his  vicinity  during  that  time. 

The  man  who  is  trying  to  make  a  succ.ess 
of  bee-keeping  as  a  specialty  in  an  old  set- 
tled country  where  nearly  all  of  the  woods 
b.iive  been  cut  away,  and  the  country  almost 
wholly  given  up  to  cultivated  crops,  with  no 
swamps,  no  river  bottoms,  no  mountains 
( that  cannot  be  plowed  up )  near,  is  soon  des- 
tined to  reach  that  point  where,  as  friend 
Hasty  puts  it,  something  ''desperate"  must 
he  done.  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  fertile 
brain  of  Bro.  Hasty  suggested  the  raising  of 
"  sugar-honey." 

Bees  at  the  World's  Fair. 

Bro.  Hill  of  the  (iuidc  makes  some  very 
sensible  suggestion^  as  to  how  bees  ought  to 
be  exhibited  at  the  World's  fair.  Among 
other  things  he  says:— 

"It  is  our  opinion  tiiat  the  only  way  to  ex- 
hibit bees  and  make  it  at  all  convenient  and 
educational  is  to  use  single  comb  observa- 
tory hives,  confining  the  bees  as  long  as  they 
are  bright  and  healthy  and  then  change  for  a 
fresh  comb  and  bees.  Possibly  wire 
cloth  would  he  better  ihan  glass,  or  perhaps 
ula-is  on  one  side  with  wire  cloth  ou  i  he  other 
would  be  advisable  during  hot  weather.  The 
people  could  tlien  see  the  cjueen,  drones  and 
workers,  brood  in  all  stages,  eggs  and  polleu, 
while  the  experts  accustomed  to  these  sights 
could  judge  of  quality  l)y  comparing  the  con- 
tents of  different  hives.  A  good  light  will  be 
of  the  greatest  importance.  A  lot  of  large 
observatory  hives,  arrauyed  along  the  wall 
of  a  building  in  such  a  manner  that  the  bees 
could  pass  through  the  wall  and  fiy  out  over 
the  heads  of  the  people  would  hardly  be  sat- 
isfactory or  safe.  A  colony  of  bees  can  ea- 
sily and  safely  be  taken  away  from  their  na- 
tural stands,  away  from  home,  and  be  open- 
ed up  and  exhibited  in  a  crowd  of  people. 
But  to  place  a  lot  of  bees  permanently  and 
bring  the  people  up  near  or  under  them  would 
certainly  he  quite  risky.  Each  colony  would 
probable  contain  40. 000  workers  and  there 
would  be  a  number  of  colonies.  Enough 
bees,  if  they  got  mad.  and  wanted  to  do  it, 
to  take  j>o-session  of  the  whole  fair  and  run 
it  to  suit  themselves.  When  a  bee  is  mad  and 
at  home  or  defending  its  home,  it  is  not  at  all 


particular  about  distance,  and  might  go  a 
number  of  rods  to  sting  some  one.  The  safe 
way  is  to  confine  all  the  bees.  To  show  the 
quality  and  beauty  of  the  light  colored  bees 
it  would  be  nice  to  have  the  specimens  con- 
fined between  wire  cloth  and  glass  with  no 
comb  at  all.  By  looking  through  the  cages 
towards  the  light  the  best  kind  of  a  view  and 
test  of  color  and  markings  could  be  had.  No 
doubt  all  the  queen  breeders  in  the  United 
States,  who  breed  especially  good  stock, 
would  be  glad  to  furnish  a  fresh  sample  by 
mail  every  ten  days,  or  as  often  as  it  would 
be  necessary  to  keep  them  bright  and  fresh,  if 
some  one  was  engaged  to  receive  exhibits 
uuderthe  owner's  name  and  care  for  the  bees. 
Such  a  plan  would  be  without  expense  to 
the  fair  association." 


Advantages  of  Shallow  Sections. 
Bee-keepers  have  pretty  generally  settled 
down  to  the  use  of  the  4I4  x  4I4  section.  Is 
this  the  best  size?  It  was  first  used  that  eight 
sections  might  exactly  fill  a  wide  frame  of 
the  Lani/stroth  size,  but  that  method  of  use- 
iug  them  is  now  but  little  used,  and  the  only 
reason  for  continuing  that  size  is  for  the  sake 
of  uniformity.  Are  there  enough  advanta- 
ges in  some  other  form  or  size  to  warrant  a 
change?  Bro.  Hill  of  the  Guide  has  been 
using  a  long,  shallow  section,  and  here  is  his 
opinion:-- 

''We  have  been  experimenting  the  past 
season  and  have  all  our  honey  in  sections  o^^s 
deep  by  6I4  inches  wide  and  we  find  so  many 
advantages  with  this  shape  over  the  square 
414x414  section  that  we  have  gotten  clear  off 
the  track  both  in  regard  to  shape  and  width. 
We  favor  the  narrow  section  without  separa- 
tors. The  three  inch  deep  pound  section 
has  the  advantages  over  the  four  inch  in  the 
following  particulars:  It  is  longer  on  top 
and  gives  more  support  to  the  foundation 
starters.  A  2}.,  inch  piece  of  thin  foundation 
stays  belter  tiian  a  'Mo  inch  piece.  It  makes 
one  less  division  in  the  surplus  department. 
When  tiered  up  a  three  inch  lift  is  better 
than  a  four  iucli  because  four  inches  all  over 
the  top  of  the  hive  is  too  much  space  to  give 
a  working  colony  at  one  time.  The  three 
inch  section  is  finished  and  capped  over 
quicker,  can  be  taken  off  quicker  and  this 
insures  nicer  and  whiter  honey.  The  three 
inch  section  has  such  a  long  firm  hold  on  the 
top  and  being  more  shallow  stands  shipping 
better.  Customers  seem  to  choose  the  long 
section  in  perference  to  the  square  one  when 
buying  honey.  We  are  so  well  pleased  with 
this  shape  and  its  advantages  are  so 
great  that  we  would  not  use  a  4I4X4I4  inch 
section  in  our  apiary  if  some  one  would  do- 
nate them  free.  It  would  be  more  profita- 
ble to  pay  for  the  three  inch  ones.  The 
above  facts  seems  too  bad,  just  as  we  have 
established  the  41,4  X4I4  section  as  the  stan- 
ard  shape  and  only  propose  to  discuss  the 
width.  It  may  be  best  to  consider  the  whole 
question." 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


AD  VE  RTISEMENTS 


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l-i«-  2t,  Carlisle,  Sonoke  Co.,  Ark. 

Please   mention   the   Reciew. 


If  You  Wish   Neat  Artistic 


SEMD    FOR    CATALOGUE' 


j         Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 

ITALIAN  QUtENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOK,      189S. 

!         Before  you  purchase,  hiok  to  your  int,erest,  and 
j    send  for  c  it«logue  and  price  list. 

j  .1.  r.  H.  i;k<»\v>, 

i-r>H  tf.  .AuKUHta,  <ieur^iH. 

Plnise  mentiun  t..,'  Review. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


25 


I  Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers,  i 

is  TYPE  WRITTEN.  E 

RIBPiEirpiPlpnpirjBEgfiFiBRIBIBEEEiBBEBE 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  vprit- 
ten  in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States)  . 
and.  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  foi*  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2..'J0 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  VV.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  FUnt,  Mich. 


t!:  Big  Blue  Cat- 

ALOfU'E  FOR  1893?  Seventy  illustrated 
pages  Sent  FREE  to  any  bee-keeper.  BEE- 
SUPPLIES,  at  retail  and  wholesale  Every- 
thing used  in  the  apiary  Greatest  variety  and 
largest  stock  in  the  West 
l-ft3-tf.       E.  Kretchmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 


DO  NOT  GIVE  YOUR  ORDER  FOR  SECTIONS 
UNTIL  YOU  GET  OUR  PRICES  ON  THE 

"BOSS"  ONE-PIECE  SECTION 


Queco    Dealers, 

Write  for  prices  ou  fine,  golden,  Italian  Queens 
from  Mar.  l.i  to  Nov.  15,  1893.  Best  colonies  last 
year  gave  200  lbs.  Average  this  year  was  125  lbs. 
per  colony,  besides  drawing  heavily  on  them  for 
queen  rearing.  J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Fla. 
11-92-tf 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


EVERY  one  in  need  of  information  on  the 
subject  of  advertising  will  do  well  to  obtain 
a  copy  of  "Book  for  Advertisers,"  368  pages,  price 
$1.00.  Mailed,  postpaid,  f>ii  receipt  of  price  Con- 
tains a  careful  compilation  from  the  American 
Newspaper  Directory  of  all  the  best  papers  and 
class  journals  ;  gives  the  circulation  rating  of 
every  one,  and  a  good  deal  of  inforniation  about 
rates  and  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  busi- 
ness of  advertising.  Address  ROWELL'S 
ADVERTISING  BUREAU.   10  Spruce  St.,  N.  Y 


IMPORT  AWT^^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits-  Those  who  have  tested  them 
with  other  bees  say  "  they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

FIVE-BAriDED    WOI^KERS 

In  March,  .\pril  and  May.  $1  25  each,  6  for  $6.lK»: 
.lune,  $1  no  each,  6  for  $5.(K);  .luly  to  Nov..  $1.00 
f  ach,  6  for  $1.50.  Spe.ial  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 
12-92-tf  C.  D-  DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 


We  are  in  better  shape  than  ever  to  fill  orders 
promptly.     Also, 

DOVETAILED    HIVES,    ------ 

-    -    -    FOUND.\TION,  SMOKERS,  Etc. 

i^~  Write  for  Price  List.  ...^J 

J.   FOf^NCf^OOK  St  CO. 


Watertown,  Wis.,  Jan.  1, 1893. 


1-93-tf. 


DID  NOT  STRIKE 

THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST  nor  tlie 
BAY  STATE  .VPIARY;  but  it  strikes  us  that 
every  reader  of  this  will  find  each  copy  of  the 
.VPI.  worth  $5  in  IS93.  Yet  we  send  twelve  copies 
and  one  of  onr  lat«=st  IMPROVED  DRONE. 
TRAPS,  by  mail,  for  $1.10. 

Send  your  adtlress  for  a  free  sample  copy  of  the 
API.  and  reatl  about  the  good  things  in  store  for 
those  who  .subscribe. 

REMEMBER  that  every  subject  cornected 
with  bee  culture  is  treated  in  the  API.  by  the 
ablest  authf)rs. 

Our  IS  tiage  Circular  now  ready  to  mail.  Cir- 
cular will  tell  yon  ;ill  about  the  PERFECTION 
SELF-HIVER  that  automatically  hived  two 
swarms  of  bees  for  the  editor  of  the  Review  in 
1S92.     Address 

HE/SRY  ALLEY,  Wcobanj,  VAa^s. 


THE  o^Kr.A.iDi^nsr 


Bee   Journal,         Poultry  Journal, 

EDITED  BY  D.  A.  JONES  ED'TD     BY     JNO.     GRAY. 


$1.00  a  Year. 


$1.00  a  Year. 


These  are  published  separately,  alternate  weeks; 
edited  by  live,  practical  men  and  contributed  to 
by  the  best  writers.  Both  journals  are  interesting 
and  alike  valuable  to  expert  or  novice.  Both 
illustrated  anrl  improved.  Under  new  manage- 
ment. Address  BEETON,  ONT..  Canada. 

Please   mention   the  Revieut. 


26 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Barnes'   Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This  cat  represents  our 
Combined  Circular  and 
Scroll  Saw,  which  is  the 
best  machine  made  for 
Bee  Keepers'  use  in  the 
construction  of  their  hives, 
sections,    boxes,    etc. 

8-91-T6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOB  CATALOGUE,  PRICES,  ETC., 
Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St  .  Rockford,  Ills 

IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $1."<> 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  (V)llege,  Mich  , 
for  his  f     n     •  I 

Bee-Keepers    Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  '^rade. 


Closing  Out  Sale. 

No.  1  Sections  $2.50  per  1,000.    Full    colonies 
bees  in  a  frame,  L  hives,  with   plenty  of  stores, 
S4. 00.  Everything  cheap      W.  D  SOPEK, 
11-92-tf  Jackson,  Mich. 


■^^    We  have  a  large  lot  of    "^ 

DOVETAILED    HIVES 

which  we  will   sell   for   50  cts.  each,    including 

supers,  section  holders  and  brood  frames.    This 

offer  is  limited  to  this  lot  of  hives.  l-92-12t 

WM.  H.  Bright,  Mazeppa,  Minn. 


HATCH  CHICKENS  BY  STEARff 

^^^.^^S  Excelsicr  Incobator. 

*"    Simple,    Pfrftrl,  Si  I /'-I 


Thousands  in  Eur 
ceBefuloper  tiim.  Ou.-.rr.n 
teed  to  hatch  a  I  Tger  pei  - 
centape  of  fertile  egpo  r 
less  cost  th-m  any  ol'^^ 
-_--cher.  L'lwept  pv  c- 
first-cla-^  Hiiteher  mi'1'. 
GF«.  M.M'AlSi..  yiiinov,;;: 


/ 
/ 
/ 


$1.00  HIVE. 


I' 


t  _.^ 

|, 

j,\  A  Complete  Hive  for  Comb  Honey,  in- 
^  eluding  Six  Section  Holders,  Eiglit  Thick 
Top-Bar  Frames,  Half-Story  Body,  Bot- 
tom Board  and  Cover,  $1.1(1  each  :  in  flat, 
/    $1.(K)  each. 

^  ="= 

'■■y  Hoffrtjan  Prarp^s,  Sections, 

%,  Pour)<l2vtion,  z^n<l  2k  Pull  L.ine  of 

if^  Bec-Ke«pcrs'  5uppli«s. 


A  2()-page  Price  Li.st  Free. 
12-92-12t  J.  M.  KINZIE. 

Rochester,   Oakland  Co.,  Mich. 


I 
> 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  becoiJd-hand  Instrumentsat  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Anyinstni- 
mentmaniifacfured  shipped,  privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  S  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEAIDQUAETERS,  I  1*^^  Monroe  St.,  Chicago. 


PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FOUNDATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES- 

THffl,    FLAT   BOTTOM   FOUNDATION 

Has  No  Fish  Bone  in  Surplus  honey. 

Being  the  cleanest  is  usually  worked 

I  he  nuickest  of  any  foundation  made. 

J.    VAN   DKDSKN    Si   SONS, 

fSOLE    MANUFACTDREBS'I, 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook, Mont.Co.,N.Y 


IF  viiu  wish  to  advertise  anything  anywhere  at 
.4v  time  write  to  GEO.  P.  ROWELL  &  (^O., 
No  10  Spruce  St  ,  N  Y. 


Please  mention  the  Rev 


Cheap    Freight   and   Quick  Transportation. 

Being  located  at  the  most  central  point  of  railrond  and  express  .ompanies  enables  us  to  furnish 
bee  keepers  with  supplies  at  less  cost  to  themselvos  than  anv  house  in  the  country.  We  furnish 
everything  needed  in  the  apiary,  as  low  as  the  lowest  and  as  good  as  the  best. 

QQQj2:'S  OOlwIFLiBTB  HIVHj  (!ombines  all  the  most  approved  methods 
of  hive  making.  It  is  a  complete  arrangement  for  outdoor  wintering  and  is  e,|ually  well  a<lapted  U> 
producing  comb  or  extracted  honey      Send  for  circular.   Fine  lot  of   Bees   for    Sale   clieap. 

J.  H.  M.  COOK,  I  KxZffsPiVu..j  78  Barclay  St.,  New  York  City. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 

HILL'S  SMOKER  and  FEEDER. 


27 


Smoker  burns  hard  wood  chips  without  spe- 
cial preparation.  Very  reliable.  Greatest 
smoking  capacity.  Easiest  to  start.  Cheapest 
because  it  saves  time.  Price,  $1.20.  By  mail, 
$1.40.    Per  dozen,  $10.80. 

Best  Bee  -  Feeder.  Most 
convenient.  Saves  feed.  No 
daubing  or  drowning.  Two 
to  seven  feeders  full  may  be 
given  a  colony  at  one_  time 
whicli  will  be  stored  in  the 
combs  in  ten  hours.  Price, 
per  pair,  30c.;  by  mail,  40  c; 
per  doz.,  $1.60.  Has  a  sale  of 
2,000  per  month.  Address 
A.  G.  HILL,  Kendallville, 
Indiana. 

These  smokers  and  feeders  are  kept  in  stock 
by  Thos.  G.  Newman  &  Son,  ('hicago.  111. 
G.  B.  Lewis  &  Co,,   Watertown.  Wis. 
W.   H,  Bright,  Mazeppa,  Minn, 
{^has.  Dadant  &  Son,  Hamilton,  Hancock  (yO.,  111. 
B.  Kretchmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 
H.  Mc Wilson  &  Co.,  202  Market  St.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

F.  H.  Dunn,  Yorkville,  111. 

W.  D.  Sopor  &  Co.,  Jackson,  Mich. 
Chas.  A.  Stock'bridge,  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 
A.  F.  Fields,  Wheaton,  Ind. 
W.  8. Bellows,  Ladora,  Iowa. 
E.  F.  Quigley,   UnionviUe,  Mo. 
Gregory  Bros.,  Ottnmwa,  Iowa. 
Miller  Bros.,  Bluffton  Mo. 

G.  K.  Hubbard,  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 

Theodore  Bender.  18  Folton  St.,  Canton,  Ohio. 
Math  and  Son,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Levering  Bros.,  Wiota,  Cass  Co.,  Iowa. 


"  FLORIDA." 300 

LEATHER-BACK  ITALIAN. QUEENS. 


By  my  special  method  of  taking  a  crop  of 
honey  by  the  "  Migratory  "  system,  I  shall 
have  300  tested  queens  for  delivery  about 
March  20th  Prices  $10  per  dozen.  None  over 
six  months  old  My  crop  the  past  season  from 
one  yard  of  42  colonies,  spring  count,  was  10,800 
pounds  and  increased  to  150. 

A.  F.  BROWN, 

l-93-4t  Huntington,  Putnam  Co..  Fla. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 


Bingham's  Perfeet  Safety 

SMOKER. 

Pat.  1878;  Ee-lsBuea  1882.  Pat.  1892 

No  more  soiled  sections,  burned 
fingers,  or  burned  Apiary.  Any 
large  advertiser  of  Bingtiam  Smo- 
lders will  send  you  a  Perfect  Doc- 
tor, Perfect  Conqueror,  or  Perfect 
Large  Smoker,  if  you  will  send  to 
him  25  cts.  more  than  the  regular 
'  mail  price,  and  ask  for  either  of 
the  three  aizes  mentioned. 

Binsrham  &  Hetheringtou,  Abronia,  Blicli. 


Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstrotii-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth,  Dovetailed  and  Champion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supers,  One  Piece  Sections  and  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation,  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16-page  Circular. 

1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  London,  Wis. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


BASSWOOD 

HONEY, 

Extra  Quality, 

USUAL    LOW    PRICES. 

Address 

JAMES  HEDDON, 

Oowagiac,  Michigan. 
QUEEMS,  QUEENS,  QUEENS. 


Have  you  tried  my  Italians  ?  I  have  the  finest 
bees  you  ever  saw ;  they  are  leather  colored  Ital- 
ians, and  as  honey  gatherers  they  can't  be  ex- 
celled. Try  them  and  be  convinced.  They  are 
very  gentle  and  hardy  and  good  winterers.  Un- 
tested queens,  $1.00  each,  or  $9.00  a  dozen.  Test- 
ed, $1,50  each,  or  $12.75  a  dozen.  Safe  arrival 
and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  On  all  orders  re- 
ceived before  March  1st,  accompanied  by  the 
cash,  a  discount  of  15  per  cent,  will  be  given. 
Send  for  price  list  of  Italian  Queens  and  Bee- 
Keepers'  Supplies  M.  H  DB  WITT, 

l-93-9t.  Sang  Run,  Garrett  Co.,  Md, 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


QUEEN     CAGES 

Are  my  specialty.  I  make  the  Benton  cage  in  many 
styles  and  sizes.  A  light  cage  saves  postage ;  a  neat  cage 
creates  a  favorable  impression  ;  one  properly  arranged 
carries  its  occupants  safely  in  either  hot  or  cool  weather  ; 
and  my  special  machinery  and  large  trade  enable  me  to 
furnish  extra  nice  cages,  having  all  these  advantages,  at  a 
very  low  price.    Sample  cages  and  prices  on  application. 

O.  W.  COSTELLOW.  Waterboro,  Me. 


28 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Great  Reduction. 


±333. 


SECTIONS 


AT     GREATLY 
PRICES. 


REDUCED 


HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  &o..  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 

WRITE   FOR  FREE,    ILLTSTRATED  CATA- 
LOGUE AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  &  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

l-93-tf.  Please  mention  the    Reuieiu. 


For    Simplicity     and    Durability 

Bingham  Patent  Smokers, 

AND 

BINGHAM   &   HETHERINGTON 

Honey    I^nives, 

ARE       WITHOUT      QUESTION 

THE  BEST  ON  EARTH ! 


2.00 
1.75 
1.50 
1.25 
1.00 
65 


Doctor  Smoker. a-A  inch, 

Conqueror  Smoker,  —  3         "  

Large  Smoker, 2'/4     "  

Extra  Smoker, 2         "  

Plain  Smoker, 2         *'  .... 

Little  Wonder  Smokor,   V/t      " 

Bingham  &  Hetherington  Knife, 1.15 

Upon  receipt  of  price.  Smokers  or  Knives  will 
be  sent  postpaid.  Descriptive  Circular  and  Tes- 
timonials sent  upon  application. 

BINGHAM  &  HETHERINGTON, 

l-90-tf.  Abronia,  Michigan 


We  will  send  one  to  every  bee-kcepor  asking  for 

our  New  Illubtrited  Catalogue  for  1893 

and  a  ct)py  of 

THE    AMERICAN    BEE-KEEPER, 

If  you  mention  this  paper. 

Samples  of  the  Falcon  Sections  for  2c. 

stamp. 

THE   W.    T.    F^IjCONEI^    IWfg.    CO., 

Jamestown,  N.  Y. 


i"  1^  TT  TT  tn  (%  Friends,  1  can  furnish 
iT.  t{  »n  t  T.  Hi  you  with  all  kinds  of  Ber- 
!  UJ  \  IV  i  U  SiP*  r.v  Plants,  at  about  one- 
half  tlu-  u^aal  |iriie.  Plants  warranted.  Bank 
references     Satisfaction  guaranteed. 

Address  EZRA  G.  SMITH, 
1-93  2t.  Manchester,  N.  Y. 


ninstrated  Alveniseients  Attract  Attention. 


E,NiCt1F^AYlT€0 


TROJT, 


^/voc"'  &C.\ 


cuts  Fninlsleil  for  all  illnstratlng  Pnrposes. 


1852. 


EEDUCTION  ON  THE  PRICE  OF 


1891. 


l:^angstroth  on  the  Honey  Bee. 

(REVISED.) 
PRICE  BY  MAIL,  $1.40:  BY  EXPRESS  OR  FREIGHT  WITH  OTHER  GOODS  $1.25. 

By  its  copious  indexes,  by  its  arrangement  in  numbered  paragraphs,  including  reference  numbers 
on  any  question  in  bee  culture,  any  information  can  be  instsntly  found.  This  book  isthemost  com- 
plete treatise  on  bee  keeping  yet  published.    A  FRENCH  EDITION  JUST  ISSUED. 

'«78.   DAD  ANT'S    COA\B    FOUNDATION,  's^' 

t\OT^  tbap  Ever.      Better  tbao  Ever.      Wholesale  an«l  Retail. 

Half  a  Million  lbs.  Sold  in  13  Years.  Over  S200,000  in  Value. 

It  is  THE  BEST,  and  guaranteed  every  inch  equal  to  sample.  All  dealers  who  have  tried  it  have 
increased  their  trade  every  year.    Samples,  Catalogue,  free  to  all.    Send  your  address. 

We  also  make  a  specialty  of  Cotton  and  Silk  Tulle  of  verj-  best  grade  for  bee-veils.  We  supply 
A.  I.  Root  and  others.    7,000  Yards  just  received.    Prices  Very  Low.    Samples  Free. 

Smokers,  Honey  Sections,  Extractors,  Tin  Fails  for  Honey,  Etc.    Instructions  to  Beginner 

with  Circulars  Free.  4-92-12 

Menthn  Rtuit».  CHA8.  DRDA]4T  &  SOJ*.,  Hatnilton,  Haneoek  Co.,  Ills. 


FEB.    1893 


30 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


AOVE^TISirlG   t^ATES. 

All  advertisements  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  1  inch. 
Discoants  will  be  given  as  follows  :  — 

On  10  lines  and  upwards,  H  times,  5  per  cent ;  B 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent  ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  percent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent :  !•  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  Hotlines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  ti 
tiiiwes,  30  \t^^r  cent;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Ltist. 

I    wiJl  send  the  Kvfw  with— 

(ileanings, ($1.00) 

American  Bee  Journal.     .(  l.fO) 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . .   (  1,00) 

Am«>rican  Bee  Keeper         (     ..50)   . 
Progi-es-ive  Bee  Keeper...  (    .!>0)... 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    ..50) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Magazine.  . .  (    .50)   ...... 


.$1.75. 
.  1.75. 
.  1.75, 
.  1.40. 
.  1.40. 
.  1.40. 
.  1.65. 
1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  )iouey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  acconling  to 
these  rules: 

K.VNCY.— Ml  sections  to  be  well  filled  ;  combis 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides;  both  wood  and  comb  nnsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise  ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

.No.  1.— .Vll  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crookeil,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed :  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel  stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  tins  the  honey  is  to  \te  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dii,rk.  Tliat  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"  No.  1  dark,"  etc. 


CHIO.\GO.  m.— The  supply  of  all  grades,  ex- 
cept that  of  fancy  white,  is  liberal.  For  this 
grade  there  is  some  inquiry  and  it  brings  18.  No. 
1  white,  15  to  16.  Dark  or  amber  is  of  slow  sale 
and  prices  are  from  10  to  12.  Extracted  brings 
from  6  to  9.  Beeswax  is  steady  at  22  to  25. 
R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 

Feb.  14.  161  So.  Water  St..  Chicago,  111. 


CHICAGO,  111  —There  is  good  demand  for 
fancy  whit.e.  but  there  is  none  in  the  market  and 
but  very  little  of  No.  1  white.  White  extracted 
is  scarce,  owing  to  the  high  prices  of  butter  and 
the  severe  cold  weather.  This  lias  been  a  favor- 
able winter  for  the  s  ile  of  honey  and  the  ma'-kets 
are  almost  b<ir»  of  honey  of  any  kind  We  quote 
as  follows  :  Fancy  white,  1(S  to  19;  No.  1  white, 
6;  No.  1  amber,  l.'J;  fancy  dark,  12:  No.  1  dark, 
10  ;  beeswax.  22  to  25. 

J.  A.  LAMON, 

Feb.  13.        44  &  4S  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.  -  There  is  a  good  sup 
ply  on  hand  but  it  is  mostly  dark.  This  stock  is 
slow,  but  what  little  whit« there  is  on  the  market 
moves  readily.  We  quote  fnncy  white,  17  to  1^: 
two  pound  combs,  16  to  17  ;  buckwheat,  15  to  16; 
extracted  honey,  10  to  11. 

J.  SHEA  &  CO. 
Feb.  18.      14  Hennepin  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.— Stock  of  honey  very  light. 
Prices  well  sustained  Demand  will  be  better 
as  the  weather  warms  up  We  <iuote  as  ft)llows  : 
Fancy  white.  l"i  to  17;  No.  1  wliite.  14  to  15; 
mixed,  12  to  14  :  fancy  dark.  11  to  12  :  No  1  dark. 
10  to  11;  white  extracteil.  Wi  to  9'2;  umber  ex- 
tracted, 7  to  T'i  ;  dark.  6'-4  to  7.  Beeswax.  28 
toW. 

H    H    WKI(4HT. 

Feb.  y.\  :m  Bro  idwav,  Albany.  N    V  . 


KANSAS  CITY.  Mo.-The  supply  of  extracted 
honey  is  light,  the  demand  good.  The  supply  of 
comb  is  fair  and  the  demand  the  same.  We 
quote  fancy  white,  comb,  16  to  17  ;  No.  1  white.  1-") 
to  16;  fancy  amijer,  15  to  16;  No.  1  amber,  14  to 
15;  fancy  dark.  12  to  13;  No.  1  dark,  10  to  12: 
white  extracted.  S;  amber  6  to  7;  beeswax,  verj 
scarce  and  brings  22  to  25. 

CLEMONS-M.\SON  CO., 

Feb.  13.  .V21  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  (Mty  Mo. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y.— Stock  of  honey  very  light. 
Demand  moderate.  There  is  no  doubt  that  all 
honey  will  clean  up  with  satisfactxiry  prices. 
As  a  rule,  there  is  a  very  excellent  demand  in  our 
market  through  March  and  .Vpril.  We  advise 
those  having  honey,  to  market  it  now.  so  that  it 
will  be  in  the  hands  of  dealers  when  the  trade 
does  improve.  We  quote  as  follows  :  Fano.\ 
white,  17  to  18;  No.  1  white,  15  to  16;  fancy  am- 
ber, 13  to  14 ;  No.  1  amber,  12  to  13  ;  fancy  dark, 
10  to  11 ;  No.  1  dark,  8  to  9  :  beeswax,  « to  :W. 
BATTERSON  X.  CO  . 

Feb.  11.  167  &  169  Scott  St..  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


CINCINNATI,  Ohio.— There  is  a  good  demand 
for  extracted  honey  from  the  jobbing  trade  for 
family  use,  but  the  demand  from  manufiicturers 
is  slow.  We  never  had  as  small  a  stock  on  hand 
as  we  have  now,  and  unless  nnlooked  for  ship 
ments  arrive  we  shall  be  unable  to  fill  our  orders 
for  March  We  solicit  early  shipments  from  our 
friends  in  the  South,  as  freight  rates  are  now  the 
same  on  honey  as  they  are  on  syrups  and  molas- 
ses. No.  1  dark  comb  brings  1(1  to  12:  extracted 
honey  6  to  8  Demand  for  beeswax  is  good  at  23 
to  25  for  goo<l  to  choice  yellow  wax. 

CHAS.  F.  MUTH&SON., 

Feb.  14.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


NEW  YORK.  N  Y— The  stock  of  comb  honey 
on  our  market  is  gradually  becoming  less.  Fancy 
and  No.  1  white  are  pretty  well  cleaned  up,  and 
there  is  a  fair  demand  for  these  grades  We 
would  advise  the  8hii)ment  of  these  grades,  a;^ 
they  will  find  ready  sale  during  the  next  30  days. 
There  is  considerable  amber  and  dark  on  the 
market  and  tlio  demand  is  light.  Beeswax  i- 
scarce  aid  prices  are  advancing.  We  quote  at^ 
follows:  Fancy  white,  14  to  16;  No.  1  white.  13 
to  14;  fancy  amber,  12  to  13:  fancy  dark,  10:  No. 
1  dark,  9;  beeswax.  28  to  29. 

HILDKETH  BROS.  &  8EGELKEN. 

Feb.  13.       28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


31 


AFTSH    VOWH    BEES 

Have  passed  the  rig^ors  of  winter,  then  comes  spring- 
with  its  mixture  of  balmy  days  and  storms,  its  few  short 
honey-flows  interspersed  with  rain,  frost  and  mayhap  an 
occasional  snow  storm.  How  best  to  bring  the  bees 
throug-h  this  trying-  period  in  such  a  manner  that,  not- 
withstanding adverse  weather,  they  will  gain  steadily 
in  numbers  and  be  ready  to  go  forth  as  an  army  to 
gather  in  the  spoils  when  the  main  harvest  comes,  is 
taught  in  one  of  the  opening  chapters  of  "  Advance;d 
Bee  Culture." 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts. ;  the  Review  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 

W.  Z.  HOTCHlNSOrl,   Flint,  JWich. 


© 


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32 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


EXTRACTORS  !       EXTRACTORS  !  ! 

7AORE  THAN  EVER,  BETTER  THAN  EVER. 


We  are  making  a 
sppcialty  of  HONEY 
EXTRAC^TOKS.  W  e 
make  Novice's  2  and  4 
frame ;  Cowan's  Rever- 
sible 2,  4,  and  6  frame, 
and  Stanley  Reversi  • 
bles,  2  and  4  frames. 
Nearly  all  the  dealers 
handle  these  goods. 
Write  for  discounts  to 
the  trade. 

SawsdWoodSeparators 

Instead  of  filicingthem     iIRS 
we  are  now  sawing  them.    They  are  dry,  won't   shrink 
and  won't  roll  up. 

ROOT'S  FOUNDATION    FOR  1893. 

Made  from  BRIGHT   YELLOW  WAX,  and  the  workmanship  unexcelled, 
ticulars  of  all  goods,  send  for  our  ISflli  Catalogue  of  52  pages.  Ivev. 


For  prices  and  par- 


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r^-^^k^A  of  :^^  Keepers  S\jppLiEs. 

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Porter's    sp'^'^'e  Bee-Ejcz^pe 

\  Saves  temper,  time  and  bees. 
\     PROF.    COOK    says:     ''No   bee-keeper    can 
alfiiid  to  bo  without  them." 

WM.  M'EVOY,  foul  brood  inspector  of  Ont., 
( 'an.,  says  :  "  They  should  be  used  in  every  bee 
yard  in  the  whole  wide  world." 

THOS.  PIERCE,  Pres.  Eastern  N.  Y.  B.  K.  A. 
says:  ''Tiie  time  will  soon  come  when  all  boe- 
keepers  will  use  them, 
read  what    others    say    of    them. 

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VOL  VI,         FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    FEB,     10.    1893.  NO.  2. 


special  Topie  of  flcxt  Issue  Will  be 

Self  -   Hivers. 

T  1 1*1  E  Li 'S'     TOFICS. 
No.  1. 

B.  li.  TATLOB. 

"  To  everything  there  is  a  season." 

mHIS  is  the  period 
\]l  of  good  resolu- 
tions. One  is  more 
likely  to  do  well 
throughout  the  year 
if  he  begins  the  year 
right.  To  do  this  is 
not  only  a  great  sat- 
isfaction, it  is  great 
economy.  To  keep 
one's  work  in  front 
of  him  saves  steps 
and  accidents  and 
mistakes  and  loss  and  anxiety.  Though  no 
doubt  in  some  degree  presumptuous,  I  have 
thought  to  aid  bee-keepers  in  laying  hold  of 
this  advantage  by  a  timely  notice  of  those 
things  which  the  duty  of  every  day  requires 
in  bee-keeping  and  by  urging  their  reason- 
able execution. 

It  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  work  incident 
to  the  last  year's  crop,  such  as  putting  up 
and  disposing  of  the   honey,  the  proper  se- 


curing of  all  combs,  whether  in  brood  frames 
or  sections,  and  the  rendering  of  waste 
combs  and  bits  of  wax  has  been  attended  to. 
If  not,  it  should  be  attended  to  now  and  in 
such  a  way  that  it  will  be  beyond  its  power 
to  distract  the  attention  again.  Any  comb 
honey  on  hand  should  be  kept  continually  in 
the  warmest  place  available  so  it  is  not  so 
warm  as  to  endanger  the  stability  of  the  wax. 
Herein  is  the  secret  of  keeping  comb  honey. 
Kept  in  a  dry  place  at  a  pretty  high  temper- 
ature it  will  never  deteriorate  but  rather 
grow  better.  If  empty  combs  have  been 
neglected  they  should  be  so  no  longer.  It  is 
better  if  they  can  be  kept  where  they  will 
not  freeze,  but  by  all  means  secure  them 
against  any  possibility  of  injury  from  mice. 
Turning  now  to  the  future,  every  one 
readily  comprehends  that  success  during  the 
coming  year  depends  largely  upon  the  wel- 
fare of  the  bees,  and  particularly  upon  their 
welfare  during  these  midwinter  months,  so 
it  is  well  to  have  an  eye  to  their  comfort.  It 
is  not  well  to  be  anxious,  but  what  needs  to 
be  done  should  be  done  promptly.  If  they 
are  in  a  cellar  or  otherwise  housed,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  receptacle  shonld  not  be  al- 
lowed to  remain  long  above  45°  F.  nor  below 
40°  F.  Artificial  heat  by  means  of  a  lamp, 
oil  stove  or  a  kettle  of  coals,  may  be  neces- 
sary in  extreme  cases,  but  avoid  it  if  possi- 
ble. Packing  the  outside  door  and  the  win- 
dows upon  the  outside  with  leaves  or  chaflf, 
will  greatly  aid  in  keeping  up  a  proper  de- 
gree of  warmth.     If  the  bees  are  on  their 


34 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS '  REVIEW. 


summer  stands  beware  of  any  combination 
of  circumstances  that  may  tend  to  the  accu- 
mulation of  moisture  in  the  brood  chamber 
or  on  the  packing.  The  entrance  should  be 
large  and  kept  entirely  free  from  snow,  ice 
and  dead  bees.  Snow  around  the  hive  may 
do  no  harm,  and  indeed,  even  be  an  advan- 
tage while  it  is  dry,  but  unless  every  thing  is 
favorable  and  the  bees  in  good  heart,  I  should 
remove  it  when  it  gets  soft  and  damp.  Un- 
less the  ground  is  quite  dry,  I  should  prefer 
to  have  the  hives  raised  up  from  it  a  few 
inches. 

Now  is  the  time  to  perfect  plans  and  make 
preparation  for  the  coming  season  of  activi- 
ty. Ordinary  common  sense  would  dictate 
that  every  thing  possible  should  be  done  in 
the  present  season  of  comparative  leisure 
that  will  help  to  relieve  the  pressure  then. 
There  is  also  another  reason  for  this  course  ; 
exertion  that  would  be  grievous  toil  in  June 
is  a  keen  pleasure  in  these  days  of  frost  and 
snow.  Besides  whether  success  or  failure  is 
to  attend  the  operations  in  the  apiary  the 
coming  season  may  very  likely  turn  on 
whether  proper  preparation  is  made  now. 
If  every  thing  is  left  to  be  done  in  June  some 
things  will  not  be  done  at  all,  and  among 
these  we  may  be  sure  of  finding  the  work 
pertaining  to  the  apiary. 

On  account  of  the  uncertainty  attending 
the  wintering  of  bees,  some  may  hesitate  to 
enter  upon  these  preparations  fearing  lest 
there  may  yet  be  such  a  loss  of  bees  as  to 
render  their  efforts  at  timeliness  bootless. 
But  with  February  half  gone  there  need  be 
little  danger  of  that  if  the  bees  are  still 
quiet,  closely  clustered  and  free  from  dis- 
ease, provided  of  course  they  have  plenty  of 
stores.  If  on  the  other  hand  they  are  active, 
failing  to  cluster  and  give  evidence  of  being 
affected  by  the  usual  winter  disorder,  plans 
for  the  future  should  still  be  matured,  but 
their  execution  need  progress  at  such  a  pace 
only  as  the  condition  of  the  bees  from  time 
to  time  seems  to  warrant,  for  it  is  altogether 
likely  that  the  demand  for  new  hives  to 
house  new  swarms  in  and  for  new  cases  to 
receive  the  surplus,  will  be  somewhat  lim- 
ited. 

Let  it  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  con- 
dition of  the  bees  is  good  and  gives  promise 
that  the  winter  will  be  passed  without  any 
serious  loss  among  them,  what  provision 
then  should  be  made  in  the  way  of  hives, 
brood-frames,  cases  for  sections,  and  ship- 
ping crates  ?  I  include  the  last  item  because 


including  all  of  a  kind  in  one  lot  is  a  great 
economy  of  care,  steps,  time  and  money. 
One  trip  to  the  lumber-yard  should  secure 
all  the  lumber  that  is  to  be  worked  for  a  year, 
whether  that  work  is  to  be  done  at  home  or 
at  a  mill.  For  shipping  crates  provision 
should  be  made  for  enough  to  contain  the 
largest  crop  that  is  possible,  for  what  are  not 
wanted  will  keep.  When  the  lumber  for 
these  is  all  cut  it  must  be  kept  closely  piled 
in  a  dry  clean  place  and  nailed  only  as  re- 
quired. I  prefer  the  Heddon  crate  to  hold 
14  sections,  7  to  the  foot,  with  a  2x'J  glass  in 
one  end.  For  this  the  lumber  for  sides, 
strips  to  hold  glass  and  the  pieces  for  the 
back  end  should  be  about  one-half  inch,  that 
for  covers  and  bottoms  one-fourth  inch. 
For  cases  there  should  be  provision  for  at 
least  two  to  each  colony,  spring  count. 
Where  the  honey  flow  is  great,  the  old  Hed- 
don case  is  good  enough,  but  for  poor  years 
the  single  tier  wide  frame  is  better.  With 
these,  in  such  a  season,  the  sections  are  kept 
cleaner  and  better  filled  and  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  those  begun  is  completed.  In  cut- 
ting the  tops  and  bottoms  of  these  frames, 
instead  of  making  the  cut  straight  through 
the  block,  if  it  is  allowed  to  be  somewhat 
curved,  the  pieces  will  appear  bent,  and  if 
nailed  up  with  the  convex  side  in,  the  frames 
will  clasp  the  sections  much  more  closely. 
Norway,  or  more  properly  red  pine,  is  excel- 
lent for  these.  As  to  the  number  of  hives  to 
be  prepared  that  will  depend  on  circum- 
stances. Do  not  think  to  accept  more  than 
one  swarm  from  each  colony,  and  ttie  num- 
ber of  empty  hives  provided  may  be  as  much 
less  than  that  as  is  desired,  and  the  apiarist 
is  then  to  depend  on  the  prevention  of  swarm- 
ing and  doubling  up  to  keep  the  increase 
within  the  measure  of  his  preparation.  By 
all  means  h  ve  the  brood  frames  wired. 

Costly  lumber  should  not  be  got  for  this 
work.  Except  for  the  frames  and  covers, 
white  pine  shipping  culls  are  good  enough. 

I  shall  close  this  article  by  offering  two 
items  of  counsel  which  I  would  make  as  em- 
phatic as  possible : 

Let  no  one  be  lightly  lured  into  the  adop- 
tion of  a  hive  that  is  not  approved  by  a  re- 
spectable number  of  successful  bee-keepers. 

In  cutting  up  the  stuff  for  hives,  etc.,  let 
no  piece  pass  muster  that  is  not  exactly  of 
the  size  and  shape  desired. 


Lapeeb,  Mich. 


Jan.  27,  181«. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


35 


The   Pacific    Coast,   its   Magnitude   and 
Honey    Fastnrage. 


"  A  good  land  :  a  land  of  wheat,  and  barley, 
and  wines,  and  pomegranates ;  a  land  of  oil 
olive  ;  aland  flowing  with  milk  and  honey." 

RECENTLY 
there  has 
beeu  an  item 
going  the 
rounds  of  the 
California  pa- 
pers showing 
the  estimate 
English  peo- 
ple have  of  the 
size  of  our 
country.  Having  in  mind  their  little  sea 
girt  Island,  the  same  scale  is  applied  to  the 
measure  of  other  countries.  An  English- 
man having  a  friend  in  Denver  and  another 
in  San  Francisco,  wrote  to  the  Denver  friend 
that  seeing  he  lived  so  near  the  S.  F.  friend 
he  wished  he  would  run  in  some  day  and 
see  him. 

Although  not  quite  so  far  off  in  relation  to 
distance,  our  Eastern  friends  often  get 
things  sadly  mixed,  and  fail  to  appreciate 
the  vast  empire  we  have  upon  this  coast. 
For  several  years  past  the  bee-keeping  world 
has  had  its  attention  almost  wholly  called  to 
the  wonderful  honey  yields  of  California, 
until  this  State  seems  to  be  the  only  El  Do- 
rado for  honey  as  well  as  for  gold. 

California  is  indeed  a  great  common- 
wealth and  worthy  all  of  the  songs  of  praise 
bestowed  upon  it,  and  is  every  year  growing 
in  power  and  wealth. 

But  instead  of  confining  our  range  of  vis- 
ion to  this  State  alone,  let  us  broaden  it  and 
take  in  the  whole  Pacific  Coast.  This  view 
would  embrace  all  of  that  country  beyond 
the  great  central  basin  of  Utah,  and  extend 
from  the  British  possessions  to  the  extreme 
end  of  lower  California,  a  distance  of  nearly 
3,000  miles,  or  nearly  equal  to  the  distance 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco.  The 
northern  portion  of  this  great  area  may  not 
be  very  prolific  in  its  honey  production  but 
if  there  is  any  deficiency  caused  by  humidi- 
ty or  cold,  it  is  made  up  the  further  we  move 
toward  the  south ;  and  when  we  get  down 
well  into  Mexico  we  find  a  bee  pasturage 
that  would  rival  the  famous  fields  of  Cuba. 
The  honey  resources  of  this  immense  region 
are  as  varied  as  the  climate  itself  which  gives 


frost  and  snow  and  perpetual  summer.  Of 
Washington  and  Oregon  we  have  but  limited 
statistics  in  relation  to  honey  production, 
but  enough  has  been  given  to  prove  that  bees 
do  well  for  their  owners,  gathering  a  fine 
quality  of  honey. 

Northern  California  and  especially  the 
north-east  part  is  as  yet  an  undeveloped 
country  and  rich  in  nectar  secreting  flowers 
that  waste  their  sweetness  from  the  lack  of 
bees  to  gather  it.  The  rail  roads  and  the 
tide  of  emigration  have  been  directed  further 
south,  and  this  portion  of  the  State  has 
been  neglected  ;  but,  recently,  attention  has 
been  called  to  the  Honey  Lake  region  and 
we  may  expect  to  hear  that  bee-keepers  as 
well  as  fruit  men  are  going  up  to  possess  the 
rich  fields.  Western  Nevada  and  eastern 
California  give  us  the  beautiful  alfalfa  hon- 
ey, and  it  is  here  that  stock  raising  and 
honey  production  go  hand  in  hand  and  the 
respective  herders  of  bees  and  cows  live  in 
harmony  together.  In  these  rugged  valleys 
of  the  Sierras  alfalfa  has  proved  its  efl&ciency 
as  a  honey  plant,  and  wherever  it  is  grown 
under  irrigation,  the  crop  never  failing,  and 
if  there  is  any  business  that  looks  promising 
for  the  future  it  is  in  the  raising  of  alfalfa 
for  the  above  purposes.  We  claim  Arizona 
also  as  in  the  Pacific  Coast  region  and  al- 
falfa is  commencing  to  play  an  important 
part  there  for  the  production  of  a  beautiful 
grade  of  honey.  For  southern  California 
the  sages  will  not  play  so  important  a  part 
as  they  have  in  the  past.  Large  areas  are 
being  cleared  up  for  agricultural  purposes 
and  the  mountains  alone  will  not  furnish  a 
supply  to  compete  with  the  other  grades. 
Just  now  lower  California  is  attracting  at- 
tention to  its  abundant  honey  flora  and  the 
enormous  yields  wherever  the  fields  have 
been  developed  (and  the  further  into  Mex- 
ico we  go  the  better  the  field  seems  to  be) 
cause  us  to  look  for  a  great  development  of 
those  fields  in  the  near  future. 

The  Pacific  Coast  is  eminently  noted  for 
its  great  enterprises.  Bee-keeping  has  never 
been  able  to  cope  in  a  business  view  with 
these  enterprises  and  bee-keeping  since  the 
palmy  days  that  followed  the  first  introduc- 
tion of  the  honey  bee  has  been  to  many  a 
alow  method  of  securing  a  fortune.  Bee- 
keeping, however,  plays  an  important  part 
as  a  stepping  stone  to  something  higher,  for 
there  is  no  business  into  which  a  person  can 
enter  with  so  little  capital  and  be  sure  of 
such  quick  returns.    But  just  as  soon  as  the 


36 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


returns  become  a  few  hundred  dollars  they 
are  invested  in  some  of  those  sure  and  con- 
tinuous great  enterprises  and  the  bees  are 
turned  over  to  some  new  comer  who,  like 
his  predecessor,  has  no  love  for  the  business 
only  so  far  as  it  brings  him  dollars  and 
cents,  and  a  chance  to  step  into  something 
else. 

The  number  of  bee-keepers  upon  the  Pa- 
cific Coast  run  up  into  the  thousands,  but 
the  bee-keeping  world  has  heard  of  but  few 
of  them.  These  few  are  the  enthusiastic 
lovers  of  the  bee  and  will  have  bees  around 
them  as  long  as  they  live.  Owing  to  the 
above  facts  the  Pacific  coast  cannot,  or  has 
not,  supported  a  bee  paper  of  its  own  and 
but  indifferently  supported  bee  conventions. 

In  order  therefore  to  bring  bee-keeping 
up  to  a  higher  standard  on  this  entire  coast, 
we  need  more  enthusiasm  for  the  bee  and 
less  for  the  dollars  ;  more  care  and  less  slip- 
shod methods  ;  more  conventions  and  more 
stir,  so  that  the  rest  of  the  world  may  know 
that  we  are  alive.  That  a  portion  of  these 
things  will  come  in  due  time  is  the  abiding 
faith  of  the  Ramblek. 

Redlands,  Calif.  Jan,  14,  1893. 

ftueen-Excluders.  —  Hoffman    Frames     and 

Burr-Combs,— Experiments.— Testing 

Smokers, 

C.  0,  MILLEK, 

JANUARY  Review 
oi  is  a  good  one, 
Bro,  Martin  discour- 
ages me  somewhat 
with  regard  to  queen 
excluders,  I  have 
hopes  of  queen  ex- 
cluders, but  have  an 
uncomfortable  feel- 
ing all  the  while  that 
they're  an  unsolved 
problem.  Still,  the 
fact  that  they  have 
failed  in  one  or  more  cases  is  not  conclusive, 
for  there  have  been  excluders  with  different 
sizes  of  perforations,  and  it  may  be  that  the 
failures  belong  with  too  large  perforations. 
If,  however,  Bro,  Martin  is  right  in  saying 
they  fail  twice  in  a  while,  or  even  if  they  fail 
only  once  in  a  while  with  the  best  sized  per- 
forations, if  that  while  includes  not  more 


than  25  colonies,  then  excluders  are  not  so 

valuable. 

One  trouble  about  deciding  as  to  their  ef- 
ficiency consists  m  the  fact  that  in  p«obably 
a  great  many  cases  they  have  been  consider- 
ed excluders  when  they  have  not  excluded. 
For  example,  I  don't  count  that  they  have  ex- 
cluded in  cases  where  the  queen  has  not  tried 
to  go  through  them,  and  would  not  go 
tlirough,  were  the  perforations  twice  as  large. 
In  general,  queens  do  not  go  up  into  my  su- 
pers. Now  if  I  should  put  excluders  under 
the  supers  and  then  find  the  queens  stayed 
down,  it  would  be  no  proof  that  the  queens 
could  not  go  up. 

And  if  queen  excluders  do  not  exclude, 
away  go  our  chances  for  success  with  self- 
hiverg,  at  least  with  virgin  queens.  For  all 
self-hivers,  so  far,  depend  on  confining  the 
queen  and  letting  the  workers  go  free, 

Bro,  Frazier  is  right  in  thinking  writers 
ought  to  go  more  into  detail,  and  I  will  add 
that  they  ought  to  give  us  more  of  the  little 
things  in  bee-keeping.  But  I  hardly  think 
he's  right  in  saying  the  Hoffman  frame  was 
intended  to  prevent  brace  or  burr-combs. 
The  main  intention  was  to  have  something 
that  would  allow  rapid  handling  with  practi- 
cally fixed  frames.  But  will  not  brace  and 
burr-combs  be  prevented  with  Hoffman 
frames  as  well  as  any  other  if  the  right  re- 
quirements are  followed  ?  If  the  top-bar  is 
too  thin,  or  the  space  between  top-bar  and 
section  too  small,  or  any  one  of  several  other 
things  be  wrong,  brace  or  burr-combs  will 
be  built,  whether  the  frames  are  Hoffman  or 
not. 

The  first  case  I  ever  knew  anything  about 
where  success  in  the  prevention  of  these  ob- 
jectionable combs  was  attained  without  hav- 
ing anything  between  top-bars  and  sections, 
was  that  of  J,  B,  Hall,  and  Jie  claimed  that 
the  sole  requirement  was  a  top-bar  an  inch 
thick.  Why  not  stick  to  that  as  long  as  it 
proves  efficient  ? 

Bro.  Green's  article  suggests  the  thought 
that  it  would  be  of  real  value  if  every  one 
would  report  all  his  experiments  that  are 
failures,  I  know  it  isn't  pleasant  for  me  to 
report  that  I've  been  a  fool,  but  if  by  report- 
ing it  I  can  prevent  half  a  dozen  others  from 
making  fools  of  themselves,  I  ought  to  be 
willing  to  stand  the  exposure.  But  if  we  can 
get  all  our  experiments  made  at  experiment 
stations,  then  we  can  give  up  playing  the 
fool,  and  spend  our  time  getting  big  crops  of 
honey. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


37 


I  congratulate  you  heartily,  brother  Hutch- 
inson in  getting  Hasty  into  the  review  busi- 
ness. I  think  you'll  hud  that  in  that  line 
Hasty  will  be — well,  he'll  be  Hasty. 

Anent  the  smoker  business,  I  think  Mr. 
Cornell  is  right,  that  you  could  not  be  sure 
of  having  two  smokers  tilled  alike  with  pla- 
ner shavings,  but  if  each  were  filled  times 
enough  the  trial  might  be  fair. 

Now  if  I've  touched  on  any  point  covered 
by  Hasty,  you  have  a  pencil. 

Maeengo,  111.  Jan.  26,  1893. 

Some  Novel  Hints  on  Smoker  Construction. — 

A  Double   Bellows  that  will  Throw 

a  Continuous  Stream. 

E.  A.  DAGGITT. 

<^^  HAVE  not  read  all  the  articles  on  smok- 
ffl)  ers,  but  find  them  interesting.  So  far, 
•*»  I  do  not  take  any  fancy  to  the  Crane 
smoker,  although  it  is  an  ingenious  affair. 
Neither  do  I  take  much  interest  in  the  im- 
provements of  the  Bingham  smoker.  Both 
have  the  bellows  on  upside  down.  If  Bing- 
ham would  put  the  bellows  on  his,  right  end 
up  he  would  made  the  biggest  improvement 
he  has  made  yet.  I  have  been  studying 
smokers  for  years.  Three  or  four  years  ago, 
when  putting  on  the  nozzle  of  my  Bingham 
Conqueror  smoker,  I  carelessly  or  thought- 
lessly put  the  bottom  of  the  smoker  against 
my  breast  and  spoiled  a  good  vest.  I  there 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  barrel  ought 
to  be  covered  with  some  non-conducting 
material ;  and  I  have  wondered  if  asbestos 
felt  would  not  answer  the  purpose.  It  is 
non-conbustible  and  I  think  a  poor  conduc- 
tor of  heat.  Then  I  have  often  felt  a  want 
— and  I  suppose  you  have  too — for  a  smoker 
that  will  throw  a  steady  stream  of  smoke — 
not  by  puffs  as  the  smokers  now  do.  I 
studied  on  this,  and  hit  on  the  idea  of  using 
a  double  bellows, — one  half  to  give  force  to 
the  air  and  the  other  to  act  as  an  air  cham- 
ber and  give  elasticity  to  the  current  of  air 
and  give  a  steady  stream  of  it.  I  got  this 
idea  of  a  double  bellows  from  a  blacksmith's 
bellows.  You  will  find  that  such  a  bellows 
will  work  easier  than  a  single  one.  Of  course 
the  main  bellows  will  use  a  spring  to  expand 
it  and  the  second  one  will  use  one  to  con- 
tract it.  This  smoker  will  require  two  self- 
closing  valves,  and  I  think  these,  and  the 


spring  of  the  second  bellows  can  be  so  ad- 
justed as  to  give  a  steady,  or  approximately 
steady,  stream  of  smoke  if  the  first  bellows 
is  properly  worked.  The  inner  board  or 
plate  of  the  first  bellows,  which  is  stationary, 
must  run  below  this  bellows  and    have  a 


DAGGITT   DOUBLE-BELLOWS    SMOKEB. 

piece  tacked  on  it  at  the  bottom  on  the  side 
next  to  the  second  bellows  to  contain  the  ex- 
haust valve.  The  second  bellows  must  not 
be  over  %  or  %  as  large  as  the  first  one,  but 
it  should  lap  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  put  a  large 
and  a  small  end  of  each  to  each  other  ex- 
cept that  the  second  bellows  should  extend 
below  the  first  as  far  or  nearly  as  far  as  the 
extension  of  the  plate  of  the  first,  but  not 
far  enough  up  to  prevent  grasping  the  first 
by  the  hand  at  the  top.  The  supply  valve 
can  be  put  just  above  the  top  of  the  second 
bellows  and  the  second  valve  can  be  put  just 
below  the  top  of  the  bellows.  The  exhaust 
valve  should  be  ball  or  cone  shaped  so  as  to 
give  the  least  obstruction  to  the  air  as  it  is- 
sues towards  the  barrel.  This  second  bel- 
lows idea  does  away  efifectually  with  the 
trouble  from  smoke  entering  the  bellows ; 
for  there  can  be  no  back  action  of  air  into 
it.  You  know  how  effectively  the  principle 
works  in  a  blacksmith  bellows.  You  will 
notice  in  the  drawing  of  the  smoker  that 
have  added  Mr.  Cornell's  ventilating  ideat 
my  smoker.  I  have  been  wondering  if  the 
addition  of  this  same  idea  to  the  nozzle 
would  not  be  an  improvement.  Sometimes 
the  smoke  becomes  very  hot  and  it  seemf-  to 
me  that  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  mix  air 
with  it.  The  nozzle  could  be  in  two  parts, — 
the  upper  end  of  the  lower  part  could  be  cor- 
rugated and  have  the  lower  end  of  the  other 


38 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


part  slip  partly  over  the  corrugated  part. 
This  almost  brings  us  to  the  cold  blast 
smoker.  By  the  way,  Hill's  smoker  has  im- 
pressed me  more  favarably  than  any  made 
so  far.  He  has  made  a  long  step  in  advance 
by  bringing  out  a  smoker  that  can  be  used 
right  end  up.  To  my  smoker  I  have  added 
an  ash  pan.  This  is  nothing  but  a  simple 
cover  on  the  end  of  the  barrel.  This  will  be 
an  improvement.  In  fastening  the  barrel, 
a  bed  piece  should  be  attached  to  the  main 
bellows  plate  and  to  this  should  be  attached 
bands  that  can  be  easily  loosened.  To  keep 
the  barrel  from  slipping  up  or  down  it  should 
be  ribbed  just  above  the  upper  band,  and 
the  lower  end  should  be  ribbed  at  the  ash 
pan  or  cap,  just  as  is  done  in  making  Royal 
Baking  Powder  boxes.  What  do  you  think 
of  this  design  of  a  smoker  ?  If  you  think  it 
of  sufficient  value  you  may  illustrate  in  the 
Review.  If  you  do,  get  the  perspective 
right  and  the  whole  properly  proportioned. 
This  smoker  is  intended  to  be  used  by  grasp- 
ing the  main  bellows  at  the  upper  end — 
either  at  the  corners  or  middle. 
White  House  Sta.,  N.  J.,  Nov.  28,  1892. 

Scraps  From  a  Visiting  Letter  in  Which  its 

Writer  Mentions  the  Honse  Apiary  and 

Tells  How  He  Enjoys  Himself. 

B.  TAYLOE. 

"  A  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin." 


HAVE  NOT  yet 
completed  my 
new  house  apiary. 
The  weather  has 
been  very  cold  for 
three  or  four  weeks 
so  that  work  on  it 
was  impossible.  It 
is  warmer  now  and 
I  resumed  work  in 
it  to-day.  I  do  not 
wish  to  describe  it 
until  completed,  as 
I  am  trying  to  make  it  very  perfect.  I  find 
the  Sxlf)  building  will  hold  38  hives  without 
crowding  in  the  least.  I  have  invented  a 
hive  especially  for  house  use  and  shall  not 
use  the  long  ones  as  first  intended.  It  is  a 
double  brood  chamber  and  holds  the  same 
combs  as  my  double  walled  hive,  and  the 
hives  used  on  the  revolving  stand.    It  is  so 


arranged  that  any  of  the  four  sides  will  make 
the  front. 

The  bees  in  the  old  house  seem  to  be  win- 
tering finely  this  cold  winter.  The  house 
apiary  is  going  to  be  O.  K. 

I  have  received  a  letter  of  six  pages  frojn 
Mr.  Langdon,  of  E.  Constable,  N.  Y.,  with 
drawings  describing  his  new  house,  11  by  100 
feet.  It  is  nearly  identical  in  principle  with 
my  own  but  I  would  not  have  made  so  large 
a  one  until  experiments  had  demonstrated 
the  best  plans. 

Friend  H.,  give  me  your  hand  for  your  life 
sketch  of  yourself  in  last  Review.  In  nearly 
all  respects  it  is  so  nearly  my  own  history 
and  experience  that  it  stirs  my  feelings 
deeply.  How  I  do  wish  we  lived  nearef  to- 
gether. You  mention  your  love  for  ma- 
chinery. O,  dear,  me !  Last  spring  I  sold 
much  of  my  nice  machinery  (nearly  Sfi.'jOO 
worth)  and  this  winter  I  am  making  new 
machines  for  my  shop,  and  I  am  so  haj)py 
at  it  that  I  can  scarcely  take  time  to  speak 
or  write  to  friends.  I  do  not  know  whether 
I  shall  ever  use  these  machines  so  as  to  get 
pay  for  them  in  the  vulgar  money  sense,  but 
I  get  siqjreme  pleasure,  and  who  gets  better 
pay  than  that  ?  I  expect  this  to  be  my  last 
work  of  this  kind  and  I  am  determined  to 
make  everything  as  near  perfection  in  work- 
ing quality,  as  well  as  finish,  as  my  skill 
will  permit.  Every  thing  is  entirely  original 
in  design,  and  finished  equal  to  the  finest 
parlor  furniture  ;  all  hard  wood,  finished  in 
oil.  I  have  invented  a  new  parallel  bar  for 
saw  tables  that  beats  anything  I  have  seen. 
You  can  move  it  to  either  side  of  the  saw  in 
two  seconds  without  removing  a  single  bolt 
or  screw  of  any  kind  and  can  set  it  for  any 
width  of  sawing  from  1-32  to  IG  inches,  with- 
out using  a  measure  of  any  kind.  When  you 
come  to  Minnesota  I  will  take  great  pleasure 
in  showing  it  to  you,  and  you  shall  come 
some  time,  and  don't  you  forget  it, 

I  contemplate  writing  an  article  for  the 
February  Review,  taking  the  December  Re- 
view and  its  contributors  for  a  subject. 
What  do  you  think  of  it  ?  Will  write  up  the 
house  apiary  as  soon  as  completed,  which 
will  depend  upon  the  weather  in  a  large  de- 
gree. 

There,  brother  H.,  this  long  letter  is  writ- 
ten to  you  and  your  family.  Please  shake, 
for  us,  the  hand  of  Mrs.  H.,  the  twins  and 
all  the  little  H.'s  whose  pattering  feet  you 
describe  so  tenderly  in  last  Review. 

FoBBSTViiiiiE,  Minn.  Jan.  2.3,  1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


More  About  the   "K.  D."    Hive.— Top  Ven- 
tilation and  its  Importance. 

R.  O.   AIKIN. 

rn HE  query  of 
'T  M  r.  Thomp- 
son, of  Denver,  to- 
gether with  your 
p  rmisBiou  to  re- 
ply to  it,  just  re- 
ceived. Here  is 
the  query.  "How 
will  the  top  venti- 
lation and  conse- 
quent letting  off  of 
a  certain  amount 
of  heat  accord  with 
the  greatest  possible  amount  of  brood-rear- 
ing in  the  cold  nights  of  spring  ?" 

Here  is  another  query  from  Newport.  R. 
I.,  just  received:  "I  presume  the  hive  is 
not  intended  to  winter  bees  on  the  summer 
stands  as  the  location  of  the  entrance  for 
brood  chamber  allows  the  free  escape  of  the 
heat  generated  by  the  bees  ?" 

The  friends  are  both  mistaken.  We  claim 
the  top-entrance-hive  better  for  both  in  and 
out  door  wintering.  Neither  will  there  be 
any  detriment  in  the  matter  of  brood  rear- 
ing in  spring. 

In  "Advanced  Bee  Culture,"  page  80,  the 
2nd  and  .3rd  paragraphs  read  thus  :  "  Wheth- 
er bees  can  be  successfully  wintered  in  a 
damp  cellar,  depends  largely,  almost  wholly, 
upon  the  temperature  of  the  atmosphere. 
'  If  the  repository  be  damp,  a  degree  of  tem- 
perature higher  in  proportion  to  the  damp- 
ness should  be  maintained. '— N.  W.  MoLain. 
Referring  to  this  statement  Mr.  Frank  Chesh- 
ire says  :  '  The  reason  being  that  water  has 
an  enormous  capacity  for  heat  (specific 
heat)  whether  in  the  liquid  or  vaporous 
form  ;  the  latter  abstracts  heat  from  the 
liees  and  intensifies  their  struggle.'  Dr. 
Youmans  says  :  '  Air  which  is  already  satu- 
rated with  moisture  refuses  to  receive  the 
perspiration  offered  it  from  the  skin  and 
lungs  and  the  sewage  of  the  system  is 
dammed  up.'  A  moist  air  very  readily  ali- 
sorbs  heat,  and  more  quickly  robs  the  bees 
of  that  element  so  essential  to  life  :  hence  it 
will  be  seen  why  a  moist  atmosphere  must 
also  be  a  warm  one  if  disastrous  results  are 
to  be  avoided." 


Now,  suppose  a  temperature  in  the  open 
air  of  40",  and  the  atmosphere  at  rest,  and 
dry.  I  go  out  in  my  shirt  sleeves  and  work 
with  perfect  comfort.  Two  hours  later  with 
the  temperature  the  same  and  the  atmos- 
phere in  motion  at  the  rate  of  12  to  15  miles 
per  hour,  I  am  obliged  to  wear  my  coat  to 
keep  warm.  Now  saturate  this  air  with 
moisture  with  the  same  temperature 
aud  motion  and  I  must  wear  my  over- 
coat to  keep  warm.  You  will  now  see  what 
I  mean. 

Read  four  chapters  in  "  Advanced  Bee 
Culture,"  viz.;  "Out  Door  Wintering," 
"Ventilation  of  Bee  Cellars,"  "  The  Rela- 
tion of  Moisture  to  the  Wintering  of  Bees," 
and  "Influence  of  Temperature  in  Winter- 
ing of  Bees." 

The  entrance  at  the  top,  no  doubt,  will 
permit  the  escape  of  some  heat ;  but  with 
weak  colonies,  or  in  winter,  we  want  the  en- 
trance contracted.  Suppose  it  be  9g  xl  inch, 
there  being  no  other  opening  sufficient  to 
cause  a  direct  draft  through  the  hive,  there 
cannot  be  any  perceptible  motion  or  cur- 
rent of  air  within  the  hive,  yet  there  will  be 
a  gradual  change  taking  place,  thus  freeing 
the  hive  of  moisture  laden  air  that  would 
necessarily  accumulate  in  a  close  top. 

Just  last  week  we  built  a  fire  in  our  house 
cellar  where  we  have  over  100  colonies  of 
bees  ;  and  with  the  temperature  above  .50° 
I  saw  moisture  condense  on  the  hive  fronts 
just  over  the  lower  entrance  (these  colonies 
have  no  top  entrance),  showing  a  very  moist 
air  escaping  from  the  hive.  Keep  the  hives 
free  of  moisture  and  we  don't  need  so  high 
a  temperature.  But  in  order  to  help  the  col- 
ony in  the  matter  of  heat,  we  strongly  ad- 
vise the  use  of  packing  that  will  absorb  the 
heat  of  the  sun  and  bees  by  day,  and  give  it 
off  at  night  thus  helping  to  equalize  the  tem- 
perature. 

But  the  idea  that  a  small  upper  vent,  with 
none  below  to  permit  a  draft,  will  allow  of 
an  undue  escape  of  heat  necessary  to  brood 
rearing  is  incorrect. 

One  of  Colorado's  foremost  apiarists,  Mr. 
W.  L.  Porter,  of  Arvada,  after  seeing  the  K. 
D.  hive  at  our  State  convention,  went  home 
and  looked  through  his  apiary.  He  found 
every  hive  having  a  vent  at  the  top  dry  and 
healthy ;  but  those  with  no  top  vent  were 
damp  and  in  much  worse  condition.  Not 
only  were  the  top-ventilation  colonies  drier, 
but  they  had  more  brood. 


40 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Mr.  Knight  has,  since  the  convention,  in- 
spected for  foul  brood  an  apiary  of  <!U  col- 
onies. All  were  breeding  and  every  colony 
had  the  brood  nest  at  or  near  the  en- 
trance, and  all  having  a  top  vent,  i.  e., 
holes  in  the  quilts,  were  in  much  the  best 
condition. 

When  it  comes  to  spring  brood  rearing,  the 
colony  does  not  depend  on  the  temperature 
of  the  air  in  the  hive  for  the  necessary  heat, 
nor  are  they  able  to  get  the  necessary  heat 
in  the  chamber  until  such  time  as  the  colony 
becomes  strong  enough  to  fill  the  whole  hive. 
Until  such  strength  is  obtained,  they  depend 
for  brood  rearing  upon  the  heat  generated 
within  the  cluster. 

This  principle  is  fully  illustrated  in  a  val- 
uable article  by  G.  M.  Doolittle  in  A.  B.  J. 
for  Dec.  ir>6h  last,  page  75)1.  A  careful  peru- 
sal of  the  whole  article  will  be  worth  dollars 
to  any  one  who  is  not  already  familiar  with 
these  principles.  I  quote  from  it  as  follows  : 
"  If  we  hive  a  natural  swarm  of  l)ees  in  a 
large  box,  *  *  *  *  we  find  that  they 
suspend  themselves  from  the  top  in  a  com- 
pact form,  appearing  like  an  inverted  cone, 
which,  to  all  appearances,  is  nearly  motion- 
less, so  that  it  will  appear  as  if  the  l)eeswere 
idle  ;  while  the  fact  is,  that  these  apparently 
idle  bees  are  the  colony  proper,  and  inside 
this,  active  work  is  going  on  building  comb, 
etc.  This  is  easily  seen  by  passing  a  wire  sud- 
denly and  horizontally  through  the  cluster, 
letting  the  lower  half  drop.  Out  side  the 
living  hive,  or  crust  of  bees,  the  temperature 
is  often  not  more  than  .tO  ,  while  just  inside, 
they  are  working  wax  nicely  with  the  tem- 
perature at  90=  to  t).5°,  as  I  have  found  by 
making  careful  tests  with  a  thermometer. 
*****  It  takes  some  time  for  these 
crust  bees  to  become  lively  enough  to  fly  : 
but  the  iuside  force  can  do  so  at  a  moment's 
notice,  in  any  colony  I  ever  experimented 
with  :  thus  showing  that  the  material  enclos- 
ing this  living  home  had  little  to  do  with  the 
heat  of  the  cluster,  that  being  controlled  by 
the  walls  of  the  living  hive." 

Friends,  this  top-entrance  business  will 
solve  some  of  the  problems  in  wintering  and 
springing  bees  and  more  too,  the  K.  D.  hive 
will  largely  solve  the  problem  of  the  control 
of  swarming.  These  features  we  will  make 
public  with  an  illustrated  circular  as  soon  as 
printed. 

LovELAND,  Colo,  Feb.  7,  1993. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

rriiLISHED    MONTHLY. 

W.    Z.  HUTCHINSON.   Ed-  &  PJ'op. 

T  BMS  :  —  SI. 'JO  a  year  in  advance  Two  copies, 
S1.90;  three  for  *2.70;  five  for $+."0;  ten,  or  more, 
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please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
will  be  continued. 


FLINT.      MICHIGAN.     FEB       10,      1893. 

Texas  Bee-Keepebs  will  hold  a  conven- 
tion March  .">th  and  fith  at  the  home  of  Mrs. 
.Tenuie  Atchley.  one  mile  north  of  the  court 
house,  in  Greenville.  No  hotel  bills  and 
everybody  is  invited. 

The  Bee-Keepers'  Guide  has  raised  its  price 
to  7.5  cents  a  year,  has  added  a  neat  tinted 
cover,  and  is  going  to  use  more  illustrations, 
pay  for  correspondence,  and  endeavor  in 
every  way  possible  to  make  itself  worthy  of 
its  name. 

laj, 

"What  is  honey?"  is  asked  in  Crfeaninys 
by  Dr.  Miller  who  is  writing  the  apicultural 
part  of  a  dictionary  and  wishes  to  give  a  cor- 
rect definition  of  honey.  Those  definitions 
that  say  honey  is  the  nectar  or  juice  of  flow- 
ers collected  by  the  bees  and  stored  by  them 
in  the  comb  cells  in  the  hive  are  correct  so 
far  as  they  go,  but  they  are  incomplete  in 
that  they  omit  to  mention  the  transforma- 
tion that  nectar  undergoes  before  it  becomes 
honey.  They  give  the  impression  that  honey 
already  exists  in  the  flowers,  when  the  fact  is 
that  they  contain  only  the  material  from 
which  honey  is  manufactmerl. 

O 

CHEAP    (ilTEENS. 

In  the  last  Review  Mr.  Trego  mentions  an 
unsatisfactory  deal  that  he  had  with  a  South- 
ern queen  breeder  that  advertised  cheap 
queens.  As  Mr.C.B.Bankston  of  Chrisman, 
Texas,  is  advertising  cheap  queens,  he  fears 
that  some  may  think  that /if  is  the  breeder 
to  whom  Mr.  Trego  referred.  Such  is  not 
the  case.  I  believe  the  breeder  of  whom  Mr. 
Trego  complained  has  gone  out  of  the  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Baukston  very  justly  says  that 
breeders  at  the  South  can  afford  to  sell 
queens  cheaper  than  can  Northern  breeders. 
At  the  North  the  season  is  too  short  to  al- 
low low  prices, 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


41 


HOW  THE  BEES  ABE  WINTEKINU  AT  THE  HOME 
OF  THE  REVIEW. 

As  I  had  several  times  noticed  that  bees 
near  the  floor  in  a  cellar  d  d  not  winter  so 
well,  I,  last  fall,  had  some  platforms  or  ta- 
bles made  out  of  scantling  in  my  cellar.  The 
tops  of  these  platforms  are  18  inches  above 
the  cellar  bottom.  The  hives  are  placed 
upon  these  platforms.  One  hive  is  placed 
on  the  platform  :  a  two  inch  block  is  placed 
at  each  corner  on  the  toi)  of  the  hive,  then 
another  hive  set  on  those  blocks.  This  gives 
plenty  of  ventilation  and  allows  the  dead 
bees  to  drop  away  from  the  cluster.  I  have  a 
three-burner  oil  stove  in  the  cellar.  Over 
the  top  of  the  stove  is  a  sort  of  hood  made  of 
tin  and  in  the  top  of  the  hood  is  a  tin  pipe 
three  and  one-half  inches  in  diameter  that 
passes  up  through  the  floor  and  connects 
with  the  pipe  of  the  coal  stove.  Whenever 
the  mercury  shows  a  disposition  to  go  below 
40  I  light  the  oil  stove.  The  pipe  carries 
ofl:"  all  of  the  gases  of  combustion.  Besides 
this,  the  draft  from  the  coal  stove  causes  a 
CDnstont  draft  through  the  pipe  whether  the 
oil  stove  is  being  used  or  not.  This  furnishes 
abundant  ventilation.  I  am  not  certain 
whether  this  ventilation  is  needed,  or  not, 
but  it  is  a  great  comfort  to  know  that  it  is 
not  doing  any  harm.  The  bees  never  win- 
tered better  than  they  have  done  so  far,  and 
the  absence  of  that  "  beey  "  smell  in  the  cel- 
lar is  a  source  of  considerable  comfort  and 
satisfaction  to  myself. 


SELLING  GLASS  AT  THE  PRICE  OF  HONEY. 

At  both  the  Albany  and  Washington 
meetings  of  the  North  American  I  heard  Mr. 
Segelken  of  the  tirm  of  Hildreth  Bros,  it 
Segelken  express  his  suprise  that  so  few  bee- 
keepers, especially  those  at  the  West,  did  not 
glass  their  sections.  The  reason,  so  far  as 
tlie  West  is  concerned,  is  that  the  Western 
markets  do  not  seem  to  take  kindly  to  such 
packages.  In  New  York,  glassed  sections 
tind  a  more  ready  sale  and  sometimes  even 
bring  higher  prices,  notwithstanding  that 
the  glass  is  weighed  with  the  honey  and  paid 
for  at  the  price  of  the  honey.  If  the  New  York 
market  demands  glassed  sections,  why  don't 
bee-keepers  furnish  it  put  up  in  that  shape  'i 
Fifty  feet  of  glass  will  glass  about  325  pound 
sections  on  both  sides.  The  glass  costs 
$3.00,  and  weighs  60  pounds.  So,  for  the 
work  of  glassing,  the  bee-keeper  would   re- 


ceive the  price  of  60  pounds  of  honey,  less 
the  cost  of  the  glass,  and  this  work  can  be 
done  by  cheap  labor  or  by  the  bee  -  keeper 
after  the  busy  season  is  over. 


A    WOODEN    QUEEN    EXCLUDER    THAT     IS    A 

Sl5cCESS. 

Some  of  the  readers  of  the  Review  may 
know  that  the  G.  B.  Lewis  Co.  has  for 
several  years  been  making  a  wood  queen  ex- 
cluder. How  well  these  wooden  boards  are 
answering  the  purpose  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  Secretary  of  the  Company  : 

"In  looking  over  your  book.  Advanced 
Bee-Culture,  we  notice  what  you  say  on  page 
19  about  our  all-wood  queen  excluder.  When 
we  lirst  began  to  make  these  excluders  we 
made  them  of  basswood  %  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,  but  we  soon  learned  that  it  would 
be  better  to  make  the  material  thinner  ;  we 
then  and  since  have  been  making  them  of 
birch  and  maple  1-lG  of  an  inch  thick,  and 
have  heard  no  complaints  from  them,  but  on 
the  contrary  more  are  ordered  every  season, 
and  they  are  well  spoken  of.  They  used  to 
say  down  East  that  '  the  proof  of  the  pud- 
ding is  in  chewing  the  string  :'  those  cus- 
tomers who  have  been  '  chewing  the  string  ' 
seem  to  be  well  pleased  with  the  pudding  as 
they  order  more  each  year.  Hence  we  con- 
clude that  our  all-wood  honey  board  is  a 
very  good  thing. 

Of  course  we  can  readily  See  how  you  fail- 
ed in  the  manufacture  of  these  as  you  made 
your  slots  running  lengthwise  of  the  grain, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  all  lumber,  with 
the  exception  of  red  wood,  shrinks  sidewise, 
but  none,  except  red  wood,  shrinks  endwise  ; 
so,  when  we  cut  a  slot  across  and  through 
the  grain,  we  obtain  a  perforation  that  does 
not  change  ;  and  since  we  have  used  a  ma- 
terial 1-16  of  an  inch  thick,  we  have  heard  no 
complaint  of  bees  plugging  up  the  holes." 

ARE  THE  WASHINGTON  RULES  FOR  GRADING 
HONEY  UNFAIR  ? 

In  another  place  in  this  issue,  Mr.  Hasty 
pays  his  respects  to  the  rules  for  grading 
honey  that  were  adopted  at  the  Washington 
meeting  of  the  North  American.  From  the 
very  first  I  have  plead  for  a  grade  that  should 
be  perfection,  but  the  dealers  say,  no,  we 
don't  want  any  such  grade.  There  will  be 
very  little  honey  of  this  kind,  and  the  slight 
advance  at  which  it  will  be  sold  will  be  more 


42 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


than  counterbalanced  by  the  reaction  that  it 
will  have  upon  the  price  of  the  next  lower 
grade  into  which  the  great  mass  of  the  honey 
must  be  placed.  In  other  words,  the  dealers 
say,  don't  sort  out  the  very  finest  by  itself. 
Leave  it  in  with  what  has  usually  passed  for 
No.  1  honey.  I  do  not  know  that  the  dealers 
are  particular  that  the  highest  grade  shall  be 
called  "fancy."  Perhaps  they  would  be 
willing  that  it  should  be  called  "No.  1." 
The  point  is  that  they  do  not  want  any  grade 
made  above  that  in  which  must  be  placed 
the  great  mass  of  honey.  They  prefer  to 
have  the  upper  grade,  if  there  is  one  above 
this,  placed  in  with  it  and  all  called  une 
grade,  but  I  do  not  know  that  they  would 
wish  to  give  a  grade  of  honey  a  higher  name 
than  it  is  really  and  fairly  entitled  to  re- 
ceive. It  is  true  that  the  matter  of  "  travel- 
stain  "  is  not  touched  upon  in  the  rules.  But 
it  was  discussed,  and  there  was  so  much 
trouble  to  arrive  at  any  agreement  that  I  be- 
lieve it  was  omitted  simply  because  it  seemed 
almost  impossible  to  arrive  at  some  decis- 
ion, and  the  difficulty  was  temporally  gotten 
over  by  simply  leaving  this  point  for  some 
other  convention  to  argue  over.  This  may 
have  been  cowardly,  but  the  question  was 
discussed  until  the  members  were  simply  at 
their  wit's  end  in  trying  to  agree.  You  may 
notice  that  I  am  trying  to  give  the  rules  a 
practical  test  by  giving  the  market  reports 
in  conformity  to  the  rules.  A  year's  actual 
use  of  the  rules  will  do  more  than  any  amount 
of  argument  in  showing  the  points  wherein 
they  are  lacking. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SELF-HIVEK. 

The  easiest  and  simplest  way  in  which 
bees  can  be  controlled  when  they  swarm,  is 
through  their  queen.  This  was  attempted 
long  ago  through  the  use  of  what  was  called  a 
"  queen-yard."  It  was  a  sheet  of  tin,  with 
its  edges  turned  up  and  slightly  in,  laid  in 
front  of  the  hive.  A  laying  queen  takes  wing 
with  some  difficulty  and  hesitation.  Those 
who  have  watched  the  issuing  of  a  swarm 
know  that  she  seldom  takes  wing  until  she 
reaches  the  edge  of  the  alighting  board, 
where  she  can  "jump  off"  and  thus  get  a 
start.  The  queen  yard  idea  was  that  the 
queen  would  continue  trying  to  climb  the 
slippery  walls  of  tin  that  slanted  in  slightly 
and  would  continue  this  fruitless  endeavor 
until  the  swarm  returned.  I  believe  it  was 
occasionally  successful,  but  usually  the  queen 
would  get  her  enthusiasm  worked  up  to  such 


a  pitch  that  she  would  fly  from  the  flat  sur- 
face of  the  tin.  This  is  the  way  the  matter 
comes  to  me  from  reading  about  it  years 
ago.  If  I  have  not  told  it  quite  as  it  is,  it 
will  at  least  answer  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
principle  and  somebody  can  correct  me  if  I 
am  wrong. 

There  may  have  been  other  attempts  at 
controlling  the  queen,  but  they  were  not  suc- 
cessful until  somebody,  1  don't  know  who, 
proposed  to  make  sure  work  of  it  by  clip- 
ping the  queen's  wing.  In  this  case  some 
one  must  be  present  and  catch  the  queen  as 
she  crawls  about  on  the  ground  in  front  of 
the  hive.  Before  she  can  be  caught  she 
must  be  found,  and  if  the  grass  is  not  kept 
cut  short,  and  the  looking  for  done  at  ex- 
actly the  right  moment,  the  finding  is  the 
cause  of  no  little  anxiety  and  nervousness. 
Another  point ;  some  objected  to  mutilating 
their  queens  thinking  that  it  had  an  injuri- 
ous effect  upon  them  and  caused  the  bees  to 
look  upon  them  with  disfavor.  Whether  or 
not  these  views  are  correct  is  another  story. 

Along  about  these  days,  as  the  almanacs 
used  to  say,  perforated,  queen  excluding 
metal  was  invented.  Soon  after  this  Mr. 
Henry  Alley  combined  the  metal  with  the 
old,  cone-fly-trap  principle  and  made  a  trap 
that  would  catch  queens  and  drones.  I  do 
not  know  for  which  purpose  the  trap  was 
primarily  intended,  to  trap  drones  or  queens, 
perhaps  both,  but  it  is  certainly  a  success  at 
both. 

A  drone-trap  in  front  of  each  colony  hav- 
ing undesirable  drones  in  a  queen-rearing 
apiary,  means  only  desirable  drones  in  the 
air.  1  presume  that  most  of  my  readers 
know  how  a  drone  trap  is  made,  but  for  fear 
that  some  may  not  I  will  say  that  it  is  simply 
a  small  box  put  in  front  of  the  entrance  of 
the  hive.  The  front  of  the  l)Ox  is  covered 
with  perforated,  queen- excluding  metal. 
These  perforations  allow  the  workers  to  come 
and  go  at  will,  but  restrain  the  queen  and 
drones.  At  the  top  of  the  box  is  an  opening 
over  which  is  placed  a  cone  made  of  wire 
cloth.  The  apex  of  the  cone  points  upward. 
The  queen  and  drones  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  and  passing  through  this  opening 
into  another  box  placed  above  the  first,  but 
do  not  find  the  small  opening  in  the  cone  by 
which  to  return.     In  short,  they  are  trapped. 

When  a  swarm  issues  the  queen  attempts 
to  go  with  the  bees,  but  is  stopped  by  the 
queen-excluding  metal  in  front.  She  crawls 
up  through  the  cone  and  is  trapped  in  the 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


43 


upper  part  of  the  trap.  If  a  swarm  is  seen 
when  issuing,  the  operator  moves  the  old 
hive  to  one  side,  puts  a  new  one  in  its  place, 
and  as  the  bees  are  entering  the  hive,  having 
returned  to  the  old  location,  the  queen  is  al- 
lowed to  join  the  swarm.  If  the  swarm  is 
not  seen  when  issuing,  the  queen  is  trapped 
just  the  same  and  remains  in  the  trap,  a 
small  cluster  of  workers  remaining  with  her 
and  feeding  and  protecting  her.  When  a 
queen  and  a  cluster  of  bees  are  found  in  a 
trap  it  is  known  that  the  colony  has  swarmed 
and  the  apiarist  can  divide  the  colony  or 
treat  it  as  he  thinks  best.  (That  is  another 
story.) 

Now,  friends,  don't  you  see  that  there  is 
but  a  single  step  from  this  queen  trap  to  the 
putting  of  an  empty  hive  by  the  side  of  the 
old  one,  connecting  the  two  by  means  of  a 
tube  in  which  is  placed  a  cone,  then  when  the 
queen  in  her  attempts  to  follow  the  swarm 
will  enter  this  tube  and  crawl  along  until  she 
comes  to  the  entrance  of  the  new  hive  which 
is  in  waiting.  Of  course  the  entrance  to  the 
new  hive  is  also  covered  with  queen-exclud- 
ing metal  so  that  the  queen  cannot  escape. 
To  Mr.  Alley  also  belongs  the  honor  of  taking 
this  "next  step." 


DIBBEKN    SELJr    -  HIVEK. 

Every  bee-keeper  knows  of  the  inclination 
of  bees  to  climb  upwardH.  In  trying  to  climb 
up,  the  queen  sometimes  wasted  so  much 
time  that  the  swarm  returned  before  she  had 
found  and  entered  the  tube  at  the  side.  To 
remedy  this  difficulty,  Mr.  C.  H.  Dibbern 
placed  the  new  hive  on  top  of  the  old  one  and 
formed  a  passage  way  from  the  front  en- 
trance of  the  old  hive  to  the  new  one  on  the 


top.  This  remedied  one  trouble  but  not  the 
last  one.  When  bees  swarm  and  their  queen 
is  not  with  them  they  return  to  the  old  loca- 
tion. They  will  go  back  to  exactly  the  same 
spot.  Even  though  the  queen  is  found  at  the 
entrance  of  a  hive  near  by,  only  a  portion  of 
the  bees  will  join  her.  As  a  rule,  I  presume 
that  the  queen  is  not  discovered  until  the 
swarm  returns,  and  when  the  bees  make  up 
their  minds  to  return  they  often  come  back 
with  a  rush,  and  tumble  pell  mell  into  the 
entrance  of  the  old  hive  before  they  even 
have  time  to  discover  the  queen  that  is  be- 
hind the  bars  at  the  entrance  of  the  neigh- 
boring hive. 

This  was  the  fault  of  self-hivers,  that  they 
secured  only  a  small  portion  of  the  swarm, 
when  Mr.  E.  L.  Pratt  conceived  the  idea  of 
having  the  new  hive  placed  in  front  of  the 
entrance  of  the  old  hive,  the  bees  passing 
through  this  hive  when  on  their  way  to  and 
from  the  old  hive. 

Right  here  I  think  that  I  can  do  no  better 
than  to  copy  from  Gleanings  an  illustration 
of  the  Pratt  hiver  and  a  portion  of  the  ac- 
companyiag  description  as  given  by  Mr. 
Pratt : 

"The  hive  to  receive  the  swarm  is  placed 
in  front  of  the  colony  expected  to  swarm. 
The  front  ends  of  both  bottom-boards  are 
abutted  so  as  to  form  a  continuous  passage 
from  the  swarming  colony  through  the  new 
hive.  A  little  block  is  placed  into  the  open 
space  between  the  two  hives,  so  that  the  bees 
cannot  escape  from  that  way.  By  covering 
this  space  with  wire  screen,  the  ventilation 
of  the  hives  will  be  sufficient  for  the  stron- 
gest colonies. 

With  this  arrangement  the  bees  are  forced 
to  go  and  come  through  the  new  hive  with 
their  honey  and  pollen.  A  triangular  zinc 
bee-escape  is  now  placed  on  the  bottom- 
board  inside  the  new  hive,  with  its  open  base 
close  up  against  the  entrance  of  the  colony 
expected  to  swarm.  This  escape  is  made  of 
perforated  zinc,  and  has  a  hole  in  its  apex  for 
the  queen  to  escape  through.  The  outside 
entrance  to  the  new  hive  is  covered  with  an 
ordinary  excluder,  so  that  the  queen  can  not 
escape  from  within  the  new  hive  after  she 
passes  the  zinc  escape. 

When  the  swarm  issues,  the  bees  rush  pell 
mell  through  the  zinc  escape  and  empty  hive 
into  the  air.  The  queen  on  finding  she  can 
not  get  through  the  zinc  at  the  entrance,  will 
pass  down  the  escape,  and  is  led  through  the 
hole  in  the  apex,  when  she  will  quickly  enter 
the  new  hive,  where  she  will  be  effectually 
trapped.  All  the  exits  to  the  new  hive  being 
covered  with  excluding  zinc,  the  queen  is 
made  a  prisoner  inside  the  new  hive  ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  bees  that  have  swarmed  into  the 
air  miss  their  queen,  back  they  will  come  to 
the  old  entrance,  as  their  instinct  dictates, 
thus  automatically  hiving  themselves  in  the 


44 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


new  hive.  A  few  of  the  older  bees  will  work 
back  into  the  parent  hive,  but  the  bulk  of 
the  swarm  will  remain  with  the  queeu.  If 
empty  frames  have  been  inserted  they  will 
start  at  once  to  Ijuild  comb  and  set  up  house- 


arrangement  over  that  of  placing  the  new 
hive  in  front  is  that  only  one  bottom  board 
is  required  and  there  is  less  difficulty  in  ad- 
justing the  hives  so  that  they  will  be  perfect- 


THE    PRATT    SELF  -  HIVEK. 


keeping  in  the  new  hive.  If  left  in  this  posi- 
tion eight  or  ten  days,  a  large  number  of 
young  bees  that  have  hatched  from  the  pa- 
rent colony  will  work  out  into  the  new  hive. 
If  the  supers  were  shifted  on  the  new  hive, 
a  considerable  quantity  of  honey  would  be 
carried  there.  The  bee-keeper  now  has  the 
option  of  increase  or  not,  for  there  are  thir- 
teen days  before  more  swarming,  which 
gives  him  a  chance  to  manipulate  the  old 
colony  as  he  sees  fit.  Tf  he  desires  increase 
he  can  set  the  new  swarm  back  on  the  old 
stand  and  place  the  old  colony  on  a  new 
stand,  after  shaking  the  bees  off  one  or  two 
combs  to  give  the  swarm  suflicient  strength 
to  store  box  honey.  If  he  does  not  desire  in- 
crease it  will  do  no  harm  to  allow  the  hives 
to  stand  as  they  are  a  few  days,  when  he  can 
either  cut  out  all  the  cells  or  place  the  old 
hive  on  top  of  the  new  one,  with  a  bee-escape 
or  zinc  honey-board  between,  or  leave  them 
until  a  day  or  two  before  the  young  queens 
hatch,  when  he  can  shake  ofif  all  the  bees  and 
place  the  extra  combs  around  on  other 
hives." 

It  might  be  well  to  add  thj^t  Mr.  Alley  now 
places  }iis  hiver  in  front  of  the  old  hive. 

Last  season,  Mr.  Pratt,  somewhat  at  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  E.  R.  Root,  placed  the  new 
hive  mider  the  old  one.  Between  the  two 
hives  is  placed  a  thin  board,  having  a  rim 
around  the  edges  to  give  it  a  "  bee-space." 
This  board  is  perforated  with  two  or  three 
holes  in  its  center.  ( )u  its  under  side  and  com- 
municating with  the  openings,  is  a  triangular, 
zinc,  bee-escape.  This  is  so  arranged  that 
the  bees  can  pass  up  and  down  very  readily, 
but  the  queen  can  pass  only  one  way — down- 
ward. ^Yhen  at  work,  the  bees  pass  through 
this  hive  just  the  same  as  they  do  throu  .  h  a 
hive  when  it  is  placed  in  front  of  the  old  col- 
ony. It  has  been  advised  that  one  or  two 
combs  be  placed  in  the  lower  hive  to  furnish 
the  bees  with  a  sort  of  ladder  upon  which  to 
ascend  and  descend.    The  advantage  of  this 


ly  bee-tight.  \Vhen  the  bees  swarm  they 
pass  down  through  the  new  hive,  the  queen 
going  with  them,  she  finding  her  way  through 
the  apex  of  the  triangular  bee-escape  that  is 
made  of  perforated  zinc.  She  is  unable  to 
find  the  entrance  to  return,  remains  in  the 
lower  hive,  the  bees  return  and  find  her,  re- 
main in  the  lower  hive  and  begin  their  labors 
there.  It  will  be  seen  that,  wonderful  as  it 
may  seem,  the  bees — the  whole  swarm — hive 
themselves.  But  they  require  some  attention 
afterwards.  The  whole  arrangement  of  the 
hives  and  supers  is  not  what  it  would  be  if 
the  bee-keeper   had   been  at  hand  when  the 


SKLF-HIVEB   WITH   NEW    HIVE    UNDEK   OLD. 

swarm  issued.  But  this  much  is  accom- 
plished, the  apiary  can  be  left  alone  not  only 
during  the  middle  of  the  day,  but  it  can  be 
left  alone  several  days.    One  great  item  in 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


45 


the  cost  of  honey  is  the  necessity  of  keeping 
some  one  constantly  on  the  watch  for  swarms 
during  two  months  of  the  year.  It  is  the 
greatest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  establishing 
out-apiaries.  If  self-hivers  prove  to  be  the 
success  that  they  promise  to  be,  a  visit  once 
in  three  or  four  days,  possibly  once  a  week  in 
some  instances,  to  arrange  the  colonies  that 
have  swarmed,  will  be  all  that  is  necessary. 

In  the  commencement  of  this  article  it 
was  mentioned  that  the  queen;  accompanied 
by  a  "bodyguard"  of  workers  would  re- 
main in  a  queen  trap  after  a  swarm  had  is- 
sued from  a  hive  having-a  trap  in  front  of  it. 
Mr.  R.  L.  Taylor  takes  advantage  of  this  fact 
to  enable  him  to  manage  his  bees  without 
close  attention  and  yet  dispense  with  the  use 
of  a  self-hiver.  He  has  found  that  a  queen 
can  safely  be  left  three  or  four  days  in  a  trap 
and  that  he  can  manage  by  visiting  an  api- 
ary once  in  that  length  of  time  and  dividing 
those  colonies  that  have  swarmed.  He  says 
that  he  has  no  use  for  a  self-hiver,  the  queen 
trap  answering  every  purpose.  It  seems  to 
me  that  the  use  of  the  trap  would  do  away 
with  the  labor  of  dividing.  The  division 
would  be  already  made  and  there  would  be 
only  the  work  of  placing  the  old  colony  on  a 
new  stand,  cutting  out  the  cells,  and  trans- 
ferring the  supers  to  the  n«w  swarm,  or  per- 
forming whatever  manipulations  the  bee- 
keeper found  necessary.  There  is  one  point 
in  favor  of  the  Taylor-plan,  there  would  be 
no  break  in  the  work  being  done  in  the  sec- 
tions, whereas,  by  the  self-hiving  arrange- 
ment, work  is  stopj)ed  in  the  supers  until 
the  apiarist  appears  to  make  the  changes 
necessary  to  get  the  bees  at  work  again  in  the 
supers. 

I  should  i>e  glad  to  have  Mr.  Taylor,  or  any 
one  who  has  had  experitruce,  write  upon  this 
point  or  upon  any  other  connected  with  this 
important  subject  and  we  will  make  a  "  self- 
hiver  number  "  of  the  March  Review. 

Since  the  above  was  written  there  is  anoth- 
er point  occurs  to  me  that  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered, and  that  is  the  trouble  arising  from 
two  or  more  swarms  issuing  at  the  same 
time  and  uniting  in  the  air.  The  larger  the 
apiary,  the  greater  becomes  this  drawback. 
This  same  difficulty,  however,  has  to  be  con- 
tended with  in  any  system  of  management 
that  allows  the  bees  to  fly  in  the  open  air 
when  they  swarm.  In  a  large  apiary,  re- 
quiring an  attendant  constantly  during  the 
honey  harvest,  a  swarm  catcher  is  away 
ahead  of  a  self-hiver. 


eXTRT^OXED. 


Wintering  Bees  Under  the  Snow.— It  is 

Likely  to  be  a  Failure. 
Every  little  while  some  one  asks  if  it  is  ad- 
visable to  keep  the  snow  away  from  the  hives 
in  the  winter,  or  let  it  cover  them  over.  Mr. 
Doolittle,  in  Gleanings  says,  well,  here  is  the 
vital  part  of  what  he  says: 

'.'I  have  found  that,  if  the  hives  are  cover- 
ed two-thirds  the  way  up  the  brood-cham- 
ber, it  is  a  great  advantage;  but  if  the  hives 
are  covei-ed  two-thirds  the  way  up  the  cap  or 
cover,  or  completely  over,  it  is  a  positive 
damage  to  the  bees,  and  worse  than  no  snow 
at  all. 

The  difficulty  seems  to  be  that,  as  soon  as 
the  hives  are  covered  with  snow,  the  warmth 
of  the  ground,  combined  with  the  warmth  of 
the  bees,  makes  it  so  warm  that  the  bees  be- 
come uneasy,  go  to  breeding,  consume  large 
quantities  of  honey,  thus  distending  their 
bodies  and  using  up  their  vitality,  causing 
them  to  die  of  old  age  during  February, 
March,  and  April,  while  the  young  bees  have 
not  the  usual  strength  and  vitality  of  bees 
hatched  in  September  and  October  to  with- 
stand the  rigors  of  winter,  so  spring  dwin- 
dling and  death  are  the  result." 


Why  the  Younger  Bees  Cling  to  The  ir  Hive 
Even  if  it  is  Moved. 

Some  of  the  readers  of  the  Review  may 
remember  that  Mr.  B.  Taylor  did  not  make 
the  success  of  the  revolving  non-swarmer 
that  he  had  hoped.  ( )ne  thing  that  he  had 
expected  was  that  it  would  equalize  the  col- 
onies— make  the  strong  weaker  and  weak 
stronger.  As  it  turned  out,  the  colonies 
strong  in  the  spring  remained  so. 

The  Heddon  method  of  preventing  after- 
swarming,  by  leaving  the  old  colony  by  the 
side  of  the  newly  hived  swarm  for  a  week 
and  theu  placing  it  upon  a  new  stand,  is  not 
always  a  success.  Why  these  things  are  thus 
and  so,  Mr.  Doolittle  explains  as  follows  in 
Gleanings  : 

"  In  '  Stray  Straws,'  found  in  the  Decem- 
ber loth  issue  of  Gleanings  for  1892,  I  find 
this  :  '  A  common  error  is  to  suppose  that, 
in  setting  a  weak  colouy  in  place  of  a  strong 
one  in  order  to  strengthen  it,  it  is  important 
that  the  change  be  made  when  the  largest 
number  of  bees  are  out.  There  will  be  just 
as  much  gain  if  the  change  is  made  at  mid- 
night.' Usually  we  find  Dr.  Miller  saying 
'  I  guess  so,'  or  '  I  shouldn't  wonder,'  or  '  I 
don't  know :'  but  here  is  a  positive  state- 
ment, made  under  his  name,  and,  strange  to 
say,  that,  in  dropping  his  usual  discreetness, 
he  has  fallen  into  an  error  which  he  could 
not  have  fallen  into  had  he  been  so  discreet 


46 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


as  to  say,  '  I  don't  know.'  But  I  imagine  I 
hear  him  saying,  '  That  is  all  right ;  let 
Doolittle  prove  wherein  I  am  wrong.'  VVell, 
that  is  just  what  I  am  going  to  try  to  do, 
doctor. 

When  a  colony  is  in  a  normal  condition, 
the  young  bees  go  out  to  take  their  first  air- 
ing at  the  age  of  six  days,  if  the  weather  is 
favorable  ;  and  in  so  doing  they  mark  their 
location  to  a  certain  extent,  but  not  to  an  ex- 
tent great  enough  so  but  that  the  subsequent 
flights  have  a  greater  impression  ou  tiieir 
memory,  for  we  tiud  them  taking  these 
markings  anew  at  every  flight  till  they  are 
sixteen  days  old,  when  they  leave  the  hive  for 
gathering  supplies  for  the  first  time,  after 
which  they  take  no  more  markings  during 
the  working  season,  unless  it  be  in  case  of  a 
swarm,  or  some  rude  disturbance  of  their 
home.  If  the  hive  is  moved  at  midnight,  as 
Dr.  Miller  suggests,  then,  ou  the  coming 
morning,  all  the  bees  over  sixteen  days  old, 
upon  going  to  the  field,  leave  in  a  straight 
line,  and,  having  the  old  location  established 
in  their  memory,  and  not  taking  any  mark- 
ings that  morning,  come  back  to  the  spot 
where  the  old  entrance  used  to  be  ;  conse- 
quently they  go  into  the  hive  having  the  weak 
colony,  if  such  has  been  placed  on  the  old 
stand,  or  are  lost,  if  no  such  provision  has 
been  made.  But  let  us  wait  till  about  2 
o'clock  p.  M.,  at  which  time  all  of  the  liees 
under  sixteen  days  old,  and  over  six  days  old, 
will  fly,  if  the  weather  is  fine,  and  we  shall 
find  that  these  young  fellows  head  toward 
the  hive  the  same  as  they  did  the  last  time 
they  were  out  before,  hence  notice  the 
change  which  has  been  made,  and,  instead 
of  going  to  strengthen  the  weak  colony 
which  has  been  placed  on  the  old  stand,  they 
return  to  the  spot  last  marked,  hence  do 
nothing  toward  the  desired  strengthening. 
Now,  had  Dr.  M.  waited  about  this  changing 
till  these  young  bees  were  in  full  flight,  and 
moved  the  hives  when  the  most  of  these 
young  bees  were  in  the  air,  he  would  have 
caught  these  also,  in  addition  to  all  those 
which  were  over  sixteen  days  old.  Then,  100 
of  these  young  bees  are  worth  fully  HOO  of 
the  older  ones  for  strengthening  weak  colo- 
nies, inasmuch  as  they  are  just  commencing 
life,  instead  of  being  near  its  close,  as  many 
of  the  field-bees  are.  While  I  had  known 
that  bees  less  than  sixteen  days  old  would 
not  return  to  the  old  stand,  if  a  colony  in 
normal  condition  were  removed  at  any  time 
other  than  when  they  were  flying,  yet  it  was 
not  fully  forced  upon  me  till  I  tried  prevent- 
ing after-swarms  by  the  Heddon  plan.  In 
trying  this  I  found  that,  if  I  moved  the  pa- 
rent colony  at  any  time  I  was  ready,  it  would 
more  often  than  otherwise  swarm  again  :  but 
if  I  moved  it  when  the  young  bees  were  out 
to  play  I  had  a  sure  thing  of  it,  for  the  colo- 
ny was  then  so  depopulated  that  it  uerer  un- 
dertook to  swarm  again  that  season." 

I  think  that  Mr.  Doolittle  is  at  least  partly 
correct  in  his  views  as  regards  the  occasion- 
al failure  of  the  Heddon  method  of  preventing 
after-swarming.  There  is,  however,  anoth- 
er and  more  important  point  that  he  has  not 
touched  upon  and  that  is  that  a  sort  of  swarm- 


ing mania  sometimes  seems  to  seize  upon 
the  bees  of  an  apiary,  and  they  will  swarm 
before  the  first  (lueen  cell  is  capped,  and  the 
result  is  that  the  first  after-swarm  does  not 
issue  on  the  eighth  day  after  the  prime 
swarm.  I  have  known  the  time  to  be  as 
much  as  twelve  or  thirteen  days.  If  the  old 
hive  is  moved  at  the  seventh  day,  and  a 
queen  does  not  hatch  for  five  days  more, 
enough  bees  hatch  in  that  time  to  so  rein- 
force the  numbers  of  the  colony  that  swarm- 
ing will  almost  always  result.  I  think  I 
never  had  a  colony  cast  a  second  swarm  with- 
in two  or  three  days  of  the  time  of  giving  it 
a  new  location. 


Why  Frames   Need  Wiring. 

How  any  one  can  use  full  sheets  of  foun- 
dation satisfactorily  in  the  brood  nest  with- 
out the  frames  or  foundation  being  wired 
has  always  been  a  puzzle  to  me.  In  a  late 
issue  of  Gleaninijs  Mr.  Hewes  of  California, 
so  clearly  expresses  my  views  on  the  sub- 
ject that  I  copy  his  article. 

"As  I  have  sat  at  my  bench  on  rainy  days, 
wiring  frames,  I  have  sometimes  wondered 
how  many  of  my  fellow  bee-keepers  prac- 
tice that  mode  of  strengthening  their  foun- 
dation comb,  and  Dec.  1st  Gleanincis  an 
swers  the  thought  by  telling  me  that  enough 
of  them  do  so  to  use  up,  even  in  a  poor  season, 
two  tons  of  wire.  This  wiring  of  frames  is 
a  little  tedious,  bat  I  wish  that  all  the  work 
I  do  paid  me  as  well  for  the  trouble  as  it  does. 
Some  years,  owing  to  laziness,  or  a  like  in- 
excusable cause,  I  put  a  good  deal  of  found- 
ation in  frames  that  are  not  wired,  and  al- 
ways regret  it  afterward,  when,  on  initiat- 
ing them  to  the  extractor,  I  see  manv  combs 
fall  from  the  frames,aiid  pile  up  in  a  sticky 
mass  on  the  bottom  of  the  can.  Besides 
giving  strength  to  the  combs,  wiring  makes 
them  more  shapely  and  better,  yet  prevents 
sMgyring  and  the  consequent  two-inch  strip 
of  drone  comb  along  the  top  of  the  frame. 
Th-i  limitation  of  drone  comb  in  my  hives  is 
a  hobby  with  me,  and  I  would  wire  my  frames 
were  its  restriction  the  only  thing  gained.  I 
can  not  see  what  objection  some  have  to  wir- 
intr  frames.  The  satisfaction  of  knowing 
combs  will  result,  when  hiving  a  swarm  on 
wired  foundation,  is  of  itself  worth  more  than 
the  cost  of  the  wire,  while  the  work  entailed 
by  wirinir  is  not  so  great  as  that  which  is  re- 
(pii red  to  look  after  uuwired  foundation  to 
see  that  it  has  not  fallen  down,  nor  is  being 
drawn  out  wavy  with  kinks  and  curls. 

Comb  foundation  is  used  very  extensively 
ill  California,  liut  I  believe  only  a  compara- 
tively small  proportion  is  fastened  to  wired 
frames.  The  practice  most  in  vogue  here  is 
to  use  strips  of  foundation  only  about  half 
the  depth  of  the  frame.  This  is  not  so  apt  to 
break  down  or  sag;  but  of  that  last  it  matters 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


47 


aot,  for,  though  the  upper  half  of  the  comb 
may  have  cells  of  worker  size,  the  addition 
put  on  by  the  bees  is  most  apt  to  be  of  drone 
size,  especially  if  honey  is  coming  in  fast 
when  the  comb  is  built.  In  every  apiary,  I 
suppose,  there  is  some  natural  comb  built, 
and  much  of  this  will  be  drone.  I  make  it 
a  point  to  watch  for  all  such  combs;  and 
where  the  drone-cells  are  only  in  patches  I 
cut  them  out  and  fit  worker  comb  in  the 
places;  or,  if  honey  is  coming  in,  and  comb- 
building  going  on,  put  the  pruned  frames  in 
some  hive  which  will  patch  them  up  with 
worker  comb.  Hives  having  young  queens 
recently  commenced  laying  will  always  do 
this  if  the  comb  to  be  worked  upon  is  placed 
in  the  center  of  the  brood-nest;  so,  too,  will 
any  weak  stock  having  a  vigorous  queen.  But 
hives  with  old  played-out  queens,  or  colonies 
on  the  point  of  swarming,  will  generally 
build  drone   comb." 


The  Superiority  of  the  Porter  Bee  Escape. 

This  is  a  little  early  in  the  season  to  begin 
talking  about  bee  escapes,  but  when  the  time 
comes  to  use  them  it  is  well  to  know  which 
is  the  best  and  where  to  get  it.  I  had  sup- 
posed the  Hastings  escape  as  good  as  the  Por- 
ter, perhaps  better,  as  it  has  four  exits,  but 
a  correspondent  of  Gleanings,  Mr.  S.  A. 
Shuck,  says  the  Porter  is  superior,  and  gives 
his  reasons  in  the  following  extract  from 
Gleanings. 

"In  Stray  Straws  for  Nov.  1,  Dr.  Miller  asks: 
'Will  an  escape  make  quicker  work  in  day- 
time or  at  night?' 

With  your  permission,  Mr.  Editor,  I  will 
try  to  answer  Dr.  Miller's  inquiry;  and,  for 
the  benefit  of  all  parties  concerned,  give 
some  of  the  details  of  the  experiments  with 
bee-escapes,  and  the  facts  gleaned  thereby. 

Many  of  the  readers  of  Gleanings  remem- 
ber that  the  writer  had  the  pleasure 
of  testing  what  has  proven  to  be  the 
only  practical  and  convenient  bee-escape 
now  before  the  public  (the  Porter  spring 
bee  -  escape),  before  it  was  placed  upon 
the  market.  All  the  forms  of  escapes 
known  at  that  time  were  tried,  and  all,  ex- 
cept the  one  so  widely  known  now,  from  the 
defect  of  the  little  machines  or  the  peculiar 
habits  of  the  bees,  proved  to  be  unsatisfac- 
tory. The  spring  escape  was  tried  in  all  con- 
ceivable forms — perforated  tin  tops  and  bot- 
toms; two  or  more  exits;  with  springs  clos- 
ing up  to  side  walls  or  partition  in  the  escape, 
similar  to  the  so-called  Hastings  escape. 
Several  escapes  were  placed  in  one  board  to 
ascertain  whether  or  not  the  bees  would 
leave  the  supers  quicker  through  several  exits 
than  through  a  single  one.  These  tests  were 
made  both  night  aud  day,  through  good  and 
bad  weather,  both  cold  and  hot,  and  when 
there  was  an  abundance  of  nectar  in  the 
flowers,  and  when  there  was  neither  nectar 
nor  flowers:  and  the  facts  gleaned  from  these 
experiments,  I  believe,  will  ever  remain 
unchanged. 


The  present  form  of  the  Porter  spring  es- 
cape is  the  best  that  can  be  devised  for  thor- 
ough, practical  work.  Escapes  with  single 
springs  pressing  against  the  side  walls  or 
partitions  in  the  escape  clog  up  with  dead 
bees,  where  double  springs  do  not,  simply 
because  the  double  springs  give  a  larger 
opening  with  less  pressure  than  can  be  had 
with  single  springs.  To  an  observing  mind 
it  would  naturally  appear  that  escapes  with 
several  openings,  or  perforated  tops  and  bot- 
toms, would  give  better  satisfaction  in  the 
matter  of  ventilation:  but  many  practical 
tests  in  this  direction  show  that  a  single 
exit,  together  with  the  cracks  at  the  joints  of 
the  hive,  made  by  adjusting  the  escape- 
boards,  give  all  the  ventilation  that  is  neces- 
sary or  desired. 

As  to  the  rapidity  of  the  working  of  es- 
capes, when  they  work  best,  etc.,  I  give  the 
following  from  a  small  circular  published  by 
the  Messrs.  Porter: 

'Owing  to  the  varied  disposition  of  the  bees 
of  different  colonies  under  the  same  condi- 
tions, there  is  a  great  dififereuce  in  the 
length  of  time  occupied  by  them  in  passing 
from  the  super;  and  with  the  bees  of  the 
same  colony,  the  size  of  the  super,  the  time 
of  the  day,  the  state  of  the  weather,  the  pre- 
sence or  absence  of  a  honey-flow  all  have 
their  influence  to  vary  this  time.  As  a  rule 
they  pass  out  most  rapidly  when  all  condi- 
tions are  such  that  they  are  naturally  the 
most  active.' 

As  bees  are  more  active  during  daytime  then 
at  night,  they  leave  the  supers  more  readily 
during  the  daytime.  Bees,  too,  that,  under 
the  influence  of  a  good  honey-flow,  would 
leave  the  supers  in  a  few  hours,  may,  in  a 
time  when  there  is  no  nectar,and  the  weath- 
er is  cool  and  cloudy,  be  as  many  days  in  de- 
serting the  supers.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that 
those  who  wish  to  accomplish  the  most  that 
is  possible  with  the  best  escapes  must  work 
when  all  things  combine  to  their  interest. 

As  to  the  difference  of  time  occupied  by 
the  bees  of  any  colony  passing  from  a  super 
through  a  single  escape,  as  compared  with 
several  escapes,  it  is  not  discernible.  A 
whole  colony  could  pass  through  a  single  es- 
cape in  less  than  one  hour,  if  their  anxiety  to 
move  out  could  be  awakened  to  such  a  degree 
as  to  cause  them  all  to  want  to  get  out  in 
that  time.  But  as  there  is  no  way  by  which 
such  an  anxiety  can  be  awakened,  the  only 
thing  to  be  done  is  to  allow  them  their  own 
good  pleasure;  and  in  this  direction  a  single 
escape  is  better  than  a  dozen,  as  there  is  less 
heat  from  below  through  one  opening  than 
through  several." 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee   Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

"  My  writings  flow  from  no  satiric  vein, 
Contain  no  poison,  and  convey  no  pain.', 

There  will  be  a  preface,  but  not  here  ;  peo- 
ple do  not  heed  prefaces  when  so  unwisely 


48 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


located  ;  so  I  will  put  it  in  subsequently, 
after  you  get  to  reading.  The  first  to  come 
to  my  table  for  the  new-born  year  is — 

APICULTURIST, 

Really  looks  as  though  editor  Alley  per- 
ceives that  improvement  of  contents  is  the 
word  that  has  been  going  round.  It  opens 
with — 

"  I  reared  five-banded  bees  as  far  back  as  1883. 
They  were  a  cross  between  the  Italian  aud  Cyp- 
rians. *  *  I  never  had  better  bees  ill  my  apiary. 
*  *  Friend  of  mine  sent  me  some  five-banded 
Italians.  *  *  j  know  them  just  as  a  man 
is  supposed  to  know  his  brother.  There  are  cer- 
tain marks  about  them  that  identify  them  so 
plainly  that  the  running  man  may  read." 

G.  W.  Demabee. 

"Told  you  so."  Some  that  offer  them  for 
sale  may  not  know  this,  preferring  to  cling 
to  the  queen-breeders  "  rot "  that  secret 
crosses  with  drones  from  afar  seldom  or 
never  take  place. 

Next  comes  the  Mocco  Stingless  Bee,  a 
queer  chap,  the  size  of  a  grain  of  wheat, 
which — 

"  Makes  its  nest  only  in  the  grround,  boring 
into  the  hard  red  soil  like  the  ants.  The  nest  is 
pear-shaped,  of  the  capacity  of  about  three  gal- 
lons ;  contains  very  little  comb,  but  a  gallon  or 
more  of  liquid  honey  at  the  bottom,  slightly 
acid,  good  eating  The  nest  is  lined  with  wax, 
and  the  entrance  is  a  small  narrow  spout,  less 
than  one  half  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  which  pro- 
jects about  an  inch  above  the  ground,  and  has  an 
ingenious  sort  of  flexible  lid  of  wax." 

H.  A.  Wolff, 
Baberton,  South  Africa. 

Here's  richness,  indeed !  Don't  believe 
any  insect  that  preserves  honey  by  putting 
acid  in  it  can  quite  touch  the  level  of  a  civi- 
lized city  market  ;  but  what  a  boon  for  col- 
ored boys  and  girls  in  Texas  and  Florida  I 
The  fact  that  the  Mocco  digs  the  cave  for  its 
own  domicil  is  a  pretty  strong  hint  that  a 
single  female  begins  the  establishment  bum- 
ble-bee fashion,  the  children  enlarging  the 
hole  and  building  up  into  a  nation.  Before 
Uncle  Sam  spends  some  thousands  in  the 
desperate  effort  to  import  that  wild  open- 
air  savage  Apis  Dorsata,  he  had  better  carve 
out  by  the  roots  and  bring  to  Texas  a  few 
Mocco  colonies.  What  pleasure  to  lie  in  the 
shade  and  suck  honey  with  a  straw  direct 
from  the  cistern  of  its  unsuspecting  owners  ! 

Along  amidships  we  find  the  editor  has 
been  reading  his  back  numbers,  and  finding 
valuable  articles  which  the  present  subscrib- 
ers never  saw,  he  proposes  to  reprint  them. 
Not  a  bad  idea. 

Four  pages  are  given  to  the  opening  of 
what  appears  to  be  a  new  book,  to  be  first 


published  as  a  serial.  (How  the  serial  idea 
spreads,  does'nt  it  ?)  The  title  is  "  Practi- 
cal and  Profitable  Bee-keeping,"  By  a  prac- 
tical bee-keeper.  A  Bluenose  might  so  blun- 
der as  to  suppose  the  P.  B.  friend  Alley  him- 
self incognito.  The  quality  and  diction  is 
fair ;  but  some  of  the  statements  sound  rath- 
er reckless  for  a  standard  work,  as — 

•'All  who  intend  to  make  the  keeping  of  bees 
their  only  means  of  gaining  a  living  will  soon 
come  to  grief." 

"The  bee  flies  swiftly— at  the  rate  of  about  a 
mile  a  minute." 

Next,  aged  32,  comes  the  Dean  of  delega- 
tion— 

AMERICAN  Bee  journal, 

And  editor  York  thinks  the  two  portraits 
of  our  editor  in  the  December  Review  al- 
most illustrate  the  theory  of  evolution.  Mid- 
dling fair,  friend  Y. ;  go  and  do  likewise. 

Hello  !  Here's  our  esteemed  comrade  B. 
Taylor  in  the  evolution  business  too,  at  the 
head  of  an  interesting  life  sketch.  Finished 
off  the  inside  of  a  church  when  he  was  seven- 
teen. And  later  on  he  saw  his  bees  finish  off 
26,000  lbs.  of  sections  in  one  season. 

Compliments  to  Jennie  Atchley,  who  is 
worthily  trying  to  give  the  southern  subscrib- 
ers something  which  is  their  very  own,  and 
the  fruit  of  their  own  soil. 

Soon  the  Michigan  convention  opens  out. 
President  R.  L.  Taylor  notes  a  general  un- 
rest among  bee-keepers  and  regrets  it. 
Golden  age  gone  by.  Expect  nothing,  and 
be  blest  in  getting  it.  But  he  just  hits  the 
mark  when  he  tells  how  far  nature  has  car- 
ried the  improvement  of  the  bee  already  and 
how  hard  it  is  to  carry  the  work  much  fur- 
ther. Prof.  Cook  gets  back  at  him  to  the 
effect  that  (in  the  right  way)  bee  folks  ought 
to  be  dissatisfied  in  the  direction  of  finding 
some  remedy  for  the  unendurable.  One  of 
the  most  remarkable  of  remarkable  speeches 
was  James  Heddon's  plea  for  letting  alone 
adulteration  and  adulterators.  Perhaps  it 
might  as  well  be  left  in  its  entirety  to  just 
weigh  its  own  weight.  Condensation  would 
be  very  apt  to  show  the  bias  of  the  conden- 
ser. Our  hatred  will  not  keep  truth  from  be- 
ing true.  Per  contra,  sin  has  no  power  of 
its  own  to  strut  in  martyr  white.  Soon  W. 
Z.  patiently  explained  once  more  the  sugar- 
honey  muddle,  too  familiar  to  present  com- 
pany to  need  comment,  except  to  comme^d 
the  plucky  vigor  of  this  one  sentence,  which 
takes  a  disagreeable  bull  right  by  his  naughty 
horns — Tut,  tut !    Don't  you  wish  you  knew, 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


49 


now  ?  Subject's  closed.  The  sentence  was 
on  the  other  side  ;  and  if  my  side  cannot  be 
heard  I'm  not  going  to  expedite  the  enemy's 
cannon  balls  for  him. 

In  the  third  number  for  1893  editor  York 
announces  that  one  side  of  the  sugar-honey 
matter  may  be  heard  in  his  columns  but  not 
the  other.  No  comments  from  me.  My 
readers  can  imagine  what  I  think  of  that  per- 
formance without  my  telling  them. 

In  the  Contributions  department,  G.  M. 
Doolittle  writing  in  his  usual  able  way  con- 
cerning winter  work  brings  out  this  idea 
about  warming  honey  to  extract  in  cold 
weather.  Warm  room,  of  course,  but  put  it 
0)1  a  high  shelf.  Nothing  warms  readily 
near  the  floor  in  winter.     True  as  a  die. 

J.  A.  Green  restates  his  excellent  method 
of  packing — and  it  amuses  me  to  see  that  he 
has  this  year  got  among  the  late  packers, 
like  me. 

Gleanings, 

Here's  a  journal  so  broad  and  long  that  a 
reviewer  can't  very  well  talk  all  over  it. 
How  queer  that  some  of  you  should  be  wait- 
ing to  hear  me  tell  what  Gleanings  is  like  ! 
It  always  begins  with  "  Stray  Straws,"  little 
nuggets  of  truth,  fun,  gossip,  warning  or 
conundrum  by  Dr.  Miller.  Then  Father 
Langstroth  in  his  ripe  autumn,  gives  us  a 
section  of  his  reminiscences.  After  bees 
fried,  bees  roasted,  and  bees  "  biled  "  recess 
comes,  and  Rambler  makes  us  laugh  with 
outrageous  pictures.  More  fried,  roasted 
and  "biled,"  and  then  senior  editor  Root  be- 
gins to  heave  in  sight  with  endless  "  garden 
sass,"  and  interesting  travels,  and  good  earn- 
est Christian  preaching,  all  interleaved  and 
lit  up  with  splendid  illustrations.  Lastly, 
to  end  off  with,  Ernest  tries  his  prettiest  to 
get  his  last  leaf  up  even  with  Miller's  first 
leaf — two  unbroken  colts  pulling  at  an  even- 
er.  You  perceive  at  once  that  Gleanings' 
theory  of  success  is  not  "  Bees  exclusively  " 
but  bees  "till  you  can't  rest,"  and  lots  of 
other  attractive  things  too.  It's  rather  a 
taking  theory  ;  yet  none  of  its  cotempora- 
ries  can  wrestle  with  it  on  that  basis.  They 
have  not  the  space  to  do  it  in,  else  "  can't 
spell  able" — mostly  both. 

As  to  this  number,  whereabouts  have  we  a 
portrait  and  biography  that  we  can  afford 
to  put  beside  Miss  Leah  Atchleys?  Old  maid, 
eh  ?  Six  years  old  Dec.  16th,  and  had  reared 
with  her  own  hands  a  number  of  queens. 
First  word  she   ever  spoke  was    "  Bees !" 


She  looks  to  me  like  a  come-outer.  Let  us 
pray  God  she  may  never  (come-outer  girls 
of  the  South  have  done  the  like  already) 
never  take  a  rifle  in  her  deft  little  hands,  and 
fight  for  the  lives  of  her  people,  and  her 
faith,  against  the  great  Juggernaut  that 
wears  the  livery  of  heaven  in  these  days.  Her 
hot  speech  to  the  older  brother  that  meddled 
with  her  bees  sounds  a  little  like  battle.  He 
had  doubled  up  the  bees  without  asking  per- 
mission— "  Youngster,  you  let  my  bees  alone 
or  I  will  double  you  up."  Mother  must  do  a 
lot  of  rubbing  in  the  "  Suffereth  long,  and  is 
kind,"  as  well  as  leaving  in  the  dauntless  en- 
ergy. 

Now  here's  a  little  of  that  preface.  I  think 
I  must  be  excused  from  the  articles  on  gen- 
eral subjects,  even  though  of  great  excellence, 
barring  the  few  cases  where  it  seemeth  me 
good  to  make  exception.  Ditto  of  the  hu- 
morous bee  articles.  Fun  seldom  makes 
good  hash  even  if  good  when  fresh. 

So  that  stilted  pack  of  scientific  lies  about 
each  pound  of  honey  representing  millions 
of  miles  of  bee  travel  came  to  grief  in  Eng- 
land. Requires  275  lbs.  of  working  bees  per 
colony  to  haul  in  a  22  lb.  run.  Same  thing 
printed  in  A.  B.  J.  and  none  of  us  took  pains 
to  get  after  it. 

Fortunately  we  do  not  thus  let  alone  the 
mistakes  of  a  recognized  bee  writer.  Edwin 
France,  one  of  the  best  bee-keepers  in  the 
world,  and  the  editor  both  get  after  me  for 
the  dangerous  error  of  putting  bees  above 
their  stores  for  winter.  In  Wisconsin  weath- 
er the  cluster  is  not  always  able  to  follow 
doivn.  My  defense  is  I  did'nt  say  so.  Dr. 
Miller  misquoted  me  just  one  important 
word.  I  said  stores  behind  them,  meaning 
toward  the  rear  of  the  hive  when  on  shallow 
frames. 

Gleanings  No.  1  looks  rather  like  a  sugar- 
honey  special ;  but  in  No.  2  the  gates  are 
banged  and  bolted  again.  Perhaps,  the  most 
remarkable  thing  about  it  is  Prof.  Cook's 
"Right  About  Face."  He  does  not  base  it 
to  any  great  extent  on  change  of  opinion, 
but  on  disposition  to  yield  to  the  popular 
clamor.  Well,  well,  comrades,  the  wheels 
have  stopped ;  and  we  are  sitting  on  the 
safety-valves  now  nice  and  heavy — but  the 
tvater  is  still  bilin. 

More  preface.  It  is  hardly  best  to  review 
articles  in  which  a  queen-breeding  editor 
puffs  his  queens  and  their  race,  or  those  in 
which  the  supply  editor  puffs  his  supplies. 
Not  all,  by  any  means,  of  this  kind  of  writ- 


50 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


ing  is  down  to  the  level  of  that  familiar 
"yawp"  iu  which  the  auctioneer  cries  his 
wares  ;  bat  there  are  obvious  reasons  for  let- 
ting interested  editorials  alone.  Don't  talk 
back  to  a  book  agent.  This  is  not  aimed  at 
Gleanings  especially  although  dropped  down 
in  Gleanings'  territory.  Wanted  some  ob- 
jectionable fellows  to  stand  next  to  the  dan- 
gerous boiler,  you  know. 

Skipped. 

How  would  the  above  word  do  for  the  in- 
scription on  the  door  of  a  repentance  closet 
in  which  all  the  sleepy  "young  uns  "  among 
the  journals  should  be  cast  in  by  name — to 
be  kept  there  till  they  should  think  up  a 
thought  worth  repeating  ?  Hardly  answer. 
The  strong  ones  would  kick  on  the  door  in- 
side and  say  things.  And  the  weak  ones  that 
are  liable  to  die  any  time  must  not  be  put  in 
dungeon.  I  do  not  aspire  to  be  a  Herod. 
But  obviously  something  has  got  to  be  skip- 
ped else  this  department  will  die  of  chronic 
abbreviation.  I  will  try  not  to  skip  any  new 
idea  of  commanding  importance — culling  at 
large  part  of  the  time,  and  reviewing  more 
minutely  part  of  the  time.  The  journals 
must  take  turns  in  being  reviewed  in  extenso 
— and  also  when  the  turn  of  Gleanings  or  A. 
B.  .J.  comes  their  review  will  be  liable  to 
"  bob  off  "  most  anywhere  from  sheer  lack 
of  space. 

MORE  OF  Gleanings. 

I  can  scarcely  do  more  than  note  by  title 
Doolittle's  "Bees  Under  the  Snow,"  and 
Manum's  anti-swarm  tactics,  and  France's 
trapping  of  our  enemy  the  skunk,  and  Wat- 
kins'  California  Flora,  all  well  worthy  of  at- 
tention. Must  cry  out  a  little  at  one  item  in 
the  latter,  the  quiet  introduction  of  the 
Cuban  Bell  Flower  into  California — no  hon- 
ey, but  grows  in  Cuba  nicely.  I  have  the  im- 
pression that  it  is  a  great  nuisance  in  Cuba  ; 
will  it  become  such  in  its  new  home?  'Spects 
the  law  might  as  well  assign  stern  penalties 
for  this  sort  of  impertinent  monkeying. 

"Bees  leave  their  supers  more  readily  during 
the  day  time."  S.  A.  Shook. 

Soak,  soak,  soak  your  wax-material  before 
you  heat  it ;  for  if  the  dirt  and  fiber  first 
get  soaked  with  melted  wax  you  can't  un- 
soak  it.    And — 

"  Never  pour  water  into  the  acid  (sulphuric) 
but  pour  the  acid  slowly  into  the  water." 

Arthub  ('.  Miller. 

0.  R.  Coe  presents  a  wax  method  of  which 

the  principal  new  point  is  a  perforated  metal 

basket  hung  over  a  boiling  tank.    Well  soak- 


ed mess  hot  in  basket,  hot  water  continually 
poured  on,  and  shake  it. 

Charles  F.  Haas,  of  Canal  Dover,  Ohio,  is 
trying  to  teach  us  a  better  process,  a  cold 
process,  of  making  sugar-syrup  that  will  not 
granulate.  Percolation  through  a  sponge. 
Something  may  come  of  it  yet. 

But  the  taking  new  idea  of  this  Gleaniiigs 
is  a  bee  escape  remarkably  easy  to  use,  and 
costing  nothing.  Interpose  an  empty  super, 
partly  covered  with  slats.  Place  on  this  a 
sheet  of  paper  with  a  few  holes  carefully 
punched  in  downward.  Then  put  on  the  su- 
per of  bees  and  honey.  Succeeded  75  times 
with  no  failure.  Until  some  one  else  scores 
75  failures  and  no  success  this  must  be  re- 
garded as  promising.  For  this  we  are  in- 
debted to  John  Handel,  Savanna,  Illinois. 

This  paper  is  too  long  already  for  Review 
to  be  reviewed  this  time,  but  I  must  con- 
gratulate our  editor  on  his  Washington  notes. 
Most  of  mankind  seem  fated  not  to  see  or 
hear  the  things  worth  noticing,  and  to  tell 
a  lot  of  stuff  of  no  use  to  any  human  being. 
We  are  happy  in  having  an  editor  who  is  one 
of  the  rare  exceptions. 

Having  a  lot  of  gall  and  vinegar  about  to 
be  left  over  I  think  I  must  pour  it  upon  that 
Washington  system  of  graded  honey.  A  mess 
of  mendacity  without  a  truthful  spot  in  it 
from  beginning  to  end.  First  by  a  little  si- 
lent fib  the  fancy  grade  of  honey  is  abolish- 
ed. This  is  to  make  room  for  the  second 
and  plainly  audible  fib  of  calling  ]So.  1  hon- 
ey "  Fancy."  This  in  turn  makes  room  for 
the  third  and  thundering  fib  of  calling  No. 
2  honey  No.  1.  Lastly  (as  Satan  would  say 
if  he  were  a  minister)  honey  somewhat  travel- 
stained,  just  as  good  as  any  except  to  the 
eye,  is  ruled  out  entirely  ;  thus  making  sure 
that  the  producer  or  some  one  after  him,  will 
try  to  get  it  in  as  No.  1  honey — seeing  there 
is  no  lower  grade.  Definition.JIChristian. 
A  man  who  dogs  not  want  his  customer  to 
be  deceived  in  regard  to  anything  he  buys. 
If  this  is  correct  how  can  good  men  give 
their  assent  to  a  system  which  foreordains 
nearly  every  man  who  buys  a  section  of  hon- 
ey in  the  regular  channels  of  trade  to  be 
cheated  by  supposing  he  has  a  higher  grade 
than  he  has  ?  Let  every  brother  who  respects 
clean-cut  truth  meditate  a  little  on  this. 
And  more  especially  let  us  meditate,  those  of 
us  who  love  that  radiant  Christ — that  re- 
finer's-fire  Christ — who  came  to  bear  witness 
to  the  truth. 

RiOHABDS,  Lucas  Co.,  O.,  Jan.  27,  1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


51 


AD  YE  RTISEMENTS 

I  HAVE  FOUR  8INGLE-('0MB 

OB5ERVATORY    HIVES 

That  I  wish  to  dispose  of.  Tliey  are  finely  made 
of  "  quartered "  oak  and  ixjlished.  They  cost 
$5.00  each,  but  I  am  oat  of  tlie  show  business 
and  am  open  to  offers 

ARTHUR  ('.  MILLER. 
2-93-tf.  Box  57.5,      Providence,  R.  I. 

HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions :  warranted  good  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  most  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  of  a  full  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT, 

1-93-tf  BeU  Branch,  Mich. 

No.  1  SECTIONS  $2.50. 

No.  2  SECTIONS  !i;l.60. 

DOVETAILED  HIVES  75c.  UP. 

Smokers,     Foundation,     Feeders,    Bee    Veils, 
and  all  things  needed  in  the  Apiary.    Wholesale 
and  retail.    Send  for  Retluced  List,  Free. 
W.  D.  SOPER. 

2-93-tf.  Jackson,  Mich. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui 


Early  Queens    From    Texas, 

From  my  choice  golden  stock.  My  bees  are 
very  gentle,  good  workers,  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  One  un- 
tested queen.  April  and  May,  SI.IK);  six  for  g5,00; 
later,  75c.  Orders  booked  now:  money  sent 
wlien  queens  are  wanted.  Send  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  GIVENS, 

Lisbon.  Texas. 

1'93-9f.  Please  mention  the  Review. 


ffluth's :::: 


EY    EXTRACTOR 

'KRFECTION 

Blast    Smokers, 

S^iu&re  Giziss  Honey  J».rs,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apt'ly  to  ('has.  F.  Muth  &  Son. 
("or.  Freeman  A  Central  Aves..  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hints  to  Bee-Keepers. 

1-93-tf.  Please  Mention  the  Review. 


t^SMOKERS. Sections; 

mVCoMB  FOUNDATION  AND 

J  ^^ALLAPIARIAN    SUPPLfES.rJn 
-"^nSTEKTCi    F  O  RT  X  ATAT.O GtTE 


Please  mention   the  Sevieuj. 


Interesting  Monthly  for 

The  Family  and  Fireside 

Welcame  In  every  Home. 

I^arge Premiums  forCIabs. 

Sample  Copy  sent  Free. 

Thomas  G.  Newman, 

147  Southwestern  Ave., 
CHICACtO,     -      -     II<I<8. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


Iieathcp   Colored 

HONEY  QUEENS,  from  Imported  Mother,  war- 
ranted purely  mated,  after  June  10th,  at  S1.(X) 
each ;  six  at  one  time,  S5.(X).  Untested  queens, 
Tac.  each.    Address 

C.  A.  BUNCH, 
l-93-7t.  Nye.  Marshall  Co.,  Ind.  ] 

Please  mention   the  Review. 


— If  you  are  going  to — 

BXJY  a  BXJZZ  -  SAW^, 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Review.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 

ITALIAr^   QUEEM5 

Bred  for  Business,  Gentleness  and  Beauty.  L'n- 
tested,  80c,  each  ;  three  for  S2.25 ;  six  for  $4.00 ; 
12  for  $7.50.  Tested.  Sl.la  Select  tested,  yellow 
to  the  tip.  breeder,  §1.50.  Will  commence  ship- 
ping April  15th.  On  all  orders  received  before 
March  Ist,  accompanied  by  the  cash,  10  per  cent, 
discount.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

ii.  E.  DAWSON, 
l-93-12t,  Carlisle,  Sonoke  Co..  Ark. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOE,      189S. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  your  interest,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.  P.  H.   BROWN, 
1-88-tf.  Augusta,  Georg-ia, 

Please  mention  the  Review, 


52 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


"K.  D." 

Is  the  name  of  our 
New  Hive. 

New, 
Novel, 
Radical. 


A  combination  Bottom  Board  and  Feeder. 

A  Reversible  Brood  Chamber. 

Self -spacing  Frames. 

Combination  Honey  Board. 

Double  Entrance  and  Queen  Trap. 

Bees  go  direct  to  brood  chamber,  or  super,  or 

both,  at  will  of  apiarist. 
Super  holds  32  Sections  and  3  Separators,  and 

supports  the  sections  by  compres8i<m  and 

spurs. 
Both  side  and  end  compression  on  both  frames 

and  sections. 
No  T's,  slats,  followers  or  wedges. 

CO^TJ^OIiS  SWRI^MING 

without  dequeening  or  frame  manii)ulation. 
The  Hive    is  "K.  D.,"  always   Knocked  Down 

when  not  in  use. 
We  Nail  and  Paint  the  Hive  and  ship  it  "K.  D." 
You  set  up  the  Brood  Frames  and  put   in  the 

Starters,  and  the  Hive  is  ready  for  use. 

AIKIN  BROTHERS  a  KNIGHT, 


L.OV9lZin<ir  Colo. 


2-93-tf 


Plea 


mention   the  Re 


5-BANDED   )  ,      „ 

-  B£!£S.    Circular  Free . 

3-BANDED   \ 

Nucleus  Colonies. 

.J.  F.  MICHAEL, 
2-9:}-4t.  German,  Ohio. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 

IMPORTAWT^^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  Those  wlio  have  tested  rhem 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  lumey 
gatiierers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  tlie  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

piVE-BAflDED   WOI?KEf?S 

In  March,  April  and  May,  $l.2.i  each,  6  for  »<i.(10; 
.U\ni\  $\  (HI  each,  li  for  $.').()(l:  .July  to  Nov..  $1.(X) 
eacli,  6  for  gl.5().  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 

12-fi2-tf  C.  D    DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 

Pleas.    nw.iU.,n  me  Review. 


THE    ODELL 

TYPE    WRITER. 


$20 


will  buytheODELL  TYPE  WRITER 
and  CHECK  PERFORATOR,  with 
78  Characters,  and  $15  for  the  SINGLE  CASE 
ODELL,  warranted  to  do  better  work  than 
any  machine  made. 

It  combines  Simplicity  with  Durability,  Speed, 
Ease  of  Operation,  wears  longer  without  cost  of 
repairs  than  any  other  machine.  Has  no  ink 
ribbon  to  bother  the  operator.  It  is  Neat,  Sub- 
stantial, nickel  plated,  perfect  and  adapted  to 
all  kinds  of  type  writing.  Like  a  printing  press, 
it  produces  sharp,  clean,  legible  manuscripts. 
Two  to  ten  copies  can  be  made  at  one  writing. 
Any  intelligent  person  can  become  a  good  opera- 
tor in  two  days.  We  offer  $l,OO0  to  any 
operator  who  can  equal  the  work  of  the  Double 
Case  Odell. 

Reliable  Agents  and  Salasmen  wanted.  Special 
inducements  to  Dealers. 

For  Pamphlet  giving  Indorsements,  <Sm;.,  ad- 

ODELL  TYPE  WRITER  CO., 
358  Dearborn  St..  Chicago.  III. 

pREE  TO  ALL.      ^ 

SAMPLE  COPIES  EITHEB  OF  THE 

C2tn2^<Ji2^n  Bc^  Journal 

OK 

C2vi72^«Ii2^n  Poultry  Jouri)^], 

Or  both,  will  be  sent   FREE  to  applicants  who 

desire  them,  upon  receipt  of  their  names 

and  addresses. 


These  papers  are  both  of  them  edited  and  ar- 
ranged by  practical  men,  admittedly  the  most 
experienced  in  their  particular  lines  to  be  found 
on  the  continent,  and  the  Journals  may  tiiere- 
fore  he  regarded  as  autlioritativeupon  the  sever- 
al subjects  of  which  they  treat. 

Address         BEETON  PUBLISHING  CO., 
Beet  on,  Ontario. 


SEVENTY  COLONIES  ITALIAN     :    :    :    :    : 
::::::::     BEES  AND  FIXTURES. 

Also,  a  lot  of  new   and  second-hand  Hives  at  a 
bargain.    Write  for  particulars. 
WILLIAM  IDEN, 
2  93-tf.  Etna  Ureen,  Ind. 


OiiiWs  Golten  Qntens 


are  bred  for   bnsi- 

ness.  Try  one.  Cir- 
cular of  Queens  and  Bee  .Supplies  ready  Feb.  1st. 
Send  for  it  and  a  free  .Sample  Copy  of  the  "  PRO- 
GRESSIVE BEE-KEEPER." 

Address,  E.  F.  QUIGLEY, 

Unionville,  Mo. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


53 


i  Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers.  I 

a  TYPE  WRITTEN.  B 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask- 
ing for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  booli.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States)  . 
and.  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2.50 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  csm  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,  FUnt,  Mich. 

Write  for  prices  |on  tine,  golden,  Italian  yueens 
from  Mar.  15  to  Nov.  15,  1S93.  Best  colonies  last 
year  gave  200  lbs.  Average  this  year  was  125  lbs. 
per  colony,  besides  drawing  heavily  on  them  for 
queen  rearing.  J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange.  Fla. 
11-92-tf 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 
'^^     We  have  a   lar^e  lot  of    '^^ 

DOVETAILED    HIVES 

which  we  will  sell  for  50  cts.  each,   including 

supers,  section  holders  and  brood  frames.    This- 

offer  is  limited  to  this  lot  of  hives.  l-92-12t 

WM.  H.  Bright,  Mazeppa,  Minn. 

PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FOIfflDATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

THIN,    FLAT   BOTTOM   FOUNDATION 

Has  No  Fish  Bone  in  Surplus  Honey. 

Being  the  cleanest  is  usually  worked 

the  quickest  of  any  foundation  made. 

J.    VAN  DEUSEN   &   SONS, 

(SOLE    JttANUFACTUBEBS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,Mont.Co.,N.Y 


£  o!r  Bi^  BluG  Cdt- 

.\LOGUE  FOR  1893?  Seventy  illustrated 
pages.  Sent  FREE  to  any  bee-keeper.  BEE- 
SUPPLIES,  at  retail  and  wholesale.  Every- 
thing used  in  the  apiary.  Greatest  variety  and 
largest  stock  in  the  West 
1-93-tf.       E.  Kretchmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 


no  NOT  GIVE  YOUR  ORDER  FOR  SECTIONS 
UNTIL  YOU  GET  OUR  PRICES  ON  THE 


(( nnnn  )> 


BOSS"  ONE-PIECE  SECTION 


We  are  in  better  shape  than  ever  to  fill  orders 
promptly.    Also, 

DOVETAILED    HIVES.    ------ 

-    -    -    FOUNDATION,  SMOKERS,  Etc. 

J^~  Write  for  Price  List.  .„^! 

J.  FOHNCf^OOK  ^  00. 


Watebtown,  Wis.,  Jan.  1, 1893. 

Please  mention   the  Recieiu 


1-9.3-tf. 


BJ?0lJllC^' 


Friends,  I  can  furnish 
you  with  all  kinds  of  Ber- 
ry Plants,  at  about  one- 
Plants  warranted.    Bank 


half  the  usual  price. 

references     Satisfaction  guaranteed. 

Address  EZRA  G.  SMITH, 

1-93  2t.  Manchester,  N.  Y 

Please  mention  the  Reuietu. 


lllnstrateil   Advertisements  Attract   Attention. 


Cuts  fnrnisled  for  all  illnslrating  Pnrposes. 


REAR    YOUR    OWN    QUEENS! 

QUEEN-REARING      MADE      EASY-  ANYONE      CAN     REAR     THEM. 

An  important  discovery  relative  to  Rearing  Queens  was  made  by  me  in  the  season  of  1S92,  and 
will  be  given  in  the  MARCH  ISSUE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST.  It  tells  you  how  to 
rear  queens  in  a  full  colony  without  removing  or  disturbing  the  queen— how  to  have  queen  cells 
started  and  completed  in  the  same  hive  which  has  a  fertile  queen ;  in  fact,  it  is  jnst  the  information 
that  thousanils  of  bee-keepors  have  long  desired  to  know.  The  above  copy  of  the  American  .\picul- 
turist  is  worth  ONE  HUNDRED  DOLLARS  to  any  live  bee-keeper.  Yet  it  will  be  mailed  to  any 
address  for  2.1  cents  ;  or  the  12  copies  for  1893  for  7.5  cents.  In  order  to  make  our  book  on  Queen- 
Rearing  (Thirty  Years  Among  the  Bees)  complete  in  one  volume,  all  the  matter  in  the  March  issue 
of  the  .Vpiculturist  will  be  bound  in  one  book.  Mailed,  per  copy,  at  .50  cents  ;  or  the  book  (,72  pages;. 
The  Bee-Keepers'  Directory  1 138  pages),  and  the  American  Apiculturist  one  year,  allfor  $1.00. 

Address  H.  ALLEY,  IVenham,  Mass. 


54 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Barnes'   Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This    cut    represents    our 

Combined       Circular      and 

Scroll    Saw,    which    is   the 

best     machine      made     for 

Bee     Keepers'     use    in    the 

construction  of  their  hives, 

sections,    boxes,    etc. 

a-9i-->6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOB  OATALOGU,  PR  108,         TO., 
Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St ,  Rockford,  Ills. 

IF"    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $l.iiO 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 

Libera/ Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

Plea?"  mention  *he  Review. 


ESTABLISHED      1876. 

S-    T-    FISH    &    CO., 

COMMISSION      MERCHANTS. 

Dried  Fruit,  Honey   and  Farm   Products. 

189    South    Water    St.,   Chicago, 

We  make  a  specialty  oi  our  honey  department 
and  ask  for  your  consignments  and  correspon- 
dence.   Reference,  any  bee-paper.  9-92-6t 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


[HATCH  CHICKENSBY  STEAM 

I  v.thto^improved Excelsior  Incubator. 


Simple,  F'r/ect,  Self-Iiegu. 
Idiini/.  Thousands  in  suc' 
cessful  operation.  Guaran 
teed  to  hatch  a  larger  per- 
centage of  fertile  eggs  at 
less  cost  than  any  other 
i^atcher.  Lowest  priced 
first-class  Batcher  made. 
GEO,  li.  WTAHL.  <tiilncy,Hl, 


I  $  1 .00  HIVE. 


A  Complete  Hive  for  Comb  Honey,  in- 
cluding Six  Section  Holders,  Eiglit  Thick 
Top-Bar  Frames,  Half-Story  Body,  Bot- 
tom Board  and  Cover,  $l.Ull  each  ;  in  flat, 
90cts  each. 


Hoffrrjan  Prarp^s,  Sections, 

Poun<i&tion,  ao<i  zi  Full  uinc  of 

Bce-Ke^pcrs'  ^uppli^s. 


^       A  20-page  Price  List  Free. 

^    12-92-12t  J.  M.  KINZIE, 

^    Rochester,  Oakland  Co.,  Mich. 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  Second-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Msr 
chines  sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped,  privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  j  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADQUARTERS,   (  186  Monroe  St.,  Chicaga 

FOUNDATION 

AND  SESTIOnS. 


CA  UTION  . 

Do  not  buy  a  thick,  heavy  base  comb  founda- 
tion for  use  in  your  sections  wlien  you  can  get 
11  to  16  square  feet  to  the  pound.  Also  be  sure 
and  buy  your  secticms  where  you  can  get  a  nice 
box  at  a  low  price.  Send  me  your  address  and  1 
will  be  pleased  to  send  you  a  sample  section,  a 
.sample  of  the 

THINEST  COMB  FOUNDATION   MADE, 

And  prices  at  wliich  tliey  may  be  bought. 

W.  H.   NORTON, 

2-M-t4.  Skowhegan,  Me. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


Cheap    Freight   and   Quick  Transportation. 

Being  located  at  the  most  central  point  of  railroad  and  express  companies  enables  us  to  furnish 
bee  keepers  with  supplies  at  loss  cost  to  themselves  than  any  house  in  the  countrj'.  We  furnish 
everything  needed  in  the  apiary,  as  low  as  the  lowest  and  as  good  as  the  best. 

QQQI^»S  ry.r^fJTT^T  ,Tr.<  I'W.  m"VHj  combines  all  the  most  approved  methods 
of  hive  making.  It  is  a  complete  arrangement  for  out-door  wintering  and  is  eijually  well  adaptetl  to 
producing  comb  or  extracted  honey.    Send  for  circular.  Fine  lot  of  Bees  for   Sale  cheap. 

J.  H.  M.  COOK,  U-TaT.wT.J  78  Barclay  St.,  New  York  City. 


I 


FHE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


55 


Great  Reduction. 


SECTIONS 


AT     GREATI.Y    REDUCED 
PRICES. 

HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  Ac,  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 

WKITK    FOR   FREE.    ILLUSTRATED   CATA- 
LOGUE AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G,  B.  LEWIS  A  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

1-93  tf. 


Please  mention   the    Review, 


TO  REDUCE  STOCK. 


From  now  until  March  let  only,  we  will  sell  No. 
1.  One- Piece  Sections  at  $2.75,  and  No.  2  at  $2.tX) 
per  1,UOO.  Other  supplies  in  proportion  On  all 
cash  orders  of  If.i.DO  or  more,  from  within  100 
miles  of  us  we  will  pay  the  freight. 

,J.  .T.  BRADNER, 

l-98-2t.  Marion,  Grant  Co.,  Ind. 

Please  mention   the  Review. 

New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROA^EMKNTS 

IN   BEE- HIVES,  SMOKERS, 
FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWRY  JOHNSON, 

1  9:}-tf.  Maeontown,  Pa. 


"  FLORIDA-' 


300 


LEATHER-BACK  ITALIAN  QUEENS. 


By  my  special  method  of  taking  a  crop  of 
honey  by  the  "  Migratory  "  system,  I  shall 
have  300  tested  queens  for  delivery  about 
March  20th  Prices  $10  per  dozen.  None  over 
six  months  old  My  crop  the  past  season  from 
one  yard  of  42  colonies,  spring  count,  was  10,800 
pounds  and  increased  to  150. 

A.  F.  BROWN, 

l-93-4t  Huntington.  Putnam  Co..  Fla. 


«^1 


I    f^J"^ 


BINGHAM    PERFECT 

BEE  SMOEEE 

Paf  d  1878, 1882.  &   1892. 

Cheapest  S;  Best  on  Earth. 

Send  Card  for  Circular  to 

Bingliara&Hetheringtoii 

ARRONIA,  MICH. 


Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth,  Dovetailed  and  Champion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supers,  One  Piece  Sections  and  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation,  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16  page  Circular. 

1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  London,  Wis. 


SECOND     HAND 

SUPPLIES     CHEAP. 

I  have  given  up  the  bee  business  for  the  prac- 
tice of  law.  1  have  a  lot  of  hu]pplies  on  hand, 
both  used  and  unused,  which  I  will  make  it  an 
object  for  any  one  needing  them  to  buy.  There 
are  abimt  80  of  the  New  Heddon  Hives,  over  250 
T  supers,  36  new  (iO-lb.  honey  cans,  honey  ex- 
tractor, glass  for  12-lb  shipping  cases,  sections, 
surplus  foundation,  queen  -  excluding  honey- 
boards  and  almost  everything  to  be  found  in  a 
large  apiary.  No  circulars.  Write  me  what  you 
want  and  I  will  let  you  know  condLion  and 
price.  All  these  goods  are  at  Newton,  Jasper 
Co.,  Iowa,  and  will  be  shipped  from  there  in 
April  by  my  brother.  Addresa  WM.  L.  DREW, 
122  Oxford  St.,  North  Cambridge,  Mess. 


QUEENS,  QUEENS,  QUEENS. 

Have  you  tried  my  Italians  ?  I  have  the  finest 
bees  you  ever  saw ;  they  are  leather  colored  Ital- 
ians, and  ab  honey  gatherers  they  can't  be  ex- 
celled. Try  them  and  be  convinced.  They  are 
very  gentle  and  hardy  and  good  winterers.  Un- 
tested queens,  $1.00  each,  or  $9.00  a  dozen.  Test- 
ed, $1..30  each,  or  $12.75  a  dozen.  Safe  arrival 
and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  On  all  orders  re- 
ceived before  March  Ist,  accompanied  by_  the 
cash,  a  discount  of  15  per  cent,  will  be  given. 
Send  for  price  list  of  Italian  Queens  and  Bee- 
Keepers' Supplies  M.  H  DEWITT. 

1-93  6t.  Sang  Run,  Garrett  Co.,  Md, 


QUEEN     CAGES 

Are  my  specialty.  I  make  the  Benton  cage  in  many 
styles  and  sizes.  A  light  cage  saves  postage  ;  a  neat  cage 
creates  a  favorable  impression  :  one  properly  arranged 
carries  its  occupants  .safely  in  either  hot  or  cool  weather ; 
and  my  special  machinery  and  large  trade  enable  me  to 
furnish  extra  nice  cages,  having  all  these  advantages,  at  a 
very  low  price.    Sample  cages  and  prices  on  application. 

C.  W.  COSTELLOW,  Waterboro,  Mo, 


56 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


^^Falcon^' Sections 

Better  than  aijy. 
Cbeap  as  njany. 

Our  No,  1  Sections 

Equal  to  rpaoy. 
Cheaper  t^atj  any. 

/*ny  Size.  /\ny  Qua.ntity. 

At   Any  Tin7«. 


1 


lAlso,  all  styles  HIVE?  and  BEE- 
FIXTURES  Gbean.  Mew  cata- 
logue and  price  list  frc^.  Sarpples 
of  Falcon  Sections  for  2c.  starpp. 

;W.  T.  Falconer  Mfg.  Co., 

JAMESTOWN.    N.  Y. 


Golden, 


^1 

Italian  Queens 

My  Bees  are  as  good  honej  Katherers  as  there 
are  in  the  country,  while  for  Golden  Heiiuty 
they  cannot  be  excelled  in  tlie  world. 

Warranted  Queens,  75  cents  each. 

Tested.  $1.00  each. 

Breeding  Queens,  $2.50  to  $3.00. 

Ten  per  cent  d  'scouut  on  orders  for  five  or  more 
<iueens.  Satinfactiou  Kuaranteed.  Make  money 
orders*  i)ayable  at  Caldwell,  Texas.    Address 

C.  B.  BANKSTON.  Chrismac,  Texas. 

2S3-tf  Plenae  mention   the  Reuiew. 


1  TELL  y'lU  wliat,  Jones,  Ler- 

ering  Bros-  »ell  tlie  b  st  Koods 

»     anil  at  the  lowest  prices  of  any 

\  line  I've  struck   yet.    The  lar- 

'  ^ijcs*  and  be.-teijuippetl 

Bee- Hive  Facloff 

In  the  West.  T.ie  Dovetailed 
Hive  au<i  New  HoflFman  _ seH- 
spacinK  frame  a  specialty. 
EvorythinK  ut-ed  by  practical 
bee-keepers  by  whoJesale  and  re- 
tail. Send  for  their  free  Illus- 
trated Price-List.  and  save  money.  Supply  Deal- 
ers, send  for  their  Wholesale  List.     Address 

LEVERING  BROS.. 
MKUi.  WIOTA.  CaBs:(:o..  Iowa. 


IF  you  wisli  to  advertise  anything  anywhere  at 
any  tune  writ*  to  GEO.  P.  ROWELL  &  CO  . 
No  10  Spruce  St..  N.  Y. 


1852. 


REDUCTION  ON  THE  PRICE  OF 


1891 


L^angstpoth  on  the  Honey  Bee 

iREVISEO.^i 
PR/CE  BY  MAIL,  $1.40:  BY  EXPRESS  OR  FREIGHT  WITH  OTHER  GOODS  $1.25. 

By  its  ijopious  indexes,  by  its  arrauKement  in  numbered  paragraphs,  includinK  reference  number^ 
on  any  question  in  bee  culture,  any  information  can  be  instantiv  fuimd.  This  book  is  tlie  must  com- 
plete treatise  on  bee  keeping'  yet  piiblislied.    A  FRENCH  EDITION  JUST  ISSUED.  m 

•  676    DADA/ST'S    COrVB    FOUND ATIO/S.  Vs,.. 

A\or^  than  Ever.      Better  t^an  Ever.     Wholesale  an«J  Retail. 

Half  a  Million  lbs.  Sold  In  13  Years.  Over  S200,000  in  Value. 

It  is  THE  BEST,  and  guaranteed  every  inch  equal  to  sample.  .Vli  dealers  who  have  tried  it  have 
increased  their  trade  every  year.    Samples,  Catalogue,  free  t<i  all.    Send  your  address. 

We  also  make  a  specialty  of  Cotton  and  Silk  TuUe  of  verj"  best  grade  for  bee-veils.  We  snpplv 
A.  I.  Root  and  others.    7,000  Yards  just  received.    Prices  Very  Low.    Samples  Free. 

Smokers,  Honey  Sections,  Extractors,  Tin  Pails  for  Honey,  Etc.    Instructions  to  Beginners 

with  Circulars  Free.  4-92-12. 

*».«t/o/.  /f.w.«.  CHAS.  DADAfiT  A  SOJ4,  H«noilton,  H«n«o«kCo.,  IU«. 


Mar.  1893. 


At   Fliqt,   Micl^igaq, — Or\e  Dollar  a  Year, 


58 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW^ 


flDVEf^TISlNG  t^RTES. 

All  advertisements  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  linch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  follows  :  — 

On  10  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  5  per  cent;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  percent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  HO  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Liist. 

1  will  send  the  Rev/ew  with— 

Gleanings, ($1.00) 

American  Bee  Journal. . . .  (  l.OO) 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) 

American  Bee  Keeper    . . .  (    .50) 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper... (    .50)...  . 

Bee  Keepers' Guide (    ..50) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Magazine. . .  (    ..50) 


.$1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.65. 

.  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  ■  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  well  filled ;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides  ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise  ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed ;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel  stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  tliis  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  wiU  be  "  fancy  white," 
"No.  1  dark,''  etc. 


BUFFALO,  N.Y.— Fancy  is  in  good  demand 
and  stock  is  light;  dark  is  dull  with  a  liberal 
supply  on  hand.  We  quote  as  follows :  fancy 
white,  18  to  19 ;  No.  1  white,  16  to  17 ;  fancy 
dark,  10  to  11 ;  No.  1  dark,  9  to  9Va ;  white  ex- 
tracted. 9  to  10;  amber  extracted,  8(4  to  9;  dark 
extracted,  7  to  8 ;  beeswax,  25  to  'M. 

BATTERSON  A  CO . 

Mar.6  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


CHICAGO,  ILL, —The  long  winter,  being  fa- 
vorable to  tlie  honey  business,  has  left  our  mar- 
kets almost  bare  of  the  best  grades  of  both  comb 
imd  extracted  honey,  and  we  are  having  a  better 
demand  and  obtaining  better  prices  tlian  at  any 
previous  time  tliis  season.  Dark  comb  honey  is 
a  poor  article  for  tliis  market  and  we  would  ad- 
vise its  disposal  in  the  homo  markets  where  the 
producer  will  not  have  to  contend  with  the  idea 
that  dark  comb  honey  is  not  so  pure  as  the 
white.  We  (juoteas  follows:  fancy  white,  18;  No. 
1  white.  16;  fimcy  amber,  14 ;  fancy  dark,  13 ; 
white  extracted,  9 ;  amber  extracted,  8 ',4  ;  dark 
extracted,  7  to  7'/s;  beeswax.  22  to  25, 

J.  A.  LAMON, 

Mar.  6.        44  <t  48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.  -  There  is  a  good  suj) 
ply  on  hand  but  it  is  mostly  dark.  This  stock  is 
slow,  but  what  little  wliite  there  is  on  the  market 
moves  readily.  We  (jnote  fancy  white,  17  to  18; 
two  pound  combs.  16  to  17  ;  buckwlieat,  15  to  16 : 
extracted  honey,  10  to  11. 

J.  SHKA&CO. 
Feb.  13.     14  Hennepin  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

(;HICA(iO,  111  —The  offerings  of  the  best  grades 
are  light  and  those  having  any  to  sell  should 
forward  it  at  once.  We  quote  as  follows;  fancy 
white,  18;  No.l  white,  16  to  17 ;  fancy  amber, 
13;No.l  amber  10  to  12;  fancy  dark,  10;  white 
extracted,  7  to  9 ;  amber  extracted,  7  to  8;  dark 
extracted,  6  to  7  ;  beeswax,  22  -o  ".'5. 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 
Mar.  6.  161  So.  Water  St.,  <  hicago.  111. 


ALBANY.  N.  Y.— Stock  of  honey  very  light. 
Prices  well  sustained  Demand  will  be  better 
as  the  weather  warms  up  We  (juote  as  follows  : 
Fancy  white.  15  to  17 ;  No.  1  white,  14  to  l") ; 
mixed,  12  to  14 ;  fancy  dark,  11  to  12 ;  No.  1  dark, 
10 to  11;  white  extracted.  SH  to  <dVi\  amber  ex- 
tracted, 7  to  7^4;  dark,  6'/s  to  7.  Beeswax,  2,^ 
to  30. 

H.  R.  WRIGHT. 

Feb.  13.  326  Broadway,  Albany.  N.  Y. 


NEW  YORK.— There  is  a  fair  demand  for 
comb  honey,  and  supplies  are  light.  Fancy 
white  and  No.  1  white  would  find  ready  sale 
this  month.  Beeswax  is  scarce  and  in  good 
demand.  We  quote  as  follows :  No.  1  white, 
13  to  14 ;  fancy  amber,  12  to  13 ;  fancy  dark,  10 : 
No.l  dark,  9;  amber  extracted.  7  to  VA;  dark 
extracted.  6  to  6>2  ;  beeswax,  28  to  :}0. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN, 

Mar.  6.         28  «&  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


KANS.AS  CITY,  Mo.-The  demand  for  extract 
ed  honey  is  good  and  the  supply  light.  The  sup- 
ply of  comb  honey  is  fair  a  d  the  demand  the 
same.  Shipments  of  No.  1  would  meet  with  very 
ready  sale.  We  quote  as  follows:  No.  1  white, 
16  to  17  ;  fancy  amber,  15  to  16;  No.  1  amber  13 
to  14 ;  fancy  dark,  12  to  13 ;  No.  1  dark,  10  to  11 ; 
white  extracted.  6V2  to  7;  dark  extracted,  5  to  6  : 
beeswax,  22  to  25. 

CLEMONS-MASON  CO., 

Mar.  6.  521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 

CINCINNATI,  Ohio,— There  is  a  good  demand 
for  extracted  honey  from  the  jobbing  trade  for 
family  use,  but  the  demand  from  manufacturers 
is  slow.  We  never  had  as  small  a  stock  on  hand 
as  we  have  now,  and  unless  unlooked  for  ship- 
ments arrive  we  shall  be  unable  to  fill  our  orders 
for  March.  We  solicit  early  shipments  from  our 
friends  in  the  South,  as  freight  rates  are  now  the 
same  on  honey  as  they  are  on  sjTupsand  molas- 
ses. No.  1  dark  comb  brings  10  to  12 ;  extracted 
honey  6  to  8  Demand  for  beeswax  is  good  at  23 
to  25  for  good  to  choice  yellow  wax. 

CHAS.  F.  MUTH  &  SON., 

Feb.  14.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


FOR    SALE ^ 

My  bees  have  never  wintered  more  per- 
fectly than  they  have  thus  far  this  season — 
not  a  sign  of  dysentery,  and  when  I  swept  up 
the  dead  bees  in  the  cellar  the  other  day  for 
the  first  time,  there  was  only  half  a  pint  of 
dead  bees  to  the  colony.  I  have  more  bees 
than  I  can  care  for  and  run  the  Review,  and 
I  should  be  glad  to  sell  a  few  full  colonies 
in  the  new  Heddon  hive  at  $0.00  per  colony; 
5  for  $28.,'J0  :  10  or  more,  ^.^..W  each.  All 
queens  are  pare  Italians  of  last  year's 
rearing.      W.  Z.  Hutohinbon,  Flint  Mich. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


59 


AFTeiH    VOWH    BEES 


Have  passed  the  rigors  of  winter,  then  comes  spring- 
with  its  mixture  of  balmy  days  and  storms,  its  few  short 
honey-flows  interspersed  with  rain,  frost  and  mayhap  an 
occasional  snow  storm.  How  best  to  bring-  the  bees 
throug-h  this  trying-  period  in  such  a  manner  that,  not- 
withstanding- adverse  weather,  they  will  g-ain  steadily 
in  numbers  and  be  read}'  to  g-o  forth  as  an  army  to 
g-ather  in  the  spoils  when  the  main  harvest  comes,  is 
taught  in  one  of  the  opening-  chapters  of  "Advanced 
Bee  Culture." 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts.;  the  Review  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 

W.  Z.   HOTCHINSOH,   Flint,   Mich. 


'®) 


'3 


WHITE    PORL.AR 

SEOTIONS. 

We  have  New  Steam  Power,  and  Ni'W  Build- 
ings, and  are  now  ready  to  fnruish  Wliite  Pop- 
lar Sections,  Clamps,  Crates  and  Wood  Sides  at 
short  notice.  Workmanship,  Quality  and  Price 
unsurpassed.     Send  for  samplf  and  price  list. 

PRIME  &.  GOVE, 
1-90-tf  Bristol,  Vermont. 


•■CLOVER  SEEDS -C.'-NS  AND  BE.t>>,^^BUCKWrtEAT 

J^Sawp  L£  of  our.bee  J  ouknalThe  we  S  T  E  R  N  1  ' 
;flEEK££PER  AUoOur CATALOGUE  ^ f=i 

>;p3.NY;5EWANPEfi.  DesMoini^5>1ow^. 


ON    HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

OF  BEE    HIVES,    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE  NORTHWEST. 

W.  H.   PUTNAM, 

198-l:it.  RIVER  PALLS,   WIS. 


Is-'v 


spray 

your 

Fruit 


ana.tE 


Please  mention  the  Keview, 


■Wormy  Fruit  and  Leaf  Blight  of  Apples,  Pears, 
Cherries  and  Plums  prevented  ;  also  Grape  and 
Potato  Rot— by  spraying  with  ^^tahl's  Double 
Acting  Excelsior  Spraying  Outfits.  Best  in  the 
market.  Thousands  in  use.  Catalogue,  describing 
all  insects  injurious  to  fruit,  mailed  Free.  Address 

WM.  STAHL,     QUINCY,  ILL. 


60 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


"K.  D." 

Js  the  luiiiie  of  our 
New  Hive. 

New, 

Novel, 
Radical. 


THE    ODELL 

TYPE    WRITER. 


A  combinalion  Bottom  Board  and  Feeder.   • 

A  ReverBible  Brood  Chamber. 

Self-Kpaciiiff  Frames. 

Combination  Hfrney  Board. 

Double  Entrance  and  Queen  Trap. 

Bees  go  direct   to  brood  cliamber,  or  super,  or 

both,  at  will  of  apiarist. 
Super  holds  .32  Sections  and  3  Separators,  and 

supports  the  sections  by  compression  and 

spurs. 
Both  side  and  end  compression  on  both  frames 

and  sections. 
No  T's,  slats,  followers  or  wedges. 

COHTt^OLiS  SWflf^IVIlNG 

without  dequoeningor  frame  manipulation. 
The  Hive    is  "K.  D.,"  always   Knocked  Down 

when  not  in  use. 
We  Nail  and  Paint  the  Hive  and  ship  it  "K.  D." 
You  set  up  tlie  Brood  Frames  and  put   in  the 

Starters,  and  the  Hive  is  ready  for  use. 

AIKIN  BROTHERS  &  KNIGHT, 


Uov^lan^lf  Colo. 


2-93-tf 


Pratfs  Automalic  or  Self-fiiver, 

Read?  for  use,  sent  PostDaid  to  any  Address  for 
75  cts,      Address  E.  L,  PRATT,  Beverly,  Mass. 

Special  Terms  to  Agents. 

IMPORTAMT^-^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  liave  gaine<l  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  Those  wlio  have  tested  them 
with  other  l)ces  say  ''they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  wliitcst,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  ar(>  the  largest 
and  Htroiiijesl  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  i)roduce  uniformly 
marked 

piVE-BRfiDED   WOf?KEI?S 

In  March,  .Vpril  and  May,  $1.2.'}  each,  6  for  gti.OO; 
June,  $l(K)each,  t>  for  $5.a);  .July  to  Nov.,  Sl.tX) 
each.  6  for  84..'>().  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriijtivecircular. 
12-92-tf  C.  D-  DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 


will  i)uytheODELL  TYPE  WRITER 
and  CHECK  PERFORATOR,  with 
78('haracters,  au<l  $15  for  tlic  SINGLE  CASE 
ODELL,  warranted  to  do  better  work  than 
any  maiihine  made. 

It  combines  Simplicity  with  Durability,  Speed, 
Ease  of  Operation,  wears  longer  without  cost  of 
repairs  than  any  other  machine.  Has  no  ink 
ribbon  to  bother  the  operator.  It  is  Neat,  Sub- 
stantial, nickel  plated,  perfect  and  adapted  to 
all  kinds  of  typs  writing.  Like  a  printing  press, 
it  produces  sharp,  clean,  legible  manuscripts. 
Two  to  ten  copies  can  be  made  at  one  writing. 
Any  intelligent  person  can  become  a  good  opera- 
tor in  two  days.  We  offer  $l,OO0  to  any 
operator  who  can  equal  the  work  of  the  Double 
Case  Odell. 

Reliable  Agents  and  Salasmen  wanted.  Special 
inducements  to  Dealers. 

For   Pamphlet  giving  Indorsements,  &c.,  ad 

ODELL  TYPE  WRITER  CO., 
358  Dearborn  St..  Chicago.  III. 

pREE  TO  ALL.      ^  * 

SAMPLE  COPIES  EITHER  OF  THE 

C^nz^^iiz^n  Bee  ^ourn^l 

OH 

Cao^^iiao  Poultry  Jo{^rry^^, 

Or  both,  will  be  sent    FREE   to  aprdicants   who 

desire  them,  upon  receipt  of  their  names 

and  addresses. 


These  paiiers  are  both  of  them  edited  and  ar- 
ranged by  practical  men.  admittedly  the  most 
experienced  in  their  particular  lines  to  be  found 
on  the  continent,  and  the  .Journals  may  there- 
fore be  regarded  as  authoritative  upon  the  sever- 
al subjects  of  which  they  tn-at. 

Address         BEETON  PUBLISHING  (^O.. 
Beeton   Ontario. 

SEVENTY  COLONIES  ITALI.VN     :    :    :    :     : 
::::::::     BEES  .VNl)  FIXTURES. 

Also,  a  lot  of  new  and  8ec(md-hand  Hives  at  .i 
bargain.    Write  for  particulars. 
WILLIAM  IDEN, 
2  93tf.  Etna  (Jrt^en,  Ind. 

fliiiglers  Golden  Queens  ^eLX  one.'S: 

cular  of  Queens  and  Bee  Supplies  ready  Feb.  let. 
Send  for  it  and  a  free  .Sample  Copy  of  the  "  PRO- 
GRESSIVE BEE-KEEPER." 

.Addres.s  K.  F.  QUIGLEY, 

I'nionville,  Mo. 


I 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


61 


Names  of  Bee -Keepers.  I   seen  our  Dig  DlUt)  Ijdl- 

r  rn        ALOfiUE    FOR     ISQfl?      Sfiveutv     illuBtrfitpd 


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiaaaaaaaaaaa 

I  Names  of  Bee  •  Keepers,  i 

a  TYPE  WRITTEN.  B 

r;P!PJEE|RJEB|PEEEEBr:rr;F.EEEEEEEB 
The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States) . 
and,  altlioagh  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  ftirmer  price  was  82.50 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  Flint,  Mich. 

Quc^O     Dealers, 

Write  for  prices  Ion  tine,  golden.  Italian  Queens 
from  Mar.  15  to  Nov.  15,  1893.  Best  colonies  last 
year  gave  200  lbs.  Average  this  year  was  125  lbs. 
per  colony,  besides  drawing  heavily  on  them  for 
queen  rearing.  J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange.  Fla. 
11-92-tf 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 

^^^    We  have  a  larj?e  lot  of    '^^ 

DOVETAILED    HIVES 

which  we  will   sell   for  50  els.  each,    including 

supers,  section  holders  and  brood  frames.    This 

offer  is  limited  to  this  lot  of  hives.  l-92-12t 

WM.  H.  Bright,  Mazcppa,  Minn. 

paIntTwieed,  comb  foundation 

I^VB  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

THIN,    FLAT   BOTTOM   FOUNDATIi 

Has  no  Fish  Bone  in  Surplus  Honey. 

Being  the  cleanest  is  usually  worked 

the  quickest  of  any  foundation  made. 

J.   VAN  DELSEN   &   Sf)XS, 

(SOLE    MANUFACTURERS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,Mont.Co.,N.Y 


ALOGUE  FOR  1893?  Seventy  illustrated 
pages  Senf  FREE  to  any  bee-keeper.  BEE- 
SUPPLIES,  at  retail  and  wliolesale  Eveiy- 
tning  used  in  the  apiary.  Greatest  variety  and 
largest  stock  in  the  West 
1-93-tf.       E.  Kretchmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 

.■^.c<«ac  fi.trrniufi  the  Reuteu). 


DO  NOT  GIVE  YOUR  ORDER  FOR  SECTIONS 
UNTIL  YOU  GET  OUR  PRICES  ON  THE 

"BOSS"  ONE-PIECE  SECTION 

We  are  in  better  shape  than  ever  to  till  orders 
promptly.    Also, 

DOVETAILED    HIVES.    ------ 

-    -    -    FOUNDATION,  SMOKERS,  Etc. 

^T"  Write  for  Trice  List.  _,^ 

J.  FOf^NCROOK  ^  CO. 

Watertown,  Wis.,  Jan.  1, 1893.  l-93-tf 

Pfcase  mention   the  Review 


f\  II  r  r  11  A  A  large  number  of  fine  ones  on 
JJilrrNiS  hand ;  yellow  and  prolific  ; 
y  U  L  L  11  Uj  ready  April  15th:  warranted 
queens,  $1:  6  for  $4..50;  select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  tijis.  suitable  for  breeders, 
$2  each.     Reference,  A.  1.  Root.  3-93  tf 

W   H.  LAWS,  Lavaca,  Seb  Co  ,  Ark. 


lUnstraieil   Advertisements  Attract   Attention. 


Cuts  FirnisM  for  all  illnstratlDg  Pnrpflses. 


REAR    YOUR_OWN    QUEENS! 

QUEEN-REARING      MADE      EASY-  ANYONE      CAN     REAR     THEM. 

An  important  discovery  relative  to  Rearing  Queens  was  made  by  me  in  t^^e  season  of  1892,  and 
will  be  given  in  the  MARCH  ISSUE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST.  It  telli  you  how  to 
rear  queens  in  a  full  colonv  without  removing  or  disturbing  the  queen— how  to  have  queen  ceDs 
started  and  completed  in  the  same  hive  which  has  a  fertile  queen  ;  in  fact,  it  is  just  the  information 
that  thousands  of  bee-keepers  have  long  desired  to  know  The  above  copy  of  the  American  Apicul- 
turist  is  worth  ONE  HUNDRED  DOLLARS  to  any  live  bee-keeper.  Yet  it  will  be  mailed  to  any 
address  for  25  cents  :  or  1  he  12  copies  for  1893  for  75  cents  In  order  to  make  our  book  on  Queen- 
Rearing  (Thirty  Years  Among  the  Bees  i  complete  in  one  volume,  all  the  matter  in  the  March  issue 
of  tlie  Apiculturist  will  be  bound  in  one  book.  Mailed,  per  copy,  at  .50 cents:  or  the  book  (72  pages). 
The  Bee  Keepers'  Directors-  1 13S  pagesi.  and  the  American  Apiculturist  one  year,  all  for  $1 .00. 


.\ddre8s 


H.  ALLEY,  'Wenham,  Mass. 


62 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS '  REVIEW, 


pm..^^::m'':m\^^^m'm-M^'m:,\^;^, 


W 


Low    Freight    Rzites 
And    no    Delzvys. 


l^<^-:i^^m^^^sm^^:ȣ^:j^^:ii^s^;imc^^ 


\A/HEN  you  are  considering  whore  to  send  for 
your  supplies  tlie  coming  season,  get  prices 
and  a  list  of  goods  on   hand,  iFrom  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing dealers,  who  liandlc  ROOT'S  GOODS 
in   carh)ad  lots,   tlius   si-ciinng  them   at    lowest 
cost.     Most   of  them,   exci'jit  those   far  distant, 
sell  goods  to  users  at  factory  priceswhile  tliose 
far   distant   ad  •  approximately  only  the  carload 
rate  of  freight  so  that  you  will    SAVE    TIV^E 
A/SD    A\07SEY   by   buying  your  sui)plies  of 
one  of  these  dealers.     We  cannot  give  here  a  list 
of  goods  kept,  as  it  varies  some  at  the  different 
places  according  to  the  varying  needs  of  eacli  locality.    Write  to  the  place  nearest  you  for  list  with 
prices,  and  when  you  write  give  a  list  of  the  goods  you  want,  ami  mention  this  paper. 

QUITE  a  full  line  of  goods  are  sold  at  factory  prices  by  F.  A  Salisbury,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  ; 
H.  G.  Ackliu,  1024  Mississippi  St.,  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Jos.  Nysewander,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 
A  good  assortment  is  also  kept  for  the  far  West  by  Barteledes  ct  Co.,  Denver,  Col.  For 
California  by  G.  G.  Wickson  ct  Son,  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles.  For  Oregon  and 
Washington  by  F.  L.  Posson  &  Son,  Portland,  Oregon.  For  the  Southeast  Atlantic  coast 
by  Baltimore  Farm  Implement  Co.,  Baltimore,,Md.;  and  for  the  Far  South  by  -T.  M.  Jenkins, 
Wetumpka,  Ala. 

A  smaller  assortment,  consisting  chiefly  of  Dovetailed  hives,  sections,  smokers,  foundation,  and 
"  extractors  is  also  kept  by  the  f(ill<«%ying  : 

Henry  F.  Hagen,  Rocky  Ford,  Colo. ;  W.  K.  Ball,  Reno.  Nev.;  W.  O.  Victor,  Wharton,  Tex.;  .Jno. 
Nebel  &  Son.  High  Hill,  Mo. ;  Thos.  G.  Newman,  Chicago,  111. ;  Walter  S.  Fonder,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ; 
Vicker  l^ms,,  Evansville,  Ind.    Our  Hives,  Comb  Fdn.,  Smokers,  Extractors,  Perf.zinc,  etc,  are  fur- 
nished by  a  multitude  of  otlier  dealers  too  nu- 
merous to  mention.    If  you  want  to  buy  goods 
made  at  tlie  Home  of  the   Honey  Bees,  you  can 
get  them  as  cheap  as  you  can  any-where  when  you 
consider  quality  and  workmansliip,  and    your 
orders  will  be    taken  care  of  promptly.    Don't 
expect     to    get    all   the    goods   \ve     advertise, 
from    any    of    the   above    dealers,    and    don't 
expect    to    get    goods    tliey    do    not   agree    to 
furnish  :  but  find  out  what  they  agree  to  furnish, 
and  at  what  jirice,  by  writing  to  address  nearest 
you.  Plezis?  A\«i7tion  R^viev^. 


^    A.  I.  ROOT, 


^^^-^^s^;^ 


A\ecli!7zv,   Ohio. 


Here  is  your  Chz^nce 


Two    for    the    Price 


By  Thos.  G.  Newman,  ex-editor  of  the  American  Bee  Journal, 
Is  a  book  of  over  200  pages,  that  we  send  FREE  to  every  new 

Subscriber  who  mails  us  $1.00  for  a  year's  subscription  to  the  old 

AMEBIGAN  BEE  JOURNAL, 

if  The  Largest,   Best,  Cheapest,  and  only  weekly  bee-paper  in   all 

'    '  America.    32  [lages;  established  1861 .    Send   for  a  free  sninple 

^>  -  copy  with  description  of  book  offer        GEO.  W.  YORK  &  CO., 

*■  56  Filtli  .Vveiiiie,               -                 -                dllC.iOO,  ILLS. 

To  New  Siscriljers  •  Tlie  Journal  Alone  Sent  for  Tliree  Montlis  for  20 


ope. 


Porter's   sp"°e  Bee- Escape 

\  S  ives  temper,  time  and  bees. 
I     PROF.    COOK    says:     ''No   bee-keeper    can 

dturd  to  be  without  tliem." 
'     WM.  M'EVOY,  foul  brood  inspector  of  Ont., 
ji\  . — '    /(   in.,  says  :    "They  should  be  used  in  every  bee 
jard  in  tlie  wliole  wide  world." 
-^  THOS.  PIERCE,  Pres.  Eastern  N.  Y.  B.  K.  A. 

>^5_ii  s  lys  :  "The  time  will  soon  come  when  all  bee- 

=  ~  —^  keepers  will  use  them. 

Send     f(  r    i  ircui  ir  and     tt  ".timoniiils      and     read  what    others    say    of    them. 
PRICES  :  Each,  by  mail,  with  full  instructions,  20  cts.     Per  doz.,  82.2r).     If,  after  three  months' 
trial,  they  are  not  found  su|)erior  to  all  other  escajies,  and  satisfactory  in  every  way,  return  them  and 
we  will  refund  your  money.     For  side  by  dealers,  _  ._.->. 

4-92^f  Mention    Reuieu,.  H-  &  B.   C-  POf^TER,  Ucuiistotil  n,    111 


ee- 


\eepeps'  peViecu. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e  Interests  of  Hoqey   Producers. 

$1,00  A  YEAR, 

W.  Z.HOTCHlNSOfl,  Editop  &  PPop. 


VOL,  VI, 


FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    MAR,     10,    1893. 


NO.  3. 


The  Special  Topie  of  This  Issue    is 

Self  -   Hivers. 
tim:e3i_i"y    topics. 

No.  2. 

B.  L.  TAYLOK. 

"  Soon  blustering  March  will  shake  yon  up, 
and  wliisper  load  of  spring." 

TT-FTER  the  nail- 
f\  ing  of  hives  and 
cases,  the  painting 
should  be  attended 
to  if  one  has  a  warm 
place  where  it  can 
be  done,  otherwise 
it  mnst  be  deferred 
till  mild  weather. 
Two  coats  'of  white 
paint  should  be  ap- 
plied to  all  such 
work  if  for  no  other  reason  than  as  a  protec- 
tion to  the  combs  and  bees  against  the  mid- 
summer sun.  Special  attention  should  be 
given  to  the  covers.  All  old  covers,  also, 
that  are  in  anywise  defective  should  be 
gathered  in  and  carefully  painted.  Careful 
painting,  with  the  use  of  some  putty  it  may 
be,  will  make  fair  covers  though  made  of 
defective  lumber. 

Provision  should  be  made  at  once  for  a 
supply  of  foundation  and  sections  sufficient 
to  meet  all  requirements  and  there  can  be 


no  better  time  than  this  to  wire  brood  frames 
and  to  fill  them  and  enough  sections  with 
foundation  to  furnish  a  case  for  each  strong 
colony  at  the  opening  of  the  honey  season. 

Always  look  out  for  waste.  When  profits 
fail  to  appear  that  is  generally  the  place  to 
look  for  them.  But  especially  guard  against 
waste  in  labor.  Make  your  head  save  your 
hoels.  It  is  so  easy  to  be  thoughtless  and  go 
once  to  the  shop  for  each  tool  when  once 
should  serve  for  the  whole  kit.  The  danger 
of  this  kind  of  waste  is  especially  great  in 
handling  sections.  Most  persons,  if  they 
could  have  their  own  way,  would  handle 
them  at  least  twice  as  often  as  necessary. 
When  a  section  is  put  together  set  it  directly 
where  it  will  not  need  to  be  touched  again 
till  it  is  to  start  for  the  foundation  fastener. 
I  take  the  body  of  a  hive  and  set  it  on  its 
cover,  then  as  the  sections  are  put  together 
I  set  them  into  it  in  an  orderly  manner,  but 
not  tightly.  Then  as  the  hives  are  filled  I 
pile  them  one  above  another  where  tbey  are 
out  of  the  way  and  the  sections  secure  from 
dust.  When  ready  to  put  in  foundation  I 
set  each  hive,  as  wanted,  on  the  bench  by  the 
foundation  fastener  (with  my  machine  sever- 
al hives  at  a  time)  then  I  gently  raise  the 
body  of  the  hive  leaving  the  sections  stand 
ing  on  the  cover.  From  the  foundation 
fasteners  they  go  directly  to  the  cases. 

For  the  cutting  of  foundation  I  use  a  board 
with  proper  stops  and  gauges  on  which 
foundation  is  very  rapidly  cut  to  just  the 
right  size.  Thin  honey  or  weak  lye  should 
always  be  at  hand  with  which  frequently  to 


64 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


moisten  the  knife  while  used  in  the  cutting 
of  foundation. 

Space  would  not  allow  the  description  of 
devices  for  wiring  frames,  imbedding  wires, 
and  nailing  hives  and  frames  and  of  others 
in  the  same  line,  as  a  general  thing,  but  I 
must  make  an  exception  of  the  device  I  em- 
ploy for  the  fastening  of  foundation  into 


now  a  square  piece,  "C,"  that  will  just  nicely 
slide  in  the  groove,  cut  it  3  inches  long  and 
then,  after  cutting  %  of  an  inch  from  "B" 
and  bringing  the  end  to  an  edge  by  a  bevel 
on  the  smoother  side,  firmly  fasten  "C" 
lengthwise  to  the  side  of  "B"  equally  dis- 
tant from  each  edge,  one  end  of  "C"  being 
even  with  the  unbeveled  or  back  end  of  "B"  so 


K.    L.    TATLOB  S   FOUNDATION    FASTENEB. 


sections.  It  is  this  :  Take  a  piece  of  ^„  inch 
thick  board,  3'' s  in  square,  split  it  with  the 
saw  so  that  one  i)iece  "B"  is  about  34  inch 
thick  leaving  the  other  "A"  about  H  inch 
thick,  ilovv  drop  one  end  of  the  smoother 
side  of  "A"  on  to  a  wabbled  saw  in  such  a 
way  as  to  cut  out  a  ^^  inch  piece  at  the  end 
running  nearly  through  at  the  middle  of  the 
end  but  shallower  at  the  edges  of  the  block. 
This  furnishes  a  space  into  which  any  melt- 
ed wax  dropping  will  be  out  of  the  way. 
Then  with  a  wabbling  saw  or  otherwise,  cut 
a  groove  lengthwise  of  the  same  side  of  "A," 
equally  distant  from  the  edges,  and  of  a  con- 
venient size,  say  about  I4  inch  wide  and 
deep,  and  neatly  tack  a  bit  of  light  tin  across 
each  end  of  this  groove  for  stops.  By  length- 
wise I  mean  the  way  the  grain  runs.    Make 


that  when  "B"  is  placed  on  "A"  with  "C"  in 
the  groove  it  will  slide  easily  back  end  forth 
nicely  covering  "A"  as  nearly  as  its  size  will 
permit.  iMow  duplicate  this  device  repeat- 
edly till  you  have,  say  thirty.  These  are  to 
be  fastened  at  convenient  distances  on  a 
board  or  plank  with  the  back  end  of  each 
slightly  raised.  For  thirty  the  board  should 
be  about  14  inches  wide  by  .^  feet  long.  Put 
them  three  abreast  leaving  as  much  space 
between  them  as  may  be  and  yet  get  them 
all  on  the  board.  To  raise  the  back  end  of 
the  blocks  use  pieces  about  %  inch  square 
and  as  long  as  the  board  is  wide  for  they  are 
to  hold  up  one  end  of  the  section  as  well. 
The  thickness  of  the  blocks  given  is  about 
right  for  sections  seven  to  the  foot.  Now 
provide  two  irons  like  wide,  short  chisels,  the 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


65 


blade  to  be  as  wide  as  may  be  and  yet  slip 
readily  into  the  sections.  They  may  be  cut 
out  of  rather  heavy  sheet  iron  and  should 
have  handles  of  wood.  Provision  must  be 
made  to  heat  them.  A  gasoline  stove  is  best 
but  any  of  several  other  ways  will  do. 

When  ready  to  use  it  place  the  board  of 
blocks  with  the  raised  ends  to  your  left  on  a 
bench,  and  have  plenty  of  sections  and  piles 
of  foundation  cut  before  hand,  each  piece 
flat,  rigid  with  cold,  and  free  from  the  others. 
See  that  the  "B"  blocks  are  all  drawn  back. 
Now  take  a  "foundation"  by  opposite  edges 
with  the  thumb  and  finger  of  the  left  hand 
and  at  the  same  time  with  the  right  hand 
seize  a  section  by  the  edge  of  the  top  piece, 
adjust  the  foundation  to  the  block  even  with 
the  back  and  sides  (however  at  all  events  it 
should  extend  about  %  in.  beyond  the  front 
end  of  "B")  and  as  the  section  is  coming 
slip  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand  through  it  on 
to  the  foundation  to  hold  it  in  place  till  the 
section  drops  over  it.  In  this  way  fill  the 
board.  Now  with  an  iron  tvell  heated  in 
your  right  hand,  having  the  first  and  second 
fingers  of  the  left  h  nd  on  the  foundation, 
and  the  thumb  and  last  two  fingers  on  the 
edges  of  the  section,  slip  the  iron  inside  the 
top  of  the  section,  straighten  the  first  and 
second  fingers  of  your  left  hand  to  push  the 
foundation  on  to  the  iron  which,  as  soon  as 
the  foundation  touches,  is  to  be  quickly  with- 
drawn, but  the  foundation  is  kept  moving 
till  pressed  against  the  top  of  the  section 
where  it  will  stay  till  heat  melts  it  loose 
again.  I  have  used  this  device  for  several 
years  and  I  find  it  decidedly  the  best  for  the 
purpose  of  anything  with  which  I  am  ac- 
quainted. With  two  or  three  more  boards, 
and  sufficient  help  to  put  on  and  take  off  the 
sections,  an  active  person  may  fill  1,.500  sec- 
tions per  hour,  and  the  foundation  is  fasten- 
ed in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  nothing  to  be 
desired  in  that  respect.  I  follow  a  similar 
plan  in  putting  foundation  into  brood 
frames. 

[Descriptions  of  mechanical  contrivances 
are  sometimes  quite  difficult  to  understand. 
One  man  may  not  understand  one  descrip- 
tion, yet  another  description  may  be  per- 
fectly plain  to  him,  while  some  other  man 
may  better  understand  the  other  description. 
Then,  again,  the  reading  of  two  descriptions, 
as  given  by  a  different  person,  thus  getting 
a  view  from  two  different  points,  as  it  were, 
often  makes  all  plain.  It  is  for  these  rea- 
sons that  I  here  introduce  a  description  that 


I  gave,  in  the  July  number  of  the  Review  for 
1888,  of  this  very  same  foundation  fastener, 
ft  eling  sure  that  both  descriptions  combined 
with  the  illustrations  will  certainly  make  all 
plain. — Ed.] 

"  We  spent  the  last  day  of  June  very  pleas- 
antly and  profitably,  in  the  company  of  Prof. 
Cook  and  his  nephew,  at  the  home  of  R.  L. 
Taylor.  Among  other  things,  Mr.  Taylor 
showed  us  an  arrangement  of  his  for  fasten- 
ing foundation  into  sections.  It  works  upon 
the  hot-iron-melted-wax  plan.  Attached  to 
the  upper  surface  of  a  board,  are  perhaps 
twenty  little,  nearly  square,  blocks  of  wood, 
each  exactly  large  enough  for  a  section  to 
slip  down  over  it  and  leave  a  %  space  at  one 
side.  We  may  be  getting  a  little  ahead  of 
our  story,  but  we  may  as  well  say,  right  here, 
that  when  a  section  is  placed  over  a  block  it 
is  so  placed  that  the  %  space  comes  next  to 
the  top  bar.  The  upper  surface  of  these 
blocks  is  not  level ;  one  side  of  each  block 
being  perhaps  half  an  inch  higher  than  the 
opposite  side.  Upon  the  upper  surface  of 
each  block  is  a  little  sliding  platform  J^  of 
an  inch  in  thickness  and  nearly  as  large  as 
the  block.  When  one  of  these  little  platforms 
is  slid,  it  '  slides  down  hill '  upon  the  slant- 
ing surface  of  the  block  underneath.  To 
keep  these  little  platforms  in  place,  a  % 
square  strip  of  wood  is  tacked  to  the  bottom 
of  each.  Each  strip  of  wood  extends  nearly 
the  whole  width  of  a  platform,  and  fits  into 
a  corresponding  groove  cut  in  the  block  be- 
neath. 

The  work  of  fastening  foundation  into 
sections  is  performed  as  follows  :  Upon  each 
of  these  platforms  is  placed  a  square  piece 
of  foundation  that  will  nearly  fill  a  section. 
After  putting  on  apiece  of  foundation,  a  sec- 
tion is  slipped  on  over  the  block  ;  and  the 
height  of  the  block  and  platform  combined 
is  such  at  the  lower  edge  that  when  the  fingers 
are  placed  upon  the  foundation,  and  the 
foundation  and  platform  '  slide  down  hill;' 
the  lower  edge  of  the  foundation  comes  in 
contact  with  the  center  of  the  underside  of 
the  top  bar  of  the  section.  Before  the  sliding 
operation  is  performed,  however,  a  piece  of 
hot  iron,  shaped  something  like  a  broad, 
thin  chisel,  or  square-pointed  trowel,  is  slip- 
ped down  between  the  top  bar  of  the  section 
and  the  edge  of  the  foundation;  then  the  lat- 
ter is  pressed  against  the  iron,  and,  as  the 
iron  is  quickly  withdrawn,  the  melted  edge  of 
the  foundation  is  brought  in  contact  with 
the  top  bar  of  the  section.  By  the  time  the 
twentieth  piece  of  foundation  is  fastened, 
the  operator  can  begin  at  No.  1,  and  remove 
the  sections  in  the  same  order  that  the  foun- 
dation was  put  in,  placing  them  in  the  su- 
pers. The  irons  for  melting  the  edge  of  the 
foundation  are  two  in  number,  one  being 
heated  over  a  gasoline  stove  while  the  other 
is  being  used.  Each  iron  is  nearly  %  of  an 
inch  thick,  as  wide  as  the  inside  of  a  section, 
and  furnished  with  a  handle.  To  each  iron 
is  also  added,  upon  the  back  side,  a  stop  that 
strikes  the  edge  of  the  top  bar  of  the  section, 
thus  preventing  the  iron  from  being  pushed 
down  too  far  which  would  keep  the  wax  in 


66 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


contact  with  it  for  too  great  a  length  of  time 
during  its  withdrawal. 

This  lengthy  description  might  lead  one  to 
suppose  that  fastening  in  foundation  upon 
this  plan  would  be  slow  and  tedious  ;  such  is 
not  tiie  case,  however,  it  being  very  quickly, 
neatly  and  securely  fastened.  Mr.  Taylor 
assures  us,  and  showed  us,  that  he  could  do 
the  work  more  rapidly  than  with  any  other 
method  he  had  tried  ;  while  the  foundation  is 
fastened  most  securely,  with  great  exactness, 
and  but  little  waste  of  wax." 

In  all  probability,  before  another  number 
of  the  Review  appears,  spring  will  be  upon 
us  and  the  charm  of  the  glad  hum  of  the  bees 
as  they  eagerly  gather  in  the  new  pollen  will 
again  thrill  us.  I  must  therefore  say  a  word 
with  regard  to  the  course  to  be  pursued  with 
the  bees  prior  to  that  time.  I  aim  to  get  my 
bees  out  of  the  cellar  early,  although  I  know 
I  run  counter  to  the  generally  received  opin- 
ion in  so  doing.  By  "  early  "  I  do  not  mean 
before  winter  is  gone,  but  only  that  I  should 
not  be  careful  to  wait  for  the  blooming  of 
the  soft  maple  and  the  willows.  By  that 
time  some  of  the  days  when  bees  would 
likely  be  carried  out  become  very  warm 
about  midday  causing  the  bees  to  become 
too  much  excited  so  that  often  they  come  out 
with  a  rush  and  many  failing  to  mark  their 
location  are  lost.  Robbing  is  apt  to  become 
rife  and  is  hard  to  detect ;  and  swarming  out 
and  general  disorganization  become  alto- 
gether too  imminent.  Taking  them  out  in 
the  cool  of  the  day — at  night  or  in  the  morn- 
ing is  not  always  a  prevention.  Any  one  of 
an  observing  turn  can  forsee  as  the  time  ap- 
proaches about  when  the  willows  will  blos- 
som:— get  the  bees  outlive  or  six  days  before 
this  when  the  temperature  is  likely  to  be  be- 
tween .50°  and  (30°  and  if  it  is  cloudy,  all  the 
better,  then  they  will  settle  down,  retain 
their  self-possession  and  be  less  liable  to 
disorganization.  There  is  then  no  brood  to 
be  chilled,  so  I  think  the  chance  of  harm  is 
very  small.  I  take  out  a  part  of  them  at  a 
time  and  scatter  them  over  the  yard  as  far 
apart  as  possible  and  allow  them  to  become 
settled  before  another  lot  is  taken  out.  Then 
when  more  are  taken  out  I  distribute  them 
in  the  vacant  places,  still  observing  to  place 
those  taken  out  contemporaneously  as  far 
apart  as  may  be. 

After  trying  different  methods  of  carrying 
hives  of  bees,  they  have  all  been  discarded 
except  the  primitive  one  of  placing  the  hands 
under  the  bottom  board  and  the  back  end  of 
the  hive  against  the  central  front  of  the  car- 
rier's "  anatomy  "   and  moving  on.    On  the 


whole  this  way  is  the  easiest,  quickest  and 
least  disturbing  to  the  bees. 

If  any  spring  protection  is  to  be  given  it 
should  be  got  ready  beforehand  and  applied 
as  soon  as  possible  after  the  bees  are  on  their 
stands. 

While  carrying  out  the  bees  I  am  careful 
to  learn  all  I  can  of  the  condition  of  each 
colony  in  so  far  as  that  can  be  done  without 
opening  the  hives,  and  this  is  generally  with 
reference  to  two  points  :  lack  of  stores  and 
queeulessness.  Most  persons  with  a  little 
experience  can  readily  say  on  lifting  the  hive 
whethet  there  is  a  short  supply  or  plenty. 
Where  there  appears  to  be  danger  from  want 
the  hive  is  marked  and  further  attended  to 
as  soon  as  circumstances  permit.  At  this 
time  the  signs  of  queenlessness  to  be  ob- 
served are  the  presence  of  the  remains  of 
immature  drones  among  the  dead  bees  which 
have  dropped  from  the  cluster  and  a  contin- 
ued humming  kept  up  in  the  hive  after  it  is 
placed  on  its  stand  when  removed  colonies 
have  become  quiet,  which  may  be  readily  ob- 
served at  the  approach  of  evening.  The  for- 
mer is  a  sure,  the  latter  a  useful  indication. 
Such  colonies  are  also  marked  and  as  soon 
as  the  indications  can  be  verified  and  the 
weather  permits,  they  are  united  with  the 
weaker  colonies  having  queens. 


Lapeee,  Mich. 


Feb.  23, 1893. 


Prominent   Points    Can^ht   in  a   California 
Convention. 

"eambleb." 

mHE  Cali- 
T'fornia  bee- 
keepers held 
their  second 
annual  c  o  n  - 
ventiou  Feb. 
7th  and  8th, 
in  Los  Ange- 
les. "Ramb- 
ler" was  there 
and  had  the 
kindness  to 
send  the  Review  a  nice  long  report,  but  there 
are  so  many  things  demanding  attention 
this  month  that  I  am  compelled  to  pick  out 
what  seem  to  me  the  most  important  points 
and  give  them  as  they  appear  below. — Ed. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


67 


Inyo  Co.,  in  southern  California  depends 
entirely  upon  alfalfa,  and  in  this  respect  it 
rivals  Nevada  and  Arizona  in  both  quality 
and  quantity. 

Reports  from  the  northern  portion  of  the 
State  show  that  there  are  large  areas  of  un- 
occupied fields  that  would  furnish  bountiful 
yields. 

The  honey  flow  is  largely  dependent  upon 
the  rainfall  and  this  has  been  quite  abun- 
dant over  mo^t  portions  of  the  State. 

The  only  unfavorable  symptom  reported 
in  regard  to  the  bees  was  loss  of  queens. 
Progressive  California  bee-keepers  practice 
re-queening  often.  A  queen  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  survive  the  close  of  the  second 
year.  A  two-year-old  queen,  if  spared  for 
the  next  year,  usually  fails  early  in  the  sea- 
son. 

The  State  Entomologist,  Prof.  C.  \V. 
Woodworth,  from  the  State  University,  was 
present,  and  gave  bee-keepers  to  understand 
that  the  University  would  meet  bee-keepers 
more  than  half  way  in  its  endeavors  to  ad- 
vance bee-keeping.  Hereafter,  if  nothing  is 
done  in  regard  to  bee-keeping  at  the  Univer- 
sity, it  will  clearly  be  the  fault  of  the  bee- 
keepers themselves.  A  course  of  study  in 
apiculture  will  be  given  if  students  desire  it. 
This  department  of  the  University  desires  to 
keep  in  touch  with  bee-keepers  and  it  is  de- 
sired that  they  make  known  their  needs  and 
desires. 

Economy  in  bee-keeping  was  touched 
upon.  No  one  can  realize  how  much  is 
wasted  in  small  things  in  a  California  api- 
ary until  he  begins  to  look  up  the  small 
things. 

California  bee-keepers  are  beginning  in 
some  localities  to  think  about  the  improve- 
ment of  their  pastures  Ijy  scattering  the 
seeds  of  the  sages,  sweet  clover,  mustard, 
etc.,  in  waste  places. 

Hives  came  in  for  their  share  oi  the  dis- 
cussion. It  is  evident  that  a  bee-keeper  who 
produces  extracted  honey  must  use  a  large 
hive,  while  the  comb  honey  producer  must 
have  a  hive  with  a  small  brood  chamber. 

In  certain  localities  of  the  State,  foul 
brood  is  quite  prevalent,  and,  as  a  rule, 
heroic  measures  were  advocated.  Daring 
the  discussion  it  came  out  that  the  supervi- 
sors did  not  appoint  foul  brood  inspectors  be- 
cause they  (the  supervisors)  were  opposed 
to  having  bees  in  the  county.  In  one  in- 
stance the  supervisor  said  that  he  wished 
that  the  bees  would  all  die  of  the  foul  brood. 


It  was  learned,  however,  that  if  a  certain 
number  of  bee-keepers  apply  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  an  inspector,  the  supervisors 
are  obliged  to  make  the  appointment. 

The  act  of  the  Illinois  legislature  appro- 
priating .^500  for  the  State  Association  to  use 
in  getting  out  its  report  was  read  and  a  sim- 
ilar one  drafted  for  appropriating  $800  in 
California  to  be  used  in  promoting  the  inter- 
ests of  apiculture,  and  Mr.  W.  A.  Pryal  com- 
missioned to  present  the  desires  of  the  bee- 
keepers to  the  proper  committee  at  the  State 
capitol. 

The  matter  of  making  an  exhibit  of  honey 
at  the  World's  Fair  was  discussed  and  sever- 
al said  they  were  going  to  send  both  comb 
and  extracted  honey,  some  intimating  that 
they  would  make  a  fancy  display,  hence  it  is 
evident  that  California  will  have  a  credita- 
ble display  at  the  coming  Exposition. 

The  subject  of  using  glucose  and  adulter- 
ating honey  came  up  and  was  most  strongly 
condemned. 

This  is  only  the  second  meeting  that  the 
Society  has  held,  yet  there  were  100  in  at- 
tendance. After  two  days  very  profitably 
and  pleasantly  spent,  the  bee-keepers  gave 
the  parting  grip  and  departed  for  their 
homes  under  dripping  skies. 

Rambler. 


ir^4-ir^^^ 


The   Pratt    Self-  Hiver.— Its    Arrangement, 
Management  and  Advantaees 

E.  L.  PKATT. 

'IE  self-hiver  question  has  been  so 
thoroughly  discussed  of  late  that  by 
this  time  it  is  quite  generally  granted 
that  a  thoroughly  practical  device  is  forth- 
coming and  the  daj  not  far  distant  when 
such  an  appliance  will  be  considered  indis- 
pensable in  the  profitable  and  pleasant  man- 
agement of  bees,  either  on  a  large  or  small 
scale. 

How  often  do  we  read  of  the  progress  the 
bees  are  making  in  some  well  regulated  yard 
for  the  production  of  comb  honey  until, 
alas,  they  commence  to  swarm.  The  apia- 
rist is  now  on  pins  and  needles  while  the 
bees  seem  to  put  their  entire  energy  into  the 
business,  and,  "though  the  heavens  fall," 
they  must  swarm.  Cast  after  cast  is  sent 
out,  ladders,  poles,  baskets,  cages,  smokers, 
men,    water,   sweat,   and  a    hundred  other 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


things  are  pitched  out  for  "  the  bees  are 
swarmingP^  They  cluster  high  and  low, 
apart  and  together,  near  and  far  ;  some  are 
lost  forever.  Great  excitement  and  loss 
reign,  until  the  best  part  of  a  honey  flow  is 
over  and  gone  for  ever. 

The  automatic  hiver  will  abolish  all  this 
confusion  and  leave  the  apiarist  with  time 
on  his  hands  during  the  swarming  season. 

"Prevention  of  increase"  has  been  a 
problem  of  no  mean  importance  in  years 
past.  There  have  been  many  pages  devoted 
to  this  question  year  after  year,  but  the 
hiver  is  to  settle  it  all. 

With  a  perfect  hiver  one  man  can  care  for 
a  large  number  of  colonies  in  several  differ- 
ent yards  and  employ  help  only  at  super  and 
harvest  times.  He  will  be  entirely  free  from 
the  worry  and  care  of  swarms  and  can  han- 
dle his  bees,  as  so  many  bees  in  so  many 
hives. 

For  the  farmer  and  small  bee-keeper,  who 
cannot  devote  time  to  the  work,  the  hiver 
will  be  a  genuine  boon,  add  profit  to  the 
work  in  larger  quantities  of  honey  ^'.nd  few- 
er starving  nucleus  swarms. 

Phenomenal  yields  of  honey  will  follow  in 
the  wake  of  the  self-hiver.  With  the  hiver 
it  will  be  optional  with  the  bee-keeper 
whether  he  shall  increase  his  colonies  or 
not.  If  he  desires  increase,  simply  lift  off 
the  upper  hive  and  place  on  a  new  stand  ;  if 
not,  l«t  them  remain  tiered  up. 

Re-queening,  queen-rearing,  and  all  that 
sort  of  work,  will  be  under  the  thumb  as  it 
never  was  before.  In  fact,  the  self-hiver 
will  be  the  cure-all  of  the  ills  of  bee-keeping. 

[For  illustrated  description  of  the  latest 
arrangement  of  the  Pratt  self-hiver,  see  the 
Extracted  Department.— Ed.] 

This  arrangement  also  keeps  the  zinc  out 
of  sight  of  the  incoming  bees.  There  is  not 
the  least  confusion  or  hindrance  at  the  en- 
trance. The  entrance  is  wide  and  unob- 
structed in  outward  appearance  and  the  bees 
will  fly  to  and  from  it  with  the  same  freedom 
that  they  enter  an  ordinary  open  slot. 

In  the  usual  manner  of  applying  zinc  (per- 
pendicularly on  the  outside)  they  seldom  use 
more  than  the  two  lower  rows  of  perfora- 
tions, but  as  I  have  it  here  they  may  use  the 
entire  surface  and  it  being  after  they  have 
entered  their  hive  that  they  pass  the  zinc, 
there  is  practically  no  more  obstruction  than 
with  a  honey-board.  Bees  are  used  to  crawl- 
ing through  small  passages  inside  their 
hives,  but  not  in  entering  it. 


Right  here,  let  me  say  that  the  tiered  up 
method  of  applying  the  hiver  is  the  l)est  plan 
by  a'.l  odds.  Hivers  that  allow  the  queen  to 
pass  back  into  the  parent  colony  at  any  time 
will  never  do  the  work  of  an  automatic 
swarmer  ;  besides,  it  is  a  poor  plan  to  iso- 
late the  new  hive  so  far  from  the  parent  col- 
ony as  to  place  it  either  in  front  or  at  the 
side  on  a  separate  stand,  as  a  full  swarm  can 
not  be  held  together  for  many  days,  espe- 
cially if  the  nights  are  cool  or  the  weather  be- 
,  comes  rainy.  The  bees  will  abandon  the 
new  hive  and  the  queen  will  be  left  behind ; 
they  will  turn  their  attention  to  one  of  the 
young  queens  and  swarm  again  on  the  first 
pleasant  day  after  hatching. 

With  the  new  hive  set  under  the  parent  col- 
ony all  the  desirable  conditions  are  present ; 
it  is  neither  too  hot  nor  too  cool :  they  will 
not  abandon  the  queen  and  if  they  gather  no 
honey  for  days  they  will  hold  together  and 
boom  along  with  the  vigor  of  a  new  swarm, 
building  comb  and  rearing  brood — the 
swarming  miuia  perfectly  satisfied.  Even 
a  week  of  bad  weather  will  make  no  differ- 
ence as  they  will  borrow  a  living  from  the 
stores  in  the  upper  hive  and  pack  it  away  in 
the  combs  they  are  building  below. 

It  is  well  to  have  at  least  two  frames  with 
foundation  starters  in  the  lower  hive  so  as  to 
satisfy  the  comb  building  instinct  and  save 
the  wax  that  might  go  to  waste. 

I  think  Mr.  Root  is  mistaken  when  he  says 
"  a  hiver  should  not  cost  more  than  the  ex- 
pense of  hiving  the  swarm  in  the  old-fash- 
ioned way."  Taking  into  consideration  the 
time,  worry,  loss  of  honey  and  bees  and  the 
cost  of  help,  the  bee-keeper  could  afi:ord  the 
expense  of  quite  an  elaborate  outfit  for  do- 
ing the  work,  and,  as  it  will  last  for  years  . 
is  it  logical  to  count  the  first  cost,  providing 
this  first  cost  is  within  reason  ? 

Mr.  R.  L.  Taylor  says  "  he  can  manage 
very  well  with  queen  traps.  The  colonies 
that  have  swarmed  he  picks  out  by  finding 
the  queen  and  a  small  bunch  of  bees  in  the 
trap.  He  then  divides  those  that  have 
swarmed."  This  is  just  as  I  have  always 
done,  but  I  found  it  such  hard  work  and  it 
took  so  much  time  that  it  always  set  me  to 
thinking  of  automatic  hivers  in  a  longing 
way.  By  dividing  th£  bees  in  this  manner, 
the  viyor  of  a  new  swarm  is  lost;  it  is  not 
natural  and  does  not  satisfy  the  swarming 
mania.  The  bees  will  often  sulk  for  days 
and  all  the  time  the  (pieen  is  in  the  trap  they 
are  idle,  dissatisfied  and  ill  tempered,  often 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


69 


killing  the  queen  when  she  is  allowed  to  go 
back  with  the  bees.  The  drone  trap  is  an 
excellent  device,  but  it  is  not  an  auto- 
matic hiver.  My  idea  of  a  self-hiver  is  a 
contrivance  that  can  be  adjusted  in  the 
spring  and  can  be  left  to  care  for  itself  until 
the  bees  are  overhauled  in  the  fall.  In  fact, 
I  have  some  colonies  arranged  for  swarming 
now  upon  their  winter  stands,  as  an  experi- 
ment ;  besides  keeping  out  the  mice,  I  am 
in  hopes  that  the  hiver  can  be  worked  on 
these  colonies  as  a  permanent  fixture.  I 
found  they  had  filled  four  sets  of  brood 
frames  solid  full  of  honey,  so  I  concluded  to 
allow  them  to  stand  as  they  were  and  note 
the  result  in  the  spring.  One  thing  I  am 
sure  of,  tremendous  colonies  of  bees  can  be 
held  together  with  the  hiver,  and  with  tre- 
mendous colonies  of  bees  immense  quanti- 
ties of  honey  will  be  gathered,  whether  it  be 
in  comb  or  extracted  form. 
Bevebly,  Mass.  Feb.  21,  1893. 

The    Self  -  Hiver  Not  Only  Hives    Swarms 

but     Discourages     Swarming     by 

Killing  Off  the  Drones. 

O.  J.  BAEBEB. 

^jj»  HAVE  an  out-apiary  and  a  home  api- 
^  ary,  and  I  began  the  season  by  putting 
•''»  20  self-hivers  in  my  out-apiary.  My 
experience  with  them  has  been  very  satisfac- 
tory, as  they  were  a  complete  success  in  hiv- 
ing the  swarms  in  good  shape.  I  visited  the 
apiary  in  about  ten  days  after  first  placing 
the  self-hivers  on  the  hives,  and  found  near- 
ly all  the  drones  in  the  yard  dead,  and  most 
of  the  entrances  to  bottom  hives  badly  clog- 
ged with  dead  drones.  The  queen  excluders 
on  front  of  hive  were  made  of  lath,  covered 
on  one  side  with  perforated  zinc,  and  were 
1)^x1)^x123^  inches.  This  did  not  allow 
space  enough  for  dead  drones,  so  I  enlarged 
the  space  making  it  as  large  again.  I  had 
no  further  trouble  with  dead  drones  clog- 
ging the  entrance. 

I  also  found  that  one  swarm  that  had  start- 
ed queen  cells  when  I  put  on  the  self-hivers, 
had  destroyed  the  queen  cells  and  given  up 
swarming.  On  my  first  examination  after 
placing  self-hivers,  I  had  considerable 
trouble  in  satisfying  myself  as  to  whether 
the  bees  had  swarmed  or  not,  as  I  had  placed 


in  the  bottom  hive  a  full  set  of  comb,  but  I 
found  that  by  putting  in  a  set  of  frames 
with  starters  only,  I  had  less  trouble  to  tell 
whether  or  not  they  had  swarmed. 

Having  some  other  hives  in  the  same  yard 
that  had  on  no  self-hivers,  I  watched  them 
carefully  to  see  if  I  could  detect  any  differ- 
ence in  the  work  of  the  colonies,  but  as  far 
as  I  could  see  the  colonies  with  the  self- 
hivers  did  just  as  well  as  those  without.  Of 
those  colonies  with  self-hivers  I  do  not  think 
that  more  than  three  or  four  swarmed  dur- 
ing the  whole  season.  If  the  self-hivers  are 
placed  on  the  hives  early  in  the  season  I  con- 
sider them  almost  non-swarmers,  because 
they  keep  the  drones  killed  off. 

I  have  never  yet  in  my  experience  found 
the  apex  of  the  self-hiver  clogged  with  dead 
bees.  I  use  a  hive  set  upon  a  loose  bottom, 
with  cleats  nailed  across  the  upper  ends  con- 
cealing the  ends  of  the  frames.  I  remove 
one  of  these  cleats  from  the  front  of  the  hive 
and  in  its  place  put  a  piece  of  queen-exclud- 
ing zinc,  directly  in  front  of  the  apex  of  the 
hiver  and  I  find  that  about  one-half  the  bees 
pass  through  this  zinc,  and  the  other  half  go 
out  and  in  at  the  usual  place. 

In  the  fall  I  found  a  queen  below,  and  no 
sign  of  one  above.  The  queen  must  have 
either  gone  below  without  swarming,  or 
killed  the  young  queens,  for  there  were  no 
signs  of  queen  cells  above.  From  my  ex- 
perience with  the  "  Pratt  "  self-hiver  during 
the  past  season,  I  think  that  if  rightly  man- 
aged it  will  save  the  labor  of  one  man  in  the 
apiary,  at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  time  as 
far  as  watching  for  swarms  is  concerned, 

In  my  out  apiary  I  had  14  colonies  on 
which  I  did  not  use  self-hivers.  As  they 
were  getting  strong  and  about  to  swarm,  and 
I  did  not  want  to  stay  with  them,  I  thought 
I  would  try  an  experiment.  I  placed  queen- 
excluding  boxes  in  front  of  the  hives,  large 
enough  to  give  room  for  dead  drones.  I 
made  these  boxes  .3  x  3  x  12)-^  inches.  I  con- 
sider this  size  as  about  right.  This  appear- 
ed to  kill  off  the  most  of  the  drones.  These 
boxes  I  left  on  the  hives  during  the  rest  of 
the  season,  except  when  I  visited  the  yard, 
(about  once  in  ten  days)  when  I  removed 
them  and  left  them  oft'  while  I  was  in  the 
yard,  in  order  to  let  virgin  queens  have  a 
chance  to  become  fertilized.  I  always  re- 
placed them  when  I  left  the  yard.  This  plan 
kept  the  colonies  strong,  and  so  far  as  I  could 
see  worked  satisfactorily.  I  always  give  my 
bees  plenty  of  upper  hives  and  comb  to  work 


70 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


iu.     Of  the  14  hives  treated  on  this  plau,  I 

fouud  one  hive  witliout  a  queen  in  the  fall. 

Rodney.  Iowa.  Jan.  23.  1893. 


Self-  Hivers  Versus  Queen  Traps.— The  For- 
mer are  too  Costly  and  Cause  too  Much 
Labor,  Loss  and  Bisk. 

B.  L.  TAyLOB. 

^  S  an  article  to  sell  what  a  great  thing 
a  self-hiver  would  be  I  It  would  be 
far  ahead  of  the  moth  trap.  To  talk 
of  bees  hiving  themselves  is  like  real  magic, 
not  mere  slight  of  hand  ;  for  without  doubt 
bees  can  be  made  to  hive  themselves  iu  a 
way.  And  herein  is  the  danger.  They  are 
sure  to  be  bought  and  disappointment  and 
loss  are  sure  to  follow,  at  least  until  further 
improvements  are  made. 

I  have  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  the 
struggles  of  the  half  dozen  inventions  of 
self-hivers  as  a  source  of  amusement,  but 
when  the  editor  of  the  Review  goes  so  far 
as  only  to  say  :  "If  self-hivers  prove  to  be 
the  success  they  promise  to  be,"  I  am  a  lit- 
tle startled  and  feel  like  inquiring  where  is 
there  any  promise  ?  Not  in  the  fact  that  the 
queen  can  be  trapped  and  some  bees  secured 
with  her,  surely.  That  is  easy.  But  at  this 
point  the  trouble  begins. 

What  do  we  want  a  hiver  for  ?  Not  as  a 
curiosity.  It  must  be  of  some  practical  ad- 
vantage. Unless  it  will  pay  for  itself  and 
some  little  more  it  will  be  of  no  utility.  It 
must  effect  a  saving  somewhere,  either  in 
time,  money,  care,  or  labor,  without  a  coun- 
terbalancing loss  in  the  same  items  or  in  the 
amount  of  surplus  secured. 

The  self-hiver  has  no  standing  at  all  unless 
at  the  very  outset  it  practically  secures  the 
entire  swarm  every  time.  That  it  does  even 
this,  judging  from  what  the  inventors  say  of 
each  others  device  and  the  known  perversity 
of  bees  in  not  conducting  themselves  as  the 
apiarist  thinks  they  ought  to,  is  not  yet  by 
any  means  certain.  But  until  it  does  this  it 
must  fall  in  competition  with  the  queen- trap 
which  prevents  the  loss  of  swarms  at  much 
less  expense  with  the  additional  advantage 
that  it  more  readily  gives  up  the  secret  that 
a  swa*m  has  passed  through  it.  But  for  the 
sake  of  the  argument  let  it  be  admitted  that 
the  hiver  will  do  all  that  is  claimed  for  it 
and  that  it  will  practically  secure  the  entire 
swarm  every  time,  how  does  it  stand  then  in 
comparison  with  the  queen-trap  ? 


At  the  outset  the  cost  of  the  traps  is  per- 
haps but  about  one-twentieth  of  tlie  cost  of 
the  hivers  for,  of  course,  no  one  would  think 
of  using  them  where  they  are  liable  to  be  in- 
habited by  bees  for  three  or  four  days  be- 
fore discovery,  without  furnishing  them  each 
with  a  full  set  of  combs  or  frames  of  foun- 
dation. 

The  trap  is  adjusted  in  a  moment  perfect- 
ly, while  the  adjustment  of  two  hives  to  the 
same  level  and  to  each  other,  is  a  most  criti- 
cal operation,  even  so  expert  an  apiarist  as 
Dr.  Miller,  let  his  queen  get  out  ;  or  if  one 
hive  is  put  on  top  of  the  other,  difficulties 
actually  insurmountable  are  encountered. 

If  there  has  been  swarming,  where  traps 
are  used,  the  apiarist  by  walking  rapidly 
along  the  rows  of  hives  discovers  at  a  glance 
where  it  has  been,  but  how  is  it  with  the 
hivers  ?  Suppose  you  have  an  out-apiary  of 
150  colonies  you  must  raise  at  best  LW  cov- 
ers to  determine  where  the  swarming  has 
occurred,  or  if  the  Pratt  hiver,  the  one  that 
seems  to  be  in  the  lead,  is  used,  you  must 
lift  250  old  hii-es  with  the  supers,  heavily  la- 
den, as  they  are  likely  to  be,  to  determine 
from  which  hives  swarms  have  issued,  for  the 
hiver  is  put  under  the  old  colony  ;  and  this 
every  time  the  apiary  is  visited  if  justice  is 
done.  The  editor  of  Gleanings  says  of  Pratt's 
tiering-up  hiver :  "The  lifting  of  the  upper 
story  is  no  great  objection."  Whew  I  I  feel 
exhausted  at  the  very  thought  of  it.  And 
then  suppose  three  or  four  or  five  swarms  had 
come  out  at  the  same  time  and  had  united,  as 
they  would  surely  do  if  they  were  at  all  like 
mine,  and  had  gone  into  one  of  the  hives  to- 
gether, you  would  be  sure  the  hiver  was  a 
great  success,  but  you  would  be  quite  oblivi- 
ous of  the  three  or  four  queens  hid  away  iu 
the  corners  of  as  many  other  hives  with  a 
teaspoonful  of  bees  each.  The  old  queens 
being  shut  out  of  their  hives  and  the  young 
queens  soon  to  be  hatched  being  shut  in,  the 
colony  is  doomed  to  speedy  destruction  un- 
less the  sharp  eyed  apiarist  discovers  that  all 
is  not  right.  With  the  trap  there  is  no  such 
risk  or  uncertainty. 

Again,  in  the  absence  of  the  apiarist,  in 
the  hives  having  traps  whence  swarms  have 
issued,  the  storing  in  the  supers  has  gone  on 
without  abatement,  while  in  the  hiver,  not 
only  has  nothing  been  stored  in  sections,  but 
the  brood-chamber  has  in  all  probability 
been  put  into  such  shape  that  the  bees  will 
be  loth  to  enter  the  sections  when  they  are 
put  on. 


i'JSE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


71 


Of  course  if  the  hiver  has  caught  the  entire 
swarm  the  rest  of  the  manipulation  neces- 
sary is  not  difficult  nor  is  it  much  more  so  to 
dispose  of  the  colonj'  with  the  trap.  You 
Lave  the  queen  and  you  put  the  supers  from 
the  old  hive  upon  the  new,  then  set  the  old 
hive,  without  the  bottom  board,  upon  the  un- 
covered sections  and  drive  the  bees  down 
with  an  abundance  of  smoke  leaving  only 
enough  to  care  for  the  brood,  or  sufficient 
bees  may  be  shaken  out  of  the  old  hive  or 
from  its  frames  in  front  of  the  new  hive — 
not  a  difficult  thing  to  do,  far  preferable  to 
the  task  of  adjusting  two  hives  together  on 
the  same  level  so  that  the  queen  could  not 
escape,  to  say  nothing  of  three  sets  in  that 
manner  which  would  be  about  the  usual  pro- 
portion here.  And  then  with  traps  it  is  easy 
to  adjust  one  to  each  of  the  two  hives  for  a 
few  days  till  the  danger  of  the  swarm  for- 
saking its  new  quarters  or  of  an  after  swarm 
coming  from  the  old  hive  is  past,  but  if  you 
used  hivers  would  you  have  a  supply  so  as  to 
adjust  one  to  each  of  the  hives,  or  would  you 
take  the  chances  ? 

Then  you  have  a  large  number  of  furnish- 
ed hives  to  keep  over  the  winter,  dead  capi- 
tal, besides  requiring  for  their  safety,  watch- 
fulness and  care. 

Another  serious  objection  to  all  hivers  yet 
suggested,  is  the  fact  that  it  is  not  an  infre- 
quent thing,  in  large  apiaries,  that  young 
queens  are  reared  by  colonies  without  any 
intention  of  swarming,  to  replace  queens 
that  have  become  old  or  have  met  with  acci- 
dent, and  when  these  undertake  their  wed- 
ding flight  they  are  caught  in  toils  from 
which  only  accident  is  likely  to  relieve  them 
and  their  ruin  means  the  ruin  of  the  colony. 

Yes,  as  I  said  at  our  late  State  convention, 
self-hivers  mean  too  much  money,  too  much 
labor,  too  much  loss,  and  too  much  risk. 

Lapeeb,  Mich.  Feb.  21,  1893. 

How  Multiple  Tubes  May  Assist  in  the  Ven- 
tilation of  Kooms,  Cellars  or  Mines. 

O.  H.  MUEEAY. 

'\^  WISH  to  say  a  good  word  for  Mr.  Cor- 
^  neil's  ventilating  scheme  as  presented 
^^  in  the  October  numljer  of  the  Review, 
but,  in  this  device,  volume  is  increased  at 
the  expense  of  velocity.  There  is  no  delu- 
sion, or  notion  of  a  creation  of  additional 
energy,  as  implied  by  one  of  your  correspon- 


dents. The  scheme  is  in  active  operation  in 
many  mines  of  the  west  for  the  purpose  of 
ventilating  the  mines,  by  drawing  the  foul 
air  through  the  shaft  by  means  of  the  escape 
pipe  of  the  engine  at  the  surface  of  the  mine. 
It  is  also  applied  to  facilitate  the  discharge 
of  water  from  a  pipe.  Mr.  C.  has  not  pre- 
sented the  most  effective  form  of  the  appara- 
tus. [Mr.  Corneil  did  not  furnish  the  illus- 
tration. It  was  arranged  by  myself  from 
looking  at  an  illustration  found  in  a  report 
of  a  committee  in  regard  to  lighting,  heat- 
ing and  ventilating  the  Capitol  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. — Ed.]  It  is  now  made  as  a 
series  of  enlarging  truncated  cones  superim- 
posed one  above  another,  the  draught  enter- 
ing the  smallest  one.  By  carefully  conduct- 
ed experiments  made  at  Washington  City,  it 
was  found  that  a  jet  discharging  in  a  series 
of  five  cones  was  fifty-two  per  cent,  more  ef- 
fective than  if  it  discharged  without  them. 
Each  sectional  cone  should  partly  enter  the 
one  above  it.  Bad  drawing  chimneys  can  be 
remedied  by  this  device  being  placed  on  top 
of  them.  This  could  be  applied  to  a  bee- 
smoker  and  would  greatly  increase  the  vol- 
ume of  smoke. 

Elkhaet,  Ind.  Feb.  24, 1893. 


Working    the      Bees    of     Two    Queens    in 

One    Set    of    Supers    and     Thereby 

Preventing    Swarming. 

B.  TAYLOE. 

[The  following  was  written  to  me  as  a  private 
letter,  its  author  intending  to  experiment  an- 
other year  before  tiiving  the  plan  to  the  public, 
but  1  urged  upon  him  the  greater  certainty  with 
which  the  matter  could  be  settled,  as  regards  the 
profitableness  of  the  scheme,  by  having  hun- 
dreds instead  of  one  or  two  experimenting,  and 
he  has  consented  to  allow  me  to  publish  it  now. 
-Ed.] 

I  HAVE  been  work- 
ing eight  years 
trying  to  perfect  a 
non-swarmer,  and 
work  the  bees  of 
two  or  more  queens 
together  during  the 
main  honey  flow.  I 
have  had  good  suc- 
cess in  part  in  work- 
ing out  the  problem. 
I  have  been  working 
on  the  plan  of  set- 
ting two  hives  together,  facing  the  same 
way,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  main 


72 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS '  REVIEW. 


honey  flow  turning  one  hive  with  its  en- 
trance to  the  rear,  thus  throwing  all  the  bees 
into  the  other  hive ;  then  in  six  or  seven 
days  changing  it  back  and  turning  the  other 
hive  in  the  same  way. 

I  have  learned  many  new  and  strange  facts 
about  bees  in  this  work ;  facts  that  upset 
many  old  notions.  I  found  that  swarming 
could  be  prevented  with  the  greatest  certain- 
ty by  this  method,  that  is,  by  simply  chang- 
ing the  hives  every  six  days  and  removing 
queen  cells.  But  the  unsealed  bees  would 
sometimes  die  and  turn  black  in  the  hive 
thus  robbed  of  its  working  bees.  In  nice 
warm  weather  there  would  be  no  trouble, 
but  many  times  in  bad  weather  there  would 
be  great  loss  of  unsealed  larvie.  My  idea  in 
making  the  revolving  hive  stand  was  to  avoid 
this  trouble.  My  experience  in  moving  hives 
led  me  to  believe  that  daily  changing  the 
bees  would  so  upset  all  calculations  that  prep- 
arations for  swarming  would  never  be 
commenced,  but  last  year's  trial  proved 
that  this  plausible  theory  was  not  true,  as 
the  bees,  although  changed  to  a  new  hive 
and  a  new  queen,  kept  right  on  building 
queen  cells,  and  swarmed  all  the  same  as 
those  left  undisturbed.  But  I  made  an  im- 
portant discovery  in  this  revolving  experi- 
ment that  I  now  expect  to  utilize  in  making 
a  non-swarming  system,  and  that  discovery 
is  that  the  bees  in  any  number  of  hives  can 
be  worked  as  one  colony  in  perfect,  old- 
fashioned,  socialist  style,  without  the  least 
disturbance  of  peace,  and  I  have  now  in- 
vented a  hive  to  utilize  this  fact  and  make  it 
possible  to  work  all  the  bees  of  two  queens 
together  as  one  swarm,  and  prevent  swarm- 
ing by  changing  the  bees  every  six  days  and 
removing  the  queen  cells  from  the  depopu- 
lated hive.  Generally  the  bees  will  tear 
down  the  cells  themselves,  but  I  have  proved 
that  it  will  not  do  to  depend  on  them  in  all 
cases 

My  hive  is  a  double  one  for  two  colonies 
with  a  thin  board  partition  between  them. 
There  is  an  entrance  the  whole  width  of  both 
hives,  both  front  and  rear,  and  these  en- 
trances are  closed  by  heavy  blocks  extend- 
ing the  whole  length  of  the  width  of  each 
hive,  two  in  front  and  two  in  the  rear  of  each 
hive. 

When  the  bees  are  set  out  in  the  spring  the 
rear  blocks  will  be  moved  together  until  the 
rear  of  the  hive  is  entirely  closed.  The  front 
ones  will  be  placed  so  as  to  have  the  entrance 
for  both  hives  in  the  center  of  the  double 


hive  with  only  the  %  inch  partition  that  di- 
vides the  two  colonies  between  them.  The 
bees  of  both  colonies  thus  use,  as  it  were, 
the  same  entrance,  and  will  go  into  either 
hive  just  as  they  happen  to  alight,  and  all 
work  as  one  colony  so  far  as  the  bees  are  con- 
cerned. This  is  not  theory  ;  I  know  it  to  be 
a  fact. 


A,  front  entrance  (open). 

B,  back  entrance  (closed). 

C,  entrance  blocks. 

D,  side  walls  of  hive. 

E,  thin  division  board. 


At  the  blossoming  of  white  clover  I  will 
push  one  entrance  block  up  and  entirely 
close  the  entrance  to  that  side  of  the  hive, 
compelling  all  the  flying  bees  to  go  into  one 
hive.  The  supers,  if  any,  being  all  moved  to 
that  hive.  At  the  same  time  the  rear  block 
will  be  moved  back  and  an  entrance  made  to 
the  closed  hive  at  the  rear.  On  the  morning 
of  the  sixth  day  I  will  move  the  supers  to  the 
other  hive,  open  the  entrance  in  front,  close 
it  in  the  rear  and  close  the  entrance  to  the 
other  side  in  front  and  open  it  at  the  rear, 
and  when  this  colony  is  deserted  by  its 
working  bees,  look  for  and  destroy  queen 
cells,  and  repeat  in  six  days,  thus  keeping 
both  queens  laying  all  the  time,  and  work 
their  bees  in  an  undivided  colony  during  the 
season. 

The  hive  with  only  a  thin  board  between 
the  colonies  is  intended  to  keep  the  deserted 
hive  warm  and  keep  the  brood  from  getting 
chilled  which  was  the  main  trouble  here- 
tofore. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


73 


You  will  see  that  in  this  plan  I  have  no 
traps  of  any  kind,  the  hive  is  just  a  simple 
box  with  movable  frames. 

Changing  the  supers  may  seem  like  too 
much  work,  but  with  my  supers  on  top  of 
queen  excluding  honey  boards  I  can  make 
the  change  in  less  than  one  minute  to  each 
hive,  changing  entrances  and  all. 

Now,  Mr.  H.,  I  do  say  that  I  can  do  just 
what  I  have  here  outlined,  but  do  not  say 
that  it  will  prove  profitable  ;  that  is  what  is 
yet  to  be  proved. 

You  know  I  never  had  any  confidence  in 
any  kind  of  non-swarmiug  traps  or  self- 
hivers  ;  they  will  never  give  practical  satis- 
faction, and  I  do  not  know  as  my  own  will, 
but  I  shall  follow  it  to  failure  or  success. 

And,  now,  Brother  Hutchinson,  I  will  close 
this  by  admitting  that  I  am  so  much  inter- 
ested in  my  experimental  work  for  the  api- 
ary that  I  have  laid  in  my  bed  and  studied 
all  night  without  going  to  sleep  at  all.  I 
know  I  shall  not  make  money  by  it,  but  I 
pity  the  man  that  has  nothing  nobler  to  do 
than  to  make  money. 

FoEESTViLLE,  Minu.  Jan.  30,  1893. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED    MONTHIiT. 

W.   Z.  HOTCHUMSOri,  Ed.  &  Pfop. 

Terms  :  —  Si. 00  a  year  in  advance  Two  copies, 
«1.90  ;  three  for  S2.70 ;  five  for  $4.00 ;  ten,  or  more, 
70  cents  each.  If  it  is  desired  to  have  the  Review 
stopped  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  paid  for, 
please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
wUl  be  continued. 


FLINT,     MICHIGAN.    MAR.      10,     1893. 

H.  P.  Langdon,  of  East  Constable,  N.  Y. 
has  sent  an  excellent  description  of  his 
"largest  house  apiary  in  the  world."  The 
article  will  appear  soon— probably  in  the 
next  issue. 

Self-Hivers,  of  anything  approaching  a 
practical  nature,  are  of  comparatively  re- 
cent introduction,  hence,  it  is  diflScult  to 
find  many  bee-keepers  who  can  write  of 
them  from  experience.  If  any  points  in 
their  construction  and  management  have 
been  overlooked  in  the  present  discussion,  I 
should  be  glad  to  be  informed  in  regard  to 
them  before  giving  a  "  summing  up"  in  the 
next  issue. 


Bko.  Yoek,  of  the  A.  B.  J.,  has  my  thanks 
for  a  kindly  notice  of  the  Review  and  its 
editor,  in  which  he  vouches  for  the  honesty 
of  the  latter  and  calls  attention  to  the  wide 
awake,  valuable  character  of  the  former. 


Texas  bee-keepers  will  hold  their  conven- 
tion April  oth  and  (3th  (instead  of  March  as 
given  in  last  Review)  at  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Jennie  Atchley,  one  mile  north  of  the  Court 
House,  in  Greenville. 

© 

"  Hasty's  beview  is  good  and  will  be  a 
great  feature,"  so  writes  J.  A.  Green  ;  while 
E.  R.  Root  writes  :  "  Hasty  is  a  good  re- 
viewer, and  you  are  to  be  congratulated  on 
jiour  good  judgment  in  selecting  him." 


Unfinished  Sections,  those  filled  or  near- 
ly filled  with  drawn  comb,  left  over  from 
last  year,  are  very  valuable  to  give  the  bees 
a  start  in  .he  spring.  In  my  experience  they 
are  worth  nearly  as  much  as  sections  filled 
with  honey.  The  objection  has  been  urged 
against  them  that  their  comb-surface  is  un- 
even and  that  when  filled  and  sealed  they 
do  not  have  the  smooth,  clean  appearance 
that  we  so  admire  in  combs  newly  built  from 
foundation.  To  remedy  this  unevenness, 
some  have  pared  down  the  surface  of  the 
combs  with  a  knife.  This  is  a  slow,  unpleas- 
ant and  puttering  job,  but  Mr.  B.  Taylor 
has  invented  an  inexpensive  arrangement 
whereby  the  cells  can  be  shortened  and  the 
combs  brought  to  a  level  as  rapidly  as  the 
sections  can  be  handled.  It  will  be  illus- 
trated and  described  in  the  next  Review. 

Mr.  Taylor's  new  house-apiary,  also,  will 
probably  be  illustrated  and  described  in  the 
next  issue. 

The  Bee-Keepers'  Union,  348  strong,  has 
elected  the  following  officers;  President, 
R.  L.  Taylor;  Vice  Presidents,  C.  C.  Miller, 
G.  M.  Doolittle,  A.  I.  Root,  A.  J.  Cook,  and 
G.  W.  Demaree.  Secretary,  Treasurer  and 
General  Manager,  T.  G.  Newman.  The 
constitution  has  been  amended  so  that  the 
Union  can  use  its  influence  and  money  for 
ctHi/ purpose  that  is  thought  best  by  the  ad- 
visory board.  Beginning  with  Jan.  1892, 
the  General  Manager  will  receive,  as  his  sal- 
ary, 20  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts.    Thus 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


broadened  in  scope,  if  the  Union  is  only 
managed  with  the  same  wisdom  that  has 
characterized  its  past  career,  it  will  become 
a  power  in  the  laud. 

By  the  way,  the  Union  has  already  scored 
one  victory  the  present  year.  A  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  Missouri  legislature  for 
the  enactment  of  a  law  prohibiting  the 
keeping  of  bees  in  any  city,  town  or  village, 
nearer  than  50  feet  from  the  line  of  any  real 
estate  owner.  An  appeal  was  sent  to  the 
Union,  and  copies  of  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Arkansas,  in  the  case 
where  a  bee-keeper  was  prosecuted  for  re- 
fusing to  move  his  bees  from  a  city,  were 
sent  to  the  members  of  the  legislature,  and 
letters  were  written  to  them,  and  when  the 
bill  came  up  in  the  lower  house  it  was 
promptly  killed. 

Q 

THE    WELLS     SYSTEM. 

"Two  souls  with  but  a  single  thought;  two 
hearts  that  beat  as  one." 

( )ur  bee-keeping  friends  across  the  Atlan- 
tic are  now  greatly  interested  in  what  is  call- 
ed the  Wells  system  of  managing  bees.  In 
one  point  it  resembles  the  plan  described  by 
Mr.  Taylor  in  this  issue  of  the  Review.  It 
resembles  the  Taylor  plan  in  that  the  bees  of 
two  queens  are  worked  together  in  one  hive 
and  one  set  of  supers,  but  the  division  board 
between  them  is  of  perforated,  queen-ex- 
cluding metal  instead  of  being  a  thin,  solid 
board.  There  is  also  a  queen  excluder  be- 
tween each  brood  nest  and  the  super  above 
it;  thus  each  queen  is  kept  on  "her  side  of 
the  fence."  There  is  no  attempt  at  prevent- 
ing swarming,  the  great  advantage  claimed 
being  that  populous  colonies  and  large  yields 
are  secured.  This  arrangement  is  not  call- 
ed two  colonies  in  one  hive,  but  one  colony 
with  two  queens,  and  in  one  sense  it  is  an 
acknowledgement  that  the  "queen  power" 
is  not  sufficient  to  run  a  hive  of  the  size  used 
— two  queens  are  required  to  keep  the  popu- 
lation of  one  hive  at  the  profitable  iioint. 
It  is  really  an  argument  in  favor  of  smaller 
brood  nests.  There  is  one  poiut,  however, 
that  ought  not  to  he  overlooked:  there  may 
be  a  mutual  benefit  in  the  combined  heat  of 
the  two  colonies.  If  the  bees  of  two  (jueens 
will  thus  work  together  in  harmony,  then 
it  would  be  the  same  with  three,  the  same 
with  any  number,  and  we  could,  if  we  wish- 
ed, have  a  great  long  hive  with  a  dozen 
queens,  each  being  kept  in  her  proper  sphere 


by  queen-excluding  metal.  What  a  remedy 
for  weak  coloniesi  I  must  confess  that  this 
idea  looks  more  novel  than  practical,  but  so 
many  things  are  being  done  now  days  that 
there  is  no  knowing  what  )nay  be  done  next. 


AFTEK-SWAKMING   PREVENTED    BY    THE   USE    OF 
THE   BEE-ESCAPE. 

Frank  Coverdale  writes  me  that  he  has  pre- 
vented after-swarming  by  hiving  the  swarm 
on  the  old  stand,  then  placing  the  old  hive 
by  its  side  with  its  entrance  near  that  of  the 
newly  hived  swarm.  The  old  hive  is  then 
closed  except  that  a  bee-escape  is  placed  in 
the  entrance  on  the  side  next  to  the  new 
hive.  Of  course,  every  bee  that  leaves  the 
old  hive  never  gets  back,  but  finds  its  way 
into  the  new  swarm.  All  of  the  working 
force,  and  all  of  the  young  bees  when  they 
come  out  to  play,  are  thrown  into  the  new 
swarm.  In  seven  or  eight  days  the  old  hive 
can  be  given  a  new  stand,  the  same  as  in  the 
Heddon  plan,  but  it  will  be  completely  rob- 
bed of  all  the  bees  except  the  young,  downy, 
just  hatched  ones,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
the  Heddon  plan,  as  was  explained  in  the 
Extracted  Department  (Doolittle's  article) 
last  month,  and  after-swarming  will  possi- 
tively  be  prevented  in  every  case.  If  no  in- 
crease is  desired  the  escape  can  be  left  in 
place  for  a  longer  period,  21  days  if  the 
weather  is  warm,  or,  if  it  is  cool,  it  may  be 
taken  away  at  the  end  of  two  weeks.  When 
the  bees  have  all  hatched  out,  the  few  re- 
maining may  be  shaken  off  in  front  of  the 
new  swarm  and  the  honey  extracted  from 
the  combs,  or  they  can  be  used  in  any  way 
thought  best.  Or  the  matter  may  simply  be 
carried  to  such  an  extent  that  the  old  colony 
will  be  so  weakened  that  not  only  will  it  not 
swarm  but  it  will  not  be  sufficiently  popu- 
lous for  winter,  but  will  still  be  able  to  care 
for  and  protect  the  combs  until  fall,  when 
the  two  colonies  may  be  united,  the  better 
queen  being  preserved. 


EXXRMOXeD. 


The  Pratt  Self-Hiver  a  Success  in  the  Hands 

of  E.  R.  Root. 

At  tiie  Washington  meeting  of  the  North 

American,  Mr.  E.  R.  Root  read  an  essay   on 

self-hivers  and  their  use.     As  the  manner  in 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


75 


which  the  hivers  were  arranged  and  man- 
aged was  given  in  my  leader  of  last  month,  I 
will  not  repeat  it  here,  but  I  will  copy  two 
or  three  paragraphs  from  the  essay,  show- 
ing the  extent  and  success  of  his  experience. 

"The  following  summer,  we  rigged  up 
some  10  or  15  hives,  on  the  principle  before 
stated;  and  although  I  was  sanguine  of  suc- 
cess in  the  very  beginning,  the  result  great- 
ly exceeded  my  expectations.  If  I  remem- 
ber correctly,  there  was  not  a  single  failure. 
The  colonies  were  not  only  automatically 
hived  in  every  case,  but  they  went  to  work 
in  their  new  quarters,  building  comb,  stor- 
ing honey  just  as  they  would  have  done  had 
they  begn  hived  in  the  old-fashioned  way  in 
a  new  location. 

By  way  of  experiment,  some  of  the  colo- 
nies were  left  from  three  weeks  to  a  month, 
to  see  what  the  final  result  would  be.  Young 
bees  hatched  in  the  parent  colony,  and 
finally  began  to  add  their  numbers  to  the 
swarm.  The  latter,  in  the  mean  time  went 
to  storing  honey  to  the  extent  of  50  or  60 
pounds  in  two  or  three  instances;  and  one  in 
particular  had  stored  it  to  the  phenomenal 
amount,  for  these  poor  seasons,  of  150 
pounds. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the  Pratt 
automatic  hivers  will  prove  to  be  as  success- 
ful in  the  hands  of  others,  because  bees  do 
not  always  follow  an  invariable  rule,  espec- 
ially when  their  owners  try  to  make  them 
do  just  as  they  plan  they  ought  to  do,  or  as 
they  do  for  others  under  like  circumstances; 
so  it  will  probably  take  another  year  or  so 
before  we  can  speak  definitely  with  regard 
to  its  success  in  the  hands  of  bee-keepers  in 
general." 


Conditions  Under  Which  Bees  Gather  the 
Most  Honey. 
What  bee  -  keeper  has  not  noticed  that 
when  everything  seemed  to  be  apparently 
equal,  some  colonies  stored  a  much  larger 
surplus  than  others?  It  often  happens  that 
a  colony  weak  in  numbers  stores  more  sur- 
plus than  the  most  populous  colony  in  the 
yard.  Even  in  some  poor  seasons  some  col- 
onies store  a  fair  surplus.  Last  year,  one  of 
my  colonies  stored  more  than  75  pounds  of 
of  comb  honey,  while  the  average  was  less 
than  40  pounds.  Some  colonies  did  not  go 
much  over  20  pounds  each.  Who  hasn't  notic- 
ed these  things  and  wondered  why?  If  we 
could  discover  the  why  and  wherefore,  and 
apply  the  remedy  so  that  all  colonies  would 
come  up  to  the  high  water  mark  what  a 
stride  it  would  be.  Mr.  C.  J.  H.  Graven- 
horst  of  Germany  is  trying  to  solve  the  prop- 
lem.  The  Rev.  C.  Spaeth,  of  Berne,  Mich., 
sends  me  a  translation  of  an  article  upon 
this  subject  that  has  appeared  in   the  bee 


journal  published  by  Mr.  Gravenhorst,  and 
from  it  I  make  the  following  extract. 

"There  are  not  many  attentive  bee-keep- 
ers of  long  experience  who  have  not  noticed 
that  in  so-called  poor  seasons  one  or  more 
of  their  colonies  not  only  stored  enough  hon- 
ey for  its  own  use  but  perhaps  even  a  sur- 
plus; while  the  majority  of  colonies  may  not 
have  secured  even  sufficient  for  their  winter 
stores.  Likewise,  in  a  good  season  it  must 
have  been  noticed  that  some  colonies  give  an 
astonishing  surplus  in  comparison  with 
others. 

These  results  are  the  more  striking  if  all 
the  colonies  had  access  to  the  same  pasture, 
and  if  the  work  was  carried  on  under  seem- 
ingly exactly  the  same  domestic  conditions 
as  regards  combs,  hives,  strength  of  colon- 
ies, etc. 

Even  in  the  beginning  of  my  business  as  a 
practical  bee-keeper,  it  often  happened  in  a 
poor  season  that  three  or  four  of  my  colo- 
nies in  the  round  straw  hives  with  no  frames 
had  more  than  enough  for  winter,  while  the 
majority,  often  stronger  in  bees,  had  not 
sufficient  for  winter.  Then  in  a  good  honey 
fiow  I  often  observed  that  some  of  the  small 
colonies  went  far  ahead  of  the  stronger  ones. 
I  have  had  four-frame  nuclei  give  me  from 
ten  to  twenty  pounds  of  extracted  honey  in 
a  season,  while  others  of  the  same  strength, 
and  stronger  ones,  gave  me  scarcely  as 
much.  Still  more  remarkable  seemed  the 
fact  that  small  queen-rearing  colonies  that 
had  in  the  aggregate  not  more  comb  than 
one  full  sized  frame,  little  by  little  at  a 
time,  would  finally  yield  five  or  six  pounds, 
or  more,  of  honey,  while  others  in  appa- 
rently the  same  condition  gathered  only  their 
daily  supply.  In  the  face  of  all  this,  the 
assertion  is  frequently  heard  that  only 
strong  colonies  yield  a  surplus! 

When  such  results  come  about  with  the 
colonies,  comb,  hives  and  pasturage  appa- 
rently the  same,  there  must  be  other  factors 
not  so  easily  discovered.  By  repeated  ex- 
amination and  observation  I  have  learned 
that  there  exists  a  certain  condition  under 
which  a  colony  will  gather  the  most  honey 
whether  it  be  strong  or  weak.  If  this  con- 
dition has  not  yet  been  reached,  or  if  it  has 
been  passed,  the  storing  of  surplus  will  be 
neglected  or  at  least  carried  on  only  moder- 
ately. 

That  being  the  case,  the  question  naturally 
arises,  what  is  this  condition?  By  an  exact 
examination  there  will  be  found  five  central 
points.  Three  of  these  are  well-known  to 
first  class  bee-keepers,  and  they  are  men- 
tioned only  that  I  may  be  able  to  give  a  com- 
plete statement,  and  in  my  second  part  be 
able  to  refer  to  them  if  desirable. 

1 — The  ideal  colony  must  have  a  faultless 
queen;  hardy,  sound  of  body  and,  above  all 
things,  fertile,  and  her  progeny  distinguished 
by    diligence. 

2— Nevertheless,  such  a  queen  alone  does 
not  make  an  ideal  colony. '  At  the  right 
time,  that  is,  when  honey  is  coming  in  free- 
ly there  must  be  plenty  of  empty  comb  that 
no  time  nor  honey  be  lost  in  building  comb. 

3 — Our  ideal  colony  must  swarm  at  the 
right  time  or  not  at  all.    It  swarms  at  the 


76 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


right  time  when  it  swarms  so  early  that  the 
queeus  of  the  after-swarm,  if  such  are  al- 
lowed, become  fertile,  aud  the  first  or  prime 
swarm  has  its  combs  completed,  before  the 
opening  of  the  main  harvest. 

4 — Tlie  ideal  colony  must  not  be  over-pop- 
ulous. A  hive  is  over  -  populous  when  its 
working  force  is  too  great  in  comparison  to 
the  dimension  of  the  hive  and  to  the  num- 
ber of  wax-building  bees. 

Such  a  condition  is  intolerable  to  the  bees 
and  they  try  to  help  themselves  by  loafing. 
Their  instinct  teaches  them  to  begin  this 
loafing  even  before  the  hive  is  over-popu- 
lous. The  bees  seem  to  see  that  the  combs 
are  filled  and  capped,  that  bees  are  daily 
hatching  and  that  they  will  soon  be  crowded. 
A  colony  in  such  a  condition  will  never  per- 
form the  wonders  in  gathering  honey  that  we 
may  expect  from  one  less  populous.  Such 
a  colony  feels  instinctively  that  its  abode 
will  soon  be  too  small,  and  the  swarming 
fever  sets  in,  and  we  know  that  when  that  is 
awakened  the  bees  will  continue  to  loaf. 
At  the  most,  only  as  much  honey  will  be 
gathered  as  is  needed  for  making  the  swarm- 
ing prepartions.  A  colony  with  the  swarm- 
ing fever  is  of  little  value  as  a  honey  gath- 
erer. 

5 — The  best  honey  gathering  colonies  are 
not  kept  at  home  during  the  best  honey 
flow  by  the  nursing  of  too  much  brood. 
If  there  is  too  much  brood  in  proportion  to 
the  working  force,  most  of  the  honey  gath- 
ered will  be  consumed  by  the  brood.  The 
bee-keeper  whose  bees  rear  a  large  amount 
of  brood  during  the  main  honey  harvest,  or 
near  its  close,  will  find,  as  he  stands  before 
his  colonies  at  the  close  of  the  harvest,  that 
although  they  are  strong  in  bees  and  the 
combs  faultless,  the  latter  will  be  empty  and 
will  stay  so." 

Mr.  Cravenhorst  has  promised  to  tell  in  the 
next  issue  of  his  paper  how,  by  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  foraging  points  he  has  swell- 
ed his  harvest  to  the  very  highest  notch;  and 
Mr.  Spaeth  has  promised  to  furnish  the 
Review  with  a  translation. 


The  Latest  Improvement  in  Self  -  Hivers. 

The  bees  being  compelled  to  pass  through 
an  empty  hive  before  reaching  their  own, 
when  the  Pratt  self-hiving  plan  is  used,  is 
regarded  as  an  objection.  Of  course,  a 
little  time  is  needed  for  the  bees  to  pass 
through  the  empty  hive,  and  to  that  extent  it 
is  objectionable,  but  even  that  objection  is 
in  a  fair  way  to  be  removed,  as  shown  by 
the  following  article  from  Mr  Pratt  publish- 
ed in  Gleanings. 

"I  am  sending  you  by  mail  one  of  the 
185)3  patterns  of  the  Pratt  automatic  hiver. 
You  will  see  that  I  have  greatly  cheapened 
the  construction, and  attached  it  to  a  honey- 
board,  all  in  complete  condition  to  put  di- 


rectly on  a  hive  when  received.  Many  of  the 
purchasers  last  season  did  not  understand 
how  to  attach  the  hiver  to  their  hives,  and 
there  were  some  who  could  not  understand, 
although  it  was  explained  to  them  very  care- 
fully. I  therefore  deem  it  necessary  to  sup- 
ply the  escape-board  and  excluder  all  com- 
plete, with  directions  to  place  on  the  hives 
in  the  simplest  form. 

With  these  facts  in  view  I  have  endeavored 
to  construct  the  device  complete  in  itself, 
and  you  will  readily  understand  the  advan- 
tage this  hiver  I  am  sending  you  has  over 
all  the  others. 


THE   LATEST,    PEATT.  SELF  -  HIVEB. 

First,  you  will  notice  that  it  is  in  two  parts 
(divisble  at  H),  making  it  convenient  to 
pack  and  mail  at  a  very  moderate  cost. 
These  two  parts  intersect  and  form  the 
honey  (or  escape)  board  to  cover  an  eight- 
frame  Dovetailed  hive,  and  can  be  fastened 
together  by  the  receiver  with  three  or  four 
nails  or  not,  as  he  sees  fit.  As  you  notice,  it 
is  a  cheap  and  light  board.  I  have  reduced 
the  escape  triangle  (H,  C)  to  two  simple 
pieces  of  %Ti%:  also  the  zinc  surface  that 
covers  the  triangle  is  less  than  half  that  of 
the  orignal.  The  entrance  through  the 
board,  connecting  the  triangle  with  the  col- 
ony, can  be  as  I  have  it,  or  three  or  four  \}4 
inch  holes,  as  you  see  fit  to  make  them. 

You  will  also  see  that  I  have  attached  the 
excluder  D  to  the  front  end  of  the  board, 
with  entrance  there,  and  discarded  the  old- 
style  separate  piece.  This  is  much  better, 
as  it  not  only  does  away  with  loose  parts 
but  affords   better  ventilation.     It  is  impos- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


7? 


sible  for  this  to  become  clogged  by  drones  or 
rubbish.  Drones  will  work  to  the  extreme 
front  end.  and  fuss  there  out  of  the  way  un- 
til they  become  exhausted  and  fall  down  on 
the  bottom-board,  to  be  scooped  out  occas- 
ionally through  the  lower  entrance  G,  which 
is  kept  blocked  up  tight.  It  matters  not 
how  many  drones  a  hive  may  contain,  the 
excluder  will  never  be  found  so  stopped  up 
that  there  is  not  ample  passage  for  the  full 
working  force,  and  for  complete  and  per- 
fect ventilation. 

Another  advantage  in  having  the  excluder 
as  it  is  here  is  this:  A  free  and  open  en- 
trance, with  no  zinc  to  pass  until  the  bees 
are  inside  the  hive  (a  great  advantage,  I 
find),  affording  excellent  opportunity  for 
rapid  passage  to  and  from  the  hive,  besides 
aiding  perfect  ventilation  and  a  direct  and 
short  path  to  either  hive. 

The  little  strips  of  wood,  F,  F,  shoved  into 
the  entrance,  are  on  pivots,  to  open  like 
gates,  as  shown.  These  are  to  support  the 
zinc  and  wood  while  in  the  mail,  and  are  to 
contract  the  entrance  for  any  cause  when 
necessary.  After  a  swarm  has  been  hived, 
these  gates  can  be  closed  entirely,  and  the 
lower  entrance  opened  to  them,  when  the 
board  will  act  as  a  bee-escape  to  reinforce 
the   swarm  as  the  young  bees  hatch  out. 

E.  L.  Pbatt. 

Beverly,  Mass.,  -Jan.  10. 

The  editor  of  Gleanings  comments  as 
follows  upon  the  foregoing. 

"When  Mr.  Pratt  first  sent  the  new  device 
for  189.3  we  were  not  favorably  impressed 
with  it,  and  wrote  him  to  that  effect.  How 
ever,  we  instructed  our  artist  to  make  a  pic- 
ture of  it,  and  the  result  is  shown  above. 
Subsequently,  in  following  the  description 
through  more  carefully,  we  found  that  Mr. 
Pratt  had  still  preserved  the  vital  principle 
of  his  other  hivers.  that  were  so  successful 
with  us  last  summer;  viz.,  that  the  bees  on 
returning  go  back  through  an  entrance  to 
which  they  have  long  been  accustomed,  but 
into  a  different  hive,  preceded  by  the  queen. 
If  the  reader  will  understand  that  the  lower 
entrance,  G,  is  supposed  to  be  closed,  he  will 
readily  see  that  the  bees  are  obliged  to  use 
the  entrance  E  only.  Of  course,  before  they 
have  swarmed  they  pass  through  the  en- 
trance E  upward  to  hive  No.  1.  After 
swarming  they  return  to  the  same  entrance, 
and  thereafter  pass  downward  to  hive  No.  2, 
because  the  main  attraction — the  queen — 
has  gone  down  below,  into  an  empty  hive, 
affording  those  conditions  that  are  supposed 
to  satisfy  the  swarming  mania. 

The  device  above  differs  from  the  one  of 
last  year,  in  that  the  perforated  zinc  in 
front  of  the  entrance,  as  at  D,  was,  in  the 
1892  hiver,  placed  before  the  entrance  G. 
This  seemed  to  be  objectionable  to  some 
(although  we  never  so  regarded  it),  that  the 
bees  should  travel  through  an  empty  hive 
every  time  in  order  to  get  to  the  brood-nest 
in  hive  No.  1,  from  which  it  was  expected 
they  would  swarm.  Mr.  Pratt,  contemplat- 
ing this  objection,  has,  in  the  1893  hiver, 
placed  the  entrance  centrally,  so  that  it  af- 
fords equal  access  to  both  hives. 


Although  Mr.  Pratt  says  nothing  about  it, 
we  assume  that  the  apiarist,  at  his  conven- 
ience, after  the  swarm  has  issued,  say  with- 
in two  or  three  weeks,  removes  the  parent 
or  upper  hive,  opens  the  entrance  G,  and  for 
a  time  at  least  allows  the  bees  to  have  access 
to  both  entrances.  After  they  have  become 
partly  accustomed  to  the  lower  entrance, 
this  special  swarming-device  is  to  be  remov- 
ed, and  the  cover  replaced,  when  of  course 
the  entrance  G  will  be  used  exclusively. 
There  will  be,  of  course,  a  little  confusion 
for  a  day  or  two,  but  the  bees  will  very  read- 
ily adapt  themselves  to  the  change. 

We  see  no  reason  why  this  latest  pattern 
should  not  work  as  well  as  the  one  of  last 
year;  and  as  it  is  simpler,  and  avoids  the 
long  bee  travel,  it  will  doubtless  be  prefer- 
red to  the  others.  The  queen  also  will  be 
more  likely  to  get  into  the  lower  hive  be- 
cause the  light  from  the  entrance  E  is  so 
close  to  the  apex  C  of  the  zinc  cone.  This 
may  make  all  the  difference  between  success 
and  failure." 


A  Condensed  View  of   Current 


Bee   Writings. 


E.  E.  HASTY. 

How  many  words  of  reading  matter,  by 
actual  count,  did  the  several  journals  place 
before  their  .January  readers  ?  To  be  sure 
this  is  not  the  weightiest  consideration  in 
judging  relative  merit ;  but  it  is  usually  one 
consideration.  I  say  usually,  because  if  a 
journal  succeeded  in  keeping  its  matter  far 
above  the  average  in  quality  many  readers 
would  prefer  a  medium  quantity,  so  they 
could  read  it  all,  to  the  difficult  job  of  culling 
to  get  the  best  in  a  "  Benjamin's  mess  "  of 
five  times  the  amount.  As  matters  now 
stand,  however,  the  journals  that  furnish  the 
least  quantity  are  quite  as  apt  to  be  low  in 
quality  as  the  big  ones  are  ;  and  it  would  be 
almost  stretching  things  to  say  that  any 
journal  is  keeping  its  columns  entirely  clear 
of  matter  which  the  reader  might  skip  with- 
out serious  loss.  Moreover  the  little-end-of- 
nothing-whittled-out  journalism  if  extinct 
is  not  sure  to  stay  so.  At  any  rate  let  us  for 
the  moment  inspect  the  actual  amount  of 
"gold  and  silver,  wood,  hay  and  stubble" 
set  before  us.  The  pronouncing  class  will 
now  come  forward, 

TOES    ON    THE     MARK. 

Bee  Matter.      Total  Reading 

Am.  Bee  .Journal 58.675 Same 

Gleanings 42,229     64,685 

Canadian  B.  J. 24,254 Same 

Guide  16,.566  18,316 

Review 15,099 16,836 

Apicultarist 9,205 Same 

Am.  Bee  Keeper 7.093 7,770 

Progressive 5,959 Same 


78 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


So  Gleanings  has  pronounced  the  most 
words,  but  the  A.  B.  J.  has  pronounced  the 
most  words  about  bees,  and  thereby  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  class.  Attention  to  other 
topics,  for  which  Gleanings  gets  its  ear 
warmed  sometimes,  amounts  to  22,4r)G  words, 
a  little  over  one-third  of  its  total  matter.  Ex- 
actly what  the  size  of  the  model  journal  should 
be  is  a  difficult  problem.  Certainly  it  should 
be  nowhere  near  the  bed-blanket  character 
of  our  daily  newspapers.  Probably  also 
down  below  10,000  words  a  month  is  not  the 
place  to  stay,  except  temporarily  while  get- 
ting strength  to  go  higher.  Yet  I  suppose 
there  is  a  class  of  readers  who  take  a  journal 
from  a  queer  sort  of  sense  of  duty,  and  they 
like  the  one  best  which  they  can  scramble 
over  the  quickest.  They  know  their  system 
requires  a  dose,  but  they  want  the  smallest 
dose  possible. 

THE    GUIDE, 

When  a  new  bee-paper  is  born  the  old  es- 
tablished ones  can  well  afford  to  be  polite  in 
speech  toward  it  (soon  die  any  way,  you. 
know)  but  if  it  forgets  to  die,  and  refuses  to 
be  reminded  of  that  interesting  duty,  it  may 
have  thick  slices  of  pretty  cold  shoulder  to 
feed  on  for  many  years.  It  looks  rather  sad 
to  me  that  such  steady,  patient  merit  and 
perseverance  as  the  Guide  has  shown  for  six- 
teen years  should  have  realized  no  more  than 
it  has  toward  making  it  a  good  paying  piece 
of  property.  'Pears  like  I  have  noticed,  for 
say  a  year  back,  that  the  leading  papers  car- 
ry a  little  more  sister-like  air  toward  it,  as  if 
they  thought  so  too — as  if  they  would  say, 
"  Sister  Guide,  you  don't  die  worth  a  cent, 
come  in  out  of  the  snow,  and  sit  in  the  sit- 
ting-room a  spell."  The  Guide's  strong 
point  is  the  ability  with  which  it  selects. 
Doolittle's  "  Living  hive,"  and  Mackenzie's 
foul-brood  report,  and  our  comrade  R.  L. 
Taylor's  "  Funny  little  mouse  "  article,  and 
Prof.  Cook's  "Suyar  Syrup  Honey"  are 
conspicuous  examples  of  its  January  loot. 
Specially  interesting  things  not  pertaining  to 
bees  are  also  continually  drawn  on.  Among 
its  original  matter  Wm.  Camm  roconnoiters 
scarlet  clover,  the  Dadants  discuss  feeding 
and  feeders,  and  Demaree  gives  a  strong  ar- 
ticle "kind  'o  scattering  round"  some  of 
the  shot  whizzing  quite  close  to  the  sugar- 
honey  "shebang."  The  Dadants  are  very 
competent  authority,  and  they  give  almost 
unbounded  recommend  to  the  simple  invert- 
ed fruit-can  feeder,  with  muslin  tied  over  it. 


Let  it  stand  in  a  dish  a  little  while  for  the 
excess  to  drain  out. 

"  I  ouce  tliouglit  1  knew  a  great  deal  about  tlie 
CAUSES  favorable  and  unfavorable  t<j  nectar  flow. 
Butlknow  mighty  little  now."— (t.  W.  Demaree. 

The  Guide  holds  on  with  both  hands  to  the 
symposium  method  of  answering  apicultu- 
ral  questions,  which  is  being  abandoned  in 
some  quarters.  Four  questions,  covering 
nine  columns,  appear  in  this  number.  Good 
thing  to  hold  on  to,  if  respondents  can  be 
held  to  a  real  interest  in  it,  and  not  get  to 
regarding  the  whole  thing  with  thinly  dis- 
guised disgust. 

The  Canadian    Bee  Journal 

Is  one  of  the  journals  that  honestly  tries  to 
be  "worth  its  keep"  to  the  subscriber.* 
Over  six  pages  of  its  new  year's  number  are 
occupied  by  a  report  on  foul-brood  by  the_ 
government  Bacteriologist,  J.  J.  Mackenzie. 
Original  investigations  of  this  sort  are  so 
few  in  number  that  we  cannot  afford  to  neg- 
lect them  when  set  before  us  in  intelligible 
shape.  The  modesty  of  this  scientist  is  re- 
markable.    Witness  below — 

"  I  certainly  would  not  be  prepared  to  '  sjjot ' 
foul-brood  in  an  apiary,  although  1  certainly 
think  loan  under  the  microscope." 

There  are  slight  shades  of  difference  in  the 
appearance  of  our  enemy,  the  bacillus,  as 
seen  by  Cheshire  in  England,  and  by  Mac- 
kenzie in  Canada.  Here  is  the  latter's 
view — 

"  It  is  a  bacillus  similar  to  tliat  of  CheBhiie  in 
size,  produces  spores  which  are  somewliat  thick- 
er, giving  the  bacillus  a  clubbed  appearance. 
On  agar  jelly  it  grows  rapidly,  so  as  to  cover  the 
whole  surface.  In  gelatine  its  growtli  is  very 
Dccnliar,  shooting  o\it  from  the  infected  point 
in  all  directions  On  potato  it  produces  a  yel- 
low gfowth." 

To  throw  light  on  the  solemn  question 
whether  foundation  can  communicate  foul- 
brood  a  great  harvest  of  spores  were  raised 
and  stirred  into  melted  wax,  taking  care  not 
to  have  the  wax  very  hot.  Wax  from  the 
under  side  of  this  infected  cake  would  start 
a  luxuriant  growth  of  the  bacillus.  With 
wax  from  the  upper  side  of  the  cake  he  had 
no  success.  With  ordinary  wax  from  foul- 
broody  combs  he  had  repeated  failures,  and 
only  one  success.  But  that  one  success  is 
sufficient  to  send  a  shiver  down  the  spine  of 
the  foundation-user  who  doesn't  want  the 
disease. 

My  own  opinion  and  confidence  all  along 
have  been  that  melted  wax  had  of  itself  power 
to  kill  the  germs,  just  as  melted  grease  kills 
flies,  without  regard  to  the  degree  of  heat 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


79 


required  to  kill  them.  My  theory  9eems  to 
go  to  smash  under  these  experiments.  The 
remarkable  immunity  which  foundation 
users  have  certainly  had  (for  the  most  part) 
seems  to  rest  mainly  on  the  fact  that  live 
spores  are  very  heavy,  and  go  to  the  bottom. 
But  just  think  how  easily  a  little  of  the  dregs 
might  be  bungled  into  one  of  the  dark  color- 
ed sheets. 

Our  enemy  is  a  salamander.  In  wax  kept 
at  the  boiling  point  he  held  out  two  hours. 
Two  and  a  half  hours  finished  him.  When 
the  heat  was  moderated  to  194°  it  took  three 
hours.  He  laughs  at  germicides.  Put  in  a 
two  per  cent,  solution  of  carbolic  acid,  he 
was  at  the  end  of  six  days  still  "  holding  the 
fort."  One  per  cent,  of  Beta  Naphthol  put  in 
the  hot  wax  had  little  or  no  effect  in  hasten- 
ing his  death.  So  far  as  drug  remedies  go, 
the  upshot  seems  to  be  that  they  temjioraxily 
stoj]  the  germs  from  growing,  and  in  the 
interim  the  bees  themselves  (and  nature) 
may  get  the  upper  hand.  As  the  best  that 
can  be  done,  where  frames  and  hives  are  to 
be  cleansed  without  prolonged  boiling,  Mac- 
kenzie advises  ten  per  cent,  of  soft  soap  in 
water,  or  a  strong  solution  of  washing  soda. 
Either,  if  used  thoroughly  enough,  and  hot 
enough,  is  declared  better  than  five  per  cent, 
of  carbolic  acid. 

A  windfall  joke  occurs  on  page  311.  Man- 
ager Newman  telling  how  hard  he  is  going 
to  work  for  the  new  Union  against  honey 
mixers,  tries  to  say  he  will  send  his  letter  to 
every  bee-paper  and  endeavor  to  get  the 
vieivs  of  the  editors  ;  but  the  wicked  types 
make  him  say  "  endeavor  to  pe<  the  tnews  of 
the  editors."  Not  a  bad  idea,  from  a  worldly 
point  of  view.  If  you  want  to  get  anything 
out  of  an  editor  pet  his  views. 

Canadian  No.  2  is  mainly  occupied  with  an 
excellent  report  of  the  Washington  conven- 
tion, and  No.  8  with  the  Ontario  convention. 
The  Dominion  folks  got  so  entranced  with 
our  editor  that  they  said  he  would  pass  for  a 
Canadian  anywhere.  On  page  341  friend 
Dibbern  thinks  a  home-made  brick  furnace 
eight  inches  thick  (doors  from  an  old  cook- 
stove)  the  proper  thing  to  warm  a  cold  win- 
tering cellar— gives  such  a  steady  heat,  and 
holds  it  so  long.  McEvoy's  plan  of  winter- 
ing on  early  sealed  combs  from  the  super, 
and  holding  the  late  honey  and  stuff  from 
below  in  reserve  for  spring,  seems  splendid 
tactics  for  the  bees.  Takes  a  good  location 
to  be  able  to  afford  it.  I  would  also  amend 
by  allowing  one  outer  comb  with  pollen  in 


it.  Bees  get  to  be  cannibals  when  they  have 
no  pollen,  if  I  am  right — break  up  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  and  suck  the  juices.  In  visiting 
184  apiaries  the  foul-brood  inspector  found 
about  a  thousand  cases.  His  office  is  not  a 
sinecure,  certainly. 

The  General   round  Up, 

0 

That  is  a  wonderfully  spirited  engraving 
of  Doolittle  in  A.  B.  J.  No.  7.  You  could'nt 
tell  from  the  look  of  him  whether  he  was  a 
Major  General  or  the  Commander  in  Chief. 
I  don't  believe  he  is  quite  so  ferocious. 
Since  Jan.  1st  we  have  had  also  a  fine  picture 
of  Dr.  Miller,  tolerable  ones  of  Elwood  and 
James  A.  Green,  and  poor  ones  of  B.  Taylor, 
Adam  Grimm  and  Eugene  Secor. 

Baldensperger  in  Gleanings,  page  .53,  gives 

valuable  and  rare  records  of  the  fertilization 

of  queens,  one  the  first  day  after  leaving  the 

cell,  two  the  second  day — and  so  on  to  one 

which  was  fertilized  the  30th  day,  and  did 

pretty  well.     A  medal  to  our  brother  from 

the  Holy  Land.    But  possibly  unusual  blood 

had  something  to    do  with    these  unusual 

facts. 

"The  average  time  is  six  or  seven  days." — 
Dadant. 

Cases  of  impregnation  at  40  days,  and  46 
days  given  on  page  48  of  Gleanings. 

Wanted.  The  usual  time  when  a  queen 
passes  beyond  hopes  of  fertilization. 

Dr.  Miller  in  Gleanings,  page  47,  says  of 
the  emerging  of  queens,  "Thirty  years  ago 
sixteen  days  was  not  the  orthodox  time.  It 
was  17  or  18."     And  now  often  15. 

Is  it  just  barely  possible  that  the  accelera- 
ted development  of  queens,  as  compared 
with  workers,  is  a  recent  development  ?  and 
still  going  on  ?  and  much  more  manifest  in 
bees  manipulated  for  several  generations 
than  in  neglected  ones  ? 

In  order  to  get  young  bees  to  shift  their 
quarters,  as  Doolittle  shows,  the  hive  must 
be  moved  while  they  are  out  at  play. 

Edwin  France  saw  bees  working  across  a 
lake  six  miles  wide.     A.  B.  J.,  page  8S. 

The  compression  of  getting  into  a  worker 
cell  is  not  what  determines  that  an  egg  shall 
be  worker  and  not  drone.  Mrs.  Atchley  in 
repeated  cases  of  eggs  laid  in  her  hand  has 
made  her  bees  rear  workers  from  them — 
never  drones.  Even  the  ones  reared  in 
drone  cells  were  workers.  Medal  for  -Jennie. 
Also  she  finds  that  Cyprian  workers  lay  mul- 
titudes of  eggs  inside  of  48  hours  from  the 
removal  of  the  queen.     See  A.  B.  J.,  page 


80 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


108.  She  longs  for  a  government  grant,  that 
she  might  go  to  an  island  anil  settle  lots  of 
things.  Alas,  guvornments  usually  employ 
mediocrities,  and  I'm  "afeerd"Mrs.  Atchley 
is  not  one  I 

The  new  wurk  that  is  running  in  the  Api- 
vulturist  more  than  maintains  its  character  ; 
and  Alley  owns  up  to  the  authorship.  Di- 
rections given  for  opening  a  hive  are  especi- 
ally able :  but,  mercy  I  who  wants  to  keep 
at  all  bees  that  need  to  be  scientifically  be- 
sieged fifteen  minutes  before  you  dare  open 
them  ?  Lead  'em  off,  friend  Alley,  and  give 
us  some  civilized  kind. 

"  When  1  have  been  stung  ami  have  takon  the 
trouble  to  examine,  I  have  found  that  in  nearly 
every  case  it  was  done  by  quite  a  younsbee." 
—Alley. 

My  opinion  has  been  that  it  was  usually 
hardened  old  wretches,  who  had  adopted  war 
as  a  profession,  doing  nothing  else  than 
hang  round  the  entrance  like  cross  dogs.  An 
idle  bee  would  keep  its  fur  better  than  a  la- 
boring one. 

RiOHABDS,  Lucas  Co.,  O.,  Feb.  18,  1893. 


AD  VE  RTISEMENTS 


HIVES 


Twenty  of  Root's  Dovetailed  Hives, 
all  made  up  and  furnished  with  six  sec- 
tion holders  and  eight  brood  frames, 
only  90  cts.  each.  Twenty  of  Root's 
story  and  a  half,  chaff  hives,  made  up 
and  furnished  with  eight  brood  frames, 
and  a  case  to  hold  twenty  sections,  only 
|1.2.")  each.  (  Regular  price,  *1.7r>.  ) 
Twenty  chaff  hives  with  one  movable 
side,  and  furnished  with  nine  brood 
frames  and  a  crn-e  holding  six  section 
holders,  only  ^IJiO  each.  (  Regular  price 
!|2.00.)     I  also  have  fifty  colonics  of 


BEES 


For  sale.  They  are  in  eight  an<l  ten 
(L.)  frame  story  and  a  half  hives.  Colonies 
in  t«n-frame  hives,  $4.(X)  each:  in  eight- 
frame,  only  SiS.iiO  If  five  or  more  arc  t;ikf»n 
at  one  time,  a  five  cent  discount  will  be 
given.  Bees  are  in  good  condition  and  hives 
new.  A  discount  of  ten  per  cent  will  also  be 
given  on  section  holders,  brood  frames  and 
shipping  cases  until  May  Is*.  12-;i2-12t 

I,  M.  KINZIE,  Rochester,  Mich. 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  Second-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped.privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  P>ee. 

TYPEWRITER  j  si  Broadwav,  New  York. 
HEADQUARTERS,  ]  ^^  Monroe  St.,  Chicago. 


$1.50 


AVill  buy  a  good  two  story 
Chaff  Hive,  ^hall  1  send  you 
one  ?  Send  a  card  and  1  will 
mail  my  price  list.  Geo  A. 
Kirkpatrick,  Union  City,  Ind. 


HIVES. 


D O  V  ET  A  I  LE  D 

Frames,  Sections,   Honey 

Crates,  Foundation  and   .Vpiarian  Supplies  of 

all  kinds.    Catalogue  free. 

E.  L.  KIXCAID,  IValker,  Mo. 

HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions; warranted  good  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  most  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  of  a  full  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT. 

1-93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 

Ta^l^e    I^Totice ! 

If  you  are  looking  for  the  bees  that  give  the 
most  profit,  and  are  the  most  gentle,  try  the 

Ai:.Bino. 

I  can  also  fnrnisii  the  gokleii  Italian,  but  my 
preference  is  the  Albino.  Send  for  circular  and 
price  list  and  see  what  others  say  of  them  and 
how  cheaply  '  sol]  th'^-n.  I  also  inannfac*nre 
niid  d-p'  i"  Hives,  Sections,  Founda- 
tion, Extra'^tors  II  ■■    apuiiiiu  Mip- 

pues  S     VALENTINE, 

;j-93-2t  riagerstowu,  Md. 


Bee   Literature   ^**^aie. 

(iLE.VNJN(4S-Vols.  .S-9-l()  U-12-l(i  bound  in 
'•  red  goat  "     Vols.  17  l.S-'9'20  unbound. 

AM.  BEE.roURNAL-Vols.  2v!  23  24  bound  in 
black  leather.  ;md  Vols.  2.">-26-27  and   2,s  unbound. 

Al'lCl'LTCRlST-Vols  1  to  7,  inclusive,  un- 
bonnd. 

(tU IDE -Vol.  12,  unbound. 

Kach  of 'he  following  lack  one  or  two  num- 
bers fif  lieing  complete. 

ADV ANCE-Vols.  17  and  l.s. 

CANADIAN  B.  .1.  — Vol.  for  ISNS. 

BRITISH  B. .!.— Vols,  for  l,SRsis9n  and  1891. 

CAN.  HONEY  PRODUCER-Vole.  for  1,W- 
iss^  and  is,s9.  Also  odd  numbers  of  all  the 
above  journals. 

How.  much  am  I  otfi'red  for  .'iny  or  all  of  the 
above  ^ 

ARTHUR   C.   MILLER, 
Box  .■>7.">.  Providence,  R,  1. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


81 


'"'■'-SA  ORIFICE^ 

SUPPUES.  WRITE  FOR    LIST. 

1  also  have  "office  helps  "  for  sale.  3-93-tf 

UNO.  C.  CAPEHART,  St.  Albans,  W.  Va. 

I  HAVE  FOUR  SINGLE  COMB 

OB5ERVATORY    HIVES 

That  I  wish  to  disp<ise  of.  They  are  fiuoly  made 
of  "quartered"  oak  and  polished.  They  cost 
$5.(X)  each,  but  I  am  out  of  the  show  business 
aiKl  am  open  to  offers 

ARTHUR  ('.  MILLER, 

2  93-tf.  Box  575,      Providence,  R.  I. 

•mainay  ai/;   uoijuaiu  dsvsjj 

FREE     QIJEEN- 

Send  for  circular  giving  particulars,  telling 
how  to  introduce  queens  and  giving  the 
price  of  hive  protectors  and  nucleus  col's. 

2-93-4t  J.   F.   MICHAEL,   German,   Darke   Co.,   Ohio 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 

No.  1  SECTIONS  12.50. 

No.  2  SECTIONS  !|1.60. 

DOVETAILED  HIVES  7.5c.  UP. 

Smokers,     Foundation,     Feailers,    Bee    Veils, 
and  all  things  needed  in  the  Apiary.     Wholesale 
and  retail.    Send  for  Reduced  List,  Free. 
W.  D.  SOPER, 

2-9.3-tf.  Jackson,  Mich. 


Early  Queens    From    Texas, 

From  my  choice  golden  stock.  My  bees  are 
very  gentle,  good  workers,  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  One  un- 
tested queen,  April  and  May,  Sl.OO;  six  for  $5,00; 
later,  75c.  Orders  booked  now ;  money  seilt 
when  queens  are  wanted.  Send  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  GIVENS. 

Lisbon.  Texas. 

l-93-9t  Pl.-ase   mention  the  R.iuieui. 


Sea  Hives  and  SeGtion  Boxes. 

SimpHcity,  Langstrotli-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth.  Doverailod  and  (Champion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supeis,  One  Piece  Sections  anil  Shipping 
i^lases.  Foundation,  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16  page  Circular. 


HONEY  HLPiG 


l-92-tf 


PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  London,  Wis. 

Please   mention   the   Reuiew 


1:;;:^M0KERS.5ECTI0NS; 


^    \5''\ALLAPlARlANi    SUPPLtES.; 


AND  Bee  Books, 

OF  ALL  KINDS, 
A  LARGE   STOCK. 
MY  NEW  Ii:,t,XTSTKATEI> 

Catalogue  and  Price  List  of  Supiiliea 
for  tlio  Apiary  will  be  sent  free  to  all 
who  may  apply.  Send  a  postal  card 
for  it.  writing  your  name  and  address 
^plainly.  For  every  Order  of  $10.00 
and  over.  I  will  make  you  a  present. 
The  Catalogue  tells  you  all  about  It. 
T.  ©.  Newman,  147  So. Western  Ave.,  Chicago. 


Please 


the  Rev 


lieathei?   Colored 

HONEY  QUEENS,  from  Imported  Mother,  war- 
ranted purely  mated,  after  June  lOth,  at  f  l.OO 
each ;  six  at  one  time,  $5.00.  Untested  queens, 
75c.  each.    Address 

C.  A.  BUNCH, 
l-93-7t.  Nye,  Marshall  Co.,  Ind. 


— If  you  are  going  to — 

BIJY  a  buzz  -  SAW^, 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Review.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 


ITALIAri   QUEEr(5 

Bred  for  Business,  (ientleness  and  Beauty.  Un- 
tested, 80c,  each  ;  throe  for  $2.25;  six  for  $4.00; 
12  for  $7.50.  Tested.  $1.25  Select  tested,  yellow 
to  the  tip.  breeder,  $1.50.  Will  commence  ship- 
ping April  15th.  On  all  orders  received  before 
March  1st,  accompanied  by  the  cash,  10  per  cent, 
discount.    Safe  arrival  guaranteeil. 

G.  E.  DAWSON, 
l-93-12t,  Carlisle,  Sonoke  Co.,  Ark. 


If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 


ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOI^      189S. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  yonr  interest,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.  P,  H.  BROWN, 
1-88-tf.  Augrusta,  Georgia. 

Please  mention   the   Reuiew. 


82 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


Barnes'  Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This  cat  represents  oar 
(/ombined  Circalar  and 
Scroll  Saw,  which  is  the 
best  machine  made  for 
Bee  Keepers'  nse  in  the 
construction  of  their  hives, 
sections,    boxes,    etc. 

11 -92-1 6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOR  OATALOGtl,  PR  lOS,         TC, 
Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St ,  Rockford,  Ilia 


IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  iield  more 
completely  than  any  other  publiHliod,  sond  fl.nO 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

PleaP"  mention  *he  Reuiew. 


Warranted  Purely  Mated. 

Italian  honey  queens.  They  are  very  prolific 
and  tlieir  workers  cannot  be  excelled  in  gentle- 
ness and  industry.  Nothing  but  the  choiceHt 
QUeeiiH  sent  out ;  try  me  and  see.  Send  your 
order  at  once  Single  queen.  S()  cts  :  3  for  Igli.fW : 
6  for  il.(K) ;  12  for  $7.7.5.    Ready  April  »)th.    Iit3.fit 

M.  H.  DeWITT,  Sang  Run,  Ml 


iUTCH  CHICKENS  BY  STEAM 

I  withthelui  proved  Cvrialcinr  Inniihafnr 


Excelsior  Incubator. 

Simple,  I'erfect,  ,Sv;/.AV.;«. 
latiiuj.  Thousands  in  suc- 
cessful operntion.  Guaran- 
teed to  batch  a  larger  per- 
centage of  fertile  eggs  at 
less  cost  than  any  other 
Hatcher.  Lowest  priced 
first-class  Hatcher  made. 
GEO.  H.HTAHL.  (Iiilncy.lli.l 


I  Banded   (^uzzns 

AND 

^<^A    SPECIALTY. 

April         May 

One  untested  (lueen,  $1.(H)         $1.(K) 

Six         "        (lueens, .5.(10  5.00 

One  tested  (lueen,  2.00  1.50 

Three     "     queens .5.00  4.00 

Select  tested  <}neen,  2. .50  2..50 

Two-frame  nuclons  with  any  queen  $1.50  each, 
extra.  Three  -  frame  nucleus  with  any  queen 
$2.25  each,  extra.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

m.  J.  E^I:,I:,ISOn, 

3-93-3t  Catehall,    S.   C. 

New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,   SMOKERS, 

FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SE(^T10N  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWRY  .JOHNSON, 

1-93-tf.  Masontown,  Pa. 

OOIMIB 
FOUNDATION 

AND  SESTIOriS. 


CA  UTION  . 

Do  not  buy  a  thick,  heavy  base  comb  founda- 
tion for  use  in  your  seotionR  when  you  can  get 
14  to  16  siiuare  feot  to  the  pound.  Also  be  sure 
and  bay  vour  si'ctions  where  you  can  get  a  nice 
box  at  a  low  price.  Send  mo  your  address  and  I 
will  bo  jdeased  to  8'»nd  you  a  sample  section,  a 
sample  of  the 

THINEST  COMB  FOUNDATION    MADE, 

And  prici'K  at  wliich  they  may  be  bought. 
W.  H.    NORTON, 

2Si:!-tl.  Sknwhi'gan,  Me. 

Plf-asp   mention   the   Review. 


Cheap    Freight   and   Quick  Transportation. 

Being  located  at  the  most  central  point  of  railroail  and  exijress  comjianies  enables  us  to  furnish 
bee  keepers  with  supplies  at  less  cost  to  themselves  than  any  house  in  the  country.  We  furnish 
cverytlnng  ni^eded  in  the  apiary,  as  low  as  the  lowest  and  as  good  as  the  best. 

QQOI^'S  OOl^FLiBTE  lil'V^B  condMnes  all  the  most  approve<l  methods 
of  hive  making.  It  is  a  complete  arraugenu^nt  for  out-door  wintering  ami  is  equally  well  adapted  to 
producing  comb  or  extracted  honey     Send  for  circular.   Fine  l'>t  of  Bees   for   Sale  ciieap. 

J.  H.  M.  COOK,  [Kx^?^"^sp7NwYLJ  78  Barclay  St.,  New  York  City. 


The  BEE-KJEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


SB 


HILL'S  SMOKER  and  FEEDER. 


Smoker  buins  h  ird  wood  cliii)8  without  spe- 
cial preparation.  Very  rt'liable.  Greatest 
smokiDg  capacity.  Easiest  to  start.  Cheapest 
beeaui^e  it  saves  time.  Price,  $1.20.  By  mail, 
81.40.    Per  dozen,  $1. 80. 

Best  Bee  -  Feeder.  Most 
convenient.  Saves  f.eed.  No 
daubing  or  drowning.  Two 
to  seven  feeders  full  may  be 
given  a  colony  at  one  time 
which  will  be  stored  in  the 
combs  in  ten  hours.  Price, 
per  pair,  30c.;  by  mail,  40  c; 
per  doz.,  Sl.SO.  Hasasaleof 
2,000  per  month.  Address 
A.  G.  HILL,  KendallviUe, 
Indiana. 

These  smokers  and  feeders  are  kept  in  stock 
by  Thos.  G.  Newman  &  Son,  Chicago,  111 
G.  B.  Lewis  &  Co,,  Watertown.  Wis. 
W.   H.  Bright,  Mazeppa,  Minn. 
Chas.  Dadant  &  Son,  Hamilton,  Hancock  Co.,  111. 

E.  Kretchmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 

H.  McWilson  &  Co.,  202  Market  St.,  St.  L  uis,  Mo. 

F.  H.  Dunn,  Yorkville,  111. 

W.  D.  Soper  &  Co.,  Jackson,  Mich. 
Chas.  A.  Stockbridge,  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 
A.  F.  Fields,  Wheaton,  Ind. 
W.  S. Bellows.  Ladora,  Iowa. 
E.  F.  Quigley,   Unionville,   Mo. 
Gregory  Bros.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa. 
Miller  Bros.,  Bluffton  Mo. 

G.  K.  Hubbard,  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 

Theodore  Bender,  18  Fulton  St.,  Canton,  Ohio. 
Math  and  Son,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Levering  Bros.,  Wiota,  Cass  Co.,  Iowa. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 


Great  Reduction. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  &c.,  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 
WRITE   FOR   FREE,   ILLUSTRATED   CATA- 
LOGUE AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

1-93tf.  Please  mention  the    Reuieui, 


BINGHAM   PERFECT 

BEE  SMOKER 

Fafd  1878, 1882,  &  1892. 

Cheapest  &  Best  on  Earth. 

Send  Card  for  Circular  to 

I  Binglmiu  &  Hetherington 

^BROKIA,  MICH. 


Muth's :; 


NEY    EXTRACTOR 
I'ERFECTiON 
Cold-Blast    Smokers, 
SquzLre  eizk^ss  Honey  Jar?,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  Chas.  F.  Muth  &  Son, 
Cor.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves..  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hints  to  Bee-Keepers. 


l-93-tf. 


Please  Mtntion  the  Reuieut. 


SECOND     HAND 

SUPPLIES     CHEAP. 

I  have  given  up  the  bee  business  for  the  prac- 
tice of  law.  I  have  a  lot  of  supplies  on  hand, 
both  used  and  unused,  which  I  will  make  it  an 
object  for  any  one  needing  them  to  buy.  There 
are  about  80  of  the  New  Heddon  Hives,  over  250 
T  supers,  36  new  60-1  b.  honey  cans,  honey  ex- 
tractor, glass  for  12-lb  shipping  cases,  sections, 
surplus  foundation,  queen  -  excluding  honey- 
boards  and  almost  everything  to  be  found  in  a 
large  apiary.  No  circulars.  Write  me  what  you 
want  and  I  will  let  you  know  condi.  ion  and 
price.  All  these  goods  are  at  Newton,  Jasper 
Co.,  Iowa,  and  wiU  be  shipped  f  rfmi  there  in 
April  by  my  brother.  Address  WM.  L.  DREW, 
122  Oxford  St.,  North  Cambridge,  Msss. 


"  FLORIDA." 300 

LEATHER-BACK  ITALIAN  QUEENS. 


By  my  special  method  of  taking  a  crop  of 
honey  by  the  "Migratory"  system,  I  shall 
have  300  tested  queens  for  delivery  about 
March  20th  Prices  $10  per  dozen.  None  over 
six  months  old  My  crop  the  past  season  from 
one  yard  of  42  colonies,  spring  count,  was  10,800 
pounds  and  increased  to  150. 

A.  F.BROWN, 
l-93-4t  Rockledge,  Fla. 


QUEEN      CAGES 

Are  my  epefialty.  I  make  the  Benton  cage  in  many 
styles  and  sizes.  A  light  cage  saves  postage  ;  a  neat  cage 
creates  a  favorable  impression  :  one  properly  arranged 
carries  its  occupants  safely  in  either  hotnr  cool  weather  ; 
and  my  special  machinery  and  large  trade  enable  me  to 
furnish  extra  nice  cages,  having  all  these  advantages,  at  a 
very  low  price.    Sample  cages  and  prices  on  application. 

O.  W.  COSTELLOW,  Waterboro.  Me. 


84 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


'^Falcon''  Sections 

Better  ttiZiT)  any. 
Cheap  a5  n7any. 

Our  No,  1  Sections 

Equal  to  n^any* 
Cheaper  tban  arjy. 

Any  Size,  /\ny  Quantity. 

At   Any  Tin7«. 


Also,  all  styles  HIVE5  ai?^  BEE- 
FIXTURES  Gbeap.  New  cata- 
logue ar)<i  price  list  free.  Sarpplcs 
of  Falcon  Sections  for  2c.  starpp. 

,W.  T.  Falconer  Mfg.  Co., 

JAMESTOWN.    N.  Y. 


Golden, 
^r^      5-B2vi7decl, 


My  Bees  are  as  good  honey  gatherers  as  there 
are  in  the  country,  while  for  Golden  Beauty 
they  cannot  be  excelled  in  tlie  world. 

Warranted  Queens,  75  cents  each. 

Tested,  $1.00  each. 

Breeding  Queens,  $2.50  to  $3.00. 

Ten  per  cent  discount  on  orders  for  five  or  more 
queens.  Satisfaction  guaranteed.  Make  money 
orders  payable  at  Caldwell.  Texas.    Address 

C.  B.  BANKSTON,  Chrisman,  Texas. 

2-93-tf  Please  mention  the  Reuiew, 


1  TELL  yon  what.  Jones,  Lev- 

t^      ering  Bros,  sell  the  best  goods 

"->     and  at  the  lowest  prices  of  any 

\  one  I've  struck  yet.    The  lar- 

^Stest  and  bett equipped 

Bee- Hive  Factof| 

In  the  West.  The  Dovetailetl 
Hive  and  New  Hoffman  _  self- 
spacing  frame  a  specialty. 
Everything  used  by  practical 
bee-keepers  by  wholesale  and  re- 
tail. Send  for  their  free  Illus- 
trated Price-List,  and  save  money.  Supply  Deal- 
ers, send  for  their  Wholesale  List.    AddresslJ 

LEVERING  BROS.,,.^ 
2-9:i-6.  WIOTA,  ('ass:c;o..  Iowa. 


IF  you  wish  to  advertise  anything  anywhere  at 
any  time  write  to  GEO.  P.  ROWELL  &  CO., 
No  10  Spruce  St  ,  N.  Y. 


1852. 


REDUCTION  ON  THE  PRICE  OF 


1891 


L^angstroth  on  the  Honey  Bee 

(REVISED.) 
PR/CE  BY  MAIL,  $1.4-0:  BY  EXPRESS  OR  FREIGHT  WITH  OTHER  GOODS  $1.25.\ 

By  its  copious  indexes,  by  its  arrangement  in  numbered  paragraphs,  including  reference  numbers 
on  any  question  in  bee  culture,  any  information  can  be  instantly  found.  This  book  is  the  most  com- 
plete treatise  on  bee  keeping  yet  published.    A  FRENCH  EDITION  JUST  ISSUED. 

's^e    DAD  ANT'S    COA\B    FOUNDATION,  's^. 

A\ore  tban  Ever.      Better  than  Ever.      Wholesale  an«J  Retail. 

Haifa  Million  lbs.  Sold  in  13  Years.  Over  S200,000  in  Value. 

It  is  THE  BEST,  and  guaranteed  every  inch  equal  to  sample.  All  dealers  who  have  tried  it  have 
increased  their  trade  every  year.    Samples,  Catalogue,  free  to  all.    Send  your  address. 

We  also  make  a  specialty  of  Cotton  and  Silk  Tulle  of  very  best  grade  for  bee-veils.  We  sapply 
A.  I.  Root  and  others.    7,000  Yards  just  received.    Prices  Very  Low.    Samples  Free. 

Smokers,  Honey  Sections,  Extractors,  Tin  Fails  for  Honey,  Etc.    Instrnctioni  to  Beginners 

with  Circulars  Free.  4-92-12. 

Mention  Hevi,u,.  CHA8.  OADA|4T  &  SOfi.  Hamilton,  Hao«o«k  Co.,  Ill«. 


April,  1893, 


r\t,   Micl^igaq. — Or\i 


8« 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


RDVEnxISmO  t^ATES. 

All  advertisements  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line.  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  rilines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  linch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  follows  : 

On  10  lines  and  upwards,  S  times,  S  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  per  cent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  1.5  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  »0  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  fi 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 

Clubbing    liist. 

1  will  send  the  Review  with— 

Gleanings, (»1.00) $1.7.5. 

American  Bee  Journal (   1.00) 1.75. 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) 1.75. 

American  Bee  Keeper    ...(    .50) 1.40. 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper...  (    .50) 1.40. 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    .50) 1.40. 

Apiculturist (    .75) 1.6.5. 

Bee-Keepers'  Magazine. . .  (    .50) 1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  Quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— A,ll  sections  to  be  well  filled ;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides  ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise ;  aU  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  filled,  bat  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  hy  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be_ classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  js,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"  No.  1  dark,"  etc. 


('HICAGO,  111  —We  quote  as  follows :  Fancy 
white,  17  to  l.H;  No.  1  white,  1+  to  IR ;  fancy  amber, 
11  to  13;  fancy  dark,  10;  white  extracted.  7  to  9; 
amber  extracted,  7  to  H;  dark  extracted,  8  to  7  ; 
beeswax,  2;5  to  25   . 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 

April  3.  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


KANSAS  CITY,  Mo.— The  demand  for  extract- 
ed honey  is  good  and  the  supply  light  The  sap- 
ply  of  comb  honey  is  fair  arid  the  demand  the 
«ame.  Shipments  of  No.  1  would  meet  with  very 
ready  sale.  We  quote  as  follows:  No.  1  white, 
16  to  17  ;  fancy  amber,  15  to  16;  No^  1  amber  13 
to  14 ;  fancy  dark,  12  to  13 ;  No.  1  dark,  10  to  U ; 
white  extracted.  6H  to  7;  dark  extracted,  5  to  6; 
beeswax,  22  to  25. 

CLEMONS-MASON  CO., 

Jklar.  6.  521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  ('ity  Mo. 


(;INC1NNATI,  Ohio.— There  is  no  choice  comb 
honey  on  the  market.  A  fair  article  brings  14  to 
16  in  a  jobbiuK  way.  The  demiiiid  is  good  for 
extracted  at  from  6  to  8  ctn.  TIrtc  is  a  good  de- 
mand for  choice  yellow  wax  at  from  24  to  27  cts. 
(HAS.  F.  MUTH  &  SON.. 

April  1.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.-- There  is  a  good  su^)- 
ply  on  hand  but  it  Ib  mostly  dark.  This  stock  is 
slow,  but  what  little  white  there  is  on  the  market 
moves  readily.  We  quote  fancy  white,  17  to  is  ; 
two  pound  combs,  16  to  17  ;  buckwheat,  15  to  lt> : 
extracted  honey,  10  toll. 

J.  SHEA  &  (^O  . 
Feb.  13.     14  Hennepin  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

BUFFALO,  N.Y.— Demand  somewhat  easy  and 
stock  light.  The  prospects  are  that  honey  will 
clean  up  with  satisfactory  prices.  Extracted  is 
in  light  demand.  Beeswax  is  firm  for  choicr 
lots.  We  quote  as  follows:  Fabcy  white,  17  to 
18;  No.  1  white,  15  to  16;  fancy  dark.  10  to  11;  No. 
1  dark,  M  to  9 ;  beeswax,  28  to  30. 

BATTERSON  &  CO . 

April  1.  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


CHICAGO,  ILL  —We  anticipate  slow  sales  on 
all  grades  of  honey  for  the  balance  of  this  season. 
There  is  a  poor  demand  for  extracted  at  present. 
Beeswax  is  in  good  demand.  We  quote  as  fol- 
lows :  Fancy  white,  16;  No.  1  white,  15:  No.  1 
dark,  12;  white  extracted,  Hij;  dark  extracted, 
7  ;  beeswax,  15  to  26. 

J.  A.  LAMON, 

April  1.         44 &48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


NEW  YORK.— The  market  is  bare  of  comb 
honey.  Fancy  white  could  be  sold  at  14  to  15 ; 
fancy  amber  at  12 ;  and  dark  at  10.  The  market 
is  quiet  on  extracted  and  no  movement.  Large 
lots  of  West  India  and  Mexican  are  arriving  and 
the  market  is  well  supplied.  This  class  of  hon- 
ey sells  at  from  65  to  75  cts.  per  gallon.  Beeswax 
is  quiet  but  firm  at  from  27  to  29. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  8EGELKEN, 

April  3.       28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


ALBANY,  N.  ¥.— Stock  of  honey  very  light. 
Prices  well  sustained.  Demand  will  be  better 
as  the  weather  warms  up.  We  quote  as  follows  : 
Fancy  white.  15  to  17;  No.  I  white,  14  to  15; 
mixed,  12  to  14 ;  fanpy  dark,  11  to  12 ;  No.  1  dark. 
10  to  11;  white  extracted.  8V4  to  9'/j ;  amber  «x 
tracted,  7  to  7!4;  dark,  6'/i  to  7.  Beeswax,  :;> 
to  30. 

H.  R.  WRKiHT. 

Feb.  13.  326  Broadway,  Albany,  N.  Y . 


HIVES. 


D O V  ET  A  I LE  D 

Frames,  Sections,  Honey 
Crates,  Foundation  and  .Vpiarian  Supplies  of 
.all  kinds.    Catalogueffree. 

£.  L.  KINCAID,  IValker.  Mo. 


4-93-tf 


Don't    A\ooKey 

>vitb    cross    b9«s    or    poor 
jroods.    Sen4  for  our  circu* 
I&r    of    bees,     ^ueeps     &n<l 
bee-Keepers'  supplies. 
JHO.  rtEBEL.  6-  sort, 

Hi<?b  Hill,  A\o. 

fftftse  mentiun   the  Review. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


87 


THE    I-OSS    OF    ODE 


Queen  in  introducing"  means  a  loss  greater  than  the  cost 
of  a  copy  of  "Advanced  Bee  Culture,"  which  has 
one  entire  chapter  devoted  to  "  The  Introduction  of 
Queens."  It  shows  when  the  cause  of  failure  lies  with 
the  colony,  when  with  the  queen,  and  points  out  the 
rondihons  necessary  to  success.  Althoug^h  one  infalli- 
ble method  is  g-iven,  but  little  attention  is  g-iven  to 
the  setting-  forth  of  exact  rules  and  methods,  the  sub- 
ject being-  treated  with  a  view  to  teaching-  principles 
that    may    be    followed    to    success. 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts.;  the  Rp:vievv  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 


W.   Z.   HOTCHINSON,   Flint,   Mieh. 


WHITE    POPLAR 

SECTIONS. 

We  hnve  New  Steam  Power,  and  Ni^w  Biiild- 
inKH,  and  are  now  ready  to  furnish  White  Pop- 
lar Sections,  Clamps,  Crates  and  Wood  Sidts  at 
short  notice.  Workmanship,  Quality  and  Price 
unsurpassed.    Send  for  sample  and  price  list. 

PRIME  &  GOVE, 
1-90-tf  Bristol,  Vermont. 


ON    HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

OF  BEE    HIVES.    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE   NORTHWEST. 

W.   H.   PUTNAM, 

198-12t.  RIVER  PALLS.   WIS. 


'V       («?? 


2-i*H.tf        Please  mention  the  Review', 


Spray 

your 

Fruit 
Trees 

and 

Vines 


\\  (  rm\  Frim  an  1  I  f^f  Blight  of  Apples,  Pears, 


i„ri  riles  anil  I'unus  preventea  ;  also  LJrape and 
Potato  Rot— b>  spra.Miig  with  Htahl's  Double 
Acting  Kxcelsior  spraying  Outfits.  Best  in  the 
market,  rhousands  in  use.  Catalogue. describing 
all  insect.s  injurious  to  fruit,  mailed  Free.  Address 

WM.  STAHL,     QUINCY,  ILL. 


88 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


^  Names  of  Bee -Keepers.  I   seen  our  Dig  Dllio  Ul- 

T       llMlliwv      wi     Mww  p  ^        AlAXUK    FOR     1893?      Sev-.-uty     lUuslrat^d 


^  i 

il  TYPE  WRITTEN.  B 

PSraRBFiPFiPPiPlCCEBFiFiCPeirEBiBBBCiB 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  tlie  largest  States)  . 
and.  althougli  this  list  lias  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  82.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2.50 
per  1000.  but  1  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  1  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  Flint,  Mich. 


-^     We  have  a  large  lot  of     •^ 

DOVETAILED    HIVES 

which  wp  will   sell   for  -iO  cts.  eacli.    including 

supers,  section  holders  and  l)ror>fl  frames.    This 

offer  is  limited  to  this  lot  of  1  lives.  l-92-12t 

WM.  H.  Brigiit,  Mazcppa,  Minn. 


HAVING  PURCHASED  the  en- 
tire s  ock  aui.  ousiiife.siM  .,.D.bi.t,e.  at. Jackson 
Mich..  I  am  now  prepared  to  furnish  ->  piarian 
Supplies  to  all  who  have  usually  purchHsed  of 
Mr.  Sopor,  and  to  all  others  who  wish  Apia- 
rian goods  at  the  lowest  prices.  Orders  filled 
promptlv.    Send  for  price  list  and  circular. 

E.    H.   TRUIVIPER, 
4.93-;^t  Hiinkers.  Mich. 


Alley's  Drone  and  Queen  Trap. 

A  RELIABLE  SELF  HIVER.     100,000  ID  DSE. 

Adjustable  to  any  style  liives  without  altera- 
tion of  hive  <>r  trap.  Guaranteed  to  hive  every 
swarm,  catch  every  queen  and  drone,  or  the 
monev  will  he  refunded.  Trap  mailed  for  f>^ 
cents';  or,  .Vmh:bi('AN  .VpiruLTURisT  one  year,  in- 
cluding queen-rearing  number,  and  sample  trap, 
for  $1.1X1.  Punic.  Italian  and  golden  Carniolan 
queens  ready  to  mail  May  2U.  Purity  and  safe 
arrival  guaranteed.  HE^NRY  ALLEV 

Wenham,  Mass. 


PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FOUNDATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

THIN,    FLAT   BOTTOM   FOUNDATION 

Has  No  Fish  Bone  in  Surplus  Honey. 

Heing  the  cleanest  is  usually  worked 

the  quickest  of  any  foundation  made. 

,J.    VAN  DKUSKN    &   fSONS, 

(SOLE    M.\NUF.\CTDBER8), 

3-90.tf    Sprout  Brook,Mont.ro.,N.Y 


VIAXUK    FOR     1893?      Sev<-uty     illus^rat. 
pages.     Sent  FREE  '.u   any  bee-keeper.     BEE- 
SUPPLIES,  at  retail   and  wholesale      Kveiy- 
tning  used   in  the  apiary      -(lireatest  vaiiety  and 
largest  stock  in  the  West 
l-9a-tf.       E.  Kretchmer,  He.l  Oak,  Iowa. 


DO  NOT  GIVE  YOUR  ORDER  FOR  SECTIONS 
UNTIL  YOIT  GET  OUR  PRICES  ON  THE 

"BOSS"  ONE -PIECE  SECTION 

I 1R^5t=^^         I 

We  are  in  better  shape  than   ever  to   fill   orders 
promptly.    Also, 

DOVETAILED    HIVES.    ------ 

-    -    -    FOUNDATION,  SMOKERS,  Etc. 

f^^—  Write  for  Price  List.  .„^J 

J.  FOHNCROOK  <St  CO. 


Watertown,  Wis.,  Jan.  1, 1S93. 

Please  mention  the  Revieu) 


l-W-tf 


n  II  r  r  II  A  A  large  number  of  fine  ones  on 
llllh^N^  liand:  yelhnv  and  i-rolific; 
UULLIlUi  ready  April  15th:  warranted 
queens.  Si:  ti  for  $4.r)(l;  select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  tips,  suitable  for  breeders, 
«2  each!     Reference,  .\.  I.  Root.  M:?  tf 

W   H.  L.\WS,  Lavaca,  8eb  Co  .  Ark. 


Dowo  Tbey  Go ! 

To  induce  vou  to  try  them  1  now  offer  my 
beautiful,  s-to-the-foot,  all  in  one  pi-ce.  white 
poplar  sections  at  $1.5(1  per  crate  of  ."ilH)  Also 
7  to-the-foot  basswood  sections  at  same  price. 
My  sections  fold  up  S(iuare  and  firm.  Beeswax 
worked  into  foundation  by  the  pound.  Samples 
of  sections,  found ''ion    "y- '"^   >'    orice    list 

free  O.  H.  TO"WNSEND. 

|.r,S-lt  .\lamo.  Kii.  *    >.,  -Mich. 

Reference.  Editor  REVIEW. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


lllnstratefl   Advertisements  Attract   Attention. 


cuts  Furnlslieil  for  all  lUastratlua  Purposes. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


89 


FLORIDA. 

Leather-  Back,  Italian 

500     -"-    QUEENS 

Really  for  delivery  April  2Uth  fo  May  lOth.  $10 
per  dozen;  special  prices  on  threedozen  or  more. 
Safe  arrival  Eruaranteed.  Tlie  :300  queens  me i.- 
tioned  in  last  advertisement  are  all  sold. 

.\.  F.  BROWN, 
l-9:J-tf  Huntington,  Fla. 


Dadant's  Comb  Foundation. 

Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  competitors 
acknowledge  that  our  goods  are  the  STANDARD 
of  their  kind.    Lang'^troth  on  the  Honey 

Bee,  Revised..  New  edition.  Bee  Veils: 
and  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samples  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners        Send    your    address    to 

GHAS.  DAD&NT  &  SON,  Hamilton,  Ills. 


$1.00 


Each. 


Liglit,  large  anil  prolific  Italian  rjneens  reared 
in  .Ian  1892,  by  the  most  improved  mothods. 
Orders  filled  by  return  mail. 

J.  W.  K.  5HAW  &■  CO., 
4  94-7 1  Loreauville,  La. 


Great  Reduction. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  Ac,  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 

WKITK    FOR    FREE,    ILLUSTRATED   CATA 
LOGUE  AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

l-93-tf.  Please  mention   the    Review. 


i^ooyooot 


Second  Hand 

Supplies . 


F       ^\^ 

the         ^-^  ^ 

second  ?. 

hand  supplies   that 
1  nave  been    advertis 
ing  in   the    Review,    the 
following  remain   unsold : 

100  old-style,  Heddon  surplus 
cases  at  20  cts.  ( as  a  non-separatored 
case,  they  have  no  superior) ;  2r>  slatted 
honey  boards  at  10  cts.  :  40  "dummies"  for 
contracting  the  brood  nest,  3  cts. :  20  Heddon 
feeders  at  40  cts. :  25  Alley  queen  and  drone 
traps  at  2.5  cts.,  and  half  a  dozen  single- 
comb  nuclei  for  exhibiting  bees  at  fairs. 
They  have  glass  sides,  removable  covers  and 
are  painted  a  bright  vermillion.  They  cost 
!5;2.00  each,  but  will  be  sold  at  half  -  price. 
All  these  are  practically  as  good  as  new. 

I  also  have  2,000  new,  four  -  piece,   white 
poplar  sections  at  $8.00. 

W.  I HDTCHINSON.  Flllll.  Mlclliaii. 


Printing  Presses 

—  AND  — 

Ppinting  I^aterials. 

CirculArs     Free.        Sp^cirpen     BooK     of 
Typ<i,  Etc.,   10  Ct5 

JOS.    WATSOf*. 
25  Murray  St.,  New  Vork  I'ity. 


Muth's ::] 


lEY    EXTRACTOR 

PERFE(  TION 
■Blast    Smokers, 

S^u^re  eizkss   Honey  J&rj,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  Chas.  F.  Muth  &  Son. 
Cor.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hinte  to  Bee-Keepers. 

1-93-tf.  Please  Mention  the  Reuiem. 


QUEEN     CAGES 

Are  my  specialty.  I  make  the  Benton  cage  in  many 
styles  and  sizes.  A  light  cage  saves  postage  ;  a  neat  cage 
creates  a  favorable  impression;  one  properly  arranged 
carries  its  occupants  safely  in  either  hot  or  cool  weather  ; 
and  my  special  machinery  and  large  trade  enable  me  to 
furnish  extra  nice  cages,  having  all  these  advantages,  at  a 
very  low  price.    Sample  cages  and  prices  on  application. 

C.   W.   COSTELLOW.  Waterboro.  Me 


90 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


i  I 

L.OW    Freiebt     Rates 


\A/HEN  j'DU  ar(^  considerinn  whoro  to  sond  for 
your  Bupplips  the  comiuK  spaKon,  wet  pricpis 


u 


Freight 

And    no    Delzvys. 


/ 
/ 
/ 


aufl  a  list  of  ^oods  on  haud,  from  one  of  llie  fol- 
lowing dealeis,  who  handle  ROOT'S  GOODS 
in  carload  lotw,  thus  secuniiK  them  at  luwcni 
cost.  Most  of  them,  oxct-pt  thi  se  far  distaiil, 
sell  fjoods  to  users  at  factory  prices  while  those 
far  <listant  ad  approximately  onlv  the  carhiad 
rate  of  frei«lif  so  that  yoii  will  SAVE  TIA\E 
ArtD  A\OnEY  by  buying  your  supplies  of 
one  of  tlief-e  (ieaiers.  We  cannot  tjive  here  a  list 
of  floods  kept,  as  it  varies  some  at  tlie  <liflfcreiit 
places  according  to  the  varying  needs  of  each  locality.  Write  to  tlie  place  nearest  you  for  list  with 
prices,  and  when  you  write  ^'ive  a  list  of  the  goods  yon  want,  and  mention  this  paper. 

QUITE  a  full  Hue  of  goods  are  sold  at  factory  prices  by  F.  A  Salisbury.  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  : 
H.  G.  .\cklin.  1024  Mississippi  St.,  St.  Paul,  Minn.;  Jos.  Nysewander.  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 
A  good  assortment  is  also  kept  for  the  far  West  by  Barteledes  <t  Co.,  Denver,  Col.  For 
California  by  G.  G.  Wickson  tt  Son,  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles.  For  Oregon  and 
Washington  by  F.  L.  Posson  &,  Son,  Portland,  Oregon.  For  the  Southeast  Atlantic  coast 
by  Baltimore  Farm  Implement  Co.,  Baltimore,  Md.:  and  for  the  Far  South  by  J.  M.  Jenkins, 
Wetumpka,  Ala. 

A  smaller  assortment,  consisting  cliieHy  of  Dovetaile<l   hiv(is,  sections,  smokers,  foundation,  and 
extractors  is  also  kept  by  the  following  : 

Henry  F.  Hagen,  Rocky  Ford.  Colo. :  W.  K.  l?all,  Reno.  Nev  ;  W.  O.  Victor,  Wharton,  Tex.;  .Ino. 
Nehel  &  Son.  High  Hill.  Mo. ;  Thos.  (i.  Newman,  Chicago,  III. ;  Walter  S.  Ponder,  Indianapolis,  Ind. ; 
Vicker  Bros.,  Evaiisville,  Ind.    Our  Hives,  Comb  Fdn.,  Smokers.  Extractors,  Perf./.inc,  etc.,  are  fur- 
nished by  a  nmltitude  of  other  dealers  toc)  nu- 
merous to   mention.     If  you   want  to  buy  goods 
ma<le  at  the    Home  of  the   Honey   Bees,  you   can 
get  them  as  cheap  as  you  can  anywhere  when  you 
consider  qiialily   and   workmanship,   and    your 
orders  will   be    taken  care  of  promptly.    Dt>n't 
expect     to    get-    all    the    goods   we     advertise, 
from    any    of    the   above    dealers,    and    don't 
expect    to    get    goods    they    do    not    agree    to 
furnish  ;  but  find  out  what  they  agree  to  furnish, 
and  at  what  price,  by  writing  to  address  nearest 
you.  Flezis^  /^«ntion  R«vicv>r. 


/    A.  1.  ROOT,  / 

A\cclin2^»    Ohio. 


/ 


Two   for    the    Price  of  ope. 


Here  is  your  Chance- 

By  Thos.  G.  Newman,  ex-editor  of  the  American  Bee  Journal, 
Is  a  book  of  over  200  pages,  that  we  send  FKEE  to  every  iie\t 

Mib^crlber  who  mails  us  $1.00  for  a  year's  subscription  to  the  old 

AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL, 

^     The  Largest,    Best,  Cheapest,  and  only  weekly  bee-paper  in   all 
'     .\nierica,    ,32  pages:  established  1861      '^end   for  a  free   Naniple 
copy  with  description  of  book  offer        GEO.  W.  YORK  &  CO  , 
.56  Pilth  Avenue.  -  -  <  HI€AOO,  ILLS. 

To  New  Siscritiers :  Tlie  Journal  Alone  Sent  for  Tbrce  Months  for  20  Cents. 


IT  IS  NO  LONGER 


,^^|^B^ ^^BP^fl^^^^^  lk\  XT', ,  \  A   (luestion    of   whether   yon    shall   use  a    bee- 

JMplWll  mf  _~][^lli«L_         i    /,  .escape,  but    ..f   WHICM    ONE.     Yon   want 
ptImK  I  /  m  Ifnlk^t'^'^fll'k      li     ■<'    •'"  escape  through  which   the  bees  can   pass 

T^  'iW^^SfW       J2     f      r    /  READILY,  through  which  they  cannot  re- 

turn, and  one  that  never  cloggs.  There  is 
no  escape  possessing  these  characterictico  that 
works  more  easily  than  the  PORTER. 
The  reason  is  that  each  of  two  spnugs  can  be 
bent  slightly  more  easily  than  OIK-  wp'-ing  can 
be  bent  twice  as  far.  You  run  NO  RISK  if 
you  bay  of  the  manufacturers,  as.  if  the  escapes  do  not  prove  superior  to  all  oth''rs,  and  satisfa'-toty 
in  every  respect,  they  may  be  returned  and  the  monev  will  be  lefuuited.  Send  for  circular  and  testi- 
monials and  read  what  others  say  of  thein.  PRICE,  2tt  ceTi<-=  each,  by  mail :  per  dozen.  SJ.i.'S. 
1-9?-tf         Mention    Review.  R.  &    E.  C.  POBTER,  Lewistown,  lUs. 


r*igA^"  ^5 


^e  (§ee-J\eepeps'  JAeVieCu. 

A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e  Iqterests  of  Hoqey   Producers. 

$L00   A   YEAR. 

W.  Z.HUTCHH^lSOri,  EdltoK  &  Pvop. 


VOL.  VI,         FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    APRIL   10,    1893.  NO.  4. 


TIMiELi^S'     TOFICS. 
No.  3. 

B.  L.  TAYLOB. 

■'  Come    gentle    Spring,    ethereal    mildness 
come." 


r^HIS  is  an  excel- 
L  lent  season  for 
the  cultivation  of  the 
new  bee  -  keeper's 
powers  of  observa- 
tion with  respect  to 
the  weather.  In  look- 
ing back  to  former 
seasons  before  he  be- 
came interested  in 
bees,  he  remembers 
that  the  last  half  of 
April  was  crowded  with  rapturous,  ethereal 
days,  but,  somehow,  the  possession  of  bees 
has  lessened  both  their  numbers  and  their 
quality  ;  so  the  novice,  like  a  lovelorn  youth, 
goes  about  dejected,  casting  glances  at  his 
silent  hive^  and  cursing  the  weather.  It 
may  not  be  amiss,  then,  for  us  to  say,  for 
the  benefit  of  all  such,  that  it  was  always 
thus.  If  the  bees  get  out  of  their  hives  in 
this  latitude  on  more  than  two  or  three  days 
per  week,  on  the  average,  at  this  season  of 
the  year,  it  is  owing  to  unusually  favorable 
weather ;  besides,  this,  and  similar  things, 
bring  with  them  certain  compensations.  If 
all  things  were  at  all  times  favorable,  turn- 
ing out  as  we  would  be  likely  to  wish  them 
to,  if  there  were  no  obstacles  to  overcome 
and  no  dangers  or  evils  to  guard  against. 


how  small  would  be  the  encouragement  to 
the  prudent  and  energetic.  The  careless  and 
indolent  could  not  be  excelled  by  the  active 
and  vigilent,  but  all  would  be  alike  success- 
ful, and  attention  and  prudence  would  no 
longer  be  at  a  premium.  Happily  there  is 
no  immediate  danger  of  any  such  chaos. 
The  long,  severe  winter  just  passed  will 
prove  of  great  advantage  to  the  skillful, 
alert  bee-keeper.  By  the  destruction  of  the 
bees  of  neglectful  and  incompetent  owners, 
competition  will  be  decreased  and  prices  en- 
hanced and  greater  yet  will  be  the  affirma- 
tive result  of  labor  and  care  well  bestowed 
during  April  and  ilay,  and  this,  naturally 
enough,  will  be  principally  in  the  line  of 
food  and  clothing — stores  and  protection. 

These  matters  should  be  attended  to  with- 
out delay  and  should  be  pursued  with  thor- 
oughness and  certainty.  If  not  already 
done,  the  condition  of  each  hive  with  respect 
to  stores  should  be  determined  on  the  first 
day  possible.  The  great  majority  can  be 
safely  "diagnosed"  as  either  being  easily 
heavier  than  necessary,  or  too  light,  by 
"  weighing  "  them  in  the  hands — those  near 
the  dividing  line  may  either  be  put  on  the 
scales  or  opened  and  examined.  If  the  hives 
are  alike,  and  one  knows  the  average  weight 
of  hive  and  combs,  and  allows  two  or  three 
pounds  for  bees,  but  few  hives  need  be 
opened.  Then  the  needy  opes  should  be 
supplied,  and  I  should  always  aim  to  give  an 
abundance,  and  a  superabundance  would  be 
preferable  to  the  least  danger  of  a  deficiency. 
Combs  of  honey  or  combs  filled  with  syrnp 
can  be  exchanged  for  empty  combs  and  this 


92 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


is  a  aafe  and  practical  way  of  supplying 
stores  and  is  the  safest  way  if  the  colouies 
are  weak — strong  colouies  will  take  supplies 
from  feeders. 

Next  in  importance  to  feeding  is  the  mat- 
ter of  protection.  In  the  first  place  the  loca- 
tion should  be  a  protected  one.  A  wind 
break  of  trees,  a  rise  of  ground,  a  tight  high 
board  fence,  buildings,  or  a  hedge  on  the 
north  and  west,  would  secure  the  proper  pro- 
vision. But  without  doubt  the  bee-keeper 
may  profitably  go  farther  than  this.  Stock 
men  have  come  to  the  unanimous  conclusion 
that  it  is  more  economical  to  keep  their 
stock  warm  by  means  of  well-walled  quar- 
ters than  by  means  of  fodder  and  grain. 
The  same  rule  must  hold  true  in  the  apiary. 
The  most  obvious  means  of  protection,  and 
perhaps  the  most  effective  compared  with 
the  expense,  if  one  has  a  supply  of  empty 
hives  or  empty  supers  without  divisions  like 
the  old  Heddon  case,  is  to  place  such  hive  or 
case  over  the  brood  chamber,  spread  any 
kind  of  a  cloth  over  the  frames,  pack  with 
four  or  five  inches  of  chaff,  sawdust  or 
leaves,  and  put  the  cover  over  all.  Good  di- 
visiou  boards  used  for  closing  the  bees  up 
on  as  few  combs  as  possible,  especially  if 
the  hives  are  large  and  the  colonies  not  very 
strong,  I  have  found  quite  advantageous, 
and  if  used  with  packing  above,  leaves  lit- 
tle to  be  desired.  A  rim  large  enough  to 
cover  the  entire  hive,  leaving  room  for  two 
or  three  inches  of  packing  on  all  sides  and 
on  top,  protected  by  a  good  cover,  is  largely 
employed,  and,  on  the  whole,  perhaps  noth- 
ing is  better.  (Jther  simple  methods  maybe 
used  and  will  occur  to  anyone.  If  bees  have 
been  in  the  cellar  the  danger  is  that  all  meth- 
ods will  be  neglected  in  the  hope  that  there 
will  be  no  more  weather  so  severe  as  to  be 
harmful  to  bees.  But  almost,  if  not  quite, 
every  year  proves  this  to  be  a  vain  hope,  and 
he  is  a  wise  man  who  judges  by  former  sea- 
sons and  not  by  the  temperature  of  the  day 
on  which  he  removes  his  bees  from  thecel- 
lar.  Whatever  protection  is  to  be  given 
should  be  ready  before  hand  and  applied  at 
once,  or  half  the  possible  advantage  will  be 
lost. 

There  is  not  much  necessity,  even  at  this 
time  of  the  year,  of  opening  hives  and  hand- 
ling combs,  and  this  should  not  be  indulged 
in  to  any  great  extent  if  one's  time  is  of  any 
special  value  ;  and  never  except  the  need  is 
very  pressing,  unless  the  weather  is  warm 
enough  to  permit  the  bees  to  fly  freely,  but 


when  hives  are  opened  make  the  most  of  the 
operation.  Straighten  crooked  combs,  re- 
place empty  combs  that  are  materially  de- 
fective by  perfect  ones,  gather  and  save  the 
pieces  of  burr  combs  and  keep  an  eye  out 
for  the  condition  of  the  queen  and  the  col- 
ony. In  doing  this  work  don't  bend  over  the 
hive  standing  on  your  feet,  not  so  much  on 
account  of  the  present  discomfort  as  on  ac- 
count of  the  danger  of  permanent  injury  that 
is  likely  to  result.  Always  carry  and  use  a 
light  seat  fitted  to  hold  the  necessary  tools, 
fuel  for  the  smoker,  the  pieces  of  wax 
gathered,  queen  cages,  ifec. 

I  want  to  say  in  conclusion  that  with  the 
foundation-fastener  described  in  the  March 
numl)er  of  the  Review,  pieces  of  foundation 
as  large  as  are  desirable  can  be  put  into  sec- 
tions without  any  inconvenience,  and  1 
would  have  them  large  enough  so  as  barely 
to  clear  the  section  at  the  sides  and  come 
within  a  quarter  of  an  inch  or  less  of  the 
bottom,  as  this  secures  the  thorough  fasten- 
ing of  the  honey  to  the  section  on  all  sides. 

Lapeek,  Mich.  April,  189a. 

Why  Bee  E8capes7[Oufht  to  be   of  Greater 
Capacity. 

R.  C.  AIKIN. 

TS  there  yet  room 
1  for  imp  rove  - 
ment  in  bee  es- 
capes ?  The  Por- 
ter seems  now  to 
lead,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  is  the 
best  yet  produced, 
yet  I  am  confident 
we  can  and  will 
have  escapes  as  far 
in  advance  of  the 
present  Porter,  as 
It  IS  ar\ead  of  ihose  of  five  years  ago ;  and 
the  object  of  this  article  is  to  aid  the  inven- 
tors. Will  the  Porters  and  other  escape 
men  please  take  note  of  the  points  I  shall  set 
forth. 

The  first  condition  necessary  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  escape,  is  to  make  the  bees  that 
are  to  escape  feel  that  they  are  cut  off  from 
the  queen.  Suppose  I  set  a  super  off  the 
hive,  but  leave  it  within  a  few  inches  of  the 
alighting  board.     Usually  within  thirty  min- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


93 


utes  the  bees  in  the  super  realize  that  they 
are  cut  oflf  from  the  colony.  Perhaps  some 
will  remaiu  separate  from  the  colony  lor 
more  than  a  half  hour  before  they  realize 
that  they  have  lost  their  queen.  But  many 
will  realize  the  loss  in  fifteen  minutes,  or 
less  :  so  we  will  give  thirty  minutes  as  ap- 
proximating the  average  time. 

The  loss  discovered,  the  first  act  of  those 
bees  is  to  hunt  every  part  of  that  super  in 
search  of  the  queeu.  After  a  thorough 
search  of  the  super,  tliey  uext  hunt  for  an 
opening  to  get  out.  Of  course  they  readily 
find  this,  since  I  have  placed  the  super  in  the 
open  air  beside  the  hive,  and  they  now  take 
up  their  march  for  the  hive. 

Now,  should  the  super  be  right  on  the 
alighting  board,  i.  e.  in  direct  communica- 
tion with  the  hive  and  colony,  the  news  of 
the  '*  lost  is  found  "  is  soon  known  in  that 
super,  and  the  bees  therein  will  cease  to 
"  travel :"  but  if  the  connection  is  entirely 
broken  between  the  colony  and  super,  great 
hustle  will  be  made  to  vacate  the  latter. 

Suppose  the  super  has  been  placed  on  a 
board  with  a  Porter  escape  in  it,  and  set 
upon  the  hive.  As  described  above,  the  bees 
800U  realize  their  separation  from  the  queen 
and  colony — not  separation  alone,  but  &  com- 
plete loss — and  after  hunting  the  super  over 
they  want  to  get  out,  and  "  want  badly." 

Now,  friends,  note  right  here,  this  :  I  claim 
that  within  an  hour  from  the  time  of  sepa- 
ration, the  highest  pitch  of  excitement  is 
reached  :  but  that  from  fifteen  to  thirty  min- 
utes will  elapse  before  there  is  a  decided 
move  to  vacate  the  super.  I  claim,  too,  that 
right  at  this  time,  just  when  the  intense  de- 
sire to  find  •*  mamma  "  has  possession  of  the 
bees,  is  the  time  the  escape  should  do  its 
work.  Right  at  this  point  is  where  the  Por- 
ter fails,  just  as  a  small  bit  of  a  hole  will  fail 
to  successfully  hive  a  swarm.  A  large,  free 
entrance  will  permit  the  swarm  to  rush  in 
when  the  "  excitement  is  on  ;"  but  the  little 
hole  takes  so  long  that  the  swarm  will  settle 
down  to  quietude  before  they  can  all  get  in- 
side. Just  so  the  escape  fails ;  the  bees  not 
being  able  to  pass  when  the  excitement  has 
possession  of  them,  they  begin  to  "settle 
down  to  their  fate,"  and  thereafter  will  pass 
through  very  slowly.  I  believe  that,  after 
the  first  hour  and  a  half  to  two  hours,  but 
few  bees  go  out  except  as  they  want  to  take 
a  fly  or  go  to  the  fields. 

We  find,  then,  that  the  Porter  escape  lacks 
capacity,  and  I   think  I  can  make  this  very 


plain.  Suppose  a  congregation  of  600  people 
in  a  building — reasonable  creatures  too,  that 
know  their  wants  and  where  they  are  going. 
They  begin  to  file  out,  single  file,  through  a 
narrow  door  with  a  spring  behind  it  that 
compels  each  one  to  push  for  himself.  How 
long  do  you  think  it  will  take  them  to  va- 
cate ?  I  will  just  practice  a  bit  by  myself 
and  find  out.  Well,  I  have  just  taken  a 
walk,  and  find  I  took  100  steps  per  minute. 
(!00  people  in  a  solid  line,  bodies  practically 
touching  each  other,  would  not  take  over 
fifty  steps  per  minute  and  would  vacate  the 
room  in  twelve  minutes.  A  line  of  bees  can 
pass  in  single  file  through  a  hole  at  the  rate 
of  about  150  per  minute,  or  9,000  per  hour. 
But  to  get  through  at  this  rate  they  must 
almost  go  on  a  run  in  solid  file.  Now  I  have 
watched  bees  passing  through  both  cone  and 
spring  escapes  and  I  very  much  doubt  their 
passing  faster  than  an  average  of  fifty  per 
minute  for  any  length  of  time.  That  means 
;5,000  per  hour  ;  15,000  in  five  hours.  A  bee 
usually  tries  those  springs  from  one  to  five 
times  before  she  passes. 

Now  if  a  super  contains  many  bees,  it  is 
almost  a  physical  impossibility  to  free  the 
super  in  the  time  of  the  usual  excitement 
that  arises  upon  the  bees  finding  themselves 
separated  from  ihe  queen,  and,  beyond  that 
time,  I  think  there  will  be  no  question  that 
the  movement  will  be  very  slow. 

Now,  friends,  put  these  figures,  and  the 
statements  of  those  who  have  tried  the  es- 
capes and  reported,  together ;  and  see  if  I 
am  not  correct,  Some  report  supers  cleared 
in  two  to  three  hours.  Such  contained  not 
more  bees  than  could  pass  in  that  time.  I 
made  a  trial  escape  (I  had  poor  springs,  how- 
ever), having  six  or  more  openings.  Over 
the  springs  I  placed  glass.  Over  this  escape 
I  put  an  extracting  chamber — brood  cham- 
ber hive — and  watched  the  bees  pass  out. 
About  one  hour  cleaned  it  out.  Some  of  the 
springs  worked  poorly — were  too  stiff  or 
close.  Then,  too,  there  was  not  more  than 
one-third  to  one-half  the  number  of  bees  in 
the  chamber  that  is  usually  in  an  extracting 
chamber.  The  same  escape  on  stronger  col- 
onies did  not  do  the  work  in  less  than  three 
to  ten  hours.  The  limited  extent  of  my  ex- 
periments proved  but  little. 

Give  me  an  escape  that  makes  the  bees 
feel  that  they  are  completely  separated  ;  that 
will  allow  and  favor  the  passage  of  10  to 
15,000  bees  per  hour  when  they  are  anxious 
to  get  out,  that  will  keep  them  out  when  they 


94 


TBE  BEtJ-KEEPERS'  HE  VIEW. 


are  out,  and  I  will  go  out  in  the  country  in 
the  morning  with  escapes,  put  them  under 
extracting  chambers  before  noon,  and  load 
the  same  chambers  on  the  wagon  and  bring 
them  home  in  the  evening  with  but  few  bees 
— perhaps  some  of  the  tender  ones — in  them. 
Now  who  will  give  us  such  an  escape  for 
this  year's  use  ?  IHiCJ  will  show  many  im- 
provements in  appliances.  Shall  not  the  es- 
cape be  one  of  them  ? 


LOVELAND,  Colo. 


March  7,  1«>3. 


Some  Phases   of  California   Bee-Keeping. — 
Rise  and   Fall   of  a   Bee  -  Hive. — The 
Present  Opportunity  for  Califor- 
nia Bee  -  Keepers. 
"bambleb." 

^H£  ques- 
i/  tion  of  a 
standard  hive 
and  a  standard 
frame  has  in 
the  past  had 
no  end  of  agi- 
tation in  the 
East  and  has 
at  length  been 
dropped;  if 
not  as  a  dead 
issue  at  least  as  a  hopeless  attainment.  How- 
ever, on  this  side  of  the  continent,  I  find  the 
old  subject  coming  up  occasionally  ;  and 
perhaps  California  is  in  better  shape  to-day 
to  secure  this  desideratum  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  country.  Although,  at  pres- 
ent, this  State  is  getting  a  diversity  of  sizes, 
there  has  been  a  time  when  bee-keepers  had 
the  pleasure  of  handling  bees  in  a  standard 
hive,  for,  from  Oregon  to  Mexico,  the  Har- 
Ijison  hive  knew  no  rival.  When  Mr.  Harbi- 
son came  to  California  in  1857  with  bees,  he 
had  previously  had  a  brief  acquaintance 
with  the  newly  invented  Langstroth  hive. 
The  acquaintance  seems  to  have  been  too 
l)rief,  for  it  led  him  to  seek  an  improvement 
and  the  result  was  the  hive  that  bears  his 
name  and  which  has  been  little  known  out- 
side of  California.  The  California  section 
box  was  also  invented  about  the  same  time 
and  comb  honey  was  the  exclusive  product. 
The  invention  and  introduction  of  the 
honey  extractor,  however,  marked  a  new  era 


in  honey  i)roduction,  and  the  new  commer- 
cial product  found  favor,  and  (jreat  favor, 
among  producers  in  this  State.  It  was  then 
discovered  that  the  rejected,  loose-frame 
Langstroth  had  merits  for  this  purpose  far 
ahead  of  tiie  Harbison,  and  its  introduction 
was  quite  rapid.  Mr.  Harbison  never  gave 
the  extractor  much  toleration,  believing  that 
comb  honey  should  be  the  only  product ; 
but  in  spite  of  some  little  opposition  the 
loose  frame  hive  became  the  leading  one, 
and  now  the  Harbison  is  found  only  in  iso- 
lated localities  and  among  those  who  raise 
comb  honey. 

The  Harbison  hive  has  been  used,  in  a 
measure,  for  extracting,  by  being  modified. 
The  ordinary  hive  is  sawed  ofiF  just  above  the 
frames  and  an  extracting  super  attached. 
The  frames,  however,  being  fixed  into  mor- 
tices, were  often  torn  apart,  causing  both 
delay  and  vexation.  Owing  to  this  quality, 
many  apiaries  are  found  where,  amongst 
the  sage  brush  and  the  rocks,  the  Harbison 
and  the  Langstroth  seek  a  rivalry — one  runs 
for  comb  honey  and  the  other  for  extracted. 

Wherever  I  have  been  in  California  and 
have  been  through  a  Harbison  hive  apiary, 
a  serious  objection  appeared  at  the  first 
glance.  A  new  hive  would  probably  look 
well  and  work  finely,  but  age  and  a  neglect 
of  paint  causes  the  long  rear  door  to  warp, 
and  I  have  seen  whole  apiaries  where  the 
bees  were  flying  out  and  in  at  various  cracks. 
When  the  cracks  become  too  large,  a  rag  is 
stuffed  in;  and  when  crowded  for  room,  a 
clumsy,  ill-fitting  super  is  mounted  on  top, 
making  the  hive  still  more  elevated  and 
clumsy. 

The  original  Harbison  hive  had  a  perma- 
nent cover  which  precluded  tiering  up,  but 
to  make  use  of  this  plan  the  hive  was  made 
much  larger,  which  gave  it  the  appearance  of 
an  attenuated  wardrobe. 

At  present,  as  far  as  my  observation  goes, 
the  variety  of  frames  in  use  here  is  not  large, 
the  regular  L.  is  used  and  a  modification 
measuring  about  10x14.  Many  use  the  latter 
because  they  like  the  size  for  extracting. 
Probably  the  L.  frame  predominates  :  and 
the  idea  is  expressed  in  many  quarters  that, 
being  so  near  a  standard  frame  why  not 
adopt  one  ?  But  a  loose  frame  and  a  box  to 
put  it  in  admit  of  the  manufacture  of  so 
many  different  sizes,  that  I  am  not  looking 
for  any  great  change  until  we  have  another 
radical  improvement. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


95 


Although  there  is  much  comb  honey  pro- 
duced in  California,  the  State  and  the  Pacific 
coast  may  be  termed  a  greater  producer  of 
extracted  honey,  and  all  of  the  improve- 
ments of  the  times,  it  seems  to  me,  point  in 
the  direction  of  another  radical  improve- 
ment in  the  near  future. 

The  queen  excluder,  and  the  bee  escape, 
shorten  the  road  and  cheapen  the  labor  of 
I)roduction,  and  point  out  the  way  for  the 
other  improvement  that  will  complete  the 
series.  That  improvement  will  be  a  stand- 
ard, all-round-hive,  equally  adapted  to 
comb  and  extracted  honey,  and  will  admit  of 
easy  and  rapid  manipulation.  Rapid  work 
means  that  we  handle  a  less  number  of 
frames  while  extracting.  If  we  reduce  one 
frame  in  a  hive  it  makes  (juite  an  item  in  a 
large  apiary,  but  if  we  could  handle  all  of 
the  frames  hi  a  suner  as  one  frame  it  is  easy 
to  understand  the  advantage  gained.  Per- 
haps the  next  radical  improvement  will  be  in 
this  line.  Be  that  as  it  may,  no  portion  of 
the  country  is  better  prepared  for  such  an 
improvement,    or    even  the  adoption   of  a 

standard  frame,  than  is  California. 

Rambleb. 

Redlands,  Calif.  Jan,  14,  1893. 


A  Defense  of  the  Self  -  Hiver  and  Some  Crit- 
icisms on  R.  L.  Taylor's  Use  of  the  Queen 
Trap  Instead  of  a  Hiver. 

O.  H.  DIBBEEN. 

"  The  inf>untain  torrent  is  deep    and  wide — 
But  loud  the  clarion  voice  replied . 
Excelsior  I  " 

^jg  HAD  expected  a  much  more  thorough 
^)  discussion  of  the  self-hiver  question, 
«^  than  appeared  in  the  March  number  of 
the  Review.  I  deem  the  hiver  of  paramount 
importance  in  modern  apiculture,  not  ex- 
cepting the  invention  of  the  movable  frame, 
and  believe  that  any  one  able  to  add  any- 
thing to  make  this  important  invention  the 
perfect  success  that  it  soon  promises  to  be, 
will  confer  a  boon  on  the  pursuit. 

When  some  writer  in  the  Apiculturist, 
some  three  years  ago,  called  Mr.  Alley's  at- 
tention to  the  possibilities  of  such  a  device, 
he  evidently  recognized  its  great  impor- 
tance, and  at  once  replied  that  such  an  in- 
vention could  not  be  made  a  success  without 
restraining  the  queen,  which  would  "  in- 
fringe" on  his  patent  for  catching  drones. 
But  what  we  have  wanted,  and  still  want 
badly,  is  the  perfect  self-hiver,  without  any 


reference  to  any  one's  patents.  When  a  sim- 
ple hiver  is  possible,  that  will  hive  large 
swarms,  and  is  without  serious  objection, 
that  point  can  be  easily  settled.  At  any  rate, 
I  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  matter  here. 

At  the  time  mentioned,  I  was  confronted 
with  the  problem  of  being  over-stocked  with 
bees — having  250  colonies  in  a  territory  af- 
fording profitable  pasturage,  in  a  good  sea- 
son, for  not  over  1.50  colonies.  I  decided  to 
start  an  out-apiary,  but  the  difficulty  of  get- 
ting a  capable  man,  willing  to  stay  alone  for 
five  or  six  weeks,  in  a  lonesome  place,  in  the 
woods,  besides  the  expense;  was  quite  a  se- 
rious matter.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  I  quickly  became  intensely  interested 
in  the  hiver  as  a  probable  solution  of  my 
difficulties.  In  a  short  time  Mr.  Alley 
brought  out  his  original  invention,  and  I  had 
him  send  me  a  sample,  but  was  not  entirely 
pleased  with  it,  and  soon  had  one  of  my  own 
on  a  modified  plan.  That  year,  1890,  T  had 
100  in  use  at  the  out-apiary,  but  as  the  empty 
hive  was  at  the  side,  it  proved  a  hiver  in 
theory  only.  The  trouble  appeared  to  be 
that  the  queen  failed  to  go  through  the  es- 
capes and  tubes  sidewise.  After  studying 
over  the  matter,  I  concluded,  for  the  next 
year,  1891,  to  remodel  my  hivers  so  as  to 
place  the  empty  hive  on  top  of  the  swarming 
hive,  thus  compelling  the  queen  to  run  in  a 
natural  direction,  upward.  This  promised 
to  solve  the  difficulty,  but  after  watching  a 
few  swarms,  another  difficulty  appeared. 
While  there  was  no  difficulty  in  getting  the 
queen  in  front  of  the  new  hive,  only  very  small 
swarms  could  be  secured.  Of  course,  where 
one  could  give  immediate  attention,  by  ex- 
changing hives,  etc..  good  swarms  could  be 
made.  At  the  out-apiary,  I  could  pretty  cer- 
tainly detect  hives  that  had  swarmed,  and  by 
exchanging  hives  and  shaking  enough  bees 
off  the  combs  of  old  hives,  very  good  swarm- 
ing could  be  made.  I  used  some  200  hivers 
that  year,  at  both  apiaries,  and  while  I  felt 
greatly  encouraged,  I  also  felt  that  the  hiver 
was  not  perfect. 

For  the  season  of  1892,  both  Mr.  Pratt  and 
Mr.  Alley  came  out  with  some  new  devices 
that  promised  to  lessen  if  not  solve  the  dif- 
ficulty. After  studying  them  over  for  a 
wh  le,  I  decided  that  neither  was  perfect, 
and  concluded  to  confine  my  changes  to  ex- 
periments with  these  and  other  untried  de- 
vices. I  also  tried  several  new  devices  of 
my  own  the  past  season,  with  good  success. 
One  plan  is  to  put  the  new   hive  in  front  of 


96 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


the  one  expected  to  swarui,  over  a  queen  ex- 
cluding houey  board,  allowing  the  l)ees  to 
pass  under  it,  with  two  rows  of  zinc  at  the 
entrance.  When  the  bees  swarm,  the  queen 
and  drones  pass  up  through  the  wire  tubes, 
and  by  cutting  off  the  two  lower  rows  of  zinc 
by  placing  a  square  stick  in  front  while  the 
swarm  is  out,  all  the  bees  will  be  compelled 
to  enter  the  new  hive  when  they  return.  I 
believe  I  was  the  first  one  to  suggest  this 
plan,  as  well  as  that  of  putting  one  hive  on 
top  of  the  other  in  this  connection. 

Mr.  Pratt,  in  his  latest  device,  has  made 
important  progress,  and  I  am  willing  to  ad- 
mit that  his  device  is  the  nearest  perfection 
of  any  now  known  ;  of  the  unknown,  the  fu- 
ture only  can  tell.  I  have  some  new  ideas 
that  promise  good  results,  but  until  I  have 
proven  them  by  experiment,  will  say  nothing 
further. 

The  past  season  I  had  about  l.'')()  hivers  in 
use,  and  had  something  over  100  swarms 
issue  from  them,  and  perhaps  200  swarms 
while  I  have  used  hivers.  If  any  one  has  ex- 
perimented on  a  larger  scale  on  this  line,  I 
am  not  aware  of  it. 

My  general  conclusions  are,  that  the  hiver 
is  being  perfected  by  gradual  stages,  and 
that  it  will  soon  be  all  that  any  one  could 
desire. 

I  was  a  good  deal  amused  by  some  of  the 
criticisms  in  the  last  Review.  It  is  some- 
what singular  that  such  a  man  as  R.  L.  Tay- 
lor should  still  hang  on  to  the  drone  trap, 
for  hiving  purposes.  He  tries  to  make  a 
great  point  in  the  increased  cost  of  the  hiver 
over  the  trap,  but  in  fact  one  can  be  made 
about  as  cheaply  as  the  other.  In  fact,  the 
cost  of  hivers  is  a  very  small  item  when 
their  advantages  and  saving  of  hired  help,  or 
time  in  watching  for  swarms,  is  considered. 
The  only  strong  point  Mr.  Taylor  makes 
against  the  latest  Pratt  device  is  the  difficul- 
ty of  deciding  which  hives  have  swarmed, 
where  one  is  not  present,  without  lifting  off 
hives  and  supers.  In  a  large  apiary  that 
would  be  a  ireighfy  question  indeed.  How- 
ever. I  have  a  plan  for  overcoming  even  this 
difficulty  that  may  prove  successful.  It  is  to 
bore,  say  one-inch  holes  in  opposite  sides  of 
the  hive,  and  cut  holes  through  the  foun- 
dation or  combs,  so  one  can  look  through  it. 
A  small  glass  and  drop  pieces  can  be  used  to 
close  the  holes.  If  the  new  hive  is  used  a  la 
Hutchinson,  with  starters  only,  one  could 
easily  tell  if  any  swarming  had  taken  place. 
Really,  the  real  objections  to  the  new  Pratt 


hivers  are  disappearing  so  fast  that  I  may  yet 
adopt  them  myself. 

In  the  Taylor  drone-trap-inanagement 
suppose  he  is  running  several  out  apiaries 
that  he  can  visit  but  once  in  four  or  five  days, 
and  swarming  takes  place  the  following  day 
or  two.  and  the  queen  and  drones  with  a  few 
bees  are  caught  in  the  trap  as  per  program, 
a  heavy,  cold  rain  sets  in,  and  perhaps  he  is 
unable  to  reach  the  apiary  in  even  the  usual 
time,  what  condition  do  you  think  his  queen 
would  be  in  when  he  discovers  her  ?  Again, 
I  do  not  see  how  his  drone-trap  would  be 
any  less  fatal  to  a  young  queen,  in  case  of 
superseding,  tlian  a  hiver.  Again,  Mr.  Tay- 
lor gets  off  that  "old  chestnut"  about 
swarms,  without  any  queens,  doubling  up  in 
the  air,  or  in  trees.  Well,  suppose  they  do. 
They  will  not  generally  stay  doubled  up  long, 
but  will  very  generally  return  each  to  their 
own  hives.  I  have  had  hundreds  of  swarms 
issue  through  the  hivers,  sometimes  from 
three  to  live  at  once,  and  do  not  now  remem- 
ber a  single  case  of  doubling  up  by  all 
going  to  one  hive.  There  may  be  exceptions, 
of  course,  but  I  think  the  rule  is  well  estab- 
lished. There  are  some  other  points  that  I 
would  like  to  notice,  but  space  forbids. 

Some  have  objected  to  hivers  on  account 
of  their  bothering  the  bees  in  crawling 
through  the  zinc,  and  imagine  that  the  yield 
is  thereby  lessened.  When  a  considerable 
space  has  to  be  traveled  over,  as  where  one 
hive  is  placed  in  front  of  the  other,  the  same 
objection  has  been  raised.  I  do  not  think 
that  either  is  valid,  as  some  of  the  best  yields 
I  have  had  during  the  past  two  seasons,  were 
produced  from  hives  under  just  such  condi- 
tions. 

Milan,  111.  March  20,  ixm. 

A  Few  More  Words  of  Explanation  and  De- 
fense of  the  Pratt  Self -Hiver. 

E.  L.  TKATT. 
"  But  hiB  iieiLjIihor  ciuiietli  and  scarcheth  him." 
!  F{ .  H  UTCHINS(  )N  :— I  have  only  just 
now  read  the  leader  in  the  February 
Review  and  I  wish  to  say  a  few 
words  more  in  regard  to  self-hi  vers.  ( )n  page 
44  you  say  "  *  *  But  they  require  some 
attention  afterwards :  the  whole  arrange- 
ment of  the  hive  and  super  is  not  what  it 
would  be  if  the  bee-keeper  had  been  at  home 
when  the  swarm  issued."  giving  the  impres- 
sion that  the  hive  must  be  changed  at  oncQ> 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


97 


after  the  swarm  has  been  hived.  This  is  not 
so  with  my  '!)S  pattern,  for  they  may  be  left 
the  entire  season  or  until  every  bee  hatches 
out  of  the  upper  story,  ^\■ork  will  go  along 
in  the  hive  just  as  well,  besides  the  bees  will 
fill  the  combs  in  the  upper  story  as  fast  as  the 
young  bees  hatch  out  of  them,  thus  giving 
eight  frames  of  honey  that  would  have  other- 
wise been  lost.  I  have  had  hives  tiered  two 
stories  high,  having  more  or  less  brood  iu 
both,  and  the  bees  were  at  work  in  boxes  at 
the  top  of  them. 

You  made  a  great  mistake  when  you  said  : 
"There  is  one  point  in  favor  of  the  Taylor 
plan,  there  would  be  no  break  in  the  work 
being  done  in  the  sections,  whereas,  by  the 
self- hiving  arrangement,  work  is  stopped  in 
the  super  until  the  apiarist  appears  to  make 
the  change  necessary  to  get  the  bees  at  work 
again  in  the  super." 

There  would  be  no  break  in  the  work  in  the 
supers  with  the  '93  pattern  :  on  the  contrary 
it  would  be  resumed  with  the  vigor  of  a  new 
swarm. 

It  matters  not  how  many  swarms  cluster 
together,  if  there  is  no  queen  among  them 
they  will  separate  and  return  to  their  differ- 
ent hives.  I  have  had  many  swarms  cluster 
in  this  manner  and  I  find  that  when  they 
would  not  separate,  a  queen  of  some  kind 
was  with  them.  I  have  seen  a  little  virgin, 
so  small  that  she  could  pass  the  zinc,  hold 
two  or  thi-ee  swarms  together. 

P.  S.  You  perhaps' had  in  mind  my  front 
method  of  self-hiver,  which  wo\ild  require 
changing  at  once,  but  with  the  1893  self-hiver 
the  above  is  true  of  its  workings. 

Bbvekly,  Mass.  March  10,  1893. 


[As  I  wished,  if  possible,  to  finish  up  in  this 
number  the  discussion  of  self-hivers,  I  sent 
a  proof  of  the  articles  of  Messrs.  Dibbern 
and  Pratt  to  Mr.  Taylor.  His  reply  will  be 
found  below. — Ed.] 

Some  Strong  Arguments  in  Favor  of  Queen- 
Traps  Versus  Self  -  Hivers. 

B.  L.  TAYLOB. 

"  These  newly  hatched  inventions. 
May  fascinating  be. 
But  '  Moses  and  the  prophets' 
Are  good  enough  for  me." 

<%g»  HAVE  examined  the  article  of  Mr.  Dib- 
^  bern  and  also  that  of  Mr.  Pratt  wliich 
«^  were  submitted  to  me  for  comment  and 
I  am  greatly  surprised  at  some  of  the  argu- 


ments used.  Mr.  Pratt  surely  cannot  be  se- 
rious where  he  speaks  of  the  bees  filling  the 
combs  of  the  hive  from  which  a  swarm  has 
descended:  "  Thus  giving  eight  frames  of 
honey  that  would  otherwise  have  been  lost." 
The  fact  is,  if  the  bees  had  been  properly 
hived  that  honey  would  have  gone  into  the 
sections,  and  you  may  be  sure  none  would 
go  into  the  sections  while  there  was  room  in 
the  brood  combs,  and  to  that  extent  there 
would  be  a  break  in  the  work  in  the  sections. 

My  assertion  that  swarms  coming  out  at 
the  same  time  in  the  same  yard  will  unite 
and  return  to  the  same  hive,  Mr.  Dibbern  re- 
fers to  politely  as  an  "  old  chestnut,"  but 
neither  its  age  nor  its  being  a  "chestnut" 
prevents  it  being  true  in  these  parts.  Mr. 
Pratt  also  seems  to  think  I  am  at  fault  here  ; 
out  in  my  apiaries,  although  no  queens  are 
out,  the  one  thing  that  I  can  rely  on  above 
every  thing  else,  is  that  two  or  more  swarms 
out  at  the  same  time  will  unite  and  return 
to  some  hive  together  unless  prevented.  The 
hiver  to  be  practical  must  provide  against 
the  idiosyncracies  of  all  bees  in  all  seasons. 

Then,  as  to  the  trap,  why  should  I  not 
cling  to  it,  so  long  as  it  does  all  that  Mr.  D. 
claims  his  hivers  do.  without  a  tithe  of  the 
expense,  fussing  and  labor.  He  admits  he 
has  to  exchange  hives,  shake  off  bees  "»tc." 
to  get  good  swarms,  and  I,  at  most,  do  no 
more. 

Yes,  suppose  a  swarm  issues  from  a  hive 
with  a  trap  which  is  not  visited  for  four  or 
five  days,  why  a  suflicient  cluster  protects 
the  queen  for  that  time  beyond  peradven- 
ture.  I  have  never  known  a  case  in  which 
drones  were  sufficiently  numerous  or  rains 
sufficiently  cold  to  do  any  injury  :  and  a  trap 
is  less  fatal  to  a  virgin  queen  because  she 
is  discovered  at  once  and  the  proper  remedy 
applied. 

It  is  a  significant  comment  on  the  success 
of  the  hiver  that  Mr.  Dibbern  seems  to  give 
up  his  own  invention,  his  own  child  as  it 
were,  and  puts  his  reliance  on  the  Pratt  "  '93 
pattern."  Mr.  Pratt  does  the  same,  and  yet 
the  '93  pattern  has  never  been  tested  !  It 
seems  to  me  that  it  will  not  prove  to  be  so 
good  as  the  old  pattern,  for  Mr.  Dibbern 
well  says  the  '"natural  direction"  of  the 
queen  is  upwards.  In  the  old  pattern  she 
was  carried  dow  n  with  the  swarming  bees, 
but  in  the  new  one.  if  she  goes  down,  she 
must  practically  go  alone  which  I  should  ex- 
pect her  generally  to  fail  to  do.  But  if  it 
works  as  Mr.  Pratt  desires,  it  still  preserves 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


the  old  queens  and  sacrifices  all  young  ones 
whether  reared  for  swarming  or  for  super- 
seding.   Who  conld  long  stand  this  item  of 
cost? 
Lapkbr,  Mich.  March  21,  1893. 


Old    Combs,    in    Sections    Left    Over,    Made 
Level  and  Better  Than  New. 

B.  TAYLOK. 


I.i*SL 


■r 


,-j>i»»i, 


yRIEND  H.,  you 
xy  know  that  the 
use  of  old  sections 
of  comb  left  over 
has  caused  much 
discussion  among 
bee  -  keepers.  All 
agree  that  they  are 
of  great  value  to 
give  the  bees  to  re- 
fill during  a  good 
honey  flow.  The  ob- 
jection to  their  use 
being  that  they  cannot  be  made  into  first- 
class  goods.  The  nearly  universal  failure  to 
secure  fine  sections  when  old  combs  are 
used  has  led  a  large  number  of  our  best  bee- 
keepers to  decide  that  they  had  better  be 
thrown  away.  The  last  three  years  I  have 
had  a  large  number  of  unfinished  sections  at 
the  end  of  the  season.  I  extracted  the  honey 
and  used  them  the  following  year  and  they 
proved  very  profitable  so  far  as  getting  them 
finished  up  was  concerned  ;  in  fact,  nearly 
all  the  finished  section  honey  I  have  secured 
the  last  two  seasons  was  of  this  kind.  I  had 
shaved  the  combs  down  with  a  knife  as  even 
as  possible,  but  the  honey  was  still  unsatis- 
factorily uneven  and  of  bad  color,  and  I  set 
about  searching  for  a  remedy.  I  have  found 
it.  It  consists  of  a  little  machine  made  of 
tin  or  sheet  iron  bent  so  as  to  make  a  square 
cup,  D,  the  size  of  the  inside  of  the  sections 
and  two  inches  deep.  This  is  turned  upside 
down  in  another  pan,  C.  like  a  square  pie 
tin  with  sides  one  inch  high.  This  latter  pan 
has  a  hole  three  inches  in  diameter  cut  in  its 
center  and  the  edge  of  tin  around  the  hole  is 
turned  up  one  inch  and  the  first  square  cup, 
D,  is  soldered  open  side  down  on  the  bottom 
of  the  larger  pan  over  the  three  inch  hole. 
The  pan  is  then  set  on  a  suitable  box.  A,  to 
allow  a  small  lamp  to  be  set  under  it  with 
the  chimney  directly  under  or  rather  up  in 
he  hole  in   tho    bottom    of   pan.     We  now- 


light  the  lamp,  turn  up  the  wick  so  as  to  heat 
our  small  square  box,  D,  just  right  to  melt 
the  combs  in  the  sections  which  are  pressed 
first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other  on 
the  hot  iron,  D.  (By  the  way  the  tendency 
is  to  heat  the  center  of  D  too  hot,  while  the 
edges  are  not  hot  enough.  For  this  reason  a 
tin  cone  is  fastened  to  the  center  of  the  un- 
derside of  D,  and  it  completely  remedies  the 
difficulty.)  A  stop  at  each  end  of  D  allows 
the  section  to  go  down  just  far  enough. 
When  the  section  is  pretty  full,  put  the  wide 
sides  on  the  stops,  and  when  the  comb  is 
thin,  put  the  narrow  sides  on  the  stops. 

The  perfect  way  in  which  the  surface  of 
the  combs  is  melted  down  smooth  and  level 
is  worth  coming  from   Michigan  to  Forest- 


TAYLOB  S   COMB     I^EVELER. 

ville  to  see.  The  comb  is  not  only  leveled, 
but  the  thick,  dark  wax  on  the  ends  of  the  cells 
is  melted  away  and  the  cell  edges  left  thin 
and  white,  and  all  is  done  as  fast  as  yon  can 
pick  the  sections  up  and  lay  them  down 
again. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


99 


I  first  made  the  arrangement  with  a  hole, 
F,  in  one  corner  of  the  tin  C  to  allow  the 
melted  wax  to  run  out  into  a  cup  G,  but  I 
have  now  dispensed  with  this  and  simply 
empty  the  tin,  C,  when  it  gets  full.  A  little 
water  is  kept  in  the  pan  C.  Have  a  common 
table  knife  to  scrape  the  comb  refuse  from 
the  top  of  the  iron  D. 

Friend  H.,  this  is  not  theory.  I  used  it  on 
many  hundreds  of  sections  last  year  ;  in 
faci,  all  the  honey  (about  1,500  pounds) 
that  I  got  finished  was  in  these  prepared 
sections,  and  a  nicer,  whiter  lot  of  combs 
you  never  saw.  It  brought  18  cents  here  as 
soon  as  crated. 

I  am  making  machinery  to  make  them  and 
shall  claim  a  moral  patent,  at  least.  Every 
bee-keeper  that  has  seen  it  says,  "  Yes.  1 
want  one." 

FoRESTViLLE,  Minn.  Feb.  12,  1893. 

A  Description  of  the  "Larg-est  House- Apiary 

in   the  World,"  and   its   Successful 

Management. 

H.  p.   LANGDON. 

■' E  pluribus  uiiom." 

TN  telling  my 
1  bee  -  keeping 
friends  about  the 
largest  house-api- 
ary in  the  world, 
let  me,  first  of 
all,  thank  all  those 
who,  during  the 
past  ten  years, 
have  written 
through  the  bee 
j  ou  rna  1  s  anything 
in  regard  to  the 
house-apiary  question  ;  as  it  is  only  through 
their  experience  that  I  have  been  able  to 
make  my  house  what  it  is.  I  took  each  point 
under  careful  consideration,  then  took  a  lit- 
tle here  and  a  little  there  from  all  these  dif- 
ferent articles,  to  make  a  perfect  whole  that 
would  suit  me.  So,  although  friend  B.  Tay- 
lor's advice  on  page  38  of  the  Review  is 
good,  all  these  experiments  had  demonstra- 
ted the  plans  that  would  suit  me  best.  That 
is  why  I  built  so  large  for  the  first  one. 

The  house,  11x100  feet,  stands  a  few  de- 
grees W.  of  S.  on  a  good  stone  and  mortar 
wall,  with  ventilating  openings  on  each  side. 
The  sills  are  two  pieces  of  2x4 ;  the  lower 
joists  are  2x8,  two  feet  from  center  to  center, 


and  the  same  distance  as  the  studding.  Tlie 
floor  is  double  Jg,  both  layers  planed,  with  a 
strip  of  sheet-iron  between,  close  to  the 
boarding  and  around  the  studding,  to  prevent 
mice  from  gnawing  up  through.  A  platform, 
12  inches  high  and  the  width  of  a  hive,  runs 
lengthwise  of  the  building,  in  the  center  of 
the  room,  except  that  a  space  of  eight  feet  is 
left  at  each  end  and  six  feet  in  the  middle. 
This  platform  is  for  holding  extra  hives,  su- 
pers, etc.,  that  the  alley  on  each  side  may  be 
left  clear.  It  is  a  great  convenience.  On 
each  side  of  the  platform  every  six  feet  are 
openings  0x22  inches  for  bottom  ventilation. 

The  studding  is  2x4  and  of  such  a  length 
as  to  make  the  top  of  the  plate  (2x4,  two 
pieces)  come  8,^'  feet  from  the  floor,  and  the 
upper  joists  (l^-^xS)  are  nailed  across  the 
rafters  one  foot  above  the  top  of  the  plate, 
thus  making  the  room  9^2  feet  in  the  clear. 

The  roof  has  the  common  pitch  for  this 
width,  and  is  well  shingled. 

On  the  floor  at  each  side  of  the  room  is  a 
platform  the  length  of  the  room,  three 
inches  high  and  three  inches  wider  than  the 
hive,  which  stands  upon  it  flush  with  the  in- 
side edge  of  the  studding.  This  platform  is 
permanently  stufl:'ed  with  planer  shavings. 
I  use  the  Root  simplicity  hive,  square  joint, 
flat  cover,  and  it  stands  on  this  platform, 
sidewise  to  the  wall,  two  feet  from  center  to 
center,  thus  bringing  the  ends  but  'd%  inches 
apart. 

The  entrance  in  the  boarding  is  nearly  on 
a  level  with  the  floor,  then  rises  on  a  slant  to 
the  top  of  the  platform,  and  opens  into  the 
hive  four  inches  from  its  outer  side.  This 
leaves  a  space  for  dead  bees  to  accumulate, 
so  I  think  no  rim  will  be  needed  under  the 
hive  in  winter.  Over  this  space,  between  the 
hive  and  wall,  level  with  the  bottom  of  the 
hive,  is  a  loose  cover  with  an  inch  hole  in  it. 
Then,  over  this,  nearly  to  the  top  of  the  hive, 
is  another  cover,  resting  on  cleats  on  the 
studdings.  This  forms  a  sort  of  box  (4x22x9 
deep)  between  the  hive  and  the  wall,  and  is 
just  the  thing  to  get  rid  of  bees  that  must  be 
shaken  off  the  covers,  combs  or  other  things. 
By  tipping  this  little  cover  back  against  the 
wall,  shaking  the  bees  in,  dropping  the  cov- 
er in  place,  and  letting  them  go  down 
through  the  inch  hole  and  up  into  the  hive  at 
their  leisure,  one  troublesome  feature  of  most 
house-apiaries  is  avoided.  These  two  plat- 
forms provide  for  100  hives. 
■  Above  these  platforms,  i}^  feet  from  the 
floor,  is  a  shelf,  formed  by  nailing  an  arm  of 


100 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS '  REVIEW. 


inch  stuff,  twenty  inches  long,  on  each  side 
of  each  studding,  with  a  brace  2x4x11-1  nailed 
between  them  at  their  outer  ends,  and  spiked 
on  the  edge  of  the  studding  below.  These 
brackets  are  floored  over  just  like  the  lower 
platform,  entrances  and  all,  and  packed  for 
winter  in  the  same  way. 

To  work  these  upper  shelves,  there  will  be 
a  track  of  inch  square  hard  wood  laid  on  the 
floor  in  each  alley,  with  a  platform  truck 
2>2x8  feet  to  run  on  it,  with  the  top  at  a  con- 
venient height,  and  a  couple  of  steps  at  each 
end.  This  is  not  built  yet,  but  is  as  is  in- 
tended for  working  these  shelves. 

For  the  wall  boarding  I  bought  second 
quality  spruce  at  $7..50  per  thousand  and 
made  shiplap  of  it  in  my  shop,  to  go  on  hor- 
izontally, the  best  for  the  siding,  next  for 
ceiling,  floor  and  roof  boards. 

Right  here  let  me  say,  I  cut  nearly  every 
piece,  except  the  frame,  siding  and  roof 
boards,  to  pattern,  in  the  shop,  so  all  I  had 
to  do  after  the  frame  was  up,  was  to  nail 
them  on,  without  any  hand  work  of  high 
priced  carpenters,  which  made  quite  a  dif- 
ference in  the  price. 

The  windows  are  one  light,  14x20,  with  the 
sash  set  into  the  wall  without  casings,  and 
screwed  to  a  cleat  on  each  side,  that  is  nail- 
ed inside  the  boarding.  There  is  a  window 
in  front  of  every  third  hive,  of  both  lower 
and  upper  rows,  with  the  bottom  of  the  sash 
six  inches  above  the  top  of  the  hive.  This 
gives  three  hives  to  each  window  and  makes 
the  question  of  light  perfect.  It  would  be  a 
useless  expense  and  labor  to  make  the  win- 
dows so  they  would  open,  as  ventilation  is 
provided  for  and  the  space  in  front  of  each 
hive  gives  the  needed  conditions  for  shaking 
bees  off  covers,  comb,  etc.  A  hole  is  bored 
through  the  top  sash  close  to  the  edge  of  the 
glass  and  around  each  opening  the  wood  is 
cut  away  on  each,  inside,  to  lead  out  all  bees 
that  fly  to  the  window.  I  had  no  trouble 
with  their  coming  back,  but  I  think  a  small 
wire  cone  ought  to  be  in  each  to  be  sure  to 
keep  them  out  in  a  honey  f<imiue. 

.Just  above  the  level  of  the  cover  of  each 
hive  is  a  two  inch  hole  bored  through  the 
wall,  with  a  wire  cone  in  each.  These  are 
the  bee-escajies  proper  of  the  house.  All 
windows,  except  the  one  nearest  the  hive 
being  manipulated,  should  be  curtained  quite 
dark,  or  the  bees  do  not  leave  the  room  well. 
Also,  instead  of  using  an  escape  board  on 
the  hive  to  rid  tilled  supers  of  bees,  set  the 
filled  cases  across  the  cover  cleats  of  any 


hive,  close  to  the  wall,  cover  the  cases  with  a 
cover  and  the  bees  will  all  leave  promptly 
through  this  cone,  leaving  the  case  to  be  set 
back  on  to  the  middle  platform  without 
opening  the  hive  again  to  remove  an  escape 
board.  This  makes  a  big  difference  in  tak- 
ing oft'  the  honey  from  a  large  number  of 
hives.  I  removed  75  cases  (1,^00  pounds)  in 
this  way  in  four  hours,  and  put  back  as 
many  empty  ones.  The  next  morning  they 
were  all  free  from  bees. 

Upper  ventilation  is  obtained  by  three 
shafts  8x8  (I  shall  put  in  four  more)  through 
the  ceiling  and  roof  into  a  cowl  over  each 
on  the  roof.  Both  these  and  the  openings 
below  can  be  closed  in  cool  weather.  The 
draft  is  so  strong  most  of  the  time  that  it 
will  draw  up  a  piece  of  paper,  consequently 
no  trouble  is  experienced  by  reason  of  smoke 
in  the  room. 

The  side  walls  are  painted  five  different 
colors  of  as  much  of  a  contrast  as  could  be 
made,  six  feet  of  each  in  rotation.  This 
brings  a  window  of  each  upper  and  lower 
row  into  the  center  of  each  color,  also  three 
entrances  to  each  color.  It  works  admirably 
in  helping  the  bees  locate  their  hives.  Some 
bee-keepers  say  that  bees  cannot  tell  colors, 
but  if  they  could  see  the  way  this  plan  works 
with  fifty  entrances  in  a  row,  two  feet  from 
center  to  center,  they  would  be  obliged  to 
admit  that  they  are  not  color  blind. 

Each  entrance  has  an  alighting  board  the 
same  color  as  the  wall  above. 

For  wintering,  a  cleat  ii}4  feet  long  is 
screwed  to  the  edge  of  the  platform  and 
shelf,  with  a  wide  board  running  lengthwise 
on  the  inside.  This  makes  four  troughs  KK) 
feet  long,  with  50  hives  standing  in  each. 
Planer  shavings  are  then  packed  around  the 
hives,  both  sides  and  ends  and  over  the  top, 
and  the  bees  are  then  ready  for  winter. 

Up  to  date,  they  have  had  three  or  four 
nice  flights  which  they  could  not  have  had  if 
the  hives  had  stood  on  the  ground.  I  expect 
to  lose  a  few  light  ones  as  they  did  not  have 
proper  care,  as  building  the  house  put  me 
behind  all  summer,  so  that  I  did  not  get 
them  all  packed  until  very  late.  However, 
I  know  I  can  winter  bees  i)acked  in  single 
hives,  and  I  am  sure  that  this  plan  is  better 
still,  on  account  of  their  being  up  high  and 
dry. 

If  I  were  going  to  build  again,  I  know  of 
but  one  thing  I  would  change,  and  that  is,  I 
would  make  the  building  twelve  feet  in 
width,   instead  of  eleven,    especially  as  all 


TSE  BUiJ-KiJEPE^S'  REVIEW. 


101 


crating  and  sorting  of  honey  will  be  done 
there  instead  of  in  a  separate  honey-house 
at  one  end,  as  I  first  intended  ;  and  my  ad- 
vice to  any  one  thinking  of  giving  a  house  a 
trial,  would  be,  not  to  build  too  small.  Don't 
be  cramped  or  you  won't  ever  be  suited  with 
it. 

In  conclusion  I  might  n^me  a  few  of  the 
advantages  of  a  house-apiary,  but  as  Mr.  B. 
Taylor  has  done  so  well  in  his  articles  on 
pages  324,  325,  32(5,  of  December  Review,  I 
will  only  add  that  I  indorse  every  word  that 
he  says  in  favor  of  them,  only  he  does  not 
praise  them  enough. 

Swarming  did  you  say  ?  Oh  !  yes,  sure 
enough ;  but  I  must  leave  this  for  another 
chapter,  as  this  article  is  long  enough  al- 
ready. But  in  the  meantime,  if  you  are 
thinking  of  building  a  house-apiary,  don't 
let  the  fear  of  swarming  hinder  you,  as  that 
can  be  very  satisfactorily  settled.  I  am  as- 
tonished that  some  of  our  headlights  should 
think  and  say  that  bee-keeping  has  reached 
the  climax  of  perfection,  or  "'  reached  the 
end  of  the  rope."  Why,  last  year  came  self- 
hivers.  and  next  will  come  non-swarming 
without  extra  work,  and  with  more  and  a 
better  quality  of  honey,  this  I  know  to  be  a 
FACT.     Watch  for  it. 

East  Constable,  N.  Y.         March  8,  '93. 

Some  Experiments  and  Arguments  Showing 

that  Multiple  Tubes  do  not  Increase  the 

Blast  in  a  Bee  Smoker. 

LOWKY    JOHNSON. 

^i|»N  reference  to  Mr.  Cornell's  theory  of  in- 
^  creasing  the  draught  from  a  smoker,  I 
«»^  have  to  say  that  I  have  just  completed  a 
series  of  experiments  with  his  multiple 
tubes,  as  illustrated  in  the  October  number, 
page  2.59,  of  the  Review,  and  find  that,  other 
things  being  equal,  there  is  no  increase  of 
draught  or  blast  by  that  means  over  the  or- 
dinary method  of  using  a  continuous  tube 
or  discharging  the  air  directly  into  the  fire 
box  as  in  the  Bingham  smoker. 

A  light  thin  board  was  suspended  so  that 
it  could  vibrate  freely;  a  blast  from  a  smoker 
bellows  having  the  multiple  tubes,  as  sug- 
gested by  Mr.  Cornell,  was  directed  against 
this  suspended  board  and  the  distance  it  vi- 
brated was  noted.  This  was  done  several 
times,  the  board  being  first  brought  to  a 
rest  each  time.  Each  time  the  board  swung 
the   same   distance.    Then   these    multiple 


tubes  were  removed  and  a  simple  continu- 
ous tube  used  and  the  same  operation  per- 
formed again.  The  board  swung  or  vibrated 
the  same  distance  as  when  the  multiple  tubes 
were  used,  thus  proving  that  there  was  no 
increase  of  the  blast. 

Not  being  entirely  satisfied,  I  again 
affixed  the  multiple  tubes  and  directed 
the  blast  against  the  board  five  times  in 
succession  as  the  board  returned,  and  noted 
tlie  distance  that  it  was  caused  to  swing. 
Then,  removing  the  multiple  tubes,  I  again 
inserted  a  simple  continuous  tube  and  per- 
formed the  same  operation  and  the  distance 
the  board  was  caused  to  swing  noted,  and 
I  found  it  just  the  same  as  when  the  multiple 
tubes  were  used,  thus  proving  conclusively 
to  my  mind  that  there  can  be  no  increase  of 
the  blast  by  a  series  of  tubes,  one  discharg- 
ing into  a  larger  one. 

Mr.  Cornell  seems  to  have  overlooked  the 
fact  that  the  inertia  of  the  greater  amount 
of  air  in  the  larger  tubes  must  be  overcome, 
together  with  the  friction  of  the  same. 
While  the  volumeot  air  in  motion  is  greater, 
the  siieed,  from  the  above  cause,  is  necessa- 
rily less,  so  that  the  velocity  of  the  air  from 
the  smaller  tube  multiplied  by  its  transverse 
area  is  equal  to  the  transverse  area  of  the 
larger  tube  multiplied  by  the  velocity  of  the 
air  from  it. 

In  the  case  of  ventilation,  it  is  quite  dif- 
ferent from  a  smoker.  The  heated  air  ex- 
pands and  becoming  lighter,  has  a  tendency 
to  rise  of  its  own  accord  and  not  from  any 
increased  draught  from  these  multiple  tubes. 

Masontown.  Pa.  Feb.  13,  1893. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED    MONTHLY. 

W.   Z.  H^TCHiriSOri,  Ed.  &  Prop. 

Terms  :  —  $1.00  a  year  in  advance  Two  copies, 
$1.90  ;  three  for  $2.70 ;  five  for  $4.00 ;  ten,  or  more, 
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please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
will  be  continued. 


FLINT,    MICHIGAN.    APRIL.    10.    1893. 

In  this  age  of  progress  and  improvement, 
when  men  are  cutting  loose  from  old  lines 
and  establishing  new,  when  every  day  brings 
to  our  ears  tidings  of  some  new  discovery  or 
invention,  bee-keepers  may  well  ask  them- 
selves, "what  has  the  future  in  store  for  us?" 


102 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


The  Scraps  of  quotations  that  appear  at 
the  head  of  some  articles,  furnishing  a  sort 
of  index  to  the  character  of  what  is  to  fol- 
low, are  placed  there  by  the  editor  ;  they  are 
not  always  of  his  choosing,  however. 


Eight  Extba  Pages  in  this  issue  are  the 
result  of  the  usual  press  of  advertising  at 
this  time  of  the  year,  and  of  the  large  amount 
of  unusually  interesting  correspondence  with 
which  the  Review  has  of  late  been  blessed. 

"Out  -  Apiaeies."  This  is  the  answer 
given  by  J.  H.  Larrabee,  in  the  A.  B.  J.,  in 
his  reply  to  the  query  :  "  What  shall  we 
plant  for  honey  ?"  Seldom  is  so  much  un- 
expected wisdom  found  in  so  few  words. 


The  Apictjltukist  for  March  probably 
contains  more  information  on  queen  rearing 
than  was  ever  befere  put  into  a  single  copy 
of  a  bee  journal.  By  the  way,  too,  somebody 
is  deserving  of  praise  for  the  mechanical 
neatness  with  which  the  Api.  is  always  got- 
ten up. 


The  "  ^lameless  Bee  Disease,"  or  bee  par- 
alysis, is  a  trouble  that  may  become  more 
troublesome.  A  bee-keeper  in  N.  Y,  writes 
that  his  bees  are  troubled  with  it  now,  and 
he  thinks  it  is  often  the  cause  of  winter 
losses.  Who  knows  what  causes  it  and  what 
is  the  remedy  ? 

Pbeventing  Aftek-Swabming  by  the  use 
of  the  bee-escape  as  practiced  by  Frank 
Coverdale  and  reported  in  last  Review  has 
also  been  tried  by  H.  P.  Langdon.  He 
writes:  "I  can  endorse,  to  the  letter,  all 
that  Frank  Coverdale  says  about  the  preven- 
tion of  after-swarming  by  the  use  of  the  bee- 
escape,  as  I  gave  it  a  good  trial  two  years 
ago." 

^ 

C.  H.  DiBBEBN  has  sent  me  a  sample  of 
his  latest  bee-escape.  It  is  a  series  of  spurs 
made  of  perforated  tin  and  all  point  out  to- 
wards the  opening.  In  short,  they  might  be 
described  as  like  the  Porter,  only  they  have 
stationary  "springs"  or  spurs  of  perfora- 
sed  tin  with  their  outer  ends  so  far  apart  that 
a  bee  can  pass  the  points.  If  a  bee  should 
attempt  to  return  she  would  likely  run  up 
against  a  "snag." 


Dbone  Comb,  built  by  bees  having  a  caged 
queen  is  an  indication  that  the  bees  would 
not  accept  her  were  she  released,  while  the 
building  of  worker  comb  is  an  indication 
that  she  is  regarded  favorably.  This  is  the 
assertion  of  Mr.  Gravenhorst.  I  must  con- 
fess that  I  have  never  made  any  observations 
in  this  direction,  hnt  if  there  is  "  anything 
in  it,"  it  is  well  worth  knowing. 

"Questions  and  Answebs,"  is  to  be  the 
heading  of  a  new  department  in  the  A.  B.  J. 
It  is  not  designed  to  take  the  place  of 
"Queries  and  Replies,"  but  the  editor  says 
there  are  some  questions  that  can  be  just  as 
satisfactorily  answered  by  one  as  by  twenty- 
five  persons,  and  the  reply  can  be  given 
sooner  by  not  being  obliged  to  wait  for  the 
numerous  experts  to  answer  the  (lueries. 
This  department  is  to  be  principally  editori- 
al. Bro.  York  is  certainly  working  hard  to 
make  his  journal  "  worth  its  keep,"  as  friend 
Hasty  says. 

The  Type  used  in  the  headings  of  Hasty 's 
review  is  too  light  -  faced  to  suit  Dr.  Miller, 
who  thinks  it  looks  "as  though  it  needed  to 
be  fed  up."  Aside  from  this,  the  Doctor 
thinks  Hasty's  review  is  tip  top.  A,  I,  "just 
what  he  sxpected."  I  suspect  that  the  Doc- 
tor made  this  little  criticism  simply  to  show 
how  hyper-critical  one  must  be  to  find  any 
fault  with  Hasty's  review,  but  now  that  the 
subject  of  light-faced  type  is  brought  up  I 
wish  to  say  that  neat,  artistic,  light-faced 
type  is  a  hobby  of  mine.  I  greatly  prefer  it 
to  the  bolder,  black-faced,  heavier  styles  that 
make  a  page,  especialy  an  advertising  page, 
look  like  a  circus  poster. 


Sealed  Covebs,  especially  in  a  severe 
winter,  with  bees  in  the  open  air.  do  not 
seem  to  be  just  the  thing.  At  Medina,  Ohio, 
they  "got  a  black  eye,"  last  winter,  as  "E. 
R."  says  in  Gleanings.  I  have  never  seen 
bees  wintered  more  successfully  out  of  doors 
than  with  a  space  a  foot  square  left  open  to 
the  outer  air,  right  over  the  cluster.  There 
were  six  inches  of  chaff  between  the  bees 
and  this  opening,  and  the  opening  was  pro- 
tected from  storms.  This  was  in  Northern 
Michigan.  Mr.  B.  Taylor  is  very  much  op- 
posed to  sealed  covers.  He  writes  that  he 
has  visited  a  man  who  takes  the  covers  en- 
tirely off  his  bees  in  the  cellar,  and  they 
winter  well. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


103 


Consumption  of  Honey  by  bees  when  in 
their  winter  quarters,  the  amount  and  pro- 
portion according  to  the  season,  may  be  de- 
termined by  keeping  colonies  on  the  scales 
while  in  the  cellar.  Last  fall,  Nov.  20,  I  put 
my  bees  in  the  cellar,  and  set  three  colonies, 
in  8-frame-Langstroth  hives,  on  a  pair  of 
scales.  The  gross  weight  was  l.'xJ  pounds. 
They  were  weighed  frequently,  and  there 
was  an  average  loss  of  two  pounds  per  col- 
ony, each  month,  but  I  could  not  detect  that 
there  was  any  difference  between  one  month 
and  another  in  regard  to  the  amount  con- 
sumed. They  were  placed  on  their  summer 
stands  April  5,  having  lost,  on  an  average, 
nine  pounds  per  colony  during  their  four 
and  one-half  month's  confinement. 


THE    PBOGEESSIVE   BEE-KEEPEB,  ITS    NEW    EDI- 
TOK  AND  SOMETHING  ABOUT  HIS  BUSINESS. 

"(jreat  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow." 

Of  the  newer  bee  journals  there  were  none 
showing  greater  promise  than  the  Progres- 
sive Bee-Keeper.  Bro.  Quigley  was  a  practi- 
cal bee-keeper  and  had  the  "  knack  "  of  get- 
ting up  a  good  paper.  But  his  office  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  and  there  was  a  lack  of 
means  to  put  in  a  new  outfit,  and  the  result 
is  that  the  paper  has  been  sold  to  the  Leahy 
Manufacturing  Co.,  of  Higginsville,  Mis- 
souri. As  most  of  our  readers  know,  Mr.  R. 
B.  Leahy  is  at  the  head  of  the  firm,  and,  as 
he  has  now  become  editor,  it  will  be  inter- 
esting to  know  something  of  his  past  life. 

Mr.  Leahy  was 
born  3C  years  ago, 
at  Port  Richmond, 
N.  Y.  At  the  age 
of  two  years  his 
mother  died  and 
the  family  moved 
to  a  farm  on  Long 
Island.  Here  he 
knew  what  it  is  to 
have  a  mother  not 
his  own,  and  he 
spent  much  of  the 
a.  B.  LEAHY.  time  on  the  beach 

watching  the  ships  pass  to  and  fro  and  see- 
ing the  breakers  roll  in  and  dash  upon  the 
sand-lined  coast.  His  father  was  a  sea  cap- 
tain, and  was  drowned  when  the  boy  was  ten. 
Then  he  felt  that  he  was  nobody's  child  and 
wandered  away  to  the  nearest  seaport  town 
where   he  was  found  in  tears  by  some  big 


hearted  fellow  who  took  him  aboard  his 
ship  ;  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  a  sea- 
faring life  that  lasted  until  he  was  21  ;  three 
years  being  spent  in  the  U.  S.  navy. 

When  between  21  and  22  he  took  Horace 
Greeley's  advice  and  finally  settled  down  to 
work  on  a  farm  in  Illinois,  where  in  two  or 
three  years  he  married  Miss  Henrietta 
Braeutigam.  They  have  had  one  child  only 
and  that  died  in  its  infancy.  They  had  much 
sickness  to  contend  with.  Finally  drifted 
into  bee-keeping.  Ten  years  ago  he  went  to 
Higginsville,  Mo.,  to  secure  an  unoccupied 
field.  Here  a  partner  was  taken  in  and  the 
supply  business  added  to  bee-keeping.  It 
was  started  in  small  way  with  a  Barnes  saw 
in  a  one  story  building  14x24.  The  business 
has  grown  with  wonderful  rapidity  until  it 
has  developed  into  a  stock  company  with  a 
capital  of  .f  19,000.  Perhaps  one  secret  of 
this  success  has  been  the  liberal  use  of  prin- 
ters' ink.  $1,000  were  spent  last  year  in  ad- 
vertising and  as  much  more  will  be  spent 
this  year.  The  addition  of  a  journal  will  un- 
doubtedly help  the  supply  trade  and  the  sup- 
ply trade  will  probably  not  injure  the 
journal. 

It  is  very  pleasant  to  know  that,  notwith- 
standing Mr.  Leahy's  success  he  still  wears 
the  same  size  hat  that  he  did  several  years 
ago. 


SELF-HIVEBS. 

There  are  self-hivers  that  will  hive  all  of 
the  swarm.  There  is  question  about  this 
point.  One  objection  to  their  use  is  the  cost, 
not  only  of  the  hiver,  bat  an  empty  hive 
must  be  furnished  for  each  colony  that  may 
swarm,  while  one-half  of  the  colonies  may 
not  swarm.  Another  objection  is  the  labor 
and  annoyance  necessary  to  learn  if  a  colo- 
ny has  swarmed.  With  a  few  colonies  this 
fault  does  not  appear,  but  in  a  large  apiary 
it  would  be  quite  a  task  to  loosen  up  and 
even  turn  around  "cat-a-cornered,"  as  E. 
R.  Root  says  he  does,  all  the  hives.  By  the 
way,  in  the  last  Review  the  types  made  Mr. 
R.  L.  Taylor  say  "  lift  250  hives  with  their 
supers  "  in  an  out-apiary  of  1,50  colonies.  Of 
course  it  should  have  read  ''  lift  150  hives." 
I  have  seen  the  time  when  half  of  my  col- 
onies would  have  three  supers  each  nearly 
filled  with  honey.  To  lift  these  alone  is  no 
light  task.  Then  add  to  this  the  weight  of  the 
colony  itself.  It  is  evident  that  those  who 
find  in  this  lifting  of  hives  but  a  slight  objec- 


104 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


tion  have  never  been  extensively  engaged  in 
comb  honey  production  where  ^ood  crops 
could  be  secured.  Mr.  Dibbern  suggests  a 
"  peep  hole  "  in  each  side  of  the  hive.  I 
should  not  mind  so  very  much  the  getting 
down  on  the  hands  and  knees  and  peeping 
through  if  the  self-hiver  gave  any  decided 
advantages  over  the  use  of  the  queen  trap, 
but  I  must  confess  that  I  see  none.  Any 
doubts  that  I  had  on  the  subject  have  been 
swept  away  by  the  clear,  practical  reasoning 
of  Mr.  R.  L.  Taylor.  If  there  must  be  manip- 
ulation after  a  swarm  has  been  hived  with 
a  hiver,  and  the  queen  trap  allows  us  to  ac- 
complish the  same  ends  with  no  more  manip- 
ulation— yes,  less — what  is  gained  by  using 
the  hiver  ?  The  idea  that  a  hiver  can  be  ad- 
justed to  a  hive  and  left  without  further 
manipulation,  even  though  a  swarm  issued, 
might  possibly  answer  for  the  raising  of  ex- 
tracted honey,  but  every  practical  comb  hon- 
ey producer  knows  that  it  would  not  answer 
his  purpose. 

With  me,  as  a  rule,  swarms  without  queens 
do  not  cluster  ;  but  if  one  or  more  unite  in 
the  air,  the  great  mass  of  the  bees  will  fol- 
low the  first  few  that  return  to  their  hive.  A 
few  stragglers  will  return  to  their  own  hive, 
but  at  least  four-fifths  will  be  in,  or  on  the 
outside,  of  one  hive.  I  do  not  see,  however, 
that  this  has  any  bearing  on  the  question  of 
hivers  versus  traps,  except  that  with  the  traps 
it  is  easy  to  learn  which  have  swarmed,  by 
the  presence  of  the  queens  in  the  traps,  while 
with  the  hiver  this  is  impossible  without  a 
careful  search  of  the  hivers.  The  simple 
twisting  around  of  the  hive  and  looking  into 
it  would  not  answer,  as  the  queen  and  a  few 
bees  might  not  be  discovered  without  a  care- 
ful examination. 


EXTEAOTOKS  AND  EXTEAOTING. 

If  a  bee-keeper  is  going  to  buy  an  extract- 
or, what  kind  shall  he  buy  ?  If  he  is  a  bee- 
keeper in  a  small  way,  and  expects  to  remain 
such,  it  will  not  pay  him  to  invest  in  auto- 
matic-reversible machines,  or  any  thing  of 
that  kind.  A  plain,  simple,  cheap,  but  sub- 
stantial extractor  is  all  he  needs.  For  the 
money,  I  know  of  nothing  better  than  the 
Novice,  made  by  Mr.  Root. 

For  the  average  bee-keeper,  the  one  with 
from  50  to  100  colonies,  the  Cowan  would 
probably  answer  as  well  as  any.  This  ma- 
chine is  reversible,  although  it  does  not  re- 
verse automatically.  The  operator  has  to 
swing  the  baskets  by  hand,  but  this  is  more 


quickly  and  easily  done  than   to  remove  the 
combs  to  reverse  them. 

There  are  several  practical,  reversible 
honey  extractors,  those  in  which  the  combs 
may  be  reversed  without  removing  the 
combs  from  the  baskets.  Some  of  these  ex- 
tractors are  automatic  as  well  as  reversible  ; 
that  is,  the  baskets  reverse  by  simply  stop- 
ping the  machine  and  reversing  it  quickly 
with  a  sort  of  a  jerk  that  throws  the  baskets, 
around  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  Stan- 
ley and  the  machine  made  by  Goold,  Shapley 
&  Muir  Co.,  of  Ontario,  Canada,  are  of  this 
style,  but  I  doubt  if  invention  will  stop  short 
of  a  machine  that  can  be  reversed  automat- 
ically while  in  full  motion.  I  do  not  know 
that  such  a  machine  has  been  made,  but  Mr. 
E.  A.  Daggitt,  of  White  House  Station,  New 
Jersey,  has  sent  me  drawings  of  two  or  three 
arrangements  by  which  this  may  be  accom- 
plished. I  give  an  illustration  of  the  one 
that  seems  to  me  to  be  the  best.  The  en- 
graving makes  all  so  clear  that  almost  no  ex- 
planation is  needed.  By  pressing  down  on 
the  lever  A,  the  bar  B  is  forced  downwards. 
The  lower  end  of  the  bar  is  bent  at  right  an- 
gles and  its  point  enters  a  groove  cut  in  a 
collar  C,  through  which  passes  the  main 
shaft.  (By  the  way,  there  are  two  points 
that  the  engraver  did  not  make  quite  cor- 
rect. He  has  shown  the  handle  A,  with  too 
short  a  leverage  and  with  a  piece  of  cord  at- 
tached. I  presume  his  idea  was  to  have  this 
cord  attached  to  a  pedal  to  be  operated  by 
the  foot.  This  would  be  all  right  for  revers- 
ing in  one  direction,  but  how  about  the  oth- 
er ?  Then  he  has  shown  the  collar  C,  square 
in  shape  when  it  should  have  been  round 
with  a  groove  around  its  circumferance,  and 
the  lower  end  of  B  would  constantly  remain 
in  the  groove,  and  force  the  collar  up  or 
down  as  the  handle  A  was  raised  or  lowered. 
On  the  whole,  however,  he  has  done  well  and 
has  shown  the  idea  so  that  I  think  it  will  be 
understood.)  To  the  collar  is  attached  a 
piece  of  metal  D,  having  cogs  upon  one  side. 
These  cogs  fit  into  the  cogs  on  the  circum- 
ference of  the  wheel  F.  To  the  opposite  end 
of  the  shaft  to  which  the  wheel  F  is  attached 
is  a  beveled-geared  cog  wheel  that  turns  the 
wheel  G,  and  this  is  attached  to  the  upper 
end  of  a  shaft  that  passes  through  the  center 
of  the  comb  basket  below.  It  will  be  readily 
seen  that  a  depression  of  the  handle  A,  will 
force  down  the  collar  C,  and  the  cogs  on  D 
will  turn  the  wheel  F,  and  the  result  will  be 
that  the  comb  basket  below  the  wheel  G  will 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


105 


be  reversed.  Below  the  wheel  G,  upon  the 
same  shaft,  is  another  wheel  H,  in  the  cir- 
cumference of  which  are  notches  or  cogs, 
and  into  these  cogs  fit  the  links  of  a  steel 
chain  that  passes  around  similar  wheels  upon 
the  tops  of  the  shafts  passing  through  the 
centers  of  the  other  comb  baskets.  It  will 
be  seen  that  when  one  comb  basket  reverses, 
all  four  must  reverse.     <Jnly  one  comb  bas- 


DAGGITT,  AUTOMATIC,  KEVEESIBLE  EXTRACTOE. 

ket  is  shown  in  the  drawing,  as  the  produc- 
tion of  all  of  them  would  make  a  confusion 
of  lines.  To  such  an  extractor  should  be 
added  a  brake  that  can  be  operated  by  the 
foot. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  reversing  combs 
upon  their  centers  instead  of  at  the  edges  will 
will  give  a  much  smaller  can. 

The  use  of  bee-escapes  is  going  to  do 
away  with  that  most  disagreeable  part  of 
raising  extracted  honey — the  brushing  and 
shaking  of  bees  in  the  hot  sun.  Supers  of 
extracting  combs  will  be  brought  into  the 
extracting  room  just  as  supers  of  comb  hon- 
ey are  now  brought  in.  Unless  the  honey  is 
left  on  until  late  in  the  fall,  it  never  extracts 


more  readily  than  when  first  taken  from  the 
hives,  before  it  has  lost  its  natural  heat.  Of 
course  it  would  extract  just  as  easily  if 
warmed,  but  if  extracted  at  once  the  trouble 
of  warming  is  avoided. 

Just  how  extracting  should  be  conducted 
depends  upon  circumstances.  With  a  large 
apiary,  or  with  out-apiaries,  and  basswood 
yielding  at  its  best,  with  a  limited  number 
of  supers  and"  combs,  it  would  require  a 
"  gang  "  of  workmen  to  keep  things  cleaned 
out.  I  should  prefer  an  abundance  of  combs 
and  supers  so  that  the  honey  could  remain 
on  the  hive  a  little  while  and  the  work  be 
done  a  little  more  leisurely.  I  should  think 
that  three  would  ordinarily  make  a  good  ex- 
tracting "team."  One  to  get  the  honey  off 
the  hives  and  return  the  empty  combs,  one 
to  uncap  and  one  to  run  the  extractor.  With 
an  extractor  such  as  is  illustrated  here,  I 
should  suppose  that  one  man  could  extract 
as  fast  as  two  could  uncap — perhai>s  faster. 

By  the  way,  it  seems  to  me  that  inventors 
ought  to  turn  their  attention  towards  discov- 
ering some  more  rapid  method  of  uncapping 
combs.  I  believe  they  have  machines  in 
England  for  uncapping  combs.  At  least  I 
have  seen  them  illustrated  and  described, 
but  I  have  an  opinion  that  they  are  not  prac- 
tical. Mr.  B.  Taylor,  who  describes  in  this 
issue  an  arrangement  for  leveling  the  combs 
in  sections  kept  over  from  the  preceding 
year,  has  tried  uncapping  sections  of  honey 
in  this  same  way,  viz.,  by  the  use  of  heat. 
He  has  tried  using  steam  for  heat,  but  says 
that  it  does  not  give  a  suificiently  high  tem- 
perature for  the  rapid  uncapping  of  honey. 
If  we  could  discover  some  way  of  uncapping 
combs  as  rapidly  as  we  could  pick  up  a  comb 
and  press  it  against  a  heated  surface,  the 
discovery  would  be  of  more  importance  than 
an  automatically,  reversible  honey  extractor, 
as  more  time  is  consumed  in  uncapping  than 
in  reversing  the  combs  by  hand. 

I  would  be  obliged  for  hints,  suggestions, 
and  the  relation  of  experience  upon  this  sub- 
ject with  a  view  to  giving  in  the  May  Re- 
view a  special  discussion  of  this  topic. 


EXXRMOXED. 


The  "Old  Reliable"  is  Fairly  Booming.* 

There  is  no  one  who  notices  so  soon  the 
presence  or  absence  of  editorial  work  in  a 
paper  as  the  editor  of  a  similar  journal.     I 


106 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


have  several  times  noticed  the  large  amount 
of  editorial  work  done  by  Bro.  York,  of  the 
A.  B.  J.,  but  I  doubt  if  I  could  have  ex- 
pressed myself  quite  so  nicely  on  this  point 
as  has  Bro.   Root  in  Gleanings.    He  says : — 

"G.  W.  York  is  making  the  old  reliable 
American  Bee  Journal  fairly  boom.  Every 
page  shows  that  he  is  putting  a  good  deal  of 
hard  work  on  it,  and  we  hope  that  his  sub- 
scription list  may  roll  up  strong  ;  for  we  have 
always  noticed  that,  when  any  of  our  rival 
publications  are  booming  well,  it  helps  boost 
along  Gleanings ;  so  you  see  we  are  interest- 
ed from  a  selfish  point  of  view.  Why  is  it 
that  editors  of  publications  in  other  lines 
fail  to  see  this  ?  They  look  upon  a  success- 
ful rival  as  dangerous  to  their  own  success, 
and  then  write  more  like  an  idiot  than  a  re- 
sponsible being.  But  perhaps  a  point  should 
be  made  here  :  An  editor  who  takes  no  in- 
terest in  his  own  publication  but  to  get  out 
copies  of  his  paper  filled  with  '  stuffing '  will 
almost  surely  sufifer  if  there  is  an  energetic 
rival  in  the  field.  He  who  is  jealous  of  a 
rival,  confesses  the  weakness  of  his  own  ef- 
forts in  the  journalistic  line,  and  he  had  bet- 
ter step  down  and  out.  Such  kind  of  editors 
are  not  wanted,  and  sooner  or  later  they  are 
obliged  to  step  down  and  out." 


The    Strengthning    of   Weak  Colonies  in 

Spring. 

\\  hat  to  do  with  weak  colonies  in  spring  is 
often  a  puzzle.  It  may  not  be  best  to  unite. 
How  shall  they  be  strengthened  and  made  to 
"  pull  through  "  is  what  we  would  all  like  to 
know.  From  an  article  contributed  to 
Gleanings  last  June  by  Mr.  Gravenhorst  I 
make  the  following  extract  that  has  a  bear- 
ing on  this  point.  Speaking  of  the  manner 
in  which  German  bee-keepers  manage  their 
bees  in  the  spring,  he  says  : — 

"  In  April  and  May,  on  some  fine  days  he 
visits  his  bees  to  look  them  over  with  the  ut- 
most care  for  three  or  four  days.  As  he  has 
mostly  colonies  with  young  queens  of  the 
previous  year,  he  has  seldom  to  unite  queen- 
less  colonies  with  others.  Weak  colonies,  if 
he  has  such,  he  provides  with  bees  from  his 
best  colonies.  This  is  accomplished  in  the 
following  manner  :  When  the  bees  are  fly- 
ing best,  he  sets  a  weak  colony  in  the  place 
of  a  stronger  one,  but  never  a  very  weak  one 
in  place  of  a  very  strong  one,  because  the 
queen  of  the  weaker  one  would  be  killed. 

Another  way  to  build  up  a  very  weak  col- 
ony is  this  :  Toward  evening  he  puts  a  flat 
feeding-trough,  with  honey,  under  a  strong 
colony.  As  soon  as  the  bees  cover  the  food, 
upon  which  he  has  put  some  shavings  or 
straw,  he  takes  the  trough,  with  all  the  bees, 
and  sets  it  under  the  weak  colony.  This  he 
repeats  for  three  or  four  evenings.  In  this 
manner  he  goes  on  in  April  and  May  till  he 


has  equalized  his  colonies.  If  the  honey-flow 
in  these  two  months  is  very  good,  then  he 
does  not  feed  ;  but  if  not,  he  will  feed  very 
liberally  for  three  or  four  days.  By  equaliz- 
ing and  feeding  the  colonies  at  the  right 
time  he  shortens  the  swarming  season.  All 
his  first  swarms  will  issue,  according  to  the 
weather,  within  eight,  nine,  or  ten  days,  and 
those  colonies  that  do  not  swarm  at  this 
time  he  will  swarm  artificially  by  driving. 
Most  of  the  natural  swarms  he  takes  in 
swarm-catchers  to  prevent  missing  the 
swarms  and  killing  the  queens." 


How   to   Make   Bees   Stay   in    Their   Hives 

"While  Being  Carried  From  the  Cellar 

to  Their  Summer  Stands. 

(Jne  of  the  disagreeable  features  of  cellar 
wintering  is  that  of  carrying  out  the  bees 
and  placing  them  on  their  summer  stands. 
The  admission  of  fresh  air  and  the  excite- 
ment stirs  them  up  and  they  come  rushing 
out  and  sting  the  one  who  is  carrying  them. 
Besides  this,  they  have  been  in  the  hive  so 
long  that  their  old  location  is  forgotten,  and 
wherever  they  leave  the  hive  there  they  seem 
to  "hang  around,"  and  assault  anything  that 
comes  near.  When  the  bees  are  wintered  in 
hives  with  the  bottoms  removed  these 
troubles  are  aggravated.  Mr.  Doolittle,  in 
an  article  in  Gleanings,  tells  how  he  over- 
came these  difficulties.  From  this  article  I 
make  the  following  extract : — 

"  One  day  I  thought  of  the  spring  wheel- 
barrow, so  I  tried  setting  them  on  that  and 
wheeling  them  to  their  stands.  This  was 
much  easier  for  me  ;  but  there  was  a  certain 
amount  of  jarring  to  it,  in  spite  of  the 
springs,  that  irritated  the  bees  so  that  they 
were  ready  to  rush  out  en.  masse  when  I  was 
lifting  the  hive  from  the  barrow  to  the 
stand  ;  and  often  the  bottom  of  the  barrow 
would  be  covered  with  the  bees  which  had 
come  down  before  the  stand  was  reached. 
This  saved  all  the  bees,  as  they  all  marked 
the  right  spot,  but  did  not  do  away  with  the 
stinging  from  the  bees  which  flew  in  the  air 
before  the  hive  was  on  the  stand.  I  next 
took  an  old  sheet  and  wet  it,  and,  after  doub- 
ling, put  that  on  the  bottom  of  the  wheel- 
barrow and  up  over  the  front  end-board. 
This  took  off  all  the  jar,  and  also  kept  the  few 
bees  which  might  straggle  down  on  to  the 
bottom  of  the  barrow  from  staying  there  ; 
for  as  soon  as  they  came  in  contact  with  the 
wet  sheet  they  would  run  back. 

I  now  went  into  the  cellar,  took  a  hive  of 
bees,  nd  placed  it  on  the  sheet,  tipped  it  up 
a  little  in  front  so  as  to  blow  under  three  or 
four  puffs  of  smoke,  lowered  it  to  its  place, 
and  put  a  wet  rag  down  in  front  over  the  en- 
trance, when  I  had  the  thing  just  as  I  want- 
ed it,  for  I  could  wheel  them  wherever  I 
wished,  without  their  apparently  breaking 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


107 


the  cluster  at  all.  The  wet  sheet  gave  a  chill 
to  the  air  inside  of  the  hive  so  the  bees  did 
not  feel  the  warmth,  and  the  wet  rag  at  the 
entrance  excluded  the  light,  so  that  they  ap- 
parently did  not  realize  but  that  they  were 
still  in  the  cellar  till  they  were  safely  on 
their  stands.  I  now  have  no  dread  of  set- 
ting the  bees  out  of  the  cellar,  and  they  also 
are  not  in  such  a  hurry  to  rush  out  but  that 
they  properly  mark  their  entrance,  thus  sav- 
ing the  mixing  of  bees  so  frequently  occur- 
ring in  the  old  way,  by  which  some  colonies 
have  more  bees  than  they  should,  and  others 
being  deficient." 


The  Infinence  by  Which  Bees  are   Actuated 
When  Pasing  Throaeh  a  Bee  Escape. 

Mr.  R.  C.  Aikin^  in  another  column,  ad- 
vances the  theory  that  the  controlling  inilu- 
ence  leading  bees  to  desert  the  supers  when 
the  bee  escape  is  used,  is  their  desire  to  get 
back  to  the  queen  from  which  they  find 
themselves  cut  ofif.  Mr.  Halley  advances 
the  same  idea  in  Gleanincjs.     He  says: — 

"I  find  that  no  one  in  Gleanimjs  has  yet 
given  thel  true  principle  upon  which  the 
bee-escape  is  supposed  to  work.  The  super 
from  which  it  is  desired  to  rid  the  bees  being 
shut  off  from  the  heat  of  the  hive,  it  would 
seem  that,  when  the  weather  got  cool,  the 
bees  would  go  down  much  faster:  but  such 
is  not  the  fact.  It  may  then  take  days  in- 
stead of  hours  for  the  sections  to  be  cleared. 
The  true  reason  is,  that,  when  the  bees  find 
they  are  separated  from  the  queen,  they  get 
panicky,  and  leave  forthwith  in  pursuit  of 
the  queen.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  ragged  edge  of  the  tin  or  paper  prevents 
the  bees  from  going  back  into  the  sections; 
but  the  fact  is,  the  cause  that  induced  them 
to  leave  prevents  them  from  going  back. 
Now  for  the  proof:  You  will  find  inclosed  a 
piece  of  tin.  This  was  formed  over  a  20- 
penny  wire  nail.  This  I  tack  over  a  hole  on 
the  under  siHe  of  a  board.  This  is  my  bee- 
escape.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  bees  can  go 
one  way  as  well  as  the  other.  My  section- 
cases  ail  have  crlass.  I  put  on  the  escape  in 
the  morning,  so  I  could  watch  them,  which 
I  did  closely.  Some  will  miss  the  queen 
very  soon,  and  the  sections  will  be  cleared  in 
two  or  three  hours.  Others  will  remain 
quiet  for  several  hours;  but  when  they  dis- 
cover their  isolated  position  they  will  be 
seen  in  a  perfect  panic,  which  they  keep  up 
until  the  last  bee  leaves  the  sections.  Among 
others  I  put  sections,  containing  about  60 
lbs.  of  honey,  over  a  board  fixed  with  three 
of  these  tins.  The  next  morning  when  I 
took  off  my  sections  I  found  bees  enough  to 
make  a  fair  swarm,  clustered  all  over  under 
the  board.  There  were  many  bees  deep 
over  the  tins.  They  had  commenced  comb- 
building;  but  not  a  bee  had  gone  into  the 
sections.  I  have  used  these  tins  through  the 
past  season  with  unvarying  results.  In  no 
case  did  the  bees  go  back  into  the  sections.  * 
I  believe  that  a  zinc  queen-excluder,  if  plac- 
ed on  an  empty  section-holder,  and  the  zinc 


all  covered  up   but  a  narrow  strip,  would 
make  a  good  bee-escape. 

William  Halley, 

Rockton,  1)1.,  Jan.  23. 

The  editor  of  Oleanings  comments  as  fol- 
lows : 

[It  is  very  possible  that  you  may  be  right, 
and  we  hope  those,  of  our  readers  who  have 
made  observations  in  regard  to  the  actual 
workings  of  the  bee-escape  will  let  us  know 
what  they  think  about  it.  Another  summer 
shall  not  go  by  without  our  fixing  up  an  ob- 
servatory hive,  to  watch  the  actual  operation 
of  the  various  bee-escapes.  However,  even 
if  your  point  is  true,  would  it  not  be  better 
to  have  something  like  the  Porter,  so  the 
bees  will  actually  be  prevented  from  going 
back,  even  if  they  should  desire  to  do  so  ? 
The  Porters,  who  have  conducted  a  long 
series  of  experiments  along  this  line,  will 
doubtless  be  able  to  give  us  some  informa- 
tion." 


The    Wax  in  Comb    Honey   is   Indigestible 
but  not  Injurious  or  TInwholsome. 

'•  My  son,  eat  thou  honey  because  it  is  good ; 
and  the  honeycomb,  which  is  sweet  to  thy  taste." 

Mr.  Henry  M.  Hawley  writes  as  follows  to 
GJeaningft  : 

"  I  desire  to  say  that  I  am  surprised  to 
find  a  dyspeptic  advocating  the  use  of  comb 
honey,  as,  in  all  lessons  learned  or  teachings 
taught,  the  prime  principle  is  that  the  comb 
is  indigestible.  I  judge,  if  you  eat  '  Schu- 
macher '  graham  gems  for  a  few  months  the 
bran  will  be  sufficient  irritant  for  the  stom- 
ach without  the  comb  that  will  not  digest  nor 
melt  in  the  stomach." 

Those  are  in  error  who  imagine  that  be- 
cause wax  is  indigestible  its  consumption  in 
comb  honey  is  attended  with  injurious  re- 
sults, or  that  it  is  in  the  least  unwholesome. 
Ten  years  ago.  Prof.  Hasbrouck,  in  the 
Bee-Keepers'  Magazine,  explained  most  fully 
the  philosophy  of  this  subject.     He  said  : — 

"  So  much  is  said  now-a-day*  by  such  in- 
fluential men  as  King,  Dadant,  .Tones,  and 
many  others,  to  '  boom '  extracted  honey, 
that  it  seems  necessary  that  something 
should  be  said  to  recall  the  claims  of  comb 
honey,  that  its  virtues  may  not  be  forgotten 
and  its  production  neglected.  It  may  be 
that,  for  the  present,  more  money  can  be 
made  in  running  bees  for  extracted  honey — 
five  dollars  to  one,  as  Jones  says ;  but  I 
think  I  can  see  reasons  why,  with  increased 
production,  we  may  expect  extracted  honey 
to  depreciate  in  price  much  faster  than  coAb 
honey.  Extracted  honey  must  always  com- 
Viete  with  similar  sweets  ;  such  as  sugar,  mo- 
lasses, syrups,  and  glucose,  and  its  princi- 
pal recommendation  will  be  its  novelty  or 
cheapness  ;  while  it  is  weighted  in  the  race 
for  popularity  by  its  inconvenient  tendency 
to  candy,  and  if  it  does  not  candy,  it  is  im- 
mediately exposed  to  the  suspicion  of  being 


108 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


adulterated.  On  the  other  hand,  comb  hon- 
ey stands  without  a  rival — a  thinK^'i"  (jeneris 
— captivating  to  the  eye — the  symbol  of 
sweetness — a  royal  luxury.  But  so  industri- 
ously have  they  who  ought  to  know  better, 
talked  about  the  enormity  of  eating  '  indi- 
gestible wax,'  that  the  proper  use  of  comb 
honey  is  almost  a  '  lost  art.'  People  strug- 
gle to  reject  every  flake  of  wax,  or  else  eat 
their  hot  biscuit  and  honey  as  a  forbidden 
indulgence,  dared  with  full  expectation  of 
gripes  and  nightmare  as  a  penalty.  The 
fact  is,  that  honey  comb  is  one  of  the  most 
wholesome  foods  ever  eaten.  It  will  make 
hot  biscuit  and  fresh  bread  easily  digesti- 
ble. These  alone  are  rightly  considered 
much  harder  of  digestion  than  stale  bread, 
from  the  fact  that  they  pack,  in  chewing, 
into  masses  impermeable  to  the  solvent 
juices  of  the  digestive  organs.  But  when 
they  are  eaten  with  honey  comb,  the  delicate 
flakes  of  wax  prevent  the  packing,  while  the 
honey  pervading  the  whole  mass,  is  readily 
dissolved  out,  leaving  free  access  for  the  gas- 
tric juice  to  all  parts  of  the  food.  The  scales 
of  wax,  though  indigestible,  are  soft  and 
smooth,  and  will  not  irritate  the  most  deli- 
cate membrane. 

But  besides  being  a  delicious  and  whole- 
some article  of  food,  I  regard  comb  honey 
as  a  specific  cure  for  many  difficulties  of  di- 
gestion and  irregularity  of  the  bowels.  In 
our  day,  drugs  are  at  a  discount  for  the 
treatment  of  chronic  diseases,  and  people  are 
generally  seeking  health  from  a  proper  se- 
lection of  foods  instead  of  medicines.  For  a 
long  time  Graham  bread  and  bran  crackers 
have  been  prescribed  by  the  medical  faculty 
for  dyspeptic  affections  and  obstinate  con- 
stipation ;  but  the  doctors  are  about  finding 
out  that  these  things  will  ruin  the  digestion 
of  anything  but  a  horse,  as  the  rough,  silici- 
ous  scales  of  bran  irritate  and  lacerate  the 
delicate  membranes  of  the  digestive  organs, 
to  their  speedy  ruin.  I  can  assure  all  per- 
sons whose  digestion  needs  a  little  assis- 
tance, that  they  will  find  in  comb  honey, 
eaten  wax  and  all,  just  the  thing  to  help  them 
— and  a  very  agreeable  medicine  to  take,  it 
is,  too. 

The  flakes  of  wax  furnish  a  gentle  stimulus 
to  the  digestive  membranes,  without  in  any 
way  injuring  them.  To  bee-keepers  I  would 
say,  produce  extracted  honey  by  all  means, 
if  you  can  make  more  money  by  it ;  but  for 
your  own  bread  and  butter,  and  hot  biscuit 
and  hot  cakes:  use  comb  honey,  without  Vje- 
ing  anxious  to  save  all  the  wax  to  make  up 
into  foundation,  and  see  if  it  isn't  the  best 
way  to  eat  honey." 


Barnet  Taylor's  Latest  House  Apiary. 
,  Mr.  Taylor  has  finished  his  house  apiary, 
and  I  copy  the  following  illustration  and 
description  from  Farm, Stork  and  Home. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  arrangement  is  al- 
most exactly  that  of  the  Langdon  house 
apiary  described  in  another  column. 

"We  illustrate  herewith  a  sectional  view  of 
our  new  house  apiary  and  give  as  plain  a  des- 


cription as  possible.  It  is  very  important 
to  have  these  buildings  right  in  every  detail 
at  the  start,  as  they  cannot  well  be  altered 
after  occupied  by  bees.  In  constructing  it 
we  have  used  our  past  experience  to  make  it 
as  near  perfect  as  possible. 

This  house  is  Ki  feet  long,  S  feet  wide  and 
8  feet  high  to  ceiling.  The  roof  is  12  feet 
wide,  projecting  2  feet  on  each  side,  protect- 
ing the  hive  entrance  from  rain  or  snow.  Its 
capacity  is  .'52  swarms  without  crowding. 
There  are  four  shelves,  2  feet  wide,  running 
the  length  of  the  house,  for  holding  hives; 
the  bottom  ones  are  raised  <>  inches  above 
the  floor,  and  the  two  upper  ones  placed 
midway  between  them  and  the  ceiling,  and 
are  constructed  to  have  a  space  under  them 
packed  with  pine  leaves  to  keep  the  bottom 
of  the  hives  warm  in  winter.  Sawdust  or 
chaff  may  be  used  for  packing,  but  as  it 
is  to  be  permanent  the  dry  pine  leaves,  when 
procurable,  are  best,  as  they  will  not  be- 
come damp.  The  packing  under  the  bot- 
tom shelves  is  8  inches  thick,  and  that  at  the 
top  4  inches.  This  is  the  only  permanent 
packing  about  the  building. 


Ill  Foundation  posts.  (2)  Endsofsille.  (31  Plat- 
form for  hives.  (4)  Entrances— Alighting 
hoards,  ("d  Table  for  liaiullinc  hives. 

The  hives  are  two  feet  apart  from  center 
to  center,  and  set ;!  inches  from  the  outer 
walls.  There  are  8  inches  space  between  the 
hives  and  .'>  inches  between  back  of  hives 
and  back  of  shelves.  At  the  back  of  shelves 
there  are  movable  walls  22  inches  high  to 
hold  the  winter  packing  (sawdust)  in  place. 
When  the  hives  are  packed  for  winter  there 
are  '^  inches  of  sawdust  in  front,  8  inches 
between,  r>  inches  at  the  back,  and  8  inches 
on  top  of  them.  If  properly  done  this  will 
winter  the  bees  with  safety  in  a  severe  win- 
ter. 

nWe  pack  the  bees  at   the  first  approach  of 
freezing  weather  in  the  fall,  and  leave  it   on 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


109 


until  all  cold  weather  is  over  in  the 
spring.  When  unpacking,  the  movable  walls 
are  taken  from  the  back  of  the  hives,  the 
sawdust  shoveled  into  gunny  sacks  and  piled 
overhead  under  the  roof,  to  be  kept  dry  and 
handy  for  use  again. 

Any  hive  can  be  used  in  the  house,  but  we 
have  made  a  special  one  for  house  use  that 
has  many  advantages  and  is  plain  and  cheap. 
The  entrances  through  the  sides  of  building 
are  14  inches  wide  and  one-half  inch  deep, 
and  the  alighting  boards  are  8x16  inches, 
and  are  so  constructed  as  to  receive  the 
swarm  catcher. 

The  building  is  sided  with  good  stock 
boards  12  inches  wide,  and  the  cracks  neatly 
battened.  But  if  we  were  building  again 
we  would  use  matched  flooring  for  the  sides 
and  leave  battens  off.  The  roof  is  shingled 
and  the  ventilator  is  a  galvanized  chimney 
suitable  for  receiving  a  stovepipe  if  one 
should  ever  be  required.  The  passage  way 
from  the  walls  of  house  to  hives  is  covered 
by  a  movable  strip  of  suitable  thin  wood. 
The  door  is  in  the  we5t  end  and  hung  on  the 
outside.  In  the  east  end  there  is  a  sliding 
sash  of  six  lights  of  glass,  10x14,  on  the  in- 
side; on  the  outside  there  is  a  revolving  wire 
cloth  screen  for  ventilation,  and  to  let  bees 
out  when  handling  swarms.  There  are  es- 
capes to  let  bees  out  at  all  times. 

In  the  alley  between  the  hives  there  is  a 
movable  table,  2x()  feet,  to  work  on  in  hand- 
ling hives.  There  are  also  shelves  in  suit- 
able places  to  hold  the  queen  excluding 
honey  boards,  bee  escape  boards,  and  all 
other  things  needed  in  the  house  manage- 
ment. We  intend  to  have  six  swarms  in  the 
attic — three  in  each  gable,  but  will  not  rec- 
ommend this  feature  until  we  have  used  it  a 
while. 

This  building  will  cost  about  two  dollars  a 
colony  for  each  swarm,  and  is  built  and 
painted  in  a  neat  and  thoroughly  lasting 
manner.  A  much  less  costly  house  would 
answer  every  pratical  purpose.  We  intend 
to  build  one  or  more  cheap  ones,  for  out 
apiaries,  this  season,  and  when  we  get  one 
of  them  finished  will  describe  it. 

The  house  foundation  is  ten  cedar  posts 
set  3  feet  in  the  ground  and  projecting  an 
average  of  K!  inches  above  ground.  The 
house  stands  southeast  by  northwest,  so  as 
to  let  the  sun  shine  on  both  sides." 


The  Conditions  Under  Which  Bees   Gather 

the  Most  Honey,  and  How  we  Can  Make 

This  Knowledge  the  Most  Profitable. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  last  Re- 
view was  given  an  extract  from  an  article 
by  C.  J.  H.  Gravenhorst,  published  in  his 
paper  in  Germany.  In  this  article  were 
pointed  out  the  five  requisites  of  an  ideal  col- 
ony for  storing  honey.  These  requisites 
were  a  faultless  queen ;  plenty  of  empty 
combs  :  swarming  at  the  proper  time  or  not 
at  all  :  not  too  many  bees  and  not  too  much 
unsealed  brood  during  the  harvest.     In  the 


next  issue  of  his  paper  Mr,  Gravenhorst  tells 
how  he  takes  advantage  of  this  knowledge, 
and  I  have  condensed  somewhat  the  trans- 
lation furnished  by  Mr.  Spaeth  and  present 
it  below  : 

"  A  queen  may  be  faultless  in  the  fall,  and 
fail  in  the  spring.  To  discover  this  failure 
early  in  the  spring  and  give  the  colony  an- 
other queen  is  all-important.  To  introduce 
a  queen  with  no  danger  of  loss,  remove  the 
poor  queen  and  all  of  the  combs,  giving  the 
latter  to  some  colony  that  can  care  for  them 
temporarily.  Allow  the  bees  three  or  four 
frames  with  starters  only.  Give  them  the 
new  queen  in  a  cage.  Watch  closely  and  see 
what  kind  of  comb  they  build.  If  it  is  drone 
comb  they  will  not  accept  the  queen.  Cut  it 
out  and  let  them  start  again.  If  no  honey  is 
coming  in  they  must  be  fed.  When  they  be- 
gin building  worker  comb  it  is  a  sign  that 
they  have  accepted  the  queen  and  it  is  safe 
to  release  her.  The  second  day  after  her  re- 
lease three  or  four  of  the  brood  combs  are 
returned.  The  remainder  are  given  the  next 
day.  As  a  rule,  queens  are  not  kept  after 
the  second  year.  If  the  colony  with  the  new- 
ly given  queen  does  not  prove  diligent,  ex- 
change three  or  four  of  its  combs  for  the 
same  number  of  combs  of  sealed  brood  taken 
from  the  most  industrious  colony  in  the 
yard. 

The  second  point  is  that  of  supplying  col- 
onies with  abundance  of  empty  combs. 
When  the  bees  build  their  own  combs  there 
is  not  only  the  loss  of  the  honey  that  is  con- 
sumed to  furnish  the  wax  for  comb  building, 
but  the  bees  that  are  secreting  the  wax  and 
building  the  combs  could  be  gathering  honey 
were  they  not  thus  employed.  I  have  always 
worked  with  all  my  power  to  have  on  hand  a 
sufficient  supply  of  comb,  but  I  must  admit 
that  I  have  sometimes  wished  that  I  had 
more.  At  such  times  I  would  have  given 
much  if  I  could  have  gotten  Warnstorf's 
combs,  but  his  discovery  is  of  recent  date 
and  I  was  obliged  to  use  foundation  which  is 
a  great  help,  but  not  the  equal  of  completed 
combs.  (The  Warnstorf  combs  with  full 
depth  cells,  cannot  be  used  for  raising  comb 
honey  as  they  are  twice  as  heavy  as  natural 
comb,  but  they  are  excellent,  strong  combs 
for  use  in  extracting.) 

The  third  point  is  that  the  bees  swarm  at 
the  right  time— that  the  mother  colony  has 
a  fertile  queen  and  the  young  colony  has  its 
brood  combs  completed  before  the  main 
harvest  comes.  Colonies  that  make  prepa- 
rations for  swarming  at  the  height  of  the 
harvest,  or  towards  its  close,  miss  the  best 
opportunity  for  honey  gathering.  A  swarm 
that  comes  late  can  but  build  its  combs  and 
secure  a  store  of  honey  for  winter,  while  the 
parent  colony  will  not  become  sufficiently 
populous  until  the  harvest  is  past  and  gone. 
At  the  end  of  the  season  the  bee-keeper  will 
stand  before  his  colonies  and  complain  of 
the  average  season,  or,  perhaps,  the  poor 
season.  The  only  strange  thing  about  it  is 
that  colonies  "X"  and  "Z"  have  done  all 
that  could  be  wished.  At  least,  they  have 
gathered  twice  as  much  as  the  others.  By 
close    searching    after  the  causes   of  these 


110 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


things  the  bee-keeper  will  find  that  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  the  colonies  that  are  starv- 
ing in  the  spring  swarmed  at  the  wrong  time, 
while  "X"  and  "Z"  swarmed  at  the  right 
time.  If  swarming  at  the  wrong  time  is  the 
cause  of  a  small  crop,  then  the  bee-keeper 
will  not  doubt  a  moment  as  to  what  he  ought 
to  do.  The  only  point  is  hotv  it  shall  be 
done.  Of  course,  we  want  early  swarms,  not 
simply  individual  swarms,  but  we  want  the 
whole  apiary  to  swarm  early.  To  accom- 
plish this,  that  is,  have  the  whole  apiary 
swarm  early  and  within  a  period  of  a  week 
or  ten  days,  those  colonies  that  are  in  the 
rear  must  be  helped  at  the  expense  of  those 
that  are  too  far  advanced.  This  is  done  by 
the  exchange  of  combs.  From  the  time  the 
bees  are  wintered  until  the  opening  of  the 
main  harvest,  I  work  with  this  end  in  view, 
that  of  having  them  all  enter  the  field  equally 
strong.  During  this  preparatory  period, 
many  of  them  build  combs.  Of  course,  if 
colonies  are  too  far  in  the  rear  it  may  be  best 
to  leave  them  to  themselves  or  unite  them. 
There  are  other  means  than  exchanging 
combs  for  equalizing  colonies  but  they  must 
be  practiced  with  great  caution.  If  some  of 
the  colonies  do  not  swarm  when  it  seems 
they  ought  to,  they  can  be  divided.  An  arti- 
ficial swarm  that  is  made  like  a  natural 
swarm  and  at  the  right  time,  will  work  with 
the  same  energy  as  a  natural  swarm,  and  in 
some  conditions  is  to  be  preferred.  To  get 
early  swarms,  the  bees  must  have  protection 
and  an  abundance  of  stores.  In  the  prov- 
ince of  Hanover,  where  bee-keeping  has  been 
made  a  specialty  for  a  few  hundred  years, 
stimulative  feeding  is  practiced,  and  it  is 
only  by  this  plan  that  an  early  and  short 
swarming  season  can  be  secured.  I  use  a 
swarm  catcher  and  would  not  think  of  doing 
without  one. 

To  remove  the  trouble  from  over-popu- 
lousness  we  have  only  to  have  a  hive  that  is 
large  enough,  or  that  can  be  made  large 
enough,  and  see  that  it  is  enlarged  before  it 
really  becomes  too  populous.  If  we  have  a 
hive  that  cannot  be  enlarged,  then  we  must 
remove  some  of  the  sealed  brood  and  give  it 
to  some  colony  that  is  not  so  populous.  Man- 
aged in  this  way,  the  whole  apiary  will  be  in 
the  best  condition  to  take  advantage  of  the 
honey  flow  when  it  comes,  instead  of  having 
in  it  a  few  giants  surrounded  by  dwarfs. 

Lastly,  is  the  point  of  having  too  much 
unsealed  brood  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  workers.  To  remedy  this  some  of  the  un- 
sealed brood  is  taken  away  and  given  to 
some  coloiiy  having  more  bees  in  proportion 
to  its  unsealed  brood.  Empty  combs  are 
given  in  place  of  the  brood  removed.  The 
empty  combs  are  placed  at  the  side  of  the 
brood  nest.  If  there  is  danger  of  weaken- 
ing the  colony  too  much,  capped  brood  may 
be  given  in  place  of  the  unsealed  that  is  re- 
moved." 

I  believe  that  Mr.  (iravenhorst  is  correct 
in  his  views  as  to  the  conditions  under  which 
bees  gather  the  most  honey,  and  that  by  fol- 
lowing his  instructions  those  conditions  may 
tie  secured,  but  I  doubt  whether  such  a  course 
is  always  profital>le.     It  might  be  in  some 


conditions.  If  a  man  has  a  few  colonies,  and 
plenty  of  time  in  which  to  make  the  manip- 
ulations, well  and  good,  but  instead  of  this, 
if  a  man  has  the  capital  I  believe  it  will  pay 
him  better  to  have  more  bees  and  do  less 
manipulation.  It  is  really  a  question  of 
"  Bees  Versus  Manipulation."  I  don't  know 
but  that  would  be  a  good  topic  for  special 
discussion.  I  say  don't  fuss  with  weak  col- 
onies. Have  enough  bees  so  tliat  you  will 
have  enough  if  some  of  them  do  die.  Don't 
fuss  with  changing  combs  so  that  every  col- 
ony will  step  across  the  swarming  line  like  a 
platoon  of  soldiers  on  dress  parade.  Many 
of  our  most  successful  bee-keepers  do  not 
see  the  inside  of  the  brood  nests  of  their  col- 
onies from  one  year's  end  to  the  other.  It  is 
well  to  know  the  conditions  so  well  laid 
down  by  Mr.  Gravenhorst  in  regard  to 
when  bees  store  the  most  honey,  and  to  take 
advantage  of  them  when  it  can  be  done  in 
some  wholesale,  short-cut  manner,  but  ever- 
lasting puttering  makes  costly  honey. 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee   Writings 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

"It  seems  like  n  story  from  tlie  world  of  spirits 
When  anyone  obtains  tliat  which  he  merits. 
Or  merits  that  which  he  obtains." 

I  felt  pretty  sober  over  the  proposition 
that  I  should  include  the  Review  and  its 
writers  in  my  criticisms.  It  is  not  usually 
thought  desirable  that  a  child  should  wield 
the  rod  over  his  fellow  children,  much  less 
over  his  "  dad."  I'll  try  and  remember  that 
criticising  those  who  have  equal  or  superior 
right  to  be  criticising  me  is  rather  peculiar 
business.  If  I  forget  then  my  brothers  must 
privately  remind  me.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  if  I  make  these  papers  a  mere  whole- 
sale distribution  of  taffy  the  reading  public 
will  spew  me  out  of  their  mouths, 

THE    REVIEW. 

The  Review's  theory  of  what  a  bee  journal 
should  be  is  vnncent ration.  Concentrate  the 
really  valuable  things  scattered  through 
many  pages  in  many  papers,  and  let  the  resi- 
due go.  Apply  the  same  principle  to  the 
collection  of  original  matter  :  focus  things 
by  taking  up  one  topic  at  a  time ;  call  out 
the  writers  wlio  know  most  about  that  topic  : 
let  them  feel  tliat  facts  and  actual  experi- 
ences  are  what  is  wanted  :  and  so  serve  up 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


111 


for  the  reader  a  real,  helpful,  concentrated 
food.  If  a  writer  has  humor  or  style,  all 
right,  if  made  subservient  to  the  main  ob- 
ject, but  all  wrong  if  an  attempt  gets  started 
to  palm  off  humor  or  tine  writing  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  fact  and  experience. 

The  interest  which  topic  concentration 
aroused  rather  overgrew  the  first  part  of  the 
plan  for  a  while,  insomuch  that  our  editor  is 
used  to  having  his  ear  warmed  with  the  ques- 
tion, "  Why  don't  the  Review  review  ?" 
but  he  has  not  abandoned  any  part  of  his 
theory,  and  is  getting  around  to"  a  fuller  re- 
alization of  it.  Not  to  praise  Mr.  Hutchin- 
son a  little  would  be  mere  affectation  of 
judicial  loftiness.  It  is  but  just  to  give  him 
his  due — or  a  part  of  it.  In  a  time  when 
everything  favored  a  decline  and  loss  of  in- 
terest in  bee  literature,  as  well  as  in  every- 
thing else  pertaining  to  bees,  he  has  pushed 
up  his  own  work,  and  compelled  nearly 
eveiybody  else  to  push  up  theirs.  Our  bee 
papers,  some  of  them  (I  wish  I  could  say  all 
of  them)  are  edited  by  men  quick  to  notice 
and  "  scratch  around  "  if  some  one  else  in 
the  class  makes  movements  and  improve- 
ments for  which  they  have  no  equivalent. 
Mr.  Hutchinson  has  long  been  the  one  chief 
provocative  to  "  scratching  around "  all 
along  the  line.  The  good  he  has  done  inside 
his  own  paper  is  but  a  fraction  of  what  he 
has  done  apicultural  journalism  as  a  whole. 
Unless  this  can  be  denied,  surely  our  rank 
and  file  ought  to  remember  it  in  their  sub- 
scriptions. Take  the  Review,  and  your  other 
favorite  paper  will  doubtless  be  kept  wide 
awake.  Had  the  Review  died  three  years 
ago  the  whole  field  would  have  been  dull  and 
spiritless  compared  with  what  it  is  now. 
Take  the  Review  even  if  it  has  not  the  cash 
just  yet  to  spend  on  splendid  illustrations — 
it  will  have  some  day  if  merit  has  its  proper 
reward — and  you  are  not  looking  out  for  the 
interests  of  our  craft  if  you  let  it  be  pinched 
down  by  lack  of  support.  You  know  in 
ancient  times  they  had  priests  to  conduct  the 
worship,  and  prophets  to  make  the  priests 
'tend  to  their  business.     W.  Z.  is  a  prophet. 

What  is  the  Review's  most  conspicuous 
fault  ?  Not  sure  but  it  is  that  the  editor 
writes  so  little  for  it  himself — pays  good 
cash  to  somebody  else  to  fill  columns;  when 
the  reader  would  like  them  better  if  filled 
by  the  editor.  Hutchinson's  calm,  clear, 
pellucid  style,  with  little  attempt  at  orna- 
mentation, is  like  good  bread  ;  one  can  eat  a 
good  deal  of  it  every  day   without  getting 


tired  of  it — as  compared  with  that  other  fel- 
low that  is  ginger  snaps,  and  that  other  one 
that  is  "floating  island"  inflated  with  big 
words,  and  figures  of  speech,  and  classical 
allusions. 

How  about  the  matter  of  free  advertising 
in  the  reading  columns  ?  Most  first-class 
journals  shut  down  on  it  completely,  refuse 
to  tolerate  anything  that  even  smells  of  it, 
no  matter  if  the  public  interest  does  occa- 
sionally suffer,  and  good  things  die  unborn 
for  want  of  notice.  This  is  far  the  easiest 
way  to  do  it.  Some  line  must  be  drawn, 
else  half  the  paper  would  be  filled  perpet- 
ually with  advertising  that  brings  no  reve- 
nue. Among  bee  journals,  however.  Glean- 
ings set  the  pace  many  years  ago  that  really 
valuable  things  unknown  to  the  public,  and 
liable  to  stay  so,  were  to  be  brought  forward 
and  set  before  the  people.  Why  should  a 
really  valuable  invention  be  used  in  only  one 
apiary,  or  a  few  apiaries,  because  the  inven- 
tor don't  believe  it  would  pay  expenses  to 
make  and  advertise  it  for  sale  ?  This  is  a 
right  sentiment,  but  difficult  to  carry  out 
properly  :  and  this  critic  thinks  the  Review, 
just  at  present,  has  sailed  across  the  danger 
line.  What  would  it  do  if  each  advertiser 
should  proceed  now  to  send  in  an  able  arti- 
cle describing  his  wares  ? 

Now  for  the  seriatim  of  the  February 
number.  If  comrade  R.  L.  Taylor  is  as  good 
as  he  looks  we  may  safely  trust  in  him.  He 
gives  the  junior  class  this  time  a  compre- 
hensive talking  to.  He  does  not  all  the  time 
keep  clear  of  disputed  points,  but  holds  well 
away  from  counsels  that  are  risky  and  dan- 
gerous.   The  climax  items  are  very  good — 

Don't  marry  an  unproved  liive.  my  dear; 
Don't  bungle  things  when  you  "carpenteer." 

Wish  I  could  obey  that  last  command  my- 
self. 

Next  comes  "  Rambler," — Ah,  he's  been 
trading  off  his  umbrella  for  a  three-legged 
hoss ;  and  now  if  he  gets  after  me  on  the 
hop-aty-hop  I  may  have  to  drop  that  sugar- 
honey,  and  "  pike  it "  down  the  road  at  a 
very  undignified  rate  of  speed.  The  news  is 
quite  newsy  which  he  gives  us  about  Mexi- 
can California — the  honey  flow  getting  bet- 
ter and  better  the  further  one  goes  down 
into  it.  But  'pears  to  me  I  remember  that 
drouth  gets  more  and  more  the  rule  as  one 
goes  south.  And  so  young  men  in  Califor- 
nia make  their ^7s^  capital  at  bees,  and  then 
step  out  into  some  other  business.  Ho,  ho  ! 
Few  vocations  offer  so  good  a  ladder  for  en- 


112 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


terprise  aud  bare  browu  hands.  Catch  your 
swarms  instead  of  buying  ;  make  your  own 
fixtures,  and  go  in. 

I'll  cheat  Dr.  Miller  out  of  part  of  his  dues 
this  one  time,  as  he  happens  at  the  same 
trade  as  myself,  reviewing,  and  kindly  re- 
views me  in  advance.  If  I  review  him  in  re- 
turn, and  then  we  reciprocally  review  each 
other  a  few  more  times,  our  reciprocations 
might  get  as  reiterative  as  the  nursery  story 
of  the  kid  that  would'nt  go  ;  and  the  Review, 
on  a  candid  review  of  our  mutual  reviews 
might  wish  itself  out  of  the  whole  business 
"  an  hour  and  a  half  ago."  By  the  way  what 
is  the  famous  Stray  Straw  page  but  a  review 
of  all  beedom,  boiled  down  to  its  most  con- 
centrated, vivid,  sparkling  form  ? 

The  Daggitt  smoker  certainly  looks  prom- 
ising. If  a  satisfactory  double  bellows  can 
be  constructed  of  suitable  size  it  promises  a 
royal  cure  for  an  arch-nuisance,  soot  and  tar 
just  where  they  are  least  wanted.  But  many 
a  winning  idea  lingers  for  years  for  lack  of 
a  winning  body  to  mate  its  soul.  Only  when 
concrete  and  tested  can  we  proclaim  it  the 
smoker.  If  this  bellows  were  put  upon  the 
Clark  smoker  would  not  the  Clark  continue 
to  work  in  the  same  delightful  way  it  usually 
does  when  new  ?  The  smoker  is  our  most 
important  tool  ;  a  poor  one  is  the  plague  of 
one's  life  ;  the  best  possible  one  is  greatly  to 
be  longed  for  :  and  now  we  have  smoker  on 
the  carpet  let's  keep  it  there  till  something 
to  our  profit  materializes. 

B.  Taylor  seems  specially  near  to  us  be- 
cause we  do  not  often  see  him  spread  around 
in  the  other  journals.  He  just  belongs  to 
our  own  ingle-side.  As  a  writer  he  has  one 
captivating  quality  to  an  unusually  high  de- 
gree. What  to  call  it  I  hardly  know,  unless 
we  call  it  transparency.  When  he  is  telling 
something  he  is  intensely  interested  in,  his 
interest  becomes  visible  and  contagious ; 
and  yet  he  seems  to  be  unconscious  of  it, 
somewhat  as  the  glow-worm  is  of  his  shin- 
ing. In  the  present  letter  something  of  this 
appears  where  he  tells  of  the  joy  in  making 
over  again  the  machinery  he  sold  for  nearly 
ifl.'jOO  last  spring.  A  parallel  bar  that  will 
move  anywhere  without  delay,  fuss,  or  mis- 
take is  indeed  a  valuable  addition  to  a  saw. 
May  it  prove  all  that  is  hoped  for  it,  and 
come  into  general  use. 

R.  C.  Aikin  is  one  of  our  Review  children 
too  ;  and  this  time  with  K.  D.  arguments  he 
is  defending  his  Knock-Down  hive — just  as 
most  of  us  would  do  if  standing  in  his  shoes. 


This  number  is  a  "  good  number  "  in  hav- 
ing nine  columns  editorial.  See  how  1  tell 
my  "pa"  to  do  things  after  he  has  already 
begun  to  do  them  !  News  to  me  is  that  fun- 
ny kink  about  the  California  red-wood — 
shrinking  endwise,  and  holding  its  lateral 
dimensions  true.  Cheers  for  that  oil  stove 
arrangement.  Cellar  air  is  quite  poor  enough 
without  defiling  it  with  the  products  of  com- 
bustion. So  let  the  hood  of  tin  come  well 
abroad  and  down  to  catch  the  vitiated  air, 
and  the  stove-pipe  junior  run  up  to  join  the 
big  stove-pipe  above — just  as  it  ought  to  be. 

And  now  with  shame  I  shall  have  to  review 
my  review,  and  own  up  to  the  fib  I  told.  My 
memory  was  positive  that  I  said  bees  with 
stores  behind  them,  meaning  toward  the 
rear  of  the  hive.  My  pencil-slip  says  so  { I 
usually  write  first  in  pencil  and  then  copy 
with  ink  for  the  printer),  hut  somewhere  be- 
tween my  pencil  and  the  finished  print  a 
change  got  in.  It  was  printed  "  stores  be- 
low them  :"  and  already  the  ghosts  of  dead 
colonies  begin  to  "  shake  their  gory  locks  " 
at  me. 

Wanted  to  "polish  off"  two  journals  in 
this  article,  but  can't  come  it.  Its  already 
high  time  to  prepare  for  the  close  by  call- 
ing— 

The  General   round  Up 

Hear  once  how  C.  F.  Muth  in  the  Guide 
goes  back  on  sweet  clover  : 

"  Infernal  melilot.  *  *  The  English  sparrow 
iis  a  daisy  to  compare  with  it." 

Sparrow  was  brought  over  to  eat  insects. 
It  does.  Never  enough  to  amount  to  any- 
thing. Sweet  clover  was  introduced  to  yield 
honey.  It  does.  Does  it  often  add  many 
pounds  to  anybody's  surplus  'i  Many  men 
of  many  minds. 

■'  May  it  not  be  that  the  heating  of  the  wax  at 
two  distinct  times  renders  the  spores  [of  foul 
brood]   harmless  ?"— J.  H.  Larbabee  in  A.  B.  J. 

May  be  that's  it.  Half  kill  a  fellow,  then 
make  him  wait  a  few  weeks  without  any 
chance  to  recuperate,  then  half  kill  him 
again.  The  professors  must  experiment  on 
this  also.  In  such  an  important  matter  we 
want  all  the  points  covered. 

The  vote  for  Mr.  Heddon  as  President  of 
B.  K.  Union  is  quite  surprising.  R.  L.  Tay- 
lor 141,  James  Heddon  VM.  Heddon's  speech 
for  letting  alone  the  rogues  the  Union  is 
about  to  sail  into  was  fresh  in  print  if  not  in 
mind  at  the  time.  It  would  be  interesting  if 
we  could  know  how  far  this  vote  represents 
views  of  policy,  and  how-  far  mere  personal 
liking  for  the  individual. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


113 


On  page  245  A.  B.  J.,  Dr.  Miller  tells  of  a 
colony  that  swarmed  out  because  he  gave 
them  a  full  set  of  drone  combs.  I  wonder  if 
a  like  result  would  always  follow. 

Manum  fights  robbers  with  peppermint 
water.     Gleanings,  page  S\. 

Baldensperger  (Gleanhiys,  page  88)  had 
ten  virgin  queens  all  fail  to  be  fertilized  with 
ten  colonies  about  a  mile  distant.  Proving 
too  much  is  often  all  the  same  as  not  prov- 
ing anything.  Few  can  believe  that  queens 
could  not  go  a  half  mile  and  meet  drones 
coming  a  half  mile  in  the  other  direction. 
Honey  flow  bad,  I  reckon  ;  drones  mostly 
killed,  and  survivors  so  badly  used  as  to  have 
no  enterprise.  Friend  B's  experience  with 
drone  playgrounds  in  the  Holy  Land  is  that 
they  are  never  more  than  a  half  mile  away, 
and  sometimes  in  sight  as  one  stands  in  the 

apiary.     Page  121. 

Three  days  steady  jarring  was  sufficient  to 
candy  Mr.  Hutchinson's  show  honey  at  the 
Detroit  Exposition.     Gleanings,  page  87. 

Ernest  Root  tasted  himself  sick  in  the  in- 
terests of  science  over  mixtures  of  honey  and 
glucose.  (Page  102.)  Presume  that  was 
one  cause  of  the  illness.  There  is  a  dififer- 
ence,  however,  between  prolonged  tastings, 
with  rinsings  of  the  mouth  and  try  it  again, 

and  merely  eating  some  of  the  article  and 
done  with  it.  The  stomach  that  would  stand 
the  latter  well  enough  might  be  unable  to 

bear  the  former.  The  rules  arrived  at  for 
detecting  mixtures  seem  valuable.     Practice 

on  known  glucose  till  its  exact  flavor  fully 
soaks  into    you.     Then   hold  the  suspected 

sample  on  the  tongue  thirty  or  forty  seconds; 

and  if  glucose  is  there  you'll  hear  from  it. 

Having  to  call  in  the  doctor  next  day  might 

be  considered  a  slight  drawback. 
So  Huber,  keen  as  he  was,  did  not  find  out 

that  queenless  bees  always  built  drone  comb. 

Langstroth  in  Gleanings,  page  116. 

And  German  Gravenhorst    confronts   all 

our  wise  Yankee  bee   authorities,  and  dares 

to  say  "  not  overcrowded   with  bees"  as  one 

of  the  prime  conditions  of  the  best  honey 

gathering.      Stray    Straw,    Feb.    1.5.     How 

doctors  do  disagree !    Dr.   Miller,  couldn't 

you   prove  somehow  that  both  parties  are 

wrong  ? 

"  With  a  temperature  of  less  than  60°  brood  is 
liable  to  be  chilled  in  handling."— G.  M.  Doolit- 

TLE. 

We  don't  often  catch  Doolittle  in  a  practi- 
cal error.  If  not  an  error  this  is  important, 
and  somebody  ought  to  be  more  careful. 


Baldensperger  after  these  years  comes 
back  upon  us  like  a  new  broom.  His  tables 
of  a  colony's  gathering  and  consumption  of 
honey,  though  of  foreign  bees  in  a  foreign 
land,  are  a  valuable  addition  to  our  scanty 
stock.  The  rapid  eating  when  a  batch  of 
brood  was  being  reared,  and  the  almost  no 
eating  at  all  for  a  week  (presumably  when 
brood  rearing  had  a  rest)  seem  nicely  illus- 
trated. Also  his  itemized  table  of  the  actual 
cost  of  honey  has  few  like  it  to  compare 
with.  He  got  12,000  pounds  at  a  cost  of  four 
cents  a  pound  and  sold  for  eight  cents.  This 
was  at  Joppa  in  the  Holy  Land.  Gleanings, 
page  120. 

The  A.  B.  J.  comes  out  with  a  new  depart- 
ment. German  investigation  and  accuracy 
is  to  be  heard  by  the  pen  of  a  German  In 
German  land,  H.  Reepen,  of  Jugenheim. 
His  get-to-business  air  is  suited  to  make  a 
very  good  impression  on  us  slip-shod  Amer- 
icans. 

RiOHABDS,  Lucas  Co.,  0.,  March  8,  1898. 


AD  VE  RTISEMENTS 


WILL 


SACRIFICE^^ 

SUPPLIES.  WRITE   FOR    LIST. 

I  also  have  "uffice  helps  "  for  sale.  3tt:i-tf 

UNO.  C.  CAPEHART,  St.  Albans,  W.  Va. 

I  HAVE  FOUR  SINGLE-COMB 

OB5ERVATORY    HIVES 

That  I  wish  to  dispose  of.  They  are  finely  made 
of  "quartered"  oak  and  polished.  They  cost 
85.00  each,  but  I  am  out  of  the  show  business 
ami  am  open  to  oifers 

ARTHUR  C.  MILLER, 
2-93-tf.  Box  hlh.     Providence,  K.  I. 

Ready  to  Mail^ 

ITALIAN  QUEENS, 

Tested,   at  $1.50 ;  6  for  $7..50.      Untested,  after 
April  Ist,  $1 .00  each,  or  (j  for  85.00.    Safe  arrival 
guaranteed.     Bees,   Drones  and  Sui>plie8.    Cir- 
cular free.  J.  N.  COIiTVICK, 
4_92.tf  Norse,  Bosque  Co.,  Texas. 


>BEE5'QyEEK5, 

\.5mokers.  sections; 


^ALLAPIARIAN    SUPRLtES 


SE1MD   FOR    CTVTAl-OGUE- 


114 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Barnes'   Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This    cut    repreeeuts    oar 

Combined       Circular      and 

Scroll    Saw,    which    is    the 

best     machine      made     for 

Bee     Keepers'     nse    in    the 

construction  of  their  hives, 

sections,    boxes,    etc. 

n-92-i6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOR  OATALOGD,  PR  108,         TO., 
Address  IV.  F.  A  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St ,  Rockford,  Ills 

IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
c«)inpletely  than  any  other  published,  send  $l.uO 
to  Prof.  A  J.  ("ook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

Plea?"  mention  *he  Reuiew. 


Warranted  Purely  Mated. 

Italian  honey  (ineens.  They  are  very  prolific 
and  their  workers  cannot  be  excelled  in  gentle- 
ness and  industry.  Nothing  but  the  choicest 
((ueens  sent  out ;  try  me  and  see.  Send  your 
order  at  once  Single  queen.  .*S0  cts  :  :i  for$2.(X): 
(i  for$4.()(i;  I2f<)r$7.75.   Ready  April  ;«tth.    l-9H-6t 

M.  H.  DeWITT,  Sang  Run,  Ml 

Please  mention   the  Review. 


HATCH  CHICKENS  BY  STEAM 


Simple,  f'rr/erl,  Sflf-Kegu. 
lalirit/.  Thousands  in  Biio- 
cessful  operation.  Guaran- 
teed to  hatch  a  larger  per- 
centage of  fertile  eggs  at 
less  cost  than  any  other 
Hatcher.  Lowest  priced 
first-class  Batcher  made 
GEO.  II.  8TAHL.  qiilnoy.Hi; 


I  Banded  Queens 

AND 

I  Frame   H^^l^i 

^^^A    SPECIALTY. 

April         May 

One  untested  queen, $1.00         $1.00 

Six         "        queens, 5.00  5.00 

One  tested  Queeu,  ..   2.00  1.50 

Three    "    queens 5.00  4.00 

Select  tested  queen, 2.50  2.50 

Two-frame  nucleus  with  any  qneen  $1..50  each, 
extra.  Three  -  frame  niicleus  witii  any  queen 
$3.25  each,  extra.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

w.  J.  €:i:.i:.isor), 

3-93-3t  Catehall,   S.   C. 

New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS, 

FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWKY  .JOHNSON. 

1-93-tf.  Masontown,  Pa. 

FOUNDATION 

ANi.  SESTIOnS. 


CAUTION. 

Do  not  buy  a  thick,  heavy  base  comb  founda- 
tion for  use  in  your  sections  when  you  can  get 
14  to  Va  square  feet  to  the  pound.  Also  be  sure 
and  buy  your  sections  where  you  can  get  a  nice 
box  at  a  low  price.  Send  me  your  address  and  I 
will  be  pleased  to  send  you  a  sample  section,  a 
sample  of  the 

THINEST  COMB  FOUNDATION    MADE, 

And  prices  at  which  they  may  be  houglit, 

W.  H.   NORTON, 

2-93-t4.  SkowhegaU;  Me. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieiv. 


-5iTHE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE- KEEPER  ^r 

H.B.S   Oliangeci    Ha-nd-s.         It   is    n.o-w-    Fialolislaeca   Toy   tlie 

LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

Higginsvllle,    Mlssonri. 

Money,   Experience  and  Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicates.        Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  28-page  Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Supplies. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


115 


8ee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Siniulicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Lcingstrotli,  Dovetailed  and  Cliampion  Cliaft 
Hives,  Supers,  One  Piece  Sections  and  Shipping 
('ases.  Foundation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16  page  C!ircular. 
1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  London,  Wis. 


Golden  Italians. 

My  bees  are  lar«e  and  great  honey  gatherers. 
1  untested  queen,  so  cte. ;  3  for  $2  00.  1  warran- 
tee! ()ueen,  $1.00;  3  for  $2..iO.  I  tested  queen, 
$2.00;  selected,  tested.  $2.50.  Satisfaction  guar- 
anteed or  money  refunded.  4-9:j-tf 
C.  IVI.  HICKS,   Hieksville,  ^d. 


BEE  -  KEEPERS' 

SURRLY  HOUSE 

J.H.M  COOK,  78  Barclay  St. ,  N   Y.  City. 

(SUCCESSOR   TO   A.   J.   KING.) 

4-93  tf  Send  for  illustrated  Catalogue. 


FREE     QUEEN- 

Send  lor  circular  giving  particulars,  tolling 
how  to  introduce  queens  and  giving  the 
price  of  hive  protectors  and  nucleus  col's. 

2-93-4t  J.   F-   MICHAEL,   German,   Darke   Co.,   Ohio 


HIVES 


Twenty  of  Root's  Dovetailed  Hives, 
all  made  up  and  furnished  with  six  sec- 
tion holders  and  eight  brood  frames, 
only  90  cts.  each.  Twenty  of  Root's 
story  and  a  half,  chaff  hives,  made  up 
and  furnished  with  eitrht  brood  frames, 
and  a  ci-<e  to  hold  twenty  sections,  only 
$1.2.5  each.  f  Retrular  price.  !f;l.7.5.  ) 
Twenty  chaff  hives  with  one  movable 
side,  and  furnished  with  nine  brood 
frames  and  a  case  holding  six  section 
holders,  only  $1.50  each.  (Regular  price 
$2.00.)     I  also  have  fifty  colonies  of 


BEES 


For  sale.  They  are  in  eight  and  ten 
(L.)  frame  story  and  a  half  hives.  Colonies 
in  ten-frame  hives,  $4.00  each;  in  eight- 
frame,  only  $3.50  If  five  or  more  are  taken 
at  one  time,  a  five  cent  discount  will  be 
given.  Bees  are  in  good  condition  and  hives 
new.  A  discount  of  ten  per  cent  will  also  be 
given  on  so>t ion  liolders.  brood  frames  and 
shipping  cases  until  May  Is^.  12-92-12t 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  Second-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped,  privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  i  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADQUAETERS,   (  l^e  Monroe  St.,  Chicaga 


FOK,     S^LE 


SEVENTY  COLONIES  ITALIAN     :    :    :    :    : 
::::::::     BEES  .\ND  FIXTURES. 

Also,  a  lot  of  new   and  second-hand  Hives  at  a 
bargain.    Write  for  particulars. 
WILLIAM  IDEN, 
2  93-tf.  Etna  Green,  Ind. 

HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions: warranted  good  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  most  favorabJe 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  f)f  a  full  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT, 

1.93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 

Pletisf   mention   the   Reuiew. 

Ta<l^e    IsTotice ! 

If  you  are  looking  for  the  bees  that  give  the 
most  profit,  and  are  tlie  most  gentle,  try  t  lie 

Ai:.Bino. 

I  can  also  furnish  the  golden  Italian,  but  my 
preference  is  the  Albino.  Send  for  circular  an<i 
price  list  and  see  what  f)t)iers  say  of  them  and 
how  cheaply  ^  sell  the-n.  I  also  luannfacfure 
and  d^pi  in  Hives,  Sections,  Fonnda- 
tion.  Extractors  Hn.-i.-^  apirt,i.^u  s..i.- 
i.iies  b.    VAL-tNTINE, 

3-93-2t  riagcrstown,  Md. 


Bee   Literature 


I,  M.  KIZIE,  Rocliester,  Mlcli, 


For 
Sale. 

GLEANINGS-Vols.  8-9-1011-12-16  bound  in 
"red  goat"    Vols.  17  18-19-20  unbound. 

AM.  BEE  .JOURNAL-Vols.  2i  23  24  bound  in 
black  leather,  and  Vols.  2,')-26-27  and  2s  unbound. 

APICULTURIST— Vols.  Ito  7,  inclusive,  uii 
bound. 

GUIDE— Vol.  12,  unbound. 

Each  of  the  following  lack  one  or  two  num- 
bers of  being  complete. 

ADVANCE— Vols.  17  and  18. 

CANADIAN  B.  J.— Vol.  for  1888. 

BRITISH  B.  .J.— Vols,  for  18881890  ami  1891. 

CAN.  HONEY  PRODUCER- Vols,  for  1887- 
1888  and  18s9.  Also  odd  numbers  of  all  the 
above  journals. 

How  much  am  I  offered  for  any  or  all  of  the 
above  'i 

ARTHUR  C.   MILLER, 
Box  575.  Providi'nce.  R.  i, 


116 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Tin-  Oi  iKlnal 
BINGHAM 


To  make  an  im- 
meneo  smoke  lots  of 
fiiol  and  lots  of  fire  is 


Patented,  1878. 


ROQ  QmnUaff  neetleil  in  a  smoker, 
UCC  OlllUnCl  as  elsewhere.  Such  a 
fire  makes  Jots  of  heat 
—and  wide  shields  are 
a  great  comfort.  We 
are  practical  bee 
keepers — our  tool  s 
were  invented  for  our 
own  nse.  NVe  use  no 
others.  We  have  all 
other  kinds,  however, 
but  they  are  so  com- 
plicated we  can't  af- 
ford to  use  them. 

Prudent  Franklin 
said  "time  is  money" 
— Bingham  smokers 
go  themselves.  The 
new  handle  makes 
them  easy  and  safe  to 
refill,  and  the  turned 
cap  easiest  and  safest 
to  use.  Oar  other  inventions  do  tlie  rest  and  do 
it  best.  No  one  liut  Bingham  has  ever  improved 
a  Bingham  bee  smoker  or  a  Bingham  &  Hether- 
inpton  uncapping  knife,  or  ever  will.  Hundreds 
have  tried  but  all  have  failed—"  History  repeats 
itself."  We  make  a  line  of  smokers  so  that  no 
bee-keeper  need  buy  a  poor,  unscientific  bee 
smoker  on  account  of  price.  Our  Little  Wonder 
is  not  only  the  best  low  priced,  but  the  lowest 
priced  bee  smoker  made,  and  with  sound,  dry 
stove  wood  for  fuel,  it  is  a  wonder  and  a  delight. 
Until  our  embodiment  of  the  direct  draft  and 
blast  principle  in  bellows  bee  smokers,  fire,  even 
of  rotten  wood,  could  not  be  depended  upon. 
Just  when  most  needed,  Lo,  and  behold  I  no  fire 
— no  smoke  remained  in  the  smoker.  l>r.  C.  ('. 
Miller,  in  March  number  of  Gleanings  in  Bee- 
Culture  states  that  "Smokers  heretofore  liave 
either  had  the  cut  off  or  else  sucked  smoke  into 
the  bellows."  The  Dr.  has  told  in  few  words 
just  what  the  stat*  of  bellows  bee  smokers  was 
prior  to  oar  invention,  and,  causually,  what  all 
other  bee  smokers  now  do,  but  the  Dr.  omitted 
saying  how  much  hard,  creosote  varnish  coated 
the  inside  of  the  leather,  the  blast  tube,  the  valve 
and  the  springs,  if  in  the  inside  of  the  bellows 

It  does  not  seem  that  it  wonld  need  an  experi- 
ment to  understand  what  the  effect  of  smoke 
would  be  when  sucked  into  a  bellows  comjiosed 
of  leather  soft  and  pliable  as  buckskin  and  hav- 
ing a  valve  which,  to  be  valuable,  must  work 
freely  in  all  positions.  The  features  that  en- 
abled us  to  do  what  had  never  been  done  before, 
and  what  no  other  bee  smoker  does  now,  we 
had  patented.  From  time  to  time  we  have  im- 
proved our  original  smoker  and  had  the  improve- 
ments patented. 

Our  designs  anil  improvements  in  uncapping 
knives  and  bellows  bee  smokers  mark  an  epoch  iu 
apiculture,  and  have  revolutionized  the  tools  of 
the  apiary  and  th^  management  of  bi>es.  The 
record  of  our  bee  smokers  and  knives  is  simply 
phenominal.  Thousands  of  the  smokers  have 
been  in  use  in  all  kinds  of  apiaries  and  in  all 
countries  from  five  to  ten  years  and  are  yet  ser- 
viceable. The  knives  will  last  a  lifetime,  and  no 
one.  it  is  safe  to  say,  will  ever  improve  them. 
They  do  perfectly  the  work  required  of  them, 
which  is  also  true  of  our  smokers.  Tools  that  do 
perfectly  the  work  required  of  them  are  never 
changed  materially. 

We  make  six  kinds  and  sizes  of  bee  smokers. 
The  four  higher  priced  have  wide  shields  to  pro 
tect  the  hands  and  bellows  from  heat;  the  two 
lower  priced  have  narrow  shields  to  protect  the 
bellows.  All  are  made  on  the  same  principle 
and  have  the  strongest  draft  and  blast  of  any 
smokers  made.  Our  invention  enables  us  to  burn 
sound  stove  wood  and  chips,  bark,  rags,  rotten 
wood,  tobacco,  shavings,  hay,  or  anything  coni- 
bnstible  without  fnssing    or  loss    of    fire.    Our 


"  Doctor  "  and  Conqaeror  smokers  are  the  larg- 
est, most  perfect.  moBt  valuable  and  most  eco- 
nomical bee  smokers  ever  nsed  by  bee-keepers. 
They  cost  perhaps  a  dollar  more,  but  that  dollar 
represents  only  ten  cents  per  year  for  ten  years 
of  ease,  comfort,  satisfaction  iind  instant,  cer- 
tain, and  absolute  control  of  the  most  vicious 
colonies  of  bees  without  fear  o'  favor  or  fassing 
with  lost  fire.  The  ten  cents  jjer  year  woald  be 
saved  in  matches  to  say  nothing  of  stings  and 
lost  temper  incident  to  nnscicnt  ific  bee  smokers. 

The  least  pressure  of  a  Bingham  smt>ker  bel- 
lows moves  tne  smoke  so  gently  and  in  snch  a 
soft  soothing  cloud  that  the  bees  hardly  realize 
that  they  have  a  master  whom  they  must  obey. 
Every  particle  of  air  that  a  Bingham  smoker  bel- 
lows contains,  and  much  more,  is  forced  through 
the  smouldering  fuel  and  utilized.  No  snapping 
of  the  bellows,  no  squeaking  springe,  no  nervous 
hast<^  frightening  the  bees  into  remote  corners, 
or  balling  the  queen.  Witha  Bingham  smoker  the 
bee-keepei  may  smoke  much  or  little  just  as  he 
pleases.  He  is  master  of  the  smoker — not  the 
smoker  master  of  him. 

To  soothe  and  contrt)l  is  the  office  of  a  Bing- 
ham bee  smoker  and  it  does  that  perfectly,  either 
side  up,  in  all  positions  alike,  in  season  and  out 
of  season.  Such  a  smoker  inspires  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  not  only  of  the  bee-keeper, 
but  of  the  bees. 

Our  latest  smoker  invention  consists  of  a 
movable  cap  or  hood  which  deflects  or  tarns  the 
blast  of  smoke  nearly  at  a  right  angle  t«  the 
stove  ;  and  a  coiled  steel  wire  handle  firmly  at- 
tached to  the  tapering  nozzle  by  which  the  noz- 
zle is  removed  and  replaced,  even  when  the 
smoker  is  red  hot,  without  inconvenience  or 
danger.  The  handle  may  be  used  without  the 
hood.  These  peculiar  features  were  very 
thoroughly  tested  by  many  noted  and  extensive 
bee-keepers  last  season  and  pronounced  valuable 
inventions.  We  do  not  put  them  cm  any  smokers 
uidess  so  ordered,  as  we  charge  twenty-five  cents 
extra  for  them.  We  send  them  per  mail,  post- 
paid, with  printed  directions  how  to  put  them 
on  Bingham  smokers  now  in  tise,  provided  the 
order  specifies  the  size  of  the  smoker  to  be  fitted 
and  contains  2^)  cents. 


Bingham  &  Hetherington  Uncapping  Knife. 


Patented  Jlay  29.  1V70. 

Price  of  Bingham  bee  smokers  and  uncapping 
knives.per  mail,  post  paid :  The  Doctor,  the 
largest  bee  smoker  made,  has  a  stove  i:5xH' ., 
inches,  S2  0f):  Conqueror.  lUx:?.  S1.7.t;  Large. 
n'.-x2'...  $1.50:  Extra,  U'jxi,  »1.2.=i:  Plain,  11x2, 
$1.(K) ;  Little  Wonder,  10x1 'i,  6.i  cents.  Bingham 
&  Hetherington  uncapping  knife,  SLl."). 

To  sell  again,  send  for  dozen  rates. 


BINGHAM    PERFECT 

BEE  SMOEEB 

Pnt'd  1878,  188'-',  <t  180'.'. 

Cheapest  &  Best  on  Earth. 

Send  Card  for  Clrcnhir  to 

Hiiigliam&IIetlieringtoii 

ABRONIA,  MICH. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


117 


Interesting  Monthly  for 

The  Family  and  Fireside 

Welcome  In  every  Home. 

I^arge  Premiums  for  Clubs. 

Sample  Copy  sent  Free. 

Thomas  G.  Newman, 

147  Southwestern  Ave., 
CHICAeO,     •      -     11.1.8. 


nientit 


lieathep    Colored 

HONEY  QUEENS,  from  Impoited  Mother,  war- 
ranted purely  mated,  after  .June  10th,  at  $1.00 
oacli ;  six  at  one  time,  $.i.O0.  Untested  queens, 
75c.  each.    Address 

C.  A.  BUNCH, 
l-93-7t.  Nye.  Marshall  Co.,  Ind. 

PIfCise    mention    the    Reuiew. 


If  you  are  going  to — 

BUY  A  BtIZZ  -  SA\Sr, 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Keview.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  ta 
make  you  happy  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
whicii  he  would  sell  it. 


ITAL-IAfi   QUEEri5 

Bred  for  Business,  (lentleiiess  and  Beauty.  Un- 
tested, sOc,  each;  three  for  $2.25 ;  six  for  $4.(KI ; 
12  for  $7.5(1.  Tested.  11.25  Select  tested,  yellow 
to  the  tip.  breeder,  $1.51).  Will  commence  ship- 
ping April  1.5th.  On  all  orders  received  before 
March  1st,  accompanied  by  the  cash,  10  per  cent, 
discount.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

(t.  E.  DAWSON, 
1-93  12t.  Carlisle.  Sonoke  Co.,  Ark. 


If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Dor\e  at  the  Review. 

ITALIAN  QUtENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOR,    ises. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  your  interest,  auo 
send  for  catalogue  ami  price  list. 

.1.    I'.    H.    BKOWN, 
l-8Stf.  Augusta,  (ieorgia. 

P/ense  mention   the   Reuiew. 


IMPORT  AMT^  ^ 

-<^T0  BEE-KEEPEt^SI 


To  make  a  succei^s  of  bee  keeping,  vou  wunt 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  .My 
Go/den  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  oh 
their  own  merits.  Those  who  have  tested  them 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  iiouey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

piVE-BAflDED    WORKERS 

In  March,  .Vpril  and  May.  $1.25  each,  6  for  $ti.(H); 
.June,  $1  UJ  each,  ti  for  $.5.00;  .July  to  Nov..  $l.(K) 
each,  6  for  $4. .50.  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 
12-92-tf  c.  D    DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


TESTED 


Queens  are  usually  sold  for  ^'2.00.  I 
will  explain  why  I  wish  to  sell  a  few  at 
less  than  that.  As  most  of  my  readers 
know,  I  re-queen  my  apiary  each 
spring  with  young 


QUEENS 


From  tlie  South.  This  is  done  to  do 
away  with  swarming.  If  done  early 
enough  it  is  usually  successful.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  queens  displaced  by 
these  young  queens  are  never  more 
than  a  year  old;  in  fact,  they  are  fine, 
tested,  Italian  queens  i-ight  in  their 
prime:  yet,  in  order  that  they  may 
move  oft  quickly,  and  thus  make  room 
for  the  untested  queens,  they  will  be 
sold  for  only 


$1.00. 


Or  I  will  send  the  Review  for  18i>;^  and 
one  of  these  queens  for  only  .$1.75. 
For  !?2.00  I  will  send  the  Review,  the 
queen  and  the  book  "Advanced  Bee 
Culture."  If  any  prefer  the  young, 
laying  queens  from  the  South,  they 
can  have  them  instead  of  the  tested 
queens,  at  the  same  price.  A  discount 
given  on  large  orders  for  untested 
queens.  Say  how  many  are  wanted, 
and  a  price  will  be  made. 

W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,  Flint.  Mich. 


118 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


pREE  TO  ALL. 

SAMPLE  COPIES  EITHEB  OF  THE 


.,^^ 


OR 

C^O^cIiAn  Poultry  Jouroz^i, 

Or  both,  will  he  weiiT    FRKE   to  ai)plieaiitH   who 

(losire  them,  upon  receipt  of  their  names 

and  addresses. 


THE    ODELL 

TYPE    WRITER. 


$20 


These  papers  are  both  of  tliem  edited  and  ar- 
ranged by  practical  men.  admitte(ily  tlie  most 
experienced  in  tlieir  particular  lines  to  be  found 
on  the  continent,  and  the  Journals  may  tliere- 
fore  be  regarded  as  authoritative  upon  the  sever- 
al subjects  of  which  they  treat. 

Address  BEETON  PUBLIBHING  CO.. 

Beeton.  Ontario. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


'ratfs 

Automatic 

or  So  f-tl  ver, 

Ready  for  nse,  Sent  Postpaid  to  any  Address  fDr 

-    75  cts 

Address  E.  L. 

PRATT,  Beverly,  Mass. 

Special  Terms  to  Sealers. 

f-leiise   rnent,on    t 

le  Reuifw. 

Early  Queens    From    Texas, 

From  my  choice  golden  stock.  My  bees  arc 
very  gentle,  good  workers,  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  satisfacticm  guaranteed.  One  un- 
tested queen,  April  and  May,  81. IK);  six  for  $a.(l(); 
later.  75c.  Orders  booked  now;  mcmey  sent 
when  queens  are  wanted.  Send  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  GIVENS. 

Lisbon.  Texas. 

1-93-9t.  Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 


will  buy  theODELL  TYPE  WRITER 
ami  CHECK  PERFORATOR,  with 
7,S  Characters,  and  $15  for  the  SINGLE  CASE 
ODELL,  warranted  to  do  better  work  than 
any  machine  made. 

It  combines  Simplicity  with  Durability,  Speed, 
Ease  of  Operation,  wears  longer  without  cost  of 
repairs  than  any  other  machine.  Has  no  ink 
ribbon  to  botiier  the  operator.  It  is  Neat,  Sub- 
stantial, nickel  plated,  perfect  and  adapted  to 
all  kinds  of  type  writing.  Like  a  printing  press, 
it  produces  sharp,  clean,  legible  manuscripts. 
Two  to  ten  copies  can  be  made  at  one  writing. 
Any  intelligent  person  can  become  a  good  opera- 
tor in  two  days.  We  offer  $l,OO0  to  any 
operator  who  can  equal  the  work  of  the  Double 
CaseOdell. 

Keliable  Agents  and  Salasmeu  wanted.  Special 
inducements  to  De^ders. 

For  Pamphlet  giving  Indorsements,  Ac.,  ad 
dress 

ODELL  TYPE  WRITER  CO., 

358  Dearborn  St..  Chicago.  III. 


Michigan    Bee-K««P«i^s» 

You  will  consult  your  own  interest,  by  sending 
for  my  catalogue  and  price-list  of  Root's  Sup- 
plies. Beeswax  and  white  extracted  honey  want- 
ed. 

CLARK   A.  AVOWTAGUE, 


4-93  3t 


.\rchie,  Grantl  Traverse  Co,  Mich. 

Pleitse  mention   the   Reuiew 


mU  FOR  Sftil 


.\«s  ineutioued  iu  the  last  Review,  my 
bees  have  wintered  well.  'They  are  now 
on  their  summer  stands,  most  of  them 
beiuf^  packed  in  sawdust.  They  will  be  fed  if  necessary  and  every  attention 
given  necessary  to  keep  them  in  the  best  [lossible  condition.  I  have  more  bees 
than  I  can  manage  in  connection  with  the  Review,  and  I  should  be  glad  to 
sell  part  of  them.  They  are  iu  the  New  Heddon  hive,  but  pnrchasers  not  hav- 
ing the  right  to  use  this  hive  will  be  furnished  free  with  a  permit  from  Mr. 
Heddon.  I  will  sell  one  colony  for  .S;(i.OO:  ',  for  $28..5l);  10  or  more  at  ^^.ni)  each. 
With  each  colony  will  be  sent  a  bottom  board,  cover  and  one  section  case. 
The  bees  are  all  pure  Italians  and  the  queens  of  last  year's  rearing.  Ship- 
ments will  be  made  immediately  at  the  do-ie  of  fruit  bloom  when  the  weather 
will  be  neither  too  cold  nor  tt)o  hot  au  i  there  will  be  a  supply  of  freshly-gath- 
ered honey  from  which  the  bees  can  supply  themselves  with  water  while  on 
their  journey. 


i 


W.  Z.   HUTCHINSON,  Flint,   Mich. 


W^^ 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


119 


Tbe      K.  D/'  Nop  -  Sw2irrr)ip5f 
Reversible   Hive. 


No.  1  is  a  reversible  bottom  board  and  feed- 
er. Deep  side  up  for  winter  aud  feeding.  No. 
2  is  the  brood  ciiamber.  It  takes  a  closed- 
end  standing  frame  9x17.  The  bee  spaces  are 
in  tlie  bottom  board  and  honey  board.  Botli 
sides  and  ends  are  compressed  upon  the 
frames  by  tlie  nuts  and  rods  When  rele;;sed 
for  manipulation,  the  frames  rfst  upon  the 
bottom  b.iard  rim  ends.  The  chamber  is  re- 
versible, 

The  "lighting  board  i5i  is  a  part  of  and  at- 
tached to  the  honey  board  1 4 1  while  the  en- 
trances i>  and  9 1  lead  respeciively  under  and 
above  the  honey  board.  The  queen  trap  i7] 
covers  the  brood  chamber  entrance.  Nf>.  1(1 
is  the  super,  held  together  by  the  rods— neith 
er  super  nor  brood  chamber  are  nailed  at  the 
corners — and  both  sides  and  ends  compressed 
upon  the  sections.  By  compression  and 
spurs,  the  super  sides  and  s-  parators  sup- 
port the  sections  perfectly,  without  T's, 
slats,  followers,  or  wedges.  The  8  and  Id 
frame  hive  supers  take  respectively  2  and  :i 
separators  and  24  and  32,  1  ''&  wide  sections. 
They  may  be  full  separatored  by  adding 
plain  wood  or  tin  separators,  or  by  spur 
separators.  For  extracting,  the  super  takes 
8;  I's  inch  thick  frames  in  place  of  the  sec- 
tions Nos.  12  and  13  in  the  inner  and  outer 
covers. 

The  "Kay  Dee"  Hive  is  also  a  non  swarmer. 
We  meant  to  have  this  arrangement  illustrated 
here,  but  have  been  disappointed  in  getting  the 
cut  ready.  We  have  also  been  holding  back  to 
perfect  some  of  the  details.  We  have  at  last  got- 
ten all  according  to  our  notion,  and  now  present 
you  a  brief  description,  and  if  you  will  drop  us  a 
card  we  will  mail  you  an  illustration. 

Two  "  Kay  Dee  "  brood  chambers,  each  con- 
taining a  colony,  are  placed  one  above  the  other, 
with  a  separating  board  between.  Like  the  hon- 
ey board,  this  also  has  a  dt>uble  entrance  in  its 
edge.  In  this  entry  way  is  placed  an  alternator 
— a  cheap,  simple  device.  The  bees  of  the  up- 
per colony  fly  from  the  top  of  their  chamber 
through  the  honey  board  entrance,  while  those  of 
tlie  lower  hive  fly  from  the  top  of  their  cham- 
ber through  the  alternator,  and  when  they  re- 
turn to  the  point  of  exit,  are  led  into  the  upper 
hive ;  thus  they  leave  one  chamber,  and,  return- 
ing, enter  in  *a  natural  way  the  other  not  two 
inches  from  the  point  of  exit.  This  puts  the 
working  force  of  the  lower  colony  into  the  upper, 
and  of  course  into  the  supers  above. 

Once  a  week  the  super  should  be  examined ; 
while  doing  this,  remove  the  honey  board  with 
the  supers,  place  a  bottom  upon  the  hive,  and 
reverse  the  two  colonies  en  masse  To  aocom- 
plish  the  reversing  we  make  a  pair  of  clamps  and 
a  hoisting  appliance  that  will  cost  about  $2.00 
per  apiary,  so  that  the  hives  are  clamped  togeth- 
er, elevated,  and  rolled  over  as  you  would  turn  a 
wheel  on  its  axis. 

Reversing  puts  the  depopulated  hive  on  top, 
and  the  populous  one  below,  and  queen  cells,  if 
any,  pointing  up. 

The  alternating  again  takes  the  bees  from  the 
lower  hive  to  the  upper,  with  no  interruption  of 
work.  Alternate  them  once  a  week  until  8\Yarrn^ 
ing  time  is  over. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  two  colonies  in 
one  hive,  and  only  one  set  of  svipers,    They  are 


made  to  depopulate  one  chamber  this  week,  the 
other  next  week ;  yet  all  is  done  in  a  simple,  easy 
manner  You  can't  afford  to  miss  trying  this 
plan  this  year. 

Send  20c.  and  get  our  illustrated  pamphlet 
giving  detailed  description,  method  of  manage- 
ment, and  much  valuable  information.  The 
pamphlet  free  to  purchasers  of  hives. 

The  hive  goes  out  nailed  and  painted  but  "  K. 
D."  at  following  prices,  F.  O  B..  Brood  frame 
starters  are  included,  but  no  sections  : 

Eight      Ten 
ONE  SUPEB  WITH  EACH  HIVE.        frame,  frame. 

A  single  hive  as  in  cut  1 $2  50      $2  7S 

Same  with  plain  bottom  and  cover  2  15  2  40 
Two  colony  non-swarming  hive.. .  3  80  4  15 
Same  with  plain  bottom  and  cover    3  40         3  80 

HIVE  PARTS. 

Combined  bottom  and  feeder  35  40 

Plain  bottom 20  25 

Brood  chamber,  including  frames,  70  80 

Brood  frame  f 'd'n  starters  10  10 

Honey  board  and  queen  trap ia  50 

Super  with  spur  separators        ...  50  50 

Inside  cover 10  10 

Outside  cover 30  35 

Separating  board,  equalizers  and 

alternators ,  —  ■  50  50 

Plain  Cover 20  25 

Shallow  extracting  frames.  1%  in. 

wide,  per  net 12  15 

.Address 

AIKIN  BROTHERS  &  KNIGHT, 

Itoveland,  Colorado. 


120 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


'^Falcon*'  Sections 
Our  No,  1  Sections 

Equ^I  to  rpziny. 

Cheaper  tban  z^ny* 

Any  Size.  Any  Quz^ntity. 

At  Any  Tirn«. 


Also,  zM  styles  HIVE5  an«J  BEE- 
FIXTURES  Gbezip.  Mew  cata- 
logue ai7«l  price  list  fre«.  San)ples 
of  Falcon  Sections  for  2c.  starpp. 

W.  T.  Falconer  Mfg.  Co., 

JAMESTOWN.   N.  Y. 


Golden, 


It^Iizvn  Queens 


My  Bees  are  the  best  honey  gatherers  there 
are  in  the  country,  while  for  Golden  Beauty 
they  cannot  be  excelled  in  the  world. 

Warranted  Queens,  75  cents  each, 

Tested,  $1.00  each. 

Breeding  Queens,  $2.50  to  $3.00. 

Ten  per  cent  discount  on  orders  for  five  or  more 
queens.  Satisfaction  guaranteed.  Make  money 
orders  payable  at  Caldwell,  Texas.    Address 

C.  B.  BANKSTON,  Chrisman,  Texas. 


2.93-tf 


Please  mention   the  Reuiew. 


GRAY  CARNIOLANS 
GOLDEN  ITALIANS. 

Bred  from  pure  mothers  and  by  the  best  known 
methods.    Send  for  price  list.  +-9:i-tf 

For  Carniolaus  to         I     For    Italians  to 

JOHN  ANDREWS,  L.  E.  BURNHAM, 

I  \  Patten's  Mills,  N.  Y.  |  Vaughns.  N.  Y. 


BIG  OFFER. 

To  any  person  sending 
me    his    order    for    ten 

CHAFF  HIVES 

in  April  or  May  I  will 
mail  one  of  .J.  F.  Mich- 
isel's  Golden  Queens  in 
June.  Write  for  price 
list,  sent  free.  4-93-lt 
GEO.   H.   KIRKPATRICK,   UNION   City.    Ind 

PItiattP  nifntion  the  fietihw. 


1  TELL  you  what.  Jones,  Lev- 
ering Bros,  sell  the  best  goods 
and  at  the  lowest  prices  of  any 
one  I've  struck  yet.  The  lar- 
a^  gest  and  best  equipped 

Bee -Hive  Factory 

In  the  West.  The  Dovetailed 
Hive  and  New  Hoffman  self- 
spacing  frame  a  specialty. 
Everything  used  by  practical 
bee-keepers  by  wholesale  and  re- 
■  _  tail.  Send  for  their  free  Illus- 
trated Price-List,  and  save  money.  Supply  Deal- 
ers, send  for  their  Wholesale  List.    Address 

LEVERING  BROS.. 
2-93-6.  WIOTA,  Cass  Co..  Iowa. 

Gorr)b    Leveler . 

Sections  full  of  comb  kept  over  from  last  year, 
wlien  used  to  induce  the  bees  to  begin  work  in 
the  supers,  are  worth  nearly  as  much  as  sections 
filled  with  honey.  The  only  ot  jection  to  their 
use  is  that  the  comb  is  (jften  uneven  and  gives 
the  honey  a  rough  appearance.  By  the  use  of 
Taylor's  Handy  (\>mb  Leveler  the  combs  can  be 
brought  to  a  level  as  rapidly  as  the  sections  can 
be  handled,  and  the  comb  of  honey,  wlien  fin 
ished,  will  have  all  the  fine  appearance  of  that 
produced  with  fresh  foundation.  Price  of  the 
leveler  (except  the  wooden  box  in  which  to  set 
the  lamp!  60  cts.  by  mail.  Box  and  all,  $1.10 
by  mail ;  by  express,  Sl.OO. 

B.  T/VYUOR,  Porestville,  /AJnn. 

"Golden"  ^^ loriila. 

Nearly  all  of  my  full  colonies  have  selected 
tested,  breeding,  "golden"  queens.  Untested 
queens.  April  and  May,  $1.00  each  ;  6  for  $i.'i't ; 
one  doz.,  $8..'>0.  Jane  and  later,  7.5  cts. ;  6  for 
$4.(X);  one  doz.,  $7.50  Tested,  $1..'V0;  selected, 
teeted,  $2.00;  breeder.  $2.50;  best,  $:1.00.  All 
reared  by  the  Doolittle  method.  Safe  arrival 
and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  11-92-tf 

J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Vol.  Co.,  Fla. 

Pfvaae  mention  tht  Reuleui. 


May,    1893, 


At   Fliqt,   Micl^igaq. — Oqe  Dollar  a  Year, 


122 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


flDVE^TISIflG  t^ATES. 

All  advertisemente  wiU  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  1  inch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  follows  : 

On  10  lines  and  upwards,  S  times,  5  per  cent;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  per  cent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  !<0  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 

Clubbing    Iiist. 


1  will  send  the  Review  with— 

(jleaniDgs, (351.00) . . 

American  Bee  Journal. .  .(  1.00).. 
Canadian  Bee  Journal  . .   (  1.00) . . 
American  Bee  Keeper         (    .50) 
Progressive  Bee  Keeper...  (    .50). . 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    ..5(1) . . 

Apiculturist (    .75) , . 

Bee-Keepers' Magazine. ..(    .50) 


.$'.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.40. 

.  130. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.65. 

.  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  well  filled;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides  ;  botli  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otlierwise  ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— .\11  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed ;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel  stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  tliis  tlie  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"  No.  1  dark,  "  etc. 


(INtlN  NATI,  Ohio,-Tht'n(  i^  no  choice  comt) 
honey  on  the  market.  A  fair  article  brings  14  to 
16  in  a  jobbing  way.  The  demand  is  good  for 
extracted  at  from  6  to  8  cts.  There  is  a  good  de- 
mand for  choice  yellow  wax  at  from  24  to  27  cts. 
CHAS.  F.  MUTH  &  SON.. 
April  1.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.-  There  is  a  good  sup- 
ply on  hand  but  it  is  mostly  dark.  This  stock  is 
slow,  but  what  little  white  there  is  on  the  market 
moves  readily.  We  quote  fancy  white,  17  to  IS ; 
two  pound  combs,  16  to  17  ;  buckwheat,  15  tolO 
extracted  honey,  10  to  11. 

in  u  ,o  TT  J-  ^HEA  &  CO  . 

betj.  13.     14  Hennepin  Ave.,  -Minueapolis,  Minn. 

BUFFALO,  N.Y.— Demand  soinewliat  easy  and 
stock  light.  The  prospects  are  that  honey  will 
clean  up  witli  sat isfnctory  prices.  Extracted  is 
in  light  demand.  Boenwax  is  firm  for  choice 
lots.  We  quote  as  followH  :  Fancy  white,  17  to 
18 ;  No.  1  white,  15  to  16  ;  fancy  dark.  10  to  11:  No. 
1  dark,  8  to  9 ;  beeswax,  28  to  30. 

BATTERSON  \  CO . 

April  1.  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


CHICAGO,  ILL  —We  antic. pate  slow  sales  on 
all  grades  of  honey  for  the  balance  of  this  season. 
There  is  a  poor  demand  for  extracted  at  present. 
Beeswax  is  in  good  demand.  We  quote  as  fol- 
lows :  Fancy  white,  16 ;  No.  1  white,  15 ;  No  1 
dark,  12;  white  extracted,  8'4  ;  dark  extracted, 
7  ;  beeswax,  15  to  26. 

.      .,  J.  A.  LAMON, 

April  1.         44  &48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


NEW  \ORK.-The  market  is  bare  of  comb 
honey.  Fancy  white  could  be  sold  at  14  to  15 ; 
fancy  amber  at  12 ;  and  dark  at  10.  The  market 
IS  quiet  on  extracted  and  no  movement.  Large 
lots  of  West  India  and  Mexicari  are  arriving  and 
the  market  i.s  well  supplied.  This  class  of  hon- 
ey sells  at  from  65  to  75  cts.  per  gallon.  Beeswax 
18  quiet  but  firm  at  from  27  to  29. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  bEGELKEN, 

April  3.       28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


ALBANY,  N.  Y.— Stock  of  honey  very  light. 
Prices  well  sustained .  Demand  will  be  better 
as  the  weather  warms  up.  We  quote  as  follows  : 
Fancy  white.  15  to  17;  No.  1  white,  14  to  15; 
mixed,  12  to  14;  fancy  dark,  11  to  12;  No.  1  dark, 
10  to  11;  white  extracted,  8i4  to  9'/4  ;  amber  ex- 
tracted, 7  to  IVt;  dark,  6'/i  to  7.  Beeswax,  28 
to  ;jO. 

H.  K.  WRIGHT. 

Feb.  13.  326  Broadway,  Albany.  N.  Y. 


CHK'AGO,  111  —We  quote  as  follows :  Fancy 
white,  17  to  18;  No.  1  white,  14  to  16 ;  fancy  amber, 
11  to  13;  fancy  dark,  10;  white  extracted.  7  to  9; 
amber  extracted,  7  to  8;  dark  extracted,  6  to  7  ; 
beeswax,  23  to  25 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 

April  3.  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


KANSAS  CITY,  Mo.— The  demand  for  extract- 
ed honev  is  good  and  the  supply  light.  The  sup- 
ply of  comb  honey  is  fair  and  the  demand  the 
same.  Shipments  of  No.  1  would  meet  with  very 
ready  sale.  We  quote  as  follows:  No.  1  white, 
16  to  17  ;  fancy  amber,  15  to  16;  No.  1  amber  13 
to  14 :  fancy  dark,  12  to  13 ;  No.  1  dark,  10  to  11 ; 
white  extracted.  6'/2  to  7;  dark  extracted,  5  to  6; 
beeswax,  22  to  ■^^■^.^^^o^q_^^^q^  ^.q., 

I4ar.  6.  521  Walnat  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 


Foundation    Reduced. 

Deduct  three  centa  per    pound  from  prices 
given  in    my  Illustrated  Price  List  for  1893. 

M.  H.  HUNT,  Bell  Branch,  Mloh. 


On  Anotheb  Page  is  an  advertisement 
wherein  I  offer  for  sale  some  pure  Italian 
bees  in  new  Heddon  hives.  I  wish  to  add 
that  I  have  a  few  colonies  on  Langstroth 
frames,  and  customers  preferring  them,  can 
have  them  at  the  same  price  "  as  long  as 
they  last."  I  also  have  a  few  colonies  of 
Garniolans  to  spare.    W.  Z.  Hutchinson. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


123 


THE    I-OSS    OF    OHE 


'®> 


Queen  in  introducing"  means  a  loss  greater  than  the  cost 
of  a  cop3'  of  "Advanced  Bee  Culture,"  which  has 
one  entire  chapter  devoted  to  "  The  Introduction  of 
Queens."  It  shows  when  the  cause  of  failure  lies  with 
the  colony,  when  with  the  queen,  and  points  out  the 
condihons  necessary  to  success.  Althoug^h  one  infalli- 
ble method  is  g"iven,  but  little  attention  is  g-iven  to 
the  setting-  forth  of  exact  rules  and  methods,  the  sub- 
ject being-  treated  with  a  view  to  teaching-  principles 
that    may    be    followed    to    success. 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts. ;  the  Review  one  sciw  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian, 


W.   Z.   HIJTCHINSOH,   Flint,   JVTich. 


WHITE    POPLAR 

SECTIONS. 

We  have  New  Steam  Power,  and  New  Build- 
ings, and  are  now  ready  to  furnish  White  Pop- 
lar Sections,  t'larups,  Crates  and  Wood  Sides  at 
short  notice.  Workmanship,  Quality  and  Price 
unsurpassed.    Send  for  sample  and  price  list. 

PRIME  &  GOVE, 
1-90-tf  Bristol,  Vermont. 


•ITALIAN  Qup-^^"^,.  A  SPECIALTy. 

•  CLOVER  SEEDS  .^^NS  AND  B  E  t=  _^  BUCKWHEAT    : 

^^Sampleof_our_beej.ournalThe WESTERN  i 
BEEKEEPER  ALsoOur  CATALOGUE 
JOS.NYSEWANDER.  DesMoines.Iowa. 


■.i-9:i.tf        l^lease  mention  the  lii'vi 


ON   HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

OP  BEE    HIVES.    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE   NORTHWEST. 

W.  H.  PUTNAM, 

im-m.  RIVER  PALLS.   WIS. 

P^.  ;    Spray 

<  ^       ^y  your 

Vf       ^U^J^fll      and 

^^'C^t.  Vines 

\\nrmj  I  nut  and  It  if  Blislit  of  Apples,  Pears, 
Cherries  and  Plums  prevented  ;  also  Grape  and 
Potato  Rot— by  spraying  with  .Stahl's  Double 
Acting  ExQplsior  Spraying  Outfits.  Best  in  the 
market.  Thousands  in  use.  Catalogue,  describing 
»U  insects  injurious  to  fruit,  mailed  Free.  Address 

WM.  STAHL,     QUIIMCY,  ILL. 


124 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


AND  B£E  Books, 

OF  ALL  KINDS, 
A  LARGE  STOCK. 
MY  NEW   1I>I.XTSTKATEI» 

Catalogue  and  Price  l>ist  of  Supiilics 

for  the  Apiary  will  be  sent  free  to  all 

who  may  apply.      Send  a  postal  cant 

for  it.  writing  your  name  aurt  adflresw 

\plainly.      For'every  Order  of  $10. 00 

^and  over.  1  will  raalte  you  a  present. 

Tbe  Catalogue  tells  you  all  about  It 

T.  ©.  Newman,  147  So. Western  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui, 


Iieathep   Colored 

HONEY  QUEENS,  from  Imported  Mother,  war- 
ranted purely  mated,  after  Juno  10th,  at  $1.00 
each ;  six  at  one  time,  f  5.00.  Untested  queens, 
75c.  each.    Address  tittv^-tt 

l-93-7t.  Nye,  Marshall  ('o.,  Ind. 

Please   mention    the    Reuiew. 


—If  you  are  going  to— 

BtfY  A  BtfZZ  -  SAW^, 

■write  to  the  editor  of  the  Ueview.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  wt)uld  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 


ITALIAri   QUEENS 

Bred  for  Business,  fientleness  and  Beauty.  Un- 
tested, 80c,  each;  three  for  $2.25 ;  six  for  $4.(K); 
12  for  $7.50.  Tested.  $1.25  Select  tested,  yellow 
to  the  tip.  breeder,  $l.."iO.  Will  commence  ship- 
ping April  15th.  On  all  orders  received  before 
March  Ist,  accompanied  by  the  cash,  10  per  cent, 
discount.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

G.  E.  DAWSON, 
1-93  r2t,  Carlisle,  Sonoke  Co.,  Ark. 

Please  mention   the  Reuieui. 


If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 

r 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 

ITALIAN  QITEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

fo:r    ises. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  U>  your  int4sre8t,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.  P.  H.   BKOWN, 
1-88-tf.  Augusta,  Georgria. 

Please  mention  the  Review, 


IMPORTAWT^^ 

-<^T0  BEE-KEEPEHSI 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  Tlioise  wlio  have  tested  them 
with  other  liees  say  "they  are  the  best  lioney 
gatherers,  cap  tlieir  honey  the  whitest,  as  geiitli' 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

FlVE-SHflDED   WOfJKEf^S 

In  March,  April  and  May,  $1.25  each,  (5  for  $(5.00; 
June,  $1  00  each,  6  for  $5.IKI;  July  to  Nov..  $1.00 
eacli,  6  for  $1.50.  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 

12-92-tf  C.  D    DUVALL, 

Spencervi] le,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 


TESTED 


Queens  are  usually  sold  for  $2.00.  I 
will  explain  why  I  wish  to  sell  a  few  at 
less  than  that.  As  most  of  my  readers 
know,  I  re-queen  my  apiary  each 
spring  with  young 


QUEENS 


From  the  South.  This  is  done  to  do 
away  with  swarming.  If  done  early 
enough  it  is  usually  successful.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  queens  displaced  by 
these  young  queens  are  never  more 
than  a  year  old;  in  fact,  they  are  fine, 
tested,  Italian  queens  right  in  their 
prime:  yet,  in  order  that  they  may 
move  off  quickly,  and  thus  make  room 
for  the  untested  queens,  they  will  be 
sold  for  only 


$1.00. 


Or  I  will  send  the  Review  for  1898  and 
one  of  these  queens  for  only  $1.7.5. 
For  $2.00  I  will  send  the  Review,  the 
queen  and  the  book  "Advanced  Bee 
Culture."  If  any  prefer  the  young, 
laying  queens  from  the  South,  they 
can  have  them  instead  of  the  tested 
queens,  at  the  same  price.  A  discount 
given  on  large  orders  for  untested 
queens.  Say  how  many  are  wanted, 
and  a  price  will  be  made. 

W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,  Flint,  Mich. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


125 


GRAY    CARNIOLANS. 

GOLDEN    ITALIANS. 

r  AXE  are  headquarters  in  the  United  States  for  GRAY  CARNIOLANS.  A  full  de- 
>*^  scription  of  this  n-  mle  f  I  and  hard  ,  race  of  bees  is  given  in  our  price  list 
for  1893.  ()ur  GOLDEN  ITALIANS  are  as  good  as  the  best.  Each  race  is  bred  for  busi- 
ness, in  a  separate  apiary  near  no  other  bees.  Get  our  prices  before  ordering,  as  we 
can  save  you  money.     Der:criptive  price  list  free.  5-93-tf 

F.  A.  LOCKHART  &  CO.,  l-ahe  George,  n.  Y. 


30Ttii[l|.!eai'sEKpefieiice,  30 

Try  Our  Hardy  Strains  of  Bees. 

Leather  colored  ItalianB  and  golden  Carnio- 
lans.  Qaalities  :  extra  honey  gatherers,  loug- 
lived  and  hardy.  To  each  customer  we  present 
our  latest  method  of  queen  rearing.  Catalogue 
free.    Queens  fl.OOeach.    H.  ALLEY, 

Wenham,  Mass. 


Queens, 

13.    Catalogue  free. 
.i-93-tf 


3  or  5-banded,  $1.00  each, 
6  for  Sri.(X(.  Nucleus  colo- 
nies cheap.  Eggs  for 
hatching:  B.  P.  Rock  and 
Brown  Leghorn.  81. 0()  per 
CHAS.  H  THIES. 

Stecleville,  111. 


NOTICE   OUR  PRICES- 

No.  1  Sections  82.7.5  per  1,(I0(I  Thin,  surplus 
foondatiou.  best  quality,  -MJ  cis  per  pound. 
A  full  line  of  supplies,  including  Root's  Dove- 
tailed Hives,  on  hand.  Send  for  circidar  and 
free  sample  of  foundation  5  93tf 

J.  H.  &  A  .li.  BOYDEN, 

Saline.  Mich. 

HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions; warranted  good  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  mf>st  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  of  a  full  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT, 

1-93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 


Doift  Mm  beSs 

.,r  Poor  (ion. is.  Sead  tor  our 
<  'atalogue  of  Bees,  Queens  and 
Bee  -  Keepers'  supplies. 

JOHN  NEBEL  &  SON, 
1  93-tf  HlftH  rilLL.  Mo. 


GOLDEN  iTuiiH  QUEENS 

Now  ready  for  $1.(»0  each.    Do  not  order  your 
supplies  until  you  see  our  circular  for  1S93.    For 
the  price,  we  have  the  best  spraying  outfit  made. 
Send  $l..iU  and  get  one.    Wm.  H.  BRIGHT, 
l-93-12t  Mazeppa,  Miini. 

Are  You  Tired 

of  New  Bee  .Journals  ?  Send  15  cts  for 
3  month's  euliscription  to  that  bright, 
new  bee  paper,  "  The  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Enterprise,"  and  receive  FREE  the 
Enterprise     Souvenir  —  a    Work    of    Art 

Tbz^t  will  rest  Your  Eyes. 

Burton     L.    Sage,    New     Haven,    Conn. 

LEININGER  —  BROS. 

Will  sell  Italian  queens  and  nuclei  cheap  the 
coming  season.    Write  for  special  prices. 

.5-9J  tf  Ft.  Jennings,  Ohio. 


Ready  to  Mail^ 

ITALIAN  QU££NS, 

Tested,  at  $1.25 ;  12  for  $13.U0.  Untested,  after 
April  let.  $1.00  each,  or  0  for  S5.(TU.  Safe  arrival 
guaranteed.  Bees,  Drones  and  Supplies.  Cir- 
cular free.  J.  N.  COLIVIGK, 

4-92-tf  Nonse,  Bosque  Co.,  Texas. 

Phase    m^„l,on    the    Reuieiu. 


L5M0KERS. Sections; 
^4  Comb  FOUNDATION  and 

^->ALL APIARIAN    SUPPLtES.rJn 


->ALL APIARIAN    SUPPLtES. 
SrisTta   F  O  R  -C  ATAtO  Gi?E 


126 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


Mew  Cr2ioe  SrnoKer  Now  Re^dy. 


5rnoKin5    Cz^pevcity    evpd 
Str^nSltb     of     Blzvst 


Th«  W^w,  7Soii-Sn)oKe-SucKifjg  Cb^cK- 
Vzklve,  by  which  a  sreat  blast  is  secured  and  the 
l)oll<)Ws  kept  clean,  and  the  Double  L-irjios:  of 
Asbestos,  a.n<l  Sb««t-Stccl,  by  which  the  fire- 
cup  and  nozzle  are  kept  from  becoiiiintr uncomfortably 
hot  dnring  uease,  are  DlSTIiSCT!\?E  and  VALU- 
ABLE features  alone  possessed  by  the  now  imple- 
ment. It  would  bo  impossible  to  tell  all  of  its  uniipie 
features,  and  so  we  say,  try  it  and  fall  in  love  with  it. 
Price,  witli  a  3'2-inch  fire  cup  anil  curved  nozzle,  by  mail,  $2.0();  by  ex  pros,  %\.l^^.  If  jour 
nearest  dealer  in  supplies  does  not  keep  it,  write  to  the  authorized  manufacturer. 


A.  I.  ROOT,  rVedinev,  Ohio. 


ti.  B 
5upplies, 


Don't  forget   tbzvt   Vsre  are   be&tlquzvrters    for    all    Kin<ls  of    bee  -  peeper?' 
Our  n«Nv   1693  catalogue  of  52  pages  nov^  rea<ly  for   rrjailing. 


rugl^SB! 


Keepers  Supplies. 


Free !  200-Page  Bee-Book ! 

TO  EVERY  NEW   YE.\Rr>Y  SUBSCRIBER  TO 

The  Weekly  American  Bee  Journal 

.'5-:;  pages,  5;i.00  a  year.    Send  for  freb  Sample  Copy  with  full  description  of  Rook. 
\ddress,  GEORGE  W.  YORK  &  CO.,  56  Fifth  Ave.,  CHICAGO,  ILL 

To  New  Siitecrilers:  Tlie  Journal  Alone  Sent  for  Ttiree  fflontlis  for  20  Cents. 


POKTCR      B€£      €SCJiP£S    ^'■*'  °'^'^ ''"•^    pronounced  the    8 

^^ _^    best,  and  highly  recommended 

as  great  labor-naving  implements  by  ('has.  Dadant  &  Son,  Prof  A.  .J.  Cook,  ('has.  F.  Muth, 
Jno.  S.  Reese,  J.  H.  Martin,  Jno.  Andrews,  F.  A.  (iemmill,  Wm.  McEvoy,  A  F.  Brown, 
Thop.  Pierce,  and  many  other  i)rominent  bee-keepers.  Descriptive  circular  and  testimo- 
nials mailed  free.     PRICES:  each,  postpaitl,  with  directions,  20  cts. ;  per  doz.,  92.25. 

RETURN    THEM    AND    GET    YOUR   MONEY   BACK  AFTER   TRIAL.   If-   NOT  StATISFIED.        For  s.lie   by   dealers.     ? 
9     MENTION  THE  REVIEW.  Address         R.  &,  E.  C.  PORTER,    LEWISTOWN,    ILL.     C 


S 


ee- 


\eepeps'  J \eVieaj. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e  Iqterests  of  Hoqey   Producers. 

$L00  A  YEAR. 

W.  Z.HOTCHlNSOfl,  HditoP  &  PPOp. 

VOL,  VI,  FLINT,  .MICHIGAN,     MAY   10,    1893.  NO.  5. 


TIl^EJ-i^S"     TOPICS. 
No.  4. 

K.  L.  TAYLOE. 

"Sowing  in  the  morning,  sowing  in  the  sunshine, 
Sowing  in  t  he  noon-tide  and  the  dewy  eve ; 
Waiting  for  the  harvest,  and  tlio  time  of  reaping, 
We  shall  come  rejoicing,  bringing  in  the  sheaves." 

[AY  should  be 
i-i'l  a  very  happy 
month  for  the 
bees,  for,  though 
there  are  frequent 
exceptions,  yet, 
generally,  warm, 
bright  day.s  have 
become  the  rule, 
and  such  days, 
with  the  abound- 
ing bloom  of  wil- 
lows, dandelions, 
sugar  maples  and  all  manner  of  fruit  trees, 
invite  the  bees  to  an  almost  continual,  al- 
though uncloying,  feast ;  and  to  the  bee- 
keeper, too,  if  his  bees  have  survived  the 
winter  in  a  condition  of  vigorous  health, 
this  should  be  a  time  of  cheer  ;  for,  though 
it  is  not  a  season  of  harvest  it  is  a  seed-time 
that,  if  duly  observed,  gives  promise  of 
abundant  harvest  in  due  course. 

This  is  the  seed-time  because  every  thing 
depends  on  what  is  accomplished  during  this 
month.  Honey  and  other  food  supplies  are 
the  seed  and  it  is  not  every  planting  that 
produces  as  abundantly  ;  not,  indeed,  di- 
rectly in  kind,  but  in  bees  which  must  be  de- 
pended on  to  gather  in  kind  a  little  later. 


Much  may  be  gathered  now  but  large  quan- 
tities are  needed,  and  if  everything  should 
not  prove  auspicious,  the  amount  gathered 
may  come  far  short  of  what  is  required. 
Judicious  management  and  abundant  stores 
now  may  easily  double  the  future  crop,  and 
care  and  food  these  days  tell  more  decidely 
on  the  profits  of  the  year  than  the  efforts  of 
any  other  period  ;  so  the  apiarist  must  now, 
if  at  no  other  time,  be  on  the  alert  to  detect 
the  necessities  of  the  apiary  and  prompt  to 
supply  them. 

Each  colony  should  be  as  snug  as  possible 
and  possessed  of  a  good  working  queen  and 
an  abundance — what  would  generally  be 
called  a  superabundance  of  stores.  No  col- 
ony will  do  well  on  the  hand  to  mouth  meth- 
od. It  is  not  easy  to  account  for  all  the  good 
effects  of  a  superabundance  of  stores.  In 
taking  my  bees  from  the  cellar  in  April  I  was 
struck  with  the  fact  that  those  colonies  hav- 
ing last  fall  from  forty  to  fifty  pounds  of 
stores  seemed  to  be  twice  as  strong  in  bees 
as  those  having  but  twenty-five  pounds  and 
this  condition  as  a  rule  will  continue.  Does 
it  produce  a  sort  of  contentment  that  pre- 
serves vigor  and  longevity  ?  I  think  so  ;  and 
the  solid  walls  of  honey  it  may  be  are  just 
the  kind  of  protection  the  bees  need,  and 
perhaps  also  when  there  is  so  much  honey 
there  is  not  suificient  empty  comb  for  the* 
bees  to  cluster  on  and  so  they  are  actually 
compelled  to  keep  warm  the  honey  for  their 
daily  use,  so  that  they  partake  of  it  without 
hesitation  when  needed  while  those  having 
plenty  of  empty  comb  cluster  there  and  have 
only  the  cold  honey  outside  the  cluster  to  go 


128 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


to  for  food  and  so  actually  suffer  and  maybe 
starve  from  reluctance  to  go  outside  the 
cluster.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  unques- 
tionably profitable  to  supply  food  without 
stint,  not  for  winter  only,  but  more  especially 
during  the  six  weeks  prior  to  the  appearance 
of  white  clover.  A  fear  of  want  on  the  part 
of  the  bees  is  about  as  disastrous  as  an  actual 
want.  If  one's  time  is  valuable  the  amount 
necessary  for  this  work  may  be  reduced 
within  very  small  limits  and  if  one  has  time 
to  spare  he  may,  I  believe,  profitably  try 
stimulative  feeding  during  any  periods  from 
the  first  of  May  to  white  clover  when  honey 
is  not  being  gathered.  Keep  all  colonies 
prosperous  and  get  them  strong  as  soon  as 
possible. 

If  in  the  natural  order  of  things  one -has  a 
prospect  of  more  colonies  than  one  desires, 
about  the  first  of  -June  is  the  ideal  time  for 
reducing  stock  by  uniting  those  that  are  not 
very  strong.  To  put  it  in  another  way,  if  I 
had  two  hundred  colonies  and  desired  to  keep 
no  more  than  that  number,  I  would  gladly 
have  one-half  of  them  cast  swarms  every 
year,  or  more  if  they  would  do  it  early,  which 
I  would  hive  and  then  reduce  to  the  desired 
number  the  following  year  by  uniting,  say 
ten  days,  before  the  opening  of  the  early 
honey  season.  I  have  no  desire  for  a  race  of 
non-swarming  bees  ;  I  want  a  fair  amount 
of  swarming  and  I  want  it  early.  It  is  from 
such  colonies  that  the  large  amounts  of  sur- 
plus come.  I  would  not  willingly  forego  the 
advantage  to  be  derived  from  the  large  re- 
inforcement of  vigorous  young  queens  that 
may  be  had  at  swarming  time  for  almost 
nothing,  to  be  relieved  of  the  labor  involved 
in  caring  for  the  swarms. 

If  necessary  to  be  certain  of  having  all  the 
young  queens  I  can  use,  I  remove  the  colony 
from  which  a  swarm  has  issued  from  beside 
the  hive  containing  the  swarm  to  a  new 
stand  before  the  queens  are  due  to  hatch,  and 
divide  it  into  from  two  to  four  nuclei  taking 
care  that  each  has  one  good  cell.  In  a  few 
days  the  queens  are  laying  and  can  be  used 
to  replace  old  queens  that  are  still  coming 
out  with  swarms  or  otherwise  and  the  nuclei 
reunited  or  given  ripe  cells  and  allowed  to 
rear  another  batch  of  queens. 

Although  at  times  during  the  spring  con- 
siderable honey  may  be  coming  in,  yet  there 
are  always  some  bees  on  the  lookout  for  hon- 
ey that  can  be  got  in  an  easier  way  than  the 
honest  way,  therefore  continual  watchful- 
ness during  this  entire  month,  if  there  are 


weak  colonies  in  the  apiary,  is  necessary  if 
robbing  is  to  be  prevented  ;  indeed,  watch- 
fulness should  begin  at  the  very  opening  of 
spring.  Perhaps  there  is  no  other  item  in 
the  management  of  the  ai)iary  that  requires 
the  same  degree  of  skill  as  this,  and  the  dif- 
ficulty, especially  with  beginners,  is  rather 
in  its  detection  than  in  stopping  it  when  dis- 
covered. Where  it  is  suspected,  the  most 
decisive  measures  should  be  used  to  learn 
the  facts,  and  if  it  exists  to  discover  and 
thwart  the  offending  colonies.  These  mat- 
ters may  best  be  determined  by  visiting  the 
apiary  just  before  and  just  after  the  bees  en- 
gaged in  honest  industry  are  on  the  wing. 
Like  human  beings,  the  bees  are  more  in 
earnest  in  the  doing  of  evil  than  in  the  doing 
of  good ;  so  those  engaged  in  deviltry  are 
busy  both  earlier  and  later  than  those  hon- 
estly employed.  A  few  minutes  at  such  a 
time  will  reveal  the  whole  situation.  Ordin- 
ary care  will  prevent  danger  from  robbing 
except  where  there  are  colonies  that  will  not 
defend  themselves.  The  weakest  colonies 
can  protect  themselves  wheii  so  disposed  if 
the  entrance  to  their  hive  is  sufficiently  con- 
tracted, and  every  careful  apiarist  will  see 
that  they  have  at  least  this  much  assistance, 
but  when  the  bees  will  not  defend  their  hive, 
contracting  the  entrance  is  no  remedy.  In 
such  cases  the  only  satisfactory  method  of 
dealing  with  them  is  to  exchange  the  hives, 
(.  e.,  to  put  the  hive  of  the  robbers  in  place 
of  that  of  the  robbed  and  vice  i-ersa.  By  this 
plan  the  weak  colony  is  strengthened  and 
that  by  bees  that  will  vigorously  defend  their 
new  home.  And  the  robber  colony — it  is 
laughable  to  see  how  completely  it  is  non- 
plussed by  the  new  arrangement.  The  alter- 
ed situation  seems  beyond  the  power  of  their 
little  heads  to  comprehend.  With  me  noth- 
ing but  good  effects  have  resulted  from  the 
use  of  this  plan  while  every  other  is  more  or 
less  a  failure. 

It  is  now  time  that  all  preparations  for  the 
early  honey  season  should  be  approaching 
completion,  and,  among  the  rest,  plans  for 
securing  swarms  should  be  matured.  In  the 
first  place,  I  would  have  all  queens  clipped, 
especially  would  I  advise  it  in  the  case  of 
beginners,  even  if  queen  traps  are  also  to  be 
used,  it  is  such  a  source  of  convenience  and 
security.  Then  I  would  have  at  least  a  few 
queen  traps.  Even  when  one  is  to  have  his 
apiary  watched  during  the  swarming  time  as 
a  rule,  yet  there  are  many  times  when  this 
might  be  inconvenient  and  in  the  early  part 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


129 


of  the  forenoon  and  during  most  of  the  af- 
ternoon this  would  be  hardly  necessary  ;  so, 
during  the  time  when  the  first  few  straggling 
swarms  of  the  season  are  appearing,  a  suf- 
ficient number  to  bridge  over  such  times  as 
these  I  consider  indispensable,  If  one  can 
make  them  himself  the  expense  is  very  small 
and  in  such  case  he  may  well  secure  a  full 
supply. 

Lapeee,  Mich.  April  14,  1S93. 

Successful  Wintering  of  Bees  in  the  Cellar 
With  No  Covers  on  the  Hives. — A  Boun- 
tiful Crop   From  Alsike. 

B.  TAYLOK. 

'■  The  eea  of  knowledge  with  its  din 
Before  us  breaks,  and  we — 
We  thrust  our  little  dippers  in 
And  think  we've  drained  the  sea." 

ruHERE  is  a  bee- 
-L  keeper,  Hitt  by 
name,  living  at 
Dover,  Minn,,  who 
has  a  local  reputa- 
tion for  wintering 
bees  successfully. 
Having  a  curiosity 
to  learn  his  method, 
I  made  him  a  visit 
last  March,  and 
found  him  to  be  a 
retired  blacksmith 
of  about  65  years.  The  first  glance  around 
the  premises  established  the  fact  in  my  mind 
that  the  owner  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary good  taste.  The  plain  buildings  showed 
neatness  without  and  comfort  within. 

I  at  once  opened  the  discussion  on  the 
question  of  bee-keeping  by  asking  if  he  was 
engaged  in  apiarian  pursuits,  to  which  he 
replied  "  Yes,  I  still  keep  bees,  but  I  have 
been  trying  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  to 
get  out  of  the  business."  I  asked  if  it  had 
failed  to  be  profitable.  "  Oh,  no,  I  never 
earned  better  pay  than  by  working  with  bees, 
but  I  am  getting  old  and  have  too  much 
work  to  do  and  will  have  to  give  up  some- 
thing and  it  would  be  the  bees  ;  but  I  never 
could  get  out  of  the  business."  He  said 
that  several  times  he  sold  nearly  all  his  col- 
onies, but  in  a  few  years  he  would  have  more 
than  ever.  They  would  increase  at  a  won- 
derful rate  and  but  few  ever  died.  One  time 
he  sold  all  of  his  own  swarms,  but  a  neigh- 


bor had  left  a  swarm  in  his  care,  and  when 
this  friend  found  that  he  had  found  a  mar- 
ket for  all  his  colonies  he  was  greatly  dis- 
appointed that  Mr.  Hitt  had  not  included  his 
single  colony  in  the  sale  ;  and  to  pacify  him 
he  offered  to  keep  and  care  for  the  bees  for 
half  the  honey  and  half  the  increase.  In 
two  years  he  had  some  thirty  colonies  again, 
when  he  told  his  friend  that  he  could  not 
stand  the  trade  any  longer,  that  he  would 
give  him  ten  pounds  of  honey  each  year  for 
every  colony  then  on  hand  or  he  must  take 
his  bees  away  and  care  for  them  himself. 
But  after  a  time  they  increased  beyond  his 
ability  to  care  for  them  and  they  were  taken 
away. 

I  listened  to  this  story  in  a  half  amused 
and  interested  way,  for  Mr.  Hitt  had  already 
told  me  that  he  had  never  read  a  book  on 
bee-keeping,  had  never  taken  a  bee  journal, 
but  my  distrust  of  his  ability  to  accomplish 
what  he  claimed  quickly  gave  place  to  con- 
fidence when  I  began  to  question  him  in  re- 
gard to  his  method  of  wintering.  "What  is 
your  idea  of  the  key  to  successful  winter- 
ing ?"  I  asked.  "Well,  in  my  past  life," 
said  Mr.  Hitt,  "  I  have  made  it  a  sacred  duty 
to  give  all  life  entrusted  to  my  care  an  abun- 
dance of  necessary  food.  I  always  made  it 
a  rule  as  fall  approached  to  see  that  each  col- 
ony had  from  twenty -five  to  forty  pounds  of 
sealed  honey  in  its  hive,  and  then  I  put  them 
all  in  the  cellar  on  the  first  approach  of  real 
cold  weather."  "  How  did  you  prepare  your 
hives  for  cellar  wintering  ?"  was  my  next 
question.  Mr.  Hitt  answered  with  a  look  of 
surprise.  "  Why,  I  didn't  prepare  them  at 
all ;  I  just  set  them  in  the  cellar  in  single 
tiers  one  or  two  feet  from  the  cellar  bottom. 
When  they  became  quiet  I  just  took  the  top 
off  every  hive  and  then  let  them  alone  until 
time  to  return  them  to  the  summer  stands 
again  in  the  spring.  No,  I  never  prepare 
my  bees  for  winter  at  all.  I  just  winter 
them,  and  that  is  all  there  is  of  it."  "  Do 
you  mean  to  say  you  leave  your  hives  entire- 
ly uncovered  all  winter  ?"  "  Yes,  sir ;  I  do 
not  use  even  a  cloth  or  paper  cover.  Just 
leave  the  top  of  the  hives  entirely  open,  and 
my  bees  have  wintered  with  scarcely  any  loss 
for  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and  never  have 
a  mouldy  comb." 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  here  was  an  entirely  un- 
learned man,  so  far  as  books  or  journals  are 
concerned,  who  was  filling  the  whole  re- 
quirements of  successful  wintering.  You 
will  yet  see,  by  looking  over  back  numbers 


130 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


of  the  Review,  that  in  two  articles  I  wrote 
a  year  or  more  ago,  protestiug  against  the, 
to  me,  very  near  criminal  advocacy  of  "seal- 
ed covers,"  by  leading  bee  journals.  Such 
teaching,  at  this  late  day  of  experimental 
knowledge,  raises  the  question  in  my  mind 
sometimes  wliother  the  bee  journals  had  not, 
in  their  well-meaning  but  careless  teaching 
of  uuatural  and  unproved  theories,  done 
more  harm  than  good.  Now,  if  this  man 
had  been  reading  the  journals,  he,  like  my- 
self, would  have  been  led  to  distrust  his  own 
practices,  as  thousands  of  others  have,  great- 
ly to  his  loss  ;  and  I  ha.ve  no  doubt  that  this 
pernicious  tampering  with  sealed  covers  re- 
commended by  so-called  great  lights,  has 
caused  the  loss  of  tens  of  thousands  of  colo- 
nies in  the  winter  just  passed.  I  see  the 
leading  journals  are  calling  for  the  fullest 
reports  in  regard  to  the  success  of  sealed 
covers  the  past  hard  winter  and  this  is  great- 
ly to  their  credit  as  showing  an  honest  de- 
sire to  find  the  truth.  Bee-keepers  should 
make  full  and  careful  reports  in  regard  to 
the  comparative  results  of  sealed  covers  and 
other  methods,  and  then  be  very  careful  in 
the  future  to  recommend  nothing  as  truth 
until  well  established  experiments  have  de- 
monstrated the  facts.  I  see  Mrs.  Axtell,  in 
a  late  number  of  Gleanings,  speaks  of  their 
tine  success  in  wintering  four  colonies,  in 
box  hives,  but  she  mentions  the  fact  of  their 
abundant  stores  and  also  that  other  impor- 
tant fact  of  there  being  four  holes,  three  by 
four  inches  in  diameter,  in  the  top  of  each 
hive.  Here  was,  I  contend,  all  the  "  law  and 
the  prophets"  of  the  prime  conditions  for 
successful  wintering. 

Those  that  liave  read  the  early  writings  of 
M.  Quinby  will  remember  that  before  he 
adopted  the  moveable  frame  hive,  that  he 
wintered  his  box  hives  by  turning  them  up- 
side down  in  a  dark  room  and  leaving  them 
entirely  uncovered,  and  I  say  it  is  an  equally 
good  plan  to  winter  frame  hives  in  the  same 
way.  How  absurd  to  believe  that  box  hives 
have  any  superior  quality  for  wintering,  ex- 
cept wliat  accident  has  given  them.  Let  me 
here  mention  that  Mr,  Hitt  uses  frame  hives. 

My  own  method  of  covering  the  hives  with 
one  thickness  of  building  paper  has  some 
features  to  recommend  it  over  entirely  open 
hives,  viz.,  ecjual  dryness  and  a  better  reten- 
tion of  the  heat  of  the  bees.  But  my  present 
feeling  is  that  a  single  thickness  of  cotton 
sheeting  over  the  hives  placed  in  a  warm 
cellar    furnishes    first-class    conditions    fo_ 


safe  wintering  when  joined  with  the  indis- 
pensable abundant  stores. 

Last  fall,  however,  I  prepared  sixty  hives 
as  follows  and  placed  them  in  one  division 
of  my  new  cellar.  I  gave  each  colony  two 
sections  of  my  double  hive  ;  I  removed  two 
combs  from  each  section,  leaving  eight 
combs  in  each.  These  eight  combs  were 
spread  to  fill  the  10-frame  hive.  The  hives 
were  raised  two  inches  from  the  bottom 
board.  When  all  was  quiet,  a  square  of  light 
cotton  cloth  was  spread  over  each  hive,  and 
on  top  of  this  was  placed  a  shallow  box  three 
inches  deep,  full  of  sawdust.  The  entrances 
at  the  bottom  were  left  open  the  entire 
width  of  the  hive,  front  and  rear.  Now,  re- 
member, these  swarms  were  each  left  on  six- 
teen combs  in  two  sections  of  a  shallow  hive, 
thus  making  very  roomy  quarters.  Each 
had  large  stores  of  sealed  honey,  mostly  in 
upper  sections.  The  temperature  was  about 
42=  without  2'  of  variation. 

These  bees  have  remained  quieter  the  en- 
tire winter  than  any  like  quantity  I  ever 
knew,  and  I  examined  them  to-day  (April 
(ith)  and  the  colonies  are  all  alive  and  abso- 
lutely (juiet.  There  is  not  a  speck  of  dysen- 
tary  on  one  of  the  white  hives,  and  there  has 
been  less  dead  bees  on  the  cellar  bottom  than 
I  ever  had  from  a  like  number  of  colonies. 
Those  bees  are  still  in  the  cellar,  and  at 
present  it  looks  like  a  case  of  perfect  winter- 
ing;  but  it  does  not  prove  that  they  might 
not  have  wintered  equally  well  without  cov- 
ers of  any  kind  and  with  less  work  in  pre- 
paring. I  shall  use  these  bees  to  fill  my  new 
house-apiary  which  is  now  being  given  the 
finishing  touch  of  painting,  and  it  looks,  to 
my  mind,  to  be  as  perfect  as  one  could  ask. 
I  have  managed  to  find  room  in  the  little 
building  (t<xl(!)  for  forty-six  colonies  with- 
out extra  crowding.  I  shall  not  remove  the 
bees  into  it  until  the  soft  maples  are  in 
bloom  and  will  not  pack  the  hives  in  saw- 
dust this  spring,  just  cover  warmly  with  saw- 
dust in  shallow  boxes.  I  will  feed  each  col- 
ony two  or  three  ounces  of  honey  each  day, 
for  a  month  or  more,  regardless  of  the  sup- 
ply in  the  hive.  This  feeding  will  be  done 
at  the  rear  of  the  hive  at  tlie  bottom,  in  new 
feeders  that  I  have  made  especially  for  house 
use,  although  they  are  equally  good  for  yard 
use,  in  which  I  can  feed  the  forty-six  colo- 
nies in  thirty  minutes  without  seeing,  hurt- 
ing or  exciting  a  single  bee.  Now,  if  this  is 
a  good  honey  year,  and  I  don't  get  a  good 
crop  from  the  house  apiary,  then  they  are 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


131 


not  good,  and  I  have  laid  myself  liable  to  be 
couderaned  for  the  same  fault  that  I  have 
scolded  others,  viz.,  recommending  a  thing 
I  did  not  know  to  be  good. 

Before  I  quit,  I  must  report  another  very 
interesting  fact  learned  by  friend  Hitt.  He 
said  that  several  years  ago  there  were  forty 
acres  of  alsike  clover  four  miles  from  his  bee 
yard  and  that  his  bees  made  thirty  pounds 
of  fine  comb  honey  per  colony  from  it  in 
two  weeks.  I  asked  how  he  knew  the  honey 
was  made  from  that  field.  Well,  said  he,  "  I 
do  not  })osifively  know  that  they  did  ;  but  at 
daylight  the  bees  would  fly  in  immense  num- 
bers in  that  direction,  would  keep  returning 
from  the  same  direction  until  dark,  the  clo- 
ver was  full  of  bees  and  there  were  no  other 
colonies  of  any  account  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, the  honey  flow  in  my  yard  stopped 
when  the  clover  was  cut,  and  it  seemed  rea- 
sonable that  they  got  the  honey  from  that 
field  of  alsike,  as  there  was  nO  other  visible 
supply." 

FoBESTViLLE,  Minn.  April  G,  1893, 


^V^^V^J 


Experiments  to   Test  the  Blast  of  Smokers, 

S.  COBNEIL. 

'■  It  cannot   be,  and  yet  it  is." 

TN  making  tests  to 
X  determine  the  rel- 
ative strength  of  the 
blast  in  different 
smokers,  a  principal 
object  I  had  in  view 
was  to  ascertain 
which  gives  the 
stronger  blast,  a 
smoker  having  an 
open  space  between 
the  exit  tube  in  the 
bellows  and  the  fire 
barrel,  giving  an  induced  current,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Bingham,  or  one  in  which  the 
current  of  air  passes  through  an  enclosed 
passage  from  the  bellows  to  the  fire  barrel, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Crane.  In  favor  of  the 
latter  method  it  is  contended  that  all  the  air 
driven  from  the  bellows  passes  through  the 
fuel,  without  any  part  of  it  being  lost  by  a 
reverse  current,  and  that  this  quantity  of 
air  will  give  a  stronger  blast,  and  therefore 
more  smoke,  than  can  be  obtained  in  any 
other  way.  Mr.  Root  says  that  on  account 
of  the   "  cut  off  "  in  the  Bingham,  the  blast 


is  considerably  weakened,  and  Mr.  Bingham 
does  not  deny  the  accuracy  of  his  statement. 
It  is  contended  by  others,  however,  that 
smokers  of  the  Bingham  pattern  have  a 
stronger  blast  in  consequence  of  the  large 
quantity  of  air  induced  to  join  the  current  as 
it  passes  from  the  bellows  through  an  open 
space  into  a  larger  tube  behind  the  fuel, 
even  though  a  portion  of  the  air  under  pres- 
sure in  the  air  chamber  "bounds  back,"  as 
it  certainly  does,  when  the  barrel  is  charged 
with  very  closely  packed  fuel. 

Mr.  Hutchinson,  of  the  Review,  kindly 
furnished  me  with  a  Crane  smoker  and  a 
Bingham  smoker,  both  being  of  the  same 
capacity  in  every  respect,  and  I  made  one  of 
my  own  of  the  same  size  as  the  other  two. 
Mine  differs  from  the  Bingham  in  having  a 
double  "  cut  off,"  that  is,  the  air  passes  from 
the  exit  tube  in  the  bellows,  through  an  open 
space  into  a  larger  tube  attached  to  the  leg, 
and  from  this  tube  through  another  open 
space  into  a  still  larger  tube,  which  extends 
into  the  fire  barrel  about  half  its  diameter, 
preventing  the  possibility  of  ashes  or  cinders 
falling  into  the  bellows.  The  fire  barrel  is 
supported  on  legs  two  and  a  quarter  inches 
above  the  bellows,  about  an  inch  higher  Mian 
in  the  case  of  the  Bingham. 

The  fire  barrels  were  all  new  and  clean.  I 
removed  the  barrels  and  tested  the  bellows 
for  leakages.  The  Bingham  and  my  own 
were  air  tight,  and  after  making  some  little 
repairs  the  Crane  was  air  tight  also,  except 
at  the  junction  of  the  air  passage  in  the 
checkvalve  with  the  covered  passage  to  the 
fire  barrel.  At  thi?  point  there  is  a  little 
leakage  which  I  could  not  see  any  way  to 
prevent. 

Instead  of  testing  the  Crane  against  the 
other  two  to  decide  the  merits  of  the  en- 
closed current  as  against  the  induced  cur- 
rent, I  decided  to  temporarily  convert  the 
Bingham  and  my  own  into  enclosed  current 
smokers,  by  connecting  the  bellows  with  the 
fire  barrels  by  means  of  tubes  well  cemented 
at  both  ends  ;  and  after  testing  them  in  this 
way,  removing  the  tubes,  and  testing  them 
as  induced  currents  smokers,  all  the  other 
conditions,  as  to  capacity  and  obstructions, 
being  the  same  for  both  tests.  By  placing 
the  hand  over  the  mouth  of  the  fire  barrel, 
and  pressing  the  Ijellows,  I  found  that,  after 
the  tubes  were  cemented,  I  had  two  air  tight 
smokers,  having  enclosed  currents. 

It  has  been  contended  that,  in  order  to 
have  a  fair  test,   the  fire  barrel  should  be 


132 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


filled  with  planer  shavings.  To  overcome 
the  diflBculty  of  packing  three  fire  barrels 
equally  tight,  I  made  a  cylinder  of  wire 
cloth,  four  meshes  to  the  inch,  and  over  one 
end  I  sewed  on  a  cap  of  eight  meshes,  to  pre- 
vent the  fuel  from  wasting.  I  then  put  in 
basswood  planer  shavings,  packing  them 
down  with  the  handle  of  a  hammer,  till  it 
was  within  half  an  inch  of  being  full.  In 
correspondence  with  Mr.  Crane  he  expressed 
the  opinion  that  his  smoker  would  give  a 
stronger  blast  through  a  charge  of  fuel,  par- 
ticularly if  there  happened  to  be  a  layer  of 
spent  fuel  on  the  grate.  To  get  a  layer,  of- 
fering an  obstruction  equal  to  this  layer  of 
spent  fuel,  I  first  laid  a  large  piece  of  cheese 
cloth  over  the  shavings  in  the  cylinder,  and 
on  this  I  packed  enough  fine  sawdust,  from 
beneath  the  table  of  my  foot  power  saw,  to 
fill  the  cylinder.  I  next  doubled  over  several 
thicknesses  of  cheese  cloth,  and  over  all  I 
sewed  on  a  grate,  having  legs  as  in  the  Bing- 
ham. To  make  the  cylinder  a  tight  fit  in  the 
fire  barrels  I  wrapped  around  it,  an^  sewed 
fast  some  four  or  five  thicknesses  of  cheese 
cloth,  making  it  so  tight  that  it  required 
considerable  pressure  to  send  it  down  in  the 
barrels,  and  requiring  a  bail  to  draw  it  out. 

In  my  experiments  I  first  put  this  cylinder 
in  one  barrel  and  noted  the  result.  I  then 
withdrew  it  and  placed  it  in  another  barrel, 
and  so  on.  In  this  way  I  had  exactly  the 
same  obstruction  in  each  case. 

I  wish  to  say  in  passing  that  I  now  think  I 
overdid  the  matter  in  packing  the  fuel  so 
tight.  I  believe  that  an  examination  of  the 
cylinder,  now  in  Mr.  Hutchinson's  posses- 
sion, will  show  that  the  obstruction  is  greater 
than  ever  occurs  in  practical  work.  In  con- 
sequence, the  Bingham  smoker  and  my  own, 
which  had  most  to  lose  by  a  reverse  current, 
showed  up  to  worse  advantage  than  they 
would  have  done  with  an  ordinary  charge. 

To  enable  me  to  hold  the  nozzles  firmly  at 
the  same  distance  from  the  instrument,  I 
bored  a  hole  in  a  board  to  take  the  nozzles, 
and  nailed  the  board  to  brackets,  so  that  I 
could  fasten  it  down  on  edge. 

With  these  preparations  I  went  to  Toronto 
and  was  fortunate  in  there  meeting  with  Mr. 
Gemmill,  president  of  the  O.  B.  A.,  who 
kindly  assisted  me  in  the  experiments,  which 
lasted  over  two  hours.  I  am  under  obliga- 
tions to  Messrs.  Smead,  David  A  Co.,  for  the 
use  of  their  anemometer. 

After  some  preliminary  trials  we  decided 
that   after  each   stroke    of  the  bellows   we 


would  wait  till  the  force  came  to  a  dead  stop 
before  giving  another  puff,  and  that  in  each 
experiment  one  of  us  should  give  four  puffs, 
and  note  the  result,  then  the  other  four  puffs, 
and  note  the  result  again.  The  figures  be- 
low show  the  distance  travelled  by  the  indi- 
cator as  the  result  of  four  puffs  on  the  fan. 

EXPERIMENT  NO.  1. 

Enclosed  currents  in  each  smoker.  Empty 
fire  barrels.     Distance  from  anemometer  17 

inches. 

Operated  by  Operated  by 

Smoker                Cornell.  Gemmill.        Ave. 

Bingham   18  21               19'/j 

(liane    10  12              11 

Curneil 36  36               36 

BXPEBIMENT  NO.  2. 

Enclosed  current.  Fire  barrels  loaded. 
Distance  12  inches. 

Operated  by    Operated  by 

Smoker.  Cornell.  Gemmill.  Ave. 

Bingham 16  18  17 

Crane M  10  10 

Cornell 30  30  30 

EXPERIMENT  NO.  3. 

Bingham  and  Cornell  smokers  with  in- 
duced currents,  the  connecting  tubes  being 
now  removed.  The  Crane  as  before.  Fire 
barrels  empty.     Distance  17  inches. 

Operated  by  Operated  by 

Smoker.               Corneil.  Gemmill,  Ave. 

Bingham  28  22  25 

Crane 11  10  ^QV^ 

Corneil     52  50  51 

EXPERIMENT  NO.  4. 

Air  currents  same  as  in  No.  3.  Fire  bar- 
rels loaded.     Distance  17  inches. 

Operated  by    Operated  by 
Smoker.  Corneil.  Gemmill.       Ave. 

Bingham 10  10  10 

Crane 6  7  6'/i 

Corneil  12  12  12 

Comparing  the  average  in  No.  1  with  the 
average  in  No.  3  we  have 

Enclosed        Induced 
currents,      currents. 

Bingham  IS'i  25 

Crane .11  — 

('orneil  '^  51 

Unfortunately  through  an  oversight,  which 
I  did  not  discover  till  after  I  returned  home, 
experiments  Nos.  2  and  4  were  conducted  at 
different  distances.  On  this  account  we 
cannot  make  an  accurate  comparisou  in  the 
case  of  the  Bingham  and  the  Corneil 
smokers,  with  enclosed  and  induced  cur- 
rents, when  the  barrels  were  loaded.  I  re- 
gret this  very  much.  The  Crane  was  in  the  X 
same  condition  in  both  experiments,  except  M 
as  to  distance.  At  12  inches  the  distance 
travelled  by  the  indicator  is  represented  by 
10  (see  experiment  2),  and  at  17  it  is  G)^ 
(see  experiment  4).  Supposing  the  results 
in  the  cases  of  the  other   two  smokers  to    M 

J 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


133 


vary  in  the  same  proportion  as  they  did  in 
the  case  of  the  Crane,  the  result  of  experi- 
ment No.  4  at  12  inches  would  have  been  as 
follows : 

Bingham 15  5-13 

Crane 10 

Cornell ...18  6-13 

Substituting  these  figures  for  those  in  No. 
4,  and  comparing  Nos.  2  and  4,  we  have 

Enclosed  Induced 

current,  current. 

Bingham  17  15  5-13 

Crane 10  — 

Cornell 30  18  613 

The  foregoing  experiments  show  that,  with 
fire  barrels  loaded  with  very  closely  packed 
fuel,  the  induced  current  is  weaker  in  the 
Bingham  and  in  the  Cornell  smoker  than  it 
is  in  the  same  smokers  with  an  enclosed  cur- 
rent, such  as  these  smokers  had  had  ;  and  it 
shows  that  the  enclosed  current  in  the  Crane 
smoker  is  weaker  than  either  the  induced  or 
enclosed  current  in  the  other  two  smokers. 
How  much  of  this  weakness  should  be  at- 
tached to  the  slight  leakage  above  mentioned 
it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that,  considering  the  expenditure  of  force 
required  to  open  the  checkvalve,  and  the 
loss  through  friction  in  a  long  air  passage, 
and  in  turning  a  right  angle,  it  is  not  possi- 
ble to  construct  a  Crane  smoker,  having  a 
blast  as  strong  as  that  of  the  Bingham,  when 
each  is  loaded  with  an  ordinary  charge  of 
fuel.  The  experiments  show  also  that  in 
every  case  the  blast  in  the  Cornell  smoker  is 
stronger  than  it  is  in  either  of  the  others. 
The  greatest  volume  of  smoke  necessarily 
accompanies  the  strongest  blast,  when  the 
fuel  is  properly  managed. 

The  relative  strength  of  the  blast  of  two 
smokers  may  be  tested  approximately,  with- 
out an  instrument,  by  placing  a  handful  of 
heavy  tacks  or  light  wire  nails  on  a  table  and 
blowing  upon  them  with  one  of  the  smokers, 
at  such  a  distance  that  the  current  will  dis- 
turb them  just  a  little.  Then  try  placing 
the  nozzle  of  the  other  smoker  at  the  same 
point,  and  blowing,  it  can  easily  be  seen 
which  blast  is  the  stronger 

The  three  smokers  and  the  cylinder  of 
fuel,  just  as  they  were,  when  I  made  them, 
are  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  W.  Z. 
Hutchinson,  of  the  Review,  who,  I  am  sure, 
will  willingly  lend  them  to  anyone  wishing 
to  repeat  my  experiments. 

Lindsay.  Ont.  April  G,  1898. 

[After  reading  Mr.  Corueil's  article  I  was 
quite  a  little  puzzled  to  comprehend  ivhy 
there  should  be  so  much  difference  between 


the  Cornell  and  Bingham  smokers  when  both 
wore  used  with  enclosed  currents.  Both  had 
the  same  size  of  bellows  and  fire  barrel,  and 
with  a  tube  passing  from  the  bellows  to  the 
fire  barrel  it  seemed  to  me  that  they  were 
exactly  identical.  There  was  only  one  point 
in  which  I  could  conceive  that  there  might 
be  a  difference,  and  that  was  in  the  size  of 
the  openings  for  the  blast  to  leave  the  bel- 
lows. I  wrote  to  Mr.  Cornell  for  an  expla- 
nation, and  found  it  was  as  I  suspected.  It 
is  impossible  to  give  Mr.  Cornell's  explana- 
tion in  full  in  this  issue,  although  I  may  do 
so  at  some  future  time,  but  I  will  try  and 
give  the  gist  of  it.  Among  other  things  he 
said : 

"  The  tube  in  the  Cornell  bellows  is  42-100 
of  an  inch  in  diameter.  I  have  not  meas- 
ured the  tube  in  the  Bingham  so  accurately, 
but  I  believe  it  is  about  5-lG,  making  a  dif- 
ference of  less  than  1-8  of  an  inch  in  the  size 
of  the  tubes.  *  *  *  *  I  do  not  believe 
that  delivering  a  bellows  full  of  air  against 
the  fan  in  the  time  required  by  the  Cornell, 
instead  of  the  longer  time  required  by  the 
Bingham,  affords  a  complete  explanation. 
When  testing  the  smokers  for  leakages,  I 
found  that  if  the  pressure  was  continued  and 
the  vent  kept  closed,  only  a  short  time  was 
required  to  close  the  bellows,  although  there 
was  no  perceptible  escape  of  air.  The  air 
must  escape  through  the  walls  of  the  bellows. 
Since  the  time  required  for  discharging  the 
air  of  the  Bingham  bellows  is  greater,  a  cor- 
respondingly greater*  proportion  of  the  air 
would  escape  through  the  walls  of  the  bel- 
lows. *  *  *  *  In  using  the  size  of  tube 
that  I  did  it  never  occurred  to  me  that  its 
differing  in  size  from  that  of  the  Bingham 
would  effect  the  result,  but  I  can  see  that  a 
blast  might  be  reduced,  by  using  a  small 
vent,  to  such  a  state  of  attenuation  that  it 
would  not  reach  the  fan  at  all,  at  17  inches, 
but  would  be  overcome  by  the  resistance  of 
the  air  between  the  nozzle  and  the  instru- 
ment. To  a  slight  degree  the  Bingham  blast 
may  be  affected  in  this  way,  but  it  is  hard  to 
believe  that  it  accounts  for  the  whole  of  it. 

*  *  *  *  There  is  now  an  element  of 
uncertainty  as  to  how  much  I  gain  by  my 
induced  currents.  I  may  try  the  whole  thing 
over  again.  You  see  when  we  commence  to 
experiment  we  never  know  what  may  be  re- 
vealed." 

When  I  met  Mr.  Bingham  last  winter  at 
our  Michigan  State  convention,  we  talked 
smokers  long  if  not  loud,  and  he  called  my 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  size  of  the  vent 
in  his  smoker  bellows  was  the  result  of  care- 
ful experiments.  If  smaller  than  it  is,  the 
blast  would  be  too  weak  ;  if  larger,  it  would 
be  so  strong  that  fire  and  sparks  would  be 
driven  out  at  the  nozzle.  The  present  size  is 
the  "golden  mean." 

Of  course,  the  true  test  of  a  smoker  is  ac- 
tual work  in  the  apiary.     If  it  suits  there,  if 


134 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


it  does  the  work  with  the  greatest  satisfac- 
tion, that  is  the  smoker  that  is  wanted.  At 
the  same  time,  when  it  is  asserted  that  such 
and  such  a  smoker  has  the  strongest  blast,  it 
is  only  by  such  tests  as  Mr.  Corneil  has  taken 
the  trouble  to  make  that  the  truth  can  be 
known.  I  sincerely  hope  that  Mr.  Corneil 
will  repeat  his  experiments,  and  that  he  will 
guard  against  every  possible  uncertainty. 
It  may  seem  unimportant,  but  I  think  the 
smokers  ought  all  to  be  new  throughout.  I 
presume  that  Mr.  Root  would  be  glad  to 
furnish  a  new  Crane  made  exactly  the  size 
that  is  needed  to  compete  fairly  with  the 
others. — Ed.] 


How  California   Bee-Keepers  Might  Secure 
Better  Prices  for  Their  Honey. 

"  KAMBLEK." 

"Through  wiMlom  is  a  house  buildert  ;  and  by 
understanding  it  is  established." 

¥HILE  the 
questions 
of  the  best 
bees,  the  best 
all  purpose 
hives  and  the 
best  bee  pas- 
turage are  agi- 
tating the  best 
thoughts  of 
the  California 
bee  -  keepers, 
there  is  the  still  greater  question  of  the  most 
profitable  marketing  of  the  product,  which 
not  only  interests  California  bee-keepers, 
but  all  bee-keepers  as  well.  The  first  400 
lbs.  of  honey  obtained  in  California  sold  for 
%lJ^Q  to  .$'2.00  per  lb.  This  was  comb  honey 
and  obtained  in  not  particularly  fancy  style, 
the  mere  fact  that  it  was  comb  honey  and 
of  limited  amount  boomed  the  price. 

The  rapid  increase  of  bees,  however,  soon 
enabled  the  producer  to  ship  honey  to  the 
eastern  markets,  and  in  V>TA  the  first  full  car 
load  was  sent  across  the  continent. 

The  first  shipments  of  honey  resulted  in 
good  profits  to  the  producer.  California 
honey  was  a  novelty  to  eastern  people.  The 
amount  was  limited  and  the  price  had  an  up- 
ward tendency.  Larger  shipments,  however, 
had  a  tendency  to  equalize  the  markets, 
though  up  to  the  time  of  the  introduction  of 


the  honey  extractor,  it  is  claimed  that  the 
California  comb  honey  shipments  were 
highly  remunerative,  and  many  of  the  older 
bee-keepers  regret  that  the  extractor  was 
ever  introduced,  claiming  that  when  extract- 
ed honey  was  sold  on  the  coast  at  3  and  3)^ 
cents  per  lb.  that  it  in  like  manner  deteri- 
orated the  price  of  comb  honey.  The  ex- 
tractor is,  however,  i^  the  field  to  stay  and 
the  distribution  of  our  honey  at  a  fair  price 
is  the  problem. 

The  same  problem  of  distribution  and  sale 
at  remunerative  prices  confronts  the  fruit 
grower,  and  more  intensely,  from  the  fact 
that  the  product  is  increasing  rapidly  every 
year,  and  when  shipped  direct  from  the  tree 
or  vine  it  is  of  a  perishable,  nature.  The 
distribution,  like  that  of  honey,  has  been 
through  commission  houses.  The  results, 
too,  are  not  wholly  satisfactory  and  new 
methods  are  sought  after.  Along  these  lines 
fruit  and  honey  have  a  common  interest, 
and  the  plans  that  will  benefit  the  fruit 
grower  will  also  benefit  the  honey  producer. 

Fruits  and  honey  have  heretofore  been 
massed  in  large  quantities  in  a  few  trade 
centers  from  which  distribution  takes  place 
with  all  of  its  attendant  good  and  many  evils, 
when  applied  particularly  to  honey.  As  the 
production  becomesgreater,  radic  1  changes 
in  methods  of  distribution  become  a  neces- 
sity and  several  plans  are  outlined  by  fruit 
growers.  They  consist  mainly  in  sending 
fruits  in  car  lots  to  the  large  cities  to  be  dis- 
tributed direct  to  the  consumer  by  salesmen 
and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  advertise  the  sec- 
tion of  country  from  which  the  fruit  is  ship- 
ped. These  plans  if  carried  out  in  our  large 
trade  centers  would  result  in  antagonizing 
the  commission  men,  and  there  might  be  a 
rivalry  that  would  defeat  the  end  sought  for. 
A  better  plan,  it  seems  to  me,  would  be  to 
combine  interests  and  ship  car  load  lots  of 
fruits,  nuts  and  honey  to  the  smaller  towns 
that  are  not  likely  to  be  supplied  and  instead 
of  working  from  the  center  out  and  com- 
peting with  the  commission  men,  work  from 
the  circumference  toward  the  center  and 
thus  between  the  commission  houses  and 
this  plan  the  whole  country  would  be  cover- 
ed. The  mure  of  our  products  we  could  sell 
to  the  outlying  towns  would  so  far  relieve 
the  pressure  upon  the  great  centers  of  dis- 
tribution and  better  prices  would  be  sure  to 
follow. 

The  success  of  this  plan  when  applied  to 
the  distribution  of  honey  would  necessitate 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


135 


a  radical  change  in  the  style  of  package,  es- 
pecially for  extracted  honey.  While  the  GO 
lb.  can  is  the  standard  for  wholesale  ship- 
ments from  California,  smaller  packages  of 
ten  and  five  lbs.  would  have  to  be  used.  In 
this  matter  of  distribution  in  small  pack- 
ages we  have  a  very  good  example  in  the  way 
maple  syrup  is  put  upon  the  market,  and  of 
small  packages  for  honey  I  find  California 
remarkably  free.  A  small  stantard  pack- 
age for  this  State  and  the  sale  propdrly 
pushed  would  result  in  a  large  home  demand 
for  our  proauct. 

The  small  package  in  connection  with  the 
larger  wholesale  package  would  give  our 
product  a  wider  application  in  trade  and 
would  enable  the  producer  to  sell  his  honey 
direct  to  the  consumer  under  his  own  label 
or  trade  mark.  If  bee-keepers  themselves 
would  put  their  honey  upon  the  market  in 
this  way  instead  of  allowing  the  adulterator 
to  repack  it  for  him,  there  would  be  less  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  honey  markets. 

In  studying  the  fruit  and  bee-keeping  in- 
dustries of  California  and  comparing  their 
past  history,  present  condition  and  future 
prospects,  I  believe  that  the  bee-keeper  has 
less  external  obstacjes  to  contend  with  than 
the  fruit  grower.  Fruit  production  is  enor- 
mously on  the  increase  and  a  greater  amount 
is  thrown  upon  the  market  every  year.  Hon- 
ey production  on  the  other  hand  fluctuates, 
and  if  the  production  has  not  already  at- 
tained its  highest  point  it  will  do  so  in  the 
near  future  unless  a  cultivated  honey  plant 
comes  to  the  front.  The  sterile  mountains 
do  not  yield  honey  in  amount  equal  to  the 
fertile  valleys,  and  the  rank  growth  of  hon- 
ey plants  in  the  valleys,  where  our  tons  of 
honey  have  been  distilled,  is  being  rolled 
under  by  the  plow  of  the  home-seeker,  and 
the  bee-keeper  is  compelled  to  fold  his  tent 
and  depart. 

The  proper  distribution  of  honey  is  not 
only  of  vital  interest  to  the  California  bee- 
keeper, but  it  has  an  equal  bearing  upon  the 
eastern  producer.  It  is  a  well  known  fact 
that  towns  of  10,000  population  and  under, 
that  are  remote  from  the  great  centers  of 
distribution,  seldom  have  upon  their  mar- 
kets honey  from  California.  It  is  also  a  fact 
that  thousands  of  towns  of  5,000  population 
and  less  are  inadequately  supplied  with  hon- 
ey of  any  kind. 

The  first  movement  then  toward  the  de- 
velopment of  a  new  and  better  method  of 
distribution  and  sale  is  a  thorough  organiza- 


tion of  bee-keepers ;  next  is  the  working  up 
of  the  home  markets ;  next  the  outlying 
unsupplied  markets ;  these  points  attended 
to,  the  great  centers  will  take  care  of  them- 
selves. At  this  stage  of  bee-keeping  it  is 
time  to  give  the  problem  of  distribution 
more  attention.  Let  us  heed  the  signs  of  the 
times  and  be  up  and  doing. 

Rambler. 
Redlands,  Cal.  March  16,  1893. 


Criticisms  on  the  B.   Taylor   Plan   of   Pre- 
venting Swarming  and  the  Offering 
of  a  Substitnte. 

H.  P.  LANGDON.  * 

J^nHAT  bees  can 
iT  be  worked  as 
commoners  with- 
out fighting  a  s 
Mr.  B.  Taylor  says 
en  page  71  March 
Review,  is  a  set- 
tled fact,  and 
thereon  hinges 
the  key  to  the  im- 
portant question 
of  non-swarming. 
Mr.  Taylor  says 
he  sometimes  had  great  loss  of  unsealed 
brood  by  exposure  in  trying  to  work  two  col- 
onies together.  This  has  not  been  my  ex- 
perience in  running  bees  from  one  hive  to 
another ;  but  supposing  this  does  occur,  why 
is  it  any  worse  than  caging  or  removing  the 
queen  entirely  for  two  or  three  weeks  at  the 
beginning  of  the  honey  season,  as  do 
Manum,  Elwood,  Hetherington  and  a  score 
f  other  head  lights  ?   They  claim  it  to  be  an 

*  Herbert  P.  Langdon  is  30  years  of  age  and  has 
always  lived  in  Constable,  his  native  town.  His 
father  and  grandfather,  who  were  farmers,  hav- 
ing kept  a  few  bees,  and  he.  being  more  of  a 
mechanical  turn  of  mind,  than  a  "born  farmer," 
became  interested  in  them,  and  when  they  finally 
got  down  to  one  swarm  "' fnssed  "  it  to  death. 
In  1882  his  father  purchased  him  eight  colonies, 
from  which  he  has  increased  to  175,  and  in  1892, 
just  over  the  Canadian  line  where  his  out-apiary 
was  located  in  1890,  he  built  the  largest  house 
apiary  in  the  world.  Bees  have  been  the  means 
o'  bringing  him  the  greatest  hajjpiness  of  his 
life,  as  they  have  some  other  bee-keepers,  for  he 
was  married  to  the  daughter  of  a  prosperous 
Scotch  Canadian  farmer  in  1892,  and  an  acquain- 
tance comically  said  :  "  What  is  the  difference 
between  Sampson  and  'Herb.'  Langdon?  One 
found  the  honey  while  he  was  going  to  see  his 
best  girl,  while  the  other  found  his  best  girl 
while  going  to  see  to  his  honey."  He  was  elected 
and  ordained  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  the  early  age  of  26. 


136 


TBE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


advantage  and  prove  it,  too,  by  their  honey 
yields.  To  the  idea  of  unqueeuing  I  was 
converted  almost  against  my  will  by  an  im- 
partial trial  of  it.  I  thought  the  queen,  like 
an  engine  in  a  shop,  must  be  kept  going  ; 
but,  like  friend  Taylor,  I  have  been  looking 
for  something  better  than  hunting  queens 
and  cutting  cells. 

I  have  no  doubt  the  plan  outlined  by  the 
use  of  the  double  hives  will  work,  as  far  as 
non-swarming  is  concerned,  provided  the 
cells  a7-e  cut  once  a  week,  but,  according  to 
my  experience,  there  are  objections  that  will 
make  it  impracticable. 

A  double  hive  need  not  be  used  for  a  trial 
of  this  :  simply  place  two  hives  side  by  side 
with  both  entrances  in  front.  Before  swarm- 
ing time  comes,  turn  one  hive  with  the  en- 
trance to  the  rear.  This  throws  the  flying 
bees  into  the  other  hive,  which  holds  the 
supers  for  the  two  hives.  One  week  later 
turn  the  reversed  hive  back  to  the  front,  cut 
out  cells,  if  any,  shift  the  supers  to  this  hive 
and  turn  the  entrance  of  the  other  hive  from 
front  to  back. 

So  far,  this  maybe  all  right,  as  friend  Tay- 
lor says,  but  a  week  after  this,  when  the  shift 
is  again  made,  the  trouble  begins  ;  for  dur- 
ing these  two  weeks  a  force  of  bees  nearly  as 
strong  in  numbers  as  those  in  front,  and  be- 
ing constantly  added  to,  have  become  located 
at  the  rear  of  the  hives,  and  they  simply 
jump  from  each  closed  hive — which  holds  the 
supers — to  the  other  with  their  loads  of  hon- 
ey, just  where  they  are  not  wanted. 

In  fact,  they  act  just  like  a  "teeter  board," 
for  while  the  force  in  front  jumps  from  one 
hive  to  the  other,  following  the  supers,  the 
rear  force  also  jumps  to  the  hive  just  re- 
versed, thus  keeping  the  hives  equalized 
with  bees  cocked  and  primed  for  swarming, 
which  is  only  prevented  by  cutting  out  cells 
at  each  transfer  of  supers.  The  rear  force 
is  also  storing  honey  all  this  time  in  the 
brood  combs,  instead  of  the  supers  on  the 
hive  from  which  they  are  excluded. 

However,  the  working  of  two  whole  forces 
of  bees  in  the  same  super  is  a  grand  good 
one. 

There  are  also  good  points  in  favor  of  self- 
hivers  mentioned  in  the  same  number,  if 
nothing  better  could  take  their  place,  but 
as  has  been  said  by  some  one  in  the  journals. 
"  No  self-hiver  will  be  a  success,  that  catches 
the  queen  and  allows  the  swarm  to  go  into 
the  air  and  return  to  any  hive  they  choose." 
This   is   self-evident   from   the  fact,  that. 


sometimes,  in  a  large  yard,  half  a  dozen 
swarms  seem  determined  to  enter  the  same 
hive  on  returning.    This  is  my  experience. 

Dr.  C.  C.  Miller  said  in  one  of  his  late 
"Straws"  in  Gleanings,  ih&t  I  had  a  plan 
whereby  bees  had  not  even  the  desire  to 
swarm,  and  said  the  "proof  of  the  pudding 
was  in  the  eating."  So  I  have,  and  I  ate 
quite  a  slice  of  this  "pudding"  last  season 
in  the  shape  of  an  extended  trial  of  100  colo- 
nies, so  I  know  whereof  I  speak.  There  are  no 
hives  moved,  no  queens  hunted,  no  cells  cut 
out,  no  combs  handled  or  even  the  opening 
of  brood  chambers — and  all  this  without  dis- 
couraging the  bees.  It  meets  the  require- 
ments of  the  editorial  on  page  :%!,  Novem- 
ber, 1892,  more  fully — especially  when  com- 
bined with  the  house-apiary — than  any  other 
invention  in  apiculture  since  the  frame  hive 
came  into  use. 

East  Constable,  N.  Y.        March  28,  '93. 

[For  a  description  of  the  non-swarming 
arrangement  referred  to  by  Mr.  Langdon, 
see  the  "Extracted  Department." — Ed.] 

Vital  Points  in  the   Construction  of  Honey 

Extractors. — How  They  May  be  Reversed 

While  in  Motion. 

E.  A.  DAGGITT. 

fN  this  age  of  advancement,  no  progres- 
sive bee-keeper  will  remove  the  honey 
from  the  combs  in  the  old  antiquated 
way  of  crushing  the  combs  and  draining  and 
straining  out  the  honey,  often  giving  a  com- 
posite product  of  honey  and  bee-bread,  to 
which  is  sometimes  added  the  juice  of  crush- 
ed bee-larva  and  wax  worms.  Even  if  these 
objections  did  not  exist,  the  waste  of  val- 
uable comb  would  be  both  foolish  and  ex- 
travagant. An  extractor  will,  of  course,  be 
used  for  the  purpose,  for  by  a  proper  use  of 
it  we  save  the  combs  and  get  only  pure 
honey, 

This  machine  should  be  strong  and  dura- 
ble and  as  light  as  possible  consistent  with 
these  necessities.  It  should  do  its  work  with 
eificiency  and  rapidity.  The  tendency  in 
getting  up  this  machine  has  been  in  the 
direction  of  cheapness  rather  than  utility. 
This  is  a  mistake,  for  it  should  be  as  per- 
fect in  its  sphere  as  a  locomotive  in  its. 

Since  its  invention  the  extractor  has  been 
greatly   improved,  but  ample   room   is  left 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


137 


for  still  further  improvement.  Indeed  I  am 
confident  that  it  can  be  so  far  improved,  that 
its  capacity  can  be  almost  if  not  quite 
doubled,  and  at  the  same  time  be  more  easily 
operated.  How  it  can  be  improved  I  will 
endeavor  to  show,  but  before  doing  so  I  wish 
to  call  attention  to  two  of  the  most  impor- 
tant improvements  in  it, 

The  first  is  the  invention  of  a  reel  without 
a  shaft,  that  revolves  on  gudgeons,  as  in  the 
duplex  and  hollow  reels  of  the  U.  S.  honey 
extractor,  and  that  allows  the  combs  to  be 
reversed  without  removing  them  from  the 
reel ;  and,  second,  the  invention  of  the  re- 
versible extractor  that  reverses  the  combs 
without  handling  them.  If  the  first  has  not 
been  as  successful  as  it  should  have  been,  it 
is  because  it  has  not  been  properly  made 
and  put  on  the  market,  aud  shows  that  it  is 
not  best  for  any  one  person  to  have  a  monop- 
oly of  manufacture  and  sale  of  any  one  ar- 
ticle. 

The  oldest  invention  of  a  reversible  ex- 
tractor that  I  ever  saw,  was  in  the  American 
Agriculturalist  of  about  1S73.  I  believe  the 
time  will  come  when  all  extractors  will  be 
reversible  and  those  for  small  honey  pro- 
ducers will  also  embody  the  hollow  reel 
principle. 

Extractors  should  be  neatly  finished  and 
attractive.  They  should  be  strong  and  dura- 
ble, yet  as  light  as  possible  without  sacrific- 
ing these  necessities.  A  stand  should  con- 
stitute a  part  of  every  extractor.  The  reel 
shaft  should  run  down  through  the  stand 
and  have  its  lower  boxes  attached  to  it.  In 
large  extractors  at  least,  there  should  be  at- 
tached to  the  stand  a  frame  work  to  support 
the  standard  or  cross  bar  that  contains  the 
upper  reel  box.  This  arrangement  takes  all 
strain  from  the  can  as  it  should  be,  and  al- 
lows it  to  sit  in  loose. 

The  gearing  to  revolve  the  reel  should 
have  the  crank  at  the  side  of  the  machine. 
The  crank  should  be  slip-geared  with  its 
shaft,  and  should  move  in  a  vertical  plane. 
The  rest  of  the  gearing  may  be  at  the  top  of 
the  machine, 'but  I  think  it  best  to  have  it  at 
the  bottom  and  sides — horizontal  shaft  and 
spur  gear  at  the  bottom  and  sprocket  wheels 
and  chain  belt  at  the  sides. 

The  brake  should  be  applied  directly  to 
the  reel  shaft  or  an  enlargement  of  it,  at  the 
bottom.  It  may  be  a  simple  lever  operated 
by  the  foot,  the  small  arm  pressing  against 
the  shaft.  It  would  be  better  to  use  two  such 
levers  placed  horizontally  with  each  other 


and  have  their  longer  arms  pressed  apart  by 
a  toggle  joint,  while  the  small  arms  grasp 
the  shaft. 

The  reel  should  be  stiff  and  strong  and 
made  of  steel.  The  material  should  be  put 
in  such  forms  as  will  give  the  greatest 
strength  with  the  least  amount  of  material, 
so  as  to  secure  lightness.  The  proper  work- 
ing of  the  machine  depends  more  on  this 
part  than  on  any  other.  That  I  may  be  more 
clearly  understood  hereafter,  I  will  say  that 
by  reel,  I  mean  the  whole  revolving  frame 
work  which  carries  the  combs,  and  its  at- 
tachments within  the  can ;  in  a  complete 
reel  consisting  of  shaft,  or  gudgeons  as  in 
hollow  reels,  a  top  and  bottom  horizontal 
frame  work,  which  for  convenience  I  will 
call  spiders,  posts  or  uprights,  comb  baskets 
or  pockets,  and  reversing  aparatus  when  the 
machine  is  reversible.  The  parts  of  a  spi- 
der are  :  hub,  spokes  or  arms,  and  side  bar. 

The  most  important  improvement  yet  to 
be  made  in  the  extractor  is  the  addition  of  a 
device  for  reversing  the  combs  while  the 
reel  is  in  full  motion  or  nearly  so.  This  im- 
provement would  so  increase  the  capacity  of 
the  extractor  that  few  bee-keepers  will  re- 
quire a  larger  one  than  a  four  frame,  and  I 
think  it  can  be  added  to  the  machine  without 
much  increasing  its  cost.  An  illustration  of 
such  a  device  is  given  in  the  leader  on  the 
present  topic  in  the  last  issue  of  the  Review. 
The  device  shown  is  what  I  call  the  horizon- 
tal shaft  device.  The  principle  on  which  it 
works  is  shown  by  the  engraving  and  the  ex- 
planations of  it  in  the  leader,  but  not  as 
clearly  as  it  should  be ;  so  I  will  try  and 
make  the  matter  plainer.  A  round  collar 
should  have  been  shown  on  the  reel  shaft 
and  the  cogged  (upright  that  gears  with  the 
spur  wheel  on  the  inner  end  of  the  horizon- 
tal shaft,  should  have  been  set  to  one  side 
and  attached  to  the  collar  by  a  flange  so  as 
to  allow  the  horizontal  shaft  to  be  set  in  line 
with  the  diameter  of  the  spider.  The  cogged 
upright  could  be  attached  directly  to  the 
collar  and  the  horizontal  shaft  set  out  of 
line  of  the  diameter  of  the  spider ,  but  such 
an  arrangement  does  not  look  so  well.  The 
collar  should  have  a  perpendicular  groove  in 
the  inside  of  it  to  receive  a  pin  attached  to 
the  reef  shaft  so  that  it  will  revolve  with  the 
shaft.  It  should  have  a  neck  to  it  above  the 
flange  and  cogged  upright.  In  this  neck 
should  be  a  horiznotal  groove  to  receive  a 
band  made  in  two  parts  and  joined  together 
at  opposite  sides  of  the  collar.    At  these  two 


138 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


points  of  junction  of  the  band  two  arms  of  a 
bar  should  be  attached.  This  bar  should  run 
up  through  the  standard  or  cross  bar  close  to 
the  horizontal  bevel  wheel  on  the  reel  shaft 
and  should  be  joined  to  the  lever  by  a  link. 
The  lever  should  be  attached  to  a  fulcrum 
that  is  rigidly  attached  to  the  standard. 

If  preferred  a  hollow  reel  shaft  can  be 
used  and  the  collar  and  its  attachments  can 
be  moved  up  and  down  by  a  core  or  rod  in 
the  shaft.  This  core  has  a  cross  pin  attach- 
ed to  it  that  passes  through  slots  in  the  reel 
shaft  and  into  the  collar.  The  core  is  joined 
to  the  reversing  lever  by  a  revolving  joint 
and  link  connection.  My  first  idea  was  to 
move  the  core  by  having  a  revolving  cap  like 
those  used  on  carpenter  braces,  attached  to 
it.  The  lever  fulcrum  and  guide  can  be  at- 
tached to  a  circular  bed  plate  that  surrounds 
the  shaft  and  is  held  in  place  by  a  collar. 
This  will  allow  the  lever  handle  to  be  placed 
in  the  position  that  best  suits  the  operator. 
The  reel  shaft  should  be  thicker  where  the 
slots  are  cut  into  it,  and  the  lower  journal 
should  be  solid  and  pass  into  the  hollow  part 
of  the  shaft.  This,  I  think,  will  make  a  nice 
arrangement,  especially  if  the  gearing  to 
give  motion  to  the  reel  is  at  the  sides  and 
bottom  of  the  machine. 

White  House  Sta.,  N.  J.      April  17,  '93. 
(To  be  continued.) 

If  the   Porter  Escape   Lacks  Capacity,  Ex- 
periments Have  Not  Proved  It, 

B.  &  E.  0.  POBTEB. 

>R.  AIKIN'S  theories  regarding  bee- 
escapes,  as  given  in  the  last  issue  of 
the  Review,  although  plausible,  as 
such,  are  not  in  accord  with  the  facts  in  the 
case  as  we  find  them  in  actual  experience. 
While,  on  first  thought,  it  seems  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  enlarging  the  exit  capacity, 
or  increasing  the  number  of  outlets  of  an 
escape,  would  proportionately  increase  the 
rapidity  of  its  working,  yet  extensive  and 
pains-taking  experiments,  made  by  our- 
selves and  others,  during  several  seasons  of 
practical  work  in  the  apiary,  with  a  view  to 
determining  this  very  question,  have  satis- 
fied us  that  nothing  is  gained  in  time  by  the 
use  of  more  than  one  properly  constructed 


Experiments  to  prove  any  thing  regard- 
ing different  forms  of  escapes  must,  neces- 
sarily, be  comparative  and  made  with  great 
care,  under  precisely  the  same  conditions,  or 
erroneous  conclusions  will  be  reached,  es- 
pecially as  there  are  so  many  influences, 
aside  from  those  any  particular  character- 
istic of  the  escapes  themselves  may  possess, 
that  have  their  effect  to  vary  the  length  of 
the  time  occupied  by  the  bees  in  passing 
through  them.  The  time  of  the  day  the  es- 
capes are  put  on,  the  state  of  the  weather, 
the  presence  or  absence  of  a  honey-flow,  the 
different  dispositions  or  traits  of  the  bees  of 
the  different  colonies,  or  whether  or  not 
they  have  unsealed  brood  or  a  queen  below, 
all  these  have  their  effect. 

Limited  tests,  made  with  but  one  form  of 
escape,  as  were  those  made  by  Mr.  Aikin, 
can  prove  nothing  regarding  any  other 
form. 

It  seems  almost  needless  to  add  that  the 
reason  the  Porter  escape,  which,  by  the  way, 
is  not,  as  some  seem  to  suppose,  merely  a 
particular  or  specific  form  of  escape,  but 
which,  on  the  contrary,  embraces  all  forms 
in  which  one  or  more  laterally  yielding  or 
leaf  springs  are  used  (see  the  Porter  patent 
application  filed  Aug.  10,  '91,  issued  Jan.  10, 
'93),  is  on  the  market  in  the  form  that  it  is, 
is  because,  after  having  been  carefully 
tested  for  an  entire  season  by  several  expert 
bee-keepers  in  a  large  number  of  different 
forms,  embracing  those  in  which  the  bees 
pass  out  under  the  springs,  those  in  which 
they  pass  out  over  them,  those  in  which  they 
pass  out  between  them,  those  in  which  they 
pass  out  between  them  and  the  sides  of  the 
escape,  those  having  exits  varying  from  one 
to  a  dozen,  and  those  in  which  perforated 
tin  was  used  for  the  tops,  also  for  both  tops 
and  bodies,  this  one  (the  one  adopted) 
proved  in  every  way  the  best.  The  univer- 
sal favor  with  which  it  has  been  received 
after  extensive  use  in  both  America  and 
Europe,  the  sale  of  thousands  with  the  priv- 
ilege of  being  returned  and  having  money 
refunded,  if,  after  trial  they  are  not  found 
superior  to  all  other  kinds  of  escapes  and 
satisfactory  in  every  way,  but  not  one  re- 
turned nor  a  word  of  complaint  from  any 
one,  and  the  scores  of  complimentary  letters 
received,  lead  us  to  think  that  we  have  made 
no  serious  mistake  in  the  matter.  Yet,  even 
this  will  not  cause  us  to  remit  our  endeavors 
to  imi)rove. 

Lewistown,  111.  April  22,  1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


139 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED    MONTHLY. 

w.  z.  HOTCHiNsofi,  ed.  &  PKop. 

Terms  :  —  $1.00  a  year  in  advance  Two  copies, 
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please  say  so  wlien  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
will  be  continued. 

FUNT,    MICHIGAN,    MAY    10,    1893. 


Man  Grows  as  higher  grow  his  aims. 

^ 

One  Man's  Story  is  no  story  at  all — hear 
both  sides. 

O 

TheLambton  (Ont.  Canada)  Bee-Keepers' 
Association  will  meet  in  the  Town  Hall,  at 
Sarnia,  on  Friday,  May  1!>.  As  this  is  on  the 
line  between  the  two  countries,  a  special 
invitation  is  extended  to  the  United  States 
bee-keepers  to  attend  the  meeting.  This 
will  also  be  an  excellent  opportunity  to  visit 
that  triumph  of  engineering  skill,  the  St. 
Clair  tunnel.  The  editor  of  the  Review  ex- 
pects to  be  present. 

@ 

"  The  Entebpbise  "  is  to  be  the  name  of  i 
new  bee  journal  that  is  to  be  published 
monthly  at  New  Haven,  Conn.  Burton  L. 
Sage  is  the  editor  and  proprietor.  I  have 
not  yet  seen  a  copy,  as  the  first  issue  is  not 
to  appear  until  the  15th  of  this  month,  but, 
'  judging  by  the  prospectus  sent,  I  can  agree 
with  Bro.  Root  in  saying  that  it  will  rival  in 
appearance  any  of  the  journals  now  pub- 
lished. 

"  Bee-Keeping  foe  Profit,"  is  the  title 
of  a  little  book  by  Dr.  G.  L.  Tinker,  of  New 
Philadelphia,  Ohio,  When  the  book  was 
first  brought  out,  three  years  ago,  it  was 
given  an  extensive  review  in  these  columns. 
Geo.  W.  York  &  Co.,  of  Chicago,  111.,  have 
now  re- published  the  work,  adding  a  chapter 
on  "  Pasturage  a  Necessity,"  taken  from 
Mr.  Newman's  book,  "  Bees  and  Honey." 
Some  additions  have  been  made  to  the  work, 
particularly  in  regard  to  perforated  zinc  and 
its  uses. 


"The  Pbogbessive"  comes  out  with  a 
new  title  page  engraving  which,  among 
other  things,  shows  the  evolution  of  the  bee- 


hive. At  the  bottom  is  the  straw  hive,  next 
the  log  gum,  then  the  old  style  of  Langs- 
troth,  next  the  Dovetailed,  and  at  the  top  the 
"hive  we  prefer,"  or  the  "  Higginsville 
Hive,"  which  is  a  dovetailed  hive  with  a 
raised  cover.  The  last  number  gives  an  il- 
lustration and  write-up  of  some  of  the  lead- 
ing smokers.  A  department  for  beginners  is 
to  be  added,  and  this  is  to  be  printed  in  Ger- 
man. The  Progressive  is  living  up  to  its 
name. 

Eight  extba  pages  again  this  month,  and 
still  there  are  several  articles  that  it  seemed 
must  go  in.  I  could  only  commence  the  dis- 
cussion of  "  Extractors  and  Extracting," 
and  I  have  articles  from  such  men  as  E. 
France,  Frank  McNay  and  Dr.  Miller.  I 
commenced  on  the  one  sent  by  Mr.  Daggitt 
as  it  was  so  long  that  it  could  not  all  have 
been  given  in  the  next  issue.  I  have  always 
rather  prided  myself  on  the  small  size  of  the 
Review.  I  have  felt  that  it  should  be  small 
but  good.  When  it  was  enlarged  to  28  pages 
I  said  to  myself,  "  This  is  the  last  time  it 
shall  be  enlarged,"  yet  this  is  the  third  time 
within  the  last  six  months  that  I  have  been 
compelled  to  add  eight  extra  pages.  Is  it 
possible  that  another  permanent  enlarge- 
ment is  actually  forcing  itself  upon  the  Re- 
view ? 

Me.  R.  C.  Aikin  writes  that  he  would  be 
glad  to  have  bee-keepers  try  his  plan  of  run- 
ning two  colonies  together  and  preventing 
swarming,  and  that  it  may  be  done  without 
buying  his  hive.  Almost  any  ordinary  hive 
may  be  used  by  fastening  the  frames  so  that 
the  hives  may  be  inverted,  or  the  hives  may 
be  alternated,  but  with  the  alternating  plan 
the  queen  cells  would  not  be  inverted,  and 
whatever  advantage,  if  there  is  any,  that  may 
be  gained  from  their  inversion  would  be 
lost.  If  hives  were  used  that  had  no  space 
at  the  bottom,  the  separating  board  would 
need  a  bee  space  on  each  side.  The  equal- 
izer and  alternator  are  a  little  difficult  to 
describe,  and  samples  are  needed  to  work 
from.    They  can  be  mailed  for  15  cents. 

— y — 

Peevention  op  Swabming  by  shifting  the 
field  force,  and  with  it  the  supers,  from  one 
hive  to  the  other,  is  certainly  a  new  idea,  and 
it  appears  to  be  an  important  one.  There 
are  different  methods  of  accomplishing  this, 
that  of  turning  the  hives  end  for  end,  as  de- 


140 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


scribed  by  B.  Taylor,  that  of  using  one  hive 
above  another  and  reversing  or  alternating 
them  and  using  a  peculiar  device  at  the  en- 
trance that  will  conduct  the  returning  bees 
into  the  upper  hive,  as  brought  out  by  Mr. 
Aikin,  and  the  use  of  bee-escapes  and  pas- 
sageways to  keep  the  bees  out  of  one  hive 
and  turn  them  into  another,  as  invented  by 
Mr.  Langdon.  The  latter  has  stood  the  actual 
test  of  one  season's  work  with  100  colonies. 
There  may  yet  be  some  details  that  will  need 
remodeling  with  any  of  these  plans,  but  the 
fundamental  principle  of  shifting  the  bees 
from  one  hive  to  another  is  one  that  I  be- 
lieve will  eventually  settle  the  swarming 
problem.  The  freest  criticism  and  fullest 
discussion  is  invited  in  the  Review. 


A  MODEBN  BEE  FABM — NEW   EDITION. 

Ths  first  number  of  the  Review  contained 
a  review  of  this  work  by  S.  Simmius  of  Eng- 
land. A  copy  of  a  new  and  revised  edition 
lies  on  my  desk.  I  will  notice  briefly  some 
of  the  points  not  found  in  the  first   edition. 

All  may  gain  health  and  pleasure  in 
bee-keeping,  but  only  the  few  who  have 
special  qualifications  may  expect  to  find  for- 
tunes. 

Honey  in  the  comb  will  ever  remain  a 
luxury,  but  extracted  honey  is  destined  ere 
long  to  be  found  in  general  use  in  almost 
every  family  in  the  land.  (Comb  honey  is 
nearer  a  staple  than  is  extracted,  and  I 
think  it  will  remain  so.  Extracted  has  to 
compete  with  cheap  syrups  and  the  like. 
—Ed.) 

Extracted  honey  is  more  profitable  to  pro- 
duce than  is  comb  honey.  (Don't  agree. 
No  one  industry,  or  branch  of  an  industry, 
is  more  profitable  than  another.  If  it  were, 
it  would  soon  bo  overdone  and  brought 
down  to  its  proper  level.  It  is  the  man  and 
the  environments  that  make  one  business 
more  profitable  than  another. — Ed.) 

Bees  can  always  be  united  without  fight- 
ing if  they  are  first  made  queenless. 

The  use  of  supers  with  no  space  or  pass- 
ageway between  the  tiers  of  sections  is  rec- 
ommended. How  a  practical  bee-keeper  can 
recommend  such  an  arrangement  is  beyond 
my  comprehension.  The  increased  amount 
of  propolis  used  and  the  killing  of  bees  in  re- 
placing supers  are  enough  to  condemn  the 
arrangement. 

If  porous  covering  is  used  above  the  clus- 
ter in  winter,  a  small  entrance  is  allowable; 


if  "sealed  covers"  are  used,  then  the  en- 
trance should  be  generous.  "Sealed  covers" 
should  always  be  covered  with  some  warm 
material. 

With  the  Simmins  non-swarming  system 
as  now  used,  tlie  comb  built  in  the  lower 
frames  is  not  cut  out  and  fitted  into  the  sec- 
tions, but  foundation  is  fitted  into  the  sec- 
tions, or,  rather,  half -sections  (sections  one- 
half  the  width  of  regular  sections)  and  when 
sufliciently  drawn  the  sections  are  placed  in 
the  supers. 

Bee  escapes  ("bee-traps"  they  are  called) 
are  condemned.  They  were  much  in  vogue 
some  fifteen  years  ago,  says  Mr.  Simmins, 
but  fell  into  disuse,  and  he  is  greatly  surpris- 
ed that  advanced  apiarists  should  be  entrap- 
ped into  thinking  there  is  anything  to  be 
gained  by  re-adopting  this  old  and  discard- 
ed fad.  (The  bee  escapes  of  America  have 
come  to  stay. — Ed. )  The  instructions  for  re- 
moving sections  are  to  give  a  few  puffs  of 
smoke  which  will  generally  send  all  (?)  the 
bees  below.  If  this  fails,  take  out  the  combs 
one  at  a  time  and  brush  off  the  bees  with  a 
feather.  I  fail  to  see  any  health  or  pleasure 
in  removing  sections  one  at  a  time  and 
brushing  off  the  bees,  and  there  is  certainly 
no  profit.  A  whole  case  at  a  time,  and  no  bees 
in  it,  is  the  way  to  remove  honey.  It  is  urg- 
ed, and  truly,  too,  that  the  work  of  taking 
them  off  one  at  a  time,  must  be  done  quick- 
ly, or  the  bees  will  bite  holes  in  the  cappings 
to  get  a  sip  of  honey,  particularly  if  it  is 
after  the  honey  season.  The  bee  escape  is 
objected  to  on  these  very  grounds,  vhat  the 
disturbance  will  cause  the  bees  to  bite  the 
holes  in  the  cappings.  I  fear  that  Mr.  Sim- 
mins cannot  have  had  experience  along  this 
line.  This  is  one  very  strong  argument  in 
favor  of  escapes,  as  everyone  knows  who 
has  removed  honey  late  in  the  season.  The 
putting  in  of  the  escape  board  is  a  very 
slight  disturbance  compared  to  taking  the 
sections  out  one  at  a  time  and  brushing  off 
the  bees  with  a  feather.  An  escape  board 
can  be  put  in  place  so  quickly  that  the  bees 
will  scarcely  look  upon  it  as  a  disturbance. 

Sections  of  honey  that  are  a  little  "off"  in 
color  can  be  whitened  by  exposing  them  to 
the  light  and  air.  I  knew  that  wax  could  be 
bleached  in  this  manner,  but  it  never  occur- 
red to  me  that  combs  of  honey  might  be 
whitened  in  this  way. — Ed.) 

The  Simmins  method  of  direct  introduc- 
tion of  queens  by  the  fasting  plan  is  to  keep 
the  (jueeu  confined  without  food  at  least  half 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


141 


an  honr  before  she  is  to  be  released.  She  is 
then  to  be  allowed  to  run  down  from  the  top 
of  the  hive  after  darkness  has  set  in,  using  a 
lamp  to  see  to  do  the  work.  It  makes  no 
difference  how  long  or  short  a  time  the  col- 
ony has  been  queenlesa,  or  if  it  has  brood  or 
not,  or  queen  cells  in  any  stage  of  develope- 
ment.  The  colony  must  be  left  undisturbed 
two  days.  This  method  is  almost  invariably 
successful.  If  a  queen  dies  in  a  cage  it  is 
from  lack  of  food  or  because  she  has  been 
injured  by  the  bees  outside  the  cage.  To 
remedy  the  latter  fault,  have  the  meshes  of 
the  wire  cloth  not  larger  than  a  pin  head. 

The  Wells  system  of  working  two  queens 
in  one  hive  with  a  division  of  perforated 
metal  between  them,  or  with  a  solid  division 
but  a  union  of  force  in  the  supers,  is  not 
supported  by  Mr.  Simmins.  He  says  that 
it  simply  shows  that  at  the  right  time,  viz., 
at  the  main  harvest,  there  should  be  a  large 
force  of  workers  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  brood.  Here  he  agrees  with 
Gravenhorst.  He  says  that  at  the  close  of  the 
season  a  permanent  division  must  be  made 
between  the  two  colonies  or  the  bees  will  all 
join  one  queen  and  allow  the  other  to  perish. 
He  says  that  queens  once  fertilized  never 
fight.  He  has  had  as  many  as  a  dozen  fer- 
tile queens  in  one  compartment  with  no 
injury  to  any  of  them.  I  had  always  sup- 
posed that  fertile  queens  would  fight,  but 
come  to  think  of  it,  I  do  not  know  as  I 
have  seen  them  fight.  It  is  the  workers 
that  get  up  a  row 


EXXRKOXED. 


EflTectiveness  of  Smoke  From  Propolis. 

"And  out  of  their  mouths  issued  fire,  and 
smoke,  and— propolis." 

When  at  the  Washington  convention  I 
heard  Mr.  J.  E.  Crane  mention  the  very 
pungent  quality  of  smoke  that  comes  from 
the  burning  of  cloths  covered  with  propolis. 
He  covers  his  bees  with  burlap,  and  when 
the  covers  become  too  "stuck  up"  to  be 
handled  with  ease,  he  uses  them  for  fuel. 
Mr.  Manum,  in  one  of  his  chats  with  a 
neighbor,  as  related  in  Gleanings,  "gets  ofif" 
the  following: — 

"What  is  it  you  are  burning  in  your  smok- 
er, that  smells  so  strong? 

It  is  particles  of  propolis  sprinkled  over 
the  fuel    in    the    smoker-barrel.     Mr.  J.  E. 


Crane  told  me  of  this  when  he  was  here  a  few 
days  ago;  and  I  tell  you,  Charles,  it  is  worth 
knowing.  I  never  tried  any  thing  that 
would  just  drive  the  bees  out  of  the  way  as 
nicely  as  this  will.  I  think  it  would  be  a 
good  plan  to  melt  up  a  lot  of  propolis  and 
dip  pieces  of  wood  into  it,  and  keep  them 
handy  by,  to  be  used  whenever  the  bees  are 
troublesome,  for  it  will  quiet  them  in  a 
moment." 


A  Novel  and  Inexpensive  Feeder. 

Many  bee-keepers  would  probably  try 
feeding  bees  in  spring,  before  the  beginning 
of  the  regular  honey  flow,  were  it  not  for 
the  trouble  and  expense  of  getting  feeders. 
Those  who  wish  to  give  it  a  trial  need  not  be 
deterred  for  this  reason,  as  here  is  a  feeder, 
described  by  Mr.  F.  S.  Comstock,  in  Glean- 
ings, that  costs  almost  nothing.  Here  is 
what  Mr.  Comstock  says: — 

"Having  70  colonies  we  bought  70  one- 
quart  tin  cans.  In  the  bottom  of  these  cans, 
with  a  smooth  awl,  and  from  inside  out,  we 
punched  a  hole  large  enough  to  drop  a  % 
inch,  flat,  smooth-headed  wire  nail  in  easily, 
but  leaving  a  good  catch  for  the  head.  All 
our  hive  boards  have  a  two-inch  hole  in  the 
center,  covered  with  a  block  which  becomes 
glued,  and  these  give  us  no  trouble  when 
not  in  use.  We  place  these  cans  over  these 
holes;  carry  a  faucet  can  of  70  lbs.  of  honey 
to  the  center  of  the  yard,  and,  by  the  use 
of  a  cofl'ee-pot,  we  have,  in  20  minutes,  fed  70 
colonies  a  pound  each,  more  or  less,  as 
desired,  and  not  seen  a  bee,  nor  chilled  one 
either.  The  wire  nail  makes  the  feeder  work 
automatically.  By  looking  into  the  can 
after  feeding,  you  will  see  the  head  of  the 
nail  shaking  about.  This  is  caused  by  the 
bees.  It  regulates  the  flow,  and  keeps  any 
sediment  from  clogging  the    feeder." 

Around  many  houses  may  be  found  empty 
tin  cans  in  which  fruit  or  vegetables  have 
been  bought,  that  could  be  used  for  this 
kind  of  feeders. 


An  Artificial  Watering-Place  After  Nature's 

Ways. 

"  The  very  law  which  moulds  the  tear, 
And  bids  it  trickle  from  its  source." 

My  old  apiary  at  Rogersville  was  near  a 
small  stream.  On  warm  days  in  early 
spring,  and  again  in  August  after  the  honey 
flow  from  basswood  was  past,  I  have  seen 
the  sand  along  the  edges  of  this  stream  fair- 
ly alive  with  bees  sucking  water.  I  am 
reminded  of  this  by  reading  the  following 
in  Gleanings, 

"Observant  people  will  notice  that  bees, 
while  drinking  at  a  branch  or  pool,  never  sip 
the  water,  but  abstract  it  from  the  sand 
close    by,  through  which,  by  the  way,  it  has 


142 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


filtered  by  capillary  attraction.  Trying] 
always  to  get  close  to  Nature's  ways  I  built 
me  a  watering-place  for  my  bees.  A  trough 
of  wood  14  iuclies  s<iuare  and  one  inch  deep 
was  tilled  up    with  clean  sand,  and  a  three 


R 


is  the  description  of  the  plan  and  of  the  cir- 
cumstances that  led  to  its  use. 

"Along  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer 
we  purchased  some  twelve  or  tifteen  colonies 
that  we  really  did  not  want,  but   took  them 


'ApJztzxsii^s^xrz'^U'^^^ 


half  an  inch  under  the  sancT.    The  surround-^ 
ing  sand  soon  absorbed  moisture,   and  littl 


fc  fjthem 
r  ;  loose 


we    did    not    really    want 
was  because  the  combs  were  built  in 


t;'^^"^!'t.'^T-^^^;:"' .??,!':- 1  '^"Z  'S^i^i;^-s:!^Sf^  K: 


the  water  in  the  jug,  as  the  water  in  the 
sand  exhausts.  By  scooping  out  a  little  hole 
in  the  sand,  enough  water  will  gather  to 
furnish  the  poultry.  Put  syrup  in  the  vessel, 
and  you  will  have  the  best  outside  feeder  I 
know  of,  for  there  is  no  end  to  the  extent  of 
the  sand  surface  you  may  use,  and  the  sand 
does  not  foul,  as  water  or  syrup  would  if 
given  alone.  In  order  to  introduce  this  to 
the  bees  I  put  a  piece  of  comb  honey  on  the 
sand.  After  they  had  carried  off  the  honey 
they  looked  about  for  more,  and,  discover- 
ing the  water.have  found  out  that  it  is  a  near 
and  good  thing.  The  principle  of  this  water- 
ing device  is  well  known,  but  I  have  not 
heard  of  the  use  of  sand  in  that  connection. 
Please  give  this  a  trial,  if  you  have  not  such 
in  use,  for  there  is  nothing  new  under  the 
sun.  To  hold  up  the  jug  or  bottle,  bore 
four  holes  in  the  bottom  board,  and  put  in 
pegs,  or,  better  still,  nail  a  half-hoop  of  tin 
or  strap  iron  against  a  wall  or  board  fence, 
and  put  the    jug   mouth   down    through  it. 

AbTHUB  T.    GOLDSBOliOUGH. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Sept.  1." 


An  Easy  Method  of  Transferring  and  Get- 
ting the  Honey  out  of  the  old  Combs. 
No  one  who  has  ever  transferred  bees  by 
cutting  out  the  combs  and  fastening  the 
crooked,  uneven  things  into  frames,  fancies 
the  job-  It  is  not  only  unpleasant,  but  it  is 
wasteful.  Several  years  ago  Mr.  Heddon 
gave  a  method  whereby  this  might  be  avoid- 
ed. It  consisted  in  driving  out  the  bees,  or 
most  of  them,  and  hiving  them  on  a  set 
of  frames  filled  with  foundation.  Three 
weeks  later,  when  all  of  the  brood  had  hatch- 
ed in  the  old  hive,  the  bees  were  again 
driven  out,  the  young  queen  hunted  out  and 
killed  and  the  bees  given  to  the  swarm  that 
was  first  driven  out.  This  left  the  old  combs 
free  of  brood,  and  the  honey  could  be  strain- 
ed or  extracted,  and  the  combs  melted  into 
wax.  Warm  weather  was  necessary  for  this 
plan,  otherwise  the  brood  in  the  old  hive 
would  be  chilled.  The  editor  of  Gleanings 
tells  in  his  journal  how  he  used  a  modifica- 
tion of  this  plan,  even  carrying  it  so  far  as 
to  compel  the  bees  to  carry  the  honey  out 
of  the  old  combs  after  the  brood  was  hatch- 
ed out.  This  plan  also  has  this  advantage 
over  the  Heddon,  it  can  be  put  in  practice 
even  if  the    weather  is   not  warm.    Here 


dedly  crooked,  to  say  nothing  of  being  bulged 
out  of  all  decent  projiortions.  The  bees 
purchased  were  placed  at  the  out-yard,  and 
the  boys  were  instructed  to  select  one  of  the 
>  best  combs  of  each  colony  containing  un- 
sealed larva?,  and  place  it  in  a  new  hive,  to- 
gether with  a  full  complement  of  Hoffman 
frames  of  wired  foundation.  Another  hive 
with  the  old  combs  was  placed  on  top  with  a 
perforated  zinc  honey-board  between.  The 
bees  and  the  queen  were  then  shaken  off  in 
front  of  the  entrance,  and  allow  to  crawl  in. 
This  plan  was  pursued.with  all  the  colonies. 
As  the  queen  could  not  go  above,  of  course 
no  more  eggs  were  laid  in  the  old  combs. 
In  two  weeks'  time  we  went  down  and  found 
that  the  frames  of  foundation  below  were 
being  drawn  out,  particularly  next  to  the 
frame  of  brood  of  old  comb.  In  the  mean 
time  the  young  bees  in  the  upper  story  were 
hatching  out  and  coming  below  to  take  care 
of  the  young  larvje  in  the  lower  hive.  In 
about  a  month's  time  the  bees  had  taken  up 
their  quarters  more  or  less  below,  while  the 
upper  combs,  crooked  and  undesiral)le,  were 
emptied  of  brood,  and  filled,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  with  honey.  The  drone  brood 
(and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  it)  was  un- 
capped at  the  time  the  hives  were  changed. 
The  honey  season  came  on  rather  before  we 
expected  it  in  the  out-yard;  and  the  result 
was,  that  most  of  the  crooked  combs  were 
filled  with  honey.  These  we  expected  to 
extract,  and  melt  up  the  old  comb:  but  cir- 
cumstances so  transpired  that  we  did  not; 
and  finally,  toward  the  end  of  the  season, 
we  took  ofif  such  combs  and  placed  in  a  stack 
of  Dovetailed  hives  piled  six  or  eight  high. 
The  entrance  at  the  bottom  hive  was  con- 
tracted so  that  only  about  two  bees  could  get 
out  or  in  at  a  time.  Virtually  we  allowed 
the  bees  to  rob  the  honey  out;  but  it  was  so 
slow  an  operation  that  it  made  no  commo- 
tion in  the  apiary. 

With  little  or  no  labor  we  had  the  bees  all 
transferred  on  Hoffman  frames,  filled  with 
nice  beautiful  worker  comb  made  from 
foundation  on  horizontal  wires;  and  all  that 
remained  was  a  lot  of  crooked  combs  which 
were  soon  converted  into  wax,  the  home- 
made frame  stuff  making  excellent  fire- 
wood for  the  boiler-furnace. 

Now,  there  is  nothing  particularly  new  in 
any  of  this.  The  plan  of  transferring  is 
simply  a  modification  of  Heddon's  short 
way,  mentioned  in  the  ABC  book.  The 
scheme  of  emptying  the  honey  out  of  old 
crooked  combs  was  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  what  was  described  by  Dr.  Miller  some 
two  or  three  years  ago.  It  works  so  well 
that  we  shall  never  again  leave  a  lot  of 
combs  stored  here  and  there  with  a  little 
honey  iu  them  to  tempt  robbers.'^ 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


143 


How    Young    ftueens    are   Lost   in    Q,aeen 

Searing. 

"  Mother,  dear  mother,  come  homo." 

Mrs.  Jennie  Atchley,  that  veteran  queen 
breeder  of  the  "Sunny  Southland,"  writes 
as  follows  to  the  C.  B.  J. 

"I  have  discovered  that  queens  do  not 
often  get  lost  on  the  mating  trip;  but,  upon 
their  return,  are  apt  to  enter  the  wrong  hive 
and  get  killed.  As  we  keep  several  hun- 
dred nuclei  together,  or  in  adjacent  yards,  we 
have  had  scores  of  queens  return  to  the 
wrong  hives,  which,  being  queenless  most 
of  the  time,  they  were  accepted.  But  she 
always  destroys  the  cell  that  is  in  the  nucleus. 
I  noticed  that  where  there  are  only  one  or 
two  hives  apart  by  themselves  the  queens  do 
not  get  lost.  Even  the  drones  in  the  drone 
hive  will  scatter  all  over  the  yard,  and  queens 
act  pretty  nearly  the  same  way.  Who  ever 
found  a  queenless  bee-tree?  I  do  not  believe 
that  one  queen  in  a  hundred  gets  lost  or  is 
captured  by  birds;  they  simply  return  to  the 
wrong  hive. and  get  killed.  If  I  had  time  I 
could  tell  you  a  long  story  of  what  I  have 
learned  of    queen    mating." 

I  agree  entirely  with  Mrs.  Atchley.  I  have 
often  noticed  that  when  a  nucleus  stood  oflf 
by  itself,  or  was  in  some  peculiar  hive,  there 
was  no  loss  of  young  queens.  Don't  set  your 
nuclei  in  regular,  prim  rows.  Scatter  them 
about,  the  more  promiscuously  the  better. 
If  they  can  be  situated  in  a  grove,  or 
among  buildings,  so  that  the  queens  can 
have  something  as  a  landmark,  so  much 
the    better. 


Bee  Journa's  and  the  Supply  Business. 

"  For  the  gift  blindeth  the  wise,  and  pervert«th 
the  words  of  the  righteous." 

It  would  seem  that  some  apicaltural editor 
had  been  bragging  that  he  didn't  deal  in 
supplies,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  follow- 
ing which  appears  in  the  Progressive  Bee- 
Keeper  for  March. 

"It  seems  that  some  of  our  editors  are  try- 
to  make  capital  out  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
not  in  the  supply  business.  If  they  are  so 
narrow  and  contracted  that  they  cannot 
give  good  honest  advice  for  fear  it  would 
hurt  their  business,  it  is  well  for  them  that 
they  are  not.  If  we  look  back  over  the  field 
of  bee  journalism  we  will  see  that  the  edi- 
tors and  founders  of  our  best  journals,  were 
dealers,  and  the  same  editors  are  to-day 
giving  us  the  best  journals  we  have  devoted 
to  bee  culture." 

It  seems  scarcely  possible  that  the  fore- 
going was  aimed  at  the  Review,  as  that 
journal  has  done  very  little  crowing  over  its 
lack  of  a  supply  trade.  In  fact,  its  editor  has 
come  so  near  being  in  the  supply  business 
that  he  couldn't  consistently  say  very  much. 


When  the  Review  was  started,  its  editor 
was  in  the  queen  trade  and  he  has  not 
yet  dropped  it.  When  he  gave  up  the 
production  of  honey  as  a  business,  he  adver- 
tised the  fixtures  on  hand.  Several  times  it 
has  become  necessary  to  take  goods  in  pay- 
ment for  advertising,  and  then  it  became 
equally  necessary  to  advertise  and  sell  them. 
From  actual  exp»;rience  I  have  learned 
that  it  is  very  dilficult  for  the  editor  and 
proprietor  of  a  bee  journal  to  never  offer 
anything  for  sale  except  his  journal:  and 
perhaps  there  is  not  so  much  praiseworthy 
in  keeping  bee  journalism  entirely  free  from 
trade  as  some  of  us  have  imagined.  Yes,  I 
know  that  the  most  of  us  poor  mortals  are 
more  or  less  given  to  bias  and  prejudice  in 
favor  of  our  own  wares,  and  I  would  not  for 
a  moment  ignore  this  point,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  dealer  is  more  in  touch 
with  the  consumer,  he  knows  what  practical 
men  are  buying  and  using,  and  this  expe- 
rience has  its  influence  upon  his  journal.  If 
he  uses  his  journal,  or  rather  JHi.suses  it,  to 
boom  his  goods  at  the  expense  of  truth,  or 
at  the  expense  of  space  that  ought  to  have 
been  used  in  giving  good,  valuable  reading 
matter,  there  will  be  a  reflex  action — it  will 
become  a  boomerojif/. 

Class  journals  are  a  little  peculiar  in  this 
respect.  The  men  who  have  had  experience 
in  some  lines  of  business  are  the  ones  in 
position  to  make  valuable  journals  pertain- 
ing to  these  kinds  of  business.  A  nursery- 
man can  make  an  excellent  horticultural 
journal.  An  advertising  agent  can  get  up 
the  best  journal  devoted  to  advertisins.';  yet 
he  deals  in  advertising;  while  the  other  man 
sells  fruit  trees. 

Another  point,  in  making  a  financial  suc- 
cess of  a  journal,  a  dealer  or  manufacturer 
can  sell  his  journal  at  a  very  low  price  be- 
cause it  advertises  his  goods. 

While  I  have  no  desire  to  engage  in  the 
supply  business,  preferring  simply  the 
Review  and  a  small  apiary,  with  peace, 
quietness,  happiness  and  contentment,  in 
place  of  a  large  business  with  its  hurly 
burly,  even  if  accompanied  with  greater 
financial  success,  yet  I  have  had  no 
quarrel,  and  shall  have  none,  with  the  man 
who  prefers  the  latter;  as  I  fully  believe 
that  the  brightest  journal,  the  one  filled 
with  the  freshest  and  most  practical  ideas, 
the  one  with  "a  touch  of  Nature"  upon  its 
pages,  can  be  made  amid  the  hum  of  bees 
and  buzz  saws. 


144 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


The  Langdon,  Non-Swarming  Device. 

For  several  mouths  I  have  known  that 
Mr.  H.  P.  Laugdon,  of  East  Constable,  K. 
Y.,  last  year  devised  and  put  into  successful 
practice  a  device  for  preventing  swarming. 
It  was  used  in  connection  with  his  house 
apiary  described  in  the  last  Review.  It  is 
not  until  now  that  Mr.  Langdon 's  arrange- 
ments for  patenting  have  reached  that  stage 
where  he  is  ready  to  publish  a  description. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  article 
written  by  Frank  Benton  and  printed  in  Vol. 
V,  No.  4,  of  Insect  Life,  a  journal  published 
by  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Washing- 
ton. D.  C.  I  hereby  thank  this  journal  for 
courtesies  extended  in  the  way  of  furnishing 
advance  proofs  and  cuts. 

'•Although  the  self-hiver  in  its  more  per- 
fected form  has  scarcely  been  subjected  to  a 


The  immediate  condition  which  incites  a 
colony  of  bees  to  swarm  has  been  quite  well 
recognized  as  its  general  prosperity — its 
populousness,  the  abundance  of  honey  secre- 
tion, and  crowded  condition  of  the  brood 
combs,  or,  in  general,  such  circumstances  as 
favor  the  production  of  surplus  honey  es- 
pecially surplus  comb  honey,  and  it  has  of 
course  been  taken  for  granted  that  honey 
could  not  be  secured  if  these  conditions  were 
changed.  Nor  would  it,  without  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  system  proposed  by  Mr.  Lang- 
don, be  easy  for  experienced  bee-keepers  to 
believe  that  all  it  proposes  to  do  could  be 
accomplished  without  much  manipulation 
and  perhaps  also  the  use  of  some  complica- 
ted device.  I  was,  however,  agreeably  sur- 
prised at  the  whole  simplicity  of  Mr.  Lang- 
don's  plan,  when,  in  December  last,  he  made 
it  known  to  me  and  sent  a  non-swarmer  for 
purposes  of  illustration.  And  in  answer  to 
the  request  as  to  what  I  thought  of  it,  I  wrote 
him  at  once  that  I  was  of  the  opinion  that  he 
had  made  one  of  the  most  valuable  additions 


Fig.  31.— Bee  Hives  with  Langdon  non-ewarmer  attached  :  A,  B,  hives;  8.  S'  Ruoers;  D,  non-swarm- 
ing device;  e,  e' entrances  corresponding  to  hive  entances;  si,  slide  for  closing  entrance  ;  c,  c', 
conical,  wire  cloth  bee  escapes  ;  ex',  exits  of  same. 


thorough  test  it  promises  to  do  all  that  has 
been  expected  of  it.  But  it  will  not  take 
away  the  desire  to  swarm. 

This  is  exactly  what  Mr.  H.  P.  Laugdon, 
of  East  Constable,  N.  Y.,  says  he  can  do  by 
the  use  of  the  non-swarming  attachment  in- 
vented by  him  and  now  for  the  tirst  time 
made  public.  Moreover,  he  keeps  all  of  the 
field  force  of  his  colonies  storing  surplus 
honey  under  the  most  favorable  conditions 
as  long  as  there  is  any  honey  to  be  obtained 
in  the  field  or  forest,  and  simplifies  to  such 
an  extent  the  work  of  the  apiary  during  this 
portion  of  the  year  that  he  can  attend  to 
several  times  as  many  colonines  as  under  the 
old  way. 


to  the  list  of  apiarian  inventions  that  had 
appeared  in  a  long  time — one  that,  after  the 
frame  hive,  would  rank  equal  with  or  ahead 
of  the  honey-extractor  and  comb-foundation 
machine. 

Mr.  Laugdon  has  applied  for  letters  patent 
on  his  device  in  this  and  other  countries, 
and  with  the  specifications  as  a  f)asis,  a  copy 
of  which  he  has  kindly  sent  to  me,  together 
with  permission  to  make  the  matter  public, 
I  have  written  the  following  description  of 
the  device  and  system. 

At  the  ijeginning  of  the  honey  season  the 
non-swarming  device  D,  shown  in  Fig.  31,  i.s 
placed  at  the  entrance  of  two  contiguous 
hives  each  of  which  contains  a  queen  and 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


145 


full  colony  of  bees.  The  continuous  pass- 
ageways, e  and  e',  on  the  under  side  of  the 
device,  correspond  to  the  entrances  of 
the  hives  A  and  B,  respectively.  The  bees 
will  then  pass,  quite  undisturbed,  out  of  and 
into  their  respective  hives  through  these 
passageways.  By  inserting  the  slide,  sl,ya. 
the  end  of  the  non-swarmer  until  it  occupies 
the  position  indicated  by  the  dotted  horizon- 
tal lines  the  passageway  leading  to  hive  A 
will  be  closed  at  its  juncture  with  the  hive- 
entrance,  preventing  any  bees  from  entering 
said  hive.  The  wiie-cloth  cone  exit,  ex,  still 
permits  flight-bees  to  come  out  of  hive  A,  as 
a  hole  h.  Fig.  33,  through  the  non-swarmer 


t 


non-swarmer  by  the  bees  at  the  entrance,  e, 
and  with  these  bees  will  enter  hive  A,  thus 
bringing  about  in  hive  B  the  same  condi- 
tions as  were  previously  induced  in  hive  A 
by  closing  the  latter.  At  the  same  time  the 
field-bees  of  both  hives  are  working  contin- 
uously in  the  supers  on  the  hive  A,  the  en- 
trance of  which  is  open,  and  the  flight-bees 
in  hive  B  are  escaping  through  the  cone  exit, 
ex\  and  joining  those  of  hive  A. 

In  about  a  week  the  supers  are  again 
placed  upon  hive  B  the  entrance  to  which  is 
then  opened  while  that  of  hive  A  is  closed. 
In  another  week  another  transfer  is  made, 
and  so  alternately  during  the  flow  of  honey. 


^^^., 


.'"=  V 


Fig.  33. — Langdon  non-swarming  device  ;  rear  view,  showing  apertures  (e,  e'  and  h,  h')  corresponding 
to  similar  openings  in  the  fronts  of  hives. 


connects  the  cone  exit,  ex,  with  a  correspon- 
ding hole,  h.  Fig.  32,  in  the  front  of  hive. 
The  super  cases  S  of  hive  A  are  then  placed 
on  those  of  hive  B. 

The  flight  bees  of  hive  A  finding  their 
hive-entrance  closed  on  their  return  are, 
upon  alighting  at  the  entrance  e.  Fig.  31.  at- 
tracted along  the  gallery  shown  at  g,  in  the 
cross-section.  Fig.  34,  by  the  buzzing  of  the 
bees  at  the  entrance  e'  of  hive  B,  and  enter 
said  hive.  This  withdrawal  of  the  field-bees 
from  hive  A  leaves  this  hive  so  depopulated 
and  so  disconcerts  the  nurse  bees  left  therein 
that  they  will  not  swarm  ;  meanwhile  work 
is  going  on  without  interruption  in  the  su- 
pers on  hive  B  by  the  field  force  of  both 
hives. 


This  alternate  running  of  the  field-bees 
from  one  hive  to  another  and  back  again, 
and  the  simultaneous  transfer  of  the  supers, 
so  disturbs  the  plans  of  the  nurse-bees  and 
temporarily  depopulates  the  hives  succes- 
sively closed,  that  organization  for  swarm- 
ing is  not  effected,  hence,  no  swarms  issue, 
and  the  Jield-bees  of  both  hives  work  unitedly 
and  without  interruption  throughout  the 
entire  gathe  Hng  season. 


Fig.  32.— Hive  showing  entrance  (e)  and  hole  (h) 
corresponding  to  like  apertures  on  back  of 
non-swarmer. 

At  the  expiration  of  eight  or  ten  days,  thus 
before  the  bees  of  hive  B  have  made  prepara- 
tions to  swarm,  the  super,  S  and  S',  Fig.  31, 
on  this  hive  are  all  transferred  to  hive  A, 
the  slide,  si,  is  withdrawn  from  entrance  e, 
thus  opening  this  hive,  and  is  inserted  in  the 
opposite  end  of  the  non- swarming  device  so 
as  to  close  the  entrance  «?',  to  hive  B.  The 
bees  thus  excluded  from  hive  B  will  be 
called  along  the  gallery,  g.  Fig.  34,    of  the 


Fig.  :34. — Langdon  non-swarming  device  ;  cross- 
section  at  sctn.     (Lettering  as  before) 

The  experienced  bee-master  will  not  only 
readily  see  that  this  meets  the  requirements 
mentioned  in  the  first  part  of  this  article  as 
advantageous  to  secure,  but  also  that  in 
many  other  ways  it  is  likely  to  prove  a  sys- 
tem of  great  value  in  the  apiary.  Mr.  Lang- 
don has  mentioned  some  of  these  and  I  will 
therefore  quote  from  his  letter  : 

ill  Two  light  colonies  that  would  not  do  much 
in  sections  if  working  separately  make  one  good 
one  by  running  the  field  forces  of  both  into  the 
same  supers. 

(2)  No  bait  sections  are  needed,  as  the  bees 
can  be  crowded  into  the  sections  without  swarm- 
ing. 


146 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


(3)  The  honoy  will  be  finished  in  better  condi- 
tion, that  i«,  witli  less  travel-stain,  because  the 
union  of  the  field  forces  enables  tliem  to  com- 
plete the  work  in  less  time. 

(4)  There  will  bo  fewer  unfinished  sections  at 
the  close  of  the  lioney  harvest,  for  the  reason  just 
mentioned. 

(5)  Also  for  the  same  reason  honey  can  be 
taken  off  by  the  full  case  instead  of  by  the  sec- 
tion or  holder  full. 

(6j  Drones  will  be  fewer  in  number,  as  a  double 
handful  will  often  be  killed  off  in  the  closed  hive 
whUe  tiie  other  is  storing  honey  rapidly, 

(Tj  Artificial  swarms  and  nuclei  can  be  more 
easily  made,  as  combs  of  brood  and  bees  can  be 
taken  from  the  closed  hive  in  which  the  queen 
can  be  found  very  quickly. 

As  there  is  in  carrying  out  this  system  of 
swarm  prevention  no  caging  of  queens,  cut- 
ting out  of  queen  cells,  manipulation  of 
brood  combs  or  even  opening  of  the  brood 
chambers  at  all  during  the  honey  season,  and 
all  the  vexatious  watching  for  swarms  and 
the  labor  and  time  involved  in  securing 
these  are  done  away  with,  and  instead  of  this 
a  simple  manipulation  attended  to  not 
oftener  than  once  a  week  is  substituted,  it  is 
plain  that  very  many  more  colonies  can  be 
managed  by  one  person,  and,  indeed,  Mr. 
Langdon  informs  me  that  he  '  can  care  for 
200  colonies  with  one  day's  work  in  a  week 
with  no  help,  instead  of  working  all  the  time 
with  100  colonies.'  It  will,  therefore,  prove 
a  great  boon  to  all  having  numerous  out- 
apiaries. 

One  of  the  greatest  advantages  over  any 
plan  for  the  prevention  of  swarming  yet  pro- 
posed, which  Mr.  Landon's  system  will 
have,  should  it  prove  on  further  trial  all  that 
it  now  promises,  is  that  it  will  not  only  pre- 
vent more  effectually  than  any  other  the  ac- 
tual issuance  of  swarms,  but,  while  not  re- 
quiring any  manipulation  antagonistic  to 
the  known  instincts  of  bees,  it  will  prevent 
all  desire  to  swarm,  will  completely  do  away 
with  the  '  swarming  fever,'  so  fatal  to  the 
hopes  of  the  comb  honey  producer.  Another 
great  feature  of  it  will  be  the  more  rigid 
selection  of  breeding  stock,  which  it  will 
facilitate.  Intelligent  selection  can  accom- 
plish for  this  pursuit  as  much  as  it  has  done 
for  the  breeders  of  our  larger  domestic  ani- 
mals. Furthermore,  a  strong  natural  incli- 
nation to  swarming  on  the  part  of  any  race 
of  bees,  otherwise  possessed  of  very  desira- 
ble traits,  will  not,  under  this  system,  oblige 
the  rejection  of  such  race.  Eventually  the 
disposition  to  swarm  must  through  constant 
suppression  become  less,  or.  in  time  it  may 
even  disappear,  giving  us  the  long-sought 
non-swarming  strain. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  success  which  has 
attended  Mr.  Langdon's  practical  test  of  his 
system  during  18!t2,  will  be  of  interest  in  this 
connection.  In  a  letter  dated  December  24, 
18!)2,  he  wrote: 

Last  season  I  tried  the  device  on  ICKI  hives. 
Except  in  one  instance  the  bees  did  no  fightiner. 
Why  they  do  not  fight  when  united  in  this  way  I 
cannot  say.  It  cortainly  did  not  discouragethem 
in  honey  gathering,  for  my  yield  from  the  10(1 
hives  was  (l.OtJO  pounds  of  comb  honey  or  an 
average  of  60  pounds  per  hive,  some  i)airs  yield- 
ing l')0  pounds,  and  it  has  been  counted  a  poor 
season  for  bees  in  my  locality  this  year.  .Vfter 
one  season's  trial  of  the  device  and  plan  I  do  not 
know  of  a  single  fault  or  objection  to  it. 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee    Writings 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

It  seemed  like  going  to  extremes  for  Prof. 
Cook  to  declare,  as  he  did  a  bit  ago,  that  he 
knew  of  no  literature  less  in  need  of  im- 
provement than  that  pertaining  to  apicul- 
ture. His  point  seems  to  be  well  taken  how 
ever.  There  is  grumbling  enough  at  our  pa- 
pers, to  be  sure  ;  but  the  real  trouble  in  most 
cases  is  lack  of  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of 
the  reader.  What  ever  can  an  editor  do  for 
the  man  who  is  disgusted  with  the  subject  of 
apiculture  ?  Nothing,  except  he  plunge 
deeper  into  comicalities  and  side  issues  ;  and 
this,  although  it  may  temporarily  stop  the 
grumbling,  makes  matters  worse  in  the  end. 
Yes,  we  would  gladly  see  our  papers  better, 
but  they  are  already  better  than  those  de- 
voted to  most  other  specialties.  I  wanted 
one  day  an  example  of  how  not  to  write — 
wanted  an  article  spending  the  opening  one- 
third  of  its  space  in  explaining  why  the 
reader  need  not  expect  anything  worth  read- 
ing, or  some  equally  idiotic  trash — and  I  did 
not  find  one.  They  used  to  be  common 
enough.  This  high  grade  of  excellence  which 
our  average  paper  has  reached  is  liable  to  be 
a  stumbling  block  to  the  editor  who  reads 
outside  literature  much  and  bee  papers  little. 
He  thus  unconsciously  judges  himself  by  a 
standard  which  is  too  low. 

AMERICAN    BEE-  KEEPER. 

This  paper  is  edited  by  one  of  the  most 
gentlemanly  and  excellent  of  men,  and  there- 
fore its  reviewer  finds  it  quite  unpleasant  to 
say  that  it  seems  of  late  to  be  getting  down 
in  relative  merit,  and  going  below  its  class- 
mates. The  fact  seems  to  be  that  its  large 
supply  business  gives  it  great  advantages  in 
obtaining  and  holding  subscribers,  and  it 
leans  on  these  advantages  too  hard — good 
paper  though,  if  we  could  only  refrain  from 
comparing  it  with  its  cotemporaries.  Per- 
haps I  forget  that  we  should  not  expect  as 
many  strawberries  for  .">0  cts.  as  we  get  for 
a  dollar.  And  I'll  try  to  disprove  my  own 
position  by  working  hard  at  the  seriatim  of 
the  March  number. 

Friend  De  Witt,  who  appears  each  month, 
does  a  very  fair  job  at  iiosting  the  begin- 
ners. 

Order  your  supplies  in  spring;  and  read 
your  bee  paper,  if  you  have  one. — (S.  E. 
Hitchcock.) 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


147 


"  Sometimes  I  think  the  poor  seasons  when  we 
have  to  study  and  work  for  the  benefit  of  our 
bees,  are  the  best  ones  in  tlie  end."  Mrs.  Hol- 
lenbeck. 

Next  Franklin  Thoru,  a  New  Jersey  school 

teacher,   keeping  some   bees  for  his  health, 

rather  turns  the  dial  back  for  us  to  the  time 

wlien  it  was  not  unusual  to  be  interested  in 

bees. 

"Anything  but  a  desirable  race  of  bees.  (Pa- 
nics. )  *  *  *  Have  you  ever  noticed  how 
nmch  quicker  a  light  in  the  cellar  will  disturb 
the  Italians  than  the  Carniolans  ?  *  *  *  a. 
few  years  ago  1  noticed  that  the  colonies  that 
had  ail  buckwheat  honey  for  winter  stores  came 
out  of  winter  quarters  in  better  ctmdition  than 
those  that  had  white  honey.  *  *  *  Buckwheat 
honey  does  not  become  thin  and  sour  when  in 
the  cellar  nearly  as  quickly  as  white  honey." 
F.  A.  Lockhart. 

The  same  writer  advises  asparagus  tops 
slightly  wet  with  kerosene  to  cover  the  door- 
way of  a  colony  that  is  being  robbed.  Friend 
Lockhart  seems  to  be  a  man  of  ideas,  and  a 
person  we  shall  be  willing  to  hear  from  any 
time  anywhere. 

C.  F.  Teel  of  Elmont,  Texas,  rather  pa- 
thetically illustrates  how  not  to  do  things 
when  foul  brood  is  around.  But  it  generates 
itself,  foul  brood  does. 

The  selection  of  copied  articles  is  Dema- 
ree's  "Outlook,"  and  a  chat  of  H.  D.  Stew- 
art's from  the  Guide,  and  Jennie  Atchley's 
very  excellent  transferring  article  from  A. 
B.  J.,  and  a  picture  and  life  sketch  of  John 
F.  Gates  from  the  Canadian. 

The  February  number  swallows  the  non- 
sense about  a  single  ounce  of  .  honey  repre- 
senting millions  of  miles  of  travel ;  but 
older  papers  have  done  the  same. 

T.  R.  Common  (page  20)  seems  to  add 
somewhat  to  the  knowledge  of  drone  play- 
grounds. He  locates  them  on  the  lines 
where  workers  are  passing  back  and  forth. 
I  think  he  is  wrong  however  in  supposing 
that  the  fertilization  of  workers  is  anything 
more  than  an  extremely  rare  occurrence.  A 
worker  bee  rudely  seized  by  its  fellows  puts 
out  a  tiny  drop  of  honey  if  it  has  any,  as  a 
ransom  for  its  life  perhaps.  If  it  is  true  that 
drones  habitually  seize  workers  on  the  wing 
I  suspect  it  is  because  they  have  learned  this 
as  an  easy  way  to  get  refreshments.  Per- 
haps it  is  only  play,  or  idle  wantonness  of 
which  they  expect  nothing.  Awaiting  final 
judgment  let  us  have  more  witnesses  as  to 
the  exact  facts. 

The  initial  article  of  the  year  by  C.  J. 
Robinson  is  an  extra  good  one.  And  Dr. 
Tufts,  on  page  .5,  gives  valuable  observations 
on  fertile  workers  as  below. 


"  Although  I  have  many  times  seen  them  in 
the  act  of  depositing  eggs  in  the  cell,  I  never 
could  detect  that  the  other  bees  paid  them  any 
particular  attention.  I  have  at  various  times 
caught  and  killed  a  bee  when  1  found  her  de- 
positing eggs.  I  could  not  see,  however,  that  it 
decreased  the  egg  production  in  the  hive  to  any 
extent,  which  surely  ought  to  be  the  case  if  only 
one  was  concerned  in  egg  laying." 

Mrs.  Henze,  on  page  7,  gives  a  singular  case 
of  the  efifect  of  stings  on  her  baby.  Badly 
stung  on  Thursday,  swelling  did  not  occur 
to  marked  extent  at  the  time  ;  but  the  next 
Monday  both  ears  swelled  to  twice  their 
natural  size. 

On  page  8  what  seems  to  be  very  pestilent 
advice  is  given  to  beginners  about  winter 
tactics.  It  is  indeed  said  to  disturb  as  little 
as  possible ;  but  still  the  idea  is  conveyed 
that  to  pull  the  hive  up  from  the  bottom 
board,  and  to  open  it  and  look  in  at  the  bees 
from  the  top,  are  proper  things  to  be  done 
every  week  if  desired — just  the  naughty 
tricks  beginners  are  too  much  inclined  to  do 
any  way. 

The  Progressive. 

This  is  our  baby,  and  it's  sold  to  Higgins- 
ville :  so  any  comments  on  the  cut  of  its 
editorial  jib  would  be  out  of  date.  By  wait- 
ing a  bit  we  shall  find  out  how  its  present 
master,  Mr.  R.  B.  Leahy,  sets  a  jib.  Appar- 
ently its  family  of  correspondents  is  not  to 
be  very  much  changed  and  we  will  sample 
them  as  below — 

"  Have  to  pry  and  pall  and  sweat  to  get  the 
first  frame  or  dummy  out."  Jennie  Atchley's 
compliments  to  the  Hoffman  frame,  page  3, 

"  Two  crops  of  about  100  lbs.  as  an  average  per 
colony,  so  far  this  season,  *  *  with  prospects 
for  a  third  one.  *  *  I  am  the  last  man  located 
up  the  St.  Lucie  river,  [Florida]  10  miles  from  a 
neigh boi ,  50  from  a  store ;  *  *  baching  it. 
*  *  'Tis  sweet  here  among  the  mosquitoes 
and  sand  flies."    A.  F.  Brown,  page  4. 

"  Plenty  of  honey  and  a  good  tight  hive  will  do 
more  toward  getting  bees  ready  to  gather  the 
harvest  than  any  other  method,  and  it  is  per- 
fectly safe  for  a  beginner.''  Editor  Quigley, 
page  17. 

There,  now  !    We  might  have  known  that 

Mrs.  Atchley  was  a  man  in  disguise,  with  a 

Jennie  glued  on  to  his  name.     Listen  to  him 

once. 

"  I  will  just  let  him  have  the  last  lick  and  quit, 
rather  than  argue  too  far."     Pago  18. 

Such  disguises  are  more  certain  to  get  out 
than  murder  is,  Mr.  Jennie. 

"  You  will  find  there  the  crank,  the  bore  and 
the  talkative  person,  the  agreeable  man,  the 
thinker  and  the  modest  person ;  but  in  no  other 
place  will  you  meet  such  genuine  cordiality." 
Bee  convention  as  seen  by  E.  R.  Garrett,  page  19. 


148 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


"  O'lT  all  the  world  a  golden  ray 

Of  peace  ami  happiness  is  cast. 
While  nature's  myriad  voices  say, 
Old  winter  Krini  and  cold,  is  past." 

W.  W.  Mitchell,  pase  :«. 

"  Well !  Here  we  are,  bat  we  don't  know;  as 
much  about  running  a  bee  journal  as  we  did  a 
mouth  ago."     New  editor,  page  50. 

By  the  way,  Progressive  hardly  got  a  fair 
show  in  my  comparative  count.  The  Jan- 
uary number  was  mostly  taken  up  with  the 
report  of  a  bee  convention,  all  chopped  up 
into  little  short  paragraphs,  and  thereby  it 
missed  wurds,  missed  more  than  a  thousand 
of  them.  In  fairness  we  should  accept  the 
February  count,  7,124,  instead  of  January 
with  r>,;».")9.  Also -4.  i?.  J.  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  its  count  was  not  full  justice, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  five  numbers  a  month 
come  in  four  times  a  year.  Allowance  for 
this  would  raise  its  monthly  total  from  58,- 
^u.'^  to  GS.i'MM. 

THE   GENERAL     ROUND    UP. 

'Nother  baby  to  spank,  there's  going  to  be. 
It  expects  to  arrive  in  this  baby-devouring 
world  May  15th  ;  and  Burton  L.  Sage,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  will  rock  it.  The  youngster's 
name  is  The  Bee-Keepers'  Enterprise.  But 
no  undertakers  need  apply  just  yet,  as  the 
editor  claims  to  see  his  way  clear  for  two 
years  ahead  without  asking  baby  to  pay 
board. 

Saul  among  the  prophets  I  Demaree  comes 
out  in  the  Guide  with  a  new  kind  of  sugar- 
honey.  We  shall  almost  expect  to  see  Bro. 
Newman  putting  an  improved  glucose  on  the 
market  now. 

An  interest  seems  to  be  developing  in  the 
beautiful  Italian  clover  that  may  result  in 
advantage  to  the  bee  fraternity  in  some  lo- 
calities. I  believe  I  saw  no  bees  visiting 
mine ;  but  I  had  only  a  very  few,  and  long 
ago. 

Weygandt,  a  German,  thinks  he  has  suc- 
cess in  supplying  bees  with  pulverized  wax 
inside  the  hives.  He  reduces  the  wax  to 
powder  with  alcohol.  A.  B.  J.,  208.  A  Yan- 
kee might  guess  that  those  bees  simply  blew 
the  powder  away,  and  then  drew  on  their 
own  pockets  for  the  wax. 

An  isolated  case  of  a  drone  mating  with  a 
worker  bee  is  said  to  be  proved  up  in  Ger- 
many.   A.  B. ./.,  208. 

During  one  fall  and  winter  Mrs.  Atchley 
had  100,000  pounds  of  honey  retailed  in  the 
two  cities  of  Dallas  and  Fort  Worth.  -^4 .  B. 
J.,  301.    Looks  like  biz.  And  she  tells  us  not 


to  sell  the  dark  honey,  but  to  eat  it  our- 
selves. Not  right.  With  some  of  us  half 
the  crop  is  dark ;  and  it  takes  me  several 
months  to  eat  .50,000  pounds  of  honey.  With 
both  on  the  wagon,  and  a  reasonable  con- 
cession in  price,  I  find  the  dark  honey  sells 
as  readily  as  the  best. 

"  Years  of  experience  have  proved  to  me  that 
each  of  the  united  colonies  would  often  pull 
through  alone,  while  if  united  [in  early  spring  1 
all  would  perish."    Doolittle,  A.  B.  J.,  :W6. 

Hear  the  Canadian  on  the  difficulty  of  re- 
porting conventions  with  satisfactory  accu- 
racy— 

"  The  best  reporter  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
will  make  mistakes;  if  he  doesn't  the  speaker 
whom  he  is  elaborating  will ;  if  either  or  both 
forget  this  plain  part  of  their  (luty  they  may  rest 
confident  that  the  compositor  will  attend  to  it." 

If  anybody  has  thought  Rambler's  vein 
exhausted  he  should  read  Ramble  79  in 
Gleanings.  He  is  still  quite  able  to  get  into 
queer  situations,  and  "  sling  English  "  with- 
out being  troubled  with  a  lame  arm.  Notice 
how  the  skies  cliange  from  blizzard  to  Indian 
summer  when  a  season-footed  resident  drives 
up  and  lends  them  a  whiffletree. 

"Here  we  are,  ten  miles  from  a  house,  in  a 
howling  wilderness,  with  bears,  wildcats,  coy- 
otes, and  a  broken  whiffletree— its  all  your  fault. 

*  *  Blessed  he  the  name  of  Joe  Beals  and  his 
Spanish  wife.  Blessed  be  his  dozen  (more  or  less) 
half-breeds;  and  blessed  be  his  horses  and  oxen, 
his  dogs  and  his  bees." 

Next  I  think  I  must  read  Gleanings  a  little 
lecture.  It  not  only  inserts  the  following 
rank  nonsense,  but  actually  heads  it  "  sen- 
sible words."     Page  178. 

'"In  England  a  fruit  grower  was  surprised  to 
find  that,  in  one  corner  of  his  garden,  in  which 
were  placed  colonies  of  bees,  the  trees  were 
heavily  laden  with  fruit,  while  those  more  remote 
had  set  very  sparingly.  Then  he  called  to  mind 
the  circumstance  of  its  being  very  dark  and 
foggy  during  the  blooming  of  the  trees,  so  that 
the  bees  flew  but  a  short  distance  from  their 
hives." 

Of  course  if  the  fog  and  darkness  were 
such  that  bees  could  not  find  the  way  from 
one  tree  to  another  throughout  a  garden  they 
would  not  come  out  at  all.  Moreover  they 
show  no  preference  for  flowers  near  the  hive 
over  those  40  rods  away — probably  prefer  a 
moderate  fly.  How  easy  it  is  to  attack  wrong 
statements  when  they  are  of  no  profit  to  us, 
and  yet  cravenly  take  the  advantage  of  mis- 
conceptions when  they  happen  to  be  in  our 
favor  !  By  the  way  Isn't  the  above  yarn  an 
old  customer  that  we  have  been  dealing  with 
for  the  last  25  years  ?  Brethren,  let  us 
straighten  up. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


149 


Bees  were  not  carried  to  Tahiti,  south  Pa- 
citic,  till  1870.  Thousands  of  colonies  there 
now. 

And  now  the  idea  is  pushed  that  we  don't 
need  any  bee  escape  at  all,  beyond  a  simple 
orifice  or  tube. 

"  The  cause  that  iuduced  them  to  leave  pre- 
vents them  from  going  back."  William  Halley, 
Gleanings,  173. 

Glad  to  see  once  more  J.  H.  Nellis,  the  old 
*'bo8s"  after  whom  thou  and  I,  friend  Hutch- 
inson, used  to  ride  years  ago.  He  brings 
out  the  singular  fact  that  although  now  bees 
snowed  under  deep  all  winter  are  spoiled  by 
over  breeding  and  loss  of  vigor,  it  didn't 
use  to  be  so  previous  to  1870.  Gleanings, 
172. 

That  accidental  bee  candy  of  Miss  Wil- 
son's that  kept  in  perfect  condition  for  more 
than  a  year,  may  possibly  prove  a  very  val- 
uable discovery — if  they  can  find  out  why  the 
process  that  contemplated  cake-frosting 
turned  out  soft  candy  that  would  not  dry. 
Quite  possibly  the  syrup  underneath  kept  it 
moist  at  first,  until  the  egg,  without  spoil- 
ing, took  a  changed  character,  seasoned  and 
impervious,  which  prevented  loss  of  moist- 
ure at  last.  I  hear  that  eggs  do  not  beat  up 
well  the  same  day  they  are  laid — so  their  vir- 
tues are  a  varying  quality.  See  Gleanings, 
page  167. 

Vogel  in  Germany  says  the  workers  and 
not  the  queen  are  the  reigning  element  in  the 
hive.  Gleanings,  page  1G9.  I  should  say 
jniblic  sentiment  reigns  in  a  bee  hive  :  and 
so))tetimes  the  feelings  of  the  queen  count 
more  in  forming  public  sentiment  than  the 
votes  of  many  hundred  workers  could  do. 

The  Germans  are  also  digging  earnestly 
into  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  queen's  sper- 
matheca.  Metzger  finds,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, that  the  immense  number  of  sperm 
cells  required  are  not  all  developed  in  the 
beginning  and  kept  on  hand :  but  the  devel- 
opment of  them  goes  on  steadily  during  the 
season  of  laying. 

That  scale  record  on  page  103  of  last  Re- 
view surprises  me,  and  knocks  one-half  of 
the  appetite  for  cellar  wintering  out  of  me. 
There  must  be  something  weak  and  rotten 
in  the  system  if  bees  are  going  to  eat  two 
pounds  a  month  in  November  and  Decem- 
ber. That  is  double  the  normal  consump- 
tion— weather  being  moderate.  Kind  o' 
smell  that  they  are  in  a  strange  place,  and 
prisoners,  and  worry  a  trifle  about  it,  'pears 
like. 
RiOHAKDS,  Lucas  Co.,  O.       April  19,  '93. 


AD  VE  RTISEMENTS 


WILL 


SACRinCE^^ 

SUPPLIES.  WRITE  FOR    LIST. 

I  also  have  "office  helos  "  for  sale.  3-93-tf 

J  NO.  C.  CAPE  HART,  St  Albans.  W.  Va. 

Please  Mention     the    Reuiew. 

BEE  -  KEEPERS' 

SURRLY  HOUSE 

J.  H.  M  COOK.  78  Barclay  St.,  N.  Y.  City. 

{SUCCESSOR   TO  A.   J.   KING.) 

4-93-tf  Send  for  illustrated  Catalogue. 

Ac^<3er  fi'trnnun  the  Reuiew. 

Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth,  Dovetailed  and  Champion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supers,  One-Piece  Sections  and  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16-page  t'ircular. 
1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  London,  Wis. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


HAVING     PURCHASED    the    en- 

tire  Block  ana  ousiiiec>s  t)f  v\  .  D.  Soper  at  Jackson 
Mich.,  I  am  now  prepared  to  furnish  Apiarian 
Supplies  to  all  who  liave  usually  purchased  of 
Mr.  Soper,  and  to  all  others  who  wish  Apia- 
rian goods  at  the  lowest  prices.  Orders  tilled 
promptly.    Send  for  price  list  and  circular. 

E.    H-    TI^U^VIPEf?, 
4-93-3t  Bankers.  Mich. 

Please  men' ion  the  Review. 


Muth's :: 


Ey    EXTRACTOR 

PERFECTION 
Id-Blast    Smokers, 

Squzk^re  6I»^ss  Hopey  Jzirj,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  Chas.  F.  Muth  &  Son, 
Cot.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  lOc.  for  Practical  Hints  to  Bee-Keepers. 

1-93-tf.  Please  Mention  the  Reuiew. 

TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  Second-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped,  privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  j  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADQUARTERS,  i  ^^  Monroe  St.,  Chicago. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


150 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Barnes'  Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 


^^sz. 


This    cut    represents  oar 

("ombined       Circolar  and 

Scroll    Saw,    which    is  the 

best     machine      made  for 

Bee  Keepers'  nse  in  the 
construction  of  their  hives, 
sections,    boxes,    etc. 

11-92-16t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOR  OATALOGU,  PR  10S,5cyT0., 
Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St ,  Rockford,  Ills. 


IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $l.uO 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

Plea?"  mention  *he  Reuieu). 


Warranted  Purely  Mated. 

Italian  honey  (lueens.  They  are  very  prolific 
and  tlieir  workers  cannot  be  excelled  in  gentle- 
ness and  industry.  Nothing  but  the  choicest 
qiu^eus  sent  out ;  try  me  and  see.  Send  your 
order  at  once  Single  queen,  SO  cts  :  3  for  $2.00 ; 
6  for  $4.t)U ;  12  for  $7.75.   Ready  April  :5()tli.    l-9?-6t 

M.  H.  DeWITT,  Sang  Run,  Ml 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


TESTED 
:f:i.oo 


Qcaexeins 


Liglit,  large  and  prolific  Italian  queens  reared 
in  .Jan  1892,  by  the  most  improved  methods. 
Orders  filled  by  return  mail. 

J.  W.  K.  5HAW  &■  CO., 
4-9+-7t  Loreauville,  La. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


%  Banded  Queens 

AND 

I  J^PExtne   flaclei 

^^^A    SPECIALTY. 

April         May 

One  untested  queen, $1.00         $1.00 

Six         "        queens, 5.00  5.0O 

One  tested  queen,  2.00  1.50 

Three    "    queens 5.00  4.00 

Select  tested  queen, 2.50  2.50 

Two-frame  nucleus  with  any  queen  fl.50  eacli, 
extra.  Three  -  frame  nucleus  with  any  queen 
$2.25  each,  extra.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

w.  J.  €:i:,i:.ison. 

3«93~3t  Catehall,   S.  C. 

New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS, 

FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SE(^TION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWKY  .JOHNSON, 

l-9;5-tf.  Masontown,  Pa. 

oo:m:b 
FOUNDATION 

AND  SESTIOMS. 


CA  UTION  . 

Do  not  buy  a  thick,  heavy  base  comb  founda- 
tion for  use  in  your  sections  when  you  can  get 
14  to  16  square  foot  to  the  pound.  .Also  be  sure 
and  buy  your  secfions  where  you  can  get  a  nice 
box  at  a  low  price.  Send  me  your  address  and  I 
will  be  pleased  to  send  you  a  sample  section,  a 
sample  of  the 

THINEST  COMB  FOUNDATION   MADE, 

And  prices  at  which  tliey  may  be  bought. 

W.  H.   NORTON, 

2-93-t4.  Skowhegan,  Me. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


-4 THE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE- KEEPER V^ 

H.S.S   Ctia-ngeci    Ha-ncis.  It    is    no^;v    Pvitolislaeci    Toy   tlie 

LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

Hlgginsvllle,    Missouri. 

Money,   Experience  and  Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicatefi.        Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  28-page  Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Supplies. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


151 


HILL'S  SMOKER  and  FEEDER. 


Smoker  bums  hard  wood  chips  without  spe- 
cial preparation.  Very  reliable.  Greatest 
smoking  capacity.  Easiest  to  start.  Cheapest 
because  it  saves  time.  Price,  $1.20.  By  mail, 
81.40.    Per  dozen,  $10.80. 

Best  Bee  -  Feeder.  Most 
convenient.  Saves  feed.  No 
daubing  or  drowning.  Two 
to  seven  feeders  full  may  be 
given  a  colony  at  one  time 
which  will  be  stored  in  the 
combs  in  ten  hours.  Price, 
per  pair,  30c.;  by  mail,  40  c; 
per  doz.,  $1.60.  Has  a  sale  of 
2,000  per  month.  Address 
A.  G.  HILL,  Kendallville, 
Indiana. 

These  smokers  and  feeders  are  kept  in  stock 
by  Thos.  G.  Newman  &  Son,  ( 'hicago.  111 
It.   B.   Lewis  &   Co,,  Watertown.  Wis. 
W.   H,  Bright.  Mazeppa,  Minn. 
Chas.  Dadant  &  Son,  Hamilton,  Hancock  (^o..  111. 

E.  Kretchmer,  Pied  Oak,  Iowa. 

H.  Mc Wilson  &  Co.,  202  Market  St..  St.  L'  uis,  Mo. 

F.  H.  Dunn.  Yorkville,  111. 

W.   D.   Soper&Co.,   Jackson,  Mich. 
Chas.  A.  Stockbridge,  Ft.  Waj-ne,  Ind. 
A.  F.  Fields,  Wheaton,  Ind. 
W.  S.BeLlows,   Ladora.  Iowa. 
E.  F.  Quigley,   Unif>nville,   Mo. 
Gregory  Bros.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa. 
MiUer  Bros..  Bluff  ton  Mo. 

G.  K.  Hubbard.  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 

Theodore  Bonder,  18  Fulton  St.,  Canton,  Ohio. 
Muth  and  Son,  Cincinnati,  Oliio. 
Levering  Bros.,  Wiota,  Cass  Co.,  Iowa. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieuf 


A  II  r  r  11  n  A  large  number  of  fine  ones  on 
llllrrNn  hand;  yellow  and  prolific: 
y  U  L  L  11  Uj  reads'  April  l-5th ;  warranted 
queens.  $1 ;  6  for  S4..")0  ;  select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  tips,  suitable  for  breeders, 
$2  each.    Reference,  A.  I.  Root  3-9.3  tf 

W   H.  LAWS,  Lavaca,  Seb  Co  .  Ark. 

Pleas.     ....:..... !■■   Reuiew. 


DO  NOT  GIVE  YOUR  ORDER  FOR  SECTIONS 
UNTIL  YOU  GET  OUR  PRICES  ON  THE 

"BOSS"  ONE-PIECE  SECTION 

We  are  in  better  shape  than  ever  to  fill  orders 
promptly.     Also, 

DOVETAILED    HIVES.    ------ 

-    -    -    FOUNDATION,  SMOKERS,  Etc. 

i^~  Write  for  Price  List.  =.^1 

J.  FOI^NCf^OOK  <St  CO. 


BINGHAM    PERFECT 

BEE  SMOKER 

I'atd  1878. 1882,  &  1802. 

Hicapest  &  Best  on  Earth. 

Sond  Card  for  Circular  to 

Biiighjiiii  &  Hetherington 

ABKOXIA,  MICH. 


Sections  Still  Lower! 

8-to-tlie-foot,  one-piece,  white  poplar,  and 
7  '•  "  "  and  I'g,  one-piece  basswood, 
all  4'.i  X  4^4  square.  Sample  of  either  and  price 
list  free-  Satisfaction  and  good  measure  guar- 
anteed. O.  H.  TOWNSEND, 
4-93-tf  Alamo,  Kal.,  Co.;  Mich. 

Reference:  EDITOR  REVIEW. 

SSBiplueCat- 

ALOfiUE  FOR"  1893?  Seventy  illustrated 
pages.  Sent  FREE  to  any  bee-keeiier.  BEE- 
SUPPLIES,  at  retail  and  wholesale.  Every- 
thing used  in  the  apiary.  Greatest  variety  and 
largest  stock  in  the  West 
1-9.3-tf.       E.  Kretchmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 


HIVES. 


DOV  ETA  I  L.E  D 

Frames,  Sections,   Honey 

Crates,  Foundation  and  Apiarian  Supplies  of 

all  kinds.    Catalogue  free. 

E.  L.  KINCAIS,  Walker,  Mo. 


Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers. 

TYPE  WRITTEN. 


W.\TERTowN,  Wis.,  Jan.  1,  1893. 

t'leaae   mention    tii*'    Reuiew 


1-93-tf. 


g 
g 
a 
m 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask- 
ing for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States)  . 
and,  although  this  list  lias  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2..'i0 
per  KMJO,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  tlie  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  82.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  Flint,  Mich. 


152 


TBE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


fion-'SuaSiPminQ 


SYSTEIW. 


i'liis  is  the  first  perfect  and  prac- 
tical NON  -  SWARMING  plan  that  has  over 
been  brought  to  completion. 

"If  we  can  entirely  prevent  swarming,  and 
keep  all  tlie  bees  at  home  storing  lioncy  all  the 
season,  we  shall  get  enormous  crops  frt)m  a  sin- 
gle hive  "    (A  B  ('  of  Bee  Culture,  1891,  page  289.) 

Remember,  1  worked  this  plan  on  1()0  colonies 
last  season,  and  my  average  yield,  per  colony,  of 
ct>mb  lioney,  was  tiO  lbs.,  increase  M  percent; 
hence  it  will  be  seen  that  I  am  not  talking  at 
random  in  making  the  following  statements,  as 
each  point  has  been  fully  tested  and  tried. 

Ill  Two  light  colonies  that  would  do  but  little 
in  the  sections  if  worked  separately,  do  excellent 
work  by  running  the  field  force  of  both  into  the 
same  set  of  supers.  (More  honey,  j 

1 2)  No  bait  combs  are  needed,  as  the  bees  can 
be  crowded  into  the  sections  without  tlieir 
swarming.  (No  coaxing.) 

(3)  The  honey  will  be  finished  in  better  condi- 
tion, that  is,  witli  less  travel-stain  on  the  honey 
or  propolis  on  the  sections,  because  the  union  of 
the  field  forces  completes  the  work  in  less  time. 
(More  sliekels.  i 

1 4)  There  will  be  fewer  unfinished  sections  at 
the  en(l  of  the  honey  harvest,  for  the  reason 
just  mentioned.  (Less  waste.) 

(5)  Crowding  the  supers  with  bees  induces 
them  to  begin  and  finish  all  the  sections  in  eacli 
case  at  about  the  same  time,  thus  permitting  the 
removal  of  the  case  with  no  unfinished  sections 
in  it,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  take  the  sec- 
tions out  as  fast  as  finished  to  keep  them  clean. 
(Saves  time.) 

(i5i  Drones  will  be  fewer  in  numbers,  as  tliey 
are  killed  off  in  the  closed  hive  while  the  bees  of 
the  other  are  storing  honey  rapidly.  (  More  honey) 

(7 1  There  is  no  hunting  or  caging  of  queens, 
no  cutting  out  of  queen  cells  nor  manipulation 
of  brood  combs,  and  no  MOVING  or  LIFTING 
of  hives  or  even  the  opening  of  brood  chambers 
during  the  honey  season.   iSaves  your  muscle.) 

|8)  With  eveythmg  in  readiness,  one  man  can 
get  a  crop  of  lioney  from  20O  colonies  with  only 
one  day's  work  each  week,  i  Lowers  cost  of  pro- 
duction.) 

(9)  All  the  vexatious  watching  for  swarms  and 
the  labor  and  time  involved  in  securing  them 
are  done  away  with.  I  Less  cost  and  loss  of  tem- 
per. ) 

1 10)  Combining  tlie  field  forces  gives  better 
comb  building  facilities  in  the  supers  on  account 
of  econonuzing  the  heat  during  cool  nights. 
(More  honey. I 

111)  For  this  reason  more  honey  will  be  stored 
in  the  sections  without  resorting  to  contraction 
of  the  brood  nest.  (More  honey.  I 

1 12 1  A  larger  field  force  leaves  the  hives  than 
if  thev  had  full  possession  of  bolh  brooil  cham- 
bers.'(MORE  HON  FY.) 

Dii:ii  All  bees  old  enough  to  go  to  the  field  are 
not  discouraged  or  hindered  in  the  least.  iMORK 
HONEY.)  ,   .  , 

I  111  Artificial  swarms  and  nuclei  can  be  more 
easily  made,  as  combs  of  bees  and  brood  can  be 
takeii  from  the  closed  hive  in  which  the  queen 
can  l)e  found  very  (iiiickly.  i  Easy  increase,  i 

In  fact,  to  the  man  who  is  willing  to  keep  his 
eyes  open  and  attend  to  things  at  the  proper 
time  (no  slipshod  beekeeper  need  apply),  this 
system  offers  a  new  era  in  bee  -  keeping,  and   he 


who  does  not  make  use  of  if  in  these  days  of  low 
prices  will  not  ''  keep  up  wi(h  the  procession." 
You  cannot  afford  to  let  the  opportunity  pass 
without  giving  the  plan  a  trial.  Letters  patent 
have  been  gianteci  in  Canada,  and  have  been  ap- 
I)lied  for  in  the  U.  S.  and  foreign  countries.  The 
device  will  be  put  on  the  market  within  the  reach 
of  all,  and,  if  your  dealer  is  not  yet  ready  to  sup- 
ply them,  they  may  be  ordered  of  me  at  tlie  fol- 
lowing prices  : 

Complete,  by  freight  or  express,  75  cts.  each  ; 
$f,.W  for  ten,  or  $40.0(1  for  KM).  By  mail,  35  cts. 
extra  for  each. 

Notice  that  f)ne  device  works  two  hives,  hence, 
when  ten  are  i)urchased  at  one   time,  the  cost  is 
only  25  cents  per  hive    None  genuine  that  do  not 
bear  my  stain !>.    Circulars  free.    Send  for  one. 
H.  P.  L.ANGDON, 

East  Constable,  N.Y. 

Please  mention  the  Review, 


HIVES 


Twenty  of  Root's  Dovetailed  Hives, 
all  made  up  and  furnished  with  six  sec- 
tion holders  and  eight  brood  frames, 
only  90  cts.  each.  Twenty  of  Root's 
story  and  a  half,  chaff  liives,  made  up 
and  furnished  with  eight  brood  frames, 
and  a  case  to  hold  twenty  sections,  only 
$1.2.')  each.  (  Regular  price,  ll.T.").  ) 
Twenty  chaff  hives  with  one  movable 
side,  and  furnished  with  nine  brood 
frames  and  a  case  holding  six  section 
holders,  only  .f  l.-W  each.  ( Regular  price 
$2.00.)     I  also  have  fifty  colonies  of 


BEES 


For  sale.  They  are  in  eight  and  ten 
(L.)  frame  story  and  a  half  hives.  Colonies 
in  ten-frame  hives,  $4.(X)  each ;  in  eighth 
frame,  only  $3.50  If  five  or  more  are  taken 
at  one  time,  a  five  cent  discount  will  be 
given.  Bees  are  in  good  ccmdition  and  hives 
new.  A  discount  of  ten  per  cent  will  also  be 
given  on  section  holders,  brood  frames  and 
shipping  cases  until  May  Is*.  12-92-12t 

I.  M.  KINZIE,  Rochester,  Mien. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


Illnstrateil   Advertlseients  Attract   Attention. 


cuts  Furulslied  for  all  illastratlng  Purposes. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


153 


FLORIDA. 

Leather-  Back,  Italian 

500     vou.c    QUEENS 

Ready  for  delivery  April  20th  to  May  10th.     $10 
per  dozen  ;  special  prices  on  three  dozen  or  more. 
Safe  arrival  guaranteed.     The  300  queens  men- 
tioned in  last  advertisement  are  all  sold . 
A.  F.BROWN, 
1-93-tf  New  Smyrna,  Box  16,  Fla. 


Dadant's  Comb  Foundation. 

Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  competitors 
acknowledge  that  onr  goods  are  the  Standard 
of  tlieir  kind.  Langstrotli  on  the  Honey 
Bee,  Revised.  New  edition.  Bee  Veils; 
and  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samples  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners        Send    your    address    to 

GH&S.DAD&NT&  SON,  Hamilton,  Ills. 

4-93-l2t  Pleasp  mention  the  Reuiew, 


I 

Second  Hand      c 

c 
© 

F   %^       Supplies.  I 

the 

second 
hand  supplies  that 
1  tiave  been   advertis-        9^ 
ing  in  the    Review,    the 
following  remain  unsold : 

100  old-style,  Heddon  surplus 
cases  at  20  cts.  (as  a  non-separatored 
case,  they  have  no  superior) ;  25  slatted 
doney  boards  at  10  cts.  :  20  Heddon  feeders 
at  40  cts. ;  2.5  Alley  queen  and  drone  traps 
at  2.5  cts.,  and  half  a  dozen  single  -  comb 
nuclei  for  exhibiting  bees  at  fairs.  They 
have  glass  sides,  removable  covers  and  are 
painted  a  bright  vermillion.  They  cost 
)«;2.00  each,  but  will  be  sold  at  half  -  price. 
All  these  are  practically  as  good  as  new. 

I  also  have  2,000  new,  four  -  piece,   white 
poplar  sections  at  ifS.OO. 


GrGdt    R6dUCtiOD.  '      W.^JUTCHlNSONJllnlMicliipil. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  &c.,  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 

WRITE   FOR   FREE.    ILLUSTRATED  CATA- 
LOGUE AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  W'is. 

7  93-tf.  Phase   mention   the    Review. 


JBGG         Hives,      ta'ife^d^    nailed 

up  all  r  o  m  ■ 
plete  for  comb  honey,  only  SI  •!(».  An  Italian 
Queen  free  on  a  SUMK^'  order  All  supplies 
<-.,eap.  A.  F.  McADAMS, 

r)-33-tf  V  uiumbus  Grove,  Ohio. 


Bee   Literature 


For 
Sale. 

GLEANINGS— Vols.  .•<-9-10-ll-12-16  boun.i  in 
'•red  goat  "    Vols.  17  IS- 1 9-20  unbound. 

AM.  BEE  .JOURNAL-Vols.  22  23  24  bound  in 
black  leather,  and  Vols.  2.5-26-27  and  28  unbound. 

APICULTURIST— Vols.  1  to  7,  inclusive,  un- 
bound. 

GUIDE    Vol.  12.  unbound. 

Each  of  the  following  lack  one  or  two  num- 
bers of  being  complete. 

ADVANCE— Vols.  17  and  IS. 

CANADIAN  B.  .J.-Vol.  for  18SS. 

BRITISH  B.  .1.  -Vols,  for  1888  1890  and  1891. 

CAN.  HONEY  PRODUCER-Vols.  for  1887- 
1888  and  1889.  Also  odd  numbers  of  all  the 
above  journals. 

Hf>w_  much  am  I  offered  for  any  or  all  of  the 
above  ? 

ARTHUR  C,   MILLER, 

Box  575.  Providence,  R.  I. 


thev 


Hastings'  Lightning  Ventilated  Bee  Escape. 

~~ —  Oherbv  Vallev,  N.  Y..  March  iO.  'ftJt. 

*'l  shall  take  pli?a^ure  in  reconimendiog  them 
as  the  best  I  have  ever  ii^ed. 

Truly  yours,        J.  E.  HETHERINGTON. 
"We  believe  you  have  an  Escape  that  'downs' 
the  PorhT." 

T.  PHILLIP  &  CO.,  Orillia.  Ont..  Canada. 
"Your  Kscapte  knocks  out  all  competitors." 

A.  J.  LFN'DLKY.  Jordan.  Ind. 

**They  did  not  clog,  and  cleared  the  supers 

rapidly.     Tnfactitis  the  best  Escape   I  have 

A  trial  you  yet  usfd,     I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  it.  and 

j  consider  it  a  great  boon  to  bee-keepers." 
ion.  ^*.  K.  CLARK,  (Jriskanv.  N.  Y. 


RICULTir.AL  r 

nl.l.EGE 

M 

.■h.  Sent 

n,  ■9-.'. 

lave 
inrt 

tin 

•rt  the 
i  them 

-iu'luni 

1? 
Iv 

thp  <..|ua 

pvs  j-ou 
1  of  th. 

r.  a 

1.1 

ih.-ir  s 

iperi.ir 

ti) 

th"  ^.■a^ 

on  thai 

till 

■Ml 

II V  a  -v, 
-l"ciri] 

(K.T  more  rapidlv. 

ly,     J.  H.  LARRABEE. 

Ohio. 


'•It  is  ouropini'  n  that  you  hav.'  th 
Escape  everiiitrtidiice  I." 

A.  I.  ROOT.  Mid 
HoNOLKi.i;,  Hawaiian  r^lari.is.  April  2.5.  'UJ. 
"Plea'iescnil  III.- Ill-  return  ni:iil  5  Liihtniir- 
V.'niilatirt  Bet  E-i-ai'i-^.    I  have  the  Porter.aml 
the  Dihhi-rn  an.1  Ih.y  hi.lh  clns.' 

Yours,  truly,     JOHN  KAKXSWORTH. 

Price,  ty  mail,  each,  20c.  per  doz.  J2.25. 


"IT  I.F.AnS  THFH    ALL." 
Read  Tevtimonlals  of  a  few  ^uceessful 


Send  fur  Sample  anil  afte 


M.  E.  HASTINGS,  NEW  YORK  MILLS,  ONEIDA  CO.,N.Y. 


154 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


pREE  TO  ALL.      Jl 

SAMPLE  COPIES  EITHER  OF  THE 

C^i7A<liAn  Bc«?  Journal 

OK 

Cziozvclizir)  Poultry  Journal, 

Or  both,  will  bo  sent    FREE   to  applicants   who 

(losire  tliom,  upon  receipt  of  their  nainee 

and  addresses. 


These  papers  are  both  of  thorn  edited  and  ar- 
ranged by  practical  men.  admittedly  the  most 
experienced  in  their  particular  lines  to  be  found 
on  the  continent,  and  tlie  Journals  mav  there- 
fore h(>  regarded  as  authoritative  upon  the  sever- 
al subjects  of  which  they  treat. 

Address         BEETON  PUBLISHING  CO., 
Beeton,  Ontario. 

Early  Queens    From    Texas, 

From  my  choice  golden  st^ck.  My  bees  are 
very  frentle,  good  workers,  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  One  un- 
tested queen,  April  and  May,  $1.0(1;  six  for  $5.(10; 
later.  75c.  Orders  booked  now;  nionev  sent 
when  queens  are  wanted.  Send  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  (ilVENS, 

Lisbon.  Texas. 


l-93-9t. 


PIfase  mention  the  Review. 


PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FOUNDATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

THIN,    FLAT   BOTTOM   FOUNDATION 

Has  No  Fish  Bone  in  Surplus  Honey. 

Being  the  cleanest  is  usually  worked 

the  quickest  of  any  foundation  made. 

J.    VAN  DEUSEN   &   SONS, 

(sole    MANUFA0TUHEB8), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,Mont.Co.,N.¥ 


Golden  Italians. 

My  bees  are  large  and  great  honey  gatherers. 
1  untested  queen,  80  cts. ;  3  for  $:i()0.  1  warran- 
ted queen,  $1.00;  3  for  $2. .50.  I  tested  queen, 
$2.00;  selected,  tested,  $2..50.  Satisfaction  guar- 
anteed or  money  refunded.  4-93-tf 

C.  IVI.  HICKS,  Hieksville,  JVId. 

FREE     QIJEEN- 

Send  for  circular  giving  particulars,  telling 
how  to  introduce  queens  and  giving  the 
price  of  hive  protectors  and  nucleus  col's. 

2-93-4t  J.  F.   MICHAEL,   German,  Darke  Co.,  Ohio 

Ta-lse    IsTotice ! 

If  you  are  looking  for  the  bees  that  give  the 
most  pront,  and  are  the  most  gentle,  try  the 

Ai:,Bino. 

I  can  also  furnish  the  golden  Italian,  but  my 
preference  is  the  Albino.  Senfl  for  circular  and 
price  list  and  see  what  others  say  of  them  and 
how  cheaply  1  sell  them.  1  also  manufacture 
and  deal  in  Hives,  Sections,  Fonnda> 
tion.  Extractors  H.I.I  ..Hiei  apiaucin  sup- 
plies        5>.  Valentine, 

;?-93-2t  llagerstown,  Md. 

JVrichigan    See-K^^P^^s, 

You  will  consult  your  own  interest,  by  sending 
for  my  catalogue  and  price-list  of  Root's  Sup- 
plies. Beeswax  and  white  extracted  honey  want- 
ed. 

CLARK  Pi.  A\OrtTAGUE, 
4-93  3t  Archie,  Grand  Traverse  Co,  Mich. 


As  meutioned  in  the  last  Review,  my 
bees  have  wintered  well.  They  are  now 
on  their  summer  stands,  most  of  them 
being  packed  in  sawdust.  They  will  be  fed  if  necessary  and  every  attention 
given  necessary  to  keep  them  in  the  best  possible  condition.  I  have  more  bees 
than  I  can  manage  in  connection  with  the  Review,  and  I  should  be  glad  to 
sell  part  of  them.  They  are  in  the  New  Heddon  hive,  but  purchasers  not  hav- 
ing the  right  to  use  this  hive  will  be  furnished  free  with  a  permit  from  Mr. 
Heddon.  I  will  sell  one  colony  for  ,$(;.(X);  .">  for  ■$28.r>():  10  or  more  at  $r>M)  each. 
With  each  colony  will  be  sent  a  bottom  board,  cover  and  one  section  case. 
The  bees  are  all  pure  Italians  and  the  queens  of  last  year's  rearing.  Ship- 
ments will  be  made  immedialely  at  the  clo>e  of  fruit  bloom  when  the  weather 
will  be  neither  too  cold  nor  too  hot  and  there  will  be  a  supply  of  freshly-gath- 
ered honey  from  which  the  bees  can  sujiply  themselves  with  water  while  on 
their  journey. 

W.   Z.   HUTCHINSON,  Flint,   Mich. 


^  ^  ^;^  ^ 
?#^^^^> 


The  "K.  D."  Non  -  Swarming,  Reversible  Hive. 


No.  1  is  a  reverpible  bottom  board  and  feed- 
er. Deep  side  up  for  winter  and  feeding.  No. 
2  is  the  brood  cliamber.  It  takes  a  closed- 
end  standing  frame  9x17.  The  bee  spaces  are 
in  the  bottom  board  and  honey  board.  B<.th 
aides  and  ends  are  compressed  upon  be 
frames  by  the  nuts  and  rodt*  When  releused 
for  manipulation,  the  frames  rtst  upon  the 
bottom  board  rim  ends.  The  chamber  is  re- 
versible, 

The  H lighting  board  (.5)  is  a  part  of  and  at- 
tached to  the  honey  board  i  i  i  while  the  m- 
trances  (8  &nd9^  lead  respectively  imder  and 
above  the  houey  board.  The  queen  tra..  i6i 
covers  the  brood  chamber  entrance.  No.  10 
is  the  super,  held  together  by  the  rods— neitli 
er  super  nor  brood  chamber  are  nailed  at  the 
corners— and  both  sides  and  ends  conipn  ssed 
upon  the  sections.  By  compression  :ind 
spurs,  the  super  sides  and  s-paratorn  sup- 
port the  sections  perfectly,  without  T's, 
slats,  followers,  or  wedges.  The  8  and  10 
frame  hive  supers  take  respectively  2  and  3 
wparators  and  24  and  32,  I's  wide  sections. 
They  may  be  full  separatored  by  adding 
plain  wood  or  till  sepaiatore,  or  by  spur 
tieparators.  For  ext/acting,  the  super  takes 
8,  I'a  inch  thick  frames  in  place  of  the  sec- 
tions Nos.  12  and  13  are  the  inner  and  outer 
covers. 

The  two- colony,  non  swarming,  combination 
brood  chambers  (B  and  C  cut  No.  2)  each  con- 
tain a  colony  of  bees.  K  is  tlie  separating  board 
dividing  the  colonies.  J  is  the  alternator  that 
passes  the  bees  out  from  the  lower  hive  and  re- 
turns them  to  the  upper,  thus  working  two  col- 
onies in  one  set  of  supers.  To  prevent  swarming 
both  colonies  are  reversed  en  masse  once  a  week 
in  the  swarming  Sr-ason.  The  hives  are  clamped 
together  by  the  appliance  M,  elevated  by  the 
hoister  (Ll  and  revolved  as  a  wheel  on  its  axis. 
Thus,  once  a  week  the  queen  cells  are  upset 
and  the  bees  alternated.  The  clamp  and  hoist- 
ing appliance  for  reversing,  costs  $2.00. 

Send  20c.  and  get  our  illustrated  pamphlet 
giving  detailed  description,  method  of  manage- 
ment, and  much  valuable  information.  The 
pamphlet  free  to  purchasers  of  hives. 

The  hive  goes  out  nailed  and  painted  but  "  K. 
D."  at  following  prices,  F,  O  B..  Brood  frame 
starters  are  included,  but  no  sections  : 


Eight  Ten 
ONE  suPEK  WITH  EACH  HIVE.        frame,  frame. 

A  single  hive  as  in  cut  1 $2  .iO  $2  75 

Same  with  plain  bott'^mand  cover    2  1.5  3  40 

Two  colony  non-swarming  hive.. .     3  80  4  15 

Same  with  plain  bottom  and  cover    3  40  3  80 

HIVE  PARTS. 

Combined  bottom  and  feeder  35  40 

Plain  bottom...              20  25 

Brood  chamber,  including  frames,        70  80 

Brood  frame  f 'd'n  starters  10  10 

Honey  board  and  queen  trap     ....        45  50 

Super  with  spur  separators        ...        M)  50 

Inside  cover 10  10 

Outside  cover 30  35 

Separating  board,  equalizers  and 

alternators  .50  .50 

Plain  Cover 20  .25 

Shallow  extracting,  frames.  1%  in. 

wide,  per  set 12  15 

.Vddress 

AIKIN  BROTHERS  &  KNIGHT, 

Ijoveland,  Colorado. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


^'Falcon''  Sections 

Better  than  z^rjy. 
Cbeap  a?  njaoy. 


Our  No,  1  Sections 

Equz^l  to  niaoy* 
Q\)Zi^p^r  tbz^p  any. 
/\ny  Size.  Mny  Quantity. 

Pii  Any  Tin7«. 


Also,  all  styles  HIVE5  ao<l  BEE- 
FIXTURES  Gbeap.  yscw  cata- 
logue an<J  price  list  free.  Sarpples 
of  Falcon  Sections  for  2c.  stan7p. 

W.  T.  Falconer  Mfg.  Co., 

JAMESTOWN.   N.  Y. 


Golden, 


5-B2indcd, 


MzWZiT)  Queens 

My  Bees  are  the  beet  honey  gatherers  there 
are  in  the  country,  while  for  Golden  Beauty 
they  cannot  be  excelled  in  the  world. 

Warranted  Queens,  75  cents  each. 

Tested.  $1.00  each. 

Breeding  Queens.  $2.50  to  $3.00. 

Ten  percent  discount  on  orders  for  five  or  more 
queens.  Satisfaction  guaranteed.  Make  money 
orders  payable  at  ("aldwell,  Texas.    Address 

C.  B.  BANKSTON,  Chrisman,  Texas. 


2.93-tf 


Please  mention   the  Review. 


GRAY  CARNIOLANS 
GOLDEN  ITALIANS. 

Bred  from  pure  mothers  tind  by  the  best  known 
methods.    Send  for  price  list.  4-93-tf 

For  ("arniolans  to         I      For   Italians  to 

JOHN  ANDREWS,  L.  E.  BDRNHAM, 

I'atten's  Mills,  N.  Y.  |  Vaughns,  N.  Y. 


GEO. 


BIG  OFFER. 

To  any  person  sending 
me    his    order    for    ten 

CHAFF  HIVES 

in  April  or  May  I  will 
mail  one  of  J.  F.  Mich- 
(aelV  (Tolden  Queens  in 
June,  Write  for  price 
list,  sent  free.  4-93-lt 
H.  KIRKPATRICK,  UNION  CiTY.  IND 
Please  mention  the  Heview. 


I  TELL  you  what.  Jones,  Ley- 

-jk       ering  Bros.  »ell  the  beet  goods 

^    and  at  the  lowest  prices  of  any 

\  one  I've  struck  yet.    The  lar- 

'  ^gest  and  best  equipped 

Bee- Hive  Factory 

In  the  West.  The  Dovetailed 
Hive  and  New  Hoffman  self- 
spacing  frame  a  specialty. 
Everything  used  by  practical 
bee-keepers  by  wholesale  and  re- 
tail. Send  for  their  free  Illus- 
trated Price- List,  and  save  money.  Supply  Deal- 
ers, send  for  their  Wholesale  List.    Address, 

LEVERING  BROS.. 
2-9:}-6.  WIOT.V,  Cass  Co..  Iowa. 

Gorrjb    Leveler. 

Sections  full  of  comb  kept  over  from  last  year, 
when  used  to  induce  the  bees  to  begin  work  in 
the  supers,  are  worth  nearly  as  much  as  sections 
filled  with  honey.  The  only  otgection  to  their 
use  is  that  the  comb  is  often  uneven  and  gives 
the  honey  a  rough  appearance.  By  the  use  of 
Taylor's  Handy  ('omb  Leveler  the  combs  can  be 
brought  to  a  level  as  rapidly  as  the  sections  can 
be  handled,  and  the  comb  of  lioney,  when  fin- 
ished, will  liave  all  the  fine  appearance  of  that 
produced  with  fresh  foundation.  Price  of  the 
leveler  (except  the  wooden  box  in  whicli  to  set 
the  lamp)  (K)  cts.  by  mail.  Box  and  all,  $1.10 
by  mail ;  by  express,  $1.00. 

B.  T/VYLOR,  Forestville,  A\ion. 

"GoWen"  -^^  Florida. 

My  locat  ion  enables  me  to  rear  good  queens 
N  O  W  as  cheaply  as  they  can  be  reared  in  the 
North  at  anytime.  Untested  queens,  75  cts. 
each  ;  6  for  $4.U0;  one  dozen,  87.50.  Last  year's 
tested  queen,  S1.25;  select,  81.75  ;  breeder,  (2. 50. 
Safe  arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  U-92-tf 

J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Vol.  Co.,  Fla. 

Pleat*  mention  the  Reuleu). 


JUNE,     1893. 


At   Fliqt,   Micl^igaq.— Oqe  Dollar  a  Year. 


158 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


ADVEt^TISlHC  f^ATES. 

All  adTertisementa  wiU  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  If)  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  linch. 
Disconnts  will  be  given  as  follows  : 

Oil  10  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  5  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  per  cent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  HO  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    liist. 

1  will  send  the  Review  with— 

ttleanings m.OO) 

American  Bee  Journal. . . .  (  l.OO) 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . .   (  1.00) 

American  Bee  Keeper    .     (    ..lO) 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper...  (    .50)...  . 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    ..50) 

A  picnlturist (    .75) 

Bee- Keepers'  Magazine . . .  (    .50) 


.$1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.40. 

.  130. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.65. 

.  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  (juotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— \11  sections  to  be  well  filled;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides;  botti  wood  and  combunsoiled 
by  travel-sstain,  or  otherwise  ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed ;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"No.  1  dark,"'  etc. 


CHICAGO  lU.— The  bulk  of  the  offerings  in 
comb  honey  now  consist  in  dark  lots  that  are 
difficult  to  sell.  Pare  beeswax  is  in  good  de- 
mand. We  quote  as  follows:  Fancy  white,  18; 
No.  1  white,  15  to  16;  fancy  amber,  VlUtV.i\  No. 
1  amber,  10;  fancy  dark.  12:  beeswax,  23  to  25 

R.  A.  burnh:tt&  (^O., 

May  25.  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


CHIC.\(iO,  111.— The  honey  season  is  practi- 
cally over  for  the  year.  Tlie  cold  spring  has  been 
the  cause  of  working  ofiF  what  honey  has  been 
shipped  to  this  market.  There  will  bo  a  clean 
market  to  work  on  by  tlietime  new  honey  ar- 
rives, and  we  anticipate  quick  sales  with  good 
prices.  We  quote  as  follows  :  Fancy  white,  15 
to  16;  No.  1  white  14;  fancy  amber,  1?;  fancy 
dark,  10 ;  beeswax,  22  to  25. 

J.  A.  LAMON. 

May  25.         44  &48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


CINCINNATI,  Ohio.— There  is  no  clioice  comb 
honey  on  tlie  market.  A  fair  article  brings  14  to 
16  in  a  jobbing  way.  The  demand  is  good  for 
extracted  at  from  6  to  8  cts.  There  is  a  good  de- 
mand for  choice  yellow  wax  at  from  'li  to  27  cts. 
CHAS.  F.  MUTH&SON.. 

April  1.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.  -  There  is  a  good  suy- 
lily  on  hand  but  it  is  mostly  dark.  This  stock  is 
slow,  but  what  little  white  there  is  onthe  market 
moves  readily.  We  quote  fancy  white,  17  to  18; 
two  pound  combs,  16  to  17  ;  buckwheat,  15  to  16; 
extracted  honey,  10  to  11. 

J.  SHEA  &  CO  . 
Feb.  13.     14  Hennepin  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 


BUFFALO.  N.  Y.— Honey  market  is  very  quiet 
and  stock  light.  A  limited  amount  of  fiincy 
could  be  handled  to  good  advantage,  but  the 
commoner  grades  are  hard  to  move.  Beeswax 
is  wanted  and  would  sell  well.  We  quote  as  fol 
lows  :  Fancy  white.  17  to  18;  No.  1  white,  15  to 
16;  fancy  dark,  8  to  10;  No.  1  dark,  6  to  7  ;  bees- 
wax, 25  to  30. 

BATTERSON  &  CO , 

May  25.  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


KANSAS  CITY,  Mo.— The  demand  for  extract- 
ed honey  is  good  and  the  supply  light  The  sup- 
ply of  comb  honey  is  fair  aLd  the  demand  the 
same.  Shipments  of  No.  1  would  meet  with  very 
ready  sale.  We  quote  as  follows:  No.  1  white, 
16  to  17  ;  fancy  amber,  15  to  16;  No.  1  amber  13 
to  14 ;  fancy  dark,  12  to  1.1 ;  No.  1  dark,  10  to  11 ; 
white  extracted.  6!4  to  7;  dark  extracted,  5  to  6  ; 

beeswax,  22  to  25,  

CLEMONS-MASON  CO., 

Mar.  6.  521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 


NEW  YORK.— The  market  is  bare  of  coinl. 
honey.  Fancy  white  could  be  sold  at  14  to  ir> ; 
fancy  amber  at  12 ;  and  dark  at  10.  The  market 
is  quiet  on  extracted  and  no  movement.  Large 
lots  of  West  India  and  Mexican  are  arriving  and 
the  market  is  well  supplied.  This  class  of  hoii 
ey  sells  at  from  65  to  75  cts.  per  gallon.  Becswa 
is  quiet  but  firm  at  from  27  to  29. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN, 

April  3.        28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


Queens  reared  from  the  above,  .^0.00  a  doz. 
PERCY  COVINGTON,  Appleton,  Md.  J 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui.  '■' 

Illustrated   AdyertlsemeDts  Attract   Attention. 


Cats  FarDlsM  for  all  illastrattng  Purposes. 


Please  mention  the  Review. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


159 


THE    LOSS    OF    OHE 

Queen  in  introducing"  means  a  loss  greater  than  the  cost 
of  a  copy  of  "Advanced  Bee  Culture,"  which  has 
one  entire  chapter  devoted  to  "  The  Introduction  of 
Queens."  It  shows  when  the  cause  of  failure  lies  with 
the  colony,  when  with  the  queen,  and  points  out  the 
conditions  necessary  to  success.  Althoug-h  one  infalli- 
ble method  is  g-iven,  but  little  attention  is  g-iven  to 
the  setting"  forth  of  exact  rules  and  methods,  the  sub- 
ject being"  treated  with  a  view  to  teaching-  principles 
that    may   be    followed    to    success. 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts. ;  the  Review  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 

W.  Z.  HOTCHlNSOfl,  Flint,  Mich. 


:© 
® 


'©) 


WHITE    POPLAR 

SECTIONS. 

We  have  New  Steam  Power,  and  New  Build- 
ings, and  are  now  ready  to  furnish  White  Pop- 
lar Sections,  ('lamps.  Crates  and  Wood  Sides  at 
short  notice.  Workmanship,  Quality  and  Price 
unsurpassed.    Send  for  sample  and  price  list. 

PRIME  &  GOVE, 
1-90-tf  Bristol,  Verinont. 


•ITALIAN  Qi,^»i«Br,p^  SPECIALTY. 

•CLOVER  SEEDS'Vi'^NS  AND  BEt^,^.-^  BUCKWHEAT 

-t?"  Sample  OF  OUR  bee  journalThe  WESTERN  t 
BEEKEEPER  ALso Our  CATALOGUE 
JOS.NYSEWANDER.  DesMoines,Iowa. 


2-93-tf       Please  mention  the  Keview. 


ON   HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

OP  BEE    HIVES,    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE  NORTHWEST. 

W.  H.  PUTNAM, 

193-12t.  RIVER  PALLS,    WIS. 

MAKE  MONEY 

While  You  Sleep. 

STAHL'S 

EXCELSIOR 

FRUITDRIER 

Evaporate?     Fruit    DAY 

and  NIGHT.    Catalogue 

free  upon  application. 

Aildress 

WILLIAM  STAHL 

EVAPORATOR  COMP'Y, 

QUmCY.  ILL. 


160 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Interesting  Monthly  for 

The  Family  and  Fireside 

Welcome  In  every  Home. 

I^nrgrePremlumii  forClabs. 

Sample  Copy  sent  Free. 

Thomas  G.  Newman, 

147  Southwestern  Ave., 
CHICJL60,     -      -     IUL8. 


lieathep   Colored 

HONEY  QUEENS,  from  Imported  Mother,  war- 
ranted purely  mated,  after  June  10th,  at  $1.()0 
each  ;  six  at  one  time,  $5,00.    Untested  queens, 

75c.  each.    Address 

C.  A.  BUNCH, 

l-93-7t.  Nye,  Marshall  Co.,  Ind. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


Dadant's  Gomb  Foundation. 

Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  competitors 
acknowledge  that  our  goods  are  the  Standard 
of  their  kind.  Langstroth  on  the  Honey 
Bee,  Revised,  New  edition.  Bee  Veils; 
and  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samples  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners.       Send    your    address    to 

GH&S.  DADANT  &  SON,  Hamilton,  Ills. 

4 -93-121  Please  mention  the  Reuiem, 


IMPORTAIMT^^ 

^<^^TO  BEE-KEEPERS  I 


To  make  a  success  of  1>ee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gaine<l  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  ThoBo  wiio  have  tpsted  them 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  buttertiies,  lieautifiil  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

FIVE-fiAflDED  WOI^KHt^S 

In  March,  April  and  May,  $1.25  each,  6  for  $fi.nO; 
.June,  $1  (Kteach,  6  for  $5.(K);  .July  to  Nov.,  $1.00 
each,  6  for  $4..50.  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  fuU  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 
12-92-tf  C.  D-   DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


FREE     QUEEN- 

Send  for  circular  giving  particulars,  telling 
how  to  introduce  queens  and  giving  tlie 
price  of  hive  protectors  and  nucleus  col's. 

2-93-4t  J,  F.  MICHAEL,  German.  Darke  Co.,  Ohio 


Bee  .Hives^ 


Root's  Dove- 
tailed, nailed 
up  all  fTom- 
plote  for  comb  honey,  only  $1  00.  An  Italian 
Queen  free  on  a  $1().0(J  order  All  supplies 
Cheap.  A.  F.  McADAMS, 

5-33-tf  V  oiambu.-^  lirove,  Ohio. 


Langdon's  Non  •  Swarming  Attachment.  (Patent  Allowed.)  "You  Push  ihe  Slide; 
Nature  Does  the  Rest."  If  Your  Dealer  Does  not  Keep  Them,  Send  for  Circular  to  H.  P, 
LANODON,  East  Constable,  New  York, 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


161 


Great  Reduction. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  &c.,  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 

WRITE   FOR   FREE,    ILLUSTRATED  CATA- 
LOGUE AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

7-93-tf.  Please  mention  the    Reuiem. 


HAVING     PURCHASED    the    en- 

tirebLock  auu  ousiue^sui  »\.D.Sopei  atJackson 
Mich.._  I  am  now  prepared  to  furnish  Apiarian 
Sapplies  to  all  who  have  usually  purchased  of 
Mr.  Soper,  and  to  all  others  who  wish  Apia- 
rian goods  at  the  lowest  prices.  Orders  filled 
promptly.    Send  for  price  list  and  circular. 

E.   H-   TRUMPET, 
4-93-3t  Bankers,  Mich. 

Please  men'ion  the  Revieiv. 


Muth's  :::^ 


lEY    EXTRACTOR 

PERFECTION 
■Blast    Smokers, 
S^uzire  6l2iss  Hooey  J'zirj,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  Chas.  F.  Muth  &  Son, 
Cor.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  lOoa  for  Practical  Hints  to  Bee-Keepers. 

1-93-tf,  Please  Mention  the  Review. 

— If  you  are  going  to — 

BxJy  a  ^\}ZZ  -  SA\S^, 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Review.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 

Foundation     Reduced. 

Deduct  three  cents  p«r    pound  from   prices 
given  in    my  Illustrated  Price  List  for  1893. 

M.  H    HUNT,  Bell  Branch  Mioh. 


Second  Hzind      I 


the 
second 


Supplies,  f 


hand  supplies  that       ^5u 
I  have  been    advertis-        3U 
ing  in  the    Review,    the      ®> 
following  remain  unsold  :  — 

100  old-style,  Heddon  surplus 
cases  at  20  cts.  (as  a  non-separatored 
case,  they  have  no  superior) ;  2,5  slatted 
honey  boards  at  10  cts.  ;  20  Heddon  feeders 
at  40  cts. ;  25  Alley  queen  and  drone  traps 
at  2.5  cts.,  and  half  a  dozen  single -comb 
nuclei  for  exhibiting  bees  at  fairs.  They 
have  glass  sides,  removable  covers  and  are 
painted  a  bright  vermillion.  They  cost 
$2.00  each,  but  will  be  sold  at  half  -  price. 
All  these  are  practically  as  good  as  new. 

I  also  have  2,000  new,  four  -  piece,   white 
poplar  sections  at  .^3.00. 

W.  I.  HUTCHINSON,  Flint,  MlcHian. 

ITALIAM   QUEEM5 

Bred  for  Business,  Gentleness  and  Beauty.  Un- 
tested, 80c,  each;  three  for  $2.2.t  ;  six  for  $4.00; 
12  for  $7.50.  Tested.  SI. 25  Select  tested,  yeUow 
to  the  tip,  breeder,  $1.50.  Will  commence  ship- 
ping April  15th.  On  all  orders  received  before 
March  1st,  accompanied  by  tlie  cash,  10  per  cent, 
discount.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

G.  E.  DAWSON, 
l-9312t.  Carlisle,  Sonoke  Co.,  Ark. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


BEE  -  KEEPERS' 

SURRLY  HOUSE 

J.  H.  M  COOK.  78  Barclay  St .  N.  Y.  City. 

{SUCCESSOR   TO  A.   J.   KING.) 

4-93-tf  Send  for  illusfrated  Catalogue 


Hastings'  Lightning  Ventilated  Bee  Escape. 

-■        ~  -  — Cherry  Valley,  N.  T..  March  20, '93. 


Agkicultckal  College,  Mich,  Seot.  17,  '92 

"I  have  used  the  Lightning  Bee  Escapes  you 

seot  and  find  them  certainly  the  equal  of  the 

Porter,  and  their  superior  for  the  reason  that 

they  will  enaptv  a  super  more  rapidK." 

Yours  respectfully,     J.  H.  LAEE.\BEE. 
**It  is  our  opinion  that  you  have  the  best  Bee 
Escape  ever  introduced." 

A.  I.  ROOT,  Medina.  Ohio. 

HoNOLCHj,  Hawaiian  Islands,  April  2.5,  '92. 

"Ple.%se  send  nie  liv  return  mail  5  LijhminK 

Ventilated  Bee  Ksraf.cs.    I  have  the  Porter,  and 

tb«  Dihhern  and  they  hoth  clog." 

Yours  truly,     JOHN  FAENSWORTH, 

Price,  by  mail,  eacb,  20e.  per  doz.  $2.25. 


"IT  LEADS  THKfl   ALL." 
Read  Testimonials  of  a  few  successftil 

Bpo-kpi'per^. 
Send  for  Sample  and  afler  a  trial  you 

will   use  no  other. 
('a*alo&:ue  sent  on  nppliratinn. 


*'l  shall  take  pleasure  in  recommending  them 
as  the  best  I  have  ever  used. 

Truly  yours,        J,  E.  HETHERINGTON. 
"We  believe  you  have  an  Escape  that  'downs' 
the  Porter." 

T.  PHILLIP  &  CO.,  Orillia,  Ont.,  Canada. 
"Your  Escape  knocks  out  all  competitors." 

A.  J.  LI.VDLEY.  Jordan.  Ind. 

"They  did  not  clog,  and  cleared  the  supers 

rapidly.    In  fact  it  is  the  best  Escape  I  have 

yet  used.    I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  it.  and 

consider  it  a  great  boon  to  bee-keepers." 

W.  E.  CLARK,  Oriskany,  N.  Y. 


M.  E.  HASTINGS,  HEW  YORK  MILLS,  ONEIDA  CO.,  N.Y. 


162 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


New  Creipe  SrnoKer  Now  Ree^dy. 


5rnoKin5[    CzvpevcJty    evpd 

5tr^05tb     of     Blzvst 

5inr)ply  Aro2vzinsi. 


TJ7«  rt«w,  TSon-SrpoKe-SucKins  Cb«cK- 
Vz^Ive,  by  which  a  Kreat  blast  in  secured  and  the 
bellows  kept  clean,  and  the  Double  Lininj;  of 
Asbestos,  aio<I  Sb?«t-Stcel,  by  which  the  fire- 
cup  and  nozzle  are  kept  from  becoming  uncomfortably 
hot  during  usage,  are  DlSTl/HCTlVE  and  VALU- 
ABLE features  alone  possessed  by  the  new  imple- 
ment. It  would  be  impossible  to  tell  all  of  its  unique 
features,  and  so  we  say,  try  it  and  fall  in  love  with  it. 
Price,  with  a  S'i-inch  fire  cup  and  curved  nozzle,  by  mail,  S2.00;  by  expres,  $1.75.  If  your 
nearest  dealer  in  supplies  does  not  keep  it,  write  to  the  authorized  manufacturer, 

A.  I.  ROOT,  A\cdin2v,  Ohio. 

n.  B.     Don't  forget  tba^t   -we.  arc   be2k<I<juarters    for    All    Kin<ls  of    bee  -  Keeper?' 
supplies.  Our  n^xv   1893  catalogue  of  52  pages  no-w  rea<ly  for  roailing. 


Free !  200-Page  Bee-Book ! 

TO  EVERY  NEW  YEARLY  SUBSCRIBER  TO 

The  Weekly  American  Bee  Journal 

32  pages.  $1.00  a  year.    Send  for  free  Sample  Copy  with  full  description  of  Book. 
\ddress,  GEORGE  W.  YORK  &  CO.,  56  Fifth  Ave.,  CHICAGO,  ILL 

To  New  Siitecriliers:  The  Journal  Alone  Sent  for  Tliree  Monttis  for  20  Cents. 


»yoooooee< 


PORTER  Bee  escRpes 


Are  ased  and  pronounced  the 
best,  and  highly  recommended 
as  great  labor-saving  implements  by  Chae.  Dadant  &  Son,  Prof  A.  J.  Cocik,  ('has.  F.  Muth, 
Jno.  8.  Reese,  .7.  H.  Martin,  .Tno.  Andrews,  F.  A.  Gemmill,  Wm.  McEvoy,  A  F.  Brown, 
Thop.  Pierce,  and  many  <)thi>r  i)rominent  bee-keepers.  Descriptive  circular  and  testimo- 
nials mailed  free.     PRICES:  each,  postpaid,  with  directions,  20  cts. ;  per  doz..  92.25. 

2  rW£M   AND    GfcT    YOU   MONEY        BACH    AfTE    TIAL,    IF  SOT   SATISflED.        For  sale   by   dealers. 

9    MENTION  THE  REVIEW.  Address        R.  &.  E.  C.  PORTER,   LewiSTOWN,    ILL.    6 


ee- 


\eepeps'  jHev'ieCu. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e  Iqterests  of  Hoqey   Producers. 

$L00  A  YEAR. 

W.  Z.HUTCHINSOJ*.  Editof  &  PPOp. 

VOL,  VI.         FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    JUNE   10.    1893.  NO.  6. 


rrxi>/L^i-tir   tofics. 

No.  5. 

B.  L.  TAYLOB. 

"A  little  house  (brood  nest)  well  filled." 

¥E  have  now 
almost  ar- 
rived at  the  very 
summit  of  the 
year.  The  fields 
are  already  white- 
ning to  the  har- 
vest, the  point  for 
which  our  labors 
for  many  months 
past  have  been 
preparing.  Happy 
is  he  who  has  not 
to  say  :  The  laborers  are  few  !  But  on  ac- 
count of  the  untoward  character  of  the  sea- 
son, many  will  not  have  this  blessedness,  for 
most  colonies  have  not  arrived  at  the  swarm- 
ing stage  and  strength.  However,  by  prompt 
energy,  there  may  still  be  time  to  retrieve 
the  situation.  To  accomplish  this  there  are 
two  principal  points  to  which  I  now  direct 
especial  attention  :  First,  to  increase  the 
amount  of  the  brood  to  the  utmost,  up  to 
the  point  of  time  beyond  which  eggs  laid  by 
the  queen  will  be  of  little  benefit  except  so 
far  as  they  may  be  necessary  to  keep  up  the 
life  of  the  colony,  and,  secondly,  at  that  time 
to  have  the  brood  confined  in  as  small  a 
space  as  possible.  In  this  locality  the  best 
seasons  of  honey  gathering  last  till  about 
the   first   of   August.    An  easy  calculation 


makes  it  safe  to  say  that  any  extension  of  the 
brood  nest  after  the  2.5th  of  June  would  prove 
unprofitable ;  before  that,  extension  may 
yield  a  profit.  Before  that  time  I  secure  all 
the  brood  possible.  To  begin  with,  the 
usual  warm  weather  of  June  is  favorable ; 
then  I  make  certain  that  stores  are  plentiful 
and  that  room  is  given  when  necessary.  I 
strengthen  a  weak  colony  with  brood  some- 
times when  safe  and  there  is  no  danger  of 
spreading  disease.  At  this  time  of  the  year, 
if  there  should  be  a  dearth  or  a  period  of 
bad  weather,  a  little  judicious  feeding  helps 
mightily.  Often  both  the  spreading  of  brood 
and  feeding  may  be  well  done  by  inserting 
in  the  brood  nest  an  uncapped  comb  of  hon- 
ey. But  judgement  must  be  exercised  both 
in  what  is  done  and  when  it  is  done  as  well 
as  in  the  amount  of  time  expended.  One 
must  weigh  his  time  against  the  possible  ad- 
vantage of  gain  in  surplus.  There  is  a  limit 
to  the  amount  of  labor  that  can  be  profitably 
employed  in  this  manner.  There  must  be  a 
margin  greater  or  narrower  according  to  the 
value  one  puts  on  his  time. 

Then,  secondly,  it  is  hardly  less  important 
for  the  best  results  in  the  production  of  comb 
honey  that  the  brood  be  as  compact  as  pos- 
sible. What  is  done  should  be  done  with  a 
view  to  getting  combs  with  brood  full  of 
brood.  Breaking  the  cappings  of  the  honey 
in  such  frames  will  conduce  to  this.  This  is 
important,  because,  by  confining  the  bees  to 
such  combs  as  will  be  almost  entirely  occu 
pied  by  brood  by  the  25th  of  June,  the  sur- 
plus honey  they  gather  must  go  into  the  sec- 


164 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


tiouB  where  it  is  doubly  valaable.  The  small 
number  of  frames  into  which  the  brood  is 
compressed  should  not  occasion  alarm.  Five 
L.  frames  may  easily  contain  what  is  often 
spread  over  ten,  while  the  former  means 
forty  pounds  of  comb  honey  and  the  latter 
none  at  all ;  the  live  additional  combs  se- 
cure part  of  the  possible  surplus  in  the 
brood  combs  and  convert  the  rest  into  val- 
xieless  bees.  In  a  poor  season  a  colony  con- 
fined to  comb  equal  to  that  of  five  L.  frames 
gave  me  fifty  pounds  of  section  honey — more 
than  twice  the  average  of  the  apiary — and 
this  though  all  the  time  it  was  afflicted  with 
'•  foul  brood." 

To  meet  the  difficulties  of  this  second  point 
I  find  the  new  Heddon  hive  convenient. 
Some  fill  one  section  only  of  the  hive  with 
brood,  others  may  need  a  little  help  to  do 
even  that.  All  such  are  of  course  confined 
to  the  one  section.  Others  fill  more  than 
one,  and  others  still,  nearly  two.  By  a  little 
manipulation,  every  colony  is  confined  either 
to  one  or  to  two  sections  of  the  hive  which 
in  either  case  is  substantially  full  of  brood 
by  the  20th  of  June  and  each  hive  presents 
the  same  top  surface  for  the  reception  of 
sections. 

As  to  the  time  of  putting  on  the  first  case 
of  sections  I  follow  one  simple  rule.  When 
the  bees  are  found  lying  above  the  honey 
board  in  considerable  numbers,  say  a  pint 
or  less,  they  are  ready  for  work  above,  and 
the  sections  go  on  at  once.  There  is  nothing 
like  the  incoming  of  nectar  to  expand  a  col- 
ony and  they  hardly  ever  lie  above  the  honey 
board  in  the  early  part  of  the  season  unless 
there  is  considerable  nectar  to  be  gathered. 
When  a  second  and  succeeding  cases  should 
be  put  on  depends  on  various  circumstances. 
The  strength  of  the  colony,  the  prospective 
length  of  time  before  the  end  of  the  run  of 
nectar  and  the  amount  of  work  done  in  the 
case  last  adjusted,  must  all  be  weighed  in 
the  determination  of  the  question.  On  the 
one  hand  the  danger  of  loss  from  too  much 
crowding,  and,  on  the  other,  too  many  un- 
finished sections  consequent  on  giving  too 
much  room,  are  the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  to 
be  shunned.  Early  in  the  run  a  colony 
rather  weak  in  Vjees  may  be  allowed  to  near- 
ly complete  the  first  case  before  another  is 
given ;  a  medium  one  should  be  supplied 
with  a  second  when  the  first  is  about  half 
tilled  and  a  strong  one  that  crowds  the  first 
case  should  be  furnished  with  a  second  as 
soon  as  the  first  is  fairly  started. 


These  are  to  be  taken  as  general  directions 
if  everything  is  favorable  for  a  good^honey 
flow.  Each  succeeding  case  should  be 
placed  under  the  last  one,  i.  e.,  immediately 
upon  the  honey  board,  until  towards  the 
probable  end  of  the  honey  flow,  when  it  is 
better  to  place  it  above  the  one  that  is  still 
unfinished  to  make  the  completion  of  those 
already  begun  more  certain.  As  the  season 
advances  more  and  more  caution  must  be 
exercised  in  the  adding  of  sections.  In  the 
height  of  the  season,  I  aim  to  give  the  bees 
at  least  as  many  sections  as  they  will  occupy 
and  work  on,  and  as  the  end  of  the  flow  ap- 
proaches I  allow  the  space  where  work  is  to 
be  done  to  become  more  and  more  contract- 
ed so  that  at  the  last  there  may  be  few  sec- 
tions containing  honey  that  are  not  com- 
pleted and  fit  for  market.  During  a  good 
season,  some  colonies  may  have  completed 
five  cases  each  and  some  only  one.  It  will 
be  of  great  assistance  in  forming  a  sound 
judgement  in  the  matter  of  putting  on  sec- 
tions to  have  regard  to  the  condition  and 
probable  continuance  of  white  clover,  which 
depends  largely  upon  the  amount  and  fre- 
quency of  the  rains.  One  must  also  observe 
the  time  of  the  blooming  of  basswood  and 
know  the  usual  time  during  which  it  lasts  in 
one's  locality. 

I  am  in  no  haste  to  take  off  the  hives  even 
finished  cases  of  honey.  They  can  be  in  no 
better  place  for  the  ripening  of  the  honey 
and  there  need  be  no  fear  of  travel  stains  so 
long  as  honey  is  coming  in  and  there  is  room 
lower  down  in  unfinished  sections  for  the 


It  only  remains  to  speak  of  swarming  and 
the  manipulation  incident  thereto.  As  a 
preparation  I  have  the  queens  clipped,  the 
entrance  of  each  hive  guarded  by  a  queen 
trap,  and  a  sufficient  supply  of  hives  for  the 
reception  of  swarms.  The  hives  consist  each 
of  a  single  section  of  the  Heddon  hive  fur- 
nished with  comb,  or,  preferably,  founda- 
tion, besides  bottom,  cover  and  queen  ex- 
cluding honey  board,  and  are  kept  in  a  cool 
place  in  the  yard  where  they  are  convenient 
of  access.  A  swarm  is  seen  issuing  ;  I  take 
a  hive  to  the  spot,  turn  the  old  hive  around 
out  of  its  place  and  replace  it  with  the  new 
one.  I  then  watch  to  see  if  the  queen  is 
safely  in  the  trap.  When  I  see  her  I  place 
the  trap  at  the  entrance  of  the  new  hive  and 
remove  the  sections  from  the  old  hive  to  the 
new  one.  In  some  seasons  a  few  swarms 
cluster  on  trees  but  return  soon.    In  that 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


165 


case,  as  soon  as  they  are  entering  the  hive 
rapidly  I  release  the  queen  and  let  her  run 
in,  and  replace  the  trap  leaving  it  for  a  few 
days  at  least,  to  be  certain  that  the  swarm 
does  not  gratify  a  desire  to  abscond.  If  two 
or  more  swarms  are  out  at  the  same  time, 
care  must  be  taken  by  the  use  of  sheets  to 
cover  the  hives,  aided  by  a  good  smoker,  to 
see  that  they  are  properly  divided.  When 
swarms  are  given  to  clustering,  I  entice 
them  to  do  so  on  some  convenient  branch, 
and  when  the  cluster  is  once  formed,  swarm 
after  swarm  will  join  it,  so  that  it  is  an  easy 
matter  to  divide  them  by  shaking  a  sufficient 
quantity  for  a  swarm  into  a  basket  and  hiv- 
ing it  as  in  the  former  case.  A  trap  is  also 
placed  at  the  entrance  of  the  old  hive,  unless 
the  colony  is  divided  to  save  young  queens, 
and  by  two  or  three  movements  in  the  course 
of  a  week  it  is  brought  side  and  side  with 
the  new  hive  and  in  a  day  or  two  it  is  re- 
moved to  a  new  stand,  leaving  most  of  the 
field  bees  to  join  the  swarm  where  they  will 
be  of  the  greatest  use.  The  trap  on  the  old 
hive  prevents  the  absconding  of  after- 
swarms  and  also  prevents  the  young  queen 
from  locating  her  hive  until  it  is  removed, 
which  should  be  done  when  the  hive  is  placed 
on  its  new  stand. 

If  the  swarm  issues  quite  early,  I  would 
not  strip  the  old  hive  to  such  an  extent  of 
the  field  bees,  for  by  removing  one  section 
of  the  hive  in  twenty-one  days,  when  the 
young  queen  should  be  laying,  and  giving 
the  colony  a  case  of  sections,  it  should  do 
good  work  in  storing  a  surplus. 

Of  course,  in  all  these  matters  there  are 
details  which  want  of  space  forbids  my  men- 
tioning, but  the  thoughtful  person  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  working  them  out. 

Lapeee,  Mich.  May  23, 1893. 


>>^>7^^r^l 


Conveniences  and  Arrangements   Needed  to 

Make  the  Work  of  Extracting  Pleasant 

and  Profitable. 

FBANK  m'NAY. 

"  Man  reaches  truth  only  by  passing  through 
all  possible  phases  of  error." 

^  NY  work  that  may  be  done  without 
the  trouble  of  learning,  by  careful 
instructions,  is  seldom  well  done ; 
and  the  greatest  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
thorough  work  in  regard  to  extracting,  is 
the  fact  that  it  can  be  and  is  done  with  but 


little  if  any  instructions.  This  is  a  great 
mistake,  for  there  is  a  right  way  and  several 
wrong  ways  of  doing  most  kinds  of  work, 
and  one  seldom  hits  upon  the  right  way  by 
chance — it  must  either  be  by  experience  or 
from  instructions. 

The  neglect  to  provide  the  proper  conven- 
iences for  extracting,  make  it  a  very  dis- 
agreeable task  and  often  causes  trouble  in 
the  apiary  by  inciting  robbing  and  causing 
the  bees  to  become  irritable  and  cross. 
Much  may  be  done  to  make  extracting 
pleasant  work  by  purchasing  proper  conven- 
iences for  doing  the  work  in  a  neat  and 
practical  manner. 

The  first  requisite  is  a  room  to  extract  in. 
This  may  be  small  and  plain,  but  it  must  be 
perfectly  bee-tight  and  should  be  provided 
with  double  screen  windows,  i.  e.,  two  wire 
screens,  one  on  each  side  of  a  frame,  so  as  to 
prevent  bees  on  the  outside  from  coming  in 
reach  of  those  on  the  inside,  for  there  are 
always  a  few  bees  carried  in  on  combs,  that 
will  go  to  the  windows  to  escape.  It  is  a 
good  plan  to  have  each  window  hung  on  a 
pivot  at  the  center  so  it  can  be  reversed 
quickly  to  let  out  bees. 

The  extractor  should  be  firmly  secured  to 
the  wall  to  prevent  shaking,  and  it  should  be 
high  enough  to  let  honey  run  from  the  gate 
into  a  large  pail. 

For  a  strainer  I  prefer  a  large  barrel  with 
the  head  removed,  also  with  the  upper  hoop 
removed.  I  lay  a  cheese  cloth  over  the  top 
of  the  barrel  letting  it  sag  down  in  the  bar- 
rel about  a  foot,  then  replace  the  hoop  which 
will  hold  the  cloth  securely  and  make  it  per- 
fectly tight. 

By  having  a  honey  gate  in  barrel  near  the 
bottom  and  setting  the  barrel  on  a  stand  of 
sufficient  height,  the  honey  can  be  run  from 
the  gate  into  barrels  or  any  other  receptacles. 

I  would  also  urge  the  necessity  of  a  tight 
bottom  in  the  box  in  which  the  combs  are 
carried  from  and  to  the  hives.  This  is  to 
prevent  dripping  honey  about  the  apiary.  I 
have  known  this  dripping  of  honey  to  excite 
robbing  so  that  work  had  to  be  suspended. 

In  getting  bees  off  the  combs,  I  find  that  a 
slight  trembling  motion  will  dislodge  them 
much  more  quickly  than  a  severe  shake,  and 
for  sweeping  the  balance  off  I  find  a  com- 
mon household  whisk  broom,  cut  down  to 
about  one-third  the  usual  thickness,  is  the 
best  thing  that  I  have  ever  tried. 

Never  store  honey  in  a  cellar.  Many  sup- 
pose it  should  be  kept  in  a  cool  place,  but 


166 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


this  is  a  mistake,  as  heat  will  improve  in- 
stead of  injuring  either  comb  or  extracted 
honeys. 

There  are  several  other  conveniences  that 
I  might  describe,  but  I  fear  it  would  take  too 
much  space  to  make  them  understood  with- 
out cuts. 

Mauston,  Wis.  April  22,  1893. 


Is  an  Automatic,  Reversible  Extractor  Really 

Worth  the  Effort  Being   Expended 

in  Its  Invention  T  —  Uncapping 

Machines  a  Greater  Need. 

C.  C.  MIIiLEK. 

"Alas,  the  slender  spigot  stream  we  stay, 
While  from  the  bung  the  cider  runs  away." 

T  THIISK  you've 
X  struck  the  truth 
pretty  straight,  Mr. 
Editor,  in  thinking 
that  the  matter  of 
uncapping  really 
needs  more  atten- 
tion than  does  some- 
thing to  save  the 
few  seconds  of  time 
necessary  to  turn 
a  frame  in  an  ex- 
tractor ;  for,  unless 
the  honey  is  pretty  thin,  there  will  be 
much  more  time  employed  in  uncapping 
than  in  running  the  extractor. 

Of  late  years  I  have  extracted  very  little, 
and  have  never  had  anything  but  the  Pea- 
body  extractor,  and  while  I  have  sometimes 
longed  for  something  better  I  have  felt  that 
for  the  little  extracting  I  do  it  doesn't  make 
a  great  deal  of  difference. 

In  working  the  extractor,  I  don't  mind  the 
turning,  nor  putting  in  the  combs,  and  iiot 
so  very  much  taking  out  the  combs,  but 
turning  the  combs  in  the  extractor,  with  the 
attendant  liability  to  get  honey  daubed  over 
every  thing,  is  the  part  that  makes  extract- 
ing especially  disagreeable.  Anything  to 
help  that  is  a  desideratum. 

So  I  don't  wonder  at  the  desire  for  some- 
thing to  reverse  the  combs  automatically. 
But  isn't  a  little  too  much  stress  put  on  the 
"automatic"  part?  How  much  would  you 
give  for  an  automatic  spoon  to  carry  your 
soup  to  your  mouth?  If  you  had  one  you 
would  still  have  to  give  your  attention  to 


having  your  mouth  at  the  right  place  and 
opening  it  at  the  proper  time,  and  as  your 
hand  is  at  the  time  unoccupied  with  any- 
thing else  it  may  just  as  well  be  holding  the 
spoon.  The  simple  fact  that  there  is  some 
automatic  part  about  an  extractor  may 
amount  to  nothing,  and  it  is  no  better  than 
another  extractor  unless  it  will  save  time  or 
labor. 

Now  let  us  see  what  we  really  want?  I 
mean  more  particularly  the  great  mass  of 
beekeepers  who  have  only  a  moderate 
amount  of  extracting  to  do.  The  first  thing 
is  to  get  rid  of  the  "dauby"  part  of  revers- 
ing the  combs.  If  we  can  have  the  inside 
of  the  extractor  so  constructed  that  the  comb 
can  be  reversed,  without  taking  it  out  of  the 
extractor,  than  I  think  the  worst  part  of  the 
trouble  is  overcome.  Nothing  automatic  is 
needed  for  that.  As  to  methods,  that  is  best 
which  does  it  with  the  least  time  and  labor, 
whether  it  be  automatic  or  not.  As  I  said,  I 
have  never  owned  anothing  but  the  Pea- 
body,  but  I  have  tried  others  to  a  consider- 
able extent,  and  I  must  say  that  I  can  hard- 
ly see  how  an  automatic  reversing  can  be 
any  better  than  such  a  one  as  is  accomplish- 
ed in  the  Cowan.  You  slow  up  the  motion, 
just  as  you  must  do  with  an  automatic,  then 
a  little  push  with  the  left  hand  reverses  the 
combs,  and  on  you  go  again,  without  stop- 
ping the  motion  or  the  direction  of  the 
motion.  Now  what  better  would  it  be  to 
have  it  work  automatically?  With  the 
Cowan  you  can  turn  either  way  or  both  ways 
in  succession,  and  I  think  it  a  bit  easier  to 
turn  in  the  same  direction  all  the  time,  where- 
as with  all  automatics  yet  brought  out  the 
machine  must  not  only  slow  up  but  actually 
stop  to  reverse  and  then  turn  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  The  left  hand  is  not  occupied 
at  anything  else,  and  may  just  as  well  do 
the  reversing,  and  if  you  take  account  of 
the  labor  of  the  left  hand  it  is  offset  by  the 
fact  that  less  labor  is  required  on  the  part  of 
the  right  hand,  for  it  certainly  takes  less 
force  to  slow  the  machine  than  to  stop,  and 
it  is  better  to  have  the  labor  divided  than  to 
have  it  all  put  on  one  hand.  To  say  the 
least,I  think  the  Cowan  can  be  reversed  in 
as  little  time  as  though  automatic,  so  1 
think  it  has  no  disadvantage  either  as  to 
time  or  labor. 

Please  don't  understand  me  as  opposing 
automatic  appliances.  In  the  majority  of 
cases  they  may  be  very  advantageous,  only 
it  mast  not  be  understood   that  in  all  cases 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


167 


a  thing  is  necessarily  better  simply  because 
it  is  automatic.  But  some  day  we  may  be 
startled  by  some  genius  bringing  out  an  ex- 
tractor that  will  automatically  do  the  turn- 
ing and  reversing,  with  a  tithe  of  the  time 
and  labor  now  required.  He  will  be  hailed 
with  delight.  In  the  meantime,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it  is  worth  while  to  lament  very  much 
over  the  few  seconds  employed  in  reversing, 
with  the  advance  already  made. 

AVhy  may  not  the  uncapping  machines  of 
England  be  practical?  A  slaw  cutter  is  con- 
sidered a  good  thing,  and  it  works  on  the 
same  principle.  One  trouble  is  that  combs 
must  be  true  and  adapted  to  it,  but  it  would 
not  suprise  me  to  see  all  difficulties  overcome, 
so  that  a  comb  would  be  less  time  in  the 
hands  of  the  uacapper  than  in  the  extractor. 
As  you  say,  beekeepers  may  well  ask  them- 
selves, "What  has  the  future  in  store  for  us?" 
and  a  perfect  uncapping  machine  may  be 
one  of  the  things. 


Makengo,  111. 


April,  15,  1898, 


>>^>T^r^i^i 


Reversing  Combs   on  Their  Centers ;    Some 

of  the  Difficulties  to  be  Overcome  and  the 

Advantages  That  May  be  Expected. 

E.  A.  DAGGITT. 

"  And  through  the  sandy  waste  of  cogitation 
We  seek  beyond  a  land  of  habitation." 

[Last  month  Mr  Daggitt  told  us  of  several 
vital  points  to  be  ponsidered  in  the  construction 
of  honey  extractors.  After  this,  in  the  article 
that  he  sent,  he  described  sevpral  different  meth- 
ods whereby  combs  might  be  reversed  without 
stopping  the  machine.  1  could  not  see  that  they 
possessed  any  particular  merit  over  the  one  al- 
ready given  in  the  Review,  so  I  decided  not  to 
illustrate  and  describpthem,  at  least  not  for  the 
present.  After  finishing  h  description  of  the 
different  plans  for  reversing,  he  continued  as 
follows  :— Ed.1 

After  inventing  some  of  these  devices  for 
reversing  the  comb  baskets  of  reversible  ex- 
tractors, I  became  very  much  impressed 
with  the  disadvantage  of  having  such  large 
reels  as  were  being  used  in  reversible  ex- 
tractors, so  I  went  at  work  to  see  if  there 
was  not  a  way  to  overcome  this  disadvan- 
tage, when  I  conceived  the  idea  of  oscillat- 
ing the  comb  baskets  upon  their  centers  when 
reversing  them.  This  principle  is  shown  in 
the  engraving  accompanying  the  leader,  but 
both  the  editor  of  the  Review  and  the  artist 
have  fallen  into  the  error  of  representing 
the  comb  baskets  as   running  on     hafts  in- 


stead of  gudgeons,  as  they  should.  But  the 
trouble  was,  how  to  get  the  combs  in  and 
out  of  the  comb  baskets.  My  first  idea  was 
to  have  a  bottom  bar  and  gudgeons  at  the 
bottom  of  each  basket,  while  at  the  top  of 
each  basket  was  to  be  an  arrangement  some- 
thing like  this  :  on  each  side  at  the  front  and 
equally  distant  from  the  edges  of  the  basket 
was  to  be  a  segment  of  a  disc  having  in  its 
upper  surface  a  circular  groove  to  receive  a 
flange  on  the  under  surface  of  a  disc  that 
projects  from  the  reel  spider.  This  disc  was 
to  be  made  in  such  a  way  that  that  part  of  it 
over  the  inner  segment  on  the  basket  sh  11 
be  fixed  and  its  flange  remain  in  the  groove 
of  the  segment  at  all  times,  while  the  other 
part  is  to  be  hinged  to  it  so  that  it  can  be 
thrown  inward  to  allow  the  combs  to  be  put 
in  or  taken  out  of  the  basket. 

Afterward,  while  studying  how  to  get  the 
combs  in  and  out  of  these  baskets  that  re- 
verse on  their  centers,  I  conceived  the  idea 
of  doing  this  by  making  the  basket  sides 
movable,  or  by  having  the  baskets  in  a  re- 
versing frame.  This  plan  of  putting  in  and 
reversing  the  combs  allows  a  top  bar  and 
gudgeon  to  be  used  at  the  top  of  each  basket 
and  permits  the  reversing  apparatus  to  be 
at  the  top  of  the  reel.  As  most  combs  have  to 
be  reversed  twice,  or  when  this  is  not  neces- 
sary it  can  be  done  easily  by  the  reversing 
apparatus,  only  one  basket  side  will  need  to  be 
movable,  and  if  the  comb  rest  is  attached  to 
the  movable  side,  the  comb  will  come  out  with 
it  when  it  is  brought  outward.  The  side  may 
be  hinged  at  the  bottom,  and  the  top  be 
tilted  outward,  or  it  may  be  made  so  that  it 
can  be  "  jumped  "  or  swung  out  at  both  top 
and  bottom  at  once.  If  the  first  method  is 
employed,  the  side  should  be  self-fastening 
when  the  top  is  pushed  to  its  place,  and  be 
put  on  so  that  the  top  will  spring  outward 
when  the  fastenings  are  de. ached.  By  means 
of  a  simple  device  the  fastenings  can  be  de- 
tached by  the  simple  pressure  of  a  finger.  If 
the  second  method  is  employed  in  removing 
the  side,  an  arrangement  will  be  necessary 
that  will  detach  the  side  and  also  fasten  in 
position  when  brought  out  and  closed 
against  the  basket  uprights.  If  the  basket 
is  put  in  a  revolving  frame  it  will  need  to  be 
arranged  in  a  similar  way  as  the  latter 
method  of  arranging  the  movable  basket 
sides. 

This  plan  of  reversing  comb  baskets  by 
oscillating  them  on  the  center,  if  practicable, 
will  settle  the  question  of  the  size  of  reel" 


168 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


for  in  those  liaviut;  four  or  uiore  comb  bas- 
kets there  is  uo  loss  of  space  at  the  coruers 
of  them,  as  is  the  case  with  those  that  reverse 
their  combs  by  swiuging  tliem  from  oue  side 
of  the  reel  to  the  other,  for  the  edges  of  the 
baskets  are  brought  close  together  ;  while  by 
combiuiug  this  principle  with  the  hollow 
reel  principle  we  can  get  a  two-frame  reel  as 
small  as  any  reel  should  be. 

This  new  style  of  reel  has  some  other  im- 
portant advantages  besides  size  of  reel. 
They  can  be  made  stronger  with  less  ma- 
terial. They  can  be  started  and  stopped 
more  easily  and  cm  be  run  with  less  labor. 
The  combs  can  be  reversed  more  easily,  and 
with  less  danger  of  injuring  them.  And  the 
baskets  are  not  liable  to  sag. 

Any  of  my  reversing  apparatus  can  be  ap- 
plied to  those  that  use  a  reel  shaft  and  pos- 
sibly also  to  those  with  a  hollow  reel.  By 
means  of  the.n  the  comb  baskets  can  be  held 
at  any  angle,  while  the  reel  is  in  motion, 
either  by  hand  or  by  means  of  ratchets  and 
palls.  The  baskets  may  be  self-fastening  as 
soon  as  they  reverse,  and  the  fastenings  can 
be  detached  by  giving  the  wheels  on  the  bas- 
ket gudgeons  some  independent  motion  so 
that  they  will  start  a  little  before  the  baskets 
do  and  detach  the  fastenings. 

The  second  form  of  the  lever  device  I 
think  could  be  applied  to  a  two-frame  hol- 
low reel  of  this  kind.  The  pins  in  the  wheel 
on  the  reel  gudgeon  would  have  to  be  so 
placed  that  one  basket  will  start  at  the  prop- 
er time  before  the  other,  and  they  will  have 
to  be  detachable  from  the  levers  in  one  direc- 
tion. The  slotted  ends  of  the  lever  could  be 
bent  in  the  proper  direction  to  secure  this. 
If  the  baskets  are  not  self-fastening,  the 
levers  would  have  to  be  in  one  direction,  and 
the  fastenings  could  be  detached  by  the 
wheel  when  the  pin  re-enters  the  lower  slot. 
Probably  the  same  detachable  principle  can 
be  applied  to  all  the  devices  at  the  cog  gears, 
especially  at  the  inner  gear  of  the  horizontal 
device  as  illustrated  in  the  leader. 

While  studying  on  the  subject  of  smaller 
reels  I  "  hit  on  "  the  idea  of  swinging  the 
comb  baskets  from  side  to  side  in  a  hollow 
reel  when  reversing  them.  Several  months 
afterwards  I  found  out  that  the  same  princi- 
ple was  embodied  in  the  Cowaii  extractor. 
"Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due,"  should  be 
the  motto  of  all,  so  I  will  say  that  I  believe 
the  inventor  of  the  Cowan  machine  is  en- 
titled to  the  honor  of  being  the  first  inventor 
of  reversing  combs  in  this  way. 


Now  I  wish  to  say  that  I  have  not  the  facil- 
ities to  give  the  different  reversing  apparatus 
and  new  style  of  reel  a  proper  trial,  and  if 
any  one  wishes  to  do  so  and  make  for  sale 
extractors  embodying  any  of  them,  he  will 
please  inform  me  of  the  fact. 

Before  closing,  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words 
on  inventions.  The  creations  of  a  man's 
brain  areas  much  his  property  as  anything 
he  possesses,  and  any  one  who  appropriates 
another's  invention  to  his  own  use  wiihout 
his  consent  does  the  inventor  an  injustice 
and  takes  what  does  not  belong  to  him.  It 
matters  not  whether  the  invention  is  patent- 
ed or  not.  Patents  are  issued  by  the  govern- 
ment to  protect  inventors  in  this  right,  but 
this  often  fails  as  in  the  cases  of  Whitney, 
Goodyear,  Langstroth,  and  many  others. 
Thos.  A.  Edison,  the  great  inventor,  says  that 
he  has  already  spent  over  a  million  of  dol- 
lars in  defending  his  patents.  Besides,  it  is 
doubtful  if  oue  invention  in  four  ever  pays 
the  inventor.  Now  if  it  should  be  an  estab- 
lished rule  among  those  interested  directly, 
or  indirectly,  in  our  pursuit  that  the  rights 
of  every  inventor  in  any  invention  he  shall 
make  will  be  recognized,  it  would  no  doubt 
be  a  great  incentive  to  improvement.  I 
believe  such  a  rule  is  recognized  by  all 
our  leading  manufacturers  of  bee-keepers' 
supplies,  and  if  there  are  any  that  will  not 
recognize  it,  they  should  be  treated  accord- 
ingly by  bee-keepers. 

White  House  Sta.,  N.  .J.,  May  2,  1893. 

Reversible    Extractors.  —  Bee  -  Escapes    No 
Help  in  Running  Out -Apiaries  for  Ex- 
tracted Houey. — Ten  Hands  Make 
a  Good  Extracting  Team. 

E.  FRANCE. 

^|»  HAVE  never  seen  a  reversible  extrac- 
ts) tor,  and,  in  view  of  our  past  poor  sea- 
«A»  sons,  I  can  but  wish  that  I  had  a  crop 
as  big  as  I  could  extract  with  a  non-reversi- 
ble extractor.  With  a  good  honey  flow,  one 
man  can  extract  .5,000  pounds  in  a  day  with 
a  non  reversible  extractor.  Still,  if  we  could 
get  a  good,  handy,  easy-running,  reversible 
machine  it  would  save  work,  and  that  is 
what  we  want.  I  have  studied  over  the  mat- 
ter a  great  deal— tried  several  plans — but 
none  of  them  proved  satisfactory.  I  can 
make  a  machine  in  which  I  can  reverse  all 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS    REi^  lEW. 


169 


the  baskets  at  once,  but  I  have  to  stop  the 
machine  to  do  it.  I  don't  like  so  mucli  ma- 
chinery to  be  started  and  stopped  every 
time  we  extract  a  set  of  combs.  The  heavier 
the  load,  the  longer  it  takes  to  start  it  and 
stop  it.     It  could  be  stopped  with  a  brake. 

As  to  the  use  of  bee-escapes  to  rid  the  ex- 
tracting combs  of  bees,  I  don't  want  any. 
The  most  of  my  hives  are  single  story  hives, 
so  I  must  sweep  off  the  bees.  In  my  home 
yard  I  work  the  hives  three  stories  high,  and 
I  can  drive  the  bees  down  into  the  lower 
stories,  have  the  upper  set  of  combs  out  and 
every  bee  off  in  two  minutes,  and  not  a  bee 
killed  by  putting  in  an  escape  board.  Per- 
haps there  may  be  some  combs  in  the  second 
story  that  I  will  want  to  take  out  and  extract, 
and  I  drive  the  bees  down  with  smoke  and 
finish  with  a  very  thin  brush-broom.  As  I 
understand  the  workings  of  bee-escapes,  it 
takes  24  hours  or  more  for  the  bees  to  get 
out  of  an  upper  story,  after  the  escape  is  put 
on  ;  that  won't  do  at  all  for  an  out-apiary. 
We  start  from  home  and  get  theie  and  get 
ready  to  go  to  work  about  it  a.  m.  We  want 
to  start  the  extractor  just  as  soon  as  we  can 
get  the  combs.  By  the  time  that  basswood 
is  in  bloom  we  are  likely  to  have  from  80  to 
100  colonies  to  work — will  some  one  tell  me 
how  we  can  save  time  by  using  escapes  ? 
You  say  you  would  prefer  to  have  an  abun- 
dance of  combs  and  supers,  so  the  honey 
could  remain  on  the  hives  a  little  while  so 
you  could  take  your  time  for  it,  etc.  You 
would  find  that  extracting  honey  after  the 
honey-flow  is  no  fun — bees  are  cross  and 
steal  for  all  they  are  worth. 

You  think  three  would  make  a  good  ex- 
tracting team.  One  to  get  the  honej  off  the 
hives  and  return  the  empty  combs,  one  to 
uncap,  one  to  run  the  extractor.  That  just 
made  me  smile  !  Of  course,  you  have  never 
done  much  extracting.  When  we  go  to  an 
out-apiary  with  a  full  team  of  ten  hands,  and 
go  through  100  colonies  in  a  day,  go  from 
home  six  or  eight  miles  and  back  again  and 
extract  sometimes  from  2,000  to  3,0(_>0  pounds 
of  honey,  one  man  does  all  the  extracting, 
strains  all  the  honey  and  puts  it  in  the  bar- 
rels :  and  one  man  does  all  the  uncapping. 
The  other  eight  hands  do  the  field  work,  get 
the  combs  into  the  tent  and  back  into  the 
hive  again,  make  new  colonies,  cut  out  queen 
cells,  etc.  In  fact,  they  do  all  that  has  to  be 
done,  except  the  tent  work.  Of  the  eight 
hands  in  the  field,  one  is  the  boss  of  the 
whole  outfit  and  has  no  set  place  to  work  ; 


he  looks  after  everything— in  the  tent  and  in 
the  field— .lud  sees  that  everything  is  done 
in  a  proper  manner.  The  other  hands  are 
divided  up  two  or  thi  ee  in  a  team.  Two  can 
work  to  good  advantage,  but  three  can  work 
together  in  good  shape,  two  to  open  hives 
and  brush  bees,  while  the  third  hand  carries 
the  combs  to  the  tent  and  brings  back  others 
to  fill  the  hive  again,  puts  the  combs  into  the 
hive  and  shuts  the  hive. 

No  hive  ever  gets  its  own  combs  back 
again.  Each  team  of  boys,  when  they  com- 
mence in  ttie  morning,  take  out  all  the  com  bs 
that  need  extracting,  then  shut  up  the  hives 
without  combs  uutil  the  yard  is  finished. 
Then  the  first  extracted  gets  the  last  combs. 

The  boss  looks  after  all  the  hives,  balances 
up  the  brood  according  to  the  strength  of  the 
colonies,  and  when  lie  has  a  surplus  of  brood 
combs,  more  than  can  be  safely  left  in  the 
old  colony  to  prevent  the  old  one  from 
swarming,  he  makes  new  colonies  with  the 
surplus  brood,  putting  frames  of  foundation 
in  the  old  colonies  in  place  of  the  brood 
combs  taken  away. 


PliATTBVILIiE,  Wis. 


April  24,  1893. 


[I  was  well  aware  that  one  man  could  run 
the  extractor  faster  than  one  could  take 
honey  off  the  hives  in  the  old  fashioned  way 
and  return  the  combs,  but  I  did  not  suppose 
that  eitjlit  men  would  be  required  to  get  the 
honey  off  and  the  couil)s  back  again  as  rap- 
idly as  one  man  could  run  the  extractor.  It 
seems,  however,  that  with  Mr.  France's  man- 
agement these  eight  men  are  supposed  to  do 
something  besides  simply  getting  the  honey 
off  the  hives  and  the  combs  back  in  place. 
They  are  to  make  up  artificial  colonies,  cut 
out  cells,  equalize  the  brood,  etc.  If  these 
things  are  to  be  doae  I  do  not  dispute  that 
wliile  the  crew  is  there  extracting,  is  the  time 
to  do  such  work,  but  when  I  mentioned  three 
is  a  good  extracting  team,  I  did  not  have  in 
mind  any  work  except  tliat  of  extracting,  and 
I  still  think  that  one  man  might  do  the  out- 
side work  ;  especially,  if,  as  Mr.  France  says, 
only  two  minutes  will  suffice  to  free  the 
combs  of  the  upper  story  from  bees.  Mr. 
France  has  nad  a  long  experience  in  raising 
extracted  honey,  hence  it  is  with  some  little 
deference  that  I  ask  if  time  might  not  be 
saved  by  sending  two  of  those  boys  to  each 
apiary  a  day  in  advance  of  the  extracting 
crew,  and  have  them  put  bee  escapes  under 
the  upper  stories  ?  If  upper  stories  are  not 
used,  would  it  not  pay  to  use  them  ? 


170 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


When  I  referred  to  the  more  leisurely  work 
thiit  might  be  doue  wlieu  there  was  an  aliun- 
dauce  of  empty  combs,  I  did  not  intend  to 
convey  the  idea  that  the  extractintj  miylit  be 
deferred  until  the  season  was  over,  a  la 
Dadant,  Hlthouy;h  I  think  that  by  the  use  of 
bee  escapes  tlie  work  could  then  be  doue  with 
little  annoyance  from  robbers,  but  what  I 
had  in  mind  was  the  tentjjorary  respite  that 
might  be  gained  by  the  usj  of  empty  combs. 
If  all  of  the  colouios  of  one  apiary  can  be 
given  an  abuudauceof  empty  combs,  a  little 
time  is  gained  in  which  to  extract  the  honey 
at  some  other  ai)iary. 

I  am  well  aware  that  when  a  man  has  de- 
veloped some  system  of  mauagement  and 
followed  it  for  years,  it  m.iy  not  be  profit- 
able to  add  some  new  feature,  like  the  use  of 
bee  escape-.  His  system  may  not  be  adapt- 
ed to  the  chiuge,  and  it  may  not  be  advis- 
able to  II  ake  the  changes  necessary  to  bring 
in  the  new  inveutiou,  but  each  man  should 
look  the  situation  over  carefully,  consider- 
ing all  things,  and  then  follow  the  course 
that  appears  the  best.  In  some  eases  it  may 
be  well  to  do  some  experimenting  before 
coming  to  a  final  decision. — Ed.] 


Winter  Losses  of  Bees  in  California. 

"  BAMBLEB." 

"  And  every  prospect  pleases 
And  only  man  is  vile— 
Enoush  to  let  his  '  bees  es' 
in  winter  die  the  while." 

njHERE  is  a 
±^  great  dif- 
ference in  the 
manage  m  e  n  t 
of  bees  wliere 
the  hives  sur- 
round ,t  h  e 
home,  and  are 
arranged  in  a 
tastefully  kept 
yard,  and 
where  they  are 
kept  in  some  remote  mountain  glen,  and  vis- 
ited only  when  care  is  absolutely  needed.  The 
Eastern  bee-keeper,  if  he  is  a  lover  of  the 
business  and  something  of  an  enthusiast, 
will  be  found,  even  after  the  work  of  the 
honey  season  is  over,  wending  his  way  to 
the  apiary,  and,  with  a  friend,  or  even  with- 
out, looking  at  the  qualities  of  his  latest  bred 
Italians,   or,   if  any  unusual  commotion  is" 


heard  in  the  apiary,  his  eyes  and  his  ears 
are  open  to  catch  its  signification.  If  the 
bees  are  put  in  the  cellar  durin_g  the  winter, 
he  is  often  found  in  their  cosy  (juarters  listen- 
ing to  the  quiet  hum,  and  allowing  his  olfac- 
tory organs  to  test  the  condition  of  the  air, 
and  if  any  thing  is  going  wrong  it  is  instant- 
ly remedied  if  possible. 

Bees  are  as  much  of  a  pet,  collectively,  to 
the  enthusiastic  apiarist  as  the  hand-raised 
colt  or  sheep  is  to  the  family,  but  the  colt  or 
the  sheep  turned  out  to  pasture  ten  miles 
away  is  a  pet  no  longer,  and  while  tlie  for- 
mer pet  enjoys  unrestrained  freedom,  the 
owner  in  a  measure  forgets  it.  The  balmy 
climate  of  southern  California  allows  the 
bees  to  fly  every  month  in  the  year  and  the 
necessities  of  the  occupation  of  the  bee- 
keeper, or  the  conditions  of  the  pasturage  in 
a  great  majority  of  cases,  results  in  turning 
the  bees  into  a  distant  pasture,  with  but  lit- 
tle pride  as  to  arrangement  or  beauty  of" 
hives,  if  the  outfit  will  only  bring  in  the  dol- 
lars. The  months  of  greatest  rest  to  the  bees 
and  the  bee-keeper  are  October,  November 
and  December.  The  conditions  change  with 
different  portions  of  the  State,  for  nearly 
all  climates  are  enjoyed,  and  though  we  find 
rigorous  weather  in  the  mountains,  there  is 
no  place  where  protection  is  deemed  neces- 
sary. In  such  a  climate  one  would  suppose 
that  the  winter  losses  would  be  slight,  but  it 
may  surprise  some  to  learn  that  the  winter 
losses  are  as  great  if  not  greater  than  in  the 
East.  Let  us  see  :  I  know  of  several  apiaries 
of  about -200  colonies  each,  which,  during  the 
past  winter  have  lost  on  an  average  of  .W 
colonies  each,  and  there  is  at  least  one  in- 
stance where  about  1,200  colonies  were  re- 
duced to  less  than  400.  A  loss  of  so  many 
would  seem  to  be  irretrievable,  but  the  own- 
er takes  courage  and  says,  "never  mind, 
with  one  good  honey  season  I  will  fill  every 
hive  again."  The  question  will  now  natur- 
ally arise,  what  is  the  cause  of  all  these 
losses  ?  As  far  as  my  observation  goes, 
which  is  only  for  two  years,  there  is  l>ut  one 
answer — criminal  carelessness.  Although 
bees  gather  so  much  honey  and  pollen  in  this 
climate,  it  it  just  as  necessary  to  leave  win- 
ter stores,  as  it  is  in  the  East.  In  fact,  the 
same  principle  of  having  enough  honey  in 
the  hive  at  all  times  for  a  winter  supply  is 
just  as  applicable  here  as  in  any  other  por- 
tion of  the  country.  If  all  of  the  honey  is 
taken  away  up  to  the  last  of  .Tune,  the  possi- 
bilities are  that  a  later  flow  will  give  the  bees 
enough  to  winter  uiion,   but  the  getting  of 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


171 


this  later  honey  depends  upon  the  late  rains 
which  are  very  liable  not  to  put  in  an  appear- 
ance. The  apiary  being  several  miles  away 
is  neglected  and  many  colonies  starve  even 
before  the  late  rains  are  expected.  Many  of 
the  losses  are  laid  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
helper  who  has  gone  beyond  his  instructions 
and  extracted  too  close  and  too  late.  Heavy 
feeding  is  resorted  to  in  many  instances  and 
the  bees  saved,  but  even  feeding  at  a  late 
date  does  not  leave  the  bees  in  as  good  shape 
as  a  good  supply  of  natural  stores.  The  best 
method  of  feeding  ever  devised  for  Califor- 
nia, or  any  other  country,  is  to  have  good 
sealed  combs  of  honey,  I  think  the  losses 
would  be  much  less  were  the  apiaries  located 
near  the  home  of  the  bee-keeper,  for  wher- 
ever we  find  them  so  we  find  the  most  suc- 
cessful results.  Another  source  of  loss  is  the 
bee  moth  ;  the  ravages  of  this  pest  of  the  bee 
hive  are  not  so  great  as  one  would, expect  in 
this  warm  climate,  but  a  little  neglect  of 
keeping  good  queens  in  every  hive  results  in 
many  ruined  colonies.  The  past  two  years 
that  have  come  under  my  observation  may 
be  exceptional  years,  but  from  the  careless 
methods  generally  pursued  by  many  of  the 
California  bee-keepers,  there  is  more  or  less 
useless  loss  every  year,  and  closer  attention 
to  business  would  result  in  the  saving  of  a 
great  waste  and  give  a  better  reputation  to 
the  bee-keeping  industry. 

On  the  Bee  Ranohe,  Calf.,  April  28,  '93. 

A  Combined  House  Apiary  and  Self-Hiver, 
and  a  Combined  Hive   and  Self-Hiver. 

O.  W.  DAYTON. 


^OME  eight  or 
VQ  ten  years  ago> 
ill  .June,  I  experi- 
mented with  house 
apiaries.  One  dif- 
ticulty  that  I  could 
not  overcome  was 
the  loss  of  young 
bees  when  brush- 
ing them  off  the 
comb  inside  ;  but 
the  bee  escape  has 
almost  entirely 
done  away  with 
Another  thing,  the 


the  brushing  of  combs. 


wind  and  chilly  air  on  the  sides  of  the  house 
away  from  the  sun,  on  cloudy  days,  or  late 
in  the  afternoon,  caused  many  bees  to  re- 
main out  over  night  and  perhaps  never  get 
into  the  hives  again.  All  these,  and  more, 
prevented  my  using  a  larger  structure  than 
for  four  or  six  colonies.  These  were  very 
satisfactory. 

Here  in  California  there  is  little  wind,  so, 
if  the  bee  house  is  located  in  a  warm  place, 
or  not  on  the  north  side  of  a  hill  or  moun- 
tain, the  bees  have  no  trouble  in  getting  into 
the  hives. 

Summer  nights  in  California  are  much 
colder  than  they  are  in  any  Eastern  States. 
They  are  really  very  chilly  ;  so  much  so  as  to 
drive  all  the  bees  down  out  of  the  sections 
into  the  brood  nest.  Then  the  middle  of 
the  days  are  very  hot,  and  it  is  seldom  an 
unshaded  hive  gets  through  the  summer 
without  its  combs  melting  down. 

These  diffijulties,  and  others,  have  turned 
my  attention  toward  bee  houses  in  Califor- 
nia as  being  as  beneficial  as  in  any  country, 
and  I  have  read  and  re-read  the  articles  pub- 
lished in  regard  to  them.  We  need  them  to 
keep  the  hives  warm  nights,  and  cool  days. 

Another  very  useful  feature  of  the  house 
plan  is  in  locating  an  apiary.  Good  loca- 
tions where  the  bee  hives  may  be  spread 
ovc  a  space  of  100  feet  square  are  scarce 
here.  There  are  thousands  of  acres  of  un- 
occupied land  but  it  is  nearly  always  moun- 
tainous and  rocky.  If  it  is  level  some  one 
has  fruit  or  grain  on  it  or  it  will  be  where 
the  sun  does  not  shine  favorably,  and  bees 
want  all  the  sun  there  is  during  January, 
February,  March,  April  and  May,  because 
these  months  here  are  all  alike,  and  are 
about  like  May  in  Iowa  or  Wisconsin  on  the 
43  parallel.  I  always  dislike  to  have  hives 
on  unlevel  ground,  as  it  makes  the  work 
much  harder — if  you  use  a  stool  in  examin- 
ing hives  it  is  slanting  ;  the  smoker  will  tip 
over  ;  if  a  hive  gets  off  its  foundation  it  may 
roll  over,  etc.  Now,  in  using  a  bee  house  a 
level  place  10x20  feet  may  be  made  with  pick 
and  shovel  against  the  side  of  a  hill  or 
mountain  out  of  the  way  of  everybody  and 
in  a  warm  sunny  position,  and  I  have,  accor- 
dingly, constructed  two  after  the  plans  of 
Messrs.  Taylor  and  Langdon. 

Here  there  is  no  need  of  packing  of  any 
kind,  BO  I  have  left  that  part  out ;  nor  is  there 
any  need  of  Mr,  Taylor's  wide  eaves  to 
keep  off  snow  and  sleet,  but  just  common 
eaves. 


172 


TBE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


Mine  are  roofed  with  tin  and  there  are  es- 
capes and  ventilators  in  the  gable  ends. 
Instead  of  windows,  as  Mr.  Langdou  uses,  I 
have  constructed  the  outside  boarding  in 
sectional  parts,  and  when  light  is  wanted  a 
section  2x;}  feet  above  the  hives  may  be  re- 
moved in  the  opposite  side  of  the  building 
from  the  hive  1  am  manipulating.  There  is 
need  for  all  the  light  we  can  get  when  ex- 
amining for  eggs  in  a  comb. 

I  have  adopted  a  new  frame,  also  ;  and 
that  after  using,  heretofore,  about  an  equal 
number  of  Liuigstroth  and  Gallup  frame?, 
lu  localities  where  nights  are  cold  and  days 
hot  it  causes  the  brood  to  be  located  toward 
the  front  ends  of  a  frame  as  long  as  the 
Langstroth  (if  the  hives  face  the  north),  so 
that  Mr.  Aikin,  of  Colorado,  said  in  his  arti- 
cle on  dequeening  a  year  ago,  that  lie  spread 
brood  by  changing  ends  with  each  alternate 
frame.  While  I  have  for  years  practiced 
spreading  brood,  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever 
gained  a  bee  thereby,  and  I  am  certain  that 
brood  has  been  destroyed.  According  to  this 
conclusion  and  the  conditions  of  the  brood 
nest  in  so  long  a  frame  as  the  Langstroth,  it 
almost  compels  this  needless,  and  as  I  said 
on  page  .5GG  of  i\\e  A.  B.  J.  "cruel,"  prac- 
tice, so  I  have  adopted  a  frame  the  same 
depth  of  the  Langstroth  but  4^4  inches 
shorter.  In  this  frame  the  brood  circles 
touch  the  top,  bottom,  and  side  bars.  By 
using  ten  frames  in  a  hive  there  is  the  same 
capacity  as  the  eight  frame  Langstrotli,  if 
not  more,  considering  the  more  thorough 
occupancy  of  the  combs.  My  hives  are  14I4 
inches  both  ways,  inside  measure.  I  studied 
long  as  to  whether  the  frames  should  ap- 
proach the  entrance  endwise  orsidewise.  In 
lifting  out  the  frames  when  tliey  are  side- 
wise  the  brood  face  of  the  comb  comes  be- 
fore our  eyes  at  once  but  the  other  plan  has 
its  advantages  that  caused  me  to  adopt  it. 
Mr.  Langdon  uses  them  sidewise  and  he  may 
be  right.  A  shallower  frame  than  the  Gal- 
lup is  better  for  comb  honey  and  a  smaller 
frame  than  the  Langstroth  allows  of  more 
manipulation  and  leading  of  the  bees  along 
into  the  upper  stories  more  gradually  than 
when  too  much  space  is  given,  and  Mr.  Hill 
is  right  when  he  says  that  a  super  three 
inches  deep  is  more  readily  occupied  than 
one  4 '4  inches  deep.  Then  my  frame  hangs 
in  the  extractor  the  same  as  in  the  hive  and 
a  shallow  frame  can  be  taken  out  to  reverse 
about  as  quickly  as  a  long  frame  put  in  end- 
wise can  be  manipulated  and  extracted  in  a 


reversible  extractor.  And  again  there  is  not 
the  danger  of  the  comb  breaking  out  and 
piling  up  on  the  bottom  (as  Mr.  Hughes 
spoke  about  some  time  since)  when  they 
hang  in  the  extractor.  A  frame  of  this  length 
admits  of  a  hive,  twoof  which  may  be  placed 
crosswise  of  a  wagon  bed,  requiring  no 
si)ecial  racks  for  moving.  In  moving  bees 
I  much  prefer  piling  them  up  several  deep 
tiian  to  spread  them  out  over  a  large  surface 
and  this  one  advantage  in  handling  the  hives 
will  outweigh  all  the  special  features  of  a 
17- inch  frame. 

On  page  !)!»,  Mr.  Langdou  says  "  the  en- 
trance in  the  boarding  is  nearly  on  a  level 
with  the  floor,  then  rises  on  a  slant  to  the  top 
of  the  platform,  and  opens  into  the  hive  four 
inches  from  its  outer  side."  In  mine  the 
entrances  in  the  boarding  are  'i^^  inches  be- 
low the  floor  of  the  hive  and  rise  on  a  slant 
the  same  to  the  hive,  eight  inches  from  its 
outer  side.  The  hive  entrances  are  %  inch 
deep  and  have  a  strip  of  two-rowed  perfor- 
ated zinc  nailed  over  them  the  whole  width 
of  the  hive.  In  this  strip  of  zinc  is  arranged 
a  cone  to  allow  drones  and  queens  to  pass 
outward.  Also  in  this  slanting  space  is  a 
strip  of  perforated  zinc  2x14  inches  tacked  to 
the  slanting  floor  and  sloping  outward  and 
upward  and  rests  against  the  boarding  alcove 
the  outside  entrance.  Tnis  is  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  queens  and  drones  and  completes 
a  trap.  My  studding  are  the  right  distance 
apart  so  that  brood  frames,  including  pro- 
jecting arms,  will  go  in  between  them  paral- 
lel with  the  front  of  the  hive  and  are  1x8 
inches.  Over  this  sloping  space  in  which  the 
zinc  is  arran  ed  and  on  a  level  with  the  rab- 
bets in  the  hive  are  tacked  cleats  against  the 
studding  for  frames  to  hang  upon.  I  always 
leave  a  ■'g  space  at  the  rabbets  behind  the 
projecting  arms  of  the  frames  for  bees  to 
pass  around  the  ends — that  is,  my  rabbets 
are  %  inch  deep  and  %  inch  wide.  In  fact, 
my  hives  do  not  have  a  real  rabbet  but  a 
rest  for  the  frame  is  formed  on  the  whole 
thickness  of  the  boards  by  nailing  a  cleat  on 
the  outside.  To  form  this  frame-rest,  the 
cleats  are  %  inch  in  thickness.  Above  these 
cleats,  and  even  with  the  top  of  the  hive,  are 
two  more  thin  cleats  to  support  a  light  cover. 
This  forms  a  box  eight  inches  by  the  other 
dimensions  of  my  hive  and  holds  six  frames. 
In  tiie  outer  side  of  this  box  against  the 
boarding  is  hung  an  empty  comb  and  be- 
tween this  and  the  hive  are  live  frames  with 
3^2  inch  foundation  starters.     When  a  swarm 


TEE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


173 


issues  or  the  queen  comes  along  and  sticks 
her  head  into  one  and  then  another  of  the 
perforations,  its  sloping  feature  leads  her  up 
against  the  bottom  bar  of  the  empty  comb 
or  else  she  makes  a  failure  of  getting  back 
into  the  hive  and  the  bees  tind  her  outside  on 
returning.  This  top  cover  is  loose  and  may 
be  raised  and  the  inside  of  the  box  easily  and 
quickly  seen.  When  the  drones  are  trapped 
this  sloping  floor  may  lie  removed  by  un- 
hooking it  from  below  the  hive  and  the 
drones  emptied  into  a  pan  and  carried  out. 

This  forms  a  sort  of  combination  of  the 
inventions  of  Pratt,  Alley.  Langdon,  Taylor, 
Dayton,  etc.,  and  I  can  run  this  house  apiary 
by  visiting  it  about  once  a  week.  A  building 
not  only  protects  the  bees  and  admits  cheap- 
er and  more  lasting  hives,  but  suffices  for  a 
honey  house  and  extracting  room. 

Pasadena,  Calif.  May  10,  189.^,. 

Since  mailing  my  communication  on  the 
hive  I  have  adopted,  I  have  had  some  farther 
experience  with  my  hiving  contrivance  by 
its  hiving  two  swarms  that  were  not  in  the 
bee  house.  Some  time  ago  I  made  fifty  new 
hives  and  of  these  six  were  provided  with  my 
swarmiiig  arrangement.  I  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  making  the  front  and  rear  boards 
of  my  hives  of  %  inch  lumber  and  the  sides 
of  }-2  inch  and  the  sides  were  nailed  on  to  the 
ends  of  the  fronts  and  backs.  You  under- 
stand my  hive  is  14J4  inches  long  and  14V 
wide  inside.  In  making  the  six  above  men- 
tioned hives  the  sides  were  enough  longer  to 
project  7I4  inches  forward  of  the  front  board 
of  the  brood  chamber  like  a  Langstroth  por- 
tico, and  an  additional  front  board  put  in 
making  a  sort  of  ante  room  before  entering 
the  brood  chamber  proper.  The  sides  were 
also  increased  to  %  inch  in  thickness  so  as 
to  bear  rabbeting  %  inch  back  on  the  part  of 
the  board  opposite  the  ante  room.  This  &y^ 
inches  space  was  to  ac  ommodate  five  brood 
frames.  An  entrance  was  provided  under 
both  of  these  front  boards  and  a  strip  of 
perforated  zinc  tacked  over  each  on  the  out- 
side. To  permit  the  drones  and  queen  to 
pass  the  inside  zinc  a  boring  3^  inch  deep 
was  made  with  a  two  inch  bit  directly  under 
it  in  the  bottom  board.  Then  another  hole 
still  farther  into  the  ante  room  was  made 
with  a  one  inch  bit.  Another  of  %,  and  still 
another  of  %  which  last  was  located  about 
three  inches  from  the  perforated  zinc.  All 
the  holes  cut  into  each  other  to  allow  the 
passage  of  bees.  Over  all  these  holes  except 
the  %  and  the  half  of  the  two  inch  hole  in- 


side the  brood  nest  was  tacked  wire  cloth. 
This  was  a  substitute  for  a  cone  which  came 
in  the  way  of  the  brood  frames  hanging  in 
the  ante-room.  Besides  it  seemed  to  possess 
an  advantage  over  a  cone  as  it  caused  the 
queen  to  travel  on  foot  all  the  way  through 
and  across  the  aute-room.  When  the  bees 
swarm  and  return  on  account  of  the  reten- 
tion of  the  queen,  they  don't  rush  quickly 
into  the  hive,  but  stand  on  their  heads  and 
fan  before  the  entrance  and  all  the  way  along 
into  the  brood  nest,  in  which  case  they  will 
be  quite  sure  to  find  the  scent  of  the  queen 
and  track  her  up  like  hounds  after  a  fox,  so 
I  endeavored  to  have  the  tracks  close  by 
their  noses.  The  upper  stories  go  on  the 
same  as  the  portico  Langstroth,  and  the  ante- 
room has  a  small  cover  for  itself  and  which 
may  be  ra  sed  about  as  we  raise  the  falling 
door  when  we  drop  a  letter  in  a  street  mail 
box.  I  do  not  think  my  contrivance  can  be  • 
adapted  to  any  hive  that  is  not  square,  be- 
cause in  the  brood  chamber  proper  the 
frames  run  from  front  to  rear  and  in  the 
ante-room  the  other  direction.  While  others 
have  studied  to  hive  colonies  on  full  sets  of 
combs,  and  Mr.  R.  L.  Taylor  uses  the  drone 
and  queen  traps  with  no  combs  at  all,  so, 
also,  some  have  experimented  with  reversi- 
ble frames  and  others  with  reversible  hives, 
I  use  the  ^medium  number  of  five  combs  in 
the  "  queen  restrictor  "  and  also  use  a  me- 
dium of  five  in  a  hiver.  Like  Mr.  B.  Taylor 
I  claim  a  moral  right  to  my  square  hive  and 
hiver.  For  me  a  hiver  can  be  provided  for 
less  than  fifteen  cents  per  hive,  and  my  hive 
is  perfectly  adapted  to  the  one  pound  sec- 
tion in  all  its  various  manipulations. 
Pasadena,  Calif.  May  18,  1893. 


The  Bee  and  Honey  Exhibits  at  the  World's 
Fair  and  how  they  are  Progressing. 

ALLEN   PBINGLE. 

I DITOR  Review  ;  Dear  Sir— In  re- 
sponse to  your  favor  of  20th  inst., 
I  may  say  the  apiarian  department  of 
the  World's  Fair,  like  almost  every  other  de- 
partment, is  in  a  very  backward  condition. 
The  honey  cases,  which  were  constructed 
under  contract  from  the  Agricultural  De- 
partment of  the  Fair,  were  only  completed 
the  other  day,  and  as  some  of  them  required 
much  inside  work  of  shelving  etc.  after, 
they  came  from   the    contractor's  hands,   it 


174 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


will  readily  be  seen  that  the  backward  state 
of  the  department  is  not  altogether  the  fault 
of  the  apiariau  olficials  or  superiuteudeuts. 
As  for  myself,  although  I  have  been  here 
some  six  weeks  my  exhibit  is  not  yet  in- 
stalled. But,  I  have  more  inside  or  extra 
work  on  my  case  than  any  of  the  others,  for 
the  reason  that  no  other  exhibitor,  so  far, 
has  so  much  honey  on  hand  to  get  into  one 
case. 

There  are,  I  believe,  three  State  exhibits 
completely  installed,  viz.,  that  from  Wis- 
consin, Nebraska,  and  Ohio.  That  from 
Iowa  is  well  under  way  as  well  as  that  from 
New  York.  The  Minnesota  exhibit  arrived 
a  day  or  two  ago  and  is  being  installed  by 
Mr.  Cooper,  from  that  State,  who  is  Secreta- 
ry of  the  State  Association.  He  was  not  pres- 
ent it  seems  when  the  exhibit  was  unloaded 
from  the  car  and  deposited  in  the  Agricul- 
tural Building  and  he  found  his  exhibit  great- 
ly damaged.  Nearly  all  the  comb  honey, 
most  unfortunately,  is  quite  unfit  for  exhi- 
bition, as  it  is  badly  broken  and  leaking. 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  since  coming  here 
of  meeting  and  making  the  acquaintance  of 
several  American  apiarists  with  whom  I  had 
never  before  had  the  pleasure  of  personal 
acquaintance.  Among  these  are  Dr  Miller 
and  Miss  Wilson  who  have  very  tastefully 
arranged  Mr.  A.  I.  Root's  fine  exhibit  of 
apiarian  appliances;  Dr.  Mason,  who  has 
charge  of  the  ( )hio  exhibit,  accompanied  by 
Miss  Mason;  Mr.  Whitcomb  of  Nebraska  who 
has  charge  of  the  exhibit  from  that  State; 
Mrs.  Whitcomb;  Messrs  Hatch  and  Wilcox 
who  installed  the  Wisconsin  exhibit;  Mr.  Hill 
from  Kretchmer  of  Iowa,  who  installed  the 
Iowa  Exhibit  and  also  an  exhibit  of  appli- 
ances; Mr.  Hersheiser  from  New  York  Slate, 
which  sends  a  large  exhibit  of  honey,  occu- 
pying 3  or  4  cases,  and  supplies  also,  I  be- 
lieve, and  others  whose  names  I  am  not  able 
to  recall.  I  had  also  the  pleasure  of  meet- 
ing Mr.  York  the  genial  and  industrious 
editor  of  the  old  A.  B.  ./.  and  its  former  ed- 
itor Mr.  Newman,  who,  I  was  glad  to  hear, 
as,  no  doubt,  all  will  be,  is  rapidly  recover- 
ing his  health  and  strength. 

As  near  as  I  can  judge  from  the  present 
appearances,  the  apiarian  and  all  other  de- 
partments of  the  great  Exposition  will  be 
completed  about  the  middle  of  June. 

Chicago,  111.  May  24,  18i«. 

[Mr.  H.  D.  Cutting,  of  Tecumseh,  Mich., 
writes  me  that  at  a  late  day  Michigan  has  ap- 
propriated $500  for  the  purpose  of  making 


an  apiarian  exhibit  at  the  great  show  at 
Chicago.  Mr  Cutting  is  to  have  charge  of 
the  exhibit,  and  would  be  glad  to  corres- 
pond with  bee-keepers  who  can  furnish  any- 
thing for  exhibition.  Illinois  bee-keepers 
have  also  received  recognition  at  a  late  day, 
and  those  who  can  help  in  the  matter  should 
write  Hon.  J.  M.  Hambaugh,  Spring,  111. 
— EdJ 

Some  More  Smoker  Experiments. 

J.  E.  CEANE. 

_"  One  man's  story  is  no  story  at  all— hoar  both 
sides." 

mHERE     seems 
"T  to  be  a  good 
J,  ^^  deal  of  misunder- 

Ji  w  standing  in  regard 

9  .-"^^m i£)i^S  '  to    the     relative 

merits  of  the  Bing- 
ham and  Crane 
smokers.  I  had 
hoped  that  Mr. 
Cornell's  experi- 
ments might  throw 
some  light  upon 
the  subject,  but 
his  report  is  in  some  respects,  so  different 
from  my  experiments  and  experience  that  I 
fear  the  average  reader  will  be  more  con- 
fused than  ever  unless  some  explanation  is 
offered. 

Some  time  in  February  I  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Cornell  saying  that  an  experiment 
was  soon  to  be  made  to  test  with  scientific 
accuracy  the  relative  strength  of  an  enclosed 
blast  as  in  the  Crane  smoker, — a  single  cut 
off  as  represented  in  the  Bingham  smoker, — 
and  a  double  cut  off  as  represented  in  the 
Cornell  smoker. 

It  was  not  to  be  a  war  of  smokers,  but 
simply  a  test  of  principles.  He  wrote  me 
further  that  the  Crane  smoker  he  had  re- 
ceived was  in  bad  shape  owing  to  some  ac- 
cident and  would  not  probably  be  used  in 
the  trial.  He  also  asked  me  for  any  sugges- 
tions I  might  have  to  offer. 

In  my  reply  I  made  no  suggestions  as  I 
remember  further  than  to  say  that  the  trial 
would  be  of  more  value  if  made  with  loaded 
fire  barrels.  I  also  stated  my  entire  confi- 
dence in  his  fairness  and  ability  to  conduct 
such  an  experiment. 

Now  if  these  trials  or  this  test  of  princi- 
ples had  been  made  with  a  single  smoker, 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


175 


alternating  the  connections  between  the  bel- 
lows and  fire  barrel  for  this  purpose,  this 
scientific  test  would  have  been  very  interest- 
ing, although  so  far  as  I  can  discover  of  very 
little  practical  value.  As  it  is,  in  summing  up 
the  results  of  his  experiments  Mr.  Cornell 
says :  "  The  foregoing  statements  show 
that,  with  fire  barrels  loaded  with  very  close- 
ly packed  fuel,  tlie  induced  current  is  weaker 
in  the  Bingham  and  in  the  Cornell  smokers 
than  it  is  in  the  same  smokers  with  an  en- 
closed current."  The  figures  which  he  gives 
for  the  Cornell  smoker  is  30  for  the  enclosed 
current,  and  18  for  the  induced  current, 
which  tallies  quite  closely  with  some  experi- 
ments I  have  made. 

The  Crane  smoker  does  not  appear  in  these 
scientific  tests  to  have  cut  a  very  handsome 
figure,  nor  could  I  or  anyone  have  expected 
it  would  who  knows  all  the  circumstances  in 
the  case. 

This  particular  smoker  was  not  made  for 
the  purpose  of  testing  scientific  principles 
or  to  be  put  to  any  scientific  tests.  It  was 
one  of  two  or  three  smokers  that  I  made 
with  wooden  valves  for  experimental  pur- 
poses and  I  sent  this  one  to  the  editor  of  the 
Review  to  show  that  a  most  excellent 
smoker  could  be  made  with  an  enclosed 
blast,  which  was  strong  enough  to  satisfy 
the  most  exacting  requirements  of  the  bee- 
keeper and  yet  keep  the  bellows  free  from 
sparks  and  smoke.  I  was  well  aware  that 
the  check  valve  was  imperfect,  which  had  a 
tendency  to  \\  eaken  the  blast.  To  remedy 
this  defect,  I  made  my  lielJows  larger  and 
thus  secured  as  strong  a  blast  as  necessary. 

Now  what  was  the  Bingham  srjioker  ? 
Was  it  such  as  he  is  accustomed  to  sell  as  a 
three  inch  smoker  ?  Not  at  all,  as  I  under- 
stand it,  but  one  constructed  especially  for 
this  purpose  with  a  bellows  two  or  three 
times  the  usual  size,  and,  of  course,  two  or 
three  times  the  power.  I  say  two  or  three 
times  the  usual  size.  I  had  in  my  shop  an 
old  three  inch  Bingham  smoker  and  by 
actual  measurement  I  found  the  bellows 
only  about  one-third  the  capacity  of  the  bel- 
lows I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using.  I 
may,  however,  have  been  in  error  in  regard 
to  the  size  of  the  Bingham  bellows  as  the 
original  leather  was  ruined  by  sparks  being 
drawn  into  the  bellows  and  the  bellows  had 
been  covered  with  a  new  leather  which  may 
have  been  smaller. 

In  Mr.  Cornell's  report  he  speaks  of  the 
tests  as  those  of  the  Bingham  smoker  or  the 


Crane  smoker,  etc.,  and  it  might  look  as 
though  there  was  a  war  of  smokers  on,  and 
I  fear  it  would  be  very  misleading  if  it  were 
not  understood  that  the  bellows  attached  to 
the  Bingham  smoker  in  these  trials  was  very 
much  larger  than  what  he  ordinarily  useiS 
while  the  Crane  smoker  had  the  same  size 
of  hi  Hows. 

After  reading  the  report  of  Mr.  Cornell,  I 
found  myself  saying,  "  It  can  not  be  and  yet 
it  is,"  or  something  of  that  sort,  or  wonder- 
ing if  the  same  natural  laws  hold  good  in 
Canada  and  the  United  States.  The  next 
morning  found  me  at  work  in  my  shop  as 
soon  as  up.  With  one  stroke  of  the  hatchet 
I  split  the  Bingham  bellows  and  soon  had 
the  barrel  separated  and  ready  to  place  on 
the  same  size  of  bellows  as  a  Crane  smoker. 
In  all  my  experiments  I  had  never  tested  a 
Bingham  cut  ofl"  blast  with  my  own  size  of 
bellows.  I  measured  the  two  bellows  and 
found  the  Crane  nearly  three  times  the  size 
of  the  Bingham.  I  was  surprised.  Can  it 
be  that  I  have  been  fooling  myself  all  these 
years  ?  I  took  out  the  blast  tube  very  care- 
fully. Whew  !  I  found  it  nearly  full  of  creo- 
sote, and  so  hard  I  could  not  dig  it  out  safely 
with  iron  or  steel  until  I  had  soaked  it  in 
water  to  soften  it.  What  a  fool  I  have  been  ! 
I  wished  I  had  never  bothered  my  head  about 
smokers.  No  wonder  my  Bingham  smoker 
had  failed  to  give  a  strong  blast !  Should  I 
ever  have  the  courage  to  admit  that  I  had 
been  in  error  !  But  I  determined  to  know 
for  myself  just  what  the  difference  was. 
Soon  I  had  a  Bingham  fire  barrel  and  cut  off 
blast  wed  to  a  Crane  bellows.  So  far  as 
I  could  see  the  union  was  perfect.  I  gave 
this  smoker  a  new  nozzle,  "bright  and 
shiny,"  that  just  fitted  it. 

Now  then,  taking  a  Crane  smoker  that  had 
a  fire  barrel  that  had  seen  service,  for  I 
wished  to  show  no  partiality,  I  gave  one  to 
my  hired  man,  who  has  been  with  me  for 
many  years,  "  Now  let  us  see  which  can 
throw  smoke  the  fartherest."  Many  trials 
were  made,  frequently  changing  smokers 
with  each  other. 

These  tests  seemed  to  indicate  very  clearly 
that  the  Crane  smoker  had  decidedly  the 
stronger  blast,  but  how  much,  who  could 
tell.  I  had  no  anemometer  at  hand.  One 
must  be  made.  I  took  a  smooth  board.  A 
line  across  one  end  indicated  the  point  be- 
yond which  the  end  of  the  smoker  must  not 
go.  Now  placing  a  very  light,  small  box 
just  in  front  of  this  line,  let  us  see  how  far 


176 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


we  can  drive  this  box  on  the  board  from  the 
line.  Many  trials  were  made.  With  a  Bing- 
ham fire  barrel  and  cut  off  wed  to  a  Crane 
bellows,  I  could  drive  the  box  just  seven 
inches  from  the  line,  while  my  servant  Dan- 
iel could,  with  the  same  instrument,  drive 
the  box  7'2  inches.  Then  taking  a  Crane 
smoker,  I  could  drive  the  box  14  inches, 
while  Daniel  could  drive  it  W.,  inches. 
Many  experiments  or  tests  were  made  with 
substantially  the  same  results.  In  these 
last  trials  theiire  barrels  were  empty.  I  was 
surprised  that  it  did  not  turn  out  exactly  the 
opposite  after  reading  Mr.  Corueil's  report. 
Queer,  isn't  it  ?  And  science  is  sometimes 
queer,  too.  Chemists  tell  us  that  a  diamond 
is  nothing  but  carbon,  and  yet  who  would 
not  rather  have  one  hand  full  of  diamonds 
than  both  hands  full  of  lampblack  ? 

Now  the  blast  of  either  of  the  above 
smokers  with  which  I  experimented  is  ample 
for  all  the  needs  of  the  apiarist.  If  one  or 
the  other  was  not  sufficient,  how  easy  to  in- 
crease it  by  increasing  the  size  of  the  bellows 
a  little.  There  is  no  patent  on  the  size  of  a 
bellows  one  may  use. 

Just  a  few  words  in  regard  to  that  "golden 
mean  "  blast  tube.  For  years,  if  I  mistake 
not,  Mr.  Bingham  has  advised  the  use  of 
hard  wood,  split  fine,  for  smoker  fuel,  that 
the  blast  of  his  smokers  would  be  strong. 
Now  we  are  told  that  a  medium  size  blast 
tube  is  used  that  the  blast  will  not  be  too 
strong  and  blow  fire  and  sparks  out  of  the 
nozzle,  as  though  the  average  bee-keeper  did 
not  know  enough  to  add  more  fuel  or  work 
the  bellows  slower.  My  experience  is  that  a 
large  blast  tube  or  bellows  if  worked  freely 
will  draw  fire  and  sparks  out  of  the  other 
end  of  the  smoker  from  the  nozzle  in  a  very 
uncomfortable  way. 

After  experimenting  the  other  day  with  a 
Bingham  and  Crane  smoker  with  my  assist- 
ant, we  looked  over  a  yard  of  bees.  I  left 
him  to  select  a  smoker  for  use.  I  noticed  he 
used  a  Crane  smoker.  I  said  to  him  later, 
"  Why  did  you  not  take  the  Bingham  smo- 
ker ?"  "I  have  had  all  the  clothes  burned 
with  a  Bingham  smoker  years  ago  that  I 
care  for,"  was  his  prompt  reply.  Queer  ! 
that  Mr.  B.'s  trouble  comes  from  one  end  of 
the  cut  off  blast  smoker  and  mine  from  the 
other,  isn't  it,  when  the  blast  is  very  strong. 

These  experiments  correspond  exactly 
with  my  experience  extending  over  many 
years  with  the  Bingham  cut  off  blast  and 
many  cut  off  blast  smokers  made  by  myself 


of  different  patterns.  If  I  had  had  a  new 
Bingham  smoker  throughout,  it  might  have 
made  some  difference,  although  I  do  not  see 
how.  I  hope  Mr.  Root  or  some  one  who  has 
the  conveniences,  will  try  the  experiment  of 
how  far  you  can  blow  a  small  box  upon  a 
smooth  table  with  dfferent  smokers  and 
note  the  results.  It  is  real  fun.  If  I  were  a 
sporting  man  I  would  bet  all  the  tobacco 
pipes  I  ever  owned  against  Mr.  Bingham's 
Thomas  cat,  that  the  enclosed  blast  is  the 
stronger.  But  I  won't  bet.  "  It  is  against 
my  principles." 

After  all  is  said,  what  is  all  this  ado  for  ? 
The  Bingham  smoker  with  a  bellows  one- 
half  the  size  of  the  one  I  have  been  using, 
will  do  good  work  when  new  and  clean. 
Who  says  it  will  not  ?  Not  I.  The  diflticulty 
is  not  here.  But  after  it  has  been  used  awhile 
the  blast  tube  becomes  clogged  with  creosote 
and  the  blast  greatly  weakened.  Note  what 
I  said  in  an  article  written  at  your  request 
last  summer  for  the  Review.  Now  if  a 
"  scientific  test  "  of  the  blast  of  a  Bingham 
and  Crane  smoker  as  they  come  from  the 
manufacturers  could  be  made,  and  other 
tests  after  each  had  been  in  use  for  three  or 
six  months,  it  might  be  of  some  real  service 
to  the  bee-keeping  public.  The  true  test  of 
a  soldier  is  on  the  battle  field  rather  than  on 
dress  parade.  But  when  one  takes  a  Crane 
smoker  poorly  constructed  and  the  inven- 
tion not  even  perfected,  and  pits  it  against 
one  fully  perfected  with  a  bellows  two  or 
three  times  its  normal  size,  to  test,  without 
so  much  as  saying  to  the  inventor  of  the  new 
smoker,  "  by  your  leave,  sir,"  it  looks  at 
this  distance  as  though  it  was  a  deliberate 
attempt  on  the  part  of  some  one  to  strangle 
the  Crane  smoker  as  soon  as  born.  It  still 
lives,  however,  and  since  Mr.  Root  has 
adopted  "  the  infant "  its  breath  is  stronger 
than  ever,  and  if  Mr.  Bingham  or  any  one 
else  is  anxious  to  test  the  actual  merits  of 
the  two  smokers  as  above  so  that  bee-keep- 
ers may  know  just  which  is  best,  I  have  no 
doubt  they  can  arrange  with  Mr.  A,  I.  Root 
for  such  a  trial. 

And  now  in  closing,  Mr.  Editor,  I  will  say 
if  these  scientific  tests  and  smoker  discus- 
sions shall  serve  to  improve  the  various 
brands  of  smokers  manufactured  in  this 
country,  they  will  not,  after  all,  be  useless. 

P.  S.  Mrs.  C.  says  she  does  not  like  what 
I  have  written  about  betting  on  tobacco 
pipes  ;  that  I  havn't  got  any  pipes  and  never 
had,  and  she  doesn't  want  anybody  to  think 


THE  BEEKEEPERS'  UK  VIEW. 


177 


that  I  ever  smoke,  and  so  I  will  take  it  all 
back. 

MiDDLEBUBY,  Vt.  May  2t),  1893. 

[I  am  sorry  that  wheu  speaking  of  the  size 
of  the  Bingham  bellows,  Mr.  Crane  should 
refer  to  it  as  "  two  or  three  times  the  size  of 
his  ordinary  bellows."  It  is  evident  that 
Mr.  Crane  has  not  seen  a  modern  Bingham, 
or  even  one  of  a  moderately  late  date.  I 
have  a  Conqueror  bellows  ten  years  old, 
and  it  is  seven  inches  loug,  five  wide,  and 
three  inches  across  the  wide  end  when  the 
bellows  is  distended.  I  have  a  new  Doctor 
and  the  bellows  is  the  same  size,  except  that 
it  is  half  an  inch  longer.  It  is  true  that  the 
bellows  to  the  smoker  used  in  this  trial  was 
a  little  larger  than  Mr.  Bingham  uses  upon 
the  regular  size.  It  is  six  inches  wide,  8I4 
long  and  8)2  across  the  wide  end  when  the 
bellows  is  open.  It  was  given  these  dimen- 
tions  that  it  might  be  of  the  same  size  as  the 
one  on  the  Crane. 

That  the  blast  from  an  enclosed  current  is 
stronger  when  there  is  the  obstruction  of 
fuel  to  overcome,  is  shown  by  the  experi- 
ments of  Mr.  Cornell.  In  both  the  Bing- 
ham and  the  Cornell,  a  stronger  blast  is 
secured  with  enclosed  currents  when  the 
smokers  are  loaded,  while  the  reverse  is  true 
when  they  are  empty.  This  is  as  I  should 
expect  to  find  it.  In  the  tests  that  Mr.  Cor- 
nell made  it  is  evident  that  the  Crane  was 
not  "  in  it,"  in  any  of  the  phases.  It  can  be 
attributed  to  only  two  things,  either  to  the 
imperfection  of  the  implement  itself,  or  to 
the  friction  of  the  air  in  making  two  turns. 
What  is  needed  is  a  correct  decision  in  re- 
gard to  principles.  If  we  work  upon  the 
right  principle,  the  minor  imperfections  will 
eventually  be  overcome. 

I  have  a  new  Bingham  of  the  Doctor  size. 
I  also  have  a  new  Crane  as  now  sent  out  by 
Mr.  Root.  The  barrels  are  very  nearly  of 
the  same  size.  They  are  the  same  on  the 
outside,  but  the  asbestos  lining  in  the  Crane 
takes  up  a  little  room.  The  Bingham  nozzle 
is  a  trifle  taller,  but  it  is  more  tapering. 
Each  bellows  is  the  same  length,  but  the 
Crane  is  half  an  inch  wider.  I  made  a  little 
paper  "  snuff  box,"  as  we  children  used  to 
call  them,  and  laid  it  on  the  smooth  surface 
of  my  imposing  stone.  I  filled  both  smokers 
with  planer  shavings.  I  took  the  Bingham 
and  tried  to  see  how  far  I  could  drive  this 
box  over  the  marble  surface.  I  tried  it  re- 
peatedly, and  the  average  distance  to  which 
it  was  driven  was  two  feet.    I  tried  the  Crane 


in  the  same  way,  and  the  average  distance 
was  three  feet.  The  old  Crane  smokei  that 
Mr.  Cornell  used  in  his  test  would  drive  the 
box  only  18  inches. 

Ot  course,  the  blast  of  a  smoker  is  not  the 
only  thing  to  be  considerd ;  to  remain  free 
from  clogging  by  dust  and  creosote  is  an 
important  point. 

I  have  no  interest  in  smokers  aside  from  a 
desire  to  find  out  which  is  best  and  let  bee- 
keepers know  it.  The  fullest  discussion 
will  be  allowed  so  long  as  it  is  courteous. 
And  right  here  I  wish  to  say  that  I  think  Mr. 
Crane  is  mistaken  in  thinking  that  there  has 
been  any  attempt  to  "strangle"  his  smo- 
ker.—Ed.] 

Non- Swarming  Plans.— A  Brief  Outline   of 
a  Year's  Work  in  the  House  Apiary. 

B.  TAYLOR. 

"  Do  what  thou  doest  with  thy  might, 
And  toil  and  happiness  unite." 

T  HAVE  at  length 
1  got  the  new  house 
apiary  filled  with 
bees.  To  say  that 
I  am  greatly  pleased 
with  it,  is  to  speak 
tamely.  If  you  were 
here  to  see  me  feed- 
ing the  twenty-four 
colonies  that  are  in 
it  in  five  minutes  by 
the  watch,  yon  would 
feel  the  ground  of 
my  enthusiasm.  I  give  each  colony  a  little 
feed  every  evening  without  lifting  a  cover, 
or  seeing  a  bee. 

This  is  the  worst  spring  I  ever  knew  for 
bees.  I  never  got  my  bees  from  the  cellar 
until  May  8th  to  12th.  Thirty-three  per  cent, 
were  dead.  Ninety-five  per  cent,  with  sealed 
covers  were  dead.  I  am  not  discouraged, 
but  regard  this  as  a  first-rate  chance  to  make 
bees  pay.  I  have  many  fine  colonies  and 
shall  give  them  better  attention  than  I  ever 
gave  bees  before.  I  don't  believe  we  do  one- 
half  as  well  with  bees  as  we  could.  We  have 
too  much  windy  talk  and  too  little  earnest 
practical  work. 

The  non-swarming  idea  embraced  in  the 
double  hive  arrangement  is  receiving  great 
attention.    I  shall  give  it  my  best  thoughts 


178 


THE  BEEKEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


this  season.  I  had  intended  to  start  for 
Chicago  in  one  week,  but  fear  that  absence 
now  might  interfere  with  my  experimental 
work,  and  this  mus-t  not  be.  I  will  be  at  the 
bee-keepers'  meeting  in  October  if  well 
enough  to  go. 

I  will  have  a  photo,  taken  of  the  new  house 
apiary  when  I  can  get  an  artist  here.  Will 
give  a  full  description  and  my  latest  experi- 
ence with  the  house  plan  to  readers  of  the 
Review. 

I  shall  make  it  my  special  business  this 
year  to  finish  my  eight  years'  work  on  the 
non-swarmer.  I  am  confident  that  the  plan 
that  has  no  traps  of  any  kind,  holds  the 
trumps.  I  have  tried  a  large  number  of  de- 
vices, and  always  found  that  some  obstacle 
would  turn  up.  The  revolving  stand  proved 
to  me  that  none  of  them  were  needed.  I  re- 
gard the  revolving  stand  as  clearing  away 
more  fog  than  any  experiment  I  ever  tried. 
It  led  to  the  practicability  of  a  single  en- 
trance for  two  swarms  in  a  single  hive.  I 
now  have  the  partition  of  wire  cloth,  two 
sheets  }4  inch  apart ;  the  idea  is  to  have  the 
warmth  of  both  colonies  for  the  entire  hive 
at  all  times.  This  is  what  I  claim  as  my  dis- 
covery, two  swarms  in  a  single  hive  with 
one  entrance  for  both,  and  to  be  worked  as  a 
single  colony  without  swarming.  I  claim 
this  and  will  let  others  have  all  queen  catch- 
ing traps.  I  see  in  May  Review  that  friend 
Langdon  kindly  criticises  my  plan.  He 
seems  to  think  that  my  way  makes  it  neces- 
sary to  always  cut  queen  cells.  I  expect  to 
work  my  4iives  before  there  are  any  queen 
cells  started,  and  then  there  will  probably 
never  be  any  started,  but  if  there  are,  with 
hives  depopulated  of  bees,  and  with  my  wire 
end  frames  which  can  always  be  lifted  with- 
out any  tools  except  the  fingers  and  put  in- 
stantly in  their  place  again,  it  will  be  but  a 
few  moment's  work  to  clip  queen  cells  ;  and 
I  will  here  say  that  there  will  be  no  more 
likelihood  of  queen  cells  in  my  plan  than  in 
friend  Langdon's.  The  only  thing  that  I  do 
not  like  in  my  plan  is  it  does  not  work  in  the 
house  apiary,  and  I  have  not  yet  seen  my 
way  clear  to  adapt  it  to  house  use.  I  shall 
try  to  solve  the  problem  and  as  I  have  never 
been  stalled  in  getting  out  of  mechanical 
diflficulties,  I  hope  to  succeed  in  this.  Friends 
Aikin  and  Langdon  are  both  younger  than  I 
am  and  have  more  of  their  lives  ahead  of 
them,  and  success  to  them  means  much 
more  than  to  me.  Here  brothers  Aikin  and 
Langdon  is  my  hand,  and  my  hearty  wishes 


for  your  success.    I  assure  you  there  shall  be 
no  jealousy  between  us  on  my  part. 

To  say  that  this  has  been  a  very  disastrous 
winter  and  spring  to  bee-keepers  in  the 
Northwest,  is  but  to  tell  the  truth.  The  For- 
estville  apiary  has  lost  thirty-three  per  cent., 
while  many  have  lost  all.  One  man  near 
here  lost  seventy-five  out  of  seventy-eight ; 
another  in  Olmsted  county,  every  colony 
(253),  and  so  it  goes  generally.  At  this  date, 
May  l.^th,  the  fruit  trees  are  not  in  blossom. 
The  box  alders,  soft  maples  and  willows  are 
not  fully  in  bloom,  and  the  buds  are  hardly 
swelled  on  the  trees,  but  the  clover  is  star-- 
ing  as  never  before.  I  anticipate  a  good 
honey  crop  for  those  that  keep  their  bees 
booming. 

The  good  swarms  in  the  house  apiary  win- 
tered in  as  perfect  a  condition  as  you  could 
possibly  ask.  Many  of  the  bottom  boards 
are  as  clean  as  in  summer  :  the  combs  dry 
and  entirely  free  from  mold,  and  now  warmly 
covered  with  sawdust  boxes,  in  each  of 
which  is  one  of  my  new  feeders  with  which 
the  feed  is  taken  directly  into  the  brood  nest 
without  the  bees  leaving  the  cluster  and 
where  I  can,  and  have  for  some  time,  been 
giving  each  colony  one-half  pound  syrup 
each  evening,  without  lifting  a  cover  and  in 
less  than  two  minutes  time.  The  bees  are 
just  booming  while  those  outside  are  getting 
weaker  each  day.  Do  you  wonder  that  I  am 
filled  with  enthusiasm  ? 

I  shall  give  each  colony  '4  pound  of  syrup 
each  night  regardless  of  the  honey  they  may 
have  in  the  hive.  This  I  shall  continue  until 
white  clover  blooms. 

I  will  at  the  time  of  such  blooming,  have 
the  hives  just  booming  with  bees,  and  then 
with  more  than  150,  24-section  supers,  each 
filled  with  12  sections  filled  with  leveled 
combs  and  the  other  12  filled  with  thin  foun- 
dation ;  I  am  going  to  get  some  honey  if  the 
flowers  are  not  entirely  dry.  At  the  end  of 
basswood  I  will  take  off  all  the  sections, 
crate  all  finished  ones  and  immediately  ex- 
tract all  unfinished  ones,  and  sell,  as  I  did 
last  year,  this  extracted  honey  for  at  least 
12}^  cents  per  pound,  and  I  will  get  the 
highest  market  price  for  the  comb  honey, 
and  make  some  money  if  any  can  be  made 
from  bees  in  Minnesota  in  1H'.»8.  With  one 
of  the  handy  comb  levelers  I  will  immedi- 
ately level  the  empty  combs  to  equal  size, 
set  them  away  in  a  clean,  safe  place  to  use 
in  the  year  1894. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


179 


I  will  now  give  each  colony  an  extra  hvie 
filled  with  nice  straight  empty  brood  combs 
exactly  like  the  brood  combs  iu  the  hive  be- 
low. I  will  raise  up  the  extra  hive,  under 
which  is  a  queen  excluding  honey  board,  and 
as  fast  as  nearly  filled  with  honey  and  put 
an  empty  one  under  it.  Tliis  I  will  repeat 
as  often  as  needed  until  the  end  of  the  honey 
flow  for  the  year  18'J:5.  I  will  now  take  off 
all  surplus  hives,  examine  each  colony,  and 
give  to  each  at  least  thirty  pounds  of  honey 
from  the  best  filled  coml>s  in  the  extra  hives, 
set  up  the  partitions  at  the  rear  of  hives  and 
till  with  dry  sawdust  level  with  the  top  of  the 
hives.  I  will  now  let  them  stand  until  the 
usual  time  to  put  bees  in  the  cellar.  At  this 
time  I  will  remove  the  covers  from  all  hives 
and  place  on©  of  the  shallow  boxes  of  saw- 
dust.with  a  feeder  in  it,  on  each  hive,  and 
cover  all  with  six  inches  of  dry  sawdust  that 
is  to  remain  until  cold  weather  is  over  in  the 
spring.  During  the  winter,  if  the  weather  is 
very  severe,  I  will,  once  or  so  each  month, 
after  January  1st,  build  a  good  fire  in  the 
ample  stove  that  will  stand  ready  in  the 
house,  and  thus  thoroughly  warm  the  whole 
building  to  let  the  bees  remove  a  supply  of 
honey  from  the  sealed  combs  to  the  brood 
nest.  In  the  spring,  about  April  1st,  I  will 
remove  all  the  top  packing,  level  with  the 
top  of  the  sawdust  covers.  This  will  leave 
the  feeders  exposed,  and  I  will  feed  each  col- 
ony 14  pound  of  syrup  each  evening  as  be- 
fore. 

About  May  1st,  I  will  take  down  the  par- 
titions at  the  back  of  the  hives,  shovel  the 
sawdust  into  sacks,  pack  them  over  head 
ready  to  use  again  in  the  fall.  The  sawdust 
boxes  will  still  remain  witli  the  feeders  on 
the  hi\»es,  and  tlie  light  stimulative  feeding 
will  continue  until  lime  to  put  on  supers 
again,  when  tlie  feeders  will  be  taken  ofif 
aud  a  saper  iirepared  with  half  drawn  and 
leveled  combs  be  put  on  and  the  last  year's 
work  repeated  again. 

Tftis  work  will  all  be  done  in  a  comfort- 
able house  where  I  can  work  equally  well  in 
good  or  bad  weather  without  getting  bedrag- 
gled in  wet  grass,  with  no  bee  yard  to  care 
for  with  its  never  ending  demands,  the  hives 
all  free  from  any  danger  of  molestation 
from  thieves,  skunks,  or  other  intruders,  and 
where  I  can  do  all  the  work  in  more  comfort- 
able surroundings  and  in  less  than  one-half 
the  time  required  to  do  the  same  in  an  open 
yard. 
FoBESTviLLE,  Minu.,  May,  ir>,  18'.):^. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED    MONTHLY. 

W.    Z.  HUTCHIflSOJ^,    Ed.  &  PfOp. 

Terms  :  —  $1.00  a  year  in  advance  Two  copies, 
$1.90  ;  three  for  i|2.70 ;  tive  for|4.ii0 ;  ten,  or  more 
70  cents  each.  If  it  is  desired  to  have  tlie  Kevihw 
stopped  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  paid  for, 
please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwibe  it 
will  be  continued. 


FLINT.    MICHIGAN.    JUNE   10,     1693. 


Eight  Extea  Pages. 


Gleanings  did  eventually  notice  and  de- 
scribe the  Weed  artificial  comb.  (See  Has- 
ty's  article.) 

® 

Absokbing  Cushions,  with  ventilation  above 
them  (italics  mine)  are  preferable  to  sealed 
covers  over  the  bees  in  winter.  Gleanings 
says  this  is  shown  by  scores  of  letters  re- 
ceived. 


The  Nobth  Amekioan  Bee-Keepers'  Associ- 
ation will  meet  in  Chicago,  October,  11,  12 
and  13.  It  was  a  wise  policy  that  fixed  the 
date  so  early,  that  those  from  a  distance 
may  make  their  plans  in  advance  to  be  pre- 
sent at  what  will  probably  be  the  largest 
gathering  of  bee-keepers  ever  witnetsed. 


As  Agbicultuke  is  at  the  foundation  of 
all  other  kinds  of  business,  so  everything 
connected  with  bee  culture  rests  upon  honey 
production.  When  that  ceases  (o  be  profit- 
able, queen  rearing,  the  manufacturing  and 
sale  of  supplies  and  the  publication  of  api- 
icultural  liturature  will  be  dropped.  Profit- 
able honey  production  is  the  basis. 


Uncapping  Machines  are  being  talked  of. 
"Rambler"  once  suggested  uncapping  by 
means  of  a  wire  heated  by  electricity.  No 
scheme  for  uncapping  will  be  a  success 
that  does  not  remove  the  cappings  from 
the  comb.  Simply  cutting  them  loose  will 
not  answer.  The  Bingham  honey  knife  is 
superior  because  its  beveled  edge  raises  the 
cappings  from  the  comb.  A  thin  knife  slips 
under  the  cappings  leaving  them  adhering 
to  the  comb,  from  which  they  must  be  poked. 


180 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


FoDL  Bkoody  hives,  that  is,  hives  iu  which 
there  has  been  foul  brood,  may  be  used 
again  without  any  scalding  or  disinfecting, 
yet  the  disease  will  not  be  communicated  to 
any  healthy  brood  that  may  be  placed  in  the 
hive;  at  least,  so  writes  Mr.  Mc  Evoy,  foul 
brood  inspector  for  Canada,  in  an  article 
contributed  to  the  A.  B.  J.  Many  who  have 
had  large  experience  with  foul  brood  have 
found  it  othenuise,  and  a  matter  that  may 
be  so  easily  accomplished  as  the  disinfect- 
ing of  hives  ought  not  to  be  neglected  even 
if  there  may  be  grounds  for  doubts  regard- 
ing its  necessity. 

(^ 

Mk.  Bingham  writes  that  he  liad  demon- 
strated what  Mr.  Cornell  calls  "induced  air 
currents"  before  bee-keepers  had  ever  heard 
of  a  Bingham  bee-smoker.  He  says  that 
the  direct  draft,  upon  which  all  smokers 
now  depend,  is  liis  invention,  and  the  more  di- 
rect and  straight  the  draft,  the  better  the  smo- 
ker. He  has  received  many  letters  suggesting 
blast  features,  and  reads  about  cuuiinuous 
blasts,  etc.,  and  while  it  could  be  easily 
shown  why  they  are  not  adapted  to  bee  smok- 
ers, he  does  not  think  it  worth  while  to  use 
space  for  the  purpose.  In  the  fourteen  years 
that  he  has  made  and  sold  his  smoker  he 
has  received  only  one  complaining  letter,  and 
that  came  indirectly  through  interested  par- 
ties. He  wishes  to  express  his  gratitude  to 
the  Review,  Mr.  Cornell,  and  to  the  bee-keep- 
ers, and  promises  that  in  the  future,  as  in 
the  past,  their  interests  shall  be  his  interests. 

y( 

THE      BEE-KEEPEES'     ENTEBPBISE     AND      ITS 
EDITOR. 

"Thrice  welcome  now  born  stranger 
O'er  this  wiih^  world  a  ran^'er  ; 
May  he  wht>  tilled  the  manger 
'        Make  plain  tlie  path  for  thee." 

According  to  promise,  the  Bee-Keepers^ 
Enterprise  came  to  hand  promptly  on  the 
15th  of  May.  As  might  be  ex|)ected,  when 
we  know  that  its  editor  is  a  practical  printer, 
it  is  very  neat  iu  its  mechanical  make  up. 
Reaching  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the 
front  page  is  a  twig  from  an  apple  tree. 
Bees  are  flitting  al)0ut  and  working  upon  the 
blossoms.  Across  the  center  of  the  page 
upon  a  sort  of  a  spider  web  back  ground  ap- 
pears the  title  of  the  paper.  In  one  lower 
corner  is  a  section  of  honey  with  a  circle 
drawn  upon  its  center  and  in  tlie  circle  is  a 
sectional   hive.     Taken  all  in  all,  it  is  rather 


a  unique  and  striking  design.  The  editorial 
department  and  "Gleanings  from  our  Neigh- 
bors' Wheat  Fields,"  are  the  most  interest- 
ing. In  the  latter  may  be  found  very  short, 
but  very  seasonable,  extracts  from  the  cor- 
respondence of  other  journals.  For  the  first 
issue  I  think  the  Knlerprise  is  good — the 
editorial  instinct  for  getting  hold  of  good 
things  and  setting  them  forth  in  a  bright 
way,  crops  out  quite  strong. 

And  while  we  are  waiting  to  see  what  Bro. 
Sage  will  do  next,  it  may  be  interesting  to 
know  what  kind  of  a  looking  man  he  is  and 
something  of  his 
past  life,  so  I  will 
tell  you  that  Bur- 
ton L.  Sage  was 
I  )orn  'i\ri  years  ago 
in  the  town  of 
Sandisfield,  Mas- 
sachusetts. Three 
years  later  his 
parents  moved 
to  Pittsford,  N. 
Y.  When  he  was 
10  years  old  they 
BUBTON  L.  SAGE.  moved    back    to 

Sandisfield  and  settled  on  an  old  farm  that 
was  good  for  nothing  except  to  raise  rabbits 
on.  The  next  five  years  were  passed  in 
hunting  rabbits  and  partridges,  fishing  for 
speckled  trout  and  extracting  honey  from 
the  nests  of  bumble  bees.  When  he  reached 
his  l.'ith  year,  the  family  moved  to  Colebrook, 
Conn.  Here  he  worked  out  summers  and 
attended  school  winters.  At  the  age  of  24 
he  purchased  a  milk  route  in  New  Haven. 
A  year  later  he  bought  a  lot.  and  with  his 
own  hands  built  a  two-story  cottage,  and 
when  it  was  finished  and  furnished,  jwstnine 
years  ago  this  month,  lie  brought  to  this 
home  a  wife — one  of  England's  fair  daugh- 
ters, then  only  K!  yeais  old.  Soon  after  a 
small  printing  office  was  set  up  iu  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  home,  and  wliile  on  his  milk 
route  he  took  orders  for  printing  and  the 
young  wife  did  the  work.  Six  years  later 
the  milk  route  was  sold  and  the  printing  of- 
fice moved  to  780  Chapel  St.  Side  by  side 
husband  and  wife  worked  at  the  case  until  a 
little  girl,  now  old  enough  to  say  "  up  a  da, 
da,"  came  to  claim  all  of  the  mother's  spare 
moments. 

Mr.  Burton's  interest  in  bees  dates  back  to 
187K,  when  the  post- master,  by  mistake, 
handed  him  a  copy  of  (ilecntiiigs.  It  opened 
up  a  new  world   to   him.     Since  then  his  iu- 


rHE  BEE-REEFERS'  REVIEW. 


181 


terest  has  grown  until  he  feels  that  he  would 
like  to  have  a  journal  of  his  own.  The  re- 
sult is  the  Enterprise,  which  is  well  named. 
Pleasant  indeed  are  such  pictures  of  success 
from  humble  beginnintj?.  as  the  result  of 
perseverance  and  enterprise. 
O 

MICHIGAN     IS     TO    HAVE     AN     EXPEBIMENTAL, 
APIAKY. 

At  several  of  the  bee-conventions  that  I 
have  attei  Jed  there  have  been  resolutions 
passed  .liking  that  the  general  government 
or  that  tlie  State  Experiment  Stations  do 
some  experimental  work  in  the  bee-keeping 
line.  At  one  or  two  of  them  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  try  and  secure  the  desired 
action.  If  this  is  all  that  is  done,  no  expe- 
rimental apiary  wid  be  established. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Michigan  State 
Bee-Keepers'  Association,  this  subject  was 
discussed  and  a  committee  appointed  to  try 
and  induce  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  to 
secure  the  services  of  a  competent  bee-keep- 
er for  managing  the  State  apiary  in  an  ex- 
perimental way,  for,  be  it  known,  Michigan 
was  already  the  possessor  of  an  apiary.  The 
Hon.  R.  L.  Taylor,  the  Hon.  Geo.  E.  Hilton 
and  myself  were  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee. As  chairman  of  the  committee  I 
addressed  a  letter  to  each  member  of  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

I  called  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  of 
the  $15,000  received  by  each  State  from  the 
general  government  for  experimental  work, 
almost  nothing  was  devoted  to  apiarian  re- 
search ;  I  pointed  out  the  fact  that  each 
State  ought  to  conduct  experiments  in  the 
lines  that  would  benefit  the  industries  of 
that  State.  Experiments  in  cotton  growing 
would  not  be  appropriate  in  Michigan.  Ex- 
periments in  bee-keeping  would.  Isot  only 
is  bee. keeping  important  for  the  wax  and 
honey  produced,  but  for  its  benefit  to  the 
fruit  grower  and  horticulturist.  Without 
bees,  these  two  industries  would  languish. 

I  then  called  attention  to  the  different  ex- 
periments that  ought  to  he  made,  and  in  the 
name  of  the  bee-keepers  of  Michigan  I  most 
respectfully  but  most  earnestly  urged  that 
they  give  the  matter  an  early  consideration. 

I  then  had  circulars  printed  showing  what 
I  had  done  and  urging  the  recipient  to  write 
to  the  members  of  the  Board  and  ask  that 
bee-keeping  be  recognized  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  apiarist  for  doing  experimental 
work.    These  were  sent  to  about  100  of  the 


most  prominent  bee-keepers  of  the  State.  I 
also  wrote  about  twenty  personal  letters 
urging  these  friends  to  write.  Mr.  Hilton 
also  wrote  and  sent  out  circulars.  All  this 
was  done  shortly  before  a  Board-meeting, 
and  when  the  Board  met,  Mr.  Taylor  and 
myself  went  before  it  and  urged  our  case. 
The  matter  was  urged  almost  solely  upon 
the  ground  that  bees  were  a  benefit  to  other 
purtuits ;  that  the  honey  and  wax  were  of 
less  consequence  than  the  benefits  derived 
from  the  bees  by  other  pursuits.  ,Mr.  Taylor 
said  that  bee-keeping  was  looked  upon  by 
many  as  a  small  business,  as  one  beneath  the 
dignity  of  a  man — a  bee-keeper  was  looked 
upon  as  a  sort  of  a  "  hen-wife."  If  the 
State  would  recognize  and  encourage  it,  it 
would  add  dignity  to  the  pur.-uit,  and  lead  to 
more  extensive  keeping  of  bees. 

The  Board  then  wanted  to  know  what  were 
the  experiments  that  bee-keeping  so  much 
needed.  Said  one  member:  "The  sheej) 
and  dairy  men,  and  those  from  other  indus- 
tries, come  before  us  just  as  you  have  done 
and  say  '  do  something  for  us,'  and  when  we 
ask  what,  they  are  at  a  loss  to  answer.  Tell 
us  what  experiments  you  want  done  ard  we 
will  try  and  see  that  a  man  is  found  to  do 
the  work." 

I  then  went  to  work  and  prepared  a  list  of 
perhaps  a  dozen  different  experiments  that  I 
considered  the  most  important,  and,  as  none 
of  the  members  were  practical  bee-keej  er- 1 
went  into  details  and  explained  each  jioint 
so  that  the  importance  of  the  work  could  be 
understood  even  by  one  not  a  bee-keeper. 

It  was  then  asked  if  a  bee-keeper  could  not 
do  this  work  cheaper  in  his  own  apiary,  than 
he  could  come  to  the  College  and  do  the 
work.  I  replied  that  he  could.  I  thought  he 
could  do  the  work  for  half  the  money  that  he 
would  need  if  he  were  obliged  to  move  to 
Lansing  and  pay  rent.  The  next  question 
was,  "How  much  pay  ought  a  man  to  receive 
for  conducting  experiments  in  his  own  api- 
ary ?"  I  thought  .*.500  a  year  a  fair  com- 
pensation. 

To  make  a  long  story  short,  $500  a  year  has 
been  appropriated  for  paying  a  man  to  con- 
duct experiments  in  apiculture,  and  the 
Hon.  R.  L.  Taylor,  of  Lapeer,  has  been  ap- 
pointed to  do  the  work.  He  has  had  ex- 
perience, he  is  careful,  methodical  and  con- 
scientious, and  it  is  no  disparagement  to 
other  bee-keepers  to  say  that  probably  no 
better  man  could  have  been  chosen  for  the 
work. 


182 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


An  early  issue  of  the  Review  (if  uot  the 
July,  then  the  August  issue)  will  probahly 
be  devoted  to  a  special  discussion  of  "Ex- 
perimental Apiculture,"  and  Mr.  Taylor  will 
thereafter  have  charge  of  a  department  in 
the  Review  headed  "  Work  at  the  Michignn 
Experimental  Apiary."  In  this  department 
he  will  tell  what  he  has  done,  is  doing,  and 
hopes  to  do.  Readers  will  be  invited  to  say 
what  experiments  they  would  like  con- 
ducted, or  how  they  would  like  particular 
experiments  conducted,  to  criticise,  com- 
mend and  encourage.  Mr.  Taylor  would  be 
thankful  for  suggestions  of  any  kind  by  let- 
ter at  once,  touching  work  that  can  be  done 
to  advantage  only  during  the  swarming 
season.  Of  all  the  good  things  that  have 
come  to  bee-keepers  through  the  Review, 
I  lirmly  believe  that  this  will  prove  Becond 
to  none. 

I  have  been  explicit  as  to  the  methods  em- 
ployed in  securing  the  appropriation,  be- 
cause I  thought  it  might  help  bee-keepers  in 
other  States  in  their  efforts  to  secure  recog- 
nition at  the  hands  of  the  State  Board. 
Somebody  has  got  to  go  ahead  and  do  some 
hard  earnest  work,  and  there  will  be  some 
expenses  for  printing,  postage,  car-fare  and 
hotel  bills  in  going  to  visit  the  Board  ;  but 
these  expenses  ought  to  be  borne  by  the  bee- 
keepers of  the  State — perhaps  be  paid  out  of 
the  funds  of  the  State  Association.  There 
is  no  use  in  trying  to  avoid  this  expense  ;  for, 
as  one  of  the  board  wrote  me  after  the  meet- 
ing was  over,  "  All  of  the  talk  and  writing 
would  have  amounted  to  nothing,  had  not 
you  and  Mr.  Taylor  come  before  us  in  the 
proper  spirit ;  then  the  thing  went  through 
like  a  charm,  without  a  dissenting  voice, 
and  with  the  most  hearty  good  feeling." 


EXTRT^OTED. 


How  to  Introduce  Queens  by  the  Hatching 
Brood  Method. 
When  one  has  a  valuable  queen  to  intrq- 
duce,  the  plan  of  letting  her  loose  on  combs 
of  just  hatching  brood,  combs  from  which 
all  the  bees  have  been  brushed  off,  is  some- 
times resorted  to.  Of  course,  the  hive  is 
closed  for  several  days,  until  there  are  suf- 
ficient bees  hatched  to  form  a  cluster  and 
defend  the  hive.  ( )ne  trouble,  unless  it  be 
very  warm  weather,  is  the  danger  of  loss 
from    chilled    brood.     In     Gleauintjs,     Dr. 


Miller  gives  a  plan  that  is  ahead  of  that.     He 
says:— 

"When  I  get  an  imported  queen  I  generally 
use  the  plan  of  having  two  or  three  or  moio 
frames  of  hatching  brood,  if  possible  hav- 
ing no  unsealed  brood.  Doolittle  speaks  of 
this  plan,  and  seems  to  think  it's  all  right, 
except  that  sometimes  one  may  forget  to 
bring  it  in  at  night,  or  it  may  not  be  warm 
enough  in  the  house,  and  so  there's  a  chance 
for  chilling.  Let  me  tell  you  how  I  man- 
age so  there  is  no  danger  of  chilling.  I  bore 
in  the  bottom  of  a  hive  a  two-inch  auger- 
hole.  On  the  inside  of  the  hive  I  nail  over 
this  hole  a  piece  of  wire  cloth.  Turning  the 
hive  upside  down  I  nail  on  the  hole  an- 
other piece  of  wire  cloth.  Then  this  hive  is 
placed  over  another  hive  containing  a  strong 
colony.  Nothing  is  between  the  two  hives, 
so  that  the  heat  from  the  lower  hive  goes 
directly  through  the  auger  hole  up  into  the 
hive  above.  In  the  upper  hive  I  put  the 
frames  of  hatching  brood,  make  sure  that 
every  thing  is  bee-tight,  put  the  queen  on 
top  of  the  frame,  and  auickly  V>ut  on  the  cov- 
er. In  five  days  the  upper  hive  is  allowed 
an  entrance  large  enough  for  the  passage  of 
one  bee  at  a  time,  and  I  have  seen  those  five- 
day-old  babies  bringing  in  loads  of  pollen. 
In  a  few  days  more  the  hive  can  be  removed 
to  a  new  location.  It  would  be  better,  I 
think,  to  have  the  hole  larger,  so  that  the 
heat  would  pass  up  more  readily.  The  hole 
being  doubly  covered  with  wire  cloth,  there 
is  no  chance  for  the  bees  below  to  communi- 
cate with  the  ones  above,  so  there  is  no  dan- 
ger of  their  hatching  mischief.  I  have,  how- 
ever, sometimes  used  an  upper  hive  without 
any  bottom  board  with  a  single  sheet  of  wite 
clotli  between  the  two  hives." 


Some  of  the  Things  I  Wouldn't  do. 
Bro.  Alley,  in  the  May  Api.,  gives  about 
three  colums  to  mentioning  some  of  the 
things  he  wouldn't  do  and  some  that  he 
would  do.  I  give  a  few  of  those  that  he 
wouldn't  do. 

"I  wouldn't  introduce  a  new  (jueen  for  the 
sal?e  of  changing  the  racn  of  any  prosperous 
colony  of  bees.  Those  who  do  so  will  be  the 
losers  in  the  end.  After  the  swarming  and 
honey  season  are  over,  then  change  queens 
if  necessary. 

I  wouldn't  put  sections  on  a  hive  no  mat- 
ter how  populous  the  colony,  till  I  could  see 
that  the  bees  are  gathering  some  honey  and 
had  started  to  build  brace  combs  between 
the  top  bars  of  the  frames.  Then  I  would 
put  a  few  sections  on,  but  not  over  one  set 
of  twenty-four  sections  at  a  time. 

I  wouldn't  use  a  section  case  that  is  non- 
reversit)le.  When  sections  are  half  full,  or 
even  quite  full,  if  reversed  the  bees  will  at- 
tach the  combs  solidly  to  all  sides  of  the 
section.  Honey  so  stored  can  be  shipped  a 
long  distance  without  breaking  or  leaking. 
I  have  no  section  cases  for  sale,  nor  am  I 
puffing  my  own  goods.  Don't  misunder- 
stand  mo. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


183 


If  two  or  even  three  swarms  should  issue 
at  the  same  time,  and  all  settle  on  the  same 
limb,or  other  object,  I  wouldn't  separate  the 
bees,  nor  even  look  for  a  queen,  unless  they 
are  valuable  ones.  I  would  put  all  the  bees 
in  one  tiive  and  give  them  all  the  sections 
they  could  work  in  to  advantage.  Whew! 
what  a  pile  of  section  honey  such  a  horde  of 
bees  would  store.  I  have  had  two  swarms 
that  united,  fill  the  brood-chamber  and  100 
one-pound  sections  in  less  than  three  weeks. 

I  wouldn't  bother  about  wiring  brood 
frames  if  I  could  purchase  the  Van  Deusen 
wired  brood  foundation.  This  celebrated 
foundation  is  made  by  placing  the  wire  be- 
tween two  thin  sheets  of  wax  and  then  the 
wax  is  subjected  to  powerful  pressure.  The 
wire  never  works  out,  nor  do  the  bees  ever 
gnaw  the  wax  ofiE  the  wire  as  they  do  in  all 
cases  where  the  frames  are  wired,  instead  of 
the  foundation." 


Empty  Brood  Comblb. — Their  Most  Profit- 
able Use. 

In  some  parts  of  the  country  bees  have 
died  quite  extensively  thfe  past  winter,  and 
many  bee-keepers  will  find  themselves  the 
possessors  of  large  numbers  of  empty  combs. 
Before  deciding  to  hive  swarms  on  them  it 
would  be  well  for  them  to  read  carefully  and 
consider  well  the  following  advice  given  by 
J.  A.  Green  in  the  A.  B.  J. : 

"  Sooner  or  later  every  bee-keeper  is  apt 
to  find  himself  the  possessor  of  a  number  of 
empty  brood-combs.  If  he  seeks  informa- 
tion from  authorities  as  to  the  best  way  to 
utilize  them,  he  is  liable  to  receive  very  con- 
tradictory advice. 

Some  will  tell  him  that  these  combs  are 
very  valuable  ;  '  as  good  as  money  in  the 
bank;'  'the  sheet  anchor  to  success,' etc., 
while  others  will  say  that  the  best  thing  he 
can  do  with  them  is  to  melt  them  into  wax. 
As  usual,  the  truth  will  be  found  to  lie  some- 
where between  the  extremes.  Their  value 
for  use  in  the  hives  will  depend  very  much 
upon  circumstances.  At  times  they  are  very 
valuable,  and  at  other  times  they  might  bet- 
ter be  thrown  away  than  used. 

The  most  natural  and  common  use  is  to 
hive  swarms  upon  them.  We  know  that  a 
new  colony  must  have  brood-combs  before 
it  will  do  much  at  storing  honey,  and  nothing 
could  be  more  natural  than  to  suppose  that 
by  giving  them  these  combs  already  built, 
they  will  be  greatly  helped  and  enabled 
thereby  to  commence  sooner  the  profitable 
work  of  filling  sections. 

But  if  we  experiment  carefully,  we  will  of- 
ten find  that  what  looks  so  plausible  in  theo- 
ry, does  not  turn  out  so  well  in  practice. 
The  colonies  that  we  had  supplied  with  full 
sets  of  ready-built  combs  somehow  do  not 
give  as  great  a  surplus  of  honey  as  those 
which  had  to  build  their  combs  anew.  There 
are  several  reasons  for  this.  One  is,  that 
bees,  as  well  as  human  beings,  will  often  take 
more  time  to  patch  up  an  old  thing  than  to 


make  a  new  one.  Combs  usually  require 
considerable  fixing  over  before  the  queen 
will  lay  in  them. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  their  use  in 
this  way  is,  that  the  bees  will  begin  to  fill 
them  with  honey  at  once,  and  will  do  little 
or  nothing  in  the  surplus  department  until 
the  brood-combs  are  full  of  brood  or  honey. 
Very  often  they  are  filled  first  with  honey, 
and  unless  the  queen  is  an  unusually  smart 
one,  this  honey  stays  there,  reducing  the 
brood-rearing  capacity  of  the  hive,  weaken- 
ing the  energy  of  the  bees  for  storing  in  the 
supers,  and  lessening  decidedly  the  amount 
of  marketable  honey.  If  there  are  empty 
combs  enough,  they  may  have  just  as  much 
honey  put  into  them  as  would  be  put  into  the 
supers — perhaps  more — but  this  honey  will 
not  be  worth  nearly  as  much  as  if  it  had  been 
stored  in  sections. 

As  previously  stated,  the  value  of  combs 
depends  upon  circumstances.  There  are 
times  when  combs  may  be  very  profitably 
used  in  hiving  swarms,  while  under  other 
circumstances  we  may  find  that  we  have  used 
them  at  a  loss.  To  use  them  advantageous- 
ly, certain  rules  must  be  followed. 

In  the  first  place,  if  honey  is  coming  in 
freely,  and  this  honey-flow  is  not  likely  to 
last  more  than  a  month,  which  is  the  case 
nine  times  out  of  ten,  too  many  combs 
should  not  be  given.  Nothing  could  be  naore 
fatal  to  the  chance  of  securing  a  large  yield 
of  comb  honey,  than  to  hive  the  swarm  in  a 
large  hive  filled  with  finished  combs. 

Ordinarily  the  swarm  issues  during  the 
early  part  of  the  honey-flow,  which  does  not 
last  more  than  two  or  three  weeks  longer — 
often  a  shorter  time.  At  such  a  time  the 
brood-chamber  should  be  contracted  to  a 
space  equal  to  five  Langstroth  frames,  and 
I  think  the  fewer  finished  combs  are  used  the 
better. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  swarms  issue  very 
early,  before  the  main  honey-flow  begins,  it 
will  be  found  profitable  to  give  them  as 
many  combs  as  the  queen  will  occupy  with 
brood  before  they  are  filled  with  honey. 

As  the  honey-flow  draws  toward  its  close, 
it  again  becomes  profitable  to  hive  swarms 
upon  finished  combs,  as  otherwise  the  col- 
ony may  not  be  able  to  build  sufiicient 
combs  for  its  needs,  in  which  case  brood- 
rearing  is  restricted,  and  the  colony  rapidly 
dwindles.  At  this  time,  too,  all  colonies  that 
have  been  hived  in  a  contracted  brood-cham- 
ber should  be  looked  over;  and  empty  combs 
added  as  fast  as  they  can  utilize  them.  In 
this  way  colonies  weak  in  numbers  may  of- 
ten be  brought  up  to  good  working  strength 
in  time  for  the  fall  crop. 

The  time  when  empty  combs  are  most  val- 
uable, is  when  it  is  desired  to  increase  the 
number  of  colonies  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
W^ith  vigorous,  prolific  queens,  plenty  of 
empty  combs,  and  judicious  feeding  when 
pasture  is  short,  an  apiary  may  be  increased 
in  numbers  at  a  very  rapid  rate,  and  it  is  this 
very  elasticity — the  ability  to  recover  quick- 
ly from  heavy  losses — that  relieves  bee-keep- 
ing of  much  of  the  uncertainty  and  risk  that 
would  otherwise  make  it  a  much  more  pre- 
carious occupation  than  it  is." 


184 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee   Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

Mistress  Mary, 

Qnite  contrary, 

Ht)w  does  your  f,'arden  grow  ? 

The  above  jingle,  dear  to  the  ear  of  child- 
hood, suggests  one  chief  pleasure  of  garden- 
ing critical,  as  well  as  of  gardening  floral 
and  vegetarian,  the  pleasure  of  seeing  some- 
thing changed  for  the  better,  of  seeing  some- 
thing grow.  We  now  take  up  the  journals 
for  the  second  time.  How  much  have  they 
grown  since  the  present  year  begun  ?  One 
that  has  grown  is — 

The  apiculturist. 

It  has  put  off  its  dingy  red  and  put  on  that 
delicate  pale  green  which  makes  so  artistic 
a  back  ground  for  anything  put  upon  it.  Its 
face  is  made  up  with  taste,  and  not  crowded 
— rather  a  rare  merit.  As  the  journals  lay 
side  by  side  which  is  the  best  looking,  sup- 
posing that  outside  looks  were  all  ?  The 
jury  would  disagree  doubtless,  but  I  feel  sure 
that  some  good  judges  would  give  the  Api. 
the  first  place.  The  Apic  dhiist  is  also 
growing  confirmed  in  the  style  of  being  al- 
most wholly  an  editorial  paper.  As  friend 
Alley  outranks  most  of  his  correspondents 
this  is,  for  the  present,  an  improvement — 
and  yet  a  little  like  climbing  an  easy  side 
spur  of  the  mountain  while  your  rivals  are 
striving  for  up  the  main  peak— have  to  climb 
down  from  there  eventually,  else  get  left. 
At  present  editor  Alley  can  say,  the  Api.  is 
myself.    And  it  has  lots  of — 

"This  rock  shall  fly 
From  its  firm  base  as  soon  as  I ;" 

especially  when  earnest  friends  privately 
labor  with  it  to  have  those  Punic  bees  put 
overboard.  (See  page  47.)  Bump  of  self- 
esteem  ?    Yes — 

"  We  strive  to  pronounce  as  many  practical 
ideas  as  all  the  other  papers  combined."  Page  74. 

But  this  'ere  "  Mary  "  is  so  contrary  that 
she  will  not  concede  the  full  success  of  that 
laudable  effort  just  yet.  But  even  Mary  will 
concede  that  the  queen-rearing  number  is  a 
valuable  thing  to  have  in  the  house.  And 
here  is  "  Queen  Rearing  "  boiled  clear  down 
to  cracklings.  Feed — Warm  weather — Near- 
ly new  comb — Queenlessness  24  to  48  hours 
— Care  in  getting  the  bees  off — Hot  room  to 
operate  in. — Thin,    sharp  knife  kept  hot — 


Pencil  record  on  the  top  bar — Old  comb  X 
cut  away  to  wax  the  egg  strips  upon — Don't 
cook  the  eggs — Two  quarts  of  queenless  bees, 
shut  in  with  wire  portico— Keep  cool  24 
hours,  then  to  a  strange  location  and  let  fly 
— Leave  only  two  cells — Two  days  later  give 
another  quart  of  not  queenless  bees  at  night. 
This  is  nucleus  rearing. 

A  doubt  is  expressed  whether  the  up-cham- 
ber method,  which  utilizes  a  full  colony  with 
queen,  and  at  work  storing  honey,  turns  out 
quite  as  good  cells  and  queens.  The  object 
in  view  is  the  saving  in  bees  and  time.  In 
this  method  the  queen  is  kept  below  by  per- 
forated metal,  and  all  the  combs  of  brood 
except  one  for  a  nest-egg.  are  put  above 
every  21  days.  Such  a  top  story  does  not 
usually  start  cells  ;  but  if  supplied  with  cells 
24  hours  old  they  will  work  steadily  at  the 
business  of  finishing  them  all  the  season — 
and  store  honey  too.  While  Doolittle  makes 
the  cups,  and  puts  in  larv;e  by  hand,  Alley 
seems  to  prefer  having  a  queenless  colony 
first  do  24  or  36  hours  work  on  each  set. 

The  whole  thing  can  be  done  however  by 
one  colony.  Have  but  a  few  inches  of  per- 
forated metal  in  the  chamber  floor,  the  rest 
being  thin  board  ;  and  fix  a  tin  slide  capable 
of  shutting  the  chamber  up  tight ;  and  ven- 
tilate through  wire  netting  above.  With  18 
hours  of  this  they  will  be  willing  to  build. 
Then  give  eggs,  stop  the  top  ventilation,  open 
a  fly  hole  in  front,  and  fix  a  board  in  front 
to  make  them  return  right.  But  although 
one  colony  ivill  do  all  the  work  thus,  it  is 
still  economy  to  make  one  such  hive  start 
the  cells  and  another  finish  them. 

When  we  read  that  after  August  10th  near- 
ly every  colony  made  queenless  for  old  style 
work  will  perish  in  winter,  the  need  of  a 
more  merciful  and  less  expensive  way  ap- 
pears quite  evident.  The  season's  work  of  a 
good  colony  by  the  new  method  is  immense, 
;^0  cells,  panning  out  (with  the  help  of  fer- 
tilizing nuclei,  of  course)  250  queens.  Col- 
onies with  old  queens  do  the  best  work. 

THE  TOPIC  OF  THE    HOUR. 

Mary  is  quite  hasty  to  have  that  young 
phenomenon,  H.  P.  Langdon,  under  manip- 
ulation, and  weed  his  little  garden  bed  for 
him.  Needless  to  say  that  nothing  of  equal 
promise  has  been  proposed  for  many  a  year. 
Even  the  "  forbidden  fruit  "  of  sugar-honey 
is  in  danger  of  being  forgotten  if  out-apiaries 
can  be  planted  without  fear  of  swarm  losses. 
Fine  stroke  of  enterprise  in  the  Review  to 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


185 


be  the  first  to  promulgate  the  thing.  As  by 
the  Review  came  the  scratches,  even  so  by 
the  Review  came  the  ointment  to  cure  it. 
The  general  lines  of  thought  and  effort  are 
similar  to  those  followed  by  Taylor,  Aikin, 
Wells,  Coverdale,  and  probably  others  ;  but 
Langdon's  method  has  a  finished,  practical, 
licked-into-shape  appearance  to  which  the 
others  will  probably  bow  with  the  best  grace 
they  can  command.  "  Beat  the  drums,  here 
the  conquering  hero  comes,"  having  won  the 
first  campaign  of  a  season's  work  in  a  large 
apiary.  Mary  herself  (on  different  lines)  has 
been  a  hard  fighter  against  the  swarming 
nuisance — licked  every  time — and  now  with- 
out tears  she  takes  off  her  bonnet  and  walks 
behind  the  victor's  chariot — example  for  the 
rest  of  you  who  have  got  left.  And  what  a 
lot  of  schemes  and  dreams,  self-hivers  and 
self-everythings,  queen-traps  and  rattle- 
traps are  now  invited  to  go  amiably  to  the 
rubbish  heap  !  Still  the  hero  of  the  first 
campaign  is  not  sure  to  turn  up  president  at 
the  close  of  the  war.  But  the  method  will 
have  a  great  run  no  doubt.  In  localities 
where  the  honey  season  is  short,  sharp,  early 
and  sure  it  hardly  looks  possible  for  it  to 
fail.  Where  swarming  and  surplus  are  both 
possible  for  four  or  five  months  it  may  yet 
run  against  some  unforeseen  stump.  Mary 
will  venture  the  guess  that  it  has  come  to 
stay  in  nearly  all  comb  honey  out-apiaries, 
but  that  many  home  yards  will  discard  it 
after  awhile. 

Bee-keepers  incline  to  be  aesthetic  in  feel- 
ing ;  and  they  have  greatly  decried  the  old 
bee-keeping,  with  its  brimstone  pit,  for 
cruelty.  It  is  in  order  therefore  to  remem- 
ber that  the  new  plan  is  a  cruel  one — much 
more  cruel  than  extinguishing  once  for  all 
half  the  colonies  in  autumn.  All  the  same  I 
suppose  we  must  have  the  new  plan,  cruelty 
and  all,  if  it  works.  With  experience  we  may 
learn  practical  ways  to  mitigate  the  severi- 
ties so  that  only  the  young  queens  and  drones 
will  be  starved,  or  at  most  only  part  of  the 
young  workers.  Water  fount  inside,  and 
wire  grating  to  let  the  nurses  on  the  plenty 
side  share  the  nectar  they  are  holding  with 
the  distressed  nurses  on  the  famine  side, 
look  feasible.  But  if  we  should  mitigate 
all  the  cruelty  the  baby  queens  would  not  be 
destroyed,  swarming  would  follow,  and  the 
whole  thing  "  bust  up." 

In  a  normal  colony  there  are  often  several 
pounds  of  partly  grown  larvae.  Several 
pounds  of  substance,  largely  water,  must  be 


forthcoming  within  three  or  four  days  to 
complete  the  growth.  Slide  closes  and  not  a 
drop  of  water  or  a  pellet  of  pollen  can  enter 
for  a  week.  Honey  cannot  possibly  fill  but 
part  of  the  need.  There  is  some  pollen  on 
hand,  and  some  cells  of  diluted  nectar  food. 
Then  the  nurses  can  probably  draw  on  the 
juices  of  their  own  bodies  to  a  certain  extent. 
Next  the  larval  drones  are  torn  up  and  their 
juices  sucked  out.  Then,  if  the  worker 
brood  are  not  grown,  the  full  bitterness  of 
famine  and  death  has  come — not  pleasant  to 
contemplate.  The  society  for  preventing 
cruelty  to  animals  has  already  arrested  a 
man  for  dehorning  his  cows ;  and  his  fellows 
are  preparing  to  chip  in  and  run  the  thing 
up  to  the  highest  court.  If  that  powerful 
and  popular  society  should  summon  friend 
Langdon  to  come  up  to  the  captain's  office 
they  would  have  a  much  stronger  case  than 
can  be  made  against  the  dairymen. 

The  General   round  Up. 

We  must  keep  a  sharp  eye  on  that  Ram- 
bler, and  the  plan  he  proposes  in  last  Re- 
view, page  134.  Outwardly  we  cannot  very 
well  howl  "  Swindle  !  fraud  !  dishonesty  !" 
but  how  some  of  us  will  ruminate  these 
words  inwardly,  if  he  sends  a  car  load  of 
California  fruits,  nuts  and  honey  to  each  of 
our  county  towns  !  In  fact  man  is  so  got  up 
that  he  thinks  whatever  pinches  his  individ- 
ual corns  must  be  a  fraud — no  further  argu- 
ment needed,  or  tolerated.  But,  from  a  Cal- 
ifornia point  of  view,  the  wisdom  of  using 
commission  men  instead  of  antagonizing 
them,  and  then  sprinkling  car  loads  all 
through  the  territory  they  do  not  cover,  is 
superb, 

S.  E.  Miller  in  the  Progressive  addresses 
his  chief  as  "  Mr.  Higginsville,"  because  he 
neglects  to  run  up  his  name.  Right.  Hit 
him  again.  In  specialist  journalism  when 
an  editor  wants  to  hide  his  personality  of  ten- 
er  than  not  it  is  because  he  is  ashamed  of 
his  work — or  lack  of  work.  Make  him  avow 
himself  and  he'll  do  a  better  job. 

The  last  American  Bee-Keeper,  with  a 
quiet  dignity  that  sounds  like  an  editorial 
from  some  other  world  than  this,  says  of 
sugar-honey — 

"  We  are  perfectly  willing  to  have  the  subject 
thoroaghly  discussed  through  our  colnmns." 

Doolittle  in  the  American  Farmer,  quoted 
in  the  Guide,  page  70,  proves  the  point  that 
bees  do  not  always  die  from  losing  their 
stings.  Somewhere,  not  long  since  we  had 
seemingly  reliable  observations  of  the  num- 


186 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


ber  of  hours  in  which  such  bees  did  die  in 
several  cases. 

What  kind  of  beings  are  we  all  any  way  ? 
Such  a  distinguished  apiarist  as  Simmins 
would  hardly  assert  that  fertile  queens  never 
fight  unless  he  had  something  to  back  him 
up.  Yet  that  we  should  have  all  jumped  to  a 
false  conclusion  without  any  proof  seems 
very  improbable  too.  Market  for  the  man 
who  has  seen  a  fertile  queen  fight.  (Review, 
page  147.) 

Dr.  Miller  in  Gleanings,  page  259,  gets  in 
an  unanswerable  dig  at  the  scientific  doc- 
trine that  stings  are  modified  ovipositors. 
He  wants  to  know  if  queens  once  had  two 
ovipositors. 

Doolittle  has  not  had  a  nucleus  robbed 
since  he  found  out  the  right  way  to  have 
things.  Have  the  nucleus  at  one  side  of  a 
full  sized  chaml)er,  with  the  outer  entrance 
at  the  other  side,  so  the  bees  must  first  come 
in  and  then  travel  across  to  destination. 
(Gleanings  page  251.) 

One  part  ordinary  floral  honey  shaken  with 
three  parts  pure  alcohol  and  left  15  minutes 
will  be  clear.  If  there  is  glucose  in  it  it  will 
look  milky.     (Gleanings,  355  and  275.) 

The  world  moves,  Gleanings  included. 
When  Weed  was  at  artificial  comb-making  it 
preserved  a  silence  that  could  be  cut  into 
chunks  with  a  knife.  I  think  the  Review 
was  about  the  only  journal  that  frankly  told 
right  out  all  it  could  get  hold  of  to  tell.  But 
now  Warnstorf  is  at  work  at  the  same  job, 
Dr.  Miller  and  the  editor  chat  freely  over 
the  matter,  and  neither  shows  the  slightest 
consciousness  that  they  are  perpetrating 
wickedness.  Well,  if  people  will  only  get 
into  the  right  shape  we  will  not  grumble  if 
they  do  forget  quickly  their  absurd  past. 
Very  earnest  folk  have  two  very  different 
ways  of  looking  at  new  things  and  an  editor's 
duty  concerning  them.  One  brother  is  sol- 
emnly impressed  that  the  public  must  be  de- 
fended from  hearing  all  but  the  most  ortho- 
dox and  doubly  guaranteed  news.  He  would 
defend  them  as  vigilantly  as  little  girls  are 
defended  from  hearing  obscene  talk.  The 
poor,  dear,  unsophisticated,  public !  How 
cruel  to  let  doubts  and  fears  and  disputings 
get  started  among  them  !  And  their  busi- 
ness sometimes  suffers  if  immature  and 
awkward  news  and  doctrines  get  loose.  The 
other  brother  vehemently  says,  That  man — 
nay  that  "  critter  "  who  in  this  dawn  of  the 
twentieth  century  wants  a  conspiracy  of 
silence  organized  on  any  subject  whatever — I 


don't  want  him  killed  exactly  ;  Vjut  if  noth- 
ing worse  happens  to  him  than  to  have  his 
business  broken  up  he'll  get  but  few  tears 
from  me.  I  called  this  latter  individual, 
brother,  but  possibly  he  is  a  nearer  relative. 
Might  see  him  when  I  look  in  the  glass. 

How  far  behind  I  am  getting  in  the  des- 
perate effort  to  "  lecture  "  on  all  the  meaty 
topics  the  journals  bring  up.  On  A.  B.  J. 
especially,  I  am  many  leagues  in  arrears. 
This  is  partly  because  it  has  its  innings  the 
next  one,  and  I  was  hoping  to  reach  it  in  the 
present  number.  It  will  have  to  go  over  to 
next  time,  excepting  two  of  the  more  inter- 
esting points  in  tlft  number  for  May  4th. 

Dathe,  a  German  sent  to  Ceylon  after 
Apis  Dorsata,  after  many  trials  in  the  gen- 
eral style  of  Frank  Benton,  hit  upon  a  short 
cut  which  is  worthy  of  a  Yankee.  The  Dor- 
sata is  very  migratory ;  and  by  scattering 
honey  around  he  succeeded  in  making  them 
pull  up  sticks  and  come  to  him,  How  nice 
to  return  at  eve  and  find  your  colonies  all 
emigrated  to  your  neighbor's  apiary  because, 
forsooth,  he  feeds  more  liberally  than  you 
do  !  Yet,  for  all  its  queer  ways,  quite  likely 
this  giant  bee  would  be  a  "  hummer  "  if  we 
could  get  him  started  once  in  the  forests  of 
Florida.  Might  take  Blackstone  and  his 
whole  family  to  straighten  out  the  questions 
of  meum  and  tuum  that  would  arise.  The 
Dorsata  will  not  feed  the  brood  of  ordinary 
bees  it  seems.  Looks  as  though  they  would 
have  to  be  transported  outright  without  mix- 
ing in  any  other  race  to  help  on.  We  learn 
these  things  at  the  hand  of  H.  Reepen  the 
new  German  itemist.  Friend  Reepen  lives 
in  Grossherzogthum.  And  do  the  children 
there  sing — 

Grossherzogthum  my  happy  home 
Name  ever  dear  to  mo  ? 

Doolittle  gives  an  excellent  solution  of  the 
so-called  queen  cramp  on  page  .504.  Most  of 
us  have  seen  a  horse  get  the  lines  under  his 
tail,  and  then  make  a  fool  of  himself  hang- 
ing on  and  resisting  all  attempts  to  get 
them  out.  It  seems  queens  are  just  so,  only 
a  great  deal  more  so.  When  a  queen  is 
captured  and  held  up  by  the  wings  we  can 
hardly  blame  her  for  squirming  and  gyrating 
her  members  about.  It  seems  that  occasion- 
ally a  foot  gets  thrust  into  the  forceps-like 
extremity  of  the  body.  AVhen  this  occurs 
she  excitedly  hangs  on  to  it  for  all  she's 
worth  ;  and  her  puzzled  owner  thinks  she  is 
having  a  mortal  spasm  of  some  sort. 

RicHABDS,  Lucas  Co.,  O.,  May  16, 1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


187 


30  Tliirlf  leaf's  Expenence,  30 

Try  Our  Hardy  Strains  of  Bees. 

Leather  colored  Italians  and  golden  C'arnio- 
lans.  Qualities  :  extra  honey  gatherers,  long- 
lived  and  hardy.  To  each  customer  we  present 
our  latest  method  of  queen  rearing.  Catalogue 
free.    Queens  fl.Weach.     H.  ALLEY. 

Wenham,  Mass. 


Please  mention  the  Rev 


HIVES. 


D O  V  ET  A  I LE  D 

Frames,  Sections,   Honey 

Crates,  Foundation  and  Apiarian  Supplies  of 

all  kinds.    Catalogue  free. 

E.  li.  KINCAID,  Walker,  Mo. 


"""-"^SACRIF-ICE 

SUPRUES.  WRITE  FOR    LIST. 

I  also  have  "office  helos  "  for  sale.  3-93-tf 

J  NO.  C.  CAPEHART.  St.  A /bans.  W.  Va. 

Please  Mention     tfie    Review. 


n  II  r  r  II  n  A  large  number  of  fine  ones  on 
II  II  r  r  N  n  hand;  yellow  and  prolific; 
y  U  L  L  II  Uj  reads'  April  15th;  warranted 
queens.  $1 ;  6  for  $4.5U ;  select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  tips,  suitable  for  breeders, 
$2  each.    Reference,  A.  I.  Root.  3-93  tf 

W.  H.  LAWS,  Lavaca,  Seb.  Co.,  Ark. 


Pleas 


I  he  Rev 


DO  NOT  GIVE  YOUR  ORDER  FOR  SECTIONS 
UNTIL  YOU  GET  OUR  PRICES  ON  THE 

"BOSS"  ONE-PIECE  SECTION 

We  are  in  better  shape  than  ever  to  fill  orders 
promptly.    Also, 

DOVETAILED    HIVES.    ------ 

-    -    -    FOUNDATION,  SMOKERS,  Etc. 

1^=-  Write  for  Price  List.  =^8 

J.  FOF^NCROOK  St  CO. 

Watehtown,  Wis.,  Jan.  1, 1893.  l-93-tf. 

f^l^tififi  ntenlion  the  Review 

If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review, 


I  Banded  Queens 

AND 

I  pt^ame    fiuelei 

^^^A    SPECIALTY. 

April         May 

One  untested  queen,  $1.00         $1.00 

Six         "        queens,     5.00  5.00 

One  tested  queen,   2.00  1.50 

Three    "    queens 5.00  4.00 

Select  tested  queen, 2. .50  2.50 

Two-frame  nucleus  with  any  queen  $1.50  each, 
extra.  Three  -  frame  nucleus  with  any  qaeen 
$^.25  each,  extra.    Safe  arrival  guaranteed. 

w.  J.  ©ivwson, 

3"93"3t  Catehall,   S.   C. 


jvriehigan    Bec^  J^eepers, 

You  will  consult  your  own  interest,  by  sending 
for  my  catalogue  and  price-list  of  Root's  Sup- 
plies. Beeswax  and  white  extracted  honey  wanl^ 
ed. 

CLARK  A.  AVO/HTAGUE, 
4-93  3t  Archie,  Grand  Traverse  Co,  Mich. 


New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS, 
FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWRY  JOHNSON, 

1-93-tf.  Masontown,  Pa. 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOE,    ises. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  your  interest,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.  P.  H.  BROWN, 
1-88-tf.  Aus:u8ta,  Georgia. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 

Don't     T^ooK^y 

•witb  cros5  b^C5  or  poor 
g:oo<l5.  Urjt«ste<J,  ItZk^Ii&n 
queens,  75  ct5  each.  5  for 
$2.00.  B«5t  5tocK.  5«n<I 
for  c^^tzklogu?  of  supplier. 
Jfi°.  WEBEU  &-  50W,    Higb    Hill,   /Ao. 


188 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Barnes'  Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This  cat  represents  oar 
Combined  Circular  and 
Scroll  Saw,  which  is  the 
beet  machine  made  for 
Bee  Keepers'  use  in  the 
construction  of  their  hives, 
sectionB,    boxes,    etc. 

11 -92.1 6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOB  CATALOGUE,  PBI0K8,  ETC., 

Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St ,  Rockford.  Ills. 

Please  mention   the  Reuiew. 

IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $1.|'0 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee- Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

Plea?"  mention  *he  Review. 

Early  Queens   From   Texas, 

From  my  choice  golden  stock.  My  bees  are 
very  gentle,  good  workers,  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  One  un- 
tested queen,  April  and  May,  $1,00;  six  for  $5.00; 
later,  T5c.  Orders  booked  now ;  money  sent 
when  queens  are  wanted.  Send  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  GIVENS, 

Lisbon,  Texas. 

1-93-9t.  Please  mention  the  Review. 


$1.00 


Light,  large  and  prolific  Italian  queens  reared 
in  .Jan  1892,  by  the  most  improved  methods. 
Orders  filled  by  return  mail. 

J.  W.  K.  5HAW  6-  CO., 
4-94-7t  Loreauville,  La. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew, 


£  ol  Bi^  Blu6  Cdt- 

ALOGUE  FOR  1893?  Seventy  illustrated 
pages.  Sent  FREE  to  any  bee-keeper.  BEE- 
SUPPLIES,  at  retail  and  wholesale.  Every- 
thing used  in  the  apiary.  Greatest  variety  and 
largest  stock  in  the  West 
1-93-tf.       E.  Kretohmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 

Please   mention    the   Reuiew. 


TESTED 


Queens  are  usually  sold  for  $2.00.  I 
will  explain  why  I  wish  to  sell  a  few  at 
less  than  that.  As  most  of  my  readers 
know,  I  re-queen  my  apiary  each 
spring  with  young 


OUEENS 


From  the  South.  This  is  done  to  do 
away  with  swarming.  If  done  early 
enough  it  is  usually  successful.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  queens  displaced  by 
these  young  queens  are  never  more 
than  a  year  old;  in  fact,  they  are  fine, 
tested,  Italian  queens  right  in  their 
prime;  yet,  in  order  that  they  may 
move  off  quickly,  and  thus  make  room 
for  the  untested  queens,  they  will  be 
sold  for  only 


$1.00. 


Or  I  will  send  the  Review  for  1893  and 
one  of  these  queens  for  only  $1.75. 
For  $2.00  I  will  send  the  Review,  the 
queen  and  the  book  "Advanced  Bee 
Culture."  If  any  prefer  the  young, 
laying  queens  from  the  Sonth,  they 
can  have  them  instead  of  the  tested 
queens,  at  the  same  price.  A  discount 
given  on  large  orders  for  untested 
queens.  Say  how  many  are  wanted, 
and  a  price  will  be  made. 

W.  Z.  HUTGHINSON,  Flint,  Mich. 


^,THE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE- KEEPER  ^r 

Has    Olnetnged    Ka-nds  It    is    now    Fu.fc>lislneci    toy    tla© 

LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

Hlggingvllle,    Missouri* 

Money,   Experience  and  Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicates.        Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  28-page  Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Supplies. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW- 


189 


GRAY    CARMIOLANS. 

GOLDEN    ITALIANS. 

y  AXE  are  headquarters  in  the  United  States  for  GRAY  CARNIOLANS.  A  full  de- 
^^*^  scription  of  this  wonderfxd  and  hardy  race  of  bees  is  given  in  our  price  list 
for  1898.  Our  GOLBEN  ITALIANS  are  as  good  as  the  best.  Each  race  is  bred  for  busi- 
ness, in  a  separate  apiary  near  no  other  bees.  Get  our  prices  before  ordering,  as  we 
can  save  you  money.     Descriptive  price  list  free.  5-93-tf 

F.  A.  LOCKHART  &•  C^.,  LaKe  George,  M.  Y. 


Notice  our  prices. 

No.  1  Sections  S2.75  per  l.CKX)  Thin,  surplus 
foandation,  best  quality,  50  cis  per  pound. 
A  full  line  of  supplies,  including  Root's  Dove- 
tailed Hives,  on  hand.  Send  for  circular  and 
free  sample  of  foundation  5  93-tf 

J.  H.  &  A  .L.  BOTDEN, 

Saline,  Mich*. 

HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions ;  warranted  sood  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  racist  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  of  a  full  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT. 

1-93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 


I  Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers.  I 


u 

a  TYPE  WRITTEN.  B! 

ia  £ 

BBBBBEiBBEBBBEraEHBEiEEIBBBBBB 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States)  . 
and,  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  df)llars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  f<jrmer  price  was  S2..'jO 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at $2.00.  W.Z.  HUTCHINSON.  Flint,  Mich. 


GOLDEN  iTJLUH  QUEENS 

Now  ready  for  $1.00  each.    Do  not  order  your 
supplies  until  you  see  our  circular  for  1893.    For 
the  price,  we  have  the  best  spraying  outfit  made. 
Send  $l..iU  and  get  one.    Wm.  H.  BRIGHT, 
l-93-12t  Mazeppa,  Minn. 

Arc  You  Tired 

of  New  Bee  Journals?  Send  15  cts  for 
3  month's  subscription  to  that  bright, 
new  bee  paper,  "  The  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Enterprise,"  and  receive  FREE  the 
Enterprise     Souvenir  —  a    Work    of    Art 

TY)2ii  will  rest  Your  Eyes. 

Burtoli     L.    Sage,    New     Haven,    Conn. 


LEININGER  ™  BROS. 

Will  sell  Italian  queens  and  nuclei  cheap  the 
coming  season.    Write  for  special  prices. 

5-92  tf  Ft.  Jennings.  Ohio. 

Ready  to  Mail^ 

ITALIAN  QUEENS, 

Tested,  at  $1.25;  12  for  $13.00.    Untested,  after 
April  1st,  $1.00  each,  or  6  for  $5.00.    Safe  arrival 
guaranteed.     Bees,   Drones  and  Supplies.    Cir- 
cular free.  J,  N.  COIiWICK, 
't-92-tt'  Norse,  Bosque  Co.,  Texas. 

Please  mention   the  Review. 


/SEE5'QyEEM5 

^3mokers. Sections 


y  \ALLAPIARIAN    SUPPUES. 
•SEMD    FOR    CATAtOCtlE- 


190 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


HILL'S  SMOKER  and  FEEDER. 


Smoker  burns  hard  wood  chipb  without  spe- 
cial preparation.  Very  reliable.  Greatest 
smoking  capacity.  Easiest  to  start.  Cheapest 
because  it  saves  time.  Price,  $1.20.  By  mail, 
$1.40.  J'er  dozen,  $10.80. 

Best  Bee  -  Feeder.  Most 
convenient.  Saves  feed.  No 
daubing  or  drowning.  Two 
to  seven  feeders  full  may  be 
given  a  colony  at  one  time 
which  will  be  stored  in  the 
combs  in  ten  hours.  Price, 
per  pair,  30c.;  by  mail,  40  c; 
per  doz.,  $1.60.  Has  a  sale  of 
2,000  per  month.  Address 
A.  G.  HILL,  KendallviUe, 
Indiana. 

These  smokers  and  feeders  are  kept  in  stock 
by  Thos.  G.  Newman  &  Son,  Chicago,  111 
G.  B.   Lewis  &  Co,,  Watertown.  Wis. 
W.   H,  Bright,  Mazeppa,  Minn. 
Chas.  Dadant  &  Son,  Hamilton,  Hancock  Co.,  111. 

E.  Kretchmer,  Red  Oak,  Iowa. 

H.  Mc Wilson  &  Co.,  202  Market  St.,  St.  L.  uis,  Mo. 

F.  H.  Dunn,  Yorkville,  111. 

W.   D.   Soper  &  ( 'o.,  Jackson,  Mich. 
Chas.  A.  Stockbridge,  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 
A.  F.  FiekLs,  Wheaton,  Ind. 
W.  S. Bellows,   Ladora,  Iowa. 
E.  F.  Quigley,   Unionville,  Mo. 
Gregory  Bros.,  Ottumwa,  Iowa. 
Miller  Bros.,  Blnffton  Mo. 

G.  K.  Hubbard,  Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 

Theodore  Bender,  18  Fulton  St.,  Canton,  Ohio. 
Math  and  Son,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Levering  Bros.,  Wiota,  Cass  Co.,  Iowa. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 


Sections  Still  Lower! 

8-to-thc-foot,  one-piece,  white  poplar,  and 
'  '  "  "  and  178.  one-piece  basswood, 
all  i^i  X  414  square.  Prices  :  r)(X),  either  kind, 
$1.50.  1.000,  $2.7.-).  2.000,  $.'5.25.  3,000  to  5,000. 
$2.51)  per  1,000.  5,000  or  more,  $2.40  per  1,000. 
Satisfaction  guaranteed.  Sample  free.  Please 
give  the  size  you  want. 

O.  H.  TOWNSEND, 

4-93-tf  Alamo,  Kal.,  Co.;  Mich. 

Reference:  EDITOR  REVIEW. 

Golden  Italians. 

My  bees  are  largo  and  great  honey  gatherers. 
1  untested  queen,  SO  cts. ;  3  for  $2  00.  1  warran- 
ted queen,  $1.00;  3  for  $2.50.  I  tested  queen, 
$2.00;  selected,  tested,  $2.50.  Satisfaction  guar- 
anteed or  money  refunded.  4-93-tf 

C.  JH.  HICI^S,  HieksvlUe,  jnd. 

PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FODEATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

THIN,    FLAT   BOTTOM   FOONDATION 

Has  No  Fish  Bone  in  Surplus  Honey. 

Being  the  cleanest  is  usually  worked 

the  quickest  of  any  foundation  made. 

J.   VAN  DEUSEN   &  SONS, 

(SOLE   MANUFACTUREBS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,Mont.Co.,N.Y 


For  $1.50  I  will  jend 
the  Review  for  1893 
ZiT)<l  2v  fine,  young, 
Iziyiog,  It^lizvn  queep. 
Queen  alone,  75  cts. 


QUEENS 


For  $  1 .75  1  will  send  the 
JS  Review,  the  queen  z^n^l  **  Advzvnced  Bee  Gul- 
^     ture."    Tested  queen5»  $  J -OO-  The  Review  zvnd 

ry^  ^\    A  discount  on  izvrge 

W        r^d\^ia\.F        m    order?.  W.  Z.  Hutcb- 

M    inson,    Flint,    A\ich. 


REVIEW 


mM^M&'v^^MS/S^^m^^i^m&'Sii^Jmfii 


i 


TITE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


191 


Bingrham  Perfect  Smokerfl. 

Cheapest  and  Best  on  Earth . 
Patented  1878, 1882  and  1892. 


Bingham,  Perfect  Smokef  Series, 

The  Doctor,  S'i-inch  stove,  largest  smoke  and 
fuel  capacity  made,  price   !'2.(X).    The  t'ouqiieror, 
3-inch  stove,  price  $1.75.     The  Large,  2'  i-inch  stove 
price  tl.50.    These  pricet;  include  postage.    These 
smokers  all  have  wide  sliields.  movable  bent  noz- 
zles, coiled  steel  wire  handles  and  inverted  Bingham  bellows  with  Bingham, 
cleated  joints.     The  Bingham  &  Hetherington  Uncapping  Knife  belongs  in  the 
perfect  i-eries  also.     PerTect  in  principle,  perfect  in  detail,  and  14  years  the 
standanl  in  every  country— price  §1.1,5  by  mail.  Our  smaller  smokers— "original. 
unimprt)ved,  Bingham,  bee  smokers  " — are  as  we  have  always  made  them.     Little 
Wouiler.  Pj^-inch  stove,  narrow  shield,  65  cts.     Plain,  narrow  shield,  2-inch 
srove.   Slut'-    Extra,   2-inch  stove,  wide  shield,  $l.la.    For  further  description 
and  ^ld^>z.  (or  more)  rates,  address  the  original  inventor  and  only  maker  of  them, 
T.  F.  BINGHAM,  Abronia,  Mich. 


JOHE    25 


By  my  system  of  dequeening  at  the  opening  of 
of  the  harvest,  1  will  have  300  TESTED 
QUEENS  of  the  leather  back  strain  of  Ital- 
ians, for  delivery  about  .June  25th,  at  75  cts  each 
or  $'i.M  per  dozen.  These  qn^'ens  are  all  young 
and  prolific— none  over  O A/ £■  YEAR  OLD. 
Book  your  orders  now  and  pay  when  the  queen 
arrives.  None  will  be  sent  at  these  prices  be- 
fore June  20th  nor  after  July  10th.  First  come 
first  served.  A.  F.  BROWN, 

1-63-tf  Box  16,  New  Smyrna,  Fla. 

(Foumer!y  ot  Huntington,  Fla.) 

'  Please  mention  the  Reuieuf* 


pREE  TO  ALL.      ^ 

SAMPLE  COPIES  EITHEB  OF  THE 

Cz^nz^^iz^n  Bc^  Journal 

OB 

Ca.i72icli2in  poultry  Journzil, 

Or  both,  will  be  sent  FREE  to  applicants  who 

desire  them,  upon  receipt  of  their  names 

and  addresses. 


These  papers  are  both  of  them  edited  and  ar- 
ranged by  practical  men.  admittedly  the  most 
experienced  in  their  particular  lines  to  be  found 
on  the  continent,  and  the  Journals  may  there- 
fore be  regariled  as  authoritative  upon  the  sever- 
al subjects  of  which  they  treat. 

Address         BEETON  PUBLISHING  CO., 
Beaton,  Ontario. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 

Ta-lse    ^Totice ! 

If  yon  are  looking  for  the  Ijeee  that  give  the 
most  profit,  and  arc  the  most  gentle,  try  the 

I  can  also  furnish  the  golden  Italian,  but  my 
preference  is  the  Albino.  Send  for  circular  and 
price  list  and  see  what  others  say  of  them  and 
how  cheaply  T  sell  thf^i.  T  also  manufacture 
and  d-ai  in  Hive8,  Sections,  Founda- 
tion, Extractor8.Hni-''ii->-  apiarian  sup- 
plies S.  VALENTINE, 
3-93-2t  Hagerstown,  Md. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui, 


THE       LARGEST 

Establishment  in  Michigan  devoted  exclaeively 
to  the  manuf  Bcture  of  bee-keepers' 

SURRLIES. 

Snow  white  sections  $3.00  per  1,000.    No.  2  sec- 
tions. 82.00  per  1,000. 

A  complete  hive  for  comb  honey,  sonsisting  of 
bony,  half  story,  six  section  holders,  eight  brood 
frames,  bottom  board  and  cover,  all  nailed  up, 
for  only  $1.00:  in  the  flat,  90  cts.  A  chafi  hivo, 
with  movable  side,  all  complete,  for  only  $2,00. 
A  full  line  of  bee-keepers'  supplies.  20-page 
price  list  free.  J.  M,  KINZIE. 
12-92-12  t  Rochester,  Mich, 


Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth,  Dovetailed  and  ('hariipion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supers,  One  Piece  Sections  and  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16page  Circular. 
1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH.  New  London,  Wis. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 


Queens, 

13.    Catalogue  free. 
5-93-tf 


3  or  5  banded,  75  cts  each, 
6  for  $4.25.  Nucleus  colo- 
nies cheap.  Eggs  for 
hatching ;  B.  P.  Rock  and 
Brown  Leghorn.  Si .00  per 
CHAS.  H  THIES. 

Steeleville,  111. 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establ  ishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  Second-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped,  privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Dlustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  j  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADQUARTERS,  1 186  Monroe  St.,  Chicago, 

Please  mention  the  Review, 


192 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


FOWDDATIOD    ■     H     ■     B 
DBS)®    Six    Cents   a   Pound 

less  than  formerly.    Also  other  bee  supplies  at  lowest  rates.    Send  for  illustrated  catalogiJe  and 

price  list,  also  copy  of  the  fliA\ERICft/S  BEE-KEEPER. 

(ESTABLISHED  13  YEARS.)  W.  T.  FALCONBR  Mfg^.  CO.,  Jamestown,  N. Y. 


Golcleoy 
jr        5-B2vodecl, 


My  Bees  are  the  beat  honey  gatherers  there 
are  in  the  country,  while  for  Golden  Beauty 
they  caunot  be  excelled  in  tlie  world. 

Warranted  Queens,  75  cents  each. 

Tested.  $1. CO  each. 

Breeding  Queens,  $2.50  to  $3.00. 

Ten  percent  discount  on  orders  for  five  or  more 
queens.  Satisfaction  guaranteed.  Make  money 
orders  payable  at  Caldwell,  Texas.    Address 

C.  B.  BANKSTON,  Chrisman,  Texas. 

2-93-tf  Please  mention   the  Review. 


GRAY  CARNIOLANS 

-  AND  - 

GOLDEN  ITALIANS. 

Bred  from  pure  mothers  and  by  the  best  known 
methods.    Bend  for  price  list.  4-93-tf 

For  (^arniolans  to         I      For    Italians  to 

JOHN  ANDREWS,  L.  E.  BDRNHAM, 

Patt«n'8  Mills,  N.  Y.  |  Vaughns,  N.  Y. 


BIG  OFFER. 

To  any  person  sending 
me    liis    i.rder     for    ten 

CHArr  HIVES 

in  .Vpril  or  Ma'y  1  will 
mail  one  of  .1.  F.  Mich- 
ael's (iolden  Queens  in 
June.  Write  for  price 
list,  sent  free.  4-93-lt 

INO 


GEO.    H.    KIRKPATRICK,   UNION    City 

P/ec/s*?   mrntion   the  Reuiftu 


I  TELL  you  wiiat,  Jones,  Lev- 
ering Bros,  sell  the  best  goods 
and  at  tlie  lowest  prices  of  any 
\  One  I've  struck  yet.    The  lar- 
'  \  gest  and  l)est  equippetl 

Bee- Hive  Pactoff 

In  the  West.  The  Dovetailed 
Hive  and  New  Hoffman  self- 
spacing  frame  a  specialty. 
Everytliing  used  by  practical 
beekeepers  by  wholesale  and  re- 
tail. Send  for  their  free  Illus- 
trated Price-List,  and  save  money.  8upj)ly  Deal- 
ers, send  fortiieir  Wiiolesale  List.    Address; 

LEVERING  BROS.. 
2-9a-6.  WIOTA,  Cass  Co.,  Iowa. 

Gorr)b    Leveler. 

Sections  full  of  comb  kept  over  from  last  year, 
when  used  to  induce  the  bees  to  liegin  work  in 
the  supers,  are  worth  nearly  as  much  as  sections 
filled  with  honey.  The  only  objection  to  their 
use  is  that  tlic  ccmib  is  often  uneven  and  gives 
the  honey  .i  rough  appearance.  By  the  use  of 
Taylor's  Handy  Comb  Leveler  the  combs  can  l)e 
brought  to  a  level  as  rapidly  as  the  sections  can 
be  handled,  and  the  comb  of  honey,  when  fin 
ished,  will  have  all  the  fine  appearance  of  tliat 
produced  with  fresh  foundation.  Price  of  tlic 
leveler  (except  the  wooden  box  in  which  to  set 
the  lamp)  tH)  cts.  by  mail.  Hox  and  all,  %\.W 
by  mail ;  by  express,  $1.00. 

B.  T/VYLOR,  Forcstvilic,  A\ii7n. 

"Golden"  ^^  Florida. 

My  location  enables  me  to  roar  good  queens 
NOW  as  cheaply  Be  they  can  bo  reared  in  tin 
North  at  anytime.  Untested  queens,  75  cts. 
each;  6  for  S4.00;  one  dozen,  $7..")0.  L.ist  year's 
tested  queen,  $1.25;  select,  $1.75;  breeder,  $2. 5tJ. 
Safe  arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.     l-it2-tf 

J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Vol.  Co.,  Fla. 

Pleaa€  mantion  the  Reuieut. 


CS-OLXDEIISr       O.^I^2SriOI-.-A.3SrS. 

-A-  Faiiltless   Strain   of*  Bees. 

One  queen, $1.00  I  i_,©a.ttLer  Oolored    ItELlians 

Ihree  queens,   .     2.75    |    same  prices.    Satisfaction  guaranteed. 

bix  "         5.50   1  HENRY  ALLEY, 

rjwelve    " 10.00   |  Weubam,  Mass 


July,    1893. 


a  Year. 


194 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


ADVEJ^TISIflG  l^flTES. 

All  advertiBemente  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cente  per  line.  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  linch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  follows  : 

Ou  10  lines  and  ujjwards,  8  times,  5  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  percent ;  t> 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  aO  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  B 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Iiist. 

I  will  send  the  Review  with— 

Gleanings, f  jJl.OO) 

American  Bee  Journal.. ..(  l.fld) 

Canadian  Beo  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) 

American  Bee  Keeper    . . .  (    .50) 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper...  (    J)0) 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    ..50) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Magazine. . .  (    .50) 


.$1.7.5. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.7,5. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.30. 

.  1.40, 

.  1.65. 

.  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  well  filled;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attaclied 
to  all  four  sides  ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise  ;  all  tlie  colls  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detiiched  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  tliere  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"No.  1  dark,"  etc. 


NEW  YORK— The  new  crop  of  extracted  from 
California  and  the  South  is  arriving  very  freely. 
There  is  a  limited  demand  and  prices  have  a 
downward  tendency.  VVe  quote  as  follows: 
White  extracted,  (i'A  to  7  ;  Amber,  ti  to  tj!4;  Dark, 
5!4to6.    Beeswax,  26 to  27. 

HILDRKTH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN, 

July  7.         28&;J0  West  Broadway  New  York. 


CHin.\GO,  ILL.-There  is  not  any  of  tiie  new 
crop  of  comb  hcmcyonthe  markc^t  at  present. 
What  few  sliipmonts  have  come  in  have  sold  at 
about  16  to  17  cts  We  expect  some  now  daily, 
and  if  it  is  choice  it  will  bring  17  cts.  Extracted 
is  very  dull  and  selling  prices  are  nominal.  Par- 
ties who  want,  buy  for  immediate  use,  paying 
from  6  to  7  cts,  in  a  small  way.  Beeswax,  from 
23  to  25. 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 
July  6  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


KANSAS  CITY,  MO.— We  cannot  give  any 
quotations,  as  there  is  no  new  comb  or  extract- 
ed honey  in  the  market.  No.l,  white  comb 
would  bring  about  16  or  17  cts. 

CLEMONS-M.ASON  CO., 
July  7.  521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  ('ity  Mo. 


('1N('1NNAT1,  Ohio.— There  is  no  ciioice  comb 
honey  on  tiie  market.  A  fair  article  brings  14  to 
16  in  a  jobbing  way.  The  demand  is  good  for 
extracted  at  from  6  to  8  cts.  Tlierc  is  a  good  de- 
mand for  choice  yellow  wax  at  from  24  to  27  cts. 
CHAS.  F.  MUTIl  &  SON.. 

April  1.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


MINNEAPOIjIS,  Minn.  -  There  is  a  good  sup 
ply  on  hand  but  it  is  mostly  dark.  This  stock  is 
slow,  but  wliat  little  white  tliere  is  on  the  market 
moves  readily.  We  quot.e  fancy  wliite,  17  to  1.'^ ; 
two  pound  combs,  16  to  17  ;  buckwheat,  15  to  Hi : 
extracted  honey,  10  toll. 

J.  SHEA  &  (X)  . 
Feb.  13.     14  Hennepin  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y.-Too  early  to  sell  brisk.  In 
due  season  we  can  place  almost  unlimiicd 
amounts  of  all  kinds  of  honey  as  well  probably 
as  it  can  be  sold  in  any  market  in  tiie  Unitcil 
States.  We  quote  as  follows:  Fancy  white,  15  to 
16;  No.  1  white,  14  to  15;  Fancy  Amber,  11  to  12  ; 
FancJ  Dark,  8  to  10;  No.  1  Dark  7  U>  8;  white  ex- 
tracted, 7  to  8;  Amber,  5  to  6;  Dark,  4  to  5. 
Beeswax,  20  to  25. 

BATTERSON  &  CO.. 

July  6.  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  BuflFalo,  N.  Y. 


CHICAGO,  ILL.— Old  stock  of  houey  is  entire- 
ly cleared  up  and  market  in  gooil  condition  for 
tue  coming  season.  Our  experience  has  been 
that  honey  sent  to  the  early  market  brings  tlir 
best  price.  We  received  our  first  new  conih 
honey  this  week  and  (jiiotc  as  follows:  Fancy 
white,  18;  No.  1  white,  17;  Vancy  Amber,  15;  No.  1, 
.Vmber.lS'i;  Fancy  Dark,  12' j;  No.  1.  Dark,  10; 
White  Extracted,  8;  Amber,  7'i;  Dark,  6.  Bees 
wax,  22. 

J.  A.  LAMON, 

July  6.         44  &48  So.  Water  St.,  (Chicago,  111. 


Queens  reared  from  the  above,  $fi.00  a  do/,. 
PERCY  C(  )VINGTON,  Appleton,  Md. 

Pleasf  mention  the  Reuieui 

Illustrated   AdvertlsemeDts  Attract   Attention. 


cuts  Farnlslieil  for  all  illostratlos  Porposes, 


Pleaat  mantion  the  Keuieui. 


THE  BEE-REEFERS'  REVIEW, 


195 


'®) 


FEEDIHG     BAGK 


•®) 


Honey  to  secure  the  completion  of  unfinished  sections  can 
be  made  very  profitable  if  rig-htly  manag-ed  during-  the  hot 
weather  of  July  and  Aug-ust.  In  "  Advanced  Bee  Cul- 
ture "  may  be  found  complete  instructions  reg-arding-  the 
selection  and  preparation  of  colonies,  preparation  of  the 
feed,  manipulation  necessary  to  secure  the  rapid  capping- 
of  the  combs,  time  for  removing-  the  honey,  and  how  to 
manag-e  if  a  few  sections  in  a  case  are  not  quite  complete  ; 
in  short,  all  of  the  "kinks"  that  have  been  learned  from 
years  of  experience  and  the  ' '  feeding  back  "  of  tons  of  hone}-. 
Price  of  the  book,  50  cts.;  the  Review  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamj^s  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 


W.  Z.   HUTCHlNSOrl,   Flint,  JWich. 


:© 


'®) 


ON    HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

OF  BEE    HIVES,    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THS    NORTHWEST. 

W.  H.   PUTNAM, 

ira-l-2t.  RIVE^    FA'.LS.    WIS. 


MAKE  MONEY 

While  You  Sleep. 

STAHL'S 
E)SeELSIOR 
FRUIT  DRIER 

Evaporate?     Fruit    DAY 

and  NIGHT.    Catalogue 

free  upon  applicatiOD. 

Address 

WILLIAM  STAHL 

EVAPORATOR  COMPT. 

QVin«Ti  lUn 


Oh,  llaiiima ! 

Have  you  heard  of  the 

■C|TT3    L|  'TCP 

200-Page  hamk 

given  to  every  ,"%'K^V 
Subscriber  to  the  old 

AMERICAN 

BEE  JOURNAL? 

Oldest,  Tvargest,  Best, 
Cheapest  aud  the  only 
VFeekly  Bee -Paper 
in  America.  32-pages ; 
$1  a  year.  Sanqile  free 

-GEO.W.YORK&CO 

56  Fifth  Avenue,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

0  New  Subscribers:  The  Journal  Aione 
^ent  for  Three  Months  for  Twenty  Cents. 

A  large  numlier  of  fine  ones  on 

hand;      yellow     and     prolific; 

J     read.\    April    l.'ith ;    wan  anted 

iliieens,   $1;  t>  for  $4. .")();  select 

tested,  yellow  to  tlie  tips,  suitable  for   breeders, 

$2  each.    Reference,  A.  I.  Root.  3-93  tf 

W.  H.  LAWS,  Lavaca,  8eb.  Co.,  Ark 


196 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Barnes'  Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This  cut  reiireeents  oar 
Combinpil  Circular  and 
aoroll  Haw.  which  is  the 
best  machine  made  for 
Hee  Keepers'  use  in  the 
Construction  of  their  hives, 
sections,    boxes,    etc. 

11-92-161 

MACHINES    SENT    ON     TRIAL. 

FOR  CATALOGUE,  PRICKS,  ETC., 

Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St  ,  Rockford,  Ills 

Please  mention  the  Reuteiv- 


IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  tin-  whole  apicultiiral  field  more 
completely  tliin  .iny  other  publishoil,  scud  fl.  0 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cooli,  Attricultural  ('(illeirc  Midi  , 
for  his 


mUUUWiiUMMUUU'miU\iiUW^iiUUUUUU 


Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 


Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

f/ea5^  mention   *he  Reuieuu. 


Early  Queens    From    Texas, 

From  my  choice  nolden  stocir.  My  bees  are 
very  trentle.  Rood  woi kers.  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  satisfaction  Kuaranieed.  One  un- 
tested rjueen,  April  and  May,  $1.(K);  six  for  S.'i.CMJ; 
later,  75c.  Ortlers  booked  now;  money  sent 
wiien  queens  are  wanted.  Se'ul  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  GIVENS. 

Lisbon,  Texas. 

1-93-9t.  Please  mention  the  Review. 


Ready  to  Mail^ 

ITALIAN   QUEENS, 

Tested,  at  $1.25 ;  12  for  f  13.(X).    Untested,  after 
April  Ist,  Sl.()()  each,  or  6  for  $.5.0(1.    Safe  arrival 
guaranteed.     Bees,    Drcmo';   .-(ni)    Sniii)lic8.     Cir- 
cular free.  J.  N.  COLWICK, 
4-92- tf  Norse,  Bosque  Co..  Texas. 


Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers,  i 


ia  TYPE  WRITTEN.  B 

ia  l: 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (.in  llio  largest  States)  . 
and,  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  1  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2. .50 
per  1(K)0,  but  1  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HDT(;H1NS0N.  FUnt,  Mich. 


HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions; warranted  good  as  .my  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  ami  the  most  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  pricp-lisi  of  a  full  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT, 

1-93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 

BEE  -  KEEPERS' 

SUPPLY  HOUSE 

J.  H.  M   COOK.  78  Barclay  St ,  N   Y.  City. 

(SUCCESSOR   TO  A.   J.   KING  ) 

4-93  tf  Se  d  for  illus'rated  Catalogue 


CATCHALL 


)rder8  for  un- 
tested (jUBPUs  at  75  cts  each  :  six  for  $4,IKI.  Tt  sl- 
ed queens,  $1  .5(1  each,  three  for  $4.0i\  Two- 
frame  nucleus  with  any  uuctm  $1.50  each,  extra. 
Safe  arrival  guaranteed.  7  S3-'t 

W.J.EUISON,  Gatcbaii,  S.  C. 


-4 THE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE -KEEPERS 


Irises   Claangeci    KCancis 


It    is    now    Futolislaeci    toy    tli© 


LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

HlgginsTllle,    Mlssonri. 

Money,   Experience  and   Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicates.        Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  28-page  Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Supplies. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


197 


Great  Reduction. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  .fee.,  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 
WRITE    FOR    FREE.    ILLUSTRATED   CATA 
LOGUE  AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 


1-93-tf. 


Please  mention   the    Review, 


The  Golden  Beauties.^ 

Our  five-banded  Italian  queens,  warrantr-d 
purely  mated,  at  75  cte  each :  two  for  $1.25. 
Tested,  $1.0()  eacli ;  two  tor  $l..=iO      Safe  arri- 
val guaranteed        C.  B.  BANKSTON. 
2-y;^-t£  ("hriesman,  Texas. 

Pleiise   mention    tin:    Keuieui 


Muti's :: 


lEY    EXTRACTOR 

PKRFECTION 
>ld-Blast    Smokers, 
S^UA^re  Glziss  Honey  Jzirj,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  ('has.  F.  Moth  &  Son, 
Cor.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves..  ('inciunati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hints  to  Bee  Keepers. 

1-93-tf.  Plense  M  ntion  tie  Rfuiem. 

— If  you  are  Koing  to — 

BiJy  a  biJzz -SAVS^j 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Review.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  telling  j'ou  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 

Foundation     Reduced. 

Deduct   three  cents   oer    pound  from   prices 
givon  in    my  Illustrated  Price  List  for   IS!>3 

M.  H    HUNT,  Bell  Branch  Mioli. 


Second  Hand      I 


© 

Supplies,  r 

c 


'% 


the 

second 
hand  supplies  tliat 
1  nave  been    advertis-       '®^ 
ing  in  the    Review,    the      ^' 
following  remain  unsold  :  — 

100  old-style,  Heddon  surplus 
cases  at  20  cts.  (as  a  non-separatored 
case,  they  have  no  superior) ;  2.'>  slatted 
honey  boards  at  10  cts.  ;  20  Heddon  feeders 
at  40  cts.  ;  and  half  a  dozen  single  -  comb 
nuclei  for  exhibiting  bees  at  fairs.  They 
have  glass  sides,  removable  covers  and  are 
painted  a  bright  vermillion.  They  cost 
^2.00  each,  but  will  be  sold  at  half  -  price. 
All  these  are  practically  as  good  as  new. 

W,  Z.  HDTCHINSON,  Flint,  Micbip, 
Don't    A\ooK?y 

witb  cros5  b?C5  or  poor 
gootlj.  Unt?stc<l,  itzilizvn 
queens,  75  ct5  each.  5  for 
$2  00.  B«$t  5tocK  5«r7<I 
for  catalogue  of  suppliej. 
JtHO.  f4EBEL  &■  50VH,    Higb    Hill,   A\o. 


Are  You  Tired 

of  New  Bee  .Journals?  Send  15  cts  for 
3  month's  subscription  to  that  bright, 
new  bee  paper,  '*  The  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Enterprise,"  and  receive  FREE  the 
Enterprise     Souvenir  —  a    Work    of    Art 

That  will  rest  Your  Eyes. 

Burtoti     L.    Sage,    New     Haven,    Conn. 

Pl,;,.sr    n.^iltiot,    I :„>    R^,.iem. 


Hastings'  Lightning  Ventilated  Bee  Escape. 


Agricultural  College.  Mi'_-h.  .^eot.  17,  '9: 

"I  have  u.<efl  the  LightDiiig  Bet-  Escapes  you 

sent  anil  find  them  certainly  the  equal  of  the 

Porter,  and  their  .superior  for  the  reason  that 

thev  will  empty  a  super  more  rapidly." 

Yours  respectfully,     J.  H.  LARRABEE. 
'•It  is  our  opinion  that  you  haye  the  host  Bee 
Escape  ever  introduced." 

A.  I.  ROOT.  .Medina,  Ohio. 

HoNOLULir.  Hawaiian  Islands.  April  25,  '92. 

'•Please  send  me  hy  return  mail  5  I,i?htnin^ 

Ventilated  Bee  Rsr-apes.   I  haye  the  Porter. and 

the  Dibhern  and  they  holh  clo.;.  " 

Yours  truly,      JOHN  FARNSWORTH. 

Price,  by  mail,  each,  20c.  per  doz.  $2.25. 


IT  lEAnS  THEM   ALL 
Kead  Testimonials  of  a  few  sucressful 

Bee-keepers. 
Send  for  Sample  and  .ifler  a  trial  you 


fa'alu 


Valley,  N.  Y.,  March  '20,  'OT. 
"1  shall  take  pleasure  in  recommending  them 
as  the  best  I  haye  ever  used. 

Truly  yours,        J.  E.  HETHERINGTON. 
"We  believe  you  have  an  Escape  that  'downs* 
the  Porter." 

T.  PHILLIP  &  CO.,  Orillia,  Ont.,  Canada. 
"Your  Escape  icnocks  out  all  competitors." 

A.  J.  LI.VDLEY,  Jordan.  Ind. 

"They  did  not  clog,  and  cleared  the  supers 

rapidly.     Infactitis  the  best  Escape   I  have 

yet  used,    I  cannot  speak  too  highlv  of  it,  and 

consider  it  a  great  hiMtn  to  bee-keepers.  * 

W.  E.  CLARK,  Oriskany,  N.  T. 


XUf  sent  oil  appliration. 

M.  E.  HASTINGS,  MEW  YORK  MILLS,  ONEIDA  CO.,  N.  Y. 


198 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


A  Gr2ii7<J   Success. 


i 

m 

m 
m 

m 

m 
m 


A\cntion  R9vie>v. 


New  Cowan  Reversible 

HONEY  EXTRACTOR. 

May  De  Reversed  WitHon:  stopping  llie  Macliiiie. 

S  ">ii«.  well  made  in  i-vfry  tesiioct, 
lii^'hr,  niul  of  >  uiivenifiii  size.  Tin- can  is 
l)u:  li.  tie  larger  than  that  nf  tin- Novice. 
Tli>  !-  r '8  ll"- ("le.l  anil  covered  hy  an 
iron  shield,  .  nd  the  crank  outside  the 
0  111.  Ilk  iM  C.N' ay.  of  Mansion,  Wis.,  a 
bee  keeper  who  produces  tons  and  tons 
of  ex  r.tc  el  honey,  say«  of  ii: 

"After  caef\dly  cxaniiniiiK  and  trying 
till  Cowan  Extractor,  I  hav(>  failed  to 
find  a  weak  part,  anil  1  do  not  hesilate  to 
saj  that  it  is  the  best  Extractor  made, 
both  in  regard  to  convenience  and  dura- 
bility, and  I  .'-hall  rep'ace  all  of  my  live 
in,icliines  with  iiie  Cowan  as  soon  as  pos- 
"-ible," 

It  is  endorsed  also  by  .1.  F.  Jlclntyre,  an 
ex'ensive  extracte<l  honey  prodncfr  of 
California;  by  W.  Z  Hutchinson,  Dr.  C. 
C    >liller,  and  others. 

Price  all  Complete,  Jipaonad  and  Lettered, 
fcr  L.  Frame,  $10. 

R.  I.  ROOT,  JWedina,  O. 


\\\\\\\\\    \    \    \    N    \    \    \ 


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/ 

/ 

/ 

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/ 

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/ 


JUHE    25 


Hy  my  system  of  deiiueening  at  thi.  opening  of 
of  the  harvest,  I  will  iiave  300  TESTED 
QUEENS  of  the  leather  back  sliaiiiof  Ital- 
ians, for  delivery  almut  June  2."ith.  at  TTi  els  each 
or  S7..")l)  per  ilozen.  Thesi^  (lui-ciis  arc  all  Mniiig 
anil  prolific— none  over  OAfE'  YEAR  OLD. 
Hook  your  ord'^rs  now  and  pay  when  the  iiueen 
arrives.  None  will  be  sent  at  these  prices  be- 
fore June  20th  nor  after -Tnly  Kith.  First  come 
first  served.  A.  F.  BROWN, 

1-KJtf  Box  16   Now  Smyrna,  Fla. 

{FoumerUj  ot  Huntington,  Fla.) 


GRAY  CARNIOLANS 

-  AND  - 

GOLDEN  ITALIANS. 


Bred  from  pure  mothers  and  by  the  best  known 
methods.    Send  for  price  list.  4-9.'5-tf 

For  Carniolans  to         I      For    Italians   to 

JOHN  APREWS.  L,  E.  BURNHAM, 

Paltai.'e  Mills,  N.  Y.  |  Vau-lins.  N.  V. 


(% . best,  and  highly  recommended  ^ 

2  as  great  labor-saving  implements  by  Chae.  Dadant  &  Son,  Prof  A.  J.  Cook,  Chas.  F.  Muth,  ^ 

5  Jno.  8.  Reese,    J.  H.  Martin,    Jno.  Andrews,    F.  A.  Gemmill,    Wm.  McEvoy,    A   F.  Brown,  © 

|C  Thos.  Pierce,  and  many  other  prominent  bee  -  keepers.    Descriptiv?  circular  and  testimo-  x 

fl  nials  mailed  free.     PRICES:  each,  postpaid,  with  directions,  20  cts. ;  per  doz..  S2.25.  B 

2  RETUHN    THEM   AND    GET    YOUR   MONEY   BACK   AFTER    TRIAL,   IF   NOT  SATISFIED.       For  sale  by   dealers, 
MENTION  THE  REVIEW.                        Address         R.  &.  E.  C.  PORTER,    LEWISTOWN,    ILL. 


Tb 


e  (4)ee- 


eepeps'  JHeViecu 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e   Iqterests  of   Hoqey   Producers. 

$1,00  A  YEAR. 

W.  Z.  HUTCHlNSOrl,  EditoP  &  Pfop. 

VOL,  VI,  FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    JULY   10.    1893.  NO.  7. 


No.  6. 

B.  L.  TATLOK. 

"  What  shall  the  harvest  be  ?" 

rrjHE  work  of 
'x  this  month  is 
largely  a  contin- 
uation of  that  of 
-June.  Care  must 
he  taken  that  the 
l)eea  have  suffici- 
ent room  for  stor- 
ing what  they  are 
able  to  gather  but 
greater  heed  than 
ever  must  be  given 
that  only  neces- 
sary room  is  allowed  them,  for  too  much 
space  now  means  an  unnecessarily  large 
number  of  unsalable  sections  which  proper 
vigilance  will  prevent.  As  aids  in  this  mat- 
ter one  should  have  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  sources  of  one's  honey,  and  constantly 
cultivate  a  close  acquaintance  with  the  con- 
dition of  those  sources.  As  having  a  bear- 
ing upon  the  probable  continuance  of  the 
honey  flow  the  weather  must  be  observed. 
Hot,  dry  weather  not  only  hastens  the  open- 
ing of  bloom  but  also  its  disappearance. 
The  bloom  of  white  clover  is  greatly  pro- 
longed by  copious  and  frequent  showers, 
while  drought  cuts  it  short.  The  bee-keeper 
who  desires  the  greatest  success  must  keep 
wide  awake  and  preserve  a  judicial  state  of 


mind  in  all  these  matters.  He  must  not  be 
pessimistic  and  so  become  disheartened 
without  reason  nor  must  he  allow  his  eyes  to 
see  everything  in  the  future  clothed  only  in 
a  rosy  hue. 

Swarming  may  continue  to  some  extent 
and  young  queens  are  mature  frona  previous 
swarming.  Make  the  most  of  them.  They 
are  the  apiarist's  most  valuable  property  ; 
save  as  many  as  can  be  used.  Pinch  the 
heads  of  all  two  year  olds  and  have  them  re- 
placed by  those  reared  under  the  swarming 
impulse.  It  may  be  possible  to  rear  better 
queenr.  than  those  iiroduced  under  that  im- 
pulse, but  in  ninety-nine  cases  in  a  hundred 
th )  latter  are  the  better.  An  apiarist  can 
get  all  of  these  he  needs  for  almost  nothing, 
so  it  cannot  pay  him  to  attempt  to  rear  them 
otherwise.  Two  combs  with  a  pint  of  bees 
at  this  season  supplied  with  a  choice  cell 
taken  from  a  colony  that  cast  a  swarm  a 
week  ago  will  give  you  a  better  laying  queen 
in  a  few  days  than  you  generally  get  for  a 
dollar,  and  the  same  pint  of  bees  may  be 
made  to  repeat  the  operation  several  times. 
Dividing  the  combs  of  the  colony,  from 
which  a  swarm  has  issued,  into  two  or  three 
parts  with  a  good  ceil  in  each  and  giving 
each  part  a  separate  hive  for  a  few  days  is 
an  easy  way  to  get  plenty  of  good  queens. 

Besides  the  necessary  attention  to  be  given 
as  suggested  above,  there  is  little  else  to  re- 
quire much  labor  during  this  month  except 
the  gathering  of  the  harvest.  In  the  June 
number  of  the  Review  I  advised  that  there 
be  no  haste  in  taking  the  surplus  from  the 


2UU 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


hives,  but  there  comes  a  time  during  this 
mt)nth  wheu  that  advice  would  be  changed 
aud  that  time  is  towards  the  close  of  the 
white  clover  and  basswood  season.  Watch 
carefully  for  signs  of  the  approach  of  that 
period  and  before  it  comes  rush  off  all  cases 
that  are  completed.  Take  this  course  be- 
cause it  can  then  be  done  without  interfer- 
ence from  robber  bees,  and  therefore  with 
much  less  labor.  When  the  honey  How  is 
excellent  bees  will  pay  no  attention  to  honey 
in  comb  whether  sealeU  or  not,  when  the 
yield  is  only  fair  they  will  take  honey  from 
unsealed  cells,  but  will  not  take  the  trouble 
to  uncap  honey,  so  that  when  the  honey  flow 
is  fair  or  better,  finished  comb  honey  may 
be  removed  and  freed  from  bees  without  the 
use  of  tents,  bee-escapes  or  other  contrivan- 
ces. At  such  a  time  simply  drive  the  bees 
down  from  the  completed  cases  with  two  or 
three  puffs  of  smoke,  remove  the  cases,  re- 
place the  cover,  and  set  the  cases  on  end,  on 
the  top  of  the  hive,  flush  with  the  front  of 
the  hive  or  a  little  more.  Give  them  two  or 
three  puffs  of  smoke,  when  the  remaining 
bees  will  begin  running  down  the  front  of 
the  hive  to  the  entrance  and  the  honey  will 
soon  be  entirely  free  from  them  except  per- 
haps now  and  then  a  robber  looking  for  an 
open  cell  of  honey.  What  remains  should  be 
removed  promptly  on  the  cessation  of  the 
white  honey  season  for  it  will  very  soon 
receive  injury  in  its  appearance  after  that 
time.  All  the  bees  cannot  be  conveniently 
gotten  out  of  this  lot  without  piling  it  ui> 
open  to  the  light  under  a  tent,  or  in  a  room 
having  an  exit  for  the  bees,  but  no  entrance, 
or  in  some  other  of  several  well  known  ways. 
Of  course  no  reader  of  the  Review  will  ever 
think  of  removing  honey  from  the  hive  by 
pulling  out  of  the  case  one  section  at  a  time 
and  brushing  the  bees  off  it  with  a  feather 
and  replacing  it  with  an  empty  one. 

After  the  honey  is  off  the  hive  it  is  highly 
important  that  it  should  be  well  cared  for. 
I  pile  it  up  on  end,  i.  «.,  put  the  cases  on 
end  so  as  to  be  fully  open  to  the  circulation 
of  the  air  in  a  warm  dry  room — the  warmer 
and  drier  the  better  so  that  it  is  not  warm 
enough  to  cause. the  wax  to  yield.  Unless 
one  allows  the  wax  moth  to  breed  extensively 
about  the  premises  I  think  there  need  be  no 
fear  of  its  doing  injury  to  the  comb  honey. 
I  never  knew  any  injury  from  this  cause 
when  disposed  as  I  have  indicated  above.  I 
coTiaider  it  important  also  that  it  be  allowed 
t<  reiiKiin   in  the  cases  until  it  is  to  be  put 


on  the  market.  It  is  better  there  than  in- 
closed in  shipping  crates,  besides  the  comb 
is  more  liable  to  injury  than  when  it  becomes 
thoroughly  ripened  and  the  weather  some- 
what cooler. 

It  is  always  timely  in  warm  weather  to 
utter  a  warning  against  the  danger  of  injury 
to  coml)s  from  the  wax  moth.  They  may  be 
safely  kept  for  a  time  in  a  very  cool  cellar. 
If  kept  where  it  is  warm  they  must  be  kept 
separated  an  inch  or  more  and  where  the  air 
has  free  circulation,  but  on  hives  where  bees 
can  care  for  them  is  the  best  place  of  all. 

Lapeek,  Mich.  June  21,  1893. 

A  Mammoth,  Solar  and  Furnace-Heat,  Wax 
Extractor. 

B.  O.  AIKIN. 

"  Profit  iir  loss  verj'  often  turn  on  those  things 
which  maybe  saved,  but  which  oft  are  wasted." 

kAST  year  w  e 
made  a  port- 
able, solar,  wax 
extractor.  Its  size 
was  ;{ x  G  feet.  It 
could  be  wheeled 
into  the  honey 
house  to  load  or 
unload  it ;  shifted 
to  face  the  sun  ;  or 
moved  about  for 
any  purpose.  Be- 
tween the  effects  of 
heat  aud  moving,  the  lumber  became  split 
and  warped  until  it  refused  to  do  good  work. 
Better  lumber  and  workmanship  would  have 
remedied  this  trouble.  As  it  was,  we  got 
about  ;500  pounds  of  wax  through  it  and  then 
did  not  get  all  melted. 

In  order  to  get  the  best  results  the  refuse 
should  be  allowed  to  drain  for  days,  yes, 
even  weeks.  So  we  decided  to  rebuild  aud 
make  some  improvements.  We  will  try  and 
make  plain  our  new  solar  extractor  and  show 
the  advantages  it  possesses.  We  will  make 
some  rude  drawings  to  illustrate  it  that  will 
be  much  better  than  a  lengthy  description  in 
making  it  plain  to  the  reader. 

Cut  No.  1  is  the  ground  plan.  The  walls 
and  partitions  are  of  brick  set  on  edge.  A 
small  furnace  is  arranged  to  give  heat  from 
b'^neath  when  desired.    The  partition  divid- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


201 


ing  the  fire  chamber  part  way,  throws  the 
heat  forward.  At  about  12  to  1(J  inches  high 
a  sheet  iron  covering  is  laid  in  the  brick 
work  from  the  back  to  the  partition  dividing 
the  wax  chamber  from  the  fire  chamber. 
The  iron  being  laid  into  the  brick  work, 
completely  closes  in  the  tire  chamber  from 
the  other  compartments,  so  no  smoke  can 
get  into  the  extractor. 


AIKIN's   SOLAE   and   FDKNAOE  -  HEAT    WAX 
EXTBACTOB. 

Fig.  2  shows  the  front  and  one  side  wall, 
and  the  wood  and  iron  sash.  The  sash  is  set 
on  the  brick  work  in  mortar  and  is  not  to  be 
removed.  The  wax  chamber  door  opens  in 
from  the  side  and  is  just  large  enough  to  al- 
low the  wax  pan  to  slip  in  endwise.  The  pan 
is  about  ten  inches  wide  and  deep  by  about 
28  or  30  long.  The  outside  measure  of  the 
extractor  is  about  4x6  feet.  The  bars  that 
support  the  glass  have  T  tins  wired  on  to 
them  and  make  the  glass  rest  on  rabbets. 

Fig.  3  is  a  back  view  and  shows  the  fur- 
nace door  and  draft  opening  and  the  flue. 
At  the  top  is  a  door  hinged  at  the  top,  and 
extending  clear  across  the  end.  This  door 
is  to  put  in  combs  and  to  remove  the  refuse. 
The  hand  hole  near  the  center  is  to  insert 
the  hand  and  arm  with  a  stick  or  scraper  to 


stir  the  combs,  or  to  draw  all  back  near  the 
highest  point. 

The  drip  pan  is  made  of  two  boards  about 
4)2  feet  long  and  six  or  eight  inches  wide, 
having  four  bars  of  iron  (we  used  old  buggy 
tire)  with  the  ends  bent  up  at  right  angles. 
The  boards  we  screwed  to  the  uprights,  or 
ends,  of  the  iron  bars.  In  this  skeleton  is 
placed  a  tin  bottom  nailed  to  the  side  boards 
and  having  about  a  two  inch  "  turn  up  "  at 
the  upper  end.  This  drip  pan  can  be  drawn 
right  out  at  the  door  behind,  very  much  as 
you  would  draw  out  a  bureau  drawer. 

In  hot  weather  no  tire  is  needed  in  the 
furnace,  but  a  tire  will  help  us  out  in  the  fall 
and  spring  when  we  have  work  to  do.  Yes- 
terday (June  13)  we  melted  32  lbs.  of  wax, 
some  of  it  being  comb,  but  the  bulk  was 
cakes  of  wax  brokeu  up  to  remelt. 

Being  built  right  ou  the  ground,  and  hav- 
ing brick  walls,  it  holds  heat  through  the 
whole  night.  This  morning  when  I  removed 
the  32  lb.  cake  of  wax,  it  was  so  warm  on 
the  under  side  that  the  wax  was  quite  soft. 

We  used  less  than  \M  brick  and  laid  them 
in  mud  mortar.  Tlie  sheet  iron  to  cover  the 
furnace  cost  $1.00.  Tin  about  TjOc,  glass 
!i;2..">0.  This  makes  a  cost  of  about  ifSS.OO  for 
material.  A  much  better  and  larger  one 
could  be  maile  for  $10.00,  or  less. 

Candied  honey  can  be  melted  very  rapidly 
in  it.  You  would  only  have  to  see  it  in  op- 
eration to  say  it  is  a  good  thing.  I  think, 
with  an  apiary  of  100  and  more  colonies  an 
apiarist  could  profitably  afford  a  solar  on 
this  plan.  A  little  extra  room  in  a  solar 
comes  very  handy  now  and  then. 

I  forgot  to  mention  that  the  furnace  is 
made  of  the  "  running  gears  "  of  an  old, 
small  sized,  heating  stove,  a  coal  burner. 
No  patent  on  any  part  of  this. 

LovELAND,  Colo.  June  14,  1893. 

Working  Three  Colonies   in  One  Set  of  Su- 
pers and  Preventing  Swarming. 

GEO.  B.  WEIiLEE. 

"  Beautiful  schemes,  beautiful  schemes, 
How  they  prosper  in  our  dreams  !  " 

(HE  May  Review  is  very  good.  I  wish 
the  eight  extra  pages  were  permanent, 
if  quality  would  not  be  sacrificed  for 
quantity;  many  golden  grains  of  apiarian 
knowledge  I  lose,  most  unwillingly,  beca 


202 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS*  REVIEW. 


I  have  not  time  to  sift  them  from  amoug  the 
mass  of  rubbish,  in  which  tliey  are  buried. 

Messrs.  Laugdon,  Taylor,  Aikin  aud  oth- 
ers have  made  marked  progress  aloug  the 
uon-swarming  liues  ou  which  many  bee- 
keepers are  working  aud  they  deserve  great 
credit.  However,  the  same  results  can  be 
accomplislied,  at  less  cost,  aud  with  some 
marked  advantages,  by  three  hives  being 
worked  together  in  place  of  two.  Place 
three  hives,  fronts  in  line,  as  close  together 
as  possible,  arrange  two  boards  with  escapes 
Bo  they  will  close  the  entrances,  cover  the  en- 
trances of  the  escapes  with  perforated  metal, 
with  these  close  the  entrances  of  the  two 
outside  hives  and  place  sufficient  surplus 
cases  on  the  center  hive  for  the  prevailing 
honey  How.  All  workers  must  return  to  the 
center  hive.  At  tlie  end  of  four  or  five  days, 
change  places  with  the  center  and  one  of  the 
outside  hives,  place  an  escape  board  under 
the  surplus  cases,  as  they  having  the  atten- 
tion of  the  workers  from  three  hives  will  be 
about  completed,  remove  them  when  clear 
of  bees,  place  other  cases  over  the  hive  now 
in  the  center,  aud,  after  four  or  five  days 
change  places  between  the  center  and  the 
other  outside  hive  ;  care  for  the  surplus,  and 
arrange  other  cases  over  the  hive  now  in  the 
center.  Repeat  the  programme  as  long  as 
the  honey  flow  continues, 

In  all  these  manipulations  it  is  understood 
that  the  outside  entrances  are  closed,  except 
that  bee  escapes  allow  the  bees  to  leave  the 
hives,  but  they  are  compelled  to  enter  the 
center  hive. 

By  this  arrangement  each  hive  will  be 
cleaned  of  all  <  xtra  bees  alternately,  for  a 
period  of  from  eight  to  ten  days,  which  will 
effectually  repress  all  desire  to  swarm,  yet 
each  is  boomed  with  all  the  bees  for  only 
four  or  five  days  at  one  time;  consequently 
the  swarming  fever  will  not  develop  as  it 
would  if  they  were  boomed  for  eight  or  ten 
days.  ( )bserve,  the  workers  do  not  have  to 
change  entrances  every  time  a  change  is 
made,  but  work  at  the  center  entrance  all 
the  season,  nothing  patentable  is  used,  no 
extras,  that  need  cost  a  nickel. 

The  perforated  metal  behind  the  escapes 
is  important.  If  a  young  queen  should  be 
raised  and  took  her  mating  flight  through 
an  escaiie,  she  must  return  to  the  wrong  hive 
and  be  lost,  the  metal  will  confine  her,  not 
longer  than  eight  or  ten  days  when  she  will 
have  a  chance  to  leave  the  center  hive,  and 
it  being  in  a  group  of  three,  she  cannot  miss 


it  on  her  return.  In  house  apiaries  the 
manipulation  will  be  easier  than  out  of 
doors. 

So  many  workers  thrown  together  will  re- 
sult in  extra  surplus,  in  extra  tine  shape. 
Truly  we  are  "  getting  there  "  in  good  style. 

To  the  special  self  hiving  number  of  the 
Review,  and  subsequent  articles,  belong  the 
credit  of  getting  together  the  accumulations 
of  experience  on  these  lines,  so  it  could  be 
sifted,  and  we  would  know  where  we  were, 
and  be  thereby  the  better  enabled  to  work 
out  further  improvements.  "May  it  live 
long,  and  prosper." 

Beblin,  Mo.  May  22,  l»m. 

[It  is  possible  that  the  above  plan  would 
work  satisfactorily.  One  objection  is  that 
the  hives  would  need  lifting  about,  which  is 
now  not  the  case  with  the  Langdon  method. 
Then,  again,  I  am  not  snre  that  such  a  great 
mass  of  bees  works  to  the  best  advantage. 
Possibly  they  are  in  one  another's  way.  It 
is  one  of  the  things  that  I  confess  I  "  don't 
know."  It  is  an  experiment  that  could  be 
easily  tried  and  would  not  be  expensive.  A 
few  months  ago,  Mr.  R.  L.  Taylor  said  it 
would  be  desirable  if  all  the  bees  in  the  api- 
ary could  be  induced  to  store  their  honey  in 
one  common  pile  of  supers.  When  we  get 
three  colonies  to  work  satisfactorily  in  one 
set  of  supers,  we  are,  as  Mr.  VVeller  says, 
"getting  there." 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written  I  have  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Mr.  Corneil  in  which  he 
suggests  placing  two  hives  side  by  side  with 
the  supers  all  on  one  hive  and  the  entrance 
to  the  other  hive  closed  with  the  exception 
of  a  bee  escape  opening  outwardly.  The 
workers  will  pass  out  through  the  bee  es- 
cape, and,  upon  their  return,  they  will  even- 
tually find  their  way  into  the  adjoining  hive. 
In  a  few  days,  simply  change  places  with  the 
hives,  always  keeping  the  supers  upon  the 
hive  standing,  say,  at  the  right,  and  the  en- 
trance of  the  hive  standing  at  the  left  closed 
with  a  bee  escape.  As  the  workers  will  al- 
ways be  in  the  habit  of  returning  to  the  hive 
at  the  right,  there  will  be  no  confusion.  To 
this  plan  there  is  the  objection  of  having  the 
hives  to  handle. 

Latek — Since  the  above  was  jiut  in  type  I 
have  visited  the  Michigan,  Experimental 
Apiary  and  learned  that  such  a  great  mass  of 
bees  as  the  working  force  of  even  two  colo- 
nies thrown  together  is  quite  likely  to  swarm. 
See  Taylor's  report  of  work  in  Michigan, 
Experimental  apiary. — Ed.] 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


203 


There  is  a  Lack  of  Qaeen    Breeders   on  the 
Pacific  Coast. 

"  BAMCLEK." 

T  N  looking 
i  over  the 
advertisiug 
pages  of  the 
bee  jouruais, 
I  tiud  that 
the  majority 
of  those  who 
advertise 
queens  for 
sale  are  loca- 
tediu  the 
Middle  or  far  Eastern  States,  and,  although 
many  of  the  breeders  live  in  States  that  pro- 
duce but  little  honey,  and  would  seem  to 
turn  to  queen  rearing  for  a  livelihood,  still 
many  of  those  in  the  queen  business  are  in 
good  honey  producing  districts.  Itis  a  fact, 
however,  that  the  great  honey  producing 
States  and  islands,  like  California,  Florida 
and  the  island  of  Cuba,  have  but  few  who  turn 
their  attention  to  queen  rearing.  S[)eaking 
more  particularly  of  California  there  is  not 
one  that  advertises  in  any  of  our  journals, 
and  only  one  that  advertises  in  one  of  the 
agricultural  papers  of  this  coast.  One 
would  suppose  that  if  queen  rearing  would 
pay  in  the  small  honey  i)roducing  State  of 
Mass.  that  it  would  pay  better  in  a  large 
honey  producing  State  like  Calif.,  not  only 
large  in  honey  production  but  also  large  in 
area,  and  where  there  is  more  need  of  re- 
queening  than  in  any  of  the  Eastern  States, 
where,  owing  to  the  shorter  honey  season, 
the  usefulness  of  the  queen  is  not  impaired 
so  quickly  as  in  a  climate  where  the  breed- 
ing goes  on  uniuturrupted  for  many  months 
in  the  year.  In  the  semi-tropical  climate  of 
southern  Calif,  the  only  rest  for  the  queen  is 
a  short  time  during  the  fall  months.  In  Jan. 
there  is  usually  a  good  amount  of  brood;  in 
Feb.  the  amount  increases;  in-Mar.  it  is  still 
further  accelerated,  and  from  that  time  un- 
till  Aug.  she  is  kept  under  high  pressure 
work.  The  majority  of  bee  keepers  know 
the  state  of  affairs  and  remedy  it  during  the 
dull  season  by  raising  (pieens  and  thus  keep- 
ing their  apiaries  in  the  highest  working 
order,  others  not  so  provident  allow  the  bees 
to  supersede  the  worn  out  queen  at  their 
own  convenience,  and  as  usually  happens  in 
snch  cases  many  swarms  do  not  requeen  at 
the  right  time,  and  there   is  consequently 


many  weak  colonies  at  the  commencement 
and  even  all  through  the  honey  season,  and 
many  that  are  altogether  queenless  and  sub- 
ject to  the  appearance  of  fertile  workers 
which  are  quite  a  common  thing  in  Calif,  api- 
aries. The  importance  of  this  requeening 
and  its  effect  upon  the  honey  yield  was  recog- 
nized and  discussed  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  Calif.  Bee  Keei)ers'  Association,  and 
those  who  have  the  best  success  in  getting 
large  yields  of  honey  are  the  ones  who  pay 
attention  to  this  important  feature  in  bee- 
keeping. This  point  was  thought  of  so 
much  importance  by  a  bee-keeper  in  Inyo 
County  that  he  journeyed  several  hundred 
miles  to  look  up  the  queen  rearing  resources 
of  the  coast  counties,  and  to  tind  where  he 
could  get  a  supply  of  virgin  queens  with 
which  to  requeen  his  entire  apiaries  in  the 
early  spring  mouths,  before  he  could  rear 
queens  in  his  own  higher  and  colder  climate. 
Young  queens  early  mean  vigorous  colonies 
for  the  gathering  of  honey  as  soon  as  the 
season  opens,  not  only  in  the  higher  altitudes 
is  this  the  case  but  tlie  rule  holds  good  in 
more  favored  localities.  Much  honey  is  lost 
from  the  bees  not  being  strong  enough  in 
numbers  to  secure  the  honey  from  the  early 
flowers.  This  gentleman  was  level  headed 
enough  to  see  where  the  profits  came  in  and 
was  in  search  of  the  remedy  and  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  he  found  it,  for  there  are 
many  localities  on  this  coast  where  queens 
can  be  reared  in  every  mouth  in  the  year, 
there  are  also  islands  where  queens  can  be 
bred  in  great  purity  from  selected  strains, 
but  thus  far  no  one  has  made  much  of  an 
effort  to  build  up  a  queen  rearing  business 
on  this  Coast  and  for  our  select  strains  we 
depend  largely  upon  the  Eastern  breeders. 
Queens  from  nearly  every  portion  of  the 
East  are  found  here.  We  find  those  who 
favor  Mr.  Alley  and  his  various  races  of  bees 
and  iving  praise  to  Funics  and  Carniolans. 
Doolittle  and  others  come  in  for  their  share 
of  commendation,  while  many  prefer  queens 
reared  in  the  south,  thinking  them  more 
adapted  to  our  climate.  The  mail  facilities 
are  so  great  now  that  it  makes  but  little 
difference  where  the  breeder  is  located  if  the 
strain  of  bees  is  satisfactory  to  the  purchaser. 
It  is  evident  that  honey  production  is  of 
more  profit  on  this  coast  than  queen  rearing, 
except  as  it  is  carried  on  for  the  purpose  of 
requeening  one's  own  apiary,  and  the  honey 
producer  is  willing  to  secure  his  choice 
(lueens  from  old,  established,  and  time  tried 


204 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


sources.  The  houey  producer  is  also  iu  uo 
lit  mood  to  rear  queens  for  the  trade  duriiiy 
or  after  a  very  busy  season  of  several 
mouths  of  hard  work  with  the  bees,  he  pre- 
fers to  hie  away  to  the  sea  coast  or  the 
mountain  for  a  rest.  The  only  remedy  for 
our  backward  state  iu  the  (lueen  rearing  in- 
dustry is  for  some  Jennie  Atchley  to  take 
it  in  hand  and  even  us  up  with  the  other 
States  of  the  Union. 
Redlandh,  Caltf.  June,  25,  18t);j. 


Pi^>:?V^^J|_.ei^ 


Extracting — Bee  -  Escapes — Wide  Top    Bars 
Prevent  Brace  Combs. 

O.    W.     DAYTON. 

"That  which  is  rightly  done  is  easily  done. 
Flurry,  fume  and  pcrtpiration  simply  show  that 
we  have  uol  lound  the  right  way." 

T  was  with  fear 
and  trembling 
that  I  came  lug- 
ging a  self  -  hiver 
into  the  June  Re- 
view, thirty  or  six- 
ty days  late,  when 
our  editor  had  ar- 
ranged to  finish 
the  discussion  in  a 
previous  number. 
I  have  been  os- 
cillating between 
two  apiaries  seven 
miles  apart,  running  them  for  extracted 
honey  and  increase.  It  takes  four  days  to 
do  an  apiary,  and  then  I  fold  my  tent  at 
two  to  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  ar- 
rive at  tiie  other  apiary  an  hour  or  so  before 
sundown. 

My  plan  of  using  the  bee  escape  is  to  put 
a  dozen  in  place  on  the  evening  of  arrival, 
and  wheel  the  upper  stories  into  the  extract- 
ing room  the  next  morning  before  break- 
fast. From  then  until  noon  is  required  to 
extract  this  houey  and  put  the  combs  back 
on  the  hives.  After  dinner  the  old  plan  of 
brushing  the  bees  off  the  combs  is  followed, 
and  five  or  six  more  stories  extracted.  If  I 
were  in  any  way  rushed,  I  should  use  more 
escapes,  and  perliaps  extract  thirty  or  forty 
stories  in  a  day,  but,  as  I  have  never  han- 
dled enough  colonies  to  be  rushed,  escapes 
were  used  merely  as  an  experiment,  and, 
from  my  little  experience,  I  believe  nearly 
twice  as  much  work  can  be  done  with  as 
withoat  them. 


If  one  makes  increase  and  evens  up  colo- 
nies by  exchanging  brood  as  Mr.  France 
does,  or  admits  brood  into  the  upper  stories 
during  the  extracting  season,  I  can  see  that 
escapes  would  be  of  little  use. 

When  there  are  prospects  of  there  being 
honey  to  gather,  my  plan  is  to  bank  the 
forces  by  giving  the  brood  to  the  strongest 
colonies.  In  putting  the  extracting  stories 
on  the  strongest  colonies  I  fill  them  with 
brood  taken  from  weaker  colonies,  giving 
empty  combs  to  the  weak  colonies  which  I 
expect  only  to  build  up  for  wintering.  This 
lessens  the  number  of  hives  to  be  manipula- 
ted and  the  combs  are  filled  more  thorough- 
ly. If  the  brood  chambers  are  not  too  large 
the  best  colonies  will  occupy  the  upper  sto- 
ries some  time  before  the  harvest,  so,  when 
they  are  ready  to  extract  the  first  time,  the 
brood  will  be  hatched  out  of  these  extra 
combs  that  were  placed  in  the  upper  stories, 
and  escapes  may  be  used. 

A  dozen  escapes  can  be  put  on  in  as  many 
minutes,  but  half  an  hour  ought  to  be  used. 

I  am  of  the  same  opinion  as  Mr.  Aikin — 
that  there  is  something  lacking  in  the  pres- 
ent forms  of  escapes  or  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  fastened  in  the  escape  boards.  When 
they  have  been  on  a  few  hours  the  escape- 
board  is  covered  with  slivers  which  have 
been  gnawed  from  the  corners  where  the 
escape-board  and  upper  story  come  together. 
In  listening,  there  may  be  heard  a  crackling 
noise  not  unlike  that  heard  when  the  en- 
trance is  too  small.  Tlie  bees  at  such  an  en- 
trance are  pulling  and  biting  at  the  wood  to 
enlarge  it,  and  the  angles  become  rounded. 
While  the  bees  above  the  escape  may  be  anx- 
ious to  find  their  queen,  which  I  very  much 
doubt,  their  first  move  would  not  be  to  get 
into  the  dark  hive  below,  but  to  take  wing 
in  the  open  air. 

How  aggravating  it  is  when  we  raise  the 
upper  story  to  put  an  escape  under,  to  have 
some  of  tiie  of  the  lower  combs  raise  also, 
and  when  they  are  well  up,  drop  and  slide 
back  into  the  hive  with  a  thud.  This  is  a  first 
class  way  to  smash  and  anger  bees.  There 
may  be  some  who  would  object  to  escapes  on 
this  account  and  who,  for  this  reason,  would 
remove  and  brush  the  combs  one  at  a  time, 
but,  even  then,  the  brace  combs  will  not  neg- 
lect to  set  the  honey  running,  and  as  the 
brush  is  plied  it  is  soon  too  much  daubed 
for  pleasure. 

The  building  of  brace  combs  is  governed 
to  a  large  extent  by  tl»e  width  of  the  frame 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


205 


material.  From  '82  to  '8(5  my  frames  were 
of  %  staff;  '8G  to  '81).  one  inch  ;  'DO  and  '1)1, 
1  I-IG.  As  mentioned  in  tlie  June  Review, 
my  hives  now  are  14>4  inches  inside,  and 
contain  ten  frames.  There  are  many  hives 
of  that  width  containing  ten  frames,  but  I 
have  never  seen  TjU  frames  outside  my  own 
hives  that  were  more  than  %  wide.  My 
frame  material  is  cut  1^8  wide  and  %  thick. 
If  the  width  is  right  it  does  not  matter 
about  the  thickness.  Ten  frames  take  up 
11)4  inches,  leaving  three  inches  for  the  11 
bee  passages  between  the  top  bars — a  trifle 
more  than  ^^  for  each  passage.  Ten  frames 
}i  wide  are  8%,  leaving  iV.j  inches,  or  % 
inch  for  each  bee  space. 

In  the  brood  nest  I  use  ten  frames,  but  in 
the  extracting  story  the  number  is  reduced 
to  eight.  This  is  done  to  cause  more  honey 
to  be  stored  in  a  comb,  which  lessens  the  la- 
bor of  uncapping  and  of  extracting,  and  the 
depth  of  the  cells  prevents  the  queen  from 
laying  in  them.  Eight,  1  \  -frames  equal  9 
inches,  leaving  .514  for  the  spaces  between 
the  top  bars,  or  1-44  of  a  space  less  than  the 
space  between  %  top  bars  with  ten  frames 
in  the  hive.  I  have  50  or  more  colonies  in 
this  way  :  ten  frames  in  the  lower  story  and 
eight  in  the  upper  with  a  -^h  space  between 
the  upper  and  lower  frames.  There  is  also 
a  %  space  between  the  top  bars  of  the  ex- 
tracting combs  and  the  cover. 

Now  for  results  :  In  raising  the  50  upper 
stories  three  times  they  have  not  disturbed 
a  frame  in  the  lower  story.  In  raising  the 
cover  to  the  extracting  story  200  times,  I  do 
not  think  there  was  once  but  from  one  to  six 
combs  were  raised.  Then  I  have  ten  colo- 
nies where  there  are  eight  combs  in  each 
story  and  the  combs  of  the  lower  story  often 
raise  and  slide  and  drop  with  a  thud.  In  25 
single  story  hives  containing  ten  combs  each 
there  are  no  brace  combs  whatever.  In  the 
same  number  of  similar  hives  with  only 
eight  combs  I  am  obliged  to  raise  the  cover 
a  little  and  insert  a  knife  or  chisel  to  separate 
the  frames  from  the  cover  every  time  they 
are  opened. 

This  brace  comb  business  is  one  of  the 
most  fruitful  sources  of  dauby  work  in  ex- 
tracting. In  producing  comb  honey  over 
narrow  top  bars  it  will  usually  pull  the  bot- 
toms off  the  sections,  which  makes  a  very 
expensive  experiment. 

Another  cause  of  daubing  honey  all  around 
is  putting  the  combs  into  the  extractor  end- 
wise where  the  lower  end  comes  up  always 


dripping.  This  may  be  remedied  by  hang- 
ing them  in  the  extractor  the  same  as  in  the 
hive.  Automatic  reversion  will  not  cure  this. 
If  we  can  prevent  brace  combs  also,  nearly 
everything  we  handle  will  be  dry. 

Where  we  can  keep  up  with  the  bees  and 
extract,  as  soon  as  the  combs  are  two-thirds 
capped  I  would  use  only  eight  combs,  but  if 
they  go  long  enough  to  cap  the  honey  all  the 
way  down,  they  will  extend  pieces  of  comb 
out  past  the  side  bars  against  the  hive.  To 
avoid  this  it  will  require  nine  combs,  if  not 
ten,  in  the  hive. 

In  1889  I  ordered  1000  all-wood  brood 
frames  of  one  of  our  most  extensive  manufac- 
turers. In  about  a  month  he  wrote  me  that  the 
size  I  ordered  (1  inch)  was  difficult  to  fur- 
nish and  7s  was  the  customary  width,  so  I 
wrote  that  I  would  try  the  %  width.  One 
hundred  were  tried  during  the  season  beside 
the  others  (1  l-ltj)  which  I  sawed  out  with  a 
Barnes  saw.  The  next  spring  the  remaining 
iKX)  were  used  to  kindle  the  tire. 

One  other  point  in  favor  of  frame  stuff  l^i 
inch  wide  in  a  14^4  inch  wide  hive  is  the  ease 
with  which  the  frames  are  spaced,  as  if  one 
space  is  left  a  little  wider  than  the  others 
another  bee  space  will  be  filled  with  propolis. 
It  is  far  easier  to  leave  just  room  enough  for 
a  bee  pass  between  each  two  top  bars  than  to 
make  the  spaces  alike  when  the  spaces  are 
the  width  of  three  bees.  Any  type  setter 
will  vouch  for  this  truth  as  a  bee  space  (the 
width  of  a  bee)  is  to  bee  keeping  what  the 
3-em  space  is  to  type  setting. 

Pasadena  Calif.  June  27, 1893, 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED   MONTHLY. 

W.    Z.  HUTCHINSOfl,  Ed.  &  PPop. 

Terms  :  —  $1.00  a  year  in  advance.  Two  copies, 
$1.90  ;  three  for  $2.70 ;  iive  for$4.U0 ;  ten,  or  more 
70  cents  each.  If  it  is  desired  to  have  the  Review 
stopped  at  the  expiration  f>f  the  time  paid  for, 
please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
will  be  continued. 


FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    JULY    10.     1893. 


The  Blast  Tube  in  the  Crane  smoker  is, 
I  believe,  about  twice  as  large  as  in  the 
Bingham.  I  did  not  mention  this  when 
making  the  report  in  the  last  Review  of  my 
experiments.  It  is  perhaps  but  fair  that  this 
point  be  mentioned. 


206 


THE  BEEKEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Ten  tons  of  honey  from  180  colouies,  and 
a  good  prospect  of  getting  a  few  more  tons, 
is  the  report  that  "  Rambler  "  sends  me. 

"Bkes  ake  Booming,"  is  the  report  that 
comes  from  all  parts  of  the  countrj'.  E.  R. 
Root  writes  me  that  it  is  the  same  story  that 
comes  to  Medina.  We  are  having  a  good 
flow  from  white  clover  here  at  Flint. 

E.  R.  Root  asks  if  the  lifting  of  supers 
does  not  apply  as  an  objection  to  the  liang- 
don,  non -swarming  system  the  same  as  it 
does  to  the  use  of  the  Pratt  self-hiver.  Yes, 
it  does,  so  far  as  the  supers  are  concerned, 
but  with  the  Pratt  hiver  we  have  the  hive  to 
lift  in  addition  to  the  supers  and  this  doubles 
the  load. 

Old  Bee  Books  are  being  written  of  in  an 
interesting  manner  by  the  proof  reader  of 
Gleanings,  and  his  writings  printed  in  that 
journal,  but  he  says  that  the  "  awful  dark- 
ness in  which  those  writers  lived  render  their 
works  to-day  of  no  practical  benefit  aside 
from  literary  curiosities." 

Mks.  Atohley's  apiary  of  400  colonies, 
among  which  are  sprinkled  the  members  of 
the  Texas  Bee-Keepers'  Convention,  is  nicely 
shown  in  Gleanini/s  by  a  full  page  illustra- 
tion. The  tall,  sprangley  oaks  make  a  splen- 
did back  ground.  As  a  "  picture,"  it  is  as 
good  as  Gleaninys  has  shown  in  sometime. 

& 

Papeb  Caktons,  for  enclosing  sections  of 
honey  that  are  sent  to  market,  do  not  re- 
ceive much  endorsement  from  the  two  doz- 
en proment  apiarists  that  answer  the  "que- 
ries and  replies"  in  the  A.  B.  J.  The  long 
and  short  of  it  is,  if  it  pays  to  use  them  in 
your  market,  use  them;  if  it  does  not,  then 
let  them  alone. 

—& • 

Alsike  Clover  is  being  cultivated  to  a 
much  greater  extent  in  Michigan  than  was 
formerly  the  case.  In  a  ride  of  twenty  miles 
the  other  day  on  the  railroad  I  saw  several 
fields  that  were  masses  of  bloom  from  the 
pink-white  blossoms  of  the  alsike.  I  fre- 
quently hear  farmers  say:  "I  have  sowed  a 
field  of  alsike  this  year.  "  An  insect  pest  is 
making  such  havoc  with  the  red  clover  that 
it  is  proving  unprofitable.  "  It  is  an  ill  wind 
that  blows  nobody  any  good.  "  This  exten- 
sive cultivation  of  alsike  will  be  a  boon  to 
bee-keepers. 


The  Bee-Keepebs'  Guide  has  suspended 
publication.  Bro.  Hill  writes  that  he  has 
been  running  his  journal,  the  bee  hive  bus- 
iness, the  bees,  etc.,  without  competent  help, 
and  he  is  overworked.  The  Kendallville 
bank  has  failed,  times  are  haid,  Mr.  Hill's 
health  is  failing  under  the  load  he  has  V)een 
carrying,  and  he  finds  himself  compelled  to 
give  up  something,  and  that  sometliing 
proves  to  be  the  Guide.  The  unexpired 
subscriptions  will  be  filled  out  by  the 
Review. 

— Hi — 

E.  R.  Root,  made  a  trip  of  400  miles  down 
East,  one  year,  and  I  believe  that  A.  I.  has 
been  to  California  once  or  twice.  ( )ne  ob- 
ject in  making  these  trips  was  to  secure  in- 
teresting matter  for  Gleanings.  And  now 
they  have  discovered  that  within  four  miles 
of  them  was  a  first-class,  most  successful 
bee-keeper  of  whose  existence  they  did  not 
know.  His  name  is  Burt  and  he  is  to  make 
some  practical  experiments  for  the  Roots. 
One  thing  learned  from  a  visit  to  his  apiary 
was  how  successfully  sheep  could  be  made  to 
answer  the  place  of  a  lawn  mower  for  keep- 
ing the  grass  down  in  an  apiary.  I  know 
from  experience  that  it  is  no  small  task  to 
keep  the  grass  down  with  a  lawn  mower.  In 
the  busy  season  there  is  a  temptation  to  neg- 
lect it. 

f<> 

The  Langdon,  non-swarming  arrange- 
ment has  not  proved  a  success  with  Mr.  Tay- 
lor as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  his  report. 
When  I  was  over  there  I  saw  a  swarm  issue 
from  one  of  them.  Frank  Coverdale  of  Iowa 
also  writes  me  that  he  is  having  swarming 
with  them.  It  is  not  the  depleted  colony 
that  swarms,  but  the  one  that  gets  the  double 
dose  of  bees.  It  seems  that  such  a  great 
mass  of  bees  will  swarm  even  without  mak- 
ing preparations  for  swarming.  I  must  con- 
fess that  I  am  disappointed.  I  thought  that 
this  arrangement  was  certainly  going  to  en- 
able us  to  do  away  with  swarming.  It  seems 
that  it  did  work  all  right  last  year  with  Mr. 
Langdon.  He  used  it  in  the  house  apiary. 
Whether  this  would  have  a  bearing  I  do  not 
know.  There  is  also  a  difference  in  seasons. 
I  shall  be  glad  to  get  reports  from  others  who 
have  used  them. 

OLD  BEES  DO    NOT    LOCATE    THEIR    HIVE    WHEN 
THEY  8WABM. 

I  had  a  little  experience  this  season  that 
would  seem  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  above 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


20t 


title.  I  was  practicing  the  Heddon  method 
of  preventing  swarming,  that  of  leaving  the 
old  hive  by  the  side  of  the  swarm  for  seven 
or  eight  days,  and  then  moving  it  away.  I 
neglected  to  move  one  hive  until  the  ninth 
day  in  the  afternoon.  Within  half  an  hour 
after  the  removal  a  second  swarm  issued. 
The  queen  did  not  go  with  the  bees  ;  prob- 
ably she  was  too  young  to  fly.  According 
to  the  rules,  the  bees  should  have  returned 
to  the  hivey.from  which  the  issued.  About 
one-third  of  them  (probably  those  that  had 
never  before  left  the  hive)  returned  to  the 
hive  from  which  they  had  swarmed,  and  the 
rest  of  them  went  back  to  the  old  location 
and  joined  the  swarm  that  was  hived  nine 
days  before  on  the  old  stand. 


THE  SIMMINS  METHOD  OF  INTRODUOINO  yilEENS 
— IT   IS  NOT   ALWAYS    SUOOESSFUIj. 

I  have  been  trying  the  Simmins  method  of 
introducing,  or  rather  of  releasing  queens. 
The  central  idea,  and  it  is  a  good  one,  is  to 
keep  the  queen  away  from  the  bees  without 
food  for  half  an  hour,  and  then  allow  her  to 
run  down  from  the  top  of  the  hive  just  at 
dusk,  or  a  little  later,  when  a  lamp  must  be 
used.  I  made  up  ten  nuclei  and  left  them 
qneenless  three  days,  then  gave  each  a  caged 
queen  and  allowed  her  to  remain  in  the  cage 
one  day.  Just  at  dusk  the  queens  were  re- 
moved and  each  put  in  a  box  by  itself,  the 
boxes  being  numbered  and  the  hives  also,  so 
that  no  mistake  would  be  made  in  returning 
the  queens.  As  it  was  cool  the  queens  were 
taken  in  the  house  and  kept  there  from  one- 
half  an  hour  to  nearly  an  hour.  Then  they 
were  introduced  by  lamp  light.  Without 
using  smoke,  one  corner  of  the  quilt  was 
carefully  turned  back  and  the  queen  allowed 
to  run  down  into  the  hive.  There  was  no 
running  or  squealing.  The  first  bee  she  met, 
out  came  her  tongue — she  was  hungry  and 
humble — and  soon  there  was  a  crowd  around 
her  offering  her  homage  and  pabulum,  and  it 
is  in  this  manner  she  slowly  passed  down  be- 
tween the  combs.  Every  queen  was  accept- 
ed— I  presume  they  would  have  been  if  they 
had  been  released  without  the  fasting,  but, 
of  course,  I  do  not  know.  Mr.  Simmins  says 
it  makes  no  difference  as  to  how  long  the 
bees  have  been  queenless,  nor  whether  the 
queen  has  previously  Vjeen  caged  among 
them,  so  I  tried  making  four  nuclei  in  the 
forenoon    and  in  the  evening  releasing  in 


them  queens  that  had  not  been  previously 
caged  in  the  hive.  Two  queens  were  accept- 
ed and  two  were  killed.  I  think  it  is  a  good 
way  to  release  queens,  but  I  doubt  if  it  is  any 
better  than  allowing  the  bees  to  do  the  work 
by  eating  out  candy  from  the  entrance  of 
the  cage. 


LOOSE      BOTTOM    BOAEDS. 

We  frequently  see  inquiries  and  discuss- 
ion in  regard  to  the  desirability  of  loose  bot- 
tom boards  compared  with  those  fastened  to 
the  hive.  The  advantage  of  the  fast  bottom 
board  is  apparent  when  we  wish  to  ship  bees. 
It  is  also  easier  to  pick  up  a  hive  and  carry 
it  to  some  part  of  the  yard  when  the  bottom 
is  fast  to  the  hive.  ( )f  course,  we  can  reach 
under  the  hive  and  hold  the  bottom  board 
fast  to  the  hive  as  We  carry  it  along,  but  this 
is  not  so  convenient  as  to  grasp  a  rim  of 
wood  nailed  around  the  hive  near  its  top,  or 
to  insert  the  fingers  in  hand-holes  in  the 
sides  near  the  top.  A  hive  may  be  removed 
from  the  bottom  board  when  it  is  carried, 
but  it  is  usually  stuck  fast  with  propolis,  and 
the  loosening  of  it  irritates  the  bees  and  they 
come  rushing  out  and  make  it  interesting. 
If  we  depend  upon  the  propolis  to  hold  the 
bottom  board  fast  to  the  hive,  it  usually 
proves  a  case  of  misplaced  confidence,  the 
bottom  tumbles  off  on  the  ground  with  a 
"dull  thud,"  throwing  a  lot  of  enraged  bees 
into  the  air.  These  are  the  objections  to 
loose  bottom  boards. 

The  advantages  of  loose  bottom  boards  are 
that  two  colonies  can  be  very  easily  united 
by  simply  setting  one  above  the  other.  If 
the  hives  can  be  raised  two  inches  from  the 
bottom  in  winter,  all  rubbish  and  dead  bees 
drop  away  from  the  combs,  and  if  there  is 
an  entrance  at  the  top  of  the  rim  put  under 
the  hive,  it  can  never  be  clogged  with  dead 
bees.  In  cellar  wintering  there  seems  to  be 
a  decided  advantage  in  wintering  the  bees 
with  no  bottoms  to  the  hives.  When  bees 
die  in  winter,  or,  if  the  colony  does  not  per- 
ish wholly,  only  there  are  a  large  number  of 
dead  bees  in  the  bottom,  they  will  be  wet 
and  mouldy  and  the  combs  stuck  together 
with  filth  if  the  bottom  board  is  close  to  the 
combs.  In  order  to  clean  out  the  hive,  the 
combs  must  all  be  lifted  out  and  the  debris 
shoveled  out.  With  loose  bottom  boards 
this  may  all  be  avoided.  In  raising  extract- 
ed honey  upon  the  tiering  up  plan,  the  same 
kind  of  a  hive  body  answers  either  for  brood 


208 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


nest  or  upper  story.  If  the  bottom  hoards 
are  fast,  and  we  run  short  of  upper  stories, 
we  cannot  utilize  any  lower  stories  that  we 
may  happen  to  have,  as  they  have  bottoms 
on  them  and  cannot  be  used  for  supers. 
1  prefer  loose  bottoms. 


EXPERIMENTAL  APIOULTUEE. 

"  Could  wo  but  surely  know 
Aught  of  those  uutried  fields  and  meadows  low 
Who  would  not  t^o  ? 

All  of  our  bee  journals  are  published  sim- 
ply to  tell  of  new  things,  of  those  not  before 
known,  or,  at  least,  not  generally  known. 
From  whence  come  these  facts?  From  ex- 
perience; from  experimenting.  Scattered  all 
over  the  land  are  bee-keepers.  In  the  spring 
each  one  starts  in  with  a  more  or  less  defi- 
nite plan  of  how  he  will  manage  his  apiary 
that  season,  but  many  times  during  the  sea- 
sou  must  he  make  a  choice  of  several  differ- 
ent methods.  Some  of  them  may  be  of 
minor  importance,  others  may  make  all  the 
difference  between  a  fair  crop  and  being 
obliged  to  feed  the  bees  for  winter.  Suppose 
the  bees  are  in  the  cellar;  how  early  shall 
they  be  taken  out,  shall  they  be  protected 
when  taken  out,  shall  they  be  fed  to  stimu- 
late them,  shall  swarming  be  allowed,  shall 
foundation  be  used  in  the  brood  nest  in  hiv- 
ing swarms,  shall  there  be  an  effort  to  make 
the  number  of  unfinished  sections,  at  the 
end  of  the  season,  as  small  as  possible  or 
shall  abundant  room  be  given  to  the  end  of 
the  harvest,  and  then  feeding  back  be  resort- 
ed to  for  completing  the  unfinished  sections? 
These,  and  many  more  questions,  would  bee- 
keepers like  answered. 

The  trouble  with  the  average  bee-keeper 
is  that  he  is  likely  to  choose  some  one  of 
these  plans  and  carry  it  out  with  his  whole 
apiary.  No  comparative  work  is  done.  If 
he  gets  a  good  crop  with  the  plan  adopted 
he  reports  it  as  a  success.  Perhaps  some 
other  plan  might  have  been  more  successful. 
A  writer  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  A.  B.  J.,  in 
criticising  my  advice  not  to  hive  swarms  on 
drawn  comb  at  the  height  of  the  honey  har- 
vest, when  working  for  comb  honey,  men- 
tioned two  or  three  instances  where  he  had 
done  so,  and,  by  the  way,  one  was  where  he 
had  put  two  swarms  together,  and  secured 
good  results.  If  he  tried  hiving  swarms  on 
starters  only  in  the  brood  nest,  he  does  not 
mention  it.  If  he  did  not  try  it,  he  does  not 
know  thatit  wonld  not  have  been  more  prof- 


itable. Mr.  Doolittle,  a  few  months  ago, 
mentioned  in  the  Review  an  experience  of 
his  in  stimulative  feeding  in  the  spring.  A 
part  of  his  apiary  was  fed  and  went  booming 
ahead  at  such  a  rate  that  it  was  a  great  temp- 
tation not  to  feed  all  of  the  colonies.  As  a  re- 
sult of  resisting  the  temptation,  he  learned 
that  in  that  instance,  at  least,  not  much  was 
gained  by  the  feeding.  It  is  in  such  ways 
as  this  that  experiments  ought  to  be  conduc- 
ted. 

It  is  not  every  bee-keeper  that  is  "cutout' ' 
for  an  experimeter.  It  needs  a  person  of 
a  judicial  cast  of  mind,  one  that  is  perfectly 
willing,  so  speak,  that  an  experiment  shall 
prove  the  truth.  Too  many  of  us  are  inclin- 
ed to  make  a  decision  jirat,  and  then  go  to 
work  and  try  to  prove  what  we  already  be- 
lieve. This  will  not  answer.  An  experimen- 
ter ought  to  be  wholly  disinterested  in  the 
results,  that  is,  be  willing  that  an  experi- 
ment proves  either  side  of  the  question. 

It  costs  money,  time  and  bees  to  experi- 
ment. The  average  bee-keeper  cannot  af- 
ford to  spare  much  of  these  without  a  reason- 
able supposition  that  there  will  be  a  money 
return.  If  he  desires  to  experiment  he  is 
confronted  with  the  query,  will  it  pay?  Un- 
less there  are  fair  prospects  of  a  money  re- 
turn, it  must  be  abandoned. 

The  foregoing  are  not  the  only  reasons  why 
it  would  be  advisable  to  have  competent  bee- 
keepers employed  by  the  government  to  take 
charge  of  experimental  apiaries.  There  is 
another  reason  that  perhaps  but  few  have 
thought  of,  viz.,  that  such  a  person  would 
be  clothed  with  authority.  What  he  said  or 
did  would  be  looked  upon  with  respect  by 
the  outside  world.  For  instance,  when  queen 
bees  were  thrown  out  of  the  mails,  it  was 
mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Prof.  Cook 
that  they  were  readmitted.  Last  year  a  duty 
was  placed  upon  queen  bees  imported  into 
this  country.  Again  it  was  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  Prof.  Cook  that  this  duty 
was  removed.  Prof.  Cook  told  me  himself 
that  as  an  individual  he  could  never  have 
accomplished  these  results, but,  as  Professor 
of  entomology  in  the  Agricultural  College  of 
Michigan  ho  was  heard  and  his  arguments 
given  consideration.  Cases  like  these  are 
liable  to  came  up  at  any  time,  and  a  good 
man  at  the  head  of  a  State  Experimental 
apiary  would  be  a  power  for  good. 

It  seems  as  though  no  arguments  are  need- 
ed to  show  that  an  experimental  apiary  in 
each  State  would  be  a  great  benefit.    We  all 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


209 


know  that  there  are  many  questions  connect- 
ed with  bee-keeping  that  are  unanswered, 
and  that  the  correct  answer  to  them  would 
make  of  bee-keeping  a  more  safe  and  ijrof- 
itable  pursuit.  Frank  Benton  writes  me  that 
there  are  about  twenty  different  lines  of  ex- 
perimental work  that  he  would  like  to  take 
up,  in  some  of  which  he  has  already  planned 
the  experiments  that  he  would  conduct,  and 
he  considers  some  of  them  of  more  impor- 
tance than  his  climatic  mailing  cage  and 
food  for  shipping  queens,  but  he  has  no  op- 
portunity to  make  these  experinents  at  pre- 
sent. 

Not  only  this,  but  there  are  new  problems 
continually  coming  up  that  will  need  to  be 
solved.  One  man,  working  in  a  careful 
methodical  way,  having  bees,  appliances 
and  means  at  his  command,  can  do  more  to 
settle  the  knotty  problems  of  apiculture,  than 
can  all  of  the  bee-keepers  of  the  State  work- 
ing in  a  hap  hazard  manner.  If  each  State 
and  Territory  had  an  experimental  apiary 
manned  by  a  competent  person  and  the  re- 
ports of  the  work  published  in  the  journals, 
so  that  bee-keepers  could  read  and  criticise 
and  suggest  as  the  work  is  going  on,  "climb 
up  in  chairs  and  help,"  as  friend  Hasty  puts 
it,  bee-keeping  would  receive  another  boom 
and  such  a  one  as  would  help  those  already 
in  the  business.  The  Review  is  going  to 
work  to  try  and  have  bee-keeping  recog- 
nized at  the  State  Experimental  Stations. 
Each  State  and  Territory  receives  from  the 
general  government  $15,000  annually  to  carry 
on  experiments  in  agriculture,  horticulture 
and  the  like.  You  do  not  need  to  be  told 
that  bee-keeping  has  been  almost  entirely 
neglected  at  these  stations.  Dr.  Miller  gives 
as  reasons  for  this  neglect  that  the  directors 
of  the  Stations  or  the  State  Boards  of  Agri- 
culture, are  uninformed  in  regard  to  the  im- 
portance and  needs  of  apiculture,  and  that 
bee-keepers  have  been  too  modest  in  asking 
for  their  rights.  I  think  he  is  correct.  I 
feel  confident  that  the  bee-keepers  of  any 
State  can  have  an  experimental  apiary  if 
they  will  only  go  to  work  to  secure  it.  But, 
as  I  said  last  month,  passing  resolutions  and 
appointing  committes  at  conventions  will 
not  do  it:  there  must  be  some  work  done  by 
some  one.  The  resolutions  and  committees 
are  all  right  as  preliminary  moves.  The 
State  Board  of  Agriculture  will  listen  to  a 
committee  from  the  State  Association  of  bee- 
keepers when  it  would  pay  very  little  atten- 
tion to  individual    reiiuests.    Put    the  right 


men  on  the  committee.  Men  of  experience 
and  good  sense.  Another  thing:  raise  some 
money,  even  if  you  have  to  do  it  by  subscrip- 
tion, to  pay  the  expense  of  the  committee  in 
meeting  with  the  State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture. Of  course  the  expense  may  not  be 
very  heavy,  but  the  individual  members  of 
the  committee  ought  not  to  be  asked  to  bear 
it.  Perhaps  the  funds  of  the  bee-Keepers' 
Union  might  be  used  to  advantage  in  helping 
to  bear  the  expenses  of  such  committees. 
If  the  Union  would  bear  half  of  such  ex- 
penses I  believe  it  would  be  money  well 
spent.  What  does  its  manager  and  others 
think? 

After  a  State  Board  has  decided  to  use 
money  for  apicultural  experimental  work, 
let  bee-keepers  look  to  it,  and  look  sharp, 
too,  that  the  work  is  placed  in  the  right 
hands.  This  is  the  most  important  point  of 
all.  Let  the  bee-keepers  select  the  man. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  a  good  plan  to  select 
him  by  a  vote  at  a  meeting  of  the  State  As- 
sociation. Let  him  be  a  practical  bee-keep- 
er, one  who  has  raised  some  honey  and 
managed  a  good  sized  apiary.  There  is 
nothing  like  actual  work  in  a  good  sized 
apiary  to  euable  a  man  to  comprehend  what 
bee-keepers  really  need  to  know.  Don't  get 
simply  some  theoretical  writer  for  the  press. 
Get  a  man  to  whom  bee-keepers  will  look 
with  confidence.  I  could  name  half  a  dozen 
men  in  as  many  different  States,  who,  I 
know,  would  fill  the  bill. 

The  August  Review  is  to  be  devoted  to  a 
discussion  of  ''Experimental  Apiculture," 
and  I  shall  be  glad  of  articles  on  the  subject. 
Send  in  suggestions  as  to  the  establishment 
of  experimental  apiaries,  the  selection  of  the 
apiarists,  experiments  that  ought  to  be  con- 
ducted, how  the  work  should  be  done,  etc., 
etc. 

A  VISIT   TO   THE   MICH.  EXPEBIMENTAL  APIAEY. 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to  Mich- 
igan's experimental  apiary  which  is  now  in 
full  blast.  Mr.  Taylor  has  put  the  State  api- 
ary right  in  with  his  own  and  will  devote 
more  or  less  of  the  whole  300  colonies  to  ex- 
perimental work.  As  shown  by  the  cut  on 
the  next  page,  the  apiary  is  very  pleasantly 
located.  The  ground  slopes  toward  the  East 
and  the  numerous  trees  give  an  abundance 
of  shade.  In  fact,  about  one-half  of  the 
hives  are  hidden  from  view  in  the  picture  by 
the  trees.  In  the  background  may  be  seen 
the  top  of  the  wind-mill  and  the  roofs  and 


I. 


210 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


sables  of  the  house,  barn,  honey  house  and 
shop.  The  bees  are  wintered  in  the  cellars 
under  the  residence  and  honey  house. 

From  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
half  past  one  iu  the  afternoon  (when  I  left 
for  home)  there  was  scarcely  a  moment 
when  there  was  not  a  swarm  in  the  air,  and 
sometimes  two  or  three.  There  were  queen 
traps  on  almost  all  the  hives.  As  two  or 
more  swarms  would  unite  and  then  go  piling 
into  one  hive,  i)erhap8  one  from  which  a 
swarm  had  not  issued,  Mr.  Taylor  would  re- 
mark, with  a  smile,  "  I  wonder  what  Mr.  So 
and  So  (mentioning  some  man  who  had  said 
that  bees  always  go  back  to  their  own  hive 
when  the  queen  is  not  with  them )  would  say 
if  he  were  here  now." 

It  did  me  good  to  see  the  enthusiasm, 
thoroughness  and  exteusiveness  with  which 


experiments  were  being  conducted.  Swarms 
and  hives  and  cases  were  weighed,  etc.,  etc. 
The  note  book  was  kept  right  iu  tlie  yard 
and  everything  jotted  down  on  the  spot; 
there  was  no  waiting  uutil  the  day  was  over 
and  then  depending  upon  the  memory. 

I  found  a  large  solar  wax  extractor  in  op- 
eration. Mr.  Taylor  told  me  he  should 
render  some  combs  infected  with  foul  brood 
and  then  make  the  wax  into  foundation 
without  heating  it  any  hotter  than  it  was 
heated  by  the  sun,  and  then  use  the  founda- 
tion and  see  if  foul  brood  would  result  from 
its  use.  But  I  must  not  forestall  Mr.  Taylor, 
as  he  has  promised  to  tell  us  all  that  he 
does :  and  I  will  close  by  saying  that,  as  an 
experimental  apiary  it  comes  up  to  my  ideal 
— it  is  the  realization  of  a  dream  that  I  once 
feared  might  never  come  true. 


r 

^H^M^KM^Sag' > :       *W£^    JL 

\  :;',;,.  Wr-                                                      :'. 

1^^'       H^fe ' 

^^^ 

-'-y^i 

ssS^^kS^^^ishhB^^^SL.— '      ^^  ''         Tb'^jIm 

'i^0^    ^'- 

•■ 

^-  - 

MICHIGAN,    EXPEBIMENTAL    APIAliY.      LOCATED    AT   LAPEEE. 


W"ork:  at    IVEicliigaii's 

Experimental 

Apiary. 

E.  L,.  TAYLOB,  APIAEIST. 

«%|»N  this  first  article  concerning  the  work 
(S)  at  the  Michigan  Apicultural  Experiment 
«A»  Station,  I  must  confine  myself  briefly 
to  a  statement  of  some  of  the  items  of  work 
already  undertaken,  and  to  indicating  some 


of  the  benefits  which  it  is  hoi)cd  may  be  de- 
rived from  them,  only  briefly  alluding  to  re- 
sults so  far  as  they  yet  appear,  without  enter- 
ing into  details. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  I  have  been 
plunged  into  the  midst  of  the  work  of  the 
Station  at  the  most  important  as  well  as  the 
busiest  season  of  the  year,  by  an  appoint- 
ment as  director  only  a  short  time  before 
the  opening  of  the  honey  season — an  ap- 
pointment which  I  had  previously  not  the 
remotest  thought  of   receiving — and  so  no 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


211 


doubt  many  of  the  methods  pursued  will 
prove  cruder  than  they  might  have  done  had 
I  had  the  advantage  of  time  for  previous 
thought  directed  to  the  maturing  of  plans 
best  calculated  to  secure  the  clearest  results 
in  some  of  the  still  unsolved  matters  that  are 
of  especial  interest  to  bee-keepers;  indeed, 
I  already  see  more  than  one  point  where  im- 
provement could  have  been  made.  It  is  to 
be  noted  also  that  thus  far  I  have  been  left 
to  my  own  resources  for  the  selection  of 
points  to  be  investigated  in  conducting  the 
work,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  near 
future  direction  may  be  given  in  this  respect 
by  a  committee  appointed  by  those  who  on 
account  of  their  vocation  or  avocation  are 
specially  interested. 

FOUNDATION  FOB  COMB  HONET. 

No  intelligent,  well-informed,  practical 
apiarist  can  avoid  the  rising  of  numerous 
questions  with  regard  to  the  comb-founda- 
tions prepared  for  use  in  sections,  some  of 
which  are  :  Are  those  of  all  makers  equally 
good  ?  Do  the  bees  have  a  choice  and  con- 
s  >quently  work  more  readily  upon  some  than 
upon  others  ?  Has  the  thinner  any  advan- 
tage or  disadvantage  as  compared  with  the 
heavier  ?  Is  that  long  made  equally  as  good 
as  that  just  out  of  the  machine  ?  Are  all 
kinds  in  equal  daiiger  of  a  weli  founded  ac- 
cusation of  leaving  a   "  fish  bone  ?" 

With  the  hope  of  throwing  some  light  upon 
some  of  these  I  procured  a  variety  of  foun 
dations,  to  the  number  of  eight,  distin 
guished  from  each  other  either  by  weight, 
make  or  age.  Each  kind  for  the  purposes  of 
the  experiment  was  distinguished  by  a  letter 
of  the  alphabet  and  the  number  of  feet  to 
the  pound  of  each  carefully  determined,  all 
of  which  was  made  a  matter  of  record.  Each 
was  then  cut  to  the  same  size  and  fastened 
into  sections.  Twenty-eight  sections  of  each 
were  used  for  the  purpose  of  the  experiment 
and  each  section  was  plainly  marked  on  the 
top  with  the  letter  used  to  designate  the  kind 
of  foundation  with  which  it  was  filled.  These 
actions  were  then  put  into  cases  without 
separators,  alternately,  each  case,  after  the 
first,  beginning  with  a  section  marked  with 
a  letter  immediately  succeeding  the  letter 
nsed  in  marking  the  final  section  of  the  pre- 
vious base.  These  cases  thus  prepared  have 
been  adjusted  to  colonies  best  fitted  by  their 
character  and  condition  to  work  in  all  parts 
of  the  case  equally.  What  valuable  results, 
if  any,  can  be  expected  ?  Worked  out  under 
such  circumstances  can  those  least  liable  to 


produce  the  "fishbone"  be  determined  by 
comparing  the  combs  ?  Can  those  most 
profitable  to  the  apiarist  be  determined  by 
comparing  the  weights  of  the  comb  honey 
produced  from  each  ?  I  shall  later  desire 
the  assistance  of  a  few  of  the  most  compe- 
tent apiarists  in  making  comparison  of  the 
septums  of  comb  built  from  these  ditferent 
kinds  of  foundation. 

IS     COMB     FOUNDATION     PROFITABLE      IN     THE 
BKOOD-CHAMKEB  ? 

This  is  an  old  but  still  unsettled  question. 
To  obtain  some  difinite  information  if  pos- 
sible on  this  matter  I  prepared  four  sets  of 
hives,  each  hive  being  one  section  of  the  new 
Heddon.  Each  set  consists  of  three  hives — 
one  filled  with  drawn  comb,  one  with  foun- 
dation, and  one  with  frames  furnished  with 
narrow  starters  only.  The  sets  are  numbered 
1,  2,  8  and  4  and  those  furnished  with  comb, 
foundation  and  starters  are  designated  by 
the  letters  A,  B  and  C  respectively.  A  record 
is  made  of  the  weight  of  each  hive  and  of  the 
cases  adjusted  at  the  time  of  hiving  each 
swarm,  and,  also,  of  the  bees  in  each  swarm. 
Each  hive  with  its  cases  and  bees  was  again 
weighed  upon  the  morning  of  the  day  suc- 
ceeding the  hiving  to  determine  as  far  as 
possible  the  extent  of  change  which  had 
taken  place  in  the  denizens  of  the  hives  by 
their  going  from  one  hive  to  join  another  as 
they  frequently  do  when  there  has  been  any 
commingling  of  bees  in  swarming.  It  will 
be  seen  that  at  the  end  of  the  honey  season  I 
can  easily  determine  the  increase  in  weight 
both  of  the  brood-chamber  and  of  the  supers 
and  so  be  able,  I  hope,  to  draw  some  solid 
conclusion  with  reference  to  the  comparative 
value  of  comb,  starters  and  foundation  for 
use  in  the  brood-chamber. 

These  sets  of  hives,  it  has  occurred  to  me, 
are  well  adapted  to  throw  light  upon  another 
question  which  perhaps  is  not  given  the  con- 
sideration it  deserves,  viz :  Do  colonies  pro- 
duce results  in  proportion  to  their  strength, 
or  is  there  a  golden  mean  in  this  respect 
and  is  it  true  that  when  that  is  either  ex- 
ceeded or  come  short  of,  there  is  less  rela- 
tive profit  ?  How  the  above  mentioned  sets 
of  hives  may  help  to  elucidate  this  question 
will  be  evident  when  I  mention  the  fact  that 
swarms  put  into  1 C,  2  C,  3  C  and  4  C  weighed 
respectively  73^,  10%,  5  and  414  pounds. 
Among  the  swarms  hived  upon  combs  and 
amon/  those  hived  upon  foundation  there 
was  also  a  considerable  difference  in  weight, 


212 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


though  not  to  the  same  extent.  I  am  look- 
ing with  great  interest  for  the  results  insofar 
as  they  may  have  a  bearing  upon  this  poiut 
and  much  care  will  be  taken  that  the  exact 
facts  shall  be  arrived  at. 

pkatt's  hivebs. 
Five  of  these  hi  vers  were  procured  and 
adjusted  to  as  many  hives,  and  as  I  must  be 
brief  I  shall  now  only  mention  results  thus 
far  by  giving  an  outline  history  of  No.  2, 
deferring  further  mention  till  another  time. 
To  this  hive  the  hiver  was  adjusted  .Tune  17 
upon  the  issuing  and  return  of  a  swarm. 
After  this  adjustment  the  queen  was  of 
course  in  the  old  brood-chamber,  notwith- 
standing which,  the  swarm  did  not  issue 
again  till  June  2itth  when  it  was  allowed  to 
return.  On  July  "ind  it  again  issued  and  be- 
came mingled  with  other  swarms  so  that  it 
was  necessary  in  making  a  division  to  allot 
the  proper  portion  which  was  returned  to 
the  hive.  This  colony,  though  furnished 
with  a  case  of  sections  filled  with  well  drawn 
comb,  has  done  comparatively  nothing  in  it. 

LANGDON's    NON-8WARMINO    ATTACHMENT. 

Lack  of  space  will  permit  but  a  few  words 
touching  this  invention  by  way  of  closing 
this  article.  Five  of  the  attachments  were 
adjusted  to  double  the  number  of  hives,  on 
the  22nd  day  of  June,  since  which  time 
seventeen  swarms  have  issued  from  these 
hives  ;  in  each  instance  thus  far  the  queen 
was  returned  to  her  own  hive  and  the  swarm 
to  the  sister  hive,  although  it  quickly  became 
evident  that  it  was  worse  than  useless  to  do 

BO. 

Full  details  of  this  line  of  work  may  be 
looked  for  in  my  next  article  from  which  I 
think  any  intelligent  apiarist  may  easily  de- 
termine the  reason  why  the  attachment  has 
failed  in  these  cases  to  honor  its  first  name 
and  whether  it  can  be  made  practical  any- 
where. 

Lapeee,  Mich.  July  4th,  1893, 


EXTRKOXOD. 


ceive  a  great  number  of  stings.  I  am  a 
temperance  man,  but  I  believe  that  the  ad- 
vice given  by  Bro.  Hill  of  the  Guide,  is  cor- 
rect.   Here  is  what  he  says  : — 

"  Britton,  Mich.,  Sept.  .5,  lSi)2.  A  valuable 
pair  of  horses  belonging  to  L.  Lowe,  a 
prominent  farmer,  was  stung  to  death  Fri- 
day. The  boy  who  was  plowing  near  the 
apiary,  left  the  team  standing  while  he  went 
for  a  drink  of  water.  Tlie  horses  upset  a 
hive  and  the  angry  bees  pitched  into  them, 
stinging  tliem  so  badly  that  both  died  in  a 
short  time.  Mr.  Lowe  was  also  badly  stung 
while  trying  to  help  the  horses.  This  drink 
of  water  cost  Mr.  Lowe  al>out  $200. 

[We  have  had  some  experience  in  severe 
cases  of  stinging  like  the  ones  mentioned 
above,  and  fully  believe  that  if  large  doses 
of  whisky  be  given  at  once  or  as  soon  as  it 
can  be  procured,  dose  every  half  hour,  there 
would  be  no  deaths  from  bee  stings.  The 
use  of  cold  water  is,  in  our  judgment,  the 
very  worst  thing  to  use,  or  even  wetting  the 
skin  or  hair,  because  it  chills  the  surface  and 
causes  the  blood  and  poison  to  concentrate 
in  the  interior  vital  organs,  heart  and  lungs, 
and  causes  death.  If  we  give  whisky  it  stim- 
ulates the  heart  and  lungs  to  resist  the  pois- 
on, throwing  off  the  effects  of  it  and  the 
whole  surface  of  the  body  will  become  very 
red  and  warm,  which  is  necessary,  or  na- 
ture's method  of  relieving  the  patient  of  the 
effects  of  poison.  If  we  wet  and  cool  the 
skin  we  simply  shut  the  i)oison  in  and  pre- 
vent the  escape  by  natural  methods,  and  we 
believe  the  cold  water,  not  the  bee  stings, 
kills  the  patient. 

We  do  not  advise  whisky  to  be  used  for 
every  bee  sting,  but  only  when  the  case  is  so 
severe  that  the  heart  and  lungs  are  affected. 
Smoke  is  tlie  only  effectual  tiling  to  frighten 
bees  with  in  such  emergencies.  It  can  be 
gotten  ready  quickly.  Coals  from  a  stove 
put  in  a  pan,  and  covered  with  chips  or 
straw,  a  whole  box  of  matches  may  be  used 
to  light  some  cloth,  shavings  or  straw,  mak- 
ing a  smudge  that  if  held  on  the  windward 
side  will  soon  drive  the  bees  away.  After 
the  battle  is  over  carefully  scrape  off  the 
stings,  or  pull  them  out.  Give  whisky  and 
keep  the  animal  or  person  in  a  cool  sliady 
place,  not  allowing  any  working  or  moving 
of  muscles  until  the  effects  of  the  poison 
have  passed,  which  will  be  from  twelve  to 
forty-eight  hours.]" 


What  to  Do   When  Stung  a  Great  Number 
of  Times. 

*•  And  every  earthly  ill  doth  serve  in  fact 
Some  other  equal  ill  to  counteraot." 

The  time  of  year  is  now  here  when  an  ac- 
cident may  cause  a  person  or  animal  to  re- 


How  the  Robbing  Propensity  of  Bees  May 

Be  Used  to  Advantage. 

"The  highest  art  consists  not  in  obeying  rules 
but  in  breaking  them  properly." 

The  propensity  of  bees  to  rob  has  been 
looked  upon  as  an  unmixed  evil ;  beginners 
are  always  cautioned  (and  rightly,  too) 
against  allowing  robbing  to  get  started,  and 
yet  there  are  instances  in  which  the  bees  may 
be  allowed  to  indulge  their  disposition  to 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


213 


carry  away  honey  already  stored,  and  only 
good  results  will  follow.  Dr.  Miller  tells  in 
Gleanings  what  he  has  done  in  this  line,  and 
then  the  editor  follows  with  his  experience. 
As  the  robbing  season  will  soon  be  here  I 
think  it  will  be  well  to  copy  the  whole  arti- 
cle ; 

"Fbiend  RooT:^That  item  of  your  expe- 
rience on  page  782  is  quitejiuteresting  read- 
ing, and  I  think  you  are  somewhat  at  fault 
fthat  you  do  not  give  us  more  of  the  details 
of  your  own  apiary,  particularly  the  bad 
things.  I  am  glad  you  have  learned  that, 
under  proper  management,  robbing  is  not 
such  a  dangerous  thing.  It  is  hard  to  know 
just  what  is  the  right  ground  to  take  in  this 
respect ;  for  few  young  bee-keepers,  until 
they  have  had  some  sad  experience,  have 
any  just  conception  of  the  danger  connected 
with  robbing. 

I  would  give  something  to  make  my  assis- 
tant as  afraid  of  robbing  as  I  am.  In  former 
years  I  had  such  a  severe  breaking-in  that 
the  sight  and  sound  of  a  single  robber  when 
I  am  at  work  strikes  me  with  alarm.  But 
Emma  has  not  had  the  same  experience,  and 
can  work  on  placidly  with  the  music  of  rob- 
bers about  her.  I  say  to  her,  'You  must  be 
very  careful  or  the  robbers  will  get  the  start 
of  us.' 

'  Oh  !  I  guess  not.    I  havn't  seen  any  yet.' 

'  Why,  don't  yon  see  them  there  this  very 
minute,  right  under  your  very  nose  ?'  and 
the  emphasis  I  give  is  perhaps  not  as  pleas- 
ant as  it  ought  to  be ;  for  if  there  is  any 
thing  that  demoralizes  me  it  is  to  have  rob- 
bers offer  their  assistance  when  a  brood- 
chamber  is  open.  So  it  is  that  it  is  con- 
sidered not  the  orthodox  thing  to  say  any 
thing  in  favor  of  allowing  bees  to  do  the 
least  thing  in  the  line  of  robbing.  Too  often, 
however,  it  is  the  interference  of  the  officious 
bee-keeper  that  makes  most  of  the  ti'ouble. 
A  weak,  queenless  colony  is  attacked  ;  and 
the  only  thought  in  his  mind  is,  that  that 
thing  must  be  stopped.  So  the  hive  is  taken 
away,  perhaps  put  in  the  cellar  for  a  time, 
and  the  robbers,  not  finding  their  prey  in  its 
proper  place,  pounce  upon  the  nearest  hives, 
which,  in  their  turn,  are  taken  away  and 
thus  the  trouble  spreads. 

On  another  occasion  a  similar  case  oc- 
curs, but  the  bee-keeper  is  in  blissful  igno- 
rance of  it :  and  the  first  thing — in  fact,  the 
only  thing— that  he  knows  about  it  is,  that 
the  hive  is  completely  cleaned  out — cleaned 
out  several  days  before  he  noticed  it.  In 
that  case  no  harm  is  done.  The  colony  was 
not  worth  saving,  and  perhaps  it  was  a  good 
thing  to  have  the  honey  transferred  where  it 
would  do  more  good. 

I  very  much  doubt  the  correctness  of  the 
time-honored  tradition,  that,  if  a  bee  once 
does  any  thing  in  the  line  of  robbing,  she  will 
never  return  to  honest  labor  afterward.  You 
know  very  well,  that  when,  by  reason  of  bad 
weather,  the  honey  flow  suddenly  stops,  care 
must  be  taken  not  to  start  robbing ;  and  if 
by  some  carelessness  it  is  started,  and  per- 
haps 20  pounds  of  honey  i-obbed,  thousands 
of  bees  being  engaged  in  the  plunder,  if  the 


next  morning  opens  up  clear  and  bright, 
honey  yielding  freely,  every  bee  in  the  api- 
ary will  seem  to  be  hard  at  work.  Where  are 
the  thousands  that  yesterday  were  robbers  ? 
Don't  tell  me  that  none  of  them  have  gone 
back  to  honest  ways. 

Last  spring  the  disastrous  losses  left  a 
large  number  of  hives  untenanted  ;  and  the 
combs,  numbering  more  than  a  thousand, 
had  more  or  less  honey  in  them.  The  fuller 
combs  were  convenient  to  put  in  colonies 
needing  them,  but  a  great  many  had  only  a 
little  honey  in  them.  What  was  to  be  done 
with  them  ?  They  might  stand  as  they  were, 
but  on  the  whole  it  was  perhaps  better  that 
they  should  be  emptied  out.  Perhaps  you 
may  remember  that  they  were  hung  over- 
head in  the  cellar.  Well,  the  door  of  the  cel- 
lar was  left  open  and  the  bees  were  invited 
to  take  possession.  They  promptly  accepted 
the  invitation. 

Now,  there  were  two  things  that  surprised 
me.  One  was,  that  it  took  the  bees  so  short 
a  time  to  clean  out  those  combs.  Another 
was,  that  it  took  them  so  short  a  time  to  set- 
tle down  quietly  after  they  got  through  the 
job.  For  a  half  a  day  or  a  day  after  the 
honey  was  gone  there  were  more  or  less  bees 
searching  through  the  cellar,  and  at  the  end 
of  that  time  there  was  nothing  in  the  apiary 
to  indicate  that  anything  unusual  had  been 
going  on. 

Another  thing,  if  you  allow  a  section  of 
honey  to  stand  out,  the  bees  will  tear  it  all 
to  pieces.  These  combs  I  have  been  telling 
about  were  not  torn  at  all.  Whether  it  was 
that  they  were  tougher,  or  that  the  bees  had 
so  large  a  surface  to  work  over,  I  do  not 
know ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
bees  do  not  tear  old  combs  so  badly. 

When  the  clover  harvest  closed,  what  little 
there  was  of  it,  all  sections  were  taken  off. 
A  goodly  number  of  supers  had  so  little  done 
in  them  that  the  best  thing  was  to  have  the 
bees  clean  them  out.  A  somewhat  large  ex- 
perience in  trying  to  get  bees  to  empty  sec- 
tions on  or  under  the  brood-chamber  made 
me  dissatisfied  with  that  sort  of  thing.  So 
one  day  a  number,  perhaps  15,  of  such  su- 
pers were  piled  up  in  the  cellar  in  such  a  way 
that  not  a  very  large  number  of  bees  could 
enter  at  a  time.  They  were  promptly  clean- 
ed out ;  and  24  hours  after  the  work  was  fin- 
ished, there  was  no  commotion  in  the  apiary. 
The  same  thing  was  repeated  with  a  larger 
number,  and  with  the  same  result. 

Now  I'll  tell  you  what  I  think.  If  you  had 
allowed  the  bees  to  work  on  these  combs  that 
you  had  piled  up,  without  restricting  their 
entrance  so  much,  the  result  would  have  been 
the  same,  provided  you  did  not  take  the 
combs  away  till  after  the  bees  had  emptied 
them,  and  had  got  discouraged  working  over 
them.  The  whole  matter  lies  just  in  this : 
If  bees  get  to  robbing  you  must  not  take 
away  every  thing  they  are  working  at,  but 
leave  them  to  work  on  the  very  same  spot 
until  they  are  satisfied  that  they  have  finish- 
ed up  the  work  themselves.  Perhaps  it  may 
do  to  empty  out  a  hive  they  are  working  at, 
providing  the  hive  itself  is  left,  and  nothing 
about  its  appearance  changed  ;  but  I  think  I 
would  rather  leave  some  comb  in  the  hive  for 


214 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


them  to  work  at.  I  fancy  I  see  A.  I.  R.  shake 
his  head  wheu  he  reads  this,  sayiug,  '  That's 
dangerous.  We  can't  be  too  careful  about 
the  matter  of  robbing,  and  hardly  ought  to 
publish  any  thing  of  the  kind.'  Yet  the 
whole  truth  ought  to  be  known.  I'm  just  as 
much  afraid  of  rolibers  as  you  are  ;  but  I  l>e- 
lieve  it  is  well  to  be  posted  on  all  points;  and 
witli  that  never-failing  safeguard,  the  foot- 
note, I  feel  sure  all  will  be  well. 

C.  C.  MiLLEB. 

Marengo  111. 

[We  indorse  every  thing  you  say  ;  and,  like 
yourself,  we  are  afraid  of  I'obbing,  and  only 
wish  that  our  helpers  regarded  it  with  the 
same  fear.  We  can  not  ourselves  endure  to 
have  even  a  single  robber  hovering  over  the 
frames,  while  our  helpers  think  nothing  of 
it  to  have  as  many  as  half  a  dozen.  To  use 
a  colloquial  phrase,  we  have  been  '  through 
the  mill,'  and  know  the  bad  results  of  allow- 
ing the  bees  to  pilfer  from  hive  to  hive. 
While  we  hold  robbing  in  great  fear,  we  are 
inclined,  on  the  other  hand,  to  let  tlie  bees, 
under  certain  circumstances,  help  them- 
selves. A  year  ago  last  summer,  at  the  Shane 
yard,  as  a  result  of  transferring  the  bees  on 
to  Hoffman  frames,  we  had  a  quantity  of 
old  crooked  combs  in  home-made  loose 
frames — too  crooked  to  be  used  in  new 
frames.  Instead  of  transferring  these  we 
carried  them  a  few  rods  from  the  apiary  and 
laid  them  in  the  shade  of  a  tree  ;  but,  mind 
you,  we  did  not  expose  them  until  we  had 
finished  work  in  the  yard.  On  one  or  two 
occasions  we  waited  long  enough  to  witness 
the  result.  The  bees  pounced  on  to  the 
combs  in  a  perfect  storm,  and  speedily 
emptied  them  of  every  thing  sweet.  The 
next  day  we  returned  and  found  the  apiary 
comparatively  <iuiet,  nor  were  there  any  dead 
bees  at  any  of  the  entrances,  as  a  result  of 
previous  conflict.  One  time,  we  remem- 
ber very  distinctly  of  setting  a  couple 
of  combs  under  a  tree  a  few  rods 
away,  while  we  were  in  the  midst  of  our 
work.  All  at  once  the  bees  began  to  be  cross, 
and  to  pilfer  over  the  top  of  the  hive.  The 
first  incoming  laden  bees  notified  those  al- 
ready in  the  hives  that  honey  was  to  be  had 
somewhere.  As  we  have  noticed  many  times 
before,  they  began  to  hunt  around,  and,  very 
naturally,  turned  to  the  hives  where  we  were 
working,  because  they  had  noi  yet  discov- 
ered the  source  of  honey  from  which  the 
first  supply  was  obtained.  It  is  needless  to 
say  we  stopped  right  then  and  there. 

MODE     ABOUT      THAT     STACKED  -  UP  -  HIVE 
FEEDING. 

Now,  we  would  by  no  means  advise  the 
scattering  of  partially  filled  combs  a  few 
rods  from  the  apiary  where  it  is  located  near 
dwelling-houses ;  but  in  out-yards  situated 
as  the  one  mentioned,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away  from  buildings,  it  may  be  done 
at  times  to  advantage.  The  plan  that  can 
always  be  pursued  safely  where  it  is  desired 
to  empty  out  combs  containing  a  little  hon- 
ey, is,  to  place  them  in  hives  stacked  uj) 
two  or  three  high,  with  a  small  entrance,  as 
explained  in  our  editorial  on  page  782. 
While  these  stacks  of  hives,  we  know  by  ex- 


perience, can  be  placed  right  near  the  drive- 
way, and  yet  horses  and  persons  can  go  hy 
without  the  least  interference,  we  would  not 
recommend  it. 

This  plan  of  feeding  creates  an  artificial 
condition  of  things  during  a  dearth  of  honey 
— that  is,  a  dearth  from  natural  sources — 
much  like  that  wheu  honey  is  coming  in 
freely  from  the  flowers  in  nature's  own  way. 
Instead  of  robbers  flying  around  and  steal- 
ing, they  are  given  something  to  do  ;  and  the 
result  is,  that  we  have  been  able,  during  the 
past  few  days,  to  go  on  with  our  work  of 
uniting,  etc.,  in  the  apiary,  with  very  little 
interference  from  robbers.  And,  again,  we 
observe  the  honey  itself  is  being  distril>uted 
throughout  the  apiary,  not,  as  we  should 
naturally  supjiose,  in  the  strongest  colonies, 
but  witli  a  very  fair  and  even  distribution 
througliout  all  the  hives.  Our  Mr.  Spaft'ord 
said  that  he  could  see  the  result  of  this  open 
air  feeding  in  the  hives.  Queens  were  be- 
ginning to  breed,  and  every  thing  was  going 
on  just  as  if  nature  had  taken  a  sudden 
boom.  Nearly  every  apiarist  every  spring 
has  a  few  combs  containing  a  little  honey  ; 
and  what  a  good  effect  this  kind  of  out-door 
feeding  may  have  in  stimulating  brood-rear- 
ing at  the  time  of  year  we  most  desire  it, 
with  so  little  labor,  the  reader  can  figure  out 
for  himself.  Besides  the  increased  amount 
of  brood-rearing,  he  will  have  a  lot  of  nice, 
clean,  dry  combs,  no  more  tempting  to  rob- 
bers later  on  in  the  season. 

We  are  sure  that  bee-keepers  have  not  yet 
experienced  the  many  advantages  that  may 
accrue  from  this  kind  of  feeding.  They  have 
known  of  it,  it  is  true,  but  have  not  as  yet 
utilized  it.  Now,  doctor,  while  we  may  be 
at  fault  for  not  giving  more  details  of  the 
work  in  our  own  apiary,  we  hope  we  have  re- 
deemed ourselves,  at  least  temporarily. 

P.  S. — A.  I.  R,  has  witnessed  the  results  of 
this  stacked-hive  feeding  a  la  Miller,  and 
acknowledges  that  it  is  a  success  in  more 
ways  than  one.  At  first  he  felt  a  little 
skeptical  about  it,  and  was  slightly  alarmed 
lest  we  '  boys '  might  be  getting  ourselves 
into  trouble.]  " 

The  caution  that  the  Doctor  gives  about 
taking  away  whatever  bees  are  working 
upon  and  leaving  nothing  for  them  to 
work  upon,  is  excellent.  I  have  noticed  a 
great  many  times  that  if  robbers  were  al- 
lowed to  go  on  and  "  clean  out  "  what  they 
are  at  work'  upon  no  trouble  follows,  hut  if 
they  are  suddenly  "  robbed  of  their  prey," 
something  else  will  have  to  suffer.  One  sea- 
son, after  the  main  harvest  was  over,  I  al- 
lowed the  bees  to  clean  up  the  cappings  that 
had  accumulated.  They  were  taken  out  a 
pailful  at  a  time  and  spread  out  in  large  tin 
cans  a  few  rods  from  the  apiary.  In  ten 
minutes  from  the  time  a  pail  of  cappings 
was  placed  in  the  cans,  the  bees  would  be  in 
full  flight  from  almost  every  hive.  The 
bees  went  straight  to  the  "  feeding  place  " 
every  time.    Within  an  hour  all  would  be 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


215 


quiet,  except  a  few  bees  might  be  seen  hover- 
ing over  the  cappiugs.  I  have  had  combs  of 
honey  emptied  as  the  Doctor  relates,  and  I 
have  had  sections  cleaned  up  in  the  fall,  and 
I  have  frequently  fed  in  the  open  air,  and  no 
trouble  has  resulted.  My  principle  objection 
to  the  plan  of  out  door  feeding  is  that  the 
feed  is  not  equally  divided.  Some  colonies 
get  a  great  deal  more  than  their  share.  But, 
for  getting  things  cleaned  up  I  know  of  no 
better  plan. 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee    Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

The  idea  brought  down  from  the  last  num- 
ber is  the  recent  growth  of  our  papers.  Most 
of  us  have  well  in  mind  the  need  of  avoiding 
that  stolid,  uuprogressive,  knot-on-a-log 
character  which  "organs,"  when  they  think 
they  have  a  sort  of  mortgatre  on  their  pat- 
rons' support,  so  readily  fall  into.  Our 
journals,  most  of  them,  seem  to  be  no  longer 
in  danger  in  that  direction.  At  present  they 
have  need  to  remember  (just  a  little  bit)  that 
there  is  a  second  and  opposite  danger,  rest- 
less, tom-tinker  f  ussiness  of  change.  Changes 
which  are  made  just  for  the  sake  of  chang- 
ing are  not  always  wise.  I  am  very  glad  to 
reach  at  length  the  turn  of  the 

AMERICAN  Bee  journal. 

I  find  I  have  sixteen  numbers  not  finally 
laid  away  ;  and  the  task  of  properly  review- 
ing such  a  volume  of  literature  is  so  enor- 
mous that  I  just  give  up  the  most  of  it. 
Friend  Yo-  k.  your  bed  in  the  garden  is  like 
the  State  of  Illinois — so  Viig  that  your  small 
reviewer  can't  weed  it  all  river.  The  new 
master  of  .4.  B.  J.  is  great  on  starting  new 
departments  and  cho|ipiiig  things  up  fine. 
The  de[)artmejjt  of  General  Questions  is,  I 
believe,  the  youngest  and  is  designed  for 
dealing  with  such  questions  as  it  is  not 
thought  Vjest  to  have  answered  by  the  sym- 
posium method.  The  symposium  which  was 
hailed  as  the  best  thing  out,  and  which  has 
been  very  useful  for  a  long  time,  shows  de- 
cided signs  of  decline.  In  one  department 
at  least  the  A.  B.  J.  is  not  choppy  but 
thorough,  and  has  a  clear  lead  of  the  host, 
that  is  the  Biography  Department.  And  its 
excellence  is  no  doubt  the  result  of  much 
and  patient  editorial  hard  work.  By  the  way 
outsiders  mostly  think  that  editorial  work  is 


all,  or  most  all,  in  writing  editorials.  The 
fact  is  that  of  successful  editors  some  write 
much  editojial  matter  and  some  write  very 
little  ;  but  all  have  to  have  tact  and  industry 
and  persistence  in  getting  other  people  to  do 
their  best.  Friend  York  evidently  works 
hard  at  getting  the  right  writers  to  write 
right  in  these  personal  sketches.  The  pictures 
too,  although  we  are  still  treated  to  occasion- 
al poor  ones,  average  quite  tolerably,  with 
few  very  bad.  Of  these  interesting  memoirs  I 
will  refer  to  but  one,  Ralph  Benton,  youngest 
member  of  the  North  American  ;  not  yet 
nine,  earned  the  money  for  his  initiation  fee 
by  apiary  work.  Hurrah  for  aristocratic 
Washington  and  wooly  Texas,  as  represented 
by  their  child  bee-keejiers,  Ralph  Benton 
and  Leah  Atchley  !  And  should  they  some 
day  both  get  into  the  same  State,  that  re- 
puted best  State  in  thii  Union — well,  at  least 
we  will  not  come  around  at  the  vmtimely 
midnight  hour  and  make  such  music  as  is 
appropriated  for   bees  a-swarming. 

Editor  York  also  takes  the  liberty,  j)erfect- 
ly  proper  when  properly  confessed  as  this  is 
(page  .'520)  to  ask  otlier  suitable  persons  to 
writ'^  editorial  notes.  But  an  editor  so  doing 
needs  to  "  watch  out  "  real  sharp  lest  time 
and  carelessness  trap  him  into  letting  things 
•he  is  not  exactly  willing  to  be  responsible 
for  disport  themselves  under  his  editorial 
robe. 

On  page  4.3(S  for  April  16th,  is  the  oldest 
article  I  will  at  this  time  refer  to.  This  is 
friend  McGuire's  record  of  a  colony  on  the 
scales.  Well  kept  records  of  this  kind  are 
not  plenty  by  any  means  ;  and  it  is  desira- 
ble that  they  should  he  encouraged, especi- 
ally such  as  are  ho^  enormous  or  exceptional. 
The  monstrous  things  are  all  very  well 
to  notice  ;  but  the  aver  'g' realities  of  '-ature 
are  of  much  more  imiiortance  to  us.  In  this 
record  the  best  day's  run  is  9  i^  pounds  on 
May  130  ;  the  season  is  nine  weeks  long  :  and 
the  total  at  the  runs  is  11.5)^  lbs.,  well  dis- 
tributed through  the  rather  long  season. 

On  page  4(i2  for  April  13th,  friend  Cnllins 
tells  us  how  to  get  the  start  of  (he  midnight 
skunk,  and  his  deeds  of  darkness.  It  is'nt  a 
very  tidy  way,  but  it  is  evidently  effective — 
just  pile  the  entrance  with  boulders  too  big 
for  his  ill-savored  majesty  to  move  with 
ease. 

According  to  the  German  itemist  Reepen, 
most  of  the  bee-masters  of  Germany  hold 
that  honey  dew  is  sometimes  a  direct  exuda- 
tion of  the  leaves  and  not  an  insect  secre- 


216 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


tion.  Oue  would  thiuk  that  the  more  logical 
way  would  be  to  use  two  terms — exudatiou 
honey  aud  iusect  honey.  But  then  if  the  two 
are  so  much  alike  that  common  folks  can- 
not tell  which  is  which  perhaps  one  term  will 
have  to  answer  for  a  spell  longer.  It  seems 
that  in  the  Black  Forest  and  in  the  Vosges 
mountains  there  was  an  immense  yield  of 
honey  dew  last  season — 845  pounds  of  it  ex- 
tracted from  one  hive.  And  by  the  way  I 
have  not  yet  given  sufiBcient  credit  to  the  A. 
B.  J.  for  the  solidity  and  excellence  of  its 
German  department.  It  is  a  notable  evidence 
of  its  recent  growth.  ( )ne  cannot  say  that 
the  "Old  Reliable"  is  very  badly  affected 
with  the  pop-gun  disease  when  he  considers 
how  much  that  is  thorough  its  columns  con- 
tain. And  June  1st  we  are  reminded 
that  the  present  hand  has  held  the  tiller  just 
one  year  that  day.  Honestly  a  good  deal  has 
been  well  done  during  that  year. 

Turning  now  to  the  latest  number,  Ju')e 
ir)th,  we  invoice  it  as  two  pages  of  editorial 
notes  (thirteen  of  them  crowded  in)  three 
columns  of  general  queries  and  answers,  43.2 
columns  biography  of  Dr.  Mason,  four  col- 
umns of  Jennie  Atchley's  Southland,  a  page 
of  Query  !S7"),  eleven  columns  of  contribu- 
tors' articles  (six  articles)  and  four  columns 
of  letter  box  clippings. 

That  was  meant  for  a  very  fine  picture  of 
Mason,  but  it  errs,  as  his  pictures  are  quite 
apt  to  do.  in  having  a  too  sober  aud  slightly 
moribund  look,  quite  foreign  to  the  good  Dr. 
as  viewetl  when  he  is  alive.  The  sketch  is 
O.  K. — and  written  by  a  person  \  iiose  first 
object  certainly  was  not  to  get  the  job  fin- 
ished and  out  of  mind. 

Sunny  Southland  is  getting  Ut  strike  me  as 
a  little  too  mucli  like  a  journal  within  a  jour- 
nal. I  would  not  lay  much  stress  on  this  re- 
mark, as  perhaps  it  is  a  mere  notion  of  mine, 
not  shared  by  the  reading  public.  I  cer- 
tainly do  not  object  to  Mrs.  A.  when  she 
takes  the  field  and  says  things  herself.  And 
as  her  space  in  this  number  is  wholly  hlled 
with  two  of  her  own  best  articles  lioiled  into 
one,  my  criticism  is  a  little  like  complain- 
ing in  dog-days  iit  an  ancient  snow  storu). 
Her  theme  is  (pieen-rearing.  a  sciet)ce  of 
wliich  herself  and  Alley  and  Doolitfle  Mre 
"professors."  Letusdipin.  Twenty  strong 
colonies  and  ten  queens — and  the  queens 
jumped  back  and  forth  every  time  a  batch  is 
finished.  And,  here's  a  royal  point — extend- 
ing a  favorite  breeding  aueen's  life  by  con- 
fining her  on  three  combs,   though  all  the 


time  in  a  powerful  colony,  kept  so  by  combs 
of  brood  from  outside  sources.  The  breed- 
ing drones  are  localized  in  one  colony,  and 
this  kept  from  swarming  by  holding  it 
queenless  most  of  the  time.  (Not  so  sure  of 
the  absolute  correctness  of  that  practice.) 
And  so  introducing  virgins  is  N.  (t.  They 
waste  time  in  the  virgin  state,  while  home- 
born  ones  get  immediately  to  biz. 

Going  to  say  something  naughty  aVtout 
Query  87.5  and  a  previous  one  ;  but  I  won't 
say  it  now. 

Aud  now  those  six  contributors  have  got 
to  go  to  bed  with  a  spank  apiece.  Friend 
Latham  skirmishes  uiml)ly  over  the  question 
of  the  queen  control  of  the  sex  of  her  eggs, 
but  leaves  matt(  rs  on  the  field  about  as  he 
found  them.  Friend  Common  says 

"I  am  cfnivinced  th.it  the  bees  will  give  doable 
the  suiplns  honey  if  hived  ou  drawn  combs,  if 
rifjrhtly  managed." 

Me  too.  But  the  opposite  practice  no 
doubt  works  well  good  years  in  first  rate  lo- 
cations. 

Montreal  thinks  winter  bee-diarrhea  can 
be  cured  by  a  few  drops  of  spirits  of  pepper- 
mint spilled  underneath  them.  Well,  at 
least  he  will  not  be  prosecuted  for  cruel  mal- 
practice if  he  doctors  thus — and  his  out 
door  wintering  plan  is  not  bad. 

Friend  Dayton  went  to  bed  in  a  buggy 
locality  and  discovered  that  fifteen  thick- 
nesses of  paper  all  over  and  projecting  a  few- 
inches  all  round  the  bed  circumvents  the  un- 
circumventable  B.  B. 

Friend  (retaz  thinks  queen  trap  practice 
to  control  swarming  is  unsatisfactory  to  both 
bees  and  bee-keepers,  and  results  in  the 
death  of  queens.     Me  too. 

Friend  S.  E.  Miller's  article  was  not  writ- 
ten primarily  for  A.  B.  J.,  but  is  none  the 
worse  for  that.  He  seems  to  "  argy  "  it  a 
critical  matter  to  know  just  when  to  put  on 
the  supers.  I  suppose  we  are  to  infer  that 
the  wise  man  will  hit  it,  and  the  blunder- 
head miss  it.  'Spects  I'm  wise  enough  to 
know  that  I  have  some  that  ought  to  be  go- 
in  this  minute — and  here  I  am  writing. 

The  General    round  Up 

The  most  important  thing  since  last  "  sur- 
round" is  doulftless  the  establishment  of  the 
Michigan  experimeiii  station.  We  will  tol- 
oralc  the  Michigan  Committee  in  wearing 
pretty  good  sized  feathers  in  hoTior  of  their 
diligence  and  succe^^s.  We  shall  look  with 
much  expectation  to  that  new  department  in 
the  Review.    The  really   good  work  that  is 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


217 


done  under  National  and  State  auspices 
seems  to  be  about  half  lost  to  the  general 
public  just  from  the  lack  of  intercommuni- 
cation between  the  workers  and  those  who 
would  really  like  to  know  what  is  going  on. 
When  we  were  boys  we  found  that  watching 
the  evolution  of  the  doughnut  was  a  wonder- 
ful appetizer  for  doughnut.  We  hope  there- 
fore that  experimenter  Taylor  will  let  us 
climb  up  in  chairs  and  "  help  " — and  see 
everything  from  the  sifting  of  the  flour  to 
the  hanging  up  of  the  spider,  as  the  Michi- 
gan doughnuts  are  evolved. 

It  will  do  no  harm,  though,  to  look  at  the 
matter  from  another  direction.  Experi- 
menting in  quest  of  valuable  discoveries  is 
very  like  raising  new  seedlings  in  quest  of 
valuable  new  varieties.  Many  thousand 
strawberry  seedlings  are  carefully  raised  for 
every  one  new  strawberry  that  comes  into 
general  cultivation.  Even  so,  many  sets  of 
experiments  may  be  wisely  planned  and  ably 
executed  before  we  all  get  rich  and  go  to 
the  World's  Fair  on  the  proceeds.  But  even 
if  our  doughnuts  do  all  turn  out  unedible 
mud-pies  in  the  end,  we  want  to  have  the 
fun  of  seeing  them  made. 

The  Ckmadian,  having  encountered  a  little 
racket  in  rough  waters,  is  recovering  and 
catching  up. 

Oleanings  pleads  not  guilty  about  the 
Weed  comb.  Looks  like  a  bad  case  of  blun- 
dering on  my  part.  I  must  investigate  dates 
a  little  (when  bees  are  not  swarming)  and  if 
the  description  was  promptly  given,  before 
people  had  largely  learned  the  thing  from 
other  sources.  I  will  eat  "  humble  pie  "  as  if 
I  liked  it.  Humble  pie  is  good  for  hasty 
folks  any  way,  only  it  don't  taste  good. 

Tlie  Proyrpusive  gives  the  Review  and  ray- 
self  the  very  hi'jh  compliment  of  commenc- 
ing a  new  department  on  the  same  general 
lines  as  this  Condensed  View.  I  am  specially 
pleased  to  see  that  the  writer  repeats  and 
earnestly  seconds  my  estimate  of  Mr.  Hutch- 
inson's work.  The  opening  article  is  illus- 
trated, thus  going  the  Review  "  one  better." 
Tlie  Review  appears  in  the  illustration  as  at 
the  head  of  the  race  :  but  W.  Z.,  do  you  when 
you  go  a  bikinar  ride  a  three  wheeled  con- 
cern, like  an  elderly  physician  whose  sands 
of  life  have  well  nigh  run  out  ? 

The  department  is  signed  "  Somnambu- 
list;"  and  who  Somnambulist  is  will  be  a 
first-class  conundrum  for  a  bit.  But  when 
we  look  closely  It  appears  as  if  his  tracks 
were  not  entirely  covered.    If  he  has  a  lady 


assistant  in  his  apiary — and  if  he  has  rustled 
around  for  "  straw "  till  the  surrounding 
fields  yield  scarce  enough  to  make  a  peewit's 
nest — and  if  he  has  a  lower  estimate  of  Stray 
Straws  than  any  one  but  the  modest  author 
is  likely  to  have — why  then  possibly  we  can 
locate  him.  Dear  Somanambulist  don't 
make  your  nest  upon  one  of  those  lofty  pinna- 
cles at  the  World's  Fair.  Remember  that 
somnambulists  go  in  lofty  places  with  per- 
fect safety  so  long  as  they  are  sound  asleep  ; 
but  the  minute  they  wake  up  they  fall  and 
break  all  to  pieces.  'Hist !  I  shall  wake 
him. 

The  Progressive  also  has  a  picture  and 
biography,  apparently  intending  to  "  follow 
suit"  on  A.  B.  J.'s  strongest  department. 
Altogether  the  Progressive  seems  quite  meta- 
morphosed. And  editor  Leahy  (his  name  is 
run  up  this  time)  I  guess  we  may  set  him 
down  as  one  of  those  fellows  who  will  make 
a  horn  spoon  or  teetotally  spoil  the  horn, 
and  a  good  jack-knife  too. 

There,  I'm  going  to  let  the  rest  of  the 
drove  go.  and  see  if  I  cannot  stop  my  swarmy 
bees  from  being  driven  to  still  hotter  swarm 
fever  by  lack  of  place  to  put  their  honey. 

RioHAEDs,  Lucas  Co.,  O.,  June  20,  1893. 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


BEES 


QXJEE3SrS, 

SECTIONS,    SMOKEKS, 
^^^^^^^  COMB   FOUNDATION 

And  all  Apiarian  Sujiplies.      SenrI  for  Catalosue. 
£.  T.  FLANAGAN,  Belleville,  111. 

Befi  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Lang8troth-Simi>licity,  Standard 
Laiigstroth,  Dovetailed  and  Champion  Chaflf 
Hives,  Supers,  One  Piece  Sections  anil  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16  page  Circular. 
1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  London,  Wis. 

If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 


218 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


NO  ORDERS, 

Mr.  (r.  E.  Dawson  of  Carlisle,  Ark.,  is  a  new 
advertiser  of  fine  Italian  Queens.  While 
some  old  advertisers  have  stopped  their 
ads.  because  they  were  overbordcnod  with 
orders.  Mr.  Dawson  complains  tliat,  although 
lie  lias  .KhMM-tised  since  Jan.,  he  lias  received 
NO  OItD£RS>  He  raises  fi()()d  queens  as  I 
know  from  some  he  has  sent  me.  Now,  will 
some  of  the  brethren  who  want  queens  send 
him  an  order  and  thus  show  him  that  the 
Keview  is  a  good  advertising  medium  ?  His 
prices  arc  as  follows  :  Untested,  7.")  cts  each, 
three  for  «2.iiO,  six  for  S3..50,  twelve  for  $6.00. 
Tested,  $1  25 ;  select  tested,  yellow  to  the 
very  tip,  $1..")0.— Ed.  Review. 


Please  mention  the  Reuiew, 


NOTICE   OUR  PRICES- 

No.  1  Sections  S2.7.5  per  1,(XK(  Tliiu,  surplus 
foundation,  best  quality,  50  c's  per  pound. 
A  full  line  of  sui)p!ies,  including  Root's  Dove- 
tailed Hives,  on  hand.  Send  for  circular  and 
free  sample  of  foundation  5  93-tf 

J.  H.  i&  A  .L.  BOYDEN, 

Saline,  Mich. 

LEININGER  —  BROS. 

Will  sell  Italian  queens  and  nuclei  cheap  the 
coming  i-eason.    Write  for  special  prices. 

59' tf  Ft.  Jennings,  Ohio. 


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L.  Z_,  HEARN. 
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Pleiise  mention   the  Reuiew. 

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Send  $1..50  and  got  one.     Wm.  H.  BRKiHT, 
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FCXR      189S. 

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For  $1.50  1  will  jend 

the  Review  for  IS 93 

apcl    a    fipe,    youpg, 

Izvyipg,  Itzvlizip  queen. 

Queer?  zvlooe,   75  ct?.     Por$!.75  I  will  sei7cl  the  ^ 

Review,  tbe  queep  2vp<I  **  A'lvAoced  Bee  Gul-  /^ 

ture."    Tested  queei75,  $1.00.   T^e  Review  zvpd  ^ 

zi  tested  queen  $1.75  XVj 

A  discount  on  izvrge  ^ 

orders.  W.  Z.  Hutcb-  ^ 

W    inson,    Flint,    A\icb.  IQ, 

s^                                m  '<, 


REVIEW 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


219 


The    Cbz^rnpion  SrnoKer. 

The  ORKJINAL  curved  nozzle,  steel  lined,  Bel- 
lows Smoker.  The  fire-chamber  is  S'-jx?  inches, 
with  a  corrn gated  steel  lining,  which  allows  a  cold 
current  of  air  tt>  pass  between  lining  and  outside 
shell ;  keeps  the  outer  shell  cool  and  more  than 
doubles  the  durability  of  the  Smoker.  It  hasaFOBCE 
draft,  and  spark-arrestimi  I'ONE  connection  be 
tween  bellows  and  fire-chamber;  a  base-valve  to 
either  keep  or  extinguish  the  fire  at  pleasure;  and 
a  removable  spark-arresting  (iRATEin  the  curved 
nozzle. 

Price,  by  mail,  $1.90;  by  expressf  81.65 
If  your  supply  dealer  cannot  supply  you,  write 
to  the  manufac'urer, 

E.  KRETCH/AERf  R**"  OaK,  lowav. 
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pREE  TO  ALL.      ^ 

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C^nz^clizio  Be?  J'ournzil 

OB 

CanzvcIiziH  Poultry  Journ^Ii 

Or  both,  will  be  sent  FREE  to  applicants  who 

desire  them,  iipon  receipt  of  their  names 

and  addresses. 


These  papers  are  both  of  them  edited  and  ar- 
ranged by  practical  men,  admittedly  the  most 
experienced  in  tlieir  particular  lines  to  be  found 
on  the  continent,  and  the  .Jonrnals  may  there- 
fore be  regarded  as  authoritativeupon  the  sever- 
al subjects  of  which  thev  treat. 

Address         BEETON  PUHLI8HING  t'O., 
Beeton,  Ontario. 


Dadant's  Comb  Foundation. 

Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  feompetittjrs 
acknowledge  that  our  good;;  are  the  Standard 
of  their  kind.  Langstroth  on  the  Honey 
Bee,  Revised.  New  eiiition.  Bee  Veils; 
and  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samples  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners        Send    yonr    address    to 

GHAS.  DADANT  &  SON,  Hamilton,  Ills. 


k 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  Second-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  pajinents.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped  ."privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  \  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADQUARTERS,   ( l*^  Monroe  St.,  Chicaga 


IMPORTANT-^^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  uame  on 
their  own  merits.  Tliose  who  have  tested  them 
with  otlier  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  sirongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  tliat  produce  uuifonuly 
marked 

piVE-BflflDED    WOt^KHt^S 

In  March,  April  and  May,  Sl.25  each,  6  for  $6.00; 
June,  $1  (It)  each,  (i  for  $'>.W;  July  to  Nov.,  fl.UO 
each,  6  for  Sf.'jO,  .Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 

12-92-tf  C.  D    DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 


New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS. 
FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWRY  JOHNSON, 

1-93-tf.  Masontown,  Pa. 


HONEY  HLPKHG 


Please  mention  the  Review. 


AND  Bee  Books, 

OF  ALL  KINDS, 
A  LARGE  STOCK. 
MY  NEW   I1.1,VTSTKATE» 

Catalogue  and  Price  List  of  Supplies 
for  the  Apiary  will  be  sent  free  to  all 
who  may  apply.  Send  a  postal  card 
for  it.  writing  your  name  and  address 
kplainly.  For  every  Order  of  $10.00 
*aud  over.  I  will  make  you  a  present. 
The  Catalogue  tells  you  all  about  It. 
T.  O.  Newman,  147  So.Western  Ave.,  Chicago. 


220 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


FOV/HDATIOn    (a     (§:     (s:     ©: 

;©)      ;©);©)      ;g)     si:>^    Cents    a    Pound 

less  than  foniiorly.    Also  other  boo  supplies  at  lowest  rates.    Bend  for  illustrated  catalogue  and 

price  list,  also  copy  of  the  AV^^ERICAW  BEE-KEEPER. 

(ESTABLISHED  13  YEARS.)  W.  T.  FALCONBR  Mfg.  CO.,  Jamestown,  N.  Y. 


THE       LARGEST 

Estnblishinont  in  Michigan  dovoted  exclusively 
to  the  manufacture  of  bee-keepers' 

SURRLIES. 

Snow  white  sections  $3.(K)  per  l,(XKt.     No.  2  sec- 
tit)n8.  $2.00  per  1,000. 

k  complete  hive  for  comb  honey,  consisting  of 
body,  half  story,  six  section  holders,  eight  brood 
frames,  bottom  board  and  cover,  all  nailed  up, 
for  only  $1.00 :  in  the  flat,  iK)  cts.  A.  chafi  hive, 
with  movable  side,  all  complete,  for  only  $2,00. 
A  full  line  of  bee-keepers'  supplies.  20-page 
price  list  free.  J.  M.  KINZIE, 
12-92-12  t  Rochester,  Mich. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 

PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FOUIATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

Thill,  Flat  -  Bottom  Foniidatioii 

HAS  NO  FISHBONE  IN  SURPLUS  HONEY. 

Beiug  the   cleanest,    it    is    usually 
worked  quicker  than  any  fdn.  made. 
J.    VAN  DKIJSKN   &   SON.S, 
(SOLE   MANUFACTURERS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,  Mont.  Co.,N.Y 

Please  mention  the  Reuietu. 


Italian    Queens 

From  imported  uiotlier,  warranted  purely  mated, 
$1.(X)  each ;  six  at  one  time,  $.").0O.  Untested 
queens,  75  cts  each. 

C.  A.  HUNCH. 
7-9B-2t  Nye,  Marshall  Co.,  Ind. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieiv, 


"Golden"  ^^  Floriila. 

My  location  enables  me  to  rear  good  queens 
NOW  as  cheaply  as  they  can  bo  reared  in  the 
Nt)rth  at  anytime.  Untested  queens.  75  cts. 
each;  6  for  $4.01.);  one  dozen,  $7.50.  Last  year's 
tested  queen,  $1.25;  select,  $1.75  ;  breeder,  $2. .50. 
Safe  arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.   11-92  -tf 

J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Vol.  Co.,  Fla. 

Please  mention  the  Reuleui. 


1  TKLL  you  what,  Jones,  Lev- 
ering Bros,  sell  the  best  goods 
and  at  the  lowest  prices  of  any 
one  I've  struck  yet.  The  lar- 
\ge8t  and  best  equipped 

Bee- Hive  Paclofj 

In  the  West.     The  Dovetailed 
Hive  and    New    Hoffman  seU- 
suacing     frame     a     specialty. 
Everything  used    by  practical 
bee-keepers  by  wholesale  and  re- 
tail.   Send  for  their  free  Illus- 
trated Prico-List.  and  save  money.    Supply  Deal- 
ers, send  for  their  Wliolesale  List.    Address 
LEVERING  BROS.. 
2-93-6.  WIOT.V,  Cass  Co..  Iowa. 

Gorr)b    Leveler. 

Sections  full  of  comb  kejit  over  from  last  year, 
when  used  to  indace  the  bees  to  begin  work  in 
the  supers,  are  worth  nearly  as  much  as  sections 
filled  with  honey.  The  only  objection  to  their 
use  is  that  the  comb  is  often  uneven  and  gives 
the  honey  a  rough  appearance.  By  the  use  of 
Taylor's  Handy  Comb  Leveler  the  combs  can  be 
brouglit  to  a  level  as  raiiidly  as  1  be  sections  can 
be  handled,  and  the  comb  of  honey,  when  fin- 
ished, will  have  all  the  fine  appearance  of  that 
produced  witli  fresh  foundation.  Price  of  the 
leveler  (except  the  woo<len  box  in  which  to  set 
the  lamp)  00  cts.  by  mail.  Box  and  all,  $1.10 
by  mail ;  by  express,  $1.00. 

B.  T/VYLOR,  Forcstvillc,  A\»«>*>- 

Golden  Italians. 

My  bees  are  large  and  great  honey  gatheroi 
1  untested  queen,  80  cts. ;  3  for  $2  00.    1  warrai.- 
ted  queen,  gl.OO;  3  for  $2.50.    I  tested  queen, 
$2.00 ;  selected,  tested,  $2..tO.    Satisfaction  guar- 
anteed or  money  refunded.  4-93-tf 

C.  M.  MICKS,  Hieksville,  JVId. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 

Just    Splendid. 

Mr.  Alley— 'l"he  (lueen  1  got  of  you  lust  fall  is 
just  splendid  I    She  is  the  best  queen  in  an  api- 
ary 1.50  colonies.    1  would  not  take  $10  for  her. 
John  A.  Pease,  Moravia,  Calif. 
Price  of  such  queens  is  $1.00  each. 

HENRY  ALLEY, 

Wenham,  Mass. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieut. 


AUG.,     1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


ADVEf^TISIflG  {^RTES. 

All  advertisemente  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cente  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lineH  of  Nonpareil  space  make  linch. 
Disconnte  will  be  given  as  follows  : 

On  10 lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  5  per  cent;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lineB  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  percent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  30  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times.' 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Iiist. 

1  will  send  the  Review  with— 

Gleanings, (tfl.OO) 

American  Bee  Journal (  l.OO) 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) 

American  Bee  Keeper    . . .  (    .50) 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper.. .  (    ..50) . . . 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    ..50) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Magazine. . .  (    .50) 


.$!.7.5. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.40. 

.  130. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.65. 

.  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 

The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules:  ~ 

Fancy.— \11  sections  to  be  well  filled;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise  ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  whit«," 
"No.  1  dark,"'  etc. 


NEW  YORK— The  new  crop  of  extracted  from 
California  and  the  South  is  arriving  very  freely. 
There  is  a  limited  demand  and  prices  have  a 
downward  tendency.  We  quote  as  follows: 
White  extracted.  6>/i  to  7  ;  Amber,  6  to  6' 4;  Dark, 
5'/i  to  6.    Beeswax,  26  to  27. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN, 

July  7.         28  &  :iO  West  Broadway  New  York. 


0H1('A(U),  111.— Fancy  white  clover  in  the 
comb,  wirh  every  thing  perfect  about  it  brings 
16  to  17.  No.  1  white  brings  about  15  The  darker 
grades  are  unsalable  at  present.  White  extract- 
ed brings  6  to  7,  amber  and  dark,  5  to  6.  beeswax, 
18  to  22.  There  is  very  liftle  activity  in  the 
market  just  now.  Some  lots  of  the  new  crop  of 
honey  are  arriving  which  present  a  very  fine 
appearance  and  the  quality  is  also  excellent. 
R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 
Aug,  1,  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


KAN.SA.S  CITY,  MO.— We  cannot  give  any 
Quotations,  as  there  is  no  new  comb  or  extract- 
ed honey  in  the  market.  No.l,  white  comb 
would  bring  about  16  or  17  cts. 

CLEMONS-MASON  CO., 

July  7.  .521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 


(  INCINNATl,  Ohio.— There  is  no  ciioice  comb 
honey  on  the  market,  A  fair  artichf  brings  14  to 
16  in  a  jobbinir  way.  The  demand  is  good  for 
extractetl  at  from  6  to  8  cts.  There  is  a  good  de- 
mand for  choiceyellow  wax  at  from  24  to  27  ct-^. 
CHAS.  F.  MITTH  &  .SON.. 

April  1.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  ^inn.,  We  tliink  honey  will 
sell  much  lower  later  on  and  now  is  the  time  to 
market  it.  We  quote  as  follows:  Fauv-y  white, 
18t.o20;  No.  1  white.  17:  fanfy  amber,  16;  No.l 
amber.  14;  fancy  dark,  13;  No.  i  dark.  11;  white 
extracted.  8  lo  9 ;  amber,  7  to  S  ;  dark.  e'i.  Bees- 
wax is  unsalable 

116  First  Ave.,  North.  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
Aug.  1, 


CHICAGO,  111.— The  warm  weather  checks  the 
sale  of  honey.  We  are  looking  forward  to  a  good 
season  with  sood  prices  for  fancy  stock.  Dark 
and  damaged  comb  honey  is  a  poor  seller.  We 
quote  as  follows:  Fancy  white,  17  ;  No.  1  white, 
i6;  fancy  amber,  U;  White  extracted.  8  to  8'/i  ; 
amber  extracted,  7  to  8 ;  dark,  5'  i  to  6.  Beeswax, 
21  to  22. 

J.  A.  L.4M0N, 

Aug  1.  44  &48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y.— We  cannot  advise  the  ship- 
ment of  honey  to  this  market  at  oresent,  nor 
for  perhaps  several  weeks.  There  is  too  much 
fruit  arriving  to  handle  honey  to  advantage.  At 
present  there  are  a  few  small  sales  of  fancy,  one 
pound  combs  at  about  14  to  15.  The  lower 
grades  sell  from  12  downward.  There  is  no  sale 
at  present  for  extracted.  Later  ou,  during  the 
proper  season,  we  can  handle  many  tons  of 
honey  as  satisfactorily  as  it  can  be  handled  in 
any  market  in  the  United  States,  andwe  shall 
be  glad  at  that  time  to  correspond  with  those 
having  honey  to  sell. 

PATTERSON  .<tCO. 

Aug.  1.  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


BEE  -  KEEPERS' 

SURRLY  HOUSE 

J.  H.  M  COOK,  78  Barclay  St.,  N   Y.  Ciiy. 

(SUCCESSOR  TO  A.  J.  KING.) 

4-93tf  Send  for  illustrated  Catalogue 

lUnstraiefl   AdyertlseieDts  Attract   Attention. 


Cnts  Firnistied  for  all  illnstratlna  Purposes. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


223 


FEEDIDG    ©AGK 


Hone}'  to  secure  the  completion  of  unfinished  sections  can 
be  made  very  profitable  if  rig^htly  manag-ed  during-  the  hot 
weather  of  July  and  August.  In  "  Advanced  Bee  Cul- 
ture "  may  be  found  complete  instructions  regarding  the 
selection  and  preparation  of  colonies,  preparation  of  the 
feed,  manipulation  necessary  to  secure  the  rapid  capping 
of  the  combs,  time  for  removing  the  hone}^  and  how  to 
manage  if  a  few  sections  in  a  case  are  not  quite  complete  ; 
in  short,  all  of  the  "kinks  "  that  have  been  learned  from 
3'ears  of  experience  and  the  "feeding  back  "  of  tons  of  honey. 
Price  of  the  book,  50  cts. ;  the  Review  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,   either  U,  S.  or  Canadian. 

W.  Z.  H^TCHINSOJ^,  Flint,  ^ich. 


ON    HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

or  BEE    HIVES,    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE   NORTHWEST. 

W.  H.  PUTNAM, 

193-12t.  RIVER  FALLS,   WIS. 

Barnes'   Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This    cut    represents    our 

Combined       Circolar      and 

Scroll    Saw,    which    is    the 

best     machine      made     for 

Bee     Keepers'    nse    in    the 

construction  of  their  hives, 

sections,    boxes,    etc. 

1 1-92-1 6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOR  OATALOGIJE,  PBIOKS,  ETC., 

Address  W.  F.  &  J  NO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St .  Rockford,  Ills 

Please  mention   the  Reuiew. 


0]i,!IaDima! 

Have  you  heard  of  the 

200-Page  Bee-Hodk 

given  to  every  I\EM' 
Subscriber  to  the  old 

AMERICAN 

BEE  JOURNAL? 

Oldest,  Largest,  Best, 
Cheapest  and  the  only 
Weekly  Bee -Paper 
in  America.  32-pages ; 
^1  a  year.  Sample  free 

GEO.W.YORK&CO 

56  Fifth  Avenue,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

To  New  Subscribers :  1he  Journal  Alone 
Sent  for  Three  Months  for  Twenty  Gents. 


n||rri|n  a  large  number  of  fine  ones  on 
1 1  1 1  I  r  11  n  hand  ;  yellow  and  prolific  ; 
y  U  U  U  11  U  J  read}-  April  1.5th  ;  warranted 
queens,  $1 ;  6  for  |4..50 ;  select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  tips,  suitable  for  breeders, 
%t  each.    Reference,  A.  I.  Root.  3-93  tf 

W.  H.  LAWS,  Lavaca,  Seb.  Co.,  Ark. 


224 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


A  GrziO<i  Success. 


ii 


p 


A\ention  Review. 


New  Cowan  Reversible 

HONEf  EXTRACTOR. 

May  be  Reversed  Witloiit  siODpiiig  tlie  MacWiie. 

Strong,  well  made  in  every  respect, 
light,  and  of  convenient  size.  The  can  is 
but  little  larger  than  that  of  the  Novice. 
Tlio  sear  is  beveled  and  covered  by  an 
iron  shield,  and  the  crank  outside  the 
can.  Frai  k  McNay,  of  Maustfin,  Wis.,  a 
bee  keeper  wlio  produces  tons  and  tons 
of  extracted  honey,  says  of  it: 

"After  ca  efuUy  exaiiiining  and  trying 
the  Cowan  Extractor,  I  liave  failed  to 
find  a  weak  part,  and  1  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  it  is  the  best  Extractor  made, 
l)()tli  in  regard  to  convenience  and  dura- 
bilit.\.  ami  1  shall  replace  all  of  my  five 
macluncs  with  the  ('owan  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible." 

It  is  endorsed  also  by  •!.  F.  Mclntyre,  an 
ex'^en'.ive  extracted  honey  producer  of 
Ciiifornia:  by  W.  Z  Hutchinson,  Dr.  0. 
( '    MilJcr,  and  others. 

Price  all  Complete,  Japanned  and  Lettered, 
fcr  L.  Frame,  $10. 

A.  I.  I^OOT,  IVIedina,  O. 


Foundation    Reduced. 

Deduct  three  cents  per    pound   from   prices 
given  in    my  Illustrated  Price  List  for   1893 

M.  H   HUNT,  Bell  Branch.  Mioh. 

LEININGER  —  BROS. 

Will  sell  Italian  queens  and  nuclei   cheap  the 
coming  season.    Write  for  special  prices. 

592-tf  Ft.  Jennings.  Ohio. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


GRAY  CARNIOLANS 
GOLDEN  ITALIANS. 

Bred  from  pure  mothers  and  by  the  best  known 
methods.    Send  for  price  list.  4-93-tf 

For  Carniolans  to  I      For    Italians   to 

lOHN  APREWS.  L.  E.  BDRNHAffl,    ' 

Patten's  Mills.  N.  Y.  |  Vaughns,  N.  Y. 


Keepers  Supplies. 


OOOy@@®OQOQOOOQO®0^iOQ®0®Q®OOQ>®0@Q&@@>000000000@yOOO€  OOG 


PORT€R  8€€  €SC^PCS 


Are  used  and  pronounced  the 
best,  and  highly  recommended 
as  great  labor-saving  implements  by  C^has.  Dadant  &  ?on.  Prof  A.  J  Cook,  Chas.  F.  Muth, 
Jno.  S.  Reese,  J.  H.  Martin,  .Jno.  .Vndrews,  F.  A.  Gemmill,  Wm.  McEvoy,  .\  F.  Brown, 
Thop.  Pierce,  and  many  other  prominent  bee-keepers.  Descriptive  circular  and  testimo- 
nials mailed  free.     PRICES:  each,  postpaid,  with  din^ctions,  20  cts. ;  per  doz.,  ^2.25. 

RETURN    THEM   AND    GET    YOUR   MONEY    BACK   AFTER    TRIAL,    IF   NOT  SATISFIED.       For  sale  by   dealers. 

MiNTiON  THE  REVIEW.  Address        R.  &.  E.  C.  PORTER.    LewiSTOWN,    IlL. 


i 


Tb 


e  (5)ee- 


eepeps'  JHev^ieOu. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e  Interests  of  Hoqey   Producers. 

$1,00  A  YEAR. 

W.  Z.  HUTCHINSOfl,  Hditop  &  PPOp. 

VOL,  VI,  FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    AUG.   10.    1893.  NO.  8. 


Work  at    IVXicliigaxi's 

Experiraental 

Apiary. 

e.  l.  tatloe,  apiaei8t. 

langdon's  non-swaeming    attachment. 

SS  stated  in  my 
former  arti- 
cle, five  of  these 
attachments  were 
adjusted  to  hives 
on  the  22nd  day 
of  June  last,  and 
that  the  condi- 
tions may  be  un- 
derstood as  fully 
as  possible,  I 
must  explain 
that  at  that  date 
swarming  to  a  moderate  extent,  had  been 
going  on  in  the  apiary  for  a  week  or  ten  days; 
the  hives  employed  also  varied  in  capacity, 
three  sizes  being  used,  viz.,  the  single  story, 
new  Heddon,  double  story,  new  Heddon,and 
the  eight  -  frame  dovetailed.  The  hives  of 
course  are  used  in  pairs  and  for  convenience 
each  pair  is  designated  by  a  number.  Nos. 
1  and  .5  were  each  composed  of  one  double 
and  one  single  Heddon,  No.  2  of  two  single 
Heddon.  No.  3  of  two  double  Heddon  and 
No.  4  of  two  dovetailed  hives.  I  wish  to  ex- 
plain liere  also  once  for  all  that  in  this  line  of 
experiments  wherever  a  swarm  issued  it  was 
never  returned  to  the  hive  from   which   it 


came  but  always  to  the  other  member  of  the 
pair. 

The  details  of  the  swarming  are  as  follows: 
No.  1  cast  a  swarm  .June  24th,  28th,  30th  and 
July  4th  and  10th,  five  times;  No,  2  cast  a 
swarm  June  23rd,  24th,  25th  and  26th  and  July 
1st,  4th  and  7th,  seven  times;  No.  3  cast  a 
swarm  but  once,  on  June  30th;  No.  4  cast  a 
swarm  June  27th  and  July  2nd,  twice;  No  5 
casta  swarm  June  24th,  26th  and 29th  and 
July  4th  and  10th,  five  times.  In  other  words. 
No.  1,  consisting  of  one  single  and  one  double 
story  Heddon  hive;  swarmed  five  times,  three 
times  from  the  single  story  and  twice  from 
the  double  story;  No.  2,  consisting  of  two 
single  story  Heddon  hives,  swarmed  seven 
times;  No.  3,  consisting  of  two  two  story 
Heddon  hives,  swarmed  once  only;  No.  4, 
consisting  of  two  dovetailed  hives,  swarmed 
twice ;  and  No.  .5,  consisting  of  one  sin- 
gle story  and  one  double  story  Heddon, 
swarmed  five  times  —  three  times  from 
the  single  and  twice  from  the  double  story, 
that  is,  it  appears,  the  larger  the  hive  the 
longer  are  the  bees  able  to  resist  the  inclina- 
tion to  swarm. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  was  little 
opportunity  to  operate  the  attachment  for  the 
purpose  of  throwing  the  bees  from  one  hive 
to  the  other  (  except  as  swarms  issued  )  and 
it  was  only  practiced  in  the  cases  of  Nos.  3 
and  4,  twice  in  No.  3  and  once  in  No.  4.  In 
each  of  these  this  was  done  on  June  26th,  the 
fourth  day  after  the  attachment  was  put  in 
place.  But  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  very 
next  day,  June  27th,   No.  4  cast  a  swarm, 


226 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


and  No. ;?  cast  a  swarm  on  the  30th,  indica- 
ting tliat  when  other  conditions  are  favorable 
very  little  if  any  preparation  at  all  in  the  way 
of  queen  cells  is  required  before  the  bees  feel 
at  liberty  to  swarm. 

One  hive  of  No.  2  lost  its  queen  which  was 
replaced  by  a  tine  young  queen  which  had 
been  laying  but  a  few  days,  yet  this  young 
queen  came  out  with  a  swarm  within  four 
days,  and  within  a  week  was  lost,  apparently 
destroyed  by  the  bees. 

As  might  have  been  expected  under  such 
circumstances  the  bees  of  these  colonies  did 
not  do  very  good  work,  but  those  that  did  the 
most  swarming  did  fully  as  well  as  the 
others.  As  I  estimate  it,  these  bees  yielded 
about  G.'i  to  75  per  cent,  of  the  surplus  they 
would  have  yielded  had  they  been  managed 
in  the  ordinary  -way.  What  especially  sur- 
prised me  was  the  remarkable  slowness 
shown  by  these  strong  colonies  in  capping 
their  surplus  honey. 

It  was  always  very  evident  that  the  desire 
to  swarm  was  thoroughly  eradicated  from 
the  colony  from  which  the  bees  had  been 
thrown — this  was  frequently  very  soon  shown 
by  the  casting  out  of  immature  drones.  I 
could  not  see  that  worker  brood  suffered 
materially. 

Why  was  it  that  the  inclination  to  swarm 
was  not  also  removed  for  a  time  from  the 
working  force  of  the  two  colonies  thrown  to- 
gether into  a  hive  in  which  there  was  no  be- 
ginning of  preparations  for  swarming? 

I  have  hereinbefore  remarked  that  it 
appears  that  the  larger  the  hive  the  longer 
the  bees  are  able  to  resist  the  inclination  to 
swarm.  But  the  size  of  a  hive  is  a  relative 
matter  and  the  largest  one  becomes  small  if 
too  many  colonies  are  united  and  put  into  it. 
The  theory  of  the  Langdon  attachment  is 
that  the  prevention  of  the  completion  of  the 
usual  course  of  preparation  for  swarming 
common  in  normal  cases  will  prevent 
swarming  in  all  cases.  The  mere  statement 
reveals  the  fault  in  the  reasoning.  The 
attachment  answers  completely  to  the  theory 
but  the  theory  is  wrong.  It  is  not  an  in- 
frequent occurrence  that  swarms  issue  with- 
out leaving  a  sign  that  there  had  been  a 
thought  of  preparation,  and  this  is  only  on  the 
line  between  the  normal  and  the  abnormal. 
If  several  swarms  are  out  at  once  and  unite 
and  are  hived  after  an  unequal  division  the 
colony  having  an  unduly  large  proportion  of 
the  bees  will  generally  persist  in  the  desire  to 
swarm.     That    condition  is  abnormal  and 


creates  dissatisfaction.  To  unite  the  work- 
ing force  of  two  strong  colonies  when  the 
swarming  fever  is  in  the  air  is  highly  ab- 
normal, and  if  this  is  done,  this  abnormal 
condition  must  be  provided  against  if  swarm- 
ing is  to  be  prevented.  At  least  the  result  of 
the  experiments  thus  far  seems  to  point  that 
way. 

If  a  course  of  operations  creates  abnormal 
conditions  it  should  be   required  to  make 
efficient  provision  to  cope  with  those  condi- 
tions. 
Lapeeb,  Mich.,  .July  27,  1893. 

TIlilH!rj"y     TOFIOS. 
No.  7. 

E.  L.  TATLOB. 

j^  LL  cases  of  sections  containing  the 
product  of  white  clover  and  basswood 
were  safely  housed  some  time  ago  and 
these  of  course  contained  most  of  the  sections 
which  had  been  adjusted  to  the  hives  but  un- 
doubtedly there  were  some  cases  in  which  lit- 
tle or  no  honey  was  stored  and  there  is  a  temp- 
tation to  allow  them  to  remain  in  the  hope 
that  they  may  be  filled  in  September,  but  it 
is  a  mistake  to  do  so.  The  bees  have  now  a 
month's  vacation  and  they  use  it  in  making 
the  best  preparation  they  may  for  the  ap- 
proaching bleak  half  of  the  year.  Every 
thing  must  be  made  snug — as  wind  and 
water-proof  as  wax  and  gum  can  make  it. 
It  is  interesting  to  observe  at  this  season  the 
little  masons  on  the  outside  of  the  hive  with 
their  pollen  baskets  filled  with  propolis  as- 
sisting those  within  to  efifectually  close  some 
ciack  that  is  calculated  later  in  the  year  to 
minister  to  their  discomfort.  Wax  they  find 
makes  fairly  good  mortar  and  finding  it 
ready  at  hand  hanging  useless  in  the  sections 
they  do  not  scruple  to  cut  it  out  to  eke  out 
their  more  laboriously  gathered  propolis. 
Then,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
venting moisture  from  finding  a  lodgement 
even  in  the  woodwork  of  their  home,  they 
varnish  the  whole  with  their  wonderful, 
spicy  gums  while  the  mid  summer  sun 
makes  them  spread  and  adhere  well.  Of 
course  the  new  white  sections  invite  the  first 
and  fullest  attention  so  that  by  the  advent 
of  the  equinoxes  they  could  no  longer  be 
recognized  as  the  same.  Their  value  has 
departed  and  if  in  the  mean  time  they  are 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


227- 


filled  with  honey  it  has  doubly  departed. 
The  careful  apiarist  will  therefore  not  fail 
upon  the  falling  of  the  petals  of  the  bass- 
wood  blossom  to  remove  them  from  the  hive 
and  to  store  them  where  they  will  be  secure 
from  moisture,  vermin  and  dust. 

Taking  a  hint  from  the  concern  which  the 
bee  has  exhibited  in  her  use  of  propolis  for 
the  continued  prosperity  of  her  family,  the 
apiarist  will  next  turn  his  attention  to  the 
needs  of  the  individual  colonies.  That  the 
owner  is  more  liable  to  neglect  the  necessary 
preparations  for  winter  than  the  bee  herself, 
is  a  startling  commentary  on  human  energy 
and  intelligence  !  During  the  pending  peri- 
od of  dearth  the  utmost  alertness  should  be 
Exhibited  that  no  opening  be  left  any  where 
for  robber  bees.  No  honey  should  be  ex- 
posed and  nuclei  and  small  colonies  furnish- 
ed with  the  effectual  means  of  self-defence 
which  a  small  entrance  supplies.  It  should 
be  remembered  too  that  during  the  month 
of  August  almost  all  the  eggs  are  deposited 
from  which  the  bees  that  are  to  start  house- 
keeping anew  next  spring  are  to  come,  and 
since  this  is  so,  too  much  care  cannot  be  ex- 
ercised as  to  the  condition  of  each  colony 
now  as  regards  its  ability  to  produce  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  brood  in  the  near  future. 
The  life  and  vigor  of  a  queen,  now  two  years 
old,  are  highly  uncertain,  and  if  depended 
on  are  liable  to  fail  when  most  needed.  If 
any  good  degree  of  certainty  in  wintering  and 
in  a  prosperous  opening  of  the  next  spring 
is  desired,  all  such  must  be  at  once  replaced 
by  young  laying  queens  reared  from  cells 
produced  during  the  late  swarming  season. 
The  lame  and  those  otherwise  injuriously 
defective  should  share  the  fate  of  the  aged. 
To  make  this  work  easy,  each  of  my  hives 
carries  a  simple  record  indicating  the  age 
and  the  peculiarity,  if  any,  of  the  queen  em- 
ployed within.  The  clipping  of  the  queer's 
wings  is  also  so  done  as  to  make  her  age 
known  at  sight.  Sometimes  it  may  be  neces- 
sary to  have  a  care  that  stores  are  not  want- 
ing, but  in  some  districts  where  the  fall  hon- 
ey flow  is  very  abundant,  that  care  should  be 
directed  to  the  giving  of  sufficient  room  to 
the  bees  that  they  may  not  be  compelled  to 
unload  their  fresh  nectar  into  cells  destined 
for  brood  and  so  circumscribe  the  domain 
of  the  queen.  Enough  good  stores  being 
granted,  plenty  of  brood  in  August  and  a 
vigorous  young  queen  are  prime  requisites 
for  successful  wintering  and  prosperous 
building  up  the  following  spring.".  In  con- 


nection  with  this  work  all  required  uniting 
of  colonies  should  be  attended  to,  and  for 
the  highest  success  in  it  all  care  and  dispatch 
are  needed  that  robber  bees  may  not  inter- 
fere injuriously.  To  circumvent  these  it 
may  be  necessary  to  choose  the  early  hours 
of  morning  or  the  late  hours  of  the  after- 
noon for  the  work.  The  novice  may  even 
require  a  tent,  while  the  adept  will  do  so 
quickly  what  is  required  to  be  done  with  any 
particular  hive  that  it  is  closed  by  the  time 
the  robber  appears.  Well  planned,  quick 
work,  not  too  long  continued  at  one  time, 
will  prevail. 

If  attended  to  at  once  the  careful  apiarist 
may  profitably  secure  the  completion  of  sec- 
tions that  tne  close  of  the  basswood  bloom 
left  not  quite  ready  for  market  by  collecting 
them  in  cases,  putting  them  on  populous 
colonies  of  hybrid  bees  and  feeding  extract- 
ed honey  copiously  for  a  few  days.  Two  to 
four  cases  may  be  put  on  to  a  hive  at  once 
and  more  added  later,  but  the  brood  cham- 
ber should  be  contracted  to  about  the  capac- 
ity of  five  L  frames.  The  honey  resulting 
should  be  marketed  and  consumed  at  once, 
as  a  candying  is  likely  to  ensue  on  the  ap- 
proach of  cool  weather. 

It  only  remains  to  be  said  that  where  a 
crop  of  fall  honey  may  be  expected,  prepa- 
rations should  be  made  to  receive  it,  for  it 
is  sometimes  very  abundant.  Unless  it  is 
liable  to  be  white  or  nearly  so,  as  it  some- 
times is  where  the  white  aster  abounds,  it  is 
doubtless  more  profitable  to  secure  it  in 
combs  for  extracting.  It  is  in  such  cases 
that  ready  drawn  combs  especially  reveal 
their  value.  Whether  combs  or  sections  are 
used,  let  them  be  adjusted  promptly  as  soon 
as  the  nectar  begins  to  come  in. 

Lapbbb,  Mich.  July  22, 1893. 


t-e^^^s^^;^ 


With  Energy  and   the   Bight  Management 

Bee  -  Keeping   Need  Never  be  a 

Failure  in  California. 

WM.  G.  HEWES. 

Let  not  thy  dish  be  upside  down 
When  showers  of  honey  strike  the  town. 

«||»N  many  parts  of  California  were  it  not 
^  that  brains  and  energy  are  lacking  one 
«»'»  could  not  do  otherwise  than  make  a  suc- 
cess at  bee-keeping.  We  have  a  country  in 
which  four  or  five  hundred  hives  may  be 


228 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


profitably  kept  in  one  place*,  and,  although 
poor  seasons  are  common,  good  ones  are  not 
rare.     Seasons  of  total  failure  are  very  few. 

Our  climate  is  such  that  there  need 
never  be  any  loss  of  colonies  except  that  oc- 
casioned by  the  death  of  queens  during  the 
fall  and  wintei  months. 

A  specialist  should  own  at  least  .'iOO  hives. 
If  he  has  the  requisite  knowledge  to  manage 
them  intelligently  and  the  energy  to  do  most 
of  the  work  himself,  there  are  comparatively 
few  seasons  in  which  he  would  not  get  liber- 
al returns  from  the  capital  invested  and  the 
labor  performed,  and  occasionally  there 
comes  one  of  those  extraordinarily  bounti- 
ful years  when  the  bees  bring  in  honey  as 
though  there  were  lakes  of  it  from  which  to 
gather.  In  such  seasons  an  intelligent  api- 
arist should  clear  ten  dollars  to  the  hive, 
which,  if  there  are  500  or  1,000  hives,  gives 
him  a  snug  little  sum  with  which  to  tide 
himself  and  bees  over  the  years  of  absolute 
failure.  Instead,  however,  of  feeding  the 
bees  when  the  years  of  absolute  failure  do 
come,  a  majority  of  the  apiarists  get  dis- 
couraged and  neglect  them  at  the  very  time 
when  the  most  attention  is  needed.  The 
past  two  seasons  have  been  poor  ones,  and 
owing  to  neglect,  two-thirds  of  all  the  bees 
in  this  district  have  perished.  If  the  coming 
season  (1893)  should  be  a  bountiful  one,  (It 
is — Ed.)  but  few  of  the  apiar  sts  will  have 
bees  enough  left  to  be  in  a  position  to  profit 
much  by  the  opportunity. 

Another  reason  why  so  many  bee-keepers 
realize  but  little  from  the  apiary  is  because 
they  know  but  little  about  the  management 
of  bees.  They  own  no  bee  books  and  take 
no  papers  relating  to  the  pursuit.  Putting 
a  swarm  in  a  box  and  taking  the  honey  there- 
from when  it  has  been  filled  constitute 
about  all  they  know.  Some,  too,  have  such 
exaggerated  ideas  of  the  amount  of  help  re- 
quired to  run  an  apiary  that  a  good  part  of 
the  proceeds  from  the  crop  has  to  go  to  pay 
for  the  harvesting  of  it.  On  visiting  some 
apiaries  the  proprietor  and  his  dollar-a-day 
helper  will  often  be  found  comfortably 
seated  in  some  shady  nook  killing  time  by 
talking  politics  and  swapping  yarns,  yet  be- 
lieving that  they  are  at  work,  because  now 
and  then  a  glance  is  bestowed  upon  the  api- 
ary to  see  if  any  swarms  are  out. 

*  In  1884  an  apiary  of  700  liives,  belonging  to 
Mr.  Robt.  Wilkin,  averaged  130  pounds  of  ex- 
tracted honey  and  that  too  wlien  surrounding 
them  within  one  and  two  miles  distant  were  api- 
aries aggregating  l.:iOO  hives  more. 


Sometimes  two  men  are  employed  to  assist 
in  extracting  a  crop  which,  if  the  owner  had 
been  energetic,  he  could  easily  have  taken 
alone. 

As  I  think  over  the  bee-keepers  of  my  ac- 
quaintance I  do  not  recall  one  (myself  in- 
cluded) who,  I  believe,  gets,  by  a  third,  one 
year  with  another,  as  much  honey  as  he 
should.  The  reasons  for  which  are,  we  keep 
too  few  bees  and  do  not  give  even  these  few 
the  best  attention. 

To  sum  up — the  best  advice  I  can  give 
bee-keepers,  with  the  help  of  the  bee- book 
and  papers  learn  how  to  do  the  right  thing 
at  the  right  time,  then  banish  laziness  and 
do  it. 

Newhall,  Calif.  Dec.  5,  1892. 


Uncertain  Behavior  of  Great  Masses  of  Bees. 

—  Problems    for   Experiment. —  Escapes 

That  Turn  Bees  Into  the  Open  Air. 

B.    0.  AIKIN. 

"  One  boy  is  a  boy,  two   are  half  a  boy,  and 
three  no  boy  at  all." 


P' 


)OSSIBLY,one, 
two  and  three 
colonies  of  bees 
are  the  same,  yet  I 
am  by  no  means 
ready  to  give  it  up 
— that  a  great  mass 
of  bees  can  be 
profitably  worked 
together.  I  know 
that  I  have  never 
had  all  the  colo- 
nies in  my  apiary 
do  good  super-work  even  the  best  of  seasons. 
In  fair  seasons  perhaps  one  or  two  colonies 
in  ten  give  me  satisfactory  work. 

Where  we  have  a  fall  honey  flow  we  can 
mass  bees  far  beyond  what  we  do  in  a  sum- 
mer flow,  and  no  swarming  results. 

I  believe  that  we  can  and  ivill  control 
swarming,  although  I  am  not  sure  that  we 
have  all  the  details  yet.  Cut  out  cells  once 
and  prevent  swarming,  do  it  two  or  three 
times  until  the  fever  is  on  good  and  strong, 
and  the  bees  will  often  the  next  day  after 
every  cell  is  destroyed  ! 

Last  year  we  could  do  but  little  in  the  way 
of  experiments.  This  year  is  still  worse. 
Not  two  per  cent  of  our  bees  have  even  tried 
to  swarm.    For  two  years  the  "  far-famed  " 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


229 


alfalfa  has  failed  to  "give  down."  Red 
clover  has  kept  us  alive.  We  did  get  a  little 
honey,  but  only  from  the  strongest  colonies 
and  such  as  we  had  doubled  up.  The  best 
single  colony  has  not  finished  one  super. 
Three  or  four  that  were  doubled  and  trebled 
have  finished  a  super  each  on  an  eight- 
frame  dovetailed  hive. 

When  dividing  was  iirst  practiced,  we 
over  did  it ;  will  we  now  go  to  the  other 
extreme  .'' 

By  dequeeuing  I  have  held  together  colo- 
nies equal  to  two  average  colonies,  and  they 
worked  successfully  in  as  many  as  iive  or  six 
supers  at  once,  but  I  want  to  know  how  to 
do  it  with  less  labor.  Friend  Taylor,  can't 
we  put  our  bees  all  in  sliallow  chambers, 
and  before  the  flow  and  swarming  comes, 
slip  an  excluder  between  the  two  chambers  ; 
then,  eight  or  nine  days  later,  the  one  'tother 
side  from  the  queen  will  have  only  sealed 
brood,  can't  build  cells,  you  see,  then  use 
one  or  two  sealed  brood  chambers  on  the 
old  stand  for  the  honey  gatherers,  and  make  a 
new  colony  with  the  one  having  the  queen  ; 
then,  three  or  four  days  later,  put  a  cell  or  a 
virgin  queen  in  the  honey  gathering  colony 
having  the  sealed  brood  ?  If  I  live  and  get 
a  good  year  I  shall  try  it. 

For  extracted  honey  I  am  not  sure  which 
would  pay  best,  to  make  10  colonies  into  20 
before  the  time  for  swarming  ( shallow 
brood  chambers  would  be  best),  to  hold  the  10 
together,  or  to  run  them  as  jive  colonies.  I 
think  likely  the  first  plan  would  give  the 
best  results  in  raising  extracted  honey,  and 
the  last  when  comb  is  produced. 

Another  problem  for  experiment  is  to  get 
200  more  queens  to  do  service  where  now 
but  100  are  used  :  say  a  queen  to  each  shal- 
low chamber  or  its  equivalent,  so  instead  of 
pushing  our  queens,  they,  instead,  will  push, 
and  completely  fill,  each  their  chamber, 
which  means  lots  more  workers.  The 
queens,  not  being  over  worked,  will  last 
longer.  A  queen  must  do  her  best  to  get 
enough  workers  to  do  good  super  work  in  a 
summer  flow.  Even  Doolittle  robs  his 
weaker  colonies  to  help  oat  the  average 
queens  in  getting  enough  bees. 

But  to  have  these  extra  queens  to  use, 
they  must  be  wintered  over,  and  how  ?  Or 
they  must  be  reared  in  April  or  May.  This 
is  too  expensive.  Give  me  two  queens 
through  the  period  of  April  15th  to  .June  1.5th 
and  I  will  almost  if  not  quite  double  my 
surplus. 


The  State,  or  a  combination  of  apiarists, 
could  find  out    these    things ;  a  bread  and 

An  experimental  apiary  ought  to  have 
butter  winner  cannot,  and  men  of  compe- 
tence do  not  care  to — so  we  plod, 
branches,  that  is,  different  locations.  This 
might  be  helped  out  somewhat  by  local  api- 
arists. The  winter  problem,  the  getting  of 
the  workers  in  the  spring,  and  the  control  of 
them  after  they  are  gotten  are  the  main 
things  to  determine.  Settle  these,  then  we 
can  give  our  attention  more  to  the  "  use  and 
abuse  "  of  foundation  and  the  like. 

Friend  Dayton,  when  your  bees  get  to 
making  the  "  splinters  "  fly  after  yoa  have 
some  escapes  under  the  supers,  just  lift  the 
cover  and  see  how  quickly  they  will  take 
wing  in  the  open  air.  If  the  escape  had  a 
big  window  before  it  so  the  bees  could  see 
where  it  it  is,  how  they  would  "git  for  it.' 
But  all  is  new  and  they  are  just  crazy,  and 
they  begin  to  gnaw  at  any  crevice,  and  that's 
the  time  they  ought  to  be  let  out,  and  they 
would  yet  out,  too,  if  they  knew  how  and 
where  and  had  a  chance.  It's  one  of  two 
things,  or  both,  to  find  the  queen,  or  get  out 
of  prison.     (I  think  the  latter. — Ed.) 

Last  year  I  made  some  cone  escapes  in 
parts  of  old  hives,  then  removed  extracting 
chambers  and  placed  them  on  these  entirely 
away  from  the  hives.  Almost  invariably, 
15  to  20  minutes  would  put  the  bees  into 
a  great  excitement,  and  if  they  were  all  old 
bees,  one  to  two  hours  found  them  gone. 
.  Young  bees  would  not  leave  so  soon,  and 
would  return  if  they  did.  Bees  from  a  col- 
ony that  has  been  dequeened  and  all  the 
brood  hatched,  and  all  of  the  bees  some 
days  old,  leave  verj'  quickly.  Bees  in  a  col- 
ony with  a  large  proportion  of  very  young 
bees  are  slow  in  passing  through  our  escape, 
yet  they  will  go  in  search  of  their  queen 
fairly  well.   Now,  how  can  we  help  them  out? 

LovELAND,  Colo.,  July  27, 1893. 

[In  the  same  mail  that  brought  the  fore- 
going article  came  a  letter  and  a  sample  bee 
escape  from  Mr.  R.  .J.  Stead,  of  Lanark,  Ont., 
Canada.  The  escape  consists  of  a  half  a 
dozen  light  gates  made  of  metal  and  arrang- 
ed side  by  side.  If  they  were  all  raised  at 
one  time  it  would  furnish  an  opening  %  x  3 
inches.  The  bees  push  against  the  gates, 
which  raise  and  let  the  bees  pass  out,  then 
they  drop  back  by  their  own  weight.  I  do 
not  know  as  there  is  any  thing  new  in  this 
principle,  but  the  escape  is  adjusted  a  little 
differently  from  the  fashionable  escape  of 


230 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


the  day.  Instead  of  conducting  the  bees  back 
directly  into  the  brood  chamber,  it  is  placed 
in  an  opening  in  the  rim  that  surrounds  the 
escape  board  and  forms  the  bee-space,  thus 
turning  the  bees  into  the  open  air.  As  Mr. 
Aikin  suggests,  this  is  all  right  so  far  as  the 
old  bees  are  concerned,  but  Mr.  Stead  over- 
comes the  objections  as  regards  the  young 
bees,  by  having  the  opening  in  the  escape 
board  come  over  the  regular  outside  entrance 
of  the  hive.  Besides  this,  he  does  not  allow 
the  bees  to  pass  out  when  the  escape  is  first 
put  in  place,  but  lays  a  piece  of  iron  rod  on 
the  gates  until  the  bees  are  terribly  excited 
in  their  efforts  to  escape,  which  time  usually 
comes  in  about  half  to  three-fourths  of  an 
hour,  when  the  weight  is  removed  and  the 
bees  come  rushing  out  very  much  like  a 
swarm,  thus  freeing  the  super  very  quickly. 
The  old  bees  go  to  the  entrance  and  set  up  a 
buzzing  which  soon  calls  all  the  young  bees 
into  the  hive.  I  should  fear  that  the  gates 
would  become  waxed  or  propolised  were  it 
not  that  they  are  on  the  hive  so  short  a  time. 
Mr.  Stead  has  applied  for  a  patent. 

I  do  not  know  how  much  experimenting 
there  has  been  with  escapes  that  turn  the  bees 
into  the  open  air,  but  it  strikes  me  that 
allowing  light  to  enter  the  super  through  the 
escape  would  be  a  very  important  point.  It 
also  seems  that  all  trouble  from  young  bees 
might  be  avoided  in  such  a  manner  as  that 
practiced  by  Mr,  Stead. — Ed.] 

Old-Time  Bee-Eeeping  in  Calilornia.— Some 

Appreciative  Words   fer  Gleanings 

and  the  Review. 

ISAAC    BUMFOBD. 

— "  Could  be  happy  with  either,  wore  'tother 
dear  charmer  away." 

[  VER  since  receiving  the  copies  of  the 
Review  I  have  felt  like  sending  my 
thanks  for  the  offering  of  such  a  pub- 
lication to  the  public.  Between  1880  and 
1884  I  was  in  the  honey  producing  business 
to  the  extent  of  one  hundred  hives  ;  having 
built  up  from  two  swarms  by  increase  and 
purchase  as  I  learned  to  manage  the  little 
musicians  and  make  their  labor  profitable. 
It  was  the  way  that  the  Lord  opened  to 
enable  me  to  earn  a  living  for  my  family  and 
pay  a  debt  of  over  a  thousand  dollars  that 


had  been  eight  years  outlawed.  During  that 
time  I  wrote  "  Beginnings  in  Bee-Keeping  " 
for  the  a  ral  Press,  and  considered  Glean- 
ings as  the  bee  journal,  par  excellence.  How 
we  all  loved  to  get  that  journal.  When  it 
came  from  the  office  in  Bakersfield,  some 
eight  miles  away,  all  work  was  put  aside  un- 
til it  was  read  from  cover  to  cover.  We 
wired  our  frames,  made  our  own  foundation 
and  tilled  every  frame  full ;  made  our  own 
extractor  out  of  an  old  barrel,  and  one  sea- 
son produced  13,000  lbs.  ;  an  average  of 
about  150  lbs.  to  the  hive  ;  getting  300  lbs. 
from  some.  How  we  worked  and  loved  the 
work  and  what  a  joy  it  was  to  see  all  those 
debts  paid  by  the  little  workers.  Is  it  not 
natural  that  I  should  love  those  little  work- 
ers ? 

About  18M4  the  Lord  called  me  into  an  ex- 
clusively spiritual  field  and  I  have  seen  no 
more  of  the  bees  nor  read  any  bee  literature 
until  last  year  I  subscribed  for  Gleanings 
for  my  son  who  has  about  25  stands  and  at 
present  I  am  permitted  to  help  him  care  for 
them.  I  wanted  the  most  advanced  thoughts 
of  the  age  on  particular  parts  of  the  subject, 
and  thank  the  Lord  here  comes  the  Review 
to  fill  the  bill.  I  don't  have  to  buy  papers 
half  full  of  all  about  keeping  bees  through  a 
hard  winter.  (We  raise  oranges  here.)  I 
wanted  a  paper  full  of  all  about  the  special 
subject  under  consideration.  Say,  one  about 
smokers.  That  decided  me  to  send  for  a 
Crane  ;  and  we  like  it  the  best  of  any  we 
have  tried.  It  fills  the  bill.  One  about  wax 
extracting.  Another  on  producing  the  most 
extracted  honey  and  retaining  the  flavor  of 
comb  honey  ;  and  we  found  it.  I  tell  you 
that  plan  of  making  one  number  represent 
one  subject  is  right  up  to  the  times.  The 
Review  has  almost  opened  the  way  for  us  to 
do  without  Gleanings;  would  if  our  dear 
friend  Root  did  not  put  in  so  many  good 
hints  on  the  subject  of  gardening  and  we 
like  some  of  his  old  fashioned  sermons.  I 
would  suggest  that  you  keep  to  the  plan  of 
one  subject  for  each  number,  then  when 
there  is  a  new  article  on  the  subject  comes 
up,  print  it  as  a  suplement  so  it  can  be  taken 
out  and  stitched  into  the  old  number  ;  or  if 
the  subject  should  be  so  thoroughly  reviewed 
as  to  fill  up  another  number  they  could  be 
tacked  together.  You  might  reserve  a  few 
pages  in  the  back  of  each  number  to  note 
important  passing  subjects  just  as  Root  puts 
in  about  gardening  and  Our  Homes. 

Los  Gatos,  Calif.  May  5,  1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


231 


Congratulations  for  the  Experimental  Api- 
ary. —Prejudiced  Enthusiasm  of  Some 
Inventors.— Costly   Experiments. 

.JAMES    HEDDON. 

It  LLOW  me  to 
t\  express  my- 
self as  highly  plea- 
sed with  our  suc- 
cess in  getting 
even  the  small  ap- 
propriatiou  of  $500 
M  year  for  apiarian 
experiments,  and 
not  less  plea-ed 
over  the  selection 
of  Senator  Taylor 
as  superintendent. 
As  1  look  at  the  matter,  the  salary  is  small, 
when  we  consider  the  work  to  be  performed; 
a  work  which  we  all  know  Bro.  Taylor  will 
do,  if  he  loses  money  as  a  result.  I  would 
suggest  that  bee  keepers  aid  the  splendid 
and  valuable  effort  by  donating  such  imple- 
ments as  they  believe  of  value,  and  desire 
should  gain  the  reputation  they  merit. 

I  am  looking  for  much  amusement  aris- 
ing from  tests  of  articles  that  no  one  but  the 
inventors  can  find  to  be  practicable.  Much 
the  same  may  be  looked  for  along  the  line 
of  processes.  Perhaps,  it  sometimes  occurs 
that  a  discoverer  may  partially  succeed  with 
•an  implement,  or  method,  with  which  no 
one  else  can,  but  if  there  are  any  such  in- 
stances, they  are  so  rarely  met  with,  that  we 
hardly  experience  one  in  a  life  time.  It  is 
usually  the  case  that  the  inventor  is  of  an 
impractical  turn,  and  certain  it  is  that  his 
inventions  and  devices  are  of  no  value  in 
the  hands  of  the  practical,  successful  bee 
keeper. 

Most  experiments  to  be  of  value  must  be 
made  upon  a  more  comprehensive  scale  than 
the  small  bee  keeper  can  conduct  or  the 
successful  honey  producer  can  usually 
afford.  Fifteen  to  twenty  years  ago,  when 
we  had  little  bee  literature,  I  had  one  or  two 
large  apiaries,  and  my  thirst  for  knowledge 
in  place  of  the  wild  theories  I  found  in 
journals,  was  such  that  I  made  some  com- 
prehensive experiments,  and  I  found  out 
then  what  it  cost.  The  price  was  high,  but  I 
had  to  have  it  in  my  business.  If  you  desire, 
I  will  write  two  or  three  articles  for  the 
Review,  detailing;  the  results  of  some  of 
these  experiments.  I  will  leave  others  to 
discuss  this  subject,  trusting  that  perhaps  I 
have  touched  one  point  that  few  others  will. 


I  desire  to  be  placed  on  record  as  predicting 
most  satisfactory  results  from  our  exper- 
meut  station.  Let  each  and  every  one  of 
us  aid  Bro.  Taylor  all  we  can. 

[Certainly,  friend  H.,  if  those  old  exper- 
iments have  a  practical  bearing  upon  the 
bee-keeping  of  to  day,  we  should  all  be  glad 
to  hear  of  them.  We  would  also  like  to  have 
you  and  others  say  what  experiments  you 
would  be  pleased  to  have  taken  up  by  experi- 
menter Taylor.— Ed.] 

Frolicking  Drones  and  Their  Trysting  Places 

W.  A.  PKYAL. 

"  Theirs  not  the  reason  why. 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die." 

T  S  it  is  yet  a  mooted  question  whether 
^)  drones  congiegate  in  certain  spots 
and  there  hold  high  carnival,  as  it 
were,  while  they  await  the  advent  of  a  queen 
who  would  a  wooing  go,  I  think  I  will  at- 
tempt to  throw  a  little  light  upon  the  sub- 
ject. 

There  is  a  spot  on  a  hill  about  a  hundred 
feet  high  and  not  more  than  300  yards  from 
where  my  bees  are  located,  where,  for  almost 
as  long  as  I  can  remember,  drones  have 
gathered  in  the  afternoon.  The  air  would 
be  full  of  them  and  the  buzzing  they  would 
make  was  something  that  could  be  heard  for 
quite  a  distance  away.  Their  buzz  was  more 
musical,  If  I  may  so  express  myself,  on  this 
occasion  than  when  they  were  flying  about 
the  apiary.  We  are  all  quite  familiar  with 
the  buzz  of  these  lazy  fellows  when  they  are 
near  their  own  doorstep,  but  I  should  judge, 
from  what  I  have  seen  in  the  bee  journals, 
that  few  have  heard  drones  enjoyin  a  dizzy 
dance  in  mid  air.  It  is  truly  a  dance  of 
death  to  many  of  them,  as  after  results  often 
prove. 

This  place  I  speak  of  is  in  what  may  be 
called  the  thermal  belt  on  the  hills  to  the 
north  of  the  apiary.  I  should  think  that  the 
several  currents  of  air  that  circulate  about 
the  hill  and  the  little  valleys  formed  by 
these  hills,  meet  here  and  form  a  gentle 
whirlwind  which,  while  warm,  is  inviting  to 
the  drones.  I  am  the  more  convinced  of  this 
belief  for  the  reason  that  there  is  another 
spot  where  the  same  sort  of  a  drone  picnic- 
ground  is  maintained.  This  second  place  is 
at  the  southwest  base  of  the  aforesaid  hill. 
The  spot  is  noted  for  being  one  where  a  warm 


232 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


current  of  air  is  to  be  encouutered  at  almost 
auy  time.  Persons  who  have  been  riding  in 
a  veliicle  perceive  the  change  of  air  as  soon 
as  they  strike  this  spot. 

Many  a  time  I  have  watched  the  drones 
thus  enjoying  themselves  :  at  first  I  thought 
they  were  :  duiig  bees,  but  observation  proved 
that  they  were  male  bees. 

This  question  presents  itself  to  me,  does 
the  young  queen,  through  natural  intuition, 
flj'  to  those  localities  where  the  atmosplieric 
conditions  are  such  that  they  are  a  safe  place 
for  the  two  sexes  to  carry  on  their  connubial 
relations  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  these  queens 
know  this  ;  that  the  drones  will  be  at  a  tryst- 
ing-place  appointed  by  Nature,  and  there 
the  queen  goes,  provided  she  is  not  stopped 
by  some  lu-^ly  (iroue  who  attacks  her  on  the 
"king's  highway,"  as  it  were.  It  may  be 
fellows  like  this  that  have  been  seen  assault- 
ing queens  while  flying  about  the  apiary, 
who  knows  ? 

NoETH  Temescal,  Calif.       March  G,  '93. 


i^:"t<^^^<;^ 


Fads  and  Fancies. 

WALTER   S.    POUDEB. 

Everj'bddy,  good  or  bad, 
Has  a  fancy  or  a  fad  ; 
Has  the  best  red  clover  (jueen. 
Or  an  automatic  bee-machine. 
Has  a  great  invention  to  reveal. 
Or  likes  to  ride  astride  a  wheel ; 
Jn  fact,  no  matter  what  his  rank, 
Every  body  is  a  crank. 

EE-KEEPEKS  are  given  to  whims 
and  fancies  more  than  any  other  clan 
of  workers  ;  they  have  their  own 
ideas,  their  own  inventions  and  their  own 
peculiar  way  of  accomplishing  a  certain 
piece  of  work,  and  all  the  world  couldn't 
change  the  ui. 

With  th(!  amateur  this  is  different,  he  is 
ready  to  try  every  new  thing  that  comes 
under  his  observation,  besides  experiment- 
ing and  going  over  ground  that  has  been 
gone  over  by  others.  His  first  and  highest 
ambition  is  to  attain  numbers  of  colonies, 
and  of  course  this  increase  is  at  the  expense 
of  the  honey  season  and  no  surplus  is  ob- 
tained :  still  worse,  feeding  has  to  be  re- 
sorted to  in  order  to  pull  them  through  the 
winter.  He  knows  that  some  of  the  bee 
fraternity  are  making  lots  of  money  for  he 
sees  proof  of  it  in  stacks  of  beautiful  honey 
at  the  commission  houses,  honey  stores,  gro- 
ceries, etc. 


The  watchword  of  the  amateur  is  prog- 
ress; his  first  hobby — to  increase  to  a  cer- 
tain number — is  an  expensive  undertaking, 
aud  one  that  usually  contains  many  disap- 
pointments. Those  with  experience  tell  us 
that  the  greatest  amount  of  bee-money  is 
made  in  the  yard  that  is  run  for  the  exclu- 
sive production  of  honey.  The  beginner 
thinks  that  he  sees  something  that  has  been 
overlooked  by  the  expert,  viz.,  a  small  for^ 
tune  in  queen  rearing.  At  once  he  begins  to 
equip  himself  for  the  new  hobby  and  tlie  ex- 
pense attached  is  not  a  small  affair,  for  the 
whole  yard  must  be  brought  up  to  a  standard 
of  purity,  expensive  advertising  must  be  re- 
sorted to,  and— what  a  pity  it  is  that  the  peo- 
ple are  afraid  to  send  to  the  unknown  adver- 
tiser for  a  queen.  The  chances  are  that 
sales  will  not  amount  to  enough  the  first 
year  to  pay  advertising  bills.  I  do  not  mean 
to  infer  that  queen  rearing  can  not  be  made 
profitable  ;  on  the  other  hand  I  know  that  it 
can  be  made  to  pay,  but  it  requires  patience, 
long  coutiuued  business,  prompt  dealing 
and  a  high  grade  of  stock.  I  say  it  requires 
patience  for  it  is  only  those  who  "  stick  to 
it  "  and  keep  their  names  constantly  before 
the  public  who  succeed. 

The  next  rank  to  which  the  knight  of  the 
apiary  aspires  is  that  of  the  supply  dealer. 
It  is  important  that  he  should  be  an  experi- 
enced bee-man  ;  that  he  may  know  how  to 
cater  to  the  wants  of  the  honey  producer. 
Supply  dealers  are  numerous  which  is  an 
advantage  to  producers,  as  they  can  get  sup- 
plies near  home,  and  competition  has  re- 
duced the  price  on  many  articles,  thus  saving 
money  for  the  toiler  of  the  bee-yard.  Again, 
the  supply  business  flourishes  for  about  five 
months  in  the  year,  therefore  his  time  must 
be  devoted  to  another  calling  the  remaining 
seven  months.  This  is  usually  dealing  in 
honey,  which  can  be  made  profitable  and  a 
very  great  advantage  to  producers,  as  the 
dealer  can  find  an  outlet  for  the  over-pro- 
duction and  dispose  of  it  where  there  is  a 
scarcity. 

The  next  craze  liable  to  attack  the  "  bee- 
crank,"  is  to  edit  a  bee  paper;  and  like  the 
supply  dealer,  failure  is  much  more  common 
than  success,  and  those  who  start  with  pomp 
and  fashion  are  sure  to  have  their  downfall 
sooner  or  later.  The  successful  ones  have 
all  started  at  the  huuible  bottom  round  of 
the  ladder,  and  climbed  slowly  from  an  eco- 
nomical basis. 

Indianapolis,  Ind.  Feb.  2,  1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


233 


Bee-Kepeers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED   MONTHLY. 

W.   Z.  HOTCHiriSOri,  Hd.  &  PKop. 

Terms  :  —  $1.00  a  year  in  advance.  Two  copies 
$1.90 ;  tliree  for  S2.TU ;  five  for  $4.00 ;  ten  or  more. 
70  cents  each.  If  it  is  desired  to  liave  the  Review 
stopped  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  paid  for, 
please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
will  be  continued. 


FLINT,    MICHIGAN      AUG.    10.    1893. 


"  A  Califoknia  Number,  "  is  what  this 
issue  might  almost  be  called. 

yj 

All  Humans  have  a  strong  love  for  in- 
herited ideas  no  matter  how  cumbersome  or 
obnoxious  modern  science  may  prove  them 
to  be. 

Eugene  Seoob  has  been  appointed  judge 
of  the  apiarian  exhibits  at  the  World's  Fair. 
Both  Mr.  Secor  and  the  exiiibitors  are  to  be 
congratulated. 

)d 

The  Progressive  and  the  Enterprise  are 
making  rapid  strides.  I  tell  you  the  man  who 
starts  a  bee  journal  in  these  days  has  got  to 
hustle  if  he  succeeds. 

^ 

Mb.  E.  a.  Daggitt  suggests  that  the  leath- 
er to  smoker  bellowses  be  treated  with  some 
substance  that  will  till  the  pores  and  thus 
stop  the  escape  of  air  in  that  direction. 

Loose  Bottom  Boaeds  may  be  held  on  by 
means  of  hooks,  as  suggested  by  a  Minne- 
sota correspondent,  but  this  plan  always 
seemed  too  expensive  and  too  much  rigging. 

- — © 

Glucose  Bakbels,  second-hand  from  the 
candy  factories,  is  what  A.  N.  Draper  uses  to 
ship  honey  in,  and  he  has  found  nothing 
cheaper  or  better;  so  he  writes  to  the 
Ainerica7i  Bee-keeper. 

y 

E.  Kbetohmee's  Piotube  (a  good  one)  and 
a  sketch  of  his  life  written  by  his  twelve 
year-old  daughter,  appear  in  the  last  Pro- 
gressive. There  is  something  peculiarly 
pleasant  in  reading  the  life  of  a  man  written 
by  his  little  girl. 


H.  P.  Langdon  writes  to  Gleanings  that 
his  non-swarmer  has  not  worked  satisfacto- 
rily in  every  instance  in  his  own  apiary  this 
season. 

R.  C.  AiKiN  ?ays  in  the  Progressive,  that  he 
has  asserted  for  years,  that  not  more  than 
one-third  more  extracted  than  comb  honey 
can  be  secured.  He  now  doubts  if  we  get 
even  that  much  more.  I  think  much  depends 
upon  the  management. 

C.  W.  Dayton,  in  referring  to  the  fact  that 
bees  do  not  tear  combs  to  pieces  when  only 
a  small  opening  is  given  them  into  the  hive, 
says  that  he  thinks  it  is  darkness  that  pre- 
vents their  tearing  comb.  He  gives  several 
illustrations  to  show  the  correctness  of   his 

views. 

— yi 

The  Enebgy  of  a  newly  hived  swarm  is 
more  apparent  than  real;  so  writes  R.  C. 
Aikin  in  the  Progressive.  There  is  no  brood 
to  care  for — nothing  to  do  but  to  gather 
honey  and  build  comb — hence  the  apparent 
energy  and  the  great  rapidity  with  which 
stores  accumulate. 

1^ 

White  Glue  is  used  by  a  Mr.  Hunt,  of 
California,  for  fastening  foundation  in  sec- 
tions. For  applying  the  glue  he  uses  an  ar- 
rangement similar  to  the  one  used  by  R.  L. 
Taylor,  and  described  in  a  recent  issue  of 
the  Review.  "Rambler"  describes  the 
Hunt  plan  in  Gleanings 

"  Pulled  "  Queens  is  the  name  given 
queens  that  are  helped  out  of  the  cells  by 
man.  It  is  easy  to  get  these  by  opening  a 
hive  just  as  the  young  queens  are  hatching. 
Dr.  Miller  says  in  Gleanings  that  the  giving 
of  one  of  these  young  queens  to  a  colony 
having  fertile   workers  is  a  sure  cure  of  the 

trouble. 

— 'yi 

That  Foul  Beood  may  generate  from 
dead  brood  is  believed  by  the  editor  of  the 
Nebraska  Bee-Keeper  because  he  sent  some 
decomposing  brood  to  a  person  who  claimed 
to  be  something  of  an  expert  with  foul  brood, 
and  this  person  said  it  was  foul  brood.  Dead 
brood  that  isn't  foul  brood  has  been  mis- 
taken for  such  in  so  many  instances  that  it 
would  be  much  more  satisfactory  in  this  case 
if  we  knew  how  good  an  authority  this  un- 
known expert  is. 


234 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Black  Bees  and  half-depth  frames  in  the 
supers  enable  Mr.  G.  L.  Head  of  La  Valle, 
Wis.,  to  dispense  with  bee  escapes  and  brush- 
es. He  simply  shakes  the  bees  oft.  He  has 
driven  ten  miles  to  an  out-apiary  and  extract- 
ed 1,000  pounds  of  honey  in  a  day.  So  far 
this  year  he  has  extracted  !),000  pounds  from 
109  colonies  and  increased  to  165. 
® 

HOW    MUCH    HONEY  IS   KAI8ED    IN    THE    UNITED 
STATES  ? 

As  I  was  at  work  in  the  shop  the  other  day 
putting  foundation  in  sections  it  occurred  to 
me  that  if  every  manufacturer  of  sections 
would  report  how  many  sections  he  had  sold 
during  the  year  we  could  get  something  of 
an  estimate  as  to  how  much  honey  was  pro- 
duced in  a  year,  something  as  the  number 
of  queens  sold  last  year  was  estimated.  I 
went  into  the  house  and  found  Gleanings  on 
the  desk,  and  in  looking  over  the  editorials  I 
found  that  its  editor  had  thought  of  the 
same  thing  in  advance  of  me.  Let  each  sec- 
tion manufacturer  report  to  Gleanings  at 
the  end  of  the  season,  how  many  sections  he 
has  sold  during  the  year,  and  we  can  guess 
someivhere  near  how  much  honey  was  pro- 
duced this  year. 

@ 

BE  YOUBSELF. 

There  is  one  idea  expressed  in  E.  E.  Hasty 's 
article  this  month  that  it  would  be  well  for 
young  writers  to  bear  in  mind,  that  of  being 
natural,  of  writing  "  from  the  inside.  "  How 
well  I  remember  my  first  composition,  how 
I  tried  to  write  just  as  folks  did  in  books. 
Frequently  I  might  have  written  of  some  in- 
teresting fact,  and  probably  in  an  interesting 
manner  if  I  had  written  in  a  straightforward, 
simple  way  of  my  own,  but  I  forbore  because 
"other  folks  didn't  write  of  such  things  in 
such  a  way,  "  forgetting,  or  not  knowing, 
that  the  man  who  is  different  from  the  others 
may  be  the  most  interesting  man  in  the 
crowd.  Be  yourself.  Be  natural.  Don't 
strain  after  some  style  that  you  may  happen 
to  admire  and  thereby  ruin  what  might 
otherwise  be  a  better  style  than  the  one  you 
are  striving  to  imitate. 


DEAD  BKOOD  THAT  IS  NOT  FOUL  BROOD. 

When  I  was  over  at  the  Michigan  Experi- 
mental Apiary,  Mr.  Taylor  showed  me  a  col- 
ony in  which  at  least  one-fifth  of  the  brood 
was  dead.  I  presume  a  novice  would  have 
pronounced    it    foul     brood.     There    were 


sunken,  perforated  cells,  and  dark,  brown, 
coffee- colored  dead  larvii?.  But  two  of  the 
characteristics  of  foul  brood  were  lacking : 
the  thick  ropiiiess  and  the  odor.  The  skin 
to  a  dead  larva  was  tough  and  held  its  con- 
tents as  a  rubber  sack  would  hold  water. 
And,  by  the  way,  the  contents  were  often 
watery,  the  thick  ropiness  was  lacking.  It 
certainly  was  not  chilled  brood  as  it  was  in 
July.  Mr.  Taylor  admitted  that  he  did  not 
know  what  was  the  cause  of  the  malady. 

© 

"  BiBDs  OF  Michigan,  "  is  the  title  of  Bull- 
etin 94  prepard  by  Prof.  Cook,  of  the  Mich- 
igan Agricultural  College.  It  contains  150 
pages,  is  freely  illustrated  and  handsomely 
bound,  and  is  bringing  forth  deserved  praise 
from  high  authorities.  It  is  sent  free  to  all 
Michigan  people  who  apply.  Others  who 
are  interested  should  write  to  the  College  to 
learn  upon  what  terms  they  can  procure 
copies. 

THE  CANADIAN  BEE  JOUKNAL  TO  BE  PUBLISHED 
BY  THE  GOOLD,  SHAPLEY  &  MUIE  CO. 

As  mentioned  in  another  place,  the 
Canadian  Bee  Journal  has  been  burned  out; 
but  a  communication  from  Mr.  R.  F.  Hol- 
terman  informs  me  that  the  Goold,  Shapley 
&  Muir  Co.  has  bought  the  subscription  list 
and  will  continue  the  publication  of  the 
journal.  It  will  be  enlarged,  changed  to  a 
monthly,  better  paper  used  and  an  effort 
made  to  fill  it  with  first  class  material.  The 
first  issue  will  be  out  in  September.  Mr. 
Holterman  is  to  be  the  editor.  There  is 
certainly  room  in  Canada  for  a  bee  journal, 
and  as  Mr.  Holterman  is  not  without  ex- 
perence,  the  firm  has  capital,  and  the  journal 
will  start  out  with  a  good  subscription  list,  I 
do  not  see  why  it  need  not  be  a  success.  I 
hope  it  will. 

SuPEKS  may  be  taken  off  when  robbers  do 
not  trouble  by  smoking  out  most  of  the  bees 
and  then  placing  the  super  where  the  few  re- 
maining bees  can  run  out  into  the  entrance 
of  the  hive.  Mr.  Taylor  speaks  in  a  recent 
article  of  setting  the  super  on  toj)  of  the  hive. 
This  is  all  right  where  the  super  can  be  left 
long  enough,  but  the  bees  will  get  out  more 
quickly  if  one  corner  of  the  super  is  leaned 
against  the  alighting  board  of  the  hive.  Al- 
though the  basswood  season  is  past  and  the 
bees  are  gathering  nothiug,  I  took  off  a  doz- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


235 


en  supers  the  other  evening  and  freed  them 
from  bees  by  setting  them  at  the  entrance  of 
the  hives.  The  supers  were  taken  off  just  as 
the  bees  had  nearly  stopped  flying.  A  few 
enterprising  bees  came  around  to  see  what 
was  "  in  the  wind,  "  but  it  was  soon  too  dark 
for  them  to  fly. 


EXPEBIMENTAL   APICULTUEE. 

I  am  a  little  disappointed  at  the  small 
amount  of  correspondence  that  has  come  in 
on  this  subject.  It  does  not  seem  possible 
that  bee-keepers  have  no  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject. Possibly  the  leader  of  last  month  con- 
tained all  that  needed  to  be  said  on  the  sub- 
ject; if  so,  well  and  good.  There  is  one 
point,  however,  that  I  wish  emphasize,  and 
that  is  the  necessity  of  being  able  to  use  good 
arguments  before  the  State  Boards  of  Agri- 
culture. Unless  you  can  do  this,  unless  you 
can  make  a  point,  there  is  no  use  in  going. 
The  arguments  used  before  our  State  Board 
have  already  been  given,  and  I  would  call 
attention  to  those  used  in  Dr.  Miller's  article 
in  this  issue,  as  being  very  good.  If  a  copy 
of  this  article  could  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  each  member  of  a  Board  previous  to  the 
meeting  it  would  be  a  good  move. 

One  thing  more.  Haven't  you  some  sug- 
gestions as  to  what  experiments  you  would 
like  tried?  The  experiments  in  regard  to 
wintering  can  be  taken  under  consideration 
none  to  soon.  Let's  hear  from  yon  as  to 
what  they  shall  be  and  how  they  shall  be 
conducted. 

EDITOBIALS    ABE    NEVEB  PAID  FOE. 

Sometimes  when  sending  in  an  advertis- 
ment  the  sender  will  ask  that  he  be  given  an 
editorial  notice.  If  one  advertiser  is  grant- 
ed this  favor,  all  are  entitled  to  the  same, 
and  if  each  were  given  a  notice,  where  would 
be  the  advantage?  Samples  of  implements 
are  sometimes  sent  witli  the  intimation  that 
an  editorial  notice  would  be  the  proper  thing 
to  give  in  return.  Others  even  go  so  far  as 
to  say  right  out  fair  and  square,  '*  Give  me  a 
good  editorial  notice  and  I  will  pay  you  any- 
thing reasonable.  "  I  wish  it  distinctly  un- 
derstood that  I  have  no  editorial  opinion  for 
sale.  I  do  not  mean  that  I  shall  never  notice 
and  give  praise  to  articles  that  are  for  sale. 
On  the  contrary  I  think  it  is  an  editor's  busi- 
ness to  learn  which  are  the  best  things  and 
then  to  say  so,  but  what  he  says  should  come 
about  as  the  result  of  his  own  judgement — 


should  come  out  spontaneously  without  so- 
licitation. I  do  not  mean  that  a  dealer,  man- 
uf  cturer  or  inventor  must  never  call  an 
editor's  attention  to  the  superiority  of  his 
wares;  far  from  it,  that  is  all  right  and  prop- 
er, and  then  let  the  editor  use  his  own  judge- 
ment as  to  what  he  shall  say,  if  he  says  any- 
thing at  all,  but  let  it  be  understood  that 
what  is  said  eaitorially  is  said  freely  with  no 
money  consideration  in  connection  with  the 
saying.  I  believe  that  our  bee  journals  are 
almost  wholly,  if  not  entirely,  free  from  this 
fault. 

— 1^ 

BEE-PAEALTSIS    INHEBENT  IN   THE   QUEEN. 

When  discussing  bee-paralysis  with  Mr. 
Taylor  this  season  he  mentioned  one  fact 
that  goes  to  show  that  it  comes  from  the 
queen.  A  neighbor  called  and  wanted  a 
queen.  Mr.  Taylor  had  none  to  spare  ex- 
cept the  one  in  a  colony  affected  with  paral- 
ysis. He  was  going  to  replace  this  queen 
and  told  the  man  he  might  have  her  until  he 
could  spare  some  other  queen.  If  she  turned 
out  all  right,  well  and  good — if  not  he  would 
replace  her.  When  her  bees  began  to  hatch 
out  in  the  colony  to  which  she  was  intro- 
duced, and  to  take  their  places  in  this  work- 
a-day-world,  the  colony  became  affected 
with  paralysis. 

@ ' 

WHY    SWABMS   DO   NOT   ALWAYS    BETUBN   TO 
THEIB   OWN    HIVES. 

E.  R.  Root  quotes  what  I  said  last  month 
in  reference  to  the  swarms  going  together 
over  at  the  Michigan  Experimental  Apiary 
and  all  returning  to  one  hive.  He  closes  by 
saying:  "Nevertheless,  Mr.  So  and  So 
doesn't  give  up  yet  but  that  swarms  are  more 
apf  to  go  back  to  the  old  location."  Yes, 
bees  are  more  likely,  almost  certain,  to  go 
back  to  their  own  hive  if  only  one  swarm 
is  in  the  air  at  the  same  time,  but  when  more 
than  one  issues  at  the  same  time  they  are 
almost  certain  to  unite  unless  water  is  used 
freely  to  keep  them  apart.  When  two  or 
more  swarms  unite,  they  become,  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes,  a  single  swarm,  and 
behave  very  much  as  one  swarm  would  be- 
have. A  very  few  of  the  bees  will  eventu- 
ally return  to  their  respective  hives,  but  the 
great  mass  of  them  will  go  together,  some- 
where. Some  of  the  bees  of  one  of  the 
swarms  will  usually  begin  returning  to  their 
old  location,  then  nearly  the  whole  mass 
of  bees  will  "follow  my  leader  "  into  this 


L 


2H6 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  HE  VIEW. 


hive.  That  is,  they  will  if  allowed  to  do  so. 
It  is  not  usually  best  to  allow  this,  but  what 
shall  be  done  is  "  another  story,"  aud  one 
that  will  bear  considerable  variation  accord- 
ing to  the  circumstances. 


LOOK  AFTEB  YOUB  INSUBANCE. 

Within  the  past  few  weeks  two  of  our  bee- 
keeping friends  have  suffered  severe  losses 
by  lire.  The  office  of  the  ^anadian  Bee 
Journal  has  been  burned  up  entirely  ;  loss 
about  $5,000  with  light  insurance.  Levering 
Bros,  of  Wiota,  Iowa,  have  sustained  a  loss 
of  about  $30,000  with  only  $3,000  insurance. 
Of  course,  these  friends  have  our  sympathy, 
but  it  will  make  their  burdens  no  heavier  if 
their  losses  are  used  as  a  warning  to  others. 
Is  your  insurance  exactly  what  you  would 
have  it  if  you  knew  that  your  buildings 
were  to  be  burned  tomorrow  ?  If  not, 
then  attend  to  it  at  once,  to  day.  To  toil 
for  years  and  then  see  the  results  swept 
away  in  an  hour,  to  begin  life  anew  with 
nothing  but  the  bare  hands,  is  a  bitter  expe- 
rience. Many  bear  it  bravely  as  becomes  a 
man,  but  it  can  be  so  easily  avoided,  while 
at  the  same  time  there  is  the  comfortable 
feeling  that  comes  from  the  possession  of 
protection  together  with  the  knowledge 
that  the  small  ^ums  paid  out  go  to  relieve 
the  distress  of  others  who  have   met  with 

losses. 

(^ 

Canada's  foul  bbood  inspeotob. 
Mr.  McEvoy  is  foul  brood  inspector  of 
Ontario,  Canada.  He  believes  that  foul  brood 
originates  from  dead  brood.  He  also  be- 
lieves boiling  hives  in  which  there  has  been 
foul  brood  is  unnecessary.  He  cures  foul 
brood  by  taking  the  combs  away  from  the 
bees,  allowing  the  bees  to  build  comb  four 
days  (long  enough  to  use  up  or  store  in  the 
combs  any  foul  broody  honey  they  may  have 
in  their  sacs)  then  cutting  out  the  combs 
and  allowing  the  bees  to  go  on  and  build 
more  combs.  This  frees  that  colony  of  the 
disease.  He  is  doing  a  great  and  good  work, 
and  it  is  a  pity  that  he  is  so  given  to  sneer- 
ing at  science  aud  to  riding  his  asaertions, 
whip  and  spur,  over  his  critics.  In  justice 
to  him  I  must  say  that  his  having  cured  so 
many  cases  of  foul  brood  without  boiling 
the  hives  should  not  be  passed  over  lightly. 
When  I  was  over  to  the  Michigan  Experi- 
mental Apiary,  I  asked  Mr.  Taylor  what  he 
thought  of  this.     He  said  it  was  possible  that 


the  only  source  of  contagion  about  hives 
might  be  honey  that  adhered  to  them.  If  this 
should  be  true,  it  will  be  seen  that  with  Mr. 
McEvoy's  plan  of  cutting  out  the  combs  in 
four  days,  it  is  possible  that  such  hives 
would  not  communicate  the  disease,  as  the 
bees  would  lick  up  all  spots  of  honey  aud  use 
it.  Mr  .Taylor  said  he  had  always  boiled 
the  hives  and  considered  it  a  safe  thing  to 
do.     Let's  hear  from  others  on  this  point. 


INTEEESTED   IN    PHOTOGBAPHY.  • 

Few  are  the  dollars  that  I  have  spent  in 
amusements — so-called.  My  own  life,  my 
own  work,  have  been  so  interesting  to  me 
that  I  have  cared  little  for  what  the  world 
calls  amusements.  This  summer,  however, 
I  have  spent  a  little  time  and  money  in  what 
might,  in  this  instance,  be  called  amusement. 
That  word  "  amusement  "  does  not  seem  to 
me  the  right  word  to  use.  It  does  not  seem 
to  me  that  the  enjoyment,  the  happiness,  the 
interest,  that  come  from  the  studying  of  a 
science  (  I  am  learning  to  use  the  camera  ) 
snould  be  called  "  amusement.  "  To  learn 
the  effects  of  light  and  shadow,  to  decide 
upon  the  best  point  of  view  for  the  most  ar- 
tistic effect,  to  learn  how  to  give  sharpness 
of  outline  or  "  detail"  to  a  picture,  or  to 
have  instead  a  delicate  softness,  to  use  the 
judgement  in  regard  to  length  of  time  that 
shall  be  given  in  making  each  "  exposure,  " 
to  learn  how  to  correct  when  "  developing  " 
the  plate  any  errors  tliat  may  have  been 
made  in  "timing,  "  to  make  "  pictures"  of 
the  bee  yard,  of  the  grand  old  trees  about 
the  home,  of  the  old  school  house  among 
the  maples  where  my  children  first  went  to 
school,  and  the  children  themselves,  (  baby 
Fern  in  her  cab  was  my  first  attempt )  have 
aroused  my  enthusiasm  to  a  pitch  that  I 
did  not  suppose  it  would  ever  again 
reach.  It  is  the  same  as  it  was  with  bee- 
keeping and  the  art  of  printing.  Of  course, 
I  do  not  expect  to  make  any  money  out  of  it, 
it  is  the  one  thing  I  do  simply  for  doing.  It 
may  turn  out  to  my  financial  advantage,  as  it 
will  probably  improve  the  Review  by  in- 
creasing the  number  of  illustrations.  That 
cut  of  the  Michigan  Experimental  Apiary 
was  made  from  a  photo,  of  my  taking.  In 
order  to  get  the  exact  point  of  view  that  I 
wished,  it  was  necessary  to  build  a  high  plat- 
form out  in  a  wheat  field,  but  I  was  deter- 
mined to  get  exactly  the  view  that  I  thought 
was  best. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


237 


INDIVIDUAL  CHECKS — THEY  ABE  EXPENSIVE  TO 
THE  REOEIVEK. 

Many  people  who  have  a  bank  account 
(  fortunate  mortals  )  pay  almost  every  bill 
with  a  check.  This  furnishes  a  record  of 
where  the  money  goes  and  each  check  is  the 
same  as  a  receipt  for  the  money  paid.  To  a 
person  living  in  the  city  where  the  bank  is 
located  at  which  an  individual  check  is  pay- 
able, such  a  check  is  as  good  as  the  currency, 
as  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  step  into  the  bank 
and  have  the  check  cashed  at  its  face  value. 
When  the  check  is  sent  to  a  distant  city  and 
presented  at  a  bank  for  payment  it  must  be 
returned  for  collection  to  the  bank  at  which 
it  was  issued.  For  making  this  collection 
the  bank  charges  from  10  to  2.5  cents  accord- 
ing to  the  distance  and  locality  of  the  issuing 
bank.  The  amount  paid  for  collection  is 
called  exchange  and  the  one  who  pref  ents 
the  check  for  collection  is  paid  that  much 
less  money.  I  have  presented  a  check  for 
40  cents  and  found  the  excliange  to  be  1.5  cts. 
Twice  have  I  received  a  check  of  §1.00  from 
Florida  and  found  the  excliange  to  be  40  cts. 
These  are  unusal,  but  only  a  short  time  ago  I 
presented  four  checks  amounting  in  the  ag- 
gregate to  f  36.00  and  had  to  pay  .$1.00  ex- 
change. It  may  be  thoughtlessness  on  the 
part  of  the  makers  of  these  checks,  but  there 
is  certainly  an  unfairness  about  it.  Of 
course  the  amounts  are  small  and  one  does 
not  feel  like  complaining  to  a  good  customer, 
but  the  amount  in  the  aggregate  for  a  year 
is  quite  a  sum.  It  is  of  so  much  importance 
that  some  business  houses  have  a  notice  in 
their  bill  heads  that  says:  "We  pay  no  ex- 
change. "  A  man  who  has  a  sum  of  money 
to  send  to  a  distance,  and  wishes  it  to  go 
safely,  ought  not  to  thrust  the  expense 
of  the  safety  upon  the  one  to  whom  it  is 
sent.  A  draft  on  New  York  or  Chicago,  for 
any  ordinary  sum,  can  be  bought  at  an  ex- 
pense of  ten  cents  and  will  be  paid  at  its 
face  value  at  any  bank.  If  a  man  prefers  to 
use  his  individual  check  in  order  to  have  a 
complete  record  in  one  place  of  the  money 
paid  out,  then  let  him  add  at  least  15  or  2C 
cents  to  the  amount  to  pay  for  collection. 
^ 

BE  PKUMPT  IN  YOUK  COBRE8PONDENCE. 

Only  a  business  man  fully  realizes  the 
annoyance  and  loss  that  arises  from  procras- 
tination in  the  matter  of  correspondence. 
I  remember  having  an  order  for  a  dozen 
queens  early  one  spring  from  a  customer  in 
an  Eastern  State.  It  was  before  I  had  raised 


any  queens  of  my  own  that  year,  and  I  sent 
the  order  to  a  Southern  breeder  to  fill,  and  in- 
formed my  customer  what  I  had  done.  This 
breeder  had  usually  filled  orders  promptly, 
but  he  didn't  this  time.  My  customer 
complained  because  the  queens  didn't  come 
and  I  wrote  to  see  what  was  the  matter  and 
to  learn  when  they  ivoitkl  come.  No  reply 
came.  This  matter  of  complaint  and  inquiry 
was  kept  up  for  nearly  a  month,  when  I  sent 
my  customer  queens  from  some  other  source 
and  told  my  Southern  friend  that  he  need 
not  send  the  queens.  Then  he  wrote  that  he 
could  send  the  queens:  he  had  been  kept  back 
by  cold,  wet  weather,  and  the  reason  why  he 
had  not  replied  was  that  he  could  give  no 
definite  answer  as  to  when  they  oould  be 
sent,  as  he  did  not  know  himself,  and  he 
wanted  to  wait  until  he  could  tell  me  posi- 
tively when  he  could  send  them.  If  he  had 
told  me  as  much  in  the  first  place  all  would 
have  been  well.  If  you  cannot  give  a  corres- 
pondent a  definite  answer,  write  and  tell 
him  so,  and  give  the  reason  why;  let  him 
know  as  much  as  you  do  about  it.  Even 
when  I  only  wished  to  think  the  matter  over 
a  little  before  answering  a  letter  I  have  writ- 
ten my  correspondent  that  his  proposition 
was  received  and  would  be  given  considera- 
tion and  when  I  had  decided  I  would  let  him 
know.  Perhaps  this  is  carrying  it  a  little  too 
far,  but  my  idea  of  the  matter  is  that  for 
every  letter  received  requiring  an  answer, 
some  sort  of  an  answer  ought  to  go  back  by 
return  mail,  even  if  nothing  more  than  an 
acknowledgement  of  its  receipt.  Men  who 
get  letters  by  the  hundreds  each  day  answer 
promptly;  men  who  get  one  letter  a  week 
make  you  wait  that  long  for  an  answer.  I' 
am  aware  that  where  enough  letters  are  re- 
ceived so  that  the  answering  of  them  be- 
comes part  of  the  business  of  the  day,  they 
are  more  likely  to  be  answered  promptly 
than  when  the  writing  of  a  letter  is  only  an 
occasional  "task,"  as  some  people  call  it, 
but  there  is  no  excuse  for  allowing  a  letter  to 
remain  unanswered  day  after  day — yes,  in 
some  instances,  week  after  week. 

There  is  another  phase  of  this  matter  that 
I  must  touch  upon.  A  man  writes  and  asks 
you  to  trust  him,  saying  when  he  can  pay. 
You  accommodate  him.  When  the  time  of 
payment  comes  he  does  not  pay.  Finally  he 
is  written  to.  He  may  answer  and  say  why 
he  could  not  send  the  money,  and  say  when 
he  will  send  it.  The  time  of  payment  comes 
around  again,  but  no  money  comes.      He  is 


238 


THE  BEJB-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


again  written  to.  No  reply.  Weeks  and 
months  pass  and  no  money  comes.  The 
man  ia  written  to  repeatedly,  but  there  is  no 
reply.  Nothing  is  much  more  aggravating. 
There  may  be  good  reasons  why  the  man 
cannot  pay.  If  so,  why  not  write  and  say 
so?  Such  men  often  pay  up  after  awhile 
and  then  explain  ivhy  they  have  not  paid 
before  and  apologize  for  their  neglect. 
How  much  better  to  have  explained  before. 
I  have  frequently  been  obliged  to  ask  a 
creditor  to  wait,  and  I  have  never  yet  been  re- 
fused such  leniency,  but  I  have  always  an- 
swered all  requests  for  pay,  and  explained 
exactly  how  I  was  situated  and  what  were  the 
prospects  for  payment.  Most  of  us  are 
willing  to  grant  favors  to  our  fellow  men, 
bat  when  we  ask  for  favors  in  return,  and 
these  requests  are  completely  ignored,  feel- 
ings are  roused  that  might  better  have 
slumbered. 


EXXRMOTED. 


"Somnambulist"  and  the  Apicnltarist. 

The  Progressive  Bee  -  Keeper  has  a  very 
bright  correspondent  that  writes  under  the 
nom  de  plume  of  "  Somnambulist."  "Way- 
side Fragments  "  is  the  title  given  to  these 
somnambulistic  writings,  and  they  are  a 
bright,  fresh,  sprightly  review  of  bee  jour- 
nals, bee  men  and  bees  ;  something  after  the 
manner  that  friend  Hasty  gets  up  his  depart- 
ment in  the  Review.  Here  is  a  character- 
istic paragraph : 

"  And  now  let's  wheel  right  off  from  Bro. 
York's  biographical  sketches,  and  take  no- 
tice of  Henry  Alley.  Did  you  ever  see  any 
one  hump  himself  as  he  has  done  this  sum- 
mer ?  (Apicultural  editors  hare  to  hump 
themselves  now-a-days,  Mr.,  Mrs.,  Miss,  or 
whatever  you  are.  Somnambulist. — Ed.  Re- 
view.) Don't  he  remind  you  of  a  widower 
looking  up  a  new  wife  ?  He  has  wheeled 
that  vehicle  by  which  he  conveys  his 
thoughts  to  the  public,  and  which  he  calls 
the  Aj^icjiltiiri.st,  into  line,  and  brightened  it 
up  surprisingly.  Therein  one's  eyes  meet 
'cells,  cells,  cells,'  but  after  all  the  paper, 
I'll  warrant  you,  is  no  .se//." 


Honey  Analyses. 

"  The  sharper  the  rat  the  better  the  cat." 

Prof.  Cook  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural 
College  has  for  years  been  securing  honey 
from    different  sources.     That  gathered  in 


different  localities  from  different  sources 
and  under  different  conditions.  Some  of 
this  was  gathered  very  rapidly  and  some  of 
it  was  honey  dew.  Some,  also,  was  sugar 
honey.  The  object  in  making  this  collection 
was  to  try  and  learn  of  the  different  charac- 
teristics of  honey  with  a  view  to  deciding 
whether  the  chemist  could  say  positively 
whether  a  given  sample  of  honey  was  adul- 
terated. As  has  been  previously  stated  in 
these  columns  these  ;")()  samples  of  honey 
were  submitted  to  three  able  chemists  for 
analysis.  One  of  these  was  Prof.  H.  W. 
Wiley,  the  government  chemist ;  another 
was  Prof.  M.  A.  Scovell,  Director  of  the  Ex- 
periment Station  at  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
and  the  other  was  Dr.  R.  C.  Kedzie,  Prof,  of 
Chemistry  at  the  Michigan  Agricultural  Col- 
lege. Prof.  Cook  has  now  gotten  out  a  bul- 
letin of  16  pages  in  which  all  of  the  facts  and 
particulars,  the  whys  and  the  wherefores  are 
given.  lam  sorely  tempted  to  give  the  Bul- 
letin in  full,  but,  as  it  would  use  nearly  all 
of  one  issue  of  the  Review,  the  idea  must  be 
dismissed  with  simply  giving  the  summary 
which  reads  as  follows  : 

"  1.  That  chemists  can  easily  detect  adul- 
teration of  honey  by  use  of  glucose,  in  all 
cases  where  it  is  likely  to  be  practiced.  The 
same  would  be  true  if  cane  sugar  syrup  was 
mixed  with  the  honey. 

2.  That  a  probable  method  to  distinguish 
honey  dew  from  honey  adulterated  with  glu- 
cose has  deeii  determined  by  these  analyses. 
The  right-handed  or  slight  left-handed  rota- 
tion together  with  the  large  amount  of  ash, 
and  small  amount  of  invert  sugar  indicate 
honey  dew  honey.  As  honey  dew  honey  will 
never  be  put  upon  the  market,  this  question 
is  of  scientific  rather  than  practical  impor- 
tant e. 

8.  As  yet  the  chemist  is  unable  to  distin- 
guish between  cane  sugar  syrup  honey — by 
which  we  mean  cane  sugar  synip  fed  to  the 
bees  and  trausformed  by  them  into  honey, 
and  not  cane  syrup  mixed  witli  honey,  which 
is  adulteration  pure  and  simple,  though  a 
kind  not  likely  to  be  practiced — and  honey 
from  flowers.  As  the  best  cultivated  taste 
cannot  thus  distinguish,  this  seems  of  slight 
imt)ortance.  If  it  should  prove  to  be  impor- 
tant to  be  able  to  distinguish  them  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  chemist  will  discover  the 
means,  as  chemistry  has  very  delicate  eyes, 
and  can  usually  search  out  very  slight  dif- 
ferences. 

We  see  that  there  are  yet  unsolved  prob- 
h  ms  in  this  direction.  And  it  is  desirable  to 
follow  up  the  investigations.  Prof.  H.  W. 
Wiley  is  desirous  to  do  so  till  the  last  fact  is 
discovered.  To  better  accomplish  this  he 
desires  samples  of  three  or  four  pounds  each 
of  honeys  from  any  k)toivii  source,  especially 
honey  dew  honey,  and  that  gatliered  very 
rapidly.    Sugar  syrup  honey  will  also  be  very 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


239 


acceptable.  Such  samples  may  be  sent  to 
Prof.  H.  \V.  Wiley,  Division  of  Ctiemistry, 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D. 
C.  The  express  will  be  paid  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

I  wish  to  thank  the  three  distinguished 
chemists  who  have  rendered  such  able  assis- 
tance in  determining  these  valuable  results. 

A.  J.  Cook." 
Agbicultukal  College,  Mich.,  / 
June  29,  1893.  )" 

Prof.  Cook  will  send  this  Bulletin  (96) 
free  to  all  who  ask  for  it.  I  presume 
there  are  but  few  bee-keepers  in  Mich- 
igan who  have  not  already  received  it,  as  it 
has  been  sent  to  a  list  of  1,200  that  I  fur- 
nished the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture  for  that  purpose.  I  wish  that 
every  bee-keeper  in  the  land  might  read  it. 
Send  for  the  Bulletin  if  you  have  not  already 
received  it  and  then  if  you  can  help  in  the 
way  of  furnishing  samples  for  further  work, 
do  so. 


Experiments    in    Apiculture    Made    at    tlie 

Michigan  Agricultural  College  in  1892 

by  J,  H.  Larrabee. 

Mr.  Larrabee's  report  of  his  work  at  the 
Michigan  Agricultural  College  Apiary  has 
been  out  for  a  month  or  more  but  lack  of 
space  has  prevented  nae  from  noticing  it.  I 
can  do  but  little  more  now  than  give  a  sum- 
mary of  the  results. 
,  Removing  the  queen  during  13  days  of  the 

W  honey  harvest  was  tried  with  one  colony  and 
compared  with  another  colony  of  equal 
strength.  The  colony  having  a  laying  queen 
gained  4(3  pounds  in  weight  during  this 
period  and  the  queenless  one  gained  37 
pounds.  If  five  pounds  were  deducted  from 
the  one  having  the  queen  to  represent  the 
weight  of  the  brood,  only  four  pounds  extra 
would  be  left  as  the  gain  resulting  from  the 
presence  of  the  queen. 

An  experiment  upon  a  larger  scale  would 
be  more  satisfactory.  By  the  way,  I  have 
the  same  criticism  to  make  in  regard  to 
several  of  the  experiments  made. 

Two  colonies  were  fed  honey  to  learn  how 
much  honey  is  used  in  the  consumption  of 
wax.  Eight  pounds  of  honey  were  required 
in  the  secretion  of  153^2  ounces  of  wax. 

The  planting  for  honey  experiments  were 
brought  to  a  close  with  the  conclusion  that 
"  no  results  have  been  obtained  with  any 
plant    sown    or    planted    for  honey    alone 


that  will  warrant  the  bee-keeper  in  spending 
money  or  labor  in  this  direction." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  experiments 
was  that  of  evaporating  thin  or  unripe  hon- 
ey.   I  quote  as  follows  from  the  report : 

"  There  were  constructed  a  series  of  six 
shallow  pans  19  by  28  inches  in  size,  with 
partitions  2  inches  in  hei^hth,  open  on  alter- 
nate ends,  similar  to  the  partitions  in  a 
maple-syrup  evaporator.  These  were  ar- 
ranged in  a  cabinet,  one  above  the  other,  so 
that  honey  entering  at  the  top  was  obliged 
to  flow  some  75  feet  before  passing  out  at 
the  bottem.  An  oil  stove  was  placed  be- 
neath the  whole,  and  a  pipe  at  the  top  caused 
a  current  of  heated  air  to  pass  upward  over 
the  honey.  The  fumes  of  the  stove  were  car- 
ried ofE  by  means  of  a  second  pipe,  in  order 
to  avoid  all  danger  of  their  injuring  the 
flavor  of  the  honey.  Honey  of  average  body 
with  10  per  cent,  by  weight  of  water  added 
was  reduced  again  to  the  normal  condition 
by  passing  twice  through  the  pans  at  a  tem- 
perature of  120%  and  about  100  pounds  per 
day  were  evaporated  at  that  temperature. 
Thin  nectar,  extracted  from  the  hives  very 
soon  after  being  gathered,  was  evaporated  to 
the  thickness  of  good  honey  at  about  the 
same  rate.  This  apparatus  was  kept  in  op- 
eration about  ten  days  upon  honey  of  vari- 
ous thickness  and  upon  clear  water  with  the 
above  definite  results.  The  flavor  of  the 
first  honey  was  injured — probably  by  the 
first  acid  action  of  the  honey  upon  the  outer 
coating  of  the  tin.  Afterwards  this  was  not 
as  apparent.  The  color  was  also  somewhat 
affected. 

The  heat  of  the  sun  was  also  tried  for  pur- 
poses of  evaporation.  A  shallow  pan  28  by 
54  inches  in  size  was  filled  3  inches  deep  with 
thin  honey.  This  was  covered  with  glass  6 
inches  above  the  honey  and  left  in  the  sun 
for  four  days,  when  about  five  per  cent,  of 
moisture  was  evaporated.  As  the  honey  lies 
at  rest  the  water  rises  to  the  top,  somewhat 
aiding  evaporation.  The  flavor  and  color 
are  not  afifected  as  much  as  by  the  method 
of  running  through  pans.  In  this  way  honey 
with  30  per  cent.,  and  even  40  per  cent.,  of 
water  added  was  evaporated  to  the  consis- 
tency of  very  thick  honey  in  three  weeks' 
time,  so  thick  that  it  has  not  at  this  date 
showed  any  signs  of  granulation.  During 
favorable  periods  of  sunshine  a  temperature 
of  1.55=  was  reached.  By  this  method  a  tank 
4  by  6  feet,  with  6  inches  of  honey  and 
weighing  1,300  pounds,  should  be  evaporated 
10  per  cent.,  or  from  the  consistency  of  fresh- 
ly gathered  honey  to  that  of  average  body, 
during  about  two  weeks  in  .July  or  August. 

The  common  method  of  exposing  to  the 
air  in  open  vessels  in  the  warm  upper  story 
of  a  building  was  also  tested  with  honey  to 
which  10,  20,  .30,  and  40  per  cent,  of  water 
had  been  added.  That  having  40  per  cent, 
added  became  strongly  fermented  in  a 
week's  time,  while  only  a  slight  change  had 
taken  place  in  the  ;30  per  cent,  dilution,  and 
at  the  end  of  a  month  it  tasted  like  a  very 
poor  quality  of  commercial  extracted  honey 
or  like  honey  dew.    The  20  per  cent,  dilution 


240 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


was  not  nearly  as  bad,  and  the  honey,  with 
only  10  per  cent,  of  water  added,  was  during 
the  month  returned  to  the  consistency  of 
very  fair  honey. 

Nectar  extracted  two  or  three  days  after 
the  combs  were  placed  in  the  hives  contain- 
ed, during  the  dry  weather  of  July  and  Au- 
gust, from  10  to  If)  per  cent,  of  water  above 
the  amount  always  found  in  honey  that  has 
been  sealed  in  the  comb  by  the  bees.  This 
was  determined  by  evaporating  in  test  tubes 
in  hot  water. 

Summary.— (1)  The  method  at  present 
promising  best  results  for  artificial  evapora- 
tion is  that  by  solar  heat  under  glass  well 
ventilated.  A  small  portion  of  a  greenhouse 
or  forcing- house  arranged  for  conserving 
the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  so  located  that  honey 
could  be  run  into  the  shallow  vats  directly 
from  the  mouth  of  the  extractor  and  drawn 
off  from  the  bottom  of  the  vats  into  market- 
ing receptacles,  should  give  good  practical 
results. 

(2)  Very  thin  honey  or  nectar  will  not 
sour  as  quickly  as  supposed  by  many,  and 
may  be  safely  kept  during  any  period  of 
cloudy  weather  we  may  have  during  the  hot 
summer  months. 

(3)  The  method  of  exposing  to  the  air  in  a 
warm  room  can  not  be  depended  upon  to 
ripen  very  thin  honey,  although  it  may  be 
serviceable  for  evaporating  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  water. 

(4)  The  method  of  evaporating  by  artifi- 
cial heat  of  stove  or  furnace  is  expensive 
and  troublesome,  requiring  constant  watch- 
ing and  care  and  not  giving  as  good  results 
as  had  been  hoped  for. 

(5)  The  possibilities  in  the  line  of  evapo- 
rating honey  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
the  yield  and  preventing  granulation  are 
very  great.  A  series  of  experiments  to  de- 
termine the  increase  in  production  by  ex- 
tracting freshly  gathered  honey  would  be 
next  in  order  and  value.  When  the  utility  of 
this  method  is  fully  demonstrated  supers 
with  fixed  frames  and  extractors  holding 
whole  cases  will  be  used  and  other  appara- 
tus conformable  to  the  needs  of  the  new  sys- 
tem." 

Feeding  back  honey  to  secure  the  comple- 
tion of  unfinished  sections  at  the  close  of 
the  harvest  was  also  tried  with  five  colonies. 
From  the  feeding  of  .S38  pounds  there  was  a 
gain  in  weight  of  254  pounds.  There  was 
also  an  aggregate  gain  of  3(5  pounds  in  the 
brood  chambers.  With  extracted  honey  at 
8  cents  and  comb  honey  at  14  cents  there  was 
a  profit  of  $11.20.  Feeding  honey  where 
there  were  no  partly  finished  combs  to  give 
and  the  bees  were  obliged  to  build  combs 
from  foundation  was  not  profitable.  It  was 
tried  with  only  two  colonies  and  ll^^Jpounds 
fed.  7i)}^  pounds  of  honey  and  an  increase 
in  the  weight  of  the  brood  nests  amounting 
to  lG3ij  pounds  was  the  result.  Only  .f  1.81 
for  the  trouble.  The  honey  was  thinned  with 
12  per  cent,  of  water  and  fed  warmed. 


Why  Bee-Keeping  is  Neglected  at  the  State 
Experiment  Station, 

The  bee,  like  charity,  begins  to  hum, 

Of  that  sweet  nectar,  Solons,  give  me  some. 

The  following  article  by  Dr.  Miller  was 
written  for  the  Illinois,  State  Bee-Keepers' 
Convention,  and  I  copy  it  from  the  A.  B.  J. 

"Many  thousands  of  dollars  are  annually 
spent  in  agricultural  experiments,  the  money 
therefor  being  taken  from  public  funds.  To 
prove  the  wisdom  of  this,  needs  no  very  ex- 
tended argument.  Only  by  actual  experi- 
ment can  a  farmer  ascertain  many  things 
necessary  for  the  profitable  prosecution  of 
his  calling.  If  in  each  township  one  farmer 
should  make  experiments  for  all  the  rest,  the 
cost  would  thereby  be  greatly  reduced;  and 
if  a  single  set  of  men  at  one  place,  having 
all  the  requisite  appliances,  with  the  power 
to  command  the  most  favorable  surround- 
ings, make  the  experiments  for  all  the  farm- 
ers in  the  State,  then  the  cost  is  reduced  to  a 
minimum  per  capita. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  simple  fact  that  in 
the  different  States  these  experiment  sta- 
tions are  continued  year  after  year,  funds 
being  freely  voted  for  such  purpose,  is  the 
strongest  proof  of  the  wisdom  and  economy 
of  such  outlay. 

It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  with  very  few 
exceptions  the  interests  of  bee-keeping  are 
utterly  ignored  in  all  the  experimental  sta- 
tions. In  our  own  great  State  of  Illinois,  I 
do  not  know  that  a  single  dollar  of  public 
money  has  ever  been  spent  in  apicultnral  ex- 
periments. 

The  utter  neglect  of  this  branch  of  agricul- 
ture can  only  be  justified,  if  it  can  be  justi- 
fied, at  all,  ou  one  of  two  grounds.  First,  on 
the  ground  that  the  products  of  bee-keeping 
are  too  insignificant  to  warrant  an  outlay 
for  experiments.     Let  us  look  at  this. 

Suppose  that  throughout  the  r>.'>,000  square 
miles  of  the  State  all  the  various  vocations 
are  nicely  adjusted,  so  that  all  are  full,  just 
the  right  number  of  farmers,  merchants, 
blacksmiths,  etc.,  for  the  highest  welfare  of 
the  State,  only  there  are  no  bee-keepers. 
Now  suppose  a  bee-keeper  be  dropped  on 
each  10  square  miles  of  territory  with  100  col- 
onies of  bees.  Then  suppose  an  average 
crop  of  iiO  pounds  per  colony,  at  an  average 
price  of  12>^cents  per  pound.  The  5,600  bee- 
keepers would  produce  21^^  million  pounds 
of  honey,  worth  in  round  numbers  $3,500 
000.  Is  that  amount  of  clean-cut  addition 
to  the  total  resources  of  the  State  not  worth 
considering? 

The  census  of  1880  shows  the  potato  crop 
of  that  year  in  the  State  of  Illinois  te  be  10,- 
3r)5,707  bushels.  At  25  cents  per  bushel,  the 
value  is  .$2,.5;»1,427.  Our  estimated  honey 
crop  is  worth  about  a  third  more  than  this. 
Of  buckwheat  there  were  raised  178,8.59 
bushels.  At  75  cents  per  bushel,  $i:M,143— 
not  one  twenty-fifth  the  value  of  our  esti- 
mated honey  crop.  Were  there  no  experi- 
ments on  behalf  of  potatoes  and  buckwheat? 
Of  cheese,  in  1880,  Illinois  produced  1,035,  - 
0<)9  pounds.  Figured  at  the  same  price  as 
honey,  that  makes  $129,384.    Multiply  by  2G, 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


241 


and  it  does  not  come  np  to  honey.  Do  the 
cheese-markers  have  no  attention  at  the  ex- 
perimental station? 

Add  together  potatoes,  buckwheat  and 
cheese,  and  you  must  incease  the  combined 
value  by  half  a  million  dollars  to  make  it 
equal  the  honey.  In  view  of  the  outlay  made, 
and  very  properly  made,  for  experiments 
relating  to  the  three  articles  mentioned,  it 
can  hardly  be  said  the  products  of  bee-keep- 
ing are  too  insignificant  to  warrant  an  out- 
lay for  experiments. 

If  it  be  objected  that  the  products  men- 
tioned— potatoes,  etc. — are  the  actual  pro- 
ducts of  a  year,  while  the  amount  of  honey 
mentioned  is  only  a  possible  product,  please 
remember  that  experiments  are  made  on 
the  basis  of  possibilities,  with  the  view  of 
something  different  from  what  has  been. 

Or,  it  may  be  said,  "If  possibilities,  are 
to  be  figured  on,  then  estimate  potatoes  not 
by  the  actual  but  the  possible,  and  the  crop 
will  assume  one  hundred  times  its  present 
importance,  for  100  times  the  number  of 
bushels  might  be  raised."  Please  go  back 
to  our  supposition,  and  that  was  that  all  the 
vocations  were  nicely  adjusted  so  as  to  secure 
the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number, 
and  in  that  case  there  will  be  just  the  right 
number  of  potatoes  raised,  for  the  general 
good.  If  you  increase  the  number  of  pota- 
toes raised,  it  must  be  at  the  expense  of 
some  other  crop,  the  additional  potatoes 
raised  will  take  the  ground  otherwise  occu- 
pied with  corn  or  something  else.  So  there 
will  only  be  a  change  of  products,  and  as  we 
have  supposed  a  perfect  adjustment,  any  dis- 
arrangement of  this  adjustment  will  make 
a  decrease  instead  of  an  increase  of  wealth. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  honey,  it  will  be  quite 
different.  Any  increase  in  the  honey  crop  will 
not  mean  a  decrease  in  any  other  crop,  but 
as  before  said,  will  be  a  clean-cut  addition 
to  tl\e  total  resources.  Indeed,  it  will  be 
more  than  the  addition  of  the  honey  crop, 
for  according  to  good  authorities,  honey  is 
only  a  by-product  of  the  bee,  its  chief  use 
being  the  fertilization  of  flowers.  The  value 
of  the  beeswax  produced  is  also  an  item 
worth  considering. 

It  seems,  then,  pretty  clear  that  the  neg- 
lect of  the  bee-keeping  interests  does  not 
arise  from  the  fact  that  the  products  are  too 
insignificant  to  warrant  any  outlay  for  ex- 
periments. 

The  second  ground  on  which  the  neglect 
might  seem  to  be  justified,  is  the  fact,  if  it 
be  a  fact,  that  everything  pertaining  to  bee- 
keeping is  already  so  fully  understood  that 
there  is  no  room  for  experiment.  The  very 
suggestion  of  such  a  thing  will  bring  a  smile 
to  the  lips  of  any  practical  bee-keeper.  If 
there  is  any  set  of  men  that  are  exception- 
ally noted  to  be  always  on  the  strain  in  the 
investigation  of  some  unsettled  point,  lying 
awake  nights  over  some  unfinished  problem, 
losing  every  year  considerable  parts  of  the 
crop  in  seeking  some  better  way,  surely  they 
may  be  found  among  bee-keepers.  It  is  idle 
to  pursue  further  such  a  thought. 

What,  then,  is  the  reason  that  so  far  near- 
ly all  that  has  been  done  has  been  a  matter 
entirely  of  private  enterprise?    Is  it  not  be- 


cause those  who  have  in  charge  such  mat- 
ters have  not  been  fully  awake  to  the  impor- 
tance to  the  public  interest  of  bee-keeping, 
and  that  bee-keepers  have  been  too  modest 
to  assert  their  claims? 

In  view,  then,  of  the  importance  of  an  in- 
dustry that  adds  to  the  general  wealth  in  a 
double  way  without  detracting  from  any- 
thing else,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  bee- 
keepers are  largely  engaged  everywhere  in 
experiments  that  could  be  more  economi- 
cally and  more  satisfactorily  carried  out  at 
a  place  fully  equipped  for  the  purpose,  there 
seems  only  one  answer  to  the  question 
whether  bee-keepers  need  an  experiment 
station. 

As  to  the  details  of  carrying  out  anything 
of  the  kind,  I  will  make  no  suggestion  ex- 
cept the  single  one,  that  whoever  is  at  the 
head  of  such  an  experimental  station  should 
be  a  bee-keeper  through  and  through — one 
in  touch  with  the  mass  of  bee-keepers,  know- 
ing their  needs  and  in  entire  sympathy  at  all 
points  with  the  work.  To  such  a  one  they 
would  look  hopefully  for  light,  and  cheer- 
fully render  all  the  aid  in  their  power." 

Marengo,  111. 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee   Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

Like  Paul  "  I  magnify  my  office."  The 
true  critic's  office  is  a  very  high  and  rare 
one.  It  may  seem  "cheeky"  in  me  to  try 
and  fill  it ;  but  I'm  in  for  it  now,  and  I  re- 
flect that  failure  in  trying  is  not  so  bad  as 
failure  for  lack  of  trying.  It  is  easy  to  dis- 
tribute taffy  to  every  one  you  touch,  and 
shut  eyes  to  all  faults  ;  but  what's  the  use  of 
that  kind  of  criticism  ?  It  interests  for  a 
little  while,  and  theu  gradually  becomes  dis- 
gusting to  every  one — the  recipient  of  taffy 
included.  The  approbation  of  a  critic  who 
will  praise  by  the  half  column  the  emptiest 
scribbler  who  ever  drove  a  quill  just  as  freely 
as  he  would  praise  Homer — who  can  receive 
his  praise  without  making  up  a  wry  face  on 
the  sly  ?  On  the  other  hand  there  is  the  old- 
bloody-Tom  sort  of  criticism,  which  banks 
entirely  on  the  popular  fondness  for  seeing 
somebody  minced  up.  Some  critics,  as  well 
as  some  readers  seem  to  enjoy  it ;  but  where 
do  morals  come  in  in  such  wicked  sport  ? 
The  true  critic's  bearing  toward  those  whom 
he  reviews  is  like  that  of  a  noble  teacher 
toward  a  scholar — no  malignity  at  all — a  pre- 
ference for  praise,  yet  perfect  fearlessness 
of  dispraise,  even  toward  the  strongest  and 
most  irascible.    One  editor  thanks  a  critic 


212 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


for  his  adverse  judgment,  ana  another,  for 
a  dozen  years,  makes  him  feel  that  he  has 
an  enemy  on  his  track  ;  yet  the  true  critic 
must  be  just  to  both,  and  keep  sweet  through 
it  all.  Moreover  the  true  critic  must  see  and 
mention  the  shortcomings  and  flaws  even  in 
very  able  papers  and  writers.  The  true  teach- 
er does  this  for  his  ablest  scholars.  It  is  a 
sad  damage  to  a  scholar  to  think  that  there 
are  no  defects  in  his  work  which  mortal  man 
can  discover.  Ability  to  see  faults  does  not 
necessarily  imply  superiority,  or  even  equal- 
ity. Man  criticises  cake  without  being  able 
to  make  cake  at  all.  Had  I  lived  in  Homer's 
day  I  think  I  could  have  told  him,  moderate 
as  my  own  literary  capital  is,  that  his  terriiic 
and  ingenious  gloating  over  human  slaugh- 
ter, while  indeed  increasing  his  popularity 
with  the  crowd  in  his  own  generation,  would 
lower  him  a  little  in  the  estimation  of  all 
good  men  for  all  coming  time.  And  so  I 
think  I'll  take  courage  and  mention  the  de- 
fects of  the  big  papers  and  writers  just  when 
they  think  they  have  none.  Any  man  that 
lives  may  utterly  mistake  in  such  work,  and 
surely  so  may  I,  but  here  goes  all  the  same. 

BEE-KEEPERS'    Enterprise. 

The  Enterprise  has  a  very  fair  stock  of 
juvenile  merit.  If  we  should  take  its  first 
number  and  compare  it  with  the  initial  num- 
bers of  Gleanings.  A.  B.  J.  and  Review,  these 
leaders  in  the  class  might  some  of  them  look 
a  little  abashed.  Our  last  baby's  strongest 
merit  seems  to  be  individuality,  a  way  of 
doing  very  commonplace  things  in  such  a 
style  that  they  almost  seem  unique.  The  se- 
lection of  a  large  amount  of  quoted  matter 
from  other  bee  papers  is  a  commonplace  af- 
fair ;  but  the  style  in  which  it  is  done  in  the 
department  called  "  Gleanings  from  our 
Neighbor's  Wheat  Fields,"  gives  it  an  inter- 
est, and  gives  us  an  interest  in  the  doer  of 
it,  Most  papers  wishing  to  quote  my  count 
of  words  in  the  various  bee  journals  would 
just  chop  it  out  unchanged.  Not  so  editor 
Sage.  He  adds  up  the  totals  and  then  com- 
ments on  the  results  of  his  own  work.  This 
sort  of  art  and  industry,  which  makes  into 
practically  original  matter  the  things  which 
are  quoted  is  very  valuable  either  in  an  edi- 
tor or  any  other  writer,  and  it  promises  well 
for  the  future  of  the  journal.  A  lazy  editor 
don't  put  editorial  elbow  grease  into  clip- 
pings. 

There  is  also  a  plainly  visible  inclination 
(shown  by  Mnmm'a  Visit  on  the  first  page) 


to  draw  strongly  on  the  editor's  own  person- 
al experiences.  This  is  an  excellent  remedy 
to  prevent  that  unnaturalness  which  is  the 
curse  of  so  much  of  modern  writing.  We 
can  all  find  "  a  touch  of  nature  "  by  looking 
inside  ;  yet  few  seem  to  have  wit  enough  to 
do  that. 

I'm  not  sure  about  the  wisdom  of  giving 
up  part  of  the  rather  scanty  space  to  child- 
ren's letters.  The  cartoon  on  A.  I.  Root  is  a 
decided  hit ;  yet  I'm  not  sure  it  looks  just 
right  to  see  so  youthful  an  urchin  guying  his 
grandpa.  A.  I.  Root  is  to  apiculture  what 
Horace  Greeley  was  to  the  Republican  party; 
and  as  in  the  other  case  the  business  of 
poking  fun  at  him  is  considerably  overdone. 
The  favorite  source  of  quotation  seems  to 
be  Mrs.  Harrison.  Might  have  chosen  a 
worse  one  surely.  Brother  Pratt  opens  the 
second  number  with  a  stray  straw  sort  of 
article  which  is  very  good,  only  lacking  the 
humor  of  its  prototype.  Yet  one  bushel  of 
his  "  sound  grain  "  seems  to  me  to  be  un- 
sound— where  he  gives  unqualified  prefer- 
ence to  cotton  string  for  transferring.  All 
right  when  honey  is  coming  in  freely  ;  but 
sometimes  bees  are  transferred  when  they 
are  secreting  no  wax,  and  rather  disinclined 
to  work  with  wax  at  all ;  yet  all  the  while 
they  may  be  A  No.  1  at  nibbling  up  string. 

There  is  nothing  juvenile  about  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Enterprise — fresh  and  bright 
as  a  new  pin,  or  a  prosperous  journal  ten 
years  old. 

The  Michigan    Bulletin. 

Bulletin  96  of  Michigan  Agricultural  Sta- 
tion is  devoted  to  honey  matters,  and  writ- 
ten by  Prof.  Cook.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret 
that  it  cannot  be  fully  reviewed  without  re- 
viving the  dead  snakes  of  the  sugar  honey 
quarrel ;  but  I  think  part  of  its  valuable  con- 
tents are  available.  Bonnier  is  cited  as  a 
specially  valuable  authority  on  the  composi- 
tion of  the  nectar  of  flowers.  He  clears  up 
matters  somewhat  by  arranging  the  different 
sugars  found  in  nectar  into  two  classes,  glu- 
coses and  saccharoses.  Cane  sugar  stands  as 
the  principal  one  of  the  saccharoses.  And 
here  I  would  predict  that  chemistry  will 
eventually  divide  what  is  now  known  as  cane 
sugar  into  a  group  of  sugars.  There 
are  three  things  which  determine  chem- 
ical diversity  ;  (1)  Different  ingredients, 
(2)  Different  proportions  with  the  same 
ingredients,  and  (3;  The  different  ways 
in    which    the    atoms    are     put     together 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


when  ingredients  and  proportions  are  the 
same.  This  last  is  a  somewhat  recent  dis- 
covery of  chemistry  but  is  well  established. 
It  is  not  surprising  at  all.  No  one  would  ex- 
pect two  machines  to  be  identical  just  be- 
cause each  contained  the  same  number  of 
ounces  of  wood  and  the  same  number  of 
ounces  of  iron.  The  putting  together  often 
makes  a  world  of  difiference.  So  I  say  that 
the  sugars,  already  a  numerous  group,  are 
likely  to  stand  as  much  more  numerous  when 
chemistry  has  completed  its  work.  The 
best  authorities  in  England  have  long  pro- 
tested vigorously  against  the  use  of  white 
sugar  from  the  beet  for  bee  feeding  pur- 
poses. When  chemistry  finally  owns  up  that 
the  main  saccharose  of  beet  sugar  and  the 
main  saccharose  of  sugar  from  the  cane 
plant  are  not  identical  then  we  shall  begin 
to  get  our  house  founded  on  the  rock.  If  I 
am  right  the  taste  of  the  two  is  not  identi- 
cal. And  how  about  the  behavior  of  the  two 
under  the  candy  maker's  art,  is  there  not  a 
difiference  ?  So  the  claim  that  the  two  re- 
sults when  these  sugars  are  used  as  bee  diet 
are  not  identical  has  outside  support — and 
this  'ere  Czar  of  all  wisdom  advises  chem- 
istry to  own  up  at  once.  But  let  us  get  back 
from  our  digression.  Beside  the  division 
into  glucoses  and  saccharoses  there  is  a  cross 
division  into  dextroses  (turning  light  to  the 
right)  and  levuloses  (turning  light  to  the 
left)  but,  if  I  infer  rightly,  all  the  saccha- 
roses yet  recognized  fall  in  the  dextrose 
class.  By  the  way  I  am  not  sure  that  chem- 
istry yet  admits  that  there  is  but  one  levu- 
lose.  Sugars  are  also  classified  into  reduc- 
ing sugars  and  non-reducing  sugars,  accord- 
ing to  their  behavior  toward  the  salts  of  cop- 
per. The  reducing  sugars  are  in  the  main 
the  same  as  those  known  as  glucoses  ;  but 
whether  these  two  classes  are  exactly  the 
same  as  to  each  individual  member  is  not 
made  entirely  clear  to  my  noddle.  Lots  of 
chances  to  get  confused  in  the  jabber  of  dif- 
ferent chemists  about  the  sugars. 

The  examination  of  the  nectar  of  nine 
kinds  of  flowers  is  given.  In  fuchsia,  clay- 
tonia,  honeysuckle  {Lonicera)  and  lavender 
the  sugars  known  as  cane  are  more  than  half 
the  total ;  while  in  red  clover,  everlasting 
pea,  vetch,  monkshood  and  crown  imperial 
the  opposite  state  of  things  prevails.  Fuchsia 
seems  rather  to  stand  by  itself  for  its  rich- 
ness in  cane  sugars,  more  than  three  quar- 
ters of  the  total,  while  the  red  clover  is  pret- 
ty strongly  the  other  way,  just  about  one- 


third  to  two-thirds.  The  usual  proportion 
of  water  is  stated  as  between  60  and  65  per 
cent. — yet  sometimes  95  per  cent.,  and  what 
is  most  surprising,  sometimes  almost  no 
water  at  all.  Extra  floral  nectars,  that  is 
those  which  the  plant  puts  out  elsewhere  than 
from  within  a  flower,  are  stated  to  have  a 
generally  less  proportion  of  cane  sugar  than 
the  floral  nectars.  I  supposed  it  was  the 
other  way.  The  remarkable  fact  is  given 
that  a  plant  cannot  assimilate  sugar  in  the 
saccharose  form  any  more  than  an  animal 
can.  The  plant  often  stores  up  sugars  in 
the  saccharose  form,  but  when  the  time 
comes  for  them  to  be  assimilated  they  are 
changed  into  the  glucose  form.  This  ex- 
plains why  maple  syrup  will  not  granulate 
after  the  growth  of  the  buds  gets  well  start- 
ed, glucose  in  it. 

Now  as  to  the  finished  honey.  Bonnier 
notes  that  although  in  general  there  is  but  a 
faint  proportion  of  cane  sugar  left  in  it,  that 
produced  in  mountain  regions  sometimes 
has  considerable.  Prof.  Cook  suggests  that 
such  samples  are  gathered  too  rapidly  for 
bees  to  have  time  to  change  it  all.  It  seems 
that  the  ugly  fact  is  confessed,  both  in  Eu- 
rope and  America,  that  the  honey  from  in- 
sect secretions  (from  the  pine  especially)  is 
quite  similar  to  floral  honey  adulterated  with 
glucose.  At  length  the  chemists  rather  tim- 
idly think  that  they  can  discriminate.  In 
Prof.  Cook's  test  of  the  chemists  by  sending 
them  r>(j  samples  of  diverse  honeys  and 
frauds,  numbers  12,  27  and  45  which  were 
mainly  of  insect  origin  passed  unsuspected 
of  being  anything  else  than  good  honey.  A 
rogue's  mixture  of  commercial  honey  and 
commercial  glucose,  or  one  of  honey  and 
sugar  syrup  is  easily  detected — which  is 
something  to  be  thankful  for.  I  think  Prof. 
Cook  flagrantly  wrong  in  saying  that  honey 
dew  will  never  be  put  upon  the  market. 
Strikes  me  we  had  plenty  of  very  mean  bark- 
louse  honey  on  the  market  not  many  years 
ago.  The  B%dletin  is  sent  free  to  Michigan 
folks — guess  if  you  tell  'em  yon  take  a  Mich- 
igan bee  paper  that  will  make  you  a  Mich- 
igan folk — enough  to  fetch  it.  Address, 
The  Secretary,  Agricultural  College,  Mich- 
igan. 

The  General   round  up 

The  most  striking  things  in  the  surround 
this  time  are  the  failures.  Simmins'  theory 
that  fertile  queens  never  fight  is  knocked 
out ;  and  so  (more  is  the  pity)  is  Langdon's 


244 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


anti-swarming  device.  Brother  Alley  rather 
wins  the  honors  in  the  former  knock  out — 
and  promises  to  keep  queen  "'bull  lights"  on 
tap  for  bee  folks  who  may  properly  wish  to 
see  them.  Brother  Simmins  was  fooled  by 
the  fact  that  queens  fully  distended  with 
eggs  generally  will  not  try  to  tight,  sure 
enough.  They  hold  off  because  they  realize 
that  they  are  too  clumsy  for  any  such  exer- 
cise. But  only  reduce  them  to  moderate  di- 
mensions by  a  few  days'  caging  and  most  of 
them  will  fight  very  readily.  Jennie  Atchley 
sent  four  in  one  cage  directed  to  the  Roots. 
When  the  cage  arrived  two  were  lively  and 
two  were  "  kilt." 

But  this  is  only  one  of  the  minor  matters 
of  apiculture — alas  for  our  prime  discovery 
that  gets  knocked  out  too  !  Any  roof  is  dry 
when  it  does  not  rain.  Any  pebble  is  a  gen- 
uine mad-stone  to  cure  hydrophobia  when 
the  dog  was  not  mad.  Last  year  bees  did 
not  want  to  swarm  any  way.  My  apiary 
which  is  X  X  X  on  swarming  did  not  give 
me  as  many  swarms  as  I  wanted  to  have. 
But  this  year  swarming  is  epidemic,  and  our 
great  invention,  next  to  comb  foundation 
and  the  extractor  in  magnitude,  where,  O 
where  !    Two  moons  ago  it  was — 

"  Here  the  conquering  hero  comes," 
Now  it  is — 

"  Poor  old  soldier 
They  drummed  him  out 
Because  he  would  not  soldier." 

At  least  his  nice  little  do-funny  would  not. 
Never  mind,  friend  Langdon ;  as  misery 
loves  company,  we'uns  who  swallowed  the 
plan  so  prematurely,  we  have  got  to  go 
shares  with  you  in  your  discomfiture  now. 
And  next  time  we'll  all  look  a  little  out. 

And  so  the  Simmins  fasting  method  of  in- 
troducing queens  fails  sometimes— failure 
No.  3- 

And  our  persevering  friend  the  Guide  sud- 
denly passes  away— failure  No.  4. 

And  the  Canadian  gets  burned  out  of 
house  and  home— not  quite  a  failure  we 
hope,  but  too  much  a  crow  of  the  same  nest. 

The  American  Bee  Journal  has  got  a  new 
forehead  on  its  face— That's  not  a  failure, 
sure,  for  it  is  a  good  one.  The  old  chunk  of 
comb  had  foul  brood  in  it :  and  the  letters, 
some  fat  visitor  had  squashed  them  by  sit- 
ting down  on  them   before  they  were  baked. 

Likewise  the  Review  has  a  new  It.  L.  Tay- 
lor. The  old  one  was  a  gentlemanly  lawyer 
after  dinner.  The  new  one  is  a  bee  man  af- 
ter dinner  time — but  he  has'nt  been  able  to 
go,  so  many  swarms. 


Rather  late,  but  better  late  than  never, 
another  section  of  the  report  of  the  Michi- 
gan Experiment  Station  appears  in  the 
American  Bee  Journal,  page  i)2.  Sweet  clo- 
ver gets  a  black  eye.  Three  acres  of  it  em- 
ployed the  bees,  but  seemed  to  have  no  effect 
on  the  results.  And  the  old,  tough,  elusive, 
ever-being-corrected  problem  of  wax  secre- 
tion, friend  Larrabee  evidently  thinks  that 
a  rather  slightly  guarded  experiment  ought 
to  be  accepted  as  conclusive  in  regard  to  it. 
He  admits  that  the  results  are  different  from 
last  year's  at  the  same  station,  that  the  bees 
had  queens  just  given  them  (very  likely  a 
little  sullen  over  the  change)  and  that  honey 
was  fed  instead  of  nectar.  No,  friend  Lar- 
rabee, not  till  we  can  have  entirely  natural 
conditions,  and  the  bees  at  work  on  natural 
supplies,  can  this  venerable  stumbling  block 
of  problems  be  regarded  as  complete.  I 
freely  admit  that  the  line  of  experiment  is 
an  interesting  one,  and  that  the  whole  is  a 
commendable  piece  of  work,  all  except  the 
running  it  for  more  than  it  is  worth.  It 
should  be  repeated  with  variations,  especially 
with  two  second  swarms  of  the  same  day's 
issuing,  and  with  too  little  feed  for  any 
temptation  to  waste  it. 

RiOHABDS,  Lucas  Co.,  O.,  July  21,  1893. 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


EVAPORATING  FRUIT 

STAHL'S  EXCELSIOR  EVAPORATOR.! 

iBest  Oheapeat  &  Most  Reliable  on  the  market.  Cata-I 
loguefree.  AddreBSWm.Stahl  E>at>oratorCo.,(jiilnc     ■" 


—If  you  are  going  to— 

BUY  A  l^XiZZ  -  SAVSr, 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Review.  He  lias  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  tolling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  soil  it. 


Muth's :: 


lEY    EXTRACTOR 
PERFE(^TION 
>ld-Blast    Smokers, 

Squ&re  6l2^ss  Honey  J^r^f  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  ('has.  F.  Muth  &  Son, 
("or.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hints  to  Bee-Keepers. 

7-93-tf.  Please  Mention  the  Review. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


245 


m  Q 

I  Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers,  i 

ia  TYPE  WRITTEN.  B 

Q  m 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask- 
ing for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States)  . 
and,  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2.50 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  FUnt,  Mich. 

Are  You  Tired 

of  New  Bee  Journals  ?  Send  15  cts  for 
3  month's  subscription  to  that  bright, 
new  bee  paper,  '•  The  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Enterprise,"  and  receive  FREE  the 
Enterprise     Souvenir  —  a    Work    of    Art 

Thzit  will  rest  Your  Eyes. 

Burtoti     L.    Sage,    New     Haven,    Conn. 


Great  Reduction. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  <feo.,  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 

WRITE   FOR  FREE.    ILLUSTRATED  CATA- 
LOGUE AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

1-93-tf.  Please   mention   the    Review, 


S 


Second  Hand 

Supplies . 


the 

second 
hand  supplies  that 
1  have  been    advertis-      ^^Ss, 
ing  in  the    Review,    the 
following  remain  unsold :  — 

100  old-style,  Heddon  surplus 
cases  at  20  cts.  (as  a  non-separatored 
case,  they  have  no  superior) ;  25  slatted 
honey  boards  at  10  cts.  ;  20  Heddon  feeders 
at  40  cts. ;  and  half  a  dozen  single  -  comb 
nuclei  for  exhibiting  bees  at  fairs.  They 
have  glass  sides,  removable  covers  and  are 
painted  a  bright  vermillion.  They  cost 
$2.00  each,  but  will  be  sold  at  half  -  price. 
All  these  are  practically  as  good  as  new. 

¥.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,  Flint,  Micliip. 

The  Golden  Beauties.:i> 

Our  five-banded   Italian  queens,  warranted 
purely  mated,  at  75  cts  each :  two  for  $1.25. 
Tested,  $1.00  each  ;  two  for  $1.50.    Safe  arri- 
val guaranteed        C.  B.  BANKSTON. 
2-93-tf  Chriesman,  Texas. 

Dadant's  Comb  Foundation. 

Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  competitors 
acknowledge  that  our  goods  are  the  Standard 
of  their  kind.  Langstroth  on  the  Honey 
Bee,  Revised.  New  edition.  Bee  Veils; 
and  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samples  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners        Send    your    address    to 

GHAS.  DADANT  &  SON,  Hamilton,  Ills. 

4-93-l2t  PI' as-  mention  the  Reuief. 


Hastings'  Lightning  Ventilated  Bee  Escape. 


AOBICULTURAL  COLLEGE,  Mich.  Seot.  17,  '92.    (TT 


"I  have  used  tbe  Lightning  Bi 
sent  and  find  them  certainly  the  equal  of  the 
Porter,  and  their  superior  for  the  reason  that 
they  will  emptv  a  super  more  rapidlv." 

Yours  respectfully,     J.  H.  LARRABEE. 
'•It  is  our  opinion  that  you  have  the  best  Bee 
Escape  ever  introduced." 

A.  I.  ROOT,  Medina,  Ohio. 

HoNOLDLD,  Hawaiian  Islands.  April  25,  '92. 

"Please  send  me  by  return  mail  5  Lightning 

Ventilated  Bee  Escapes.   I  have  the  Porter,  and 

the  Dibhern  and  they  both  clog." 

Tours  truly,     JOHN  FARNSWORTH. 

Prise,  Ij  mail,  each,  20c.  per  doz.  $2.25. 


"IT  LEADS  THE-M   ALL." 
Read  Testimonials  of  a  few  suecessful 

Bee-keepers. 
Send  for  Sample  and  after  a  trial  you 

will  use  no  other. 
Ca'alo^ue  sent  on  application. 


Che 


Valley,  N.  Y.,  March  20, 


*'l  shall  take  pleasure  in  recommending  them 
as  the  best  I  have  ever  used. 

Truly  yours,        J.  E.  HETHERINGTON. 
"We  believe  you  have  an  Escape  that  'downs' 
the  Porter." 

T.  PHILLIP  &  CO.,  Orillia,  Ont.,  Canada. 
"Your  Escape  knocks  out  all  competitors." 

A.  J.  LINDLEY,  Jordan.  Ind. 

"They  did  not  clog,  and  cleared  the  supers 

rapidly.    In  factit is  the  best  Escape  I  have 

yet  used,    I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  it,  and 

consider  it  a  great  boon  to  bee-keepers.  * 

W.  E.  CLARK,  Oriskany,  N.  Y. 


M.  E.  HASTINGS,  HEW  YORK  MILLS,  ONEIDA  CO.,  N.Y. 


246 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Cut  the  Price. 

This  is  what  Mr.  G.  E.  Dawson  of  Car- 
lisle, Ark.,  writes  me.  You  may  remem- 
ber that  he  is  the  man  who  got  no  or- 
ders. He  is  raising  good  queens  and  is 
bound  that  they  shall  be  tried,  hence 
he  offers  them  as  follows  :  Untested, 
65  cts. ;  three  for  $1.75 ;  six  for  $^.00; 
twelve  for  $5.00.  Tested,  $1.25.  Select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  very  tip,  $1.50. 
— Ed.     Review. 


Plea?*'  mention  *he  Reuiew. 


If  You  Wish  Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 


NOTICE  OUR  PRICES- 

No.  1  Sections  $2.75  per  1,000.  Thin,  surphis 
foundation,  best  quality,  .50  cts  per  pound. 
A  full  line  of  supplies,  includiuK  Root's  Dove- 
tailed Hives,  on  hand.  Send  for  circular  and 
free  sample  of  foundation  5  93tf 

J.  H.  &  A  .li.  BOYDEN, 

Saline,  Mich. 


GO     TO 


HEAD 
QUARTERS 

FOR  4  AND  5  BANDED 

Special,  breeding  queen,   $5.00 

Best,  select,  tested,    3.00 

Tested, 2.50 

Untested, .' 1.00 

"       per  dozen,      9.00 

L.  L.  HEARN. 
7-9;J-tf  Oakvale,  W.  Va. 

Please  mention   the   Reuieut. 

GOLDEN  '»Li»H  QUEENS 

Now  ready  for  $1.00  each.    Do  not  order  year 
supplies  until  you  see  our  circular  for  1S93.    For 
the  price,  we  have  the  best  spraying  outfit  made. 
Send  $1.50  and  got  one.    Wm.  H.  BRIGHT, 
l-93-12t  Mazeppa,  Minn. 

Pleasr   n,ci,     T-   .■',■   Review. 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOI?,      189S. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  your  interest,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.  P.  H.  BROWN, 
1-88-tf.  Augusta,  Georgia. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieui. 


sSiT2r^ss?2r^ss?z^^3as?^^sw^^^3SS 


QUEENS 


For  $  1 .50  I  will  5ei7<I 

tbe  Review  for  1893 

an<I   2i    fine,    youog, 

levying,  Itzilizip  cjueep. 
^  Queep  zvlooe,  75  cts.  For  $1.75  I  will  send  tbe 
j^  Review,  the  queep  zipd  **  Aclvzvpced  Bee  ©ul- 
^     ture."    Tested  queepj,  $1.00.  The  Review  Apd 

e^^^^^^=^     ^te5te<.  queen  $1.75 

^11     A  discoupt  op   Izvrge 

RPX^IRW       ^1     order?.  W.  Z.  Hutcb- 
rvtivitiw        jAji    j^3Q^^   p,j^^^   ^j^j^ 


]^is^^Ms^^^ms^^^^m^^r^m&u 


A 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


247 


Tf^e    Cbz^ropion  SrooKer. 

The  ORIGINAL  curved  nozzle,  steel  lined,  Bel 
lows  Smoker.  The  fire-cliaiuber  is  3'.jx7  inches 
with  a  corrugated  steel  lining,  which  allows  a  cold 
current  of  air  to  pass  between  lining  and  outside 
shell ;  keeps  the  tiuter  shell  cool  and  more  than 
doubles  the  durability  of  the  Smoker.  It  has  a  FOBCE 
draff,  ;ind  spakk-arrestixo  oone  connecti  n  be 
rween  bellows  and  fire-oli,imher ;  a  base-valve  to 
t'i  her  keejj  or  extinguish  the  tuo  at  pleasnr-;  and 
a  reniovablf  spaik-arresting  (iKA'l'Ein  tlie  ciiivmI 
nozzle. 

Price,  by  mail,  81.90;  by  exprcs---,  Sl.d") 
\(  yonr  supply  dealer  cannot  supply   you,  write 
to  the  mannfac  nrer, 

E.  KRETCHA\ER,  R«<1  O^Kf  Jowzi. 
Bee  Supply  (.'atalog  of  7  i  llliisi  rated  Pagos,  free. 


GATGHilLL 


Tlie  orders  for  un- 
tested queens  at  7.5  cts  each  :  six  for  $4,00.  Test- 
ed queens,  gl  50  each,  three  for  $4.00.  Two- 
frame  nucleus  witli  any  queen  $1..50  each,  extra. 
Safe  arrival  guaranteed.  7  flS-H 

W.  J.  ELLISON,  Catchall,  S.  C. 

8eb  lliv  s  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth,  Dovetailed  and  Champion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supers,  One- Piece  Sections  and  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16  page  Circular. 
1-92-tf         PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  London,  Wis. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 

HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions ;  warranted  good  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  most  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  ffinndation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  of  a  full  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT. 

1-93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  becoud-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped,  privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHAXGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  \  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADQUARTERS,   ( 1S6  Monroe  St.,  Chicago. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


IMPORT  AWT-^^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  Those  who  have  trsted  them 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

FIVE-BHflDED  WOf^KEt^S 

In  March,  April  and  May.  81.25  each,  6  for  $6.00 ; 
June,  81  00  each,  6  fur  S5.0(J;  July  to  Nov.,  81.00 
each*  6  for  $4.50.  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 
12-92-tf  c.  D    DUVALL, 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 

New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS, 
FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWEY  JOHNSON, 

1-93-tf,  Mason  town,  Pa, 


Interesting  MontMy  for 

The  Family  and  Fireside 

Welcome  In  every  Home. 

]L,arse  Premiums  for  Clubs. 

Sample  Copy  sent  Free. 

Thomas  G.  Newman, 

147  Southwestern  Ave., 

cHicAeo,    .    .    ir,r,s. 


248 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


—  AND  — 

■     Pasteboard   Boxes  or  Cartons, 

EverythiiiK  used   by   Bee  -  Keepers,      (^atalopue  and  Price  lAst  free.    Ask  for  a  copy  of  the 
AMERICAN    13EE- KEEPER  (r)0  cts.  a  year)  especially  for  he^inners 

Til©   ^W.  T.  F^-A^LiOONESK.    ^a.:P'Ct.  OO.,  JSLmestown,  N.  Y. 


PATENT.   WIRED.  COMB  FOUNDATION  !  Early  Queens   From   Texas, 


HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

Tliiii,  Flat  -  Bottom  Fouiidatiou 

HAS  NO  FISHBONE  IN  SURPLUS  HONEY. 

Belug  the    cleanest,    it    is    usually 
worked  quicker  tlian  any  fdn.  made. 
■J.    VAN  UEUSKN   &   SONS, 
(SOLE    MANUFACTUKEKS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,  Mont.  Co.,N.Y 


Ready  to  Mail^ 

ITALIAN  QUEENS, 

Tested,  at  $1.25 ;  12  for  $V.iM.  Untested,  after 
April  Ist,  $1.00  each,  or  6  for  $5.00.  Safe  arrival 
guaranteed,  Hees,  Drones  and  Sui^plies.  Cir- 
cular free.  J.  N.  COL'WICK, 

•t-02-tf  Norse,  Bosque  Co.,  Texas. 

Italian    Queens 

From  imported  mother,  warranted  purely  mated, 
$1.00  each;  six  at  one  time,  $5.00.  Untested 
queens,  65  cts  eacT. 

C.  A.  BUNCH, 
7-93-2t  Nye,  Marshall  Co.,  Ind. 

'^Iden"  ^^  Florit 

My  location  enaliles  me  to  rear  Kood  queens 
NOW  as  cheaply  as  they  can  be  reared  in  the 
North  at  anytime.  Untested  queens.  75  cts. 
each;  6  for  $4.00:  one  dozen,  $7. .50.  Last  year's 
tested  queen,  $1.25:  select,  $1.75;  breeder,  $2  50. 
Safe  arrival  and  Hiitisfaction  Kuaranteed.     1-92-tf 

J.  B.  CASE,  P3rt  Orange,  Vol.  Co.,  Fla. 


From  my  choice  golden  stock.  My  bees  are 
very  genth'  f^ood  workers,  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.  One  un- 
tested queen,  April  and  May,  $l.(X);  six  for  $5.00; 
later,  75c.  Orders  booked  now ;  money  sent 
when  queens  are  wanted.  Send  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  GIVENS, 

Lisbon,  Texas. 


1-93-91. 


Please  mention  the  Reu 


IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  tlie  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $1.''0 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

Please  mention   th*^  Revieut. 


BEES 


QUEEN'S, 

SECTIONS,   8MOKEBS, 
^^^^^^^  COMB  FOtTNDATION 

And  all  .Vi)ianaii  Supiilics.      Send  for  Catalogue. 
£.  T.  FLANAGAN,  Belleville,  111. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


Just    Splendid 

Mr.  Alley—The  queen  1  got  of  you  laat  fall  is 
just  splendid  !    She  is  the  best  qneen  in  an  api- 
ary 150  colonies.    I  would  not  take  $10  for  her. 
John  A.  Pease,  Moravia,  Calif. 
Price  of  eutli  queens  is  $1.00  each. 

HENRY  ALLEY, 

Wenham,  Mass. 


-4  THE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE  -  KEEPER  ip^ 

ila,s   Olaanged    Hancis.         It   is   no-w    Futolislieci   toy   tlie 

LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

HlgginsTllle,    Missouri. 

Money,  Experience  and  Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicates.        Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  28-page  Catalogae  of  Apiarian  Supplies. 


SEP.,    1893. 


At  Fliqt,   Micl^igari. — Oqe  Dollar  a  Year. 


250 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


flDVEt^TISIflG  l^flTES. 

All  advertisementB  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  lirich. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  follows : 

Ou  10  lines  aiid  upwards,  8  times,  5  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  per  cent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  HO  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Iiist. 

1  will  send  the  Review  with— 

Gleanings, ($1.00) 

American  Bee  Journal. . . .(  l.OH) 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) 

American  Bee  Keeper    . . .  (    .50) 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper...  (    .50)...  . 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    ..50) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Enterprise . .  (    .,50) 


.$1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.75. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.30. 

.  1.40. 

.  1.65. 

..  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 


The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  -  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  well  filled ;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"  No.  1  dark,"  etc. 


KANSAS  CITY,  Mo.—  Honey  is  seUing  at  the 
following  prices:  fancy  white,  17;  No.  1  white, 
16;  fancy  aml)er,15;  No.  1  amber,  14;  fancy 
dark,  12;  No.  1  dark,  10;  white  extracted,  7'i; 
amber,  6'/4  ;  dark,  5  to  6.  Beeswax,  20  to  22. 
CLEMONS-MA.SON  CO., 

Sep.  4.  .521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 


BUFFALO.N.  Y.-  The  demand  for  fancy  No. 
1,  pound  combs  is  improving,  and  we  can  soon 
satisfactorily  place  liberal  (luantities.  All  honey 
for  the  Buffalo  market  should  be  unglassed— 
that  is,  glass  on  only  the  outside  of  thf  cases. 
We  quote  asf'.llows:  fancy  white.  14  to  15;  No.  1 
white,  12  to  13;  fancy  amber,  8  to  10 ;  No.  1  amber, 
7  to  8;  fancy  dark.  Mo  10;.  No.  1  dark,  7  to  8; 
white  extracted,  6  to  654  ;  amber  5  to  5>2 ;  dark,  4 
to  4H.  Beeswax,  24  to  25. 

BATTERSON  &  (^O.. 

Sep.  4.  167  &  169«cott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


('HICAGO,  I U.  —  Choice  white  comb  honey 
is  selling  at  15  cts.  Some  fancy  brings  16.  The 
market  is  not  very  active,  but,  so  far.  we  have 
been  able  to  sustain  tliese  prices.  Extracted 
remains  unchanged  at  from  5  to  7,  according  to 
quality,  flavor,  and  style  of  package.  Beeswax, 
20  to  22. 


Sep. 


R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 
161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago.  111. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.,-We  think  honey  will 
sell  much  lower  later  on  and  now  is  the  time  to 
market  it.  We  quote  as  follows:  Fancy  white, 
18  to  20;  No.  1  wliite,  17 ;  fancy  amber,  16;  No.  1 
amber,  14;  fancy  dark,  Hi;  No.  I  dark,  11;  white 
extracted,  8  to  9 ;  amber,  7  to  b  ;  dark,  6V2.  Bees- 
wax is  unsalable. 


116  First  Ave.,  North,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 


Aug.  1, 


NEW  YORK— The  new  crop  of  extracted  from 
California  and  the  South  is  arriving  very  freely. 
There  is  a  limited  demand  and  prices  have  a 
downward  tendency.  We  ijiiote  as  follows: 
White  extracted.  6'/2  to  7  ;  Ainber,  6  to  6V^;  Dark, 
5!4  to  6.     Beeswax,  26  to  27. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN, 

July  7.         28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


CINCINNATI,  Ohio.-  The  demand  is  fair  for 
extracted  honey  at  from  5  to  8  cts.,  with  a  good 
supply  011  hand.  Quite  a  number  of  small  ar- 
rivals of  nice  comb  honey  found  a  ready  sale  dur- 
ing the  past  few  weeks.  The  demand  is  fair. 
The  close  money  market  causes  slow  collections 
and  makes  itself  felt  in  the  demand  for  all  'mer- 
chandise, honey  included.  There  is  a  fair  demand 
for  beeswax  at  from  20  to  23  cts.  for  good  tn 
choice  yellow. 

CHAS.  F.  MUTH  &  SON.. 

.Vag.  23.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


CHICAGO  111.—  The  market  is  rapidly  declin- 
ing on  all  honey.  Fancy  white  is  offered  in 
quantities,  by  outside  parties,  at  14  cts. ;  but  we 
think  this  will  not  last  long.  We  look  for  better 
prices  after  small  fruits  are  oiitof  the  way.  The 
early  shipments  of  Southern  honey,  and  the  low 
prices  at  which  it  was  atfordtMl,  tempted  buyers 
who  heretofore  never  used  it ;  however,  this  is 
about  used  up,  and  Western  stock  is  beginning  to 
move.  We  quote  as  follows:  fancy  white,15  ;  No. 
1  white,  14 ;  fancy  amber.12',2;  white  extracted,  7 
to  IVi ;  beeswax.  16  to  20. 

J.  A.  LAMON, 

Sep.  2.  44  &48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


CHICAGO.Ill-  Honey  this  year  is  being 
placed  on  the  market  earlier  than  last  season, 
out  the  demand  is  restricted  and  will  be  light  un- 
til small  fruits  are  out  of  the  market:  and  with 
the  prospect  of  a  large  crop,  bu.vers  will  be  par- 
ticular as  to  quality,  and  the  best  will  find  ready 
sale  upon  arrival.  No.  1  comb,  16:  extracted,  as 
to  quality, 5  to  7.    Beeswax.  22  to  24. 

We  extend  to  all  bee-keepers  who  visit  the  city 
an  invitation  to  call  on  U8,likewi8e  to  make  use 
of  ouroffce.  in  care  of  whicli  they  can  have  their 
mail  addressed,  and  from  which  they  can  write 
their  letters.    Hotel  accoumiodations  secured. 

Aug.  18.  S.  T.  Fish  &  Co., 

189  80.  Water  St..  (Chicago,  111. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


251 


'®) 


^IHTER    LOSSES 

Are  not  always  the  result  of  the  same  cause.  They 
may  come  from  starvation  ;  from  poor  food  ;  from 
improper  preparations  ;  from  imperfect  prqjtection  ;  from 
a  cold,  wet,  or  possibly  a  poorl}'  ventilated  cellar ; 
etc.,  etc.  Successful  wintering"  comes  from  a  proper 
combination  of  different  conditions.  For  clear,  con- 
cise, comprehensive  conclusions  upon  these  all -im- 
portant points,  consult  "Advanced  Bee  Culture." 
Five  of  its  thirty  -  two  chapters  treat  as  many  different 
phases     of     the     wintering-     problem. 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts. ;  the  Review  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,   either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 

W.  Z.  HOTCHI^SON,   Flint,  :|VIich. 


'®) 


'®) 


:© 


ON   HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

or  BEE    HIVES.    SECTIONS  AND 

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W.  H.   PUTNAM, 

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This    cut    represents    onr 

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252 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


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New  Gowan  Reversible 

HONEf  EXTRACTOR. 

May  tie  Reversed  Without  stopping  tlie  MacWne. 

Strong,  well  made  in  every  respect, 
litrht,  and  of  convenient  size.  The  can  is 
but  little  larger  than  that  of  the  Novice. 
The  gear  is  beveled  and  covered  by  an 
iron  shield,  and  the  crank  outside  tlie 
can.  Frar;k  McNay,  of  Mauston,  Wis.,  a 
bee  keeper  who  produces  tons  and  tons 
of  extracted  honey,  says  of  it: 

"After  ca'efully  examining  and  trying 
the  Cowan  Extractor,  1  have  failed  to 
find  a  weak  part,  and  1  do  not  liesitate  to 
say  that  it  is  the  best  Extractor  made, 
botli  in  regard  to  convenience  and  dura- 
bility, and  I  shall  replace  all  of  my  five 
machines  with  the  Cowan  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible," 

It  is  endorsed  also  by  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  an 
extonsivo  extracted  lioney  ijroducer  of 
•  'alifornia;  by  W.  Z  Hutchiuson,  Dr.  C. 
('.  Miller,  and  others. 

Price  all  Complete,  Japanned  and  Lettered, 
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AV'ork  at    ]\dIicliigarL's 

Experiraental 

Apiary. 

B.  L.  TAYLOK,  APIARIST. 
peatt's  HIVERS. 

HS  stated  in  a 
former  arti- 
cle the  Pratt 
Hiver  was  inclu- 
ded in  my  plan 
for  a  series  of  ex- 
periments to  be 
conducted  during 
the  white  clover 
honey  sea  son. 
Five  of  them  were 
used,  the  first  of 
which  was  put  in 
place  .June  l(5th 
on  a  hive  which  I  shall  call  No.  1  while  a 
swarm  from  it  was  in  the  air.  As  the  en- 
trance to  this  hive  was  not  guarded  by  a 
queen  trap,  and  no  queen  being  found  in 
front  of  the  hive  as  was  to  be  expected  since 
I  clip  my  queens,  I  put  a  trap  to  the  lower 
entrance  and  caused  the  bees  to  enter 
through  it  that  I  might  find  and  determine 
the  character  of  the  queen.  The  result  was 
ihat  I  found  two  or  three  virgin  queens 
showing  that  the  swarming  was  probably 
caused  by  the  rearing  of  queens  to  supersede 
the  old  one  or  on  account  of  her  death.  The 
young  queens  were  removed  and   the  trap 


left  in  place  to  enable  me  to  determine  the 
purpose  of  the  next  queen  that  should  at- 
tempt to  try  the  open  air.  A  few  days  later 
a  young  queen  was  found  in  the  trap  no 
swarm  having  issued.  She  accordingly  was 
returned,  the  trap  removed  and  the  lower 
entrance  left  open  for  the  convenience  of  the 
queen. 

The  history  of  No.  2  up  to  July  2nd  was 
given  in  my  article  in  the  .July  number  of 
the  Review.  Upon  the  13th  of  -July  it 
swarmed  again,  being  the  fourth  time,  but 
this  time  I  discovered  the  queen  was  a  virgin, 
showing  that  the  old  queen  had  probably  been 
killed  on  the  return  of  the  swarm  .July  2nd. 

The  remaining  three  hivers  were  also  put 
in  place  -June  17th. 

No.  3  was  the  only  other  one  of  the  five 
from  which  a  swarm  issued  and  from  it, 
first,  on  the  20  of  June.  On  the  next  day  I 
found  that  the  queen  had  been  killed  by  the 
bees  of  the  returned  swarm,  so  a  trap  was 
placed  at  the  lower  entrance.  After  this  a 
swarm  issued  on  each  of  the  following  dates: 
•Tune  30th  and  -July  -nd,  4th  and  8th.  In  the 
last  case  the  swarm  was  hived  in  another 
hive  and  given  the  queen  in  the  trap.  In  all 
the  previous  ones  the  swarm  was  returned 
and  the  queen  removed. 

In  studying  results  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  these  five  colonies  were  of  more 
than  average  strength  and  were  selected  on 
that  account  because  I  was  anxious  to  test 
the  hiver  by  actual  swarming. 

If  the  percentage  of  loss  of  queens  in  these 
experiments  is  to  be  taken  in  any  way  as  a 


254 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


criterion  of  what  it  would  be  in  general 
practice,  quite  a  serious  difficulty  is  present- 
ed to  the  practical  working  of  the  hiver,  for 
it  would  mean  the  ruin  of  all  colonies  that 
throw  off  swarms  unless  constant  watchful- 
ness is  exercised,  and  if  there  must  be  such 
watchful-!'  ss  there  would  seem  to  be  little 
necessity  for  hivers.  Though  I  should  not 
expect  that  the  percentage  of  loss  would  be 
generally  so  lar;_'<',  yet  I  fear  it  would  be  suf- 
ficiently so  as  to  be  still  a  serious  matter. 

(;)f  perhaps  even  greater  interest  than  the 
loss  of  queens  is  the  effect  of  the  hiver  upon 
the  amount  and  value  of  the  honey  pro- 
duced. At  the  tinje  the  hivers  were  adjusted 
all  the  colonies  in  question  were  working  in 
the  sections  except  No.  1  though  no  great 
progress  hud  been  made  except  in  case  of 
No.  3  whicli  had  nearly  filled  the  first  super 
of  28  sections.  This  was  an  excei)tionally 
strong  colony  and  was  composed  of  excel- 
lent workers.  .Judging  by  what  other  colo- 
nies did  it  sliould  have  produced  7")  pounds 
of  comb  honey  had  it  been  managed  as  the 
others  were.  In  the  same  way  the  other  four 
would  have  averaged  about  one-half  as  much 
or  22.5  pounds  for  the  five. 

The  actual  results  so  far  as  comb  honey 
was  concerned  were  all  contained  in  three 
cases,  none  of  which  were  very  well  filled,  cer- 
tainly not  to  exceed  (iO  pounds  all  told,  and 
this  was  all  produced  by  No.  3  and  by  Nos. 
4  and  .5  which  did  not  swarm.  At  once  on 
the  close  of  the  clover  season  the  extra  hives 
— those  not  containing  brood — were  removed 
and  would  yield  about  1.50  pounds  of  ex- 
tracted honey.  Even  the  colonies  that  did 
not  swarm  had  pretty  well  filled  the  hives 
below  the  hivers. 

Of  course  I  appreciate  the  unsatisfactory 
character  of  the  comparative  result  founded 
as  it  is  upon  an  estimate  of  what  the  colonies 
would  have  done  under  other  circumstances, 
but  with  a  desire  to  arrive  at  the  exact  truth 
I  have  judged  as  fairly  as  I  am  ca[)able  of 
doing. 

Until  swarming  has  once  begun  the  hiver 
has  apparently  a  strong  tendency  to  restrain 
the  swarming  fever,  but  when  a  swarm  once 
issues,  if  the  old  queen  is  killed,  the  fever  will 
generally  persist  till  all  the  young  queens 
but  one  are  destroyed  or  otherwise  dis- 
posed of. 

Before  a  final  determination  as  to  the  util- 
ity of  the  hiver,  further  tests  must  be  made, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  such  further  im- 


provements may  be  made  as  may  render  the 
circumstances  of  future  trials  more  favor- 
able. 


Lapkeb,  Mich., 


Aug.  16,  1893. 


TIMIBIj'S'    tofics. 
No.  8. 

B.  L.  TAYLOB. 

"  Bees  can  live  without  love  —  what  is  passion 
but  piuing  ? 

But  where  are  the  bees  that  can  live  without 
dining  ?  " 

fF  other  work  of  the  apiary  such  as  the 
uniting  of  colonies  and  due  oversight 
with  regard  to  queens  has  been  timely 
attended  to  there  is  little  to  require  the  at- 
tention of  the  apiarist  during  the  first  twen- 
ty days  of  September  except  the  crop  of  fall 
honey  in  places  where  there  is  such  a  crop. 
For  the  securing  of  this  the  bees  must  have 
sufficient  room  and  at  the  close  of  the  flow 
all  surplus  receptacles  sholud  be  promptly  re- 
moved and  the  honey  stored  in  a  warm,  dry 
room. 

The  clearing  of  the  supers  of  bees  will  be 
found  a  much  more  difficult  undertaking  in 
the  fall  than  it  was  in  July.  The  bees  are 
sluggish  and  stubborn  and  respond  very 
slowly  even  to  a  deluge  of  smoke,  so  that  the 
apiarist  may  well  try  coaxing  in  place  of 
driving  and  make  use  of  bee  escapes.  No 
doubt  they  will  work  more  slowly  than  in 
the  summer  but  they  will  still  be  found  a 
great  luxury. 

The  extracting  of  the  honey  from  combs 
destined  to  that  end,  if  stored  in  a  proper 
place,  should  not  be  very  long  delayed,  else 
the  operation  will  be  found  slow  and  vex- 
atious by  reason  of  the  thickening  of  the 
honey  through  evaporation. 

When  there  has  been  a  yield  of  fall  honey 
but  little  if  any  feeding  for  winter  stores 
will  be  found  necessary  even  though  the 
brood  chambers  be  quite  small,  for  at  that 
season  the  brood  nest  is  much  contracted 
thus  giving  abundant  room  for  stores,  but 
each  colony  should  be  examined,  for  some  of 
the  best  colonies,  if  the  bees  have  much  blood 
of  the  German  race  and  the  brood  chambers 
are  small,  may  have  put  almost  all  their  hon- 
ey into  the  supers  and  when  found  short  of 
stores  the  want  must  be  supplied  without 
delay. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


255 


This  examination  does  not  imply  the  open- 
ing of  hives  and  the  handling  of  combs. 
This  should  never  be  done.  It  is  a  course 
both  unpleasant  and  injurious.  Get  at  the 
weight  of  your  hive,  supi^osing  it  to  be  sup- 
plied with  empty  combs  only,  by  weighing  a 
few  of  this  description,  then  add  to  the  aver- 
age weight  thus  found  twenty-five  or  thirty 
pounds  for  honey  and  bees  which  will  give 
the  weight  which  each  hive  must  have  to  be 
safe  for  winter  so  far  as  the  amount  of  stores 
is  concerned.  Now  take  the  scales  into  the 
yard  and  weigh  a  few  colonies  marking  the 
weight  in  each  case  in  a  convenient  place  on 
the  proper  hive.  When  a  colony  is  found 
whose  weight  just  about  reaches  the  limit, 
replace  the  colony  and  tlien  bend  over  and 
"  heft  "  it.  Do  this  rejieatedly  and  study 
the  weight.  Now  if  but  few  of  the  colonies 
need  feeding  most  of  them  go  so  much  above 
the  limit  that  it  will  be  perceived  at  once  on 
hefting  them  though  it  may  be  necessary  to 
return  to  the  "pattern"  occasionally  for 
comparison.  In  this  way  the  great  majority 
may  be  quickly  disposed  of  as  being  clearly 
safe.  The  doubtful  and  the  light  ones  must 
then  be  weighed  and  marked. 

The  syrup  to  be  fed  may  be  prepared  by 
bringing  to  a  boil  any  given  number  of 
pounds  of  soft  water  and  then  adding,  by 
pouring  in  gently,  twice  the  number  of 
pounds  of  the  best  granulated  sugar.  When 
this  is  again  brought  to  a  boil  it  is  ready  to 
be  fed  as  soon  as  it  becomes  sufficiently 
cool. 

The  kind  of  feeder  used  is  not  important. 
The  Heddon  feeder  is  most  convenient  as 
enough  can  always  be  fed  at  once  and  the 
bees  are  always  safe  from  drowning,  but  a 
tin  pan  with  a  piece  of  cloth,  with  care,  an- 
swers very  well,  or  any  of  the  smaller  feeders 
will  do  if  filled  so  promptly  that  the  bees 
will  get  what  they  need  about  as  quickly  as 
they  can  take  it. 

All  this  should  be  attended  to  at  once  on 
the  cessation  of  the  storing  of  surplus  and 
where  the  fall  crop  is  wanting,  the  20th  of 
September  should  see  that  work  begun,  and 
in  both  cases  the  work  should  be  finished 
early  in  October. 

In  localities  where  there  is  no  nectar  to 
gather  after  basswood  fails,  the  amount  of 
brood  reared  during  August  and  September 
is  likely  to  be  exceedingly  limited  and  I 
should  greatly  fear  for  the  safety  of  colonies 
entering  the  winter  with  so  large  a  propor- 


tion of  aged  bees  as  such  conditions  would 
entail.  Under  such  circumstances,  if  I 
wished  to  make  their  wintering  well  as  cer- 
tain as  possible,  I  should  take  pains  by  prop- 
er feeding  to  increase  the  amount  of  brood 
as  much  as  possible  during  the  first  half  of 
September. 

This  work  of  proper  preparation  for  win- 
ter is  to  the  apiarist,  if  much  feeding  is  to  be 
done,  the  most  trying  duty  of  the  year,  and 
happy  will  he  be  who  can  look  back  on  it 
promptly  and  properly  done. 


Lapeeb,  Mich. 


Aug.  23, 1893. 


Large  Exits  and  Those  Opening  Outside  the 
Hive  Are  No  Advantage  in  Bee  Escapes. 

B.  &   E.    C.    POETEB. 

lEGARDING  the  matter  of  escapes 
opening  outside  the  hive,  mentioned 
in  your  last  issue,  Mr.  Shuck  and 
ourselves  and  no  doubt  many  others  have 
been  over  this  ground  very  carefully.  Mr. 
.Ino.  S.  Reese,  several  years  ago  pointed  out 
in  Gleanings  the  disadvantages  of  such  an 
arrangement  as  compared  with  the  brood 
chamber  outlet.  Admitting  light  through 
such  devices  into  the  super  does  not  hasten 
matters  in  the  least  and  very  few  will  ever 
care  to  use  such  an  arrangement.  The  dif- 
ficulty in  getting  or  constructing  escapes  to 
work  rapidly,  whether  opening  into  the 
brood  chamber  or  out  side  the  hive  lies  in 
the  fact  that  as  the  facilities  for  getting  out 
are  increased  the  inclination  of  the  bees  to 
use  them  diminishes.  All  that  Mr.  Shuck 
and  ourselves  have  said  regarding  escapes, 
the  most  careful  experiments  will  substan- 
tially verify.  Even  Mr.  Aikin  is  getting 
around  into  line.  Some  time  ago  we  sent 
him  a  number  of  forms  of  escapes  of  varying 
exit  capacity,  to  experiment  with,  one  hav- 
ing fifteen  exits  arranged  with  double  sets 
of  springs  so  as  to  completely  break  the  con- 
nection between  the  bees  in  the  super  and 
those  in  the  brood-chamber.  In  a  letter  re- 
ceived from  him  the  first  of  the  week,  he 
says :  "I  can't  see  that  the  big  one  works  a 
bit  better  than  the  little  ones,"  i.  e.  our  reg- 
ular form. 


Lewistown,  111. 


Aug.  18,  1893. 


256 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  JtiEVIEW. 


Experiences  and   Views   at   the  Forestville 

Apiary.  —  Great    Success    with    the 

House  Apiary. 

E.  K.  JAQUES. 

Here's  the  home  wliere  I  stay  — 
And   a    gown    that    was   Sal's    kinder  flapped 

on  abay  — 
Not   nuicli   for    a    man   to    be   loving,  but    his 

all,  as  I've  hearn  people  say. 

[When  Mr.  Barnet  Taylor,  in  a  private  letter, 
informed  me  that  he  had  had  for  a  student  the 
past  sea.son  a  gentleman  who  was  makng  a 
thorough  study  of  apiculture,  I  at  onoe  wrote 
him  ^  that  I  should  be  very  glad  of  that  gentle- 
man's views  and  experience  as  found  at  the 
Forestville  apiary.  In  a  few  days  there  came  to 
hand  the  following,  very  neatly  written.— Ed.  | 

LINE  of  white  pine  trees,  whose  tops 
spread  forty -two  feet,  line  the  road 
side.  South  of  these  trees,  with  a 
fine  grass  plat  in  front,  stands  the  modest 
yet  pleasing  dwelling  of  Brother  B.  Taylor. 


comb-leveler,  and  in  fact  every  thing  found 
in  a  well  appointed  apiary  ;  and  the  visitor's 
admiration  for  the  work  turned  out  from 
this  shop  will  only  be  excelled  by  that  which 
he  will  have  for  the  man  when  he  learns  that 
the  machinery  itself,  unsurpassed  in  adapt- 
ability to  work,  in  finish  and  quality,  has  all 
been  made  by  one  and  the  same  hand — 
brother  Taylor's.  In  the  Forestville  apiary 
there  are  no  warped  nor  leaky  covers,  nor 
poor  joints. 

Fifty  feet  south  [to  the  right  in  the  cut — 
Ed.  J  of  the  shop  on  a  gently  rising  slope 
stands  the  iron  •  honey  house  and  the  two 
house  apiaries.  [The  new  house  apiary  is 
the  larger — Ed.]  These  buildings  like  all 
the  others  on  the  place  are  neat  ;  nd  well 
kept. 

To  me  the  house  apiary  was  the  center  of 
attraction.     In  fact    a    desire  to   study   its 


THE   APIARY    OF    liAHNET    TAYLOK,    FOKESTVILLE,    MINNESOTA. 


On  its  right  [at  the  left  in  the  cut,  this  view 
being  taken  from  the  rear  of  the  building. 
— Ed.]  and  in  line  with  it  stands  another 
building  having  the  appearance  of  a  dwell- 
ing, it  is  the  shop,  being  one  of  the  attrac- 
tions at  the  Forestville  Apiary.  In  it  are 
made  the  Taylor  handy  bee-hive,  his  bee- 
escapes,    honey  -  boards,     swarm  -  catchers, 


workings  at  brother  Taylor's  expense  led  me 
to  pass  a  few  weeks  as  a  student  at  the  For- 
estville apiary. 

The  first  point  scored  by  the  house  bees 
over  those  in  the  yard  was  this, — they  built 
up  faster  in  early  spring  thus  becoming 
strong  in  numbers  in  time  for  the  clover  har- 
vest.   There  were  two  reasons,  I  think,  for 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEVir. 


257 


this  :  first,  the  temperature  in  the  house  was 
warmer  and  much  more  uniform  on  cold 
nights  and  rough  days,  tlius  enabling  the 
bees  to  rear  brood  faster.  In  the  second 
place,  hives  standing  in  the  yard  become 
heated  in  sunny  yet  cold  days,  the  bees  being 
thus  induced  to  fly  while  they  were  sure  to 
be  lost.  Many  who  removed  their  colonies 
from  the  cellar  to  the  yard  early,  suffered  in 


tinguishing  features  except  in  color.  I  am 
also  of  the  opinion  that  where  one  wishes  to 
use  the  young  bees  and  brood,  after  a  swarm 
has  been  thrown  off,  to  build  up  a  weak  col- 
ony they  can  do  it  more  conveniently  in  the 
yard  where  they  can  place  the  hive  by  the 
colony  to  be  helped  and  remove  it  at  will. 
The  lifting  of  hives  and  supers  will  be  found 
heavier  work  in  than  out  of  the  house. 


MB.  BAENET  TAYLOR'S  LATEST  HOUSE  -  APIARY. 


the  same  way  and  were  compelled  on  account 
of  the  loss  to  return  them  to  the  cellar. 

As  to  ease  in  handling  I  hardly  know  what 
to  say.  Surely  here  are  some  of  the  advan- 
tages. It  is  much  more  comfortable  in  the 
house,  out  of  the  hot  sun  with  all  your  su- 
pers, honey-boards,  bee-escapes  and  the  like 
on  shelves  within  easy  reach.  Then,  too, 
yon  will  not  be  troubled  as  much  with  rob- 
bers and  will  have  little  use  for  smoke  and 
veil ;  for  however  cross  a  bee  may  be 
out  of  doors  she  becomes  a  lady  in  the 
house.  The  house  can  be  kept  clean  and 
there  is  no  necessity  for  crushing  bees.  On 
the  other  hand  I  think  the  house  queens  will 
be  much  more  apt  to  get  lost  while  on  their 
mating  trips,  there  is  so  much  sameness  in  a 
long  line  of  entrances  closely  crowded  to- 
gether on  the  side  of  a  house  with  no  dis- 


Now  for  the  results  as  shown  in  the  honey 
gathered  up  to  date,  (July  24th.)  Twenty 
colonies  in  the  house  have  100  lbs.  each  of 
comb  honey  in  supers,  while  twenty  of  the 
best  colonies  in  the  yard  have  stored  but  75 
lbs.  each.  We  estimate  the  white  harvest  to 
be  one-half  over. 

I  think  the  house  apiary  has  come  to  stay, 
but  I  do  not  think  it  will  be  a  success  except 
in  the  hands  of  a  skillful  apiarist. 

In  the  yard  are  four  colonies  of  bees  work- 
ing harmoniously  together  in  two  of  Taylor's 
non-swarming  hives.  They  are  storing  hon- 
ey well,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  this  man- 
agement may  not  become  very  useful,  es- 
pecially to  those  who  run  out  apiaries. 

Scattered  through  the  apiary  within  easy 
reach  may  be  seen  the  Taylor  swarm-catch- 
ers.   Most  of  the  swarms    are    caught    in 


S58 


TBE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


them  and  then  placed  in  the  cellar  to  be 
hived  when  convenient.  Swarming  time  has 
no  more  terrors  for  Brother  Taylor. 

I  most  not  pass  over  the  comb  leveler. 
Every  super  put  on  this  season  up  to  this 
date  (July  24th)  has  been  one-half  filled  with 
comb  on  which  the  comb  leveler  has  been 
used,  the  balance  with  foundation.  The  comb 
has  been  placed  in  the  corners  and  on  the 
outside  of  the  supers.  Brother  Taylor  would 
not  use  any  foundation  if  he  had  a  sufficient 
supply  of  comb.  The  sections  with  combs 
placed  in  the  corners  have  been  completely 
filled  before  the  foundation  ones  in  the  cen- 
ter— and  that,  too,  with  nice,  clean,  straight 
work. 

Bee  escapes  are  in  general  use.  They  have 
an  opening  so  small  that  only  one  bee  can 
pass  at  a  time,  yet  they  do  good  work. 

Hives  and  frames  almost  numberless  make 
the  Forestville  apiary  a  museum  in  which 
one  may  study  the  progress  made  in  bee- 
keeping for  the  past  generation,  Here  every 
new  thing  presented  has  been  tried,  and 
cheerfully  commended  or  sorrowfully  con- 
demned. Nor  is  it  strange  that,  in  the  eager 
search  for  the  best,  the  truly  good  has  some- 
times for  a  time  at  least,  been  supplanted  by 
the  new  and  untried,  as  was  the  case  with 
the  little  double  hive  and  the  wire  end  frame. 
These  will  soon  be  the  only  hives  and  frames 
used  in  this  apiary  except  for  experimental 
purposes. 

Ckystal,  Minn.  Aug.  5,  1893. 

[After  reading  the  above  1  saw  at  once  that 
pictures  were  needed  to  make  the  story  com- 
plete, and  I  wrote  the  same  to  Mr.  Taylor,  In 
due  time  they  came  accompanied  by  the  follow- 
ing letter.— Ed. J 


T  SEND  you  to  day 
X  photographs  of 
the  Forestville  api- 
ary from  two  points 
of  view.  One  of 
them  shows  to  good 
advantage  the  house 
apiary,  two  of  the 
non  -  swarmers  and 
the  entrance  to  the 
wintering  cellar. 
The  yard  was  put  in 
just  the  condition 
it  would  be  in  the  active  swarming  sea- 
son. The  swarm  catchers  are  seen  scat- 
ered  about  every  where.  They  are  a  great 
thing  indeed.  The  two  non-swarmers,  one 
with  two,  the  other  with  three  supers,  show 
plain  enough  except  the  entrances,   which. 


for  some  reason,  do  not  seem  plain.  There 
are  but  few  of  the  hives  in  the  open  yard  in 
this  view,  yet  I  think  it  would  be  the  view 
that  would  interest  readers  most  as  the  house 
apiary  is  attracting  much  thought.  Yes,  sir, 
the  house  apiary  grows  in  favor  the  longer  I 
use  it.  The  new  one  is  so  perfect  that  I  can- 
not offer  an  improvement  at  present.  I 
shall  build  another  on  exactly  the  same 
model. 

The  first  view  was  taken  from  the  south- 
west and  gives  a  more  general  view,  show- 
ing the  west  end  of  the  new  house,  the  iron 
curing  house,  the  little  house  apiary,  a  por- 
tion of  the  shop  and  wintering  cellar  (on  the 
left)  while  a  glimpse  of  the  dwelling  is  seen 
from  more  in  the  back  ground.  The  white 
stripe  behind  the  shop  is  the  highway.  The 
revolving  stand  with  my  new  solar  wax  ex- 
tractor upon  it  can  be  found  in  front  of  the 
new  house  apiary.  There  are  but  few  of  the 
out  hives  visible  in  this  scene  and  everything 
seems  jostled  together  a  great  deal  closer 
than  they  really  are.  Your  humble  servant 
is  seen  sitting  on  the  revolving  stand  near 
the  wax  extractor,  while  his  son  sits  on  a 
daisy  wheelbarrow  near  the  iron  honey  cur- 
ing house. 

Forestville,  Minn.  Aug.  24,  1893. 

Ferseverence  Has  at  Last   Secured  an  Ex- 
perimental Apiary  for  Vermont. 

H.  W.  SCOTT. 

JRIEND  HUTCHINSON  :— Your  edi- 
torial in  the  J  uly  Review  exactly  de- 
picts the  triah  and  difficulties  to  be 
overcome  in  securing  recognition  from  the 
State  authorities.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  we 
of  Vermont  have  been  through  nearly  the 
same  thing  ;  and  I  am  happy  to  say  have 
been  successful. 

On  April  13,  1893,  Mr.  M.  F.  Crane,  repre- 
senting a  committee  elected  at  our  last  meet- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  pushing  our  claims 
for  recognition,  O.  J.  Lowrey,  prospective 
apiarist,  F.  H.  Wheatley,  acting  apiarist,  and 
myself,  appeared  before  the  Board  of  Con- 
trol of  our  Station  and  presented  our  case  as 
best  we  could.  The  Board  heard  us  very 
courteously,  and  the  same  day  voted  to  add 
hee-keepincj  as  a  branch  for  exprimental 
work  at  the  Burlington  experimental  farm. 

We  were  allowed  a  sum  sufficient  to  build 
a  house  10x30  feet,  with  one  side  arranged  to 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


259 


hold  24  colonies  of  bees.  The  building  is 
finished,  and  five  colonies  of  bees  are  now 
located  in  it.  It  is  proposed  to  ask  the  bee- 
keepers of  Vermont,  or  others  who  feel  so 
disposed,  to  contribute  a  few  colonies  of 
bees,  so  as  to  be  able  to  do  good  work  next 
season.  There  are  seven  more  colonies  in 
another  place  that  belong  to  the  station, 
making  twelve  in  all.  ISext  year  we  hope  to 
have  a  regular  apiarist  and  to  do  some  good 
work. 

Burlington  is  as  easily  reached  from  many 
places  in  New  York,  as  from  our  own  State  ; 
and  I  shall  hope  that  among  bee-keepers 
State  lines  will  be  disregarded  and  that  those 
who  can  will  avail  themselves  of  the  welcome 
offered  on  behalf  of  the  Vt.  B,  K.  A.  to  add 
their  names  to  the  membership  roll,  and  as- 
sist, or  better  still,  all  work  together  in  this 
experimental  work. 

Perhaps  I  shall  be  able  to  write  more  after 
a  visit  to  the  station,  but  until  then,  I  must 
extend  the  congratulations  of  the  Vermont 
bee-keepers  to  our  brethren  of  Michigan,  on 
the  beginning  of  experimental  work  and 
recognition,  by  the  State  authorities,  of  our 
industry ;  and  hope  that  much  good  may  re- 
sult in  the  years  to  come. 

Babbe,  Vt  Aug.  18,  1893. 

Winter    Experiments    Needed    With   Heat 
And  Ventilation. 

C.    W.    DAYTON. 

'■  O  the  long  and  dreary  winter! 
O  the  Cold  and  cruel  winter  I" 

¥ELL,  it  ap- 
pears that 
the  State  of  Mich- 
igan has  arranged 
for  another  feast 
and  invites  the 
whole  United 
States  to  share  in 
it.  I  shall  endeav- 
or to  remain  so  far 
in  the  rear  that 
those  who  kicked 
so  hard  at  certain 
former  experi- 
ments, can  now  step  forward  and  demon- 
strate their  superior  f  ?  i  judgement,  bearing 
in  mind  that  "  a  fool  can  find  fault,  but  it 
is  a  wise  man  who  can  discern  excellence^'" 


The  experiment  that  I  would  like  above 
all  others  to  have  tried  just  now,  is  the  one 
with  which  Mr.  B.  Taylor  has  been  storming 
the  bee  journals  of  late — ventilation  or  no 
ventilation  of  the  hive  in  winter.  To  be 
sure,  the  foul  brood  cures  are  in  a  most  dis- 
ordered condition  at  present,  mainly  because 
each  man  strives  to  hold  up  his  cure  as  the 
cure.  A  doubtful  appearing  phase  of  Mr. 
McEvoy's  description  is  in  the  origina- 
tion of  the  disease.  Another  thing  he  says 
that  all  drugs  are  "  worse  than  useless.  " 
When  I  was  in  Colorado,  last  year,  in  Bould- 
er county,  a  big  county  and  a  great  deal  of 
foul  brood  existing.  I  talked  with  a  Mr. 
Adams,  whom  I  had  reason  to  believe  to  be 
an  efficient  inspector,  and  he  told  me  that  he 
not  only  cured  the  desease  with  a  drug  (it 
may  have  been  salicylic  acid  but  he  called  it 
by  another  name  )  but  by  pouring  the  same 
in  a  diluted  form  (m  the  tops  of  the  top  bars 
occasionally  the  bees  would  track  it  all 
through  the  hive,  thus  preventing  or  check- 
ing the  progress  of  the  desease.  A  preven- 
tion is  better  than  cures.  He  mentioned 
his  own  apiaries  and  the  apiaries  of  several 
of  his  neighbors  which  by  this  plan  had  been 
kept  healthy  for  years  while  apiaries  had 
died  rotten  with  the  disease  all  about  them. 

The  more  I  read  the  more  the  confusion, 
and  my  next  move  toward  certainty  would 
be  to  buy  a  few  foul  broody  colonies  and 
try  all  the  remedies. 

As  the  season  is  so  far  advanced,  experi- 
ments on  wintering  will  probably  be  the 
the  more  seasonable. 

I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but  whole  api- 
aries may  be  wintered  safely  with  or  without 
ward  ventilation  and  whole  apiaries  die  both 
ways. 

I  think  Mr.  Heddou  demonstrated  that  he 
could  winter  bees  in  almost  any  tempera- 
ture and  with  any  or  no  ventilation  by  tak- 
ing away  their  pollen.  The  principal  objec- 
ion  to  his  plan  by  the  average  bee  keeper  is 
changing  their  food  and  excluding  the  pollen. 

Mr.  H.  R.  Boardman,  I  believe,  uses  no 
upward  ventilation  and  always  winters  suc- 
cessfully, but  it  is  more  than  likely  he  makes 
the  conditions  of  his  repositories  such  that 
he  himself  can  not  explain  or  the  average 
bee  keeper  understand  and  apply. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Ira  Barber  created 
quite  a  sensation  by  relating  his  method  of 
wintering  in  a  very  high  temperature.  Then 
he  became  quiet  and  his  method  was  forgot- 
ten. 


260 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


The  next  thiug  that  came  up,  Dr.  Miller 
began  to  insist  that  it  was  foul  atmosphere 
in  the  cellar  that  made  bees  noisy  and  roar. 

When  Mr.  Barber  gave  his  method  we  all 
supposed  that  with  so  high  a  temperature  if 
we  should  enter  tlio  rei)Ository  with  a  light 
the  bees  would  all  leave  the  hives  and  come 
for  it.  By  testing  Dr.  Miller's  pure  air  theory 
it  was  found  that  a  high  temperature  would 
not  cause  them  to  fly  out. 

In  experimenting  with  upward  ventilation 
I  went  so  far  as  to  remove  ll.">  colonies  en- 
tirely from  their  hives  and  hang  them  u{)on 
racks  in  the  celler  as  we  hang  store  -  combs 
on  racks  in  the  honey  house — no  covers,  no 
sides,  no  bottoms.  I  visited  this  repository 
twice  and  sometimes  three  times  a  day  all 
winter  ;  that  was  in  northern  Iowa.  I  no- 
ticed that  sometimes  the  cluster  would  be 
disturbed  and  sometimes  not  and  wondered 
why  this  difference,  and  tiually  ol<served 
that  it  varied  more  or  less  according  to  the 
temperature  out  of  the  doors.  A  low  temper- 
ature outside  caused  a  hasty  change  of  air 
in  the  cellar  even  if  it  was  obliged  to  make 
the  change  through  the  cracks.  When  it  was 
warm  outside  the  air  remained  close  and 
stagnated.  On  the  first  day  I  began  to  put 
these  clusters  of  bees  in  hives  and  carry 
them  out  onto  the  summer  stands,  it  was  re- 
quired to  keep  the  cellar  darkened  and  even 
then  there  was  a  great  commotion.  The 
following  night  the  doors  were  opened  wide 
in  order  to  cool  the  cellar.  The  next  morn- 
ing these  bees  could  be  handled  easily  with 
doors  all  open  and  I  thought  it  was  the  cool 
air  but  when  I  continued  to  manipulate  their 
combs  until  the  day  got  warm  and  the  sun 
shining  right  into  the  cellar,  I  began  to  be 
amazed.  Sometimes  a  person  will  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  he  is  becoming  magical 
and  can  do  anything  he  undertakes.  Then 
again  he  finds  out  that  all  his  attempts  fail. 
It  may  all  be  caused  by  some  small  hidden 
condition. 

I  read  and  weighed  Mr.  Barber's  high 
temperature  method,  but  Miller's  pure  air 
requirement  I  did  not  know  of.  When  I 
came  to  test  Miller's  pure  air  I  had  forgot- 
ten Barber's  high  temperature. 

Now  it  is  quite  an  undertaking  to  keep 
both  a  high  temperature  and  pure  atmos- 
phere through  a  long  cold  winter. 

You  may  study  the  bee  journals  and  you 
will  find  that  the  majority  of  bees  that  win- 
ter well  are  kept  in  a  temperature  of  ^.'"i  to 
.""•O"   with  some  ventilation.    Those  wlio  do 


this  seldom  have  reason  to  complain  of  loss. 

If  the  temperature  is  higher  than  this  the 
bees  get  restless  simply  because  the  air  is 
impure. 

If  the  temperature  is  lower  than  this,  say 
as  low  as  freezing,  the  bees  remain  nice  and 
quiet,  but,  eventually  the  coml)s  are  covered 
with  sweat  whicli  causes  them  to  mould,  the 
honey  sours,  the  bees  finally  befoul  the  hive 
and  it  turns  out  a  most  wretched  affair. 

Forty- five  to  fifty  degrees  then  is  the  zero 
point  between  pure  atmosphere  and  temper- 
ature, ('.  e.  between  quiet  and  moisture. 

When  my  bees  used  to  be  so  noisy  in  the 
cellar  and  affected  by  every  little  light  or 
rise  of  temperature,  I  often  wondered  why 
they  remained  so  quietly  in  their  hives  dur- 
ing the  night  in  summer. 

Individual  colonies  are  often  known  to  be 
set  out  of  the  cellar  and  it  takes  several 
hours  for  them  to  begin  to  fly  from  their 
hive  though  the  warmth  of  the  day  and  sun 
are  the  most  enticing ;  then  when  they  do 
fly  there  seems  to  be  little  excuse  for  it  be- 
yond a  little  joyful  play  spell  and  many 
limes  colonies  were  so  slow  to  get  out  that  I 
made  examinations  to  sea  if  they  were  dead 
or  out  of  food. 

The  lower  the  temperature  of  the  cellar  is 
the  earlier  in  the  winter  will  the  combs  be 
covered  with  moisture  and  the  nearer  the 
moisture  will  locate  to  the  cluster  of  the 
bees.  Moisture  will  accumulate  wherever 
there  is  a  difference  of  temperature  between 
the  cluster  and  the  surrounding  atmosphere, 
and  where  there  is  any  thing  for  the  moist- 
ure to  attach  itself  to.  When  the  temper- 
ature is  ;5.5  to  40  it  shows  itself  in  about  a 
month.  Forty-five  to  fifty  degrees,  2% 
months,  more  or  less. 

Often  the  bees  seem  to  winter  well  and 
come  out  populous  the  middle  of  April,  but 
by  the  1st  or  10th  of  May  we  get  very  anxious 
for  the  little  patches  of  cai)ped  brood  to 
hatch  out  to  rei)lcni8h  the  swiftly  disappear- 
ing forces  of  workers.  There  seems  to  be 
something  amiss  in  such  management  when 
at  other  times  the  old  workers  "  hang  on  " 
until  late  in  June  or  July,  and  it  is  my  opin- 
ion that  there  is  not  so  much  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  bees  in  the  food  they  eat  as  in 
the  air  they  breath. 

The  requisite  probably  is  p  re  food  and 
pure  air.  Cold  air  is  detrimental  only  by 
its  effect  through   the  agsncy  of  moisture. 

A  high  temperature  will  dispel  the  moist- 
ure but  to  maintain  a  high  temperature  and 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


261 


pure  atmosphere  throughout  the  winter  is 
laborious  and  expensive.  Forty-eight  is  not 
high  enough ;  it  only  delays  the  effects  a 
month  or  two,  but  our  winters  are  long 
enough  to  encompass  all  such  lengths  of 
time.  Sixty-iive  degrees  may  answer,  but  I 
am  doubtful.  If  a  sufficiently  high  temper- 
ature is  applied  until  the  threatning  symp- 
toms disappear  the  former  low  temperature 
may  be  allowed  and  it  is  far  easier  and 
cheaper  to  keep  up  a  temperature  of  70-  for 
a  month  than  4.5-  all  winter  and  the  air  may 
be  enough  purer  by  ventilation  to  materially 
leugthen  the  lives  of  the  bees.  In  fact  the 
bees  need  treatment  to  the  high  temperature 
just  as  much  at  \'i  as  at  32  only  a  little 
later  on. 

When  I  gave  my  experience  in  wintering 
sometime  since,  the  editor  considered  it  so 
much  trouble  to  move  the  bees  into  such  a 
repository  and  back  again. 

Of  course  it  was  some  labor  for  me  to 
carry  a  hive  at  a  time  up  stairs,  but  Mr.  B. 
Taylor  would  soon  invent  an  elevator  to 
move  eight  or  ten  at  once  and  it  would  not 
cost  a  fortune  to  make  it. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  be  so  very  careful  in 
handling  hives  either,  as  when  the  bees  come 
out  they  simply  run  around  and  join  another 
colony,  when  if  it  is  in  the  colder  repository 
they  fall  to  the  floor  and  die  or  the  bees  of 
the  cluster  sip  up  the  moisture  and  become 
diseased. 

The  constant  and  continued  watching  and 
fussing  with  its  attendant  anxiety  is  almost 
as  hard  to  endure  as  a  total  loss  and  it  does 
not  begin  nor  end  w  ith  the  six  months  of 
confinement  as  we  are  in  doubts  when  the 
bees  are  set  in  and  we  are  not  "out  of  the 
woods "  until  late  in  June,  when  by  the 
method  of  which  I  write  each  colony  may  be 
divided  when  set  out  of  the  cellar  and  the 
vitality  of  the  bees  will  enable  each  half  to 
build  up  for  the  harvest. 

There  is  nearly  as  much  variation  in  the 
winter  temperature  of  different  cellars  as 
there  is  in  the  quality  of  different  soils,  and 
Mr.  Barber  happened  to  have  a  high  tem- 
pered one  where  it  was  easy  to  keep  the  tem- 
perature high  all  winter  and  he  may  not 
have  taken  the  trouble  to  ascertain  the  real 
whys  and  wherefores  of  his  excellent  success 
or  whether  a  less  length  of  duration  of  high 
temperature  would  not  have  been  as  well  and 
certainly  more  practical  for  and  better  af- 
forded by  the  general  class  of  bee-keepers. 

Pasadena,  Calif.  July  29, 1893. 


Practical  Breeding. 

.JAMES  HEDDON. 

How  doth  the  little  lazy  drone, 
With  industry  bred  in  his  bone, 
Industrious  children  sire! 

TjP^HOEVER  has 
A  A  visited  many 
apiaries,  or  bought 
l)ees  of  farmers  to 
r^  tart  an  apiary, 
well  knows  the 
great  difference  in 
the  nature  and 
working  qualities 
of  different  strains 
of  bees  of  the  same 
race,  or  races.  He 
also  knows  of  what 
great  value  is  this  difference.  I  am  sure  that 
all  of  you  have  noticed  the  immense  differ- 
ence in  the  storing  (lualities  of  different  col- 
onies in  the  same  apiary.  What  causes  this 
difference,  it  is  hard  to  tell,  and  certain  it  is 
that  the  difference  cannot  be  detected  in  any 
way  whatever,  except  by  practical  results. 
Here  are  two  colonies,  as  nearly  alike  as  can 
be  seen  or  made  :  or  perhaps  No.  2  is,  as  far 
as  the  expert  apiarist  can  judge,  the  likelier 
colony  of  the  two.  Both  are  in  the  same 
yard,  and  work  in  the  same  fields  and  on  the 
same  blossoms,  we  are  quite  sure.  But,  lo, 
the  results  are  surprising  to  the  inexper- 
ienced :  No.  2  stores  more  than  twice  as 
much  honey  as  No.  1,  and  all  the  time  is  no 
more  numerous  in  workers.  Well,  it  is  not 
at  all  strange  that  this  great  difference  in 
capability  should  exist  in  the  physiology  of 
the  bee,  consequently  wholly  out  of  sight  of 
the  bee-master.  But  because  we  cannot  de- 
tect these  valuable  qualities  in  any  way  other 
than  by  actual  test,  it  is  no  sign  we  should 
not  foster  and  propagate  them.  There  is 
every  reason  why  we  should,  because  of  the 
immense  advantage  to  be  gained  by  so  do- 
ing, and  certain  it  is  that  the  practical  evi- 
dences are  positive,  leaving  no  mistake  as  ta 
what  qualities  we  are  breeding. 

I  will  now  proceed,  as  briefly  as  possible, 
to  tell  you  what  experience  has  taught  me  to 
be  the  best  way  ;  in  fact  it  seems  to  me  the 
only  practical  way,  in  a  locality  like  my  own, 
to  bring  my  colonies  up  to  a  high  standard. 
In  the  first  place,  I  have  been  able  to  con- 
trol my  field  to  that  extent  that  in  my  home 
apiary  of  over  two  hundred  colonies,  I  own 
nearly  all  the  bees  in  my  field.  I  have  about 
fifteen  hives  that  purposely  contain  about 


262 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


one-third  drone  comb,  and  I  so  manipulate 
them  as  to  keep  my  most  productive  and 
good  natured  colonies  on  those  drone  combs. 
All  other  hives  contain  almost  exclusively 
worker  cells.  If  I  lose  bees  in  winter,  in 
handling  over  the  combs  of  the  dead  col- 
onies, I  mark  the  hives  containing  the  drone 
comb,  and  into  these  I  put  the  increase  from 
those  best  colonies.  In  other  words,  I  keep 
the  air  full  of  drones  from  the  very  best  col- 
onies ki  my  area.  It  goes  without  saying 
that  when  rearing  queens,  I  breed  from  the 
best  colonies.  But  if  one  will  follow  this 
simple,  easy  and  practical  drone  rearing  sys- 
tem, it  will  not  be  many  years  before  his 
apiary  will  be  markedly  superior,  even  if  the 
bees  are  allowed  to  do  all  their  own  queen 
rearing,  wholly  unaided  by  the  bee-master. 
DowAGiAo,  Mich.  Aug.  23,  1893. 


Bee-Kepeers'  Review. 

PUBIilSHED   MONTHLY. 

W.    Z.  HOTCHINSOfJ,   Ed.  &  PPOp. 

Terms  :  —  fl.OI)  a  year  in  advance.  Two  copies 
$1.90;  three  for  $:2.7();  five  for  |4.00:  ten  or  more. 
70  cents  each.  If  it  is  desired  to  have  the  Review 
stopped  at  tlie  expiration  of  the  time  paid  for, 
please  say  so  when  subscribing:,  otherwise  it 
w'ill  be  continued. 


FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    SEP.    10.    1893. 

The  Apicultubist  occasionally  publishes 
what  might  be  termed  an  unpleasant  truth  ; 
but  if  Bro.  Alley  could  only  soften  some  of 
his  remarks  with  the  "  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness" they  would  be  much  more  palatable. 
1^ 

E.  Kbetohmer  says  in  Gleanings  that  he 
thinks  the  Langdon  non-swarmer  failed 
because  it  was  not  applied  soon  enough — 
that  the  swarming  fever  had  already  been 
started  before  the  device  was  applied.  An- 
other reason  is  that  not  enough  ventilation 
is  given. 

O 

Postage  on  queens  to  Canada  was  former- 
ly ten  cents,  and  I  have  only  recently  learned 
that  it  is  now  the  same  as  our  domestic  post- 
age. S.  F.  Trego  called  my  attention  to  the 
matter,  saying  that  he  had  paid  only  one  cent 
an  ounce  for  a  long  time.  I  consulted  our 
postmaster,  and  find  that  Mr.  Trego  is  cor- 
rect. If  any  of  you  have  been  paying  ten 
cents,  don't  do  so  any  more. 


Jennie  Atohley  has  sent  out  nearly  .''),000 
queens  this  season.  She  has  reared  all  of 
them  except  about  GOO.  I  tell  you  the  North 
has  no  business  with  queen  rearing,  as  com- 
pared with  the  South. 

«^ 

Sections  that  are  being  scraped  clean  of 
propolis  must  be  supported  in  some  manner 
while  the  work  is  being  done,  and  Gleanings 
asks  how  best  to  support  them.  I  have  al- 
ways held  the  section  in  my  left  hand  and 
used  the  knife  with  the  other.  I  supposed 
that  was  the  way  everybody  did.  If  there  is 
a  better  way  I  should  be  glad  to  know  it. 
The  scrapings  go  into  a  box  or  empty  hive 
placed  at  my  feet. 

Experiment  Stations  in  three  or  four  dif- 
ferent places  in  the  United  States  would,  in 
the  opinion  of  some  very  good  people,  be  a 
sufBcient  number.  When  we  have  that  num- 
ber in  successful  operation  we  can  tell  bet- 
ter whether  more  will  be  desirable.  At  pres- 
ent there  is  no  occasion  to  call  a  halt.  The 
most  important  point  of  all  is  the  men 
secured  to  do  the  work. 


The  Canadian  Bee  Journal  under  its  new 
management  compares  favorably  with  the 
other  journals.  It  is  well  printed  on  good 
paper,  the  make  up  is  neat,  and  there  seems 
to  be  some  life  in  its  reading  mutter.  If 
Bro.  Holterman  can  only  keep  it  up  to  the 
high  water  mark  at  which  it  has  started,  it 
does  not  seem  as  though  there  need  be  any 
question  as  to  its  success. 

O ■ 

Robbing  in  the  apiary,  that  is,  the  annoy- 
ance that  comes  from  the  few  bees  that  fol- 
low the  apiarist  about  in  times  of  scarcity 
and  become  more  numerous  as  the  work  is 
continued,  may  be  avoided  by  having  a  few 
combs  of  honey  in  hives  piled  up  near  the 
apiary,  and  allowing  so  small  an  entrance 
that  only  one  or  two  bees  can  pass  at  the 
same  time.  (Queens  and  cells  are  also  more 
readily  accepted.  In  short,  it  is  something 
the  same  in  its  effects  as  a  small  honey  flow. 
E.  R.  Root  writes  of  this  in  Gleanings. 


The  "QuEBiES  and  Replies"  departments 
that  have  had  such  a  "run"  in  some  of  the 
journals,  bring  information  upon  the  stage 
too  late  in  the  "play;"  at  least,  so  thinks  the 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


263 


editor  of  the  Progressive.  He  says  that  a 
man  seldom  inquires  nutil  he  wants  to  know, 
and  by  the  time  that  the  replies  are  gather- 
ed and  printed  it  is  too  late  for  that  year. 
There  is  another  objectioii:  to  many  ques- 
tions it  is  impossible  to  give  a  correct  answer 
unless  it  is  qualified,  and  there  is  not  room 
for  much  of  this.  Still,  I  think  these  de- 
partments have  conveyed  a  large  amount  of 
useful  information. 


The  Noeth  American  Bee-Keepees'  As- 
sociation will  hold  its  24th  annual  conven- 
tion in  Chicago,  on  the  11th,  12th  and  13th  of 
October.  The  meeting  will  be  held  at  the 
"  Louisaua  Hotel,"  corner  of  71st  street  and 
Seipp  avenue.  Comfortable  accommoda- 
tions will  be  afforded  at  a  moderate  price. 
For  a  small  room  two  persons  pay  If)  cents 
each,  daily.  Larger  rooms  occupied  by  two, 
ifl.OO  each.  Four  persons  occupying  a  room 
having  two  beds  will  piiy  50  cents  each. 
Meals  can  be  obtained  at  the  hotel  or  at  the 
numerous  restaurants  in  the  vicinity.  The 
hotel  is  only  a  few  minutes'  walk  from  the 
south  entrance  of  the  Exposition.  An  inter- 
esting programme  is  l)eing  prepared,  and 
the  coming  meeting  will  lie  one  that  few  bee- 
keepers can  afford  to  miss. 
© 

"Bees  Versus  Manipulation  "  is  the  title 
that  I  should  give  an  article  contributed  to 
the  Canadian  Bee  Journal  by  that  old  vet- 
eran, G.  M.  Doolittle.  His  argument  is  that 
a  field  yields  only  about  so  much  honey,  and 
that  more  of  it  is  secured  to  the  bee-keeper 
if  fewer  colonies  are  kept  and  these  so 
manipulated  that  they  will  be  in  the  best 
condition  possible  to  gather  the  crop.  He 
assumes  that  the  colony  left  undisturbed  con- 
sumes just  as  much  honey  as  the  one  stimu- 
lated to  the  greatest  brood  production.  I 
think  these  two  assumptions  are  unwarran- 
ted, that  is,  that  the  yield  of  nectar  is  always 
the  same  and  that  the  consumption  is  the 
same  per  colony  regardless  of  manipulation. 
In  regard  to  manipulation  or  work  in  the 
apiary,  do  nine  cents  of  work  whenever  it 
will  bring  in  ten  cents  of  pay,  but  if  this 
same  work  can  be  made  to  bring  in  fifteen 
cents,  so  much  the  better,  and  it  is  my  hon- 
est conviction  that  the  majority  of  bee- 
keepers lose  money  by  not  keeping  more 
bees  and  then  adopting  such  methods 
as  will  allow  the  same  amount  of  work  to 
care  for  the  bees. 


WHAT    TO   DO   WITH   FOUL   BEOOD. 

A  few  months  ago  Gleanings  printed  what, 
it  seems  to  me,  was  the  best  short  article  I 
ever  saw  upon  foul  brood.  It  briefly,  clearly 
and  concisely  gave  the  symptoms  and  told 
how  to  get  rid  of  it  by  putting  the  bees  in 
new  hives,  giving  cautions  as  to  how  it 
should  be  handled.  Very  wisely,  the  Api. 
copied  the  article,  and  says  it  is  good  advice, 
except  that  it  is  better  to  burn  the  hives, 
bees,  combs  and  all. 

If  I  owned  a  large  apiary,  and  only  a  few 
colonies  were  affected  with  foul  brood,  and 
I  knew  that  they  were  the  only  ones  diseased, 
and  that  by  burning  them  I  should  free  my 
apiary  of  the  pest,  I  should  perform  the  burn- 
ing act,  rather  than  take  the  risk  of  curing 
the  few  diseased  colonies.  If  I  sfiould  find 
a  large  proportion  of  my  apiary  afflicted 
with  the  disease,  I  should  cure  the  diseased 
colonies  at  the  risk  of  infecting  the  others. 
I  say  at  the  risk  of  infecting  the  others,  as 
there  is  a  risk,  but  an  intelligent  bee-keeper, 
who  understands  the  disease  and  knows  how 
to  cope  with  it,  may  make  the  risk  a  very 
small  one.  To  destroy  a  large  portion  of  an 
apiary,  when  by  perseverence  and  determin- 
ation, coupled  with  knowledge  and  caution, 
it  can  be  saved  with  a  very  slight  loss,  is  not 
good  generalship. 

The  most  of  my  readers  know  that  Mr.  R. 
L.  Taylor  has  had  a  long  and  wide  experi- 
ence with  foul  brood :  in  fact,  he  has  reached 
that  stage  where  he  no  longer  fears  it.  If  it 
comes,  he  feels  that  he  can  handle  it  to  such 
a  certainty  that  it  will  not  get  the  start  of 
him.  When  I  was  over  there  last  summer,  I 
asked  him  if  his  apiary  was  entirely  free 
from  it.  He  said  there  were  two  or  three 
colonies  in  which  it  was  still  present.  He 
added  that  he  might  have  been  entirely  free 
from  it  had  it  not  been  that  he  had  had  on 
hand  a  large  lot  of  empty  combs,  and  some 
of  them,  he  knew  not  which,  had  contained 
foul  brood,  and  he  wished  to  use  these 
combs.  He  preferred  to  use  them  and  keep 
a  close  watch,  treating  the  cases  of  foul 
brood  as  they  developed  rather  than  destroy 
the  combs  or  even  melt  them  up  into  wax. 
And  this  from  a  man  who  owns  a  foundation 

machine. 

Q 

bee-dysenteey,  ITS  cause  and  prevention. 

Homeopath  "similibus  curantur,  " 
Allopath  big-pillibu8  banter, 
Faith-o-path  pietas  enchanter — 
And  get  well  on  the  canter. 

[The  following  "leader"  is  an  article  that  I 
contributed  to  the  American  Bee  Journal,  and 


264 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  HE  VIEW. 


which  appoare<l  in  its  issue  of  AufjiiHt  :il8t,  1WI3, 
but  it  occurs  to  nie  that,  as  tlie  wintering  season 
will  so<in  he  here,  and  we  have  never  had  a 
thoroiif,'h  discussion  of  tliis  subject  all  in  one  is- 
sue, if  may  be  well  to  take  it  up  for  special  dis- 
cussion in  thi'  Octolx'r  Review.  It  is  true  that 
\ye  have  disrusf-ed  food,  temperature,  ventila- 
tion, moisture,  etc.,  but  we  wish  now  to  consider 
them  collectivel.v  in  tiieir  relations  ouo.  to  the 
other  and  to  tiie  subject  now  singled  out  for 
speeiaJ  discussion.— Ed.  ) 

"  Of  all  the  obstacles  with  which  bee-keep- 
ers of  the  Northern  States  have  to  conteud, 
none  equal  the  losses  of  bees  in  winter  and 
spring  from  dysentery.  Many  are  the  causes 
to  which  it  has  been  attributed.  Cold,  con- 
finement, improper  food,  dampness,  "pol- 
len," lack  of  food,  or  ventilation,  etc.,  etc., 
have  all  been  blamed  for  this  trouble. 

The  disease,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  is 
simply  the  result  of  an  over-loading  of  the 
intestines.  Cold  confines  the  bees  to  their 
hives  until  they  are  unable  to  longer  retain 
their  fivces,  and  the  result  is  termed  dysen- 
tery. Simple  enough  on  the  face  of  it  isn't 
it  ?  Doesn't  seem  as  though  there  could 
have  been  so  much  discussion  about  it,  does 
there  ?  Well,  it  comes  about  something  in 
this  way :  ( )ne  man  says  it  is  caused  by  the 
cold.  Another  says  "  ho,  it  isn't.  We  have 
long,  cold  winters  here,  yet  my  bees  do  not 
suffer  from  dysentery.  If  it  were  the  cold 
they  would  have  it."  He  does'nt  consider 
that  his  location  may  furnish  a  different 
class  of  food.  Another  says  confinement 
does  not  cause  the  trouble  as  his  bees  were 
confined  in  the  cellar  so  many  months  and 
suffered  little  or  nothing.  This  man  forgets 
that  in  a  warm  cellar  much  less  food  is  con- 
sumed, and,  consequently,  the  longer  it 
takes  to  over-load  the  intestines.  Another 
lays  the  difficulty  to  the  consumption  of  pol- 
len. Another  says  "  No,  my  bees  have  plenty 
of  pollen  in  the  hives  and  they  never  have 
the  dysentery.  If  pollen  causes  dysentery, 
why  don't  they  have  it  ?"  This  man  forgets 
that  pollen  in  the  hives  does  not  cause  dys- 
entery, it  is  its  consumption  under  such  con- 
ditions that  the  bees  cannot  unload  the  in- 
testines. We  may  not  know  exactly  what 
are  the  conditions  that  cause  an  undue  con- 
sumption of  pollen,  but  we  do  know  that  in 
almost  all  cases  of  bee-dysentery,  the  fa'cal 
mass  is  almost  wholly  pollen.  We  also  know 
that  when  bees  have  no  pollen  in  their  combs, 
when  their  only  food  is  pure  cane  sugar 
(honey  contains  some  grains  of  pollen)  they 
do  not  have  the  dysentery  under  the  same 
conditions  when  bees  with  natural  stores 
have  perished  by  the  wholesale.    I  feel  quite 


certain  that  bees  with  only  pure  cane  sugar 
for  stores,  placed  in  a  cellar  where  the  tem- 
perature is  about  4r>  ,  will  bear  a  confine- 
ment of  four  or  five  months  with  no  traces  of 
disease.  Some  honey  is  nearly  as  good  as 
sugar  for  winter  stores.  At  least,  bees  have 
many  times  passed  the  winter  with  it  for 
food  and  came  out  in  the  spring  with  perfect 
health.  The  difficulty  is  to  always  know 
when  honey  is  a  healthful  food  for  winter. 
There  are  some  sections  of  the  country  where 
it  never  is.  Mr.  Byron  Walker  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  this  State,  near  large  swamps, 
could  not  successfully  winter  bees.  He  tried 
almost  all  known  methods  for  a  dozen  years 
or  more,  and  finally  moved  to  another  local- 
ity where  he  is  more  successful.  Before  he 
moved  away  he  practiced  brushing  bees  from 
the  combs  in  the  fall,  and  killing  the  bees. 
They  were  certain  to  die  in  the  winter,  and 
he  reasoned  that  he  might  as  well  save  the 
honey  that  they  would  consume,  and  keep 
his  combs  in  a  clean  condition.  In  the 
spring  he  went  South  and  bought  bees  by  the 
car  load  and  stocked  his  apiary  again.  To 
be  able  to  decide  in  regard  to  the  suitability 
of  honey  as  a  winter  food  for  bees  would  be 
a  great  step.  If  a  bee-keeper  could  send  a 
sample  of  his  honey  to  some  chemist  and 
learn  if  it  were  safe  for  his  bees  to  winter 
upon,  it  would  be  a  grand  thing.  If  it  were 
not,  he  could  extract  it  and  feed  sugar. 
What  is  it,  aside  from  the  floating  pollen, 
that  makes  some  honey  unsuitable  for  a 
winter  food  for  bees  ?  This  is  a  hard  nut 
for  our  Experimental  Apiary  to  crack. 

To  remove  all  of  the  honey  from  an  apiary 
when  we  do  not  knoiv  that  it  will  prove  an 
unsafe  food,  and  substitute  sugar,  for  the 
purchase  of  which  we  may  not  have  the  ready 
money,  with  honey  of  slow  sale,  is  a  pro- 
ceeding that  would  not  be  considered  busi- 
ness-like. Bee-keepers  prefer  to  take  the 
risk,  one  year  with  another,  of  leaving  their 
l)ees  their  natural  stores,  when  these  stores 
are  apparently  well  ripened  honey,  and  then 
using  all  other  precautions  possible  to  ward 
off  the  ill  effects  of  confinement. 

If  we  could  only  tell  in  advance  what  the 
coming  winter  would  be  we  would  know 
whether  to  put  the  bees  in  the  cellar  or  to 
protect  them  on  their  summer  stands.  If 
bees  could  have  one  or  two  good  purifying 
flights  during  the  winter,  I  should  prefer  to 
winter  them  in  the  open  air.  But  of  this  I 
cannot  be  assured,  and,  as  they  winter  no 
worse  in  the  cellar  in  a  warm  winter  than 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW- 


265 


they  do  in  a  severe  one,  I  prefer  the  latter 
plan.  It  is  possible  that  the  house  apiary 
may  yet  furnish  the  advantages  of  both 
methods — warmth  and  an  opportunity  for 
flights  when  the  weather  permits.  In  the 
cellar  we  can  control  the  temperature,  also 
the  moisture  to  a  certain  extent.  If  we  give 
them  sugar  stores,  we  then  have  everything 
under  our  control  except  the  length  of  the 
confinement,  which  will  nut  usually  vary 
sufficiently  to  undo  our  plans.  It  is  only  by 
cellar  wintering  that  we  can  have  the  same 
conditions  year  after  year.  .Just  a  few  more 
words  about  stores.  Ordinary  colonies  in  a 
warm  cellar  consume  about  two  pounds  per 
colony  each  month.  These  stores  are  taken 
from  the  center  of  the  hive.  By  feeding 
each  colony  seven  or  eight  pounds  of  sugar 
syrup  at  the  end  of  the  season,  it  will  be 
stored  In  the  center  of  the  hive,  and  it  will 
be  largely  this  food  that  the  bees  will  con- 
sume during  their  confinement.  This  is  al- 
most the  same  as  their  liaving  all  sugar 
stores.  Where  a  man  winters  his  bees  year 
after  year  with  no  trouble  from  dysentery, 
all  these  precautions  are  unnecessary.  They 
are  for  the  man  who  does  have  trouble. 

To  recapitulate  :  If  the  honey  of  any  lo- 
cality was  uniformly  good  I  would  give  but 
little  attention  to  the  food.  If  it  frequently 
proved  unsuitable  I  would  feed  sugar  late  in 
the  season.  I  would  leave  the  bees  in  the 
open  air  until  there  was  slight  prospect  of 
their  enjoying  another  tlight ;  yet  I  would 
wish  to  have  them  in  the  cellar  before  the 
advent  of  snow  storms  and  severe  cold.  I 
would  take  in  the  hives  with  no  bottom 
boards  and  stack  them  up  with  two-inch 
blocks  between  the  hives.  I  would  carefully 
watch  the  temperature  and  never  allow  it  to 
go  below  40"  nor  above  i*y .  The  tempera- 
ture can  be  kept  up  by  the  use  of  an  oil  stove, 
but  I  would  have  a  hood  over  the  stove  and 
a  pipe  to  carry  oft'  the  gases  of  combustion. 
If  this  pipe  is  connected  with  a  stove  pipe  in 
the  room  above  it  will  also  help  to  ventilate 
the  cellar  when  there  is  no  fire  in  the  oil 
stove.  I  would  also  have  a  wet  bulb  ther- 
mometer in  the  cellar  and  not  allow  the  de- 
gree of  temperature  marked  by  the  wet  bulb 
iustrument  to  approach  nearer  than  3°  to  that 
of  the  dry  bulb,  with  a  temperature  of  45°. 
Just  as  soon  as  it  was  warm  enough  in  the 
spring  for  the  bees  to  fly  I  would  remove 
them  from  the  cellar.  This  may  be  two  or 
three  weeks  or  a  mouth  earlier  than  steady 
warm  weather  may  be  expected,  but  it  will 


be  seen  that  an  early  removal  shortens  the 
confinement  that  much.  When  a  bee  has 
retained  its  faeces  three  or  four  months,  a 
further  retention  of  three  or  four  weeks  may 
be  all  the  difference  between  death  and  fair 
health.  But  I  would  not  leave  the  bees  with- 
out protection.  I  jiould  pack  them  the  same 
as  I  would  in  the  fall  if  they  were  going  to  be 
left  out  of  doors  all  winter,  only  I  might  not 
do  it  in  so  thorough  a  manner.  So  thick 
packing  is  not  needed,  and  it  may  be  held  in 
place  in  the  most  simple  and  cheap  manner. 
A  super  filled  with  sawdust  will  answer  for 
the  over  head  packing." 

Now,  friends,  I  shall  be  very  glad  of  your 
views  upon  this  subject  for  publication  in 
the  ( )ctober  Review. 


EXXRJ^CTED. 


Opportunity. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  have  ever  copied  a 
poem  into  the  Review,  but  I  came  across 
one  the  other  day,  entitled  "Opportunity," 
written  by  Professor  Sill,  that  struck  me  as 
so  encouraging  to  those  who  sometimes 
lament  their  lackoi  opportunity,  that  I  must 
let  my  readers  enjoy  it  with  me.     Here  it  is : 

"Tills  I  beheld,  or  dreamed  it  in  a  dream  ; 
There  spread  a  cloud  of  dust  alontr  a  plain  • 
And  underneath  the  cloud,  or  in  it,  raged 
A  furious  battle,  and  men  yelled,  and  swords 
Shocked  upon  swords  and  shields.    A  prince's 

banner 
Wavered,  then  staggered  backward,  hemmed  by 

foes. 
A  craven  hung  along  the  battle's  edge. 
And  thought,   '  Had  1  a  sword  of  keener  steel- 
That  blue  blade  tliat  the  king's  son  bears— but 

this 
Blunt  thing—! '  he  snapt  and  flung  it  from  his 

hand 
And  lowering  crept  away  and  left  the  field. 
Tlien  came  the  king's  son,  wounded,  sore  beset 
And  weaponless,  and  saw  the  broken  sword. 
Hilt-buried  in  the  dry  and  trodden  sand. 
And  ran  and  snatchrd  it.  and  with  battle  shout 
Lifted  afresh  he  hewed  his  enemy  down 
And  saved  a  great  cause  that  heroic  day  !" 


What  the   Experiment  Station  May  Do  for 

Bee -Keepers. 

A  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his 
brethren. 

Some  of  the  experiments  that  are  to  be 
undertaken  at  the  Michigan  Experimental 
Apiary  have  already  been  mentioned,  but  in 


266 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


an  article  in  the  Grange  Visitor,  Mr.  Taylor 
briugs  out  the  poiuts  so  clearly  that  1  thiuk 
best  to  copy  the  entire  article.     He  says  : — 

*'  Bee-keeping  has  been  carried  ou  for 
thousands  of  years  but  it  is  only  within  tlie 
recollection  of  living  men  that  it  has  passed 
out  of  the  uiediit'val,  which  was  probably 
also  the  pre-historic  stage.  It  is  natural 
then,  that  in  this,  more  perhaps  than  in  oth- 
er rural  occupations,  there  should  be  ques- 
tions pressing  for  solution.  It  is  much  that 
these  questions  are  being  propounded,  ques- 
tions for  which  until  recently  tliere  was  no 
basis,  and  this  very  condition  gives  promise 
of  certain  and  valuable  results.  It  is  as  if 
the  gates  were  just  opened  and  the  apiarists 
were  crowding  forward  to  see  wliat  a  view  of 
the  inside  would  reveal.  The  interest  thus 
exhibited  will  be  sure  to  observe  and  secure 
what  is  of  value. 

What  the  station  may  do  for  this  class  is 
to  undertake  the  solution  of  these  questions 
that  are  uppermost,  V)y  investigations  which 
the  members  of  the  class  cannot  well  under- 
take separately.  For  instance,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  diseases  of  the  bee  there  is  much  to  be 
learned.  It  is  well  known  that  foul  brood, 
the  nriost  dreaded  of  these  diseases,  is  caused 
by  a  bacillus  wliich  is  liable  to  convey  the 
disease  to  any  hive  which  it  may  enter.  It 
is  known  that  it  may  be  carried  from  one 
hive  to  another  in  honey.  May  it  be  so  car- 
ried in  wax  ?  May  it  be  conveyed  by  a  hive 
put  into  use  again  which  had  before  con- 
tained the  brood  combs  and  bees  of  a  dis- 
eased colony  ?  If  so,  how  may  they  best  be 
disinfe<!ted  ?  Whether  the  disease  may  be 
conveyed  in  wax  made  from  combs  from  an 
infected  colony  and  so  carried  from  one  part 
of  the  country  to  another  in  comb  founda- 
tion, is  a  (question  of  especial  interest,  and 
demands  speedy  and  careful  attention. 

Again,  it  is  a  mooted  question  to  what  ex- 
tent it  is  profitable  to  use  comb  foundation 
in  the  brood  chamber,  f  )f  course  a  single 
exvjeriinent  would  not  settle  it,  but  if  care- 
fully pursued  on  a  somewhat  extended  scale, 
the  truth  can  be  made  known.  At  the  sta- 
tion this  season  an  attempt  in  this  direction 
has  been  l)egun  with  twelve  colonies.  Four 
swarms  were  hived  on  comb,  four  on  comb 
foundation  and  four  on  frames  with  starters 
only,  and  it  is  quite  certain  the  results  will 
be  instructive.  Then  there  is  quite  a  large 
variety  of  comb  foundations  used.  These 
are  distinguished  by  difference  in  weight  as 
well  as  by  difference  in  the  shape  of  the  sep- 
tum and  of  the  side  walls  caused  by  differ- 
ences in  the  machines  with  which  it  is  made. 
Now  some  bee-keepers  select  the  extra-thin, 
some  the  thin  and  some  the  medium  :  others 
choose  that  with  a  fiat  bottom,  others  again 
want  that  of  the  natural  shai)e.  and  in  almost 
every  case  the  reasons  for  the  choice  are 
l)urely  fanciful.  AVhich  is  really  the  best? 
Which  is  least  objectionable  in  the  honey, 
and,  by  the  use  of  which  do  the  bees  secure 
the  most  honey  ?  By  projier  experiments 
the  station  should  be  able  to  tell  the  bee- 
keepers what  is  the  truth  in  these  matters. 

It  has  been  assumed  that  it  is  more  i)rofit- 
able  to  have  very  strong  colonies  rather  than 


moderate  ones  during  the  time  when  the  crop 
is  being  gathered.  The  station  ought  to  be 
able  to  say  definitely  in  time  whether  this  is 
a  sound  assumption. 

Looking  in  another  direction  we  find  from 
the  very  expectancy  with  wliich  new  claims 
and  investigations  are  regarded,  and  the 
eagerness  with  which  supposed  truth  is  re- 
ceived, especially  in  matters  where  there  is  a 
promise  held  out  of  a  saving  of  labor  or 
trouble,  that  it  would  be  desirable  that  there 
should  l)e  a  i)lace  where  new  inventions  in 
the  way  of  ai)icultural  appliances  will  be 
promptly  and  impartially  tested,  thereby 
saving  individuals  large  amounts  in  the  ag- 
gregate for  what  proves  in  the  end  to  be  use- 
less traps ;  as  well  as  introducing  to  fhem 
really  useful  implements  which  otherwise 
would  be  neglected  from  a  fear  that  their 
purchase  would  prove  a  useless  expense. 
Already  in  this  line,  experiments  have  been 
made  with  the  plausible  inventions  known  as 
the  non-swarmer  and  self-hiver — experi- 
ments which  should  save  the  bee-keepers  of 
the  State  much  money  if  they  will  only  read 
the  published  reports  of  their  workings. 

The  foregoing  may  serve  to  give  an  idea 
of  the  nature  of  the  work  which  the  station 
ought  to  perform,  and  a  hint  to  those  inter- 
ested of  what  benefit  they  ought  to  derive 
from  it.  ( )f  course,  other  items  of  work 
should  be  undertaken  as  the  favorable  season 
of  the  year  for  them  comes  on,  and  a  watch 
kept  for  the  rising  of  new  questions  which 
seem  to  deserve  consideration. 

Lapeeb,  Mich." 


Getting  the  Bees  Ready  for  Winter. 

It  is  seldom  that  I  come  across  an  article 
in  which  I  can  so  fully  agree  with  the  writer 
as  is  the  case  with  sombody  who  signed  his 
name  A.  B.  C.  and  sent  the  article  to  Glean- 
itKjs.  The  only  thing  in  which  I  do  not 
agree  with  him  is  in  putting  the  bees  in  the 
cellar  as  early  as  October.  I  cannot  help 
wondering  if  that  is  what  he  really  means. 
Bees  often  have  several  flights  after  that 
date  and  I  think  those  late  flights  are  a  help 
to  them  in  bearing  the  confinement  that  is  to 
follow.  I  would  leave  them  out  a  month 
later  than  A.  B.  C.  advises.  I  (juote  from 
the  article  as  follows: — 

"I  prepared  my  bees  in  several  different 
ways  for  winter  —  chaff  hives,  sealed-cover 
hives,  chaff  cushions  on  some,  others  with 
folded  gunny  sacks  between  the  frames  and 
cover,  or  top-lioard.  .\ll  except  chaff  hives 
were  in  the  cellar.  I  also  experimented 
witli  tight  bottoms.  Miller's  bottom-boards, 
no  bottom-boards,  and  wire  cloth.  As  to 
the  chaff  hives,  they  seem  to  answer  well 
for  winter,  only  that  tiiey  lost  too  heavily  in 
bees.  In  the  cellar  the  tight-bottom  hives, 
both  with  sealed  cover  and  pads,  lost  greatly 
in  numbers  by  mold.  Tiie  sealed  covered 
hives  all  showed  mold  from  condensed  mois- 
ture.   The    Miller    bottom-boards     showed 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


267 


considerably  less  mold,  either  with  or  with- 
out cushions;  in  fact,  they  were  about  as 
good  as  wire  cloth,  if  the  latter  were  left 
only  a  bee-space  below  the  frames,  thereby 
holding  all  the  dead  bees  in  contact  with  the 
frames. 

Two  things  I  am  sure  at  present  I  do  not 
want;  namely,  tight  bottoms  and  sealed 
covers.  Taking  all  things  into  considera- 
tion, I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that 
the  proper  method  of  wintering  is  about  as 
follows:  There  should  be  strong  colonies 
on  eight,  nine,  or  ten  frames,  without  bot- 
toms, or  at  least  wire  clotli  held  about  two  or 
three  inches  below  the  frames  by  a  wooden 
frame  the  size  of  the  hive-bottom.  The 
hives  should  be  tiered  as  described  in  A.  I. 
Root's  circular,  with  a  folded  gunny  sack 
between  the  tops  of  the  frames  and  the  top- 
board  of  each  hive.  The  lower  tier  of  hives 
should  be  two  feet  from  the  floor  of  the  cel- 
lar, which  should  be  dry  and  dark.  Light, 
and  extremes  of  temperature,  have  more  to 
do  in  rendering  bees  restless  than  bushels  of 
fruit  and  vegetables.  They  should  be  put 
away  as  described  by  about  the  middle  of 
October,  and  allowed  to  remain  as  quiet  as 
possible  till  the  1st  of  March,  not  later  than 
the  loth,  if  there  are  some  nice  days  so  they 
can  fly.  When  on  the  summer  stands  at  this 
early  date  they  should  be  protected  against 
sudden  changes  of  temperature." 


Self-Hivera. — Another  Novel,  Non- Swarm- 
ing Idea, 

Perhaps  he  is  right  ti>  dissemble  his  love 
But  why  does  he  kick  as  up  stairs? 

Adrian  Getaz  contributes  the  following 
very  interesting  article  to  the  American  Bee 
Journal  : 

"  Last  spring  I  decided  to  make  30  self- 
hivers,  and  experiment  with  them.  In  prin- 
ciple they  were  similar  to  the  Pratt  hivers  of 
1892  ;  that  is,  a  box  placed  before  the  hive 
and  connected  with  the  hive-entrance  by  a 
queen- excluding  zinc,  with  a  cone  permitting 
the  queen  to  come  into  the  hives,  but  not  to 
go  back.  In  fact,  they  were  merely  queen- 
traps  transformed  into  hives.  Another  zinc 
in  the  front  prevents  the  queen  from  going 
out  of  the  hives. 

The  first  experience  was  a  mishap.  My 
apiaries  are  both  out  of  town,  and  other 
business  requires  most  of  my  time.  So  one 
of  the  apiaries  was  a  week  and  a  half  with- 
out attention.  When  I  got  there  the  people 
living  on  the  place  told  me  that  one  colony 
had  swarmed  every  day  for  several  days,  and 
finally  the  swarm  went  off.  Investigation 
showed  five  dead  queens  in  the  hives.  The 
theory  is,  that  the  old  queen  was  killed  by 
the  first  virgin  hatched,  this  in  turn  by  the 
next,  and  so  on.  Probably  the  last  one  was 
reared  from  an  old  larva,  and,  as  usual  in 
such  cases,  undersized,  and  went  through  the 
zinc  with  the  swarm. 

Well,  other  swarms  came,  and  were  found 
in  the  hives,  or  at  least  the  queens  were,  with 


more  or  less  bees.  The  thing  to  do  is  to 
move  the  old  hive  to  a  new  stand,  and  leave 
the  supers,  about  one-third  of  the  brood,  and 
the  swarm,  in  a  new  hive  on  the  old  stand. 
Thus  used,  the  self-hiver  (except  perhaps 
some  particularity  of  construction)  is  cer- 
tainly a  success. 

As  a  non-swarmer  it  is  a  failure.  The  Da- 
dauts  say  that  if  a  swarm  is  returned  to  the 
parent  hive  two  days  after  swarming,  the 
swarming  fever  being  over,  the  queen  will  be 
permitted  to  destroy  the  cells,  and  the  col- 
ony will  not  swarm,  at  least  not  until  new 
preparations  for  swarming  take  place,  if  the 
circumstances  are  favorable  to  it.  Henry 
Alley  says  that  after  a  queen  has  been  three 
days  in  the  trap,  she  will  be  permitted  to  de- 
stroy the  cells.  Acting  upon  these  sugges- 
tions, I  waited  two  or  three  days,  and  then 
returned  the  swarms  from  the  hivers  to  the 
old  hives.  I  soon  discovered  that  the  major- 
ity were  swarming  again  repeatedly,  even 
twice  a  day.  Investigation  disclosed  the  fact 
that  only  one  queen  had  destroyed  all  the 
cells,  the  others  had  only  destroyed  a  part. 
This  was  not  entirely  unexpected.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  the  swarms  returned  to  the  hive 
and  left  in  the  hiver  are  not  in  the  same 
condition  as  those  coming  out  with  their 
queens,  hived  in  a  new  hive,  and  then  re- 
turned. 

As  to  Henry  Alley's  assertion,  I  have  to 
say  that  so  many  conditions  influence  the 
swarming  of  bees,  that  he  may  have  suc- 
ceeded under  some  circumstances,  while  he 
might  have  failed  entirely  at  some  other 
times. 

Well,  I  then  proceeded  to  destroy  the  queen 
cells  myself.  Only  three  colonies  quit 
swarming  ;  all  the  others  persisted  in  swarm- 
ing as  long  as  they  had  either  a  queen  or 
some  brood  from  which  to  rear  one.  I  per- 
sisted in  returning  swarms  and  cutting  cells, 
and  the  bees  persisted  in  swarming  again 
and  again.  Finally,  four  or  five  queens 
'  turned  up  missing,'  probably  were  killed. 
Then  I  acknowledged  myself  '  licked,'  as  Mr. 
Hasty  would  put  it,  I  divided  some  colo- 
nies, and  removed  the  queens  from  some 
others. 

Here  I  have  gained  an  important  point. 
None  of  the  colonies  that  had  been  hopeless- 
ly queenless  for  some  time  (from  three  or 
four  days  to  nearly  two  weeks)  offered  to 
swarm  again.  It  seems  that  when  they  find 
themselves  without  queens  or  brood  (except 
capped  brood)  they  give  up  all  swarming 
notions  and  go  to  work.  After  new  queens 
were  given,  they  still  kept  on  working  regu- 
larly. 

One  or  two  points  in  regard  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  swarmer:  Excepting  the 
one  mentioned  at  the  beginning  of  this  arti- 
cle, no  queen,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  passed 
through  the  zinc.  The  cone  ought  to  be 
placed  so  that  the  bees  are  not  likely  to  clus- 
ter on  the  end  of  it,  for  when  there  is  a  clus- 
ter, they  cannot  go  in  and  out  easily  through, 
the  cluster. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  the  self- 
hiver,  as  I  had  it.  was  that  it  interferes  con- 
siderably with  the  ventilation  of  the  hive. 
My  hives  have  ample  entrances,  the  zinc  be- 


268 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


tween  the  hive  and  hiver  was  of  large  size 
(4x8  inches)  with  a  space  behind;  and  I 
thought  that  it  would  be  sufficient.  The 
trouble  is,  that  in  hot  days  some  of  the  work- 
ers, and  w  hatever  drones  are  in  the  hives, 
cluster  on  the  zinc  and  cone,  and  thereby 
obstruct  the  holes,  and  not  only  interfere 
with  the  ventilation,  but  also  with  the  going 
and  coming  of  the  honey-gatherers.  The 
drones  live  in  the  hive  several  days,  being 
fed  there  by  the  workers.  This  particularity 
may  sometimes  be  turned  to  advantage. 
They  can  be  easily  destroyed,  except  those 
that  may  be  wanted  for  fertilization  of  young 
queens.  When  the  queens  are  out,  the  front 
zinc  of  the  hiver  can  be  removed,  and  the 
select  drones  permitted  to  come  out.  Clos- 
ing the  cone  will  effectually  prevent  the  loss 
of  a  swarm  while  the  front  zinc  is  open. 

About  .June  25th  some  of  the  colonies  were 
so  large,  and  the  weather  so  hot,  that  I  had 
to  remove  most  of  the  zincs  ( between  the  hive 
and  hivers)  to  insure  better  ventilation.  I 
left  the  zincs  in  front  of  the  hivers.  Even 
thus  reduced,  the  hiver  was  yet  very  useful, 
as  no  swarm  could  go  off.  As  a  general  rule 
any  swarm  going  out  and  returning  will  try 
again  very  early  the  next  day,  if  the  weather 
is  favorable.  As  a  returning  swarm  hangs 
more  or  less  outside  the  hiver  for  an  hour  or 
two  after  returning,  by  visiting  the  apiary 
between  10  a.  m.  and  12  o'clock,  the  apiarist 
can  tell  which  hives  have  swarmed,  and  need 
attention. 

After  this  experience,  I  doubt  very  much  if 
the  Langdon  and  Aikm  devices  to  prevent 
swarming  will  work  satisfactorily.  I  can 
only  repeat  what  I  said  before,  that  it  de- 
pends upon  the  circumstances  ;  as  to  work 
always,  I  doubt  it.  The  change  from  one  hive 
to  another  where  the  bees  are  equally  crowd- 
ed could  not  abate  the  swarming  fever. 
Mine  swarmed  from  the  hiver  as  well  as  they 
did  from  the  old  hive. 

The  revolving  stand  of  B.  Taylor  was  also 
a  failure.  The  destruction  of  the  queen  cells 
by  the  queens  cannot  do  any  more  good  than 
when  done  by  the  apiarist.  It  seems  very 
difficult  to  prevent  the  swarming  fever  en- 
tirely. We  can  give  plenty  empty  room,  but 
not  plenty  empty  comb  as  those  who  pro- 
duce extracted  honey  do.  Non-swarming 
colonies  get  to  be  very  strong,  and  therefore 
more  or  less  crowded. 

Summing  uj),  I  see  three  iioints  which  con- 
form to  the  teachings  of  our  leading  writers, 
viz. : 

1st.  The  impossibility  of  preventing  the 
swarming  fever  entirely,  when  producing 
comb  honey.  Of  course  the  actual  swarm- 
ing could  be  prevented. 

2nd.  As  long  as  the  swarming  fever  lasts, 
the  colony  is  '  no  good,'  so  far  as  gathering 
surplus  is  concerned. 

ord.  The  only  ways  to  overcome  the 
swarming  fever  are  these  : 

a.  Allowing  swarming,  or  an  equivalent, 
dividing.  That  is  what  Doolittle,  Hutchin- 
son, Heddon,  etc.,  are  doing.  To  obtain  a 
surplus,  they  turn  over  to  the  swarm  as  much 
of  the  old  force  as  possible,  and  whatever 
surplus  is  gathered  already.  This  does  not 
work  very  well  here,  for  reasons  that  I  will 
explain  some  other  time.    The  old  colony — 


well,  I  don't  know,  but  by  their  reports,  I 
suppose  that  most  of  the  time  the  old  col- 
ony is  so  weak  that  it  dies  the  following  win- 
ter or  spring. 

It.  Removing  the  queen  and  cells,  and  not 
returning  the  queen  (or  another  one)  until 
the  colony  has  been  hopelessly  queenless  for 
some  time.  This  is  practiced  by  our  most 
extensive  and  most  successful  comb  honey 
producers,  such  as  Manum,  Hetherington, 
Elwood,  etc. 

This  will  be  my  next  year's  experiment — 
as  a  help  similar  to  the  self-hiver,  I  want  to 
try  the  following  arrangement : 

Have  the  hive  so  constructed  that  the  en- 
trance can  lead  either  to  the  brood-nest  or 
to  the  supers.  Add  to  the  hive,  or  rather  to 
the  brood-nest,  a  cone  Hivina  the  necessary 
ventilation  and  permitting  the  bees  to  come 
out,  but  not  to  go  back.  At  the  opening  of 
the  honey-flow  close  the  brood-nest,  place  a 
solid  board  between  the  brood-nest  and  the 
supers,  so  as  to  cut  off  entirely  the  commu- 
nication between  the  two,  and  fix  the  en- 
trance so  as  to  send  the  whole  force  into  the 
supers.  Of  course,  the  bees  in  the  supers 
having  neither  queen  nor  brood  will  be  hope- 
lessly queenless  and  give  up  (?)  any  notion 
to  swarm  they  may  have.  (Perhaps  they 
will,  and  perhaps  they  won't. )  The  queen  in 
the  brood-nest  with  only  young  bees  will  de- 
stroy whatever  queen  cells  may  be  started. 
Three  or  four  days  later  the  board  between 
the  supers  and  brood-nest  can  be  removed, 
and  the  usual  brood-nest  entrance  opened 
atrain.  The  operation  can  be  repeated  again 
during  the  honey-flow,  whenever  swarming 
mav  occur. 

I'll  let  you  know  in  a  year  from  now 
whether  the  above  scheme  will  work  or  not. 
At  any  rate.  I  think  if  it  fails  as  a  non-swarm- 
er.  it  will  be  splendid  to  start  work  in  the 
sections,  and  could  also  be  used  in  lieu  of 
contracting  the  brood-nest,  if  this  is  desired 
at  the  end  of  the  season. 

Knoxville,  Tenn.,  July  10,  189.3." 

As  to  what  becomes  of  the  old  colony  when 
it  is  robbed  of  what  surplus  it  may  have  on 
hand  at  the  time  it  swarms,  also  robbed  of 
its  flying  bees  for  the  first  week  after  swarm- 
ing, I  will  say  that  it  usually  proves  to  be 
the  best  possible  kind  of  a  colony  the  next 
season.  It  has  a  young  queen  and  it  goes  on 
and  raises  enough  bees  for  winter,  besides 
this,  if  it  has  swarmed  early,  it  sometimes 
furnishes  some  surplus  besides.  If  either  of 
the  two  are  likely  to  succumb,  it  is  the  swarm 
with  its  old  queen  and  contracted  brood 
nest.  It  must  be  given  more  combs  in  the 
brood  nest  as  soon  as  the  white  honey  har- 
vest is  over,  and  fed  a  little  if  there  is  no 
honey  flow,  or  else  it  must  be  united  with 
some  other  colony.  I  have  reference  to 
cases  where  severe  contraction  is  practiced 
— where  only  four  or  five  Langstroth  combs 
or  their  equivalent  are  allowed  in  the  brood 
nest  at  the  time  of  hiving. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


269 


The  idea  of  throwing  the  working  force 
into  the  supers  instead  of  into  another  hive 
is  certainly  novel,  and  just  how  it  would 
work  is  difficult  to  foresee.  I  honestly  be- 
lieve that  one  thing  will  lead  on  to  another 
until  the  prevention  of  swarming  will  even- 
tually become  practical  and  profitable. 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee   Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

<^  THINK  the  first  honors  this  month  be- 
^  long  to  Willie  Atchley,  who  is  not  yet 
«^  seventeen,  for  an  improvement  in  the 
queen-rearing  process.  He  changes  the 
Doolittle  model  on  which  the  queen  cups  are 
cast  so  that  his  cup  represents  the  base  of  a 
queen  cell  with  }g  inch  of  worker  cell  in  the 
bottom  of  it.  The  latter  is  flared  so  that  a 
real  worker  cell  will  slip  in  and  wedge  tight. 
Now  the  inside  of  a  cell  in  which  brood  has 
been  reared  a  few  times  is  not  wax,  but 
woven  silk  ;  and  when  the  comb  is  shaved 
down  with  a  razor  as  far  as  it  can  be  without 
disturbing  the  little  larvae  the  silken  base 
can  be  lifted  out  with  fine  tweezers,  jelly, 
baby,  cradle  and  all,  and  put  securely  into 
its  destined  place.  Time  saved,  baby  saved 
from  bruises  and  punches,  and  the  risk  of 
having  the  bees  condemn  the  job  saved  to 
some  extent.  I  may  add  that  it  would  be  a 
great  saving  to  the  operator's  nerves,  if  he 
were  green  like  me  instead  of  being  experi- 
enced like  Willie.  Gleanings  illustrates  his 
invention  on  page  600. 

Gleanings. 

This  time  it  is  how  a  great  oak  has  grown 
and  developed,  and  not  the  growth  of  a  lit- 
tle and  recently  sprouted  acorn.  A  bit  ago, 
but  longer  ago  than  these  papers.  Prof.  Cook 
used  to  be  in  every  number  from  once  to 
half  a  dozen  times,  with  his  bugs,  and  bee 
plants,  and  bees,  and  rattlesnakes,  and  gen- 
eral fund  of  wisdom.  We  miss  him  some- 
what ;  yet  Gleanings  seems  well  able  to  en- 
dure the  loss  of  any  one  writer.  The  oak 
grows  on  still,  though  among  its  branches 
one  'possum  goeth  and  another  'possum 
cometh.  We  also  have  half  lost  the  "  ever- 
lasting foot-note."  As  this  was  Gleanings' 
most  prominent  individuality  it  takes  some 
time  to  get  used  to  doing  without  it ;  but  we 


are  coming  on,  and  will  accept  the  occasion- 
al foot-note  in  the  place  of  the  everlasting 
one  ere  long.  And  for  the  present  we  lose 
the  closing  chapters  of  Langstroth's  Remin- 
iscences— unavoidably  of  course. 

In  return  for  these  losses  we  have  several 
items  of  gain.  The  new  department  of  Trade 
Notes  is  one.  This  is  designed  to  give  prop- 
er recognition  to  new  devices  which  are  of- 
fered for  sale.  Having  such  a  department 
will  keep  the  editor  on  the  look-out  for 
something  to  put  in  it :  and  so  the  new  hives 
and  "  fixins  "  will  not  be  so  much  in  danger 
of  being  overlooked.  Good  idea.  Then  we 
have  .lake  Smith.  Now  Jake  is  a  humorist 
of  considerable  ability,  and  I  have  no  desire 
to  blow  cold  on  him  ;  but  one  thing  I  can't 
get  reconciled  to,  and  that  is  the  idea  of 
having  two  regular  humorists  appear  in  each 
number  of  a  bee  magazine.  Too  open  a 
confession  that  apiculture  is  played  out,  and 
that  horse-laughs  must  take  its  place.  I 
don't  believe  the  allegation,  and  therefore 
incline  to  get  a  little  ferocious  toward  any 
editor  who  gives  it  countenance. 

The  most  important  of  the  recent  changes 
is  the  appearance  of  Wallace  P.  Root  as  a 
writer.  In  this  world  some  workers  are 
greatly  overpraised,  and  some  are  as  greatly 
nnderpraised.  Wallace  is  one  of  the  under- 
praised  ones.  Probably  not  one-half  of 
those  who  read  and  love  Gleanings  have  any 
idea  how  much  the  eminence  and  stability 
of  that  paper  is  owing  to  Wallace  P.  Root — 
its  accurate  proof  reader,  its  tasteful  make- 
up man,  its  translator  of  languages,  its  sten- 
ographer, its  general  utility  man  and  facto- 
tum. Readers  have  noted  the  phrase  "our 
stenographer"  perhaps;  but  whether  his 
name  was  Adam  or  Melchizedek  they  did'nt 
remember.  Possibly  my  impression  may  be 
a  little  astray,  but  my  idea  of  the  man  is  that 
he  has  for  many  years  been  '•  singing  the 
whole  gamut  " — doing,  on  occasion,  pretty 
much  everything  from  writing  editorials  to 
picking  up  the  peanut  shells  which  careless 
people  throw  on  the  floor.  Now  that  he  not 
only  writes  articles  but  signs  them,  we  owe 
him  a  "howdy"  and  shake  of  the  hand. 
And,  friend  Wallace,  seeing  you  are  still  half 
a  stranger  to  many  to  whom  you  ought  to  be 
as  household  words,  quit  that  W.  P.  R. — get 
out  of  bare  bones,  and  sit  with  your  alpha- 
betical flesh  on. 

Now  as  to  his  present  series  of  articles  on 
the  old  bee  books.  Of  course  we  must  not 
expect  warm  blood  out  of  cold  turnips,  nor 


270 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


much  scientific  accuracy  in  apicultural  lit- 
erature several  generations  old.  And  very 
little  practical  light  as  to  how  we  can  best 
produce  honey  in  this  year  of  grace  185)3  is 
to  be  had  from  such  a  source.  It  is  sufficient 
for  the  occasion  if  Wallace  makes  us  pleas- 
antly acquainted  with  the  contents  of  these 
queer  volumes  without  the  trouble  and  ex- 
pense of  owning  and  reading  them — and  a 
heavy  spanking  for  the  groveling  bread  and 
butter  man  who  don't  want  to  know  the 
ancient  status  of  his  handycraft.  If  the 
ancients  knew  little  of  bees  they  scribbled 
about  them  diligently  all  the  same,  as  we 
read  that  about  400  works  were  compiled  for 
the  oldest  save  one  of  the  volumes  reviewed 
(Samuel  Purchas  16.57,) 

"  Probably  the  English  of  those  days  never 
dreamed  that  queenliood  and  utility  ever  exist 
in  the  same  body,  and  hence  a  queen  in  the  hive 
was  supposed  to  be  as  useless  as  one  on  the 
throne." 

The  oldest  of  the  lot  is  Butler's  Feminine 
Monarchy  (1609),  which  is  two  years  older 
than  our  English  Bible,  and  166  years  before 
the  Revolution.  But  the  title  is  proof  that 
Butler  knew  more  than  some  log  gum  chaps 
of  the  present  generation— did'nt  call  her 
"  the  old  king."  He  also  gives  us  the  germ 
of  the  modern  frame  in  wooden  bars  at  the 
top  to  which  combs  were  built.  He  notices 
that  bees  have  poor  eyesight — the  cause  and 
extent  of  which  is  to  this  day  unsettled.  He 
knew  (what  our  average  population  have  not 
yet  learnedj  that  it  was  usually  safe  to  walk 
quietly  around  among  bees,  while  in  standing 
still  near  their  entrances  one  catches  it. 
And  (human  nature)  he  was  distressed  as 
much  as  we  are  by  the  ignorance  of  those 
who  went  before  him.  And,  anon,  he  tells 
how  bees  were  made  to  build  a  miniature 
church,  with  steeple  and  windows  and  bells, 
A  Catholic  woman  slyly  brought  home  the 
communion  wafer  in  her  mouth  and  gave  to 
them. 

Rusden  Q679)  having  got  queens  to  lay  in 
his  hand,  found  in  the  fact  proof  exactly  op- 
posite to  the  truth — they  were  kings  !  Lots 
of  Rusdens  with  us  still — make  up  their 
minds  how  a  thing  is  first,  and  then  what- 
ever turns  up  is  proof. 

"  In  1685  Stelluti  published  a  description  of 
the  parts  of  a  bee  which  he  had  examined 
throiigh  a  microscope." 

Here   the    morning    dawns  at    last.     Of 

course  dunderheads  will  continue  for  a  few 

generations  to  ignore  the  morning  light  and 

reiterate  the  midnight  traditions,  but  the  end 

is  no  longer  in  doubt. 


And  how  about  the  other  strong  men  of 
Gleanings  ?  A.  I,  is  still  at  high  pressure 
gardening  and  strawberries ;  and  Ernest 
nicely  holds  the  even  tenor  of  his  way  at 
editing.  Both  with  great  facility  are  flash- 
ing to  and  fro  upon  their  wheels,  Ernest  af- 
ter bee  facts,  and  his  father  after  garden 
facts.  By  the  way  the  latter 's  wheel  gained 
terribly  upon  the  wheels  of  Time  and  Gen- 
esis when  he  got  the  heathen  children,  born 
under  the  ministrations  of  John  Williams, 
parading  and  carrying  banners  just  one  year 
from  the  good  missionary's  arrival.  Never 
mind.  Somebody's  Christian  teaching  saved 
the  children  from  being  murdered.  But 
what  a  solemn  thing  is  impartial  history. 
The  same  John  Williams  who  spread  the 
name  of  Christ  spread  also  the  curse  of  to- 
bacco wherever  he  went.  But  those  young 
folks  at  Medina,  especially  that  little  boy 
who  moved  his  playthings  out  of  sight  of  the 
circus  when  he  had  made  up  his  own  mind 
not  to  go,  I  don't  see  as  any  discount  comes 
in  there.  May  some  reviewer  sometime 
write  "  Huber  Root,  the  best  editor,  take  him 
all  in  all,  that  Gleanings  ever  had." 

Our  Rambler  still  rambles,  and  improves 
as  he  goes.  Our  Miller  still  grinds — grinds 
straw — but  lo,  out  of  the  butt  end  of  the 
straw  there  spins  a  stream  of  good  flour. 
And  our  Doolittle  still  contrives  to  do  a  little 
in  the  interests  of  apiculture.  After  so  many 
years  of  writing,  for  so  many  different  pa- 
pers, the  way  Mr.  Doolittle  maintains  the 
freshness  and  interest  and  practical  utility 
of  his  writings  is  certainly  very  remarkable. 
Time  was  when  he  was  showered  thick  with 
praises.  Of  late  the  fraternity  seem  to  have 
quit  off  from  praising  him — perhaps  on  the 
same  principle  that  Homer  refrains  from 
praising  the  beauty  of  Helen — a  man  must 
be  a  fool  not  to  know  without  telling  that 
Helen  was  beautiful.  But  as  some  brethren, 
in  whom  I  fear  the  wish  is  the  father  of  the 
thought,  venture  to  hint,  or  more  than  hint, 
that  Doolittle  has  written  himself  out,  per- 
haps it  would  not  be  a  bad  plan  for  us  once 
more  to  say  what  we  think  of  our  foremost 
apiculturist.  I  sample  recent  utterances  as 
below. 

Does  rain  cause  robbing  ?    No. 

"  During  a  lieavy  yield  of  lioney,  bees  seem  al- 
most glad  of  a  rest  for  at  least  24  hours."    Page 

6;?s." 

"  In  all  my  experiencp  for  the  faster)  years,  I 
have  never  known  of  a  single  eyg  being  conveyed 
from  one  cell  to  another ;  but  in  scores  of  cases  I 
have  known  larvae  to  be  transferred."  Page 
556. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


271 


A  grand  tangle  of  four  prime  swarms  in 
one  day  put  178  little  larvae  into  as  many 
queen  cups  they  had  made. 

"A  hive  that  has  20  lbs.  of  honey  in  it  on  the 
first  day  of  April  will,  as  a  rule,  give  double  the 
beee  at  the  commencement  of  the  clover  harvest 
that  one  will  which  has  only  five  lbs."    Page  5U. 

"One  bee  load  of  nectar  from  the  basswood, 
in  a  dry  warm  time,  is  equal  to  three  from  white 
clover,  or  iive_  from  the  teasel "  [So  little 
water.]    Page  iiO. 

Cutting  foundation. 

"  One  day  when  I  was  in  a  great  hurry  I  drew 
the  knife  through  the  foundation  as  quickly  as 
possible,  when,  lo  and  behold  !  the  whole  stick- 
ing matter  was  solved,"    Page  296. 

TAKEN   TO  THE    BARN. 

I'm  sorry  to  see  how  editor  Alley  gives  way 
to  his  besetting  fault  in  the  August  Apicul- 
turist.  Several  offenses,  of  which  this  is  the 
worst. 

"  The  Canadian  Bee  Journal  has  been  burned 
out.  Since  that  paper  published  a  batch  of  lies 
concerning  the  editor  of  the  Api.  we  have  no 
special  interest  in  it." 

My  boy,  Christianity  centuries  ago  shut 
down  on  this  sort  of  thing  ;  and  that  ought 
to  have  been  sufficient,  but  somehow  it  was 
not.  Of  late  years  Civilization  has  taken  up 
the  job  which  Christianity  seemed  unable  to 
complete.  She  actually  bears  down  hard  on 
those  who  give  the  word  "lie,"  even  if  the 
charge  is  in  a  measure  true.  She  ruminates 
on  general  principles  that  black  lies  of  the 
worst  degree  are  not  common  ;  but  twisting 
the  truth,  and  ignoring  the  truth,  is  so  fear- 
fully common  that  usually  there  is  lots  of  it 
on  both  sides  when  two  editors  quarrel.  As 
a  rule  you  can't  get  her  to  look  deeper  than 
these  general  principles  :  and  she  feels  mis- 
erably bored  to  hear  editors  call  each  other 
liars  under  such  circumstances.  And  this 
further  offense — dancing  an  Indian  war 
dance  over  your  adversary  the  minute  a  great 
calamity  overtakes  him — she  loathes  that 
particular  offense.  And  she's  safe  to  wreck 
the  prosperity  of  any  paper  or  editor  who 
persists  any  great  length  of  time  in  keeping 
that  far  in  the  Dark  Ages.  There,  my  son,  I 
hope  I  shall  never  have  to  take  you  to  the 
stable  again. 

The  General   Round  Up 

Dr.  Miller  had  a  young  queen  pipe  while 
he  was  holding  her  cell  in  his  fingers.  With 
the  sound  he  felt  a  surprisingly  strong  Jar. 
Of  course  if  the  spunky  little  lady  could  jar 
so  big  a  man  she  could  jar  the  whole  hive 
when  in  it ;  and  now  our  best  evidence  that 
bees  can  hear  has  gone  glimmering.  What 
scamps  investigators  are  I 


Friend  Miller  also  finds  that  sheep  crowd 
hives  out  of  place  as  bad  as  cows,  and  worse 
than  horses.   Rabbits  then  ?    My"animile"    . 
is  the  hoe ;  but  he  crowds  me  out  of  place 
too  much. 

Just  notice  how  the  workers  at  the  bee 
escape  are  drifting  in  company  toward  an 
intermittent  e's,c».\)e,  one  that  first  frightens 
the  bees,  and  then  lets  them  loose  in  a  flock 
outside  the  hive,  within  smelling  distance  of 
the  entrance.  Don't  all  say  "My  inven- 
tion "  at  once,  boys.  Friend  Handel  hon- 
estly reports  that  his  cost- nothing  paper  es- 
cape fails  badly  when  there  are  crowds  of 
drones  and  young  bees. 

The  experience  of  improved  agriculture 
driving  out  bees  has  recently  been  repeated 
in  no  less  classic  a  place  than  Bethlehem,  the 
birth  place  of  the  Lord.  See  Baldensper- 
ger's  article.  Gleaninys  632. 

S.  F.  Trego  in  queen  breeding  helps  out 
the  work  of  his  select  mother  by  having  the 
cells  started  with  hybrid  larvae,  and  then 
picking  them  out  and  putting  in  pure  ones. 
Gleanings  .528. 

Muth  says  the  night  temperature  must  be 
above  5.5^  else  white  clover  will  not  yield. 

J.  D.  Fooshe  judges  the  time  when,  and 
the  quality  how  good,  of  his  bees  destined  to 
raise  queens  by  the  plaintive  moan  they  send 
up  when  the  hive  is  opened.  When  they  sob 
out  "  We've  no  mother  at  all,  and  not  a  baby 
in  the  house,"  then  they  can  be  trusted. 

Thousands  of  pounds  of  foundation,  in 
which  mineral  wax  is  one  ingredient  are  sold 
in  Germany.  So  says  H.  Reepen.  A.  B.  J. 
206.  There  appears  to  be  no  attempt  at  con- 
cealment, and  a  general  what-you-going-to- 
do-about-it  feelin. . 

Alberti,  a  German  editor,  cut  off  a  branch, 
thoroughly  clearing  it  of  honey  dew  and  in- 
sects, and  made  it  exude  more  honey  dew 
while  in  his  room.  I  suppose  he  would  say 
to  our  doubters,  "  Vhot  kinds  mit  insect  hon- 
ey ish  dot  ?" 

If  ants  bother  you  read  Dayton  (A.  B.  J. 
112)  and  be  cheerful  again — and  thankful 
you  are  not  in  California. 

•Jennie  Atchley  has  found  the  best  place, 
and  is  going  there. 

And  anon  Reepen  pokes  fun  at  our  Doolit- 
tle  because  he  has  to  kill  bees  to  see  what 
they  carry.  (We  do  kind  o'  like  to  see 
Damascus  blade  cross  Damascus  blade. )  As 
for  himself,  the  tiny  drop  a  bee  can  be  made 
to  disgorge  is  sufficient  not  only  to  taste  but 
to  remember.    Then  he  catches  bees  at  the 


272 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


hive  and  tells  what  flower  they  have  visited. 
My.  my,  my  !    See  ^.  B.  J.  109. 

Wanted  to  condense  the  Langstroth  arti- 
cles in  the  last  Apiculturist  but,  alas,  must 
postpone. 

Richards,  Lucas  Co.,  Ohio,  Aug.  21,  '9:?. 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


Muti's  ::::^ 


lEY    EXTRACTOR 
PERFECTION 
-Blast    Smokers, 

S^IUAre  eia^ss  Hoijcy  J^^rs,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  Chas.  F.  Muth  &  Son, 
Cor.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
SendlOc.  for  Practical  Hints  to  BeeKeepers. 

1-93-tf.  Please  li/lenfion  the  Reuieie. 

—If  you  are  soing  to — 

BxJy  a  buzz  -  SA\sr, 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Keview.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happj;  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 

IMPORT  AIMT^-^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
beoH  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits-  Those  who  have  tested  them 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  Ijeautifnl  to  look  at,  are  tlie  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

FIVE-BRflDED   WOt?KEJ?S 

In  March,  April  and  May,  81.25  each,  6  for  $6.00; 
.June,  Si  (HI  each,  (i  for  $5.(K);  .July  to  Nov.,  $1.00 
eacii,  t)  for  Sl.TiO.  S[)ecial  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particularH  send  for  descriptivecircular. 

12-fl2-tf  C.  D    DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 


Illnstraied    Adverllseinents  Attract    Attention. 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  Second-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unpreiudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment maniifactured  shipped,  privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHANGING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  j  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADQUARTERS,   ( l^e  Monroe  St.,  Chicagow 


Bind  Your  Back  Volumes. 

The  back  volumes  of  tlio  Review  are  some- 
what different  from  those  of  some  journals  ; 
many  of  them  are,  to  a  large  extent,  little  pam- 
phlets devoted  to  the  discussion  of  special  top- 
ics. For  this  reason  they  will  always  bo  partic- 
ularly valuable  for  reference.  But  how  provok- 
ing it  is  when  desiring  to  consult  some  back 
number,  to  find  that  that  particular  number  is 
missing— has  been  lost  or  mislaid.  To  avoid 
such  annoyance,  some  have  fastened  together 
the  issues  of  each  year  by  tacking  them  together 
with  wire  nails,  or  something  of  the  sort.  This 
is  better  tlian  nothing,  but  there  is  a  lack  of 
flexibility,  the  book  does  not  open  out  easily  so 
that  it  can  be  read,  there  is  no  protection  to  the 
outside  leaves,  besides  there  is  nothing  hand- 
some about  such  an  arrangement. 

Tliere  is  a  book  binder  here  in  Flint  that  does 
excellent  work  at  a  fair  price.  He  will  put  the 
first  five  volumes  of  the  Review  into  one  hand- 
some volume  with  morocco  back  and  corners, 
putting  the  title  on  the  back  in  gilt  letters,  and 
giving  the  edges  of  the  leaves  a  neat,  reddish 
tinge  —  all  for  $1.2.5. 

Send  me  your  back  numbers,  either  by  mail  or 
express,  and  I  will  get  the  work  done  and  return 
the  book  when  bound,  making  no  charge  for  my 
services,  as  the  binder  allows  nie  a  small  com- 
mission, and  should  any  of  your  back  numbers 
or  volumes  be  missing,  I  shall  be  glad  to  furnish 
them  as  long  as  the  supply  lasts,  simply  charg- 
ing the  regular  price  for  them,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows: Vols.  I  and  II,  five  cents  a  copy;  Vol.  Ill, 
four  cents  a  copy  ;  Vols.  IV  and  V,  eight  cents  a 
copy. 

The  time  will  soon  come  when  some  of  the 
back  numbers  will  be  difficult  to  obtain,  and  if 
yon  care  for  the  Review  complete  from  the  be- 
ginning, nicely  bound,  now  is  the  time  to  attend 
to  it.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,    Flint,  Mich. 


HONEY  HLHIHKHG 


Cuts  rnrnlslied  for  all  illnstratlng  Purposes. 


f^ND  Bee  Books, 

OF  ALL.  KINDS, 

A  LARGe  Stock. 

MV  NEW   ll.l.rsTK.VTED 

Ciitiilotfue  anil  I'riic  List  <if  Siii>|>lie» 
II'  the  Apiiiiy  will  In-  wi'iil  free  to  all 
who  niiiy  apply.  Send  a  postal  card 
for  it.  writing  your  name  and  address 
iplalnlv.  Kor'every  Order  of  $10.00 
^and  over,  I  will  make  you  a  present. 
The  Catalogue  tells  you  all  about  It. 
T.  Gt.  Newman,  147  So.Western  Ave.,  Chicago. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


273 


j  Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers.  [ 

a  TYPE  WRITTEN.  ^ 

BBBBBEEBBBEBEBECBEEEEiaEEEE 

The  names  of  my  cnstomers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  Iseen  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thoasand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  Un  the  largest  States)  . 
and.  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  S2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2.50 
per  1000.  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  Flint,  Mich. 


GATGHIILL 


The  orders  for  un- 
tested queens  at  7.t  cts  each  :  six  for  $4,00.  Test- 
ed queens,  $1  50  each,  three  for  $4.00.  Two- 
frame  nucleus  with  any  queen  $1.50  each,  extra. 
Safe  arrival  guaranteed.  ~i  93-1 1 

W.J. ELLISON,  Catchall,  S.  G. 


Great  Reduction. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  &c..  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 

WRITE   FOR   FREE.    ILLUSTRATED  CATA- 
LOGUE AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

1-93-tf.  Please  mention  the    Review. 


'@. 


Second  Hsvnd      I 

© 

€) 

J,   %^^       Supplies.  I 

the      ^^^„  © 

second  .s^ 

hand  supplies  that 
1  have  been    advertis- 
ing in  the    Review,    the 
following   remain   unsold  :  — 

100  old-style,  Heddon  surplus 
cases  at  20  cts.  (as  a  non-separatored 
case,  they  have  no  superior) :  25  slatted 
honey  boards  at  10  cts.  ;  20  Heddon  feeders 
at  40  cts. ;  and  half  a  dozen  single  -  comb 
nuclei  for  exhibiting  bees  at  fairs.  They 
have  glass  sides,  removable  covers  and  are 
painted  a  bright  vermillion.  They  cost 
$2.00  each,  but  will  be  sold  at  half  -  price. 
All  these  are  practically  as  good  as  new. 

W.Z,  HUTCHINSON.  Flint.  MicWiaii. 


The  fiolden  Beayties.D 

Our  five-banded  Italian  queens,  warranted 
purely  mated,  at  75  cts  each  ;  two  for  $1.25. 
Tested,  $1.00  each  ;  two  for  $1.50.    Safe  arri- 
val guaranteed        C.  B.  BANKSTON 
2-93-tf  Chriesman,  Texas. 

Dadant's  Gomli  Foundation. 

Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  competitors 
acknowledge  that  our  goods  are  the  Standard 
of  their  kind.  Langstroth  on  tlie  Honey 
Bee,  Revised.  New  edition.  Bee  Veils; 
and  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samples  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners        Send    your    address    to 

GH&S.  DAD&NT  &  SON,  Hamilton,  ills. 


Hastings'  Lightning  Ventilated  Bee  Escape. 


AGRICtII.TL'BAX  CoLLKGE,  Mioh.    ScOt.  17,  '9^ 

"I  have  used  the  Lightning  Bee  Escapes  you 
sent  and  find  them  certainly  the  equal  of  the 
Porter,  and  their  superior  for  the  reason  that 
thev  will  emptv  a  super  more  rapidlv." 

"Yours  respectfully,     J.  H.  LARRABEE. 
'•It  is  our  opinion  that  you  have  the  best  Bee 
Escape  ever  introduced." 

A.  I.  ROOT,  Medina,  Ohio. 

HoNOLCLf.  Hawaiian  Islands.  April  25,  *92. 

''Please  send  rae  bv  return  mail  5  Lightning 

Tentilated  Bee  E^cape^.    I  have  the  Porter,  and 

the  Dihbern  and  they  both  clog."" 

Tours  truly,      JOHX  FARXSWORTH. 

Price,  ^7  mail,  each,  20c.  per  doz.  $2.25. 


□  pie  and  after  a  trial  yoD 

no  other. 

nt  on  application. 


Valley,  N.  Y..  March  20,  "93. 

*'i  shall  take  pleasure  in  recommending  them 
as  the  best  I  have  ever  used. 

Truly  yours,        J.  E.  HETHERIXGTON. 
"We  believe  you  have  an  Escape  that  'downs* 
the  Porter.'* 

T.  PHILLIP  &  CO.,  Orillia.  Ont.,  Canada. 
•'Your  Escape  kn«x;ks  out  all  competitors.'* 

A.  J.  LIN'DLEY,  Jordan.  Ind. 

"They  did  not  clog,  and  cleared  the  supers 

rapidly.    In  factit is  the  best  Escape  I  have 

yet  used,     I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  it.  and 

consider  it  a  great  boon  to  bee-keepers." 

Vr.  E.  CLARK,  Oriskany,  N.  Y, 


M.  E.  HASTINGS,  HEW  YORK  MILLS,  ONEIDA  CO.,N.Y. 


274 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Cut  tie  Price. 

This  is  what  Mr.  G.  E.  Dawson  of  Car- 
lisle, Ark.,  writes  me.  You  may  remem- 
ber that  he  is  the  man  who  got  no  or- 
ders. He  is  raising  good  queens  and  is 
bound  that  they  shall  be  tried,  hence 
he  offers  them  as  follows :  Untested, 
65  cts. ;  three  for  $1.75 ;  six  for  13.00; 
twelve  for  $.5.00.  Tested,  $1.25.  Select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  very  tip,  $1.50. 
— Ed.     Review. 


Pleaf"  mention  *he  Review. 


If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 


NOTICE  OUR  PRICES. 

No.  1  Sections  $2.75  per  1,00(1.  Thiii,  surplus 
foandation,  best  quality,  50  cis  per  pound. 
A  full  line  of  supplies,  includinjj  Koot's  Dove- 
tailed Hives,  on  baud.  Send  for  circular  and 
free  sample  of  foundation  5  93-tf 

J.  H.  &  A  .li.  BOYDEN, 

Saline,  Mich. 


GO    TO 

HEAD 
QUARTERS 

FOR  4  AND  5  BANDED 

mm         ri'rrn^ 

Special,  breeding  queen,     $5.00 

Best,  select,  tested,    3.00 

Tested 2.50 

Untested 1.00 

"       per  dozen,      9.00 

L.  L.  HEARN. 
7-93-tf  Oakvale,  W.  Va. 

Please  mention   the  Review. 

GOLDEN  'T»Li»H  QUEENS 

Now  ready  for  $1.00  each.    Do  not  order  your 
supplies  until  you  see  our  circular  for  1893.    For 
the  price,  we  have  the  best  spraying  outfit  made. 
Send  $1.50  and  Kot  one.     Wm.  H.  BRIGHT, 
l-93-12t  Mazeppa,  Minn. 


ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOK.      189S. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  your  interest,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.  P.  H.  BROWN, 
1-88-tf.  Aug:u8ta,  Georgia. 

Pleasfi  mention   the  Reuiew 


^ju^^sm^^m£^^^mu-^smm^^& 


QUEENS 


For  $1.50  I  will  jen^I 
the  Review  for  1893 
And  2v  fipe,  young, 
levying,  ItzvliAp  queep. 
Queen  Alone,  75  cts.  For  $1.75  I  will  sen<I  the 
Review,  the  queen  An<l  **  Aclvanced  Bee  Cul- 
ture."   Tested  queen5»  $  1  -00.   The  Review  And 

A  tested  queen  %  1 .75 
A  discount  on  lArge 
order?.  W.  Z.  Hutch- 
inson,   Flint,    A\icb- 


m 


REVIEW 


hm^nMi^s^^diSi^im'^SixiiMifii^^msM 


THE  SEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


275 


Tbc   Cbzvnf^pioo  SrooKcr. 

The  ORIGINAL  curved  nozzle,  steel  lined,  Bel 
lows  Smoker.  The  fire-chainber  is  S'ixT  inches 
with  a  corrngated  steel  lining,  which  allows  a  cold 
current  of  air  to  pass  between  lining  and  outside 
shell:  keeps  the  outer  shell  cool  and  more  than 
doubles  the  durability  of  tlu-  Smoker.  It  has  a  fobce 
draft,  and  spabk-arhestini;  cone  connection  be 
tween  bellows  and  fire-eliamber ;  a  base-valve  to 
either  keep  or  extinguish  thi-  fire  at  pleasure;  and 
a  removable  spark-arrestiug  GRATE  in  the  curved 
nozzle. 

Price,  by  mail,  f  1.90:  by  express,  S1.65 
If  your  supply  dealer  cannot  supply  you,  write 
to  the  manufacturer, 

E.  KRETCHA\ER,  R«<I  OaH,  Iowa. 
Bee  Supply  t'atalog  of  To  Illustrated  Pages,  free. 


HONEY 


Superior  Quality  ;    Price  L.ow. 


/Vbout    the 

NEW    HIVE. 

A5K  for  He<l(ion's  Circularj.  A<I<lress 
Jf\S.    HEDDOfl,     DowAgiAC,   TA'Cb- 

HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundatiou  and  sec- 
tions; warranted  good  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  most  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  of  a  fxill  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT. 

1-93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 


Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth,  Dovetailed  and  Champion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supers,  One- Piece  Sections  and  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundatiou.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16-page  Circular. 
1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH,  New  Loncjon,  Wis. 

Please  mention  the  Revieva* 


New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS, 
FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWRY  JOHNSON. 

1-93-tf.  Masontown,  Pa. 


Bee  -  Keepers'  Head  -  Quarters— The  Louisana  Hotel ! 

EUROPEAN  PLAN. H.  L.DAILEY,  MUR. 

Located  at  the  Corner  of  71st  St.  and  Ave.  B,  Two  Blocks  from   the  South  Side  of  World's 

Fair  Grounds,  and  One  Block  East  of  Stony  Island  Avenue  and  Parkside  Station. 

Nearly  300  Large,  Light  and  Well- Ventilated  Rooms.  All  modern  Conveniences.  Hot  and  Cold 
Water  on  every  floor.  Free  Baths  Electric  Call  Bells.  Lighted  with  Gas  an  Electricity.  Steam 
and  Electric  Cars  pass  near  the  Door  every  1.5  minutes. 

Rates— 50c,  150,  aiitl  $1.00  w  Day.  Meals,  25c.  and  DDwaril. 

Hoir  to  Reach  the  Hotel.  Parties  arriving  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R  R.,  take  the 
World's  Fair  train  ar  tlie  Rock  island  Junction  to  the  Exposition  Depot,  opposite  the  Louisiana 
hotel;  or  if  you  arrive  on  any  of  these  railroads—  Big  1,  Nickle  Plate,  Lake  Shore,  Pennsylvania, 
Michigan  Central,  or  Illinois  Central  -  Get  off  at  Grand  Crossing  and  take  an  Electric  Car  to  Park- 
side  Station.  If  you  arrive  at  the  Main  Depot  of  any  other  R.  R.,  take  lUinois  Suburban  (South 
Chicago)  train  to  said  Parkside  Station,  and  walk  one  block  east. 


276 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS*  REVIEW, 


SHiPi*iisra 

—  AND  — 


Pasteboard  Boxes  or  Cartons, 


Everything  used   by  Bee  -  Keepers.     Catalogue  and  Price  List  free.    Ask   for  a  copy  of  the 
AMERICAN    HEE- KEEPER  (.tO  cts.  a  year)  especially  for  besinnere 

Til©   "W.  T.  ^A-IjOON-BR,    ^^FQ.  CO.,  Jamesto-wn,  N.  "ST. 


PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FOUNDATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

TMii,  Flat  -  Bottom  Foaudattou 

HAS  NO  FISHBONE  IN  SURPLUS  HONEY. 

Being  tlie   cleanest,    it    is   usually 
-worked  quicker  tban  any  fdn.  made. 
J.   VAN  DEUSEN   &   SONS, 
(SOLE   MANtJFACTUBEBS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,  Mont.  Co.,N.Y 

The  Bee- Keepers* 

EMTERPRI5E. 

A  cyclopedia  of  fresh,  bright,  original  ideas 
pertaining  to  Bee-Culture,  carefully  selected  and 
boiled  down  for  busy  people.  Published  niontlily 
at  .50  cts— sent  from  now  until  .Tan.  !•.">  for  50 cts. 

BURTOiH  L.  SAGE,  /Sew  Hz^v^n.Copp. 

Italian    Qixe^ns 

From  imported  mother,  warranted  purely  mated, 
$1.00  each;  six  at  one  time,  $5.U0.  Untested 
queens,  65  cts  each. 

C.  A.  BUNCH, 
7-93-2t  Nye,  Marshall  Co.,  Ind. 


"Golden" 


Florida. 


My  location  enables  me  to  rear  good  queens 
N  O  W  as  cheaply  as  they  can  be  reared  in  the 
North  at  anytime.  Untested  queens,  75  cts. 
each  ;  6  for  $4.(X) ;  one  dozen,  $7. .50.  Last  year's 
tested  queen,  $1.25;  select,  $1.75;  breeder,  $2.50. 
Safe  arrival  and  satisfaction  guarauteerl.  41-92-tf 

J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Vol.  Co.,  Fla. 


Early  Queens    From   Texas, 

From  my  choice  golden  stock.  My  bees  are 
very  gentle,  good  workers,  and  beautiful.  Safe 
arrival  and  .satisfaction  guaranteed.  One  un- 
tested queen,  April  and  May,  $1.00 ;  six  for  $5.00 ; 
later.  75c.  Orders  booked  now;  money  sent 
when  queens  are  wanted.  Send  for  price  list. 
J.  D.  GIVEN8, 

Lisbon.  Texas. 


7-93-9f. 


Please  mention  the  Review. 


IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $l.u0 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

Please  mention   the  Reuiem. 


BEES 


QUEEN'S, 

SECTIONS,    SMOKEBS, 
^^^^^^^  COMB   FOtJNDATION 

And  all  .\piarian  Supplies.      Send  for  Catalogue. 
£.  T.  FLANAGAN,  Belleville,  111. 

Please  mention   the  Review. 

Just    Splendid. 

Mr.  Alley— The  queen  1  got  of  you  last  fall  is 
just  splendid !    She  is  the  best  qneen  in  an  api- 
ary 150  colonies.    1  would  not  take  $10  for  her. 
John  A.  Pease,  Moravia,  Calif. 
Price  of  such  queens  is  $l.(i()  each. 

HENRY  ALLEY, 

VVenham,  Mass. 


-4  THE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE  -  KEEPER  ip 

ila-s    Otian-ged    £lGLXicis.         .It   is   now    Fu.tolisli.eci   toy   tln.e 

LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

HIgginBTille,    Missouri. 

Money,   Experience  and  Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicates.       Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  28-page  Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Supplies. 


OCT.,     1893. 


At  Fliqt,   Miclr\igar\.— Oqe  Dollar  a  Year. 


270; 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  HEVIEW. 


ADVEt^TISlHG   t^ATES. 

All  advertieements  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cente  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  1  inch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  follows  : 

On  10  lines  and  upwards,  S  times,  5  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  percent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  80  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  »0  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    liist. 

1  will  send  The  Review  with— 

Gleanings, (81.00) 

American  Bee  Journal. . . .  (  1.00} 

( 'anadian  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) 

American  Bee  Keeper    .     (    .50) . 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper... {    .50)... 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    .."iO) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Enterprise. . (    .50) 


.81.75. 
.  1.75. 
.  1.7.5. 
.  1.40. 
.  1  30. 
.  1.40. 
.  1.65. 
1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 


The  following  rules  for  grading  houey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  well  filled;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— All  sections  well  fiUed,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoUed  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "  fsincy  white," 
"No.  1  dark,"'  etc. 


■  KANS.AS  CITY,  Mo.— We  quote  as  follows: 
No.  1  white,  15  to  16;  No  1  amber,  12  to  14;  No.  1 
dark,  10  tol2 ;  white  extracted,  6  Vi  to  7 ;  amber 
extracted,  5!4  to  6;  dark  extracted,  5  to  6.  Bees- 
wax, 20  to  22. 


Sep.  27. 


CLEMONS-MASON  CO., 
521  Walnnt  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 


NEW  YORK— The  new  crop  of  extracted  from 
California  and  the  South  is  arriving  very  freely. 
There  is  a  limited  demand  and  prices  have  a 
downward  tendency.  We  quote  as  follows: 
White  extracted,  6'/4  to  7 ;  Amber,  6  to  6'/j;  Dark, 
5H  to  6.    Beeswax,  26  to  27. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN, 

July  7.        28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


CINCINNATI,  Ohio.  Demand  from  manufac- 
turers for  extrflcted  honey  is  slow,  while  that  for 
table  use  is  fair.  It  brings  from  5  to  8  cts.,  ac- 
cording to  Quality.  Choice  comb  honey  is  in 
g'lod  demand  at  from  14  to  ;6  cts.  Arrivals  are 
good  for  all  kinds  of  honey.  Beeswax  is  in  slow 
demand  while  arrivals  are  large.  It  brings  20  tf) 
23  cts.  for  good  to  choice  yellow  wax. 

("HAS.  F.  MUTH&SON.. 

Sept.  26.  (Mncinnati,  Ohio. 


CHICAGO,  111.  —  Choice  white  comb  honey 
in  one-pound  sections  brines  15  to  16  cts,  per 
pound.  It  is  selling  very  well  and  we  have  very 
little  surplus— are  liable  to  b  ■  cleanedout  at  any 
time.  The  receipt*  ar«  liberal,  but,  with  the 
good  demand  that  exists,  thev  are  readily  sold. 
Dark  comb  sells  slowly,  no  matter  what  the 
grade.    Beeswax  is  22  cts 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 

Sep.  27.  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago.  111. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.,  -  We  are  receiving 
large  shipments  of  honey  but  they  are  mostly  of 
poor  quality.  Fancy  white  is  helling  at  18  to  20 
cts.,  but  we  are  cleaning  in>  more  No.  1  white  at 
16  cts.  than  anything  else.  We  quote  as  follows  : 
Fancy  white,  18  to  20;  No.  1, 16 ;  fancy  amber.  15 ; 
fancy  dark,  14;  white  extracted,  7H  to  8;  dark 
extracted,  6^4  to  Wi,  No  sale  for  beeswax. 
J.  A.  SHEA  &  CO., 
116  First  Ave.,  North,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Sept.  27, 


CHICAGO.  Ill— Honey.- We  want  honey,  and 
ask  you  to  ship  all  you  have  at  once.  Quote 
fancy  selling  at  16;  choice.  15;  No.  2,  13  to  14; 
poor,  12.  With  prospects  of  a  large  crop,  we  ad- 
vise early  shipments  to  the  market,  and  can 
guarantee  satisfaction.  Extracted  selling  at  5(4 
to  7,  depending  on  color,  flavor  style  of  package, 
and  quantity  buyer  will  take.  Beeswax  22  to  24, 
and  we  have  no  stock  on  hand. 

Sept.  1.  8.  T.  FISH  &  Co., 

189  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


BUFFALO.  N  Y.— The  demand  is  improving 
considerably  for  honey,  and  we  could  now  handle 
quite  liberal  quantities.  We  will  advance  from 
10  to  11  cts.  on  all  strictly  No.  1.,  and  liberally 
on  lower  grades.  We  quote  as  follows:  Fancy 
white.  15  to  16:  No.  1  whit«,  4  to  15;  fancy  am- 
ber, 12  to  14;  No.  1  amber.  10  to  12:  fancy  dark. 
9  to  11;  No.  1  dark,  9  to  10:  white  extracted,  7 
to  8 ;  dark  extracted,  5  to  6 ;  beeswax,  22  to  25. 
BATTERSON  *  CO . 

Sep.  26.  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


CHICAGO  III.— We  are  receiving  plenty  of 
honey— four  times  the  amount  that  we  were  re- 
ceiving last  year  at  this  time.  The  weather  is 
cool,  and,  consequently,  business  is  picking  up 
in  the  honey  line,  considering  the  abundance  of 
fancy  stock  on  the  market  With  the  scarcity  of 
fruits  and  the  high  price  of  other  products,  we 
predict  a  good  trade  in  honey  this  month.  We 
quote  as  follows  :  Fancy  white,  15  to  16 ;  No.  1 
white,  15;  fancy  amber,  14;  No.  1  amber,  14; 
fancy  dark.  11 ;  white  extracted,  7 ;  amber  ex- 
tracted, 6 ;  dark  extracted,  5 ;  beeswax,  20  to  22. 
J.  A.  LAMON. 

Sep.  27.        44  &48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


279 


mirv^KH  LOSSES 


Are  not    always    the   result   of    the    same     cause.      They  j©) 

may     come     from     starvation  ;     from     poor     food  ;    from  H 

improper  preparations  ;  from    imperfect    protection  ;  from  p=^ 

a    cold,     wet,     or   possibly     a     poorly    ventilated     cellar;  'W 

etc.,     etc.      Successful     wintering-   comes    from   a   proper  [^ 

combination     of     different     conditions.     For     clear,   con-  ]©) 

cise,     comprehensive      conclusions     upon     these     all-im-  H 

portant     points,     consult      "Advanced    Bee    Culture."  j^ 

Five  of  its  thirty  -  two  chapters  treat  as  many    different  .'^ 

phases     of     the     wintering     problem.  r^ 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts. ;  the  Review  one  3^ear  and  the  '©) 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian.  '   IMI 


W.  Z.  HOTCHlNSOfl,   Flint,  Mich. 


ON    HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

OF  BEE    HIVES,    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE   NORTHWEST. 

W.  H.   PUTNAM. 

193-12t.  RIVER  FALLS.   WIS. 

Barnes'   Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This    cat    represents    our 

Combined       Circular      and 

Scroll    Saw.    which    is    the 

best     machine      made     for 

Bee     Keepers'     use    in    the 

construction  of  their  hives, 

sections,    boxes,    etc. 

11 -92-1 6t 

MACHINES    SENT     ON    TRIAL. 

FOR  CATALOGUE,  PBIOKS,  ETC., 

Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St ,  Rockford,  tils. 

Please   mention    the   Review. 


Oil,  Maiiiiiia ! 

Have  you  heard  of  the 

200-Piige  Uaml 

given  to  every  .^'E^V 
Subscriber  to  the  old 

AMERICAN 

BEE  JOURNAL? 

Oldest,  Largest,  Best, 
Cheapest  and  the  only 
Weekly  Bee -Paper 
in  America.  32-pages ; 
;  ^1  a  year.  Sample  free 

GEO.W.YORK^CO 

56  Fifth  Avenue,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

To  New  Subscribers :  The  Jou  nal  Alone 
Sent  for  Three  Mjnths  for  Twenty  Cents. 

BEE-KEEPERS' 

SURRLY  HOUSE 

J.  H.  M  COOK,  78  Barclay  St.  N.  Y.  City. 

(SUCCESSOR   TO  A.   J.   KING.) 

4-93-tf  Send  for  illustrated  Catalogue 


280 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  HE  VIEW. 


'0M 


m 
^^ 
m. 

% 
% 

m 

m 


* 


f 


pop  Only  BOCts. 

*J^*  HIS    journal  has  a  big   circulation   because  it  is  made   up    of 

practical  ideas,  good  printing  and  paper,  and  tirst-class  original  engravings 

yes,  lots  of  'em  ;  in  fact,  because  it  has   MERIT.     But   merit  alone  won't 

boom  the  circulation  ;  so  we  propose  to  offer  it  TO  NEW  SUBSCRIBERS 
from  now  until  January,  18!)5,  for  $1.00.  For  $2.50  we  will  send  the 
journal  to  new  subscribers  from  now  until  January,  1895,  and  one  of  those 
new,  imoroved.  Crane  smokers,  postpaid.  Crane  smoker  alone,  $2.00.  Send 
for  our  free,  illustrated,  52-page  catalogue  of  bee-keepers  supplies  and  sample 
copy  of  Gleanings.- ^^^^k. 

A.  I.  ROOT,  MEDINA,  0. 


CANADIAN 

BEE     JOURNAL. 

Enlarged.  Improved.  ¥ionthly.  R.  F. 
HOLTERMAN  Editor.  Sample  Copies  Free. 
Address  the  Publishers,  GOOLD  SHAPLEY 
&  MUIR  CO.,  Ld.    Brantford,    0  t .    Canada. 


To  hold  twelve,  Vi  sectious,  or  fourteen  7- 
to-the-foot,  at  $B.OO  per  1(K)— with  Klass,  $6.65. 
They  are  of  fine  material,  and  the  workman- 
ship is  of  the  best.  Send  for  free  price  list  of 
everything  needed  in  the  apiary.  9-93  tf 

M.  H.  HUNT,  Boll  Branch,  Mich. 


Please  mention  the  Review 


w@%f^^'to''y''''MC^^i^^4^^i>$i^^i^OO^H^^t^  ^^d^ 


I    ?OJ?T€}?  0C€  esc JiP€&  ^" ""' "^'""" '""'"''"■ 

"*  best,  and  highly  rpcomnnnded 

as  grcH!  hitxn-siivinK  iniplemente  by  ('has.  Dadaiit  &  Son,  Prof  A.  J.  C'ook.  Chns.  F.  Mutli, 
Jno.  8.  Kcosc,  .1.  H.  Martm,  Jno.  .\ndrewe,  F.  A.  Gemmill,  Wm.  McEvoy,  .\  F.  Brov<ni 
Thop.  Pierce,  and  many  other  ijrominent  bee-keepers.  Descriptive  circular  and  testimo- 
nials mailed  free.     PRICES:  each,  postpaid,  with  directions,  20  cte. ;  per  doz.,  ^2.25. 

RETU   N    THEM   AND    GET    YOUR   MONEY    BACK   AFTER   TRIAL.   IF   NOT  SATISFIED.       For  salp   hy   dealers. 
MNTION    THE   REVIEW.  Aiklnss  R.  &.  E.  C.  PORT  ER,    LEWISTOWN,     ILU 


Of^© 


\eepeps'  JKeviecu'. 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e   Iqterests  of  Hoqey   Producers. 
$1,00  A  YEAR. 

W.  Z.HUTCHir*SOr»,  EditoP  &  Pi»op. 

VOL,  VI,         FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    OCT,    10.    1893.  NO.  10. 


AV^ork  at    IM^idiigan's 

Experiraental 

Apiary. 

B.  L.  TAYIiOE,  APIABIST. 
U.SE  OF  FOUNDATION   IN   THE    BBOOD-CHAMBEB. 

T  desire  in  this 
X  article  to  set 
forth  briefly  the 
chnracter  and  re- 
sults of  the  exper- 
iments niatle  in 
the  apiriry  to  test 
the  comparative 
vain  e  of  comb, 
foundHtiun  and 
starters  when 
used  in  thebrood- 
chamber  for 
swarms,  and  in  addition  thereto  to  call  at- 
tention to  what  the  experiments  seem  to  dis- 
close touching  the  comparative  advantage 
of  swarms  of  different  sizes.  In  the  main 
all  this  can  be  best  accomplished  by  the  use 
of  tables  which  I  have  prepared  and  which 
are  presented  Kerewith. 

It  was  not  till  the  27th  of  June  that  I  was 
able  to  pnt  i.ilo  operation  my  plans  for 
making  tliB.ie  tests.  I  prepared  twelve  hives, 
four  of  which  were  furnished  with  comb, 
four  with  foundation,  and  four  with  starters 
only.  Tne  hivts  prepared  with  comb  were 
designated  by  llie  numbers  one  to  four  in- 
clusive with  the  letter  A,  those  with  founda- 


tion in  like  manner  with  the  letter  B,  and 
those  with  starters  with  the  same  numbers 
and  the  letter  C,  and  each  hive  was  marked 
with  the  proper  designation  and  its  weight. 
Then  in  each  case  when  a  swarm  issued, 
which  was  to  be  used  for  making  this  test,  it 
was  secured  in  a  basket  and  weighed  before 
hiving  :  the  supers  also,  whether  taken  from 
the  old  hive  at  the  time  of  swarming  or  sup- 
plied subsequently,  were  carefully  weighed 
before  they  were  put  in  place  and  a  record 
made  on  the  spot  of  all  items.  By  referring 
to  table  A  all  these  will  be  found  in  the  three 
columns  following  the  date  of  hiving  except 
of  course  the  weight  of  the  cases  subsequent- 
ly adjusted  which  appears  further  along.  I 
ought  also  to  say  that  in  each  case  the  hive 
with  the  bees  and  cases  was  re- weighed  early 
on  the  morniag  subsequent  to  the  hiving  in 
order  to  detect  and  thereby  correct  any 
change  which  might  chance  to  take  place  be- 
fore the  swarm  became  settled  in  its  new 
home.  The  only  change  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  make  was  the  addition  of  the  frac- 
tion of  a  pound  to  the  weight  of  the  bees 
which  may  be  supposed  to  be  accounted  for 
by  the  presen  e  in  the  morning  of  bees  which 
at  the  time  of  swarming  were  afield. 

Other  data  for  table  A  were  obtained  by 
weighing  the  several  hives,  bees,  supers  and 
all  upon  three  different  dates,  viz.,  the  6th, 
12th,  and  the  19th  of  -July  (thus  dividing  the 
time  of  the  test  into  three  nearly  equal  peri- 
ods) and  by  weighing  the  cases  of  honey 
separately  on  .July  19th,  at  the  end  of  the 
time  given  to  the  test.    These  data  with  the 


282 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


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THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


283 


Previous  ones  enable  me  to  state  the  exact 
total  gain  of  each  colony  for  each  of  the 
three  periods,  the  gain  of  each  colony  in  the 
an[iount  of  comb  honey  together  with  the 
gain  in  the  weight  of  the  hive  for  the  entire 
time.  From  these  I  deduce  the  gain  per 
pound  of  bees  of  each  colony  for  each  of  the 
three  periods  as  well  as  for  the  entire  time, 
and  also  the  gain  in  the  weight  of  the  hive 
and  the  gain  in  the  amount  of  comb  honey 
for  the  whole  time. 

It  will  be  noticed  by  reference  to  the  ta- 
bles that  almost  nothing  has  been  made  of 
3A  and  2C.  The  explanation  of  this  is  that 
the  latter  persisted  in  its  desire  to  swarm 
until  it  eventually  lost  a  considerable  part  of 
its  bees  by  their  uniting  with  another  swarm 
and  the  former,  within  a  day  or  two  after 
swarming,  in  some  way  lost  its  queen  and 
dispersed  more  or  less  in  consequence.  The 
only  question  with  regard  to  the  propriety 
of  this  course  arises  when  we  consider  table 
C  wherein  the  comparative  advantages  of 
large  and  small  swarms  are  weighed.  Per- 
haps 2C  should  have  been  permitted  to  cut 
some  figure  in  that  for  it  clearly  illustrates 
one  of  the  disadvantages  of  very  large 
swarms. 

Table  B  is  a  summary  of  table  A  and  puts 
the  tables  of  each  group  of  colonies  em- 
ployed in  the  experiment  side  by  side  so  that 
the  general  results  are  seen  at  a  glance. 

Table  C  is  derived  from  table  A  and  puts 
in  contrast  the  work  of  the  stronger  colonies 
of  each  group  with  that  of  the  weaker  ones 
of  the  same  group,  and  table  D  is  an  epitome 
of  table  C. 

Now  what  do  the  tables  teach  with  regard 
to  the  comparati  >  e  profit  of  the  use  of  start- 
ers, foundation,  and  comb  in  the  brood 
chamber  as  well  as  with  regard  to  the  advan- 
tage of  larger  and  smaller  swarms  ?  It 
would  be  too  much  to  expect  that  upon  either 
of  these  points  the  results  shown  by  the  sev- 
eral hives  taken  separately  would  invariably 
point  in  the  same  direction.  There  are  so 
many  inscrutable  influences  at  work  that  we 
may  well  look  for  unexplainable  vagaries  in 
the  revelations  of  individual  hives.  It  is 
largely  for  this  reason  that  I  think  the  wri- 
ter who  in  one  of  the  apicultural  journals 
recently  very  flatteringly  intimated  that  the 
results  obtained  in  the  experiments  at  this 
branch  of  the  Michigan  experiment  station 
would  be  conclusive,  was  hasty.  If  several 
varieties  of  wheat,  for  instance,  were  sown 
side  by  side  upon  precisely  the  same  kind  of 


soil  so  far  as  human  skill  could  determine, 
and  each  variety  should  receive  exactly  the 
same  treatment  in  all  respects  and  at  the 
same  time,  and  one  certain  variety  was 
found  to  yield  twenty  per  cent,  more 
than  any  other,  yet  the  farmer  who  should 
from  the  one  experiment  jump  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  result  would  always  be  the 
same  would  be  accounted  lacking  in  judge- 
ment. The  results  must  be  verified  repeat- 
edly before  they  can  be  accepted  as  the  rule. 
Just  so  it  is  with  the  matter  in  hand.  Yet 
the  mutiple  character  of  our  experiment  with 
results  so  nearly  uniform  give  strong  assur- 
ance that  what  seems  to  be  disclosed  is  in 
the  direction  of  the  truth. 

From  the  figures  given  in  the  last  column 
of  table  B,  we  find  that  the  colonies  hived  on 
comb  gained  in  all  more  than  eleven  per 
cent,  over  those  hived  on  starters  and  that 
those  hived  on  foundation  gained  more  than 
thirteen  per  cent,  over  the  same.  But  if  we 
examine  with  reference  to  comb  honey  only 
we  find  that  colonies  "A"  (those  on  comb) 
gain  less  than  five  per  cent,  more  than  col- 
onies "C"  (those  on  starters)  while  colonies 
"B"  (those  on  foundation)  gain  more  than 
seventeen  per  cent,  over  "C."  But  it  may 
be  said  that  "C"  has  an  undue  proportion  of 
the  weaker  colonies,  which  is  true,  still,  if 
we  turn  to  table  "C"  and  consider  only  the 
strong  swarms  in  each  group  we  find  that 
"A"  gains  nine  and  one-half  per  cent,  more 
than  "C"  in  comb  honey  and  "B"  gains 
forty-two  per  cent,  more  than  "C  !"  But 
strange  to  say,  taking  the  light  swarms  in 
the  same  table  and  column  the  positions  are 
exactly  reversed,  "A"  gains  nearly  one-half 
of  one  per  cent,  over  "B"  while  "C"  gains 
nearly  thirty-two  per  cent,  over  "B."  If 
space  permitted  it  would  be  interesting  to 
inquire  why  the  difference  in  the  weight  of 
the  colonies  should  cause  this  reversal  in 
their  positions  in  regard  to  ths  amount  of 
comb  honey  produced. 

Referring  again  to  table  "B"  from  the 
figures  given  in  the  third  column  where  the 
gain  for  the  first  period  is  given  we  deduce 
that  "B"  gains  during  that  period  more  than 
fifty-three  per  cent,  over  "C,"  while  "A" 
gains  more  than  sixty-eight  per  cent,  over 
"C,"  but  during  the  second  period  the  fig- 
ures show  that  for  that  period  the  positions 
are  exactly  reversed,  while  for  the  third  pe- 
riod the  positions  as  to  relative  gain  are  again 
changed,  "A"  making  a  spurt  and  leaving 
*'B"  in  the  rear.    Referring  again  to  table 


284 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


"C"  we  find  that  the  strong  colonies  invari- 
ably gain  the  more  in  the  first  period  while 
the  light  ones  take  a  decided  lead  both  in  the 
second  and  the  third  periods  ;  in  the  amount 
of  comb  honey  for  the  entire  time  in  each 
group  the  strong  colonies  have  a  decided  ad- 
vantage, and  so  in  groups  "A"  and  "B"  in 
the  amount  of  total  gain,  but  in  group  "C," 
in  this  point,  the  weaker  ones  are  far  in  the 
lead.  But  this  sort  of  comparison  might  be 
carried  on  almost  endlessly. 

If  we  examine  table  "A"  we  find,  as  was 
to  be  expected,  that  the  results  in  the  cases 
of  some  individual  colonies  do  not  always 
accord  with  the  general  results,  yet  sufficient- 
ly so,  I  think,  to  warrant  us  in  putting  some 
confidence  in  the  general  results  so  far  as 
they  go  ;  I  say  so  far  as  they  go,  for  the  test 
was  for  three  weeks  only  and  time  appears 
to  be  an  essential  element  in  the  experiment. 
The  colonies  that  are  strong  in  numbers  as 
compared  with  the  weak,  and  those  aided 
with  comb  or  foundation  as  compared  with 
those  left  unaided,  are  soonest  out  of  breath 
in  the  race,  or,  perhaps,  the  luxury  and 
wealth  of  numbers  and  resources  prove  de- 
structive to  energy  and  ambition;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  straitened  circumstances  wheth- 
er it  be  from  a  lack  of  numbers  or  of  re- 
sources, arouse  vigor  and  persistence  in  a 
determination  to  supply  the  lack.  At  least, 
that  is  what  the  tables  seem  to  teach,  and 
we  can  only  guess  what  the  result  would  have 
been  had  the  tests  covered  the  whole  of  the 
honey  season  instead  of  the  last  half.  Many 
and  varied  experiments  must  be  made  in  or- 
der to  arrive  at  the  exact  truth  in  these  mat- 
ters. Let  no  one  fear  that  apicultural  ex- 
periment stations  may  be  either  too  numer- 
ous or  too  well  equipped.  To  one  who  has 
entered  it  the  field  looks  exceedingly  large. 

For  the  rest  I  must  be  content  at  this  time 
to  close  with  a  summary  of  the  results  pretty 
clearly  disclosed  by  the  experiments  con- 
ducted in  the  manner  and  for  the  time  stated 
but  I  wish  first  to  invite  and  urge  all  who  are 
interested  in  the  matter  to  make  suggestions 
and  criticisms  both  upon  my  methods  and 
inferences  and  let  them  not,  out  of  a  con- 
cern for  my  feelings,  so  refine  their  stric- 
tures that  they  lose  all  their  point  and  with 
it  their  effect.  That  is  not  the  way,  as  too 
many  bee-keepers  seem  to  think,  to  get  at 
the  truth.  At  all  events,  I  am  not  very  thin 
skinned,  and  I  believe  that,  at  least  in  these 
experiments,  I  am  willing  to  look  at  the 
naked  truth.     I  know  now  that  in  some  re- 


spects my  methods  have  been  faulty  and  no 
doubt  they  have  been  so  in  other  points  than 
those  which  I  have  discovered  and  what  those 
other  points  are  I  am  anxious  to  know. 

In  this  'summary  as  elsewhere  when  I 
speak  of  gain  it  is  not  gain  per  colony  for 
the  colonies  vary  in  strength,  but  per  pound 
of  bees,  which  seems  to  be  the  only  just  way. 

If  then  we  may  trust  our  tables,  they  show 
for  the  last  half  of  the  summer  honey  sea- 
son: Ist,  That  for  profit,  foundation  in  the 
brood  chamber  for  swarms  has  a  decided  ad- 
vantage in  point  of  surplus  comb  honey  over 
both  drawn  comb  and  frames  with  starters 
only  ;  that  drawn  comb  stands  second  and 
starters  third.  2nd,  That  in  point  of  total 
gain  in  both  brood  chamber  and  surplus  the 
same  order  holds  and  to  nearly  the  same  ex- 
tent. 3rd.  That  fairly  strong  colonies  show 
a  very  decided  advantage  over  light  ones  in 
point  of  comb  honey  surplus  and  also  to  a 
small  extent  in  the  total  gain.  4th,  That 
light  colonies  sustain  their  rate  of  gain  in 
all  cases  better  than  fairly  strong  ones.  5th, 
That  swarms  on  starters  only  sustain  their 
rate  of  gain  decidedly  better  than  do  those 
on  comb  or  on  foundation.  0th,  That  of 
the  light  colonies  those  on  starters  are  de- 
cidedly more  profitable  than  those  on  either 
comb  or  foundation, 

I  ought  to  explain  here  that  each  swarm 
was  hived  on  a  brood  chamber  equal  to  that 
required  to  hold  five  L  combs. 

Lapeeb,  Mich.  Sept.,  22,  1893. 

Bee  Dysentery. 

JAMES   HEDDON. 

Oh  fatal  pollen,  "dust  tliou  art"  Is  still  my  song! 
To  dust  thou  dost  return,  and  take  our  bees  along. 


0' 


\F  course  /  will 
be  expected  to 
advance  the  "  pol- 
len   theory,"     It 
does    not  seem  to 
me,  however,  that 
it  can  any  longer 
properly  be  called 
a  theory.  The  lead- 
er in  the  last  issue 
has  very  nearly  ex- 
hausted   my  stock 
in  trade    for    this 
article.     In   fact,  Mr.  Editor,  you  have  said 
very  concisely,  and  better  than  I  could  have 


I'HE  BEE-KEEFERS'  REVIEW. 


285 


said  it,  the  very  same  things  which  I  said 
and  intimated  through  a  series  of  articles 
years  ago.  There  is  but  little  left  for  me  to 
say  now,  except  that  I  still  coincide  with  you 
and  my  former  declarations  ;  and  I  stand 
corrected  and  admit  my  mistake  when  years 
ago  I  contended  against  your  proposition  to 
pack  the  bees  after  taking  them  out  of  the 
cellar  in  the  spring.  Since  then  I  have  dem- 
onstrated that  you  were  right. 

When  I  recall  to  mind  how  I  was  ridiculed 
for  the  pollen  theory,  and  ttiat  even  the  chem- 
istry of  Profs.  Cook  and  Kedzie,  could  not 
shelter  me,  I  am  exceedingly  proud  that  at 
this  advanced  date,  the  leading  editorial  in 
the  best  and  most  advaiiced  bee  journal  the 
world  has  ever  seen,  practically  holds  to  that 
pollen  theory. 

I  think  it  wholly  unnecessary  to  dilate  upon 
"  prevention,"  as  a  correct  idea  of  the  cause, 
which  your  leader  quite  clearly  gives,  in  its 
combination,  will  readily  su.gest  the  cor- 
rect method  of  prevention  according  to  the 
circumstances  in  each  case.  As  I  compre- 
hend the  theory  it  is  about  like  this  :  The 
food  of  the  honey  bee  may  be  divided  into 
two  distinct  divisions,  oxygenous  and  nitro- 
genous, the  former  being  a  heat  producer, 
and  the  latter  tissue  making.  Now  it  hap- 
pens that  the  honey  bee  lives  in  two  extreme 
conditions.  At  one  time  of  year  no  breed- 
ing, no  activity,  but  pressed  with  cold  ;  at 
another  time  of  year,  extremely  active,  caus- 
ing a  rapid  waste  of  tissue  and  undergoing 
marvelous  reproduction,  demanding  the  cre- 
ation of  tissue  for  the  new  individuals.  Dur- 
ing the  time  of  quietude,  and  accompanying 
coniinement,  nitrogenous  food  is  not  needed 
nor  could  it  be  safely  taken,  because,  unlike 
the  oxygenous  food  it  cannot  be  voiued  by 
perspiration.  It  must  pass  from  the  body 
of  the  bee  througli  the  intestines.  This  the 
bees  will  not  permit  to  take  place  in  the  liive. 
Now  suppose  sometliiug  should  cause  the 
bees  to  consume  this  nitrogenous,  tissue- 
making  food  during  confinement.  Intes- 
tineal  inflammation  must  result.  What  will 
do  this  ?  A  low  temperature.  Why  ?  In 
their  efforts  to  keep  warm,  the  bees  adopt  a 
second  method  of  consuming  oxygen,  viz., 
inhalation  by  way  of  exercise.  This  con- 
sumes the  tissue  to  replace  which  the  bees 
resort  to  the  consumption  of  bee-bread,  and 
result  is  the  title  of  this  article. 

The  chemist  finds  the  diarrhetic  excreta 
nearly  all  pollen.  I  presume  many  of  your 
readers  remember  when  I  tested  the  theory. 


by  giving  73  colonies,  clean,  dry  combs  with- 
out a  cell  of  pollen,  and,  after  all  natural 
gathering  was  past,  fed  them  granulated 
sugar  syrup  and  placed  them  in  the  cellar 
together  with  IG  colonies  containing  natural 
stores.  How  I  let  the  temperature  go  below 
the  freezing  point  for  weeks,  and  how  just 
before  removing  them,  I  used  to  go  every 
day  and  rattle  to  wild  activity,  a  certain  col- 
ony. How  all  were  confined  five  months, 
and  on  a  bright,  warm  day  on  the  17th  of 
April,  I  removed  them  from  the  cellar  and 
found  every  colony  but  one  (that  was  queen- 
less)  of  the  78  alive,  while  two-thirds  of  the 
1(3  were  dead  with  dysentery  in  its  worst 
form.  Not  one  bee  from  those  7'2  hives  dis- 
charged any  matter  whatever ;  not  even 
water.  That  settled  it  with  me,  and  it  has 
been  settled  ever  since.  During  the  years 
that  have  elapsed  since  that  time  I  have  seen 
nothing  but  what  went  to  confirm  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  "  pollen  theory." 

DowAGiAO,  Mich.  Sept  11,  1893. 


Why  Moisture  is  Injurious  in  Wiutering 
Bees. 


B.  O.  AIKIN. 


When  all  flesh  did  perish  in  Noah's  time  of  old, 
'Twas  moisture  did  it,  not  pollen  or  cold. 


M 


Y  FIRST  bee- 
keeping was 
in  Southwestern 
Iowa.  For  over 
twelve  years  I  re- 
mained in  the 
same  place,  and 
raised  good  aver- 
age crops  of  hon- 
ey, but  with  poor 
success  in  winter- 
ing. Although 
near  the  south  line 
of  the  State,  the  winters  were  severe,  and 
losses  frequently  heavy.  My  worst  losses 
were  93  out  of  110,  and  70  out  of  80 ;  other 
years  10  to  50  per  cent.  'Twas  in  those  times 
that  James  Heddon  championed  the  "pollen 
theory."  Now,  while  I  could  not  believe 
that  pollen  was  tlie  cause  of  diarrhoea,  1, 
know  that  diarrhoea  was  mostly  the  cause  of 
my  losses.  Could  I  have  prevented  this  dis- 
ease, I  believe  I  could  have  made  big  money 
producing  honey. 


286 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


My  pasturage  was  willow,  soft  maple,  elm, 
box  elder,  apple,  cherry,  plum,  gooseberry, 
currant,  motherwort,  catnip,  white  clover, 
basswood,  mustard,  locust,  hearts  ease 
Spanish  needle,  cow  pea,  and  much  other 
bloom.  The  surplus  was  clover,  basswood 
and  mustard  in  May,  June  and  July,  and 
hearts  ease  and  Spanish  needle  in  autumn. 

The  late  fall  bloom  kept  up  brood-rearing 
so  tliat  the  last  brood  hatclied  in  October, 
hence  we  had  but  little  spring  dwindling  ; 
and  I  never  saw  a  regular  siege  of  it  until 
this  season.  Go  into  winter  with  old  bees 
and  spring  dwindling  will  follow  if  the 
spring  is  late. 

Since  wintermg  bees  in  Colorado  I  believe 
that  I  can  give  some  light  upon  the  winter 
problem. 

But  few  reading  apiarists  have  not  read 
more  or  less  of  the  discussion  in  regard  to 
"  sealed  covers,"  led  by  E.  R.  Root,  the  past 
year  or  so.  The  "  sealed  cover  "  is  a  snare 
in  cold  climates.  As  this  and  following  ar- 
ticles are  intended  as  somewhat  of  a  review 
of  the  question,  I  shall  give  not  only  my  own 
experience  and  observations,  but  that  of 
others  as  given  both  in  and  out  of  print. 

Each  colony  should  have  its  brood  nest 
fully  established,  and  be  supplied  with  suf- 
ficient stores,  when  frost  comes.  There 
should  also  be  a  good  force  of  young  bees  that 
have  not  done  field  service,  yet  have  had 
cleansing  flights  before  cold  confines  them. 

Now,  what  shall  be  the  external  arrange- 
ments ?  Shall  we  put  them  in  the  cellar, 
pack  on  the  summer  stands,  or  leave  them 
unprotected  ?  In  either  case  shall  it  be 
"  sealed  covers,"  absorbents,  or  what  ? 

If  the  winters  are  close  and  severe,  keep- 
ing them  in  confinement  from  three  to  five 
months,  I  believe  I  should  recommend  the 
cellar.  While  in  the  cellar,  they  are  kept 
warm  enough  so  that  ihey  can  get  after  more 
honey  when  the  supply  in  the  cluster  is  gone, 
but  a  disadvantage  is  that  they  must  be  put 
out  in  the  spring  without  protection,  just 
when  most  needed,  or  there  must  be  more 
expense  for  protection.  With  open  winters 
and  frequent  fligiits,  I  would  recommend 
out-door  wintering.  By  out  door,  I  mean 
where  they  have  the  liberty  of  flight  when 
weather  permits. 

I  consider  diarrhoea  the  great  enemy  in 
the  East  and  North,  or  wherever  bees  are 
long  confined  by  cold.  I  do  not  think  that 
the  disease  is  the  result  directly  of  confine- 
ment.    True,    frequent  flights  prevent,    or 


cure  it,  but  my  opinion  is,  that  the  principal 
cause  is  moisture.  If  the  colony  has  a  sealed 
cover,  the  air  within  the  hive  will  rise  to  the 
top  and  there  remain,  and  soon  it  is  heavily 
charged  with  moisture  exhaled  by  the  bees. 
So  long  as  the  outside  temperature  is  below 
that  within,  this  moisture  laden  air  is  held 
there  by  the  law  of  nature,  that  heated  air 
rises.  This  is  clearly  shown  in  all  mines  and 
in  buildings.  Now,  the  hive  covers  being 
colder  than  the  air  within,  that  condenses 
the  moisture  within  until  it  drops  upon  the 
bees  and  combs.  The  only  way  the  bee  can 
contend  with  a  liquid,  is  to  take  it  up  and 
carry  it  from  the  hive.  So  the  bees  must  lick 
up  the  water  that  drips  upon  them  and  the 
combs,  in  order  to  keep  dry.  This  added  to 
the  natural  excrement,  with  no  chance  to 
void,  must  certainly  produce  disease. 

Does  not  this  show  how  it  is  that  flights 
prevent  or  cure  diarrhoea  ? 

If  this  be  true,  we  may  reasonably  expect 
that  if  we  can  keep  the  colony  dry,  they  can 
be  long  confined  without  detriment.  W' hen 
dry,  they  can  endure  much  cold.  It  is  a  fact 
that  in  this  dry  climate  bees  will  fly  freely 
at  a  lower  temperature  than  where  a  more 
moist  air  exists.  Any  man  knows  that  cold 
is  more  easily  borne  when  the  air  is  dry.  A 
hive  with  a  sealed  cover  will  remain  reason- 
ably dry  when  there  be  frequent  warm  spells. 
If  the  outside  temperature  rises  above  the 
gent  ral  temperature  inside  the  hive,  the  out- 
side air  will  work  into  the  hive  and  displace 
that  within,  and  thus  tend  to  dry  the  inte- 
rior. 

Last  fall  we  left  about  ninety  stands  with 
the  covers  just  as  they  had  been  from  the 
time  the  supers  were  removed,  from  two  to 
three  months  previous.  We  had  a  severe 
spell  of  winter  in  December  and  when  the 
weather  moderated,  five  colonies  were  dead. 
The  bees  and  all  the  interior  were  complete- 
ly wet.  Wet  killed  them.  We  had  another 
lot  packed  in  sawdust.  They  were  in  a  hive 
within  a  hive  with  about  an  inch  of  sawdust 
between.  A  plain  board  was  on  top,  and 
sawdust  upon  this  one  to  three  inches  deep, 
with  a  heavy  gable  roof  over  all,  making  a 
ten-inch  space  betwean  covers.  Some  had 
diarrhoea,  and  all  suffered  with  wet.  Loss 
was  about  two-ihirds. 

Now,  the  easiest  way  to  avoid  this  conden- 
sation, is  to  give  upward  ventilation.  The 
use  of  absorbents  is  upward  ventilation. 
Absorbents  may  sometimes  become  so  damp 
as   to  be  a   detriment.    At  present  I    am 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


287 


strongly  of  the  opinion  that  we  do  not  want 
absorbents  at  all  ;  but,  instead,  direct  top 
ventilation.  We  want  the  colony  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  outside  heat,  when  there  is 
any,  can  easily  reach  the  colony.  I  have 
many  times  seen  bees  peeping  out  the  hive 
entrance  in  a  clear,  still,  but  zero  cold  day, 
with  the  sun  shining  against  the  hive  front 
and  entrance.  That  is  certainly  a  decided 
relief,  when  the  weather  is  intensely  cold  ; 
but  if  the  colony  be  hid  away  beneath  a  mass 
of  chaff  or  other  material  so  thick  as  to  ex- 
clude the  sun's  heat  entirely,  and  all  the  time 
the  interior  becoming  more  and  more  moist, 
it  certainly  must  be  a  disagreeable  and  un- 
healthy place  in  which  to  live.  An  absorb- 
ing cushion  is  not  what  we  really  want. 
Packing  over  head  is  good  so  long  as  it 
passes  off  the  moisture  and  abso  hs  heat. 
Chaff  will  allow  a  slow  current  to  pass 
througn,  and  if  the  cover  be  removed — or 
partly  so — the  moisture  passes  oft  much  bet- 
ter, yet  will  condense  somewhat  in  a  long 
siege  of  extreme  cold. 

In  this  climate,  nearly  all  bees  are  win- 
tered out-doors,  and  unprotected.  It  is  a 
rcvre  thing  to  have  a  week  of  cloudy  .\  eather 
at  one  time  ;  so,  even  with  sealed  covers,  but 
little  condensation  takes  place  before  a 
warm  sun  shining  upon  the  hive  drives  it  out. 

I  have  been  reading  over  the  reports  on 
sealed  covers  as  given  in  Gleanings  at  the 
request  of  editor  Root,  yet  almost  invariably 
the  reports  are  so  limited  in  detail  that  no 
correct  judgement  can  be  given  upon  the 
matter.  1  believe  had  the  reports  told  wheth- 
er the  hives  were  exposed  to  the  sun,  or  in 
the  shade,  or  whether  there  were  long  sieges 
of  cloudy  weather  and  extreme  cold,  we 
might  get  from  these  reports  something  of 
value.  As  mentioned  elsewhere,  we  lost 
some  colonies  in  December  because  of  ac- 
cumulation of  moisture  under  sealed  covers. 
That  siege  of  cold  was  also  accompanied  by 
some  snow,  and  unusually  cloudy  weather 
for  about  ten  days.  A  part  of  the  time  snow 
lay  upon  the  hive  covers. 

At  our  annual  State  convention  in  .Jan- 
uary I  advocated  top  ventilation.  Present  at 
the  convention  were  four  foul  brood  inspec- 
tors, viz.,  H.  Knight  of  Littleton,  for  Ara- 
pahoe Co.,  R.  H.  Rhodes  of  Arvada,  for  Jef- 
ferson Co.,  J.  B.  Adams  and  A.  M.  Preston 
of  Longmont,  for  Boulder  and  Weld  coun- 
ties, respectively.  These  men  inspected  in 
the  year  1891,  over  3,700  colonies  of  bees. 
Mr.  Adams  at  our  Honey  day  meeting  in 


September  last,  reported  nearly  5,000  colo- 
nies inspected  ;  while  Mr.  Rhodes  reported 
2,000  for  the  season  to  date  of  meeting. 
Boulder  county  was  reported  to  have  over 
ISjOOO  colonies,  so  these  gentlemen  have  had 
large  opportunities  to  make  observations. 
After  their  wide  and  extended  observations 
upon  many  thousands  of  colonies,  they  unan- 
imously agreed  with  me  in  favoring  top  ven- 
tilation. They  tell  me  that  those  colonies 
having  large  cracks  or  openings  about  the 
top  of  the  hive,  winter  the  best,  and  build 
up  first  in  spring.  However,  this  does  not 
mean  that  unlimited  ventilation  is  best  in 
spring,  but  it  does  prove  that  upward  venti- 
lation is  best  in  wmter.  It  is  reasonable  that 
if  the  colony  winters  well,  it  will  also 
spring  well.  We  will  discuss  more  fully  the 
springing  question  in  the  continuation  of 
this  discussion. 

LovELAND,  Colo.  Aug.'  8,  1893. 

Warmth,     Dryness     and    Wholesome    Food 
Will  Prevent  Dysentery. 

B.  TAYLOK. 


'^        ^ 


IT, 


J  never  had  serious 
losses  in  winter- 
ing my  bees  from 
the  so  called  disease, 
dysentery.  In  my 
opinion  there  are 
three  main  factors 
that  cause  dysen- 
tery, viz.,  cold, 
dampness  and  un- 
suitable food.  In 
regard  to  food,  I  be- 
lieve that  any  kind 
of  honey  that  is  gathered  from  flowers  by  the 
bees  is  healthful  food  if  properly  stored  and 
sealed  and  then  the  hives  are  so  prepared 
and  housed  that  the  honey  shall  not  become 
thin  and  sour  from  absorbing  too  much 
moisture. 

One  fall  my  hives  were  heavy  with  honey 
dew,  and  I  was  troubled  about  the  result  as 
that  kind  of  stores  was  declared  by  high 
authorities  to  be  unfit  for  wintering.  But  it 
was  thick  and  well  sealed,  the  hives  covered 
with  thin  porous  cushions  so  all  dampness 
could  easily  pass  off,  the  hives  were  raised 
two  inches  from  the  bottom  board  and 
placed  in  a  dry,  warm  cellar  where  the  tern- 


288 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


perature  was  constantly  from  4r>  to  hO  de- 
grees, and  I  never  had  bees  winter  better. 
I  think  every  swarm  came  through  alive, 
there  was  no  dysentery,  and  I  never  had  bees 
build  up  better  in  the  spring.  These  bees 
were  in  hives  containing  ten  trames  G^4 
inches  deep  and  13  inches  long  inside  the 
frame,  the  hive  containing  but  SUO  inches  of 
comb  space. 

I  favor  a  small  hive  well  tilled  with  sealed 
stores  of  at  must  any  kind  of  natural  honey 
for  safe  wintering.  In  a  large  hive  there  is 
much  space  left  vacant  outside  the  cluster, 
here  the  air  stat-'tiates,  damimess  accumu- 
lates, the  combs  become  mouldy  and  the  air 
of  the  whole  hive  is  poisoned.  The  honey 
absorbs  water,  becomes  thin  and  innutri- 
tions. The  bees  have  to  eat  a  large  quantity 
of  this  impure  and  bulky  food.  Proper 
digestion  is  interfered  with  and  dysentery 
sets  in,  the  combs  are  from  necessity  de- 
filed, rendering  the  habitation  still  more  un- 
healthy and  the  colony  finally  dies.  Human 
beings  would  contract  disease  under  the 
same  conditions  and  die  in  the  same  way. 

I  believe  all  life  is  akin  and  that  every 
thing  that  breathes  needs  pure  air.  1  have 
fitted  my  winter  cellar  with  a  larye  heating 
stove.  It  is  surrounded  with  a  brick  wall  so 
as  to  let  ofiE  the  heat  slowly.  I  shall  cement 
the  bottom  of  the  cellar  and  there  is  a  venti- 
lating shaft  opening  near  the  floor  and  con- 
necting with  the  stove  pipe  to  give  good 
draft.  Many  times  this  summer  I  have  made 
a  good  fire  to  keep  the  cellar  from  becoming 
damp  and  mouldy,  and  for  some  days  before 
I  put  the  bees  in  this  fall  I  shall  keep  up  a 
fire  so  the  cellar  will  be  perfectly  dry  and 
warm  when  the  bees  are  put  in  and  once  in  a 
while  throutrh  the  winter  I  shall  make  a  lit- 
tle fire  and  keep  the  air  moving  and  pure. 
Every  hive  will  have  plenty  of  upward  venti- 
lation, plenty  of  sealed  stores,  and  with  the 
hive  so  small  that  strong  colonies  will  cover 
nearly  every  comb.  With  such  prer)aration 
I  have  no  fears  of  dysentery  even  if  the  hive 
contains  inucli  pollen.  It  is  natural  for  the 
bees  to  store  |)ollen  and  1  do  not  believe  that 
nature  makes  mistakes  :  we  only  fail  to  un- 
derstand and  misfortune  follows  to  help  us 
to  learn.  I  use  to  talk  about  good  and  evil ; 
I  believe  everything  is  good  when  rightly 
understood  and  that  what  we  call  evil  equally 
with  good  helps  us  to  learn  our  lessons. 
And  now,  brother  bee-keepers,  when  we  lose 
our  bees  in  wintering  we  should  blame  our- 
selves, and  our  lack  of  industry  and  knowl- 


edge, and  learn  to  say  less  and  intelligently 
do  more,  and  if  heavy  losses  lead  us  to  do 
this  they  will  not  be  in  vain. 

I  have  noticed  that  bees  that  die  from 
starvation  in  the  cellar,  nearly  always  defile 
their  hives  and  combs  Ijefore  they  die,  re- 
gardless of  what  kind  of  honey  it  was,  and 
this  leads  me  to  think  that  lack  of  stores  has 
much  to  do  with  the  bees  dying  with  dysen- 
tery. In  such  cases  it  is  not  pollen  or  poi- 
sonous honey,  but  the  lack  of  any  kind  that 
causes  the  trouble.  Let  us  be  sure  that  our 
bees  have  plenty  of  sealed  stores  of  their 
own  gathering,  put  them  into  such  quarters 
as  I  have  described  and  in  the  way  men- 
tioned, and  I  believe  you  will  find  the  vexed 
question  of  dysentery  largely  settled. 

In  my  house  apiary  as  soon  as  the  weather 
begins  to  get  freezing  cold  I  will  pack  the 
hives  on  all  sides  with  from  three  to  eight 
inches  of  sawdust  level  with  their  tops.  On 
top  of  each  hive  I  will  put  a  slatted  honey 
board  with  the  bee  space  turned  down  so 
there  will  be  three-fourths  inch  over  the 
frame.  There  will  be  one  tiiickness  of  light 
sheeting  tacked  over  the  top  of  each  honey 
board  and  in  the  center  of  each  a  feeder  that 
I  have  made  for  this  especial  use  will  be 
placed  right  over  the  brood  nest  so  the  bees 
can  take  feed  even  in  the  coldest  weather. 
These  feeders  are  six  inches  high,  ana  I  will 
at  this  time  cover  the  hives  with  sawdust  two 
or  three  inches  thick.  This  will  be  early  in 
( )ctober,  and  I  will  feed  each  colony  five  or 
six  pounds  of  thick  sugar  syrup.  About  No 
vember  1st  the  hives  will  be  covered  with 
sawdust  entirely  over  the  feeders  and  the 
bees  will  now  be  left  in  quiet  until  about 
April  1st,  when  the  sawdust  will  be  removed 
enough  to  uncover  the  feeders  and  in  the 
evening  of  each  day  each  colony  will  be  fed 
two  or  three  ounces  of  sugar  syrup,  and  this 
will  be  continued  until  \Yhite  clover  blooms. 

Yon  will  say  that  this  is  getting  away  from 
the  question  of  dysentery,  but  these  bees 
will  have  the  entrance  to  their  hives  left 
open  at  all  times  so  they  can  have  a  cleans- 
ing flight  whenever  the  weather  is  warm 
enough  outside  to  invite  them  to  do  so.  Last 
winter  I  treated  the  colonies  in  my  twelve- 
colony  house  in  this  way  and  the  hives, 
combs  and  bottom  boards  remained  as  clean 
and  bright  as  in  summer,  and  I  do  not  ex- 
pect my  bees  in  the  new  house  to  have  the 
dysentery  the  coming  winter  or  spring. 

FoKESTViLLE,  MlnD.  Sept.  13, 1893. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


289 


Bee  -  Diarrhoea — Is  It  a  Disease  1 

G.  M.  DOOLITTLE. 

"  By  timp  subdued,  what  will  not  time  subdue  ?" 

T  TAVIJNG  care- 
i  1  luUyreadBro. 
Hutchinson's  arti- 
cle in  the  Ameri- 
can Bee  Journal, 
which  is  to  be  the 
"leader"  for  the 
October  Review, 
as  I  uuderstaud, 
1  would  like  to  say 
a  few  words  there- 
on, with  the  edi- 
tor's permission. 
Before  touching  the  real  matter  up  for  dis- 
cussion, I  wish  to  say  that  I  supposed  it  set- 
tled some  years  ago  that  when  we  spoke  of 
oar  wintering  troubles  we  were  to  call  it 
"Diarrhoea"  instead  of  "Dysentery,"  as 
the  word  dysentery  was  not  thought  to  be  at 
all  appropriate  to  the  case.  If  diarrhoea  is 
the  word,  would  it  not  be  well  for  us  to  all 
use  that  word  ? 

About  the  first  thing  we  find  in  the  leader 
is,  "The  disease,  if  such  it  can  be  called," 
and  from  this  I  gather  that  there  are  some 
who  still  think  that  the  over-loading  of  the 
intestines  of  the  bee  is  a  disease.  That  diar- 
rhoea only  exists  under  like  circumstances 
has  led  some  to  believe  that  it  is  the  effect 
of  a  cause,  rather  than  a  disease,  myself  be- 
ing one  of  this  latter  number.  The  cause 
that  produces  the  effect,  called  "Bee- Diar- 
rhoea," is  confinement.  This,  no  one  has 
successfnlly  denied,  although  many  have 
been  the  attempts  to  do  so.  Bees  are  na- 
tives of  a  warm  climate,  where  they  can  fly 
at  their  own  sweet  will  nearly  every  day,  as 
winters  are  really  unknown  where  all  of  the 
environments  are  suited  to  bee  life,  and  our 
bringing  them  into  aland  where  the  environ- 
ments are  not  all  suited  to  them,  is  where 
the  trouble  comes  in,  and  that  trouble  lies 
largely  in  the  fact  that  these  latter  environ- 
ments keep  the  bees  from  flying  to  void  their 
faeces  for  from  two  to  six  months.  "  But," 
says  one,  "canyon  tell  us  why  one  colony 
escapes  while  another  sutters,  when  both  are 
wintered  precisely  alike,  if  diarrhoea  is  not 
a  disease  ?  Unless  you  can  do  this,  I  must 
differ  with  you."  With  all  due  respect  to 
such,  I  would  ask  them  to  account  for  this 
state  of  affairs  along  the  line  of  disease. 
This  was  the  very  ground  on  which  I  left  the 


"disease  theory."  To  all  the  "knowing 
ones,"  who  answered  questions  in  the  bee 
papers,  I  propounded  the  following  ques- 
tion :  Two  colonies  sitting  side  by  side  and 
as  near  alike,  as  to  stores,  bees,  etc.,  as  two 
peas,  as  far  as  can  be  seen,  are  prepared  in 
the  same  way  for  winter.  One  dies  before 
April  1st  spotting  the  combs  and  soiling  the 
hive,  while  the  other  comes  through  in  splen- 
did condition.  What  caused  one  to  die  and 
the  other  to  live  ?  The  reply,  vyithout  ex 
ception,  was,  "  We  do  not  know."  Will  any 
reader  of  the  Review  answer  the  question  ? 
Let  me  explain  a  little  and  see  if  it  is  not 
all  plain  along  the  line  sf  being  caused  by 
confinement.  In  1878  I  was  put  on  record  as 
saying  "  that  with  a  long,  steady  cold  winter 
would  come  great  mortality  of  bees,  while  in 
winters  during  which  warm  spells  occurred, 
wherein  a  chance  was  given  bees  to  fly,  the 
mortality  would  be  at  a  minimum,  even  al- 
though the  average  temperature  might  be 
several  degrees  colder  than  the  former." 
The  twenty  years  which  have  elapsed  since 
then  have  proven  this  correct. 

Mauy  have  told  us  the  wintering  problem 
was  solved,  but  a  winter  like  the  last  always 
proves  that  a  loss  of  bees  is  sure  to  follow 
when  spring  arrives.  During  one  of  our 
hard  winters,  a  few  years  ago,  I  had  145  col- 
onies, fifty -five  of  which  were  placed  in  a 
warm  cellar  for  winter,  and  ninety  left  on 
their  summer  stands.  From  the  22nd  day  of 
October  till  the  2Cth  day  of  March,  there  was 
not  a  day  warm  enough  for  the  bees  to  fly, 
although  the  average  temperature  of  the  win- 
ter was  above  those  we  frequently  have.  The 
result  was  I  lost  seventy-five  colonies  out  of 
the  ninety,  while  of  the  fifty- five  wintered  in 
the  cellar  fifty-four  came  out  in  splendid 
condition.  The  question  is  why  did  the  sev- 
enty-five die,  and  why  were  the  fifteen  ex- 
empt? Simply  because  from  a  little  more 
vitality  on  their  part  the  fifteen  were  enabled 
to  hold  out  a  little  longer  than  the  seventy- 
five,  while  a  month  more  of  the  same  weath- 
er would  have  caused  the  loss  of  all  that  were 
out  door. 

There  is  a  period  of  confinement  beyond 
which  a  colony  possessing  the  most  vitality 
cannot  pass,  as  all  must  admit,  hence,  I  ask 
is  it  disease  which  kills  the  last  ?  If  not, 
and  the  one  possessed  with  the  least  vitality 
succumbs  earlier,  is  it  disease  which  kills 
the  first  ?  Again,  if  bees  having  this  "  dis- 
ease" have  a  good  fly  so  as  to  empty  them- 
selves, they  are  cured  at  once,  thus  proving 


I 


290 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


that  I  am  right,  for  if  a  flight  cures,  the  lack 
of  it  must  be  the  cause.  Once  more,  with 
the  same  food  ami  same  surroundings  which 
bring  diarrhoea  and  death  here  at  the  north, 
if  down  in  Texas  or  Florida  give  life  and 
health.  Is  it  not  plain  then,  that  the  prime 
cause  is  not  in  the  food,  etc.,  but  in  the  con- 
finement ?  That  food,  dampness,  poorly 
protected  hives,  etc.,  have  much  to  do  with 
our  wintering  troubles  I  am  free  to  admit, 
but  if  we  had  no  winter  we  would  have  no 
ivintering  troubles.  Is  not  this  plain  to  all  ? 
After  a  careful  watching  of  the  matter  I  find 
about  this  in  every  case.  All  colonies  pass 
through  the  November  and  December  con- 
finement in  safety,  but  by  the  middle  of 
January  some  of  the  colonies  having  older 
bees  or  less  vitality  from  any  cause,  begin  to 
show  uneasiness,  and  as  the  days  wear  on  the 
bees  begin  to  eat  more  to  support  their 
wasting  tissues,  wliile  the  abdomen  becomes 
swollen  with  the  accumulating  waste  matter. 
From  this  strain  some  now  begin  to  die,  and 
instinct  teaches  the  survivors  that  unless 
more  bees  are  reared  to  take  the  place  of 
those  dying  they  must  soon  become  extinct. 
Chyme  is  now  prepared  with  which  the 
queen  is  fed,  so  she  shall  begin  egg  laying, 
when  the  cluster  (or  quiescent  state)  is  bro- 
ken, thereljy  causing  the  temperature  of  the 
hive  to  rise  from  its  normal  degree  of  about 
55°  up  to  that  of  brood  rearing  which  is 
about  92°.  If  a  chance  to  fly  occurs  at  this 
time  or  a  little  before,  all  the  trouble  is 
ended  for  another  six  weeks  or  two  months. 
If  not,  the  mortality  gains  rapidly,  as  many 
times  the  food  is  required  to  keep  up  this 
brood  rearing  temperature,  than  was  re- 
quired for  the  other,  so  that  the  intestines 
are  soon  over-loaded  to  nearly  bursting  and 
the  bees  have  the  so  called  "  diarrhoea."  A 
chance  to  fly  now  helps  a  little,  but  such 
colony  is  sure  to  "spring  dwindle"  in  any 
event,  and  if  such  a  state  of  affairs  occurs  as 
early  as  six  weeks  before  warm  weather  ar- 
rives the  colony  usually  dies  of  exhausted 
vitality,  during  the  cool  spring  weather. 
Should  this  chance  not  come  the  combs  and 
hive  are  soiled,  the  bees  die  by  thousands 
every  day  till  most  of  the  old  bees  are  dead. 
Young  bees  now  begin  to  hatch,  but  such 
young  fuzzy  bees  h  ve  not  vigor  enough  to 
stand  the  rigors  of  our  northern  spring  and 
soon  all  perish  together.  As  week  after  week 
of  confinement  succeed  each  other,  other 
colonies  more  vigorous  than  the  first,  com- 
mence to  get  uneasy  and  go.  through  this 


same  process,  this  continuing  till  warm  days 
come,  so  they  can  fly  often,  after  which 
nothing  more  of  the  kind  occurs.  From 
these  careful  watchings  I  am  convinced  that 
no  colony  could  endure  more  than  six  months 
confinement  on  their  summer  stands  and 
not  more  than  eight  when  placed  in  the  best 
repository.  To  overcome  the  environments 
of  the  North  which  are  unfavorable,  I  now 
believe  that  all  we  can  do  is  to  see  that  the 
bees  have  plenty  of  good  stores  or  sugar 
syrup,  that  they  are  placed  in  a  good  cellar 
or  well  protected  out  door,  see  that  those  out 
have  an  opportunity  to  fly  when  a  warm  day 
comes  and  those  in  the  cellar  have  an  even 
temperature  of  from  forty-three  to  forty-five 
degrees,  and  to  follow  Bro.  Hutchinson's  re- 
capitulation as  near  as  maybe.  Doing  this 
you  will  not  have  yourself  to  blame  should 
the  bees  die. 
BoBODiNo,  N.  Y.  Sept.  14, 1893, 


Beware  of  Poor  Food   and  the   Cold,  Damp 
Cellar. 

PBOF.   A,  J.  OOOK. 

JRIEND  H.  : — You  have,  as  usual,  cov- 
ered the  ground  so  fully  in  your 
"leader"  that  it  is  hardly  necessary 
to  say  more,  but  as  there  is  safety  in  a  mul- 
titude of  counsellors,  I  will  add  a  word,  more 
in  confirmation,  than  in  addition. 

Bees  are  natives  of  a  warm  climate,  and 
can  in  their  native  home  fly  forth  often.  In 
the  long  confinement  which  we  often  en- 
force, we  do  violence  to  their  habits,  and 
unless  we  provide  the  best  of  conditions  dis- 
aster will  often  meet  us,  and  very  likely 
snatch  away  our  success, 

I  believe,  with  you,  that  temperature  and 
food,  and  moisture  in  the  surrounding  at- 
mosphere, are  the  points  to  look  to  in  order 
of  importance. 

If  we  are  to  have  a  very  severe  and  pro- 
tracted winter  bees  must  be  protected  eitlier 
by  cellar  or  packing  or  disaster  is  sure.  Per- 
haps, with  the  best  food  the  danger  would 
be  delayed,  and,  possibly,  warded  off,  but  I 
do  not  believe  that  bees  can  endure  our  most 
severe  winters  in  our  northern  latitude  of 
Michigan,  New  York,  and  Wisconsin,  with- 
out serious,  often  universal  and  total  loss. 
This  position  is  proved  by  several  winters' 
experience  in  almost  all  our  Northern  States. 
Could  we  only  know  that  we  should  not  have 
such  winters,  then  it  were  better  to  leave  our 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


291 


bees  oatside,  even  with  no  extra  protection, 
as  then  we  give  chance  for  frequent  flight 
and  copy  their  usual  condition. 

There  are  many  cases  besides  the  one  you 
give  that  prove  that  food  is  a  considerable 
factor  in  the  matter  of  safe  wintering.  It 
seems  positive  that  honey  adulterated  with 
glucose,  much  fall  honey  which  often  has  the 
glucose  like  honey  dew  honey  in  large  pro- 
portion, and  honey  dew  honey  itself,  are  all 
fatal  to  bees  as  winter  food ;  especially  if 
the  bees  are  long  contined.  The  presence 
of  pollen  by  stimulating  activity  may  also  be 
harmful,  while  cane  syrup  honey  is,  like 
our  best  early  honey,  a  very  safe  winter 
food.  With  other  conditions  most  favorable, 
probably  any  food,  almost,  would  be  whole- 
some and  safe,  but  with  other  conditions 
awry,  then  the  good  food  may  ward  off  dis" 
aster. 

Some  years  since  I  doubted  if  dampness 
were  an  obstacle  to  safe  wintering.  Our  old 
bee  cellar  with  water  always  running 
through  it  was  a  great  success.  The  bees 
always  wintered  well,  and  came  out  bright 
and  strong,  even  on  fall  food,  and  despite 
the  winter,  whether  very  mild,  or  so  cold  that 
the  mercury  went  down  among  the  thirties. 
Our  present  cellar  is  equally  unfavorable, 
yet  it  preserves  as  high  a  temperature.  I 
have  known  the  mercury  in  the  old  cellar  to 
be  at  38=  F  for  weeks,  and  yet  the  bees  came 
through  all  right.  In  our  present  cellar, 
though  the  mercury  goes  no  lower,  yet  the 
bees  never  winter  well.  The  old  cellar  al- 
ways seemed  pleasant  in  summer  or  winter. 
The  present  one  always  seems  chilly  and 
forbidding.  The  one  was  dry  and  whole- 
some, the  other  is  damy  and  clammy.  The 
one  was  in  sand  and  well  drained,  the  other 
is  in  moist  tenacious  clay.  I  feel  quite  sure 
that  the  constant  moisture  in  our  present 
cellar  is  the  explanation  of  its  failure.  Both 
cellars  are  coated  all  over  with  cement,  and 
I  supposed  and  think  now  that  both  are  well 
drained.  Thus  I  should  like  a  cellar  to  be 
so  situated  as  always  to  be  dry  and  whole- 
some, so  that  when  we  enter  it  we  do  not 
wish  for  an  overcoat.  I  am  inclined  to  the 
opinion  that  a  cellar  in  sand  is  better  than 
one  in  any  hard  unyielding  clay.  I  should 
prefer  to  have  my  cellar  in  a  protected  place 
rather  than  on  a  bleak  hill.  In  such  a  cellar, 
with  good  food,  I  believe  we  will  suffer  no 
perceptible  loss,  even  in  the  most  serious 
seasons. 

Ag'l  Col.,  Mich.  Sept.  16,  1893. 


Some   Criticisms  on  the  Experiments  With 
the  Lanpdon  Non  -  Swarmer. 

FBANK    BAUCHFUSS. 

Man  knows  but  little  here  below 
Compared  with  what  he  longs  to  know. 

IRIEND  HUTCHINSON :— In  the  Au- 
gust number  of  the  Review  I  find  Mr. 
Taylor's  experiments  with  the  Lang- 
don  device  and  as  you  invite  suggestions  and 
criticism  of  this  line  of  work,  I  take  the  lib- 
erty in  addressing  these  lines  to  you, 

The  report  does  not  mention  one  impor- 
tant point,  i.  e.  whether  these  colonies  which 
swarmed  had  queen  cells  newly  started  or 
some  which  were  kept  over  through  the  time 
of  depopulation. 

In  our  opinion  the  devices  should  be  at- 
tached very  early,  before  the  colonies  have 
any  idea  of  swarming. 

The  use  of  only  one  story  of  the  Heddon 
hive  for  brood  chambers  was  hardly  fair  as 
almost  any  colony  will  swarm  thus  con- 
tracted: how  can  we  expect  two  colonies 
thrown  together  to  be  satisfied  with  such 
cramped  quarters  ?  On  the  contrary  we 
should  like  to  have  seen  the  experiment 
tried  with  large  hives  also,  such  as  10-frame 
Langstroth  or  the  Quinby. 

During  the  past  season  we  have  used  one 
Langdon  device  and  besides  a  number  of 
our  own  get  up,  which  are  simpler  and  al- 
low both  colonies  to  use  the  same  entrance, 
the  alternating  of  which  is  regulated  by  a 
tongue,  this  plan  avoids  confusion  in  trans- 
ferring the  bees  to  one  colony,  this  seems  to 
be  a  point  where  the  Langdon  is  faulty,  as 
we  find  that  the  bees  refuse  to  travel  through 
the  passage-way,  cluster  outside  and  stop 
ventilation.  The  hives  used  were  ten-frame 
Langstroth  and  two-story  Heddon,  and 
wherever  the  devices  were  adjusted  early 
enough  swarming  was  prevented  and  the 
yield  of  those  colonies  was  as  large  as  of  any 
pair,  excepting  one,  in  the  yard.  The  next 
day  after  alternating,  the  queen  cells  would 
be  destroyed  and  drones  killed,  still  there 
seemed  to  be  enough  bees  remaining  in  the 
closed  hive  to  take  care  of  most  of  the  brood, 
although  eggs  and  small  larvae  were  nearly 
all  gone,  but  the  loss  sustained  in  this  way 
seemed  to  be  made  up  again,  in  that  the  beea 
lived  longer  as  they  did  not  have  to  take  care 
of  so  much  brood,  at  least  the  present 
strength  of  the  colonies  seems  to  prove  this. 

Although  these  devices  have  worked  satis- 
factorily this  season  we  don't  claim  them  to 


292 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


be  a  success  yet  until  they  have  been  tried  a 
few  more  seasons  in  different  localities  and 
under  different  conditions.  There  are  several 
other  ways  in  which  such  a  device  could  be 
be  made  useful,  for  instance,  in  transferring 
colonies  from  box  hives  into  movable 
frames,  by  the  drumming  out  of  the  queen 
and  most  of  the  bees,  hiving  them  in  the 
frame  hive  and  then  putting  the  box  hive 
along  side  of  the  frame  hive,  adjusting  the 
device  so  that  the  remainder  of  the  bees  will 
work  into  the  other.  After  twenty-one  days 
the  box  hive  would  be  deserted  and  contents 
could  be  thrown  into  a  solar  extractor. 
Probably  foul  brood  colonies  could  be  treat- 
ed in  a  similar  manner.  [I  fear  it  would  not 
answer  for  treating  foul  broody  colonies,  as 
some  of  the  bees  turned  into  the  new  hive 
might  carry  with  them  some  of  the  infected 
honey. — Ed.  J 

Mr.  Taylor  mentions  in  one  of  his  reports 
an  experiment  he  was  going  to  make,  which 
we  also  haa  intended  to  make  this  season, 
but  circumstances  prevented  it.  The  exper- 
iment is  "  what  quantity  of  bees  will  work  to 
the  best  advantage."  This  question  seems 
to  us  of  great  importance  and  has  consider- 
able bearing  upon  the  non-swarming  ques- 
tion. Our  plan  of  making  the  experiment 
was  different  from  Mr.  Taylor's.  We  were 
to  make  artificial  swarms,  a  la  Doolittle,  by 
taking  bees  from  upper  stories,  caging  them 
in  a  box,  introducing  a  queen  in  a  few  hours 
and  in  the  evening  hiving  them  on  inch 
starters.  We  intended  to  make  two  swarms 
of  8  lbs.  each,  two  of  4  lbs.,  two  of  5  lbs.,  and 
two  of  G  lbs.  and  give  them  young  queens  all 
reared  from  the  same  mother,  by  this  plan 
bees  and  queens  would  be  as  nearly  uniform 
in  working  quality  and  age  as  it  is  possible 
to  get  them. 

Duff,  Colo.  Sept.  10,  189P,. 

[I  sent  the  foregoing  to  Mr.  Taylor  and  he 
replies  as  follows  : — Ei>.] 

In  reply  to  the  criticisms  of  friend  Kauch- 
fuss  I  desire  to  say  that  I  write  for  those  who 
think  and  who  read  before  they  criticise. 
Time  and  space  would  fail  me  were  I  to 
write  at  such  length  as  to  compel  acceptance 
without  the  exercise  of  thought.  I  know  my 
readers  have  knowledge  and  I  expect  them 
to  use  it  in  interpreting  me.  This  is  not  for 
friend  R.  especially,  but  for  certain  others 
also,  and,  at  all  events,  let  the  criticism 
come ;  it  will  help  to  get  at  the  truth  which 
we  are  all  seeking. 


As  to  friend  R.'s  first  point,  that  I  did  not 
report  as  to  the  keeping  over  of  queen  cells 
during  the  time  of  depopulation,  I  think  I 
need  only  say  that  I  stated  in  substance,  as 
an  evidence  that  the  swarmmg  fever  was 
gone  from  the  depopulated  colony,  that  the 
bees  left  therein  generally  began  carrying 
out  immature  drones;  and  I  supposed  that 
every  thmkmg  bee-keeper  knew  that  of  the 
two,  queen  cells  "go"  before  the  drones. 
Friend  R.  must  know  that  too,  for  further 
along  he  says,  in  stating  the  result  of  his 
own  experiment,  that  the  "  next  day  "  after 
the  " depopulation  "  "the  queen  cells  were 
destroyed  and  the  drones  killed,"  so  I  fear 
he  did  not  read  my  entire  article. 

I  am  the  more  inclined  to  think  this  for  he 
complains  that  I  did  not  use  a  large  hive 
like  the  ten-frame  Langstroth,  while  if  he 
had  read  he  would  have  found  that  I  used  no 
less  than  four  two  story  Heddon  hives,  each 
of  which  is  equal  in  capacity  to  the  ten-frame 
Langstroth  ;  I  used  four  of  the  single  story 
Heddon,  too,  so  as  to  satisfy  those  who 
might  otherwise  have  thought  that  I  should 
have  used  a  smaller  hive,  nor  did  I  omit,  in 
order  to  cover  the  ground  well,  to  use  the 
medium  hive  also — the  eight-frame  L. 

R.  L.  Taylob. 

Lapeeb,  Mich.,  Sept.  23,  1893. 

T  I  ]WI  B  I_i  "2-     TOFICS. 
No.  9. 

K.  L.  TAYLOB. 

All  feeding  for  winter  stores  should  have 
been  finished  before  the  appearance  of  the 
October  Review,  but  should  there  have  been 
a  failure  it  may  still  be  done  if  the  weather 
continues  warm  or  even  if  moderately  cold 
if  some  suitable  feeder  is  used  and  is  kept 
warmly  covered.  The  feeder  should  be  so 
adjusted  in  such  a  case  that  the  bees  can 
reach  the  syrup  directly  over  and  in  close 
proximity  to  the  cluster.  Then  the  food 
should  be  given  as  warm  as  the  bees  can 
bear  it,  in  quantities  of  not  more  than  two 
or  three  pounds  and  as  rapidly  as  the  bees 
will  take  it.  If  there  should  be  occasion  to 
feed  after  the  weather  becomes  too  cold  for 
this  plan  it  may  still  be  accomplished  with 
a  small  number  of  colonies  though  of  course 
with  somewhat  greater  chances  against  their 
wintering  well,  by  giving  them  the  food  in  a 
warm  room.     For  this  operation   each  col- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


293 


ony  must  be  specially  prepared.  The  feeder 
may  be  the  Simplicity  or  some  other  which, 
like  it,  recei  es  the  syrap  by  poaring  it  from 
above.  Adjust  the  feeder  to  the  hive,  inclose 
the  bees  at  the  top  by  a  rim  covered  over 
above  with  wire  cloth  and  close  the  entrance 
of  the  hive  before  bringing  the  colony  into 
the  warm  room.  Thus  the  bees  are  all  in- 
closed and  may  be  fed  at  pleasure  by  pour- 
ing the  warm  syrup  through  the  wire  cloth 
into  the  feeder.  The  syrup  should  be  fed 
warm  and  as  rapidly  as  the  bees  will  take  it 
and  if  they  are  uneasy  on  account  of  their 
confinement  they  should  be  returned  to  their 
proper  stand  as  soon  as  possible  on  the  con- 
clusion of  the  feeding. 

After  completing  the  task  of  supplying  the 
larders  of  the  colonies  against  the  long 
period  of  their  enforced  retirement,  no  time 
should  bo  lost  in  giving  all  needed  protec- 
tion against  rain,  snow,  storm  and  frost.  If 
the  bees  are  to  be  wintered  out  of  doors 
each  one  should  follow  the  course  in  which 
he  has  been  successful,  but  it  may  not  be 
amiss  for  me  to  urge  early  and  thorough 
preparation.  Water-soaked  packing  cannot 
conduce  to  the  comfort  or  safety  of  the  bees. 
All  who  have  at  command  a  fair  cellar  and 
who  have  not  met  with  satisfactory  success 
in  wintering  bees  out  of  doors.  I  would  ad- 
vise to  winter  them  in  the  cellar.  In  this 
latitude  I  think  this  both  the  cheaper  and 
the  safer  course.  This  is  the  method  I  em- 
ploy after  tryiug  both  ways  extensively  and 
I  would  not  now  winter  a  single  colony  out 
doors  except  it  may  be  in  making  experi- 
ments. It  may  be  helpful  to  some  to  know 
my  method  of  procedure,  so  I  will  state  it 
briefly. 

My  cellar,  though  not  a  particularly  dry 
one,  is  a  very  good  one.  It  is  under  the 
north  half  of  my  shop  and  honey  house  and 
the  barn  and  barn  cellar  abut  it  onthewe^'t 
and  it  is  banked  up  with  earth  to  the  sill  ex- 
cept where  its  one  door  and  one  window  for- 
bid. As  a  consequence  its  temperature  is 
very  even  being  not  easily  affected  by  the 
cold  of  winter  or  by  the  warmth  of  early 
spring.  It  contains  a  cistern  which  is  gener- 
ally well  supplied  with  water.  The  chimney 
of  the  honey  house  starts  from  the  bottom 
of  the  cellar  and  in  connection  with  an  un- 
derground tile  drain  no  doubt  does  some- 
thing in  the  way  of  ventilation.  The  door 
opens  directly  into  the  apiary  which  is 
reached  without  ascending  any  steps.  The 
dimensions  are  15x30  feet  of  which  the  cis- 


tern occupies  about  one-fourth.  It  gener- 
ally contains  in  the  winter  upward  of  two 
hundred  colonies. 

When  the  time  arrives  for  putting  the  bees 
in,  which  is,  of  late  years,  from  the  8th  to 
to  the  1.5th  of  November,  I  look  out  for  a 
day  when  it  is  cloudy  and  the  temperature 
stands  at  about  4.5  ,  because  under  these  con- 
ditions the  bees  are  much  quieter  than  they 
are  when  the  day  is  clear  or  when  the  tem- 
perature varies  much  either  way  from  the 
above,  and,  particularly,  is  a  frosty  day  one 
to  be  shunned  for  the  handling  of  bees. 
When  everj  thing  is  to  my  liking,  hive  after 
hive  can  be  carried  into  the  cellar  without 
any  bottom  board  with  the  loss  of  scarcely  a 
bee.  In  the  cellar  each  column  or  pile  con- 
sisting of  the  hives  of  four  or  five  colonies 
stands  completely  detached  from  everything 
else  except  its  own  support  which  consists  of 
two  one  inch  strips  laid  across  an  empty 
hive  thus  raising  the  lowest  hive  in  every 
case  about  eleven  or  twelve  inches  from  the 
cellar  bottom.  I  first  set  the  empty  hive  so 
that  it  stands  firm  and  level,  and  then  put 
the  two  pieces  across  it.  I  then  bring  in  a 
good  strong  colony  without  any  bottom 
board  and  place  it  firmly  on  the  strips. 
Then  two  more  strips  are  placed  across  the 
cover  of  this  hive  (unless  the  cover  is  made 
so  as  to  preclude  the  necessity  for  them  as 
most  of  mine  are)  and  another  colony  is 
placed  in  like  manner  on  these  and  so  on 
until  the  ceiling  forl>ids  more.  Each  addi- 
tional pile  Is  a  repetition  of  this.  I  aim  to  get 
the  lighter  colonies  at  the  top  and  the 
stronger  at  the  bottom  as  this  is  the  more 
trying  position.  In  the  case  of  single  story 
Heddon  hives  the  bottom  boards  are  not  re- 
moved ;  in  all  other  cases  they  are.  I  do  not 
place  any  colonies  very  near  either  the  door 
or  the  window,  and  I  so  dispose  the  piles  that 
I  can  go  among  them  at  pleasure  so  as  to 
see  most  of  their  hives  and  be  able  to  tell 
how  most  of  the  individual  colonies  are  win- 
tering. When  the  bees  are  all  in  I  shut  the 
door  tightly  and  do  not  concern  myself  much 
about  them  except  to  look  occasionally  to 
see  that  the  temperature  does  not  go  above, 
or  fall  short  of,  the  limits  which  I  have 
fixed  as  the  best,  (.  e.,  42=  to  4.5=.  If  the  bees 
show  much  uneasiness  during  mild  weather 
I  open  the  door  for  a  night  or  two  during 
the  darkness  until  they  quiet  down. 

As  a  rule,  all  honey  should  be  shipped 
before  cold  weather. 

Lapeeb,  Mich.  Sept.  26, 1893. 


294 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED   MONTHLY. 

W.   Z.  HOTCHINSOr*,  Ed.  &  PKOp. 

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will  be  continued. 


did,  and  continued  the  experiments  from  the 
tirst  swarms  to  the  end  of  the  season,  and 
while  I  did  not  take  the  pains  to  weigh  every 
thing  and  be  so  accurate  as  he  has  done,  I 
know  that,  so  far  as  the  amount  of  honey 
gathered  is  concerned,  the  use  of  starters 
only  is  the  most  profitable.  I  should  be  glad 
to  have  Mr.  Taylor  tell,  in  some  future  re- 
port, about  the  amount  of  drone  comb  built, 
how  straight  and  even  the  combs  were,  etc. 


FLINT,    MICHIGAN.     OCT.    10.    1893. 

LouisANA  Hotel, — that  is  where  the  con- 
vention is  to  be  held,  and  let's  all  stop  there. 
It  is  BO  much  more  pleasant  to  have  all  the 
family  at  home. 


My  Camera  will  go  with  me  to  the  Chicago 
convention.  I  shall  probably  try  photo- 
graphing the  bee  and  honey  exhibits— possi- 
bly a  group  of  the  bee-keepers  present, 

. (^ 

The  Enterprise  has  been  denied  second 
class  mail  privileges.  It  will  change  its 
name  and  try  again  in  October  at  its  home 
post  office  —  Highwood.  I  presume  the 
authorities  have  to  keep  close  watch  over 
those  who  try  to  palm  off  as  periodicals  what 
are  but  little  more  than  advertising  circu- 
lars, but  they  make  grevious  mistakes,  as 
they  have  done  in  this  instance,  and  that  of 
Prinler^s  Ink,  which,  by  the  way,  has  been 
re-admitted. 


starters  may  be  most  profitable. 

I  am  proud  of  the  report  from  the  Michi- 
gan Experimental  Apiary  that  appears  in 
this  issue.  At  the  risk  of  appearing  pre- 
judiced in  tryi'ig  to  defend  my  advocacy  of 
starters  only  in  the  brood  nest  when  hiving 
swarms  that  are  to  be  employed  in  comb 
honey  production,  I  wish  to  call  attention  to 
one  or  two  points  brought  out  by  the  experi- 
ments. Light  swarms  did  give  the  liest  re- 
sults when  hived  on  starters,  while  the  heavy 
swarms  on  starters  gained  on  the  others  from 
the  start.  Had  the  test  been  continued 
through  a  long  honey  flow  instead  of  for 
three  weeks  only,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that 
starters  only  would  have  proved  the  most 
profitable.  I  have  for  several  years  experi- 
mented upon  a  larger  scale  than  Mr.  Taylor 


the  cause  of  bee  -  diarrhoea. 

After  reading  the  articles  upon  this  sub- 
ject, that  appear  in  this  issue  of  the  Review, 
I  see  no  reason  for  changing  the  views  that 
I  expressed  in  the  last  number. 

No  one  thing  alone  causes  the  trouble. 
(There  is  no  practical  benefit  in  splitting 
hairs  as  to  whether  it  is  a  disease  ;  it  certain- 
ly is  a  condition  that  brings  death  to  the  af- 
fected colonies. )  Cold  alone  does  not  cause 
it.  Bees  have  been  very  successfully  win- 
iered  in  cold  winters,  and  on  their  summer 
stands  at  that.  Confinement  alone  does  not 
cause  it,  as  bees  have  been  confined  three  or 
four  mouths  with  no  trace  of  the  disease. 
Poor  food  does  not  always  result  in  disaster, 
as  bees  with  what  would  be  called  very  im- 
proper food  have  wintered  most  excellently. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  moisture,  as  bees 
have  been  wintered  in  a  very  damp  atmos- 
phere. 

Of  course,  there  must  be  confinement,  no 
one  disputes  that,  otherwise  there  would  be 
no  over  loading  of  the  intestines.  If  there 
were  no  cold  there  would  be  no  confinement. 
The  cold  causes  the  confinement,  and  the 
confinement  causes  the  over  loading  of  the 
intestines.  There  is  no  dispute  over  this. 
When  there  is  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects 
we  wish  to  know  which  is  the  link  that  can 
be  most  easily  broken.  Now  then,  we  can- 
not get  rid  of  the  confinement ;  but  we  can 
get  rid  of  the  cold  by  putting  the  bees  in  a 
cellar,  but  the  confinement  remains.  Hav- 
ing gotten  rid  of  the  cold,  what  are  the  con- 
ditions that  will  best  allow  the  bees  to  bear 
confinement  ?  If  the  bees  must  be  confined 
three  or  four  months  (and,  in  our  Northern 
States,  this  seems  safer  than  to  take  the  risk 
of  not  securing  one  or  two  flights  by  leaving 
the  bees  out  of  doors)  the  question  of  what 
their  food  shall  be  is  one  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance. Mr.  Heddon  in  liis  article  brings 
out  this  point  very  strongly.     If  the  natural 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


food  of  a  given  locality  is  such  year  after 
year  that  the  bees  pass  the  winter  in  excel- 
lent health,  then  there  is  nothing  more  to  be 
done  on  that  score,  but,  as  I  mentioned  last 
month,  if  it  is  not,  if  a  large  percentage  of 
the  bees  die  with  the  diarrhoea  nearly  every 
winter,  then  there  must  be  a  change  of  food, 
and  I  know  of  no  better  plan  than  that  of 
feeding  sugar  late  in  the  fall  as  suggested 
last  month.  This  is  a  heat  forming  food, 
free  from  nitrogen,  and  its  consumption 
does  not  load  the  intestines.  If  fed  late,  it 
is  stored  where  it  will  be  consumed  during 
the  months  of  confinement. 

The  warmer  the  cellar  the  better,  provided 
itj  is  not  so  warm  that  the  bees  are  excited 
to  undue  activity.  Let  it  be  such  that  they 
will  remain  quietly  clustered,  but  will  not  be 
compelled  to  consume  food  largely  for  the 
sake  of  the  warmth  its  consumption  will 
generate.  A  moist  atmosphere  is  detrimen- 
tal because  it  is  in  effect  the  same  as  a  low 
temperature.  Besides  this  it  prevents,  or  re- 
tards, the  perspiration  of  the  bees,  which  the 
sooner  clogs  the  system. 

Furnish  the  bees  with  plenty  of  wholesome 
food,  put  them  in  a  dry,  warm,  well-ventila- 
ted cellar,  and  take  them  out  as  early  as  pos- 
sible in  spring,  protecting  them  with  pack- 
ing, and  all  has  been  done  that  can  be  profit- 
ably done  to  prevent  diarrhoea. 

Dr.  Miller  says,  in  his  "  Stray  Straws," 
that  if  I  lived  in  Marengo  I  would  not  fol- 
low the  plan  of  taking  the  bees  from  the  cel- 
lar as  soon  as  it  was  warm  enough  in  the 
spring  for  them  to  fly.  I  should  not  take 
them  out  thus  early  unless  I  protected  them, 
which  I  think  the  Doctor  does  not  do.  I 
think  this  "Straw"  of  his  is  scarcely  fair 
inasmuch  as  it  does  not  mention  that  I 
would  protect  the  bees  after  taking  them 
out.  After  bees  have  been  confined  sixteen 
weeks,  a  still  further  confinement  of  three 
weeks  makes  more  difference  than  many  of 
us  have  been  aware. 


EXXRT^OTED. 


Preventing    Bee   Dysentery  by   the   Use  of 
Sngar  Stores. 

Cold  cellar  did  repress  their  noble  rage 
And  froze  the  genial  current  of  their  soul. 

Mr.  Heddon,  in  his  article,  refers  to  an  ex- 
periment that  he  made  in  wintering  bees  on 


sugar  stores.  In  his  book,  "  Success  in  Bee 
Culture,"  he  goes  more  into  detail,  and  I 
quote  that  part  of  the  chapter  on  wintering 
that  refers  to  this  particular  experiment.  He 
says  : — 

"  In  the  autumn  of  1884,  I  placed  bees  in 
two  cellars  ;  one  containing  4U,  and  the  other 
91  colonies.  The  old  cellar  containing  40 
colonies  was  at  all  times  very  dry,  while  the 
new  one  containing  the  91,  was  very  damp. 
Both  cellars  were  allowed  to  become  quite 
too  cold,  to  test  the  endurance  of  bees  with 
sugar  syrup  ;  the  temperature  in  the  old  cel- 
lar was  down  as  low  as  10  and  1.5  degrees 
above  zero,  in  the  new,  damp  cellar,  as  low 
as  25  degrees.  The  old  cellar  contained  bees 
with  sugar  syrup  only,  and  of  its  40  colonies, 
all  but  five  died,  with  no  symptoms  of  diar- 
rhcBa  in  the  hive.  The  new,  damp  cellar, 
containing  the  91  colonies,  had  T6  colonies 
without  pollen  or  honey — sugar  syrup  only — 
10  colonies  with  little  pollen,  and  stores  of 
part  honey  and  part  sugar  syrup,  and  8  col- 
onies having  all  natural  stores.  This  cellar 
was  so  damp  that  mold  collected  on  the 
alighting- boards  and  between  the  combs,  on 
the  under  side  of  the  covers,  etc.  About  one- 
third  of  the  colonies  had  upward  ventilation 
by  way  of  nails  pushed  under  the  board  cov- 
ers ;  the  other  two-thirds  had  no  upward  ven- 
tilation whatever.  In  numerous  hives,  water 
could  be  seen  running  out  on  the  alighting- 
board.  If  the  covers  of  those  hives  which 
were  tight  down,  were  lifted  and  turned  up 
edgewise,  water  would  run  from  them.  In 
spring,  the  health  of  the  91  colonies  stood 
thus  :  Of  the  8  on  natural  stores,  6  died  with 
diarrhcBa,  and  the  other  2  came  out  in  good 
condition.  All  were  treated  alike  with  no 
upward  ventilation.  Of  the  10  with  little 
bee-bread  and  mixed  stores,  8  lived,  while  2 
died.  Of  the  remaining  73,  with  nothing  in 
the  combs  but  pure  sugar  syrup,  not  one 
showed  any  signs  of  diarrhoea,  whatever. 

I  will  now  state  how  matters  stood  with  the 
out-door  colonies  of  this  same  home  apiary. 
I  had  49  coUonies,  each  on  6  American 
frames  with  combs,  in  tenement  hives,  that 
in  summer  contained  19  combs,  all  resting 
horizontally.  On  either  side  of  the  6  combs 
and  bees,  was  a  2-inch  chafif ,  cloth-sided  di- 
vision-cushion ;  over  all,  in  the  upper  story, 
was  a  large  chafiE  cushion,  about  six  inches 
thick.  These  hives  were  painted  white,  and 
rested  high,  so  that  they  were  above  the  most 
of  the  snow.  Twenty-five  of  them  contained 
no  honey,  and  only  a  cell  of  pollen  here  and 
there,  and  were  well  supplied  with  sugar 
syrup  ;  24  contained  a  little  honey  and  bee- 
bread,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  food  was  sugar 
syrup.  I  had  no  idea  of  losing  any  of  these 
colonies,  but  in  this  I  was  in  error,  for  every 
one  died.  Among  the  25  there  was  scarcely 
a  sign  of  disease  ;  the  combs  were  clean  and 
nice.  Among  the  other  24,  there  were  occa- 
sional symptoms  of  diarrhcea,  here  and 
there,  but  not  to  amount  to  anything.  I  have 
had  colonies  show  many  times  more  symp- 
toms of  disease  and  survive,  and  come  up 
strong  for  the  June  honey  harvest.  None  of 
these  colonies  died  of  diarrhoea.  Of  what 
did  they  die  ?    Cold,  too  long  continued  ; 


296 


TBE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


and  those  in  the  old.  cold  cellar  did  the  same. 
But  how  in  the  cellar  ?  Cold  is  a  giaut  in  a 
cellar.  Why  ?  Because  it  continues  ;  there 
is  no  ray  of  sunlight,  no  immediate  raising 
of  temperature,  or  chance  for  the  bees  to 
change  position.  What  degree  can  bees 
stand  ?  That  depends  upon  the  duration. 
Here  is  the  important  point  that  too  many 
of  us  have  overlooked.  Forty  degrees  below, 
can  be  endured  for  a  short  time,  but  10  tol.'i 
degrees  above,  will  kill  bees  if  continued, 
diarrhtea  or  no  diarrhuia. 

It  is  the  temperature  within  the  hive,  that 
effects  the  bees,  and  it  requires  time  for  the 
temperature  without  to  effect  the  temper- 
ature within. 

In  the  same  yard  stood  17  colonies  lower 
down  and  packed  warmer  than  the  49  just 
referred  to,  all  being  on  full  natural  stores 
of  honey  and  pollen,  and  in  the  regular  8- 
frame  Langstroth  hives.  All  but  two  died. 
All  of  them  had  diarrhoea  badly.  Not  until 
we  could  remove  bee-diarrhtea,  could  we  get 
a  clear  view  of  any  other  causes  which  might 
result  in  the  death  of  our  bees. 

Just  to  the  left  stood  73  colonies  packed 
like  the  above  17  ;  these  had  little  pollen  in 
their  combs,  and  stores  of  a  mixture  of  su- 
gar and  honey,  just  the  same  as  the  10  refer- 
red to  in  the  new,  damp  cellar.  They,  like 
the  17,  were  low  down,  and  were  pretty  well 
covered  with  snow  during  the  severe  weath- 
er. Of  these  73  colonies,  about  one-half  sur- 
vived. 

Of  my  out-apiary  of  208  colonies,  all  pack- 
ed, and  all  on  natural  stores,  nearly  all 
died." 


Where  the  Langdon   Non-Swarmer  Differs 

From  the  Taylor. — What  Hopes  There 

Are  of  the  Latter. 

Little  people, 

(ireat  big  people, 

Coniiiion  size  o'  men. 
If  your  trying 

Knds  in  crying 

Try  him  once  again. 

E.  R.  Root  voices  my  sentiments  exactly 
where  he  says  in  a  recent  issue  of  Gleanings 
that  we  should  not  drop  new  things  too 
quickly  when  they  are  apparent  failures. 
He  refers  to  the  Langdon  non  swarmer  as 
one  of  the  new  things  that  ought  to  be  given 
a  more  extended  trial.  I  still  have  faith  in 
the  finding  of  some  method  for  preventing 
swarming.  The  Langdon  has  failed  in  a  way 
that  I  did  not  expect.  At  first  I  could  see 
but  little  difference  between  it  and  the 
method  advised  by  Mr.  B.  Taylor  ;  in  fact, 
the  Langdon  seemed  the  t}iore  promising  of 
the  two.  Mr.  Taylor,  however,  has  several 
times  told  me  in  private  letters  that  he  had 
no  faith  in  it,  but  never  did  he  so  clearly  set 


forth  the  reasons  why  as  he  has  now  done  in 
the  following  article  which  I  copy  from 
Gleanings  ; 

"  Fbiend  Root: — The  fact  that  I  am  and 
have  been  experimenting  in  a  non-swarming 
hive  or  system  of  manipulation  to  effect  that 
purpose,  is  generally  known  to  the  readers  of 
the  bee  journals.  I  see  that  the  Langdon  de- 
vice has  failed  to  come  to  time,  the  results 
and  reports  of  R.  L.  Taylor  and  Mr.  Secor 
settling  that  fact.  The  editor  of  the  Bee- 
Keepeks'  Review  knows  that  I  have  never 
had  any  hope  of  the  Langdon  plan  succeed- 
ing, there  being  more  than  one  reason  for 
expecting  failure,  to  one  who  had  already 
practically  explored  the  ground  occupied  by 
both  Langdon  and  Aikin. 

My  experiments  this  year  have  not  dark- 
ened the  hope  of  yet  perfecting  a  practical 
plan  whereby  swarming  can  be  controlled, 
even  if  we  could  not  get  quite  so  much  hon- 
ey. A  plan  that  would  enable  us  to  escape 
that  constant  watching  through  the  whole 
working  season  that  is  now  a  necessity,  and 
enable  us  to  keep  either  a  home  yard  or  out- 
yards  by  visiting  them  and  giving  a  little  at- 
tention once  a  week,  would  be  a  great  boon. 
This  much  1  will  assure  the  bee-keepers  :  I 
will  not  offer  any  thing,  either  for  sale  or 
even  trial,  until  I  have  something  certain  to 
offer.  The  plan  I  am  now  working  on  is 
radically  different  from  the  Langdon  plan. 
There  is  a  similarity  in  some  respects  ;  but 
the  radical  difference  is,  that  the  plan  of  Mr. 
L.  contemplates  two  hives  and  two  entirely 
distinct  families,  with  entirely  separate  en- 
trances ;  while  my  plan  is  one  hive  with 
practically  but  one  family,  all  the  bees  using 
one  common  alighting-board  and  entrance, 
but  with  two  queens,  these  queens  to  be  kept 
separated  by  a  wire-cloth  partition  through 
the  center  of  the  hive.  This  partition,  how- 
ever, serves  other  purposes  than  keeping  the 
queens  apart,  as  it  is  entirely  necessary  in 
order  to  manipulate  the  bees  as  desired. 
The  possibility  of  working  a  single  colony 
of  worker  V)ees  with  two  queens  in  a  single 
hive  divided  by  a  gauze  partition  is  no  lon- 
ger an  experiment.  I  now  state  here  the 
fact  that  I  am  working  such  colonies  with 
entire  success,  the  whole  colony  of  workers 
using  either  side  of  the  hive,  and  accepting 
either  queen,  without  the  least  disturbance. 
This  is  what  I  claim  as  my  discovery,  and  I 
shall  keep  myself  protected  legally  in  its  use, 
so  that,  if  it  ever  proves  successful  in  serving 
a  useful  purpose,  there  will  be  no  question 
of  priority  to  dispute  about. 

The  bees  I  used  in  the  new  hives  this  sea- 
son were  blacks  ;  and  to  determine  whether 
the  bees  did  fully  fraternize  I  removed  one 
black  queen  from  each  of  two  hives  early  in 
the  season,  and  replaced  them  with  pure 
Italians.  Thus  there  was  a  black  queen  in 
one  side  of  each  hive,  and  an  Italian  in  the 
other.  The  point  aimed  at  was  to  see  wheth- 
er the  Italian  bees,  after  they  hatched  out, 
would  all  remain  in  their  own  side  of  the 
hive  with  their  mother,  or  would  accept  the 
whole  hive  and  both  queens  as  their  home. 
After  several  examinations  I  found,  to  my 
great  joy,    that   the    yellow    Italians  were 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


297 


equally  distributed  in  both  apartments  and 
were  indiscriminately  intermixed  through- 
out the  hive. 

I  next  tried  removing  both  black  queens 
and  substituting  Italians,  to  see  whether  the 
bees  from  the  other  side  would  regard  them 
with  disfavor  :  and,  after  releasing  the  new 
queens  and  waiting  several  days,  I  examined 
the  hives  and  again  was  overjoyed  to  find  my 
pet  queens  peacefully  and  quietly  doing 
duty. 

Now,  friends,  I  have  good  reason  to  hope 
that  I  shall  yet  succeed  in  accomplishing  my 
task  of  working  out  a  successful  non-swarm- 
ing hive.  1  have  had  a  higher  motive  in  my 
nine  years'  work  in  this  line  than  the  mak- 
ing of  money  ;  and  if  I  succeed  I  will  never 
use  it  other  than  to  benetit  the  bee-keeping 
fraternity. 

I  see  that  friend  Secor  smothered  two  of 
his  best  colonies  in  trying  the  Langdon  ma- 
chine. I  should  have  expected  this  result 
where  a  full  colony  was  given  no  greater 
means  of  exit  than  a  passage  large  enough 
for  only  a  single  bee  to  pass  out.  In  my 
own  device  there  is  no  danger  of  smother- 
ing the  bees,  as  the  closed  hive  may  have  the 
entrance  at  the  back  opened  the  whole  width 
of  the  hive  if  necessary.  I  have  frequently 
noticed  that,  where  bees  from  different  hives 
got  mixed  together  in  natural  swarming, 
they  are  quite  prone  to  swarm  out  again  af- 
ter being  hived.  They  seem  to  be  in  an  ex- 
cited and  unnatural  condition.  Now,  when 
two  swarms  are  thrown  together,  as  in  Mr. 
Langdon's  plan,  the  bees  are  entire  stran- 
gers, and  I  think  this  accounts  for  their 
strong  passion  for  swarming,  as  reported  by 
R.  L.  Taylor.  In  my  plan  the  bees  are  not 
strangers  that  are  suddenly  thrown  thgether, 
but  members  of  a  common  family,  and  they 
will  be  free  from  that  excitement  that  would 
naturally  follow  from  the  home  being  sud- 
denly crowded  with  strangers,  and  I  believe 
I  shall  not  fail  from  this  cause.  In  Lang- 
don's hive,  every  bee  that  leaves  the  closed 
hive  has  to  go  into  the  already  overcrowded 
one.  In  my  hive  no  bees  go  to  the  full  hive. 
After  those  used  to  flying  have  left  the 
closed  hive,  the  yonng  bees  that  have  their 
first  flight  will  fly  from  the  hack  entrance 
and  will  return  there.  Friend  Langdon  tried 
to  critisise  this  feature  ;  but  I  regard  this  as 
being  the  strong  point  in  my  hive,  as  these 
bees  are  just  the  needed  nurses  for  the  un- 
sealed larvte,  and  are  absolutely  needed  to 
maintain  healthy  condition  and  enable  the 
queen  to  continue  her  work.  If  I  live  and 
have  the  strength  next  year,  I  shall  finish  my 
work  with  non-swarmers  ;  for  if  this  fails  I 
shall  "throw  up  the  sponge." 

But  whatever  comes  of  the  non-swarmer, 
the  house-apiary  is  a  complete  success  with 
me,  and  I  greatly  wish,  friend  Root,  that  you 
could  be  here  and  be  convinced.  I  have 
boomed  the  house-apiary  :  I  have  nursed  it 
as  my  choice  pet ;  and  now,  after  three  sea- 
sons' trial,  I  declare  that  I  made  no  mistake 
when  I  said  that  the  house-apiary  had  come 
to  stay,  and  that  soon  most  good  bee-keep- 
ers would  keep  their  bees  in  that  way. 

B.  Taylor. 

FoEESTViLLE,  Minn.,  Aug.  19,  1993." 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee   Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

fHE  Langstroth  experiment  which  I 
desired  to  condense  from  the  Apicul- 
turist  last  month  was  conducted 
eight  years  ago.  It  starts  with  Bevan's  as- 
sertion that  the  drone  "hatches"  on  the 
24th  or  25th  day  from  the  egg ;  and  the 
experiment  is  the  natural  movement  of  the 
student  who  "  wants  to  know  you  know  " 
not  only  whether  it  is  correct  but  also  wheth- 
er it  will  always  be  so,  under  all  circum- 
stances, and  with  all  strains  of  bees.  By, 
the  way  we  need  a  reform  of  language  right 
here,  even  if  we  do  have  to  reform  our  grand- 
fathers to  get  it.  An  egg  hatches.  A  young 
bee  emerges — several  weeks  after  the  hatch- 
ing takes  place.  Calling  both  these  very 
diverse  occurrings  by  the  same  name, 
"  hatching,"  may  in  some  cases  lead  to  con- 
fusion, and  is  unworthy  of  cultured  people. 
With  words  in  our  language  by  the  hundred 
thousand  we  can  afford  at  least  one  for  each 
distinct  thing. 

Well  in  this  one  experiment  (many  more 
are  needed  before  the  subject  can  be  prop- 
erly closed)  the  first  drone  emerged  in  25 
days  83^2  hours  (probably  ;)  and  the  last  one 
a  little  scant  of  27  days— quite  an  eye  open- 
er. Date  and  weather  were  favorable  to 
rapid  development :  but  the  honey  flow  was 
so  scant  that  other  colonies  killed  drones, 
and  feeding  was  resorted  to  in  the  experi- 
mental colony.  Possibly  they  might  develop 
faster  when  all  colonies  are  breeding  drones 
naturally. 

There  is  also  in  this  article  a  pretty  obser- 
vation of  the  first  acts  of  newly  emerged 
drones  and  workers.  They  are  quite  charac- 
teristic. The  worker  first  takes  a  walk,  stop- 
ping occasionally  to  make  a  "  cat's  toilet ;" 
and  soon,  having  no  doubt  got  up  an  appe- 
tite, dips  in  for  a  square  meal,  asking  no 
odds  of  anybody.  The  drone,  according  to 
the  tenor  of  his  nature,  very  soon  touches  a 
worker  bee  with  his  antennae  and  begs  to  be 
fed. 

Another  experiment  concerning  the  emerg- 
ing of  queen  and  workers  was  conducted 
ten  years  ago.  {Ar>i.  August,  pp.  14-18.)  A 
nucleus  was  made,  and  the  queen  was  re- 
moved from  it  at  such  time  that  all  the  eggs 
must  have  been  laid  inside  of  24  hours.    The 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


worker  progeny  from  these  eggs  varied  four 
days,  lacking  two  hours,  in  their  emergency 
— another  eye-opener.  The  first  worker  to 
emerge  was  only  a  day  and  a  half  behind 
the  last  queen.  The  quickest  worker  time 
was  19  days  2  hours.  The  slowest  worker 
time  22  days  3  hours. 

Canadian   Bee  journal, 

Except  in  name  the  Canadian  seems  to  be 
a  new  paper.  New  editor,  new  dress,  new 
style,  new  air — and  we've  got  to  go  to  work 
and  get  acquainted  all  over  again.  That 
superabundant  glee  in  slinging  in  the  adjec- 
tives and  things  which  we  used  to  note  will 
not  be  found  in  the  new  editor  ;  but  perhaps 
his  solid,  quiet  style  will  serve  the  purpose 
as  well.  He  can  make  a  very  forcible  sen- 
tence when  he  tries.  In  editing  he  besprink- 
les his  journal  with  short  items  in  lighter 
vein — not  a  bad  plan  perhaps — but  most  of 
them  have  no  connection  with  apiculture  ; 
and  in  this  he  is  behind  the  times,  as  com- 
pared with  the  best  journals.  His  short  edi- 
torials come  the  first  thing  ;  and  in  setting 
the  sub-heads  he  gets  in  a  pleasant  bit  of 
unusual  style.  One  of  the  proprietors  does 
some  of  the  talking  under  the  head  of 
Strictly  Business.  We  shall  have  to  wait  a 
spell  to  see  whether  the  intention  is  to  make 
the  journal  largely  editorial,  like  the  Apicul- 
turist,  or  whether  the  preponderance  of  edi- 
torials in  the  first  numbers  was  owing  to  the 
empty  pigeon-holes  with  which  a  new  sheet 
naturally  begins  life.  The  beginners  de- 
partment, First  Steps  in  Bee  Keeping,  is 
editorial,  and  seems  likely  to  be  one  of  the 
strong  points  of  the  paper — as  per  sample — 

■'  Witli  the  novice  in  the  past  it  has  too  often 
been  the  practice  to  work  the  '  Stand  and  Deliv- 
er '  plan  at  any  time  during  the  honey  season, 
and  then  the  '  Root  Hog  or  Die '  system  fol- 
lows."   Page  8. 

And  when  you  want  to  try  to  winter  a  weak 
colony  short  of  stores  don't  feed  that  one. 
Put  a  few  extra  combs  into  a  strong  colony 
that  is  being  fed,  feed  enough  for  both,  and 
transfer  the  combs  when  they  are  ready. 
See  page  3:^.  Tip  top.  Old  chaps  not  Cana- 
dians will  probably  be  most  interested  in 
Allen  Pringle's  letters  from  the  World's 
Fair.  In  the  other  journals  there  seems  to 
be  a  scarcity  of  fair  letters  at  present.  There 
is  a  lengthy  continued  article  of  good  qual- 
ity, and  illustrated,  concerning  the  bee's 
work  in  fertilizing  flowers.  No  name  is  at- 
tached,  but  it  rather  seems  to  be  editorial. 


Editorial  answers  to  communications  are 
especially  good,  and  show  vigor  of  thought. 
The  contributors  to  the  September  number 
(other  than  Pringle)  are  H.  Couse,  R.  W'. 
McDonnell,  and  G.  M.  Doolittle.  The  form- 
er well  fills  a  page  with  the  orthodox  rules 
about  Marketing  Honey — 

"  Some  days  1  sell  200  pounds  or  more  and 
often  less." 

That  encourages  me.  You  see  if  he  had 
said  that  he  sold  a  ton  each  day  for  eight 
days  each  week,  it  would  have  had  a  sort  of 
wilting  efifect  upon  me.  McDonnell  seems 
to  be  a  little  "  afeerd  "  of  those  beginners — 
almost  on  the  point  of  petitioning  the  pow- 
ers above  to  "  bless  us  four  and  no  more." 
And  then  he  has  some  sensible  words  on 
educating  people  to  use  honey. 

"  Honey  is  too  rich  for  the  ordinary  appetite 
to  have  it  served  up  by  the  spoonful  and  apart 
from  some  milder  food." 

Very  true  of  many  people.  But  then 
some  of  us  have  ea:6-a-ordinary  appetites, 
and  like  to  sail  right  into  a  lot  of  it  with 
spoon,  knife,  paddle  or  anything  that  comes 
handy.  Alas,  how  many  have  done  so  just 
once  ?  and  there  was  a  South  American  re- 
bellion down  below  ;  and  after  that,  "  Quoth 
the  raven.  Nevermore." 

Doolittle  fights  over  the  battle  of  few  bees 
much  manipulated  versus  many  bees  little 
manipulated — 

"  Few  seem  to  consider  *  *  that  each  of 
the  extra  colonies  ♦  *  costs  at  least  sixty 
poands  of  honey  to  support." 

That's  so.  A  hundred  more  colonies  anight 
eat  up  a  surplus  of  6,000  pounds  slick  and 
clean.  Yet  a  man  can  have  too  few  bees, 
and  spend  too  much  time  on  them.  Un- 
doubtedly he  can  have  too  many,  and  spend 
good  money  and  valuable  time  putting  su- 
pers on  a  horde  that  can  only  provide  their 
own  provender.  There  is  a  wise  medium 
somewhere.  Probably  it  runs  in  a  different 
place  at  different  apiaries  ;  and  one  of  the 
bee  man's  extra  important  duties  is  to  locate 
it.  Friend  Doolittle  fails  to  get  one  impor- 
tant element  of  the  decision.  Suppose  there 
are  flowers  enough  in  the  field  to  keep  150 
colonies  busy  to  visit  each  one  properly. 
The  visits  are  not  made,  and  no  honey  is 
gathered,  because  there  is  no  secretion. 
Once  in  a  while  there  comes  a  time  when  the 
flowers  do  secrete.  Then  if  only  40  colonies 
are  in  the  field  much  of  the  honey  must  be 
lost — and  no  colony    get    a    great    harvest 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


299 


either.  And  it  may  transpire  that  100  col- 
onies may  get  just  aboat  as  much  per  stand 
in  one  of  these  runs  as  40  will.  This  state  of 
things  seems  to  be  the  usual  situation  in  my 
field. 

The  General   Round  Up 

Carlyle  named  one  of   his  books  a  queer 

name  which  signified,  The  Tailor  Retailored. 

In  like  veiu  Alley  in  last  Apiculturist  might 

entitle    his    sauciest    article,    The    Miller 

Ground  Over.    Awful  for  the  miller.     And 

as  for  the  rest  of  us,  we  can  fairly  hear  the 

grim  editor  humming  softly  to  himself  — 

"  Ye  living  men  come  view  the  ground 
Where  you  must  shortly  lie." 

Our  excellent  friend  Miller  will  think  it 
pours  mostly  instead  of  raining,  as  the  Pro- 
gressive calls  for  a  rest  on  pulled  queens,  and 
"EUery  Krum,"  who  supplies  the  "Fax" 
for  Gleanings,  sings : 

"  When  a  queen  is  ready  to  gnaw  from  the  cell, 
A.ntl  gettin'  quite  ripe,  sometimes  it  is  well 
To  help  her  climb  out ;  but  then  1  have  seen 
A  waste  in  the  haste  of  pullin,  too  green." 

A.B.J,  has  a  new  department,  "Stray 
Stings."  As  is  becoming  for  stings,  it  is 
quite  sharp.  Poetical  also ;  and  none  but 
hardened  old  chaps,  and  spectators,  can  see 
the  poetry  of  getting  stung. 

Almost  equal  to  Topsy  at  confessing   a 

fault  is  the  Enterprise.     Being  belated  with 

the  Angust  number  it  comes  out  floating  the 

following  "  poem  "  at  mast  head  : 

"  He  never  did  a  thing  on  time  ; 
For  him  all  others  had  to  wait. 
Promptness  he  took  to  be  a  crime, 
And  even  his  drink  was  choco-LATE." 

Books  teach  that  drones  from  a  pure  moth- 
er are  not  affected  by  her  mating.  To  test 
this,  two  yellow  sister  queens  of  five-banded 
stock  were  taken.  One  was  mated  to  a 
black  drone,  and  the  other  was  made  to  lay 
without  mating  at  all.  The  virgin  mother's 
drones  were  all  alike,  and  very  yellow,  just 
as  drones  of  five-banded  stock  should  be. 
Those  from  the  mismated  queen  were  about 
all  styles  and  colors  except  black.  Now  this 
might  happen  by  accident ;  but  it  looks  sus- 
picions. 

Whose  experiment  is  the  above  ?  Willie 
Atchley's— and  he  is  going  to  conduct  a 
queen-rearing  department  in  the  Enterprise 
— the  youngest  in  the  world  no  doubt  to 
have  such  a  charge.  But  if  a  boy  mows 
more  grass  than  any  man  in  the  world  why 
shouldn't  he  write  about  mowing  ? 

"  1  will  try  to  tell  what  little  1  have  learned  so 
yon  may  understand  it  without  any  grammar." 
Page  59. 


Bravo,  Willie  !  We  won't  grumble  a  bit, 
so  long  as  yon  give  us  facts,  and  carefully 
conducted  experiments.  Good  thing  if  half 
the  writers  in  the  world  could  be  deprived  of 
grammar — and  forced  to  put  in  some  infor- 
mation to  fill  up  the  vacancy,  else  wind  up. 

Friend  Lovesy  writes  "  from  the  inside  "  a 
letter  on  Mormon  social  afifairs  which  is  very 
interesting,     A.  B.  J.,  369. 

If  editor  York  keeps  on  he'll  photograph 
the  whole  of  us  drawn  up  "300,000  strong." 
Eight  Australians  last  time. 

Prospect  for  two  more  babies  for  Uncle 
Sam's  post  office  department  to  strangle. 

Mrs.  Atchley  talks  business  on  the  winter- 
ing problem.  Send  her  a  car  load  of  bees 
and  she  will  paddle  their  canoe  all  winter 
for  50  cents  per  colony  and  send  them  back 
in  the  spring.  .4.  B.  J.,  304.  If  the  right 
railroad  official  could  be  moved  to  foster  this 
infant  for  a  few  years  it  would  grow  to  be  a 
big  man  perhaps. 

■■  In  our  wanderings  among  bee-keepers  we 
find  that  shade  boards  are  rarely  used."  Ernest 
Root.    Gleanings  633. 

Dr.  Miller  caught  a  laying  worker  at  her 
nefarious  trick.  The  worker  cell  she  had 
backed  into  pushed  the  wings  up  about  her 
head  in  a  very  uncomfortable  looking  way. 
And  that  seems  to  be  the  reason  why  laying 
workers  almost  always  choose  drone  cells. 
Gleanings  627. 

And  now  Ernest  finds  that  the  Boardman 
solar  beats  the  chemical  processes  of  the  wax 
room  in  getting  wax  out  of  dirty  refuse. 
Gleanings  687.  Not  quite  level  yet.  Horse 
eats  cow's  "orts,"  and  cow  eats  horse's 
"orts."  Just  so,  I  suspect,  the  solar  does 
well  on  chemical  refuse,  and  the  chemicals 
do  well  on  solar  refuse. 

And  A.  I.  finds  that  in  this  summer's 
drouth  many  things  won't  grow  when  yon 
do  water  them.  Same  way  here — have  a 
mind  of  their  own,  and  are  convinced  that 
our  watering  is  a  mere  sell. 

Guess  Dr.  Miller  makes  a  center  shot  when 
he  reminds  us  that  unfindable  cells  are  usually 
the  forced  work  of  qneenless  bees.  Glean- 
ings 673. 

Punic  drones  from  two  colonies  scatter 
through  the  whole  apiary  at  Dr.  Miller's. 
This  is  a  very  valuable  proof  of  what  has 
been  quite  generally  assumed.  And  the  oc- 
casional crossing  of  bees  at  long  distances  is 
not  caused  by  queens  flying  long  distances, 
but  by  drones  going  moderate  distances  to 
a  playground,  and  going   home    with    new 


300 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


friends  to  a  different  apiary,  and  doing  the 
same  thing  next  day.  There  need  be  no 
wonder  if  a  drone  gets  20  miles  from  home 
and  fertilizes  a  queen  there. 

These  two  from  Dr.  Miller,  Gleanings  699, 
are  good  enough  to  steal. 

"  A  queen  has  about  5,000  eyes  ;  a  wurker  from 
that  to  6.1X10.  and  a  drone  twice  as  many  as  a 
worker.  I'm  glad  I'm  not  a  bee,  for  with  only 
two  eyes  I  can  see  much  that  ought  to  be  done." 

"  A  queen's  brain  is  not  so  large  as  that  of  a 
worker,  and  Cheghire  thinks  a  queen  does'nt 
know  as  much  as  a  worker.  The  queen  lays 
eggs,  and  the  workers  run  all  the  other  business 
of  the  hive." 

Right  in  part,  no  doubt.  The  queen's 
world  is  mnch  more  contracted  than  the 
worker's  world ;  but  she  masters  it  more 
thoroughly,  I  think.  When  she  is  bold  she 
is  bold  ;  but  when  she  is  timid  it  is  easy  to 
perceive  that  her  eyesight  is  better  than  a 
worker's,  and  that  she  plays  squirrel  with 
you  when  you  are  seeking  her. 

Richards,  Lucas  Co.,  Ohio,  Sept.  23,  '9.3. 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


IMPORT  AWT^^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  havp  gainpd  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  Those  who  have  tpsted  them 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  tlieir  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

FIVE-BHflDED   WORKEt^S 

In  March,  April  and  May.  f  1.2.T  each,  f,  for  $6.00; 
.Tune,  SUKleach.  6  for  $o.(K);  .July  to  Nov..  $1.00 
each,  6  for  $4..tI),  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  fordescrii>tivecircular. 
12-9:i-tf  C  D    DUVALL, 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 


UlnstTaied    Artvertlsements  Attract    Attention. 


cuts  FarnlsM  for  all  illastratlDg  PurDoses. 


TYPEWRITERS. 

Largest  like  establishment  in  the  world.  First- 
class  becouU-hand  Instruments  at  half  new  prices. 
Unprejudiced  advice  given  on  all  makes.  Ma- 
chines sold  on  monthly  payments.  Any  instru- 
ment manufactured  shipped.privilege  to  examine. 
EXCHAN'GING  A  SPECIALTY.  Wholesale  prices 
to  dealers.    Illustrated  Catalogues  Free. 

TYPEWRITER  S  31  Broadway,  New  York. 
HEADUUAETEES,  \  ^^  Monroe  St.,  Chicaga 


Bind  Your  Back  Volumes. 

The  back  volumes  of  the  Review  are  some- 
what different  from  those  of  some  journals  : 
many  of  them  are,  to  a  large  extent,  little  pam- 
phlets devoted  to  the  discussion  of  special  top- 
ics. For  this  reason  they  will  always  be  partic- 
ularly valuable  for  reference.  But  how  provok- 
ing it  is  when  desiring  to  consult  some  bsck 
number,  to  find  that  that  particular  number  is 
missing— has  been  lost  or  mislaid.  To  avoid 
such  annoyance,  some  have  fastened  together 
the  issues  of  each  year  by  tacking  them  together 
with  wire  nails,  or  something  of  the  sort.  This 
is  better  than  nothing,  but  there  is  a  lack  of 
flexibility,  the  book  does  not  open  out  easily  so 
that  it  can  be  read,  there  is  no  protection  to  the 
outside  leaves,  besides  there  is  nothing  hand- 
some about  such  an  arrangement. 

There  is  a  book  binder  here  in  Flint  that  does 
excellent  work  at  a  fair  price.  He  will  put  the 
first  five  volumes  of  the  Review  into  one  hand- 
some volume  with  morocco  back  and  corners, 
putting  the  title  on  the  back  in  gilt  letters,  and 
giving  the  edges  of  the  leaves  a  neat,  reddish 
tinge  — all  for  $1.25. 

Send  me  your  back  numbers,  either  by  mail  or 
express,  and  I  will  get  the  work  done  and  return 
the  book  when  bound,  making  no  charge  for  my 
services,  as  the  binder  allows  me  a  small  com- 
mission, and  should  any  of  yonr  back  numbers 
or  volumes  be  missing,  1  shall  be  glad  to  furnish 
them  as  long  as  the  supply  lasts,  simply  charg- 
ing the  regular  price  for  them,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows: Vols.  1  and  II.  five  cents  a  copy;  Vol.  Ill, 
four  cents  a  copy  ;  Vols.  IV  and  V.  eight  cents  a 
copy. 

The  time  will  soon  come  when  some  of  the 
back  numbers  will  be  difficult  to  obtain,  and  if 
yon  care  for  the  Review  complete  from  the  be- 
ginriiu^r,  nicely  bounri,  now  is  the  time  to  attend 
toil  \V.  /,    Hl'TCHINSON,    Flint,   Micii. 


Interesting  Monthly  for 

The  Family  and  Fireside 

Welcome  In  every  Home. 

I..arKePrenilaniit  for  Clubs. 

Sample  Copy  sent  Btee. 

Thomas  G.  Newman, 

147  Southwestern  Ave., 
CHICAOO,     •      -     11X8. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


301 


I  Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers. 


m  u 

ia  TYPE  WRITTEN.  E 

BBBBEEiEiBEEEEiSBEEEEEEEiBEBiEiB 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (.in  the  largest  States)  . 
and,  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2.50 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  Flint,  Mich. 


Second  Hand      I 

€ 

F    %^       Supplies.  I 

the 

second         ^. 
hand  supplies  that 
1  have  been   advertis 


CATGHIILL 


The  orders  for  un- 
tested queens  at  To  cts  each  ;  six  for  $4.00.  Test- 
ed queens,  $1  50  each,  three  for  $4.00.  Two- 
rame  nucleus  with  any  queen  $1.50  each,  extra. 
Safe  arrival  guaranteed.  7  93-lt 

W.  J.  ELLISON,  Catchall,  S.  C. 


ing  in  the    Review,    the 
following  remain   unsold  :  — 

100  old-style,  Heddon  surplus 
cases  at  20  cts.  (as  a  non-separatored 
case,  they  have  no  superior) ;  2.5  slatted 
honey  boards  at  10  cts.  ;  20  Heddon  feeders 
at  40  cts. ;  and  half  a  dozen  single  -  comb 
nuclei  for  exhibiting  bees  at  fairs.  They 
have  glass  sides,  removable  covers  and  are 
painted  a  bright  vermillion.  They  cost 
$2.00  each,  but  will  be  sold  at  half  -  price. 
All  these  are  practically  as  good  as  new. 

W.  I.  HUTCHINSON,  Flint,  Miclian. 

The  Golden  Beauties.^ 

Our  five-banded   Italian  queens,   warranted 
purely  mated,  at  75  cts  each  :  two   for  $1.25. 
Tested,  $1.00  each  ;  two  for  $1.50.    Safe  arri- 
val guaranteed        C.  B.  BANKSTON 
2-93-tf  ("hriesman,  Texas. 


Great  Reduction.    OaWs  comb  Foundation. 


SECTIONS    AT     GREATLY    REDUCED 

PRICES. 
HIVES,  SHIPPING  CASES,  <fcc..  AT  BED- 
ROCK PRICES. 
WRITE    FOR   FREE.    ILLUSTRATED  (UTA- 
LOGUE  AND  PRICE  LIST. 

G.  B.  LEWIS  CO.,  Watertown,  Wis. 

/  93-1  f.  Please  mention  the    Review, 


Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  competitors 
acknowledge  that  our  goods  are  the  Standard 
of  their  kind.  Langstrotli  on  the  Honey 
Bee,  Revised.  New  edition.  Bee  Veils; 
anil  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samplfs  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners        Send    your    address    to 

CHAS.D&DANT&SO?!,  Hamilton,  Ills. 

4-93-l2t  PI.  as-  mention   ih-  Reuie  ■ . 


Hastings'  Lightning  Ventilated  Bee  Escape. 


Agricultural  College,  Mich.  Sent.  1 
"t  have  used  the  LightQing  Bee  E~capes  vou 
sent  aod  find  them  certainly  the  equal  of  the 
Pnrier.  and  their  superior  for  the  reason  that 
they  will  eraptv  a  super  more  rapidlv." 

Yours  respectfully,     J.  H.  LARRABEE. 
'•It  is  our  opinion  that  you  have  the  best  Bee 
Escape  ever  introduced." 

A.  I.  ROOT,  Medina,  Ohio. 

Honolulu.  Hawaiian  Islands.  April  25,  92. 

"Please  send  me  bv  return  mail  5  Lightning 

Ventilated  Bee  Escapes.   I  have  the  Porter,  and 

the  Dihbern  and  they  hoth  clog." 

Yours  truly,     JOHN  PARNSWORTH. 


"IT  LEADS  THEJI   ALL." 
Read  Testimonials  of  a  few  successftil 

Bee-keepers. 
Send  for  Sample  and  after  a  (rial  jrou 

ill  use  no  other. 
(R'alogue  sent  on  applirat 


Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.,  March  20.  -93. 
*'i  shall  take  pleasure  in  recommending  them 
as  the  best  I  have  ever  used. 

Truly  yours,        J.  E.  HETHERINGTOK. 
"We  believe  you  have  an  Escape  that  'downs' 
the  Porter.' 

T.  PHILLIP  &  CO.,  Orillia.  Ont,,  Canada. 
"Your  Escape  knocks  out  all  competitors." 

A,  J.  LINDLEY,  Jordan,  Ind. 

"They  did  not  clog,  and  cleared  the  supers 

rapidly.    In  fact  it  is  the  best  Escape  I  have 

yet  used.     I  cannot  speak  too  highlv  of  it.  and 

consider  it  a  great  boon  to  bee-keepers.  ' 

E,  CLARK,  Oriskanr 


Price,  by  aail,  each,  20e.  per  doz.  $2.25.  M.  E.  HASTINGS,  MEW  YORK  MILLS,  ONEIDA  CO.,  N.  Y. 


302 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Cut  the  Price. 

This  is  what  Mr.  G.  E.  Dawson  of  Car- 
lisle, Ark.,  writes  me.  You  may  remem- 
ber that  he  is  the  man  who  got  no  or- 
ders. He  is  raising  good  queens  and  is 
bound  that  they  shall  be  tried,  hence 
he  offers  them  as  follows :  Untested, 
65  cts. ;  three  for  $1.7.5 ;  six  for  $3.00; 
twelve  for  $5.00.  Tested,  $1.25.  Select 
tested,  yellow  to  the  very  tip,  $1.50. 
— Ed.     Review, 


Plea.""  mention  *he  Reuieui. 


If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 


Muth's : 


ONEY    EXTRACTOR 

PERFECTION 
Cold-Blast    Smokers, 
Squ&^re  6I&SS  Honey  J^^r^,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  Chas.  F.  Mtjth  &  Son, 
Cor.  Freeman  &  ('entral  Aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hints  to  BeeKeepers. 

1-93-tf.  Plensp  Mmtion  the  Reuieui. 


GO    TO 

HEAD 
QUARTERS 

FOR  4  AND  5  BANDED 

i^  QUEENS 

Special,  breeding  queen,     $5.00 

Best,  select,  tested,    ."^.OO 

Tested 2.50 

Untested 1.00 

"       per  dozen,      ..     9.00 

L.  L.  HEARN. 
7-93-tf  Oakvale,  W.  Va. 

Please  mention   the  Reuiew. 

GOiMN~iT»"*H  QUEENS 

Now  ready  for  $1.00  each.    Do  not  order  your 
supplies  until  you  see  our  circular  for  189.3.     For 
the  price,  we  have  the  best  spraying  outfit  made. 
Send  $1.50  and  get  one.     Wm.  H.  BRIGHT, 
l-93-12t  Mazeppa,  Minn. 


ITAIIAN  QUEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

Foii    ises. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  your  interest,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.  P.  H.   BROWN, 
1-88-tf.  Augusta,  Georgia. 

Please  mention   the   Reuiew 


For  $  1 .50  I  will  ?epcl 
the  Review  for  I  893 
zipcl  a  fine,  young, 
Iziyipg,  Itzilizvp  queen. 
Queen  alone,  75  cts. 


QUEENS 


^ 

^ 


For  $  1 .75  I  will  sen<I  the 


Review,  the  queen  an<J       Aclvzvnced  Bee  <5ul- 
Testecl  queen5»  $  *  -00.  The  Review  an<J 

Zi  tested  queen  $  1 .75 

A  discount  on  large 

I?R\^IR\a/         M     order?.  W.  Z.  Hutcb- 

i  •''^<'^'  ^••''^'  ^•^*'-  - 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


303 


Tbe   Cbzvropion  SrooKcr. 

The  ORIGINAL  curved  nozzle,  steel  lined,  Bel 
lows  Smoker.  The  fire-chamber  is  3',2x7  inches 
with  a  corrugated  steel  lining,  which  allows  a  cold 
current  of  air  to  pass  between  lining  and  outside 
shell ;  keeps  the  outer  shell  cool  and  more  than 
doubles  the  durability  of  the  Smoker.  It  has  a  FORCE 
draft,  iind  8PARK-ARRESTiN(i  (ONE  connPCti"n  be 
tween  bellows  and  fire-chaml)er;  a  base-valve  to 
either  keep  or  extinguish  the  fire  at  pleasure;  and 
a  removable  apaik-arrestiug  (iKATE  in  the  curvfd 
nozzle. 

Price,  by  mail,  $1.90 ;  by  express,  81. 05 
If  your  supply  dealer  cannot  supply   you,  write 
to  the  manufacturer, 

E.  KRETCHA\ER,  R«<I  Oz^Kr  lowa. 
Boe  Supply  tlatalog  of  70  Illustrated  Pages,  free. 


HONEY 


Superior  Quality  ;    Price  Low. 


^boui    tbe 

MEW     HIVE. 

ri5H  for  He4<lon's  Circulz^rj.     A<l<lress 
Jf\S.    HEDDOyS,     DoWAgiziC,   A\icb. 


HUNT'S 

FOUNDATION 

FACTORY. 

Send  for  free  samples  of  foundation  and  sec- 
tions ;  warranted  good  as  any  made.  Dealers, 
write  for  special  prices  and  the  most  favorable 
conditions  ever  offered  on  foundation.  Send  for 
new,  illustrated,  free  price-list  of  a  Jull  line  of 
supplies.  M.  H.  HUNT. 

1-93-tf  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 


Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Langstroth,  Dovetailed  and  C!hampion  Chaff 
Hives,  Supers,  One  Piece  Sections  antl  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16  page  C'ircular. 
1-92-tf  PAGE  &  KEITH.  New  London.  Wis. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieuf- 

New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS, 
FOUNDATION  FASTENERS, 

SECTION  PRESSES  AND  FEEDERS. 

Special  prices  given  to  parties  who  will  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  and  particulars,  address 

LOWRY  JOHNSON, 

1-93-tf.  Masontown,  Pa. 


Bee  -  Keepers'  Head  -  Quarters —The  Louisana  Hole 

EDROPEAN  PLAN. H.  L.  DAILEY,  MGR. 

Located  at  the  Corner  of  71st  St.  and  Ave.  B,  Two  Blocks  from  the  South  Side  of  World's 

Fair  Grounds,  and  One  Block  East  of  Stony  Island  Avenue  and  Parkside  Station. 

Nearly  300  Large,  Light  and  Well- Ventilated  Rooms.  All  modern  Conveniences.  Hot  and  Cold 
Water  on  every  floor.  Free  Baths  Electric  Call  Bells.  Lighted  with  Gas  an  Electricity.  Steam 
and  Electric  Cars  pass  near  the  Door  every  15  minutes. 

Rates— Mc,  ISc,  aM  $1.00  per  Day.  Meals,  25c.  ai  Dnwartl. 

How  to  Reaoli  the  Hotel,  Parties  arriving  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R  R.,  take  the 
World's  Fair  train  at  the  Rock  Island  Junction  to  the  Exposition  Depot,  opposite  the  Louisiana 
hotel;  or  if  you  arrive  on  any  of  these  railroads—  Big  4.  Nickle  Plate,  Lake  Shore,  Pennsylvania, 
Michigan  Central,  or  Illinois  Central  -  Get  off  at  Grand  Crossing  and  take  an  Electric  Car  to  Park- 
side  Station.  If  you  arrive  at  the  Main  Depot  of  any  other  R.  R.,  take  Illinois  Suburban  (South 
Chicago)  train  to  said  Parkside  Station,  and  walk  one  block  east. 


3U4 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


SHIPPINO 

—  AND  — 


Pasteboard   Boxes  or  Cartons, 


Everything  used   by  Bee  -  Keepers.     Catalogrne  and  Price  List   free.    Ask  for  a  copy  of  the 
AMERICAN    BEE  -  KEEPER  (50  cts.  a  yearj  especially   for  beginners 

Tin©   -VST.  T.  IP-A.IJOONH3R,    l^FCa-.  00.,.Ja.ixiestown,  N.  "ST. 


PATENT.  WIRED,  COMB  FOUIATION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

TMii,  Flat  -  Bottom  Fofluflatlon 

HAS  NO  FISHBONE  IN  SURPLUS  HONEY- 

Being  the   cleanest,    it    is   usually 
worked  quicker  than  any  fdn.  made. 
J.   VAN  DEU8EN   &   SONS, 

(SOLE    MANTJF.\CTDBEBS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,  Mont.  Cc.N.Y 

The  Bee- Keepers' 

ENTERPRISE. 

A  cyclopedia  of  fresh,  bright,  original  ideas 
pertaining  to  Bee-Culture,  carefully  selected  and 
boiled  down  for  busy  people.  Published  monthly 
at  50  cts— sent  from  now  until  Jan .  95  for  50  cte. 

BURTOTH  L.  SAGE,  /Hew  Hav^n,  CoijO. 

Italian    Queens 

From  imported  mother,  warranted  purely  mated, 
$1.00  each :  six  at  one  time.  $5.00.  Untested 
queens,  65  cts  each. 

C.  A.  BUNCH, 
7-93-2t  i\ye,  Marshall  Co.,  Ind. 


CI 


Golden" 


Florida. 


My  location  enables  me  to  rear  good  queens 
N  O  W  as  cheaply  as  they  can  be  reared  in  the 
North  at  anytime.  Untested  queens,  75  cts. 
each ;  6  for  $4.00 ;  one  dozen,  $7.50.  Last  year's 
tested  queen,  $1.25;  select,  $1.75 ;  breeder,  $2  50. 
Safe  arrival  and  satisfaction  guaranteed.    1-92-tf 

J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Vol.  Co.,  Fla. 


If  you  are  going  to — 


BUY  A  BXJZZ  -  SAVS^, 

write  to  tho  editor  of  the  Kevikw.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 


IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $1.'  0 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  ('allege,  Mich., 
for  his 

Bee- Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 


BEES 


QXJEElSrS, 

SECTIONS,    SMOKEBS, 
^^___^^^  COMB   FOUNDATION 

.And  all  .Apiarian  Supplies.     Send  for  Catalogue. 
E.  T.  FLANAGAN,  Belleville,  111. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieu/. 

Just    Splendid. 

Mr.  AUey— The  queen  I  got  of  you  last  fall  ie 
just  splendid  !    She  is  the  best  qneen  in  an  api- 
ary 150  colonies.    I  would  not  take  $10  for  her. 
John  A.  Pease,  Moravia,  Calif. 
Price  of  such  queens  is  $1.00  each. 

HENRY  ALLEY, 

Wenham,  Mass. 

Please  mention  the  Reuieu. 


-4  THE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE- KEEPER  V^ 

£ISLB   Olna-ngeci    Hands.         It   is   no-w   I=u.tolisli©ci   toy   ttie 

LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

Hlgginsvllle,    Mlsgonri. 

Money,  Experience  and  Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicates.        Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  2S-page  Catalogae  of  Apiarian  Sappliee. 


NOV,,    1893. 


At  Flir\t,   Micl^igaq. — Oqe  Dollar  a  Year. 


306 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Advertising  {^ates. 

All  adyertisemente  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  linch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  f  ollows : 

Ou  10  lines  and  upwards,  S  times,  5  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  0  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  percent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  30  lines  and  upwards,  8  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  80  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  tinies, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Ltist. 


1  will  send  the  Review  with— 

Gleanings, ($1.00).. 

American  Bee  Journal (   1.00) . . 

Canadiau  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  1.00) . . 
American  Bee  Keeper  . . .  {  .50) . . 
Progressive  Bee  Keeper... (    .50). 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    .50) . . 

Apiciilturist (    .75).. 

Bee-Keepers'  Enterprise . .  (    .50) . 


.81.75. 
.  1.75. 
.  1.75. 
.  1.40. 
.  1.30. 
.  1.40. 
.  1.65. 
. .  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 


The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  weU  filled ;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otherwise ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1.— .\11  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed ;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"  No.  1  dark,"  etc. 


KANSAS   CITY,  Mo.— We  quote  as  follows: 

No.  1  white,  15  to  16 ;  No.  1  amber,  13  to  14;  No.  1 

dark,  10  to  12 ;  white  extracted,  6Vi  to  7  ;  amber 

extracted,  6 ;  dark  extracted,  5.  Beeswax,  20  to  ^. 

(^LEMONS-MASON  CO., 

Nov.  1.  521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 


CHICAGO.Ill.— Honey.— The  limited  demand 
for  comb  honey  does  not  permit  our  quoting  it 
above  16c,  with  no  sales  oi  white  selling  below 
14  to  uy%.  The  stock  that  we  have  received  this 
year  is  of  fine  quality,  and  we  advise  forwarding 
to  market  at  once,  so  as  to  be  received  here  be- 
fore the  cold  weather  sets  in.  Extracted  is  sell- 
ing at  6  to  6 Vs.    Beeswax,  23. 

Oct.  18.  S.  T.  FISH  &  Co., 

189  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y.— Honey  is  moving  very  slow- 
ly, but  the  demand  will  no  doubt  soon  increase. 
Stock  is  light  for  this  time  of  the  year.  We  liave 
orders  for  seviral  tons  of  buckwheat  honey 
which  we  can  place  at  about  Id  f's.  We  quote 
as  follows  :  fancy  white,  14  to  15:  No.  1  white.  12 
to  13;  fancy  dark,  10  to  11;  No.  1  dark.  8r<>9; 
white  extractfd,  7  1o  8;  dark,  5  to  6.  Befeswax, 
25  to  30. 

BATTERSON  «  CO .  . 

Nov.  r.  167  &  169  Scott  St..  Buffalo;  N.  Y. 


CHICAGO  III. — There  is  plenty  of  honey  com- 
ing in  and  plenty  of  buyers  for  fancy  stock. 
There  is  good  demand  for  white  extracted  which 
is  becoming  scarce.  Some  inquiry  for  beeswax. 
Honey  has  sold  well  this  fall.  We  quote  as  fol- 
lows :  fancy  white,  15 ;  No.  1  white.  14 ;  fancy  am- 
ber, 14;  No  1  amber,  13;  fancy  dark  13;  No.  1 
dark,  12 ;  white  extracted,  7 ;  dark,  5Vi.  Bees- 
wax, 20  to  22. 

J.  A.  LAMON. 

Nov.  1.  U  &48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


CINCINN.\TI,  Ohio.— Demand  from  manufac- 
turers for  extracted  honey  is  slow,  while  that  for 
table  use  is  fair.  It  brings  from  5  to  8  cts..  ac- 
cording to  quality.  Choice  comb  honey  is  in 
good  demand  at  from  14  to  16  cts.  Arrivals  are 
good  for  all  kinds  of  honey.  Beeswax  is  in  slow 
(lemand  while  arrivals  are  large.  It  brings  20  to 
23  ct8.  ff)r  KC)od  to  choice  yellow  wax. 

CHAS.  F.  MUTH  &  SON.. 

Sept.  26.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.,  —  We  are  receiving 
large  shipments  of  honey  bat  they  are  mostly  of 
poor  quality.  Fancy  white  is  selling  at  18  to  20 
cts.,  but  we  are  cleaning  up  more  No.  1  white  at 
16  cts.  than  anything  else.  We  quote  as  follows  : 
Fancy  white,  18  to  20;  No.  1, 16 ;  fancy  amber.  15 ; 
fancy  dark.  14;  white  extracted,  7V4  to  8;  dark 
extracted,  6'4  to  6?i.    No  sale  for  beeswax. 

J.  A.  SHEA  &  CO., 
116  First  Ave.,  North,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Sept.  27, 


CHICAGO,  lU.  —  Fancy  white  comb  honey 
brings  15c  per  pound.  Grades  not  grading  first- 
class  are  not  selling  at  over  14c.  as  there  has 
been  quite  a  quantity  of  California  honey  re- 
ceived here  that  is  offered  at  14c.  The  quality  is 
superior  to  most  of  that  we  receive.  Dark  hon- 
ey sells  slowly  at  12  to  13c.  Extracted  ranges 
from  5  to  7c  per  lb.,  according  to  color,  quality, 
flavor  and  style  of  package.  Beeswax  22c  per 
lb.  The  trade  in  honey  has  been  large  this  sea- 
son. 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 

Nov.  1.  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


NEW  YORK.  N.  Y.— The  market  on  white  comb 
honey  is  weak  and  shows  no  activity.  The  sup- 
ply is  plenty  and  the  arrivals  large,  hence  prices 
have  a  downward  tendency  and  concepsions  have 
to  be  made  in  order  to  effect  sales.  Fancy  dark 
is  scarce  and  in  good  demand  Extracted  re- 
mains quiet  with  plenty  of  stock  on  the  market. 
We  quote  as  follows  :  fancy  white.  13  to  14 ;  No. 
1  white,  12  to  13;  fancy  amber.  12  to  13;  fancy 
dark,  11  to  12  :  white  extracted,  6  to  6!4  ;  amber 
extracted,  5i4  to  6.    Beeswax,  24  to  25. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  8EGELKEN, 

Nov.  2.        28  &  30  Weat  Broadway  New  York. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


807 


^IDTEH    L.OSSES 


D 


Are  not    always    the    result    of    the    same     cause.      They  ®) 

may     come     from     starvation  ;     from     poor     food  ;    from  H 

improper  preparations  ;  from    imperfect   protection  ;  from  ^ 

a    cold,     wet,     or    possibly     a     poorly    ventilated     cellar;  -g^ 

etc.,     etc.      Successful     wintering-   comes    from   a   proper  g 

combination     of     different     conditions.     For     clear,   con-  ]©) 

cise,     comprehensive      conclusions     upon     these     all-im-  B 

portant     points,     consult      "Advanced    Bee    Culture."  j^ 

Five  of  its  thirty  -  two  chapters  treat  as  many    different  rr^ 

phases     of     the     wintering"     problem.  jrai 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts.;  the  Review  one  year  and  the  ]@) 

book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian.  S 

W.  Z.  HOTCHINSO]^,  Flint,  Mich.  M 


HOiSEY 


Superior  Quzility  ;    Price  Low. 


^bout    the 


MEW    HIVE. 


fish  for  He<l«lon's  Circular?.     A<}<lress 
JfiS.    HEDDOrt,     Dowaji&c,   r\ich. 


Please  m*>ntion   the   Rfuieu 


New  as  Well  as  Valuable 

IMPROVEMENTS 

IN  BEE-HIVES,  SMOKERS, 

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Special  prices  givpn  to  parties  who  wiU  take 
hold  of  and  push  the  sale  of  these  goods.  For 
circulars  aud  particulars,  address 


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Masontown,  Pa. 


P]]|]P,  A  Whole  Year's  Snteription 

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For  the  Full  Particulars  of  this  Liberal  Offer  of  America's  Oldest,  Largest 
and  Best  Bee-Paper, 

SEND  AT  ONCE  FOR  A  FREE  SAMPLE  COPY. 

Address,  GEORGE  W.  YORK  &  CO.,  56  Fifth  Ave.,  CHICAGO,  I1,L. 

To  New  Subscribers :  The  Journal  Alone  Sent  for  Three  Months  for  Twenty  Gents. 


3u8 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


^^^«S^^^^^:;^::s^^ \  \  \  \  \  \  n  \  \  \,n  \  \  \  \  \  \  \/j> 


11 
jl 

i 

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% 


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pop  Only  50Cts. 


HIS  journal  has  a  big  circulation  because  it  is  made  up  of 
practical  ideas,  good  printing  and  paper,  and  tirst-class  original  engravings 
— yes,  lots  of  'em ;  in  fact,  because  it  has  MERIT.  But  ■\nerii  alone  won't 
boom  the  circulation  ;  so  we  propose  to  ofifer  it  TO  NEW  SUBSCRIBERS 
from  now  until  January,  1895,  for  $1.00.  For  %2J^  we  will  send  the 
journal  to  new  subscribers  from  now  until  January,  1895,  and  one  of  those 
new,  imoroved,  Crane  smokers,  postpaid.  Crane  smoker  alone,  $2.00.  Send 
for  our  free,  illustrated,  .52-page  catalogue  of  bee-keepers  supplies  and  sample 
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m 

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m 


m 


A.  I.  ROOT,  MEDINA,  0. 


Twelve  A\ontbs 

The  Canadian  Bee  Journal,,  a  live  bee 
paper  edited  by  R.  F,  Holterman,  will  be  sent 
to  any  new  subscriber  for  twelve  months  for 
.")()  cents  in  stamps  or  silver.  Renewals.  $1.00 
uer  year.  Address  GOOLD,  SHAPLEY  & 
MUIR  CO,.  Ltd.,  Brantford,  Canada. 

50    Cents. 


i'*/ease  mention  the  ffeu'iew. 


mmm  m- 


To  hold  twelve,  Ih  sections,  or  fourteen  7- 
to-the-foot,  at  $6,00  per  100— with  glass,  $6.ti5. 
They  are  of  fine  material,  and  the  workman- 
ship is  of  the  best.  Send  for  free  price  list  of 
everything  needed  in  the  apiary.  9-9;j-tf 

M.  H.  HUNT,  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew. 


r^-p^A'B**'  s  of  :^^ Keepers  Supplies. 

Tor  *9^  Klf'^WiSLEAHY  MFG.  CO.  HiGGlHSVlLLE 


as  great  labor-saving  implements  by  ("has.  Dadant  &  Son,  Prof  A.  J.  Cook,  Chas.  F.  Muth, 
Jno.  8.  Reese,  J.  H.  Martin,  Jno.  Andrews,  F.  A.  Gemmill,  Wm.  McEvoy,  A  F.  Brown. 
Thop.  Pierce,  and  many  other  prominent  bee-keepers.  Descriptive  circular  and  testimo- 
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MENTION  THE  REVIEW.  Address        R.  &.  E.  C.  PORTER,    LewISTOWN,    ILL 


'«f>© 


ee-J\eepeps'  Kevieoj 


A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  tl^e   Interests  of   Hoqey   Producers. 

$L00   A   YEAR. 

W.  Z.HOTCHINSOfi,  EditoP  &  Prop. 

VOL  VL         FLINT,    MICHIGAN,     NOV.    10,    1893  NO. 


AV'ork  at    IVIicliigaii's 

Experimental 

-A-piary. 

E.  L.  TATLOB.  APIARIST. 
AN    EXPEEIMENT   IN   FEEDING   BACK. 

Hungry  fates  ! 
Where  went  those  other  hundred  weights  ? 
Siiddenly  retreating  "'  up  the  spout  ?  " 
Like  a  babble  wlien  its  time  is  out  ? 

HT  the  end  of 
the  white  clo- 
ver honey  season, 
finding  I  had  a 
large  number  of 
unfinished  sec- 
tions on  hand, as 
well  as  honey  to 
extract,  I  planned 
to  make  an  ex- 
periment in  feed- 
inff  back  extract- 
ed honey  to  se- 
cure the  completion  of  the  sections.  The 
experiment  was  begun  about  the  last  week 
in  .July  and  was  continued  for  about  four 
weeks.  This  was  too  long  a  time  for  the 
amount  of  work  done.  This  is  to  be  ac- 
counted for  partly  by  the  weather  during 
August  which  was  characterized  by  unusually 
cool  nights  and  partly  by  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  colonies  used  were  not  so  strong  as 
they  should  have  been.  I  also  think  that  the 
feeders  used  were  partly  to  blame.  They 
were    Heddon    feeders    brought    from    the 


Agricultural  College.  It  may  be  they  were 
not  properly  made,  at  all  events  when  I 
came  to  feed  for  winter  I  found  I  could  feed 
half  a  dozen  with  a  tin  pan  to  one  with  one 
of  those  feeders. 

The  only  preparation  of  the  colonies  to  be 
used  was,  where  they  were  not  already  con- 
fined to  one  section  of  the  Heddon  hive,  to 
so  confine  them  by  removing  the  extra  sec- 
tions of  the  hive  containing  the  least  brood. 


en  I  — 
3C  O 
IOC   I    -a  >:  l;  1 


*>■  00  3c  ^  h- 1-" ; 


Weight  of 
sections  put 
on. 


Amount  fed. 


w  I  gcc-jjSSSo  I  Amount 
'^1  =?'r'^*"r'T^^  I  removed. 


CO  OO  +-  2;  0--  CI  OC 


Gain. 


oi  *.  m  iji cu  syi  OS  I  ±'er  Cent,  or 
^'^''"^^*-  I  gainofam't 
fed. 


cc  t-^  zc  K,  oz  io  r^ 


ic     oi  *- p  oc -J  ^  cc      Wt  of  hive  at 
Kjoccc    dcv:,!-       eginniHg. 


§i:f:«Sg?g     Wt  of  hive 


at  end. 


Gain  in  wt. 
of  hive. 


Ijoss  in  wt. 
of  hive. 


It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  after  this 
the  cases  of  sections  to  be  furnished  were 
pnt  upon  the  brood  chambers  as  needed  and 


310 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


the  feeder  placed  above  the  sections.  The 
feeders  were  then  kept  continually  supplied 
with  the  extracted  honey  without  dilution. 

Seven  colonies  were  employed  and  an  ac- 
curate account  kept  of  the  material  in  the 
case  of  each  colony.  The  results  may  be 
most  briefly  told  by  the  use  of  a  table  as 
shown  on  the  {)receding  page. 

But  little  need  be  said  in  explanation  of 
the  table.  On  the  average  out  of  every  100 
pounds  fed  .58  (i-lO  pounds  reappeared  in  the 
shape  of  comb  honey.  Some  colonies  did 
much  better  than  that.  In  selecting  col- 
onies some  not  very  strong  were  taken  to 
make  the  fact  prominent  that  for  iUo  best 
results  the  very  strongest  should  be  chosen. 
This  fact  of  employing  some  colonies  not 
very  stroii'.',  with  others  already  meuti'intd, 
make  the  circumstances  of  tiiis  experimn't 
about  as  unfavorable  as  they  could  ordir  a- 
rily  well  be,  yet  there  seems  lo  l>e  no  difficul- 
ty in  showing  a  large  percentage  of  protit. 

To  show  this  I  think  we  m;i\  protxily 
make  the  calculation  in  this  wa.\  : 

Increased  value  of  .WS  lbs.  Saz.  of  uiifin- 
ishfd  section  honey  at  7o.  ; 

Value  of  426  lbs.  12  oz.  "  gain  "  at  15c 

Increased  weight  of  brood  chambers 
r)9-+  at  5c 


41  Itt 
tj9  41 


Total 

Deduct  value  of  788  l))s.  8  oz.  fed  ai  Nc 


98 


$113  56 

b;j  o,s 


Profit $.50  48 

This  does  not  take  account  of  the  labor  of 
feeding,  but  I  think  the  improved  condition 
of  the  colonies  may  well  off-et  that  item. 

There  is  one  draw  back  with  this  product 
— it  is  liable  to  candy  and  so  makes  it  neces- 
sary that  it  be  disposed  of  and  consumed 
without  much  delay.  Perhaps  on  account  of 
this  defect  I  have  estimated  the  value  at  too 
high  a  fij'ure.  If  some  unobjectionable 
method  of  preventing  candying  could  be 
found  it  wiiuld  be  a  great  advantage. 

Lapeeb,  Mich.  Oct.  21,  1K!)3. 

fl  can  say  to  Bvo.  Taylor  that  J,  too,  have 
tried  feeding  honey  without  diluting  it.  but 
the  bees  take  it  so  much  more  slowly  that  I 
abandoned  it.  To  make  the  best  success  at 
feeding  back,  there  should  be  populous  col- 
onies, with  I  he  brood  nest  somewhat  con- 
tracted, hot  weather,  and  the  honey  thinned 
to  nearly  the  consistency  of  nectar.  It 
should  l)e  thinned  with  hot  water  and  fed 
while  warm. 

I  can  tell  you  how  honey  can  be  treated  so 
that  it  will  not  candy  when  "  fed  back,"  but 
I  presume  that  some  of  my  readers  would 


consider  the  plan  objectionable.  You  know 
that  some  of  us  mix  a  little  honey  with  the 
sugar  that  is  fed  in  the  fall  for  winter  stores. 
This  is  done  to  prevent  crystallization. 
Well,  this  rule  will  work  both  ways.  A  little 
sugar  mixed  with  the  honey  will  prevent 
crystallization. — Ed.] 


Apicalture  in  College  and  Station. 

PKOF.    A.  J.  COOK. 


¥' 


'Oil  ask  for  an  ar- 
ticle on  the  above 
subject.  As  I  have  de- 
cided convictions,  I 
am  glad  to  comply 
with  }  our  request, 
only  regretting  that 
lack  of  time  forbids 
the  care  in  writing  it 
that  its  importan(e 
demands.  All  should 
know  that  our  special 
Agricultural  Colleges, 
like  those  of  Michigan,  Kansas,  Massachu- 
setts, Maine.  Peunsjlvania,  Mississippi,  etc., 
and  the  Agricultural  Department  of  Univer- 
sities like  that  of  New  York  at  Cornell,  of  Illi- 
nois at  Champaign,  of  Indiana  at  LaFay- 
ette,  of  Wisconsin  at  Madison,  of  Tennessee 
at  Knoxville,  etc.,  were  largely  en  owed  by 
the  general  government,  which  fact  alone 
made  the  existence  of  many  of  these  col- 
leges possible.  The  Morrill  Bills,  one  passed 
in  18fW,  granting  40,000  acres  of  public  land 
to  each  member  of  congress  for  each  Slate, 
and  the  other  passed  three  years  ago  grant- 
ing !jiir),000  to  each  college  ( which  amount 
should  be  increased  $1,000  annually  till  it 
reached  $2.5,000  for  each  college  each  year), 
were  conditioned  on  the  fact  that  agricul- 
ture in  its  various  departments  should  be 
specially  taught  in  each  college.  In  each 
State  this  munificent  gift  from  the  general 
government  has  been  supplemented  by  the 
State  often  with  very  generous  liberality. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  money  for  these  col- 
leges has  come  from  a  general  tax,  either 
State  or  National,  and  that  agriculture  in  all 
its  branches  is  to  receive  benefit.  Thus  the 
bee-keepers  have  a  clear  rujht  to  be  leraem- 
bered  ;  first  because  they  have  helped  lo 
found  and  equip  colleges  and  stations,  and, 
secondly,  because  ai>iculture  isan  important 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


311 


branch  of  agriculture  :  important  in  gather- 
ing the  vast  stores  of  nectar,  and  perhaps 
more  important  in  increasing  the  fruitage 
of  orchards  and  gardens  through  poUeniza- 
tion  by  the  bees. 

The  bee-keeper,  then,  has  a  right  to  claim 
recognition  in  each  and  every  college,  where 
bee-keeping  is  located  :  and  in  what  State 
or  Territory  is  it  not  ? 

Now  that  we  have  proved  the  right,  we 
next  consider  the  policy.  Is  it  desirable  to 
have  bee-keeping  taught  in  the  agricultural 
colleges  ?  To  say  no,  is  to  say  that  the  bee- 
keeper may  as  well  be  ignorant  of  the 
sciences  relating  to  his  business,  and  igno- 
rant regarding  general  matters.  To  be 
thoroughly  taught  gives  to  the  bee-keeper 
the  same  general  advantage  that  it  gives  the 
horticulturist  or  farmer.  If  not,  why  not  ? 
No  intelligent  bee-keeper  would  say  that  a 
knowledge  of  botany,  entomology,  and  a 
general  education  in  science  would  not  be  of 
great  benefit  to  him.  Not  only  in  matters  of 
utility,  but  in  adding  to  life's  pleasure. 

Again,  if  bee-keepers  are  trained,  strained 
honey  in  fact  as  well  as  name  will  soon  be 
no  more,  and  will  cease  to  injure  our  mar- 
kets. If  each  neighborhood  could  have  a 
bee-keeper  taught  to  put  his  honey  upon  the 
market  only  in  the  finest  condition,  prices 
would  not  be  depressed  as  they  must  be  by 
ungraded  comb  honey  sent  in  soiled  and 
broken  combs. 

Again,  if  we  do  not  claim  and  maintain 
our  rights,  we  shall  not  only  receive  less  than 
is  our  just  due,  but  oar  business  loses  in 
prestige,  and  instead  of  assuming  its  right- 
ful dignity  our  business  will  have  no  stand- 
ing, and  when  we  appeal  for  legislation  re- 
garding spraying  fruit  trees,  or  in  regard  to 
foul  brood,  etc.,  or  ask  for  appropriations  at 
fairs,  or  for  publications,  or  to  exhibit  at 
great  expositions,  we  must  expect  the  taunt, 
'your  business  is  of  no  account,"  and  we 
are  denied  our  just  requests. 

It  seems  to  me  that  no  bee-keeper  who  ap- 
preciates the  importance  of  his  vocation  can 
feel  for  a  minute  that  he  and  his  business 
are  not  entitled  to  this  recognition  in  our 
college,  just  as  general  agriculture,  horticul- 
ture, and  floriculture  are  ;  and  can  he  hesi- 
tate longer,  when  he  knows  his  rights,  to  de- 
mand them  ?  He  will  thus  encourage  a 
better  market,  because  of  the  excellence  of 
the  product,  and  will  do  much  to  make  the 
dignity  and  importance  of  his  business  felt 
in  all  the  community.     Thus  with  the  rights 


and  importance  of  instruction  in  apiculture 
at  our  agricultural  colleges  shown,  can  it  be 
accomplished  ?  I  haven't  a  doubt  of  it.  Let 
bee-keepers  rise  en  masse  and  demand  this 
right,  and  their  demand,  hedged  in  on  every 
side  by  justice,  connot  be  refused  by  any 
College  Board.  A  good  committee  appoint- 
ed to  urge  the  matter,  sustained  by  numer- 
ous personal  letters  will  succeed  every  time. 
If  bee-keepers  in  any  State  will  demand  this 
right,  the  right  will  be  given.  This  was 
done  in  Michigan  when  bee-keepers  deman- 
ded that  their  Experimental  Station  recog- 
nize bee-keeping  ;  and  though  I  believe  they 
lost  more  than  they  gained,  they  proved,  that 
energetic  action  would  secure  rights.  This 
will  always  prove  true  if  those  who  demand 
their  rights  are  sufficiently  in  earnest  to  per- 
sist, and  urge  until  success  comes. 

Like  our  Agricultural  Colleges,  so,  too,  our 
Experimental  Stations  are  endowed  by  the 
general  government.  Only  here  the  govern- 
ment gives  $15,000  annually  to  each  State 
and  Territory,  and  entirely  equips  and 
maus  the  stations  without  expense  to  the 
State.  As  before,  the  bee-keepers  have  a 
rigut  to  recognition  ;  they  need  the  experi- 
mentation, unless  we  now  have  reached  bot- 
tom facts,  which  no  intelligent  bee-keeper 
bolieves.  Here,  too,  insistance  will  bring 
recognition,  as  was  proved  in  Michigan.  In 
Michigan,  however,  while  the  experimentor 
was  secured,  the  station  was  removed  from 
the  college  where  it  should  be  located  as  I 
showed  a  year  ago,  and  all  chance  to  teach 
bee-keeping  at  the  college  was  lost,  for  to 
teach  apiculture  without  an  apiary  is  sheer 
nonsense.  I  am  sure  that  the  Michigan  bee- 
keepers when  they  realize  what  was  done, 
will  insist  that  not  only  shall  the  station  be 
ably  manned  as  it  is  at  present,  but  that  it 
shall  be  re-located  at  the  college,  and  that 
apiculture  shall  again  be  taught,  and  the 
station  and  college  be  mutually  helpful  to 
each  other,  as  they  must  needs  be  when  they 
have  so  much  in  common.  Would  not  the 
farmers  protest  were  the  farm  to  be  re- 
moved, or  the  horticulturists  kick  if  the 
gardens  and  orchards  were  moved  hence  ; 
and  why  not  then  a  wave  of  indignation  at 
this  strange  move  at  the  Michigan  Agricul- 
tural College  ? 


Ag'l  Col.,  Mich. 


Sept.  16, 1893. 


[I  fully  agree  with  Prof.  Cook  that  each 
Agricultural  College  and  Experimental  Sta- 
tion ought  to  have  an  apiary  just  as  much  as 


312 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


it  has  a  garden  or  an  orchard.  If  the  ex- 
periments are  all  performed  at  one  place 
they  are  mutually  helpful.  ■  If  the  apiarist 
wishes  to  decide  some  delicate  chemical 
point,  an  expert  chemist  with  his  apparatus 
is  right  on  hand.  If  it  is  a  question  in  mi- 
croscopy, line  instruments  and  expert  opera- 
tors are  near  by.  In  this  sense  I  agree  with 
the  Prof,  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  move  the 
apiary  away  from  the  College,  but  we  who 
were  working  to  have  bee-keeping  recognized 
at  the  Station  were  led  to  believe  that  $1,000 
yearly  (what  it  would  cost  to  secure  the  ser- 
vices of  a  competent  apiarist  at  the  College) 
could  not  be  spared  just  at  present,  while  by 
having  the  work  done  at  the  home  of  some 
competent  apiarist  it  could  be  done  for  half 
the  money,  which  could  be  spared.  It  was 
a  question  of  half  a  loaf  or  none.  I  do  not 
understand  that  it  has  been  definitely  deci- 
ded that  the  apiary  will  never  be  taken  back 
to  the  College.  But  so  far  as  bee-keepers 
are  to  be  benefitted  by  experimental  apicul- 
ture, there  is  one  point  that  overshadows  all 
others,  and  that  is  the  man  who  does  the 
work.  I  was  well  satisfied  that  Michigan 
had  made  a  wise  choice,  but  I  must  confess 
that  Mr.  Taylor  is  doing  better  work  than  I 
expected  of  even  him. — Ed.] 


Why  Ventilation  Plays   Such  an  Important 
Part  it  the  Wintering  of  Bees. 

B.  O.  AIKIN. 

To  the  puzzles  thick  and  thin 
Look  a  little  deeper  in. 

JN   our    last,    we 
left   you    with 
the    testimony    of 
four  of  Colorado's 
foul  brood  inspec- 
tors   favoring  top 
ventilation.  There 
was    also  present, 
at  our  annual  State 
convention  last 
January,    Mr.    W. 
L.   Porter,  one  of 
Colorado's  leading 
apiarists.    After  hearing  the  testimony  in 
favor  of  upward  ventilation,  he  decided  to 
look  into  the  matter.    .Just  at  this  time  the 


weather  became  quite  pleasant,  and  Mr. 
Porter  and  a  neighbor  went  out  to  see  about 
the  ventilation  question.  Mr.  Porter's  bees 
were  supposed  to  be  uuder  sealed  covers  in 
the  form  of  enameled  quilts.  The  bees  had, 
however,  made  many  holes  in  the  quilts. 
The  result  of  their  search  was  to  find  every 
colony  with  big  holes  in  the  quilts  dry  and 
nice,  while  those  that  had  good  quilts  sealed 
down,  were  damp  and  in  the  poorest  con- 
dition. 

This  spring  we  purchased  bees  from  a  lady 
who  had  a  few  good  hives,  but  most  of  her 
bees  were  in  boxes  and  old  traps  of  hives. 
Some  of  the  boxes  were  not  over  seven  inches 
deep,  and  ten  or  twelve  wide  by  sixteen  to 
twenty  long.  Many  of  these  boxes  were  so 
open  that  the  bees  had  ceased  to  work  from 
the  lower  or  regular  entrance  (which  was  in 
many  cases  clogged  with  bees  and  dirt,  as  the 
hives  sat  right  on  the  ground  in  the  grass 
and  weeds)  and  were  flying  from  cracks  and 
crevices  about  the  top.  Some  had  openings 
from  a  mere  crack  to  an  inch,  almost  the 
entire  length  of  the  box.  Yet  the  bees  had 
wintered  equally  as  well,  if  not  better,  than 
those  beside  them  in  the  hives.  One  thin,' 
was  in  favor  of  the  good  hives,  most  of  those 
in  boxes  were  new,  being  last  year's  swarms, 
and  some  short  of  stores,  while  the  good- 
hives  colonies  had  plenty  of  stores,  and 
young  queens.  Now  these  boxes  and  all 
were  right  out  in  open  ground,  except  that 
grass  and  weeds  had  grown  up  all  about 
them. 

The  situation  will  be  better  understood 
when  you  remember  that  this  is  a  dry  cli- 
mate. The  ground  is  bare  and  often  dusty 
most  of  the  winter,  so  you  will  see  that  these 
colonies  re  eived  much  heat  through  direct 
rays  of  the  sun,  and  the  heat  radiating  from 
the  ground. 

Last  winter  we  had  bees  out-doors  entirely 
unprotected,  and  with  supposed  sealed  cov- 
ers. One  lot  of  seventeen  colonies  was  in 
a  little  deep  valley  in  the  foot-hills.  The 
first  cover  over  them  was  a  plain  thin  board 
cleated,  with  bee  space  between  it  and  the 
top  bars  of  frames ;  above  this  was  a  regular 
rimmed  outer  cover,  same  as  illustrated  in 
the  K.  D.  hive  in  both  the  Review  and  Glean- 
ings some  time  ago.  This  gives  about  one 
and  one-half  inches  space  between  the  cov- 
ers. The  inner  cover  become  wet  to  some 
extent  and  warped  so  as  to  give  a  little  top 
vent.  Right  behind  the  hives  on  the  north 
and  northwest  was  a  big  rock  and  hill.    The 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


313 


rocks  piled  up  almost  perpendicularly  for 
fifty  feet  or  more.  Thus  the  sun  would  beat 
down  upon  the  hives,  and  also  generate  and 
reflect  heat  from  these  rocks,  so  that  almost 
every  clear  day  those  bees  were  warmed 
through.  There  being  the  two  covers  on, 
the  outer  one  slightly  telescoped  and  close, 
tliere  could  not  be  any  decided  top  ventila- 
tion, but  where  the  ventilation  lacked,  the 
heat  came  to  the  rescue.  Not  one  colony 
perished  although  one  or  two  were  very  weak 
to  start  with  in  the  fall. 

Another  apiary  was  an  open  ground.  The 
hives  were  placed  in  double  rows,  back  to 
back,  fronting  east  and  west.  These  were 
left  with  the  summer  quilts  on,  and  a  slightly 
telescoping  cover  close  on  these.  Most  of  the 
quilts  were  more  or  less  ragged.  The  most 
of  them  had  more  or  less  top  ventilation, 
but  none  having  very  much.  Cases  were 
about  the  hives,  taking  ten  and  twelve  hives 
to  a  case,  half  on  one  side  and  half  on  the 
other.  These  cases  came  just  about  two 
inches  above  the  brood  chamber,  and  had  re- 
movable roofs  sloping  both  ways.  About 
two  inches  of  space  was  between  hive  and 
outer  case.  This  and  the  spaces  between 
hives  were  packed  with  chaff,  and  about  two 
or  three  inches  of  chaff  6n  top.  Thus  the 
winter  case  cover  lay  upon  the  chaff  at  the 
eaves,  but  rose  to  about  six  or  eight  inches 
in  the  center,  to  give  the  pitch  to  the  roof. 

Here  the  loss  was  about  five  or  six  out  of 
fifty-seven  so  far  as  winter  losses  were  con- 
cerned ;  more,  however,  were  lost  by  spring 
dwindling.  This  dwindling  we  will  discuss 
farther  on. 

Another  lot  previously  mentioned  in  a  hive 
within  a  hive  and  sawdust  packed,  because 
of  much  shade  and  covering,  and  being  so 
situated  that  the  sun  could  not  penetrate  the 
hives,  suffered  greatly  with  moisture  and  the 
loss  was  about  two-thirds.  This  lot  was  not 
quite  so  strong  to  start  with,  which  had 
something  to  do  with  the  difference  in  loss. 

Six  colonies  we  put  up-stairs  in  the  honey 
house.  They  were  left  with  sealed  covers. 
Three  faced  east  and  three  south.  A  four- 
iuch  space,  vacant,  was  between  the  hive- 
wall  and  siding.  The  room  was  unplastered. 
Now  notice  that  the  location  and  arrange- 
ment would  in  summer  give  a  more  even 
temperature,  and  a  warmer  temperature  at 
night.  The  sun  upon  the  roof  would  heat  up 
the  room  and  contents  during  the  day  which 
heat  would  largely  continue  during  the  night. 
In  winter,  this  same  room  would  become 


very  cold  at  night,  while  the  sun's  heat  by 
day  would  never  reach  the  interior  of  the 
hives.  We  put  those  bees  in  in  the  spring, 
and  were  highly  pleased  with  the  results  in 
honey  getting  ;  but,  alas,  spring  again  found 
but  one  poor  "  starveling  of  a  thing  "  to  tell 
the  story.  Ernest  Root  reported  a  similar 
loss  in  his  home  apiary,  but  omitted  par- 
ticulars. 

We  also  put  a  lot  of  bees  in  the  cellar  in 
December,  just  after  a  severe  spell  of  intense 
cold.  Most  of  the  covers  were  sealed  on 
close.  There  was  considerable  water  in  the 
hives.  Nearly  all  the  bees  had  diarrhoea. 
Loss  about  fifteen  per  cent. 

Now,  friends,  I  feel  almost  like  making  a 
positive  assertion,  that  proper  ventilation  is 
the  main  spoke  in  the  wheel  of  successful 
wintering.  Read  again  B.  Taylor's  article 
on  page  129,  current  volume.  Note  the  ac- 
count of  Mr.  Hitt's  successful  wintering  for 
twenty-five  years,  by  putting  his  bees  in  the 
cellar  and  taking  off  the  hive  covers.  Also 
Mr.  Taylor's  own  experience  last  winter 
while  experimenting  with  sealed  covers  ver- 
sus upward  ventilation. 

In  Gleanings  for  February  1st,  page  82,  A, 
E.  Manum  discusses  the  wintering  question 
and  tells  of  buying  a  colony  in  the  spring 
because  it  was  the  strongest  in  the  lot.  There 
was  top  ventilation.  Also  how  he  packed 
one  apiary  in  shavings  so  there  was  ventila- 
tion through  the  cushions.  These  wintered 
well.  Five  colonies  that  were  left  with 
sealed  covers  all  died,  and  were  "  a  dauby 
mess." 

On  page  198.  Vol.  20,  Gleanings,  C.  P. 
Dadant  also  gives  us  conclusive  proof  that 
upward  ventilation  is  safest.  Holes  in  the 
quilts  showed  him  the  difference  between 
sealed  covers  and  ventilation. 

Although  we  find  some  good  authorities 
on  both  sides  of  this  question,  I  think  we 
may  sum  it  up  about  this  way  :  Sealed  cov- 
ers in  open  winters,  and  upon  all  occasions 
when  the  conditions  do  not  favor  accumula- 
tion of  moisture,  will  be  O.  K.  Absorbents 
when  used  in  such  a  manner  as  to  allow  the 
moisture  to  pass  out  and  not  be  retained, 
will  winter  O.  K.  But  either  one  will  fail  in 
extreme  and  long  continued  cold,  when  every 
thing  favors  the  retention  of  moisture. 

I  would  therefore  recommend,  in  sunny 
climes,  to  pack  warmly  all  around  the  hive, 
putting  on  top  not  over  two  inches  of  chaff, 
and  on  the  sides  not  to  exceed  four  inches, 


314 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


while  two  or  three  are  better.  A  board  or 
cloth  may  be  used  overhead  next  the  bees, 
but  leave  a  vent  somewhere  to  pass  off  mois- 
ture. 

If  the  climate  is  such  that  a  damp  cold 
prevails  with  extreme  low  temperature  and 
long  continued,  winter  in  the  cellar  with 
plenty  of  ventilation,  and  a  temperature  not 
too  low,  say  45°  or  over.  The  more  damp 
the  cellar  the  higher  must  be  the  temper- 
ature. 

In  the  spring,  when  brood-rearing  is  want- 
ed, is  the  time  to  economize  heat.  Last 
year,  brooding  stopped  early.  In  January  a 
warm  spell  set  some  colonies  to  brood-rear- 
ing. A  few  matured  their  brood,  and  the 
young  had  cleansing  flights.  Such  colonies 
were  the  easiest  to  spring.  Others  that  had 
very  old  bees,  and  did  no  breeding  until  the 
last  of  February  and  first  of  March,  had  hard 
work  to  pull  through.  Some  were  so  much 
weakened  by  the  death  of  the  old  workers 
that  they  could  not  well  rear  brood,  and  so 
just  eked  out  an  existence  trying  to  brood 
but  failed. 

Right  here  is  where  packing  shows  its 
value  more  than  anywhere  else.  If  these 
weak  and  dwindling  colonies  are  hid  away 
so  deep  as  to  exclude  the  solar  heat,  they  are 
almost  as  surely  doomed  as  if  exposed  to  the 
extreme  of  heat  and  cold.  But  if  the  pack- 
ing is  only  two  or  three  inches  thick,  and  so 
arranged  as  to  receive  the  heat  of  the  sun 
and  be  warmed  through  and  through,  it  not 
only  helps  the  colony  during  the  day  time, 
but  also  preserves  a  more  even  temperature 
by  night.  A  little  close  observation  will 
show  that  of  two  colonies  of  equal  strength, 
the  one  packed,  and  one  not,  the  former  will 
cover  the  most  brood,  the  latter  being  com- 
pelled to  contract  or  compactly  cluster. 

A  large  apiary  in  this  county  has  been 
packed  in  chaff  now  for  four  or  five  winters. 
About  three  to  five  inches  of  chaff  are  above 
in  a  hive  body,  and  the  cover  left  partly 
open  to  allow  moisture  to  escape.  The  past 
two  winters  have  been  colder  than  usual,  and 
when  the  covers  were  left  too  close,  moist- 
ure accumulated  somewhat.  However,  they 
have  wintered  with  scarcely  any  loss.  The 
packing  has  been  too  deep  all  around,  but 
when  fairly  started  in  the  spring,  breeding 
was  rapid. 


LOVELAND,  Colo. 


Aug.  8,  1993. 


Bee  -  Dysentery.— Its  Cause  and  Prevention. 

8.  COBNEIL. 

We  shall  get  there  by  and  by, 
Do  it  right— and  know  the  why. 

JN  his  leader  on 
the  above  topic 
the  editor  says :  "We 
do  know  that,  in  al- 
most all  cases  of  bee- 
dysentery,  the  ftecal 
mass  is  almost  al- 
ways wholly  pollen." 
This  is  a  mistake. 
Dysenteric  dischar- 
ges are  distinguish- 
ed from  faeces  voided 
in  health  by  the  ex- 
cessive quantity  of  water  they  contain.  It 
has  been  observed  that,  on  the  occasion  of 
their  first  flight  in  spring,  healthy  bees  often 
void  fajces  which  contain  at  least  twice  as 
much  pollen,  weight  fo"-  weight,  as  is  con- 
tained in  the  excrement  of  dysenteric  bees. 
Prof.  Cook  examined  microscopically  some 
specimens  of  "dryfte3es"  which  I  sent  to 
Dr.  Miller.  His  report  is  that  "  as  they 
break  up  they  are  found  to  be  composed 
wholly,  or  almost#wholly,  of  pollen  grains." 
See  Gleanings,  page  391,  1885.  Later  on  Dr. 
Miller  says  "  I  am  not  mistaken,  I  think,  as 
to  what  I  saw,  for  I  have  often  seen  the  bees 
in  the  act  of  voiding,  both  in  this  and  other 
years,  and  have  seen  thousands  of  specimens, 
such  as  Mr.  Cornell  sent,  both  on  the  hive 
and  in  the  vicinity."  For  a  fuller  account 
of  Dr.  Miller's  observations  see  Gleanings, 
page  703,  1885.  Mr.  Heddon  has  said  that 
fajces  of  this  discription  are  evidence  of  dis- 
ease. If  so,  I  want  to  have  my  bees  diseased 
in  this  way  every  year. 

The  editor  also  says  "  I  feel  certain  that 
bees  with  only  pure  cane  sugar  for  stores, 
placed  in  a  cellar  where  the  temperature  is 
about  45°,  will  bear  a  confinement  of  four 
or  five  months,  with  no  trace  of  disease." 
The  editor  is  mistaken  again.  Mr.  Doolittle 
tried  to  winter  bees  in  just  this  way,  and  lost 
them.  His  experiments  and  observations 
show  clearly  that  sugar  syrup  in  place  of 
honey,  and  the  absence  of  pollen,  do  not  se- 
cure immunity  from  dysentery.  See  Glean- 
ings, pages  231  and  342,  1885. 

There  is  another  reason  which  of  itself 
makes  it  imperative  that  pollen  must  not  be 
excluded  from  the  larder  of  the  bees  in  win- 
ter.    It  is  known  that  carbo-hydrates  cannot 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


315 


be  digested  and  assimilated  without  the 
addition  of  nitrogenous  food.  The  highest 
authorities  on  dietetics  are  in  accord  in  re- 
gard to  this  matter.  On  one  occasion  Mr. 
Heddon's  bees  died,  as  he  tells  us,  of  cold. 
A  post  mortem  examination  by  Prof.  Cook 
revealed  the  fact  that  their  stomachs  were 
full  of  sugar  syrup,  without  a  trace  of  pol- 
len. The  material  for  heat  production  was 
present,  but  there  was  lacking  the  nitro- 
genous element  necessary  to  start  in  motion 
the  changes  which  result  in  the  evolution  of 
heat. 

I  think  the  foregoing  abundantly  proves 
that,  not  only  is  there  nothing  gained  by  the 
exclusion  of  pollen  from  winter  stores,  but 
its  presence  is  essential  for  the  health  of  the 
bees.  The  editor  of  the  Review  is  as  much 
opposed  to  teaching  errors  through  the  col- 
umns of  his  paper,  as  any  man  can  be. 
May  we  not  njw  hope  to  see  him  boldly  re- 
cant his  opinions,  as  to  the  consumption  of 
pollen  being  the  cause  of  bee  dysentery  ? 

The  editor  recommends  a  temperature  of 
4.'>''  for  the  air  of  the  bee  cellar,  with  the  wet 
bulb  thermometer  '6°  lower.  This  would  in- 
dicate a  relative  humidity  of  78,  or,  in  other 
words,  78  per  cent,  of  saturation.  If  these 
conditions  are  kept  up  continuously  the 
hives  being  sufficiently  ventilated,  either  up- 
ward or  downward,  and  provisioned  with 
buckwheat  honey,  or  other  honey  equally 
good,  and  the  stocks  moderately  strong, 
there  will  be  no  dysentery.  Let  us  consider 
some  of  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  in 
maintaining  these  conditions  all  winter. 

Saturated  air  at  45°  contains  3.01  grs.  of 
the  vapor  of  water  per  cubic  foot,  and  78  per 
cent,  of  this  is  2.81  grs.  ;  therefore  the  addi- 
tion of  .8  of  a  grain  to  each  cubic  foot  of  the 
air  approved  by  the  editor  will  produce  com- 
plete saturation. 

An  ounce  of  honey,  on  being  consumed, 
pr  >  1  I  ;j-i  328.125  grs  of  aqueous  vapor.  100 
colonies,  consuming  an  ounce  per  day,  will 
give  off  32,812.5  grs.  which,  being  added  to 
the  air  approved  by  the  editor,  will  satu- 
rate 41.015  cubic  feet  per  day,  assuming 
that  no  ventilation  of  the  repository  takes 
place.  This  is  more  than  the  quantity  of  air 
in  most  repositories,  after  the  hives  are  put 
in.  In  my  cellar  I  have  often  found  that  the 
readings  of  the  wet  and  dry  bulb  thermom- 
eters were  almost  identical,  indicating  sat 
nration,  or  nearly  so.  My  cellar  is  too  small 
to  enable  me  to  maintain  a  constant  differ- 
ence of  3° . 


In  the  case  of  the  higher  animals,  when 
air  is  saturated,  or  nearly  so,  and  is  of  the 
same  temperature  as  the  body,  "it  refuses 
to  receive  the  perspiration  which  is  offered 
to  it  from  the  skin  and  lungs;  the  sewerage 
of  the  system  is  dammed  up."  Such  are  the 
atmospheric  conditions  when  cases  of  sun- 
stroke are  most  numerous.  Supposing  the 
air  in  the  cellar  at  45°  were  fully  laden  with 
moisture,  the  case  of  the  bees  is  even  then  not 
so  bad.  Saturated  air  at  45°,  when  warmed 
to  65°,  will  have  about  63  per  cent,  of  sat- 
uration. Evaporation  of  the  bees  will  take 
place  under  these  conditions,  but  not  so 
effectually  as  if  the  air  of  the  cellar  were  as 
dry  as  recommended  by  the  editor. 

Air  breathed  by  the  bees,  when  expired,  is 
saturated,  and  of  the  same  temperature  as 
the  cluster.  As  the  vapor  laden  air  escapes 
from  the  cluster  at  65°,  into  saturated  air  at 
55°.  it  deposits  3.2  grs,  of  water  per  cubic 
foot,  on  the  sealed  honey,  the  hive  walls 
and  surrounding  objects  :  whereas,  if  the 
air  of  the  cellar  were  dry,  and  of  sufficient 
quantity,  this  vapor  would  be  taken  up  by 
the  air,  just  as  the  clouds  of  condensed 
steam  from  a  locomotive  are  absorbed  by  the 
atmosphere,  and  disappear. 

Saturated  air  carries  off  the  heat  of  the 
cluster  nearly  three  times  as  fast  as  dry  air, 
consequently  to  keep  up  the  temperature  of 
the  cluster,  the  bees  must  eat  more  honey, 
now  thinned  by  absorbed  moisture  deposited 
on  the  combs.  This  loads  their  blood  with 
an  increasing  quantity  of  water,  which  i?  not 
completely  evaporated.  Josh  Billings  says 
that  when  a  man  begins  to  go  down  hill 
financially,  all  nature  seems  to  be  greased 
for  the  occasion.  So  with  the  bees,  each  un 
favorable  condition  brings  about  others,  un- 
til their  bodies  become  distended,  and  as  Mr. 
C.  W.  Dayton  says  they  must  be  "  evapora- 
ted down  "  or  they  will  die  of  dysentery. 

The  only  practical  way  of  maintaining  the 
conditions  approved  by  the  editor,  is  to  keep 
the  air  in  the  repository  constantly  chang- 
ing, and  by  warming  th*  incoming  air  by 
bringing  it  through  a  sub-earth  pipe,  or  by 
artificial  heat.  I  have  had  bees  suffer  from 
dysentery  because  they  were  exposed  to  a 
current  of  incoming  air.  Mr.  Boardman 
records  a  similar  experience.  It  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  bees  suffer,  when  ex- 
posed to  a  constant  draft  for  five  months. 
From  the  experience  I  have  had  I  consider 
it  essential  that  the  hives  should  not  be 
exposed  to  a  draft. 


316 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


It  is  said  that  sub-earth  pipes  are  being 
discarded.  They  are  usually  made  of  wood 
or  porous  tile,  open  at  the  joints,  in  either 
case  admitting  moisture  and  foul  air  from 
the  soil.  The  only  advantage  gained  by 
bringing  the  air  through  a  sub-earth  pipe  is 
that,  no  matter  how  cold  the  weather  may 
be,  the  temperature  of  the  incoming  air 
never  varies  mure  than  from  'ST  to  42=  in 
this  latitude,  and  we  have  had  the  mercury 
about  as  low  as  it  can  go.  If  the  sub-earth 
pipe  is  impervious  to  moisture,  as  it  must 
be  if  it  is  used  at  all,  outtide  air  at  say  10° 
above  zero,  and  having  80  per  cent,  of  sat- 
uration, will  enter  the  cellar  at  about  40°, 
and  ;{8  per  cent,  of  saturation.  Of  course, 
the  air  will  be  equally  dry,  no  matter  how  it 
is  brought  in,  when  it  is  warmed  up  to  this 
temperature. 

My  neigiibor,  Mr.  Webster,  heats  his  brick 
dwelling  by  means  of  a  furnace  in  the  cellar. 
A  brick  partition  cuts  off  the  furnace  room 
from  the  bee  cellar.  There  is  a  door  in  this 
partition,  which  is  opened,  from  time  to 
time,  to  let  warm  dry  air  into  the  bee  depart- 
ment, and  draw  the  cool  damp  air  out.  Mr. 
Webster  has  wintered  100  colonies  and  up- 
wards very  successfully,  in  this  cellar,  for 
several  years. 

If  I  were  building  a  bee  cellar,  I  should 
have  it  wholly  under  ground,  on  account  of 
the  greater  ease  in  keeping  a  steady  temper- 
ature. I  should  cement  the  floor  because  it 
would  then  be  drier,  and  more  easily  cleaned. 
There  is  no  truth  in  the  statement  which  we 
sometimes  see,  that  the  uncemented  floor 
absorbs  foul  gases  from  ihe  air,  making  it 
less  foul.  If  cementing  the  floor  makes 
any  difference  at  all,  in  the  condition  of  the 
air,  it  is  the  other  way  about.  Ground  air  is 
always  ricli  in  carbonic  acid.  The  cement 
helps  to  keep  the  ground  air  out  of  the  cel- 
lar. To  dr.tw  off  the  vitiated  air,  I  should 
have  a  7-incii  pipe,  and  if  possible  more  than 
one,  leading  from  near  the  cellar  floor  to  a 
chimney  in  constant  use.  I  should  want  to 
know  by  an  anemometer  how  many  times 
per  hour  the  air  is  changed.  I  should  have  a 
small  room,  cut  off  from  the  bee  apartment, 
by  a  heavy  brick  or  stone  partition,  and  into 
this  room  I  should  bring  the  outside  air, 
either  from  above  ground,  or  through  a  sub- 
earth  pipe.  If  from  above,  I  should  keep  a 
coal  stove  going  when  needed,  if  through  a 
sub-earth  pipe  a  kerosene  oil  stove,  as  recom- 
mended by  the  editor,  would  perhaps  do. 
To  admit  the  warmed  air  into  the  bee  apart- 


ment, I  should  have  registers  at  the  top  of 
the  partition,  and  to  draw  off  cold  air  from 
the  floor,  I  should  have  registers  in  the  par- 
tition at  the  floor.  In  drawing  off  cold  air 
from  the  floor,  and  sending  it  back  warmed, 
there  is  no  danger  of  getting  an  undue  pro- 
portion of  carbonic  acid  gas.  The  caibonic 
acid  gas  of  breathed  air  does  not  separate 
and  fall,  by  its  superior  wtight,  to  the  floor, 
as  is  often  stated.  The  belief  that  it  does 
so  is  a  popular  fallacy. 

I  have  said  nothing  about  the  carbonic 
acid  produced  by  the  consumption  of  honey 
pari  passu  with  the  production  of  aqueous 
vapor,  the  proportion  of  which  can  readily 
be  ascertained  by  means  of  a  Mason  hygrom- 
eter, because  with  such  ventilation  as  is 
recommended  above,  the  one  will  be  removed 
with  the  other.  Nor  have  I  said  any- 
thing about  the  proportion  of  oxygen 
necessary  in  the  air  for  the  generation  of 
heat,  because  in  the  pure  air  introduced,  as 
recommended,  the  quantity  of  oxygen  will 
be  right. 

Unless  the  hives  themselves  are  ventilated, 
so  that  the  waste  products  can  pass  off  into 
the  surrounding  air,  as  fast  as  produced, 
ventilating  and  warming  the  cellar  will  not 
save  the  bees.  In  the  atmosphere  recom- 
mended by  the  editor,  or  perhaps  one  a  little 
warmer,  the  covering  of  the  hive  may  be 
removed.  This  will  keep  the  bees  dry  and 
healthy. 

Dr.  Miller  and  C.  W.  Dayton  are  quite  cor- 
rect as  to  foul  air  making  the  bees  uneasy. 
This  was,  I  think,  shown  very  clearly  in  Mr. 
Doolittle's  case,  when,  in  order  to  keep  the 
temperature  of  his  cellar  up  to  that  advo- 
cated by  Mr.  Ira  Barber,  he  burnt  coal  oil  in 
his  cellar  all  winter,  without  any  provision 
for  carrying  off  the  products  of  combustion. 
By  the  way,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  state 
that  when  the  supposed  high  temperature 
of  Mr.  Barber's  cellar  was  being  discussed, 
I  wrote  him,  inquiring  how  he  knew  that  the 
temperature  of  his  cellar  was  from  fi0°  to 90°. 
He  replied,  saying  that  when  he  had  finished 
putting  in  his  bees,  he  found  the  temperature 
was  l'>0%  and  that  when  he  returned  to  set 
them  out  the  following  spring,  he  found  it 
was  iK)°.  In  the  mean  time  he  did  not  see 
the  bees,  nor  were  there  any  observations 
made  as  to  the  temperature.  Most  of  us 
have  noticed  that  thedisturbance  occasioned 
by  placing  the  bees  in  the  cellar,  causes  a 
rise  in  the  temperature,  and  that  as  the  bees 
quiet  down,  vhe  temperature  falls.    There  is 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


317 


little  doubt  that  such  was  the  case  in  Mr. 
Barber's  cellar.    The   high  temperature  in 
spring  was  most  likely  caused  by  foul   air 
and  warm  weather. 
Lindsay,  Ont.  Sept.  28,  1893. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED   MONTHLY. 

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will  be  continued. 


FLINT,    MICHIGAN,     NOV.    10.    1893. 


G.  B.  Bankston.  of  Chriesman,  Texas,  has, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  lost  his  home  by  fire. 


Gleanings  is  giving  some  very  excellent 
pictures  and  descriptions  of  English  apicul- 
ture. 

f% 

The  Canadian  Bee  Joubnal  was  the  first 
to  give  a  large  share  of  the  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Chicago  convention. 
— y 

Daek  Queens  are  the  result  if  the  nurses 
are  dark ;  at  least,  this  is  the  opinion  of 
some  breeders,  but  my  own  experience  and 
that  of  other  breeders  is  different. 


R.  L.  Taylob  has  been  sick  since  his  re- 
turn from  Chicago.  As  a  result,  his 
"Timely  Topics"  were  not  sufficiently 
'*  timely "  in  their  arrival  to  be  given  a 
place  in  this  issue. 

^ 

The  Fighting  of  bees  over  a  queen  when 
she  is  being  introduced  is  quite  likely  to  in- 
jure her.  Better  keep  her  caged  until  the 
bees  cease  to  ball  the  cage.  Doolittle  gives 
this  good  advice  in  Gleanings. 

The  Nobth  Ameeican  will  hold  its  next 
meeting  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri.  Emerson 
T.  Abbott  of  that  place  was  elected  Presi- 
dent ;  O.  L.  Hershiser,  of  Buffalo,  Vice 
President ;  Secretary  Benton  was  re-elected 
and  so  was  Bro.  York  as  Treasurer. 


C.  C.  Van  Deusen  and  wife,  of  Sprout 
Brook,  N.  Y.,  both  lost  their  lives  in  the  ter- 
rible railroad  accident  at  Battle  Creek,  Mich- 
igan. Mr.  Van  Deusen  was  one  of  the  part- 
ners in  the  firm  of  J.  Van  Deusen  &  Sons, 
manufacturers  of  the  fiat  bottomed  founda- 
tion. All  bee-keepers  will  be  most  sincere 
in  their  sympathy  for  the  fattier,  whose 
kindly  face  has  often  been  seen  at  our  fairs 
and  conventions,  also  for  the  other  friends 
that  are  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loved 
ones  that  met  such  a  terrible  fate. 


E.  C.  PoETEE,  the  bee  escape,  man  was  at 
the  Chicago  convention  and  showed  me  a 
letter  from  some  one  who  had  tried  escapes 
with  an  opening  at  each  end  and  he  believed 
that  having  two  openings  was  objectionable 
in  that  there  were  bees  calling  at  each  end 
and  it  was  confusing  to  a  bee  that  had  just 
entered  the  escape,  she  turned  first  in  one 
direction  and  then  in  the  other — "  halting 
between  two  opinions."  While  on  this  sub- 
ject of  escapes  I  may  say  that  judging  from 
au  examination  of  the  Porter  patent,  and 
from  a  letter  received  from  Mr.  Hastings 
when  I  asked  him  for  an  explanation,  I  am 
led  to  believe  that  the  Hastings  escape  is  an 
infriugment  upon  the  Porter,  and  the 
Hastings  advertisement  will  not  appear  in 
the  Review  again  until  I  am  satisfied  that 
Mr.  Hastings  has  the  right  to  make  the 
escape  that  he  does. 

Gkading  Honey  was  discussed  at  the  Chi- 
cago meeting,  but  the  rules  adopted  at  the 
Washington  meeting  were  not  changed.  It 
was  noticeable  at  Chicago  that  some  of  the 
members  had  heard  the  subject  discussed 
until  they  were  sick  of  it.  Mr.  Muth  made 
one  remark  in  his  paper  upon  the  subject  to 
which  I  would  like  to  reply.  He  said  he  did 
not  see  how  the  word  *'  fancy  "  could  be  ap- 
plied to  darA;  honey.  The  words  "fancy," 
"No.  1,"  and  "No.  2,"  apply  simply  to  the 
condition  of  the  combs  and  sections,  not  to 
the  honey  itself  which  is  classified  into 
"white,"  "amber"  and  "dark."  By  this 
arrangement  it  will  be  seen  that  there  may 
be  "fancy  "  dark  honey  as  well  as  "  fancy  " 

white. 

© 

Hasty  would  have  us  call  Mr.  B.  Taylor's 
apiary  the  Minnesota  experimental  apiary 
and  thinks  it  would  be  just  as  good  as  though 


318 


TBE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


it  had  the  sanction  of  the  State.  I  have 
thought  of  that  same  thing  myself,  but  if 
our  Minnesota  friend  could  only  have  a  few 
hundred  dollars  from  the  State  it  would  en- 
able himi  to  devote  more  time  to  these  experi- 
ments, conducting  more  of  them.  I  know 
of  no  better  man  in  Minnesota  for  this  posi- 
tion, and  if  the  bee-keepers  of  that  State 
would  only  bestir  themselves  in  that  direc- 
tion they  could  have  the  benefit  of  his  best 
work  in  that  direction — I  think. 

Hasty  is  right  when  he  says  we  must  be 
careful  that  no  mediocrities  are  appointed  as 
apiarists,  or  more  harm  than  good  will 
come. 


M.  H.  Dewitt,  of  Sang  Run,  Maryland,  is 
an  undesirable  customer  for  queen  breeders. 
He  buys  queens  and  pays  for  them  mostly 
with  fair  promises.  He  owed  Mrs.  Atchley 
more  than  a  year  and  she  finally  brought 
him  to  time  only  by  threatening  to  expose 
him.  She  says  that  she  gets  a  great  many 
complaints  against  him  from  queen  breed- 
ers. He  made  arrangements  last  spring 
with  J.  B.  Case,  of  Port  Orange,  Florida,  to 
buy  queens  of  him  and  pay  for  them  in 
monthly  settlements.  No  remittances  have 
been  made  since  May,  but  orders  have  con- 
tinued to  come  accompanied  by  plausible  ex- 
cuses for  non-payment.  Mr.  Case  has  re- 
ceived numerous  complaints  against  him. 
He  promised  to  pay  me  an  advertising  bill 
last  May.  A  part  of  it  was  paid  in  July  and 
now  he  answers  no  inquiries.  The  man  may 
not  be  dishonest,  but  he  is  certainly  an  un- 
desirable customer.  So  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned personally,  I  would  allow  the  matter 
to  pass  unnoticed,  but  such  exposures  some- 
times become  an  unpleasant,  editorial  duty. 


VENTILATION   AND   MOISTURE. 

The  articles  of  Messrs.  Aikin,  Elwood, 
Dayton  and  Cornell  again  bring  up  the  ques- 
tions of  ventilation  and  moisture.  Several 
times  it  has  been  decided  that  ventilation 
had  a  bearing  only  as  it  afifected  tempera- 
ture. It  must  be  admitted  that  bees  have 
sometimes  wintered  well  when  there  was  but 
little  ventilation  and  an  abundance  of  moist- 
ure, but  in  these  cases  the  food  may  have 
been  of  the  best.  I  am  becoming  more  and 
more  convinced  that  we  cannot  put  our  fin- 
ger on  any  one  thing  and  say  "  This  causes 


bee  diarrhoea."  Or,  to  be  more  exact,  oth- 
er favorable  circumstances  may  be  such  as 
to  overcome  the  objectionable  features  of 
some  factor  that  under  other  conditions 
might  prove  disastrous.  For  instance,  a 
warm,  dry  atmosphere  may  enable  the  bees 
to  overcome  the  troubles  arising  from  a  poor 
diet  and  vice  versa.  Now  that  Mr.  Cornell 
calls  my  attention  to  it  I  must  admit  that 
when  I  have  had  bees  perish  from  diarrhoea 
the  fteces  have  somethnes  been  watery  as  well 
as  composed  of  pollen  ;  in  fact,  they  might 
be  described  as  consisting  of  water  and  pol- 
len mixed.  It  is  probable  that  a  warm,  dry 
atmosphere  would  enable  the  bees  to  get  rid 
of  this  excess  of  water  and  it  is  possible  that 
they  would  then  be  able  to  manage  the  pol- 
len. It  is  the  double  load  that  breaks  them 
down.  Too  many  of  us  do  not  know  whether 
the  air  of  our  cellars  is  damp  or  not.  A  man 
reports  that  the  temperature  is  thus  and  so. 
Upon  another  point  equally  as  vital  he  is  un- 
informed. He  knows  nothing  in  regard  to 
the  degree  of  saturation  or  moisture.  The 
Review  has  several  times  explained  how  easy 
it  is  to  ascertain  in  regard  to  this  point  by 
means  of  the  wet  and  dry  bulb  thermometer. 
This  is  a  matter  for  our  experiment  station 
to  take  hold  of.  Bro.  Taylor,  will  you  try  and 
produce  bee  diarrhoea  by  means  of  a  cold, 
damp  atmosphere  ?  All  along  we  have  been 
trying  to  prevent  bee  diarrhoea,  now  let  us 
try  solving  this  problem  by  working  at  it 
from  the  opposite  direction.  Let  us  try  and 
prod  ice  it  at  will.  If  we  can  succeed  in  this 
the  results  may  be  helpful. 

the   honey  -  SHOW   AT   THE   WOBLD's    FAIB. 

Considering  the  amount  of  money  appro- 
priated by  the  different  States  for  making 
an  apiarian  show  at  the  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion, and  the  late  day  at  which  some  of  it 
was  allotted  to  this  purpose,  the  display  was 
very  good.  As  the  show  lasted  several 
months,  the  exhibition  of  the  honey  under 
glass  became  a  necessity.  This  greatly 
hampered  the  exhibitors  as  it  prevented  them 
from  getting  up  large  and  striking  displays. 
The  exhibits  were  made  in  large  show  cases, 
each  case  being  five  feet  wide,  about  ten  feet 
high  and  perhaps  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet 
in  length. 

First  came  New  York.  This  State  had  two 
of  these  large  cases,  besides  two  smaller  ones 
about  eight  feet  long  that  fitted  in  nicely  in 
filling  up  a  corner.    The  smaller  cases  were 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


319 


filled  with  comb  honey  from  such  men  as 
Hetherington,  Elwood  and  Hoffman.  One 
large  case  contained  mostly  extracted  honey 
in  bottles  and  jars.  In  this  case  there  were 
also  112  pounds  of  comb  honey  and  140  of 
extracted  that  had  been  gathered  by  six  col- 
onies of  bees  kept  in  the  building,  they  fly- 
ing out  through  the  walls  a  la  house  apiary. 
This  honey  was  dark.  F.  H.  Cyrenus  fur- 
nished a  box  a  foot  wide  by  four  in  length 
and  three  inches  deep  in  which  were  some 
very  fantastically  built  combs.  A  little  close 
study  showed  the  initials  of  his  name  drawn 
by  the  crooks  of  the  combs.  He  also  had  on 
exhibition  another  box  in  which  were  two 
combs  four  feet  in  length  at  the  points  of 
attachment,  perhaps  six  inches  in  depth,  but 
about  three  or  four  inches  thick.  Two  large 
letters,  N  Y,  were  built  up  with  pound  sec- 
tions in  the  front   end   of  the  case.     There 


The  New  York  exhibit  was  put  in  place  and 
cared  for  by  our  old-time  competitor  at  fairs, 
O.  L.  Hershiser,  and  it  showed  that  he  haa 
had  experience  in  that  kind  of  work. 


THE    ".  Y.  EXTKACTED   HONEY   EXHIBIT. 

were  also  some  beautiful  mounted  speci- 
mens of  honey  producing  plants.  Yes,  and 
I  remember  seeing  some  photographs  of 
the  Langdon  house  apiary — both  exterior 
and  interior  views.  The  other  large  case 
was  filled  with  comb  honey  ;  a  long  pyramid 
at  each  end  and  a  smaller  one  in  the  middle. 


THE    MICH.    HONEX   EXHIBIT. 

Michigan's  show  stood  next  to  that  of  New 
York.  This  is  one  of  the  States  that  gave 
but  little  money  towards  showing  up  the 
honey  industry,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
self-sacrificing  labors  of  Mr.  H.  D.  Cutting, 
it  is  doubtful  if  Michigan  would  have  had 
any  honey  on  exhibition.  Neither  should  it 
be  forgotten  that  such  men  as  Taylor,  Hil- 
ton, Walker  and  Hunt  came  forward  and 
loaned  honey  and  wax,  and  thus  saved  the 
honor  of  the  State  as  a  honey-producer. 
There  was  one  large  and  one  small  pyramid 
of  extracted  honey  from  Byron  Walker,  I 
believe.  In  the  center  was  a  round  pyramid 
of  comb  honey  from  R.  L.  Taylor,  and  for  a 
large  lot  of  comb  honey,  I  think  this  was  the 
best  comb  honey  on  exhibition.  There  was 
a  pyramid  of  honey  in  cases  from  Hilton 
and  fine  wax  from  M.  H.  Hunt. 

Next  in  the  row  of  cases  came  that  of  Ohio, 
It  contained  three  pyramids  of  comb  and  ex- 
tracted honey  and  small  cakes  of  beautiful 
wax,  the  finest  I  saw,  all  so  combined  that 
one  added  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  oth- 


320 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


era.  The  frame  work  to  hold  up  these  pyra- 
mids was  of  metal  and  the  shelves  or  sup- 
ports of  heavy  plate  glass.  This  gave  a  sort 
of  airiness  to  the  exhibit  that  was  quite  at- 
tractive. The  comb  honey  was  mostly  from 
C.  E.  Boyer,  and  was  fine.  That  jolly, 
"  right  man  in  the  right  place,"  Dr.  A.  B. 
Mason,  "setup"  the  Ohio  exhibit,  and  it 
showed  most  conclusively  that  he  was  no 
novice. 


Canada's  honey  exbibit. 

So  far  as  extracted  honey  was  concerned, 
Canada  made  the  most  attractive  showing. 
Especially  was  this  true  in  regard  to  the 
manner  and  vessels  in  which  it  was  shown. 
There  was  a  great  variety  of  kinds  of  honey, 
both  liquid  and  in  the  candied  form,  and  the 
sizes  and  varieties  of  the  glass  ware  were  too 
numerous  to  mention.  Some  of  the  glass 
jars  approached  a  foot  in  diameter  and  two 
or  three  feet  in  heighth.  There  was  a  small 
lot  of  comb  honey,  from  Mr.  Holterman,  I 
believe,  that  was  unexcelled.  Some  from 
Mr.  Hall  was  also  very  fine.  The  Canada  ex- 
hibit was  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Al- 
len Pringle,  and  it  is  probable  that  no  better 
man  could  have  been  chosen  for  the  work. 

The  exhibit  from  Wisconsin  was  not  so 
large  as  that  from  some  of  the  States,  but 


its  manager,  Mr.  Franklin  Wilcox,  had  done 
the  best  he  could  with  the  material  on  hand 
by  arranging  the  comb  honey  in  arches  as 
large  as  the  case  would  allow  him  to  build 
tliem,  and  in  this  manner  he  secured  a 
unique  display  entirely  different  from  that 
of  the  others. 

I  think  Mr.  Whitcomb  arranged  the  ex- 
hibit from  Nebraska,  but  at  the  time  of  my 
visit,  Mrs.  J.  N.  Heater  had  it  in  charge.  It 
contained  a  large  pyramid  of  comb  and  ex- 
tracted honey,  and  some  figures  and  flowers 
in  wax,  while  the  top  of  the  case  contained 
the  best  display  of  honey  producing  plants, 
pressed  and  mounted,  that  was  to  be  found 
in  any  of  the  displays. 

The  next  case  had  a  very  meager  showing 
of  honey  from  California.  It  seems  strange 
that  such  a  great  honey  producing  State  as 
this  should  not  have  had  a  better  display.  I 
presume  if  I  knew  the  circumstances  it 
might  not  appear  so  strange.  There  was 
some  comb  honey  but  it  was  not  first  class 
in  appearance.  Some  tall  glass  bottles  filled 
with  extracted  honey  from  J.  F.  Mclntyre 
were  really  the  most  attractive  part  of  the 
exhibit.  In  one  end  of  the  case  were  some 
curiosities  in  the  way  of  enormous  clam 
shells  and  the  shells  of  ostrich  eggs  in  which 
the  bees  had  been  induced  to  store  honey. 

Iowa  had  one  large  pyramid  of  comb  hon- 
ey and  two  smaller  ones  of  extracted.  In 
the  front  end  of  the  case,  the  words  "  Iowa 
Honey  "  appeared  in  letters  formed  by  the 
bees  in  honey.  E.  Kretchmer  put  this  ex- 
hibit in  place,  and  he,  too,  showed  by  his 
work  that  he  had  "  been  through  the  mill." 

Minnesota  made  an  indifferent  showing, 
but  I  heard  some  one  say  that  the  honey  was 
so  damaged  in  transit  that  most  of  it  was 
unfit  for  display.  A.  K.  Cooper,  who  once 
published  the  Magazine,  put  this  display  in 
position,  and  probably  did  as  well  as  he 
could  with  what  he  had  to  work  with. 

Illinois  probably  made  as  large  a  display 
as  any  State,  as  it  filled  four  cases.  The 
first  one  was  entirely  occupied  by  a  castle 
built  of  honey-comb  ;  there  being  doors  and 
windows,  the  latter  being  furnished  with  cur- 
tains of  foundation.  The  word  ILLINOIS 
was  spelled  in  the  side  by  using  sections  of 
dark  honey  to  form  the  letters.  The  second 
case  also  contained  a  comb  honey  castle,  the 
walls  being  waved  in  and  out.  The  next 
case  was  entirely  filled  with  a  pyramid  of 
liquid  extracted  honey  in  bottles.  It  was 
unique  in  that  it  reached  the  ceiling  of  the 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


321 


case  which  was  lined  underneath  with  a  mir- 
ror, which  reflected  the  pyramid  below  and 
made  it  appear  as  though  there  was  an  in- 
verted pyramid  huny  in  the  air  above  the 
one  below.  Strange  to  say,  it  was  a  puzzle 
to  many  visitors.  In  the  last  case  was  the 
wax  exhibit,  the  most  interesting  feature  of 
which  was  a  two-story  dwelling,  with  win- 
dows, doors  and  balconies,  made  from  differ 
ent  shades  of  foundation.  This  was  from  the 
Dadants.  Messrs.  Hambaugh  and  Stone 
showed  a  great  deal  to  taste  and  enterprise 
in  getting  up  the  fine  display  that  they  did. 

Indiana  showed  a  neat  hollow  castle  of 
comb  and  extracted  honey  ;  the  sides  being 


IOWA    HONEY    EXHIBIT. 

of  comb  and  the  ends  of  extracted.  There 
was  also  a  tall  pyramid  of  bottles  very  at- 
tractively labeled  and  filled  with  a  kind  of 
drink  made  from  honey,  and  called  "  Honey 
Dew."  This  was  from  Mr.  Hill  of  the  Guide, 
and  he  was  the  man  who  put  the  exhibit  in 
shape.  It  was  very  tastily  done,  as  he  did 
not  make  the  mistake  of  trying  to  do  too 
much,  which  was  the  case  in  a  few  instances. 
A.  I.  Root  made  the  largest  display  of 
implements  and  supplies.  They  were  in  a 
case  of  his  own  construction.     It  was  about 


twelve  feet  long  and  ten  high.  E,  Kretch- 
mer,  A.  G.  Hill,  the  Goold,  Shapley  and 
Muir  Co..  W.  T.  Falconer,  J.  .J.  VanDeusen 
&  Sons,  Chas.  White  and  M.  E.  Hastings 
also  had  goods  on  exhibition.  On  the  last 
day  of  the  convention  Mr.  Florance  Williams 
of  Barnum,  Wisconsin,  placed  on  exhibition 
a  six-comb,  self- reversing  honey  extractor. 
The  comb  baskets  swing  around  in  some- 
thing the  same  way  as  those  of  the  Stanley 
make,  but  the  peculiar  feature  is  a  cog 
wheel  at  the  top  of  each  comb  basket  shaft 
and  these  cogs  fit  into  cogs  upon  the  inside 
of  a  sort  of  hoop  that  passes  clear  around 
the  extractor.  This  causes  all  of  the  baskets 
to  reverse  simultaneously  ;  otherwise,  being 
so  close  together,  there  would  be  clashing 
from  one  basket  getting  ahead  of  another  in 
its  reversal.  A  leaf  spring  behind  each  side 
of  each  alternate  basket  causes  the  baskets 
to  spring  out  when  the  stoppage  of  the  ma- 
chine kills  the  centrifugal  force,  and  the  im- 
mediate turning  of  it  in  an  opposite  direc 
tion  throws  the  baskets  around  in  the  oppo- 
site direction. 

I  left  the  grounds  with  the  impression  that 
I  had  seen  most  of  the  honey  exhibits,  but 
Dr.  Miller  says  in  Gleanbujs  that  there  was 
some  very  fine  honey  from  England  in  the 
British  exhibit,  and  that  there  were  other  in- 
teresting apiarian  exhibits  scattered  over 
the  grounds.  I  agree  with  him  in  thinking 
it  a  pity  that  everything  in  the  bee-keeping 
line  could  not  have  been  in  one  place. 


THE   TRIP   TO   CHICAGO. 

As  the  sons  of  the  prophet  do  piously  try 
T'.  see  Mecca  once  ere   the  hour  comes  to  die. 

On  the  Saturday  preceding  the  convention 
of  bee  keepers  in  Chicago,  I  packed  my  tel- 
escope grip  with  a  camera  and  nearly  three 
dozen  dry  plates.  Evening  found  me  enjoy- 
ing something  to  which  I  had  been  a  stran- 
ger for  several  years,  and  that  is  the  hos- 
pitality of  Mr.  Heddon.  I  also  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  a  Mr.  A.  E.  Hoshal,  of 
Beamsville,  Canada,  who  has  since  bought 
the  right  of  Mr.  Heddon's  new  hive  for  Can- 
ada and  the  British  Possessions.  Messrs. 
Heddon,  Hoshal,  H.  A.  Burch,  (who  has  for 
several  years  helped  Mr.  Heddon  make  the 
Dowagiax:  Times),  and  myself  held  an  infor- 
mal but  quite  enthusiastic  bee-convention  of 
which  I  may  say  more  sometime  in  the  fu- 
ture. Before  leaving,  Mr.  Heddon  and  my- 
self drove  out  to  his  Glenwood  apiary  and 


322 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


took  a  camera's  view  of  it.  On  our  way  back 
I  noticed  a  deserted  dwelling  standing 
among  old  apple  trees  and  evergreens.  Most 
of  the  doors  and  windows  had  fallen  from 
the  casements,  but  vines  made  wreaths  about 
the  openings  and  hung  in  festoons  from  the 
cornices.  It  was  romanticly  picturesque, 
even  for  a  deserted  dwelling,  and  how  I  did 
long  to  stop  and  add  it  to  my  collection  of 
photographs,  but  a  stiff  breeze  kept  the 
leaves  in  constant  motion  and  I  knew  the  re- 
sult would  be  a  negative  not  quite  good 
enough  to  be  satisfactory  nor  bad  enough  to 
throw  away,  hence  I  reluctantly  drove  on. 
Since  beginning  to  use  the  camera  I  find 
myself  noticing  every  little  bit  of  scenery  in 
a  way  that  sometimes  surprises  me.  Before 
leaving  Mr.  Heddon's  I  made  "exposures" 
of  his  home  apiary,  the  interior  of  hie  honey 
house  and  of  his  residence,  from  some  of 
which  I  may  have  cuts  made  and  show  them 
to  my  readers. 

From  Dowagiac  I  went  toBuchanan, 
Michigan,  where  I  visited  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a  skunk  farm,  that  is,  a  place  where 
skunks  are  raised  for  their  fur  and  oil. 
About  three  acres  of  a  hill  side  that  slopes 
down  to  a  stream  are  fenced  in  with  a  h  gh 
board  fence  that  extends  four  feet  down  into 
the  ground  and  is  surmounted  with  several 
strands  of  barbed  wire.  Inside  this  enclo- 
sure the  animals  are  kept  in  what  might  be 
termed  a  half-domesticated  state.  One  place, 
where  the  bank  is  the  steepest,  is  fairly  hon- 
ey-combed with  their  holes.  There  is  a  house 
in  which  is  a  brick  arch  surrounding  a  huge 
caldron  kettle  in  which  their  food,  consist- 
ing of  scraps  of  refuse  meat  and  corn  meal 
is  cooked.  There  is  an  out  door  cellar  in 
which  the  food  is  kept  in  winter  th  t  it  may 
not  freeze.  There  have  been  as  many  as  380 
skunks  inside  the  enclosure  at  one  time,  but 
at  present  the  exact  number  is  not  known. 
I  made  several  photographs  showing  the  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the  business,  and,  consider- 
ing that  the  skunks  do  not  usually  come  out 
until  dusk,  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  catch 
three  in  a  group  taking  their  evening  meal 
before  it  was  too  dark  to  use  the  camera.  I 
may  "  write  up  "  an  account  of  this  visit  and 
send  it  to  some  paper  for  publication. 

I  reached  Chicago  early  Tuesday  evening 
and  was  not  long  in  discovering  that  the 
"  gathering  clan  "  became  rapidly  greater  as 
the  hours  went  by.  The  hotel  was  soon  so 
crowded  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  room 
for  one   more  to  sleep.    There  was  a  large 


transom  extending  the  whole  length  of  my 
room,  or,  rather  om-  room,  as  it  contained 
six  bee-keepers,  and  when  I  awoke  in  the 
night  I  heard  voices  down  in  the  hall.  I 
listened  a  few  moments  and  decided  that  E. 
R.  Root  had  arrived,  as  the  conversation  was 
none  other  than  he  and  C.  E.  Parks  of  the 
G.  B.  Lewis  Co.,  talking  sections. 

There  was  the  largest  gathering  of  bee- 
keepers it  has  ever  been  my  lot  to  witness. 
There  were  22.")  in  attendance,  some  .tO  of 
which  were  ladies.  Many  were  the  old  famil- 
iar faces  that  greeted  and  made  glad  my 
eyes,  and  many  were  the  faces  with  which  I 
at  once  felt  acquainted  although  I  had  never 
seen  them  before. 

While  there  was  a  large  gathering  of  the 
best  apiarists  of  the  country,  nothing  of  an 
unusually  valuable  character  was  brought 
out  at  the  convention.  This  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  as  all  subjects  are  so  thoroughly 
discussed  in  the  journals  that  but  little  of  a 
new  character  remains  to  be  said  at  a  con- 
vention. 

As  a  place  for  seeing  how  bee-keepers  look 
conventions  are  a  grand  place,  but  the  jour- 
nals are  beginning  to  rob  it  of  even  this 
feature ;  but  they  never  can  forestall  us  in 
the  hand  clasp,  the  sound  of  the  voice,  and 
the  glance  of  the  eye. 

One  fact  was  brought  out  more  clearly  to 
me  than  it  had  ever  been  shown  before,  and 
that  is  in  regard  to  the  size  of  hives  and  the 
contraction  of  the  brood  nest.  We  of  the 
North,  with  our  short,  early  honey  flow  need 
small  hives  and  contraction  or  the  season  is 
passed  before  the  colonies  are  ready  for  it. 
Farther  south  where  the  seasons  are  longer, 
or  where  there  is  a  bountiful  fall  flow,  large 
hives  give  excellent  results  and  there  is  not 
so  much  swarming. 

The  question  of  swarming  and  its  preven- 
tion also  turned  largely  upon  this  same 
point.  With  a  short,  early  flow  swarming  is 
undesirable,  while  a  prolonged  flow  or  one 
that  comes  late  in  the  season  may  make 
swarming  desirable 

The  fact  that  a  one-fourth  inch  bee-space 
practically  prevented  the  building  of  brace 
aud  burr  combs  was  also  given  considerable 
emphasis. 

There  are  also  two  points  in  the  manage- 
ment that  I  wish  to  criticise,  that  is  the  lack 
of  a  programme  pro{)erly  arranged  before 
the  convention  was  called  to  order  ;  and  the 
advertising  of  a  three-days  meeting  and  then 
cutting  it  down  to  two.     At  least  one  hour  of 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


328 


valuable  time  was  used  m  discussing  this 
subject  of  a  programme,  the  appointing  of  a 
committee  to  arrange  it  and  deciding  in  re- 
gard to  the  hours  when  it  should  be  carried 
out.  I  do  not  care  to  discuss  as  to  who  was 
to  blame,  perhaps  the  blame  does  not  rest 
wholly  upon  one  pair  of  shoulders,  but  it  cer- 
tainly is  a  mistake  to  bring  together  such  a 
body  of  men  and  women  without  a  pro- 
gramme all  ready  to  work  from.  Another 
point :  some  cannot,  or  do  not  wish  to,  be 
present  at  all  the  sessions.  If  there  is  a 
printed  programme  they  can  manage  to  be 
present  when  those  topics  are  discussed  in 
which  they  are  particularly  interested.  The 
last  two  meetings  of  the  North  American 
have  been  advertised  as  three-day  meetings. 
Each  time  the  programme  has  been  rushed 
through  and  adjournment  brought  about  the 
evening  of  the  second  day.  I  know  that  the 
adjournment  at  Chicago  was  to  meet  at  noon 
the  next  day  at  the  bee  and  honey  exhibits  on 
the  fair  grounds,  and  I  know  that  many  of 
the  bee-keepers  went  there  at  that  time,  but 
the  gathering  was  simply  a  sight-seeing 
crowd  and  not  a  convention  as  we  under- 
stand the  word.  I  had  business  that  kept 
me  in  the  office  of  the  Louisana  Hotel  all  of 
the  forenoon  of  what  was  advertised  to  be 
the  last  day  of  the  convention,  and  the  clerk 
really  lost  patience  in  explaining  to  belated 
travellers  who  came  in  that  the  convention 
was  over  with  and  they  would  find  the  bee- 
keepers on  the  fair  grounds.  Bee-keepers 
from  a  long  distance  had  not  counted  on 
trains  being  belated  to  the  extent  they  were, 
but  consoled  themselves  with  the  thought 
they  would  enjoy  at  least  one  day  of  the  con- 
vention, only  to  be  bitterly  disappointed.  If 
we  cannot  hold  a  three-days  meeting  and 
have  it  profitable,  enjoyable  and  desirable, 
then  let's  not  attempt  it.  but  let  us  live  up  to 
what  we  advertise. 

Another  thing  :  there  was  a  motion  made 
to  go  sight-seeing  in  the  forenoon  and  have 
a  convention  in  the  afternoon,  the  plea  being 
made  that  this  arrangement  would  be  less 
tiresome.  Had  this  plan  been  adopted  it 
would  have  been  a  death-blow  to  the  conven- 
tion. I  have  seen  a  convention  practically 
destroyed  by  skipping  one  session  that  the 
members  might  go  in  a  body  and  visit  some 
institution.  At  some  meetings  there  seems 
to  be  a  class  of  bee-keepers  who  are  more  in- 
terested in  sight-seeing  or  in  going  home 
than  they  are  in  convention  work,  and  they 
are  not  easy  until  the  convention  has  been 


broken  up  or  the  time  for  holding  it  has  been 
shortened.  If  these  people  care  more  for 
something  else,  why  can't  they  let  the  con- 
vention go  on  without  them,  that  is,  why  not 
go  about  their  sight- seeing  or  go  home,  and 
not  try  to  compel  others  to  join  them  ?  Let 
us  have  a  programme  and  live  up  to  it,  and 
when  the  convention  is  over  we  can  go  sight- 
seeing if  we  wish.  If  there  will  not  be  time 
for  this  after  the  convention  is  over  then  go 
before.  Do  as  Bro.  Root  has  done.  You 
know  a  great  deal  of  fun  has  been  poked  at 
him  because  he  visited  green  houses  instead 
of  staying  by  the  meeting ;  but  I  believe  he 
has  never  tried  to  break  up  conventions  that 
he  might  visit  green-houses. 

What  about  the  fair?  Well,  imagine  a 
mile  square  covered  with  concrete  pavement. 
At  appropriate  distances  large  and  beauti- 
fully constructed  buildings  of  white.  These 
buildings  have  the  appearance  of  great  so- 
lidity, but  they  are  simply  frame-works  of 
iron  covered  with  "  staff,"  a  kind  of  plaster. 
In  one  pillar  perhaps  three  feet  in  diameter 
and  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  height,  I  saw  a 
hole  as  large  as  a  man's  head  that  had  been 
broken  in,  and  the  coating  of  plaster  was 
not  more  than  an  inch  in  thickness.  The 
buildings  are  so  well  proportioned  and  so 
well  arranged  in  reference  to  one  another 
that  their  great  size  is  not  apparent.  It  was 
only  when  I  walked  toward  a  building  that 
its  size  became  apparent.  It  seemed  quite 
near  when  I  started  but  receded  as  I  ap- 
proached—after walking  three  or  four  min- 
utes it  still  seemed  as  far  away  as  when  I 
started.  Then  there  were  the  lagoons  upon 
which  sailed  the  gondolas,  ana  the  electric 
launches  darted  hither  and  thither,  and  the 
numerous  water  fowl  made  merry.  Then 
there  were  the  immense  fountains  that 
foamed  and  spouted,  and  the  electric  foun- 
tain with  its  streams  of  many  hues.  Over- 
looking the  main  lagoon  stood  a  gilded 
figure  of  Columbia  sixty  feet  in  height.  At 
twilight  is  the  most  witching  scene.  Sweet 
chimes  are  played  from  the  bells  in  the  tow- 
ers and  the  daylight  and  electricity  vie  with 
each  other,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  cor- 
rect to  say  they  combined  in  filling  the 
grounds  with  a  peculiarly  soft,  clear,  glow- 
ing, golden  light.  There  kept  running 
through  my  mind  the  expression  of  a  Mich- 
igan editor  that  "if  he  didn't  know  better 
he  should  think  he  was  in  heaven." 

The  fair  is  really  an  epitome  of  the  whole 
world.    What  an  education  it  would  be  to 


324 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


have  spent  the  whole  summer  there.  But  it 
is  so  immense  that  to  attempt  to  see  every- 
thing in  a  short  time  is  simply  folly.  I  can 
appreciate  most  fully  the  feelings  of  the  man 
who  felt  like  taking  the  train  for  home  at 
the  end  of  the  first  day.  He  was  discouraged 
in  even  attempting  to  see  the  fair.  The  only 
thing  that  I  saw  thoroughly  was  the  honey 
exhibition.  I  spent  half  a  day  at  the  art 
building  and  saw  pictures  that  will  always 
remain  in  my  memory :  but  just  think  of 
trying  to  look  at  all  of  the  pictures  in  eighty 
large  rooms  in  half  a  day,  when  there  are 
many  pictures  before  any  one  of  which  you 
would  be  glad  to  stand  for  half  a  day  !  I 
presume  I  went  through  half  the  rooms. 

I  had  my  camera  with  me  and  was  anxious 
to  make  photographs  of  the  bee  and  honey 
exhibits.  Inquiry  developed  the  fact  that  no 
camera  was  allowed  on  the  grounds  that 
took  pictures  larger  than  4x5  inches  and 
mine  was  twice  as  large.  An  official  photo- 
grapher would  make  one  picture  for  $3.00. 
Dr.  Mason  went  with  me  to  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  building  and  stated  the  case,  but 
he  could  not  help  us  any.  The  Doctor  said  : 
"  I  guess  the  only  way  will  be  to  smuggle  in 
the  camera  and  use  it  on  the  sly.  Wont  it  ?" 
The  superintendent  said  :  "  That  is  the  way 
I  should  do  it."  And  I  imagined  that  I  saw 
the  shadow  of  a  wink  gather  abont  the  cor- 
ner of  one  eye.  That  settled  it.  I  slept  on 
the  floor  that  night  in  a  little  room  back  of 
the  honey  exhibits,  with  a  big  piece  of  can- 
vas under  and  another  over  me,  while  for  a 
sheet  I  used  the  big  piece  of  cotton  cloth  that 
Bro.  Root  uses  to  cover  up  his  exhibits  so 
folks  cannot  see  it  Sundays.  As  soon  as  it 
was  light  enough  for  me  to  work  in  the 
morning  I  was  at  it  and  before  the  sight- 
seers were  very  numerous  I  had  made  ten 
"  exposures."  Cuts  made  from  some  of 
these  appear  in  this  issue. 

Monday  morning  I  made  Bro.  York  a  short 
call.  I  found  him  in  a  very  cosy  office  in 
the  very  top  of  one  of  Chicago's  tall  build- 
ings. Why  did  he  go  there  ?  A  printer 
could  easily  guess  ;  because  he  could  thereby 
secure  such  excellent  light. 

Eleven  o'clock  found  me  on  board  the 
train  with  the  best  part  of  the  trip  before 
me — the  home-going.  As  I  neared  home  I 
had  no  difficulty  in  recalling  the  follow- 
ing : — 

"  Clime  above  all  climeH  beside 
Ib  where  those  we  love  abide, 
And  that  little  spot  is  best 
Which  the  loved  one's  foot  has  pressed." 


EXTRACTED. 


Ventilation  of  Bee  Cellars. 

We  think  the  Cosmos  quite  boiled  down — 
( 'anned  in  a  thousand  histories— 
But  what  we  know  is  sprinkled  round 
Among  a  tliousand  mysteries. 

Although  it  has  several  times  been  decided, 
apparently,  that  bees  needed  no  ventilation 
in  winter,  I  have  never  been  fully  satisfied 
with  that  decision.  When  Mr.  P.  H.  Elwood 
described  in  Gleanings,  a  few  months  ago, 
his  wintering  cellars  and  said  that  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  ventilation  had  been  very 
fully  expressed  in  the  American  Bee  Journal 
for  July,  of  1878,  I  at  once  sent  for  that  issue 
and  read  his  communication.  At  this  sea- 
son of  the  year,  and  with  discussion  that  is 
now  on  hand,  probably  nothing  could  be 
more  appropriate  than  its  reproduction. 

"Industry,  skill,  and  economy,  will  secure 
a  competence  in  almost  any  legitimate  pur- 
suit. Without  these  three  essentials,  busi- 
ness becomes  a  mere  lottery,  with  many 
more  blanks  than  prizes  ;  and  although  the 
prize  of  success  may  occasionally  be  ob- 
tained, it  adds  nothing  to  the  credit  of  the 
obtainer. 

Formerly,  bee-keeping  was  supposed  to  be 
a  highly  favored  pursuit,  success  depending 
not  upon  the  amount  of  labor  and  skill  em- 
ployed, but  upon  the  possession  of  a  mysteri- 
ous something,  called  luck.  Happily,  wiser 
counsels  have  prevailed  until,  at  the  present 
time,  our  leading  apiarists  are  united  in  the 
assertion  '  That  the  greatest  enemy  of  the 
bee  is  the  ignorance  of  man.'  Nowhere  do 
we  see  the  truth  of  this  statement  more  con* 
spicuously  shown  than  in  that  much  dis- 
cussed branch  of  our  business,  wintering  : 
and  were  we,  to-day,  to  examine  in  detail  the 
many  theories  advanced,  and  the  equally  nu- 
merous practices  founded  upon  them,  we 
should  be  compelled  to  accept  the  conclusion 
that  luck  more  often  than  wit  is  still  to  have 
the  credit  of  success. 

As  a  discussion  of  the  whole  subject  of 
wintering  would  require  too  much  time  and 
space,  I  will  confine  my  thoughts  princi- 
pally to  ventilation  while  in  winter  quarters  ; 
(a  subject  upon  which  no  two  authorities 
agree),  and  in  order  to  be  consistent,  I  shall 
have  to  disagree,  to  a  very  large  extent,  with 
the  many  that  have  preceded  me.  At  the 
outset,  we  shall  have  to  satisfy  all  that  bees 
require  the  accession  of  fresh  air  to  main- 
tain life  and  health,  a  proposition  that  cona- 
mon  sense  would  answer  by  an  emphatic 
yes,  but  to  which  many  bee-keepers  give  an 
equally  emphatic  no,  and  bring  forward 
many  illustrations  to  i)rove  the  truthfulness 
of  their  theory. 

Gen.  Adair,  in  an  elaborate  paper  on  ven- 
tilation, mentions  having  had  a  honey  box, 
the  air-space  of  which  was  half  filled  with 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


325 


living  bees.  After  proving  to  his  own  satis- 
faction that  it  was  air-tight,  by  blowing  into 
it,  as  a  cooper  does  into  a  barrel,  he  covered 
the  entrance  with  waxed  paper  and  set  it 
away  for  a  couple  of  days.  He  then  ex- 
amined it  and  found  that  the  bees  did  not 
seem  in  the  least  inconvenienced  by  their 
confinement. 

Prof.  Cook,  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural 
College,  reports  that  one  of  his  most  pros- 
perous colonies,  in  the  spring,  was  one  that 
had  the  entrance  to  the  hive  completely  filled 
with  ice  for  nearly  the  entire  winter.  But 
more  important  than  either  of  these  experi- 
ments is  the  well  known  fact  that  bees  have 
been  buried  for  months  under  ground,  with 
no  provision  for  ventilation,  and  with  the 
surface  of  the  ground  frozen  solid  during 
the  whole  time.  Are  any  more  facts  needed 
to  prove  that  ventilation  is  unnecessary  ?  We 
might  subscribe  to  this,  did  we  not  know 
that  bees  require  food  at  all  times,  and  that 
1  to  3  lbs.  of  honey  per  month  is  consumed 
by  each  colony,  while  iu  winter  quarters. 
Chemistry  tells  us  that  the  consumption  of 
this  amount  of  food  requires  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  larger  amount  of  atmospheric  air. 
It  also  tells  us  that  the  combustion  of  three 
pounds  of  honey,  within  the  body  of  the  bee, 
produces  2^4  pounds  of  watery  vapor,  and 
nearly  24  cubic  feet  of  carbonic  acid  gas. 
The  free  atmosphere  contains  but  three  or 
four  parts  of  carbonic  acid  in  ten  thousand, 
and  the  best  European  authorities  are  united 
in  asserting  that  for  the  respiration  of  man, 
it  should  never  contain  more  than  ten  parts 
in  ten  thousand.  Marker  and  Schultze,  of 
Germany,  in  their  researches  on  the  natural 
ventilation  of  stables,  have  found  that  for 
domestic  animals  the  proportion  may  safely 
run  three  times  as  high,  or  30  parts  in  lO.OOC. 

On  the  supposition  that  bees  need  an  at- 
mosphere no  more  pure  than  this,  we  find 
the  consumption  of  three  pounds  of  honey 
requires  the  passage  through  the  hive  of  not 
less  than  8,000  cubic  feet  of  air.  As  the 
brood  department  of  our  hives  usually  con- 
tains less  than  a  cubic  foot  of  free  air ;  this 
necessitates  the  complete  removal  of  this 
air.  at  least  8,000  times. 

These  figures,  undoubtedly,  seem  large, 
but  if  I  should  say  that  200  colonies  of  bees 
require  as  much  air  as  their  owner,  you 
would  not  be  surprised,  hut  think  the  esti- 
mate quite  small.  JSow,  Gen.  Morin,  of 
Paris,  (see  Smithsonian  reports,)  has  fur- 
nished us  the  best  of  proof,  (experimental 
not  theoretical),  that  in  close  apartments, 
in  order  to  keep  the  atmosphere  around  him 
sufficiently  pure,  man  requires  over  2.100 
cubic  feet  of  air  per  hour,  a  result  subscribed 
to  by  the  best  authorities  in  Europe.  This 
is  largely  in  excess  of  the  amount  required 
by  200  colonies  of  bees,  supposing  each  to 
consume  \^i  pounds  of  honey  per  month. 

But  where  did  the  bees  in  close  confine- 
ment get  their  supply  of  air  ?  There  is  no 
proof  given  that  the  receptacles  were  air- 
tight. Adair's  test  only  proves  that  the  out- 
let was  immeasureably  smaller  than  the  in- 
let :  and  it  is  not  claimed  that  Prof.  Cook's 
hive  had  no  crevices  through  which  a  limited 
supply  of  air  might  not  enter.    I  have  had 


the  entrances  of  several  hives  closed  for 
weeks  at  a  time,  without  serious  inconven- 
ience to  the  inmates,  but  I  know  the  con- 
nections were  not  air  tight.  Even  if  they 
had  been,  the  bees  would  have  received  a 
considerable  quantity  of  air  through  the 
walls  of  the  hive. 

It  is  a  well  established  fact  that  atmospher- 
ic air  freely  penetrates  the  tissues  of  all 
plants.  Corewinder  found  that  a  single  colza 
plant,  in  twelve  hours,  decomposed  two 
quarts  of  carbonic  acid  gas.  Bousingault 
found  that  twelve  square  feet  of  oleander 
leaves  decomposed  about  the  same  quantity. 
These  results  prove  that  a  very  large  quanti- 
ty of  air  must  have  coursed  through  the  plant. 
Some  idea  of  the  size  of  the  '  breathing 
pores,'  or  stotnata  may  be  formed,  when  it 
is  known  that  100,000  of  these  openings  may 
be  counted  upon  an  average  sized  apple  leaf. 
Although  the  leaves  are  much  more  pervious 
than  the  stems,  air  in  various  degrees  of 
purity  may  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  plant. 
If  green  wood  allows  the  free  passage  of  air, 
certainly  dry  wood  will  be  more  pervious. 
We  all  know  how  freely  wood  imbibes  water, 
ana  it  is  safe  to  say  that  air  will  go  wher- 
ever water  can,  for  it  is  770  times  lighter. 
On  the  supposition  that  one-half  as  much  air 
passes  through  an  unpainted  inch  board  as 
though  a  lime-stone  wall,  well  laid  in  mor- 
tar, (not  an  extravagant  supposition,  I  think 
you  will  say),  I  find  by  computation,  that 
with  the  size  of  hive  we  use,  so  long  as  the 
hive  walls  remain  dry,  quite  a  large  per 
centage  of  the  air  required  by  the  bees  in 
winter  will  enter  this  way.  In  proportion 
as  the  wood  hive  becomes  saturated  with 
water  is  the  passage  of  air  impeded,  a  fact  of 
much  importance  in  wintering. 

How  about  the  bees  buried  ?  Facts  are  on 
record,  showing  that  men  have  been  buried 
for  days  at  a  time  and  were  not  suffocated. 
Certainly,  when  men  can  live,  bees  ought  to, 
as  they  require  so  much  less  air.  But  the 
men  were  not  buried  under  the  frozen  ground 
you  say.  Von  Rettenkoffer,  than  whom 
there  is  no  better  authority  living,  says  that 
he  believes  frozen  soil  is  to  be  not  much 
less  pervious  to  air  than  the  same  soil  un- 
frozen. I  have  not  space  to  give  his  reasons, 
and  will  only  say  that  he  seems  to  have  the 
best  of  the  argument.  He  says,  in  regard  to 
the  free  passage  of  air  through  the  ground, 
'  I  know  cases  where  persons  were  poisoned 
and  killed  by  gas,  which  had  to  travel  twenty 
feet  under  the  street,  and  then  throueh  the 
foundations,  cellar,  vaults  and  flooring  of 
the  ground  floor  rooms.' 

In  wintering  bees  underground,  we  need 
not  have  so  much  fear  that  the  quantity  of 
air  will  fall  short,  as  that  it  will  be  deficient 
in  quality.  A  year  ago,  in  reading  Prof. 
•Johnson's  admirable  treatise  on  '  How  Crops 
Feed,'  I  learned  of  the  impurity  of  soil  air. 
It  usually  contains  all  the  moisture  it  will 
hold,  and  from  10  to  390  times  as  much  car- 
bonic acid  gas  as  the  free  atmosphere.  In 
sandy  soil  the  air  is  the  purest. 

To  keep  the  soil  air  out  of  our  bee  cellars, 
last  fall,  we  carefully  coated  the  sides  and 
bottom  with  hydralic  cement,  and  I  find  that 
it  makes  them  much  dryer  and  better. 


326 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


The  material  of  which  your  bee  house  is 
built  will  iutiueuce  the  amount  of  artihcial 
veutilation  ueeded.  In  order  to  give  you  au 
idea  of  the  exteut  of  uatural  ventilation 
through  the  walla  of  buildings,  I  cannot  do 
better  than  again  quote  Retieukoffer  : — 

'  For  every  square  yard  of  wall  surface,  at 
!)K°  falir.  ditterence  of  temperature,  the 
spontaneous  veutilation,  or  passage  of  air 
through  the  wall,  amounts  per  hour  to 

♦  7  cubic  feet,  with  walls  of  sandstone 

6.5      •*        •'  "        •'    of  quarried  limestone. 

7.9 '        "    of  brick. 

14. i    "        "  "        "     of  mud.' 

We  prefer  to  build  our  wmtering  houses  of 
earth.  You  will  at  first  conclude  that  sand- 
stone walls  would  be  more  porous  than  lime- 
stone, but  sandstone  is  a  smoother  stone  and 
does  not  require  so  much  mortar.  It  is  the 
mortar  that  admits  the  larger  part  of  the 
air.  There  has  always  been  a  serious  dis- 
agreement between  theoretical  and  practical 
ventilation,  until  a  consideration  of  the  ex- 
tent of  natural  ventilation  reconciled  the 
difference.  Many  interesting  experiments 
are  on  record.  With  suitable  apparatus, 
candles  are  extinguished  by  air  blown  from 
the  mouth  through  solid  brick  walls,  a  foot 
in  thickness. 

Another  mistake  still  current  in  some  of 
our  text  books  on  ventilation  is  the  state- 
ment that  impure  air,  being  heavier  than 
pure,  falls  to  the  bottom  of  a  room  and  re- 
mains there,  unless  provision  is  made  for  its 
outlet  at  that  point.  These  authors  are  igno- 
rant of  the  law  of  the  diffusion  of  gases. 
Gases  intermingle  perfectly,  no  matter  what 
the  variation  in  density.  Usually  there  is 
not  much  difference  in  the  purity  of  the  at- 
mosphere in  the  various  parts  of  a  room, 
unless  the  changes  are  quite  rapid. 

A  consideration  of  the  moisture  of  the  air, 
as  well  as  of  the  practical  appliances  for  ven- 
tilation must  be  deferred  for  the  present. 
P.  H.  Elwood. 

Starkville,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  1,  1878." 

After  reading  over  the  above  it  occurred 
to  me  that  if  bees  thus  secured  ventilation 
in  spite  of  their  owners,  why  need  there  be 
any  attempt  made  to  secure  ventilation  for 
them  ?  I  wrote  Mr.  Elwood  saying  that  it 
seemed  as  though  a  little  explanation  on 
this  point  would  make  things  a  little  more 
satisfactory.    He  replied  as  follows  : — 

OoTOBEB  18th,  1893. 
W.  Z.  Hutchinson,  Flint,  Mich.  :— 

Deab  Sik  : — Yours  of  July,  also  of  October 
6th,  came  in  due  time,  but  in  a  busy  tin^e. 
You  refer  me  to  an  article  of  mine  in  the  A. 
B.  J.  for  July  1878  and  ask  why  if  natural 
ventilation  is  so  great  it  ever  becomes  neces- 
sary to  resort  to  the  artificial  ventilation  of 
a  bee  cellar  ?  In  reply  permit  me  to  say  we 
have  a  pasture  lot  of  about  the  right  size  for 
our  old  Guernsey.  However,  if  we  turn  in  a 
pair  of  horses  with   her  we  shortly  find  that 


the  pasture  is  over  stocked.  So  with  a  bee 
cellar  having  enough  natural  ventilation  for 
fifty  swarms  of  bees.  When  five  or  ten  times 
that  number  are  put  in  it,  it  is  overstocked 
unless  the  cellar  is  artificially  ventilated. 
Again,  the  feed  in  the  pasture  is  not  a  con- 
stant quantity,  for  in  a  time  of  drouth  the 
grasses  grow  very  slowly  if  at  all.  So  in  a 
bee  cellar  tlie  uatural  ventilation  varies  and 
at  times  is  very  little.  When  the  wind  is  a 
gale  and  the  temperature  below  zero,  the 
natural  ventilation  of  our  bee  cellar  is  suf- 
ficient for  a  thousand  swarms.  But  let  the 
wind  deaden  to  a  calm,  the  temperature  rise 
outside  to  that  within  and  the  degree  of 
moisture  rise  to  the  point  of  saturation  and 
a  million  voices  would  scold  you  should  you 
depend  wholly  upon  natural  ventilation. 
The  most  important  factor  in  natural  venti- 
lation is  the  diffusion  of  gases  when  brought 
in  direct  contact  or  what  is  practically  the 
same  contact  though  a  porous  diaphragm  or 
partition.  We  inhale  air  into  the  passages 
of  the  lungs,  but  diffusion  causes  it  to  pass 
further  in  while  the  impure  air  passes  out  by 
this  process  of  intermingling.  *'  The  rates 
of  diffusion  of  gases  are  inversely  propor- 
tioned to  the  square  roots  of  their  relative 
weights."  Temperature  directly  changes  the 
relative  weights  (besides  exerting  other  in- 
fluences) and  thus  becomes  an  important 
factor  in  changing  the  rates  of  diffusion. 
An  ordinary  room  with  a  capacity  of  2,6,50 
cubic  feet  had  its  entire  contents  changed 
once  in  an  hour  by  natural  ventilation  when 
the  difference  between  the  inside  and  out- 
side temperature  was  34  F.  (66^  inside,  32° 
outside)  the  doors  and  windows  of  course 
being  shut.  When  all  openings  and  crevices 
in  doors  and  windows  were  pasted  up  and 
rendered  as  thoroughly  air-tight  as  possible, 
there  was  still  a  change  amounting  to  1,0(50 
cubic  feet  per  hour  which  was  owing  to  dif- 
fusion through  the  walls.  On  lessening  the 
difference  between  the  internal  and  external 
temperature  to  7°  F.  (71°  in  64°  out)  the 
change  of  air  was  reduced  to  780  cubic  feet 
per  hour,  but  on  opening  a  window  of  eight 
square  feet,  the  change  rose  again  to  1,060 
cubic  feet,  showing  that  we  may  have  in 
winter  better  ventilation  with  windows 
closed  than  in  summer  \\  ith  the  same  open. 
Thus  it  is  seen  that  artificial  ventilation  is 
most  urgently  called  for  when  the  temper- 
ature outside  and  inside  is  nearly  the  same. 
Yours  truly, 

P.  H.  Elwood. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


327 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee   Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

ROTHER  Coleman  tells  us  that  downy 
>  oung  bees  often  die  of  starvation  in 
the  summer  time,  when  there  is  plenty 
of  honey  in  the  hive — and  bee  paralysis 
wrongly  gets  the  discredit  of  it.  This  new 
suggestion  well  deserves  some  looking  into 
by  all  of  us.  Newly  emerged  bees  feed 
themselves,  as  Langstroth  has  shown.  To 
them,  can't  find  the  cupboard,  and '  'cupboard 
was  bare,"  amount  to  the  same  thing  ;  both 
mean  speedy  death. 

"  I  found  that  the  honey  in  the  hive  was  cou- 
flned  to  the  outside  combs,  and  that  the  combs 
from  which  the  bees  were  hatching  contained  no 
honey  at  all.  *  *  j  shifted  a  comb  con- 
taining honey.  *  *  The  young  bees  quit 
dying  in  a  few  minutes,  and  have  not  died  any 
since.     A.  B.  J.,  341. 

Another  idea  strikes  me.  Would  not, 
can't  open  the  cupboard  door,  mean  death 
also  ?  In  scarcity  times  the  honey  in  a  hive 
is  nearly  or  quite  all  sealed,  and  presumably 
the  old  bees  are  not  carrying  any.  Who 
kuows  that  a  little  prilgrim,  never  having 
broken  fast  yet,  could  (or  would)  uncap  a 
cell? 

The  Review. 

Once  nore  the  Review's  turn  has  come 
around.  Is  it  the  same  old  sixpence  ?  No, 
not  quite.  It  is  gradually  becoming  more 
an  illustrated  journal  than  it  was.  The  Sep- 
tember number  was  especially  fine  in  that 
respect  ;  and  the  apiary  illustrated  is  one  of 
especial  interest  to  the  cause.  If  we  should 
only  call  Mr.  B  Taylor's  apiary,  The  Minne- 
sota Experiment  Station,  would  it  not  be  so 
to  all  practical  purposes  ?  And  is  it  not 
worth  more  to  us  just  as  it  stands  than  the 
average  State  station  would  be  if  State  sta- 
tions became  universal  'i  Would  not  the 
State  station  be  a  ^' place  ^'  for  some  medi- 
ocrity with  influence — but  not  capacity 
enough  to  be  a  valuable  leader.  Let's  go  a 
little  slow,  brethren.  Every  wooden-head  we 
get  set  up  in  such  a  place,  issuing  semi-oc- 
casional Pub.  Doc,  will  tend  to  obscure  the 
excellent  private  work,  and  the  excellent 
Michigan  station,  we  already  have.  Wonder 
if  I'm  getting  bilious— and  is  it  because  I 
didn't  go  to  Chicago  ? 

Perhaps  the  most  apparent  change  in  the 
Review  is  that  relief  to  the  tedium  of  affairs 
which  is  afforded  by  giving  each  article  a 
heading  of  proverb  or  rhyme  indicating  its 


general  character — as  the  Irishman  would 
say,  "A  fut-note  at  the  head,  sure."  It 
would  be  picking  up  Gleanings'  thrown  away 
shoes  to  put  a  foot-note  at  the  foot,  so  on 
the  head  it  goes.  Many  of  these  have  a 
serio-comic  turn.  If  you  don't  like  that,  but 
would  rather  have  everything  long  faced, 
just  send  in  a  scolding  chorus  to  the  editor, 
and  see  if  things  don't  come  dignified.  Some 
want  to  eat  their  spice  by  the  plateful,  and 
some  don't  want  any  at  all,  and  some  prefer 
to  eat  it  sprinkled  on  the  food— Review 
fashion.    Is  it  right,  or  not  ? 

There  is  a  difference  between  the  treat- 
ment an  editor  may  rightly  give  tlie  head  of 
an  article  and  the  same  as  applied  to  the 
foot.  On  the  foot  he  may  put  a  mustard 
plaster  of  reproof  or  opposition,  and  some- 
times ottght  to  do  so.  Not  so  on  the  head. 
What  is  put  on  there  must  be  in  line  with 
the  writer's  thought.  Hear  him  first,  be- 
fore you  scold  him  or  twist  the  reader's  ear. 
Now  let  us  see  about  the  wintering  sympo- 
sium in  the  October  number.  Heddon, 
Aikiu.  B,  Taylor,  Doolittle,  Prof.  Cook,  R. 
L.  Taylor  and  the  editor,  take  part.i_  No  use 
of  trying  to  deny  that  there  is  a  certain  air 
of  woru-out  ness  about  the  lucubrations  on 
wintering.  Although  we  winter  our  bees  on 
honey  we  winter  our  readers  mainly  on 
chestnuts.  (Subdued  applause.)  But,  breth- 
ren, when  we  get  it  all  found  out  we  won't 
give  you  anything  at  all  except  chestnuts — 
then  what  will  you  do  ?  Better  winter  on 
chestnuts  and  save  the  bees  than  on  paradise 
nuts  and  lose  'em. 

What  boots  it,  this  beautiful  writing. 

That  sweet  on  the  ear  doth  melt. 
CriBp.  novel,  fresh  aiid  inviting — 
CD        And  our  bees  all  dead  as  a  smelt  ? 

R.  L.  Taylor  advises  feeding  in  a  warpa 
room  tor  neglected  colonies  that  must  be  fed 
when  the  almanac  can't  be  turned  back  to 
warm  weather  again.  Seems  to  me  I  would 
rather  (as  the  simpler  and  less  liable  to  mis- 
carry plan)  take  out  three  or  four  of  their 
lightest  combs  and  replace  with  combs 
poured  full  of  warm  syrup.  Disturbance 
sooner  over,  and  no  possibility  of  their  stop- 
ping off  and  leaving  half  the  syrup  in  the 
feeder.  Yet  the  fact  that  in  this  way  the 
syrup  gets  no  chemical  work  put  on  it  may 
put  the  balance  of  advantage  on  the  other 
side — unless  one  feeds  honey.  And  here  Is 
the  simmer  of  his  excellent  putting  into  the 
cellar. 

ir)th  of  Nov.— cloudy— 45°  —a  frosty  day  one  to 
bejshunned- -touching  nothing  else  laterally — 


328 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


foot  of  open  air  at  cellar  bottom — the  stronger 
colonies  furthest  down,  as  that  is  the  more  try- 
ing position. 

Notice  how  moBt  good  authorities  are 
gradually  getting  together  on  keeping  bees 
away  from  the  cellar  bottom. 

The  editor's  summing  up  seems  to  be 
mostly  very  conservative  and  sound.  Mat- 
ters little  whether  it  is  or  isn't  a  disease  that 
kills  us,  so  long  as  we  are  killed.  Usually 
not  any  one  thing  but  several  things  com- 
bine in  the  mischief.  And  go  for  those 
things  which  we  can  mitigate,  seeing  that 
some  of  them  we  can  not.  And  where  there 
are  heavy  losses  every  winter,  under  all 
methods,  there  must  be  a  change  of  food. 
Prof.  Cook  strikes  the  same  string. 

"  With  other  conditions  mote  favorable,  prob- 
ably any  food,  almost,  would  bo  wholesome 
and  safe,  but  with  other  conditions  awry,  then 
the  good  food  may  ward  off  disaster." 

And  probably  he  lights  on  an  important 
truth  where  he  suggests  that  somehow  or 
other  a  cellar  dug  in  sand  is  better  than  one 
dug  in  clay.  In  any  cellar  the  air  we  breathe, 
much  of  it,  came  out  of  the  (jroviid  not  long 
ago,  and  soil  air  differs. 

Doolittle  describes  the  symptoms  with  the 
ability  of  a  medical  almanac — and  his  prime 
remedy  is  "  good  stores,  or  sugar  syrup." 

Heddon's  no  pollen  test,  and  72  out  of  73 
().  K..  in  the  same  cellar  where  two-thirds 
of  those  with  natural  stores  died  with  dysen- 
tery look^  like  knock-down  e  idence.  It 
probably  is  conclusive  as  to  such  a  wickedly 
cold  cellar.  It  is  not  quite  full  proof  how- 
ever that  in  a  dry  cellar  with  pure  air,  and 
temperature  where  it  should  be,  the  pollen 
would  have  done  a  particle  of  harm.  The 
bees  that  lived  were  compelled  to  refrain 
from  activity  and  brooding  by  lack  of  pol- 
len :  but  whether  it  was  the  pollen,  or  the 
untimely  activity  and  brooding,  that  killed 
the  others  is  left  entirely  unsolved. 

Possibly  friend  Aikiu  puts  too  much  stress 
upon  moisture  ;  but  if  inspectors  represent- 
ing more  than  7, 60()  colonies  agree  that  hives 
having  accidental  cracks  in  the  top  winter 
the  best  we  had  better  be  looking  into  the 
subject  a  little. 

And  friend  B.  Taylor  seems  to  open  an  in- 
side pocket  and  give  us  some  nuts  that  are 
not  altogether  chestnuts. 

"  I  favor  small  liives.  *  *  In  a  largo 
hive  there  is  much  si)ace  left  vacant  outside  the 
cluster  ;  here  the  air  stagnates  " 

Quite  likely  (other  things  being  equal)  the 
nearer  the  cluster  comes  to  filling  the  cavity 
the  better.     Those   frequent  tires  in  the  cel- 


lar are  good,  and  no  possible  harm  before 
the  bees  are  put  in.  And  the  diarrhoea  of 
starvation  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  until 
we  understand  about  it. 

R.  L.  Taylor  in  the  station  report,  tries 
hard  to  keep  us  from  driving  stakes  on  the 
apparent  conclusions  about  starters  versus 
foundation  or  comb  for  new  swarms.  Some 
will  drive  'em  all  the  same  ;  so  I  will  say  so 
some  more.  Don't  do  it !  This  is  a  scant 
and  inconclusive  beginning  at  an  important 
matter,  which  will  require  pi7es  of  evidence 
to  settle  it.  And,  don't  you  see  the  experi- 
menter draws  conclusions  favorable  to  foun- 
dation and  the  editor  draws  conclusions 
favorable  to  starters  from  the  same  big  table? 
Very  likely  the  man  favormg  comb  could 
hew  out  a  nice  stake  for  his  side  also.  Quite 
possibly  (probably,  I  should  say)  starters 
ouly  may  be  good  tactics  under  certain  con- 
ditions, and  wretchedly  poor  tactics  under 
other  conditions.  This  would  be  unlikely  to 
come  out  in  one  season's  experiments. 

The  General   Round  Up 

What  an  unusually  meaty  number  is  the 
American  Bee  Jou  nal  for  October  12th. 
How  entici  gly  Dr.  Gallup  writes  of  Califor- 
nia, and  his  little  out-door  Maggie,  that 
was'nt  going  to  live  and  grow  up.  .Just  lis- 
ten. 

"Wo  use  tJhinese  matting — no  costly  carpets 
— so  we  are  not  afraid  to  let  in  the  sunshine  and 
air."    A.  B.  .J.,  469. 

O  how  many  thousand  lives — yes  how 
many  hundred  thousand  lives — it  would  save 
if  pretty  follies  that  fade  in  the  sun  were 
cast  out  of  our  rooms,  and  God's  healing 
sunshine  let  in  !  It  would  almost  amount  to 
bringing  California  to  us  :  aud  be  money  in 
pocket  too.  Then  we  might  uliuost  hope  (as 
saying  A  opens  the  way  for  saying  B)  for 
another  unhoi)eable  reform.  Folks  might 
next  consent  to  banish  the  mop,  and  cease  to 
murder  the  baby.  Just  imagine  what  the 
angels  must  think  of  you  as  they  look  at 
baby,  and  see  him  creeping  along  with  his 
little  nose  close  to  the  floor,  breathing  con- 
stantly the  deadly  gases  of  damp,  decaying 
lumber  and  crack  crumbs  ;  aud  all  for  the 
worship  of  that  C  iri^tian  Dagon  the  daily 
mop  I  Wliy  the  mop  is  at  least  fourth  cousin 
to  the  saloon-keeper  in  the  murder  business. 
The  m  ich  execrated  saloonist  at  least  does'nt 
feed  the  essence  of  death  to  the  l)aby,  and 
the  mop  does. 

How  daring  is  brother  Dayton  to  say  as 
he  does — 


rUE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


329 


"  Honoy  is  not  at  its  best  until  it  has  remained 
in  tlie  t)ives  long  enough  to  become  travel- 
stained."    A.  B.  J..  470. 

I  notice  tiiat  some  sections  stored  early 
come  off  looliing  nice  in  October.  Wish  all 
good  bees  would  learn  this  tidy  art. 

Hfillo  I  We  have  here  the  bee  words  of  two 
moro  languages,  Algonquin  and  Iroquois. 
In  the  latter  tongue  if  I  should  feed  you 
some  sugar-honey  it  would  be  Otsiketa- 
tsinakontakwane-otsiketa.  Think  you  would 
survive  ?    A.  B.  J.,  473. 

Query  892  wants  to  know  what  an  inventor 
shall  invent  for  our  craft.  Non-swarmers, 
controlled  mating,  tool  to  pull  dummies  and 
things,  better  hive-covers,  veils  and  smok- 
ers, and  an  uncapping  machine  that  will 
work  on  crooked  coinb — seems  to  be  the 
mind  of  the  crowd.  Who  knows  but  some 
form  of  the  sand  blast  (^  using  very  coarse 
saud)  could  be  made  to  fill  the  latter  bill  ? 
Cappings  broken  into  bits  would  release  the 
honey  without  being  removed,  and  the  Mc- 
Intyre  form  of  strainer  would  manage  the 
debris  without  trouble  I  think.  All  loose 
sand  in  the  honey  would  quickly  settle  out. 

Now  hear  Muth,  the  honey  dealer,  as  to  the 
markets. 

"  A  fruit-canner  buys  a  few  barrels  of  honey 
every  fall  for  makius  pickels.  A  few  pork-pack- 
ers and  a  few  brewers  bay  occasionally  25  to  5U 
barrels  of  honey.  If  barley  should  ever  again 
bring  $  .50  a  bushel,  brewers  would  buy  the  bulk 
of  ilie  honey  crop  of  America  and  (.'una.  Pork 
men  having  used  honey,  acknowledged,  in  eveiy 
instai;ce,  the  superior  (luality  of  their  meat. 
But  1  cannot  account  for  the  reason  why  honey 
18  not  in  more  general  use  among  them.''  A.  B. 
J.,  163. 

One  tobacco  man  takes  about  nine  barrels 
a  week,  and  one  baker  nearly  as  much.  He 
lost  one  good  customer  for  honey  dew 
(printing  rollers)  by  sending  him  good  hon- 
ey when  there  was  no  honey  dew  on  hand. 
That  was  adulterated,  and  no  use  o'  talking. 

But  after  all  Jenuie  Atchley  seems  to  give 
the  most  interesting  single  article.  She 
warns  our  B.  Taylor  that  she  has  had  his  lit- 
tle racket  for  ten  years,  and  that  it  won't 
work,  a  double  swarm  with  two  queens  being 
the  result.  But  curiously  it  does  educate 
queens  to  tolerate  each  other,  so  that  she 
works  more  or  less  colonies  every  year  with 
two  laying  queens  without  any  partition. 
The  two  that  survived  of  the  four  she  sent  in 
one  cage  to  the  Roots,  went  to  housekeeping' 
kindly  together  when  they  got  back.  And  a 
quadruple  colony,  with  three  perforated  par- 
titions is  getting  to  be  a  favorite  queen-rear- 
ing wrinkle  with  Willie.     'Pears  like  some- 


thing profitable  would  sometime  sprout  on 
from  all  these  wonderf^il  things.  A  woman 
who  could  credit  Mr.  Dadant  with  suggest- 
ing the  idea  to  her  ( when  there  was  so  little 
to  be  credited)  would  hardly  wish  to  rob  Mr. 
Taylor  of  any  part  of  his  due. 

According  to  Doolittle  (Gleanings,  702) 
giving  a  laying  queen  to  a  colony  that  has 
just  swarmed  keeps  them  with  swarming  and 
breeding  on  the  brain,  so  that  they  store  lit- 
tle ;  when  they  might  have  stored  (50  pounds 
if  let  alone. 

Friend  Smith,  of  Lometa,  Texas,  has  had 
three  cases  this  summer  where  a  young 
queen  had  (apparently)  a  second  fertiliza- 
tion.    Gleanings,  704. 

Dr.  Miller,  while  observing,  like  the  rest 
of  us,  the  usual  tendency  of  virgin  queens  to 
fight,  has  seen  a  case  where  two  virgins 
touched  each  other  several  times  without  a 
sign  of  hostilities.  Gleanings,  705.  The 
language  in  which  he  tells  us  this  is  somewhat 
nervous.  Don't  think,  dear  Dr.  that  the 
great  bee-keeping  family  is  going  to  doubt 
your  testimony  in  a  plain  case,  just  because 
you  have  been  harried  a  bit  of  late.  We  have 
to  eat  a  grain  of  salt  with  startling  reports 
when  they  come  from  beginners,  or  unknown 
persons,  but  not  with  yours. 

Edwin  Erance  says  he  would  have  been 
better  off  had  he  thrown  his  twenty  queen - 
less  colonies  away  last  spring.  Even  those 
that  had  queens  had  not  vim  enough  to  steal, 
or  even  to  clean  up  the  combs  of  dead  col- 
o  lies  when  set  invitingly  open.  Like  others, 
he  notices  that  the  pollen  from  early  spring 
fiowers  is  about  the  only  thing  that  puts  life 
into  dwindling  bees.     Gleanings,  744. 

Doolittle's  guess  at  the  composition  of 
food  for  baby  bees  is,  two  parts  honey,  four 
parts  p^llen,  and  one  part  water.  This  is 
not  fed  raw  of  course,  but  well  churned  first 
in  the  laboratory  of  the  nurse  bees.  Glean- 
ings, 772.  Seems  to  me  it  is  not  only  churned 
but  filtered.  And  what's  the  difference  be- 
tween nutriment  filtered  through  live  animal 
tissues  and  a  secretion  ? 

France  is  sure  that  on  his  ground  he  can 
get  more  than  twice  as  much  extracted  hon- 
ey as  comb.  Having  gone  the  rounds  of 
smoker  fuels  he  settles  on  mixed  straw  and 
tobacco  stems.     Gleanings,  775. 

Gleanings,  173,  begins  a  beautiful  series 

of  camera  views  of  foreign  bee  manipulation 

and  hives.     W.  B.  Carr,  one  of  the  editors  of 

the  British  Bee  Journal,  appears  as  operator. 

Richards,  Lucas  Co.,  Ohio,  Oct.  24,  '93. 


330 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


UWLUU^UUUUUUMMUMUMM'^^MUUUUU 


Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers. 

TYPE  WRITTEN. 


EiEE!BiBEiB!!!CCP]CiCC!Cil5E!IEIi:EBBEBBEi 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  booli.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States)  . 
and,  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  ftf  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2..50 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  I  can  furnish  them 
at  »2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  FUnt,  Mich. 

BEE  -  KEEPERS' 

SURRLY  HOUSE 

J.  H.  M  COOK.  78  Barclay  St ,  N   Y.  City. 

{SUCCESSOR   TO  A.   J.   KING.) 

4-93-tf  S'-d  for  illustrated  Catalogue 

P/cn'sc   mr-„tion    the   Rei'ifw 


ON   HAND    NOW. 

THE    MOST     COMPLETE    STOCK 

OF  BEE    HIVES.    SECTIONS  AND 

SUPPLIES  IN  THE   NORTHWEST. 

W.  H.  PUTNAM, 

193-12t.  RIVER  FALLS.   WIS. 


Muth's :: 


»NEY    EXTRACTOR 

PERFECTION 
>ld-Blast    Smokers, 
S<|uairc  Gla^ss  Honey  J&rj,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  ('has.  F.  Muth  iV;  Son. 
Cor.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves..  t'incinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hints  to  Bee  Keepers. 

l-93-tf.  Ple-s.-  V  ntlon  tt'e  R-uieif. 

PATENT.  WIRED,  COMR  FOOND.^JION 

HAS  NO  SAG  IN  BROOD  FRAMES. 

TMii,  Flat  -  Bottom  Foaiidatioii 

HAS  NO  FISHBONE  IN  SURPLUS  HONEY. 

Being   the    cleaiiest.    it    is    usually 

worked   (jnicker   tlian  any  fdn.  made. 

,1.    VAN   DKIKSKN    &   SONS, 

(SOLE    MANUFACTCUER8), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook,  Mont.  Co.,N.Y 


Dadant's  Comb  Foundation. 

Wholesale  and  Retail.  Even  our  competitors 
acknowledge  tliat  our  goods  are  the  Standard 
of  their  kind.  Langstroth  on  the  Honoy 
Bee,  Revised.  New  edititm.  Bee  Veils; 
and  veil  material  at  wholesale.  Bee  Supplies, 
Sections,  Smokers,  etc  Samples  of  Founda- 
tion and  veil  stuff  with  circular  free.  Instruc- 
tions to    beginners        Send    your    address    to 

CHAS.DmNT&  SOX,  Hamilton,  Ills. 

4-93-l2t  Please  mention  the  Reuiem. 

Nearly  1000  Queens  for  '93 

Is  my  record.      Larger    yards,  best   stock  and 

methods  for  '94.    Golden  Italian  stock. 

11.93-tf  J.  B.  CASE,  Port  Orange,  Fia. 

GOLDEN  '"LI4H  QUEENS 

Now  ready  for  $1.00  each.    Do  not  order  yoar 
supplies  until  you  see  our  circular  for  1893.    For 
the  price,  we  have  the  best  spraying  outfit  made. 
Send  $l.ri(l  and  ijet  one.     \Vm.  H.  BRIGHT, 
l-93-12t  Mazeppa,  Minn. 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  SUPPLIES 

FOI^      189S. 

Before  you  purchase,  look  to  your  interest,  and 
send  for  catalogue  and  price  list. 

J.   P.   H.   BKOWN, 
i-88tf.  Augusta,  Georgria. 


If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  the  Review. 

Notice  to  Jobbers. 

G,  I  Lewis  Com  Wafertown,  Wis,, 

Invite  all  Wholesalers  and  .Jobbers  of 
Bee  -  Keepers'  Supplies  to  write  to  them 
for  contracts  for  Hives  and  Sections  the 
coming  season.        »        «        o        o    11  '.).'{  tf 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW- 


Ki\ 


Barnes'  Foot  and   Hand 
Power  Machinery. 

This  cat  reprfinentn  our 
Combined  Circular  and 
Scroll  Saw.  which  is  the 
beet  machine  made  for 
Bee  Keepers'  ase  in  the 
conetraction  of  their  hives, 
sections,    boxes,    etc. 

11 -92-1 6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOB  OATAI/OGTJE,  PRICKS,  ETC., 

Address  W.  F.  &,  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Huby  St ,  Rockford,  Ills 

Please  mention   the  Reuiew. 


Hew  Heddon  Hive 

FOR  Having    bought   the    Canadian 

patent  on  the  above  hive  I  am 
prepared  to  supply  it  in  any  com- 
bination to  the  bee  -  keepers  of 
Canada.  Circulars  of  interest  to 
all  mailed  free.  Write  for  one. 
ll-9:{-tf  A.  E.  H08HALL,  Beamsville.  Ont. 

Please  mention  the  Reuiew, 


CiNiDil. 


IMPORTANT^-^ 

-<^T0  BEE-i^EEPE{^S  T 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  tliat  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  Those  who  have  tested  them 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  the  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  racn^s."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

FIVE-BAJIDED  WOt^KEt^S 

In  March,  April  and  May,  $1.25  each,  6  for  $6.00; 
June,  $1  00  each,  6  for  $5.00;  .July  to  Nov.,  $1.00 
each,  6  for  $4..50.  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 
12-92-tf  C  D-  DUVALL, 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 


Ulnstraieil   Advertlseients  Attract   Attention. 


HATCH  CHICKENS  BY  STEAM 

w.th^^pro.ed  Ej(pg|sior  Incubator. 

Simple,  Perfect,  &lj'-Regu. 
ialinq.  Thousands  in  suc- 
cesenil  operation.  Gnaran- 
teed  to  batch  a  larger  per- 
centage of  fertile  eggs  at 
less  cost  than  any  other 
Hatcher.  Lowest  priced 
first-class  Hatcher  made. 
GEO.  H.  8TAHL.  Qulncy.lll. 


Bind  Your  Back  Volumes. 

The  back  volumes  of  the  Kevikw  are  some 
what  different  from  those  of  some  journals  ; 
many  of  them  are,  to  a  large  extent,  little  pam- 
phlets devoted  to  the  discussion  of  special  top 
ics.  For  this  reason  they  will  always  be  partic- 
ularly valuable  for  reference.  But  how  provok- 
ing it  is  when  desiring  to  consult  some  back 
number,  to  find  that  that  particular  number  is 
missing— has  been  lost  or  mislaid.  To  avoid 
such  annoyance,  some  have  fastened  togetlier 
the  issues  of  each  year  by  tacking  them  together 
with  wire  nails,  or  something  of  the  sort.  Tliis 
is  better  than  notliing,  but  there  is  a  lack  of 
flexibility,  the  book  does  not  open  out  easily  eo 
that  it  can  be  read,  there  is  no  protection  to  the 
outside  leaves,  besides  there  is  nothing  hand- 
some about  such  an  arrangement. 

There  is  a  book  binder  here  in  Flint  that  does 
excellent  work  at  a  fair  price.  He  will  put  the 
first  five  volumes  of  the  Review  into  one  hand- 
some volume  with  morocco  back  and  corners, 
putting  the  title  on  the  back  in  gilt  letters,  and 
giving  the  edges  of  the  leaves  a  neat,  reddish 
tinge  —  all  for  $1.25. 

Send  me  your  back  numbers,  either  by  mail  or 
express,  and  I  will  get  the  work  done  and  return 
the  book  when  bound,  making  no  charge  for  my 
services,  as  the  binder  allows  me  a  small  com- 
mission, and  should  any  of  your  back  numbers 
or  volumes  be  missing,  I  shall  be  glad  tp  furnish 
them  as  long  as  the  supply  lasts,  simply  charg- 
ing the  regular  price  for  them,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows: Vols.  1  and  II,  five  cents  a  copy ;  Vol.  Ill, 
four  cents  a  copy ;  Vols.  IV  and  V,  eight  cents  a  , 
copy. 

The  time  will  soon  come  when  some  of  the 
back  numbers  will  be  diflicult  to  obtain,  and  if 
you  care  for  the  Review  complete  from  the  be- 
ginning, nicely  bound,  now  is  the  time  to  attend 
to  it.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,    Flint,  Mich. 


HONEY  HLPHflC 


cuts  FnrQlslieil  for  all  illastratlns;  Parposes. 


AND  Bee  Books, 

OF  ALL  KINDS. 
A  LARGE  STOCK. 
MY  NEW  ILI.VSTRATED 

Catalogue  and  Price  List  of  Supplies 
for  the  Apiary  will  be  sent  free  to  all 
who  may  apply.  Send  a  postal  card 
for  it,  writing  your  name  and  address 
^plainly.  For  every  Order  of  $10.00 
^and  over.  I  will  make  you  a  pi-esent. 
The  Catalogue  tells  you  all  about  It. 
T.  ©.  Newman,  147  So.Western  Ave.,Chlca«o. 


332 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  HEVIEW. 


PEt^    ceHt    discount 

Jr  rom      Catalogue      Prices,    on      all      Goods    Until     December      Ist. 
(  In  December,  4  per  cent.      In  January,  3  percent.) 

AMERICAN    BEE   -  KEEPEE    until    Jannary    1895  for    .50  cents. 

The  W.  T.  Falconer  M*g.  Co., 

/vyanufacturer$  of  Bee-Keepers'  Supplies.  BSTABLITHED   I  5  YBARS. 

tlamestouin,  -  _  _  fleui  Yopk. 


Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Langstroth-Simplicity,  Standard 
Laugstroth,  Dovetailed  and  Champion  ("haff 
Hives,  Supers,  OnePiece  Sections  and  Shipping 
Cases.  Foundation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16'page  Circular. 
1-92-tf         PAGE  &  KEITH.  New  London,  Wis, 

The  Bee- Keepers' 

ENTERPRISE. 

A  cyclopedia  of  fresh,  bright,  original  ideas 
pertaining  to  Bee-Culture,  carefully  selected  and 
boiled  down  for  busy  people.  Published  montlily 
at  50  cts— sent  from  now  until  Jan.  95  for  SOcts. 

BURTOf*  L.  SACe,  rtew  Ha^v«n,Conn. 

QO    TO  ^^^^'''■i^P^ 

HEAD 
QUARTERS 

FOR  4-  AND  5  BANDED 

im  QUEENS 

Special,  breeding  queen,  $5.00 

Best,  select,  tested,    3.00 

Tested,    2.50 

Untested, 1.00 

"       per  dozen,      9.00 

L.  L.  HEARN. 
7-93-tf  Oakvale.  W.  Va. 


—If  you  are  going  to— 

:l5tJY  A  BUZZ  -  SAW^, 

write  to  the  editor  of  the  Ukview.  He  has  a 
new  Barnes  saw  to  sell  and  would  be  glad  to 
make  you  happy  by  telling  you  the  price  at 
which  he  would  sell  it. 


IF    YOU    WANT  THE 

BEE    BOOK 

That  covers  the  whole  apicultural  field  more 
completely  than  any  other  published,  send  $l.itO 
to  Prof.  A  J.  Cook,  Agricultural  College,  Mich., 
forliis 

Bee-Keepers'  Guide. 

Liberal  Discounts  to  the  Trade. 


BEES 


QTJEElSrS. 

SKOTIONH,    KMOKEKB, 
^^^^^^^  COMB   FOUNDATION 

And  all  Apiarian  Supplies.     Send  for  Catalogue. 
E.  T.  FLANAGAN,  Belleville,  111. 

Just   Splendid. 

Mr.  Alley— The  queen  I  got  of  you  last  fall  is 
just  splendid  !    She  is  the  best  qaeen  iu  an  api- 
ary 150  colonies.    1  would  not  take  $10  for  her. 
John  A.  Pease,  Moravia,  Calif. 
Price  of  such  queens  is  $1.00  each. 

HENRY  ALLEY, 

Wenham,  Mass. 


•4  THE  PROGRESSIVE  BEE- KEEPER  ¥- 

£Ia,s   OlaELxigeci    Heixicis.         It   is   no-w'  Fvilolislaeci   toy   the 

LEAHY    MANUFACTURING    CO., 

HlgginaTlll*,    Missouri* 

Money,   Experience  and  Enterprise  will  not  be  lacking  to  make  it  all  that  its  name 
indicates.       Send  for  Free  Samples  and  Copy  of  28-page  Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Supplies. 


Dec,    1893, 


At   Fliqt,   Micl^igaq, — Oqe  Dollar  a  Year. 


384 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


ADVE^TISIHG   l^ATES. 

All  advertieementB  will  be  inserted  at  the  rate 
of  15  cents  per  line,  Nonpareil  space,  each  in- 
sertion :  12  lines  of  Nonpareil  space  make  1  inch. 
Discounts  will  be  given  as  f  oUows : 

Oa  10  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  5  per  cent ;  6 
times,  15  per  cent ;  9  times,  25  per  cent ;  12  times, 
35  per  cent. 

On  20  lines  and  upwards,  3  times.  10  per  cent ;  6 
times,  20  per  cent ;  9  times,  30  per  cent ;  15  times, 
40  per  cent. 

On  .SO  lines  and  upwards,  3  times,  20  per  cent;  6 
times,  30  per  cent ;  9  times,  40  per  cent ;  12  times, 
50  per  cent. 


Clubbing    Iiist. 

1  will  send  the  Review  with— 

Gleanings, ($1.00) 

American  Bee  Journal (  l.Od) 

Canadian  Bee  Journal  . . .  (  l.OOJ 

American  Bee  Keeper    . . .(    ..50) 

Progressive  Bee  Keeper... (    .50)... 

Bee  Keepers'  Guide (    .50) 

Apiculturist (    .75) 

Bee-Keepers'  Enterprise . .  (    ..50) 


.$1.7.5. 
.  1.75. 
.  1.75. 
.  1.40. 
.  130. 
.  1.40. 
.  1.65. 
,.  1.40. 


Honey  Quotations. 


riNCINNATI,  Ohio. -Demand  is  good  in  a 
jobbing  way  for  all  kinds  of  honey  for  fnniil.v 
use  but  from  manufacturers  tlie  demand  is  ver.v 
slow.  Extracted  brings  from  5  to  S  cts. ;  couib 
honey.  12  to  16  cts.  for  best  white.  Heeswax  in 
in  fair  demand  at  from  20  to  JJ  ct*-.  for  good  to 
choice  yellow. 

('HAS.  F.  MUTH  &  SON.. 

Dec.  8.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


(HICAGO.Ill.  -Honey.  The  limited  denian.l 
for  comb  honey  does  not  permit  our  quoting  it 
above  15c,  with  no  sales  of  white  selling  below 
14  to  UVt.  The  stock  that  we  have  received  this 
year  is  of  fine  quality,  and  we  advise  forwarding 
to  market  at  once,  so  as  to  be  received  here  be- 
fore the  cold  weather  sets  in.  Extracted  is  sell- 
ing at  6  to  6 '4.    Beeswax,  23. 

Nov.  IS.  S.  T.  FISH  &  Co., 

189  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


The  following  rules  for  grading  honey  were 
adopted  by  the  North  American  Bee  Keepers' 
Association,  at  its  last  meeting,  and,  so  far  as 
possible,  quotations  are  made  according  to 
these  rules: 

Fancy.— All  sections  to  be  well  filled ;  combs 
straight,  of  even  thickness,  and  firmly  attached 
to  all  four  sides ;  both  wood  and  comb  unsoiled 
by  travel-stain,  or  otlierwise ;  all  the  cells  sealed 
except  the  row  of  cells  next  the  wood. 

No.  1,— All  sections  well  filled,  but  combs  un- 
even or  crooked,  detached  at  the  bottom,  or 
with  but  few  cells  unsealed;  both  wood  and 
comb  unsoiled  by  travel-stain  or  otherwise. 

In  addition  to  this  the  honey  is  to  be  classified 
according  to  color,  using  the  terms  white,  amber 
and  dark.  That  is,  there  will  be  "  fancy  white," 
"  No.  1  dark,"  etc. 


KANSAS   CITY,  Mo.— We  quote  as  foUows : 

No.  1  white,  15  to  16;  No.  1  amber,  13  to  14;  No.  1 

dark,  10  to  12 :  white  extracted,  6 ',4  to  7  ;  amber 

extracted,  6 ;  dark  extracted,  5.  Beeswax,  20  to  22. 

CLEMONS-MASON  CO., 

Nov.  1.  521  Walnut  St.,  Kansas  City  Mo. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y.— Sales  are  very  light,  but 
stocks  are  also  moderate,  and  we  have  no  doubt 
that  liberal  shipments  to  this  market  will  sell  to 
as  good  advantage  as  in  any  market  to  which 
honey  can  be  sent.  We  quote  as  follows  :  Fancy 
white,  14  to  15 ;  No.  1  white,  12  to  13 ;  fancy  dark, 
10  to  11 ;  No.  1  dark,  9  to  9^.  Beeswax,  25  to  30. 
BATTERSON  &  CO.. 

Dec.  7.  167  &  169  Scott  St.,  Buffalo.  N.  Y. 


MINNEAPOLIS,  Minn.,  -  We  are  receiving 
large  shipments  of  honey  but  they  are  mostly  of 
poor  quality.  Fancy  white  is  selling  at  18  to  2(i 
cts.,  but  we  are  cleaning  up  more  No.  1  wliite  at 
16  cts.  than  anything  else.  We  quote  as  follows  : 
Fancy  white,  18  to  20;  No.  1, 16 ;  fancy  amber.  1.". : 
fancy  dark.  14;  white  extracted,  7'/j  to  8;  dark 
extracted,  6'4  to  6%.    No  sale  for  beeswax. 

J.  A.  SHEA  &  CO.. 
116  First  Ave.,  North,  Minneapcxlis,  Minn. 

Sept.  27, 


CHICAGO,  lU.  —  Fancy  white  comb  honey 
brings  15c  per  pound.  Grades  not  grading  first  - 
class  are  not  selling  at  over  14c.  as  there  has 
been  quite  a  quantity  of  California  honey  re- 
ceived here  that  is  offered  at  14c.  The  quality  is 
superior  to  most  of  that  we  receive.  Dark  hon- 
ey sells  slowly  at  12  to  13c.  Extracted  ranges 
from  5  to  7c  per  lb.,  according  to  color,  quality, 
flavor  and  style  of  package.  Beeswax  22c  per 
lb.  The  trade  in  honey  has  been  large  this  sea- 
son. 

R.  A.  BURNETT  &  CO., 

Nov.  1.  161  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


NEW  YORK.  N.  Y.— Our  market  for  both  comb 
and  extracted  honey  is  unusually  dull  and  in- 
active. The  supply  is  large  and  continues  to 
accumulate,  and  to  move  round  lots,  even  the 
above  prices  must  be  shaded.  Beeswax  is  firm 
and  advancing  in  price.  We  quote  as  follows  : 
Fancy  white.  13;  No.  1  white,  12;  No.  1  amber, 
11;  fancy  dark,  10;  No.  1  dark,  9;  white  e.\- 
tracted,  6  to  ej^ ;  amber,  5^  to  6 ;  dark,  5  to  5>,. . 
Beeswax,  26  to  27. 

HILDRETH  BROS.  &  SEGELKEN. 

Dec.  8.         28  &  30  West  Broadway  New  York. 


CHICAGO  Ill.-.VU  of  the  bettor  grades  of 
honey  have  been  worked  off  and  the  dark  does 
not  sell  at  any  price.  If  theweather  moderat«8 
we  would  advise  those  having  honey  of  fancy 
grades  to  send  it  at  once  so  as  to  get  it  on  the 
market  before  the  holidays  Do  not  send  any 
dark  honey,  Wequote  as  fcdlows  :  Fancy  white, 
16;  No.  1  white,  U  to  15;  fancy  amber.  13;  No  1 
amber.  13;  fancy  dark,  (it  don't  sell) ;  white  ex- 
tracted, 6'/2  to  7  ;  amber,  6  to  6)^  ;  dark.  5.  Bees- 
wax. 22  to  23, 

J.  A.  LAMON. 

Dec.  6.  44  &  48  So.  Water  St.,  Chicago,  HI. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


335 


^IHTEH    I:.OSSES 

Are  not  always  the  result  of  the  same  cause.  Thev 
may  come  from  starvation  ;  from  poor  food  ;  from 
improper  preparations  ;  from  imperfect  protection  ;  from 
a  cold,  wet,  or  possibly  a  poorly  ventilated  cellar; 
etc.,  etc.  Successful  wintering-  comes  from  a  proper 
combination  of  different  conditions.  For  clear,  con- 
cise, comprehensive  conclusions  upon  these  all  -im- 
portant points,  consult  "Advanced  Bkk  Cultuk^:." 
Five  of  its  thirty  -  two  chapters  treat  as  manv  different 
phases     of     the     wintering"     problem. 

Price  of  the  book,  50  cts.;  the  Review  one  year  and  the 
book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,    either  U.  S.  or  Canadian. 

W.  Z.  HUTCHINSOH,  Flint,  IVrieh. 


HONEY 


Superior  Quality  ;    Price  Low. 


Muth's ::: 


^bout    the 


NEW    HIVE. 


lEY    EXTRACTOR 

PERFECTION 
>ld-Blast    Smokers, 
S<iuarc  GIzvss  Honey  Jar?,  Etc. 

For  Circulars,  apply  to  ('has.  F.  Mdth  &  Son, 
('or.  Freeman  &  Central  Aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  Practical  Hints  to  BeeKeepers. 

l-93-tf.  Plamx  li/i  nt!on  the  feuieui. 


ri5K  for  He<l<Ioo's  Circular?.     A<l<lress 
JfKS'    HEDDOfi,     Dowzkgiac,    A\icJ7- 


niion    tli-^    Reu'u 


Nearly  1000  Queens  for  '93 

le   my   record.      Larger    yards,   beat  stock   and 

metlujds  for  '9i.    (joldin  Italian  slock. 

ll-'J:i-tf  J  B.  (  ASE,  Port  Orange,  Fla. 

Please  mention   the  Reuiew. 


Doolittle's  Queer?  -  Rez^ripg  Free! 

W'c  have  some  of  ( J.  M.  ])ooHttl"'«  "  .Sciendlic  (i)uepn-RearinK  honk  (HO  pages)  in  paper 
(•ov(n-s,  a  copy  •><■ 'vliicli  wo  will  m^'il  FRE^  to  the  Npvv  Subscriber  who  sends  us  $1.00  for  the 
Weekly  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL  for  one  year.  This  same  book  in  cloth 
hin.iinw  shUb  l  ,.  $1.00,  .nit  ,v'e  niye  ,  >  a  .\'ew  !i.ibs^.ibor  one  of  the  paper  bound  edition  for 
nothing.  Order  (juick,  if  you  want  one.  They  will  all  soon  be  gone.  A  sample  copy  of  the 
■    i>ce  -iduiual"  is  sent  free  on  applic  (fion  to  the  publishers. 

GEO.  W.  YORK  G-  CO.,  56  Fifth  Ave.,  ©biCAgo,  Ills. 

iW^  To  new  subscribers,  the  rHuiaindcv  of  this  year  will  be  sent  free. 


336 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  HE  VIEW. 


PEt^     CENT      DISCOUHT 

jKrom      Catrtloyue      Prices,     ou      all      Goods     Until      Decemljer      Ist. 
(  111   DocHiiiber,   4   per  cent.      In  Jauunry,   :?  percent.) 

AMERICAN    BEE    -  KEEPER    until    January    ISi).")  for    .W  cents. 

The  W.  T.   Falconer  JVIfg.  Co., 

^Manufacturers  of  Bcc-Kecpcrs'  5upplies.  ESTABLiTHEO   13  YEARS, 

Uamestotxin,  _  «  _  Neuj   Yofk. 


Bee  Hives  and  Section  Boxes. 

Simplicity,  Ij.inK8trotli-Siiiii>licity,  Srandard 
LnuKHtrotli.  Dovetailed  and  Cliainpion  Cliaff 
Hives,  Sni)i'is,  One  Piece  SectioriH  and  Shippiu^r 
Cases.  Fniindation.  Smokers,  etc.,  etc.  Send 
for  16  pa Kf  Circular. 
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BEES 


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Just    Splendid. 

Mr,  Alley— The  (jueen  I  got  of  you  last  fall  is 
just  splendid  I  She  is  the  best  qoeen  in  an  api- 
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John  A.  Pease,  Moravia,  Calif. 

Price  of  such  queens  is  $1.0()  each. 

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£2els    Cln.6Ln.geci    Hancis.  It    is    no-uv    Pvilolisheci    t>y    tl-i© 

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THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  RE^ll^W. 


337 


i  Names  of  Bee  -  Keepers.  I 

a  TYPE  WRITTEN.  B 

)5!BEBIB]P!BE!EBBBBHEBHI5B5EI!3P!EBCie 

The  names  of  my  customers,  and  of  those  ask 
ing  for  sample  copies,  have  been  saved  and  writ- 
ten in  a  book.  There  are  several  thousand  all 
arranged  alphabetically  (in  the  largest  States)  . 
and,  although  this  list  has  been  secured  at  an  ex- 
pense of  hundreds  of  dollars,  I  would  furnish  it 
to  my  advertisers  at  $2.00  per  thousand  names. 
A  manufacturer  who  wishes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  bee-keepers  in  his  own  state  only,  or, 
possibly,  in  the  adjoining  states,  can  be  accom- 
modated. Any  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  names  in  a  certain  state,  or  states,  will  be  an- 
swered cheerfully.  The  former  price  was  $2.50 
per  1000,  but  I  now  have  a  type  writer,  and,  by 
using  the  manifold  process,  1  can  furnish  them 
at  $2.00.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON.  Flint,  Mich. 

BEE  -  KEEPERS' 

SUPPLY  HOUSE 

J.  H.  M  COOK,  78  Barclay  St,  N.  Y.  City. 

{SUCCESSOR   TO  A.   J.   KING.) 

4-93-tf  S«f  d  for  illustrated  Catalogue 


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GOLDEN  'TH'iH  QUEENS 

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If  You  Wish   Neat,  Artistic 


Have  it  Doqe  at  tine  Review. 

Notice  to  Jobbers. 


W-  S™Lf™":  y,  Lewis  Co  JatertownJis 


Till  K  Flat  -  Bottom  Fo;iMaiioii 

HAS  NO  FISHBONE  IN  SURPLUS  HONEY. 

Being  the    cleanest,    it    is    usually 
worked  quicker  than  any  fdn.  made. 
J.    VAN  DEIJ.SEN   &    SONS, 

(SOLE    MANUF.\CTURERS), 

3-90-tf    Sprout  Brook.  Mont.  Co.,N.Y 


Invite  all  Wholesalers  and  Jobbers  of 
Bee  -  Keepers'  Supplies  to  write  to  them 
for  contracts  for   Hives  and    Sections  the 


coming  season. 


ll-93.tf 


338 


THE  BKK-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


m 

/ 

/ 
/ 

/ 
/ 

/ 
/ 

/ 
/ 

I 

'% 

■'/ 
/ 

/ 
/ 

/ 
/ 

/ 
/ 

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/ 

/ 


Sections! 


We  have  just  C()mi)le- 
ted  several  new  and  expensive  automatic  ma- 
chines that  will  turn  out  sections  that  ///  point 
of  quality  camiot  he  excelled.  They  are  sanded 
and  polished  on  both  sides,  and  are  of  an  abso- 
lutely uniform  thickness  from  end  to  end. 
Samples  and  prices  in  quantities  cm  application. 
Speak  quick  if  you  want  to  lay  in  a  stock 
of  these  line  sections,  as  our  stock  of  lumber  is 
low. 


&.  I.  ROOT,  Medina, 


Sections  1 


y 
/ 

A'' 
,V 
/ 

/ 
/■■::■ 

/ 
/ 

/ 

/ 
/ 

/ 
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/ 

/%'■ 

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/ 

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/;• 


Twelve  A^optbs 


'J"he  Canadian  Bee  Journal,  a  live  bpe 
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everythinir  needed  in  tlieapiarx.  '.i-;i;Mf 

M.  H.  HUNT,  liell  Ijranch,  Mid,. 


ntion    thf    ffpuieu 


i    P0R7ZR  B€€  €SC/iPe&  •'""""' "^" '-"-'•"  ^"*' ^ 

(i  Jjcst,  and  hiRhly  reconinifnde<l 

|J  !is   great   )al)or-s:!vinf;  imploinents  by  ("has.  Dadant  <i  ^^on.  Prof  A,  .1   Cook.  ("has.  F.  Miitli, 

3  Jno.  H.  Reese,    .J.  H.  Martin.    .Jno.  .Andrews,    F.  A.  (lemmill,    Wni.  McEvoy,'  .V    V.  Brown. 

X  Tliop.  Pierce,  Hn<l  many  other  prominent  bee-keepers.     Descriptiv"  circular  and  testinio- 

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9  MENTION  THE  REVIEW.                      Address        R.  &.  E.  C.  PORTER,    LEWISTOWN,    III.     C 


Ti 


}e  (Dee-fxeepeps  J'\evie(x 

A  MONTHLY  JOURNAL 

Devoted  to  i\]e   lr|tefests  of   Hoqey    Producers. 
$L00   A   YEAR, 

W.  Z.HUTCHUMSOri,  EditOP  &  Pi»op. 


VOL,  VI,         FLINT,    MICHIGAN,    DEC,    10.    1893,  NO.  12. 


E' 


Work  at    IVticliigaxi's 

Experimental 

apiary. 

E.  L.  TAYLOR,  APIAEI8T. 
BEST    FDN.    FOB   USE   IN    SECTIONS. 

"  He  could  distinguish  and  divide 

A  hair  'twixt  south  and  south-west  sitle  "' 

BUTLER. 

'VER  since  I 
first  began  to 
use  it  extensively, 
now  fifteen  years 
ago,  comb  foun- 
dation has  been 
to  me  a  matter 
of  much  interest 
and  thought.  I 
have  often  no- 
ticed that  much 
interest  is  taken 
in  the  best  meth- 
ods of  extracting  the  wax  from  old  combs, 
and  in  machines  that  will  make  the  thinnest 
foundation,  but  that  little  care  has  been  ex- 
ercised with  regard  to  the  best  methods  of 
manipulating  wax  to  be  used  in  making 
foundation  so  as  to  secure  the  readiest  ac- 
ceptance and  the  most  thorough  manipula- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  bees  and  that  to  the 
interrogatory  :  Does  the  thinness  of  foun- 
dation bear  any  relation  to  the  thinness  of 
the  septum  of  the  comb  made  from  it  ?  I 
have  heard  hardly  an  inquiring  answer ; 
nevertheless  I  have  all  along  felt  a  great  in- 


terest on  these  points  which  experiments 
conducted  in  a  small  way  had  served  greatly 
to  increase,  so  it  was  but  natural  that  when 
I  found  myself  in  a  position  where  I  could 
afford  to  do  it  somewhat  extensively  I  be- 
came interested  in  the  formation  of  plans 
calculated  to  bring  out  if  possible  the  truth 
on  these  and  kindred  points. 

The  plan  adopted  was  to  procure  a  con- 
veniently large  variety  of  foundations  made 
for  use  in  sections  by  procuring  from  several 
makers  samples  of  each  kind  made  and  com- 
paring them  by  putting  them  into  cases  al- 
ternately with  no  separators  and  giving 
them  as  thus  arranged  to  the  bees  to  work 
out  and  fill.  It  was  thought  that  results 
might  be  obtained  in  two  ways  :  First  it 
seemed  reasonable  to  suppose  that  those 
sorts  that  were  most  acceptable  io  the  bees 
would  be  drawn  out  first  and  most  rapidly 
and  consequently  when  capped  would  con- 
tain the  most  honey  and  that  the  preference 
of  the  bees  could  easily  be  detected  by  weigh- 
ing the  finished  sections :  secondly  by  meas- 
uring the  thickness  of  the  bases  of  the  cells 
of  the  comb  produced  it  seemed  clear  that  if 
any  sort  were  to  any  considerable  extent 
better  adapted  to  its  purpose  then  the  others 
that  fact  would  be  clearly  revealed. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  latter  case  I  have 
so  far  been  unable  to  see  that  the  plan  pur- 
sued could  have  been  improved  but  in  the 
former  case  there  is  some  degree  of  disap- 
pointment from  the  fact  that  it  gradually 
became  evident  that  the  plan  pursued  was 
defective  so  far  as  the  purpose  sought  was 
concerned  in  at  least  two  particulars,  viz., 


340 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


iu  attempting  to  compare  too  many  kinds 
at  once  in  one  and  the  same  case,  for  it  is 
evident  if  three  sections  containing  founda- 
tion equally  good  were  placed  side  by  side 
and  the  trio  was  flanked  on  either  side  by 
sections  with  inferior  foundation  the  two  ex- 
terior ones  of  the  trio  would  derive  an  ad- 
vantage on  the  side  of  the  inferior  ones 
which  the  central  one  containing  equally 
good  foundation  would  be  deprived  of,  and 
then  sections  of  the  usual  width,  seven  to 
the  foot,  were  employed  in  the  experiment 
which  it  became  evident  in  the  progress  of 
the  experiment  were  too  wide  to  yield  to  the 
full  the  natural  effect  of  differences  in  the 
foundation,  for  I  saw  iu  several  cases  that 
the  bees  worked  out  some  kinds  of  founda- 
tion sooner  and  more  rapidly  than  others  at 
first  but  when  these  reached  about  the  thick- 
ness required  for  brood  they  were  delayed  to 
some  extent  and  more  force  was  put  on  the 
kinds  that  lagged  to  bring  them  up,  so  that 
in  this  way  the  results  sought  which  would 
perhaps  be  abundantly  revealed  by  the  use 
of  thinner  sections  were  to  a  large  extent 
concealed. 

The  remedy  which  should  be  applied  in 
further  experiments  of  this  character  seems 
to  me  to  be  evident ;  each  sort  of  foundation 
which  it  is  deemed  desirable  to  compare 
with  others  should  be  compared  with  each  of 
them  separately  and  the  sections  should  be 
so  thin  that  the  usual  thickness  of  com  I)  de- 
sired by  the  bees  would  a  little  more  than 
fill  the  section's  proportionate  amount  of 
space. 

I  have  been  asked  whether  in  publishing 
the  results  of  these  exT)eriments  1  should 
give  the  names  of  the  manufacturers  of  the 
different  fonndations  used.  The  object  of 
the  experiments  is  to  obtain  for  the  use  of 
bee-keepers  generally  as  much  new  and  val- 
uable knowledge  with  regard  to  their  tools 
and  bus  ness  as  possible  and  it  is  evident 
that  in  the  particular  experiments  of  which 
I  now  write  tlie  value  of  the  results  depends 
almost  entirely  upon  a  knowledge  of  the 
names  of  the  makers  of  the  several  varieties 
of  foundation  used  and  I  believe  I  should  be 
doing  injustice  to  any  maker  of  foundation 
to  suppose  that  Im  desired  his  name  with- 
held, for  are  we  not  bound  to  believe  that 
each  one  desires  and  is  endeavoring  to  make 
foundation  that  shall  yield  the  grei'test  pos- 
sible profit  to  the  user  and  that  if  he  fails  in 
any  respect  he  desires  to  know  it  that  he 
may  apply  the  remedy  ?    So  I  think  I  can- 


not do  otherwise  than  give  all  the  knowledge 
I  possess  in  the  matter.  Not  that  I  think 
there  is  anything  so  far  that  can  very  injuri- 
ously affect  any  manufacturer,  but  I  hope 
there  is  what  may  prove  an  entering  wedge 
to  make  a  way  of  es  ape  from  the  domain  of 
theory  and  an  entrance  to  the  domain  of 
fact  in  this  matter  of  foundation  and  lead  to 
an  effort  to  make  it  to  please  the  mandibles 
of  the  bee  instead  of  the  eye  of  the  pur- 
chaser. There  may  be  something  to  learn 
yet  about  the  manipulation  of  wax  as  well 
as  about  the  peculiarities  of  foundation  ma- 
chines. 

In  the  experiments  now  under  considera- 
tion eight  varieties  of  foundation  were  em- 
ployed of  which  the  sources  and  other  dis- 
tinguishing peculiarities  are  sufficiently  in- 
dicated in  the  following  table  : 

A    Dadanf  s  Thin,  Sheets  12^4  in.,  l.'i  to  !4  lb  — 

10  ft.  to  the  lb. 
H    Dadanfs  Extra  Thin,  Sheets   12x4  in.,   18  to 

4  lb.— 12  ft.  to  the  lb. 
('    Van  D(*usen's  Flat-bottom,  |  procured  of  A.  1. 

Root]   Sheets  16'ix3?^  in..  Itj  to '/j  lb.,— 13.7r> 

ft.  to  the  lb. 
D    Roots  Thin,  Sheets  VoViTl^H  in.,  12  to  '4  lb  — 

10.31  ft.  to  the  lb. 
E    Roofs  Extra  Thin.  Sheets  U%x3?i  in.,  U  to 

14  ll).-l'.?.03ft.  totiielb- 
F    Foundation    made  on  Given   Press,   Sheets 

15x8  i:i-lti  in.,  12;'4  to  Yi  lb.-10.()9  ft.  to  the  lb. 
(i     Foundation  made    on    Given    Press,  Sheets 

1.5x3  131fi  in..  12  to  U  lb-— 9  37  ft.  to  the  lb. 
H     Fdn.  three  years  old.   made  on  Given  Press, 

about  9  ft.  to  the  lb. 

Each  variety  of  the  foundation  was  desig- 
nated by  a  letter  of  the  alphabet  as  indica- 
ted and  tlie  letters  were  used  for  marking 
the  sections  to  indicate  the  sort  of  founda- 
tion each  contained  and  also  as  labels  to 
distinguish  the  septa  of  combs  made 
from  the  foundation  when  they  (the  septa) 
were  cut  out  and  sent  away  for  the  meas- 
urements hereinafter  explained. 

The  foundation  was  cut  to  the  same  size 
?>%ii''>^i  inches  and  after  being  fastened  in 
sections  were  placed  in  Heddon  cases  alter- 
nately as  already  stated  so  that  each  kind 
appeared  seven  times  iu  each  pair  of  cases. 
In  all,  eight  cases  were  thus  prepared,  but 
misfortune  attended  them  in  other  ways 
than  indicated  in  the  foregoing ;  some  were 
not  well  tilled,  two  contained  more  bee-bread 
than  I  ever  found  I  think  in  any  other  two 
cases  and  there  was  only  one  pair  that  was 
filled  to  my  entire  satisfaction  so  that  the 
material  that  could  be  fairly  used  for  com- 
parison by  weighing  was  comparatively 
meagre  and  consisted  of  five  of  each  sort 
from  the  two  cases  that  were  well  filled, 
four  of  each  from  two  other  cases  and  three 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


341 


of  each  from  still  another  pair.  The  cases 
were  selected  with  a  view  to  their  giving  au 
opportunity  of  selecting  well  filled  sections 
of  each  sort  from  the  same  relative  posi- 
tions in  the  cases  and  the  sections  compared 
were  so  selected.  The  following  figures  give 
the  results  in  pounds  and  ounces  : 


My  next  resource  was  mechanical  instru- 
ments for  fine  work  in  measuring  and  weigh- 
ing. I  knew  there  were  such  instruments  at 
our  agricultural  college  and  in  speaking  of 
the  matter  with  Mr.  E.  R.  Root  he  informed 
me  that  his  house  possessed  a  micrometer 
and  generously  put  it  at  my  service.    To  the 


1      A 

rt  413  5 
y-13-5 
!2-U 

..|n-9 

B 

C       j 

D 

£ 

4-15 
3-15 
2-15 

F 

G           H 

"i  each  SI 
4     '■ 
i    •' 

4-11.5 
3-12.5 
2-14.3 

4-13.5' 

■"-13.5 
2-14.3 

5 

3-15 

!J-15.5 

4-15.5 

4 

3-00.5 

4-14.5   4-15 
3  15.5   .3-' 5.5 
2-15.5   2-15.5 

Total 

11-6.5 

11-11.3 

11-14.5 

11-13 

12 

II-I3.5J1I-I4 

This  indicates  pretty  clearly  what  I  have 
been  aiming  at  as  well  as  the  course  with  the 
modifications  already  suggested  which  I 
think  should  be  pursued  in  making  further 
investigations  in  this  line.  Of  course  it 
would  be  rash  to  claim  any  very  definite  re- 
sult from  the  experiment  so  far  but  the  totals 
here  given  will  be  found  very  interesting 
matter  for  comparison  with  the  weights  and 
measurements  given  further  on  which  were 
procured  with  the  expectation  of  evolving 
something  that  would  assist  in  the  solution 
of  the  general  problem  under  consideration. 

I  suppose  it  would  not  be  denied  by  any 
one  that  so  far  as  the  amount  of  wax  con- 
tained in  comb  honey  is  concerned  we  must 
take  the  amount  of  wax  contained  in  natur- 
al comb  when  used  as  the  receptacle  of  hon- 
ey as  the  standard  of  perfection.  How  near 
does  comb  produced  from  foundation  pre- 
pared for  use  in  sections  approach  that 
standard  ?  And  do  combs  produced  from 
all  sorts  of  such  foundation  approach  equally 
near  to  that  standard  'i  It  was  with  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  beginning  if  possible  at 
answering  these  and  similar  questions  that 
I  undertook  the  experiment  with  section 
foundation.  It  first  occurred  to  me  that 
samples  of  honey  made  from  different  kinds 
of  foundation  and  from  natui-al  comb  might 
be  submitted  separately  to  several  careful 
individuals  experienced  iu  the  production  of 
honey  for  comparative  tests  with  the  hope 
that  the  reports  of  such  tests  would  give  the 
light  sought.  With  further  thought  that  hope 
gradually  grew  dimmer,  until  the  committee 
of  the  N.  A.  B.  K.  convention  to  whom  the 
septa  cut  from  comb  made  from  the  sev- 
eral foundations  were  submitted  for  com- 
parison with  a  view  to  a  report,  gave  the 
matter  up  in  despair,  when  it  went  out  al- 
together. 


se})ta  of  the  foundations  I  added  one  from 
natural  comb  which  I  designated  by  the 
letter  "  I."  I  at  once  gave  Mr.  Root  a  set, 
and  measurements  of  them  were  taken  by 
C.  C.  Washburn  of  his  establishment  who  is 
skilled  iu  such  work.  These  measurements 
appear  further  on. 

To  procure  samples  of  comb  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  weighing  test  I  took  two  sets  of 
sections  of  the  several  varieties  and  extracted 
the  honey  as  thoroughly  as  possible  then  af- 
ter filling  the  cells  with  water  I  plunged 
them  in  a  large  vessel  of  water  where  they 
remained  twenty-four  hours  when  they  were 
furtlier  washed  and  then  thoroughly  dried. 
To  get  pieces  of  exactly  the  same  size  I  first 
shaved  off  the  comb  from  both  sides  to  bring 
all  to  an  equal  thickness,  about  one-half 
inch.  To  accomplish  this  I  began  by  cut- 
ting away  the  section  box  within  a  little  less 
than  a  fourth  of  an  inch  of  the  septum  mak- 
ing the  opposite  sides  perfectly  straight  and 
parallel  then  using  these  sides  as  guides  with 
a  long  straight  sharp  knife  all  portions  of 
the  comb  jutting  out  were  shaved  off  leaving 
a  perfectly  flat  surface  of  comb.  As  guides 
for  shaving  off  the  other  side  two  straight 
pieces  of  wood  of  even  thickness — about 
half  an  inch-— were  nailed  to  a  smooth,  flat 
board  and  after  cutting  away  the  other  edges 
of  the  section  box  sufficiently  it  was  laid  on 
the  flat  side  of  the  comb  between  these  and 
fixed  firmly  with  wedges,  when  the  superflu- 
ous comb  was  shaved  away  as  before.  After 
this  process  was  completed  a  circular  piece 
to  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  the  experi- 
ment was  cut  from  each  with  a  rim  of  tin  a 
little  more  than  two  and  a  half  inches  in  di- 
ameter, used  after  the  manner  of  a  cake-cut- 
ter, thus  leaving  in  each  case  the  septum 
with  a  portion  of  the  cells  upon  each  side. 
The  first  set  I  thus  prepared  came  short  of 


342 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


perfection  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  unsatis- 
factory so  I  made  use  of  the  other  set  only. 
These  were  taken  to  the  college  and  after 
having  them  weighed  I  cut  each  sample  in 
two  giving  one  part  to  Dr.  Beal  of  the  col- 
lege for  measurement  reserving  the  others 
and  afterwards  sending  them  to  Mr.  E.  R. 


varying  number  of  measurements  of  the 
samples — from  once  to  five  times — while  in 
the  other  cases  these  measurements  were 
taken  in  each  instance. 

The  weighing  was  done  by  Mr.  Frank  S. 
Kedzie,  adjunct  Professor  of  Chemistry, 
with  the  following  results  in  grams  : 


B 


D 


WeightinGram8|l.93     a.2398|2.093  |3.2349|l  .9664  1.8482  1.8886|2.083  |l.63dl 


G 


H 


1 


If  any  one  has  a  cariosity  to  turn  the  results  into  grains  he  can  do 
so  by  multiplying  by  15.432  the  number  of  grains  in  a  gram. 

The  measurements  of  the  thickness  of  the  bases  of  the  cells  now 
follow  in  their  order  in  ten  thousandths  of  an  inch. 
washbukn's  measukemets. 


i    A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I 

95 
95 
125 

86 
90 

85 

85 
83 
93 

76 
110 
96 

86 
105 
92 

96 
70 
75 

73 
75 
75 

C6 
90 

82 

57 
57 
57 

Total 

....     315 

261 

261 

282 

283 

241 

223 

238 

171 

Average 

. . . .     105 

87 

87 

94 

94 

80 

74 

79 

57 

DB.  bbal's 

MEA8UBEMENT8. 

A 

B 

V, 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

80 
60 
60 

I 

70 
100 
80 

110 
65 
100 

65 
70 
70 

120 
100 
80 

70 
100 
90 

60 
60 

80 

60 
60 
60 

50 
50 
50 

Total 

250 

275 

205 

300 

260 

200 

180 

200 

150 

83 

92 

68 

100 

87 

67 

60 

67 

50 

MB 

hubbellV 

MEASUBEMENTS. 

A 

B     1    C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

H 

I 

95 

80 
110 
90 
95 
70 

62  5 

67.5 

75 

70 

62.5 

50 

90 

65 
75 

50 
75 

Total 

4(5 

130 

140 

140 

125 

.\.verage 

95 

89 

65 

75 

70 

63.5 

70 

70 

62  5 

THE 

OENEBAL   AV 

EBAOE 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E     1 

F      1 

G 

H 

I 

Washburn's  Av. 
BphI's  .Vverage. . . 
HubbellR.Vv.... 

105 

83 
95 

87 
9.' 
89 

87 
68 
65 

94 
00 
75 

94 

87 
70    j 

251 

80 
67 
62  5 

74 
60 
70 

79 
67 
70 

57 
50 
62.5 

Total     

283 

268 

220 

269 

209. sj 

204 

216 

169-5 

Average 

94 

89 

73.3 

89  6 

83.8 

69.8 

6S 

72 

.56.5 

Hoot  to  secure  another  set  of  measurements 
from  Mr.  Washburn  so  as  to  get  them  from 
two  capable  persons  of  the  same  comb  as 
nearly  as  practicable.  As  it  turned  out  Mr. 
Washburn  was  ill  when  these  reached  him 
and  a  substitute  was  found  in  Mr.  Hubbel. 
As  will  appear  in  the  summary  he  took  a 


All  this  work  it  seems  to  me  has  been  very 
satisfactory,  for  while  there  has  not  been 
particular  uniformity — a  thing  which  could 
not  be  expected — there  has  been  general 
uniformity. 

I  must  close  this  article,  already  too  long, 
by  mentioning  some  of  the  apparently  ten- 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW- 


343 


able  inferences  which  may  be  drawn  from 
these  tests : 

1st.  No  comb  made  from  foundation 
quite  equals  in  fineness  the  natural,  though 
in  some  cases  it  approaches  it  very  closely. 

2nd.  In  foundations  of  the  same  make 
the  thinner  has  but  very  slight  advantage 
over  the  heavier  in  point  of  producing  comb 
of  lighter  weight. 

3rd.  That  foundation  kept  for  a  long  time 
before  using  has  but  a  slight  disadvantage 
if  any  as  compared  with  that  freshly  made. 
The  slightly  greater  thickness  of  the  septum 
of  comb  made  from  "  H,"  as  compared  with 
that  made  from  "  G,"  may  well  be  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  H  was  heavier  than  G. 

4th.  Granting  that  diflferent  methods  or- 
dinarily in  use  of  manipulating  wax  do  not 
make  a  difference  in  the  character  of  foun- 
dation made  from  such  wax,  that  founda- 
tion made  on  the  Given  press  has  a  pretty 
decided  advantage  over  that  made  on  the 
roller  machines. 

If  these  investigations  lead  manufacturers 
of  foundation  to  strive  to  learn  the  best 
methods  of  manufacturing  wax  and  to  find 
out  what  peculiarities  characterize  the  best 
foundation  machines  they  will  not  have  been 
made  in  vain. 

Lapeer,  Mich.  Nov.  29,  1893. 


No.  10. 

E.  L.  TAYLOB. 

'■  How  can  one  be  warm  alone  ?  " — BIBLE. 

LSickness  prevented  Mr.  Taylor  from  sending 
the  following  in  time  for  the  November  issue, 
but,  as  it  contains  excellent  suggestions  and  is 
needed  to  round  out  the  full  year  of  his  "Timely 
Topics,"  I  give  it  now.— Ed.] 

Tue  season  for  the  general  round  up  of  the 
year  has  now  arrived.  By  the  time  this  ap- 
pears all  the  work  pertaining  to  the  past  bee- 
keeping season  in  this  latitude  should  either 
be  already  done  or  else  it  should  be  attended 
to  at  once.  I  am  well  satisfied  there  is  noth- 
ing gained  by  leaving  bees  out  of  the  cellar 
any  longer  if  they  are  to  be  put  in  at  all  : 
and  of  course  if  they  are  to  be  wintered  out- 
side all  preparation  to  be  made  for  the  win- 
ter if  not  already  done  should  be  completed 
without  any  delay.  And  in  this  work  es- 
pecially a  lookout  ought  to  be  kept  for  im- 
proved   methods,     I    am     expecting    some 


genius  will  yet  give  us  a  method  of  winter- 
ing out  of  doors  having  all  the  advantages  of 
both  methods  with  none  of  the  disadvan- 
tages of  either.  The  present  method  is  safe 
in  this  latitude  in  exceptionable  cases  only. 
Besides  it  is  greatly  wanting  in  economy 
both  in  the  amount  of  material  required  and 
in  the  conservation  of  the  animal  heat  of  the 
colony  as  well  as  in  the  amount  of  labor  re- 
quired. We  want  the  material  and  labor 
now  required  for  six  colonies  to  suffice  for 
twenty-five.  We  want  the  heat  that  passes 
from  the  colony  to  pass  to  the  aid  of  another 
so  that  the  warmth  of  the  cellar  is  aproxi- 
mated.  To  accomplish  this  a  warm,  dry  com- 
pact nest  to  hold  twenty-five  or  thirty  col- 
onies must  be  de  ised  and  each  colony  must 
be  so  encased  as  to  make  it  as  far  as  warmth 
and  dryness  are  concerned  practically  apart 
of  one  mammoth  colony.  It  may  be  that  in 
this  direction  the  next  advance  may  be 
made.  If  a  few  of  the  thousands  of  inven- 
tive bee-keepers  would  become  interested  in 
the  matter  something  might  be  done  this 
very  winter.  Who  will  take  a  hand  in  the 
work  ?  I  think  I  see  a  little  opening  which 
I  am  preparing  to  investigate  by  experiment 
as  soon  as  possible. 

Late  fall  and  early  spring  are  the  hardest 
times  of  the  year  upon  woodwork  left  out  in 
the  weather,  so  it  is  important  if  one  would 
have  his  hives  last  long,  to  gather  up  all 
parts  of  hives  that  are  still  outside  and  stack 
them  up  in  good  shape  under  shelter.  This 
is  especially  important  in  the  case  of  the 
covers.  It  is  more  important  that  they 
should  be  well  preserved  and  at  the  same 
time  they  are  more  liable  to  injury  as  well 
from  warping  as  from  decay.  I  am  careful 
at  this  time  of  the  year  to  get  together  all 
covers  not  in  use  making  a  point  to  include 
all  that  need  any  repairs  or  painting,  ex- 
changing for  some  in  use  for  that  purpose, 
and  selecting  a  place  where  they  will  be  con- 
venient for  painting  and  not  in  the  way  and 
pile  them  up  making  each  pile  straight 
and  even  and  weighting  it  so  that  each 
cover  is  held  firmly  to  its  proper  shape. 
With  this  slight  care  they  are  rendered 
much  more  satisfactory  in  service.  The 
covers  require  painting  much  oftener  than 
the  hives  and  it  pays  to  keep  them  well 
painted.  If  the  shop  or  honey  room  can  be 
warmed  the  painting  can  be  done  there  ex- 
cellently well  any  time  in  winter.  With  all 
this  done,  the  honey  crop  all  disposed  of, 
collections  of  wax  reduced    and   all  combs 


344 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


safely  put  away,  there  is  little  left  but  to  in- 
quire what  are  the   demands  of  the  coming 
year. 
Lapeeb,  Mich.  Nov.  7,  IS');}. 

The  Orange  Blossom. 
"bamblee." 

mHE  proper 
Jl  time  for  a 
person  who  has 
always  resided 
in  the  East  to 
come  to  this 
far  Western 
Shore,  is  dur- 
ing the  h  o  li- 
dayf  or  in -Jan- 
uary. The  dif- 
ference in  tem- 
perature between  East  and  West  will  be 
prominently  noticed,  and  if  we  have  had  our 
winter  rains  the  fresh  foliage  upon  the  trees 
and  the  blooming  flowers  will  attract  atten- 
tion. If  the  traveler  lands  in  the  citrus  belt, 
the  orange  and  the  lemon  are  now  getting 
their  color.  The  lover  of  symetrical  forms 
will  love  the  tree  and  its  fruit,  and  while  the 
tree  holds  its  form  well,  and  attains  a 
heighth  of  twelve  to  fifteen  feet,  the  fruit  in 
the  form  of  those  perfect  golden  globes  rest- 
ing against  a  background  of  deep  green 
leaves,  or  peeping  here  and  there  from 
among  the  dense  foliage  presents  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  pictures  of  vegetable 
growth,  that  one  might  with  profit  travel  a 
long  distance  to  view.  The  deep  green 
leaves  of  the  center  of  the  tree  is  livened  up 
by  the  new  growth  at  the  tips  of  the  branches 
being  of  a  light  pale  green. 

The  portion  of  the  orange  tree,  however, 
that  interests  the  bee-keeper,  is  the  bloom 
that  puts  forth  in  May.  The  orange 
tree  is  profuse  in  l)lossoms  and  presents  a 
very  white  appearance  during  blossom  :  the 
blossom  is  borne  in  clusters  like  the  apple 
or  cherry,  and  appears  very  mucli  like  the 
latter.  Its  fragrance  iierfumes  the  air  for 
quite  a  distance,  and  it  is  not  unlike  the 
odor  of  the  lilac.  The  bees  work  upon  it 
with  as  much  enthusiasm  as  they  do  upon 
the  basswood,  and  during  the  honey  flow 
work  continues  from  early  morn  until  dewy 
eve  (though  the  fact  is  we  have  but  little  dew 
here  just  at  that  time. )     The  orange  blossom 


can  be  relied  upon  for  some  honey  every 
year,  but  like  all  other  free  bloomers  it  has 
its  good  and  its  poor  seasons.  When  the  se- 
cretion of  nectar  is  profuse  bees  will  go  a 
long  distance  to  obtain  it  and  apiaries  di- 
rectly in  the  orange  groves  get  the  surplus 
receptacles  rapidly  filled.  Many  beekeep- 
ers  in  the  citrus  belt  are  now  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  fact  and  during  the  orange  bloom 
locate  their  apiaries  among  or  near  the  or- 
chards, and  after  giving  their  bees  a  joyous 
time  upon  the  bloom,  which  lasts  about 
three  weeks,  the  hives  are  then  moved  out 
into  the  foot  hills  where  the  boiled  sage  is 
coming  into  blossom  and  ready  to  yield  its 
nectar.  Whole  apiaries  are  safely  moved  and 
the  bees  are  interrupted  in  their  work  but  a 
few  hours  and  seem  to  take  quickly  to  the 
new  class  of  blossoms  that  they  now  find 
surrounding  them.  Though  migratory  bee- 
keeping might  be  practiced  to  a  great  extent 
in  California,  it  is  not  in  ulged  in  to  much 
of  an  extent,  but  with  the  growing  area  of 
orange  groves  it  may  become  a  settled  plan 
of  operations. 

Orange  honey  in  color  is  of  a  very  light 
amber,  and  when  first  extracted  and  put  into 
a  bottle  it  has  a  creamy  white  appearance 
owing  to  minute  bubbles  of  air  which  grad-. 
ually  come  to  the  top  but  so  slowly  that  it  is 
several  days  before  the  honey  presents  a 
clear  appearance.  The  taste  of  orange  hon- 
ey is  very  pleasant  and  the  person  buying  it 
is  sure  to  call  for  more  of  the  same  quality. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  not  enough 
of  it  produced  to  place  it  upon  the  market  as 
a  distinct  quality.  It  is  also  to  be  regretted 
that  honey  from  other  sources  is  palmed  off 
upon  the  public  as  orange  blossom  honey. 
This  right  of  substitution  will  probably  be 
practiced  as  long  as  there  are  so  many  qual- 
ities and  flowers  in  the  honey  produced  by 
the  bees. 

Did  you  ever  think  of  the  amount  of  adul- 
terated maple  sugar  there  is  upon  the  mar- 
ket ?  At  least  we  must  judge  there  is  a  large 
amount  from  the  fact  that  there  is  a  way  to 
make  good  maple  syrup  without  a  particle 
of  maple  liquid  aboutit.  And  the  foliage  of 
the  tree  is  caused  to  blush  every  autumn 
over  deception  practiced  in  its  name  by  dis- 
honest men.  We  hear  but  little  said  by  the 
consumer  about  this  adulteration  and  the 
reason  lies  in  the  fact  that  there  is  but  one 
prominent  flavor  to  maple  products,  be  it 
sugar  or  syrup,  and  when  the  adulterator 
catches  this  he  finds  a  ready  market  for  his 
compound. 


rHE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


345 


Honey,  however,  with  its  many  flavors  can- 
not in  all  cases  be  so  closely  imitated  and 
people  who  eat  honey  only  occasionally  are 
not  educated  to  distinguish  the  various  fla- 
vors and  never  will  be  for  even  bee-keepers 
themselves  are  often  nonplussed  over  the 
many  flavors  of  their  products.  About  all 
the  adulterator  has  to  do  in  the  case  of  honey 
is  to  produce  a  sweet  with  the  body  and  color 
of  honey  and  label  it  orange  or  clover  honey 
as  his  fancy  may  dictate.  If  the  bee  blushes 
at  this  audacity,  it,  like  the  obscure  rose, 
blushes  unseen,  and  while  its  sweetness  is 
wasted,  not  on  the  air,  but  in  a  sea  of  glu- 
cose. 

The  bee-keeper,  however,  has  one  heroic 
remedy  that  will  enable  him  to  get  almost  if 
not  quite  clear  of  the  adulterator,  and  that 
remedy  lies  in  the  exclusive  production  of 
comb  honey. 

Although  I  am  not  ready  to  change  from 
extracted  to  comb  honey  or  ready  to  feed  my 
extracted  to  produce  comb  honey,  I  still 
recognize  the  above  fact  that  instead  of 
flavor  for  a  standard  quality,  as  we  find  in 
maple  products,  the  houey  comb  is  the 
standard  for  our  product,  and  I  am  aware 
that  upon  this  point  volumes  might  be  writ- 
ten to  the  profit  of  the  bee-keeper. 

Bloomington,  Calif.  Nov.  8,  1893. 


Bee   Spaces,    Top   Bars,   Honey  Boards  and 
the  Preventiou  of  Brace  and  Burr  Combs. 

lAMES     HEDDON. 

TTlBOUT  sixteen 
xi  years  ago, 
when  I  had  fol- 
lowed uur  chosen 
persuit  eight  o  r 
nine  years,  I  be- 
gan making  ex- 
tended experi- 
ments based  upon 
the  possibility  of 
so  constructing  a 
hive  that  I  could 
manipulate  it 
about  as  readily  after  bees  had  occupied  it 
several  seasons  as  when  it  left  the  shop  ready 
for  its  first  swarm. 

At  that  time  I  wondered  if  it  were  pvssiblf 
to  so  construct  a  hive  that  we  could  remove 
and  re-adjust  the  frames  and  surplus  recep- 


tacles at  will,  with  nearly  the  same  readiness 
after  having  been  several  years  occupied  by 
bees,  as  when  it  had  been  occupied  but  a 
single  day.  To  this  end  I  knew  it  was  neces- 
sary to  do  away  with  propolis  and  brace- 
combs.  With  that  end  in  view,  I  constructed 
metal  rests,  after  the  style  introduced  by 
Mr.  Otis,  twenty  years  ago,  and  introduced 
grease  and  all  kinds  of  top-bars,  together 
with  several  kinds  of  honey-boards  until  I 
discovered  two  things  ;  first,  that  I  could  do 
away  with  but  a  portion  of  the  annoyances 
above  referred  to,  and  second,  what  con- 
struction was  best  to  most  completely  ac- 
complish that  end. 

The  first  thing  I  discovered  was  that  the 
measurement  of  a  correct  "  bee-space,"  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  requirements  of  the 
bee  regarding  room  for  its  passage,  but 
rather  was  that  space  in  which  the  worker 
would  be  least  likely  to  attach  propolis  or 
comb.  I  also  found  that  this  space  differed 
according  to  where  and  how  it  was  located. 
I  found  that  the  best  space  to  leave  above 
the  top-bars  of  the  frames  was  ,5-16,  and  be- 
tween the  top-bars,  was  %  to  %,  according 
to  the  depth  of  the  top-bar.  I  experimented 
with  top  bars  of  different  depths  spaced 
apart  from  34  to  %  of  an  inch,  these  depths 
varying  from  %  to  ;§  of  an  inch.  I  tried 
these  widths  and  thicknesses  in  different 
combinations,  and  now  have  in  my  apiaries 
a  goodly  number  of  old  frames  still  contain- 
ing comb  and  bees  with  top-bars  of  the  above 
dimensions,  in  standard  Langstroth  hives  of 
my  own  modification.  At  that  time  I  used 
to  transfer  brood-combs  from  box  hives  into 
my  Langstroth  hives  and  when  so  doing 
nearly  al  ays  used  a  frame  containing  a  top- 
bar  's  deep  and  'g  wide,  square.  I  believe 
in  ^5  as  the  best  width  for  top-bars  of  sus- 
pended frames. 

Right  here  I  consider  it  appropriate  to  di- 
gress long  enough  to  say  a  few  words  con- 
cerning that  long  abused  "Honey-board." 
I  presume  your  younger  readers  do  not  know 
that  among  the  few  of  us  who  used  honey- 
boards,  I  was  left  almost  alone  in  their  de- 
fense and  advocacy  ten  or  twelve  years  ago. 
Those  who  considered  themselves  and  were 
considered  by  many  as  "leading  lights  "  in 
the  dark  halls  of  apiculture,  at  that  time, 
stoutly  opposed  the  now  cherished  honey- 
board  ;  but  is  it  not  true,  Mr.  Editor,  that 
all  who  have  adopted  and  used  honey-boards 
containing  a  "  bee-space,"  and  the  "'  break- 
joint  "  principle,  which  I  invented  and  intro- 


346 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


duced  previous  to  that  time,  have  carefully 
adhered  to  them  ?  I  am  aware  that  but  a 
short  time  ago  some  leading  bee-keepers 
could  find  no  merit  in  the  "  break-joint  " 
principle  in  the  honey-board  as  a  preven- 
tive of  brace-combs  ;  especially  those  which 
annoy  us  by  their  attachment  to  the  surplus 
receptacles.  I  am  also  fully  aware  that  any 
bee-keeper  that  cannot  find  this  practical 
and  useful  feature  must  be  nearly  blind  when 
looking  in  that  direction.  If  our  experimen- 
tal apiarist  will  use  ten  hives  for  this  ex- 
periment, placing  the  honey-boards  squarely 
upon  five,  and  pushing  them  side-ways  on 
five  others  so  that  the  spaces  between  the 
slats  of  the  honey  board  and  those  between 
the  top-bars  of  the  brood-frames,  range  with 
each  other  instead  of  breaking  joints,  he  will 
then  be  able  to  report  to  you  the  marked  re- 
sults, and  they  will  be  that  the  "  break-joint  " 
principle  prevents  the  attachment  of  almost 
all  brace-combs  between  the  top  of  the  hon- 
ey-board and  surplus  receptacles  and  mate- 
rially lessens  the  number  of  brace-combs 
between  the  tops  of  the  top-bars  and  under- 
side of  the  honey-board,  as  well  as  between 
the  edges  or  sides  of  the  top-bars  and  each 
other. 

To  sum  up,  a  pine  top-bar  'r  wide  and  % 
to  's  deep,  under  a  break-joint  honey-board, 
is  the  best  arrangement  for  prevention  of 
brace-combs.  This  top-bar  will  not  sag  but 
will  cost  very  much  more  than  the  common 
bar,  both  for  material  and  labor.  How  is 
this.  Bro.  Taylor  ? 

DowAGiAC,  Mich.  Nov.  2S,  1898. 

[This  matter  of  the  prevention  of  burr  and 
brace  combs  and  dispensing  with  the  honey 
board  was  largely  discussed  at  the  Chicago 
convention.  The  use  of  V  inch  spaces  be- 
tween and  above  the  top  bars  will  i)racti- 
cally  prevent  burr  and  brace  comb-:,  if  we  can 
believe  a  large  number  of  most  excellent 
bee-keepers,  and  I  think  we  can.  That  this 
space  will  entirely  prevent  the  building  of 
these  coml)s  I  believe  no  one  asserted.  The 
honey  board  will.  If  you  don't  want  any 
brace  or  burr  combs,  use  a  honey  board.  If 
you  can  put  up  with  a  few,  then  make  your 
top  bars  wide  and  deep  and  space  them  very 
accurately  to  '4  inch.  Although  the  self- 
spacing  frames  and  no  honey  board  arrange- 
ment is  being  boomed,  I  very  much  doubt  if 
this  style  of  management  will  ever  take  with 
the  majority,  and  I  believe  that  many  of 
those  who   are  now   adopting  this   method 


will  eventually  go  back  to  the  ordinary 
Langstroth  frames  and  a  honey  board.  As 
for  myself ,  I  want  ?io  burr  combs  attached 
to  the  bottoms  of  the  sections.  I  prefer  to 
go  the  expense  of  one  cent  a  year  for  a  honey 
board  to  that  of  having  any  dripping  and 
daubing  from  broken  burr  combs,  be  they 
ever  so  few.  Below  the  honey  board  the 
bees  may  build  their  braces  and  burrs  to 
their  heart's  content  as  I  don't  take  the  hon- 
ey board  off  once  a  year  on  an  average. 
—Ed.] 

Medium  Colonie8,[Store8  Well-Placed,  Plenty 

of  Protection  ^and  a  Generous  Entrance 

Winter  Bees  in  Rhode  Island. 

ARTHUR   C.  MILLER. 

<^||BN  the  Review  for  October  Mr.  Hasty 
ffi)  calls  attention  to  the  careless  use  of  de- 
•^  scriptive  terms  and  the  confusion  caused 
thereby.  In  the  same  number  Mr.  Aikin 
calls  "  sealed  covers"  a  "  snare  in  cold  cli- 
mates." The  term  "sealed  covers"  has 
been  used  to  mean  boards,  perhaps,  and  en- 
ameled mats  and  sundry  other  articles  used 
to  cover  the  top  of  the  hive  and  allowed  to 
become  sealed  down  by  the  bees.  If  Mr. 
Aikin  means  board  covers  not  chaff  protect- 
ed, I  agree  with  him,  hut  if  he  includes  mats 
chaff  protected,  I  do  not. 

Somewhat  over  ten  years  ago  I  l)egau  ex- 
perimenting on  ways  of  prepnrinn  bees  for 
winter,  for  if  properly  prepared  the  bees  do 
the  rest.  The  experiments  were  on  a  fairly 
large  scale,  the  first  one  embracing  over 
forty  colonies  and  as  I  was  conducting  the 
experiments  for  my  own  pleasure  I  spared  no 
pains  or  expense.  The  results  were  very  in- 
teresting and  in  some  cases  quite  surprising. 

To  be  uniformly  successful  I  found  it 
necessary  to  have  a  medium  colony,  an 
abundance  of  stores  properly  placed,  an  en- 
ameled mat  sealed  down,  the  whole  sur- 
rounded with  chaff  or  planer  chips  and  a  ten 
inch  entrance  wide  open. 

At  first  glance  this  seems  like  the  ordinary 
"  colonies  chaff  packed,"  but  let  me  mention 
a  few  important  features.  First  a  weditoH 
colony,  neither  very  large  nor  very  small  : 
second,  an  abundance  of  stores  properly 
placed  :  third,  an  enameled  or  non-porous 
mat  sealed  down.  It  sounds  easy  and  sim- 
ple, but  it  took  me  years  to  do  it  every  time 
with  my  whole  apiary. 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW, 


347 


To  get  medium  colonies  that  will  stay 
medium  is  quite  a  task.  It  requires  good 
judgement  and  careful  selection  to  have 
brood  and  bees  equally  distributed  and  par- 
ticulary  so  to  have  the  same  proportion  of 
old  and  young  bees  in  each  colony. 

"  Abundance  of  stores  properly  distribu- 
ted "  is  easier  of  accomplishment.  The  size 
of  the  colony  Hxed  early  in  the  fall,  the  stores 
supplied,  their  proper  placing  is  sure  to  fol- 
low. Take  two  colonies  of  equal  strength, 
give  one  its  seven  or  eight  L  frames  of  hon- 
ey the  first  of  September,  the  other  the  same 
the  first  of  October  and  notice  the  diflf erence 
the  following  spring.  A  mat  sealed  down 
prevents  any  draughts  except  those  created 
by  the  bees,  and  together  with  the  chaff  pack- 
ing gives  them  complete  control  of  the  tem- 
perature and  ventilation  of  the  brood  nest. 
Arranged  as  my  bees  are  there  is  never  any 
condensation  of  moisture  on  the  mat. 

1  would  not  have  it  understood  that  I  have 
to  manipulate  all  my  colonies  to  prepare 
them  for  winter,  for  by  having  each  colony 
supplied  with  a  young  queen  by  August  very 
few  colonies  need  any  alteration  later.  I  am 
led  to  believe  that  early  preparation  of  bees 
for  winter  is  a  very  important  factor  in  the 
success  of  any  method,  and  properly  done, 
it  does  not  interfere  with  the  harvesting  of 
the  fall  honey  crop.  iSome  may  say  that  it 
is  easy  to  winter  bees  in  Rhode  Island,  but  I 
assure  them  it  is  not,  as  the  temperature  is 
very  variable,  ranging  within  twenty-four 
hours  from  50"  or  60^  to  zero  and  vice  versa. 
Intense  cold  is  frequently  followed  by  warm 
dense  fogs  that  condense  on  and  thoroughly 
saturate  everything. 

The  system  here  set  forth  is  a  success  every 
time,  which  is  more  than  I  can  say  of  any 
other  method  I  have  tried. 

Fkovidence,  R.  I.  (Jet.  23,  1893. 

The  Relation  of  Sugar  Syrup  to  Bees. 

O.  H.  MUBBAY. 

O  life. 
Art  thou  another  name  for  strife  ? 
A  daily  wonder  are  thy  hidden  ways. 
Thou  goest  as  thou  comest,  in  a  maze. 

^||»F  in  order  I  would  respectfully  correct 
®)  a  statement  of  Mr.  J.  Heddon  in  the 
^1^  Oct.  Review  in  regard  to  the  nature  of 
the  food  of  the  bee.  He  says  :  "  The  food 
of  the  honey  bee  may  be  divided  into  two 
distinct    divisions, — oxygenous  and  nitrog- 


enous ;  the  former  being  a  heat  producer 
and  the  latter  tissue  making." 

Honey  consists  of  carbon  and  water.  A 
part  of  the  water  is  free  or  hygroscopic ; 
that  is,  it  is  not  chemically  combined  with 
the  carbon.  The  amount  of  free  water  varies, 
but  in  good  honey  it  is  about  ten  per  cent. 
No  where  in  the  animal  economy  is  the  ox- 
ygen of  water,  or  of  any  part  of  the  food, 
employed  as  a  heat  producer.  The  vital 
force  is  not  sufficiently  powerful  to  decom- 
pose water  and  appropriate  either  of  its  ele- 
ments. It  is  the  combustion  of  the  carbon 
of  honey,  sugar,  or  of  any  other  food,  that 
maintains  animal  heat,  by  its  combining 
with  the  free  oxygen  of  air  inhaled  or  ab- 
sorbed. The  product  of  such  combustion  is 
carbonic  acid  gas.  When  the  carbon  of  hon- 
ey or  sugar  is  appropriated  by  the  bee,  the 
combined  water  is  released  and  the  bee  dis- 
poses of  it  by  perspiration  or  otherwise. 
Honey  destitute  of  free  water  consists  of 
about  forty-seven  per  cent,  of  carbon  and 
tifty-three  per  cent,  of  combined  water,  but 
as  honey  ordinarily  contains  from  eight  to 
twelve  per  cent,  of  free  water  we  have  about 
forty -three  per  cent,  of  carbon  in  each  unit 
of  honey.  Where  there  are  fifty  or  more 
swarms  of  bees  packed  closely  in  a  room  or 
cellar  the  amount  of  water  evaporated  by 
them  is  very  considerable.  The  vitiating 
carbonic  acid  gas  should  also  be  taken  into 
account  in  such  cases  and  means  provided 
for  its  renaoval  and  the  substitution  of  fresh 
air. 

Physiologists  maintain  that  a  small  pro- 
portion of  nitrogenous  food  is  essential  to 
aid  the  assimilation  of  the  carbohydrates, 
such  as  honey  or  sugar.  A  tablespoonful  of 
boiled  Hour  paste  added  to  each  haif  gallon 
of  sugar  syrup  and  thoroughly  mixed  might 
perhaps  be  sufficient.  Undoubtedly  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  salt  to  each  gallon  of  syrup 
would  be  of  great  advantage.  Bees  long  fed 
on  pure  sugar  syrup  alone  would  undoubted- 
ly die, — not  from  dysentery,  but  with  stom- 
achs full  of  material  that  they  were  not  able 
to  digest.  Simple  decomposition, — as  the 
separation  of  carbon  in  sugar,  cannot  be  ef- 
fected by  vital  force.  The  life  forces — like 
the  electric, — require  decomposition  and  re- 
composition  simultaneously  in  order  to 
maintain  their  operation.  The  presence  of 
some  catalytic  a^ent,  like  salt,  exerts  a  most 
favorable  influence  in  promoting  the  re- 
actions. 

Elkhaet,  lud.  Oct.  25,  1893. 


348 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Importance  of  Warm,  Dry  and  Pure  Air  in 

Wintering    Bees  and    How  it  May 

be  Secarea. 

C.    SPAETH. 

>R.  EDITUR:— I  have  just  received 
the  Review  vyhich  reminds  me  of 
the  article  on  house  apiaries  which 
I  promised  to  translate  for  your  paper.  1 
am  very  sorry  that  I  did  not  find  time  to  do 
it ;  translation  is  for  me  very  slow,  tiresome 
and  imperfect  work,  therefore  I  am  not  sat- 
isfied with  it.  I  send  you  the  article  in  Ger- 
man ;  perhaps  you  can  find  somebody  that 
can  translate  it  for  you.  You  can  also  see 
in  it  one  of  the  best  bee  houses  imaginable 
for  wintering  bees  by  all  methods. 

The  wintering  trouble  and  cause  of  bee 
diarrhoea  is  solved  by  Rev.  C.  Weygandt, 
of  Flacht,  Germany,  editor  of  the  Bee,  a 
monthly  bee  paper.  He  has  made  the  most 
thorough  experiments  for  years,  and  has 
solved  a  good  many  riddles,  mysteries  and 
problems  that  still  puzzle  a  good  many  bee- 
keepers and  papers.  I  do  wish  you  could 
read  two  books  which  he  published  three  or 
four  years  ago  on  those  subjects.  The  name 
of  those  works  are  :  "  A  Small  Contribution 
to  Promote  Bee-Keeping." 

He  kept  a  good  number  of  bees  in  his 
study  room,  where  there  was  a  coal  stove 
burning  all  winter.  The  entrances  of  the 
hives  were  left  open,  the  openings  l/eing  two 
to  three  inches  wide  by  one-quarter  inch 
high.  He  had  holes  made  througli  the  win- 
dow case  or  a  channel  under  it.  The  bees 
wintered  splendidly  and  came  out  strong  and 
vnry  healthy. 

For  years  he  closely  observed  bees  in  win- 
ter and  tried  all  kinds  of  experiments  with 
them.  He  found  out  what  was  the  life  ele- 
ment that  must  be  taken  into  account  if  we 
want  safe  wintering.  This  life  element  is 
pure,  dry,  warm  air,  and  good  food,  which, 
of  course,  also  includes  bee  bread. 

Some  colonies  he  gave  daily  their  portion 
of  food.  He  found  them  scattered  all  over 
the  combs,  the  latter,  of  course,  keeping  per- 
fectly dry  and  clean.  Their  abdomens  did 
not  become  extended  and  swollen  and  there 
was  no  need  of  a  cleansing  flight.  The  bees 
would  not  try  to  fly  out  when  the  weather 
would  not  permit,  but  they  would  just  peep 
sometimes  out  and  then  go  back  again. 

He  found  out  that  dampness  and  cold  com- 
bined kill  the  most  bees  ;  causing  indiges- 


tion, catarrh  and  inflamation  of  the  bow- 
els or  diarrhcBa.  He  cured  the  worst  kind 
of  diarrhoea  in  a  warm,  dry,  pure  air,  and 
with  clover  honey.  Some  will  say,  it  is  not 
a  disease.  They  know  not  what  they  say. 
Smell  it  once,  he  says  !  Does  it  smell  like 
healthy  fseces  ?  It  nearly  knocks  one  over, 
it  will  take  your  breath  away. 

Some  bees  will  show  much  more  uneasi- 
ness after  a  few  month's  confinement  than 
others  under  the  very  same  conditions,  from 
such  bees  he  would  never  breed. 

After  all  these  experiments  he  built  a  bee 
house  which  is  a  model,  and  not  after  very 
many  years,  all  our  Northern  bee-keepers 
will  have  one  like  it,  or  similar  to  it. 

He  keeps  his  bees  in  a  chaff  hive  all  the 
year  in  the  bee  house.  This  is  done  so  that 
the  heat  cannot  directly  strike  the  hives  or 
bees,  it  also  serves  other  purposes.  If  the 
weather  is  not  too  severe  he  does  not  have 
the  house  heated,  or  if  he  has,  and  it  should 
get  too  warm,  he  opens  all  the  doors  and 
windows  and  has  wintering  in  the  open  air 
or  on  summer  stands  packed.  In  a  few  min- 
utes he  can  close  the  outside  openings,  which 
he  sometimes  does,  also  the  doors  and  win- 
dows, and  he  has  cellar  wintering,  but  with 
much  better  conditions  for  the  bees.  The 
whole  house  is  then  pitch  dark.  He  then 
opens  the  entrances  on  the  back  part  of  the 
channels  of  the  hives. 

He  has  no  spring  dwindling.  As  soon  as 
the  bees  bring  in  natural  pollen,  he  com- 
mences stimulative  feeding,  and  breeding 
once  commenced  in  good  earnest  never  is 
checked  by  cold  spells  or  poor  weather.  He 
has  giant  colonies  at  the  time  of  fruit  bloom 
and  of  rape,  which  is  one  of  his  main  crops. 

Some  brag  that  they  winter  their  bees 
with  success  in  the  old  way.  But  it  is  one 
thing  to  winter  bees  that  just  pull  through 
and  are  kept  busy  till  the  latter  part  of  .June 
getting  ready  for  the  harvest,  giving  no 
spring  surplus  whatever  ;  and  another  thing 
to  bring  out  very  strong,  rousing  swarms 
which  give  the  least  work  for  the  bee-keeper 
but  the  most  pleasure  and  profit. 

He  claims  that  it  pays  to  have  such  a  house 
and  saves  time,  money  and  work.  In  the 
first  place  he  can  use  poor  lumber  for  hives 
and  outer  cases,  sometimes  he  used  dry- 
goods  boxes.  Then  they  need  no  paint,  and 
he  only  needs  to  pack  them  once  and  need 
not  carry  them  to  and  fro,  and  he  can  do  all 
his  work  inside.  His  bees  also  have  shade 
and  are  safe  from  storms  and  thieves. 


MSIASU  ,SU3d331I-3aa  3HJj 


349 


It  is  a  pleasure  to  read  his  works  and  fol- 
low his  experiments.  He  had  a  colony  in 
his  room  gathering  pollen  and  building 
combs  at  Christmas.  He  placed  cherry  and 
hazelnut  branches  in  a  pail  of  sand  for  a  few 
weeks,  pouring  warm  water  over  the  sand 
every  day,  and  in  this  way  brought  them  to 
bloom  in  a  few  weeks.  He  shows  how  it  is 
done  so  that  not  a  bee  will  try  to  liy  at  the 
window  to  get  out.  Of  course,  he  only  meant 
to  show  what  could  be  done  with  bees.  He 
asserts,  too,  that  his  bees  voided  dry  fteces. 

He  is  also  a  great  friend  of  the  German 
bee  and  does  not  get  tired  to  sing  their 
praise.  Of  course  he  is  not  blind  toward  the 
good  qualities  of  the  other  races,  but  asserts 
that  the  German  bee  has  excellent  qualities 
which  are  entirely  overlooked,  and  if  it  were 
bred  for  years  with  as  much  care  as  the  Ital- 
ian, for  instance,  then  its  points  of  excel- 
lence would  be  brought  out  still  more  yet. 

You  see,  in  the  business  part,  practical 
work  and  in  the  profits,  the  Americans  take 
the  lead,  but  in  deep  thinking  and  thorough- 
ly performed  experimenting  the  Germans 
still  take  the  lead.  If  you  will  take  the  two 
volumes  of  extracts  from  the  German  bee 
journals  to  hand,  you  will  lind  that  many 
questions  and  problems  that  we  try  to  solve 
now,  were  solved  by  German  naturalists  and 
bee-keepers  years  ago.  I  have  the  work.  It 
is  written  by  Schmid  and  Klein. 

Now  I  believe  fully  that  the  secret  of  w  u- 
teriug  bees  cheaply,  without  loss,  and  with 
little  labor  is  solved  if  the  bee-keeper  will 
follow  C.  Weygandt's  advice. 


Bebne,  Mich. 


Nov.  20,  1893. 


Shipping    and    Selling    Honey    in    Cold 
Weatber. 

J.  O.  STEWART. 

"If  you  want  your  business  done,   go;  if  uot, 
send."  —FRANKLIN. 

fHAVE  long  wanted  to  write  a  letter  for 
the  Review,  and  have  selected  this  topic 
as  of  most  interest  to  its  readers  of  any 
thing  I  could  write.  My  honey  is  produced 
with  the  one-story  wide-frame  with  tin  sep- 
arators so  the  combs  are  smooth  and  no 
trouble  to  crate.  I  took  them  out  of  the 
frames,  put  them  into  the  shipping  cases  and 
placed  them  in  a  spare  room  in  my  dwelling 


where  a  tire  would  keep  the  combs  from 
cracking.  I  left  tliem  there  till  near  the 
holidays,  then  scraped,  graded,  and  cased 
them  for  market.  I  stamped  them  all  with 
a  self-inker.  As  the  sections  were  well  filled 
1  paid  no  attention  to  the  weight  except  to 
see  about  how  they  averaged.  I  made  the 
following  grades  No.  1  waite.  No.  2  white, 
No.  I  dark.  No.  2  dark,  and  culls.  When  I 
was  ready  to  sell  I  went  to  our  R.  R.  agent, 
told  him  how  easy  it  was  to  break  comb  hon- 
ey in  the  cold,  and  got  permission  to  set  a 
stove  in  the  car,  which  I  did  easily  in  the 
morning.  I  took  a  large  bundle  of  newspa- 
pers into  the  car  and  tacked  them  over  and 
upon  one  door,  then  closed  the  other  door 
near  to  the  stove  pipe  and  packed  that  one 
and  then  made  a  tire.  It  soon  was  so  warm 
that  I  began  to  sweat.  I  took  into  the  car  a 
rack  of  a  buggy  cart  and  nailed  it  fast  and 
upright,  the  distance  from  the  end  of  the 
car  that  would  allow  the  honey  cases  and  ten 
inches  besides  at  each  end  of  the  inclosure. 
Hay  was  spread  four  inches  deep  on  the  car 
tloor  and  the  cases  set  upon  it.  Newspapers 
were  placed  all  over  the  pile,  and  hay  ten 
iucliBn  deep  put  at  the  ends  and  all  sides.  I 
gave  ihu  train  men  a  section  apiece  to  uot 
bump  ttie  car.  They  seemed  pleased  and  I 
thmk  iliey  did  as  they  promised.  The  car 
went  sixty  miles  but  arrived  safe  with  not  a 
section  broken  in  the  1,400  pounds. 

I  must  state  that  in  the  bottom  of  each 
case  and  between  the  two  tiers  of  sections  I 
had  placed  a  sheet  of  oiled  paper.  On  this 
were  laid  live  strips  for  the  sections  to  rest 
on  ;  so  if  any  dripped  the  bottom  would  not 
be  so  much  daubed.  I  shipped  no  dripping 
combs. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  city  I  took  a  sample 
section  in  a  small  grip  and  canvassed  for 
orders.  I  told  them  they  must  average  thir- 
teen or  fourteen  ounces  and  I  wanted  IS 
cents  a  box  for  it.  A  good  many  grocers 
said  it  would  never  sell  for  25  cents  each  and 
they  must  make  five  cents  a  box.  But  I 
sold  out  and  delivered.  If  1  could  not  sell 
for  money  I  traded  for  goods.  All  said  it 
was  very  high,  but  as  it  was  very  nice,  all 
white  clover,  they  bought,  and  but  few  stop- 
ped to  figure  on  the  price  per  pound.  I 
verily  believe  a  Vji  section  full  is  large 
enough,  and  the  way  to  get  them  full  is  to 
use  them  and  no  larger.  I  think  they  are 
filled  fuller,  more  even,  and  quicker,  and  so 
are  whiter  than  a  I's  section  and  two-inch  I 
would  not  use. 


350 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


How  I  wish  no  one  but  specialists  would 
raise  honey,  then  we  should  not  have  to  com- 
pete with  the  broken,  stained  mussy  honey 
in  the  market.  A  commission  man  offered 
me  16  cents,  but  I  thought  that  two  cents 
would  pay  my  expenses  and  give  me  a  chance 
to  see  the  city.  The  R.  R.  Co,  said  they  had 
no  right  to  receive  it  without  the  cases  being 
crated  as  per  Mr.  Ripley,  but  as  nothing  else 
was  in  the  car  they  did  not  care.  Of  course  I 
removed  the  stove  before  the  car  started.  I 
think  the  car  would  have  gone  safely  to  New 
York  only  for  the  transferring.  The  Mayor 
told  me  I  could  not  sell  from  house  to  house 
without  a  license,  but  others  said  I  could  sell 
anything  I  raised 


Hopkins,  Mo. 


Jan.  10.  1893. 


Bee-Keepers'  Review. 

PUBLISHED    MONTHLY. 

W.   Z.  HOTCHir*SOfl,  Ed.  &  Pjpop. 

Terms  :  —  $1.00  a  year  in  advance.  Two  copies 
$1.90 ;  three  for  12.70 ;  five  for  $4.00 ;  ten  or  more. 
70  cents  each.  If  it  is  desired  to  have  tlie  Review 
stopped  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  paid  for, 
please  say  so  when  subscribing,  otherwise  it 
will  be  continued. 


FL/NT,    MICHIGAN.     DEC.    10.    1893. 

Ontario,  Canada,  bee-keepers  will  hold 
their  annual  convention  January  9th  and 
10th,  1894,  at  Lindsay.  The  editor  of  the 
Review  expects  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  at- 
tending the  meeting. 


Canada  is  to  have  another  bee  journal,  the 
first  issue  being  already  out.  Its  name  is 
the  Practical  Bee-Keeper  and  it  is  a  neatly 
gotten  up  quarterly,  at  forty  cents  a  year, 
published  at  Tilbury  Center  by  C.  A.  Oue- 
Uette,  with  T.  N.  Leigh  as  editor.  Leading 
bee-keepers  contribute  to  the  first  issue. 


Eight  Extra  Pages  are  added  this  month 
to  make  room  for  the  index  and  to  allow 
plenty  of  room  in  which  to  set  forth  the 
prominent  excellencies  of  the  Review  (see 
last  four  pages)  in  order  that  the  large  num- 
ber to  whom  this  issue  will  be  sent  as  a  sam- 
ple may  more  thoroughly  understand  "  What 
the  Review  has  been,  is,  and  will  be." 


A    OOEREOTION. 

Mr.  Cornell  sends  the  following  :  "In  the 
second  paragraph,  second  column,  page  815, 
it  reads ;  '  As  the  vapor  laden  air  escapes 
from  the  cluster  at  G5  into  saturated  air  at 
.5.')°,  it  *  *  '  The  figures  .V)  should  be  45°. 
In  Elwood's  article  you  have  Rettenkofifer  a 
couple  of  times  where  it  should  be  Petten- 
kofter.  I  don't  know  who  made  the  mistake 
but  I  feel  sure  it  was  not  Elwood." 
O 

Orange  Blossom  Honey  must  be  very  deli- 
cious, or  else  Rambler  has  indulged  in  pic- 
turesque language  to  such  an  extent  that  he 
can  use  no  other.  After  reading  his  article 
that  appears  in  this  issue  I  did  not  feel  easy 
until  I  had  written  and  asked  him  if  it  would 
be  possible  to  send  me  a  can  of  orange  blos- 
som honey.  He  had  none  of  his  own  that 
was  pure,  but  by  looking  about  he  finally 
found  one  sixty  pound  can  of  what  appeared 
to  be  pure  orange  blossom  honey,  "  the  most 
delicious  honey  he  ever  tasted."  and  he 
bought  it  for  me  and  it  is  now  on  its  way 
across  the  continent.  It  will  probably  be 
here  before  the  Michigan  State  Bee-Keepers' 
Association  meets,  and  I  will  then  "  stand 
treat." 

E.  R.  Root  calls  attention  to  Hasty's  re- 
mark that  Mr.  Taylor  drew  conclusions 
favorable  to  foundation,  and  that  the  editor 
of  the  Review  argued  in  favor  of  starters, 
both  using  that  big  table  as  a  basis.  Beg 
pardon  Bros.,  but  Mr.  Taylor  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  those  hived  on  starters 
"  held  their  rate  of  gain  decidedly  better 
than  those  hived  on  comb  or  foundation." 
I  then  called  attention  to  this  fact  and  ar- 
gued that  if  the  harvest  had  continued  a  lit- 
tle longer,  or  had  the  test  been  commenced 
a  little  earlier,  those  on  starters  might  have 
come  out  ahead.  When  Mr.  Taylor  sent  in 
that  report  he  accompanied  it  by  a  private 
note  in  which  he  said  "  There  is  a  big  argu- 
ment in  those  figures  for  starters,"  and  I 
did  wonder  a  little  that  he  did  not  enlarge  a 
little  more  on  this  point  in  his  summing  up. 

Advertising,  (jood  advertising,  in  these 
times  is  almost  half  the  battle.  I  have  in 
mind  a  queen  breeder  who  keeps  his  adv. 
running  the  whole  year.  Whenever  I  write 
to  him  for  a  few  queens  I  always  have  to 
wait  a  long  time  before  he  can  fill  my  order 
— so  many  orders  ahead.    But  when  I  send 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


S51 


him  a  bill  for  adv.  the  money  always  comes 
back  by  return  mail.  I  have  in  mind  other 
men  who  send  in  an  adv.  in  June,  and  stop  it 
in  August  or  September,  saying  it  does  not 
pay  them.  I  am  well  satisfied  that  a  man 
can  commence  now  and  so  advertise  that  he 
will  have  a  good  trade  next  season  in  almost 
anything  that  bee-keepers  need  to  buy.  See 
what  a  trade  Mr.  Trego  secured  by  getting 
out  an  attractive  line  of  ads.  last  year.  It's 
none  too  soon  to  begin  advertising  for  next 
season's  trade  and  the  better  the  advertising 
the  greater  will  be  the  trade.  I  feel  perfectly 
free  to  talk  in  this  way,  if  I  do  have  adver- 
tising space  to  sell,  because  I  know  that  what 
I  say  is  true,  besides,  I  "  take  my  own  medi- 
cine," as  they  say,  and  find  that  it  does  me 
good. 

HOW    CAN    THE   EEVIEW    BE    IMPKOVED  ? 

Some  editors  make  just  such  a  paper  as 
suits  themselves,  foolishly  imagining  that 
what  pleases  them  must  of  course  please 
every  one.  Others  edit  their  papers  with  the 
idea  of  receiving  praise  from  their  contem- 
poraries ;  or  they  strive  to  "scoop"  their 
competitors,  to  secure  some  feature  that  will 
overwhelm  the  other  journals  of  that  class. 
This  is  all  right  in  itself,  but  such  prominent 
features  should  be  chosen  mainly  with  a  view 
to  pleasing  the  majority  of  the  readers. 
Some  of  us  edit  our  journals  too  much  from 
our  own  personal  point  of  view,  whereas  we 
should  try  and  edit  them  more  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  public.  The  one  question 
that  an  editor  should  put  to  himself,  in  de- 
ciding as  to  the  availability  of  an  article,  is, 
will  this  please,  interest  or  irastruct  the  ma- 
jority of  my  readers  ? 

Several  times  before  have  I  been  greatly 
benefitted  by  securing  the  advice  and  criti- 
cism of  my  readers  in  regard  to  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Review,  and  I  should  be  glad  to 
avail  myself  of  it  still  farther.  This  is  the 
time  of  the  year  when  renewals  will  be  sent 
in,  and  it  will  not  be  very  much  trouble  to 
simply  say  in  a  few  words  what  you  think  of 
the  Review,  which  feature,  or  writer  pleases 
you  best,  which  is  of  the  least  interest,  and 
what  new  features  you  would  like  to  have 
added,  or  what  subjects  you  would  be  glad  to 
see  discussed.  For  instance,  I  am  at  present 
interested  in  photography,  and  frequent  ref- 
erences to  it  are  creeping  into  the  Review. 
Now,  if  these  references  are  afifording  me 
more  pleasure  than  they  are  my  readers, 
they  can't  be  dropped  too  quickly.    But  how 


am  I  to  know  unless  you  tell  me  ?  It's  just 
the  same  with  other  things.  I  am  trying 
most  earnestly  to  edit  the  Review  from  the 
reader's  standpoint  as  well  as  from  my  own, 
and  shall  be  most  thankful  for  a  little  help. 
If  you  like  the  Review,  say  so  ;  if  you  don't, 
say  so ;  but  be  sure  and  give  the  why  in 
either  case,  as  that  is  the  most  important 
point. 

MICHIGAN     STATE     BEE-KEEPEES'    CONVENTION. 

The  Michigan  State  Bee-Keepers'  Associa- 
tion will  hold  its  28th  annual  meeting  in  the 
Common  Council  Chambers,  at  the  City 
Hall,  in  Flint,  on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday, 
.January  2d  and  3rd.  The  room  is  nicely 
carpeted,  furnished  with  chairs,  desks  and 
tables,  well  lighted,  and  away  from  the  rack- 
et of  the  main  street.  There  is  a  convenient 
room  adjoining  in  which  supplies  and  imple- 
ments can  be  exhibited.  The  headquarters 
for  bee-keepers  will  be  at  the  Dayton  House, 
a  most  excellent,  clean,  and  well  furnished, 
but  home-like  place,  where  rates  to  bee- 
keepers will  be  only  $1.00  per  day.  The  time 
for  holding  the  meeting  is  placed  when  in  all 
probability  there  will  be  holiday  rates  on  all 
railroads. 

The  following  programme  has  been  ar- 
ranged : 

FIEST  DAY — MOBNING   SESSION. 

lOKX)  a.  m.— "  Experimental  Work  at  Experi- 
mental Stations,"  Hon.  R.  L.  Taylor,  Lapeer, 
Mich. 

FIEST   DAY — AFTEENOON    SESSION. 

1:30  p.  m  — "  Advantages  of  Northern  Michigan 
for  Honey  Production,"  Hon.  Geo.  E.  Hilton, 
Fremont,  Mich. 

3:00  p.  m.— "The  Futuro  of  the  Supply  Trade," 
M.  H.  Hunt,  Bell  Branch,  Mich. 

FIEST   DAY — EVENING  SESSION. 

7:00  p.  m.—"  Advantages  that  Bee-Keepers  may 
Expect  from  Bees  and  Honey  Having  been 
Shown  at  the  World's  Fair,"  H.  D.  Cutting, 
Tecumseh,  Mich. 

SECOND    DAY — MOBNING   SESSION. 

9:00  a.  m.— "  Moisture  in  the  Bee  Cellar  ;  What 
it  can  do  and  What  we  can  do,"  S.  Comeil,  Lind- 
say, Ont. 

10:30  a.  m  — "The  Future  pf  Bee-Keeping," 
James  Heddon,  Dowagiac,  Mich. 

SECOND   DAY — AFTEENOON   SESSION. 

1:80  p.  m. — ■'  Preparing  the  Apiary  for  Winter," 
R.  F.  Holterman,  Brantford,  Ont. 

3:00  p.  m.— "  Selling  Honey  Without  Employ- 
ing Commission  Men,"  Byron  Walker,  Evart, 
Mich. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  care  has  been  taken 
not  to  crowd  the  programme,  as  the  Secre- 
tary believes  that  a  few  topics  thoroughly 
discussed  are  more  profitable  than  a  greater 
number  but  briefly  touched  upon.  There  is 
also  time  in  which  to  discuss  the  little  side 


352 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


iesues  that  are  continually  springing  up. 

The  AsBociation  is  invited  to  hold  one  ses 
sion  (say  in  the  evening  of  the  first  day)  at 
the  home  of  the  Review,  corner  of  Wood 
and  Saginaw  Streets,  where  there  will  be  an 
opportunity  to  sample  that  delicious  orange 
blossom  honey  from  California,  mentioned 
in  another  column. 

W.  Z.  Hutchinson,  Sec. 


8UPEBIOE   STRAIN   OF    GOLDEN    ITALIANS. 

Mr.  Ira  Barber  of  De  Kalb  Junction,  N.  Y., 
has  sent  me  a  long  letter  in  which  he  is  very 
enthusiastic  in  his  praise  of  some  golden 
Italian  stock  that  came  from  Mr.  Chas.  D. 
Duvall. 

Last  summer  he  had  thirty  colonies  of  this 
strain  of  bees  in  his  yard  with  120  other  col- 


comb  to  fill,  which  was  not  the  case  with  the 
others.  Mr.  Barber  had  0,000  pounds  of 
comb  honey,  but  says  if  all  had  done  as  well 
as  his  light  colored  bees  he  would  have  had 
three  times  as  much.  He  has  kept  a  large 
stock  of  bees  for  more  than  forty  years,  and 
he  says  that  these  are  the  first  perfect  bees 
he  has  ever  had.  Very  truly  he  concludes 
that  "  The  bees  that  will  stick  by  the  sec- 
tions through  hot  and  cold,  through  rain  and 
shine,  and  work  for  all  they  are  worth,  are 
the  bees  that  will  gladden  the  heart  of  the 
honey  producer." 

Occasionally  we  see  reports  telling  what 
miserably  poor  things  are  the  light  colored 
bees  and  how  the  darker  bees  will  out-strip 
them  at  honey  gathering.  The  truth  proba- 
bly is  that  there  are  both  superior  and  in- 
ferior strains  of  bees  in  either  variety. 


THF   HOME  -  APIAKY   OF   JAMES   HEDDON,  DOWAOIAC,  MICH. 


onies  of  all  the  other  different  varieties  of 
bees  in  this  country,  and  the  light  colored 
bees  outstripped  all  others.  They  are  gen- 
tle, industrious,  good  comb  builders,  enter 
the  sections  readily  and  not  inclined  to 
swarm.  Only  one  of  these  thirty  colonies 
offered  to  swarm,  and  that  was  a  case  of 
superseding  the  queen,  while  from  the  other 
colonies  came  >«>  swarms.  Wet  weather  for 
three  or  four  days  did  not  stop  these  bright 
bees  from  comb  building,  they  kept  right  on 
at  work  and  when  it  cleared  up  they  had 


A  VISIT   TO   MK.  HEDDON  S. 

As  mentioned  in  the  last  Review,  I  stop- 
ped on  my  way  to  Chicago  and  made  Mr. 
Heddou  a  visit.  We  drove  out  nine  miles  to 
take  a  view  of  his  Glenwood  apiary.  One  of 
the  fascinations  of  photography  is  that  you 
are  not  always  sure  what  you  have  got  until 
you  develop  the  plate.  When  we  reached 
Glenwood  it  was  about  noon,  and  it  was 
neither  bright  sunshine,  nor  exactly  cloudy. 
It  was  "bright  cloudy,"  but  nearer  bright 
sunshine  than  I  judged  it  was  and  the  result 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


353 


was  an  over-exposed  plate  that  produced  a 
weak,  "flat"  negative  unfit  for  printing  a 
photograph  suitable  to  use  in  making  a  half- 
tone. 

We  went  over  to  his  home  apiary  about 
four  o'clock  and  I  found  it  exactly  as  Ram- 
bler said  it  was  when  he  visited  it — very  dif- 
ficult to  find  a  satisfactory  point  of  view. 
The  high  board  fence  surmounted  by  barbed 
wire  made  it  necessary  to  set  the  camera 
inside  the   apiary,   and  in  this  way  only  a 


necessary.  The  floor  of  the  house  is  of  hard 
wood.  The  windows  revolve  upon  central 
pivots  at  the  top  and  bottoms.  Outside  of 
each  window  is  a  half  circle  of  wire  cloth  in 
which  the  window  revolves.  By  reversing  a 
window  all  of  the  bees  that  may  be  on  the 
inside  are  thrown  out  into  the  wire  cloth  ad- 
dition where  they  find  a  hole  at  the  top 
through  which  they  can  escape.  I  photo- 
graphed the  interior  of  the  honey  house,  but 
I  had  had  little  experience  in  photographing 


THE   HOME    OF   JAMES   HEDDON,  DOWAGIAC,  MICH. 


part  of  the  apiary  and  hives  could  be  shown, 
but  I  selected  such  a  position  as  would  show 
the  honey  house  and  "  tired  away." 

The  hives  are  packed  with  sawdust  in  cases. 
Natural  swarming  with  undipped  queens  is 
allowed  as  is  shown  by  the  ladder  leading  up 
into  the  apple  tree  top. 

The  honey  house  is  well-built  with  an  ex- 
cellent cellar  under  it.  One  end  of  the  cel- 
lar is  partitioned  off  and  a  stove  is  kept  in 
this  little  ante-room.  Around  the  inside  of 
the  stove  pass  three  rings  of  inch,  iron  pipe 
which  extends  up  through  the  floor  and  con- 
nects with  a  tank.  Water  is  introduced 
into  the  pipe  and  the  heat  from  the  stove 
heats  the  water  causing  it  to  circulate 
through  the  tank  above,  melting  any  granu- 
lated honey  placed  therein.  All  honey  is 
liquified  before  shipment.  The  stove  also 
furnishes  heat  for  warming  the  cellar  when 


interiors,  and  I  made  the  mistake  of  over- 
timing. 

It  was  dusk  wlien  we  reached  the  family 
residence,  but  the  family  gathered  on  the 
lawn  and  I  took  a  "  shot."  Here  I  made  the 
mistake  that  most  photographers  do  when 
making  exposures  near  the  close  of  day — I 
under-timed.  The  next  morning  I  had  to 
take  the  train  at  seven  o'clock.  I  waited  as 
long  in  the  morning  as  I  dared  and  then 
made  another  exposure  of  the  Heddon  man- 
sion with  Mrs.  Heddon  sitting  on  the  porch 
and  Mr.  Heddon  upon  his  safety  with  one 
hand  on  the  apple  tree.  From  this  picture  I 
have  had  a  half-tone  made.  Yes,  Mr.  Hed- 
don and  his  two  sons  and  his  daughter-in- 
law  (Will's  wife)  all  ride  safeties  and  are  en- 
thusiasts like  all  other  bicyclists. 

Mr.  Heddon  is  editor  of  the  Dowagiac 
Times,  and  largely  interested  in  their  elec- 


354 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  HE  VIEW. 


trie  light  plaut,  hence,  bee-keeping  does  not 
get  the  benefit  of  his  undivided  attention  as 
it  did  years  ago.  In  short,  almost  all  of  the 
work  is  done  by  his  seventeen-year-old  son, 
Charlie.  Extracted  honey  is  raised  exclu- 
sively, and  Mr.  Heddon  told  me  that  he 
never  raised  honey  more  cheaply  than  he  is 
doing  it  now.  He  tries  to  see  with  how  little 
labor  he  can  manage  the  business.  In  his 
circumstances  he  thinks  that  is  the  best  way 
for  him  to  do,  but  he  admitted  that  he  longed 
to  be  back  at  the  work  himself,  doing  the 
work  in  the  very  best  possible  manner  in- 
stead of  with  a  "  lick  and  a  brush." 

In  the  evening  when  Messrs.  Heddou, 
Burch,  Hoshal  and  myself  were  talking  of 
"  feeding  back  • '  and  feeding  bees  for  winter 
late  in  the  fall,  it  was  mentioned  that  bees 
would  take  the  food  more  quickly  late  in  the 
season  if  it  were  put  under  the  brood  nest. 
Mr.  Heddon  then  suggested  the  arrangement 
of  his  feeder  so  that  it  could  be  used  for 
"  feeding  back  "  by  being  placed  under  the 
hive,  the  reservoir  being  at  the  back  of  the 
hive  with  a  cover  to  be  removed  when  the 
feeder  needs  filling,  a  passage  way  at  one 
eide  allowing  the  flying  bees  to  pass  up  from 
the  regular  entrance  and  gain  access  to  the 
hive.  I  believe  this  idea  is  worthy  of  con- 
sideration, as  the  bees  do  certainly  take  the 
food  more  rapidly  from  below  the  hive,  es- 
pecially if  the  weather  is  a  little  cool. 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written  Mr.  Hed- 
don has  sent  in  the  article  that  appears  in 
this  issue,  and  in  a  private  note  accompany- 
ing it  he  says  :  *'  We  have  sold  our  electric 
light  plant  to  the  city,  and  I  am  going  back 
to  apiculture  in  old  fashioned  style  ;  I  am 
going  into  the  old  work  both  mentally  and 
physically,  heart  and  hand."  I  know  that 
all  will  be  rejoiced  to  know  this. 


SUPEBIOBITY    OF    GIVEN   FOUNDATION. 

It  is  very  pleasant  to  know  that  bright, 
practical  men  seem  to  have  a  way  of  getting 
at  the  truth  of  things  pretty  closely  without 
recourse  to  such  elaborate  processes  as  ap 
pear  in  this  month's  report  from  the  Michi- 
gan Experimental  Apiary.  Messrs.  Heddon, 
Taylor,  E.  J.  Uatman,  Dr.  Mason,  and  some 
others  have  declared  in  favor  not  only  of 
Given  foundation,  but  of  using  quite  heavy 
foundation  of  this  make  in  sections.  Their 
argument  was  that  the  press  put  the  wax  in 
the  walls  of  the  foundation,  leaving  it  soft, 
because  it  was  not  subjected  to  pressure. 


while  the  base  was  left  very  thin.  In  these 
experiments  it  will  be  seen  that  the  lightest 
foundation,  13.75  to  the  foot  gives  a  septum 
73.3  ten  thousands  of  an  inch,  while  Given 
foundation  of  9..37  pounds  to  the  foot  shows 
a  septum  of  only  (53  ten  thousands  of  an  inch, 
the  thinnest  septum  of  any  in  the  test.  Not 
only  this,  but  foundation  from  the  press 
gave  the  best  results  in  the  weight  of  honey 
produced.  Years  ago  when  foundation  was 
discussed  at  conventions,  the  Given  always 
came  out  ahead,  and  it  has  always  been  a 
puzzle  to  me  why  the  manufacture  of  the 
press  was  dropped  and  why  manufacturers 
did  not  offer  Given  foundation  for  sale.  The 
only  reason  that  ever  came  to  my  mind  was 
that  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  would  be  more 
work  to  make  foundation  on  the  press.  I 
think  now  that  if  the  right  man  should  take 
up  the  making  of  the  press,  or  the  making 
of  foundation  on  the  press,  success  would 
follow.  There  are  one  or  two  points  that  I 
do  not  understand  clearly,  and  that  is  why 
the  press  can  make  foundation  with  a  thin- 
ner base,  or,  at  least  make  such  a  base  that 
the  bees  leave  it  thinner,  than  can  be  done 
with  rollers,  and  why  the  side  walls  are  left 
softer  than  with  a  mill.  The  columns  of  the 
Review  are  open  for  the  discussion  of  this 
foundation  question,  and  contributions  on 
either  or  any  side  will  be  more  than  welcome. 


EXXRMCTED. 


Riding   one  Hobby  too  Long  and  too  Hard. 

"  Nothing  preserves  men  more  in  their  wits, 
Tlian  giving  of  them  leave  to  play  by  fits." 

BUTLER. 

Last  June  somebody  was  trying  to  induce 
Bro.  Root  of  Gleanings  to  pay  him  a  visit. 
After  mentioning  quite  a  string  of  allure- 
ments, he  wound  up  by  saying  that  he  would 
borrow  a  swarm  of  bees.  Mr.  Root  pub- 
lishes his  friend's  letter  and  then  replies  to 
it  under  the  head  of  "  Holding  too  long  to 
one  set  of  Ideas."    Here  is  what  he  said  : — 

"Brother  G.,  you  need  not  go  to  the 
trouble  of  borrowing  that  hive  of  bees  :  and 
perhaps  I  should  say  somethiag  just  here 
that,  in  justice  to  our  readers,  I  ought  to 
have  said  long  ago.  An  incident  of  our  trip 
to  California  brings  it  to  my  mind.  While 
traveling  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Rockies,  all  at  once  Prof.  Cook  remarked  : 

'  Look  here,  Mr.  Root ;  I  want  to  ask  you 
one  (luestion.' 

Of  course,  I  told  him  to  ask  any  question 
he  saw  fit.    Said  he : 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


365 


'  Yon  were  once  so  full  of  the  subject  of 
bees  that  you  could  neither  think  nor  talk 
much  about  anything  else.  Of  late  years, 
and  especially  within  the  last  few  days,  it 
has  seemed  to  me  as  if  you  rather  avoided 
the  subject  than  otherwise.  What  has  brought 
it  about  ?  ' 

'  I  an  glad  to  answer  you.  For  many  long 
years,  as  you  say,  I  never  tired  of  talking 
about  and  investigating  and  studying  the 
honey-bee  ;  and  I  used  to  think  I  should 
never  get  weary  of  that  one  subject.  Finally, 
however,  when  my  health  began  to  fail,  I 
discovered  that  I  turned  almost  involuntarily 
to  something  else  as  a  relief — a  rest,  or 
change  ;  but  when  business,  and  a  desire  to 
help  others  who  wanted  to  know,  continued 
to  hold  me  down  to  that  subject,  it  began  at 
times  to  be  almost  painful.  I  went  into 
other  things  expecting  and  rather  hoping 
that  a  little  rest  from  that  one  subject  would 
throw  off  this  feeling.  It  has  done  so  to 
some  extent :  but,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  have, 
at  the  present  time,  very  little  to  do  with  the 
bees.  The  bee-keeper  of  our  establishment 
is,  at  present,  Ernest.  Growing  potatoes 
and  draining  land,  riding  the  wheel,  and 
even  looking  into  the  wonderful  progress 
that  has  been  made  in  your  line  of  business, 
attracts  me  much  more  than  bee  culture. 
Sometimes  I  have  felt  sad  about  it ;  and 
then  I  have  thought  that,  perhaps,  there  was 
a  sort  of  providence  in  it ;  and  I  do  believe 
that  it  is  God's  will  that,  while  we  look  after 
our  own  industry,  we  should  also  avoid  set- 
tling down  into  one  narrow  line  of  work  too 
long  at  a  time.' 

After  I  explained  to  friend  Cook  as  above, 
he  astonished  me  by  coming  over  to  where  I 
sat.  and  putting  out  his  hand.  When  I 
looked  up  in  surprise  for  an  explanation  he 
said  something  like  this  : 

'  Mr.  Root,  I  rather  suspected  something 
of  what  you  have  told  us  ;  and  I  want  to  tell 
you  that  my  experience  i**  much  like  yours. 
I  have  felt  as  if  I  could  not  stand  it  unless  I 
had  some  sort  of  relief  from  duties  that  have 
been  wearing,  month  after  month  and  year 
after  year,  on  the  same  set  of  nerves,  and  in 
the  same  line  of  work.' 

Perhaps  he  did  not  say  it  just  as  I  have  put 
it.  but  it  was  something  in  that  line.  It  is 
true,  there  is  such  a  thine  as  changing  about 
from  one  thing  to  another  before  one  has 
had  time  to  accomplish  anything  anywhere  : 
but  there  is  also  an  opposite  extreme  to  be 
avoided." 

Several  times  since  the  foregoing  appeared 
have  I  been  tempted  to  publish  it  and  com- 
ment upon  it.  Most  of  you  know  how 
strongly  I  have  plead  for  specialty.  Not  one 
word  that  I  have  said  would  I  recall.  Those 
old  saws  about  a  "  -Jack  at  all  trades  "  being 
"  good  for  nothing  at  none,"  and  when  there 
are  "Too  many  irons  in  the  fire  some  are 
burned,"  are  only  too  true.  A  man  can  never 
hope  to  attain  the  highest  success  unless  he 
masters  one  subject,  and  to  attempt  the 
mastery  of  several   means  the    mastery  of 


none.  But  when  a  man's  thoughts  flow  con- 
stantly in  one  channel  they  are  necessarily 
narrowed.  A  man  should  sometimes  think 
of  something  besides  his  business.  His  busi- 
ness and  himself  will  thereby  be  benefitted. 
After  a  dip  into  something  foreign  to  his 
regular  business,  he  returns  to  his  post  with 
a  sort  of  enthusiasm  for  his  work.  As  Dr. 
Miller  remarked  after  reading  the  above, 
•'  If  Mr.  Root  had  not  ridden  the  bee-keep- 
ing hobby  so  long  and  so  hard  when  he  first 
mounted  it  he  might  yet  have  been  editor  of 
Gleanings.'^  Perhaps  those  were  not  his  ex- 
act words,  but  they  convey  the  idea  that  he 
meant  to  advance,  viz.,  that  Mr.  Root  wore 
out  his  enthusiasm  for  bee-keeping  by  too 
long  continued  efforts  in  that  direction  :  if 
he  had  given  his  mind  a  rest  by  taking  up 
something  else  to  a  certain  extent  he  might 
now  have  had  sufficient  enthusiasm  left  for 
bee-keeping  to  be  able  to  edit  Gleanings.  I 
think  the  Dr.  is  correct.  We  all  know  that 
Mr.  Root  has  lately  taken  up  gardening  and 
is  riding  this  hobby  as  furiously  as  he  ever 
did  bee-keeping. 

In  looking  over  my  own  life  for  the  past 
twenty  years  I  can  see  that  while  bee-keeping 
has  been  my  business  most  of  the  time,  that 
is,  I  have  made  it  a  specialty,  I  have  at  the 
same  time  tried  different  branches  of  it,  and 
occasionally  indulged  in  by-plays.  When  I 
was  about  fifteen  I  began  to  seriously  con- 
sider the  question  of  what  I  should  do  in 
life.  I  wished  the  question  decided  that  I 
might  be  studying  and  working  in  the  right 
direction.  I  had  a  great  love  for  machinery 
and  the  life  of  a  locomotive  engineer  seemed 
to  me  an  ideal  one.  I  progressed  in  this  di- 
rection until  I  was  able  to  "  fire  "  and  run  an 
engine  in  a  planing  mill.  Then  the  beauties 
of  literature  took  possession  of  me  and  I  be- 
gan studying  with  fresh  enthusiasm  and 
teaching  school.  You  may  smile  if  you  like, 
and  I  will  not  be  offended,  but  in  those  days 
I  thought  I  should  like  to  become  a  writer. 
I  did  not  know  exactly  what  I  should  write 
about,  but  I  had  such  an  itching  for  writing 
that  several  stories  and  sketches  were  sent  to 
different  papers  only  to  be  returned,  as  I  can 
now  see  very  clearly  they  ought  to  have  been. 
Then  music  took  possession  of  my  soul  and 
I  almost  decided  to  make  of  it  a  profession. 
Next  came  bee-keeping,  and  twenty-one 
found  me  yet  undecided.  I  know  that  I 
often  felt  ashamed  of  my  vacilation ;  it 
seemed  as  though  I  ought  to  have  sufficient 
decision  to  be  able  to  make  a  choice.     I  re- 


356 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


member  most  perfectly  going  out  to  the  barn 
the  spring  after  I  was  twenty-one  and  seat- 
ing myself  in  a  swing  with  a  determination 
to  "have  it  out."  I  sat  there  a  long  time. 
Most  thoroughly  did  I  go  over  my  past  life. 
I  tried  to  decide  which  business  would  best 
fit  my  characteristics.  I  finally  arose  with 
the  determination  that  I  "would  be  a  bee- 
keeper, and  give  my  experience  to  the 
world."  I  presume  this  was  a  sort  of  com- 
promise between  bee-keep^'"'  -nd  author- 
ship, although  I  c.'.J;  not  tr.'i  '"  -'■  -  .'j  tiio 
time.  Had  J  only  known  at  the  time  iiow 
literally  and  faithfully  I  should  be  able  to 
carry  out  my  decision  I  should  have  been 
much  happier.  ^  immediately  began  study- 
ing bee-keeping  as  i  had  never  done  before. 
Although  it  was  four  yca.c  later  before  I 
actually  began  the  business  I  think  I  starLc>iI 
in  with  as  thorough  a  knowledge  of  my  pro- 
fession as  is  possessed  by  most  physicians 
of  theirs  when  they  first  begin  practicing. 

During  the  first  year  of  bee-keeping  I  de 
cided  that  I  would  make  a  specialty  of  queen 
rearing.     That   fall  the  twins  came.     They 
were  very  restless  and  wakeful  nights,  and 
you  may  smile  again  if  you   like,  but  I  took 
a  great  deal  of  comfort  the  following  winter 
when  rocking  and  singing  a  baby  to  sleep 
by  the  fireside  in  the  "'  wee  sma'  hours  "  of 
the  night  and  thinking  at  the  same  time  how 
I  was  going  to   rear  queens  the  following 
summer.     I  studied  out  how  I  should  make 
a  lamp  nursery   and  arrange  compartments 
to  prevent  the   young  queens  from   killing 
one  another  when  they  hatched,  how  I  should 
arrange  my  nuclei,  how  make  the  cages,  yes, 
even  how  I  should  word  my  advertisements. 
The  work  proved  fully  as  enjoyable  as  I  had 
anticipated.     It  was  such   a   pleasure  to  see 
the  plump  cells  with  their  rough,  corrugated 
surfaces,   to   see   the   bright  yellow  (jueens 
bite  their  way  out  to  light  and  liberty,  to 
give  them  to  the  bees,  and  then  a   few  days 
later  to  find  them  plump  and  laying.     Then 
to  make   neat  cages  of  the  white  basswood, 
catch   and  cage  the   bees,  pat  the  stamps  of 
different  colors  upon  the  cages  of  different 
sizes,  pack  them  into  a  basket  and  then  take 
a  stroll  of  two  miles  to  the  post  office  going 
through  lanes  and  woods-roads,  stopping  on 
the  way   home  and   filling  the  basket  with 
berries — all  this  made  a  happy  existence. 

Then  my  brother  came  to  work  with  me 
and  more  bees  were  bought  and  the  raising 
of  comb  honey  became  the  order  of  the  day. 
Queen  rearing  was  not  dropped,  but  a  new 


enthusiasm,  that  of  learning  how  to  work  to 
the  best  advantage  in  securing  tons  of  honey 
in  those  beautiful  white  sections,  had  taken 
possession  of  me. 

In  those  days  my  spare  moments  and  the 
leisure  of  winter  days  were  employed  in 
writing  bee-keeping  articles  for  the  bee 
journals  and  for  the  agricultural  papers. 
This  proved  a  pleasant  and  profitable  change 
from  the  more  arduous  labors  of  the  sum- 
mer. 

From  such  experiences  as  these  sprang  the 
d-— \,ij  iiG."3  ?  iournal  of  my  own.  Then 
camic  the  p'.oasuro  oi  ^-t'cipation  and  prep- 
aration, lasting  two  or  three  years.  Next 
came  the  realization,  and^  as  I  have  before 
stated,  no  part  of  my  life  has  been  more  en- 
joyable than  that  spent  in  publishing  the 
Revie-vVo  There  was  one  pleasure  that  I  had 
not  couuic-J  "L-^c:  ?i?.  ihat  is  the  mechani- 
cal part  of  making  the  Review,  the  studying 
to  make  it  neat  typographically — how  I  have 
enjoyed  the  putting  together  of  types,  bor- 
ders, ornaments,  and  rules,  the  selection  of 
the  paper  and  ink  and  the  securing  of  en- 
gravings, etc.,  etc.  But,  notwithstanding  I 
love  the  Review  and  most  thoroughly  enjoy 
the  making  of  it,  I  must  admit  that  it  is  not 
only  a  relief  to  sometimes  turn  my  thoughts 
into  other  channels,  but  I  actually  do  better 
work  when  my  thoughts  are  again  put  into 
their  regular  harness. 

Perhaps  some  of  you  may  know  that  pho- 
tography   is    my  latest  hobby.     I  am  now 
deriving  as  much  pleasure  from  the  perusal 
of    books    and  journals  devoted  to  photog- 
raphy as  I  did  years  ago  in   my    first  study 
of  apiculture.     This  branch  of  picture  mak- 
ing was  taken    up   with   no  thought  of  its 
proving  profitable  in  a  money  point  of  view, 
but  is  is  turning  out  to  be  a  very  profitable 
investment  in  a  way  that  I  did   not  expect. 
For  instance,  I  had  often   felt  that  I  should 
enjoy  writing  a  series  of  articles  on  trapping 
mink,  muskrat,  foxes  and  the  like,  showing 
by  illustrations  exactly  how  the  traps  should 
be  made  and  set.     Lack  of  skill  in  drawint: 
had  prevented  me.     As  soon  as  1  had  learned 
to  use  the  camera  I  took  a  trap,  an  axe,  the 
camera  and  a  lunch  basket,  and  with  one  of 
my  daughters  for  company  and  to  help  carry 
the  things,  went  up  the  river  two   miles  one 
morning  in  August,  and  in  the  woods  I  set 
some  traps,   deadfalls,   and  snares  for  par- 
tridges, exactly  as  I  did  when  a  boy,  and  then 
photographed  them.     1   came   home  in  the 
afternoon  awfully  tired,  but  oh,  how  rested  ! 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


357 


What  a  pleasure  it  was  to  me  to  write  the 
articles.  It  was  upon  a  new  subject  and  car- 
ried me  back  so  completely  to  my  boyhood's 
days  when  I  tramped  the  banks  of  the  dear 
old  Butternut  creek  with  a  pack  of  traps  on 
my  back.  The  articles  were  sent  to  the 
American  Agriculturist  and  the  first  one  ap- 
peared in  the  November  issue.  My  next 
effort  in  this  direction  was  a  bee  hunting 
article,  tellins  how  to  hunt  wild  bees  and 
was  sent  to  the  Vonths'  Companion.  It  has 
been  accepted  but  is  not  yet  published.  To 
illustrate  this  I  made  a  bee  box,  and  filled  it 
with  comb  that  was  nearly  white,  then  with 
a  printer's  roller  I  rolled  some  printer's  ink 
upon  the  mouths  of  the  cells,  thus  blacking 
them,  and  you  have  no  idea  how  clearly  the 
net  work  of  cells  showed  in  the  picture.  I 
also  put  a  little  honey  in  the  cells  and  car- 
ried some  bees  with  me  in  a  cage  to  where  I 
was  to  take  the  picture  and  placed  them  upon 
the  comb,  and  while  they  were  "  filling  up  " 
I  "  pressed  the  button  ''  as  the  advertise- 
ments say.  I  spent  at  least  half  a  day  find- 
ing exactly  the  spot  that  suited  me  for  taking 
the  photograph,  and  finally  found  just  what 
I  wanted,  where  there  were  stumps  and 
brush,  and  a  barn  in  the  distance,  with  the 
river  to  one  side  in  the  background,  and  a 
tall  stump  in  the  foreground  upon  which  to 
set  the  bee  box.  I  then  hunted  up  a  good 
looking  young  man  to  go  with  me  and  lie 
down  on  the  ground  just  back  of  the  stump 
and  pretend  that  he  was  watching  the  bees 
in  the  box  to  see  them  take  wing  and  then 
"line  "them.  My  visit  to  the  skunk  farm 
as  mentioned  ia  the  last  Review  has  been 
written  up  and  sent  with  the  photos,  to  the 
^;/i.  Agriculturist,  and  been  accepted.  I 
have  lately  been  to  Saginaw  and  photo- 
graphed all  of  the  processes  of  salt  making 
from  getting  the  brine  from  the  earth,  to 
the  finished  salt  piled  up  in  cords  and  cords 
of  barrels  ready  for  market.  One  of  my 
girls  lately  said  :  "  Papa  is  just  crazy  to  go 
somewhere  and  take  a  photograph  and  then 
write  a  story  around  it,"  and  she  has  ex- 
pressed it  exactly.  Now,  while  this  enthusi- 
asm will  be  at  its  height,  say,  next  summer, 
I  propose'to  visit  the  principle  bee-keepers 
of  the  Northern  States  and  Canada,  taking 
my  camera  with  me  and  photographing  these 
bee-keepers,  their  families,  residences,  api- 
aries, and  whatever  of  interest  I  may  come 
across,  have  cuts  made  from  the  photographs, 
"  write  stories  around  then,"  and  then  put 
all  into  the  Review. 


A  Condensed  View  of  Current 
Bee    Writings. 

E.  E.  HASTY. 

1^*  (-)  inquisitive  has  modern  apiculture  be- 
"^^  come  that  it  is  even  inquiring  after  the 
^^  drones'  brains.  Of  course  the  querist 
does  not  intend  to  fill  vacancies  with  them, 
but  only  to  increase  the  general  fund  of 
knowledge.  In  creatures  that  have  the  brain 
and  intelligence  mainly  limited  to  the  head, 
cutting  the  head  off  leaves  the  body  a  help- 
less lump.  On  the  other  hand  some  crea- 
tures of  a  low  down  sort  have  the  brain  mat- 
ter so  diffused  that  they  may  be  cut  in  pieces 
and  the  pieces  will  set  up  in  life  for  them- 
selves. T.  R.  Bellamy,  A.  B. ./.,  i)?A,  reports 
concerning  the  drone  as  follows : 

'■  Once  I  behea<leil  a  drone,  and  in  24  hours  af- 
terward I  saw  him  standing  on  his  feet.  I  turned 
him  over  on  his  back,  and  he  would  turn  right 
over  and  stand  on  his  legs  again." 

Consider  once  how  much  this  implies — 
control  of  nerves  and  muscles,  sense  of  di- 
rection, and  so  much  of  thoughtfulness,  if 
that  is  the  proper  word,  that  the  slight  dis- 
comfort of  being  wrong  side  up  was  noticed 
and  acted  on.  Well,  late  in  the  season  as  it 
was,  I  had  some  drones  at  one  colony,  and  I 
went  for  their  heads.  Alack  !  none  of  mine 
could  stand  up  after  decapitation,  much  less 
turn  over  when  put  on  their  backs.  After 
some  five  hours,  being  kept  warm  mean- 
while, two  out  of  four  could  feebly  move 
the  legs  a  little.  All  were  stiff  and  still  next 
morning.  Wonder  if  friend  B.'s  guillotine 
did  not  bungle  its  job — cut  off,  or  tear  off, 
most  of  the  bulk  of  the  head  while  leaving 
most  of  the  brain  attached  to  the  trunk. 
Doubtless  he  is  right  as  to  the  great  vitality 
of  drone  brood.  He  has  often  had  them  sur- 
vive three  days  of  starvation  and  cold  down 
cellar,  and  has  reports  of  survival  after  six 
days  of  it. 

I  have  a  vitality  yarn  to  tell  also,  only  it 
is  of  a  worker  bee.  (Jn  the  1.5th  of  October 
I  opened  a  big  can  of  honey  which  was  closed 
and  brought  into  the  house  eight  days  be- 
fore. A  bee  inside,  complately  plunged  in 
honey,  was  still  struggling,  poor  fellow. 

AMERICAN    BEE-KEEPER, 

This  journal  saems  not  to  require  any 
special  remark  since  last  time,  and  we  can 
proceed  at  once  to  a  "simmer"  of  the  orig- 
inal articles  in  the  November  number. 


358 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


"  Wintering  Bees."  T.  W.  Wilcox.  Chaff 
in  packing  box  18x24x21.  Boxes  stored  in  a 
house  during  summer.  His  boxes  seem  to 
have  bottoms  to  them  ;  and  the  tip-top  idea 
for  tidiness  in  spring  lies  in  storing  the  chaff 
ovor  right  in  the  boxes. 

"Wintering  Bees."  T.  B.  Darlington. 
Enamel  cloth  covering  sealed  on  tight — yet 
with  a  two-inch  ventilating  hole  in  the  mid- 
dle. Blocks  above  make  a  tiny  chamber 
over  this  hole,  and  many  thicknesses  of 
coarse  cloth  over  the  blocks  prevent  upward 
ventilation  being  too  lively.  Did  use  some 
packing  cases,  but  those  not  cased  did  fully 
as  well.  Small  entrance  below  thought  best 
when  there  is  upward  ventilation. 

"  Progress  in  Bee-Keeping."  G.  .1.  Robin- 
son. This  is  a  running  comment  on  some 
of  the  inventions  and  many  of  the  names  of 
apicultural  his4.ory.  Some  of  the  assertions 
sprinkled  in  are  noteworthy,  and  perhaps 
liable  to  be  contradicted,  as — 

"  Bees  have  uo  respect  of  persons  *  *  are 
incapable  of  education  and  learn  nothing." 

Considering  how  quickly  they  learn  to  fol- 
low the  apiarist  around  to  his  annoyance 
while  working,  the  latter  assertion  seems 
rather  thin. 

The  copied  articles  are  Doolittle's  on  little 
wooden  boxes  for  candied  honey,  from  A.  B. 
./.  Pettit's  on  Wintering  from  the  Canadian, 
Wide  Entrances  and  Robbing,  from  the 
British  Bee  Jotirnal,  and  Lovesy 'stalk  about 
the  ants  of  Utah,  from  A.  B. ./. 

For  the  coming  year  more  editorial  atten- 
tion is  promised. 

SUCCESS  IN  BEE  Culture. 

This  takes  the  place  of  the  Enterprise 
which  the  postal  department  stamped  out. 
If  it  would  rile  up  friend  Sage  to  put  as  much 
more  improvement  on  it,  we  might  almost 
hope  that  our  venerable  Uncle  S.  would 
stamp  it  out  again.  Hereby  hangs  a  story. 
The  teamsters  of  Maine,  my  native  state, 
have  (or  used  to  have)  a  peculiar  way  of 
driving  oxen,  not  understood  in  the  rest  of 
Yankeedom.  For  instance  I  am  not  going 
to  tell  you  what  they  mean  when  they  say 
"  Hoosh !"  Ask  my  grandfather's  oxen. 
Well,  a  Yankee  from  some  other  state  saw, 
and  heard,  and  reported  at  home  how  the 
Maine  teamsters  hollered,  whoa,  when  they 
wanted  an  ox  to  pull  his  utmost.  It  was  a 
mighty  whoa  ;  and  the  verbatim  report  of  it 
can  be  dispensed  with  as  a  trifle  too  near  the 
profane.  The  stranger's  ears  were  truer 
than  his  eyes.     He  failed  to  see  that  during 


the  thunderous  whoas  the  teamster  WR« 
pricking  his  oxen  with  a  brad.  Make  a  pin- 
cushion of  an  ox,  and  compel  him  to  stand 
still  the  while,  and  he  will  pull  when  you  give 
him  permission.  It  strikes  me  the  untoward 
happenings  have  been  hollering  whoa  pretty 
loud  to  friend  Sage  and  his  publishing  Kn- 
terprise — at  any  rate  he  pulls  this  time  like 
the  oxen  of  the  State  of  Maine. 

"Success"  commences  with  one  of  R.  C. 
Aikin's  best  articles.  The  topic  is  the  use  of 
foundation  ;  and  he  sums  it  up  with — 

■'  First,  use  foundation  to  save  the  honey  from 
woing  to  wasfo  while  getting  ready  to  secrete 
wax.  And  second,  using  starters  to  save  the 
wax  whilo  gattiii'-r  eeeretion  stopped." 

ISext  comes  the  humorist  Uncle  Cass,  who 
seems  to  open  out  fully  up  front,  if  not  a 
trifle  in  advance  of  all  the  other  apicultural 
funny  men.  This  is  the  way  he  pokes  it  at 
Demaree  about  the  corrugations  on  a  queen 
cell. 

■'  It  was  done  by  the  "  guards,"  presumably 
coming  to  an  "order  arms"  and  denting  the 
soft  material  with  the  bntt  of  their  muskets." 

The  next  article  is  the  first  of  a  series  in- 
tended to  extract  and  bring  forward  for  the 
profit  of  present  readers  the  most  valuable 
things  in  the  bee  papers  of  many  years  ago. 
This  scheme  is  a  bright  idea  of  friend  Sage's. 
The  title  is  Mousings  Among  the  Early  Bee 
Papers.  The  authorship  is  anonymous — or 
as  is  quaintly  expressed,  "  by  Ann  on  a 
mouse."  If  Ann  and  her  mouse  mouse  as 
they  "  mout "  their  mousings  may  rescue 
from  oblivion  some  valuable  things. 

Then  we  have  a  right-square-from-experi- 
ence  article  on  the  Home  Market  of  Honey 
by  P.  H.  Hemingway,  (^ver  beyond  the 
editorial  notes  we  have  a  noble  page  of  ad- 
vice to  Success  by  friend  Rumford  of  Los 
Gatoft,  California.  In  the  course  of  this  it  is 
suggested  that  a  bit  of  cheese  will  cure  or 
prevent  the  colic  which  so  often  results  from 
eating  honey — Worth  keeping  before  the 
people  if  it  is  a  fact.  And  the  copied  arti- 
cles are  also  very  wisely  chosen,  as  we  might 
surmise  in  advance. 

Now  "  scoot,"  baby  Success  !  And  don't 
come  round  this  shanty  again  for  a  third 
"  obituary  "  on  your  birth. 

THE   GENERAL     ROUND    UP. 

"  We  never  could  get  yellow  bees  of  any  race 
to  rear  tliose  large,  well  developed  queens  so 
mucli  desired  and  admired  by  all  bee-keepers." 
Alley,  in  Nov.  Api.,  150. 

This  from  a  breeder  of  such  long  experi- 
ence is  quite  a  big  concession  to  the  Ger- 


THE  BEE- KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


359 


As  to  second  swarming  he  makes  this  sur- 
prising assertion  : 

■' The  fact  is  there  is  no  queen  in  the  hive  ex- 
cept those  in  the  cells,  till  the  moment  the  swarm 
issues."    Api.,  153. 

This  may  be  sometimes  the  case  ;  but  it 
would  require  considerable  proving  to  con- 
vince me  that  it  is  always,  or  even 
usually  the  fact.  In  red  hot  swarm- 
fever  times  it  may  be  ;  and  that  may  he 
the  reason  why,  in  such  times,  so  many 
second  swarms  go  back  once  before  mak- 
ing a  go  of  it— swarm  all  out  bf  fore  any 
queen  is  fairly  on  deck  ;  and  when  one  gets 
out  she  sees  no  procession  to  join,  and  just 
stays  till  next  day's  effort.  But  this  conces- 
sion in  its  very  nature  rather  presupposes 
that  ordinary  seconds  do  have  one  queen  out 
to  start  with. 

Ernest  Root's  gentle  robbing  to  stop  ob- 
jectionable robbing  gets  a  counterblast  {Apt. 
155)  by  being  put  among  the  Absurdities. 
My  experience  this  fall,  while  taking  off 
honey  very  late,  is  against  it — keeps  them 
forever  on  the  "snoop,"  during  weather  so 
cold  that  they  would  be  all  in  their  hives  if 
not  baited  out. 

A  new  chemical  200  times  sweeter  than 
sugar  is  announced.  Api.,\&d.  Must  be  ex- 
tract of  honey-moon.  Not  much  prospect  of 
benefit  to  our  vocation,  I  think.  Mere  im- 
pression on  the  nerves  of  taste  is  not  nutri- 
tion— fails  to  serve  the  purpose  when  the  in- 
ternal provision  basket  "  is  like  a  lamb  that 
bleats."  May  sweeten  up  the  rogue's  glu- 
cosed  honey,  but  will  hardly  winter  bees. 
But  friend  Alley  is  going  to  see  all  about  it 
and  report.  For  this  he  should  have  our 
thanks, — and  here's  a  spank  ready  for  the 
first  one  who  accuses  him  of  tumbling  into 
that  new  department  of  his. 

"  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  '  contented  hum  ' 
in  the  cellar ;  the  very  reverse  is  the  matter  of 
fact.        *       *         Something  is  wrong,  _  *      * 
nearly  every  time  foul  air."  S.  T.  Pettit  in  Cana- 
dian, 60. 

I  strongly  suspect  that  this  is  the  level 
truth,  and  the  very  wide  prevalence  of  the 
opposite  opinion  makes  the  decision  of  the 
thing  a  matter  of  great  importance. 

The  Canadian  is  the  first  to  give  an  ex- 
tended report  of  the  Chicago  convention. 

Whoever  wishes  to  be  posted  on  the  vital 
elements  of  the  wintering  problem  should 
dip  deep  into  Elwood's  articles  in  last  Re- 
view. Keep  them,  and  read  them  more  times 
by  and  by.  And  perhaps  friend  Corneil's  ar- 
ticle had  better  be  added.  And  those  cam- 
era views  of  the  Chicago  honey  exhibits  are 


very  nice — and  make  the  Review  look  like  a 

19th  century  journal. 

Oft  we  keep  a  little  fib 
Painted  on  our  (f  )lying  jib 

But  it  isn't  moral  to  do  so.  The  fib  I  am 
thinking  of  is  the  well  worn  one  that  candy- 
ing is  proof  of  the  genuineness  of  honey. 
Ernest  Root  {Gleanings,  794)  gives  the  re 
suits  of  experiment  in  the  matter  which  show 
that  it  takes  seventy-Jive  per-  cent,  of  glucose 
to  entirely  prevent  candying.  An  expert 
could  tell  the  difference  between  the  gran- 
ules from  impure  and  those  from  pure  hon- 
ey ;  but  that  goes  for  nothing,  as  retail 
buyers  (to  whom  the  fib  is  told)  are  not  ex- 
perts. 

Listen  to  the  story  T.  K.  Duke  tells  about 
the  Florida  pinkvine.  {Gleanings,  785.)  Per- 
fect sea  of  pink  blossoms  more  than  six 
months;  and  twenty-seven  bees  visited  ojie 
blossom  in  five  minutes,  the  average  of 
several  observations  being  over  five  bees  a 
minute.  But,  no,  we  won't  go  out  nights  to 
sow  it  round  to  bother  people. 

After  introducing  a  laying  queen  to  a  fer- 
tile worker  colony  H.  0.  Qnirin,  {Gleanings, 
78B)  found  the  following  state  of  things — 

*'  Drone  brood  was  scattered  miscellaneously 
over  the  combs-,  in  the  ratio  of  one-third  drone 
to  two-thirds  worker." 

Other  facts  also  showed  that  ("in  this  case) 
fertile  workers  were  on  deck  all  the  while. 
If  we  are  ever  to  have  an  effective  method  of 
dealing  with  the  fertile  worker  nuisance  we 
need  all  the  facts  ;  and  this  seems  to  be  a 
new  one. 

For  posts  on  which  groups  of  hives  are  to 
be  set  to  keep  down  ants,  paint  a  belt  around 
them — three  coats  tar  topped  with  a  coat  in 
which  a  little  lead  is  rubbed  into  equal  parts 
tar,  axle  grease  and  lard.  (Lovesy  in  -4.  B. 
J. )  Said  to  be  better  than  legs  in  cans  of 
crude  petroleum  ;  but  needs  renewing  occa- 
sionally. 

Several  hundred  acres  of  cucumbers  in 
reach  of  Dr.  Miller  failed  to  make  him  hon- 
ey happy  this  fall.  {Gleanings,  806.)  Thip 
shows  that  not  only  all  signs  but  all  plants 
may  fail  in  a  dry  time. 

Camera  pictures  are  a  ceaseless  delight  to 
me.  To  look  direct  on  English  workmen  in 
their  own  native  "  stamping  grounds,"  as  we 
may  in  Gleaniyigs,  809  and  810,  is  very  inter- 
esting ;  and  the  general  look  of  goodness 
and  honest  worth  on  the  faces  is  reassuring 
in  these  timesof  anarchy  and  labor  troubles. 
I  would  like  it  if  the  skep  makers  looked  a 
little  less  like  slaves. 


36u 


THE  BEE  KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


It  seeniB  the  Carniolans  paint  every  front 
with  a  rude  daub  of  something  holy,  emble- 
matic, historic  or  comic.  Very  likely  that 
is  what  we  see  in  the  center  of  fig.  (J.  Glean- 
ings, nr^. 

Two  nuclei  were  made  to  test  the  eating 
habits  of  drone  and  worker  bees.  The  first  had 
1,00c  workers,  the  second  1,000  workers  and 
1,000  drones  with  them.  Confined  12  days  in 
Aug.  the  first  ate  2  ozs.  and  the  second  8J4, 
(Translation  from  Berlepsch,  A.  B.  J.,  439.) 
This  seems  to  bring  in  our  ease  loving  friend 
the  drone  guilty  of  eating  S^^  times  as  much 
as  a  worker.  Reasonable  doubt,  gentlemen 
of  the  jury.  'Spects  the  second  nucleus 
ivorried  at  the  unnatural  state  of  things,  con- 
sumed an  abnormal  amount,  and  that  the 
workers  took  their  share  of  it.  The  others 
did  not  worry,  both  because  they  were  fewer 
and  cooler,  and  because  they  were  not  an- 
noyed by  an  unnatural  ratio  of  males. 

And  so  the  lady  of  the  section-house  talked 
friend  Dayton  down  that  the  honey  was  a 
little  sour.  (Extracted  too  soon.)  Would 
that  she  might  talk  the  rest  of  the  fraternity 
down  to  that.     See  A.  B.J.,  497. 

Whoa,  ponies  !  dear  editorial  ponies,  don't 
get  to  kicking  about  the  question  of  a  State 
experimentor's  right  to  sell  reports.  That 
is  one  of  the  amazingly   few  things  which 


had  better  not  be  agitated.  Suppose  it  turns 
out  that  he  strictly  has  no  right,  for  either 
love,  money  or  patriotism,  to  give  out  any 
report  at  all,  except  once  a  year  rigidly  pro 
forma  .' 

■'  Extra  lai'Ke  and  light  colored  (iroiies — almost 
a  sure  test  of  impurity."  E.  (Jallup  in  A.  B.  J., 
499. 

"  If  one  of  my  lighter  quoeus  mates  with  a 
drone  havmgan  eighth  part  of  black  blood  her 
progeny  will  no  longer  be  pure;  y.'t  I  am  unable 
to  detect  the  difference,  ("has.  Dadant.  A.  B. 
J.,  5U0. 

"In  this  progressive  day  and  age  thon  shalt 
not  rely  upon  'the  wise  men  of  .the  East'  too 
much."  (Western  bee-keeper  Rockenbach  in  the 
Progressive. 

Mrs.  Atchley's  plan  of  packing  bees  for 
railroading  by  alternating  combs  and  empty 
frames  and  then  wedging  all  tight  is  very 
simple  and  practical ;  and — 

"  Whenever  they  begin  to  get  too  hot  you  can 
tell  it  by  the  odor.  To  reduce  the  temperature 
quickly  I  throw  water  all  over  the  car,  hives  and 
ail."    A.  B.  J.,  527. 

Humble  pie  at  last.  How  we  sometimes 
recount  little  things  and  let  the  big  ones 
slip  !  I  reviewed  the  Review  's  growth  last 
time  and  did'nt  say  a  word  about  the  new 
department  of  station  reports.  Looks  as  if 
a  dunce-block  would  have  to  be  purchased 
for  me  to  sit  on  occasionally. 

Richards,  Lucas  Co.,  Ohio,  Nov,  12,  '93. 


Genepal  Index  to  Wolume  \1\. 


IlSriDEiX:    TO    SUBJECTS. 


Absorbing  Cushions     _ 

Abundant  Stores  Necessary  in  the  Spring 

A  Condensed  View  of  ('urrent  Bee  vVritings 
47,  71,  110,  146,  184,  214,  241,  269,  327. 

Adjusting  Section  Cases  and  Tiering  up  — 

.Vdulteration  of  Honey 

After-Swarming  Prevented  by  the  use  of  Bee- 
Escapes 

After-Swarming,  Prevention  of   

Air  Blast  in  Smokers  From  Multiple  Tubes. . 

Alsike  Clover  

American  Bee  .lournal  13, 

Apiculturist .     102, 

Apiculture  in  ( 'oUege  and  Station 

Appreciative  Words  for  Gleanings  and  the 
Review 

Arrangement  of  Hives  in  the  Cellar  

Artificial  Watering  Place  After  Nature's 
Ways.  An 

Atchley,  Jennie 

Atchley's  Apiary,  Mrs. 

Automatic,  Reversible  Extractor, 105, 

Bankston,  C.  B 


179 
127 


164 
18 

74 
102 
9 
206 
105 
262 
310 

2.30 
293 

141 

262 
206 
136 
317 


Bees  Versus  Manipulation     263 

Bee  Escape,  the  Infiuence  by  which  Bees  are 

Actuated  When  Passing  Through  a      ....   107 
Bee  Escapes  no  Help  in  Running  Out  Apia- 
ries for  Extracted  Honey 169 

Bee  Escapes  Ought  to  Have  (rreater  Capac- 
ity, Why 92 

Bee  Paralysis  Inherent  in  the  Qui^en        .....  235 
Bee  Diarriioea    its    Cause   and     Prevention, 

263,  314 

Bee  .lournals  and  the  Supoly  Business 143 

Bee-Keeping  for  Profit 139 

Bee-Keepers' Union 19,    73 

Bee-Kec^pers' (xuide 40 

Birds  of  Michigan -.  234 

Black  Bees  Enable  us  to  Dispense  With  Es- 
capes   ■. 234 

Brace  Combs  Prevented  by  Wide  Top  Bars. .  204 

Breeding,  Practical 26 1 

Burr(lombs  and  Hoffmen  Frames        36 

('alifornia.  Winter  Losses  of  Bees  in  ...   170 

California  Bee-Keeping,  Some  Phases  of —     94 
California  Bee  Keeping  in  Olden  Times.   ...  230 


I'iiE  BEE-kEEFERS'  REVIEW. 


^61 


California  Bee-Keepers  Might  Secure  a  iSet- 

ter  Price  for  their  Honey,  How 134 

("alifornia  Need  Never  be  a  Failure,  With 
Energy    and     Right    Management    Bee- 

Keeping  in        227 

California  Convention,    Prominent    Points 

Caught  in 66 

('alifornia  Bee-Keeping,   Some  of  the  Needs 

and  Necessities  of 6 

Canada's  Foul  Brood  Inspector 236 

('anadian  Bee  Journal     234,262,317 

Carrying  Tnem  Out  in  the  Spring,  How  to 
Make  Bees  Stay  in  Tiieir  Hives  when.   ...  106 

Cartons,  Paper     ...  2U6 

Cellar,  Beware  of  Poor  Food  and  the  Cold 

Damp 290 

C 'ellar  Wintering 1 

Cheap  Queens  40 

Chicago,  the  Trip  to 321 

Civilization  Versus  Apiculture 21 

Combs,  The  Most  Profitable  Use  of  Empty,. .  183 
Conditions    Under   which    Bees  Gather  the 

Most  Honey 74,109 

Combined  House  Apiary  and  SelfHiver  and 

a  Combined  Hive  and  Seif-Hiver 171 

Contraction  of  the  Brood  Nest 163 

(.'overs  on  Hives,  Successful    Wintering  of    ' 

Bees  in  the  Cellar  with  no 129 

( 'orre.spondence,  be  Prompt  in  your 237 

Crane  and  Bingham  Smokers ...     14 

DeWitt,  M.  H      318 

Diversity  of  Southern  Bee-Keeping lu 

Digested  Nectar 11 

Diarrhoea,  the  Cause  of  Bee 294 

Diarrhoea  a  Disease,  is 289 

Dibbern  Bee  Escape 102 

Double  Bellows  that  will  Throw  a  Continu- 
ous Stream 37 

Drones  and  Their   Trystiug  Places,  Frolick- 
ing     231 

Dysentery,  Bee 284 

Dysentery  by  the  Use  of  Sugar  Stores,  Pre- 
venting Bee      295 

Dysentery,  Warmth  Dryness  and  Wholesome 

Food  will  Prevent  ...       287 

Early  Swarming  is  Advantageous 128 

Editor  of  the  Progressive 103 

Editorials  are  Never  Paid  for 235 

Enterprise,  the 139,180,233,294 

Enterprise  and  its  Editor,  the  Bee-Keepers'  18U 
Escapes  that  Turn  Bees  into  the  Open  Air.  228 
Escapes,    Large   Exits  and    Those    Opening 

Outside  no  Advantage  in  bee 255 

Extractor  Really  Worth  the  Effort  Being  Ex- 
pended in  its  Invention,  Is  an  Automatic 

Reversible 166 

Extractors  and  Extracting 104 

Extractors,  Vital  Points  in  the  Construction 

of 136 

Extracting  and  Using  Bee  Escapes 204 

Extracting  Pleasant  and  -Vgreeable,  tJonven- 
iences    and     .\rrangements     Needed    to 

Make  165 

Experiment  Stations 11,  262 

Experiment  Stations,  why    Bee-Keeping   is 

Neglected  at  the 240 

Experiment  Stations  may  do  for  Bee-Keep- 
ers, what 265 

Experimental  Apiary  for  Vermont  258 

Experimental  .Vpiculture . .  .208,  235 

Experimental   .Vpiary,  Congratulations  for 

the 231 

Experimental  .Vpiary,  Michigan's     181 

Experiments,  ( 'ostly  231 

Experiments  Needed  with  Heat  and  Ventila- 
tion   259 

Experiments  in  .Vpiculture  at  the  Mich.  AgT 

C'illege 239 

Fads  and  Fancies 232 

Feeder,  a  Novel  and  Inexpensive 141 

Feeding  Bees  in  the  Spring  91 

Feeding  Bees  for  Winter ..  292 

Feeding  Back,  an  Experiment  in 308 

Forestville    Apiary,  Experiences  and  Views 
atthe 256 


Foul  Brood,  What  to  do  with 

Foul  Brood  (ienorating  From  Dead  Brood. . . 

Foul  Brood,  Dead  Brood  that  is  not 

Foundation  for  Comb  Honey 

Foundation   Fastener,   Taylor's 

Foundation  Profitable  in  the  Brood  Cham- 
ber, is  Comb 211, 

Golden  Italians 

(ilue  for  Fastening  Foundation 

Glucose  Barrels  for  Shipping  Honey 

Gleanings ....  179, 

(trading  Honey 18,41, 

(xuide,  Bee-Keepers' 

Hasty.  E.  E 

Handling  Bees  in  Winter. 

Hoffman  Frames  and  Burr  Combs.     

House  Apiaries ...   .   .     11, 

House  -Vpiary,  Great  Success  with  the 

House  .Vpiary  in  the  World,  the  Largest.   . . . 

House  Apiary,  Barnet  Taylor's  Latest     

Honey  Ananlyses 

Honey  Consumed  by  Bees  in  Winter,  Amount 
of. 

Introducing  Queens  by  the  Hatching  Brood 
Method 

Individaal  Checks— They  are  Expensive  to 
the  Receiver 

Incorporation  of  the  North  .Vmerican 

•'  K.  D  "  Hive  and  .Super  and  its  .Advantages 

"K.  D."  Hive.  More  about  the 

Kretclimer,   E, 

Langdon  Nou-Swarmer  Difi'ers  From  the  Tay- 
lor, Where  the . . 

Langdon  Non-Swarmer,  Some  Criticisms  on 
the  Experiments  with  the        

Langdon's  Non-Swarming  Device  145,   206, 
225,  23.3,  262,291,296. 

Langdon's  House  .Vpiary 

Leather  for   Smokers 

Loose  Bottom  Boards  207, 

Michigan's  Experimental  Apiary.  Work  at 
225,  2.52.  2S1,  309. 

Michigan  Experimental  Apiary,  A.  Visit  to 
the    

Modern  Bee  Farm,  A 

Moisture  is  Injurious  iniWintering  Bees,  why 

Multiple  Tubes  do  not  Increase  the  Blast  of  a 
Smoker,  Some  Experiments  and  Argu- 
ments Showing  that 

Multiple  Tubes  .\ssist  in  the  Ventilation  of 
Rooms,  Cellars  and  Mines,  how 

Non-Swarming  Plans 

Non-Swarming  Idea,  .Another  Novel 

Oil  Stoves  for  Heating  Bee  Cellars 

Old  Bee  Books  

Opportunity  for  California  Bee-Keepers,  the 
Present 

Opportunity. 

Out  Apiaries        

Pacific  Coast,  There  is  a  Lack  of  Queen 
Breeders  on  the 

Pacific  Coast,  its  Magnitude  and  Honey  Pas- 
turage  

Photography,  Interested  in 

Porter  Bee  Escape,  the  Superiority  of  the  . . 

Porter  Escape  Lacks  Capacity  Experiments 
Have  not  Proved  it.  If  the 

Porter,  the  Hastings  Bee  Escape  an  Infringe- 
ment on  the .  . . : 

Postage  on  Queens 

Pratt  Self -Hiver 67,212, 

Pratt  .Self -Hiver,  A  few  Words  in  Defense  of 
the 

Pratt  Self -Hiver  a  Success  in  the  Hands  of 
E.  R.  Root 

Protecting  Bees  in  the  Spring :    .... 

Progressive  Bee- Keeper 13, 103,  139, 

Prevention  of  Swarming 

Preventing  Swarming,  (^riticisms  on  B.  Tay- 
lor's Method  of.     . .         

Preventing  Swarming  by  Working  the  Bees 
of  two  Queens  in  one  set  of  Supers  . 

Pulled  Queens 

Queen  Traps  Versus  Self-Hivers,  Some 
Strong  -Arguments  in  Favor  of 


263 
233 
234 
211 
64 

287 

9 

233 

233 

317 

317 

206 

13 

11 

36 

38 

256 

99 

108 

238 

103 

182 

277 

20 

7 

39 

233 


291 
212, 


233 

233 
210, 


209 
140 

285 


101 

71 
177 
267 

41 
206 

94 
265 
11 

203 

35 

236 

47 

138 

317 
262 
2.53 

96 

74 

92 

133 

139 

13.-. 

71 
233 


362 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW. 


Queen-Trap  Versus  the  Solf-Hiver 

Queen  Excluders,        

Queens,  Dark ..   .. 

Queens  are  lost  in  Queen  Rearing,  how. .  . . 
Queries  and  Replies 

Residue,  or  "  Slugum,"  how  to  f?et  the  wax 
out  of..    

Removing  Honey  from  the  Hive  

Reversing  ("ombs  on  tlieir  Centers. ...   

Revcr.Hible  Extractors 

Rise  and  Fall  of  a  Bee  Hive  

Robbers,  how  .Vnnoyance  from  them  may  be 
.Vvoided  , 

Robbing  Propensity  of  Bees  may  be  Used  to 
Advantage,  how  the 

Robbing  may  be  Stopped,  how 

Scraps  From  Visiting  Letters  

Selling  (jlass  at  the  Priee  of  Honey 

Section  Leveler 

Sections,  Scraping 

Sections,  Advantages  of  Shallow 

Secor,   Eugene 

Sealed  Covers 

Self-Hivers 103, 

Self-Hivers  are  too  Costly  and  Cause  too 
Much  Labor.  Loss  and  Risk 

Self  Hivers,  a  Defense  of     

Self-Hivers,  Latest   Improvements  in 

Self-Hivers  Versus  Queen-Traps 

Self-Hiver,  Pratt's 

Self-Hiver,  the  Evolution  of  the - 

Self-Hiver  Discourages  Swarming  by  Killing 
off  Drones 

Simmins  System  of  Introducing  Queens  not 
.\lways  Successful 

Smoker  Construction,  Some  Novel  Hints  on 

Smoker  Experiments 

Smokers,  Experiments  to  Testjthe  Blast  of. . . 

Smokers.  Testing 

Smoke  from  Propolis,  Efifectiveness  of 

Somnambulist  and  the  .\piculturist 

Southern   Bee-Keeping,  Diversity  of 

Solar  Wax  Extractor  and  how  to  use  it.. 

Some  of  the  Things  I  Wouldn't  do 

Somers,  (j.  T 

Specialty,  Bee-Keeping  is  Drifting  into 

Stung  a  tireat  Number  of  Times,  What  to  do 
When 

Starters  may  be  the  Most  Profitable 

Sugar-Honey  Discussion  has  Gone  far 
Enough  at  Present 

Swarm,  Old  Bees  do  not  Locate  the  Hive 
Wlieu  they 

Swarms  do  not  .Vlways  Return  to  their  own 
Hives,  why 

Swarming  and  its  Management 

Supers,  Removing 

Taylor's  Foundation  Fastener 

Tearing  Combs,  Bees 

Three  Colonies  in  one  set  of  Supers  and  pre- 
venting Swarming.  Working. 

'•  Timely  Topics  "  83.  63,  91,  120,  Wi,  199,  22(1, 

Transferring  and  Getting  tlie  Honey  out  of 
the  Old  ( 'ombs,  an  Easy   Motliod  of 

Uncapping  Machines 

Uncapping  Macliines  are  Needed  More  than 
.Vutomatically,  Reversible  Extractors. . . . 

Unfinished  Sections 

Uncertain  Behavior  of  (ireat  Masses  of  Bees 

Van  Deusen,  (;.  C 

Ventilation 2.59,  318, 

Ventilation  and  its   Importance.  Top 

Ventilation  Plays  so  Important  a  Part  in  the 
Wintering  of  Bees,  why 

Ventilation  of  Bee  ( 'ellars 

Washington  Trip  and  Something  about  the 
( 'onvention 

Wax  Extractor,  a  Mammoth  Solar  and  Fur- 
nace-Heat   

Wax  in  Comb  Honey  is  not  Injurious  or  Un- 
wholesome  

Weak  Colonies  in  the  Spring,  Strengthening 

Wells  System,  the 

Why  Younger  Bees  Cling  to  Their  Hive  Even 
if  it  is  Moved :   

What  is  Honey  ? 


95 

36 

317 

143 

262 

20 
199 
167 
168 

94 

262 

212 

12S 
3« 
41 
98 
263 
23 
233 
102 
267 

70 
9.5 
76 
70 
67 
42 

69 

207 

36 

174 

131 

36 

141 

238 

10 

20 

182 

13 

6 

212 
294 

14 

206 

235 
164 
234 
()4 
233 

201 
254 

142 

179 

166 
73 

228 

317 

324 
89 

312 
324 

15 

200 

107 

106 

74 

45 
40 


Wiring,  Vvhy  Frames  need 46 

Winter,  (Jetting  tlio  Bees  Ready  for 266 

Winter,  Preparation  of  Bees  for 2.54 

Wintering  Bees  Under  the   Snow  a  Failure..     45 
Wooden  <,)neen  Excluders  that  are  a  Success    41 

World's  Fair,  Bees  at  the 23 

World's  E'air,  Bees  and   Honey  at  the 173 

World's  l''air,  Tlie  Bee  and  Honey  Show  at 

tlic    318 

Mex  to  CorrespoiKleiits. 

Aikin,  R.  C 7,20,  39,  92, 107   200,  228,  285, 

.Uley,  H 

-\tchley,  Mrs.  Jennie 

Barber,  C.J 

Benton,  Frank 

Corneil,  S 9, 131, 

Comstock,  F.  S 

Cook,  A.J 238,  290, 

Crane,  J.  E 

Daggitt,  E.  .V 37, 136, 

Dayton,  C.  W 171,204, 

Dibbern,  C.  H 

Doolittle,  G.  M 4.5,  108, 

Elwood,  P.  H 

France,  E 

Frazier,  W.  C 

Getaz,  Adrian . .   

Goldsborough,  A .  T 

Green,  J.  A 11, 

Gravenliorst.  C  J.  H 75,  106, 

Hasbrouch,  J.  H 

Hawley,  H   M       

Hastv,  E  E 21,  47.  77. 110, 146,  184,  215,  241. 

297,  327. 

Hewee,  W.  G 46, 

Heddon,  James Zil,  261,  284, 

Hill.\.  G 23, 

Jaques,  E.  R ■. 

Johnson,   Lowry 

Lari'abce,  J.  H       

Langdon,  H.  P 99, 

Manum.  A  E 

Martin,  J.  H 

McNay,  F'rank  

Miller,  C.  C 36, 166,  182,  212, 

Murray,  ( '.  H 

Porter,  R.  &  E.:C 138, 

Pouder,  Walter  S 

Pringle,  -Vllen 

Pratt,  E    L 67,76, 

Pryal  W.  A 

Rauchf uss,   Frank 

"  Rambler" 35,  66,  94,  134,170, 

Root,  E   R..., 74, 

Rumford,  Isaac 

Shuck,  S  A 

Sill,  Prof 

Taylor,  B....38,  45  71,  98,  108,  129,  177,  258,  287, 
Taylor,  R.  L 33,  6S,  70,  91,  97,  127,  163,  199. 

226,  253,  254,  265,  '281,  292,  304. 

Trego,  S.  t 

Weller.  Geo.  R 


312 
182 
143 

69 
144 
314 
141 
310 
174 
167 
259 

95 
289 
324 
168 
6 
267 
141 
183 
109 
107 
107 
269. 


295 
212 
256 
101 
239 
135 
141 
5 
165 
240 

71 
255 
232 
173 

96 
231 
291 
203 
105 
230 

47 
265 
296 
22.5, 


Illustralioiis. 


Apiary  of  B.  Taylor 

Canaclian  Honey  Exhibit  at  the  World's  Fair 

('omb  Leveler,  Taylor's _. 

Extractor,  Daggitt's  .Vutomatic  Reversible.. 

Foundation  Fastener,  Taylor's 

Heddon 's  Residence 

Heddon's  Home  .Vpiary,        

House  Apiary  of  B.  Taylor     

House  Apiary,  Taylor's  Latest 

Iowa  Honey  Exhibit  at  the  World's  Fair     . . . 
Mich.  Honey  iOxhibit  at  the  World's  Fair. . . 

Langdon's  Non-Swarmer 

Michigan's  l-2x  peri  mental  .Vpiary 

New  York  Honey  Exhibit  at  tlie  World's  Fair 

Self-Hiver,  Pratt 44, 

Self-Hiver,  Dilibern . .  • 

Smoker,  Daggitt  Dc^uble-Bellows 

Solar  Wax  Extractor,  Aikin's 


201 


2.56 

320 

98 

105 

64 

.W9 

350 

257 

108 

)f2I 

319 

144 

210 

319 

76 

43 

37 

201 


DK.  A    B.  MASON, 

Ai.buindale,  Ohio. 


(i.  >I.  DOOLITTLE, 

Borodino,  N.  V. 


F.  A.  OEMMtLL. 

Stratford.  Ont. 


i'H  <:     ICIHTDU. 


Flint.  Mich 


•J.  A.  GOLDEN, 

Reinersville,  Ohio 


Men  Who  Make  the  Review. 

VT7HE  succG.'!s  and  usefulnes-:  of  a  periodi- 
1  cal  are  largely  dependent  upon  the  men 
chosen  by  the  editor  as  correspondents, 
hence  it  is  worth  while  to  notice  who  are  the 
REViEW-correspoudents  and  how  they  were 
secured. 

During  the  past  sixteen  years  the  editor  of 
the  Review  has  attended  nearly  every  bee- 
keepers' convention  of  a  national  character  : 
has  visited  scores  and  scores  of  bee-keeijers 
in  their  own  homes  ;  and  received  and  an- 
swered thousands  upon  thousands  of  letters  : 
in  short,  he  has  eujoytd,  and  still  enjoys, 
a  personal  acquaintance  with  most  of  the 
leading  bee-keepers  of  the  country.  When 
he  wi'^hes  for  information  ui  on  some  sp<  - 
cial  topic  he  knows  eaacllii  where  to  find  it. 
He  knows  who  is  posted  on  this  point,  who 
on  that — who  rides  this  liobby,  who  thnt — 
and  this  wide  aoquaiutaTiee  has  enabl<-d  him 
to  choose,  as  his  principal  correspondents, 
successful,  practical  men,  most  of  whom 
have  numbnred  their  colonies  by  the  hun- 
dred and  sent  hoi:ey  to  market  by  the  ton, 
and  who  can  write,  from  ^xperience,  articles 
containing  information  of  real  benefit  to 
honey  producers. 


H.   P.   L  \N(;l)()N. 

East  Constable,  N.  i'. 


i.  HILL, 

KendallviUe,  Ind. 


BIN(iHAM. 

Abronia,  iiicli. 


•I.  E.  CBANE, 

Mid(il.-hnry,  Vt. 


B    TAYLOH 

Forestvillf,  Minn 


COR.NEIL, 

Lindsay,  Ont. 


GEO.  E.  HiLTON. 

Fremont,  >lich 


The  Platform  on  Whicti  the 
Review  was  Built. 


^^'^=''^^''rP^^'&^.-^4^'^:^<:^' 


In  order  that  now  subscribers,  and  those  re- 
ceiving samples,  may  more  thoroughly  under- 
stand the  character  of  the  Review,  and  the  plan 
upon  which  it  is  conducted,  the  following  intro- 
duction, which  appeared  in  the  first  number,  is 
republished  : 

INTRODUCTORY. 

As  indicated  by  its  name,  one  of  the  dis- 
tinctive features  of  the  Review  will  be  that 
of  reviewing  current,  apicultural  literature. 
Errors  and  fallacious  ideas  will  be  faith- 
fully but  courteously  and  kindly  pointed  out, 
while  nothing  valuable  will  be  allowed  to 
pass  unnoticed.  But  few  articles  will  be 
copied  entire,  but  the  ideas  will  be  extracted, 
given  in  the  fewest  words  possible,  and  com- 
mented upon  when  thought  advisable. 

Another  feature  will  be  that  of  making 
each  issue  what  might  be  termed  a  "  special 
number :"  that  is,  the  extracts,  correspon- 
dence and  editorials  of  any  number  will 
nearly  all  have  a  bearing  upon  some  special 
subject.  We  shall  gather  together,  from 
every  available  source,  the  best  that  is  known 
upon  any  given  subject ;  put  it  into  the  best 
shape,  and  publish  it  in  a  single  number. 
In  other  words,  each  number  will  be.  to  a 
certain  extent,  a  little  pamphlet  containing, 
in  the  fewest  words  possible,  the  best  that  is 
known  upon  some  given  topic. 

Oar  own  apiary  will,  hereafter,  be  largely 
experimental,  and  of  this  our  readers  will 
have  the  benefit. 

We  shall  endeavor  to  advance  bee-culture 
by  increasing  the  prosperity  of  existing  bee- 
keepers, rather  than  by  adding  to  their 
numbers. 

Instead  of  devoting  space  to  "  hints  to 
b^srinners,"  we  shall   turn  our  attention  to 


the  solution  of  the  unsolved  probleni  3 
advanced  bee-culture. 

While  we  shall  eagerly  welcome  valuable 
truths  and  ideas  from  any  and  every  source, 
we  shall  do  our  utmost  to  secure  as  corres- 
pondents practical  and  successful  bee-keep- 
ers who  will  be  able  to  write,  from  experi- 
ence, such  articles  as  will  help  the  man  who 
is  trying  to  get  his  bread  and  butter  by  rais- 
ing honey  to  spread  upon  the  bread  and  but- 
ter of  others. 

In  short,  we  shall  try  to  make  a  journal 
that  will  be  brimful  and  overflowmg  with 
ideas  that  are  especially  valuable  to  honey 
producers  :  and  having  now  introduced  the 
Review,  and  given  a  brief  outline  of  its  pro- 
posed character,  we  will  allow  it  to  speak  for 
itself. 


Another  short  editorial,  that  appeared  in  No. 
1,  may  also  shed  some  light  upon  the  character 
of  the  Review.    It  reads  as  follows  : 

PBIOE   OF   THE   BEVIEW.    ■ 

As  the  Review  will  be  run  independent  of 
supplies,  it  is  evident  that  the  price  must  be 
such  that  there  will  be  a  profit  in  its  publica- 
tion ;  but  we  will  guarantee  that  it  shall  be 
practical  ;  that  its  articles  shall  be  the  result 
of  bright  brains  and  brown  hands :  that 
many  of  them  will  "  first  see  light"  among 
the  hives — be  written,  perhaps,  upon  hive 
covers,  and  with  fingers  to  which  the  pencil 
sticks — that  it  will  come  fresh  with  the  odor 
of  the  apiary  upon  it ;  and  it  will  always  de- 
pend for  support,  not  on  puffery,  "  premi- 
ums,'" and  a  starvation  price,  but  on  an  in- 
telligent, popular  appreciation  of  a  good 
thing. 


SSSb^?Z£SSSS>?&^3Si?2^^32SSSS>??^^3SSSS 


h 

I 
I 

2S 


i!3 


ss 


Tbc  Review  for    1894. 

Special  Topics. 

If  there  is  any  one  tliiuK  more  than  another  tliat  has  made  the  Review  what  it  is, 
it  is  its  discussion  of  "  Special  Topics ;"  the  gathering  together  in  one  number  of  the 
best  that  is  known,  of  the  latest  views  of  the  best  men  upon  some  special  topic.  Like 
a  lens,  the  Review  brings  together  the  lines  of  thought,  and  so  illustrates  the  subject 
that  it  can  be  clearly  seen  and  underetood.  While  many  of  the  most  important  sub- 
jects have  been  thus  discussed,  new  ones  are  continually  coming  up,  and  some  new 
discovery  often  puts  an  old  idea  in  a  new  light,  hence  the  Review  will  always  find  a 
fruitful  field  in  the  discussion  of  special  topics. 

One  JoorryZi]. 

In  the  main,  tliecontents  of  our  beejournalsaremadeupof  original  matter.  From 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the  value  of  this  matter  greatly  varies.  Many  bee-keepers 
cannot  aiford  to  take  more  than  one  journal,  neither  have  they  the  time  to  read  all  of 
the  journals,  and  to  be  able  to  find  all  the  most  valuable  matter  of  all  the  journals 
brought  together,  condensed,  reviewed  and  criticised,  is  a  blessing  to  the  busy  man, 
and  to  tlie  one  who  "  can  afford  only  one  journal."  To  thus  furnish  the  cream  of  the 
other  journals  is  the  province  of  the  Review. 

Travels  Arnon?  B^e- Keepers. 

To  make  thebestpossiblebee  journal  an  editor  ouglit  not  to  sit  in  his  office  from  one 
year's  end  to  the  other.  He  ought  to  have  an  apiary  of  his  own,  to  attend  conven- 
tions, and  visit  bee-keepers  at  their  homes.  Not  only  will  this  enable  him  to  keep  in 
touch  with  his  readers,  but  by  visiting  apiaries  he  will  run  across  ideas,  implements 
and  methods  of  wliich  the  general  mass  of  bee-keepers  is  ignorant,  their  possessors 
being  so  accustomed  to  them  that  it  never  occurs  to  them  that  everybody  does  not 
kiiow  of  them.  In  the  summer  of  1894,  in  company  with  his  camera,  the  editor  of  the 
Review  exp-cts  to  visit  a  large  number  of  bee-keepers,  making  extended  trips  through 
Canada,  the  Eastern,  Middle  and  Western  States;  and  the  Review  will  contain  illas- 
trations  and  descriptions  of  the  bee  keepers  visited,  their  homes,  families,  apiaries, 
implements,  methods,  e*^c 

Experirp^ptzil  Apiculture. 

Last  spri'"g  a  few  bee  keepers  of  Michigan  worked  hard  and  spent  some  money  in 
so  forcibly  bringing  before  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  the  necessity  for  an  experi- 
mental apiary,  that  $iiOn  were  appropriated  for  that  purpose,  and  the  Hon.  R.  L.  Tay- 
lor appointed  a-^  apiarist.  He  has  proved  most  emphatically  to  be  "  the  right  man  in 
the  riirlit  place  "  All  through  the  year  experiments  of  a  practical  nature  are  under 
way.  and  the  results  are  given  in  the  Review  AT  ONCE,  months  and  months  before 
they  appeir  in  the  official  report.  Securing  these  reports  and  placing  them  before 
the  public  while  they  are  frpsh  and  can  be  a'  once  utilized  is  one  of  the  best  things 
that  the  Review  has  ever  df)ne  for  bee-keepers 

Hasty's  Reviev/. 

E.  E.  Hasty  needs  no  introduction.  No  other  apicultural  writer  approaches  him  in 
briglit,  (luaint,  or'ginal  expressions  Coupled  with  this  is  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
practical  bee  culture,  and  he  is  to  use  these  two  accomplishments  the  coming  year  in 
helping  to  make  the  "  Extracted  Department "  of  the  Review.  He  is  to  read  ail  of  the 
journals,  and  then  criticise  their  contents  in  that  inimitable  way  of  his.  Tlie  Review 
is  also  to  come  in  for  its  share  of  criticism.  Probably  no  feature  of  the  Review  for 
1804  will  be  more  interesting  or  profitable  than  ''  Hasty's  Review." 

^t  tbe  Propt. 

The  Revif.w  strives  most  earnestly  tostand  in  the  front  rank  :  to  publish  advanced 
ideas  before  they  have  become  a  matter  of  history;  to  be  interesting,  enterprising, 
wide  awake,  up  with  the  times,  and  brimful  of  ideas  that  are  especially  helpful  to  the 
honey-producer. 


i 


i 


i 


i 

S3 


Topics  Discussed  in  M  Nos, 


tfijhat  the 

Has   Been,    is,    and 

WiLiLi    BE. 

^W^T  is  almost  au  axiom  that  what  a 
(^  man  has  been,  that  he  will  be. 
«A»  Time  only  strengthens  his  habits 
and  characteristics.  What  is  true  of  a 
man  is  true  of  a  periodical. 

Most  of  the  distinctive  features  of  the 
Review  are  mentioned  on  a  preceding 
page,  but  in  addition  to  those  it  might  be 
said  that  its  editor  has  for  seventeen 
years  been  a  practical  bee-keeper,  and  is 
thus  in  a  position  to  choose  wisely  in  se- 
lecting matter  for  his  journal,  and  is  also 
able  to  write  from  the  standpoint  of 
actual  experience  upon  all  subjects  per- 
taining to  iiraf  tical  bee  -  keeping— to 
criticise,  if  necessary,  the  views  of  cor- 
respondents. Another  thing  :  much  care 
is  exercised  that  the  Review  shall  be  very 
neat  typographically.  Good  paper,  type, 
ink  and  rollers,  and  a  good  pressman  are 
crni)lojed,  and  engravings  used  when 
necessary.  While  the  neatness  with  which 
the  Review  is  gotten  up  may  not  add  to 
the  value  of  the  information  that  it  con- 
tains, it  does  add  to  the  comfort  and  en- 
joyment of  those  who  read  it. 

Some  idea  of  what  the  Review  has  been 
may  be  gained  by  looking  over  the  list 
(given  in  the  oi)posite  column)  of  topics 
that  have  been  discussed.  These  back 
numbers  are  for  sale  at  the  following 
prices  :  As  the  supply  of  Vols.  I  and  II  is 
quite  limited,  the  price  is  five  cents  a 
copy.  Of  volume  HI  there  is  a  fair  sup- 
ply, and  the  price  is  four  cents  a  copy. 
With  Vol.  IV  the  Review  was  enlarged 
and  the  price  raised  to  !j;l.(K).  Copies  of 
Vols.  IV,  V  and  VI,  are  eight  ceiit-j  each. 

Anyone  sending  ^IM)  for  the  Ukvikw 
for  lS;t4,  and  <irdering  back  iinml>ers  at 
t'lo  siimi'  time,  may  havt^  the  t)-ick  num- 
bers at  just  oiie-lidlf  the  prices  given. 

•'A<lvAnce<J  Bea  Culture"  ami  tlic 
Review  nnf  year  u>r  $1.2.").  St.inip><  taken 
either  l'.  S.  or  ( 'anadiati. 

W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,  Flint,  Mich, 


.Jan. 
Feb. 
Mar. 
Apr. 
May 
.Jniic 
July 
Aug. 
Sep. 
Oct. 
Nov. 
Dec. 


.Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar 

Apr. 

May 

.June 

July 

Auk. 

Sep. 

Oct. 

Nov 

Dec. 


.Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 

Juno 

July 

Auk. 

Sep. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 


Jan. 

Feb. 

Mar 

Apr. 

May 

Junp 

July 

AuK. 

8pp. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 


F«b. 

Mar. 

Apr. 

May 

.Tune 

July 

Ang. 

Sep. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 


VOLUME  I.— 1888. 

Dl^<lnrblnK  IJeew  in  Winter. 
'I'emporatnre  in  WinterinK  Bees. 
I'lantinti  for  Honey. 
Spring  Management. 
Hiving  I^ees. 
Taking  Away  the  Queen. 
Feeding  Back. 
Apiarian  Exhibits  at  Fairs. 
The  Food  of  Bees  in  Winter. 
Ventdation  of  Bee  Hives  and  Ollars. 
Moisture  in  Bee  Hives  and  Cellars. 
Sections  and  their  Adjustment  on  the  Hive. 

VOLUME  II.— 1889. 

Kee  Hives. 

Mistakes  in  Bee  Keei)ing. 
Which  are  the  Best  Bees. 
Contraction  of  the  Brood  Nest. 
Increase,  its  Management  and  (V)ntrol. 
Siiade  for  Bees. 

Tlie  Influence  of  Queens  upon  Success. 
Migatory  Bee  Keeping. 
Ont-Door  Wintering  of  Bees. 
Bee  ( 'onventions  and  Associations. 
Sijocialty  Versns  Mixed  Bee  Keeping. 
What  Best  ( 'ombines  with  Bee  Keeping. 

VOLUME  III.— 1890. 

Brace  Combs  and  their  Prevention. 

Foul  Brood. 

(^neen  Rearing  and  Shipping. 

Tlie  Production  of  Comb  Honey, 
liaising  (jood  Extrac'eH  Honey. 

Apiarian  Comforts  and  Conveniences. 
From  the  Hive  totlie  Honey  Market. 

Marketing. 

Management  After  a  Poor  .Season. 
Ont-Apiaries. 

Apicnltural  .Journalism. 

Use  and  Abnso  of  Comb  Fonndalion. 

VOLUME  IV— 1891. 

Buildings  for  tlio  Apiary. 

Separators. 

I'rotection  for  Single- Wall  Hives. 

Introducing  Queens. 

.\dulteration  of  Honey. 

Bee  Escapes. 
House  Apiaries. 

Handling  Hives  Instead  of  Frames. 
I\emlering  and  Purifying  Wax. 
Moving  Bees  into  the  Cellar. 
Remoiiies  for  Poor  Seasons. 

VOLUME  v.— 189-2. 

Writing  lor  the  Bee  Journals, 

Tlie  (jrading  of  Honey. 
Mis'ellaneons  Matter. 


Smoke  and  Smokers. 

Feeding  a  net  Feeders. 
Construction  of  Bee  Cellars. 
Busing  Sugar  Honey. 
'•  Best  .Articles"  From  the  Best  Men. 


VOLUME  VI.- 

>l>iis  liid   no'    re 


-1893. 


S|i"cial  r.>i>iis  liid  no'  receive  so  much  atten- 
tion in  tiM«  viihime.  '  S  df-Hivers  "  were  dis- 
cussed  m  the  FeUrnir.v  and  -March  Nos. ;"  Ex- 
tracti)rs  arid  Kxtr.ictin:;  '  in  the  May  No.;  'Ex- 
|)Mrim'>n!al  Apiciillnre "  in  the  August  issue; 
and  ■'  Bi'e  Diarrhoea,  its  ( 'ausp  and  Prevention  " 
in  the  October  No.  I'he  Kxperimental  .\piary 
!{e|iorts  began  in  tlie.bily  issue. 


^j^  0S^^^m 


^MM^  ^^^^  ^^^^ 


THE  BEE-KEEPERS'  REVIEW 


367 


Barnes'  Foot  and   Hand 
Power   Machinery. 


I'llit.    .-Ill 

ii'l^n-fx-ul^ 

uur 

.Miiljiu.Hl 

t'ircultir 

and 

lor.'ll     Shw. 

wliicli    is 

the 

best     inacliiae      made     for 

Uee     Keepers'     use    in    the 

constraction  of  their  hives, 

sections,    boxes,    etc. 

li-92-r6t 

MACHINES    SENT    ON    TRIAL. 

FOB  CATALOGUE,  PBI0K8,  ETC., 

Address  W.  F.  &  JNO.  BARNES  CO.,  384  Ruby  St ,  Rockford,  Ills, 

Please  mention   the  Review. 


New  Heddon  Hive 

FOR  Having    bought    the    C!anadian 

patent  on  the  above  hive  I  am 
n  I II  1  n  1  prepared  to  supply  it  in  any  com- 
I,  JIM  II II  A  bination  to  the  bee  -  keepers  of 
UHIIHIIII*  Canada.  Circulars  of  interest  to 
all  mailed  free.  Write  for  one. 
ll-Vt:j-tf  A.  E.  HOSHAL,   Beamsville,  Ont. 

Please  mention  the  Review. 

IMPORT  AMT^^ 


To  make  a  success  of  bee  keeping,  you  want 
bees  that  will  give  the  very  best  results.  My 
Golden  Italians  have  gained  a  good  name  on 
their  own  merits.  Those  who  have  tested  them 
with  other  bees  say  "they  are  the  best  honey 
gatherers,  cap  their  honey  the  whitest,  as  gentle 
as  butterflies,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  tlie  largest 
and  strongest  bee  of  all  the  races."  Queens 
bred  from  mothers  that  produce  uniformly 
marked 

piVE-BnflDEO  WOt^KHt^S 

In  March,  .\pril  and  May,  81.2.5  each,  6  for  S6.00; 
June,  $1  OO  each,  6  for  $.i.UO;  July  to  Nov.,  $l.tiO 
each,  6  for  84..50.  Special  prices  on  large  orders. 
For  full  particulars  send  for  descriptive  circular. 

12-92-tf  C.  D-  DUVALL. 

Spencerville,  Montg.  Co.,  Maryland. 


Ulnstraied   Aiyertlseients  Allracl   Attention. 


HATCH  CHICKENS  BY  STEAM 

^^^^^  Excelsior  Incubator. 

Simple,  Pfr/ecl,  SdJ-Fiegu- 
latini/.  Thousands  in  suc- 
ceBsfuI  operation.  Gaaran- 
teed  to  hatch  a  larger  per- 
centage of  fertile  eggs  at 
less  cost  than  any  other 
Hatcher.  Lowest  priced 
first-lass  Hatcher  made. 
CEO.  H.  8TAHL.  QuIncy.IU. 


Bind  Your  Back  Volumes. 

The  back  volumes  of  the  Review  are  some- 
what different  from  those  of  some  journals  ; 
many  of  them  are,  to  a  large  extent,  little  pam- 
phlets devoted  to  the  discussion  of  special  top 
ics.  For  this  reason  they  will  always  be  partic- 
ularly valuable  for  reference.  But  ht)W  provok- 
ing it  is  when  desiring  to  consult  some  back 
number,  to  find  that  that  particular  number  is 
missing— has  been  lost  or  mislaid.  To  avoid 
such  annoyance,  some  have  fastened  together 
the  issues  of  each  year  by  tacking  them  togetlier 
with  wire  nails,  or  something  of  the  sort.  This 
is  better  than  nothing,  but  there  in  a  lack  of 
flexibility,  the  book  does  not  open  out  easily  so 
that  it  can  be  read,  there  is  no  protection  to  the 
outside  leaves,  besides  there  is  notliing  hand- 
some about  such  an  arrangement. 

There  is  a  book  binder  here  in  Flint  that  does 
excellent  work  at  a  fair  price.  He  will  put  the 
first  five  volumes  of  the  Review  into  one  hand- 
some volume  with  morocco  back  and  corners, 
putting  the  title  on  the  back  in  gilt  letters,  and 
giving  the  edges  of  the  leaves  a  neat,  reddish 
tinge  — all  for  $1.25. 

Send  me  your  back  numbers,  either  by  mail  or 
express,  and  I  will  get  the  work  dune  and  return 
the  book  when  bound,  making  no  charge  for  my 
services,  as  the  binder  allows  me  a  small  com- 
mission, and  should  any  of  your  back  numbers 
or  volumes  be  missing,  I  shall  be  glad  to  furnish 
them  as  long  as  t)ie  supply  lasts,  simply  charg- 
ing tlie  regular  price  for  thein,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows: Vols.  I  and  11,  five  cents  a  copy;  Vol.  Ill, 
four  cents  a  copy  ;  Vols.  IV  and  V,  eight  cents  a 
copy. 

The  time  will  soon  come  when  some  of  the 
back  numbers  will  be  difficult  to  obtain,  and  if 
you  care  for  the  Review  comjjlete  from  the  be- 
ginning, nicely  bound,  now  is  the  time  to  attend 
to  it.  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,    Flint,  Mich. 


HONEY  PHKHG 


cuts  Furnlsned  for  all  illnstratlns  Purposes. 


AND  Bee  Books, 

OF  ALL.  KINDS, 
A  LARGE  STOCK. 
MY   XEW^  II.,1,TJSTKATE1> 

Catalogue  and  Price  List  of  Supplies 
for  the  Apiary  will  be  sent  free  to  all 
who  may  apply.  Send  a  postal  card 
for  it.  writing  your  name  and  address 
^plainly.  For  every  Order  of  $10.00 
^and  over.  I  will  make  you  a  present. 
The  Catalogue  tells  you  all  about  it. 
T.  Gr.  Newman,  147  So. Western  Ave.,  Chlca«o. 


0  ' '"    '  M 

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fll'y^Tl0SCl  ^ee^^uZtuT©    p 


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•"-■.•;'< 


S  a  book  of  nearly  100  pag-es  that  beg-ins  with  The 
Care  of  Bees  in  Winter,  and  then  tells  how  they 
oug-ht  to  be  cared  for  in  the  spring-  in  order  to  secure  the 
workers  in  time  for  the  harvest.  Then  Hives  and  Their 
Characteristics,  Honey  Boards,  Sections,  Supers  and  Sepa- 
rators are  discussed.  The  Best  Methods  of  Arrang-ing- 
Hives  and  Building's  and  Shading-  the  Bees  are  described. 
Varieties  of  Bees,  Introducing-  Queens  and  Planting-  for 
i.^?|v  Honey  are  next  g-iven  a  chapter  each.  Then  the  Hiving-  of 
i:"i-^'  Bees,  Increase,  Its  Manag-ement  and  Control,  and  Contrac- 
i^xilfi  tio^  of  the  Brood  Nest  are  duly  considered ;  after  which 
iiliM  Comb  Foundation,  Foul  Brood,  Queen  Rearing-,  the.Raising- 
ri|(!  of  Good  Extracted  Honey,  and  "Feeding-  Back"  are  taken 
i|?jv  up.  After  the  honey  is  raised,  then  its  Preparation  for  the 
l^g  Market,  and  Marketing-  are  discussed.  Then  Mig-ratory  %fi 
^  Bee  -  Keeping-,  Out -Apiaries,  and  Apiarian  Exhibits  at 
:^it  Fairs  are  each  g-iven  a  chapter.  After  this  comes  the 
jll^  question  of  Wintering-,  which  is  discussed  in  all  its  phases.  ^ 
The  Influence  of  Food.  Ventilation,  Moisture,  Temperature, 
Protection,  etc.,  etc.,  are  all  touched  upon.  There  are  also 
chapters  upon  Specialty  versus  Mixed  Bee  -  Keeping-,  Com- 
forts and   Conveniences  of  the  Apiary,    Mistakes  in   Bee- 


■»\;? 


■"■f.-« 


ffy,- 


•?;'¥• 


t^v:- 


•;;•■'■ 
■*:•.• 


Keeping-,  etc.,  etc. — 32  chapters  in  all.  ^j|| 

^         Price  of  the  Book,  50  els.  ;  the  Review  one  year  and  the     '^ 
il(i     book  for  $1.25.     Stamps  taken,  either  U.  S.  or  Canadian.         >#/! 


ll  W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON,  Flint,  fflieh.    /Jf 

m  "^ 


■:•:  ■;>!;■ 


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