42 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 21, 19C4. 



the same size plain section. The only objection I find to the latter is 

 the additional cost of fence separators; then, too, I think the bees are 

 much more inclined to brace the combs to the slats unless they are 

 made of plain sheets with cleats, as in the fences. 



E. E. Hasty (Ohio)— I would not be strenuous about this, but 

 think the old-style pound section, perfectly square and 's wide, would 

 be my choice. " Feared " of the prevalent moral itch — wishing to sell 

 for the highest possible price less honey than there seems to be. 



Mrs. J. M. Ni'll (Mo.)— 414x414x1',. Largely for the sake of 

 uniformity. A change, if in size of section, means several other 

 changes. Remedies for the reduction of size of the pocket-book are 

 not in demand among bee-keepers. No need of anti-fat in connection 

 with them. 



E. Whitcomb (Nebr.) — The Danzenbaker. Because it looks best 

 when filled properly. In order to excel in producing honey it is 

 good policy to cater not only to the eye of the customer, but as well to 

 his appetite. An article that looks well is liable to sell better, and to 

 taste better after it is sold. 



Dk. J. p. H. Brown (Ga.) — I would use the 4,i4'x4i4xl% one- 

 piece section if I could get them. Because they suit the present mar- 

 ket — the people are familiar with this size. Years ago, before dove- 

 tailed sections were made, I used a nailed section 4I4X.5I4. that was 

 very satisfactory. Bees will go to work more readily in a large sec- 

 tion than in a small one. 



E. S. LoYEST (Utah) — I would use the regular 4I4X4J4XIJS sec- 

 tions, because they fit the section-holder, and can be transferred with 

 little time or trouble from the super to the shipping-case, as they re- 

 quire little or no cleaning. The supers can be tiered up to any num- 

 ber desired, and while the bees have free access through them, they 

 can not get to the outside of the sections to stain them, hence they 

 look new and as clean as when they were put into the supers. 



•J. A. Green (Colo.) — If it were not for the inconvenience sure to 

 arise from using an odd size, I would use a section 4i4x5xl;'4. My 

 only reason for changing from the 4I4X4I4X7 to the foot, which is the 

 size I use now, would be to increase the weight of the section a little, 

 which would suit our Colorado market better. I would not use a sec- 

 tion thicker than 1''4 for the regular style, or l-i, for the plain sec- 

 tion. 4x5 is not heavy enough, and is an inconvenient size in a hive 

 of regular length. 



R. C. AiKiN (Colo. ) — My choice is a 4x.5, and fi., thick (wide), 

 scalloped i-^, and clear out to the side-bars; fences to be full-depth of 

 section, thus the scallop is necessary to allow easy bee-passage, and 

 will also give better finish to tops and bottoms because the width of 

 top and bottom is the thickness of finished comb, and it looks better 

 both in and out of the case. A comb being built will naturally be 

 built downward more rapidly than sidewise, so a 4x5 section will be 

 filled out in the lower corners quicker and better than the wider, 

 shallower section. It also enables me tp use brood-frames of same 

 depth, and still not get them too very shallow; thus, so far as the 

 super-body is concerned it is identical with brood-chambers; lean 

 use either one for the other. This year (WOS) I had about 5000 

 pounds of comb in 4x5 sections, and it cleaned easier and was nicer, 

 and averaged heavier than old-style sections, and as they were aecord- 

 ng to the above description, they had to be made to order. 





Dr. Miller's Answers 



] 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Hives Painted Inside and Outside. 



Will paint on the inside of hives be an'injury to them? 



In remodeling our church, of which I am pastor, I obtained quite 

 a lot of clear pine lumber which had been in use for pews for 34 years, 

 and had been painted repeatedly on both sides. I have thought of 

 making it up into hives. Will so much paint be offensive to the bees? 



Minnesota. 



, Answer.— No, bees will not object to paint inside the hive unless 

 it be too fresh. The lumber you have will be all right. 



A Peculiar Colored Comb Honey. 



I am an old man, and have been in the bee-business for 50 years. I 

 have now 5 apiaries, my home apiary containing 20 colonies. The out- 

 apiaries are within a radius of 3 miles. I run for comb honey only. 



The past season I had a new experience with my home apiarv. I 

 found 300 or more sections of a different grade of honey from any 

 that I ever saw before. It is of a purple shade ; it came iu with the 

 while clover. I first gave credit to milkweed, but had to give that 

 idea up as it came after milkweed was gone. My home customers 

 were afraid of it. It was of a fine Havor, something on the order of 

 red clover. 



Can you give me any light on it? There is a field of alfalfa within 

 half a mile of me, and has been for 2 or 3 years. From what I have 

 learned from reading, there is no honey in alfalfa this side of the 



Mississippi river. If that is so, where did that purple honey come 

 from ! Is alfalfa honey a bluish-colored honey '. I have never had the 

 privilege of seeing any. If it is not alfalfa, what can it be J I never 

 had anything like it before. My out-apiary did not give a single sec- 

 tion of that color. New York. 



Answer. — I can't even make a guess. Can any one help usi 

 For a long time it seemed to be true that alfalfa yielded no nectar 

 east of the Mississippi, but lately reports have been made of its yield- 

 ing in Wisconsin, and it is possible that it may yet become a good 

 yielder in general east of the Mississippi. The honey from it, however, 

 is not a purple shade ; it is as white as white clover, if not whiter. 



Miller Brood-Frames— Foundation— Splints. 



1. Where can I get the Miller brood-frames ? I have never seen 

 them quoted in the catalogs? 



2. What weight of foundation do you use in them, light or luedium 

 brood? 



Do you use the splints on both side of the foundation? 



Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. You can probably have them made by any manu- 

 facturer by asking for " Miller brood-frames," and possibly you could 

 get them through any supply-dealer. 



2. So far I have used medium. Possibly lighter would work all 

 right. 



3. Only on one side. 



•*-*-* 



Basswood Lumber for Hives. 



I am well pleased with the American Bee Journal, and think ft is 

 sound in "doctrine." But I was nearly knocked out by one of Dr. 

 Miller's answers, on page 763 (1903), where he says basswood swells, 

 shrinks, and warps so that it is not fit for any part of a hive. And 

 this right on top of my experience with some 30 hives made of cotton- 

 wood and basswood, that I have been using for 6 or 7 years, and never 

 found any fault with them. In fact, I think so well of them that I 

 have just had a lot of the same lumber sawed to make more. I make 

 my own hives, loframe size, and run for extracted honey; I buy 

 frames in Hat. If Dr. Miller will try a few hives and make them of 

 boards a full inch thick, after being seasoned and dressed, nail them 

 together properly, then give them 2 or 3 good coats of paint; I will 

 stand good for the result. My objection to pine is, it is not thick 

 enough, and costs about three times as much as the other. I advise my 

 Missouri friend to use basswood in spite of Dr. Miller's answer. 



Missouri. 



Answer. — I am very glad if you can use basswood successfully, 

 especially where it costs so much less than pine. It is quite possible 

 that I am " away off " in thinking my littte world is the whole of the 

 world. I have tried basswood for brood-frames, and they twisted 

 badly. Mr. Niver says it is diflerent with him. Possibly the place in 

 which basswood grows makes a difference, and possibly the age of the 

 trees makes a difference. I certainly wouldn't want anything about a 

 hive made of such basswood as I have tried. I wish we might 'know 

 the whole truth about it. 



.*-•-*- 



Honey Turning to Wax— Foolish Notion. 



Enclosed find a clipping from a newspaper. I would like to know 

 the exact truth in it. My opinion is, that the honey Noah took into 

 the ark would not yet be beeswax. New York. 



The clipping referred to reads as follows: 



" Honey will turn to wax it left untouched for some years." 



Answer. — I am entirely of your opinion. 



Forming Nuclei. 



1. I have nearly all the standard apiarian authors, and have read 

 considerable, I have nearly 100 colonies of bees, some Italians, some 

 Carniolans, but mostly black or native bees. What I want to learn is 

 about forming nuclei in order to rear several Italian queens with which 

 to Italianize my apiary. I will outline a policy, and then you can 

 kindly give me your opinion and comments. 



Take No. 1, June 1. It sends out a swarm ; while it is clustered I 

 prepare a hive and put them into it, and set them by the parent hive. 

 In the meantime I have prepared a suitable bottom-board on which to 

 set the parent hive, as follows: By putting a bottom strip ■'„ inch 

 all the way around it, on which the hive is to set, then saw out little 

 pieces of the strip for entrances for 3 different nuclei in the same hive, 

 by adding one or more division-boards. Then I remove the hive from 

 its bottom-board and put the new one in its place ; then, before placing 

 the hive on it I go through it and divide the frames with adhering bees, 

 so as to give 3 frames to each nucleus, with a queen-cell to each. Then 

 I put the 3 brood-frames in one department, and then add a division- 

 board, then 3 more frames, bees and all. When the hive is set on the 

 prepared bottom-board there will be an entrance already made by saw- 

 ing out a piece of the bottom strip •'„ inch deep, and each nucleus will 

 have a separate entrance; if two nuclei only, there will be an entrance 

 at each end, but at opposite ends. If 3 nuclei in one hive, I will have 

 an entrance at one side, and one at each end, say 4 or 5 inches wide, 

 and '•'c deep, or whatever is the thickness of this bottom strip; the 

 division-board to be tight, coming smooth to the ground floor and at 

 the ends, and even with the top edge of the hive, so the bees can't pos- 



